Operation "Mole"
Location: CHERUB Headquarters, England
Objective: Find and destroy intelligence.
-James-
"So you're trying to tell me, that after months of high security intelligence and a whole week of high rolling, not only did Jericho completely smoke-screened us again but you were tied up by a mysterious girl who knows almost everything about you?" Mac bellowed, his hands pounding on the desk. I shrunk back into my chair, nervously fiddling with my hands.
"Yes sir," I mumbled, concentrating on the floor.
"Not to mention the fact that you lost all of the money you were betting," he added, sitting back in his chair.
"In my defence sir, it was stolen – not lost – and I was kind of tied up at the time," I tried.
"And how did that happen exactly?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. A blush flooded up my neck and into my cheeks; I had been extra careful not to let detail into my mission report.
"James, your eighteenth birthday is in a month. You know we'll have to let you go; playing you off as a millionaire play boy can only go so far for so long. Face it, you're time is almost up," he said quietly, looking thoughtfully into one of the many photo frames on his desk. I nodded slightly, keeping my eyes on the floor. What he had said was true; it was hard to come up with a good cover story now I was older. Most of the other CHERUBs my ages had left or were on their way out. Lauren still had a year or so left in her, but as for me, I was pretty much out the door.
"And that is why I'm going to give you this last mission," he added. I shot my head up, noticing he now had a small golden frame in his hands. His worn fingers wiped the glass tenderly before placing the frame facing me on the desk. A young girl, roughly twelve or thirteen, grinned from the centre of the picture. Her green eyes and auburn hair shone in the sun that beamed down on her. Mac stood beside her, his arm wrapped affectingly around her shoulders.
"That's…?" I stuttered, pointing stupidly at Seslia's face.
"Kaddison, my niece," Mac explained, intertwining his fingers together. "She used to be such a bright little girl; attended church twice a week, did all of her homework, played with the other kids… It was her seventeenth birthday three weeks ago. She left CHERUB two days before you arrived here James; she was supposed to be one of your mentors."
"Kaddison? She's the girl I keep running into? What a coincidence," I said, picking up the picture and examining her smile closer. How could this sweet innocent little girl turn in to the young woman who had tied me up and stolen my money? Kaddison was so ruthless, so determined and focussed – I had never thought of her as someone's family or as a happy little girl.
Mac coughed quietly, "Well, it's not really all that coincidental."
I raised an eyebrow, placing the picture back on the desk.
"At first, it was. When you had described her again and again in your reports, I knew it had to be her. She grew up here in CHERUB. From the first day she could crawl she had been training to become a fighter and I supported her until the very end. I didn't expect her to turn it on me," he sighed, rubbing his chin. Producing a key from his pocket, he stood up and moved over to the over-crowded book case. Pulling back the spine of a leather bound Yeats, a spring mechanism pulled into place and the section of the bookcase swung around revealing a hand scanner. Placing his hand on the screen and turning the key in a slot with the other, the machine beeped twice before sliding open. Mac pulled out a thickened folder and shut the safe closed again. Taking his seat, he weighed it in his hands.
"This will be completely off the books James. I'm putting this completely in your hands; everything you may need will be run through me directly, no one else. But, if you don't want to, that's okay and we will never mention it again," he said placing the folder in front of me and turning his chair to face the window. With his back to me, I paused before taking the folder and leaving the room.
I sat at my desk, the fat folder still unopened in front of me. I had been here for an hour, at least, pacing and staring at the mission briefing. I was still wearing the towel around my waist from a shower I had taken twenty minutes ago. A passport sized photo of Kaddison's face had been clipped to the front, her large gleaming eyes watching me through the black and white film. In the picture she was holding a jail cue, stating a false name and date of birth in Russian, and a sly smile printed across her face. I drummed my fingers along the clasp that held the binding together. Sighing, I untied it – waiting to see what lay inside.
Brrrring, brrring. The sound of the phone made me jump, the shrill ring echoing inside my head. I pulled the receiver to my ear and sat back in my chair.
"James speaking," I answered, kicking my feet onto the desk.
"Hello James, did you miss me?" she asked, her faint Russian accent purring in excitement. I almost fell off my chair, lucky to catch the side of the desk before tumbling to the floor. I grabbed the phone and checked caller-ID. Anonymous.
"Kaddison?" I squeaked, checking the lock on my door.
A small chuckle came through the receiver, "So he told you? I take it that you are surprised?"
"Uh, yeah, a little," I said, sitting back at my desk. The folder still sat closed, the side peaking open. I slid my fingers beneath the flap, keen to learn.
"Oh, yes… Only the naughtiest of the naughty are presented with such a privilege as of having a personalised folder with a CHERUB stamp. And locked in the Director's office too, in his personal safe – I must be very bad in your books. I must say, I am a little flattered. I'm just as curious as you to see what is in there," she mused. I could sense the smirk in her voice.
"How did you know I was going to open it?" I asked, bringing my feet back onto the desk.
"CHERUB has video surveillance in each of your rooms. Uh, yes, and they keep electronic copies of all the tapes on the same hard drive. Mm, I wonder how much all of the bad guys in the world are willing to pay to see the private lives of the country's top secret weapons. Or even better, how much you are all willing to pay as to see them never see the light of day?" she teased, her voice combining with a glimmer of a giggle. "Nice girlfriend by the way, Kerry isn't? Or is it still Dana? Sorry, I get confused between them. Maybe you should put name tags on the, that way neither of us gets confused." I blushed profusely, taking a stand. I scanned the room, looking in the back of the bookcase and in the seams of my mattress for the spoken of camera.
"You won't find it. And even if you did, what are you going to do? Tell Mac? He was the one who had them put in," she giggled.
"Please, I beg of you! If Kerry finds out…"
"Oh darling, I don't imagine she would care that much about Dana anymore. She's been shacking up with your friend Bruce Norris since you were caught the first time… That can't be his real name, can it?" she asked, her voice monotonous. A small pause went between us. "I noticed that you didn't mention how you ended up tied up to a chair in your mission report. How curious James."
"How lucky I think you mean," I corrected. "Having the debrief with your uncle was stressful enough."
"So, are you going to open it?" she interrupted, tutting impatiently. I sighed, pulling back the flap and pulling out the wad of paper.
"Okay, Kaddison Tsar, seventeen years old, Russian and British citizenship with several notices for arrest in five different countries in the past two years. No known associates or central employer. You've been busy," I noted, flipping the page. "Left CHERUB at the age of eleven – the reason isn't stated – but it does say, with several assorted weapons and high-security equipment. No official records until… You served time in a Russian Juvenile Prison at the beginning of this year, but escaped after three days into your six year sentence. Your last known address is in Moscow, Russia, and… Hang on, the rest of these pages are just blanks?"
"Do you really think I would let you in on all of my secrets? That would be cheating, and make this game a whole lot less fun," she teased, the sound of clicking and paper shuffling come from her end of the phone.
"Where are you right now?" I breathed, placing the paper back into the folder and putting into the drawer. "You must have cleared out the folder sometime between Mac opening the safe and now. But it's been with me the whole time… "
"You really shouldn't play your music so loud when you're in the shower," she commented. I paused, my mouth gapped open.
"You were in my room? You didn't, you know, look…?"
"Ha," she snorted. "You think too highly of yourself. And don't worry; I won't be sticking around for long. In fact, I'm on my way out now." A tap came from the window behind the closed curtains, making me flinch. Hesitantly, I pulled back the curtain – almost fainting at the sight of her. Dangling from the top of the building, Kaddison sat perched by my window, three stories up from the ground. I dropped the phone and stood on my bed to undo the latch.
"How long have you been here?" I squeaked, my skin shivering from the wintery breeze. She was wearing only a black suit, the tight fabric stretched over her pale skin and curved body. Strapped across her body was numerous kinds and amounts of kit; ranging from her personalised hand gun on her side to the black compressed rucksack on her back. Long curls fell loose from the French braid that ran down her back from the black aviator helmet she wore. She disconnected the call from her earpiece and looked down at me, her green eyes shining like the fires from hell.
"Long enough," she said with a wink, eyeing the towel around my waist. I felt the heat of blood running up my neck and into my face. "So, are you going to take this mission? It's not obligatory, and you have to emit, it does sound kind of fun."
"Tempting," I said, leaning forward out of the window. "Why don't you come inside for a bit? It's a little chilly out here."
Her fingers lightly touched my bare chest, pushing me away from here and back into the room, "Tempting," she said, repeating my words in her faint Russian accent. "But no, I have a flight to catch. Back to Russia, in case you wanted to know."
"I'll see you there then," I mused, leaning against my hand.
"I tell you what James darling, if you do find me; I will give Mac what he wants and you what you want," she said, pulling twice on the string that led up onto the roof. I leaned forward again, breathing in her minty smell. She lightly brushed her lips with mine, the cold flesh nibbling at my own. I lightly closed my eyes as she kissed me ever so lightly. Her breathe was as fresh as her taste, and just as teasing. Suddenly, it was gone and I reopened my eyes to find her swaying away and the sound of helicopter rotors filling the air.
"How do you know what I want?" I shouted, almost falling out of my window. Hiding a sly smile, she pulled twice on her suspension rope.
"Until next time, Mister Adams," she called faintly, switching down the visor over her eyes and disappearing into the distance.
-Kaddison-
I pulled again on the rope that suspended me from the helicopter, signalling for the hoist to bring me up. The cold English winter nipped at my exposed cheeks like icy raindrops. A pair of gloved hands grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into the main compartment, slamming the door shut as they shoved me into the seat.
"Ты взял свое время!" the young man shouted at me, his gruff Russian muffled by the balaclava.
"Я вам сказал бы пять минут," I said quietly, shrugging off my helmet and pulling out my hair. Adolf undid his mask and sat opposite me, his dark blue eyes blaring. The balaclava had messed up his hair, sending the pale blonde strands in different directions across his forehead. Slightly flushed from the cold, his cheeks were a rosy red compared to the rest of his pale complexion.
"Вы поцеловали его," he accused.
"Это не то, что вы либо безгрешного," I spat back, rubbing my lips with my numb fingertips.
"The Boss will not be pleased we have done this," he murmured, this time in English. I leaned across and stroked his cheek with an ungloved hand. The slight stubble of his chin felt ticklish under my fingers.
"Do not worry Adolf, when I tell him what we have done, he will rejoice. And then, we can go relax. We can use the spa in my suite if you wish," I suggested, feeling the rush of blood to his cheeks. He broke into a sly grin and leaned back in his chair, pulling me along with him so that I was lying on top of him. I suppressed a squirm as he ran his numbingly cold hands up the back of my shirt.
"You know I don't like it when you kiss other boys," he whispered. "In particular, when you do it in front of me on purpose."
"I do not belong to you Adolf," I said, running the tip of my thumb across the bottom of his lip.
He chuckled deeply, "Uh yes, how could I forget? The infamous Kaddison Tsar belongs to no one." I managed a small smile as I pulled myself off him. I kicked my feet up onto his lap and loosened the strap on my rucksack. I pulled out the paper and the small laptop, handing the latter to Adolf to place into the box beside him. I flicked through the pages, scanning the numerous words and pictures that Mac had collected over the past six or so years. He had been so thorough, so clean with it all, like a man obsessed. I breathed deeply before opening the side window beside me and thrusting the entire pile out of the window. The pages fluttered down behind the helicopter, before landing in the inky blackness of the Channel.
"What was that?" Adolf asked, running his hands up and down my calves. I flickered my eyes over to him before closing them lightly.
"An old friend," I said, pulling a spare jacket over my shoulders and falling asleep.
Hey Guys, so I hoped you have enjoyed this so far. Please, review if you think I should go on with any suggestions on where it should go! –Redg.