Redback. Lindy Cameron

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СКАЧАТЬ by four grotty rebels inside a circle of mounted machine guns. All directions were covered, but one of the guns was aimed at the five-star bures - the cabins - of Laui Island's East Garden. They were now nothing more than superbly appointed thatched prison cells that held the other randomly paired-off members of the Pacific Tourism & Enviro-Trade Conference.

      The dining room was shut-up. While the bures were self-contained and lockable, most of the resort's communal buildings like the bar, theatre and convention room, had folding timber storm doors rather than permanent walls. Ordinarily, they were rarely used. Given the balmy evening and crystal-clear sky, why was the dining room closed in?

      Their escorts stopped in the sand below the outdoor deck and ordered, 'You wait.'

      Jana grabbed Alan's sleeve and yanked him to a stand still. 'Don't aggravate them any more Alan.'

      'Stupid bitch. We'd be outta here now if you'd follow me.'

      'No. We'd be dead now. Didn't you see that little arsenal?' She pointed to the banyan tree.

      Alan looked up. She saw his shoulders stiffen but he was not about to admit his near death error. Jana strained to identify the voices coming from the dining room. One belonged to Mila Ifran, the leader of these island rebels, but while the other man's first language was obviously English, his accent was hard to determine. Not a rebel or a staff member then.

      Jana allowed herself a grain of hope: perhaps all the other delegates were inside. Maybe the rebels' demands had been met and their release had been secured.

      And perhaps you're already dead and stuck forever in a nightmare. No one negotiates with rebels, terrorists or kidnappers any more. No governments, no agencies, no one.

      As if verifying that notion, Jana heard Ifran say, 'What is taking so long? Do they not believe we are serious? What is wrong with these Australians?'

      'The Americans probably,' the other man said. 'What did you expect, Mila? If you only wanted to deal with the Aussies or Kiwis, you should've made sure there were no US citizens here.'

      'But there are only two of them,' Ifran shouted. He appeared in the doorway and motioned at them with a toss of his head.

      Jana led the way up steps, while Alan whispered in her ear, 'Let me do the talking.'

      'I don't think so, Alan. Let's see who he wants to talk to.' She was, after all, the conference chairperson and official delegate of the Australian Economic Tourism Council, while Alan Wagner was merely a Sydney TV journo on a travel junket. She was also a trade negotiator of some international renown, and far less obnoxious.

      There's that other thing too, she thought, but there's no way these rebels could know about that.

      As Jana entered the dining room, she noticed two things immediately: Mila Ifran was alone; and the space had undergone a technological transformation since she'd been dragged here seven days ago. Then the rebels hadn't cleared away the mess they'd made in the initial attack; now the place was clean, tidy and full of high-tech equipment. Highly suspicious, high-tech equipment.

      Jana frowned. These were island rebels. Dressed in a motley assortment of tourist T-shirts and camouflage pants or khaki shorts; their 'uniforms' reflected the grassroots poverty that topped a long list of grievances against their government. Yet here were several tables covered with laptop computers and state of the art communication and surveillance gear.

      While Alan tried to take control of the situation, Jana's already baffled attention was drawn to the swinging kitchen door, through which she caught sight of a departing soldier. Obviously it was the man with whom Mila Ifran had been talking, but why was he alone wearing pristine combat fatigues? And since when do Pacific Islanders - rebel or not - have red hair?

      Sixth rule of survival, Rossi style: never admit seeing or knowing anything you weren't meant to.

      Mila Ifran meanwhile told Alan Wagner to shut up and sit down and then turned to Jana.

      'Dr Rossi.'

      'Mr Ifran,' she nodded.

      'I trust my men are taking good care of you,' he said, indicating she should sit opposite him.

      Jana shrugged. 'More than one meal a day would be nice but, given the circumstances, they are being quite, ah, polite.'

      'Good. I,' Ifran began.

      'Bloody hell, woman!' Alan exploded. 'We've been held hostage for over a week by a bunch of filthy bastards with guns.'

      Ifran raised his hand. 'Have you been harmed?'

      Alan opened his mouth.

      'Not by your people he hasn't,' Jana interrupted, with a smile. First rule of negotiating, Rossi style: charm or disarm with polite composure. No matter how scared you are.

      'Are the other delegates okay?' she asked.

      'Yes. They are fine.' Ifran leant forward, turned a TV on and picked up a remote control. 'Your famous mediating skills, Dr Rossi, would involve being able to read people, yes?'

      'Of course.'

      'Then I would like you to tell me, if you can, what you think your government is up to.' He pointed the remote at a video recorder. 'This was recorded about five hours ago.'

      The tail end of a Sky News update on an Aussie cricketer was followed by the latest on the Pacific Island Hostage Crisis.

      Jana shook her head. 'Straight up, I can tell you that news of an injured sportsman is more important than anything our government is ever up to.'

      The TV newsreader, backed by a graphic of an island, was recapping the events of nine days ago:

      Thirty-six trade and tourism delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the US and several Pacific nations were taken hostage at the Coral Isle Resort on remote Laui Island.

      One-time Opposition Leader Mila Ifran and members of his Pacific Rebel Alliance have claimed responsibility for the attack. Despite initial witness reports of explosions and gunfire, the rebel leader maintains that none of the hostages or remaining staff had been hurt. Before normal communications with Laui were cut, 17 resort employees were cast off the island in a launch. They confirmed that the rebels had then sunk the hotel's remaining commuter vessels.

      The rebels used fishing boats to reach the resort atoll from their base on the main island 13 kilometres away. As these vessels and their crews have since been impounded and arrested by the Australian Navy, it's believed that the PRA are also, effectively, confined to the island of Laui.

      'Is that true?' Jana asked.

      'Effectively,' Ifran agreed. 'Watch now,' he added.

      The newsreader continued:

      The Foreign Minister today postponed his visit to Kuwait for talks with the US Secretary of State, to meet instead with ministers from New Zealand, Fiji and the Philippines in an attempt to find a solution to the hostage crisis. Representatives from Taiwan, Japan and the US are also en route to New Zealand. Many of these same ministers will be meeting in Canberra in a fortnight when Australia hosts the fifth SETSA meeting. High on the agenda for the now annual Southern Economic Trade and Security Alliance will be new initiatives to fight the rise of militancy, insurgency СКАЧАТЬ