Cherub: A heart of Ice
Chapter fice: Tests can hurt.
"Enter," a soft scottish accent said from inside.
Without heisitation Chylo stepped into the office. Full height windows filled the room, while a crackling fire burnt in the grate. Leather-bound books lined the walls lending a schloraly feel, but the man behind the desk turned that effect into a long-standing joke. Doctor McAfferty might be well read but he did not have the appearance of a pen-pusher. He rose from behind his desk and gently shook Chylo's hand, through Chylo firmly believed he could crush her smaller hand without even thinking about it.
"Welcome to CHERUB campus, James. I'm Doctor Terrence McAfferty, the chairman. Everybody calls me Mac. Why don't you take a seat?" he gestered to a pair of armchairs resting infront of the fireplace. Chylo settled intot he leather chair, the throw over it not quiet covering its frame. Caustious as always Chylo waited for Mac to talk first unsure of the circumstances about her arrival. Almost as through reading her thoughts he filled in the gaps for her.
"I suppose you wonder how you got here?" Chylo nodded. "The person who brought you here popped a needle into your arm, to help you sleep. It was quiet mild. No ill effects, I hope?"
"I feel fine." She shrugged. "was there any particular reason you put me to sleep? Except to bring me to a place I've never heard of." She stressed the fact, challenging the point that sh eknew about everywhere.
"Let me get to the heart of the matter. I'll explain about CHERUB and perhaps answer that question for you." As through anticipating Chylo would not welcome a question about her first impressions he let the matter slide. "Here at CHERUB we have over two hundred and eighty pupils. Four swimming pools, six indoor tennis courts, a gymnasium, dojo, but to name a few. We also have an on campus school." He grinned. "Classes have ten pupils or fewer. Everyone learns at least two foreign languages. We have a higher proportion of students going on to top universities than any of the leading public schools. How would you feel about living here?"
"It sounds amazing but I'm not a very good pupil, and thers got to be a catch. The question still lingers, why me?"
"Ah, tell me than Chylo are you a bad pupil because your not bright, or because you get board? Or is it because the school isn't up to your standards. I understand that at your private school you were, ah, top of your year"
"No its because the tachers are always too busy with everyone else to bother teaching adequetly," Almost shyle she said. "I study at home most of the time, I get in trouble a lot."
"Chylo, we have a couple of criteria for new residents here that I think will suit you. The first not so interesting aspect is passing our entrance exam. The second," he allowed himself a smile "more unusual requirement, is that you agree to be an agent for British intelligence, of which CHERUB is a part."
"So you use children as spies. Clever, criminals use that a lot, I supose CHERUB turns the table on that. However you haven't answered my question. Why me?"
"Because you're intelligent, physically fit and you have an appetite for trouble. We need kids who have a thirst for a bit of excitement. We need kids who have a thirst for a bit of excitement."
"OK, I would supose its dangerous but within limits. Has anyone ever died?" She said this casually as through it was something she asked daily.
"In over fifty years, four youngsters have been killed, and a few others badly injured. I've been chairman for over ten years. Luckily all we've had in that time is one bad case of Malaria, and two people getting shot in the leg. We never send you on a mission that could be done by an adult. All missons go to an ethics committee for approval. Everything is explained to you, and you have an absolute right to refuse to do a misson at any point."
"OK just from curiosity does CHERUB stand for."
"Intersting one, that. Our first chairman made up the intitials. He had a batch of stationary printed. Unfortunatly he had a stormy relationship with his wife. She shot him before he told anyone what the initials meant. It was wartime, and you couldn't waste six thousand sheets of headed notepaper, so CHERUB stuck. IF you ever think of anything the initials might stand for, please tell me, it gets quiet embarrassing sometimes." Chylo asked who founded it, and then made some deductions. "And you're trying to convince me you wouldn't make a good spy. Are you up for it.?" Chylo nodded.
Mac drove Chylo across CHERUb campus in a golf buggy. They stopped outside a traditional Japanese. Style building with a single span roof made of giant sequoia logs. The surrounding area had a pond stuffed with orange fish and a gravel garden. Chylo and Mac stepped inside. Thirty kids wearing a white uniform that resembled pyjamas tied with brown or black belts were sparring. A stern Japanese lady paced among them in a critics way screaming in a mixture of English and Japanese. Mac didn't stop. He led Chylo to a small room where springy blue matting covered the floor. Inside was a kid, the same height perhaps taller than herself. Instinctivly Chylo slipped over her shoes and took off her socks.
The two bowed, acknowledging the rules. Bruce was too good for Chylo, who had previously finished a short course of Martial-arts for free. Before the end she hurt in five different places, but she was satisfied that she had at least hit the boy once. Her street style had thrown him off for the second bought, but it hadn't lasted.
Chylo sat in a hall surrounded by wooden desks, all of them empty. Her whole body burned with pain more intense now the adrenaline had faded. Opening the paper Chylo began. The questions got harder as the paper went on, and by the time had run out, she stil had two and a half pages to go.
Chylo was back where she'd started.
"So after the tests should we offer you a place here?" Chylo shrugged. "You did well on the first four tests, but on the fifth I wasn't satisfied. We knew that you were scared of dark enclosed spaces, and going in there proved you were willing to do anything, but before the task had finshed you panicked. That showed poor judgement, however I'm proud to offer you a place here."