RACE AMAZON: Maelstrom (James Pace novels Book 2)

by Andy Lucas

  ‘And the third?’

  ‘A larger boat. It looks like some kind of small patrol boat. Again it was too far to see much detail.’

  ‘What were they doing?’ The engines were very close now and they could make out the lower throb of a heavy, inboard diesel engine rumbling below the buzz of the outboards.

  ‘They were moving slowly downriver,’ she went on, ‘searching for us I suppose.’ She shuddered involuntarily. ‘The inflatables hugging the banks, one on each side and the patrol boat in the centre of the channel. They were moving quite slowly and I don’t think they saw me.’

  Cosmos said, ‘Let us hope we did a good enough camouflage job.’ As always his attitude was one of quiet acceptance. ‘We covered our tracks well. We can only wait.’

  The engine noise grew to a crescendo and they all waited, hardly daring to breathe; Pace fingering the trigger of his gun lightly, ready. Then slowly, very slowly, their pursuers moved on. Five minutes later and the engines could barely be heard in the distance, finally dissolving into silence after another two minutes. The engine noise didn’t return and after another half an hour of silent waiting, they allowed themselves to relax a little. Cosmos took up his watch by the river’s edge and Ruby settled herself in the pilot’s seat of the hovercraft to grab some sleep.

  At a loose end, Pace took the opportunity to examine the radio set in his pack for the umpteenth time. It hadn’t been damaged by the bullets that nearly blew his head off. As he fiddled with its inner workings, it rewarded his every effort with no more than static.

  Back to basics, he disassembled it fully again, just as he had done previously, on the flooded road. Maybe I missed something, he reasoned. A loose wire hidden, behind a panel? A short-circuit, or a fuse touching against metal?

  For a solid hour he dissected the set, checking every examinable component. Once rebuilt, he tried to transmit again but there was no change, just a cascade of static. Whatever was jamming the signal had rendered the hi-tech marvel little more than a worthless jumble of expensive components.

  Feeling despondent at his own sense of failure, his frustration threatened to border on the pathological in the sauna of the jungle. More for something to do than for any real purpose, he turned his attention to the emergency radio. Whatever was jamming the large set, he was sure, would do the same to this tiny transmitter. He genuinely wasn’t thinking anything other than what he would do when it too spat static at him, as he turned it on. For a second his ears and brain ran at opposites until the reality of the words filling the steaming air all around set off a sudden mental thunderclap.

  Words! They were clear and strong, so loud in fact that Ruby heard them from inside the cockpit and was by his side in a flash, her eyes shining and her face bewildered. The disembodied voice, speaking the familiar words, was female.

  Suddenly fearful for his sanity, recognition set in.

  10

  Had he finally buckled under the pressure and been overtaken by some kind of psychosis? It couldn’t be her, not here in this nightmare.

  Yet there was no mistaking her tones and the weariness in her voice. His heart leaped as memories, long held back, cart-wheeled like tumbleweeds across the dusty plains of his consciousness. A lump filled his throat and threatened to choke him as he numbly listened to her calling out for him.

  ‘This is base calling Team Two, over. Can anybody hear this transmission? If you can hear this message, someone please respond.’ A pause was followed by, ‘If anybody is listening, please respond, over. James…are you out there? Cosmos? Attia?’ There was a tinge of resignation in the voice. ‘Is there anyone out there?’

  Was she within ten miles of him? Pace’s senses reeled and Ruby chose to close a hand softly around his lower arm. Her eyes were full of concern. ‘James, are you okay?

  ‘What?’ He shook off the hand absently.

  ‘Is that Sarah? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

  ‘I can’t believe what I’m hearing.’

  ‘You cannot answer.’ Cosmos’s deep tones alerted them to the man’s presence as he pushed through some giant ferns to join them.

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Ruby. ‘If they’re out there, nearby, it’s our chance to get out of this place alive. Those men might come back and find us at any time,’ she added fervently.

  ‘The chance that a rescue party is within such close range is not likely.’ He fixed his gaze, looking her straight in the eye, with a trace of pity etched on his forehead. ‘It is far more likely to be a generated recording, a hoax if you will.

  ‘Cosmos is probably right.’

  ‘You too?’ She was incredulous. ‘How can you ignore her?’

  ‘I said he’s probably right,’ Pace repeated slowly, an idea germinating in his mind, ‘not that we weren’t going to answer.’

  ‘We cannot answer. I listened to you out on the river. You must listen to me now.’

  ‘I’m not asking anybody else to risk their neck. I’m just going to head upriver for a few miles and try to make contact. That way, if it is a trap, the soldiers will head past you, to close in on me. They will assume we are all together, then you and Ruby should have a clear run back down to the city.’

  ‘You would not stand a chance alone.’ The statement from Cosmos was flat. ‘You would be killed.’

  ‘If they catch us here, three can die just as fast.’ Big as the man was, Pace’s skin prickled and he could feel his temper beginning to fray. His mind was made up and he would not allow anyone to stand in his way. ‘I have the gun, and I’ll take some food and a bottle of water.’

  ‘You will die.’

  Pace stared at him deeply, unflinching. ‘It’s my life. If there are people out there, looking for us, I will lead them back here.’

  ‘How will we know what is happening to you? There’s only one radio working.’ Pertinent questions from Ruby.

  ‘Give me an hour to get a decent distance away upstream, another hour to make contact, then two more for help to reach me and for us to all get back here. That makes roughly four hours in total.’ He made a mental calculation. ‘It will be dark in about the same time so it’s simple enough. As soon as darkness falls, if I’m not back, get the hell out of here and make your run.’

  The discussion muted then, with him having to switch the radio back off just so he didn’t have to hear Sarah’s voice. The urge to press the switch down and answer her was very great but he had to wait. Slipping the handset into his belt, he plucked out the MicroCam and got Ruby to film him while he briefly explained what he was planning to do. The mood was sombre and the recording was quickly completed.

  Afterwards, they all sat down on the leaf-littered ground to fuel up with biscuits and a couple of mouthfuls of the bottled water. Already, each of them had taken a small drink as they ended their three hour stint by the river bank and one bottle was half empty. This meal drained it completely but a funnel hurriedly fashioned from a large, flat leaf, served to refill it with rainwater; Pace concealing it at the edge of the exposed riverbank, where it quickly filled again beneath open, pouring skies. Some small pieces of chocolate from the emergency pack were melted to the point of being drunk rather than chewed but they all felt better after swallowing some down.

  Preparations for leaving were short.

  He dumped the now useless backpack and its equally useless radio with the others, telling them to take the footage from the broadcast camera with them if they could. All he carried with him was the radio handset, MicroCam and the Sten. He also changed his mind and decided against carrying any food; he figured they would need it more than him. Luckily his chest had not bothered him too much either.

  Beneath the dressing, his flesh remained red and weeping but he had continued popping antibiotic tablets for the last twenty-four hours and swallowed a couple more for good measure before leaving.

  Then it was time to go. One final wry grin to his two companions sufficed as a goodbye and he pushed through the giant ferns that took him back
out onto the exposed riverbank. He did not spare a backwards glance, as to do so would have been too hard. Leaving his friends to face the jungle alone felt bad enough.

  He kept on the jungle side of the outer fringe of hanging creepers and ferns, whilst keeping the river itself in sight. As long as he didn’t lose sight of the brown water he could find his way back. If he headed into the jungle he knew he could quickly becoming disoriented and lost.

  Trying to concentrate on his footing while watching for snakes in amongst the low vegetation, and keeping one eye on the river at the same time, took a little getting used to. The sounds of an ageing jungle afternoon were all around him, as were the ever-present clouds of biting flies. Pushing along the riverbank was hard work and the heat was exhausting. Determined to save himself and his two companions, he pushed on through the nightmare of vegetation and lengthening shadows.

  He turned the radio back on periodically, relieved to still hear Sarah’s voice broadcasting. She sounded more tired than before, mirroring his leaden feet and laboured breathing. He fell over at least half a dozen times in the slick mud and nearly had a heart attack at one point, when he fell down almost directly on top of a whip-thin green and yellow snake. It hissed, reared and he sprang away from it just in time to avoid a bite.

  Carefully working around it, he moved on. As his pulse returned to normal, he reminded himself that it was the duller, dark snakes that were the most deadly, as a rule. Bright colours looked terrible but were normally harmless, unless terror brought on a coronary.

  A few minutes later, he knelt down and turned the little radio on again. Sarah was still on the air.

  ‘Team Two, this is base, please respond. Are there any members of Team Two on air? This is base calling, respond please. You are in grave danger. If anybody is reading this, please respond.’ She wasn’t wrong about their predicament, he smiled.

  He had travelled a mile at least and decided it was enough. His heart in his mouth, he pressed the transmit switch.

  ‘Sarah, this is James, can you read me, over?’ Releasing the switch he closed his eyes and prayed for a coming miracle rather than more trouble.

  ‘James?’ The voice was instantly energised. ‘James, is that you?!’ This was no bloody recording, Pace knew immediately. It was Sarah for sure. ‘Team Two, repeat message. James! James!’

  ‘Hey, I’m here,’ he said lightly. ‘But where in the hell is the cavalry?’

  There was an explosion of shrill, excited screaming from the other end of the signal, followed by the crash of feet and hubbub of other people being told what was happening. For him, standing in the shadowed rainforest, only the eerie sensation of being alone yet watched by hundreds of animal eyes remained.

  ‘Sounds like you’re all having a great party. Any chance that someone might get off their backside and save us anytime soon?’

  ‘Mr Pace. Where are you please and how many of your team are with you?’ A deep male voice that he did not recognise suddenly boomed at him from the handset.

  ‘Who am I speaking to?’ he asked.

  ‘Can’t tell you that, sorry, just answer the questions. How many people are with you?’

  Pace was irritated by the attitude although he knew they needed help and he was on shaky ground. ‘If memory serves, these things are only good for about ten miles. Are you close, or are you boosting your signal?’

  ‘Forget that for now!’ snapped the voice. ‘I need the information first.’

  ‘No,’ Pace shot back icily. ‘You need to learn some manners first. Lesson one on how to win friends and influence people - speak to them properly. Put Sarah back on.’

  ‘I’m in charge here.’ Whoever he was, he didn’t like anyone saying no to him. ‘Give me the details and we’ll come for you. There’s no time for this. Your position is compromised.’

  Pace thought about continuing the argument but knew the man was right. It wouldn’t be long before he was discovered, now that he’d given away his position by replying.

  ‘There are three. That’s me, Cosmos and Ruby. Hammond disappeared. Attia was killed.’ Mutterings could be heard in the background. When the voice returned, it seemed softer.

  ‘Look, I understand that you are in the dark about all this but we have to decide if it’s worth risking a rescue or not. If you’d been alone, I wouldn’t do it. To pull out three people out, I’ll risk it.’

  ‘Nice of you,’ Pace quipped. ‘Any time you want to come charging over the hill, feel free.’

  ‘We’ve run a check on your signal. We are on boosters but you’re still only about fifty miles out. Stay put. The team will come in and get you. What’s your current status with injuries and supplies?’

  ‘No injuries.’ Pace ignored his chest. ‘I have one machine gun and a feeling that the Grim Reaper is hovering over my right shoulder, sharpening a farming implement. Now where’s Sarah?’

  The voice chuckled. ‘At the moment I have two heavily armed men physically holding her back. Hang on.’ In the background he heard him order her release. There followed the sound of a single, stinging slap and then her breathless, tearful voice came on the air. It lifted his spirits just to hear her, although conversation was difficult through her unseen tears and his own delight.

  She couldn’t tell him much; just that she was here with people sent to get them out. Then she told him she loved him and that he had to trust her, despite what he had read in her letter; she would explain everything. In reply, he told her she had better not change her mind before he saw her again and she managed a laugh, promising that she would not.

  At that point the male voice came on line again and told him to switch the set to beacon mode; they would be there as soon as they could. It would mean not being able to talk to Sarah again because the radio had to emit continuously for the rescue team to get a good fix. He reluctantly agreed. Then she was gone, leaving him alone in the jungle again.

  Gripping the Sten, he slid a further three metres into the jungle and clambered up onto the exposed buttress root of a huge tree, perching there with his legs dangling a good four feet off the jungle floor. He set the radio down next to him, checked it was transmitting, and settled down to wait.

  He was committed to the course he had chosen and believed that rescue was coming. Sarah would not lure him into danger and he sensed she was being honest with him. No, the good guys were coming, he was certain. The problem was that if he had heard them, perhaps the enemy had too. It was a toss up as to who would arrive first.

  Pace hoped the rescue team dropped in before the blanket of true night fell, otherwise Cosmos and Ruby would take off downstream. Slipping the safety catch off of the machine gun, he rested it across his knees and stared off into the deepening gloom. His mind was filled with images of Sarah. Not only was she alive and well but he was going to see her again within hours.

  The rain had stopped at some point during his trek along the bank; he hadn’t noticed when, but the incessant dripping from the canopy high above his head remained, like an old friend sent to ease his troubles. In a way, it was comforting.

  He checked his watch. Robust and waterproof to a depth of two hundred metres, it was perfect choice for an adventure race in the Amazon. In such a wet environment it was almost like being underwater at times, he thought idly, letting his eyes move from the luminous watch face over to his muddy right thigh, where a brightly striped, red and yellow caterpillar had hitched a ride.

  He shook his leg and the visitor fell off, immediately lost from sight in the rich tapestry of dead leaves, fallen creepers and patches of bare, muddy earth around the huge tree trunk. His eyes returned to the watch face. It read six fifty-one p.m. Time didn’t mean much where he was but it served as a comforting reminder of civilisation. His mind decided to occupy itself by re-running some recent images across the back of his retinas. What had really happened to him since getting tangled up in the race?

  Financially, he was set….if he survived. He’d been swept along, mainly by falling for Sar
ah, though God only knew why she affected him so strongly, or what the situation was between her and Tom McEntire. But she had just told him she loved him, hadn’t she?

  The chance to help the planet and take centre stage in a media circus had been an opportunity too golden to ignore. For some unknown reason, just at that moment, an image of the fat Mrs Moorer-Sims popped into his head and he laughed aloud, catching the sound in the back of his throat. She had been the ultimate nightmare of a travelling companion but he thought of her fondly all the same.

  Memories; unique in their flavour, of sex, love, fear, anger and disbelief flitted into view. He had enough material for a book, let alone the few post-race articles he’d agreed to contribute to. But they hadn’t even been rescued yet. That thought brought him round to a jungle shrouded in deepening shadow.

  Pace was not sure what to expect from his rescuers and was a little worried that he might miss them in the dense jungle. Luckily for him, they arrived with little thought of concealment. A distant buzz rapidly grew into a thunderous roar of multiple aircraft propellers directly overhead, deafening his ears and literally shaking leaves, insects and small animals out of the canopy with their vicious downwash.

  Seconds later, a body harness resembling a lifejacket dropped into view beneath the lower tree boughs, attached to a thin steel cable. Pace recognised it immediately as a standard body belt, typically used in helicopter extractions by both military and rescue services worldwide.

  Someone had tied a length of metal chain around the belt to stop it swinging and allow it to push through the canopy without getting tangled up. Also tied to the vest was a small smoke flare. Discarding the chain, Pace strapped himself into the vest, pulled a release pin from the top of the flare, and tossed a few feet away from him.

  Within seconds the flare began to throw out great billows of red smoke, curling and swirling skywards. Unseen eyes spotted the tell-tale signal smoke and almost immediately Pace felt a tug on the vest as the cable was slowly reeled in. After a minute of careful negotiation through the thickly entwined vegetation that comprised the canopy, Pace finally felt himself pulled into clear air.