The Recruit

24. Flash

"We could play I spy," Ash grinned, trying to break the tension as they headed downstream.

Serena didn't appreciate his stab at humour. "Shut your face, and keep your eyes open."

"It'd better not be rapids," Ash said anxiously. "I couldn't handle that."

"For the hundredth time, Ash, they won't send us down rapids. This is the wrong type of boat, we'd disintegrate in two seconds."

Ash could cope with swimming in a pool, or a fairly still section of river, but the idea of a getting thrown into raging water without a life-jacket scared him like mad.

Things were easier for Serena. She had the map spread over her lap and the boat to steer. All Ash had was twitchy fingers and a brain packed with unpleasant thoughts about whatever awaited them.

"Maybe nothing will happen," Ash said. "Maybe the trick is to make us think something horrible is going to happen when nothing really is."

"A few seconds' warning could make all the difference," Serena said sharply. "Be quiet and concentrate."

When the skies darkened for the afternoon rains, Ash stretched the tarp over their stuff and lashed the paddling pool on top, to capture a fresh supply of drinking water. The violent rain made it impossible to navigate safely. As soon as it started, Serena pulled into the embankment. Ash tied the boat to a branch and they snuggled under the tarp until it stopped.

Before setting off again, they quickly changed into dry clothes and put on more insect repellent. Ash's body was a mass of angry red bites.

"This is getting out of hand," Ash said. "Even my bites have got bites on them. Do you think we could get malaria?"

"Maybe," Serena shrugged. "But there's nothing we can do, so what's the point dwelling on it?"

An hour after the rain, they spotted a light pulsing in the trees up ahead.

"Did someone just take our photo?" Ash asked.

Before Serena could answer, an electronic squeal broke out under the top of the outboard motor. She cut the throttle and reached into her pocket for her utility knife.

"Is that some kind of warning buzzer?" Ash asked.

Serena shrugged. "I'll have a look under the engine cover, but I'm no mechanic." She undid two plastic catches with the blade of her knife and lifted off the plastic faring.

"Jesus," Serena gasped. "I think we've got a bomb on board."

Not quite believing his ears, Ash scrambled down the boat and looked at the metal cylinder duct-taped to the engine block. Ash recognised the timing switch from Surge's weapons and explosives class. Unlike the ones you see in the movies, it didn't have a clock saying how long you had until the bomb exploded.

A wire ran from the timer and out of the engine, alongside the rubber hose linking the outboard motor to the auxiliary fuel tank. Ash had noticed the wire before, but he'd never given it a thought.

"Did the flashing light set off the timer?" Ash asked.

"It must have a photo trigger," Serena said. "Remember when Lt Surge showed us how you could set up a motion detector and a photographic flashgun to set off a bomb? It's ideal if you want something to explode when it reaches a certain position."

"We could die," Ash said.

"Don't be dopey," Serena said. "They're not gonna kill us. It's probably just a tiny bit of explosive that will blow a hole somewhere in the..."