Snakehead (18 page)

He waited until the driver had disappeared into the building, then climbed out and ran over to the phone. Apart from the last coin that Smithers had given him, he had no money, but according to Ash, he wouldn't need any to make the call. Now, what was the number he had been given? For a horrible moment, the separate digits danced in his head, refusing to come together. He forced himself to concentrate. 795…No, 759…Somehow the full number took shape. He punched it in and waited.

He'd gotten it right. Somehow the numbers were able to override the system, and Alex heard the connection being made. The phone rang three times before it was answered.

“Yes?”

Alex felt a wave of relief. It was Ash's voice. “Ash…it's me. Alex.”

“Alex…thank God! Where are you?”

“I'm in Darwin, I think. Or somewhere near it. There's a café called Jake's. About fifteen minutes from the port.”

“Stay where you are. I'm coming to get you.”

“Are you here too? How did you get here?”

A pause, then Ash replied, “I'll tell you when I see you. Just watch out for yourself.” There was another silence. Alex listened for background noise, anything that might tell him where Ash was. But there was nothing. “I'll be with you as soon as I can,” Ash said, and hung up.

Alex knew that something was wrong. It had definitely been Ash on the phone but he hadn't sounded like himself. His voice had been strained, and there had been something in that last pause. It was almost as if he had been waiting to be told what to say.

Alex made a decision. He had contacted Ash first as he had promised. But that might not be enough. He turned his wrist and looked at the watch that Smithers had given him, then deliberately moved the hands to eleven o'clock. According to Smithers, the watch would send out a signal every ten minutes. Ash might not be happy about it, but Alex didn't care. He wasn't going to take any more chances. He just wanted to know that MI6 were on their way.

After that, he waited for Ash to arrive. Alex couldn't think what else to do. He was exhausted after three nights with almost no sleep and weak from lack of food. He crept around the side of the café and sat in the shade, keeping himself out of sight. It was likely that Major Yu's men were still looking for him, and apart from the knife concealed in his belt, he had no way of defending himself. He had left the gun behind on the bridge. He wished he had it with him now.

Ten minutes later, the door of the café opened and the driver who had brought him here came out carrying a brown paper bag. He got into the pickup truck and drove off again, leaving a plume of dust behind him.

More time passed. There were flies buzzing around Alex's face, but he ignored them. The café seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by scrubland and on the edge of a road with little traffic. Alex had to struggle not to doze off. But then he saw a car heading toward him, a black four-wheel drive with tinted windows. It pulled in outside the café. Ash got out.

But he wasn't alone. He hadn't been driving. His hands were chained in front of him. His black hair was in disarray, and his shirt was torn. A streak of blood ran down the side of his face. He hadn't seen Alex yet. He looked dazed.

Major Yu got out of the back of the car. He was wearing a white suit with a lavender shirt, buttoned at the neck. He moved slowly, supporting himself on a walking stick. As always, his hands were gloved. At the same time, the driver and another man got out. They were taking no chances. The three of them surrounded Ash. Yu took out the pistol he had used to kill the old man on the
Liberian Star.
He held it up against Ash's head.

“Alex Rider!” he called out in a thin voice, filled with hate. “You have three seconds to show yourself. Otherwise you will see your godfather's brains all over the highway. I am counting now!”

Alex realized he wasn't breathing. They had Ash! What was he to do? Give himself up and they would both be killed. But could he forgive himself if he turned and ran?

“One…”

He regretted now that he hadn't used the telephone to call ASIS, the police, anyone. He had known something was wrong. How could he have been so stupid?

“Two…”

He had no choice. Even if he tried to run, they would catch him. There were three of them. They had a car. He was in the middle of nowhere. Ash wasn't moving. His shoulders were slumped and he looked miserable, completely defeated.

He stood up, showing himself.

Major Yu lowered the gun and Alex began to walk forward, worn out and defeated. Ash must have been on the
Liberian Star
all the time, a prisoner like him. His eyes were full of pain.

“I'm sorry, Alex,” he rasped.

“Well, here you are at last,” Major Yu said. “I have to say, you've caused me a great deal of time and inconvenience.”

“Go to hell,” Alex snarled.

“Yes, my dear Alex,” Yu replied. “That's exactly where I'm taking you.”

Yu raised the hand with the walking stick, then swung it with all his strength. This was the last thing that Alex remembered—a silver scorpion glinting brilliantly as it swooped toward him out of an Australian sun. He didn't even feel it as it smashed into the side of his head.

“Pick him up!” Yu commanded.

He turned his back on the unconscious boy and climbed back into the car.

T
HERE WAS A VASE
of roses on the table. Alex smelled them first…sweet and slightly cloying. Then he opened his eyes and allowed them to come into focus. They were bright pink, a dozen of them arranged in a porcelain vase with a lace mat underneath. Alex felt sick. The side of his head was throbbing, and he could feel the broken skin where the walking stick had hit him. There was a sour taste in his mouth. He wondered how long he had been lying here.

And where was he? Looking around at the antique furniture, the grandfather clock, the heavy curtains, and the stone fireplace with two sculpted lions, he would have said he was back home in Britain—although he knew that wasn't possible. He was lying on a bed in what could have been a country hotel. A door to one side opened into a bathroom. There were bottles of Molton Browne shampoo and bubble bath beside the sink.

Alex rolled off the bed and staggered into the bathroom. He splashed water on his face and examined himself in the mirror. He looked terrible. Quite apart from the dark hair and skin color and the two fake teeth, his eyes were bloodshot, there was a huge bruise next to his eye, and generally he could have been dumped here by a garbage truck. On an impulse, he reached into his mouth and pulled out the two plastic caps on his teeth. Major Yu knew perfectly well who—and what—he was. There was no need for any further pretense.

He ran himself a bath, and while the water was flowing, he went back into the bedroom. The main door was locked, of course. The window looked out onto a perfect lawn with—bizarrely—a set of croquet hoops arranged in neat lines. Beyond, he could see a rocky outcrop, a jetty, and the sea. He turned back. Someone had left him a snack: smoked salmon sandwiches, a glass of milk, a plate of McVitie's Jaffa Cakes. He ate it all greedily. Then he stripped off his clothes and got into the bath. He didn't know what was going to happen next, and he didn't like to think, but whatever it was, he might as well be clean.

He felt a lot better after half an hour in the hot scented water and although he hadn't been able to get off all the makeup Mrs. Webber had put on him, at least some of his own color had returned. There were fresh clothes in the wardrobe: a Vivienne Westwood shirt and Paul Smith jeans and underwear—both London-based designers. He was still wearing his old clothes, but the belt that Smithers had given him had been taken away. Alex wondered about that. Had Major Yu discovered the knife hidden in the buckle or the jungle supplies inside the leather itself? He was sorry that he hadn't gotten the chance to use it. Maybe there would have been something inside that could help him now.

On the other hand, nobody had searched the pockets of his jeans—or if they had, they had missed the ten-baht coin and the chewing gum pack with the secret detonators. The watch was also still in place, the hands fixed at eleven o'clock, and that gave Alex a sense of reassurance. The eleventh hour indeed. Major Yu might think he held all the cards, but the watch would still be transmitting, and even now MI6 Special Operations must be closing in.

Alex got dressed in the new clothes and sat down in a comfortable armchair. He had even been supplied with some books to read:
Biggles, The Famous Five,
and
Just William.
They weren't quite his taste, but he supposed he should appreciate the thought.

Just after midday, there was a rattle of a key turning in the lock and the door opened. A maid, wearing a black dress with a white apron, came in. She looked Indonesian.

“Major Yu would like to invite you for lunch,” she said.

“That's very kind of him,” Alex replied. He closed his copy of
Biggles Investigates
. “I don't suppose there's any chance of our eating out?”

“He's in the dining room,” the maid replied.

Alex followed her out of the room and down a wood-paneled corridor with oil paintings on the walls. They all showed scenes of the English countryside. Briefly he thought of overpowering the maid and making another bid for freedom, but he decided against it. There was part of him that reacted against the idea of attacking a young woman, and anyway, he had no doubt that—following the events on the
Liberian Star
—Yu would be taking no chances. Security here would be tight.

They reached a grand staircase that swept down to a hall with a suit of armor standing beside a second, monumental fireplace. More classical paintings everywhere. Alex had to remind himself that he was still in Australia. The house didn't fit here. It felt as if it had been imported brick by brick, and he was reminded for a moment of Nikolei Drevin, who had transported his own fourteenth-century castle from Scotland to Oxfordshire. It was strange how very bad men felt a need to live somewhere not just spectacular but slightly insane.

The maid held back and gestured Alex through a door and into a long dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the sea. The room was carpeted with a table and a dozen chairs, suitable for a medieval banquet. The paintings in this room were modern: a portrait by David Hockney and a wheel of color by Damian Hirst. Alex had seen similar works in galleries in London and knew that they must be worth millions. Only one end of the table had been laid. Major Yu was sitting there, waiting for him, the walking stick leaning against his chair.

“Ah, there you are, Alex,” he said in a pleasant voice, as if they were old friends meeting up for the weekend. “Please come and sit down.”

As he walked forward, Alex examined the snakehead boss properly for the first time, taking in the round, shrunken head, the wire-frame glasses, the white hair sitting so oddly with the Chinese features. Yu was wearing a striped blazer with a white, open-necked shirt. There was a silk handkerchief poking out of his top pocket. His gloved hands were crossed in front of him.

“How are you feeling?” Yu asked.

“My head hurts,” Alex replied.

“Yes. I'm afraid I must apologize. I really don't know what came over me, hitting you like that. But the truth is, I was angry. You did a lot of damage on the
Liberian Star
and made it necessary for me to murder Captain De Wynter, which I didn't really want to do.”

Alex filed the information away. So De Wynter was dead. He had paid the price for failing a second time.

“Even so, it was unforgivable of me. My mother used to say that you can lose money, you can lose at cards, but you should never lose your temper. Can I offer you some apple juice? It comes from High House Farm in Suffolk, and it's quite delicious.”

“Thank you,” Alex said. He didn't know what was going on here but had decided he might as well play along with this madman. He held out his glass, and Yu poured. At the same time, the Indonesian maid came in with the lunch: cold roast beef and salad. Alex helped himself. He noticed that Yu ate very little and held his knife and fork as if they were surgical implements.

“I'm very glad to have had this opportunity to meet you,” Major Yu began. “Ever since you destroyed our operation Invisible Sword and caused the death of poor Mrs. Rothman, I've been wondering what sort of boy you were…”

So Mrs. Jones had been right. Major Yu was indeed part of Scorpia. Alex filed the information away, knowing with a sense of dread that it gave Yu another reason to want to kill him…to settle an old score.

“It's just a shame that we have so little time together,” Yu went on.

Alex didn't like the sound of that. “I have a question,” he said.

“Please go ahead.”

“Where is Ash? What have you done with him?”

“Let's not talk about Ash.” Yu gave him a thin smile. “You don't have to worry about him. You'll never see him again. How is the beef, by the way?”

“A little bloody for my taste.”

Yu sighed. “It's organic. From Yorkshire.”

“Where else?” Alex was getting a bit fed up with all this. He toyed with his knife, wondering if he had the speed and the determination to stick it into the man's heart. It might be five or ten minutes before the maid came back. Enough time to find a way out of here…

Yu must have seen the idea forming in Alex's eyes. “Please don't think of anything foolish,” he remarked. “There is a pistol in my right-hand jacket pocket, and, as the Americans would say, I am very quick on the draw. I think I could shoot you dead before you had even left your chair—and that would spoil a perfectly pleasant lunch. So come now, Alex. I want to know all about you. Where were you born?”

Alex shrugged. “West London.”

“Your parents were both English?”

“I don't want to talk about them.” Alex looked around. Suddenly the paintings, the furniture, the clothes, even the food made sense. “You seem to like England, Major Yu,” he remarked.

“I admire it greatly. If I may say so, Alex, I have enjoyed having you as my adversary because you are English. It is also one of the reasons I have invited you to eat with me now.”

“But what about Invisible Sword? You tried to kill every child in London.”

“That was business, and I really was very unhappy about it. You might also like to know, by the way, that I voted against sending a sniper to kill you. It seemed so crude. Some more apple juice?”

“No, thank you.”

“So where do you go to school?”

Alex shook his head. He'd had enough of this game. “I don't want to talk about myself,” he said. “And certainly not to you. I want to see Ash. And I want to go home.”

“Neither of which is possible.” Yu was drinking wine. Alex noticed that even that was English. He remembered Ian Rider once describing English wine as the sort of liquid that might have been extracted from a cat. But Yu sipped it with obvious enthusiasm.

“I love England, as a matter of fact,” he said. “Since you won't talk about yourself, perhaps you will permit me to tell you a little about me. My life has been a remarkable one. Maybe one day someone will write a book about me…”

“I've never much cared for horror stories,” Alex said.

Yu smiled again—but his eyes were cold. “I like to think of myself as a genius,” he began. “Of course, you might remark that I have never invented anything or written a novel or painted a great painting, despite what I said just now, it is unlikely that I will become a household name. But different people are talented in different ways, and I think I have achieved a certain greatness in crime, Alex. And it's not surprising that my life story is a remarkable one. How could someone like me have anything else?”

He coughed, dabbed his lips and began again.

“I was born in Hong Kong. Although you wouldn't believe it to look at me now, I began with nothing. Even my cot was a cardboard box filled with straw. My mother was Chinese. She lived in a single room in a slum and worked as a chambermaid at the Hilton Hotel. Sometimes she would smuggle home soaps and shampoos for me. It was the only luxury I ever knew.

“My father was a guest there, a businessman from Tunbridge Wells, in Kent. She never told me his name. The two of them began an affair, and I have to say that she fell hopelessly in love with him. He used to talk to her about the place where he lived, this country called Great Britain. He promised her that as soon as he had enough money, he would take her with him and he would turn her into a British lady with a thatched cottage with a garden and a bulldog. For my mother, who had nothing, it was like an impossible dream.

“As a young person, I'm sure you have no attachment to your country, but the truth is that it's a remarkable place. At one time, this tiny island had an empire that stretched all around the world. You have to remember that when I was born, you even owned Hong Kong. Think how many inventors and explorers, artists and writers, soldiers and statesmen have come out of Britain. William Shakespeare! Charles Dickens! The computer was a British invention—as was the Internet. It's sad that much of your country's greatness has been squandered by politicians in recent years. But I still have faith. One day, Britain will once again lead the world.

“Anyway, my mother's affair came to an unhappy end. I suppose it was inevitable. As soon as he found out that she was pregnant, the businessman abandoned her and she never saw him again. Nor did he ever pay a penny toward my upkeep. He simply disappeared.

“But my mother never lost sight of her dream. If anything, it became more intense. She determined that I should grow up with full recognition of my English blood. She named me Winston, of course, after the great wartime leader Winston Churchill. The first clothes I wore were made in Britain. As the years went on, she became more and more fanatical. For example, one day she decided that I would be educated in a British public school—even though it was obviously quite impossible when she was earning only a few pounds an hour changing beds and cleaning toilets. But nonetheless, when I was six years old, she left her job and began to look for other ways to make money.

“It took her just two years—a tribute, I think, to her single-mindedness and courage. And that was how I found myself, first in a prep school in Tunbridge itself and later at Harrow School, dressed in their smart blue jacket with the marvelous straw hat. All the boys wore them. On Sundays we dressed in cutoff tailcoats…bum freezers we used to call them. It was actually Winston Churchill's old school, and I found it hard to believe I was there. I mean, I could actually imagine I might be sitting at his desk or reading a book that had once belonged to him. It was thrilling…and my mother was so proud of me! I did sometimes wonder how she could possibly afford it all, but it wasn't until my second year that I found out, and I must say, it came as a bit of a surprise.

“This is what happened…”

He poured himself some more wine, swirled it in the glass, and drank.

“You might imagine that I was bullied at Harrow,” he said. “After all, this was back in the fifties, and there weren't many half-Chinese boys there, particularly with a single parent. But by and large everyone was very kind to me. However, there was one boy…a chap by the name of Crispin Odey. The strange thing is that I rather liked him. He was a pleasant enough chap, very good with money. Anyway, I don't quite know what I did to upset him, but he made a whole lot of rather hurtful remarks, and for a couple of terms, thanks to him, life was very uncomfortable for me. But then my mother heard about it and I'm afraid she dealt with him very severely. A hit-and-run accident, and they never found the driver. But I knew who it was, and I was completely horrified. It was a side of my mother that I had never seen. And that was when I found out the truth.