But I always knew there was some risk. I mean, I only said about the guarantee to make sure you came.?
The realisation that Lauren had lied on top of the blackmail made James furious. He had his trainers on now and he stood up and faced his sister off. TEl get you back for this. You're out of order.?
Tf you do IEl tell Kerry,?Lauren grinned back.
Tou swore on our mumt grave.?
Tell Kerry what??Bethany asked.
James and Lauren both snapped at her, Mind your own.?
Bethany knew James didn't like her, but she was annoyed with Lauren. Te're in the middle of the training compound here,?she said acidly. Can't you leave the family feud till we're back in our rooms??
She had a point.
MK,?Lauren said, looking at Bethany, Tou put all the waders in the big pack. James, theret a plastic box with electrical tools in the front compartment of your pack. Grab that and come with me.?
James walked around to the front of the shed, happy at least that he hadn't landed the filthy task of cramming three slippery sets of waders into the pack. The shed door was aluminium with a yellow and black warning sign riveted to it.
ELECTRICAL HAZARD
640 VOLTS
QUALIFIED PERSONNEL ONLY
DANGER OF DEATH
Tou said this was just a fuse box,?James gasped.
Lauren shrugged. There must be some other stuff in there, but I can handle it.?
James grinned with relief when he spotted the heavy duty padlock on the door. Te haven't got our lock guns,?he said. And theret no way weEl manage to crack that monster off.?
Don't need to,?Lauren said, as she slid a key out of her jeans and pushed it into the padlock. Aood old Martin. It was in the same filing cabinet as the plans for the electrical system.?
They stepped into the shed, which hummed with the sound from a washing-machine-sized transformer. A panel mounted on the wall opposite had a dozen rows of switches with fuses lined up underneath.
Mpen the box ?I need an electrical screwdriver.?
James?fingers were numb from the water in the ditch and he fumbled as he peeled back the plastic lid.
Thich onet the electrical screwdriver??
Lauren shot him a contemptuous look as she snatched it. The one that looks like a screwdriver, maybe? Point your light at me and keep your head still while I work.?
She looked along the rows of switches. Each one controlled a different system inside the training compound and they were labelled with strips of faded Dymo tape: SHOWERS, LIGHTS (INT), LIGHTS (EXT FLOOD), LIGHTS (ASSAULT COURSE), WATER HEATER, GOLF BUGGY (RECHARGING). The circuit labelled CCTV was halfway along the third row.
Nere we go,?Lauren grinned. TEl replace the fuse with one thatt blown. When the instructor comes in here, itEl look like the circuit fused because of a power surge or something.?She leaned in close and read the writing on the fuse casing. Mifteen amp, size C.?
Lauren reached into the box of electrical stuff and grabbed a chunky fuse with a green label. She flipped the main switch for the CCTV circuit to the off position before using the screwdriver to pop out the working fuse. After replacing it with the pre-blown fuse, she turned the circuit back on. A red warning light came to life, confirming that the fuse was a dud.
MK,?Lauren said, grinning confidently. Eo far so good.?
They both flipped off their head lamps as they stepped outside. Bethanyt hands and arms were covered in mud, a result of her struggle to get the waders back into James?pack.
All done??she asked.
Lauren nodded as she looked at her watch. Two thirty-one a.m.,?she said. T reckon were got about ten minutes before the instructor gets here to replace that fuse.?
4. FEAST
Basic training is hell. A trainee can quit at any time, but if you want to become a CHERUB agent you have to get through it. Your brain and body are pushed to breaking point by instructors who don't care if you're crying, injured, hungry or sick. All they care about is toughening kids up so they can cope with all the bad stuff that might happen on an undercover mission. And if you make it through the one-hundred-day course, youEl be able to cope with just about anything.
James had an emotional flashback as he peeked between branches at the windowless concrete building where CHERUB trainees slept. He remembered himself two years earlier, huddled inside after an exhausting day of training, with the springs from the dank mattress jarring his back and rain plinking off the corrugated metal roof.
T didn't see any