Hostage

by Chris Ryan

  'When you two have finished rolling about,' drawled Hex, without looking up from the screen of his palmtop, 'you might want to hear what I've found out so far. On the surface, Daniel Usher is squeaky-clean. Your basic all-American guy. As well as Usher Mining, he owns a chain of retail stores and one of the biggest television companies in the US. He's even planning to run for governor in his home state. He'll be launching his electoral campaign in a few days' time with a live broadcast on his own television channel. Of course, he's keen to stress that he's paying for the airtime just like any other murderer— I mean, just like any other candidate.'

  'Yeah, right,' sneered Amber. 'OK. So that's the public face. Now, go on. Do what you do best, Hex.'

  Hex interlaced his fingers and flexed them so that the knuckle joints popped. Then, hunching over the little keyboard, he began to explore behind the public face of Daniel Usher. First he entered a university computer system and used a password to get into an obscure corner where he had stored his lock-picking tools. These were programs he had written which would gain him access to sites on the Net that were forbidden to most users. His lock-picking programs were not strictly legal and so, like most hackers, Hex stored them on a large, multi-user system rather than on his own personal hard drive.

  Once he had downloaded the programs, he got to work uncovering Daniel Usher's less public connections. He worked with intense concentration, ignoring the others as they moved around him, serving up the food or tending to the fire. Finally, he sat back with a satisfied smile. 'Oh, yes. I've got him. He's involved in a number of really sleazy money-making schemes around the world, but he keeps his name well out of it.'

  'What sort of schemes?' asked Paulo, handing Hex a plate of stew and a thickly buttered oatmeal biscuit.

  'Sweatshops in Korea,' mumbled Hex around a mouthful of stew. 'Making clothes. Three women who tried to fight for better working conditions there were found drowned in a river. Sound familiar?'

  Alex nodded grimly. 'What else?' he asked.

  'There's a chemical factory in Mexico merrily sending all sorts of crud out into the environment but the locals are so scared, they daren't make a fuss. There's a dam-building project in India with rumours of bribery and corruption. There's a—'

  'Hang on,' said Amber, sitting up sharply. 'Just re-wind a bit. The company building that dam. Does it have a name?'

  Hex looked at his screen. 'Goliath something . . .'

  'Enterprise,' finished Amber quietly. 'Goliath Enterprise.'

  'How did you know that?' asked Hex.

  'My mom and dad were trying to get that project stopped when they were killed. A whole bunch of local protestors died in a coach accident on the same day. We think they had managed to find evidence to prove the corruption rumours that were hanging around the project like a bad smell and they were about to go public when they were all killed. The police investigated Goliath Enterprise, but the so-called company directors were only front men. When the police tried to find the real power behind the company, they just kept coming up against a blank wall.'

  Amber swallowed hard and looked around the firelit circle, then back to Hex. 'You know what, Hex?' she said, in a soft, trembling voice. 'I think you just found the guy who killed my parents.'

  There was a moment of stunned silence. Hex watched Amber as the tears filled her eyes and spilled over on to her cheeks. His own eyes grew hard and determined, like chips of green ice. 'Right,' he said, picking up his palmtop. 'Let's get him.'

  'How do we do that?' asked Paulo.

  'We have the evidence,' said Hex, opening up his e-mail facility. 'The underwater camcorder's digital. It has firewire technology, which means I can download the images into my palmtop right now. Then I can send them to anyone, anywhere in the world.' Hex looked up at the others with his fingers poised over the keys. 'All we have to decide is who to e-mail first.'

  'The local police,' said Alex. 'They can get out to the mine the fastest.'

  'Or Papaluk's employers,' said Paulo. 'They are a multi-national agency. They will know what to do.'

  'No-one,' said Amber. 'We tell no-one.' She looked at Li and the two girls shared a glance of total understanding. Amber nodded to Li, who turned to face the three boys. She had hardly spoken since the discovery of Papaluk's body, but her voice was hard and icy clear now.

  'This is personal,' she said. 'We go in on our own.'

  NINE

  'We go in on our own?' repeated Paulo, in astonishment.

  'Is there an echo round here?' said Amber, raising her eyebrows at Li.

  Alex frowned. 'Listen, I understand how much you two want to get your revenge, but revenge is a bad basis for any operation.'

  'It seems a pretty good basis to me,' said Li, staring at Alex with a cold fire in her eyes.

  'What I mean is, if you're running on emotions, then you're not using your head. That's when things go wrong.'

  'Look, it's not only revenge,' said Li, relenting a little. 'The thing is, once we tell the authorities, everything slows down. Any investigation has to be done officially. And by the time they manage to wade through all the paperwork and legal stuff to get access to the mine, you can be sure there will be absolutely no evidence of cyanide dumping or anything else. But if we go in quick, quiet and secret, then Usher Mining Corporation won't have time to clean up their act first.'

  'C'mon, guys,' said Amber. 'This is why Alpha Force was set up! To do the stuff the authorities aren't allowed to do.'

  'But we already have evidence!' cried Hex. 'The camcorder footage—'

  '—does nothing to incriminate Daniel Usher,' interrupted Li. 'He'll say something like, "Oh, that's just a guy who happened to work at the mine. He loved Papaluk, went crazy when she rejected him. Nothing to do with me . .."'

  Hex nodded reluctantly. 'And the text messages are too vague. They could have any number of meanings. You're right. We need more.'

  'You're forgetting one thing,' said Alex. 'Daniel Usher's hired killer is lying under a spruce tree in several pieces. What happens when he doesn't report in?'

  Hex pulled the man's mobile phone from his pocket and stared at it thoughtfully. 'Perhaps he should send his boss a text message. Something like, "Tracking leaks. May take a few days to arrange containment." That should buy us some time.'

  He looked around at the others, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Li and Amber nodded immediately. Paulo looked at Li's brightening face and nodded too. Alex hesitated, then bowed to the majority verdict. 'OK,' he said. 'We go in on our own.'

  They each spent the rest of the evening preparing in their own way for the mission ahead. Hex stayed by the blazing fire, hunched over his palmtop. He was searching the Net to find out as much as he could about the layout of the mine.

  Amber strapped on her snowshoes, gathered a bundle of thin, straight branches from the woodpile, and walked out into the darkness. Standing with her back to the fire, she waited until her night vision was sharp and strong. She had to work out their route, and for that she needed to see the stars. She reckoned that the mine was roughly thirty miles west of their present position. The simplest way to find the mine would be to travel inland along the frozen river where the cyanide had been dumped. The river would lead them to the mine, but first she had to find the river. She knew it was to the south, and unless they had veered further north than she thought on their escape inland, it should not be too far away. Amber was betting that if they headed south the next morning they would come across the river within an hour.

  Amber had a compass, but she did not entirely trust it. Compasses could be unreliable this close to the North Pole, but the stars never changed. The night sky was clear and full of stars. Quickly, she picked out two constellations, the Plough and Cassiopeia. Once she had these, she could find the Pole Star by imagining a straight line between them. The Pole Star was in the middle of that line and it shone directly above the North Pole.

  'Gotcha,' muttered Amber, gazing up at the Pole Star. Now it was a simple matte
r to figure out their direction for the morning. Amber took her bundle of sticks and stuck them into the snow in a straight line, with an arrowhead at the end pointing the way south.

  Paulo, Li and Alex worked on the snowmobiles. Li and Alex took care of the simpler stuff, checking oil and topping up fuel on the other four snowmobiles, while Paulo checked out Alex's machine. It had been sounding rougher and rougher on the journey inland and Paulo suspected that there was a major problem. His suspicions were confirmed when the engine would not start.

  'Dios,' he muttered, lifting the cowling to look at the engine. He stripped off his outer mittens but kept the thin under-gloves on. The night-time temperature was touching thirty below zero and he did not want to leave his fingertips stuck to the engine. Paulo always carried a basic toolkit in his belt pouch. He opened it now and began working his way methodically around the engine by the light of his torch. Finally, he slammed the cowling back into place with a curse, packed away his tools and stamped back to the warmth of the fire.

  'That doesn't sound good,' said Amber, coming to join the others.

  Paulo sighed, holding his hands out to the fire to warm them before replacing his mittens. 'It is not good. It is shooted.'

  'Shot,' laughed Amber, unstrapping her snow-shoes. 'You mean it's shot.'

  'What's wrong with it?' asked Alex.

  'It is the fuel pump,' said Paulo. 'The fuel pump is shotted. It is burned out, Alex, and we do not have a replacement.'

  'Yeah, but we can still complete the mission,' said Li hastily. 'These snowmobiles will carry two people. Alex can share with someone.'

  'Me,' said Amber. 'He can ride with me. You can even drive if you want, Alex,' she added generously.

  'Gee, thanks,' said Alex, raising his eyebrows at her. Everyone knew that Amber hated machines. She was much happier with forms of transport that did not require engines, such as her yacht or her thoroughbred horses. Amber grinned at Alex without a hint of embarrassment.

  'Will it carry two people on the sort of journey we're planning?' asked Alex, looking at Paulo.

  'Of course it will,' said Li. 'Won't it, Paulo?'

  'I think we must lose the trailer,' said Paulo.

  'But that's two trailer-loads of stuff!' said Amber. 'Alex's and mine. Can we afford to leave so much behind?'

  'We can redistribute,' said Li. 'We can get rid of the tents for a start. We didn't need them tonight, did we? And we could leave the diving gear—'

  'I think we should hang on to the dry suits,' interrupted Hex, looking up from his screen. 'I've been checking out the layout of the mine. They're very security conscious. The front way in is patrolled and floodlit, so we may have to go in the back way.'

  'Which is?' asked Amber.

  'Into the old, abandoned mine workings, from the river.'

  'OK, then,' said Li. 'But we'd only need a couple of dry suits. Two in, the rest on land, right? It's diving protocol. We can dump the other suits and that'll leave plenty of room for the essentials, won't it, Alex?'

  Everyone looked at Alex. Would three trailers carry all they needed to survive in the interior? As their survival expert, the final decision had to be his. Alex hesitated. Three trailer-loads would be cutting it fine. He looked around at the others, weighing up all the variables. He was the only one in the group with experience of cold-climate survival. On the other hand, if he had to choose anyone as travelling companions, it would be the other four members of Alpha Force. He would trust them with his life. It was as simple as that. Alex looked over at Li, who was watching him intently, waiting for his decision.

  'All right,' said Alex, standing up. 'Let's reload.'

  An hour later, it was done. A neat stockpile of tents, spare diving equipment and supplies was hidden in the trees alongside the crippled snowmobile and the two spare trailers. The three remaining trailers were packed and ready to go.

  'I'll take first watch,' said Alex as they all headed for their sleeping bags. 'Two hours. Then, Hex, you take second watch.'

  Hex groaned. 'Are you sure we need to set a watch?' he yawned. 'The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that guy was operating alone.'

  'Besides,' added Amber. 'If someone else was following us, they'd've been here by now.'

  Alex shook his head. What Hex and Amber said made perfect sense, but he could see the tracks of their snowmobiles cutting across the snowfield in front of the trees. The tracks stood out clearly in the moonlight, pointing the way straight to the camp.

  'I'd just feel more comfortable if we set a watch,' he said. 'Even if there's no-one out there looking for us, there are still the bears to think about. They can smell food from twenty miles away – and we've been cooking.'

  The others headed for bed and Alex piled fresh wood on to the fire. He laughed softly as he listened to Hex grumble his way into his sleeping bag. Gradually, the muffled curses and mutterings about unnecessary watches subsided into silence and Alex was left alone by the fire. He did not mind. He was solitary by nature and he was never happier than when he was outdoors.

  He sat for an hour, feeding the fire and letting the peace of the night settle over him, then he strapped on his snowshoes and went to check the willow thicket. He was pleased to find two rabbits and a hare in the snares. Now that Alpha Force had jettisoned some of their supplies, it was even more important to find what food they could on the way. Alex laid his catch out on the snow, then dismantled all his snares. They were leaving early in the morning and a responsible trapper never left snares in place when he would not be around to check them regularly. The snares had killed the rabbits swiftly and humanely, but a larger animal could catch a foot in the wire and slowly starve to death.

  Taking his single-bladed survival knife from its sheath at his belt, he got to work skinning and gutting the catch. He left the innards and heads in a pile on the edge of the thicket as a gift for the arctic fox, then he headed back to camp.

  Back at the fire, Alex packed his catch into the foil containers that had held the boil-in-the-bag meals, then he buried the three parcels in the hot wood ash on the edge of the fire. The meat would slow-bake in the ashes and provide them with a tasty, hot breakfast in the morning. Finally, he sat down on the tree-trunk seat and cleaned and sharpened his knife. Once he was satisfied, he slipped the knife back into its sheath and checked the time. His two-hour watch was over. It was time to wake Hex.

  Alex turned towards the tree shelters and saw that Li was sitting up in her sleeping bag, gazing out at him. He ducked under the branches and sat beside her on the snow platform. Amber was snoring softly behind them, completely hidden inside her thick, down sleeping bag.

  'Thanks,' said Li softly.

  'What for?' asked Alex.

  'For deciding the mission could carry on,' said Li.

  Alex nodded and they were silent for a while.

  'She was like a big sister to me,' whispered Li, gazing out at the fire. Alex reached out and squeezed Li's thin shoulder. Her lip quivered but she remained dry-eyed.

  'Don't disturb Hex,' she whispered. 'I'll do the next watch. I can't sleep anyway.'

  Alex climbed into his sleeping bag. A clean, pine-needle smell rose up around him as he settled back on to the cushioned springiness of the spruce boughs. The bag wrapped him in warmth from head to foot, and soon his eyelids began to droop. The last thing he saw before he fell into an exhausted sleep was Li's silhouetted profile as she sat beside the fire, thinking about the big sister she had lost that day.

  TEN

  'Are you sure it'll hold us?' asked Amber fearfully, gripping Alex by the shoulders as he prepared to ease the snowmobile down the river bank and on to the snow-covered ice. It was the morning of the next day and, after leaving their camp before dawn, Alpha Force had successfully completed the first part of their journey. They had reached the river that would lead them to the mine.

  Alex sighed. 'Amber, I've been down and checked it. I even used the ice drill. That ice is at least a metre thick.'

  'Yea
h, but the ice in Hudson Bay was really thin—'

  'Forget Hudson Bay! That was seawater. The salt in seawater means it has a much lower freezing point than freshwater. And what sort of water do we have in the river?'

  'Freshwater,' muttered Amber.

  'Plus,' continued Alex, 'temperatures are much lower here than they were on the coast.'

  'What's the hold-up?' called Li, behind them. She was standing up on her snowmobile, anxious to move on.

  'Nothing!' called Alex. 'Listen,' he said to Amber in a lower voice. 'That river surface has been frozen solid for weeks now. OK?'

  'OK,' said Amber, but her fingers dug into Alex's shoulders hard enough to make him wince.

  'Hey, ease off,' he said.

  'Sorry,' muttered Amber, fractionally reducing the pressure.

  'You can relax now,' called Alex as he guided the snowmobile down the bank. 'You've done your bit. You led us to the river!'

  The snowmobile reached the bottom of the bank and shot out on to the ice. It was rough going at first as they rattled up and down over the pressure ridges that had formed at the edge of the river as it froze, and Amber did not let go of Alex's shoulders until they reached the smoother ice in the middle.

  'OK,' she said cautiously, looking around. Then, more confidently, 'Let's go!'

  Alex swung the snowmobile round and opened up the throttle. Li, Paulo and Hex pulled in behind and the four snowmobiles headed upriver towards the mine. At first the sun was bright and the river was wide, which made the travelling easy, but as they moved further inland, the river grew narrower and more twisted. The snow cover grew thicker, sometimes hiding the pressure ridges that corrugated the ice on every curve. The banks steepened until the low sun could not penetrate to river level, and Alpha Force had to turn their headlights full on as they travelled along the dark, cold tunnel between the banks.