no mention of it.
‘Was it the Rybinsk that arrived here with the sick crew?’ he asked.
‘Yes. I’m still waiting to hear what you want.’
‘OK.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I work for the IMB – that’s the International Marine Bureau in London, but for the last three months I’ve been on loan to the Singapore Government.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Not if you don’t want to tell me.’
Coburn ignored the remark and carried on. ‘About a week ago someone called Sir Anthony Fraser contacted the IMB and told them he had information about the possible radioactive contamination of a Russian ship that was being broken up on a beach in Bangladesh. He said that the crew of the ship arrived here suffering from what could be radiation sickness and suggested it might be a good idea if the IMB were to send someone to check things out.’
‘And that’s you?’
‘I happened to be in Singapore, and I used to know a bit about nuclear radiation, so here I am.’ He paused. ‘Does any of that make sense?’
‘Mm.’ She came back into the kitchen. ‘Yes it does.’ She was wearing a cotton blouse and was buckling up the belt of a pair of shorts while she tried unsuccessfully to inspect the back of her right leg.
‘Let me see that.’ He knelt down. ‘Turn round a minute.’
She had a wound in her thigh, a nasty jagged cut about half an inch long. It wasn’t bleeding, but the edges were puckered and inflamed, and to Coburn it didn’t look too good at all.
‘Well?’ She stepped away from him.
‘How close were you to the shooting?’
‘I don’t know. A hundred and fifty yards or so. Why?’
‘My guess is you’ve picked up a metal fragment from the jacket of a bullet that’s ricocheted off something. Whatever it is, it’s going to have to come out.’
‘You’re an expert on these things, are you?’ She sounded slightly scathing.
‘Just trying to help. Was it you who decided the crew of the Rybinsk had been exposed to radiation?’
She nodded. ‘I hadn’t seen the symptoms anywhere before, so I was really slow to get on to it – you know, because I didn’t believe that’s what it could be. It was only after the men got worse that I started making phone calls and began to think they might be suffering from radiation poisoning. Even then I wasn’t certain.’
‘But you contacted UNICEF anyway.’
‘No. I’m fairly sure UNICEF have forgotten all about me. They only sent me here to write a report on child labour in the shipyards. I’m not supposed to be working as a nurse. Anyway, if I was right, I needed anti-radiation drugs in a hurry, and it takes months and months to get anything out of the UN.’
‘So you got hold of someone else instead.’
She nodded again. ‘Anthony Fraser’s my godfather. He’s a director of a London company of insurance underwriters called Maritime Fidelity. I called him one evening and explained the whole thing to him on my sat-phone.’
‘And he promised to send you this Rad Block and AED stuff you thought I’d brought?’ Coburn was starting to put the pieces together. ‘They’re anti-radiation drugs, are they?’
‘Rad Block is just potassium iodide. It’s been around since the meltdown at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. But I couldn’t find any in Bangladesh. AED is different. It’s a brand new adrenal gland hormone called 5-androstenediol that stimulates marrow-cell growth. It’s supposed to work really well.’ She paused. ‘Not that it would’ve helped as things turned out. The last crewmember of the Rybinsk died in Chittagong hospital two days ago. He was the cook.’
‘How many have died altogether?’
‘All of them – six Malaysians. Ships that come here to be broken up only have tiny delivery crews.’ She went to stand at the open doors.‘Now we’ve got this too – dead soldiers, people with bullet wounds and all those poor boys.’
‘Do you think there’s a connection?’ Coburn had already decided
‘Was it the Rybinsk that arrived here with the sick crew?’ he asked.
‘Yes. I’m still waiting to hear what you want.’
‘OK.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I work for the IMB – that’s the International Marine Bureau in London, but for the last three months I’ve been on loan to the Singapore Government.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Not if you don’t want to tell me.’
Coburn ignored the remark and carried on. ‘About a week ago someone called Sir Anthony Fraser contacted the IMB and told them he had information about the possible radioactive contamination of a Russian ship that was being broken up on a beach in Bangladesh. He said that the crew of the ship arrived here suffering from what could be radiation sickness and suggested it might be a good idea if the IMB were to send someone to check things out.’
‘And that’s you?’
‘I happened to be in Singapore, and I used to know a bit about nuclear radiation, so here I am.’ He paused. ‘Does any of that make sense?’
‘Mm.’ She came back into the kitchen. ‘Yes it does.’ She was wearing a cotton blouse and was buckling up the belt of a pair of shorts while she tried unsuccessfully to inspect the back of her right leg.
‘Let me see that.’ He knelt down. ‘Turn round a minute.’
She had a wound in her thigh, a nasty jagged cut about half an inch long. It wasn’t bleeding, but the edges were puckered and inflamed, and to Coburn it didn’t look too good at all.
‘Well?’ She stepped away from him.
‘How close were you to the shooting?’
‘I don’t know. A hundred and fifty yards or so. Why?’
‘My guess is you’ve picked up a metal fragment from the jacket of a bullet that’s ricocheted off something. Whatever it is, it’s going to have to come out.’
‘You’re an expert on these things, are you?’ She sounded slightly scathing.
‘Just trying to help. Was it you who decided the crew of the Rybinsk had been exposed to radiation?’
She nodded. ‘I hadn’t seen the symptoms anywhere before, so I was really slow to get on to it – you know, because I didn’t believe that’s what it could be. It was only after the men got worse that I started making phone calls and began to think they might be suffering from radiation poisoning. Even then I wasn’t certain.’
‘But you contacted UNICEF anyway.’
‘No. I’m fairly sure UNICEF have forgotten all about me. They only sent me here to write a report on child labour in the shipyards. I’m not supposed to be working as a nurse. Anyway, if I was right, I needed anti-radiation drugs in a hurry, and it takes months and months to get anything out of the UN.’
‘So you got hold of someone else instead.’
She nodded again. ‘Anthony Fraser’s my godfather. He’s a director of a London company of insurance underwriters called Maritime Fidelity. I called him one evening and explained the whole thing to him on my sat-phone.’
‘And he promised to send you this Rad Block and AED stuff you thought I’d brought?’ Coburn was starting to put the pieces together. ‘They’re anti-radiation drugs, are they?’
‘Rad Block is just potassium iodide. It’s been around since the meltdown at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. But I couldn’t find any in Bangladesh. AED is different. It’s a brand new adrenal gland hormone called 5-androstenediol that stimulates marrow-cell growth. It’s supposed to work really well.’ She paused. ‘Not that it would’ve helped as things turned out. The last crewmember of the Rybinsk died in Chittagong hospital two days ago. He was the cook.’
‘How many have died altogether?’
‘All of them – six Malaysians. Ships that come here to be broken up only have tiny delivery crews.’ She went to stand at the open doors.‘Now we’ve got this too – dead soldiers, people with bullet wounds and all those poor boys.’
‘Do you think there’s a connection?’ Coburn had already decided
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