Hunted (2 page)

1
TEAM ALPHA FORCE

Amber Middleton was out of the action and hating it. An ankle sprain suffered while training had put her on crutches, but much worse, it had forced her to pull out of the adventure race through Luangwa National Park, Zambia. She could have been spending three days running, mountain biking, abseiling and horse riding, pushing herself to the limits of endurance with her team-mates Alex, Li, Paulo and Hex. Just the first part alone was like a marathon - a fifty-kilometre run over savannah and into a river gorge. After that there would be more races, just as gruelling.

Gruelling, but fun. Right now, Amber wasn't having much fun. She was sitting in a striped deckchair beside the red Land Rover, wondering whether the neon-yellow bandage on her ankle was really the best colour to offset her ebony skin or whether she should have chosen the Day-Glo green option. Amber was having an easy time while her team-mates battled through a tough course. As well as physical exhaustion they also had to cope with sleep deprivation: the race was non-stop, twenty-four hours a day.

Amber didn't want to be sitting with her feet up, she wanted to be out on the course with her friends.

She was still involved in the race, but it was behind the scenes as the back-up crew with her uncle, John Middleton. They had to follow with vital equipment such as cycle helmets, climbing boots, running shoes, dry socks, medical supplies and food and drink. They dispensed these at transition points - large tents marking where one section of the race ended and another began. The transition point where Amber and John Middleton were waiting now marked the end of the cycling and the start of the hiking and abseiling.

A cluster of competitors appeared out of the dusty landscape. Amber looked up hopefully but it wasn't her team. Although everyone had set off on mountain bikes, this team were now on foot, pushing the bikes, two of the members leaning over the saddles, exhausted. They had slept for only a couple of hours during the thirty-six since the race began; the orange dust that covered them was like a fake suntan. 'Had to walk,' called one of the more awake ones cheerily. 'When I sat in the saddle I kept falling asleep.'

The teams and their back-up crews all wore name patches sewn onto their rucksacks and waterproofs. Amber had
TEAM ALPHA FORCE
proudly displayed on the front pocket of her shorts. She noticed a spot of mud on it and scratched it off with her fingernail. Never before had the name Alpha Force been seen in public; the five friends had used it only in the presence of a select few such as John Middleton.

Many of the teams in the race had formed just for the event and would disband afterwards, but Alpha Force were more enduring. They trusted one another, quite literally, with their lives. It had started when they were thrown together on a deserted island and had to escape a band of ruthless pirates. At the time, spoilt, beautiful Amber had been mourning her parents' death and hated the whole world. But then she discovered that her folks had had a secret life fighting human rights abuses. What she, Hex, Li, Alex and Paulo went through on the island was like a rebirth, and the five friends had vowed to carry on the Middletons' work. Alpha Force was born, and John Middleton became their anchor man, supplying them with finance and equipment.

The adventure race was an ideal training challenge for Alpha Force, a chance to pit their skills against the best endurance athletes in their age group. It also tested the bonds of a team to the limit. Each team had to finish together, so each member had to keep the others going when all they wanted to do was give up and sleep. Alpha Force were well prepared. As a matter of routine they trained together during every school break, so they functioned as a close-knit unit. When they scattered again to their various schools across the globe, they worked on their fitness and refined their individual skills. Alex lived in the north of England; Amber in Boston, Massachusetts; Paulo in Argentina; Hex in London; and Anglo-Chinese Li lived wherever her zoologist parents were posted.

In training for this event, Paulo had had them all to stay at his parents' ranch, where he had taught them how to handle their mounts both in the saddle and on the ground. Amber, already a keen horsewoman, had howled with laughter at Hex's first efforts. The London boy was a whiz with computers and one of cyberspace's foremost hackers, but was baffled by an animal that completely ignored instructions to stop, go and turn.

Li, an expert in martial arts and free-climbing, had tutored them in abseiling skills during the same trip. Paulo took them to a canyon, and they had watched in awe as Li danced lightly down rock faces that seemed to go on for ever, oblivious to the dizzying drop. Then she had climbed up again, light and sure-footed as a spider on a wall.

Running and cycling they all did every day to maintain basic fitness, but the star in that department was Alex. Long-limbed and tall, he was built for endurance. Survival was in his blood: his father was a soldier in the SAS and Alex had inherited his relish for challenges in the roughest conditions.

Water sports were Amber's forte, and her privileged upbringing had enabled her to windsurf, water-ski and sail from an early age. Her navigation skills were second to none and would have been of great value in the race as the teams had to find their way from checkpoint to checkpoint through unknown canyons, across savannahs and rivers.

For the last few days of their stay in Argentina, Alpha Force had trained at night, mountain biking up the steep trails that overlooked the plains of Paulo's ranch, climbing, navigating through the endless open spaces, snatching sleep when they could. Then it was back to school for a few weeks, although they kept in e-mail contact to discuss their progress and general strategy for the event. Together Alpha Force were ready for anything the environment could throw at them.

But after all that preparation, Amber had tripped in a pothole while running and sprained her ankle. She had taken plenty of spills in her time and emerged with no more than bruises. This time, however, she had not even been able to get up. She had ripped several ligaments, and healing would take time. She couldn't believe her bad luck.

Amber watched as the other team were given coffee and equipment for the next part of the race. She went back to her book, a text on the languages of Africa. If she couldn't get in on the action, she would at least put the time to good use. Languages were another of her specialities, and she spent long hours studying them in her college library. At least she wasn't missing a real mission, she thought. The race wasn't work, it was play. It wasn't as if it would make a big difference to anyone's life at the end of the day. At least by resting now, she'd be fit and raring to go when a real mission came along.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the competitors sit down and immediately fall asleep, like a robot whose batteries had run out. Even though she could see fatigue was overwhelming him, she felt a pang of envy.

The main objects of Amber's envy - Hex, Paulo, Alex and Li - were also battling fatigue. Seasoned adventure racers had a name for it: fighting the sleep monster.

They were cycling along a dirt track through a wooded area. Every puddle was covered with a swarm of colourful butterflies. Vines curled up the heavy trees, and pads like water lilies sat high in the branches. All four team members wore insect repellent, but mosquitoes and flies still swarmed around their faces.

Alex, setting the pace, kept it steady. They all knew that inexperienced adventure racers made the mistake of going too fast and burning out long before the end. So Alex set a rhythm which the whole team could maintain easily and which would help them cover the distance in good time. Not only did they have to complete the course, they had to spot checkpoints along the way. If they missed one or went the wrong way, many hours would be added to their final score. It was another reason to stay alert and careful.

Hex's job was to remind everyone to eat and drink regularly. He set his watch alarm to bleep every fifteen minutes, and in the meantime looked out for checkpoints and navigated.

Li was in charge of monitoring everyone's physical condition. 'How's everybody feeling?' she called. 'Alex?' They had to give a score out of five.

Li would have said that blond, long-limbed Alex was looking the strongest of them all right now. He pedalled energetically and his face looked animated. 'Four,' he said. But there had been a point an hour before, up a long steep hill, when he had replied, 'Two.' Then Paulo, who had been on five, had taken his pack for a while to give him a chance to recover.

'Hex?' said Li.

Hex looked like he still had energy reserves. His legs pumped the pedals in a sure rhythm and he looked reasonably alert. With a gleam in his green eyes he answered, 'E.'

'What?' said Li, pedalling alongside him.

Hex grinned at her. 'E. The exponential constant.'

'Pardon me, Einstein, but what exactly--?'

'Two point seven one eight two eight. That's about how I'm feeling.'

Alex interjected, 'If he's capable of mathematical jokes, I think he must be at least a pi--'

'Mmm, pie,' said Hex. 'Better than all those fruit bars and biltong we've been eating.' The team carried energy-giving snacks that they could eat on the go, but all of them were now craving a proper meal.

Li turned her attention to the last member of the group. 'Paulo?'

Paulo was behind so Li slowed until she was alongside him. His legs were working on the bike but he was unusually quiet. His brown wavy hair was sticking in sweaty curls to his face and forehead, making him look like a Hispanic cherub, but his eyelids drooped. He didn't answer her.

Li was about to repeat the question when the track took a downward turn. Paulo veered off into the forest.

'Uh-oh, Paulo's asleep,' called Alex.

'Paulo!' yelled Li.

Paulo's bike bounced over the rough ground. His superb sense of balance kept him on board, his legs continuing to travel around in time with the pedals even while asleep so that he looked as though he fully intended the detour.

'He's going to crash into those trees,' cried Hex. He swerved off the track and hared after Paulo. The others followed.

Paulo's bike sliced between two trees and stopped when the handlebars hit the trunks. It stayed there, wedged upright. Paulo didn't move.

Alex reached him first and skidded to a halt, laying his bike on the ground. He peered at his friend's face, expecting to see blood. It was unmarked. Paulo breathed deeply and let out a snore.