New Guard (CHERUB) - Robert Muchamore Page 0,53

little kid and you could see why as she went eye-to-eye with Bruce.

‘Fight,’ Capstick snapped, as the sweaty onlookers hummed with excitement.

Bruce did what he did. He swept in fast and brought Ning down with a leg hook. It looked like it was over inside three seconds as Bruce dived on Ning’s back and tried to wrench her arm. But her powerful shoulders didn’t yield the way Bruce expected and there was huge power in the flying knee that slammed him in the ribs and sent him off balance.

Now Ning rolled on top. Bruce writhed as Ning got a knee across his chest and started pounding his face with her gloved fists. If more was at stake, Bruce might have taken the pain and tried to throw her off, but he didn’t fancy doing the rest of his mission prep trying to breathe through a broken nose, so he thumped on the mat to submit.

The crowd seemed delighted by Ning’s shock victory. Even the Crustys, who now faced gym laps.

‘Losing it, Bruce!’ Alfie shouted.

Ning’s own celebration was muted. She knew Bruce had made a tactical surrender as she gave him a hand off the mat and strolled towards an equipment bin, peeling her gloves.

‘You hit hard,’ Bruce said, grinning.

Ning had beaten enough boys over the years to appreciate the ones who didn’t bitch and make excuses when they lost.

‘You’ve never seen me fight,’ Ning said. ‘I’ve seen videos of your campus championship bouts. You always did the same thing against fighters in the early rounds, when you thought it would be easy.’

‘My mistake,’ Bruce said, smirking as he ripped off a boxing glove and lobbed it into a canvas bag. ‘I certainly respect you now. And I’ve broken my nose too many times down the years to push that one too far.’

Ning shrugged. ‘You’d beat me every time if you knew my fighting style.’

‘But you played me,’ Bruce said, unable to contain a huge smile as he eyed Ning. ‘Gotta admire that. You heading straight to uni when you leave CHERUB?’

‘Can’t decide,’ Ning said.

‘I’m good mates with the owner of the dojo where I work in Thailand. If you wanted a gap year, I could probably get you work as a trainer. Maybe even earn something on the side from professional bouts, if you’re that way inclined.’

‘It’s a thought,’ Ning said brightly. ‘I came out of China penniless, so I could certainly use some funds.’

‘Pay’s not great,’ Bruce admitted. ‘But the lifestyle’s cool. You can find yourself a nice Aussie surfer boyfriend.’

Ning looked awkwardly at her feet and grunted. ‘All guys ever want is skinny girls with giant boobs.’

Bruce laughed. ‘Don’t be so down on yourself. Loads of guys would go for you.’

Ning snorted. ‘Like who?’

Bruce smiled. ‘Like me.’

Ning was flattered and erupted in a big smile, but it was also weird because she couldn’t work out if Bruce was flirting, or just being kind. Bruce felt just as awkward, because he’d realised that he was flirting. But he wasn’t on some Thai beach. He’d been working as CHERUB staff, and Ning was a seventeen-year-old agent.

As the pair flushed red, they were both relieved to see Instructor McEwen coming their way, pointing at Bruce.

‘Join the other Crustys,’ McEwen shouted. ‘Ten laps. And Ning, get your sweaty ass out of my gym and into the shower.’

James lunched on hummus and carrot batons while everyone else got pizza, but he cheered up when he took charge of fifteen 450cc Honda bikes.

‘Who’s ridden a motorbike before?’ James asked, as the two teams and four training staff gathered.

Lauren, Bruce, Alfie, Ryan and one of the training assistants raised their hands.

‘These are 450 CRF dirt bikes,’ James explained. ‘Almost indestructible. Top speed is only around a hundred and thirty kph, but they’re built with high ground clearance and fat tyres that make them good on the kind of terrain we’ll encounter in northern Syria. These are stock Hondas for training purposes, but for the mission we’ll be making a few adaptations so that they’re better able to carry equipment, and a custom gear setting to give us a higher top speed on open roads.

‘To begin, I’d like those of us who’ve ridden before to help me get motorbike virgins used to the controls with a few gentle runs. After that, we’ll take a little cross-country ride out to meet Tovah, who’ll be taking the second leg of the afternoon’s training.’

As the most experienced riders, James and Lauren took the lead, showing the others how to