gasped when she saw the injury, but Mek grinned.
'Looks as though you were chewed by a shark.'
'That's right, I was,'Nicholas agreed.
WI BE, Mek shrugged. 'It needs at least a dozen stitches.' He shouted
for one of his men to bring his pack.
Sorry, no anaesthetic,' -he warned Nicholas as he forced him to sit on
the transom of one of the boats and poured antiseptic straight from the
bottle.
Nicholas let out a gasp of pain. 'Burns, doesn't it?' Mek agreed
complacently. 'But just wait until I start sewing.'
'This kindness will be written down against your name in the golden
book,' Nicholas told him, and with an evil leer Mek broke the seal on a
suture pack.
As Mek worked on the wound, pulling the edges together and tugging the
thread tight, he spoke quietly so that Nicholas alone could hear. 'Nogo,
has at least a full company of men guarding the river downstream. My
scouts tell me that he has placed them to cover the trails on both
banks.'
'He doesn't know that we have boats to run the river, does he?' Nicholas
asked through gritted teeth.
'I think it is unlikely, but he knows a great deal about our movements.
Perhaps he had an informer amongst your workmen.' Mek paused as he
pricked the needle into Nicholas's flesh, and then went on, 'And Nogo
still has the helicopter. He will spot us on the river as soon as this
cloud breaks.'
The river is our only escape route. Let's pray that the weather stays
socked in, like this.'
By the time Mek had tied off the last knot and covered Nicholas's chin
with a Steri-Strip plaster, Sapper had finished inflating and loading
the last boat.
Four of Mek's men carried Tessay's litter to one of the boats. Mek
helped her aboard and settled her on the deck, making sure that she had
one of the safety straps close at hand. Then he left her and hurried to
where his wounded men lay in order to help them into the boats too. Most
of them could walk, but two had to be carried.
After that he came back to Nicholas. 'I see you have found your radio,'
he said, as he glanced at the fibreglass case that Nicholas had slung
over his shoulder on its carrying strap.
'Without it we would be in big trouble.' Nicholas patted the case
affectionately.
'I will take command of that boat, with Tessay.'
'Good!' Nicholas agreed. 'Royan will 90 with me in the lead boat.'
'You had better let me lead,'Mek said.
'What do you know about river running?' Nicholas asked him. 'I am the
only one of us who has ever shot this river before.'
'That was twenty years ago,' Mek pointed out.
'I am an even better man now than I was then,' Nicholas grinned. 'Don't
argue, Mek. You come next, and Sapper in the one behind you. Are there
any of your men who know the river to command the other two boats?'
