Read Online New Guard (CHERUB) by Robert Muchamore - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Robert Muchamore
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company with Leon and Oli, Daniel passed through the old lady’s front gate, crossed the street, walked right for fifty metres and grabbed the rear door of a Mercedes van with a hire company logo on the side. James sat on a folding chair in the cavernous rear compartment, watching video from inside the house on his laptop.
The screen showed the feed from six different cameras. In the top left corner, the disabled man was walking around, apparently cured of his paralysis. The centre of the bottom row showed Oli running down the driveway and Leon behind, dragging the wheeled suitcase.
‘Did you get good audio?’ Daniel asked.
James made a fake shudder. ‘That kid has the moral compass of a sewer rat.’
‘I did like you told me, boss. Took the high ground, gave Oli plenty of opportunities to question whether he was doing the right thing.’
‘I heard every word,’ James said. ‘You were great.’
‘But it could be trauma or something,’ Daniel suggested.
James looked confused. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Like, Oli’s been an orphan his whole life. In and out of care homes. Maybe if he got the opportunity to be in a better environment he’d become a better person.’
James snorted. ‘And let me guess, you’d like another week or so to study Oli in great detail and try to unearth this buried potential?’
‘CHERUB is supposed to be short of recruits,’ Daniel said.
James broke into a big grin. ‘My cynical side thinks you’re just trying to delay your return to campus. As if you had some kind of horrible punishment hanging over your head, or something.’
Daniel gave it a final shot. ‘I just think Oli deserves a fuller assessment.’
‘So do I,’ James said.
Daniel’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Really?’
‘The latest policy is to spend as much time and effort as possible on testing potential recruits, before they reach campus and learn the secret of CHERUB. Not like in my day, when you just woke up on campus after being drugged and got warned that nobody would believe if you said anything.’
‘Waking up naked was creepy too,’ Daniel noted.
‘And you’re not the only one keen to stay off campus,’ James added. ‘Every day there’s a half-metre stack of paperwork, and John Jones blaring in my earhole. Budget reports, mission briefings, threat meetings, education liaison meetings, ethics committee meetings, post mission reintegration plans. And when I’m out here on a mission, all of that becomes SEP.’
‘SEP?’
‘Somebody Else’s Problem,’ James explained.
Daniel cracked a big smile. ‘So how long we gonna study Oli for? Two weeks?’
‘That’s probably pushing it,’ James said, smirking. ‘But I totally need to finish watching the last three seasons of Game of Thrones . And on a serious note, the intelligence service is putting so much effort into infiltrating Islamic State, that I think we can justify a bit more time to investigate the remote possibility that Oli didn’t invent the whole terrorist thing.’
‘Love Game of Thrones ,’ Daniel said. ‘One of the carers made me take my nudie of Emilia Clarke from inside my wardrobe door.’
‘Which one’s she?’ James asked.
‘Daenerys, the dragon lady.’
‘She’s totally my dream girl,’ James said, before clearing his throat abruptly. ‘After Kerry, obviously.’
‘Obviously, boss.’
James smiled. ‘In the spirit of thoroughly assessing young Oliver, I suppose we ought to test his mettle in a tense scenario, yes?’
Daniel nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’ll head off now. With any luck, Oli will get his ass bit.’
James tapped an icon on his laptop screen. ‘You there, Michael … ? Leon and Oli have left the house. They should be in sight any second now.’
‘Go left,’ Leon told Oli, as they reached a T-junction. ‘We can hide out at my cousin’s place while the heat dies down.’
Oli was chuffed about the robbery and even more full of himself than usual. ‘Screw your cousin and his
The screen showed the feed from six different cameras. In the top left corner, the disabled man was walking around, apparently cured of his paralysis. The centre of the bottom row showed Oli running down the driveway and Leon behind, dragging the wheeled suitcase.
‘Did you get good audio?’ Daniel asked.
James made a fake shudder. ‘That kid has the moral compass of a sewer rat.’
‘I did like you told me, boss. Took the high ground, gave Oli plenty of opportunities to question whether he was doing the right thing.’
‘I heard every word,’ James said. ‘You were great.’
‘But it could be trauma or something,’ Daniel suggested.
James looked confused. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Like, Oli’s been an orphan his whole life. In and out of care homes. Maybe if he got the opportunity to be in a better environment he’d become a better person.’
James snorted. ‘And let me guess, you’d like another week or so to study Oli in great detail and try to unearth this buried potential?’
‘CHERUB is supposed to be short of recruits,’ Daniel said.
James broke into a big grin. ‘My cynical side thinks you’re just trying to delay your return to campus. As if you had some kind of horrible punishment hanging over your head, or something.’
Daniel gave it a final shot. ‘I just think Oli deserves a fuller assessment.’
‘So do I,’ James said.
Daniel’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Really?’
‘The latest policy is to spend as much time and effort as possible on testing potential recruits, before they reach campus and learn the secret of CHERUB. Not like in my day, when you just woke up on campus after being drugged and got warned that nobody would believe if you said anything.’
‘Waking up naked was creepy too,’ Daniel noted.
‘And you’re not the only one keen to stay off campus,’ James added. ‘Every day there’s a half-metre stack of paperwork, and John Jones blaring in my earhole. Budget reports, mission briefings, threat meetings, education liaison meetings, ethics committee meetings, post mission reintegration plans. And when I’m out here on a mission, all of that becomes SEP.’
‘SEP?’
‘Somebody Else’s Problem,’ James explained.
Daniel cracked a big smile. ‘So how long we gonna study Oli for? Two weeks?’
‘That’s probably pushing it,’ James said, smirking. ‘But I totally need to finish watching the last three seasons of Game of Thrones . And on a serious note, the intelligence service is putting so much effort into infiltrating Islamic State, that I think we can justify a bit more time to investigate the remote possibility that Oli didn’t invent the whole terrorist thing.’
‘Love Game of Thrones ,’ Daniel said. ‘One of the carers made me take my nudie of Emilia Clarke from inside my wardrobe door.’
‘Which one’s she?’ James asked.
‘Daenerys, the dragon lady.’
‘She’s totally my dream girl,’ James said, before clearing his throat abruptly. ‘After Kerry, obviously.’
‘Obviously, boss.’
James smiled. ‘In the spirit of thoroughly assessing young Oliver, I suppose we ought to test his mettle in a tense scenario, yes?’
Daniel nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’ll head off now. With any luck, Oli will get his ass bit.’
James tapped an icon on his laptop screen. ‘You there, Michael … ? Leon and Oli have left the house. They should be in sight any second now.’
‘Go left,’ Leon told Oli, as they reached a T-junction. ‘We can hide out at my cousin’s place while the heat dies down.’
Oli was chuffed about the robbery and even more full of himself than usual. ‘Screw your cousin and his
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