Survival

TWENTY-THREE

'You were right, Li. They're hostages,' announced Amber as Paulo thrust a slice of mango and a coconut shell full of water into her hands. 'They're a French family. Philippe Larousse and his wife, Beatrice. The brave little kid is called Emilie and her baby brother is Robert. Philippe told me the pirates hijacked the yacht in the middle of the night and made the crew bring it here.'

'Where are the crew now?' asked Li. 'Still aboard the yacht?'

'No,' said Amber, reluctantly. 'The pirates tied them up and threw them into the bay this morning. The sharks got them.'

'But that is dreadful!' gasped Paulo.

'I told you,' said Li. 'There's nothing romantic about modern-day pirates. They're dangerous, greedy men.'

'They're keeping the family alive because they think they're worth a lot of money,' continued Amber. 'They're planning on demanding a huge ransom, but Philippe says the pirates are mistaken. He's a plastic surgeon, not a wealthy tycoon. The boat doesn't even belong to him; he only hired it for two weeks for a family holiday.'

'So what is going to happen to them?' asked Paulo.

'Philippe told me that the rest of the pirates went off in their own boat this morning. They took his passport and his business card with them. He thinks when the pirates find out he isn't a multi-millionaire, they will come back and kill him and his family.'

'Then we must rescue them!' said Paulo.

Alex had said nothing since they had arrived back at the temporary base in the rainforest. He had crouched silently on a fallen tree trunk, staring down at Hex and letting Amber tell the story. Now he spoke for the first time.

'Hex first,' he grated through clenched teeth.

Amber nodded and turned back to the others. 'There's a satellite phone on the yacht. And Philippe told me where his medical bag was.'

'Antibiotics?' said Li, hopefully.

'By the syringe-load,' said Amber.

Paulo grinned, then his grin faded. 'But how do we get out to the boat?'

'The motor launch is out, even if we could get past the guards. Philippe says the pirate leader took the keys with him this morning. There was a big argument about it, apparently. The leader doesn't trust his own men by the sound of it.' Amber shook her head. 'Somebody's going to have to swim out,' she said.

'I'll go,' said Alex, springing to this feet. 'I'll go now.'

'No,' said Amber, quietly. 'I'm going. I'm the best swimmer.'

Alex looked at Amber and nodded reluctantly. He knew she was right. 'How are you going to do it?' he said. 'There are sharks. And the pirates have rifles. If they spot you-'

In reply, Amber pulled a length of brightly coloured plastic tubing from the pocket of her shorts and held it up. 'It's from Emilie's toy giraffe,' she explained. 'I thought it would make a good snorkel. If I swim under the water with strong, steady strokes, I could probably make it to the boat without the pirates seeing me.'

Li nodded in agreement. 'You might fool the sharks too. It's weak, irregular splashing on the surface which attracts them. If you don't move like an injured fish, they might not be interested in you.'

'That's a comfort,' said Amber, with a wry grin.

'Maybe I should go,' said Alex, uncertainly. 'I made a promise to Hex. I should be doing something.'

'Like I said, I'm the best swimmer,' said Amber, calmly. 'And I know what to bring from the medical bag. And I know how to use a maritime satellite phone. Do you?'

Alex shook his head.

'Anyway, I want to do it,' added Amber softly, looking down at Hex on the stretcher. 'I know what it's like, needing drugs to keep you alive. Knowing you'll die without that next injection.'

She looked up at Alex and they shared a long look.

'Thank you,' said Alex, finally.

Amber slipped out from behind the cover of the rock and slid into the clear water with hardly a ripple. Immediately, she dived deep and struck out for the yacht with steady strokes. She had stripped down to her bra and pants so there was no waterlogged clothing to hold her back as she arrowed through the water, kicking her bare feet in a steady rhythm. The plastic tube was tied around her neck with one of her boot laces. The other lace held a short but deadly-sharp bamboo spear in place against her outer thigh.

Amber held her breath as long as she could, then she put the plastic tube between her teeth and swam upwards until she was just below the surface with the top of the tube sticking out of the water. Now for the tricky bit. She blew hard to displace the water in the tube, then sucked in a lungful of air and dived again. No bullets snicked into the water above her head. The pirates had not spotted her.

Amber continued towards the yacht, swimming for as long as she could, then rising to the surface for another breath of air. All the while she looked about her under the surface, but she saw nothing except a startled shoal of wrasse and a few curious clownfish. Finally the hull of the yacht came into view. She was nearly there!

One more breath and she dived again, heading for the little boarding platform at the stern of the yacht. She had already spotted that the platform had been left in a lowered position. It would be easy to boost herself onto it then take the ladder up to the main deck of the boat.

In her mind, Amber was already on the yacht and picking up the handset of the satellite phone, so it took a couple of seconds to register the three grey shapes that came swimming out of the depths towards her.

Sharks.

Her heart clenched and she kicked harder in a desperate attempt to reach the platform. The sharks slowed and circled, watching her. Amber pushed on towards the platform. Ten metres. Nine. Eight. Amber felt as though her lungs were about to explode but, as the platform drew nearer, she began to hope that she would make it. Then the largest shark accelerated smoothly away from the other two and headed straight for her.

Back on shore, Alex, Paulo and Li were crouching in the undergrowth, watching Amber's progress across the cove. Every now and then they would get a glimpse of fluorescent green as the end of the plastic pipe poked above the water for an instant. Then a tiny waterspout would shoot up into the air as Amber displaced the water in the tube before diving below the surface again.

At first they would look nervously across at the pirate guards every time the little green tube appeared, but the pirates noticed nothing and gradually they began to relax.

'She must be nearly at the yacht,' said Alex, squinting as he tried to catch the next glimpse of Amber's makeshift snorkel.

'There she blows!' whispered Li. 'Only a few metres to-' She stopped and her eyes widened with horror as three dorsal fins rose out of the sea beside the yacht. Then one fin broke away from the others and arrowed through the water. The fin sank below the surface. Seconds later the shark began thrashing in the water and a plume of bright red blood rose to the surface. The other two sharks closed in, eager for their share.

On the shoreline, one of the pirates pointed out the commotion and they both laughed as they watched the sharks feed in the reddening water.

Li turned away, burying her face in Paulo's chest. She could not bear to watch any longer. Paulo gazed over her head at Alex and they shared a look of utter desolation. The three of them stood together in shocked silence. There was nothing they could do now. It was over. Amber was dead.