CHERUB: The Fall - Robert Muchamore Page 0,31

foothold in the Russian aerospace market.’

‘In fact,’ Zara said, ‘if two British agents did charge into Denis Obidin’s office and kill him, it might very well push several lucrative defence contracts into the hands of the Americans. It could be exactly what the CIA wants the Russians to believe.’

‘Well I guess …’ James wasn’t entirely convinced by Zara’s argument. ‘I mean, what you’re saying isn’t impossible, but what if the version the CIA man told me is true and it turns out that MI5 are covering their backs and refusing to accept the blame?’

Zara nodded. ‘At this stage we’re just gathering evidence. We’re ruling nothing in and nothing out.’

‘Anyway,’ James said, ‘why are us Brits so keen to do business with the Obidins? I thought the whole point of my mission was to gather evidence and put Obidin behind bars for selling illegal weapons.’

‘We certainly wanted the evidence,’ Ewart smiled. ‘But MI5 might have achieved a better outcome by using it to blackmail Obidin. That way, he stops selling weapons to people our government don’t like and three thousand British jobs are guaranteed.’

James shook his head. ‘Sounds pretty shady.’

Zara nodded. ‘It is shady, but the Russian courts can be as corrupt as their police force. Even if we’d gathered cast iron evidence against Obidin, there’s no guarantee that a crooked judge or a bribed jury wouldn’t have acquitted him.’

Ewart spoke again. ‘Another aspect of your testimony is causing me some concern …’

‘Hang on,’ James said angrily. ‘How come it’s testimony all of a sudden? Yesterday afternoon, you came in here acting all casual and asked if I felt well enough to answer some questions. You said you’d record the conversation so you didn’t have to write it all down. I thought it was just a debriefing, but now you’re asking me all this extra stuff, sounding like a lawyer and picking apart what I said.’

‘James, there has to be a comprehensive investigation into what went wrong,’ Zara explained. ‘Two agents are dead, you were lucky to get out alive. We’re not saying that you’re a liar, but we can’t just carry on as if nothing has happened. Ewart is going to conduct a thorough investigation into every aspect of the Aero City mission. He’ll obviously be on the lookout for evidence that confirms your version of events, but he has to be impartial. That means he’ll have to investigate your conduct during the mission and ask you some difficult questions about it.’

James shrugged wearily. ‘Well, whether you believe me or not, everything I told you yesterday is what I honestly believe is true.’

Zara sat up in her chair and adopted a grave tone. ‘The thing is, James – and I came along with Ewart today because I wanted to tell you in person – CHERUB has to appear whiter than white. As well as Ewart’s investigation, MI5 will be conducting a separate inquiry into the events in Aero City and both organisations have been asked to report back to the intelligence minister as soon as possible. In the meantime I’ll have to suspend your status as an active CHERUB agent.’

‘Eh?’ James gasped furiously. ‘After everything I went through out there? Are you taking the piss?’

‘None of us likes it, James, but until the inquiry is complete and you’re cleared of any responsibility, I have no option but to suspend you.’

‘But I haven’t done anything.’

‘It’s not a punishment, James,’ Zara said softly.

‘What a crock of shit,’ James yelled.

‘Hey, watch your mouth,’ Ewart shouted.

‘Ewart, don’t start,’ Zara said. ‘James, I know this is really rotten for you, but we have to obey certain rules. One of those rules is that we can’t send agents on a mission while their conduct on a previous mission is under investigation.’

‘I nearly died,’ James screamed. ‘Those two MI5 traitors stitched me up. Now you’re stitching me up.’

‘James, I’m sorry,’ Zara said. ‘I know you’re upset, but we’re not stitching anybody up.’

‘You know what? Screw it. Why should I risk my life on another mission for people who don’t trust me or stick up for me? I quit – send me off to live with a set of foster parents or whatever.’

‘Come off it, James,’ Zara said. ‘I can see how this might seem like we’re kicking you when you’re down, but try to keep things in perspective. The investigation will probably take one or two months. You wouldn’t have been sent on another long mission until you were feeling better and you’d caught up on your