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  'Any country that can produce both Charles Manson and you, Alex, I have sincere doubts about,' said Linda sweetly.

  Alex scowled at her. 'One of these days I'm going to take that smart mouth of yours, Linda, and make it look like your asshole's twin sister.'

  'Okay, cool it,' warned Paul. Then, 'Actually Chris might be half-right. This place could be some sort of clandestine genetic engineering establishment. One thing's for certain - it hasn't been used for oil drilling for a long time, if it ever was at all. Right where we're standing now should be full of drilling and pumping equipment, storage tanks and other stuff. This platform is just a shell, a clever piece of camouflage for all the labs…'

  'Which means,' said Linda, 'that whatever they do in here is definitely illegal.'

  'Yes,' agreed Paul, 'and that's probably why whoever it is who's been left to look after this place is staying out of our way. They don't want to answer any embarrassing questions.'

  'Fine. That's settled then,' said Rochelle, yawning, 'now let's go get some sleep.'

  'Good idea,' said Paul, 'we can resume the search in the morning.'

  'I don't like to think there's someone prowling around while we sleep,' said Chris.

  Alex hefted his M16 in a menacing fashion. 'Nothing to worry about on that score. Nobody's gonna mess with us. We got guns and plenty of ammunition.'

  Chris pointed at the piles of empty clothing. 'So had they.'

  FOUR

  They chose three cabins near to the kitchen where they'd eaten. The cabins each had four bunks but all three couples wanted to be on their own. It was the first opportunity for anything approaching privacy since they'd left Morocco. On the yacht they'd been obliged to share the vessel's one large cabin and, of course, since the sinking the situation had been much worse.

  As a result the foremost thing on Alex's mind as he closed the door of his cabin was getting laid. It had been nearly two weeks since he and Rochelle had made love and for him that was a record he intended he would never beat.

  He locked the door then turned and wrapped his muscular arms around her, squeezing so hard she grunted with pain.

  'Okay Ro,' he said, 'we got a lot of catching up to do so let's get goin'...' He ground his pelvis hard against hers then started to push her backwards towards the nearest bunk. He stopped when she suddenly brought her right knee up sharply into his groin.

  'Cunt…' he hissed as he let go of her and doubled up, his face white from the pain.

  She regarded him calmly. She was never frightened of him, no matter how aggressive he became. She was confident she could always handle him. 'I'm tired, Alex. Very tired. I'm going to sleep right now.' She began to undo her shirt. 'You're going to have to wait until morning.'

  'I should break your jaw,' he gasped.

  'Yeah? You just try, mate. I'd make you regret it for the rest of your life. So just shut up and go to bed like a good boy.'

  He quickly forgot his pain as he watched her take off her shirt and then unzip her jeans. His eyes took in her tight, round breasts and the provocative curve of her muscular buttocks - the latter a legacy of her ice-skating days - as she bent down to slip out of her jeans. His anger began to fade too as his desire increased. Of all the women he'd ever known Rochelle had a body that came the closest to his sexual ideal. She had him where it counted the most, he realised ruefully - by the balls.

  'Hey, Ro… I was only kidding.' His voice took on an unpleasant, pleading whine. 'You know that.'

  'Yeah, sure.' She was naked now and as she climbed onto the bunk and got under the single blanket he received a glimpse of her pink, shaved crotch which excited him even more. He could feel himself getting harder as he thought of the last time he had shaved her - it was something he insisted upon doing to all his women. It had been in the dingy hotel room in Morocco - it had been around lunch time on a blazing hot day and they had both been as high as hell on hashish. Ro had lain there on the big bed in the bright sunshine while he had worked on her as slowly as possible, taking elaborate pains with every stroke of the cutthroat razor. Afterwards they had had some of the best sex he could remember...

  He swallowed dryly as he got to his feet and went over to her bunk. 'Hey, c'mon Ro. Don't be a bitch. I'm feeling really horny.'

  She looked up at him through bleary, red-rimmed eyes and said drowsily, 'I'm not kidding, Alex. I'm dead tired. I've got to get some sleep. In the morning I'll do anything you goddamn want but you're just going to have to wait.' Then she turned over on her side, with her back to him. 'Put the light out, will you?'

  Cursing under his breath he went and switched out the light then stretched out on the other bottom bunk, not bothering to get undressed. He felt really tempted to go and screw her brains out whether she wanted it or not but he knew it wouldn't be worth the consequences. He needed her too much to risk wrecking their relationship completely.

  He had been lying there in the dark for about fifteen minutes when he heard a soft tapping at the door. Warily he got up, put the light on and called, 'Who's there?'

  'It's me, Chris. I've got to talk to you, Alex.'

  As he opened the door Rochelle moaned and turned over. 'What's going on?' she asked sleepily.

  'I'm sorry to disturb you guys,' Chris apologised in a loud whisper, 'But it's Mark. He's in a bad way and only Alex can help.'

  Rochelle frowned. 'Alex can help Mark? I must be dreaming.'

  Chris turned to Alex who had now closed the door and was leaning against it with an amused, self-satisfied expression. 'You know what I'm talking about,' she told him.

  'Do I?' he asked blandly.

  'Mark's going cold turkey and he's in a bad way. He thinks you've still got some junk with you. He lost all his when the boat went down.'

  Rochelle propped herself up on one elbow, looking more alert now. 'Chris, what the hell are you going on about?'

  Turning to her, Chris said, 'Mark's a heroin addict. Has been for the last six months, thanks to Alex here. Surely you've noticed the way he looks these days, and the way he's been behaving since we've been adrift?'

  'Yeah, but I just thought that was shock…'

  'The reason for the Morocco trip wasn't just to buy grass,' continued Chris grimly. 'Alex had talked Mark into doing a heroin deal as well, with Mark putting up most of the capital, of course. Paul and Linda didn't know anything about it. Alex knew they wouldn't want anything to do with smuggling hard drugs. But I thought you would have been let in on it by now.'

  'Is this true?' Rochelle asked Alex.

  He gave a casual shrug of his large shoulders. 'Yeah. I didn't tell you because you can't keep your damn trap shut about anything for more than ten seconds. But I was gonna give you a cut of the profits, Ro, I swear…'

  She grimaced. 'Yeah, I'll bet. But I would have appreciated being told we were doing a heroin run as well as just grass. Do you realise what would have happened if we'd have been caught? We all knew the risks we were taking with the grass but...'

  'Have you got any left?' Chris interrupted impatiently. 'If Mark doesn't get a fix soon I don't know what's going to happen to him. I'm afraid he might even die… he's never been very fit. I don't think he has the constitution to stand going completely cold turkey without any medical help…' Her eyes began to fill with tears and her voice broke.

  Alex held up a hand. 'Take it easy, Chris. Yeah, I still got my stash… see…' He undid his pants belt and pulled out his shirt. Round his lower waist was a flat belt consisting of a series of small plastic pouches. 'About f 100,000's worth here, nice and dry. I took the precaution of getting this waterproof money belt.'

  Chris stared at the belt and gave a sigh of relief. 'Will you let him have some? He said he'll pay you later…'

  Alex gave another shrug. 'Sure. Anything to help a buddy. You got a needle?'

  'What?' Chris blinked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected it to be so easy. It was totally unlike Alex to do a favour for anyone without being coerced into it, especially if it involved mo
ney. 'Oh, yes, Mark picked up a couple of hypodermics from one of the labs this afternoon.' She paused, then said, 'Thanks Alex. I really appreciate this.'

  'Hey, don't act so surprised,' he said, 'you know you can always rely on ol' Alex when the chips are down. Now come on, let's go fix up Mark.' He opened the door for her and, after nodding goodnight to Rochelle, Chris hurried out.

  'You go back to sleep, honey,' Alex told Rochelle, 'I'll try not to wake you when I come back.' He turned out the light and shut the door before she could say anything. In the darkness she lay back on the bunk. Her suspicions had been aroused by Alex's uncharacteristic readiness to help someone out but right now she was too tired to give a damn. And within seconds she began to slide down into sleep…

  ***

  To Chris's surprise Alex pulled her hand away before she could open the door to her and Mark's cabin and silently indicated that she should follow him. Puzzled, she followed him along the corridor and into an empty cabin about four doors along from where the others were.

  'What's the matter?' she asked as he closed the door and turned to face her with a smug grin. 'Why are we in here?'

  He didn't say anything but just looked her up and down slowly. It was as if he was staring right through her clothes. With a sick feeling she realised what was on his mind.

  'Take your shirt off,' he said suddenly. His voice sounded harsh.

  She only hesitated for a short time but came quickly to the conclusion that there was no way out of this if she expec-ted to get the heroin for Mark. She'd been stupid to think Alex would give it free of charge…

  'Nice tits,' said Alex after she had taken off the shirt. 'Not great but they'll do.' His smile got uglier. 'Now everything else.'

  When she was standing completely naked before him he said, 'You any good at giving head?'

  'No,' she said quickly.

  'Well, you will be after this,' he said, and laughed.

  'Alex, please…'

  'Better hurry up before I change my mind about helping Mark out.'

  She almost gave in to panic at that point but steeled herself and knelt down in front of him. Matter-of-factly she unzipped his fly and tugged his hard penis out of his pants. He was bigger than Mark, she saw, and she tried not to gag as she took it into her mouth. She was vaguely shocked to find he tasted like Mark. And then followed one of the worst experiences of her life as she sucked and tongued his erection for what seemed an eternity. The whole time he gave her a series of running instructions, telling her when to go fast, slow and when to caress or squeeze his scrotum with her fingertips. Finally, to her relief, she sensed that he was getting near to coming. He began to thrust deep into the back of her throat, practically choking her each time, but she didn't care - so eager was she to get it over with…

  She screwed her eyes shut and dug her nails into her hand to take away the sensation of him spurting into her mouth. She thought he was never going to stop but eventually he did and slowly withdrew. She opened her eyes, swallowed heavily then wiped her lips with the back of her hand. Shakily she got to her feet and faced him. 'Okay, you sonofabitch, now you go and take care of Mark.'

  He looked back at her with hooded eyes. There seemed to be a kind of film over them. Then, with a thick voice he said, 'Not so fast. We're not finished yet.' He reached out and squeezed her left breast roughly. 'That was just for starters. Get back on your knees and take it slower this time. When you've got me hard again I'll show you a new kind of game I'll bet you and that wimp have never thought of playing…'

  Somehow she managed not to scream.

  ***

  Paul and Linda moved together on their single bed, their slow sinuous love the focus of their being. Their bodies slid slickly on each other and their hands gently touched the flesh both knew so well. Paul was relaxed for the first time in days - he had no thoughts, only emotions. But then Linda suddenly stopped. 'Listen, do you hear that?' she whispered urgently.

  'Oh no, not again,' he moaned. Earlier they had been dis-tracted by the sound of the others moving up and down the corridor, opening and shutting doors. He had no idea what they were up to but he couldn't care less.

  'It sounds like something big being dragged along the pas-sageway,' said Linda. 'Some kind of sack…'

  Paul sighed and cocked his head to listen. She was right. It did sound as if a heavy sack was being dragged along outside.

  The noise stopped at their door and then, after a brief pause, it was replaced by a curious scratching sound, as if a small animal was pawing at the door.

  'What is that?' asked Linda in a frightened whisper.

  'Probably Alex trying to be funny,' said Paul. He rolled off her and got up as quietly as possible. As he approached the door he felt a prickle of unease travel up the bare skin along his spine. It occurred to him it might not be Alex after all but one of the missing laboratory animals.

  'Don't open the door!' cried Linda in a low, urgent voice.

  'Don't worry, I'm not going to,' he assured her as he warily pressed his ear against the wood.

  At that precise moment there came a tremendous crash and he recoiled in shock as the whole door shuddered under some enormous impact from the other side.

  Simultaneously there was a bellowing roar that sounded totally unlike anything Paul had ever heard before.

  Then the door began to splinter inwards…

  FIVE

  Though partially stunned Paul reacted with speed. He made a dive for the M16 lying on the floor beside the bunk, snatched it up then spun round and aimed it at the door. There were now five long fissures in the top half of the door and even as he looked more began to appear. The terrible bellowing sound continued, almost drowning out Linda's high-pitched scream.

  He pulled the trigger. The weapon's selector had obviously been left on 'Auto' as the entire magazine emptied itselfwithin seconds. The bullets passed through the door as if it wasn't there and from the other side the angry bellowing immediately became a shriek of pain…

  The door stopped shuddering and there was the sound of something very big and heavy rebounding off the opposite wall of the passageway. Then the shrieking began to fade as the animal, or whatever it was, began to move off down the corridor.

  They followed its progress to the end of the corridor then heard it begin to go up the stairs leading to the level above. There were a few more distant crashes then silence.

  Paul looked at Linda. She had retreated to the far end of the bunk and was pressed back into a corner, her knees drawn up in front of her. Her face was completely white. He had never seen anyone look so frightened before and suspected his own face presented a similar picture.

  'Paul…' she said weakly.

  He swallowed and tried to give her a reassuring grin. He didn't succeed. 'It's okay, it's gone now…'

  He put the now useless M16 down and began to struggle into his pants. 'Get dressed,' he told her. 'We've got to check on the others then try and track down whatever animal that was and finish it off.'

  'Finish… it… off,' she repeated blankly. 'Paul… what was it?'

  'I don't know, a bear maybe. Here…' He tossed her clothes at her then picked up the loaded .38 revolver they'd brought into the cabin along with the M16. He went back to the shattered door and listened intently for a few moments then slowly opened it. The .38 felt ridiculously small and puny in his hand and he knew instinctively it would be useless against whatever it was that had tried to break in.

  But there was nothing outside.

  Giving a deep sigh of relief he stepped out into the passageway and called, 'Hey, everybody! The coast is clear! Are you people okay?'

  One of the doors opened and Rochelle emerged. She was stark naked and carrying Alex's Ml6. She looked dazed and her face was completely drained of colour.

  Mark emerged next, also alone; pale, shaking and covered in sweat. He looked as if he was about to collapse. Then, to Paul's surprise, Alex and Chris came out of the same cabin a number of doors away. Chris was hast
ily doing up her shirt and her face looked red and puffy, as if she'd beea crying. But, as if by unspoken agreement, this unexpected development was obviously going to be ignored - at least for the time being. Right now there were more important things on everyone's mind…

  'Jesus,' breathed Rochelle, 'what happened? What was making all that noise? I've never heard anything like it…'

  Paul shook his head. 'I don't know. It must have been some kind of animal. None of you saw anything?'

  'You kidding?' said Alex, taking the gun away from Rochelle. She seemed reluctant to let go of it. 'No way I was gonna take a look-see outside with the sound that thing was making. Sounded like a bull elephant on heat…'

  'Paul, look at the door.' It was Linda. She was pointing at their cabin door. The wood was scored with deep parallel grooves as if made by giant claws.

  'Who did all the shooting? You?' Alex asked Paul.

  'Yes. I emptied the gun through the door,' said Paul. 'Must have hit it a couple of times at least. Sure sounded in pain afterwards.'

  'You hit it more than a couple of times,' said Alex confidently. He was examining the wall on the other side of the passageway. 'See. Only five holes. Means you put thirteen bullets into it.'

  Paul stared at the five bullet holes. They were like craters. He felt a chill run through him. Thirteen similar holes would be in the creature he'd shot - yet it had been able to walk away. Just what the hell was it?

  He jumped as a loud thump sound came from above. Then there was the distant sound of breaking glass and another muffled crash.

  They all stared at the ceiling.

  'It's on the next level. Right above us,' whispered Chris.

  Paul's first instinct was to run into the nearest cabin and barricade the door but he forced himself to say, with as much calmness as he could muster, 'Okay, Alex and I are going after it. Someone get me another M16. Mark, you and the girls lock yourself in one of the cabins and don't come out until we give you the all clear.'