Alpha Force: Blood Money

by Chris Ryan

  ‘We should be OK if we dunk them in antiseptic and wash them,’ said Li. She picked up her clothes with a stick and tossed them outside, then did Amber’s. They wrapped themselves in towels and went out to the bathing area, a red canvas cubicle behind the building with an improvised shower made from a hose and a hand pump. There was another area for the boys.

  Alex and Hex were outside on the veranda, which ran the length of the house. Alex had mixed up an antiseptic solution in a big brass bowl with boiled water and some crystals of potassium permanganate from his survival kit. The liquid glowed rose in the golden interior of the bowl.

  With a pair of sticks, Hex picked up each garment in turn and dropped it into the solution, poking it well under the water. After it had soaked he scrubbed it with a stiff brush to remove the grit and mud, then hooked it out and passed it to Alex, who rinsed it and hung it over the veranda balustrade. Soon a line of shirts, shorts and trousers were hung out.

  As Hex scrubbed at a pair of shorts, he saw that the group of men who had come to help them were making their way back to the fields. A plume of smoke rose into the air. He handed Alex the shorts. ‘Looks like they’re burning the dog.’

  ‘Very sensible,’ said Alex, and took the shorts to rinse.

  Hex got to work on a shirt and heard Alex say, ‘Oh dear.’

  He looked up. ‘What?’

  Alex was holding out the shorts. ‘Do you think these have changed colour?’

  Hex looked at the shorts. They were a bit purply – not really vivid, but as though they had been soaked in berry juice. He didn’t remember anyone wearing shorts that colour today. ‘What colour were they before?’

  Alex thought. ‘I think they were a bit less purple.’

  ‘Oh just hang them up,’ said Hex. ‘The girls have got so many clothes I’m sure they won’t mind if some of them turn a different colour.’ He went back to scrubbing the shirt.

  A howl of anguish made him jump out of his skin.

  Paulo was standing behind him, wrapped in a towel. He was peering into the bowl where Hex was scrubbing, his wet hair curling into tight, mad corkscrews. ‘My shirt!’ he yelled.

  Hex followed Paulo’s gaze. The shirt in the bowl was looking a bit more rosy than he remembered. ‘Oops,’ said Hex and hooked it out.

  Li heard Paulo’s roar just as she got out of the shower. She wrapped herself in a towel and rushed to the veranda. Paulo was holding up his dripping shirt by its shoulders.

  ‘Madre di Dios!’ he exclaimed. ‘It’s pink!’

  Certainly the shirt was a definite shade of rose.

  Alex put a hand over his mouth. He really wanted to laugh but one look at Paulo’s thunderous face made him think again.

  Li reached out and fingered the shirt. ‘Lovely colour.’ Her hair was turbaned in another towel. It shook as she started to giggle.

  ‘It’s pink,’ said Paulo again, loading the word with unmistakable loathing.

  ‘Urn, yes,’ said Hex, ‘I’m afraid it is. Sorry. But I had to get off all the icky stuff. It might wash out.’

  Amber came out, fully dressed and tying a bandanna around her head. She had heard Hex’s explanation through the window. ‘I don’t think that stuff will wash out. I splashed some on a white T-shirt and it wouldn’t come out. But eventually it went brown.’

  ‘There you are, Paulo,’ said Hex. ‘It’ll go brown after a while. It probably oxidizes.’

  Paulo looked sharply at Amber. ‘How long will it take to go brown?’

  Amber shrugged. ‘I think it took a few weeks. Actually, I preferred the pink.’

  ‘Dios!’ snarled Paulo. He sounded rather like the rabid dog. He took the shirt and spread it out on the rail, refusing to look at any of the others.

  ‘He’s not happy,’ said Li quietly. ‘Not happy at all.’

  ‘That,’ whispered Alex to Li, ‘is a very pink shirt.’

  Back at the building site, Alpha Force buckled down to the task in hand. Soon the route of the walls was marked out with pegs, string and whitewash and it was time to lay the breeze blocks.

  Amber, Hex and Alex started building the north end of the school; Li and Paulo took the south end. Then help arrived – four children who’d finished work in the fields came to see if they could lend a hand. Paulo split them into two teams, two girls against two boys, and told them to keep the supplies coming. Soon there was a friendly competition to see who could deliver bricks and mortar faster. The walls grew at a satisfying rate.

  ‘There’s something addictive about this,’ said Li. She spread a line of mortar.

  Paulo laid a block on it and squashed it down, squeezing out the surplus. ‘I wouldn’t expect a girl to like bricklaying.’

  A dollop of mortar whizzed off Li’s trowel and landed in a fat splat on his cheek. ‘Macho pig.’

  Paulo scraped the mortar off with his finger and leaned over to wipe it on her nose. Li dodged and hefted up the board with the mortar. She aimed it at his face, as though it was a custard pie. ‘Don’t escalate hostilities. You’ll come off worse.’ There wasn’t much left on the board but it would make a satisfying mess.

  ‘You want this?’ It was the younger of the two Indian girls. She had brought another palette. A mass of freshly mixed mortar glistened like a cow pat on top.

  Li eagerly swapped palettes with the girl. ‘Thanks, Radha. Just what I need.’ Radha was Bina’s ten-year-old sister. Bina herself was over by the blocks, loading supplies into a wheelbarrow.

  Li scooped up a big serving of mortar with her trowel. Paulo looked at her, challenging her to toss it at him. For a moment she looked as though she would, but at the last minute she flipped the trowel over and spread it for the next block.

  Radha was watching, a frown on her face. ‘Are you and Paulo married?’

  ‘No way!’ retorted Li scornfully.

  Radha wasn’t put off. ‘I don’t want to get married.’

  Li spread another lick of mortar and Paulo put a brick on top. ‘Why don’t you want to get married?’ As she said it she felt ancient. She must have heard the same old patronizing words from countless grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family. Did I just say that? she thought.

  ‘Because you need a dowry to get married,’ said Radha. ‘My parents will have to borrow money. If they don’t give a big enough dowry and I am unlucky my new parents will set fire to me.’

  Li still wasn’t taking Radha totally seriously. ‘Set fire to you?’

  ‘There will be a fire in the kitchen and they won’t be in time to save me.’

  Paulo adjusted the fit of another block. ‘I’m sure it won’t be as bad as that.’ Dios, now he felt like an ancient parent as well.

  Bina had arrived with some more blocks. She set down the wheelbarrow. ‘It might be that bad,’ she said, and began to unload. Her face was deadly serious. ‘It’s called bride burning. It has happened to other girls around here. My mum said that’s what happened to my aunt; she got married and they burned her. Then the man was free to marry again and get another dowry.’

  Radha helped Bina take the blocks out of the wheelbarrow. ‘Bina’s got to get married soon,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Bina vehemently. ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I don’t want to be burned.’

  Li spread more mortar in silence. She was now quite ashamed that she had dismissed Radha’s comments so lightly.

  Paulo was quiet too. The girls were ten and twelve years old. He had sisters that age. All his sisters had to worry about was homework, exams, boys and music. Not marriage and finding a way to stop your new family killing you.

  But as if that wasn’t shocking enough, Radha’s next words knocked them for six.

  ‘Mum’s going to sell a kidney.’

  Bina snapped at her immediately, ‘Radha, they don’t want to know about that.’ She unloaded the last block and picked up the handles of the barrow to move it.

  ‘Yes we do,’ said Li. The horror of the idea made the words come
out sharply. ‘What do you mean, she’s going to sell a kidney?’

  Bina sighed and glared at Radha as if cursing her. ‘It’s to pay our dowries.’

  ‘How do you sell a kidney?’ said Li.

  Bina sighed, still holding the wheelbarrow handles. ‘There’s a man who comes; a moneylender. He knows a man who gets kidneys for sick people. They buy kidneys from people like us.’

  Paulo was horrified. ‘But I don’t understand. How will they buy your mother’s kidney?’

  Radha answered. ‘She will go to a clinic in Chennai. She will have tests and then they will take out one of her kidneys.’ It sounded so simple.

  Li said, ‘Can you live with just one kidney?’

  Bina answered in a tight, tiny voice. ‘I don’t know.’ She moved the wheelbarrow around swiftly and went to fetch more blocks.

  4

  A KIDNEY FOR SALE

  Alex was still working with Amber and Hex at the north end of the site when a fat drop of water hit him on the forehead. He looked at the floor and saw another splodge, a large dark patch.

  Hex looked up in disbelief, as though the dark clouds were directly contravening some law of physics. ‘This shouldn’t be happening. The satellite said the monsoon wasn’t supposed to be here for seventy-two hours.’

  ‘Well, that ceremony must have been a rain dance, then,’ rejoined Amber. A fat splodge of rain hit the back of her hand.

  ‘Quick!’ yelled Paulo from the other side of the site. ‘Cover the walls!’

  As one, they downed tools and raced for the shed. Alex hauled out a blue tarpaulin; Amber caught the tail end and the two young boys joined in, helping to carry it to one of the walls. Paulo and Li took the next tarpaulin and Hex brought up the rear with another, helped by Bina and Radha.

  The heavens opened. It wasn’t like rain, it was like a water tank bursting over their heads. It turned the sandy ground into slippery mud. Their clothes were soaked in seconds.

  Alex tried heaving the tarpaulin up onto a wall, but the rain held it down and lashed his face like a thousand nails. It was like trying to climb a waterfall. Amber bashed the underside of the tarpaulin to tip out the water that had collected, but it just filled up again. The rain was so heavy she could scarcely see and the tarpaulin kept slipping, but she persevered. They had to cover the walls or the wet mortar would be washed away. They had made such good progress; the walls were now at shoulder height. It couldn’t all be for nothing.

  Finally, everyone regrouped in the middle of the foundation slab, their heads bowed to shield their eyes against the water. The walls were covered, the materials were protected. Nothing more could be done. The rain was so fierce it was roaring like thunder. Speaking was impossible. Paulo nodded towards the houses: We go in and wait.

  The two young boys scampered away, delighted by the rain. People stood in the fields and outside their houses, their arms spread wide and their faces turned upwards. Bina and Radha hoisted up their saris to walk away, moving with difficulty as the wet fabric clung to their legs like bandages. As Paulo walked past them, Bina nodded to him. She had edged her eyes with kohl and the rain had spread it down her cheeks in tears of soot. The burning bride.

  As soon as they got into their quarters, Hex went round the entire room peering at the ceiling. The others were peeling off sodden boots and socks, but not him.

  Li wrung out her hair like a long black rope. ‘Yuck,’ she groaned. ‘I am so wet.’

  Alex looked out of the window. The view had vanished in a blur of rain. ‘This is terrible. We were supposed to get the roof on before the monsoon.’

  ‘This isn’t the monsoon,’ said Hex. He knelt to inspect a dark patch on the floor. ‘It can’t be.’

  ‘Sure looks like a monsoon to me,’ said Amber. ‘What on earth are you doing?’

  ‘Checking for leaks.’ He straightened up. The patch on the floor wasn’t wet. He had been so careful to pack his palmtop in waterproof plastic inside its carrying case, along with a sock to absorb any moisture. No way would he get it out if the roof was dripping. One more look upwards and he decided it would be OK. He got the palmtop out and powered up.

  His fingers fluttered over the keyboard, looking for the weather satellites. The screen cast a green glow on his face, highlighting his expression of fierce concentration. ‘Here it is,’ he said. ‘We should have another twenty-four hours at least before the real monsoon hits.’

  ‘What’s this then?’ said Paulo. He was drying his feet.

  ‘A warning shower. It will pass.’

  Amber came up behind Hex and peered over his shoulder. A drip wobbled off her chin and splashed onto his hand. ‘Careful!’ he shouted, and snatched the palmtop away.

  Amber snorted. ‘A shower.’ She flopped down on a bench. ‘Never mind. I was going to have to come in for my shot anyway.’ She took an object like a chunky pen from the leather pouch she always carried with her. Amber was a diabetic and the pen was a reusable syringe containing insulin. She set it up and injected herself. It was a ritual she had to follow twice a day, every day, and normally she would do it in private, but the others barely noticed. They just carried on talking and chatting.

  However, there was a horrified gasp from the door. Sami, Bina and Radha’s seven-year-old sister, was watching. She stared at Amber, her big brown eyes wide with horror, then turned and ran, shouting in Hindi.

  Amber was upset. ‘I didn’t think anyone was watching.’ She looked from Li to Hex to Paulo to Alex. She was always so careful and discreet. Now she’d scared a small child.

  There were more footsteps on the veranda and Amber hurriedly tucked her equipment away. It was Bina. Sami peered round her skirts at the five friends in the house. Radha appeared behind them, her face serious.

  ‘You know about medical stuff, right?’ said Bina. It didn’t look like they had come to complain.

  Li asked them, ‘What’s wrong?’

  Amber got up to make room for them on the wooden bench and plumped up the cushions. ‘Come in; sit down.’ Her concern showed in her voice.

  The three sisters sat in a row on the bench. Bina looked worried, Radha miserable. Sami stared at Amber’s abdomen, where she had seen the needle go in.

  Bina asked, ‘Do you know anything about selling kidneys? I’m really worried about Mum.’

  Amber swiftly sat down on the arm of the bench next to Bina. The poor girl, having something like that on her mind, she thought. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘we’ll see what we can find out. Hex—’

  ‘Already onto it,’ replied Hex. He tapped out a few commands on the keyboard. The screen reflection blinked on his face as he called up web pages, searching for information.

  Fascinated, Bina and Radha went and stood behind him. For a brief while their worries were forgotten as they watched Hex use the tiny gadget to read pages from all over the world.

  Hex found a site he was happy with and pointed out a paragraph to them. ‘Look, it says here. One good kidney is enough to keep the body healthy.’ He read from the screen. ‘The operation to donate a kidney is a serious one but it does not shorten your life. After you have recovered you can work and participate in sports as normal.’

  Two more figures appeared at the door. Bina’s parents, watching and listening.

  Paulo jumped to his feet. ‘Mootama, Naresh,’ he said, ‘come in.’ He offered Mootama the chair he had been sitting on.

  ‘We wondered where the children had gone,’ said Naresh as Mootama made herself comfortable. ‘You have information about selling kidneys?’

  ‘I’ve found a bit,’ said Hex.

  Mootama spoke in a quiet, calm voice. ‘I know I will have to have tests. Can you tell me what they are?’

  ‘Hang on,’ said Hex. ‘I saw something about that.’ He hit the BACK key. ‘Yes, here we go. Donors’ cells must match the recipient’s, otherwise the recipient’s body will destroy the new kidney. Living donations are usually best from people related to the recipient because the kidney is most likely to m
atch their tissues. But it’s also possible to find matches between people who aren’t related at all.’ He flicked to another page. ‘Ah here we are, the tests themselves. They’ll take some of your blood and mix it with some of the recipient’s blood in a test tube. If the cells kill each other, it’s not a good match. If it is a good match, the doctors will check your general health and whether your kidneys are working well. You will have X-rays and scans, but they should not be too uncomfortable.’

  Mootama was nodding as Hex spoke. ‘Yes, this is what I was told.’

  Li was sitting nearest to Mootama. She saw the redness around her eyes; the woman had been crying.

  Naresh stood behind his wife in an attempt to comfort her. But he looked lost too. ‘It is better this way. Otherwise we will have to use a moneylender. We don’t want that. You use a moneylender and you spend your life in debt; you can never pay it off.’

  Was he still trying to convince himself? thought Paulo.

  Mootama took up the story. ‘The moneylenders knew we would need to borrow. They kept offering us loans, but we told them to go away. So they said there was another way to make money. They sent the kidney man.’ Her voice took on a note of pride. ‘I sell my kidney, we stay out of debt. The girls get their dowries.’ She stood up. ‘Bina, Radha, Sami – these good people need to eat. Let’s leave them.’ The three children obediently rose and followed their mother to the door.

  Naresh paused on the way out. ‘Thank you for finding out about it for us. The kidney man, he knows many people who have sold. Some people do it to get dowries. Some of them to get out of debt. One of them bought a car and became a taxi driver. He gave us testimonials. All of them said they were all right afterwards.’

  They heard the family splashing out into the wet street.

  ‘I don’t know about you,’ said Li quietly, ‘but I think they all look terrified.’

  Alex looked at his watch. It was indeed time to eat. He poured some water into the big pot they used for rice and put it on the kerosene stove to boil.