Dark Sun (5 page)

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THE PLAN

Lydon estimates that his redesign work will take eight
to ten months. MI5 has considered arresting Lydon
and his contacts. This might provide some intelligence,
but only with junior members of the Dark Sun network
.
MI5 wants to penetrate the highest levels of
Dark Sun. The only way to do this is to allow Lydon
to complete his redesign and then track his progress
as he travels abroad to build and test it. However, if
Lydon is successful, his easy-to-build centrifuge could
enable dozens of countries to start making fuel for
nuclear bombs
.

MI5 has contacted some of Lydon’s former colleagues.
The centrifuge design contains over three thousand
parts and nobody understands all of them. The
engineers selected a list of four hundred key parts.
These are all made from common materials, meaning
Lydon would have no reason to alter their design or to
examine them too closely
.

Once the engineers had their list, they began to
think up minute changes to these parts that would
affect their performance. In a centrifuge spinning at
25,000rpm a hundredth of a gram imbalance in weight
can cause a catastrophic failure; the wrong type of
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plastic seal can create an explosive venting of gas; or a
tiny imperfection in the centrifuge lining can cause a
heat build-up that makes the entire unit explode
.
A failed centrifuge is likely to spread radioactive
debris, but experts believe that contamination will be
confined to a small area. Engineers and technicians
working for Dark Sun may come to serious harm, but
MI5 feels this risk is acceptable, given that millions of
lives would be endangered if a rogue state or terrorist
group obtained a nuclear bomb
.

The engineers studied the individual parts and honed
their list down to 143 tiny design alterations that will
be unnoticeable on a computer screen and impossible to
pinpoint in the aftermath of an explosion
.
It is believed that ironing out all of these tiny faults
will actually take longer than designing a new centrifuge
from scratch. Testing the flawed design will also take
years, cost millions of dollars and undermine the
credibility of the Dark Sun network
.
THE PROBLEM

Kurt Lydon has already begun work on his revised
design. Someone will have to access the computer-
aided design workstation in the study at Kurt Lydon’s
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Milton Keynes home and enter all 143 design
alterations by hand
.

MI5 believed this would be a relatively simple matter
of disabling Lydon’s burglar alarm and breaking in, but
the Dark Sun network is keeping a close eye on Kurt
Lydon and has his home under twenty-four-hour
surveillance
.

No adult operative will be able to get inside Lydon’s
office and access the workstation without arousing
suspicion. However, Lydon has a thirteen-year-old son,
George, and a fifteen-year-old daughter, Sophie. It has
been suggested that a pair of CHERUB agents may be
able to befriend George and/or Sophie, infiltrate Kurt
Lydon’s home and then sabotage the centrifuge design
.
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6. INTRODUCING

‘You boys OK?’ John Jones asked, as he drove a Nissan 4x4 across a deserted roundabout. Andy and Greg sat in the back.

‘All set, boss,’ Greg nodded, before looking across at Andy. ‘Just remember not to call me Rat.’

‘OK, Rat,’ Andy smirked.

John turned into a modern development of

detached houses and slowed down so that he could catch the house numbers as he rolled by. At number t went y-t wo he turned on to a brick driveway and pulled up beside a silver Astra.

The boys reached over the back seat to grab their backpacks before following him up to the front door. A slim woman opened up before they
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had a chance to ring the bell. George hurried up the hallway behind her, dressed in a T-shirt and Futurama boxers.

‘You must be Dr Lydon,’ John smiled, giving himself a bit of an Australian accent so that he’d pass for Greg’s dad. ‘Thanks for having the boys. If there’s any problem whatsoever just give me a call.’

‘Call me Susie,’ George’s mum said, as she shook John’s hand. ‘It’s no bother. They’ve got money for pizza and three dozen X-box games, so they’ll prett y much take care of themselves.’

As the adults spoke on the doorstep, Greg and Andy ducked under Dr Lydon’s arm, kicked off their trainers and headed upstairs to George’s bedroom.

‘You boys behave,’ John shouted after them.

‘No worries, Dad,’ Greg shouted back. ‘See you in the morning.’

The house was comfortable, but it wouldn’t win any design awards and smelled slightly like cats. George had a smallish bedroom, but he had a cool AV setup with surround-sound speakers and a 37inch LCD mounted on the wall. Zhang had arrived
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early and was playing
Forza Motorsport Two
with the volume turned up loud. He’d stripped down to a pair of Chelsea shorts because the room was stif ling, and sat himself cross-legged on the end of George’s bed.

‘Nice bruises, Zhang,’ Greg noted.

Zhang shook his head. ‘It was nice of you to leave your Karate Kid act until
after
Johno battered me and stuck my head down the crapper.’

‘Until today I thought getting your head stuck down the school toilet was just an urban myth,’

Greg smiled, before looking across at Andy. ‘This is my cousin. He’s down from Scotland for the first week of the holiday.’

Zhang was driving a Dodge Challenger through a chicane, so he just made a grunting noise.

‘You’ve got four controllers,’ Andy smiled.

‘Yeah,’ George said proudly. ‘You any good at
Virtua Tennis
? We can play a doubles tournament.’

‘Bagsy not Zhang’s team,’ Greg blurted.

‘He sucks.’

‘Screw you,’ Zhang shouted. ‘You can’t expect anyone to play brilliantly the first time you pick it up. I took you to a tiebreak that last set—

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AA ARGH, I hate that stupid corner
so
much!’

George cracked up laughing as Zhang’s

Challenger clattered through a gravel trap before smashing into a t yre wall.

‘Tossers!’ Zhang shouted, as he threw the controller at the bed. ‘Second place – I had him all lined up to overtake on the next straight.’

The boys all jumped as George’s mum’s voice sounded in the doorway.

‘Haven’t you heard of knocking?’ George tutted.

‘I did knock,’ she yelled. ‘If you didn’t have those speakers turned up so loud . . .’

George crawled across the f loor and turned down the volume on his hi-fi.

‘Sit up as long as you like and have your fun,’ Dr Lydon said firmly. ‘But I’ve been on at the hospital for sixteen hours and I’m going to bed as soon as I’ve had my shower, so keep the noise down. OK?’

‘Don’t worry, Mum,’ George said. ‘We’ll be quieter than mice in silk slippers.’

George’s mum smiled. ‘There’s crisps in the cupboard, Ben and Jerry’s in the freezer and some of those microwave burrito thingies that you like. I’ll leave you to it.’

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Greg looked surprised as she headed down the corridor. ‘So your mum’s going to bed?’

George broke into a big smile. ‘It’s
so
mint!’ he grinned. ‘My dad’s gone off for some business meeting in Belgium, Sophie’s going out clubbing with one of her mates and my mum’s just worked a double shift at the hospital. Once she’s asleep we own this joint!’

‘Cool,’ Zhang said.

Andy and Greg exchanged covert smiles: the fewer people in the house, the easier it would be to access Kurt Lydon’s computer.

‘It gets better,’ Greg said, as he pulled his sleeping bag off the top of his backpack and dragged out eight cans of beer.

George eyed them warily. ‘If my mum sees that . . .’

Zhang tutted. ‘Don’t be a wuss, Georgie. It’s only t wo cans each. It won’t kill you.’

‘Four each, actually,’ Andy grinned. ‘There’s eight more in my bag.’

Zhang smiled at Andy. ‘I’m starting to like you already, mate.’

‘I suppose,’ George said. ‘But we’d better wait until my mum’s asleep. And you’ll have to take the
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empt y cans home because if she sees that lot in the rubbish she’ll kill me.’

‘We’re all getting hammered!’ Zhang sang.

‘We’re all getting hammered.’

‘Mind if I use your toilet, George?’ Andy asked politely.

‘Better than pissing on the carpet,’ George smiled, as he opened his door and pointed along the hallway. ‘Second door on the right.’

Across the hallway, George’s sister Sophie stepped out of her room. She was dressed for a night out in black heels and a black dress that left plent y of f lesh on display.

‘Look boys,’ George grinned. ‘All done up like a dog’s dinner.’

Sophie f licked her brother off. ‘What’s all this then?’ she sneered. ‘X-box and
Battlestar Galactica
DVDs? You’re
such
a bunch of losers.’

‘Yeah,’ George scoffed. ‘Much better to sit at the back of the cinema getting tongued by that chav Daniel.’

Sophie tutted with contempt as she headed down the hallway towards the bathroom, then banged furiously on the door when she realised that Andy was inside.

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‘Outta there, geeko!’ she yelled.

‘Use the one downstairs,’ George said.

‘I can’t, thicko,’ Sophie growled. ‘Mum’s in the shower.’

Andy was in a strange house with people

he didn’t know, so he apologised to Sophie as he emerged from the bathroom.

‘Just get out my way,’ she growled.

George shrugged apologetically as Andy headed back towards the bedroom.

‘Sticks and stones,’ Andy said casually.

‘I know how to get her back,’ George grinned, as he darted into his sister’s room.

Seconds later, George emerged with a f loppyeared toy rabbit and plunged it headfirst down the front of his boxers.

‘Oh you naught y rabbit!’ George said noisily, as the other three boys burst out laughing.

George raced down the hall with the soft toy protruding ridiculously from his shorts and banged on the bathroom door.

‘Sophie,’ George said sweetly. ‘Mr Rabbit’s in trouble!’

‘How many times?’ Sophie shouted, as she burst
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out of the bathroom with wet hands. ‘Stay out of my room you little freak.’

But she didn’t go really bananas until she saw the pair of furry legs sticking out of her brother’s boxers.

‘Dirt y little git,’ she screamed. ‘You’re getting such a slap.’

George started to run but Sophie wrapped an arm around her brother’s waist as he scrambled through his bedroom doorway.

‘Ooof,’ Zhang laughed, as George took a brutal slap across the cheek. ‘I felt that.’

Sophie ripped the bunny out of George’s shorts before slapping his back and knocking him to the ground. ‘Stay out of my room,’ Sophie screamed.

‘Don’t you
ever
touch my stuff, geek.’

‘You wait and see what I do while you’re out,’

George said, unperturbed by the huge red welt on his face. ‘Mr Bunny has a date with my Stanley knife.’

Sophie pinned George against the hallway wall with her leg before bending forwards and grabbing his skinny ankles. There was a desperate turn in George’s expression which the other lads didn’t understand.

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‘Sophie, I’m sorry!’ George gasped. ‘Don’t.’

George grasped at the door frame, but Sophie was way stronger than her scrawny brother and she started dragging him down the hallway. As she picked up speed, his bare back zipped across the shaggy nylon carpet.

‘Noooo,’ he screamed desperately. ‘Mummmm!’

Greg, Andy and Zhang piled out into the

corridor to watch. As George sat up, his three friends saw the bright red friction burn caused by his high speed ride across the carpet. George screwed up his face in pain, but didn’t want his mates to see that he was hurting.

‘Stay out of my room, loser,’ Sophie shouted.

‘Evil bitch,’ George shouted back.

Downstairs a door clicked open and George’s mum stormed out of the shower room in a pastel green dressing gown and matching slippers.

‘Pack it in,’ she shouted. ‘I’m
so
sick of you t wo. You’re thirteen and fifteen, but you act like you’re still three and five. Look what you’ve done to his back!’

‘Oh, why not take his side for a change, Mum?’

Sophie said sarcastically. ‘He stuck Mr Rabbit’s
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head down his pissy shorts. All I want is for the little prick to stay out of my room.’

‘Why can’t you just die of cancer?’ George shouted, as he grabbed the banister and hauled himself up.

Sophie poked out her tongue. ‘Loser,’ she hissed. George’s mum growled furiously. ‘How many times have I told you to stay out of each other’s rooms?’