Free Hunted by Chris Ryan

the other guest wing and found an empty room that was open for airing.
Paulo sat on the bare mattress. Li sat in an armchair, but perched tensely on the edge, her head in her hands.
'It was just before we all came out to do the race. You know my folks are in England at the moment?' She spoke in a low voice, as though she was afraid that even this far away from anyone else, she might be overheard. 'We were in Derbyshire and there's a lot of climbing around there. It's all rugged peaks and rocky outcrops. I fancied the idea of getting some practice so I called Dina, my old climbing instructor. She'd got a summer job at a teaching centre. Anyway, we'd climbed a thirty-foot slab - you know, that's jargon for a sheer cliff - and were going to ab back down.'
'Ab?' repeated Paulo.
Abseil. Anyway, Dina went first. I gave her a bit of time to get down. Then I heard a scream.
'I thought at first she was messing about. I was actually about to tell her to can it. But I looked over the edge instead. She was at the bottom of the cliff. There was a great jagged rock and she had fallen across it. Her back literally snapped over it; it looked like an upside-down V
Paulo was shocked, but he kept it to himself. It was hard enough for Li to tell him this. If he interrupted it might distract her.
Li's voice sank to a whisper. 'That wasn't the worst thing. She was still conscious. I shouted to her not to move, but she sort of wriggled. When she did, she screamed in agony. I've not been able to forget it - I don't think I ever will. It was like nothing I've ever heard before. When she fell off the rock and screamed it was sort of unreal, you know? Almost ethereal. But this .. . I've heard it again and again in my head. Find some way of plugging my brain into a tape recorder and you'll know what I mean.'
Li let out a ragged sigh and continued. 'She screamed for ages. Gradually the sounds got weaker and weaker. Finally the medics arrived and gave her an injection. She passed out immediately. I was still at the top of the slab, in my harness. I wanted to go to her but I couldn't move. I felt sick. I tried to check my gear. But all the knots and clips looked like spaghetti. I knew I should look for a prussik knot - never mind what that is, it's just a knot - but it was like my brain had crashed and refused to reboot. It was like being asked a question in an exam, and having no idea what it even means.
'I waited there for ages. Finally one of the rangers got me down. That was really embarrassing. They thought I was some silly girl who'd bitten off more than I could chew.
'There was an inquiry. All Dina's equipment was fine, correctly put together. Of course it was - she's a pro. But the rope had snapped. She did everything right but now she's quadriplegic. I used to just think, Hey, accidents happen, that's part of climbing. If you're careful you'll be OK. But Dina was careful. She just had a bit of bad luck. And I was borrowing her equipment, so it was luck that gave her the bad rope and not me.'
Li ran her fingers through her silky hair and dug them into her scalp. 'But I don't know why I keep thinking like that. With Alpha Force I've seen so many things. I've seen people injured horribly, I've escaped death more times than I can count. Do you remember when you got me out of that minefield?'
Paulo nodded.
'I didn't go to pieces after that. But I saw Dina fall off a rock face, doing something that ordinary members of the public do, and I'm a nervous wreck.'
Paulo doubted that most ordinary members of the public climbed the kind of peaks Li did, but he kept that to himself. He said gently, 'She's a friend; no wonder you're affected by it. And perhaps all these other things are catching up with you.'
'They're not catching up with me,' Li retorted hotly. 'I've barely got started yet. I'll do anything you like - walk into another minefield to get my friends out of danger. I haven't lost my nerve.'
'Li, you don't have to prove anything. Just take your time.