villagers. Though they couldn’t see his eyes, the movements of his head suggested his gaze was moving unhurriedly from one to the next, as if he was assessing their individual strengths and weaknesses.
Finally he said, ‘Why you want to leave island?’
‘Paradise is a little too green for us, man,’ said Logan.
Purna flashed a frown at him, a silent warning that now was not the time for levity. ‘There is a sickness,’ she said. ‘It’s affecting everybody. Turning them … crazy.’ She demonstrated by swirling her hands around beside her head.
Mowen seemed unimpressed. ‘I know of sickness. Very bad for business.’
‘What
Mowen turned casually to look at him, his face implacable. ‘I buy things. I sell things.’ He paused, then added as an afterthought, ‘I help many people.’
‘Can you help us?’ asked Purna.
Mowen shrugged. ‘Why I should help you?’
‘Because Ryder White said you would,’ said Purna firmly.
Mowen’s lips gave a dismissive twitch, as if that argument held no sway with him. ‘Is too dangerous. Nothing in it for me.’
Purna looked thoughtful for a moment, as if deciding what she should tell him. Eventually she said, ‘You say this sickness is bad for your business?’
Mowen nodded.
‘If we get to the prison,’ she continued, ‘there’s a chance we can stop this sickness. Cure it.’
‘Why you go to prison?’ Mowen said. ‘Why you not go to place in jungle?’
Purna blinked. ‘
Mowen waved a hand vaguely. ‘Is deep. Near Kuruni village. Is doctor there. Is place of … how you say … science?’
‘Like a laboratory?’ suggested Xian Mei.
‘Laboratory, yes. Doctor there …
‘You’re saying there’s a laboratory in the jungle, and that the doctor there
Mowen nodded as if it was obvious.
‘How do you know this?’ said Purna.
Mowen grimaced as if she was being naive. ‘
Purna stared at him. ‘Wait a minute,’ she said, holding up a hand. ‘Don’t move.’
She turned and walked a couple of dozen paces away from the group, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. The signal was not great, but hopefully it would be good enough. She keyed in the number Ryder White had texted them all a little earlier.
After just one ring, White’s clipped voice said, ‘Yes?’
As concisely as possible Purna told him what Mowen had said.
Excitedly, White asked, ‘Will he take you there?’
‘He seems reluctant. He wants to know what’s in it for him.’
‘Tell him I’ll pay him whatever he wants. He’s done jobs for me in the past and he knows he can trust me to keep my word. Time may be running out, but money’s something I’m
‘It could be a dead end,’ said Purna.
‘Or it could be exactly what I need — what we
‘OK,’ Purna said. ‘How is your wife, by the way?’
‘Deteriorating. But stable enough for now. Listen, keep in touch, OK? Let me know what’s going on.’
‘If I can,’ said Purna, and broke the connection.
Chapter 14. MAD SCIENTIST
THE JOURNEY TO the laboratory would take almost three hours.
Because they hadn’t all needed to go, and because none of them were happy about leaving the van unguarded, it had been decided that Xian Mei would stay behind with Jin.
Mowen’s boat was a small ex-army tug. He had negotiated the waterways skilfully, standing proud astride his vessel like a pirate captain on the High Seas. Occasionally he had flipped his rifle off his shoulder to fire at what Logan had at first thought were drifting logs. ‘Friendly looking fuckers, aren’t they?’
‘Crocodile,’ Mowen had explained. ‘I shoot so they stay scared. If scared they not attack.’
At times the waterways had been nothing but dark, narrow swampy channels through dense green tunnels of vines and creepers; at others the banks had widened out and the overhanging treetops above them had separated like sliding shutters to admit a vast blue vista of sky. Mowen had been happy for Purna, Sam and Logan to bring their weapons along, and in fact seemed reasonably laid back about the entire venture, despite his initial reticence. Purna had been watching him closely the whole time, eyes narrowed, as if she didn’t really trust him.
For his part, although he felt a little unsettled about venturing into unknown territory, Sam was just glad to get a break from the relentless rage and hunger of the infected. And although he had initially thought Logan a bitter, over-pampered douche-bag, he was now glad of the guy’s company. In a strange way, what had happened had actually been good for Logan, or at least had shown him in a more favourable light. Deprived of the drugs and alcohol he had evidently started to become dependent upon since his accident, and given something other than his own woes to worry about, the ex-football star had proven himself to be a witty and likeable companion. He could be relied on to keep people’s spirits up with a quip or an irreverent comment when things got too heavy. Sam thought that even Purna liked having Logan around, though the Australian girl was hard to read — harder even, in many ways, than Mowen, despite the trader’s mirror shades and uncertain grasp of the English language.
Eventually they had come to a small jetty in the middle of the jungle, where Mowen had tied the boat up.
‘Now we walk,’ he’d said, gesturing off into the jungle.
‘How far?’ Purna had asked.
Mowen shrugged. ‘One hour maybe.’
At Mowen’s recommendation, they had each brought a rucksack of provisions, which they hoisted on to their backs, and a machete to hack their way through the jungle. Mowen had led the way at a brisk pace, occasionally pointing out hazards for them to avoid — snakes, spiders, plants that would sting or scratch or otherwise irritate their skin. It was not long before Sam and Logan had been dripping with sweat and even Purna’s flawless brown skin had gleamed with a light sheen of perspiration. Only Mowen ahead of them had seemed relatively un affected, though as Sam used his soggy bandanna to wipe sweat away from his forehead for perhaps the twentieth time, he had eventually been gratified to see a small damp triangle forming on the back of Mowen’s T-shirt, between his shoulder blades.
It had seemed considerably more than an hour’s walk before they had finally reached the ‘laboratory’. What surprised Sam most about it was the way it appeared, with no prior warning. One minute they were tramping through thick jungle, hacking encroaching vegetation out of the way, and the next they had stopped at the edge of a clearing where a good half-acre or more of trees and bushes had simply been excised, as if by a devastatingly corrosive energy beam from a passing alien spacecraft.
The ‘laboratory’ comprised a jumble of ugly grey prefab buildings surrounded on all sides by an unbroken, three-metre tall security fence. Armed guards, dressed in black combat fatigues and black baseball caps despite the heat, patrolled the perimeter. Attached to each of the guard’s baseball caps was a headset and microphone. Concealed behind bushes at the clearing’s edge, Mowen, Purna, Sam and Logan spent a minute or so observing proceedings. Logan made a wry comment about the apparent friendliness — or lack of it — of the guards, but no
