Chapters (45)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Prologue
- 2046
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- About the Author
He can see he is still too far away. Swim, damn you, and for once do something properly. Thank God he listened to the doctor and didn’t attempt this when he first woke up. He’d be dead already. Even now, with ten days of healing, he is struggling. Pure rage hits at his own failure. That drives him on through that seething, constantly moving water. He stretches out with powerful strokes. The flotation devices hamper his motion. The water drags and throws him about. He breathes hard and worries about using too much of the air. He should have used a boat, used a rescue service, used the bloody navy or tried anything other than this stupid idea. If he dies then they all die and there is no one left to come and rescue them. It gets desperate. The lack of progress and the constant sensations of rising and falling, then he sees a flash of orange and three heads bobbing on the surface close together, but a split second later everything moves and the view is lost.
The sight of them gives him what he needs and he powers through that water with his eyes unblinking while his mind blots out the pain blooming through his body. He will not fail. He will not give in. Failure is not an option. The life of one for the lives of many. He understands that now.
He sees them again. Harry holding Safa, who holds the doctor, and all three of them going slowly down the wave towards the light, but even he can see they won’t make it. They’re too slow. He has to get to them so he uses the wave to take him up that sheer wall so he can gain height.
Safa stops and pushes away, waving at Harry to keep going with the doctor. Harry shouts back through the maelstrom. Ben hears his voice but watches as Safa sinks down and although Harry hesitates, Ben knows he will keep going because the mission has to come first. Harry does. Harry roars and kicks and gains speed while dragging the doctor towards the blue shimmering light as Safa comes back to the surface but she’s not moving. Ben lets the next wave take him up and spots Harry doing the same thing and using the lift of a wave to rise so he can fall back down and get through the light. Except Ben knows he won’t get through. Harry will get the doctor through then go back for Safa.