sentence, the Zebra Alliance appeared to have hit a brick wall. Malarek UK had been granted special insurance cover by the British government and its parent company had just announced increased profits.
Two days after the profits were announced, Malarekt UK chairman, Fred Gibbons, was lying in bed when four masked women burst into his bedroom. The women grabbed Gibbons and beat him severely with aluminium baseball bats.
Gibbons suffered sixteen broken bones, including a fractured skull. His wife was also badly beaten as she tried to fend off the attackers with a golf club.
The Zebra Alliance was quick to distance itself from this attack. Quinn emphasised that the Alliance was a non-violent coalition and condemned the assault on Gibbons. A note left behind at the scene of the attack left a stark warning:
The Animal Freedom Militia (AFM)
Cordially invites Mr Frederick Gibbons
To stop working for Malarek Research
Because next time weEl kill you!
P.S. We know where your children live too!
QUINN REACHES OUT
Fred Gibbons spent two months recovering in hospital and resigned from Malarek Research on health grounds, but the Animal Freedom Militia was only beginning its campaign.
Over the following months there were eleven more violent attacks on Malarek employees in the Avon area. A courier who made a delivery to the site had his home set on fire and a senior employee of a merchant bank that lent money to Malarek was blinded after acid was thrown in his face.
Meanwhile, Ryan Quinn was stuck in prison, watching the non-violent, high-pressure strategy her pioneered with Zebra 84 being undermined by ultra-extremists. Quinnt first chance for parole was coming up and he believed there were links between more extreme members of the Zebra Alliance and the Animal Freedom Militia.
Quinn wanted the AFM destroyed before it permanently tarnished the reputation of all animal liberation groups, but he was powerless while he rotted in prison. Quinn put out feelers to a contact within the intelligence service and made her an offer: if he was granted parole and released from prison, Quinn would help the intelligence services to infiltrate the Zebra Alliance and try to unearth the AFM suspects from within.
Quinnt only condition was that MI5 destroy all evidence relating to acts of sabotage carried out by members of the Zebra Alliance who opposed violence.
The offer of cooperation was a huge surprise and the security services were keen to pursue it, but the FBI sting operation that had infiltrated numerous American liberationist groups was still fresh in everyonet minds, and members of the Zebra Alliance were naturally going to be very suspicious of any newcomers. It was thought that, even with Quinnt assistance, it would be virtually impossible for an adult to infiltrate the Zebra Alliance and uncover members with links to the AFM.
Senior officials realised that cherubs would be the only intelligence agents who might stand a chance of successfully unearthing members of the Animal Freedom Militia.
THE CHERUB MISSION
In the four months since Ryan Quinn agreed to cooperate with the intelligence services, he has been visited by Zara Asker on a regular basis. She has been posing as Zara Wilson, an old schoolfriend who got back in touch with Quinn when she learned that he was being held in a prison close to her home.
As soon as Quinn leaves prison, he will announce that he has fallen in love with Zara and is getting engaged. The couple will move into the village of Corbyn Copse, less than a mile from the Malarek Research facility, along with three CHERUB agents who will be posing as Zara Wilsont children from her previous marriage.
Kyle Blueman will play the role of Kyle Wilson. His age will be advanced by six months to seventeen so that he can carry a driving licence. James Adams will fill the role of James Wilson, a Year Nine pupil. The third member of the Wilson family will probably be younger and female, preferably in Year Seven or Eight.
In order to fit in with any animal rights activists they encounter, the cherubs will have to adhere to a vegan lifestyle. This means not eating meat, fish or dairy products, or wearing garments made from animal-based materials such as wool or leather.
The children will attend the local comprehensive school, while attempting to involve themselves with the Zebra Alliance and unearth information about the Animal Freedom Militia.
THE CHERUB ETHICS COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY ACCEPTED THIS MISSION BRIEFING. ALL MISSION CANDIDATES SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FACTORS:
(1)
(2)
8. INTRODUCTIONS
The following Sunday, James, Kyle, Lauren and Zara drove to Cambridgeshire to meet Ryan Quinn.