Outbreak (26 page)

CHAPTER ONE

Fifty years later

Ben Tracey was bored.

Only a couple of weeks ago, when he had been stuck in a remote part of Africa in circumstances that, frankly, he wouldn't care to repeat, he'd have given anything to be back in rainy, grey Macclesfield. But now he was here, he found the four walls of his bedroom closing in on him, and his mood was as grim as the incessant and unseasonable rain that had been hammering against the windowpane for three days now, although it seemed much longer. The remainder of the summer holidays seemed to stretch endlessly before him: it would almost be a relief, he thought to himself more than once, to get back to school.

He could always phone round a few friends, of course, see what everybody was up to, maybe even go out; but something stopped him from doing that. He was a bit embarrassed to admit it, even to himself, but since his adventures in London, Adelaide and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the pursuits and interests of his friends had seemed a bit . . . he didn't want to use the word
childish
, but he supposed that was it. More than that, he was beginning to get a bit paranoid. Stuff just seemed to happen to Ben Tracey. He had a knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it was a miracle he'd come through it all unscathed. He wasn't the type to brag about it, though, and none of his friends really knew what he'd been up against. They probably wouldn't believe him in any case, so he just kept quiet about it all and hoped his days of finding himself in mortal danger were at an end.

It didn't have to be
quite
this dull, though, did it? he thought to himself as he continued to watch the raindrops slide down the window.

He was woken from his daydream by a beeping sound. On the table in his bedroom, hidden under a mess of old magazines and T-shirts that should probably have found their way into the dirty-washing basket, was his new PDA - a present from his dad. 'For everything you've done,' Russell had said awkwardly, shaking Ben's hand in a grown-up kind of way as though they were work colleagues rather than father and son. Ben had mumbled a slightly embarrassed word of thanks, but once he'd opened the package, he was actually pretty excited. Say what you like about his dad, but as a scientist he was a bit like a teenager when it came to the latest electronic gadgets, and the device Ben held in his hand was pretty neat. He'd filled a good deal of time working his way around it over the past few days, and now he rummaged around on his messy table to find the palm-sized computer.

It was an email, he saw, as he tapped his finger to the screen, and his face lightened up into a broad smile when he saw who it was from: Annie, his cousin. Actually, she was his second cousin, or was it his cousin once removed? He'd forgotten, if he ever even knew, but it was always good to hear from her.

Plenty of people thought Annie was a bit weird. Truth to tell, she
was
a bit weird, Ben smiled to himself, but that didn't mean she wasn't good company. To look at her you'd think she was just another ordinary teenage girl: quite pretty, fashionably dressed; but there was a lot more to Annie than met the eye.

Her father, James Macpherson, was an air commodore in the RAF. Ben had seen him a number of times in his military uniform, and his jacket was practically plastered in colourful decorations for bravery. He'd been all over the world with his job, and still spent more time away from home than he did with his family. Annie adored him - idolized him, even - and as a result she was obsessed with all things military. She could tell you the spec of any plane you cared to show her, she knew more about guns than anybody Ben had ever met, and she was, for her age, an expert at tae kwon-do. It was an extremely bad idea to try and patronize Annie by asking her a girlie question about her make-up - you were likely to end up groaning on the floor in agony after receiving a well-placed kick in the knee.

Ben opened up the email. Like Annie, it was curt and to the point:

GOING BIRD-WATCHING FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS
. F
ANCY COMING ALONG
?

A
NNIE

That was another thing about Annie. Her hobbies were her hobbies - it didn't matter to her one bit that some girls her age would have scorned the idea of going bird-watching. She'd been an avid twitcher for as long as Ben could remember, and had been trying to get Ben to join her for ages. There had always been some reason why he couldn't, but now the thought of a few days in Annie's company was just what he needed. Moreover, it would get him out of the house and fill his time more productively than moping around here.

And besides, it was just a bird-watching trip. They weren't heading into any major natural catastrophes; they weren't heading into any dangerous, war-torn corners of the world. It was a bird-watching trip, plain and simple. Just him, Annie and a couple of pairs of binoculars.

You couldn't get much safer than that, could you?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHRIS RYAN

Chris Ryan joined the SAS in 1984 and was involved in numerous operations with the Regiment. During the first Gulf War he was the only member of an eight-man team to escape from Iraq, three colleagues being killed and four captured. It was the longest escape and evasion in the history of the SAS and for this he was awarded the Military Medal. He wrote about his remarkable escape in
The One Who Got Away
(1995), which was also adapted for screen.

Chris left the SAS in 1994 and is now the author of many bestselling titles for both adults and children, including the
Alpha Force
series and two previous
Code Red
adventures:
Flash Flood
and
Wildfire
. His adult thriller
The Watchman
has been optioned for a movie.

His work in security takes Chris around the world, and he has also demonstrated his skills in different scenarios by presenting a number of television series, including
Hunting Chris Ryan
,
Pushed to the Limit
and
Terror Alert
.

CHRIS RYAN

A
CODE RED
ADVENTURE

Don't miss Ben's other adventures in disaster scenarios.

Flash Flood

A tidal surge.
A dramatic thunderstorm.
And a fast-rising river. . .
London is flooded!

'Utterly convincing watery thriller'
The Times

Wildfire

A drought.
A single spark.
And a city suddenly
engulfed by flames . . .
Adelaide is on fire!

'Ryan excels with description'
Writeaway.org.uk