combat trousers and body armour and there were quad bikes lined up alongside them. James recognised a few of them from his early days at CHERUB, including Paul and Arif who’d helped him learn to swim when he first came to campus.
‘I think they’re the enemy,’ Dana said, as Lauren came to stand next to James.
Like everywhere else, kids on CHERUB campus hung out with people close to their own age. Most black shirts were at least fourteen and this left Lauren – two weeks shy of her thirteenth birthday – feeling pretty awkward. Although she enjoyed rubbing certain people’s noses in her exalted rank, being a black shirt put her in difficult situations with older agents who she outranked, and she often wished that she could be grey or navy like all of her friends.
‘You cold?’ James asked, as he looked at Lauren’s skimpy running shorts.
‘Bit,’ she nodded. ‘You got any idea what we’re in for?’
‘It’s happened before,’ Dana said. ‘They pick out all the black shirts, or grey shirts, or all the twelve-year-old girls or whatever for an exercise, but they change the rules every time so you never know what to expect.’
‘Gather around,’ Mr Pike shouted. ‘Instructor Kazakov will brief you on your exercise.’
Pike was as physically intimidating as any of the other CHERUB instructors, but he was a fair man and James found his presence reassuring. On the other hand, Kazakov was ex-Russian Special Forces and he had a large sadistic streak.
‘We’ve been getting complaints,’ Kazakov shouted.
As the Russian spoke, the crowd continued to gather. James noticed a bunch of eight-and nine-year-old red shirts, who must have been huddled around the back of the shed. Each of them wore body armour and had a compact rifle slung over their small shoulders.
‘Black shirts,’ Kazakov shouted, before spitting on the ground between his tatty Russian army boots. ‘You strut around campus, thinking that you rule the roost. You boss around the red and grey and navy. You don’t train hard because you already think you’ve made it. Well, tonight you’re getting a long overdue kick up the backside.
‘I’m sure you’ll recognise some of the retired cherubs in their white shirts. Some have been helping with the recent basic training, or working on campus until they return to university. A few others came here especially for this exercise. We have sixteen whites altogether, to compete with the sixteen black shirts who are currently on campus.’
James whispered to Dana and Lauren: ‘Look at the gut on Dave Moss. He can’t have done any training since the day he left CHERUB. We’ll run rings around them.’
‘What was that, Adams?’ Kazakov said, walking up to James. ‘Would you like to share?’
‘Just clearing my throat, sir,’ James said.
Kazakov grabbed him around the neck and choked him. ‘Is it clear now?’
‘Yes sir,’ James croaked, as his face turned bright red and he started coughing.
Kazakov let go and shoved him backwards. ‘I do not expect back chat,’ he shouted. ‘The next black shirt who speaks out of turn will spend next weekend scrubbing the mud out of the minibuses with a toothbrush.
‘The objectives for black shirts are simple,’ Kazakov continued. ‘You have shorts, T-shirts, boots and we will be issuing safety goggles. You must make it from here back to the main building. Once you’re inside you can get into bed and enjoy the rest of your night’s sleep.
‘Unfortunately, the white shirts will be trying to stop you. Each time they capture you and put on handcuffs, you will be brought back here to start again. They will be equipped with rifles, two hundred rounds each of simulated ammunition, night-vision equipment, full body armour, radios, quad bikes and most importantly Mr Pike and I will coordinate their movements with full access to the campus security system including all cameras, heat sensors and motion detectors.
‘We have also picked some of our crack-shot red shirts. There are two dozen of them positioned in strategic locations around campus. They are not authorised to capture and return you to the starting position, but they will be acting as scouts, positioning traps and of course shooting at you with simulated ammunition. The exercise will end at 0700 hours. Any black shirt who doesn’t make it to the main building before then will be expected to complete a ten-kilometre run with a thirty-kilogram pack before breakfast every morning for the next ten days. All other standard safety and containment rules apply. Any questions?’
Gabrielle raised her hand. ‘Sir, we don’t have any