5: Morning

When Capstick got back, he looked them over and beamed with happiness.

"So, we've covered combat and fitness," he said, holding up two fingers. "Can anyone tell me what the third part of CHERUB physical training is?"

George couldn't think of anything except how much he hurt all over.

"Athletics," Capstick said, shaking his head. "You should know that. The next stage is in the gym."

The four black shirts were back, standing in each corner of the gym with a big bag of tennis balls each. Capstick pointed to two white lines at each end.

"This one's so simple it'll bring tears to your eyes," Capstick grinned. "You have thirty seconds to go from one white line to the other. Then a thirty second rest. Each time you touch a tennis ball, we wipe one second off your rest time, and that goes for both of you, so if Rex touches a ball, you both lose a second."

Even beaten-up and exhausted, George judged it would take less than ten seconds to go between the lines. But when George and Rex lined up and set off, controlled by Capstick's whistle, the black shirts started pelting them with tennis balls. It was impossible to dodge and each hit was extra painful after their morning in the dojo. When they reached the line, Capstick blew the whistle again.

"There were so many hits there, I'm just going to say you don't get a rest this time," Capstick told them. "Go again."

This time, there were tennis balls lying on the floor, so they had to dodge those as they got pelted. There was no way to avoid getting hit several times, and after going back and forth for ten minutes with almost no rest, George noticed with relief that the black shirts had run out of tennis balls.

"Okay, good work," Capstick shouted. "Now, pick up the tennis balls and return them to your friends so we can keep going. You've got a minute, and you'll get a lap of the track for every tennis ball left on the floor after that. Go!"

The final hour before three was spent running their punishment laps. This was actually the easiest part of the day so far, but George could barely lift his legs, and each lap took forever. Rex was in equally bad shape, so they kept a similar pace as they limped around the track, getting insults from Capstick every time they completed a lap. Finally, three o'clock arrived and Capstick made them run over to the assault course, which was in the Basic Training compound. Instructor Pike was drilling seven muddy, exhausted-looking blue shirts in karate, and he exchanged a nod with Capstick as they passed.

"This is what you'll end up like if you can't behave," Pike screamed at his blue shirts. "Look how pathetic they are."

George just looked at the ground and tried not to think about the gazes of the blue shirts as he passed.

"Remember, half an hour," Capstick reminded them as they lined up at the start. "I'm absolutely serious that if you're not back here by then, you repeat Heavy Drill tomorrow."

George just took deep breaths, readying himself.

"Three, two, one… go!"

With the two of them working together it was easier to complete the course, and even exhausted, they managed to move quickly enough that George felt confident they would make it in time. The hardest section was the swim, which was freezing cold and moving his arms and legs at the same time was torture. Rex struggled even more, so George hung back to help him out, and when they got out and staggered towards the next obstacle, Rex managed to mutter "Thanks," out of the corner of his mouth.

"And, that's it," Capstick said when they got back, dripping wet and panting hard. "It's now exactly three thirty-one and twenty seconds, so you've failed. I will see you boys tomorrow."

George stared at him, incredulous. "No way," he said, feeling sick.

"I can't do it again tomorrow," Rex said, clutching his stomach. "I'll die."

Capstick broke into a big grin. "Sorry boys, I must have read my watch wrong. I meant to say it's three twenty-five."

George just shook his head gently. He was sick of Capstick, who seemed to genuinely be enjoying this torture.

"Well done, you've passed. Maybe you'll think twice before punching each other now, huh?" Capstick said, walking with them back out of the training compound.

Groaning, George nodded. "Brutal, but effective," he said, grudgingly.

"You know, Yeboah gave me the idea," Capstick said happily.

"I can imagine," Rex said darkly.

"I want the two of you to go to the medical centre for a check-up," Capstick said. "George, you've got a couple of nasty bruises I want someone to check over."

It was a mark of how tired Rex was that even though it was one of the pretty nurses who checked his bruises, he didn't try to flirt with her. George got Dr Kessel, who was much less sympathetic and jabbed away at his bruised ribs to check if there was any real damage.

"Boys fighting, like little children," Kessel said, fixing a dressing to a section of George's back. "And then I have to pretend I'm sorry for you."

The nurse giggled as she put a sticking plaster on a cut on Rex's arm.

The others had all got back from Scotland, but George didn't fancy dealing with their jokes, so he skipped dinner, gorging himself on another microwave meal. After a long shower, he and Rex hung out in Rex's room, sitting very still to avoid touching any of their bruises while they played co-op on Call of Duty. They didn't even make it to eight p.m. before George threw in the towel.

"I'm too tired," he said, dropping the controller. "I have to sleep."

"At least we can lie in in the morning," Rex said, switching off the console.

"Don't we have lessons?" George asked and Rex groaned.

"I'm going to say I'm sick," Rex said, shaking his head. "I'm serious, I can't take this."

Adopting the same course of action as Rex, George didn't set an alarm, and he was deep in sleep when someone started hammering on his door in the morning. He sat up groggily, picking sleep out of his eye as he shuffled over to the door to unlock it.

"I've got about ten questions for you, starting with: why aren't you answering your phone?" his handler Rose Cameron said, barging her way past him into his room and throwing open the curtains, letting in the sunlight.

"Miss, I'm knackered," George complained, sitting down on the end of his bed and shielding his eyes. "Capstick is insane, my whole body hurts."

"You call him Instructor Capstick, thank you," Rose scolded him, opening the windows. "This room reeks of BO and you're two hours late for lessons."

"I can't go to lessons, I can barely move," George protested.

Rose stood with her hands on her hips, her red hair tied back into a ponytail which swung from side to side as she shook her head at him. "You do look like a rugby team was using you for kicking practice," she smirked. "Show me your back."

George groaned as he turned around.

"Ooh, that one's massive," Rose said, stepping closer for a look. "Oh God, you smell disgusting though."

"I really need a shower," George said, turning back round. "Another reason I can't go to lessons."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll write you a note to get you out of lessons this morning," she conceded.

"Whole day, miss, please," George begged. "I need to sleep."

Rose mulled it over.

"Okay, the rest of today. But only this once, because I care about you. And I need someone to cover a shift in the junior block tomorrow evening, so you can do that."

"Thank you so much," George said, lying back on the bed. "Anything so long as I don't have to go to lessons."

"Hey, we're not done," Rose said, clicking her fingers to get his attention. "Sit up."

George managed to haul himself up into a sitting position again, his bruises tender.

"Did you and Rex make up?" she asked, pulling over his desk chair and taking a seat.

Nodding, George rubbed his eyes again. "Yeah, it's all good now. We were gaming together last night."

"Good," Rose smiled, "Pleased to hear it. Now, I didn't come here to listen to you whinge about your bruises," she said, reaching into the back pocket of her jeans and pulling out one of the bright yellow swipe cards that gave access to the Mission Control building. She grinned when she saw George notice it.

"You had a meeting at nine this morning but that's come and gone," she said, putting it down on George's desk. "I've got it rearranged for two, assuming you're not in too much pain to go."

George shook his head. "No, I can go. It's not like it's a long walk."

"But you said you couldn't do lessons-"

George interrupted. "No way, I can't do lessons because I can't concentrate when I'm hurting so much."

"And you don't think you need to concentrate in a mission briefing?" Rose asked, and George realised he'd dug himself a hole.

"Well, uh, that's different," he stammered, but Rose laughed.

"Forget it, just make sure you're not late," she said, getting up. "Since you've been punished for fighting and you're cleared to go on missions, we'll draw a line under the whole thing so long as you accept the mission, okay?"

"Yes miss," George said.

As Rose headed for the door, something dawned on George.

"If I've got a mission briefing, I don't need a note to get out of lessons," he said, looking over at Rose.

"Oh, I know." Rose gave him an evil grin. "But you're still covering that shift in the junior block, since you already agreed. Six p.m. tomorrow, don't be late."

George realised she'd tricked him as she shut the door behind her, but he ached too much to care.

He'd wanted to gloat about his mission control access pass to Rex when he saw him at lunchtime, but it turned out Rex had an identical one, although his handler hadn't tricked him into extra work in return. He spent the entirety of lunchtime guessing what the mission would be about.

"Maybe it's a big mission," Rex speculated, chewing a prawn sandwich. "I'm due a nice long one."

"I just went on a big one," George replied. "But I suppose I wouldn't mind."

"Who do you think the mission controller will be?" Rex continued.

"I don't know, man, the meeting is in an hour," George told him, running out of patience for all his questions. "We'll find out then."

Rex shrugged. "I'm just saying. A quality George-and-Rex mission is overdue and this sounds like a good one."

As the other Cherubs filtered into the cafeteria, their morning lessons over, George spotted Jemima joining the queue for food, but was surprised to see Letty standing next to her. Letty was his best friend who was a girl and his former training partner, but she'd been away on a mission lately and he wasn't expecting her to be back yet.

"Letty!" he shouted. "Hey, Letty!"

A couple of black shirts sitting on the next table over gave him dark looks, and one of the serving staff yelled back, "Stop shouting, this isn't a zoo!"

Letty turned and gave him a wave to show she'd noticed him.

"I thought Letty was still on her mission?" Rex asked, also looking over at the girls.

"Me too," George said. "Maybe it ended early."

"Maybe it was a disaster and they had to pull out suddenly," Rex said, grinning nastily.

"Shut up," George told him, flicking a crumb across the table at him, but he hoped Rex was wrong.

When Letty and Jemima sat down next to the boys, before George could open his mouth to ask Letty about the mission, she got in there first.

"I heard you two had a little slap fight," she said, rolling her eyes. "I thought you two were grown up, not little kids."

Jemima put her finger on her chin dramatically, as if she was thinking hard. "Hmm, actually, no, we've always known you two act like little kids."

Letty laughed and Rex gave Jemima the finger.

"We've made up now," George said, dismissively. "How come you're back on campus? You never text me to tell me."

"I emailed you saying I was coming back," Letty said, glaring at him. "I assume you haven't checked your email?"

George smiled guiltily. "Oh, yeah, I forgot."

Letty exchanged a look with Jemima.

"Anyway," she went on, "I'm only back for two days, for a firearms refresher course."

"Ooh," Rex said, his interest caught. "Are things getting hot on the mission? You're gonna be blazing away at the bad guys with an AK?"

Letty cracked a smile. "Not exactly," she said, lowering her voice, "There's been an anonymous tip to the police that the bad guys have ordered some guns for an armed robbery, so John Jones thought it would be good to get a couple of days of relaxation and refresher training back on campus before it all goes down."

"Sounds bad-ass," George admitted. "Me and Rex have got a briefing at two for a mission as well."

Jemima glanced at her watch. "You mean in forty-five minutes?"

George shrugged. "That's ages, it only takes five minutes to walk to the mission control building."

Letty and Jemima looked at each other and giggled.

"George, you've got ketchup or something down your shirt, and Rex, those trousers are filthy," Letty told them. "They've been cracking down on uniforms lately, since Dougie got busted attending a mission briefing in a grey shirt he'd drawn the CHERUB logo on in mud."

George and Rex burst out laughing.

"That kid is a legend," George snorted.

"I think it was for a dare," Jemima added. "Zara saw the funny side but Ewart was furious."

"Remind me to ask him about it next time I bump into him," George said, finishing off the last bite of his lunch. "But, point taken, if they're cracking down we'd better go and get changed."