CHERUB: Man vs Beast (30 page)

‘Bloody hell,’ James gasped, clutching his chest with fright.

Cheers erupted as a little red-shirt girl called Lyra dangled her legs off the side of the overhead bin and jumped down on to the metal floor.

‘Gotcha James,’ Lauren grinned, as Lyra collected half a dozen chocolate bars from James’ mates in return for the ten minutes she’d spent crammed into the overhead locker.

‘Show us,’ James said, grabbing Lauren’s phone and looking at the picture of his gawping mouth on the screen.

He could see the funny side as he settled into his seat and buckled his belt.

‘Zara’s coming up the steps,’ Kyle announced. ‘Looks like she’s the last one.’

Lauren glanced out of the window and saw Zara carrying a stroller up the steps. Ewart walked behind her with Joshua and Tiffany in his arms.

‘I wonder who’s looking after Meatball while they’re away,’ Lauren said.

‘Probably Mr Large,’ Kyle said. ‘He lives in the bungalow next to the Askers and he’s already got dogs.’

‘
What?
’ Lauren gasped. ‘Large’s dogs are dirty great massive bloody Rottweilers. They’ll
eat
him.’

James giggled, ‘Large will have Meatball up at four o’clock every morning, making him run a little doggy assault course and doing doggy push-ups.’

‘Shut
up
, James,’ Lauren said, clearly worried.

Kyle spoke reassuringly, ‘Seriously Lauren, don’t get upset about it. Large and his partner have got five or six dogs. I’ve seen them in town with their daughter and a little Jack Russell.’

‘Besides,’ Bethany said, ‘he’s hardly gonna let Thatcher and Saddam eat the chairman’s dog, is he?’

James tutted. ‘Lauren, you weren’t supposed to go blabbing about that to Bethany.’

‘I didn’t tell her anything,’ Lauren said indignantly. ‘They announced that Zara’s the new chairman at dinner last night. You would have found out if you hadn’t been over at the lake with Kerry.’

Kerry didn’t have a clue. ‘Zara’s the new chairman?’ she grinned.

‘Yep,’ Kyle nodded.

‘That’s
so
cool. I thought it was going to be some old fart from outside.’

As Zara stepped on to the plane, everyone started clapping, cheering and chanting
chairman, chairman, chairman
. Zara broke into a big smile and turned bright red.

‘I hope you’re all this enthusiastic when you get in trouble,’ Zara said. ‘Thank you.’

‘How can she be the chairman?’ Rat asked.

Lauren shrugged. ‘Maybe she’ll be the chairwoman.’

‘Or she could have a sex change,’ James said.

The pilot’s voice came over the intercom. ‘
Good morning, everyone. I’ve just been told that all our passengers are on board. The stairs are being rolled back and the cockpit doors are closing as we speak. Could all passengers fasten their seat-belts, secure their tray tables and remain seated until we’ve reached a cruising altitude. We’ve been given an immediate take-off slot, so we should be taking to the air in under five minutes
.’

A big cheer went up as the plane started to roll. They were flying out of a small military airfield near to CHERUB campus and it took less than a minute to taxi to the beginning of the runway. After a jarring halt and a brief pause, the pilot opened the engines up to full blast and all manner of interior fittings began flapping and groaning as the aged jet belted down the runway.

‘You know it’s so cool,’ James grinned to Kerry. ‘You, me, Lauren, Kyle and Bruce all getting to go to the hostel at the same time this year.’

‘Pity about Gabrielle getting a mission at the last minute,’ Kerry said. ‘But I still reckon it’s gonna be the best summer ever.’

In the next row forward, Lauren reached into her Nike gym bag to pull out a Just Seventeen magazine and noticed a mysterious dark object at the bottom. It felt greasy to the touch and she immediately pulled it out and scowled back at her brother through the gap in the seats.

‘James,’ Lauren screamed over the roar of the engines. ‘What the
hell
is this?’

‘Looks like lamb chop to me,’ James said, as Kyle smiled and Rat burst out laughing.

‘It’s not funny you know,’ Lauren yelled. ‘That was a beautiful, living animal.’

‘Beautiful with mint sauce and gravy,’ James smirked.

As the aircraft left the ground, Lauren aimed the chop at her brother’s head.

‘You just wait till that seat-belt light goes off, James. I’m gonna kick your arse.’ Then she turned around and thumped Rat on the arm. ‘It’s
not
funny.’

James looked at Kerry, but got a disapproving look.

‘Great start,’ Kerry huffed. ‘You and Lauren will probably be on punishment for fighting before we even arrive.’

James smirked at Kyle, who thought James was mean but couldn’t help laughing.

‘You think she’s angry now,’ James whispered. ‘Just wait until she finds the chicken nugget hidden inside her swimming costume.’

RHIANNON JULES, a.k.a. JO, was one of twenty-three people brought to trial in connection with the Animal Freedom Army’s kidnapping of Nick Cobb. Following a three-week trial she was sentenced to eighteen years in prison. KENNET MARCUSSEN a.k.a. MARK, ADELAIDE KENT and VIV CARTER were each sentenced to twelve years in prison and JAY BUCKLE was sentenced to nine. Because of his youth and relatively slight role in the kidnapping and torture of Nick Cobb, TOM CARTER received a sentence of four years.

Subsequent police investigations into Animal Freedom Army members revealed deep-rooted links to the original target of the CHERUB mission, the Animal Freedom Militia. Several militia members were tried and convicted, including two men who received seven-year sentences for blinding Christine Pierce.

There have been no recent attacks by the AFM and police believe that the group has now disbanded.

RYAN QUINN’s stormy relationship with Zebra Alliance leader MADELINE LAING led him to quit the group in September 2006. A few weeks later, Ryan launched a website and fundraising initiative for a new, non-violent, liberationist group called Zebra 06. It is believed that Ryan’s new outfit will closely resemble the original Zebra 84 group, with tightly focused campaigns run by a small but loyal group of activists.

Of the seventy-three BEAGLE PUPPIES rescued by the Zebra Alliance, four were destroyed by the vet because they were suffering from serious infections brought on by the unsanitary conditions at RIDGEWAY KENNELS.

The sixty-nine dogs who survived the clean-up process were distributed to sanctuaries and homes around the country. RIDGEWAY KENNELS closed down briefly before being sold to new owners, who have improved conditions and demolished the isolation shed where animals were bred for experimentation.

The original kennel owners were fined £850 and banned from breeding animals for ten years. The Zebra Alliance described the sentence as ‘derisory,’ and called for all people convicted of cruelty to animals to serve a minimum of five years in prison.

In late 2006, MALAREK RESEARCH announced that it would be winding down its facility at Corbyn Copse over an eighteen-month period. After striking a lucrative deal with a property developer to turn the site into more than three hundred homes, a statement to Malarek shareholders said that it would commence construction of a new, state-of-the-art animal laboratory at an undisclosed location in East Asia.

The company said that: ‘
The new facility will enable Malarek Research to carry out vital scientific research in a lightly regulated, low wage environment, with the full support of the local government and a licence to run our own security force to protect our business from the ongoing threat of terrorism
.’

NICK COBB survived, but the effects of drinking Cobb-brand sink and worktop cleaner caused irreversible damage to his digestive system. Following seven operations in the UK, Cobb flew to an exclusive private clinic in Switzerland to complete his recuperation.

Cobb Cleanse Inc eventually settled out of court with the three-year-old girl from Alabama. The exact amount of damages paid was not disclosed, but sources close to Cobb have described the settlement as ‘
an eight-figure sum
’.

July 28th 2006 marked DR TERENCE MCAFFERTY’s last day as the chairman of CHERUB. With over half the population of campus holidaying at the summer hostel, he spent the morning writing up guidelines for Zara in his office before taking his usual lunchtime jog around campus.

Mac said he didn’t want a leaving party, but he did call a few members of the senior staff into his office after lunch for a farewell drink. The following day, he set off on a four-week Caribbean cruise with his wife.

Mac expects to return to campus in September 2006, along with more than five hundred other retired CHERUB agents, to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the organisation founded by his father.

READ ON FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER OF
THE NEXT CHERUB BOOK,
THE FALL
.

A Ford Focus pulled up amidst a line of deserted parking bays as a powerful wave crashed against the adjacent sea wall. The spray turned into an ankle-deep wash that swirled across the wooden promenade, while a line of partially submerged huts fought for survival on the pebble beach below.

The man behind the wheel was fifty years old, with a beer gut and a bloodshot face that gave him a look of permanent sunburn. His name was George Savage.

‘Some storm,’ George said, raising his voice to make himself heard above the rain pelting the metal roof. ‘Haven’t seen one go off like this in donkey’s years.’

The young woman in the passenger seat wore the same uniform as her driver: black trousers and a white shirt with epaulettes bearing the words
HM Customs & Excise
. She pulled a hefty torch out of the glove box before reaching between the seats and grabbing a waterproof jacket off the rear bench.

‘Are you coming with?’ she asked, though she already knew the answer.

‘No point both of us getting drenched, is there, Vet?’

George grinned.

Yvette Clark hated her partner. George was old, lazy, smelled like a night in the pub and took particular delight in never using her proper name. She was Vet, Vetty, Vetto, Vetster, sweetheart and even occasionally cupcake, but if the word Yvette had ever passed George Savage’s lips, she hadn’t been there to hear it. She could have happily kneed George in the balls, if it wasn’t for the dent it would put in her three-month career as a customs officer.

The wind practically tore the waterproof coat from Yvette’s hands as she stepped out of the passenger door into the darkness. By the time it was zipped up, her shirt was soaked through and she had a horrible vision of George leering at the black bra that would show through when she got back in the car.

Yvette felt sorry for herself as she stepped up to the sea wall. She’d joined customs straight from university, expecting to spend her days uncovering serious fraud and hunting down drug dealers. The recruitment brochure hadn’t mentioned ten-hour shifts patrolling the coastline with an obnoxious pig for company.

And just as it seemed life could get no worse, the wave hit. Bigger than its predecessors, its tip crashed over the wall and kept on coming. Yvette turned to run, but was outmatched and quickly found herself wading in icy water. She lost her footing on the slippery promenade, and grazed the hand she put out to save herself as the receding tide swelled over her shoulders and all but covered her head.

As Yvette gasped from the cold and staggered back to her feet, George triumphantly blasted the horn. It was 1 a.m., but the promenade was illuminated with strings of bulbs and Yvette got a good view of her colleague roaring with laughter from his cocoon behind the flapping windscreen wipers. She wanted to steam over and tell George exactly what she thought of him, but knew that a tantrum would only enrich the story he’d tell everyone back at the office the minute he got the chance.

Close to tears and with salt water burning her eyes, Yvette stumbled back to the wall and slid the powerful torch from her pocket. Anticipating another blast of water, she gripped the railing atop the wall before pointing the beam of light out to sea.

Much to Yvette’s surprise, she spotted the very thing she’d come looking for.

*

The narrow strip of water between Britain and France is the busiest waterway in the world. At any given moment there are over a thousand ships in the English Channel, ranging from 100,000-tonne supertankers down to one-man sailing boats. With so much traffic, accidents are frequent – and when one of the big boats hits one of the little ones, the little boat always comes off worst.

Three hours before George and Yvette pulled up on the seafront near Brighton, a 15,000-tonne catamaran with two hundred and thirty passengers onboard radioed the coastguard after colliding with a small motor launch. The launch appeared to be damaged and a lifeboat and a French naval helicopter were sent on a rescue mission. Despite the fact that the launch was listing badly and taking on water, the captain refused help and tried making a run for it. He clearly had something to hide.

The helicopter tracked the crippled boat for ninety minutes as it headed for the safety of international waters, but eventually had to fly back to base for fuel. Under normal circumstances, a naval patrol would have intercepted the launch by this time, stopping it by force if necessary. But the awful conditions had left other boats in distress and resources were stretched to the limit.

As a last resort, the coastguard was asked to track the stricken launch on radar. But tracking a small boat through a stormy sea is close to impossible and the coastguard put out a radio request asking other ships to report sightings of a crippled white launch.

Just after midnight, the captain of a container ship radioed in to say that she’d passed a vessel matching the description. It appeared dangerously close to sinking and was making a desperate attempt to reach the English coast.

With nobody available to intercept the boat at sea, police, customs and coastguard units along a ten-mile stretch of coast were told to head for the seafront and search for the stricken motor launch.