before diving in, so she’d be squelching on cold, wet feet for the rest of the day.
‘Split up or stay together?’ Leon asked, as he looked about thoughtfully. ‘The island doesn’t seem very big.’
‘I reckon we can cover the whole place in an hour or so,’ Daniel said. ‘They’ll have to go easy on us. Nine trainees failed already and they’ve got to get some new recruits out of this course!’
‘I’m not sure that’s how it works,’ Ning said. ‘The passing standard is fixed. You either make it or you don’t.’
But while Daniel and Ning debated, Leon was walking across the beach towards something he’d eyed sticking out of the reeds.
Leon called excitedly, ‘Stop yapping and get over here, losers.’
As Ning zipped a dry hoodie and hurried up the beach, Leon cautiously stepped into the reeds, studying a battered metal trunk designed for carrying ammunition.
‘Watch it,’ Daniel warned. ‘It might be booby-trapped.’
Ning had learned that lesson on the third day of training, when she’d run eagerly towards her target only to snag a trap and spend the next two and a half hours swaying from a net in the branches of a tree.
‘I’m not that dumb,’ Leon said. ‘Find me a stick or something.’
The case’s lid had a locking clasp, but there was no padlock fitted. Daniel found a nice long chunk of driftwood and held it out towards his brother.
‘I found the box,’ Leon said, as he backed away from the stick. ‘ You open it.’
‘I’ll toss you for it,’ Daniel said. ‘Except I haven’t got a coin.’
Ning sighed and snatched the stick. ‘Grow up,’ she grunted.
Kids in basic training quickly realise that instructors aren’t out to actually kill them, so as Ning hooked the metre-long stick under the rim of the metal box’s lid, she was more wary than afraid: a swarm of angry bugs, an electric shock or the flash of a stun grenade were possible, but it wasn’t like she was about to get her legs blown off.
Leon and Daniel shielded their eyes as Ning lifted the lid and kept the maximum possible distance between the box and herself.
The hollow clank of the hinged lid was an anticlimax. The box seemed full, with the top layer of contents wrapped in a red-and-white-checked tablecloth. Ning peeled the cloth away, revealing a continental-style spread of boiled eggs, cheese, sliced meats and a vacuum flask filled with hot tea.
‘Take it out carefully, you never know,’ Daniel warned.
But Leon’s growling stomach made him brave and he dived in and started cramming slices of salami down his neck.
‘Oh man, I need this!’ he said, grinning wildly.
Ning was more interested in getting warm and began unscrewing the hot flask. They could see bottles of mineral water and something wrapped in brown paper directly below.
‘All right to nab the last boiled egg?’ Leon asked keenly, with both cheeks bulging. ‘I’ve got a good feeling about today. And I think you’re right, Daniel. They can’t run basic training for three and a half months and end up without a single qualified agent.’
‘Famous last words if I ever heard them,’ Ning said, as she rolled a salami slice around a stick of cheese and pushed it into her mouth. ‘One of you grab the cloth. I wanna see what’s underneath.’
Leon took the cloth and dabbed up cheese crumbs with his fingertip, while Ning lifted the water bottles out of the box and then began cautiously unwrapping the brown paper package.
‘T-shirts,’ Ning gasped, as she saw the grey fabric and the unmistakable outline of a CHERUB logo inside a rectangular glass box.
The twins zoomed in so fast that they almost cracked heads.
‘Is it all three shirts?’ Leon asked anxiously.
Making one shirt easy to find so that the trainees fought over it was exactly the kind of trick the instructors would pull. Breakfast had warmed their spirits, but a horrible tension came over the trio the instant Leon queried the number of shirts.
‘If you get your
‘Split up or stay together?’ Leon asked, as he looked about thoughtfully. ‘The island doesn’t seem very big.’
‘I reckon we can cover the whole place in an hour or so,’ Daniel said. ‘They’ll have to go easy on us. Nine trainees failed already and they’ve got to get some new recruits out of this course!’
‘I’m not sure that’s how it works,’ Ning said. ‘The passing standard is fixed. You either make it or you don’t.’
But while Daniel and Ning debated, Leon was walking across the beach towards something he’d eyed sticking out of the reeds.
Leon called excitedly, ‘Stop yapping and get over here, losers.’
As Ning zipped a dry hoodie and hurried up the beach, Leon cautiously stepped into the reeds, studying a battered metal trunk designed for carrying ammunition.
‘Watch it,’ Daniel warned. ‘It might be booby-trapped.’
Ning had learned that lesson on the third day of training, when she’d run eagerly towards her target only to snag a trap and spend the next two and a half hours swaying from a net in the branches of a tree.
‘I’m not that dumb,’ Leon said. ‘Find me a stick or something.’
The case’s lid had a locking clasp, but there was no padlock fitted. Daniel found a nice long chunk of driftwood and held it out towards his brother.
‘I found the box,’ Leon said, as he backed away from the stick. ‘ You open it.’
‘I’ll toss you for it,’ Daniel said. ‘Except I haven’t got a coin.’
Ning sighed and snatched the stick. ‘Grow up,’ she grunted.
Kids in basic training quickly realise that instructors aren’t out to actually kill them, so as Ning hooked the metre-long stick under the rim of the metal box’s lid, she was more wary than afraid: a swarm of angry bugs, an electric shock or the flash of a stun grenade were possible, but it wasn’t like she was about to get her legs blown off.
Leon and Daniel shielded their eyes as Ning lifted the lid and kept the maximum possible distance between the box and herself.
The hollow clank of the hinged lid was an anticlimax. The box seemed full, with the top layer of contents wrapped in a red-and-white-checked tablecloth. Ning peeled the cloth away, revealing a continental-style spread of boiled eggs, cheese, sliced meats and a vacuum flask filled with hot tea.
‘Take it out carefully, you never know,’ Daniel warned.
But Leon’s growling stomach made him brave and he dived in and started cramming slices of salami down his neck.
‘Oh man, I need this!’ he said, grinning wildly.
Ning was more interested in getting warm and began unscrewing the hot flask. They could see bottles of mineral water and something wrapped in brown paper directly below.
‘All right to nab the last boiled egg?’ Leon asked keenly, with both cheeks bulging. ‘I’ve got a good feeling about today. And I think you’re right, Daniel. They can’t run basic training for three and a half months and end up without a single qualified agent.’
‘Famous last words if I ever heard them,’ Ning said, as she rolled a salami slice around a stick of cheese and pushed it into her mouth. ‘One of you grab the cloth. I wanna see what’s underneath.’
Leon took the cloth and dabbed up cheese crumbs with his fingertip, while Ning lifted the water bottles out of the box and then began cautiously unwrapping the brown paper package.
‘T-shirts,’ Ning gasped, as she saw the grey fabric and the unmistakable outline of a CHERUB logo inside a rectangular glass box.
The twins zoomed in so fast that they almost cracked heads.
‘Is it all three shirts?’ Leon asked anxiously.
Making one shirt easy to find so that the trainees fought over it was exactly the kind of trick the instructors would pull. Breakfast had warmed their spirits, but a horrible tension came over the trio the instant Leon queried the number of shirts.
‘If you get your
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