‘We’ve got to finish this project,’ Ryan explained, as he dragged a pillow over the girls’ project to hide his intention to copy.
Beatha crouched down and looked at some of the sheets that Ryan and Alfie had put together with Pritt Stick and poor scissor skills.
‘This looks really shoddy,’ she said. ‘Why’d you leave it until the last minute?’
Ryan shrugged. ‘Forgot . . . Kinda.’
‘Well you’re not gonna get it done tonight, anyway,’ Beatha said. ‘Ryan, you’re wanted in the meeting room downstairs.’
‘Who?’ he asked anxiously.
Nobody had been fingered for the canal incident, but even after nearly two weeks Ryan and his friends still feared that news would creep back to campus.
‘I don’t know,’ Beatha said. ‘I was heading up and Zara asked me to get you out of bed.’
Zara was CHERUB’s chairwoman.
‘Have I got to shower first?’ Ryan asked.
‘Sounded urgent, so I’d go straight down.’
Ryan smiled pleadingly and put his hands together in mock prayer. ‘Then please can you get me an extension for my project. After all, I had to go on mission business.’
Beatha could be a soft touch, but she snorted as she grabbed Chloe and Grace’s folio off the bed. ‘You should have finished your project days ago, but I will give you a break by taking this back and not reporting you for copying. Especially as you both so kindly agreed to vacuum the entire sixth-floor hallway and stairs this Sunday morning.’
Alfie looked mystified. ‘We did?’
Ryan couldn’t believe Alfie was being so dense. ‘She’s making us.’
‘Oh!’ Alfie said, then his face sank. ‘Ryan, I’ll see how much of this I can get done on my own, but try and get back as soon as you can, yeah?’
‘And open a goddamned window,’ Beatha said, as she headed back into the hallway.
Ryan hurriedly swapped his sweaty Karate suit for a cleanish hoodie and combat trousers and pushed black-soled feet into boots before getting the lift down to the ground-floor meeting room.
As it was just him being called down, he doubted it was anything to do with the canal incident but it was still a relief to step into the conference room to find CHERUB’s chairwoman Zara Asker sitting at the table with Amy Collins and a Texan CIA agent named Ted Brasker.
Ted had played the role of Ryan and Amy’s dad on their California mission and Ryan cracked a big smile. Firstly because Ted was a nice guy, but mainly because his presence guaranteed this was nothing to do with the canal punch-up.
‘You’re sprouting!’ Ted said, as the ex-US Marine locked tattooed arms around Ryan and gave his back a solid thump. ‘A good couple of inches since I last saw you.’
‘Doesn’t smell so good, mind,’ Amy added, as she wafted her hand in front of her face.
Zara laughed and pointed at the far end of the table. ‘Sit up that end, what have you been doing?’
‘I’d shower if I had time,’ Ryan protested. ‘Today I had fitness training and a session in the dojo, and I’m gonna get nailed by old cock fa—’
Zara looked shocked and sat bolt upright. ‘Pardon me?’ she snapped.
‘Err . . . nailed by Mr Gilligan,’ Ryan spluttered, as the colour drained out of his face. ‘I have to get my humanities project finished by the morning or he’ll kill me.’
Zara looked stern. ‘Why do you boys always leave homework until the last minute?’
‘You’ve had plenty of time for Grace, so I hear,’ Amy teased.
Ted burst out laughing. ‘Oh, you’ve got a girlfriend now. Is she a hottie?’
Ryan didn’t answer, but he squirmed with embarrassment as the three adults smirked.
‘I take it I’m here for some reason?’ Ryan said irritably.
‘You still haven’t heard from Ethan?’ Zara asked.
Ryan shook his head. ‘It’s been fifteen days.’
‘Well there’s good news and bad on that score, Ryan,’ Amy said, as she slid some papers down the long meeting table. ‘That’s a copy of a fax intercepted by the Echelon communications monitoring network. It was sent to the Kremlin from an educational consultant named Douglas Miles.’
Ryan skimmed through the text:
Dear Mrs Aramov . . . Pleased to say that based upon his academic credentials your grandson Ethan has been accepted into DESA (Dubai English Speaking Academy) without the requirement for an entrance exam.
Although this new school has less rigorous entry requirements than its more established rivals, I am well acquainted with the senior staff there and can assure you that Ethan will receive a most excellent education . . .
Ryan checked the top of the letter and was pleased to see it had been sent on March 25th.
‘That’s last Friday,’ Ryan said, as he cracked a smile. ‘So I’ve still got no idea why Ethan’s stopped using the Internet, but at least it looks like nothing serious has happened to him.’
Amy nodded. ‘And based upon some other faxes, plus information we’ve intercepted from Douglas Miles’ office, the plan is for Ethan to start at DESA on the first day of summer term. That’s Monday April 16th. A little over two weeks from now.’
Zara took over the conversation. ‘The best thing in that fax is that the school has less rigorous entry requirements. Our nightmare situation at CHERUB is when we have to try getting an agent into a popular or oversubscribed school. We can usually manage it, but never at two or three weeks’ notice. However, as less rigorous entry requirements basically means that the school is desperate and takes any kids whose parents are willing to pay the fees, we’re in luck.’
‘Isn’t it a bit of a heavy coincidence if I turn up there?’ Ryan said.
‘Not you, obviously,’ Amy said, smiling at the thought. ‘When Ethan arrives at DESA there are going to be two other new kids who we hope will become his new best friends. CHERUB agents of course. A boy to be his mate, and a girl who can stir up Ethan’s teenage hormones. You can work closely with them.’
‘But what can they find out that I don’t know already?’ Ryan asked.
Amy explained. ‘People your age can be fickle. We have to accept the possibility that Ethan has stopped communicating with you simply because he’s bored. Maybe he’s made a new friend in Kyrgyzstan. Maybe he’s been swept off his feet by that Natalka girl he mentions all the time in his MSN conversations.
‘Secondly, it’s worth sending in more agents because any information we can get about the Aramov Clan is incredibly important. Their planes supply arms that fuel wars in Africa, tons of drugs transported from growers in Afghanistan and South America to markets in Europe and America, plus counterfeit goods and hundreds of young girls to sex traffickers.’
Ted put the argument more concisely. ‘If you get the Aramovs’ transportation network, you cut the legs off of a dozen other crime syndicates. But the Aramovs have got powerful friends in China and Russia, and practically every senior cop, general and politician in Kyrgyzstan is in their pocket. So we have to tread delicately and Ethan is our only window into the top level of the Aramov organisation.’
‘Ryan, you’re the only person in this room who knows Ethan well,’ Zara said. ‘You know most of the kids your age on campus. So which boy and girl would you pick as good prospects to make friends with Ethan?’
Ryan shifted awkwardly in his chair. ‘People might get upset with me if they know I didn’t pick them.’
Zara nodded. ‘Whatever you say will stay in this room.’
‘Do they have to be experienced?’ Ryan asked.
Amy answered this one. ‘The mission looks standard at this stage, but you never know with these things. Your mission in California looked routine when it started, but that ended up with murders and explosions and all sorts.’
‘OK,’ Ryan said thoughtfully. ‘Ethan’s OK-looking, but he’s kinda skinny and he’s gonna know something’s weird if a really hot girl comes on to him. I’d go with someone like Ning. I mean, she’
s not a dog, but she’s not smoking hot either.’
Zara interrupted. ‘Doesn’t Ning have previous with Leonid Aramov?’
Amy nodded. ‘Ning escaped from China via Kyrgyzstan. Leonid Aramov tortured Ning and killed her stepmother.’
‘But Ethan was in California at that time, so there’s no possible way that he could ever have seen Ning,’ Ryan said. ‘It’s not like Leonid Aramov is gonna be turning up at DESA for parents’ evenings, and I’d think Ning will be happy to get involved in any mission that might help bring down the people who killed her stepmother.’
Amy nodded in agreement. ‘Ning also did well in basic training, and the way she’s found friends and settled in since arriving on campus bodes well for her ability to become fast friends with Ethan.’
‘Ning it is then,’ Zara said, ‘as long as you’re certain that nobody will recognise her. And for the boy?’
‘It could be my mate Max, I guess,’ Ryan said. ‘I know he gets in heaps of trouble, but I’m sure Ethan would get his sense of humour.’
Zara seemed less sure, leaning forward and steepling her fingers. ‘I’d be very concerned about Max being able to focus on a slow-burning mission. I think he’ll make a good agent in the long run, but he’s yet to demonstrate that he can control his mischievous personality over a long mission.’
Ryan didn’t want to slag his friend off, but Zara probably had a point and he kept quiet.
‘Alfie then,’ Ryan said, as he realised that he was basically rolling off the names of his best friends. ‘He’s actually a year younger than me and Ethan, but he’s big so he can easily pass for thirteen.’
Zara was more positive about this idea and wagged her finger. ‘Yes!’ she said. ‘And that nice French accent of his would fit in perfectly at an international school.’
‘Plus Alfie plays the flute,’ Ryan said. ‘So even chess players and computer nerds will have something to look down on.’
‘Ted and I will work on mission briefings and backgrounds on the Aramov Clan for Alfie and Ning,’ Amy said. ‘I’ll need you to write a report containing everything you know about Ethan, Ryan, along with any strategies you can think of for Ning and Alfie to pal up with him.’
Ryan sighed. ‘I’m kinda busy,’ he said. ‘To get this done I’ll need you to give me a pass to get out of my humanities project?’
Zara rocked back in her chair and stared into Ryan’s eyes as if she was digging for some hidden truth.
‘One pass on the geography project and five one-lesson passes so that you’ve got time to write the report properly,’ Zara said, and then in a harsher tone accompanied by a wagging finger, ‘but I expect you to be working in those hours, not mucking about.’
Ryan was happy enough with a pass and getting out of five hours’ lessons, but he kept his involuntary grin under control.
‘Oh and one other thing before you go up to bed,’ Zara said. ‘From now on you shower after every training session no matter how busy your schedule gets. Come in here stinking up my meeting room again and I’ll personally take you over to vehicle maintenance and hose you off in the car wash.’
13. UNIFORM
13 April (two weeks later)
‘So you’re not shovelling horse manure any more?’ Natalka asked.
She was in the Kremlin lobby with Ethan, awaiting a car that was supposed to take them to Dordoi Bazaar.
‘Grandma’s put her foot down,’ Ethan explained. ‘Leonid didn’t want me going to school in Dubai, but she told the old fart to mind his own. I’ve had all the uniform delivered, bags are packed and I told Grandma that I needed to go into town for some deodorant and pens and stuff.’
Natalka went unusually quiet, staring down at her wrecked turquoise Converse.
‘Ahh!’ Ethan smiled. ‘You’re all sad. You’re gonna miss me!’
He expected Natalka to tell him to piss off, or maybe a shoulder punch, but she looked across and nodded grudgingly.
‘You’re the only person I can have an intelligent conversation with around here,’ she said. ‘But don’t let that go to your head, or I’ll slap you one.’
Natalka saying she’d miss Ethan gave his self-esteem a nice boost.
‘Stop grinning,’ Natalka said, regretting her honesty.
‘Your mum’s still here,’ Ethan said. ‘I’ve only met her a couple of times, but she’s cool.’
Natalka tutted. ‘My mum’s great, but she’s away flying half the time. Besides, mums and mates aren’t the same thing.’
‘What about Vladimir?’ Ethan asked. ‘Your blond bimbo.’
Natalka suddenly looked angry. ‘Screw him. He’s getting tight with Boris and Alex and their manners are rubbing off on him.’
‘Partying with Chinese girls, I heard,’ Ethan said.
Natalka tutted again and changed the subject. ‘So, you got the memory key from Leonid’s office?’
Ethan nodded, then patted the pocket of his jeans. ‘I pulled it when I went to play Wii with Andre last night. We’ll find a web café and upload it for Ryan. But it’s been four weeks, so I hope he’s not forgotten about me.’
‘Can’t you look at what’s in the files yourself?’
‘Not without my own computer,’ Ethan said. ‘And it might be risky spending hours going through Aramov stuff in a web café. The good news is, every kid has to have a laptop at my new school. And since I’ll need it for homework and stuff, I don’t see how Leonid can stop me from bringing it home for holidays.’
A trashed Mercedes M-class 4×4 was rolling up outside. One of the Aramovs’ many Kremlin-based flunkies put a hairy arm out of the driver’s-side window.
‘Taking you to the bazaar, yeah?’ he shouted.
The driver was stubbly and looked like he’d gone a while since his last decent wash, but he got excited when he realised he’d be driving an Aramov and made a big fuss of getting out and opening the door for Ethan, while Natalka fended for herself.
‘Cigarette?’ the driver asked, as he floored the accelerator and got a little squeal out of the back tyres.
‘Thanks,’ Natalka said, as she snatched the packet off the armrest.
*
Ning swished a changing-room curtain and looked at herself standing before a mirrored wall: grey tights, grey pleated skirt, blue and white striped blouse and a straw hat.
‘I feel like such a twonk,’ Ning said.
They were in the school uniform section of one of Dubai’s biggest department stores. Alfie was in no position to criticise, because he looked almost as bad in the boys’ version of DESA’s uniform, but Ryan was only in Dubai to dole out Ethan-related advice and couldn’t resist taking the piss.
‘Don’t worry,’ Ryan said, as he looked on dressed in cargo shorts and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt. ‘You’ve only got to wear those monkey suits for ten or twelve hours a day, six days a week.’
‘Wool makes me itch,’ Alfie said, as he rubbed his blazer. ‘And who makes kids wear a get-up like this in the middle of a desert?’
Over at a glass counter, Amy Collins stood by a mound of brand new PE kit, while an Indian clerk with a dodgy wig went through drawers looking for gym shorts in Alfie’s size.
‘The computer says we have them,’ he said, when his head bobbed up. ‘But this isn’t my department and I can’t find them.’
Ryan looked at Alfie. ‘If you don’t have shorts, I bet they’ll make you do PE in your underpants.’
Alfie tutted. ‘Ryan, if you don’t shut up I will fart on your head when we get back to the hotel.’
‘I’m greased lightning,’ Ryan said, adopting a boxing stance and throwing half a dozen quick punches. ‘You wouldn’t get that fat piggy butt of yours anywhere near me.’
‘I’m starving,’ Ning moaned, as she stepped back into the changing cubicle, swapping the uniform for jeans and a singlet. ‘Can we get something to eat after this?’
They’d only arrived in Dubai the night before, but only Amy seemed to be suffering jet lag.
�
�One shopping trip with you three is more than enough to persuade me never to have kids,’ Amy said wearily, as the assistant blipped several hundred dollars’ worth of school uniform and PE kit through a barcode reader. ‘It’s probably easiest to get room service back at the hotel.’
‘Can’t we just get something quick?’ Alfie asked. ‘Burgers or something.’
‘There’s a food court,’ Ning added. ‘I think we’ve got to go back past it on the way to the hire car.’
‘When I get back to my room I’m having at least three gin and tonics from the minibar,’ Amy said.
‘Me too,’ Ryan joked.
The mall was quiet and they found themselves amidst less than a dozen diners in a food court with over two hundred tables. All the kids got McDonald’s, while Amy went for the strongest coffee on Starbucks’ menu and hoped the caffeine would give her a boost.
Amy looked at Ning and Alfie. ‘When we get back to the hotel I don’t want you two bouncing off the walls. Relax, have a swim or whatever. Then I want you to go back to your rooms and work. This will be your last proper chance to read through your notes on Ethan. Ryan, you be on hand to help them with any questions.’
‘I had one idea,’ Ning said, as she chomped a cheeseburger. ‘I’ve tried learning chess, but based on what Ryan’s shown me so far I’ll never be able to play competitively against Ethan. So I was thinking that if I got friendly with Ethan I could ask him to teach me to play chess.’
Amy nodded. ‘I’ve certainly heard worse ideas.’
Alfie tutted. ‘You could have thought of that before we spent days reading boring-arsed books on chess strategies.’
As Alfie spoke, Ryan’s BlackBerry chimed to indicate a text message.
‘Now who might that be?’ Alfie said, grinning.
The text was from Grace. Alfie read it over Ryan’s shoulder and burst out laughing:
U scum sucking dick hole. I hate U. UR dead!
‘She’s gonna kick your arse,’ Alfie predicted.
‘What’s this all about?’ Amy asked.
‘Grace is so possessive,’ Ryan said. ‘Texting me all the time, wanting to know where I’m going. I want a girlfriend to hang out with and have a bit of fun, but she was like a 24/7 job.’
CHERUB: Guardian Angel Page 8