Chapter one -
Two weeks before
James Adams was happy. He didn't have a girlfriend at the moment, but that meant he didn't have to feel guilty every time he looked at another girl. His Schoolwork and
coursework was all up to date, his gcse's were mainly out of the way, and his best friend Kyle was taking up a temporary job for a few weeks at CHERUB campus. Therefore when he was in a good mood as he went out with a group of mates to see a film. The film turned out to be quite boring, but they had good fun mucking around, chucking popcorn at each other. Suddenly there was a loud bang, and smoke filled the cinema. Everyone in the cinema started screaming. As the smoke cleared James was the first to notice the message written on the screen;
'This is a message from Help Earth. The manager of this cinema is a bad man. We have had to deal with him.'
The seven Cherubs left the cinema following the security guards out of the emergency exit. The found the Staff member and the five or six red shirts who had been to watch a different film, and the carer Ellie instructed all of the cherubs to get back to the red minibus. When they arrived at campus, they were individually called in for questioning by Zara, and a man some of them recognised as the head of the anti terrorist section of MI5. James was the last to be called in, he was asked the same questions as all his friends had been:
'What exactly did you see? Did you see anyone acting suspiciously? What was the last thing you saw before the explosion?'
However after these questions, he got a suprise in what Zara said next.
'We need an experienced agent to investigate the multiple explosions at the cinema. We have an idea of who it was who caused them, so we will prepare a mission briefing for you, if you agree to undertake this mission?'
'Um yeah.. I mean of course, but i thought i wasn't allowed any more missions until I'd spent a bit more time on campus?'
'I know, however we want someone in place as soon as possible, to prevent any more attacks if possible, and you're the only agent we feel confident to send at such short notice.'
'Well I'm up for it, will I be alone, or is someone else going to be on the mission with me?'
'We were thinking of having a girl as well on the mission, our primary candidate is Kerry, but I wanted to make sure you were ok with this before asking her?'
'That's fine, me and Kerry are mates now, well most of the time anyway, especially after me and Dana broke up,'
The next day, James and Kerry went to the mission preparation building in the early evening, as they had been instructed by Zara.
Exert from Mission Briefing for Kerry Chang and James Adams
William Smithson
Who is he?
William Smithson is a forty year old dad, living in a small town, not far from Stoke-on-Trent called Crewe. He has been a terrorist suspect for at least fifteen years, however the worst punishment he has ever received in a twenty pound fine for dropping litter. Forensics who where at the site of the explosion later in the day found traces of DNA in most of the cinema screens which had exploded. The DNA was linked to the Police record of Smithson, which had been taken when he was arrested, but not charged, for suspected involvement in the anthrax attacks. His involvement in the attacks has never been proved.
What use would cherubs be?
William Smithson is divorced, and has one son, whom he has custody of. His 16 year old son Luke stays with his father every week, and every other weekend, an agent will be in place to befriend Luke, another agent is to be used to befriend his niece Melissa Stockton, and to aid in infiltrating the home of Smithson. If necessary, an open approach will be used, but only under extreme circumstances.
The cherubs role.
John Jones will be posing as father of James Adams and Kerry Chang. They will all have the surname of Maclurin, but to avoid confusion, will keep their first names. To explain the difference in ethnicity, the Cherubs will say they had different mothers, but the same father. James Adams will keep his date of birth, but Kerry's will be forwarded three months in order to be eligible for the year 11 class which Melissa Stockton is in.
The ethics committee have agreed to this mission on a 5:1 vote
it has been classified High Risk as another terrorist by Smithson is quite possible, and Smithson is believed to be violent, and Cherubs may observe severe violence from Smithson.