Only too glad to escape the noxious fumes, Nash joined the soldiers on the gantry and waited in the driving rain, which was whipping across them in sheets. The reflected glow of the cutting torch could be seen in the top deck cavity, and the occasional spark made it all the way down to the flimsy platform, before sputtering out in the puddles.

The double hull was made of high-tensile steel, and Boerman was cutting for almost half an hour before a loud banging erupted inside the submarine.

What is he doing? thought Nash, before flinching at the horrific grinding sound of a heavy steel plate sliding down the outer skin of the submarine.

He realised Boerman had knocked the hull section outwards.

The man is completely insane.

In the near darkness, Nash caught a momentary glimpse of its bulk falling towards them. It seemed inevitable that it would smash the gantry to pieces and send them plummeting to their deaths, but with a juddering crash the sheet of curved steel bounced off the last jammed log, somehow missing the steel stays before plunging to the bottom of the sinkhole, where it landed with a gigantic splash.

Nash’s ears pricked up at that.

‘Keep it coming, you bastard,’ he urged the rain clouds above.

While he had absolutely no intention of diving, the chaos of the rising water was going to help them escape.

‘What? What did you say?’

Over the torrential rain hammering the tent, it was impossible to hear the jabbering voice of her Jakarta contact, so Sura pressed the satellite telephone to her ear and buried her head under a thick towel.

What she heard made her cringe.

Alatas looked up from his camp chair.

‘News?’

‘I’ve just received word that my father left for Papua an hour ago.’

The merriment in his eyes abruptly died and was replaced by an intense probing stare.

‘You told me he was under control.’ A ruthless undertone had crept into his silky voice, and for the first time she understood the reputation he had won in East Timor silencing the opposition.

Sura kept her face composed. She had made no mention of falling out with her father. Why risk spooking Alatas and his master?

‘He must have got wind of something from Sir Julius. You know he’s no fool.’

Alatas reluctantly tore his gaze away and swilled his whisky around before draining the glass. He brooded for a moment, then shrugged.

‘Well, it’s nothing we can’t handle.’

Sura breathed out slowly. ‘How so?’

‘He won’t reach Jayapura until later tonight, and I can assure you we won’t be giving him a lift. If he has the balls to invade our turf, he will require helicopters from his base in Sorong, which will take six hours just to reach Jayapura and refuel.’

Oh, he has the balls, Kapten, thought Sura grimly. In fact, they’re probably waiting for him at Jayapura already.