‘You have multiple cuts and abrasions. No broken bones, but tomorrow you’ll be black and blue.’ She worked silently for a time before asking, ‘What happened under there?’ She ran a hand tenderly through his wet hair. ‘Rob, can you hear me?’

Nash could understand every word, but he was mute. The terror had not only overtaken him – it had owned him so comprehensively that he no longer recognised himself. Dimly he heard the chopper firing up. Then he succumbed to oblivion.

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Hurtling above the Sepik at more than 150 kilometres per hour, the deafening roar of the turbine was vibrating the plates of Goki’s shattered skull. His vision was blurring and spotting, and the metallic taste in his mouth was leaking cerebrospinal fluid, from where Boerman had pounded the back of his head against the steel deck. Goki had begged the stupid apes not to load him on to the chopper, but the fools had not listened. When the big bule had climbed in and slammed the door, he’d known his fate was sealed.

The helicopter’s shadow flitted across the surface of the river like a dragonfly. Suddenly, it vanished in a stomach-churning descent. Framed in the side window, ominous shapes could be seen in the water below. Goki moaned as the g-forces added a new dimension to the pain.

Boerman leaned around and fixed him with a stare.

‘You should really try minding your own fucking business.’

Without warning, he stabbed a giant forefinger into Goki’s forehead. It felt like a nail being driven through his skull, and Goki screamed. Everything went black.

The habitat of the saltwater crocodile stretches from Northern Australia to South East Asia. Equally at home in a muddy billabong or fifty kilometres out to sea, it is by far the biggest reptile in the world. Old bulls are capable of growing to seven metres, and can weigh in at one and a half tonnes. They will attack anything, including adult water buffalo, and make their cousin, the alligator, look like a rubber bath toy. Few salties are left on the middle Sepik. An abundance of protein-starved hunters with guns had seen their numbers plummet, and the pacu were devouring the floating islands they preferred to nest in. But away from villages and towns, big crocodiles could still be found.

Dangling upside down above a pool of hungry crocodiles, Goki thought he was in a nightmare. One huge beast launched itself out of the water, and the cavernous pink gullet seemed close enough to touch. As the great jaws snapped together, Goki realised this was no dream. Now he became aware of the fury of the helicopter’s prop wash. Craning his head up in agony, he saw his left foot was caught in a fully extended seat belt. In the maelstrom, Boerman was stepping carefully on to the chopper’s skids.

‘Help me!’ Goki screamed desperately. ‘Help me!’