Hostage

by Chris Ryan

  'Come and get it,' said Hex, still filming.

  In reply, the man pumped the shotgun with a loud, double click, pushing a cartridge into the chamber.

  'So, just for the camera,' said Hex steadily. 'You're the man who murdered our friend Papaluk.'

  The man raised the gun to his shoulder again.

  'You work for Usher Mining Corporation and your name is . . . ?'

  'Shut up,' said the man. A muscle was twitching in his jaw and his hands tightened on the shotgun.

  'Your company has been dumping cyanide waste into the river to avoid reclamation and water treatment costs,' continued Hex. 'And Papaluk found out about it, didn't she? So you killed her. And now you're going to shoot me.'

  The man scowled and took a step towards Hex.

  'Hex, you idiot!' yelled Amber. 'Give the guy what he wants!'

  The man was distracted by Amber's sudden shout. It was only for an instant but that was all the time Li needed. While the man's head was turned towards Amber, Li launched herself high into the air with one leg held out stiffly in front of her. Her foot slammed into the side of his face with a dull thud. Li was wearing the soft mukluks, but all her skill and fury at the murder of Papaluk went into the kick and they all heard the snap as the man's cheekbone broke.

  With a roar of pain, he staggered backwards and sat down hard on the snow, still clutching the shotgun. Li came down lightly on her feet and turned, bouncing on her toes and ready to attack again. Her face was still twisted with anger.

  Hex assessed her chances and decided they were not good enough. The man might be down and injured but he still had possession of a sawn-off shotgun. Hex grabbed Li by the arm and shook his head. The man in the snow came up onto his knees.

  'Run!' yelled Amber.

  Alpha Force needed no second telling. They were off and running towards their snowmobiles while the man was still kneeling and waiting for his head to clear. They were running against the wind and all the layers of clothing they were wearing made it difficult to move fast. The skin tightened between their shoulder blades as they ran. With every second that passed, they were expecting a shotgun blast to ring out behind them.

  Finally, they reached the line of snowmobiles parked at the base of the tower.

  'Fan out!' yelled Alex as he flung himself into the saddle. And head for the tree line! We need some cover!'

  The keys were in the ignition and, in a matter of seconds, they were revving their engines. The machines leaped forward and they headed towards the trees, fanning out until they were spread out in a long line across the snow.

  Behind them, the man staggered to his feet, clutching the rifle in one hand and his cheek in the other. Bracing his knees, he steadied himself and raised the shotgun to his shoulder. The sawn-off barrels jerked from one white-clad, hooded rider to the next, searching for the one carrying the camcorder, but the man could not tell which one was Hex and they were getting further away by the second. With a curse, he reached over his shoulder and pushed the shotgun into the holster on his back. Then, clutching his cheek, he hurried over to his snowmobile and set off in pursuit.

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  SIX

  'Faster!' yelled Paulo, glancing behind him as the shrill engine note of the man's snowmobile started up. The tree line was still at least five minutes' hard riding away and their pursuer would stop at nothing to get hold of the incriminating camcorder evidence. Paulo took the lead, pushing his snowmobile up to breakneck speed. The frozen surface was dangerously uneven in places, but he did not slacken his pace. Instead, he simply rode his bucking machine over the rutted snow, clinging on like a cowboy at a rodeo and ignoring the scream from the overheated engine. The others fell into line behind him, picking up their speed too.

  It was a nightmarish race. The snowmobiles were being pushed to their limit. The skis on the fronts of the little machines were twisting and jerking crazily and the belts on the rear caterpillar tracks were in danger of coming off their wheels. Alpha Force were all fully dressed for travelling and their hoods were securely tied, but the goggles they used when riding the snowmobiles were still swinging from the handlebars. The icy wind was cutting into their exposed cheeks and noses like a knife and tears were streaming from the corners of their eyes.

  Halfway to the tree line, black smoke began to pour from the back of Alex's machine but he gritted his teeth and kept the engine at full throttle. He could not afford to slow down. Alpha Force had a head start on their pursuer, but the man was travelling light, with no trailer to pull, and he was slowly gaining on them.

  By the time they reached the trees, the man was less than a minute behind. Paulo slewed his machine to the right in a tight turn, sending up a huge fan of snow. He rode along the edge of the stand of spruce trees until he found a track, then he swung the snowmobile in between the trees and the other four followed him.

  It was a mixed blessing to be in amongst the spruces. The wind was suddenly gone, giving their smarting cheeks and streaming eyes a chance to recover, but the snow was much deeper here, which put more of a strain on the snowmobiles. The danger of smashing into a tree or being knocked from their machines by a low branch meant that they had to slow right down and that felt bad, even though they knew that the man behind them would have to do the same.

  'Paulo!' yelled Amber, from behind him. 'We're gonna have to stop!'

  'We cannot stop!' yelled Paulo, looking over his shoulder.

  For reply, Amber pointed to the black smoke that was still pouring from Alex's machine. Paulo's heart sank and he nodded. Turning back to the trail, he began to look for a place to hide. Up ahead, the trail curved out of sight. Once they were around that bend, they might just have time to split up and hide in the trees before their pursuer arrived. He pointed to the bend and the other four nodded or gave a thumbs-up sign to show that they understood.

  By the time the man slewed his machine round the bend, Alpha Force had disappeared from the trail. He brought his snowmobile to a stop and turned off the engine. His breath was loud in the sudden silence, punctuated by the tick of his snowmobile's rapidly cooling engine. Pushing his goggles up on to the top of his head, he pulled the shotgun from its holster and climbed out of the saddle. He took his time as he checked out the deeper snow off-trail. Alpha Force might be hidden from sight, but it was impossible to leave no trace in snow and the tracks of their snowmobiles stood out clearly.

  The man frowned. His prey had been clever. They had split up. Five different tracks fanned off from the trail into the trees and he did not know which track would lead him to the camcorder. For a moment he stood indecisively, then his face cleared as he realized it did not matter which track he followed. He picked one at random and began to make his way into the trees.

  In her hiding place under the boughs of a fallen spruce, Amber heard the man approaching through the snow. She huddled further under the covering branches and held her breath. She had done her best to cover her tracks. Her footprints marched from her abandoned snowmobile up to the base of the fallen tree, then appeared to step over the trunk and continue onward into the forest. In reality, she had retraced her steps to the trunk, stepping backwards all the way. She had then ducked under the branches and squirmed along to the other end of the fallen tree.

  The branches shook above her head as the man stepped up on to the tree trunk and then jumped off again into the snow beyond. Amber's heart was beating so hard, it felt as though it was going to explode out of her chest. The blood sang in her ears and she closed her eyes, hoping against hope that when her footprints ran out, he would not double back. She heard him moving on through the forest with the snow squeaking under his boots. The squeaking grew fainter and fainter, stopped altogether, then started to get louder again. He was heading back to the tree.

  Amber groaned, then forced herself to lie still. The branches shook again as the man climbed on to the trunk. The shaking increased as he walked along the top of the trunk towards her, stepping over branches and
stopping every few steps to peer at the ground on either side. Amber bit her lip and debated breaking cover and running, but the thought of that sawn-off shotgun kept her pinned to the ground.

  The man reached the thinnest part of the trunk and stopped directly above Amber's head. The branches on the other side rustled as he moved them. Amber lay helplessly, waiting for him to do the same on her side. She knew she was going to be caught, but it was still a huge shock when the man plunged his hand through the branches and grabbed her by the back of her hood.

  One powerful wrench and she was dragged out of her hiding place. The man let go of her hood, but before she could run, he wrapped his arm around her throat instead. She tried to kick him, but he tightened the crook of his elbow and she started to choke. The man pressed the barrels of the shotgun against the side of her head and she grew still.

  'Now we walk back to the trail,' he ordered. 'Slow and steady. We don't want this thing to go off, do we?'

  Back at his snowmobile, the man tightened his grip around Amber's throat and brought her to a halt. She lifted her mittened hands and tried to loosen his arm but it was like trying to move a metal bar.

  'Hey! Kid with the camcorder!' he called. 'I have your friend here!' He pressed the shotgun harder into the side of Amber's head. 'What's your name?' he asked.

  'Amber.' She choked as red spots danced in front of her eyes.

  'Amber here is going to die on the count of ten unless you bring me that camcorder. Understand?'

  There was silence from the forest. The man started counting.

  'One, two . . .'

  Hex stood with his back pressed against the trunk of a spruce tree. It was an impossible situation. If he did not give the man the camcorder, Amber would die. If he gave the man the camcorder, Amber would still die, then he would die too.

  '. .. five, six . ..' called the man.

  Hex closed his eyes. He could wait it out. Call the man's bluff. The more people the man killed, the messier this situation would become – and there was no way to make a shotgun killing look like an accident.

  '. . . eight, nine . . .'

  With a groan, Hex stepped out from behind the tree. He could not stand back and let Amber die. 'OK, OK,' he called, high-stepping through the deep snow, back to the trail. He was pleased to see that the man's cheek was already swollen and discoloured.

  Once he was out on the trail, Hex lifted the camcorder and started filming again. 'So,' he said. 'You planning to kill us all with that shotgun? How're you going to pass that off as an accident? Moose with lethal weapons? I don't think so.'

  'How old are you kids?' countered the man. 'Sixteen? Seventeen? Too young to be running around in these parts on your own. They won't find you before the spring thaw. By then, there won't be much left of you. We have some real hungry animals out here, especially through the winter. You will become just another tragic accident. Five unsupervised kids freezing to death.'

  'That's good,' said Hex, still filming. 'Keep talking.'

  The man's face darkened with anger. He opened his mouth, then stopped and glanced warily from side to side, searching for the Anglo-Chinese girl with a kick like a mule. He was not going to fall for the same trick twice. 'The rest of you!' he called. 'Out here now!'

  One by one, Alex, Li and Paulo came out of the trees on to the trail and stood shoulder to shoulder with Hex.

  'Kneel down,' ordered the man. 'Hands behind your heads.'

  They all obeyed, except Hex, who kneeled but continued to film. The man marched Amber forward until she was standing in front of Hex. 'Give her the camcorder,' he said.

  Hex looked up at Amber and she looked down as best she could with the man's arm locked round her throat and a shotgun digging into the side of her head. She stretched out her hands for the camcorder but Hex held back. Once this man had the evidence, it was all over for them. His mind raced, trying to find a solution. There must be something he could do!

  Amber began to choke as the man tightened his grip and Hex's mind went blank. Reluctantly, he handed over the camcorder. The man dragged Amber back along the trail and then forced her to her knees. As the shotgun barrels moved round to the back of her neck, Amber looked hopelessly at the others. Her eyes were full of fear and big with unshed tears.

  Alex tensed. The only chance now was for the four of them to rush the man. He would start firing immediately, but some of them might survive long enough to overwhelm him. If not, then at least they would die fighting, which had to be better than kneeling in the snow and waiting to be slaughtered. He glanced at Li, Hex and Paulo and saw the same determination in their eyes.

  'On the count of three,' whispered Alex. 'One, two—'

  He stopped counting as a roar echoed along the trail. An instant later, a huge, white shape burst out of the trees and reared up on its hind legs behind the man.

  'It is Cyclops!' cried Paulo as the great bear roared again.

  After one horrified glance behind him, the man kicked Amber out of his way and ran for his snowmobile, leaving her sprawled at the bear's feet.

  SEVEN

  Any other bear would have gone for the easier target, but this bear only had one eye and Amber was lying on its blind side. Cyclops ignored her. Instead, it went down on all fours, slamming its left paw into the snow centimetres away from her head, and took off after the man.

  With a scream of terror, the man flung himself over to the other side of his snowmobile as Cyclops reared up and swiped at him with a huge paw. The bear came down on the little machine with such force, the fuel tank collapsed in on itself, spraying petrol everywhere.

  With a snarl, the bear knocked the snowmobile out of its way to get to the man cowering in the snow. Again, it swiped at the man and this time its paw made contact with his head. The force of the blow snapped his neck and sent a spray of blood, bone and brains flying through the air. The man's body rolled and came to a stop very close to Amber, who was still sprawled on the ground clutching the camcorder. Hex surged to his feet and grabbed her under the arms, dragging her out of the way as the bear reared up again and roared a challenge.

  'Everybody down and stay still!' cried Li. And don't look it in the eye. Bears see that as a threat.'

  They crouched in the snow, keeping their eyes down. The bear glared at them all for a moment longer, then went down on to all fours and turned back to the body. With one rip of its claws, it opened up the man from neck to groin. Cottony flakes of jacket insulation floated up into the air, then down again to land in the spreading pool of blood around the body. The dead man's eyes stared sightlessly at the sky as the bear dipped its snout and began to eat.

  Paulo thought he was going to be sick. He turned his head away and managed to swallow down the bile that rose in his throat. 'We must go while the bear is occupied,' he whispered to the others.

  'What about him?' asked Alex, pointing to the body.

  Paulo looked, then quickly looked away again. 'We can do nothing for him now. We must get away before the bear loses interest in him and turns on us.'

  Alex nodded. They started to clamber to their feet, but the bear reared up and towered over them with a full-throated roar. It made a fearsome sight, standing three metres tall, gouts of blood dripping from its jaws. Quickly, Alpha Force sank to the ground again and the bear returned to its meal, watching them closely with its one eye. They were trapped. Their snowmobiles were scattered and too far away to make a run for it, and there was always the possibility that Alex's machine would not start again.

  'What now?' asked Hex, looking at Li, their animal behaviour expert.

  Li wiped the sweat from her forehead and thought for a few seconds, then her eyes brightened as she had an idea. 'Can we get hold of the guy's shotgun?'

  For answer, Amber pointed out the handle of the shotgun, poking out from under the man's body.

  'Oh,' said Li.

  'But we have the – how do you say? – the tranquillizer rifle,' said Paulo. His English was now extremely good after his years
with Alpha Force, but he still had trouble with the occasional word, particularly in times of stress.

  Hex shook his head. 'It's back there in the snowmobile trailer.'

  They all looked at Li again. 'Um,' she said, thinking desperately. 'If we could really scare it somehow . . .'

  'How?' hissed Amber.

  Li shrugged. She was all out of ideas.

  'Would an explosion do it?' asked Alex, staring thoughtfully at the man's overturned snowmobile.

  'Of course,' said Li. 'All animals are afraid of fire.'

  Alex unzipped the pouch attached to his belt and pulled out his survival tin. His dad was in the SAS and always carried a survival tin as part of his basic kit. He had shown Alex how to put his own tin together and Alex now carried this small, battered metal container with him everywhere. It had saved his life and the lives of the other members of Alpha Force on a number of occasions, and he was hoping it would do so again now. Although it was only the size of a large tobacco tin, it was tightly packed with essential items. Inside there were needles and thread, fish-hooks and a line, a tiny medical kit, a flint, a magnifying glass, a compass and beta light, snare wire, a flexible saw, a tightly folded survival bag made of heat-insulated reflective material, a ball of dry kindling, a candle and a strip of matches.

  It was the matches Alex reached for now, before replacing the lid on the tin and slipping it back into his pouch. Carefully he removed his outer mittens, then he tore the first match from the strip and ran the head across the striker. The match was good and dry and flared immediately. Quickly, Alex cupped it with his other hand until the flame was strong, then he flicked the match towards the fuel-soaked snow around the damaged snowmobile. The match fell well short. The flame fluttered and went out. With a soft curse, Alex tore off another match and tried again. The match landed nearer to the snowmobile but, once again, the snow snuffed out the flame.

  'C'mon!' hissed Amber, staring fearfully at the bear a few metres away.