Ning looked about curiously as she re-entered the warm carpeted world of the airport terminal.
‘Does anybody know what’s going on?’ Jean asked, as she pulled a BlackBerry out of her coat pocket.
Nobody answered, but the girl who did know was hurrying towards them in jeans, trainers and a scruffy grey T-shirt. She broke into a huge relieved smile as she shook Ning’s hand.
‘Hi, Ning,’ Amy said. ‘Looks like I caught you just in time.’
40. BURGER
Amy took Ning to the airport Burger King. They faced each other across a glossy table top, with a plastic tray between them.
‘So,’ Amy said, as she blew on her coffee, ‘I expect you’re confused.’
Ning smiled awkwardly as she peeled waxed paper away from her cheeseburger.
‘I’ve got a picture that you might find interesting,’ Amy said, as she rummaged in her bag. She pulled out a photo printed with a dodgy inkjet cartridge, so that it looked all pink.
Ning gawped as Amy slid it across the table. There were three women in British Army uniform, and the one on the right was Ingrid, looking about twenty.
‘That’s my stepmum,’ Ning gasped.
‘I was able to access a version of the UK military personnel database that isn’t available to agencies like the immigration service,’ Amy explained. ‘It wasn’t hard to find her, because Ingrid isn’t a very common name in the UK. Your stepmother’s real name was Ingrid Miller, born in 1970 in Bootle, Merseyside. The woman on Ingrid’s right is called Tracy Hepburn. She wasn’t your stepmother’s sister, she was an army friend, and I suspect she’s the lady who sent you presents on your birthday.’
‘Ingrid claimed she was thirty-seven,’ Ning said. ‘But I guess she lied about her age along with everything else. So does Ingrid have any real relatives?’
‘Her parents both died before you were born. Ingrid does have a real sister called Melanie. She’s married and lives in Manchester. I don’t think she’s the kind of auntie you’d want to end up living with though. She’s been in and out of prison for drug and shoplifting offences and two of her own children have been taken into care.’
‘That about sums up my luck,’ Ning said.
‘Don’t worry,’ Amy said. ‘I looked into Ingrid’s background purely to determine how much truth there was in the statements you gave to the police and your immigration officer.’
‘It’s all true,’ Ning said.
‘I know,’ Amy said. ‘You don’t need to worry about being shipped back to China. The British secret service will support your application for citizenship, provided you agree to help us. The organisation I work for is investigating the Aramov Clan and I’ll need to give you a detailed debriefing on everything that you saw in Kyrgyzstan.’
‘I don’t mind that,’ Ning agreed. ‘Though I didn’t exactly see much.’
‘You’d be amazed how often tiny details can turn out to be critical in an investigation,’ Amy said. She glanced around to make sure nobody was close by and then spoke in a lower register. ‘I’d also like you to visit a place called CHERUB campus, with a view to becoming one of their agents.’
English wasn’t Ning’s first language and she thought she might have misunderstood. ‘Agent?’
‘The principle behind CHERUB is simple,’ Amy said. ‘Adults rarely suspect that children are spying on them.
‘For instance, I’m twenty-three. If I went undercover, became a drug dealer’s girlfriend and started asking a lot of questions about his business, he’d probably suspect that I was an undercover policewoman. But if you started hanging out on that drug dealer’s patch, maybe you’d approach the dealer and ask if you could earn some pocket money working as a lookout or something. As far as the dealer is concerned you’re a kid. You can’t be a snitch or an undercover agent because you’re eleven years old.’
‘Twelve,’ Ning said. ‘I had my birthday last week.’
‘CHERUB agents need to be a cut above,’ Amy explained. ‘Physically strong and clever. Trained to run fast, or fight their way out if things get hairy. You’ll have to undergo a set of recruitment tests before CHERUB can accept you. After that you’ll face a hundred days of basic training which is very tough indeed. But according to your school records—’
Ning looked surprised as she interrupted. ‘I went to school in China.’
‘I’ve done my homework on you,’ Amy said, wagging her finger. ‘We got a Chinese-based CIA officer to bribe an education official in Dandong. I’ve read through copies of your entire education file, going back to when you were three years old.’
‘I’d love to read those,’ Ning said. ‘I’ve always wondered what people were writing while I was getting yelled at.’
‘I doubt any of it would surprise you,’ Amy said. ‘Apparently you’re clever but easily bored and disrespectful towards adults. The English translation that I read had the phrase heading for trouble a hundred and six times.’
‘But you still want me?’ Ning asked.
‘Kids who are clever and obedient tend not to make the best CHERUB agents. Troublemakers tend to be bolder and more creative, and CHERUB needs people who can think for themselves on undercover missions.’
Ning felt hopeful for the first time in weeks as she pushed the last piece of her cheeseburger into her mouth.
‘I always used to wind my teachers up by saying that I wanted to be a rock star or a terrorist,’ Ning said. ‘I never thought about being a secret agent, but I guess that could be fun too.’
*
After stopping at the hotel to pack up and pay the bill, Amy and Ning boarded the next London-bound train. They had a first class carriage almost to themselves and they sat facing each other.
Amy had a list of over two hundred questions for Ning, covering everything from whether the Aramov Clan’s pilots had seemed happy with their lot, to whether Leonid Aramov favoured his left or right hand. But she decided to leave a tough and potentially upsetting questioning until she’d had more time to gain Ning’s trust.
As the scenery whizzed by, Ning sprawled over her seat as Amy told her life story:
Her parents died in an accident when she was a baby, she’d joined CHERUB at five with her older brother John. She’d become a successful agent, gone to university in Australia, run a diving school, lived with an older guy who’d been a jerk, worked as a bodyguard, and then six months earlier accepted an offer to work for TFU in the United States.
In return, Ning took Amy through her story, from being one of thousands of female babies abandoned in the Chinese countryside every year, into orphanages, getting adopted by Chaoxiang and Ingrid, joining the National Academy for Sport, getting kicked out of the National Academy for Sport …
Amy didn’t want Ning to get sad and changed the subject when they got to Chaoxiang’s arrest. She reduced Ning to laughter as she tried speaking Chinese phrases learned during a language course many years earlier.
‘You’re asking to ride on a cup of coffee,’ Ning explained, as they rolled into a platform.
Amy panicked when she saw the sign. ‘This is us,’ she said, jumping up and grabbing Ning’s pack from the overhead rack.
*
Because CHERUB campus is a secret facility, new agents only discover its location after they’ve been recruited. The standard procedure for potential recruits aged nine or over is to be drugged and brought to campus with no prior knowledge.
The recruit then wakes up in a bed on campus, naked and with a set of CHERUB uniform laid out for them. The way that the candidate reacts to this bewildering and frightening experience forms part of their recruitment process: kids who stay composed and try to understand the situation stand a better chance than kids who start screaming for their mummy at the first sign of stress.
But Ning had been burned and tortured. Waking up groggy and naked might freak her out, so she’d receive the gentler introduction usually reserved for the under-nines.
A van and driver waited in the station car p
ark. The rear compartment had four comfortable chairs, along with a selection of magazines and books, a fridge containing bottles of juice and water and a flip-down TV. The driver’s cab was blocked off and there were no side windows, but it wasn’t dark when the doors closed because there was a smoked glass panel in the roof.
The station was only twenty minutes’ drive from campus, but the driver took a tortuous route through nearby towns and villages designed to give Ning the impression that they’d travelled much further than they really had. When he opened the back doors, they were in a gravel parking lot with the entrance to a small reception building off to one side and helipads behind it.
‘I’ll be right back,’ Amy told Ning as she jumped out of the van and broke into a sprint. ‘I’m absolutely busting.’
Ning smiled as she watched Amy charge through a set of doors. She looked across lawns and trees at a large white building.
‘That’s the swimming and diving complex,’ a boy said, startling Ning as he stopped behind her.
He was decent looking, with scruffy black hair and a silver stud earring. He wore combat trousers and a grey T-shirt that gave Ning her first glimpse of the CHERUB logo.
‘Ryan Sharma,’ he said. ‘They’ve asked me to show you around.’
Although Ning was the one on strange turf, it was Ryan who felt awkward as they shook hands. He’d read Ning’s file so that he could help with the recruitment process, but it felt weird meeting someone for the first time when he’d already read her school records and seen pictures of her injuries.
‘That’s the pool complex up there,’ Ryan explained, then he turned and pointed back towards the eight-storey building behind them. ‘That’s the main building. Archives in the basement, admin and canteen on the ground floor. More admin on the second and third, staff quarters fourth and fifth and the kids live on the sixth through eighth.’
‘How many?’ Ning asked.
‘Three hundred-ish,’ Ryan said. ‘But about seventy of those are red-shirts, which means they’re too young to go on missions. And at any given time you’ve got maybe half the qualified agents away on missions or training exercises, which means there’s never more than about two hundred kids actually on campus.’
‘The lawns look beautiful,’ Ning said.
Ryan laughed. ‘If you misbehave, you’ll get plenty of chances to mow them. We’d better step inside reception and get you kitted out.’
The reception area was built underneath a helipad. Ryan led Ning down metal steps into a slightly gloomy windowless space. There were X-ray machines and airport-style security barriers, but these were only used when adults arrived, or when there was a big event such as a campus reunion.
As Amy came out of the toilet, Ryan was going through a metal-doored cabinet, trying to find an orange CHERUB T-shirt, combat trousers and boots in Ning’s size.
‘Can’t I have a black T-shirt?’ Ning asked, as Ryan handed Ning a pile of stuff.
Amy and Ryan both laughed.
‘The orange T-shirt is for new arrivals on campus,’ Amy explained, as she went into a cabinet and grabbed a white T-shirt for herself. ‘It’s like a warning signal, so that people don’t discuss secret stuff in your presence, and agents can only talk to you if the chairwoman authorises it. The other T-shirts are based upon your rank and black is the highest. Ryan’s grey, which is for newly qualified agents, and I’m putting on white, which is for staff and retired agents.’
Ryan looked away as Ning and Amy changed.
‘I’ve got some work to prepare on your debriefing,’ Amy said, as she stood up. ‘Ryan will take you to meet the chairwoman, then he’ll give you a tour of campus.’
‘When do I start the recruitment tests?’ Ning asked.
‘It’s nearly two already,’ Ryan said. ‘There won’t be time today, so tomorrow most likely.’
41. AUTOMATIC
Ning had been awake since 4 a.m., but she felt reinvigorated and was well up for the campus tour. Zara let Ryan use one of the electric buggies that were usually reserved for staff and he drove Ning on a grand circuit, taking in all the main campus features, from the mission control building, through the basic training area, past the lake, the martial arts training dojo and the athletics track.
They stopped a few times along the way. Ning didn’t like the look of the height obstacle. She petted the guinea pigs and beagles in the junior block, got introduced to Ryan’s youngest brother Theo, talked Ryan into letting her drive the buggy and watched a couple of overs of cricket while he tried to explain the rules.
Their final stop was the pool and a tear streaked down Ning’s cheek as they stood by the huge windows watching campus’ youngest residents splashing about in a kiddie pool, accompanied by a platoon of bright yellow ducks.
‘You OK?’ Ryan said, reaching across to put an arm around Ning’s back but then deciding that she might not like it.
‘It’s cool here,’ Ning said, as she looked Ryan right in the eyes. ‘This is a chance of a new life, but what if I fail the recruitment tests?’
Ryan shrugged. ‘There’s no point stressing over it. All you can do is try your best.’
‘But where would I end up?’
‘CHERUB won’t abandon you,’ Ryan said. ‘Zara would find you foster-parents or something. But I don’t think you’ve got much to worry about. You look like a tough nut to me.’
‘I’ve been in better shape,’ Ning said nervously. ‘Apart from a couple of basketball games at Kirkcaldy I’ve not exercised in weeks.’
‘They take factors like that into account,’ Ryan said, but he didn’t want Ning getting depressed and changed the subject. ‘So, are you hungry?’
Ning drove the buggy for the final few hundred metres from the pool to the main building. Once Ryan had plugged the buggy into its recharging socket he led Ning to the dining-room. It was almost five, and there were about forty kids either queuing at food stations or eating at the tables. Being a Friday, most of them were happy and many were rushing because they were heading out for the cinema or bowling in the nearest town.
‘Food smells all right,’ Ning said.
Ryan nodded. ‘It doesn’t look much different to a regular school canteen, but the cooks have mostly worked here for years and they’re decent. If you like steak they do great steak on Fridays. It’s organic, from one of the local farms. The only thing is it’s cooked to order so you have to wait a few minutes. Or do you only like Chinese food?’
Ning didn’t reply, but Ryan caught a look that made him realise he’d said something stupid.
‘Steak medium, with mushroom, chips and pepper sauce,’ Ryan said, when they reached the service counter.
‘I’ll call in about ten minutes,’ the chef said, as he passed Ryan a numbered ticket. ‘What about your orange friend?’
‘I’ll try the steak,’ Ning said. ‘It can’t be any worse than the filth I’ve been eating at Kirkcaldy.’
They grabbed drinks and cutlery and headed for a table.
‘Yo-yo, Rybo!’ Max shouted, then more quietly. ‘Oh, you’ve got your orange-shirt with you.’
‘Come meet my mates,’ Ryan told Ning.
‘Is Rybo your nickname?’ Ning asked.
‘No it isn’t,’ Ryan said irritably, as he led Ning to a table where Max sat next to Alfie. A couple of Ryan’s other mates sat nearby, while Grace, Chloe and a few younger girls were at the next table.
‘This is Ning,’ Ryan said, loud enough for the whole group to hear. ‘She’s in an orange shirt, but Zara says people can talk to her. Just use common sense and don’t give all our secrets away.’
Most people said hello, but Max always had to be a smart arse and greeted her in a dreary sing-song voice. ‘Hello, Ning, it’s lovely to meet you and welcome to CHERUB campus.’
‘All right, Black, stop stalling,’ a black boy called Aaron said as he sat opposite Max and banged his elbow on the table. ‘Time to put your money where your very large mouth is.’
As Ryan and
Ning found empty seats, they saw a little mound of pound coins on the table between Aaron and Max.
‘Do you have arm-wrestling in China?’ Ryan said, as Max and Aaron eyed each other up and gripped hands.
‘I think I’ve seen it,’ Ning said.
Alfie was acting as referee, and knelt at the end of the table as Max and Aaron gripped each other’s hands.
‘Ready?’ Alfie asked. ‘Three, two, one, wrestle.’
Max and Aaron’s faces contorted as they tried pinning the other’s hand to the table. Aaron got the early advantage, but Max had stamina. It took half a minute, but Max shot up and yelled to celebrate his victory.
‘You suck,’ Max shouted. ‘It’s my money.’
Ning looked at Max. ‘Can I try your game?’
Max looked at Ning and scoffed. ‘No offence, but we’re all highly trained. I don’t think you’d be much competition.’
‘I’m not in the best shape,’ Ning said politely, as she curled her arm to show off a rather impressive bicep. ‘I’d just like to try it.’
Max seemed slightly mystified. ‘Maybe you should ask one of the girls?’
Ryan knew Ning had some boxing experience and was pretty strong, but Max was in top shape and did a line in explosive one-armed push-ups that he couldn’t match.
‘No, with you,’ Ning said. ‘I know I won’t win. But can’t you just show me?’
‘Well, if you insist,’ Max said awkwardly.
Aaron gave his chair to Ning as Max sat back down.
Ryan compared the two arms as they lined up across the table. Max was about the same height as Ning, but her arm was much longer, giving her a reach that would be a huge advantage in the boxing ring.
He didn’t notice an even more important difference until Max and Ning grasped each other’s hands. Max’s arm was bulkier, and had more muscle, but the tendons in Ning’s arm were different to any others Ryan had ever seen.
With her wrists clenched, the lower half of Ning’s arm formed a thick triangle that looked like the sail of a boat. You can build muscles with fitness training, but the position of the tendons that transmit the power of your muscles is purely down to genetics. As soon as Ryan saw it, he understood why sports scientists had picked Ning as an elite boxer out of the twenty million kids born in China each year.
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