The dining-hall was mostly empty. A circle of gossiping red-shirt carers, taking breakfast now that lessons had started, and kids who didn’t have school because they were either preparing for or recovering from missions.

James grabbed bottles of orange, sandwiches and two packaged slices of carrot cake, and got a dirty look from one of the catering staff because he hadn’t quite walked all the dry mud off his boots.

James found an electric cart and rode it across campus. He had to take a circuitous route, because a large area was cordoned off where army bulldozer crews were working to clear the rubble of the main building.

The cart was only designed for tarmac or damp grass, so James had to abandon his ride when he got to a wooded area near the back of campus. It had been a wet autumn and he was glad he’d picked the boots as he walked the last five hundred metres, down a path regularly churned by kids on training runs.

After using his fingerprint to enter the gates of the training compound, James found Leon and Daniel Sharma, stood to attention in a muddy clearing, dressed in combat boots and filthy CHERUB uniform. The drill instructor had planted a remote camera in the mud, so that he’d know if they moved.

‘You look bloody terrible,’ James said, as he noticed the boys’ red eyes and mud-caked hair.

They didn’t answer and instead looked anxiously at the camera sticking out of the mud.

‘Did Capstick say why you’ve been made to wait here?’ James asked.

‘Nope,’ Leon said.

James rustled a plastic bag and pulled out a sandwich. ‘Hungry?’

The twins’ eyes lit up, but instructors had been tricking and bullying the pair for a week, so they didn’t take anything at face value. James flung the bag at Daniel, who ripped out a chicken and bacon sandwich. Leon seemed slightly miffed that the other sandwich was cheese and pickle, but still inhaled it in a few bites, despite muddy fingers.

‘Thank you,’ Leon said, as he guzzled his orange juice. ‘So good.’

‘Safe to say you’re keen to get out of here?’ James noted.

‘Yes, sir,’ the twins agreed.

‘Call me James. Fortunately for you guys, I was about to offer you a mission when you decided to go vigilante on Britain’s paedo population. It’s taken a hell of a lot of arm twisting, but we’ve reached agreement with Zara Asker. If you accept the mission I offer …’

‘We accept,’ Daniel blurted.

James smiled. ‘I haven’t told you what it is yet.’

‘Anything’s better than this,’ Leon added. ‘Drugs, terrorists, bring ’em on!’

‘The bad news is that you’re not off the hook,’ James explained. ‘Your punishments will be suspended, and your sixty days’ heavy drill will be reduced by one day for every two that you serve on the mission.’

‘How long is the mission?’