Alex didn’t move.
“It’s your choice, son,” Tanner said. “You cooperate or you don’t cooperate. But if you want to play hardball, I’ll have to call Jacko and Quombi in. They’ll rough you up a little and then they’ll tie you down and I’ll get what I want anyway. You don’t want that, do you? Make it easy on yourself . . .”
Alex knew there was no point refusing. Although it made him sick, he allowed Tanner and the nurse to give him a thorough examination. They checked his reflexes, probed his eyes, ears, and mouth, weighed and measured him, and took the various samples. At last they let him go.
“You’ve looked after yourself, Alex,” Tanner said. “For an English immigrant, you’re in great shape.” He was obviously pleased. “Your blood type is A positive,” he added.
“That’s going to be an easy match.”
It was as he was putting his clothes back on that he did it. Tanner was typing something into his computer. The nurse was looking over his shoulder. Alex was pulling on his shoes, leaning against the cart as if to support himself.
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He allowed one hand to cover the scalpel, then slid it sideways and dropped it into his pants pocket. He would have to walk very carefully for the next few minutes or he’d give himself a nasty cut. He just hoped nobody would notice what he had done.
The nurse looked up and saw that he was dressed. “I’ll take you to your room,” she volunteered. “You should have a rest. We’ll bring you supper in about an hour.” The sun had already set. The sky was a deep gray with a streak of red like a fresh wound above the horizon. It had begun to rain, fat drops of water bursting one at a time along the ground.
“There’s going to be another storm,” the nurse said.
“I’d get tucked up and have an early night if I were you.
And remember . . . stay indoors. The dog’s trained not to come into the buildings. I mean, this
But remember—take one step outside and he’ll go for you . . . and we don’t want you losing too much of that blood of yours, do we? Not at five hundred dollars a pint!”
She left Alex alone in a small room on the ground floor with a bed, a table, and a single fan rotating in the center of the ceiling. In one corner, there was a heavy silver filing cabinet. Alex opened it, but there was nothing inside.
A second door led into a small shower room, which also contained a toilet and a sink. Alex slid the scalpel out of his pocket and hid it inside the hanging roll of toilet paper.
He didn’t know if he would have any use for it, but at least it made him feel better having taken it. Maybe these people weren’t quite as clever as they thought.
He went back into the bedroom. A single window looked down to the lake. The Piper Super Cub had gone.
Alex had watched it become nothing more than a speck in the sky at the same time as he was being examined.
He sat down on the bed and tried to collect his thoughts. Only the day before he had been in Darwin, congratulating himself on what he had achieved, thinking that his mission was over. And now this! How could he have been so stupid? He wondered what was happening to Ash. He still didn’t understand why the two of them had been separated. If Yu knew that Ash was working for ASIS, why hadn’t he sent him here too? Alex was filled with a longing to see his godfather again. It made everything even worse being here alone.
About an hour later, the door opened and a second nurse came in carrying a tray. She was dark-haired and slim and would have been pretty except that she had a broken nose that had set badly. She was younger than Charleen but equally welcoming.
“I’m Isabel,” she said. “I’m going to be looking after you. I’ve got a room just past the stairs, halfway down the corridor, so if you need anything, just yell.” She set the tray down. Alex’s dinner consisted of steak and chips, fruit salad, and a glass of milk, but the sight of
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the food sickened him. He knew they were only building him up for what lay ahead.
He noticed two pills in a plastic cup. “What are these?” he asked.
“Just something to help you sleep,” Isabel replied.
“Some of our patients have difficulty nodding off, espe-cially the first couple of nights. And it’s important you get your rest.” She paused at the door. “You’re the youngest we’ve ever had,” she said, as if Alex wanted to know. “Leave the tray outside the door. I’ll pick it up later.”
Alex picked at the food. He wasn’t hungry, but he knew he had to keep up his strength. Outside, the rain fell more heavily. It was the same tropical rain that he had experienced in Jakarta. He could hear it hammering against the roof and splashing into ever-widening puddles. There was a flicker of lightning, and for a couple of seconds he saw the rain forest, black and impenetrable. It seemed to have moved closer, as if it was trying to swallow him up.
Later, somehow, he slept. He didn’t take off any of his clothes. He couldn’t bear to. He simply lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the first light of the morning was already slanting in. His clothes felt damp.
His muscles ached. He lifted his wrist and examined the watch. The two hands were still set at eleven o’clock.
