New Guard (CHERUB) - Robert Muchamore Page 0,5

– Mission Controller.

Before Lauren could knock, a stocky seventeen-year-old in a black CHERUB shirt opened the door and almost crashed into her with an armful of papers. After an exchange of sorries, Lauren stepped into a plush corner office, with bookshelves, trendy walnut desk and a pair of leather sofas either side of a coffee table.

The view, down a gentle slope over golden trees, was spectacular. Unfortunately, James Adams let down the ambience, dressed in gym clothes, one holed sock propped on his desk and surrounded by coffee mugs, box files and mounds of paper. He was on the phone, so he gave Lauren a thumbs-up and pointed her wordlessly towards a couch.

‘John …’ James told the phone. ‘She’s a sixteen-year-old girl and her whole wardrobe got smoked in the fire at the end of the mission. I just told her to get what she needed … I realise I should have set a budget, John. But how was I supposed to know she was going to go to London and spend eight hundred pounds on shoes?’

Lauren smirked as she slid a backpack down her arms, settling on the only part of the couch that wasn’t covered in files. As James continued talking, the black-shirt girl came back in with a roll of thick orange bags, which Lauren knew were for stuff that had to be incinerated on campus.

‘I’m Fu Ning,’ the girl told Lauren quietly, as James continued on the phone. ‘You must be his sister, Lauren.’

Lauren nodded. ‘My brother must be a pain to work for.’

Ning smiled. ‘He’s cool, just disorganised.’

James was continuing his conversation with his boss. ‘Birmingham?’ James said. ‘I know about the recruitment. I told you Thursday in the team meeting, I’ve got Leon and Daniel Sharma lined up for that job … What? … Are you serious? How can they not be available for missions? … I need those two guys. I’ll give Zara a call and try to twist her arm. If it’s not too serious she might let me have them back … Right, I’ll be here until noon I guess. Speak in a bit.’

James sounded frazzled as he put down his phone.

‘Working hard?’ Lauren asked, as James stood and gave her a hug.

‘Sunday morning,’ James said, as the pair embraced. ‘I should be in bed with Kerry. The hours she works, and the hours I work, we barely see each other.’

‘What was that about shoes?’

‘God,’ James said, smacking his forehead as Ning broke out in a huge smile. ‘I was on a mission, girl gets all her clothes burned. She’s really upset, so I’m like don’t worry, take a nice shopping trip to London and get whatever you need. I fixed up a debit card and she spent four and a half grand. Totally destroyed the mission budget. John Jones is furious.’

‘You told a sixteen-year-old girl to go to London and buy whatever she wanted?’ Lauren scoffed.

‘She’s a great kid,’ James protested, as Ning and Lauren struggled to contain their laughter. ‘I’ve never seen her wear anything other than joggers and a hoodie. I didn’t expect her to do that.’

Lauren smirked. ‘It’s almost as if someone trained her to manipulate adults and get what she wanted.’

‘Fair point,’ James said, shaking his head. ‘So what’s up in your world? Still racing cars?’

‘Team’s all set up for the new season,’ Lauren said. ‘Rat put up some seed funding, but now we’re fully funded through sponsorship, unless I crash too many cars.’

‘When’s your season start?’

‘Still got four months.’

‘Scared?’

Lauren nodded. ‘It’s a jump. I had a hundred and twenty horsepower in the single-seater formula. This is a saloon car, topping out at five hundred.’

‘Try not to get killed,’ James suggested.

Lauren grinned. ‘You know me, James. I’m not the kind of person who wants to be stuck at a desk behind a mountain of paperwork.’

‘Up yours!’ James said, giving his sister a playful dig in the ribs.

Lauren grabbed James’ arm and tripped him on to the couch, but he had to run for the phone before things could escalate.

‘James Adams speaking … You need what? Well can’t you get some of the carers down at The Village to round up a bunch of kids? … Why is this even a mission control problem? … OK, fine, I’ll do it.’

James slammed the phone down and looked so stressed that Lauren took pity and pulled a sarcastic comment.

‘Five hundred and fifty boxes of mission control files in the basement of the main building,’ James explained. ‘They were supposed