Robin nodded to herself. So that was what Richard was thinking about as his bright blue gaze had been quartering the jungle all around them. And wisely so. Until the area could be secured against the anarchic militias that had infested the place for the last forty years or so, there was absolutely no point in investing anything up here — no matter how great the promised prize. And there were only two ways in which absolute security could be guaranteed: either the country itself needed a settled government that was able to guarantee security throughout its dominions, or Max was going to have to come up with an army of his own capable of outgunning the Army of Christ and whoever else came cruising by, drawn to Max’s promised trillions like sharks drawn to blood.
‘And this is the kind of place they come to, to regroup if for no other reason,’ emphasized Robin, running with Richard’s idea as though she had been able to read his mind. ‘Not that there’s much for anyone up here, heaven knows! Unless they can get across the border into Congo Libre or one of the other neighbouring states who don’t mind supplying arms and expertise in the hope of fomenting a little trouble along the border. They can regroup and rearm there, then come back and start all over again here. But even so, unless they have a very powerful agenda indeed, it’s hard to see that there’s anything worthwhile for anyone in this godforsaken place.’
‘Except for us,’ exulted Max, brightening up suddenly, unexpectedly. And, given Richard and Robin’s concerns, not a little disturbingly. ‘Except for us! For us there is two trillion, five hundred billion US dollars!’
‘We’re there, Mr Asov,’ called the map man from the cockpit. ‘Right over Doctor Koizumi’s facility. At least, where it’s marked on the map. But I’m afraid I can’t see any buildings or anything …’
‘Right,’ said Max. ‘Tell the pilot to take us down. But do it carefully!’
Felix screwed the top back on the vodka bottle and replaced it in his briefcase, much to Robin’s relief. Richard strained to see out of the window, hoping for a clear view of whatever lay immediately beneath them, wondering what the odds against finding a hostile army hiding in the undergrowth were.
Robin looked further away as the helicopter settled below the level of the upper canopy. The great branches reached out, laden with broad green leaves, festooned with pendant mosses, even at this upper level, bound with massive ropes of creeper and liana. Below them were cavernous, shadowy spaces. Then the lower, secondary canopy — thinner, robbed of light by the huge upper leaves, seemingly strangled from below by the creepers, the parasitic orchids and all the other plant life fighting desperately for a share of the sun and the rain, feeding off each other like vegetable vampires.
As the Kamov obediently settled further, Richard’s gaze fastened on the huge grey ferns of the jungle floor which came piling out into the sunlight like breaking waves. Immediately in front of them, a wall of reeds and rushes as wide as a highway and as tall as a bungalow defined the edge of the lake. The reeds reached towards the belly of the helicopter, and Richard frowned with concentration, seeking clearer ground beside them. But there was nothing.
Where Max had no doubt imagined an open area of grass the size of a football pitch conveniently placed for the Kamov to land safely, there was instead a stand of bamboo the size of Wembley Stadium. Many of the bamboo tops were covered with feathery leaves, but by far the majority of them were tipped with fearsome points, like spears. And the bamboo stood as tall as the lakeside reeds — at least three metres. There was no sign at all that any human had ever had the temerity to come here. Dr Koizumi and his facility might be as much of a fairy tale as the monsters Richard had brought to mind when he likened the place to Jurassic Park.
‘You’ll never get down here,’ said Richard grimly. ‘This place is locked tight shut against any kind of aircraft. The only way in is on foot, Max.’
‘You’re right,’ admitted Max. ‘I just hate admitting defeat.’ His fist crashed on to the tabletop. ‘Take us up again,’ he called to the pilot.
‘At least, now that we’re here, we can try to follow the tributary stream to the main river,’ said Richard. ‘Anyone coming in on foot may well want to follow it upstream — as a guide, at least. It’ll be as well to get a good idea what the terrain actually looks like.’
As the helicopter rose back into the sky above the treetops and turned away towards the distant River Gir, the largest of the ferns parted and a man dressed in army camouflage cargo pants and a green vest stepped out. He wore a green beret and wraparound sunglasses with mirrored lenses. He carried a Desert Eagle in a green webbing holster on his right hip. On his left he carried a matchet with a stainless steel blade more than a metre long. In his high-laced right boot he carried a black-bladed Russian military Stalker knife. Around his chest he wore a webbing bandolier carrying half-a-dozen double clips of five point forty-five ammunition for the brand-new AK-74M with GP-30 forty millimetre grenade launcher that he cradled like a baby in his muscular arms.
Silently, he watched as the helicopter filled the increasingly narrow band of sky between the treetops that stood astride the river as it followed the flow of black water away. Then he moved his head infinitesimally, and started moving noiselessly forward into the stand of bamboo. At once he was surrounded by the better part of fifty soldiers, varying in age from ten to forty, all as well armed as he was, the largest and strongest of whom fell in a step or two ahead of him, using their massive matchets with practised ease to clear a path through the vegetation, following the vanishing chopper down the black stream from the black lake towards the distant River Gir.
Edge
As the Kamov followed the river course, Robin’s attention was torn. It was impossible to see much of the dam system immediately below, but it was all too easy to see the overhanging greenery of the canopy on either side. Far more interesting was observing Richard as he worked his magic on Max and Felix.
Even as Richard leaned forward, Felix reached down for his briefcase once more. This time, as well as the vodka bottle, he pulled out a slim laptop. He opened it and turned it so that the screen covered the lower half of the window. He tapped a couple of buttons and it lit up, showing video feed from the camera mounted under the Kamov’s nose, but Robin still looked out of the window. If she looked up, she could see the leaves of the canopy fluttering in the wind of their passage. If she looked down she could see their roots standing out like huge knotted talons as they gripped the steep banks on either side of the precipitous young river beyond the dam system. Below them, much reduced since its overpowering spate, raced the strange dark tumble of the black water rushing downwards so eagerly to join the stately flow of the distant River Gir. But, as far as she could make out, the jungle itself was deserted. Apart from the plant life, it was dead.
After a moment, Robin’s attention switched back to Richard. Of course, he would be looking for an edge, she thought. The owners of Heritage Mariner might be apparent spectators here, but Richard never did anything without an ulterior motive and he was as aware as his associates that there was a fabulous fortune to be made. And Heritage Mariner could well do with a share of it.
On one level, the fact that the Russians had returned to Felix’s vodka bottle might make Richard hope to get past their defences, Robin calculated wryly. But on another, they just became more suspicious and argumentative the more they drank. ‘You’ve just seen for yourselves,’ Richard was saying. ‘Getting upriver is hard.’ He gestured at the laptop screen, which was showing a waterfall that looked to be taller than the hundred-metre trees surrounding it, tumbling beneath the natural bridge of a fallen tree into a lake that was as thick with water hyacinth as Lac Dudo itself had been. ‘Even something like that will take a good deal of time and effort to climb. And I think you’ll find there are more — and bigger — waterfalls between here and the main river. Cataracts and rapids too, I shouldn’t wonder.’