New Guard (CHERUB) - Robert Muchamore Page 0,62

‘I bloody loved this game when I was little.’

‘The graphics are terrible,’ Alfie noted. ‘I didn’t even realise they had computer games back in your day.’

Lauren turned sharply, hooked Alfie’s ankle and dumped his ass on the padded floor. ‘Too slow, young man,’ she teased.

James clapped to seize attention before Alfie got his shot at revenge. ‘Shut the hell up, all of yous,’ he yelled. ‘I’ve just had a conference call and I can confirm that the drone strike is set for tonight.’

A few cheers went up, but Bruce and Kyle looked more circumspect.

‘Since you’ve all worked hard for the last four weeks, we’re gonna spend the afternoon chilling out with food and video games. Enjoy, people!’

The mood was jovial as Lauren took the controls for Ecco the Dolphin, while most of the others went for the buffet table. James was surprised to find himself confronted by a very serious-looking Ryan.

‘You OK, pal?’ James asked, as he bit into a sausage-stuffed pepper that he’d just picked off the table.

‘I was thinking about your mission,’ Ryan said. ‘I know you’ve got an empty seat now that Kerry’s hurt.’

‘Shit happens,’ James said, blowing on the hot sausage. ‘It’s the nature of any mission.’

Ryan nodded. ‘I was thinking.’

‘Should that be cause for concern?’

Ryan smiled, but was irritated by James’ interruption. ‘I was ranked second on the flight training, behind Lauren. I’m sixty-two kilos, so only slightly heavier than Kerry.’

James shook his head. ‘I appreciate your enthusiasm, Ryan. But Ewart authorised you to come here and form a training team to help us five old farts get back into shape. The actual mission is off the books. Nobody with links to the British military or adult intelligence. No British-made equipment or identity documents. If we’re caught, we’ll say we’re mercenaries hired by Sachs and Yuen’s kidnap insurance. Not that it matters, because IS will scythe our heads off, whatever we say.’

‘Kerry was your best Arabic speaker,’ Ryan said. ‘I’m almost fluent.’

‘Tovah’s fluent.’

‘And if she gets hurt?’ Ryan asked. ‘And isn’t she supposed to stay back and prep the aircraft?’

James seemed to take this on board. ‘True. But we’ll be packing up later and leaving for Turkey first thing. I’d have to write a mission proposal, get it by Ewart and get approval by the ethics committee. And even if I did all that, they’re never going to approve the mission.’

‘Why not?’ Ryan asked.

‘Because it can be done by adults,’ James said. ‘It’s an absolute rule. CHERUB agents are never put in danger unless the mission can’t be performed by an adult.’

‘Screw CHERUB then,’ Ryan said. ‘I’ll quit.’

James laughed. ‘Ryan, give it up. We’re fine with the team we’ve got.’

‘James, listen,’ Ryan said firmly. ‘I want to help. I’ve got four months until I turn eighteen. Chances are, I’ll spend that time on campus twiddling my thumbs. This could be my last shot at doing something that matters.’

‘You might also get killed,’ James pointed out. ‘This isn’t a CHERUB mission. It’s a full-on commando raid and you’re seventeen years old.’

‘I know what it is,’ Ryan said. ‘People younger than me died in the trenches in World War One. You can still join the British Army at sixteen, so if there was a war today I’d still be old enough to go fight on the front lines.’

James was torn. He’d worked with Ryan on the massive mission to bring down the Aramov clan. He had no doubt that Ryan was an outstanding agent, and while they could do the mission with five people, a sixth would make life easier and give more of a cushion if things went bad. But it stuck in James’ throat that Ryan was still so young.

‘I want this,’ Ryan said. ‘Think back to when you were my age. You weren’t stupid, were you? You were capable of making your own decisions.’

James felt a tear well in his eye as he remembered his own last days at CHERUB. The sense of going back to being an ordinary person. The feeling that the most exciting part of your life was probably over.

‘You’d be an asset to the mission,’ James admitted, pulling out his phone as Ryan broke into a smile. ‘So, as far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome on my team if you quit CHERUB. But while this mission is off the books, the chairman of CHERUB is still my boss when I get back to campus. So you’ve got to speak to Ewart and make sure this is all OK.’

Ryan smiled as