Cherub Black Friday (35 page)
The following updates were written shortly before the publication of this book, in July 2013.
THE ISLAMIC DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (IDoJ)
Following the Black Friday attacks and subsequent arrest or killing of more than twenty IDoJ members, it was hoped that the organisation’s back had been broken. However, intelligence sources now believe that while IDoJ’s American presence was all but wiped out, the group’s Mumbai-based leadership was untouched and has been able to use the notoriety gained after Black Friday to raise a significant war chest in order to fund future attacks.
Following his arrest, the pilot ELIJAH ELBAZ is currently awaiting trial inside a Supermax Federal Prison. He refused to cooperate when questioned about IDoJ activity and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.
THE ARAMOV CLAN
The two and a half year mission to destroy the ARAMOV CLAN was one of the longest and most complex in the history of CHERUB. Not only were the clan’s smuggling operations completely halted, information gathered while the clan was being controlled by TFU led to further operations against many other criminal organisations with which the Aramovs worked.
Of the clan’s fleet of more than eighty aircraft, fifty-two were destroyed or sold for scrap, eleven were sold on to new owners, while seventeen were donated to humanitarian organisations. Some of the money seized from the clan will be used to keep these humanitarian planes flying. The rest of the $600 million fund was retained by TFU and eventually folded into the US Intelligence Service budget.
Following the destruction of the Kremlin, Kyrgyzstan’s government lodged a protest at the United Nations, claiming that US agents had illegally infiltrated its territory and destroyed the former Soviet airbase. The American Ambassador to the UN dismissed these claims as ‘a fabrication’, and ‘utterly ludicrous’.
Former clan head IRENA ARAMOV succumbed to cancer and died at a private nursing home in the United States.
Her only surviving child, JOSEF ARAMOV, was with his mother during the last weeks of her life. Josef was given immunity from criminal prosecution in return for his cooperation after TFU took the Aramov Clan over.
Josef now lives in Philadelphia under a new identity. He was allowed to keep a personal fortune of around $5 million and used some of this money to purchase a small appliance repair business.
ANDRE ARAMOV and his mother TAMARA ARAMOV returned to Russia. Tamara has begun working part time in a jewellery shop owned by her uncle. Andre has been enrolled in a fee-paying school. He is doing well in all his classes and briefly had his first ever girlfriend.
ETHAN ARAMOV formerly ETHAN KITSELL is now fully settled living with TED BRASKER in Texas. He inherited assets worth over $50 million from his late mother Galenka. This money came from the legal side of Galenka’s business operations and will be placed in trust until Ethan reaches adulthood.
BORIS and ALEX ARAMOV used plane tickets and ID purchased before their father’s death and flew to Trinidad. Two months after their arrival, Boris Aramov was arrested following an altercation in a nightclub during which a French tourist was savagely beaten.
Boris is currently awaiting trial in a Trinidad jail. Alex was arrested shortly afterwards when a search of their apartment unearthed a cache of illegal steroids, used for bodybuilding. No criminal charges were brought against Alex, but his real identity was discovered and he was deported back to Kyrgyzstan.
It seems that neither Boris nor Alex had access to significant amounts of money. This has led authorities to believe that Leonid Aramov did not complete the sale of seventy-four PGSLM missiles and that they were inside the factory when James destroyed it.
Lawyer PAOLO LOMBARDI is under criminal investigation for money laundering, fraud, and illegal share deals relating to the purchase of Lisson Communications. This highly complex case is unlikely to come to trial before 2014, but if convicted Lombardi faces up to six years in federal prison.
Clan flunky DAN has settled into a new life, with a new identity, in the United States. Amy Collins set him up with an apartment and a part-time job in a Texas gym. He is currently learning English and studying for a high school diploma at community college. He hopes to start a college degree in September 2014.
NATALKA had a difficult time settling with her aunt in Russia. After several months, she ran away and spent a period living on the streets. Following an arrest for shoplifting, Natalka’s aunt refused to take her back and she has been placed in one of Russia’s notoriously tough reform schools.
Natalka’s mother, DIMITRA, is currently in a United States military prison awaiting trial. On-going arguments over the legality of the arrests of the four Aramov Clan aircrews mean that her trial is unlikely to take place until 2015, and there is a possibility that she will eventually be released without charge.
TFU
Despite the undeniable success of TFU’s Aramov Clan operation, this short-lived branch of the US Intelligence Service was not given a reprieve. TFU’s main investigations were either closed down or transferred to other departments at the end of March 2013.
TFU Director DR DENISE HUGGAN (DR D) accepted early retirement from the Intelligence Service and has taken a part-time role as a lecturer on Intelligence and International Affairs at the University of Texas in Dallas.
All investigations into Dr D’s conduct of the IDoJ operation were dropped upon her retirement.
Deputy Director TED BRASKER is currently on long-term sick leave following an operation on his back. He has not been assigned to a new position within US Intelligence and is expected to retire once he returns to health.
Ted has also taken formal steps to become the full-time legal guardian of Ethan Aramov.
AMY COLLINS turned down an offer to return to CHERUB campus and work in the mission control department. Following a written recommendation from Ted Brasker, Amy accepted the offer of a place on the FBI’s twenty-week training programme. Amy has now taken full US citizenship and is expected to qualify as an FBI special agent in October 2013.
CHERUB
Although YOSYP KAZAKOV’s death was confirmed through DNA traces, his body was largely vaporised in the explosion at Oak Ranch. A monument to Kazakov is being created in the chapel on CHERUB campus and the main street of the Campus Village will be named after him.
Chairwoman ZARA ASKER has announced that she plans to step down and take a less demanding job when the Campus Village project is finished in 2016. Her husband EWART ASKER is currently the favourite to succeed her as chairman.
JAMES ADAMS completed his six-month probationary period as a member of CHERUB staff and has been promoted to grade four. His ambition is to work as a full-time mission controller, but currently his job remains split between the mission control and training departments.
James has purchased a new Triumph Thunderbird motorbike, which he regularly rides on the roads near campus.
He had no contact with KERRY CHANG for four months, when she called in tears and announced that she’d split with her new boyfriend. The former couple are back on friendly terms, but James has been working on campus while Kerry is finishing her degree in California. Kerry plans to visit campus after her final exams at the end of July.
FU NING has continued to excel as a CHERUB agent and received her navy shirt following a short mission.
After his soaking RYAN SHARMA caught up with little brother Theo, carried him across campus and dumped him in a muddy puddle on a football pitch. Over the following months he slowly got over the loss of Natalka, but still felt sad that he couldn’t get in touch with her.
After his long mission in Kyrgyzstan, Ryan spent the first half of 2013 on campus, catching up on his education and training. Ryan is still best friends with MAX BLACK and ALFIE DUBOISSON. GRACE VULLIAMY continues to be his occasional campus girlfriend.
Following a fitness assessment and satisfactory reports from all of his teachers, Ryan will return to mission eligible status on August 1st 2013.
