Red Centre

by Chris Ryan

  ‘One of the rangers took a pop at him with a tranquillizer gun, of all things. Brave, but stupid against a man like this. He’s an expert shot.’

  ‘A tranquillizer gun?’ repeated Alex.

  ‘They had it to make the crocodile game look good - I guess they decided to keep them loaded after what happened,’ said Amber. She thought about the day when they had tried out the games. It seemed a long time ago now. Even escaping from a crocodile seemed like straightforward fun compared to this.

  Paulo said carefully, ‘I expect you know who your target is.’

  Sergeant Powell nodded. ‘Interpol identified him. They came by to seize the filmed material.’

  Paulo and the others exchanged glances. Powell noticed, but let it pass. ‘Then our target arrived. If he’d got here five minutes earlier, he’d have run straight into them. He must have a sixth sense.’

  Hex finished his drawing and rotated the map back towards the sergeant. ‘The cameras are all remotely operated, and co-ordinated from inside the control room. The cameras that point to the camp are on all the time.’

  Sergeant Powell pointed to areas away from the camp. ‘What are those?’

  ‘The game areas,’ replied Hex. ‘That’s the crocodile lake, that’s the bungee tree - but they’re filmed manually as they’re not used all the time. There aren’t any permanent cameras there. The only place where he’s got twenty-four-hour surveillance is in the central area around the camp and the control room.’

  Sergeant Powell pointed to the control room on the plan. ‘Are there any cameras or microphones inside?’

  Hex shook his head. ‘No; they don’t film in there and they don’t need them. But the exit is covered by the main cameras, so he can see if there’s anything outside his door.’

  ‘And you can’t set up a bug in that building without being heard,’ said Alex. He spoke rapidly as his brain raced through possibilities. ‘Could something on the inside be adapted?’

  For a moment he and Hex forgot about the SAS man sitting in front of them. Hex replied vehemently. ‘No t a chance. You can convert speakers into microphones and things like that but it takes a bit of obvious rewiring. And it’s a bit amateur.’

  An interested expression passed across Sergeant Powell’s face as he followed the exchange, but when he spoke he kept his thoughts to himself. ‘If the automatic cameras are filming the camp all the time, they’ll have footage of when our man seized the hostages. It would be good to see that.’

  ‘Well yeah, but it’s all in the control room,’ said Hex. ‘The cameras are on a closed circuit and all feed into there. And that means our target can see everything that’s going on and we can’t.’

  ‘Those cameras are our best chance,’ said Sergeant Powell, emphasizing the words by stabbing with his finger on the table. ‘They’re a purpose-built surveillance system. They’ve even got light intensifiers in case the contestants are doing something interesting in the dark. The way it is right now, our man could even escape through the jungle and we wouldn’t know. We’d never be able to find him in an area as big and as dense as this. We need to be able to see what’s on those cameras.’

  Amber spoke. ‘Could we get a feed off one of them? Splice in another cable or something?’

  Hex was nodding. ‘Just what I was thinking.’

  ‘The problem would be getting somebody close enough without our man spotting them on camera,’ said Sergeant Powell. ‘I’ve got snipers on standby but I can’t send them in until I know what he can see and what he can’t.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Li. ‘At the moment the cameras are locked in place on a fixed sweep. But the producer wanted them to be adjusted for a wider arc in case one of the contestants throws a strop and escapes. They needed to be able to track the contestants at all times because someone heading out into the jungle is bound to fall over something or get lost.’

  Alex said, ‘We need to get somebody in there and put a line into the camera circuit before he works out how to take the lock off.’

  ‘How do we know he has not done that already?’ asked Paulo. ‘It’s just a matter of adjusting the cameras’ field of view from the control room, after all.’

  ‘We’re going to take a calculated risk,’ said Sergeant Powell. ‘He hasn’t got anyone technical in there. We’re pretty sure that neither the presenter nor the journalist knows anything about video technology. My men have been keeping our target talking to a negotiator for the past half hour, so he’s had less time to think about using the equipment he’s got – or hurting anyone. Hex, how tricky is it to tap the camera circuit?’

  ‘You’d need to splice the signal cable,’ said Hex. ‘Easy enough, given a minute or two with the camera and a pair of pliers.’

  Sergeant Powell looked at his watch. ‘We’ve got a technician here but she’s been given sedatives for shock. She won’t be any use for twelve hours.’ He sighed - a harsh, exasperated sound. ‘The only other person we’ve got is a health and safety officer who keeps telling us to be careful because the undischarged tranquillizer dart lying out there in the bushes somewhere could prick someone accidentally. We’ve sent a car to the cameraman’s house but even if they find him he won’t get here for at least another hour. I could put one of my men in but they’re not experienced with these new digital TV cameras.’

  Hex said, ‘I’m doing electrical engineering at college. I could rig up a tap.’

  ‘I’m sure you could,’ replied Sergeant Powell. ‘The question is whether I should let you.’

  But Hex thought he looked as though he was considering it.

  The sergeant reached into his pocket and put a small device to the table. It was a black box with a socket in one end. He slid it across to Hex. ‘Tell me what that is.’

  A glance was enough for Hex. ‘A signal splitter. If you splice that into the output cable of one of the cameras, it will transmit what they are seeing to an external source.’

  Sergeant Powell was nodding. There was no doubt Hex knew what he was talking about.

  Hex looked at the soldier squarely. ‘Do you have an hour to wait while a cameraman gets here? Assuming you can get hold of him in the first place?’

  ‘It will be dark by then anyway,’ said Paulo. ‘We need to do this while it is still light.’

  Li chipped in. ‘Also, we know where the camera blind spots are because we worked them all out with the crew this morning.’

  Powell was thinking, his eyes narrowed. ‘Where’s this camera?’

  ‘Any will do. There’s one here.’ Hex swivelled the map round so that it faced him again and jabbed a point he had circled. ‘It’s near the road so we wouldn’t even have to go very far into the jungle.’

  Sergeant Powell looked grave. ‘You assure me that you can do this without going anywhere near the control room?’

  Alex met his gaze. ‘Nowhere near.’

  The SAS man pushed the signal splitter all the way across to Hex and rose to his feet. ‘All right. You go in, you do it and you get out. Stay out of trouble. And say nothing. If anyone finds out I let you do this, I’m toast. I wouldn’t even consider it, only there are eight lives at stake and we can’t wait around sitting on our thumbs. I’d send one of my men with you, but if our target spots any obvious military action, one of the hostages might be killed and I can’t risk that at this stage.’

  Hex pocketed the device. They all got up and filed out of the lorry.

  Alex was the last. Sergeant Powell called him back. ‘Alex? Your dad’s in the Regiment, isn’t he?’

  Alex turned back from the doorway, surprised. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Back in England.’ He looked at Sergeant Powell with curiosity for a moment and then added, ‘Was that in my passport too?’

  Sergeant Powell gave Alex a profound look. ‘It’s been a pleasure to meet you.’ He waved his hand. ‘Now go in and get out safely.’

  10

  INTO THE LAIR

  As they walked away from the lorry, Alpha Force were already fine-tuning the plan.<
br />
  ‘Hex,’ said Alex, ‘what’s the best way to do this?’

  Hex replied immediately. ‘I’ll be OK on my own.’

  Alex didn’t like the sound of that. ‘Someone ought to come with you,’ he said. ‘To keep a lookout.’ He didn’t want Hex going into the jungle alone. Hex was an expert in all areas of communications, but Alex felt he had the edge when it came to survival. And Sergeant Powell’s last remark had made Alex feel he was responsible.

  ‘There’s no sense in two of us going,’ said Hex. ‘It’s just a matter of splicing some cables. I’ll be fine.’

  ‘In that case I could do it myself. I can get in and out quickly—’

  Hex didn’t let him finish. ‘Yeah, but these digital feed cameras are not like CCTV. They’ve got complicated error checking. If you don’t time it right you’ll give the game away. It’s got to be me.’

  ‘It’s better if Alex goes with you, Hex,’ said Paulo. He could see Hex was annoyed. ‘Look, I’m not saying you couldn’t handle it. But you’ll have your hands full working on the camera. Let Alex be on the lookout for anything else.’

  Hex shrugged. He was still irritated. Attaching the device to a camera was a simple job - for him at least - and he felt Alex was being overprotective. But arguing about it would be a waste of time and energy. He checked the contents of the tool bag he carried strapped around his waist.

  Amber pointed to Hex’s watch. ‘You’d better turn off the atomic clock nerd check if you’re near those cameras.’

  Hex clicked a button on his watch. Then he thought for a moment, took it off and held it out to Alex. ‘Can you take this for me?’

  Alex gave him a puzzled look. ‘Why?’

  ‘I might scratch it if I fall from the tree or something.’

  Alex goggled. ‘Or you might break your ankle.’

  ‘My ankle is easy to fix; that watch is expensive. Can you just look after it?’

  Li wagged her finger at Alex. ‘Guard it with your life, now.’

  Alex sighed and put the watch on. ‘OK. Now can we go?’

  Hex nodded. ‘Yep. Let’s roll.’

  They stepped off the road and began to make their way into the undergrowth.

  ‘Good luck,’ said Amber, adding, ‘Melvin.’ She hadn’t meant Hex to hear, but he turned round and gave her a withering look. Then he and Alex disappeared into the trees.

  The light was starting to fade and the creatures in the undergrowth were gearing up for their dusk chorus. It was like a stopwatch starting the countdown for their mission. Within thirty minutes it would be pitch-dark. Neither Alex nor Hex intended to be out in the jungle after nightfall.

  The camera installations had to be as ecologically friendly as possible, so they made use of natural features. They were almost invisible. Alex and Hex knew what they were looking for, however: a tree with a slender metal strut to one side, cleverly hidden by foliage.

  They stayed close together. Alex moved in time with Hex, putting his foot down when Hex did, so that if they were picked up on a microphone in the control room it would sound like one person and not two.

  Suddenly he tapped Hex on the shoulder. Hex turned and Alex gave the hand signal for ‘danger left’. Hex followed his gaze and saw a brown scaly body as thick as his wrist lying in the undergrowth, just where he was about to put his foot. Hex, one foot in the air, adjusted his balance and chose a different route. The snake, sensing the vibrations as they passed, moved away in a rustle of leaves.

  They continued carefully and in silence, using hand signals if they needed to communicate, making no more sound than absolutely necessary. Alex loved these moments when Alpha Force worked together so seamlessly; after all their training and practice he and Hex were like two halves of a slick machine. He had thought that he would always be doing this . . .

  The tree they were looking for was just ahead. Peering up, they could make out the camera as a box-like outline against a patch of crimson sky. The metal strut had a row of bars sticking out along its length for the technicians to use as a ladder. Alex stood at the bottom of the strut; Hex grasped two of the bars and began to climb.

  A moment later he was coming back down again, fast. In answer to Alex’s querying expression he pointed upwards. Below the camera Alex spotted the danger coiled through the topmost rungs. At first glance it looked like a cable, but then Alex saw the triangular head moving languidly as the snake tasted the air.

  Hex jumped to the ground and began to head further into the jungle. Alex, running to catch up, was taken by surprise. What was he doing? They hadn’t discussed a back-up plan. The only reason this camera was a feasible target was that it was reasonably close to the road. Alex couldn’t remember where the other cameras were but he was sure they were all much further in. Surely they should simply abort the mission. It was foolhardy to look for another camera - they might not get out before nightfall. But Hex had decided to make a break for it and Alex had no choice but to follow. He muttered some choice words under his breath, fully intending to repeat them to Hex later when they were out of the forest.

  Hex moved on ahead. There was no time to waste. If he got to a camera he could splice in the tap without any trouble, and probably make a better job of it than the TV technicians. They would probably let a blip show on the screen and that would give the game away.

  That snake was something Hex hadn’t bargained for, though, and it had thrown him. He had heard that snakes were sometimes attracted to electrical fields. He hoped that wasn’t true. If the next camera was being used as a snake’s perch, they might as well give up. By that time the sun would be setting anyway. They wouldn’t get another chance.

  It took a good five minutes of trekking further into the jungle before Hex and Alex came to another strut. This time Hex peered up to check for snakes before he climbed up the camera support.

  To make sure he had a steady hand to work on the camera, he wrapped his legs around the pole and hooked his feet between the rungs. Then he located the cables at the back of the camera and identified which was for power and which for output. They were coated in a sticky substance like thick tar to deter jungle wildlife from chewing them. Hex soon had the stuff all over his fingers. He grimaced at the unpleasant sensation - he really didn’t want to get it all over his precision tools. But on the other hand, it was probably a blessing. His fingers were slick with sweat, and the goo made him less likely to drop anything. Just to make sure he didn’t slip, Hex wiped some of the stuff onto the insides of his knees and calves as well.

  Hex traced the cables to the socket in the back of the camera and prised off the weatherproof cover. He balanced the loose cover in the crook of a branch and scraped some of the anti-chewing goo onto it to make sure it didn’t fall. Then he took the bug Sergeant Powell had given him out of his tool pouch.

  With his pliers, Hex quickly stripped a length of the output cable. Now he had to splice in the bug without interrupting the signal. This was the tricky part. It didn’t help that the light was definitely fading, the sky and the leaf canopy overhead now blurring into one mass of inky darkness.

  Hex had to slice into the cable and ensure the cut ends never moved more than a centimetre apart: less than that, and the signal could jump like a spark across the gap; more, and it would register an external fault, which might be enough to rouse Pirroni’s suspicions.

  Taking a deep breath, Hex cut. Immediately he slotted the signal splitter in between the ends of the severed cable and wrapped his fingers around the whole thing to keep it all together. With his other hand he began to fix the loose ends of the cable into the bug.

  Everything was going fine. Hex secured the first end easily and nodded to Alex, looking up from below. Then he became aware of a movement above him, out of his line of vision. A shiver went through him despite the warmth of the jungle.

  He looked up and saw the pointed head and seeking tongue, silhouetted against the last wisps of light high in the sky.

  Hex stayed very, very still. He kne
w that if you didn’t disturb a snake, it would probably not attack. Very slowly he continued to screw the second cable into the bug. He would get the job finished and then climb down the ladder.

  The snake - some kind of python? - began to slide down the back of the camera towards him. Now he could see the spotted markings on its head and back and the pale underbelly. In the dim light he couldn’t make out the colour but the light and dark patches were clearly visible. The segments were like fine black lines drawn on its pale skin.

  It touched his hand. Hex stayed exactly where he was, trying to think of nothing but holding the cable in the socket. The snake was passing by. He just had to bide his time till it was gone. It was more interested in finding a mouse to eat than in bothering him. It began to travel down his forearm. The scales felt dry and surprisingly warm as it moved over him, and rough like scuffed patent leather.

  The coils seemed to be endless, unwinding out of an infinite spool somewhere above the trees. The head was now past Hex’s feet and slithering down the trunk of the tree, but still the body kept on coming. His arms and shoulders were burning now with the effort of keeping still. How long could a snake be? Even now that its fangs were past him, he still couldn’t risk making any sudden movements because that might endanger Alex on the ground. Grimly he held his position. On and on and on the snake went in an endless leisurely cascade.

  The lorry smelled of sweat and hot dogs. A couple of the soldiers were tucking in, knowing they might need the energy at any moment. Nerves seemed to have no effect on their appetite. None of Alpha Force felt particularly hungry, but Amber had got herself a hot dog from the catering truck anyway. As a diabetic she had to stick to regular meal times.

  Sergeant Powell had invited them into the makeshift monitoring room. A series of screens were set up on a bench along a wall, wired to the signal from Hex’s device.

  As they watched, a wobbly picture flashed onto the screens, jumped a bit and settled. Murphy, the SAS soldier who had set the screens up, thumped the desk in triumph. ‘Your guy’s done it.’