‘Air juga semakin bertambah!’ his terrified assistant screamed. The water is rising!

When Boerman got up and stuck his head out of the hole in the hull, he was stunned to see the once-fatal drop had become a pool of white water swirling just ten metres below the gantry.

‘Mba Suyanto says you talk now!’ the soldier babbled. ‘You talk now!’

‘OK, OK!’ Boerman flung down the crowbar. ‘I heard you the first time!’ Snatching up the walkie-talkie, he depressed the talk button. ‘Sura, where are you?’

‘Where do you think?’ The radio squawk made her voice sound even more enraged. ‘We’re about to take off for the Albany. Why aren’t you doing what I told you? The sinkhole is flooding.’

‘But there’s thirty kilos to go, liefie.’

‘Damn it, Jaap, there are 200 kilos sitting up there unattended! Do you want Alatas making off with it?’

Boerman’s jaw clenched. ‘I’m heading up now.’

‘Good. Once Alatas is gone, kill Carter and Douglas. Then stay with the gold until Ricki returns. Understood?’

‘And Nash?’ Boerman’s eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t forget, you promised me.’

‘Two chests of opium is the same as a Maserati. I want Nash loading tea chests into that cargo net until the very last minute, do you hear me? You can kill him just before you leave.’

Jaap beamed with delight. He would start by throwing down Mia Carter’s head to him.

‘Thank you, liefie.’

‘Shut up and listen carefully. Once we reach the ship, I will have Saworno head downriver at flank speed. You and Ricki will rendezvous with us on the move, before returning for the remaining opium. When next you reach us, we should be across the border, safe from my father’s clutches. Understand?’

‘No problem, liefie.’

‘Don’t fuck it up. Out.’

Boerman decided to give Sura a wave from the gantry before he climbed the rope. Sure enough, the Jet Ranger rose over the line of trees and headed his way.

The explosion was savage – a blinding orange fireball which simply blew the chopper apart. One second it was there, the next it was flying chunks of smoking debris. The sound boom rolled over a second later, followed by a hot wave of stinking avgas.

‘Menyelamatkan kita, Allah,’ breathed the soldier beside him.

‘No!’ screamed Boerman. ‘No!’ The animal howl of despair came from the deepest depths of his soul. Without Sura, life had no meaning, no value. She was his anchor, his purpose, his future. And she was gone. Gone!

The wave of all-encompassing pain gave way to a slow hammer pounding inside his brain. His blood ran cold as capillaries, veins and arteries turned to ice. How could it have happened? The blast . . . it wasn’t a petrol explosion. The viciousness of it . . . it had to be a super-fast accelerant. Something like C-4. Or a grenade . . .

Boerman looked down to where Nash was crouching above the deck gun, and then he knew.