by Chris Ryan
Alex and Paulo seemed to reach the same decision at the same instant. They shared a look then, gently, started to lower Hex to the ground.
'Don't you dare,' grated Hex, lifting his head to look at Alex. 'I want to be standing.'
Alex nodded and the three of them turned to face their hunters. Silently Li and Amber stopped too and retraced their steps until they were shoulder to shoulder with the boys. Philippe looked back and saw what was happening. Quickly, he ordered Beatrice and the children to carry on, but he turned back and stood at the rear of the group, watching the killers approach with a look of quiet determination on his face. If they were planning to kill his children, they would have to get past him first.
The leader was close enough for Alex to see the gold tooth in the middle of his smile when the undergrowth erupted on each side of the game trail. Two komodo dragons burst from the bushes and slammed three of the pirates to the ground. One of the men managed to roll out of the way, but the dragons pounced on the other two, raking razor-sharp claws across their bellies. It all happened so fast that their leader was still smiling as his men were attacked behind him.
One of the men on the ground gave a high, agonized scream as the komodo dipped its snout into his belly. The other fallen man twitched silently as the second huge lizard tore the flesh from his arm. The pirate leader turned, brought his rifle up to his shoulder, then lowered it again and stepped back, out of the way of the komodos' swinging tails. The two remaining men stared at the carnage for a few, shocked seconds, then ran back the way they had come, ignoring their leader's shouted orders.
Alex was as shocked as anyone by the gruesome sight in front of him, but a cold, determined part of his brain was also looking out for his own survival. That part of him understood that, suddenly, the odds were a lot better. However, the pirate leader still had his rifle and they had nothing but a knife.
'Come on,' hissed Alex, a plan forming in his mind. 'We have to make it to the beach!' They turned and hobbled away from the ambush site. Behind them, the leader of the pirates checked that his rifle was loaded before slowly following.
The sun was low in the sky by the time they stumbled out onto the beach. Alex gazed around him, checking that everything was as he had left it. Quickly, they helped Hex over to one of the camp beds and eased him down, then they picked up the camp bed and carried it behind the shelter of the signal fire.
Alex gathered Beatrice and the children around the camp bed. 'Stay here with Hex,' he ordered, before running out onto the beach again to join the others. They grabbed another camp bed and piled it high with the rocks Alex had used to make the signal arrow. Then Li and Amber carried the rocks behind the signal fire, while Paulo and Hex picked up one of the bamboo benches and a lemonade can filled with coconut oil. Quickly, they hurried to join the others.
When the pirate leader stepped out onto the beach, it was silent and apparently empty. He scanned the stretch of sand, then smiled and headed towards the large signal fire, imagining his victims cowering behind it. These people had been nothing but trouble and he was looking forward to ending their lives.
'He's coming!' hissed Amber.
'OK. Get back under cover,' ordered Alex. He leaned forward and set his flint to the tinder in the base of the fire. It caught with the third spark and slowly the flames began to spread. Alex lined up five spears of split bamboo from the bench, dipped the end of each one into the can of coconut oil, then thrust it into the growing fire. When the end of each spear was well alight, he handed them out to Amber, Paulo, Li and Philippe one by one, keeping the last one for himself.
'Ready?' he asked.
They all picked up a rock from the pile, tightened their grip on their spears and nodded.
'Remember,' said Paulo. 'We must be fast and loud. Surprise is our best weapon – and he cannot shoot us all at once.'
'Very encouraging, Paulo,' said Li and he grinned at her fondly.
'OK,' said Amber. 'Here we go!'
The pirate leader came to a shocked halt as five screaming people suddenly shot out from behind the signal fire and raced towards him, waving flaming spears. One rock flew past his head, then another clipped his shoulder. He raised his rifle and tried to get one of the people in his sights, but they started to zigzag across the sand as they ran. He took a step back. A third rock caught him full on the elbow and there was a dull crack as the bone split. The leader yelled and his rifle fell to the ground as his arm dropped uselessly to his side.
The pirate turned and ran back up the beach. Suddenly he was not the hunter any more. He was the prey. Behind him, Alex let out a roar and flung his bamboo spear. The leader stumbled as it caught him in the ankle, but he managed to right himself and carry on.
Alex was in the lead and gaining fast when something whizzed past his head. An instant later he heard the rifle shot. His head jerked up and his heart clenched as he saw the two remaining pirates stepping out onto the beach with their rifles raised. He slowed, and the others slowed behind him. They came to a stop on the darkening beach.
It took the pirate leader a moment to realize that his men had returned. He carried on running for a few more steps before he spotted them. Then he stopped too and turned to face Alex and the others. Alex groaned. This was it. They were out in the open, lit up by a blazing signal fire and there was nowhere else to run. He bowed his head as the three pirates strolled towards him. Suddenly, there was no fight left in him. He could hear his heart beating very loudly as he waited to die. The beating grew louder and louder until it seemed to fill the sky.
The three pirates stopped too, cocking their heads and looking about them. Alex raised his eyes and watched as the sky beyond the headland began to fill with a bright, white light. The beating grew even louder and the trees above the beach began to bend and dance. They were all staring at the dancing trees when three air-sea rescue helicopters cleared the headland and swung in low over the beach. Their powerful searchlights raked the sand and the pirates dropped their weapons and ran for the cover of the forest.
Alex sat down heavily in the sand as the rotors blat-blatted overhead. Amber landed on her backside next to him and threw her arms around his neck. She was laughing and shouting something but he could not hear a word. A few metres away, Li and Paulo were jumping and dancing in the searchlights, waving madly as the helicopters dipped their noses and spread out along the beach, looking for a place to land away from the signal fire.
Alex sat on, gazing at the helicopters as they settled in a neat row, whipping up a storm of sand with their rotor blades. A line of uniformed men jumped from the belly of one as soon as its runners touched down. They ran at a crouch through the sandstorm and disappeared into the jungle after the pirates. There was movement and noise all around him. Amber, Li and Paulo raced to carry Hex out from behind the signal fire. Beatrice, Emilie and Robert ran to join Philippe and the family stood in a tight huddle, hugging one another as though they would never let go.
Alex blinked, then slowly turned his head back to the helicopters as their whirring blades slowed into silence. He watched as the door on the side of the nearest helicopter swung back. A tall black man stepped from the helicopter, followed by a tiny, blonde-haired woman.
'That's my uncle!' yelled Amber and she went running towards the tall black man. Alex let his gaze follow Amber, then he focused on the tiny woman who was hurrying up the beach towards him. His eyes widened as he recognized Heather, their Watch-leader. He struggled to his feet and stood there, swaying slightly as Heather came to a stop.
'Oh, Alex,' whispered Heather as she stared at the pale, exhausted boy in front of her. He was filthy, his clothes were torn and he was absolutely covered in cuts, bruises, blisters, mosquito bites and friction burns. He staggered and she put out an arm to steady him, but Alex drew himself up and stood unaided. A grin spread across his face as he looked into her eyes.
'A-Watch reporting for duty,' he said proudly. 'All present and correct.'
TWENTY-NINE
/> Twenty-four hours later, Alex, Amber. Li and Paulo walked into Hex's room in one of the most expensive suites of a private hospital in Jakarta. It was the first time they had all been together since the helicopter had set them down on the roof of the hospital the previous night. Hex had been whisked away immediately and the rest of them had spent the night being examined minutely by a whole army of doctors and nurses. They had been hooked up to intravenous drips to replace lost fluids. Blood and urine samples had been taken and tested. Their wounds had been treated and bandaged and they had been injected with a whole list of different drugs against tropical diseases. Finally, they had been allowed to eat a meal and collapse into their beds, where they had all slept for the next fourteen hours.
Now, Amber walked into the middle of the suite and looked around. The place was more like an exclusive hotel than a hospital. The air-conditioning hummed quietly, the floor was thickly carpeted and a scattering of wall lights and table lamps gave off a soft glow.
'Sheesh, Hex!' she said. 'I had to share with Li! How come you get a palace like this all to yourself?'
'He was sicker than you,' replied John Middleton as he emerged from the en-suite bathroom.
'Hello, Uncle.' Amber grinned, lowering herself carefully into the middle of a huge, cream sofa. 'Owww! I have bruises on my bruises.'
Alex moved over to Hex. He was sitting up in a hospital bed with an intravenous drip attached to his arm and a protective wire cage over his injured leg.
'How are you doing?' asked Alex.
'He's a very lucky boy,' said a plump little nurse as she bustled into the room with a tray of glasses and a jug full of iced water. 'We've been pumping fluid and antibiotics into him all night, so he's improved a lot, but it was that first dose which really counted. If you hadn't got those drugs into him back on the island, he wouldn't be here right now.'
The nurse nodded at them all for emphasis, then glanced at her pocket watch and bustled out again.
'I think that means I'll live,' smiled Hex, as the door sighed shut behind the nurse.
'I already told you that,' said Alex.
Li eased down onto the sofa opposite Amber and reached for the water jug. She wasn't really thirsty, but she held the jug between her bandaged hands and filled all five glasses, just to hear the ice cubes clink. 'I can't believe we survived,' she said softly, smiling around the room at the others.
'And if you don't mind,' said John Middleton, sitting down beside Amber, 'I'd like to know how you did it.'
For the next two hours, they talked and John Middleton listened, his face growing more and more incredulous with every passing minute. Hex listened too. There was a lot he had to catch up on.
'You are one incredible bunch of kids,' said Amber's uncle finally when they had reached the end of their story. 'Now, do you have any questions for me?'
'Did anyone hear our SOS?' asked Paulo.
'We did pick up a fragment of an SOS signal,' said Amber's uncle. 'But it was too broken up for us to do anything with it.'
'Still,' said Paulo, settling back with quiet pride and beaming at Hex, 'it worked. Our radio worked.'
'So how did you find us?' asked Alex.
'My housekeeper called me at about four o'clock yesterday afternoon,' replied Amber's uncle. 'Of course, it was early morning in New York. She had been woken by the phone which kept ringing every five minutes. When she listened to the answer-machine, she heard Amber's voice.'
'But I goofed,' said Amber. 'I didn't leave any details.'
'We didn't need them,' said John Middleton. 'We pinpointed the signal coming from the satellite phone aboard the yacht. The Larousse family are fine, by the way. They're in a suite across the corridor there. You can pop in and see them later.'
'So the satellite signal led you to the cove,' said Hex. 'Then what?'
'Of course, when we got there, all we could find were three bodies, lying on the beach. Then we spotted smoke rising from the other side of the island.'
'The signal fire,' said Alex.
'Your signal fire,' agreed Amber's uncle. 'We high-tailed it around the mountain and there you were, attacking armed men with a bunch of bamboo sticks. They caught the pirates, by the way – what was left of them.'
John Middleton smiled at Amber, then reached out and stroked her hair. 'Your mom and dad would have been proud of you,' he said softly.
'Would they?' said Amber quietly, clutching the twist of gold at her neck. 'I don't know what would make them proud. I don't feel as though I know them any more.'
'Ah, yes,' said John Middleton. 'Philippe Larousse told me you might be wanting to know a few things. He told you a bit about the work they were doing, didn't he?'
'Just a bit,' said Amber. 'And now you're going to tell me the rest. Right?'
'That's why they sold the company, Amber. They wanted to start using some of that money to help other people. They wanted to put something back into the world.'
'But aren't there governments to do that? Aren't there charities and human rights organizations?'
'Yes, but sometimes the bigger organizations are helpless. They're all tied down by law and rules and red tape. Your mom and dad, they reckoned they could get past all that.'
'You mean they broke the law?'
'More like slipped past it,' smiled John Middleton. 'As private individuals, they could sneak into places where officials weren't allowed to go. They could take food or medicines in or get video evidence out. You wouldn't believe how much of their covert filming ended up on the international news – and that evidence would force the authorities to take action. Do you see?'
'I guess so,' said Amber.
'I was involved in it too,' said John Middleton. 'But my role was less dangerous. I suppose you could call me their anchor man. Their organizer. I stayed in New York most of the time, but I would arrange visas or money, or make sure they had the equipment they needed.'
'What sort of equipment?' asked Amber.
'All sorts,' said her uncle. 'Covert cameras for undercover work, false identities. Stuff like that.' He sighed. 'I don't do any of that now. They were the heart of it, you see. When they died in that plane crash, that was the end of it for me. It was sabotage, Amber, not an accident like I told you. I'm sorry.'
'Why didn't you tell me the truth?'
'Your mom and dad, they wanted to protect you. That's why they didn't tell you about the work they were doing. It was dangerous work. They didn't want you to be involved in any way.'
'So they let me think they were swanning around the world on a permanent vacation! I wish they'd told me the truth. I could've helped them.'
'Don't be silly, Amber,' said John Middleton. 'What could a fourteen-year-old girl do?'
Amber drew herself up to her full height and glared at her uncle. 'A lot, actually, if you think about it. Nobody pays much attention to kids. I bet I could get into places even Mom and Dad would have had trouble with.'
'Good point,' said John Middleton, looking at Amber. 'But it would be too dangerous, Amber—'
'Hey! I just survived a reef, a komodo dragon, three or four sharks and a whole crew of pirates! What could be more dangerous than that?' Amber sat up straight and gave her uncle a level stare. 'I've decided, Uncle,' she said. 'I want to carry on Mom and Dad's work.'
'What, all on your own?' asked John Middleton. He smiled at Amber indulgently. 'No, you'd be far better off going back to boarding school.'
Amber slumped and her hand crept up to clutch the golden Omega sign around her neck.
'But she wouldn't be on her own,' said Li, stepping up beside Amber. 'I'd work with Amber any day.'
'Me too,' said Paulo, stepping up beside Li.
'I'll go with that,' said Alex, moving to stand on Amber's other side.
'Count me in,' called Hex, from the bed.
Amber beamed at the others as they gathered around her then turned to look at her uncle. 'Well?' she said.
John Middleton gazed at the five of them thoughtfully. 'It
's true,' he said. 'I can see situations where a group of kids as brave and resourceful as you could really make a difference—' He stopped abruptly and got to his feet. 'What am I saying?' he protested. 'This is nonsense. Dangerous nonsense. We stop it right here.'
'But, Uncle—'
'I've made your travel arrangements. You'll all be flying home tomorrow to see your families before going back on-board the Phoenix if you wish. You'll soon forget all about this and—'
'No we won't,' said Amber and the others nodded.
'We don't want to be split up,' said Li.
'We belong together,' agreed Paulo.
'Uncle, we are going to do this,' said Amber. 'With or without your approval. Think about it! Look at the skills we have between us. Martial arts, computer hacking, survival skills, mechanical expertise, navigation experience. . . So? What do you say? Will you help us out? Be our anchor man? Set up training for us?'
John Middleton hesitated. He looked at Amber's face. It was thin and bruised, but he had not seen it so full of life and energy since before her parents died. 'Well,' he said slowly. 'There'd have to be safeguards. I'd need to give my approval to every mission—'
'Thank you!' yelled Amber. 'You won't regret this, Uncle. You'll see!'
'I'm regretting it already,' muttered John Middle-ton, slumping down onto the sofa again.
'If we're going to be a team,' said Li, 'we need a name.'
'I have a name for us,' said Hex, quietly.
'Thought you might, code boy,' smiled Amber, coming to stand at the head of his bed.
'Go on then, tell us,' said Li, moving with Paulo to stand at his other side.
'It's not A-Watch, is it?' asked Alex, joining the rest of them.
'No,' said Hex. 'We don't just watch any more. We're a force. A force to be reckoned with. I think we should call ourselves Alpha Force.'
'Alpha?' said Li. 'What's that?'
'Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet,' said Hex. He reached up and gently touched the gold Omega sign at Amber's neck. 'Omega – the end. Alpha – a new beginning.'