by Chris Ryan
‘Not when you’re in it,’ muttered Hex.
Li hooted with laughter as she climbed down the last stretch of rope webbing. ‘Way to go, Hex. Straight through the heart. You win the Mr Nasty prize for today.’ She paused for an instant, looking down to check out her next foothold, and Paulo threw down his mop.
‘Do not worry, Li,’ he said, leaping to the base of the mast. ‘I am here.’
Paulo reached out his hands to her and Li looked at him with raised eyebrows, then threw herself backwards off the rigging. Flipping over in mid-air, she landed neatly with her arms outstretched and her uplifted eyes full of mischief. The thud of her feet hitting the deck startled Hex, making him look away from his screen for an instant. It was enough for Amber. She swooped down and snatched the palmtop, sprinting away with it as Hex struggled to his feet.
‘You are dead!’ yelled Hex and Amber laughed over her shoulder at him.
That was when the accident exploded across the deck. Still looking behind her, Amber ran full pelt into Paulo’s discarded mop. The wooden handle smacked into her shins, knocking her off her feet and sending her hurtling across the deck. The palmtop flew through the air and disappeared over the side. In an instant that seemed to last for ever, Alex saw that Amber was either going to follow the palmtop into the sea, or smash her skull against the deck rail.
Without stopping to think, Alex put his head down and launched himself at Amber in an attempt to knock her off-course. The impact jarred every bone in his body and stopped his breath. For one, stunned second, he felt as though he was floating in mid-air, then he landed hard on the deck, knocking the remaining breath from his lungs and grating the skin from his elbow.
Alex sucked in air and blinked rapidly to clear his vision. Had he succeeded? He did not dare to look behind him. Instead, he looked up at Li, Hex and Paulo. All three of them were wearing identical shocked expressions. Alex closed his eyes, imagining the worst. Then a fist thumped him squarely in the back.
‘You prize moron!’
Dizzily, Alex got to his knees and turned round. A relieved grin spread across his face. Amber was standing over him and she looked furious.
‘You think that was funny?’ yelled Amber. ‘See what you did?’ She thrust a grazed and bleeding knee in front of his nose. The wound looked startlingly pink against her black skin.
Alex stopped grinning. ‘Sorry,’ he muttered. ‘I was just—’
‘He was just saving your miserable life,’ interrupted Hex, with an icy edge to his voice.
‘Oh, puh-leeze,’ sneered Amber.
‘It’s true,’ said Li. ‘Alex stopped you from going overboard.’
‘Yeah, right,’ said Amber uncertainly, peering over the deck rail.
‘Really, he did,’ said Paulo. ‘You were about to follow that palmtop into the sea.’
Amber looked at Paulo, then at Hex. ‘Your palmtop? In the sea … ?’
Hex nodded grimly. Amber looked down at her feet. When she raised her head again, there was a smile of pure delight on her face.
‘Your precious palmtop … ?’ She mimed a clownish dive and snorted with laughter.
Hex snapped. He started towards Amber, his green eyes flat and merciless. Amber grinned and settled into a fighting stance, her feet apart for balance. Hex was broad-shouldered and muscled, but Amber matched him in height and her reflexes had been sharpened by training in the sports only rich girls get to play. Years of fencing, archery and downhill skiing had taught her all about balance, avoidance, concentration and speed. Amber felt more than ready to meet Hex head-on but, before the fight could start, a wave of cold water knocked them both sideways. They stopped in their tracks, coughing and spluttering as they tried to clear the water from their eyes.
Alex, Li and Paulo all turned to see where the water had come from. Heather was standing there, holding a dripping bucket. She seemed to crackle with a furious energy. The freckles stood out darkly on her white face and the muscles jumped in her clenched jaw. She threw the bucket to the deck, where it rolled backwards and forwards with a metallic rumbling in the sudden silence. Heather let the silence grow until she had their full attention. When she finally spoke, her voice was tight and small, as though she was holding back a roar.
‘Clean up this mess, then report to me on the aft-deck in ten minutes,’ she snapped, then strode away without looking back.
About the Author
CHRIS RYAN joined the SAS in 1984 and has been involved in numerous operations with the Regiment. During the first Gulf War he was the only member of an eight-man team to escape from Iraq, three colleagues being killed and four captured. It was the longest escape and evasion in the history of the SAS. For this he was awarded the Military Medal. He wrote about his remarkable escape in The One Who Got Away (1995), which was also adapted for screen.
He left the SAS in 1994 and is now the author of many bestselling thrillers for adults, as well as the Alpha Force series for younger readers. His work in security takes him around the world and he has also appeared in a number of television series, including Hunting Chris Ryan, in which his escape and evasion skills were demonstrated to the max, and Pushed to the Limit, in which Chris put ordinary British families through a series of challenges. More recently, he appeared in Terror Alert on Sky TV, demonstrating his skills in a range of different scenarios.
Flash Flood is the first in a new series of adventures for younger readers.
ALPHA FORCE – THE MISSIONS
Have you read them all … ?
SURVIVAL The five members of Alpha Force meet for the first time when they survive a shipwreck and are marooned on a desert island.
RAT-CATCHER Alpha Force fight to catch an evil drugs baron in South America.
DESERT PURSUIT Alpha Force come face-to-face with a gang of child-slavers operating in the Sahara Desert.
HOSTAGE When they are alerted to reports of illegal dumping of toxic waste, Alpha Force fly to Canada to investigate.
RED CENTRE An Australian bushfire and a hunted terrorist test Alpha Force’s skills to the limit.
HUNTED Alpha Force find themselves in a desperate battle with a ruthless band of ivory poachers in Zambia.
BLOOD MONEY While they are in southern India, Alpha Force learn of a growing trade in organ transplants from living donors and must locate a young girl before it’s too late.
FAULT LINE Disaster strikes when a massive earthquake devastates a built-up area in Belize.
BLACK GOLD Alpha Force are diving in the Caribbean when an oil tanker runs aground and when an assassin strikes they need all their skills to survive.
UNTOUCHABLE Alpha Force must unearth the truth about the mysterious activity on a laird’s estate in the Scottish Highlands.
THINK YOU CAN
HANDLE MORE ACTION?*
Check out Chris Ryan’s action adventures for adult readers
*WARNING – ADULT CONTENT
AVAILABLE IN ARROW PAPERBACK
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-four