glad those bastards are dead.’
‘Nice story,’ Eric said, sounding like he wasn’t quite ready to believe James’ explanation.
James pointed at the laptop screen. ‘Give me one good reason why I’d sit around and wait for Vladimir Obidin to turn up?’
Eric smiled. ‘I have to admit, I’ve thought long and hard about that and I haven’t been able to think up a single convincing explanation, except that you’d been stitched up by a couple of rogue agents.’
‘I could have died,’ James said, shaking his head slowly.
‘I reckon it’s only down to your training and a healthy glob of luck that you didn’t,’ Eric said, as he grabbed the computer off James’ lap and snapped it shut. ‘And a helping hand from yours truly, of course.’
Eric slid the laptop into a nylon pouch and came back to James holding a chunky satellite phone. Whereas a normal mobile requires local relay stations to work, satellite phones beam their signals into space and work anywhere in the world.
‘I believe you wanted to make a call, young man.’
James raised a tiny smile as he grabbed the phone. ‘Are you getting me out of here, or what?’
‘The smart money’s on what, I’m afraid,’ Eric said. ‘Within a few hours they’ll have missed me back at the Obidin compound and someone will be out looking for me. My bags are packed, I’m driving to Moscow and getting on the first flight back to the good ol’ USA. I’m happy to be out of this, to be honest with you. I haven’t seen my girls in near two years.’
‘Can’t I come with you?’ James asked.
‘There’s only one road out of town. It’s lightly trafficked and the police are searching everyone. If they shine a torch in my car and see you in that state, we’re both as good as dead.’
‘I thought you were helping me,’ James said, as he got the horrible feeling that he was back on his own.
‘You’re not my problem, kid,’ Eric shrugged. ‘I pulled you out and patched you up because I wanted to hear what you had to say. Your people have caused us a lot of trouble. I’ve done you a favour, but it’s up to your MI5 chums to get you out of here. You Brits have that big jet-engine contract with Obidin. There might only be one road out of Aero City, but there are more than a dozen runways in town.’
‘I guess,’ James said.
‘We won’t be needing this apartment. You can stay here as long as you like. Keep drinking strong coffee and moving around. There’s enough tinned food to last a month and there’s fresh clothes in all sizes in the wardrobe. Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep. I know you’re coming round a bit now, but you could still lapse into a coma.’
Eric grabbed his overcoat from the bedpost. ‘I’m taking the phone, so you’d better make that call.’
James blinked a few times to clear his blurry vision before dialling the CHERUB campus emergency number.
A man with a brummy accent answered. ‘Unicorn Tyre Repair.’
‘This is agent twelve-o-three,’ James said. ‘Can you put me through to Ewart Asker?’
The man sounded elated. ‘James, is that you? We’ve got a grade one missing agent alert out on you. Are you OK?’
‘Snot and blood all over the joint,’ James said dryly. ‘But I seem to be alive.’
11. GLOOM
Lauren decided that she felt like being alone and went back to her room. She was sprawled over her bed with the football results coming out of her TV when her mobile rang. She guessed it was Bethany, who was playing in a basketball tournament off campus. She’d been ringing between matches to see if there had been any news.
‘Yep,’ Lauren answered, as she flipped her phone open.
‘The emergency desk just got a call,’ Zara said happily. ‘It sounds like he’s been badly beaten up, but he’s alive.’
‘Oh thank god.’ Lauren leapt off her bed as tears welled up in her eyes. ‘That’s so brilliant. Where’s he been?’
‘I don’t have full details yet, but he’s in Aero City and Ewart is on his way to pick him up.’
‘Can I speak to James later?’
‘Maybe … Ewart has a satellite phone with him, so we can probably sort something out. But they’re not completely out of the woods. The police are searching every car that leaves Aero City, so they’re planning to smuggle him out via a small airstrip.’
‘But he’ll be OK?’
‘You can never be one hundred per cent, but we know he’s alive and he’s