Black Friday (CHERUB) - Robert Muchamore Page 0,48
CHERUB campus.
‘I’m in the nuddy!’ James Adams shouted anxiously. ‘Gimme two secs.’
James answered the door with dripping hair, a towelling robe and a dour expression.
‘How’s it going?’ Zara asked, as she glanced about. ‘You look rough.’
The room was messy, with a brown stain where a coffee mug had been smashed against the wall.
‘I’ll clean that up,’ James said awkwardly.
‘I’m more worried about what caused it,’ Zara said. ‘Are you OK?’
James shrugged. ‘My girlfriend, Kerry,’ he explained. ‘She was supposed to be flying to campus for Christmas once she’d sat her last exam. Now she’s saying the flight’s too expensive.’
Zara looked surprised. ‘If Kerry has financial problems we can look into it. CHERUB supports all its retired agents.’
James shook his head. ‘I’m not short of a few quid. I’d pay her fare, no problem. It feels like she doesn’t want to be around me any more.’
‘There’s counsellors on campus if you want to talk it over,’ Zara said. ‘I don’t mean to be unsympathetic, but I’ve got a full morning and I came here to talk to you about something else.’
‘Sorry,’ James said, as he picked a couple of china fragments off the carpet and dropped them into a pedal bin. ‘You’ve got four kids and a mental job. The last thing you want to hear about is my love life.’
‘I’ve been hearing good things about your work,’ Zara said. ‘Ning and Alfie were complimentary about the way you handled the driving course. Tough but fun, apparently. And Mr Pike says it’s been really useful having you helping out with training this week. There’s going to be a vacancy now that Kazakov’s gone. I’d look upon you favourably if you applied.’
James nodded. ‘I miss the buzz of CHERUB. I like being back on campus, but I don’t think I’m cut out to be a training instructor. You need a certain meanness to put kids through basic training and I don’t have it. I think the job would make me miserable.’
Zara nodded. ‘I couldn’t do it either. But we’re looking to replace Kazakov. His role spanned training and mission control. Would you consider a role that mixed the two?’
James smiled, then nodded uncertainly. ‘I think Kerry wants to stay in the US for at least a couple more years.’
‘We’re short-staffed right now,’ Zara said. ‘I’m happy for you to continue working for CHERUB on a casual basis for another month or two, but I’ll need a decision early in the New Year.’
‘I’ll have a think,’ James said.
‘I know you’ve been helping Mr Pike with on-campus training, but there’s something else I need you to do. A little side project.’
‘What?’ James asked.
‘You know Amy works for TFU?’
‘Yeah,’ James said. ‘She seemed to be really enjoying herself.’
‘TFU is getting axed because of its role in the Black Friday attacks. But Amy wants to track down a guy named Leonid Aramov before the shutters go down and needs our help. I’ll send you a briefing with the full background story on Leonid Aramov and TFU’s Aramov Clan operation, but it basically boils down to this:
‘Amy and I have devised a plan to find Leonid Aramov using his ex-wife and eleven-year-old son as bait. The trouble is, they’re likely to encounter moderate danger and neither has any kind of combat or espionage training.’
‘So, some kind of express training programme?’ James asked.
‘MI6 will take care of Tamara,’ Zara said. ‘They have an established rapid training program designed for diplomats being deployed to high-risk countries. But the only expertise in training a boy like Andre Aramov is here on campus.’
James nodded. ‘So I’d be training this kid one-on-one. How long would I get?’
‘Ten days,’ Zara said. ‘That’s not enough time to significantly improve strength or fitness levels. You’ll need to devise a programme concentrating on essentials. Basic self-defence moves, weapons handling, safe communication protocol. I’ll get Mr Pike to help you draw up the programme, and this is high priority so you’ll have your pick of resources. If you need other agents or staff on hand, they’re yours.’
‘Why are you picking me?’ James asked warily. ‘Aren’t there more experienced instructors who’d do a better job?’
Zara smiled. ‘First off, Amy says Andre’s timid and you have a good rapport with younger kids. I made you godfather to my eldest, after all. Second, Andre’s first language is Russian. His English is patchy and Kazakov was my only other Russian-speaking instructor. I’m sorry to throw you in at the deep end, but the training department is stretched supermodel-thin right now.’