Charlie's apprentice

Charlie Muffin, most devious of spies, has lived through the Cold War, outlasted the Soviet Union, circumvented the most lethal schemes of the late KGB, and survived a love affair with former KGB agent Natalia Fedova. Is it time to put him out to pasture? Director General Peter Miller, Charlie's new director, thinks so and turns Charlie into a schoolmaster, a teacher of spies. All seems set for Charlie in his new role until his apprentice, John Gower, is sent to Beijing to extract a British agent. Gower's mission quickly becomes a failure as he is imprisoned within days of his arrival, and…