27: Performance
Jules was sitting stiffly, one leg folded over the other, fiddling slightly with the cuff of his shirt. George looked up at Ewart.
"I'm sure I don't need to tell the two of you that what happened to Letty is extremely serious," he said, running one hand through the bleached hair next to his ear. "CHERUB takes things like this very seriously and there will have to be an internal investigation to see whether Letty was placed at avoidable risk on the mission."
George felt deflated. He'd been partly involved in these investigations before, and they always dragged on and on, especially when Ewart was involved.
"George, I don't want you to discuss what happened with anyone on campus. That means staff, too, except for myself, Zara, Jules and Rose, who's been informed as well. If you need to speak to a counsellor, we can arrange this. There will be a severe punishment if I find out you've blabbed."
"I won't tell anyone," George said dismissively, "But how do I explain where Letty is?"
"Say she's recovering with a member of staff close to campus, but do not say who," Ewart told him. "I hope she'll be able to come back onto campus soon and this will settle down, but there's an ongoing criminal investigation and I don't want wild rumours getting around."
"I understand," George said, irritated by Ewart's patronising tone. "I'm not an idiot."
"You may not be an idiot, George, but you don't have an exemplary disciplinary record, either," Ewart said, his voice adopting a warning tone. "Don't push me."
George went quiet again, doing his best not to glower at Ewart.
"Jules, as I'm sure you've guessed, you'll be suspended from mission duties until we can conclude the investigation," Ewart said, but Jules didn't respond. "Nothing personal, but we need to make sure we're seen to do the right thing."
Glancing up at Jules' face, George saw him nod curtly, but otherwise his expression was blank. This explained why he'd been tetchy all the way back on the plane.
"George, you'll be contacted in due course for your part in the investigation. Officially, you'll also be suspended from mission duty, but I'm satisfied that you weren't really involved so if any mission controllers are asking for you, we'll bend the rules," Ewart told him. "I expect you'll want a rest, anyway."
George shrugged. "Yeah, fine. I've got schoolwork to catch up on, too."
Ewart nodded. "All that remains is for me to say that, George, we were very impressed with another excellent performance from you. We're looking forward to seeing you continue to perform well in the future."
There was a pregnant pause, where George's final hopes of a black shirt died.
"I think that's everything. If you need a chat, let me know," Ewart said, getting up. George and Jules got up, scraping their chairs backwards, and they both lunged for the door as quickly as they could.
"I hate that guy," Jules said bitterly as soon as they were out of earshot. "He's so self-important, just because his wife's the chairman."
George laughed. "I'm no Ewart fan either," he said. "Suspending you again is really stupid, there was no way you could have known that about Ms. Lovett."
Jules took George into a corner, after checking nobody was coming down in the lift.
"The FBI found out that Dawn is wanted in Arkansas for a similar crime with a former student, seven years ago," he said, shaking his head. "They massively bungled it: apparently her record in Arkansas spelt Lovett with one 't', so it didn't come up as a match when they searched. If we'd known, we would have approached the mission completely differently."
"Well, they can't blame you for the FBI's mess-up," George said brightly.
"Oh yes they can. They'll say I didn't have good enough oversight," Jules said, sounding beaten. "Ewart always ferrets around making up worse-case scenarios."
"You're the best mission controller I've worked with," George told him. "If Ewart tries to stitch you up, I'll tell him."
"Thanks for the loyalty," Jules said, and he seemed genuinely touched. "Problem is, I'm already in the doghouse and I don't think Zara likes me. Don't tell anyone, but I'm gonna have to look for another job, whatever the outcome of the investigation is."
"No!" George said quickly. "You can't. See how the investigation goes. I'll tell them you're just unlucky."
Jules laughed. "Thanks, that will definitely sway them. See you around?"
George nodded, and Jules headed for the stairs as he pressed the button for the lift. Being Monday morning, everyone was in lessons, so he reached his room without seeing anyone. After opening a window to try and get rid of the musty smell of the room not being lived in, he dumped his bag on the floor and jumped into bed, fully clothed. He decided he'd sort himself out after catching up on his sleep.
Predictably, when George caught up with his friends at dinner, the conversation started with questions about where Letty was. The topic was cut off abruptly when George told them he wasn't going to talk about it.
"Rex is away, just an overnight thing helping out on another mission," Ralph explained, drizzling his mashed potato in hot sauce. "He'll be gutted he missed you getting back."
"He hasn't missed much. I'm so tired, I already slept for four hours and I'll probably sleep another twelve," George said, shovelling steaming hot potato into his mouth. "It's so good to eat proper food again."
"What else has happened…? Harry got called away on a long mission down on the south coast somewhere, Ed got two days of heavy drill for calling Mr Brennan a toilet brush, and-"
"Hang on, a toilet brush?" George asked, snorting with laughter and looking at Ed. "Why? Just, why?"
Ed shook his head, smirking. "I totally forgot to do my homework for him, and he got on my case. I was trying to call him something bad, but not too bad. You know how they freak out if you disrespect the teachers."
"And you chose 'toilet brush'," George grinned. "Way to go."
"Heavy drill is no joke, though," Ed lamented. "It's like reliving the worst two days of basic training all over again. Capstick goes crazy."
"Painful," George said sympathetically. "That sounds much worse than just mowing lawns or shifts in the recycling centre."
"Trust me, do not get heavy drill," Ed told him. "Recycling centre is a breeze by comparison."
"Jemima started going out with that Nick kid," Ralph added.
George faked a gag. "I hate that guy," he said.
Beatrice nodded enthusiastically. "It's been the most disgusting thing ever. Every time I see them, they're sucking each other's faces."
"Nice image," George said, making a face. "I thought Jemima had taste."
Everyone laughed.
"You remember she went out with Rex, right?" Ralph asked.
"Well, maybe not such good taste," George admitted, grinning as he finished his potato and started on his veg. "But Nick is a new low."
As promised, Rex returned the next day, in a great mood.
"Got to break into this house and trash the place," he said when they were hanging out in George's room after lunch. "They had this room full of fish tanks, the carnage was immense."
"You didn't kill all the fish, did you?" George asked.
"Nah, I left those ones alone," Rex said. "But there were a couple that were empty for cleaning or something which I destroyed. Entire ground floor was flooded."
"Nice," George smiled, wishing he'd been there to see it.
There was a knock on George's door and he got up to answer it. He was pleasantly surprised to see Dougie McRae, a kid he'd helped to recruit a few years ago.
"Sup," George said, stepping back to let him in.
Dougie just hovered on the threshold, though. "I've gotta run if I'm gonna get to my lessons," he said. "I heard from someone that you'd just got back yesterday. Listen, the new Forza game just came out, we're gonna have a big session tonight. You up for it?"
George had a few days off lessons to recover from the mission, so it sounded great, but he was still tired from the jet lag. "I dunno, man, I'm tired and these things always go on until the small hours."
"You're invited too, Rex," Dougie said.
"Come on, George, it'll be fun," Rex said. "I've got lessons, and you don't. You can sleep when you're dead."
George shrugged. "Alright, what the hell, count me in."
"My room after dinner," Dougie said, giving George a fist bump. "Bring snacks or something, don't be a freeloader."
As Dougie dashed off down the corridor, George laughed. "Don't be a freeloader? All the snacks and drinks in this place are free."
"It's the latest catchphrase," Rex said, lying on a beanbag. "Everyone's saying it, it's supposed to be ironic. I don't know who started it."
Missing out on the latest fad on campus reminded George how long he'd been away, and he was pleased to be home to catch up. He shut the door again, and went to grab the TV remote so they could watch something better than adverts.
"So, what's happening with Letty?" Rex asked, still lying with his back to George so he looked upside down. "You can tell me, you know I won't repeat it."
George shook his head. "I can't tell anyone, not even the staff. Ewart will probably boot me off campus."
"Must be something massive if Ewart's threatening to expel you," Rex said, rolling into an upright position. "Is she pregnant?"
George rolled his eyes. "Rex, I'm not going to tell you."
"Definitely pregnant. Wait, did she kill someone? Did she go crazy and fill someone with lead?" Rex grinned, miming firing a machine gun. "She definitely seems like the killer type, right?"
If Letty was anything, she wasn't the psycho killer type, but the image made George laugh a little. "I'm not telling you," he said again. "Now drop it, I'm tired of talking about it."
"Hopefully she's okay," Rex said, sounding slightly sad.
"That's the most caring thing you've ever said," George teased him. "Not very macho."
"Nah, you've got me wrong," Rex corrected him. "I only care because being surrounded by adoring women makes my image even better."
"What does Olivia make of that?" George asked.
Rex shook his head. "Me and Olivia… it's a bit on-again-off-again at the moment."
"Does that mean she dumped you?" George laughed.
"No," Rex said, defensively. "We've broken up, but then we got back together, and now sometimes when we're together she's all over me, and sometimes she acts like she's never met me."
"Women are insane," George pronounced. "I've always said it."
"Anyway, now you've back on campus, we've got to get you a girlfriend. It's been too long," he said, reaching over to ruffle George's hair. "You're probably desperate enough to go for one of the ugly ones, too."
George slapped his hand away. "I don't know why any girls come within fifty feet of you," he said. "You're disgusting."
Rex got to his feet, stretching. "Come on, we've got the whole afternoon. Let's hit the pool, it's always better when it's quiet."
George liked swimming and an afternoon of water slides, then more gossip at dinner before an Xbox night sounded like the perfect way to return to campus.
"Alright, let me check I've got trunks," George said, hunting through his stuff. "Trunks that fit, at least."
"If you're gonna start trying on swimming trunks, I'm gonna go back to my room and get my kit. See you in a minute?" Rex asked, shielding his eyes even though George was still fully dressed.
By the time George had found a towel, swimming goggles and some trunks that were clean and the right size, he'd kept Rex waiting, and was all set to run out of the door when he realised he didn't have his phone. Then he realised he didn't actually have a replacement phone yet, which reminded him that he put a request in to the technical department and he needed to check his emails. His laptop was on, so he opened the lid, ignored the various messages from teachers, and sent a quick message to Letty while he remembered.
MISS YOU - COME BACK SOON!