Deep Water

by Whitcroft, Isla;

  By now the gunge had reached his eyes, and he was staggering half blinded around the tiny space. Dodging him, Cate grabbed at the thick cord that held the shower curtain back, and coming up behind him, threw the rope over his body and pulled it tight behind his back, trapping his arms by his side. He bellowed and kicked as she knotted it and then tied the ends of the cord around some pipes. It will take him a while to get out of that one, thought Cate.

  Marissa was already by the door, valiantly trying to undo the lock with her tied hands. Cate slid the lock open and the two of them were free of the room, slamming the door behind them.

  Cate grabbed the knife and slit Marissa’s bonds. ‘Quickly,’ said Cate. ‘Help me.’

  Cate pulled out a heavy chest of drawers and together she and Marissa pushed it against the bathroom door. ‘I’m sorry I got you into this trouble,’ said Cate, grabbing her rucksack, ‘but now we have to get out of here.’

  Marissa nodded. ‘You rescued me. I trust you,’ she said bravely. ‘Let’s go.’

  They crept down the stairs in darkness, Cate not daring to put the light on or even use the torch she had in her rucksack. They had just reached the drawing room when they heard noises outside. Cate grabbed Marissa and pulled her into the entrance of the corridor that led to the kitchen.

  It was just in time. Cate saw a flickering torch light appear, then the two young Cotians walked past them, talking in low voices. Cate and Marissa stared at each other, clutched each other’s hands. The two men moved on and up the stairs and Cate nodded encouragingly at Marissa.

  ‘Now,’ she breathed, and they slipped silently into the drawing room, and out into the sweetness of the night, running in the shadows all the way to the jetty.

  ‘You cut it fine.’ The pilot was standing at the doorway of his seaplane, his hand tapping impatiently on the wing. He glanced at Marissa in surprise. ‘Two of you now?’

  Cate took a wad of money from her bag and handed it to him. She could hear Black Noir in the distance, the crowds still cheering. ‘Just a quick flight to the mainland and then you can forget you ever saw us this evening.’

  The pilot looked down at the money, back at Cate, and then he shrugged. ‘Fair enough,’ he said. ‘Kids nowadays. More money than sense.’

  CHAPTER 15

  Cate was woken by sunlight spilling into her tepee. Slowly she opened her eyes, looked down at her fully clothed body and finally, remembering what had happened the night before, at her watch. Ten in the morning. By now Marissa would have landed safely in Sydney, enough money in her pocket to keep her going for several months. ‘Just forget you ever saw me,’ whispered Cate, hugging Marissa as she stepped into a cab bound for the airport. ‘And thank you for being so brave.’

  Michel had arrived, without a fuss, to collect Cate from the jetty on the mainland, as she’d arranged.

  ‘I decided to come back early,’ Cate had said quietly, clinging onto him. ‘Nancy and Lucas are all lovey dovey again, so I didn’t see the point of staying away another day.’

  Michel had put both his arms around her, resting his head on hers. ‘I’m glad,’ he’d said. ‘I am sick of missing you. I feel like everyone else gets a bit of you and I don’t.’

  Now a bleep came from one of her pockets. Still sleepy, Cate scrabbled around until she found her phone and looked at her screen.

  U OK? Where R U?

  Cate groaned with guilt. In all the excitement and exhaustion of last night she had completely forgotten about Nancy. Immediately she texted back. Fine & dandy. Had to rush back to Snapper Bay early 2 C Michel. Soz. Hope al OK at yr end and C U soon?

  Her phone bleeped again. Charming! Still, as long as yr Ok. Lucas worried too. C u soon xxx

  Cate grinned at that. Tell him not 2. Gig was fab. Big thnx. Will bring M to c u nxt time. xxx

  She suddenly stopped smiling. The Cotians must have stayed around long enough to clean up her room and remove all the evidence of the fight. They were professional all right. And that meant they weren’t going to give up their search for her easily. But they had no way of knowing she was at Snapper Bay. She was safe at least for now.

  She lay back on her bed dozing in the sunshine, her eyes closing again. She felt a shadow cross her face and reluctantly forced her eyes back open. Standing in the doorway of the tent staring down at her was Josie – a smiling, happy Josie. A far cry from the quivering crying mess of just a few nights before.

  She walked into the tent and plonked herself happily on the floor next to Cate. ‘Miles said you were back,’ she said cheerfully. ‘I heard you went to a Black Noir gig. I love Black Noir! It must have been so cool to see them live.’

  Cate sat up in bed and looked at Josie. Something was stirring in the back of her brain, something to do with Josie’s awful childhood, something to do with her grandpa.

  ‘Josie,’ she said gently, ‘Jacob told me the story of your grandpa’s life. He was a miner, wasn’t he?’

  ‘He was more than a miner,’ Josie said proudly. ‘He was a businessman. He made a fortune. He always said mining was the best and quickest way to make huge amounts of money. All you needed was hard work and a bit of luck. It’s still true, even today. There are lots of things in the ground, things that most people haven’t even heard about. Things we need for computers and satellites up in space. Things for hospital equipment and medicines.’ She dropped her voice. ‘Even right here at Snapper Bay. There’s something I’ve seen here.’

  Cate stared at Josie, trying hard not to betray her excitement. ‘What have you seen?’

  ‘Josie.’ Someone was calling her from just outside the tepee. It was Miles. ‘Hey, Josie, you in there? Noah wants your help on the beach.’

  Before Cate could stop her, Josie jumped immediately to her feet, putting her fingers to her lips in a shushing gesture as she went backwards out of the tepee.

  ‘Hey, Cate.’ Miles popped his head into the tepee. ‘Good to see you back. How was the gig?’

  Cate smiled up at him. ‘Bit of a late one but worth it.’

  With a friendly wave Miles was gone and Cate lay back in her bed, uncertain whether to be thrilled or terrified at what she had discovered. She thought back to the meeting on Purbeck Island, to the men sitting around the table, so cold, so calculating. Men vicious enough to cut two men to death by propeller, and to somehow engineer a shark attack on the eco-warriors.

  There was something at Snapper Bay that the Cotians wanted badly enough to fly halfway around the world for, enough to kill for. She had some pieces of the puzzle, but certainly not enough to provide anything like a clear picture of what was going on.

  She could hear Marcus’s voice now, the last time they had spoken. ‘The truth is that right now, Cate, we don’t even know where they’re hiding out. We need to know what these guys are after before we have a hope of getting in there and stopping them.’

  Maybe Josie was onto something. It was definitely a lead worth following. She was going to have to speak to her again.

  Cate pulled out her laptop from under the bed and began to Google. She tried mining, Australia and Friday Islands. Two millions entries popped up, but as Cate scrolled down the top few there was no mineral mentioned that was so rare and so valuable as to interest men who already made millions of dollars a week out of crime.

  With a sigh of frustration she flipped the lid down, grabbed a change of clothes from her trunk and headed out for a shower. She had just changed into fresh clothes when Michel arrived.

  ‘Hi, ma belle,’ he said, giving her a huge kiss as she emerged, her hair still soaking wet.

  Cate smiled at him, hoping he couldn’t see her turmoil. Half of her was desperate to confide in him, tell him everything about her fears, her narrow escape. But the other half just wanted them to stay boyfriend and girlfriend, untainted by all the intrigue and the danger. Maybe she shouldn’t think about what Josie had said. She could simply hand everything over to Marcus the next day as planned, forget all about the IMIA and the Cotians and
go off with Michel. Hang out at the beach, swim, drink coffee and eat takeaway just like thousands of other couples backpacking up and down the country.

  ‘Could we just take it easy today, Michel? Just us two,’ she asked.

  ‘Mais oui, cherie,’ he said, ruffling her wet hair. ‘I cannot think of anything nicer. I’ll make us a picnic lunch, bring some books and we’ll go and find somewhere quiet to be alone. Who knows . . .’ He grinned at her. ‘. . . I might even bring my saxophone.’

  ‘Don’t do that,’ laughed Cate. ‘You’ll frighten the wildlife. I need to grab some breakfast. You coming?’

  He shook his head. ‘I’m helping out with the nesting count this morning. I’ll meet you back here at midday.’

  Maria was on her own in the kitchen, sporting a paper mask and latex gloves, grating a strange herb that smelt so strongly of peppermint that it made Cate cough.

  ‘Sorry, Cate,’ Maria waved over at her. ‘Josie found this for me. She said it was right at the far end of the beach. It’s weird, isn’t it? I can’t find any reference to it anywhere. It could be a world first. It might even be a medicine. Anyway, first up, I’m going to boil a bit of it and see what happens.’

  ‘Wow,’ said Cate, impressed, helping herself to a cup of freshly made coffee and a bowl of muesli. ‘That would be so cool. Let me know how it goes. But, if you don’t mind, Maria, I’ll think I’ll eat outside.’

  From her seat at the top of the steps, Cate had a view of just about the entire camp, and this morning it seemed as if just about everyone was out and about. She spotted Noah and Jacob walking down to the beach carrying a couple of spades, chatting and joking as they went. Mitsu was lying in a hammock reading a magazine. Over by the fire circle Tuyen was training a pair of binoculars on the water whilst Dan tapped away on his laptop. To her left through the trees, she could just catch a glimpse of Miles under the shower. She hadn’t known any of them for long but they had all made her welcome, treated her with respect and consideration. Each of them had their own separate passion for the environment, and especially for Snapper Bay, and it seemed almost inconceivable that any of them would help people like these Cotians.

  Her breakfast finished, Cate took her bowl and mug back into the kitchen. After the bright sunlight outside, the room was dark and she could only just see Maria standing over the pan, steam rising up from the lid and surrounding her head and shoulders.

  A shaft of sunlight came through the window, throwing its rays onto Maria. Cate put down her mug and stared, and then rubbed her eyes and stared again. There was no mistaking what she was seeing. Maria had an aura, a purply blue glow edging the outline of her body. The same purply blue that Cate had seen in the night waters of Snapper Bay. For a few seconds, Cate was transfixed as the colours bent and danced in a ghostly display.

  Finally she found her voice. ‘Maria,’ Cate said quietly.

  The girl turned round and smiled, completely unaware of her strange transformation. ‘Hi, Cate. Sorry, is the smell still getting to you? I won’t be long now.’

  ‘No, it’s fine,’ said Cate, trying hard to keep the excitement out of her voice. ‘Maria, can I have a closer look at the plant of yours, please?’

  ‘Sure,’ said Maria. She picked up the chopping board that lay next to the stove. ‘Help yourself. I think it looks just like your English parsnip to me.’

  Cate cupped the soil-encased root in her hands, marvelling at the weight of the plant. She squeezed it gently with her hand and the soil crumbled lightly away between her fingers. And then Cate understood. It wasn’t the plant that was heavy or even the soil around it. In her hand Cate was holding shards of a bright silvery metal.

  ‘It’s indium,’ said Arthur, his voice squeaky with excitement on the screen of Cate’s laptop. ‘It’s a very rare metal that is in increasing demand in technology manufacturing. It’s perfect for LCD technology.’

  ‘Speak English, please, Arthur!’

  After Cate had left the kitchen, she had taken her laptop and headed out to her favourite spot on the edge of the beach to talk to the one person she could really trust.

  ‘Liquid Crystal Display. Flat screen TVs, tiny watches, wafer thin phones . . . The use for indium is endless but the supply isn’t.’ He Googled furiously. ‘It says here there’s a mine in China, one somewhere in Bolivia, Canada and, if I’m not mistaken, they found some recently in a disused Cornish tin mine. And that’s about it.’

  ‘Are you sure, Arthur?’ Cate asked. ‘I mean, this is really important.’

  ‘Of course I am,’ said Arthur a tadge crossly. ‘Every techie knows about indium. It was discovered by two German scientists who were searching for different metal ores using spectroscopy. They didn’t find what they were looking for but they spotted this weird blue emission instead, indicating a new element. They named it after the colour indigo.’

  ‘Jeez.’ Cate was seized with an almost irritable urge to jump up and down with glee. ‘I couldn’t understand why they were wittering on about something that sounded like Indians.’ She thought back to the hot sticky room. ‘It was indium they were talking about,’ she said almost to herself. ‘Indium B.’

  ‘Sorry Cate, could you repeat that, please?’ Arthur’s voice sounded strangely quiet.

  ‘They were talking about indium B.’

  ‘I thought that’s what you said,’ said Arthur. He ran his hands through his hair, making it even more spiky than usual. ‘Cate, this is mind blowing. Indium is pretty rare and expensive.’ He did another quick Google search. ‘Ten years ago it was worth sixty dollars a kilo, now its over a thousand. But indium B. That’s just a concept really, it hasn’t even been discovered.’

  Cate stared at the screen. This time her brother had really confused her. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

  Arthur sighed. ‘I’ll try and keep it simple, Sis,’ he said kindly. ‘Basically we’ve got as far as we can go with new technology in terms of power and size. If we make things any smaller, we lose effectiveness. So now everything you see – your phone, your watch, your laptop – is a compromise between the two. But indium B gets around that problem. It would be a thousand times stronger than indium, which means you can use much less of it and still get the job done. But indium B has only been produced in a lab in tiny quantities and the process was far too expensive to make it in any commercially viable way.’ Arthur was really excited now, his dark head bobbing and weaving on the screen. ‘If you have found a natural source of indium B, then believe you me, you have just discovered the next stage in our technological evolution. We can send spaceships further, make computers much smaller, create bigger and faster planes. It’s amazing. Stupendous. It could revolutionise the world.’

  Cate tried to digest the news. So was that what those divers had been doing on the night of the storm? Checking out the cliffs, the beaches, looking for indium B.

  ‘But if it gets into the wrong hands?’ she asked, already knowing the answer.

  ‘Then it could be disastrous,’ said Arthur, his excitement subsiding. ‘This stuff needs to be carefully monitored, shared fairly across the countries and the industries that can develop it properly. If it gets into the wrong hands or just put up for sale to the highest bidder, then it’s a nightmare scenario.’

  ‘That’s what they said they wanted to do,’ said Cate with a shudder. ‘The Cotians want to make loads of money from it – they don’t care who they sell it to.’

  ‘Cate, Michel, have you seen Josie recently?’ Dan flopped down onto the beach beside them, wriggling under their parasol to escape the worst of the mid-afternoon sun. ‘I’ve been looking for her for ages. It’s her turn to collect wood for the fire and she’s vanished.’

  Cate and Michel exchanged exasperated glances. They had walked for a good fifteen minutes down the beach in the hope of finding a place where they wouldn’t be spotted.

  ‘I saw her this morning,’ said Cate, trying to be helpful. ‘She popped in to see me in my tent. Just before Michel and I pl
anned this private picnic!’

  ‘Did she?’ said Dan, missing the hint. He stood up, brushing sand from his shorts. ‘Oh well, if you see her then tell her to get to the kitchen. This is the third time this week she’s forgotten she’s meant to be helping out. It’s just not fair on the rest of us, especially now that the twins are gone. We all have to share the load.’

  Michel and Cate looked at each other and grinned. ‘Another Diet Coke, cherie?’ asked Michel, reaching into the cold box. ‘Oh, and here are the prawns. I knew I’d put them somewhere.’

  ‘Who’s that?’ Dan asked. He was staring up the beach towards the camp, his hands shading his eyes.

  Exasperated Michel sat up. ‘Look, Dan, much as we love your company, Cate and I, well, we just want to be on our own. By ourselves. Just the two of us. A deux. Can I be any clearer?’

  Cate giggled. She checked her mobile. She had texted Marcus as soon as Arthur had hung up but she hadn’t had a signal since.

  ‘Someone’s running towards us,’ said Dan, ignoring Michel. ‘Fast. It’s Noah.’

  A feeling of foreboding swept through Cate’s body as Michel jumped to his feet and began to jog towards his cousin. ‘Noah?’ he shouted. ‘Noah, qu’est que c’est?’

  Noah was panting, struggling to get the words out, his face grey with shock. ‘It’s Josie,’ he said. ‘I found her over there.’ He pointed towards the far end of the beach. ‘She must have been climbing up the cliffs and fallen. She’s unconscious!’

  Holding hands tightly, Cate and Michel watched in silence as the air ambulance lifted off into the sky. On board was a still unconscious Josie, and Mitsu, who had volunteered to go with her.

  ‘I won’t be coming back, guys,’ she said sadly, hugging them all goodbye as Josie was being loaded onto the helicopter. ‘Bad things are happening. I don’t like the vibe any more.’ She looked at Jacob. ‘I know what you’re going to say, Jacob, but all the logic in the world won’t change my mind. In any case, this isn’t about logic, it’s about gut feeling.’ She paused. ‘Don’t worry, guys, I’ll stay with Josie until she’s OK. I’ll keep you posted.’