Outbreak

'Track them down,' she translated. 'And kill them.'

CHAPTER TEN

A couple of years ago, Ben's mum had taken him to Kew Gardens in London. A typical Bel Kelland day out, with lots of lectures about the environment and what we were doing to it. What he remembered most, though, was the Palm House, a huge glass pavilion in which the heat and humidity levels were high enough for all the exotic trees and plants that were kept there. It had been oppressive after only ten minutes; but it was as nothing to the surroundings in which he found himself now. His face was moist, not only from the perspiration of running, but also from the thick humidity in the air – ten times worse now he was under the canopy of the rainforest than it had been in the village. His unsuitable Western clothes were already ripped by the angry thorns of the unfamiliar plants all around him, their tough, juicy leaves barbed on the edge like the teeth of a saw. Remarkably he had not yet cut his skin, but he suspected it was only a matter of time.

Halima led the way, deftly finding paths through the thick foliage that Ben would never have seen. Behind them they heard the shouting of the men, seemingly coming from different directions but in fact, Ben soon realized, confirming the fact that he was wildly disorientated. He had no idea if he was running north, south, east or west. All he knew was that he had to keep going. They ran blindly for at least half an hour, both of them breathless and Ben feeling a sharp stitch in the side of his abdomen; he forced himself to push through the pain barrier, however, knowing that the alternative was a lot less palatable.

Eventually they stopped, spent a minute catching their breath and then, barely daring to move, listened around them. It was not silent. The screams of unseen birds filled the air; closer to the ground were the shuffles and movement of unknown creatures. But the sounds they were listening for – the shouts of their pursuers and the noise of humans inexpertly cutting their way through the forest – were absent. Ben looked at Halima in relief; her eyes were flashing darkly and she returned his gaze with a coldness Ben hadn't expected. 'You OK?' he whispered.

'No,' Halima replied sternly. 'This is all your fault.'

Ben blinked at her. 'What do you mean?'

'Those men, they would have never done this to me if you had not interfered.'

'What are you talking about, Halima? They were going to kill both of us.'

'You pointed a gun at them!' Halima started to raise her voice, only lowering it when she saw Ben wince. 'Do you not understand what that means in these parts? There are bandits everywhere – if you threaten to kill someone, they will try to kill you first.' Her Congolese accent could not hide her fury. 'Those men were taking me to the village elders. I was to be punished for showing you the ritual last night. Not killed.'

'No, Halima.' Ben spoke firmly, urgently. 'You're wrong. Listen to me carefully. Your village is not cursed.' She tried to interrupt, but Ben spoke over her. 'Let me speak. You heard me tell Suliman that my father has become ill – I have as much interest in this as anyone. He's a scientist – a good one – and he thinks that there is some sort of virus down the mine, highly contagious. The people who run the mine know this, but they stand to make a lot of money from the Coltan down there. Suliman knows we're on to them. I wouldn't mind betting that he has orders to kill anyone who discovers the truth. That's why he was abducting you – he thought I had told you what was going on.'

Halima looked confused.

'Think about it, Halima,' he urged. 'Why would the village elders send three men with AK-47s to catch a fourteen-year-old girl? It doesn't make sense.'

'No,' Halima said. 'You don't make sense. If Suliman thought that there was a virus down there, why would he risk staying?'

'Because some people are immune. Like you, for example.' Halima's hand went up to the amulet round her neck, and she fiddled with it as Ben continued to speak. 'That's why they put Suliman and his men – people who they would never think of putting in positions of authority – in charge.'

For a moment Halima didn't reply, but eventually her wide eyes stared directly into Ben's. 'And what about you, Ben Tracey?' she asked in a low voice. 'Are you immune from this virus?'

'I don't know,' Ben admitted. 'All I know is this: if this thing spreads beyond your village, millions of people all over Africa could die. We have to alert the authorities, and we have to stop anybody from getting in or out until it's under control. We have to get back to Udok, Halima.'

Halima looked at him thoughtfully. 'You would really go back, even though you believe what you believe?'

Ben closed his eyes momentarily. The image of his father, lying helplessly on his makeshift bed, appeared in front of him. 'I haven't got any choice,' he whispered, before looking back at Halima. 'You don't believe me, do you?'

Halima shrugged slightly. 'I believe something in the mine has been disturbed. You call it a virus, I call it something else. If your plan is to close the mine down, then we both want the same thing.' Her voice softened slightly. 'And I am sorry about your father. I understand what you are feeling. I will help you.'

'Thank you,' Ben said simply. He looked around him. 'We need to get back to the road.'

Halima shook her head. 'No,' she told him. 'It would be too dangerous. There are too many bandits in this region. If they saw us by ourselves, they would kill us just for the clothes we are wearing.' Ben remembered Abele's words of warning – 'In the Congo, the only person safe from voleurs is the man with no money' – and with a shudder he recalled the man who had tried to rob them when they first arrived in the region.

'You're right,' he said. 'And anyway, Suliman will be expecting us to find our way back to the road. I'd be willing to bet he'll have people there looking out for us.' It was a devastating thought. The canopy above was impenetrable, the surrounding rainforest dense and inhospitable. Ben felt something crawling on his skin; he slapped the side of his face to get rid of it, but could feel a mosquito bite already welling up there. With a sinking feeling, he realized that he did not even know in which direction they needed to travel to get to the village.

As though reading his thoughts, Halima spoke. 'The road we took travels in a straight line west from the village. We are somewhere on the north side. But if we are to travel east, we will have to cross the river at some stage.'

Ben nodded.

'It will be very dangerous,' she told him seriously. 'Many wild animals live in that river, and you do not always see them until they are upon you. Perhaps there is another way.'

'What?' Ben asked.

'There is another village twenty miles to the west of here. We would not need to cross the river. Perhaps if we could reach it, I could get in touch with my sister and ask her to raise the alarm.'

Ben shook his head. 'We might be carrying the virus,' he told her. 'We can't risk spreading it to anywhere else. Besides, it's too far. We need to raise the alarm as quickly as we can.'

'But the river-'

'Listen to me, Halima. The first thing Suliman will do when he gets back to the village is inform his superiors in Kinshasa about what has happened. They will suspect that you'll try and contact your sister. She's in great danger. If we don't raise the alarm quickly, who knows what will happen to her?'

Halima fell silent.

'I'm sorry, Halima,' Ben said after a moment. 'But you need to know what we're up against.' He looked around. 'I have to get to the satellite phone in Suliman's office, and I can't do it by myself.'

Halima nodded her head gently. 'Tell me what you want me to do.'

Ben chewed on his lower lip. 'The first thing we need to do is get our bearings,' he said almost to himself.