‘Copy, Nest One. Remain at your position and cover us. Nests Two and Three, maximum alert. If a mouse farts, I want to know about it.’
Dekker broke off communication and proceeded to give further orders. In the few moments that he had been in contact with Waaka, the entire camp had roused itself. Tommy Eichberg lit one of the powerful halogen floodlights, throwing huge shadows against the canyon walls.
Meanwhile Andrea stood slightly apart from the circle of people crowding around Dekker. Over his shoulder she could see Fowler walking behind the infirmary, completely dressed. He looked around and then went over to stand behind the reporter.
‘Don’t say anything. We’ll talk later.’
‘Where’s Harel?’
Fowler looked at Andrea and arched his eyebrows.
Suddenly a suspicion occurred to Andrea and she turned towards Dekker, but Fowler grabbed her arm and held her back. After exchanging a few words with Russell, the huge South African had made a decision. He left Maloney in charge of the camp and together with Torres and Jackson headed for quadrant 22K.
‘Let me go, Father! He said there was a body.’ Andrea said, trying to free herself.
‘Wait.’
‘It could be her.’
‘Hold on.’
In the meantime Russell had raised his arms and was addressing the group.
‘Please, please. We’re all very agitated, but running around from one place to another isn’t going to help anyone. Take a look around you, and tell me if there’s anyone missing. Mr Eichberg? And Brian?’
‘He’s dealing with the generator. It’s low on fuel.’
‘Mr Pappas?’
‘Everyone’s here except Stowe Erling, sir,’ said Pappas nervously, his voice cracking with the strain. ‘He was going over quadrant 22K again. The headings on the data were wrong.’
‘Dr Harel?’
‘Dr Harel isn’t here,’ said Kyra Larsen.
‘She’s not? Does anyone have an idea where she might be?’ said a surprised Russell.
‘Where who might be?’ said a voice behind Andrea. The reporter turned, relief etched across her face. Harel was standing behind her, her eyes bloodshot, dressed only in boots and a long red shirt. ‘You’ll have to excuse me, but I took a sleeping pill and I’m still a little groggy. What happened?’
While Russell was getting the doctor up to speed, Andrea confronted mixed emotions. Although she was relieved that Harel was all right, she couldn’t understand where the doctor could have been all this time or why she had lied.
35
The old man got up on a chair and untied one of the knots that held up the sides of the tent. He tied it, untied it, and tied it once more.
‘Sir, you’re doing it again.’
‘Someone’s dead, Jacob. Dead.’
‘Sir, the knot is fine. Please, come down. You have to take this.’ Russell was holding out a small paper cup containing some pills.
‘I’m not going to take them. I need to be alert. I could be next. Do you like this knot?’
‘Yes, Mr Kayn.’
‘It’s called a double eight. It’s a very good knot. My father showed me how to do it.’
‘It’s a perfect knot, sir. Please come down from the chair.’
‘I just want to make sure-’
‘Sir, you’re falling back into obsessive compulsive behaviour.’
‘Don’t use that term on me.’
The old man turned so violently that he lost his balance. Jacob moved to catch Kayn, but he wasn’t quick enough and the old man fell.
‘Are you all right? I’ll call Dr Harel!’
The old man lay crying on the floor, but only a small part of his tears was due to the fall.
‘Someone’s dead, Jacob. Someone’s dead.’
36
AL MUDAWWARA DESERT, JORDAN
‘Murder.’
‘Are you sure, Doctor?’
Stowe Erling’s body was lying at the centre of a circle of gas lamps. They gave off a pale light, and the shadows on the surrounding rocks faded into a night that suddenly seemed filled with danger. Andrea fought back a shudder as she gazed at the body on the sand.
When Dekker and his entourage had arrived at the scene only minutes earlier, he’d found the old professor holding the dead man’s hand, continuously sounding the now useless air horn. Dekker had prised the professor away and called for Dr Harel. The doctor had asked Andrea to come with her.
‘I’d rather not,’ Andrea had said. She had felt dizzy and confused when Dekker had said over the radio that they had found Stowe Erling dead. She couldn’t help remembering how she’d wished that the desert would simply swallow him up.
‘Please. I’m very anxious, Andrea. Give me a hand.’
The doctor had seemed truly disturbed, so without another word Andrea began to walk alongside her. The reporter tried to think of ways she could ask Harel where the hell she’d been when this mess started, but she couldn’t do so without revealing that she too was somewhere she shouldn’t have been. When they reached quadrant 22K they discovered that Dekker had managed to illuminate the body so that Harel could
