CHERUB: Knight

12: Hot

"Day ninety-six," Letty whispered to George as they got up and pulled on dry but stiff clothing. George smiled at her but said nothing, conserving his energy.

"Trainees!" Kazakov boomed as they dressed. "We have a different schedule today. We will eat breakfast immediately then you will make your beds and ensure everything in your bunk area is impeccably tidy. Anyone who fails an inspection in thirty minutes will have their bed doused with the fire hose."

Having your bed soaked was the worst, because apart from having to sleep on a wet mattress, your neighbours invariably got some of their bed wet and they gave you evil glares for the rest of the day. George tidied first, figuring that he needed to get that right before breakfast, then he scarfed down the orange juice and dry cereal that they'd been given.

"We've got to be leaving for our final exercise," Letty said as they ate. "It usually takes a day of travelling, so if we're here today we'd only get two days of final stuff, which isn't much."

She was right, and after the inspection they all boarded a decrepit minibus at the gate and one of the campus staff drove them to the military airport near campus. It was the first time George had been on an aeroplane, so he was disappointed when he saw that it was one of the clapped out ex-Army jets.

The seats were trashed and there was mould everywhere, but they were plentiful and once the jet was airborne, nearly every trainee just found a row and fell asleep lying down.

"I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you," Kazakov yelled happily. "We'll be touching down at RAF Lossiemouth in less than an hour."

George groaned. He'd been hoping for a nice long flight to relax on, plus maybe a hotel, but if they were going to northern Scotland then they'd probably be on some exercise in two hours. He closed his eyes again, hoping to squeeze in thirty minutes before they landed.

After they landed, Kazakov led them across the tarmac towards a commercial airliner that had been painted in RAF colours. With excitement, the trainees realised that Kazakov hadn't been entirely truthful, and with a big airliner they would have to be going a long way.

Once they were all seated in soft seats with entertainment systems and pillows, the jet engines spun up and they were in the air within minutes. As soon as the seat belt light came off, Kazakov reappeared.

"For your final training exercise we'll be doing something we haven't tried before. You may have noticed that all of the windows are covered on this plane. You won't be told where we're going, and we'll land at a military airbase somewhere in the world. You'll be shuttled into the wilderness without knowing where you are, and you'll be given a series of tasks. If you pass, you pass basic training and become an agent. Fail and you go back to day one."

George was still sleepy from earlier and fancied a nap for a while, so while the others chatted in low voices he drifted off with his seat fully reclined.

He didn't wake until they were making their final approach and the seat belt light came back on. He felt refreshed, and hoped he'd made the right decision. If they arrived at night, he'd be horribly jet-lagged and that would make the final exercises hard, but if they arrived in the morning he'd be golden. The landing was a bit shaky, rattling the fixtures and giving George an attack of the nerves. He couldn't see outside and had no idea how far it was to the ground, but a sudden jolt and then a slowing-down reassured him and he settled down.

Once the plane had taxiied, they had to put on eye goggles that were blacked out.

"Anyone caught moving their goggles will instantly fail," Kazakov said, leading each trainee in turn to the aircraft door. The first thing George felt was a blast of dry heat, so he guessed they were in a desert region. Someone led him down the steps and into a vehicle waiting at the bottom which was even hotter than the outside. He was buckled into a seat and left for two minutes before someone else was strapped in opposite. Then the doors were slammed and the vehicle set off.