Invisible Armies

Chapter 14

They all sit on the bed. Danielle and Laurent still hold hands. There is enough light to discern the windows from the the walls. To the south, across the river, they can see the city lights of Calangute, and to the west they can see the running lights of distant oceangoing ships. On this side of the river, the headlights of a single car are visible, traversing the winding road that leads past the house, and a few other houses in the area are still lit, presumably those that also have backup generators. It's clear that power to the whole area has been cut.

Angus draws out his mobile phone. Its screen glows bright green in the dark. "No signal," he reports.

"They must have jammed the local cell antenna," Keiran says. "Very thorough of them. Land lines carry their own power, but they'll have cut that too." He lifts the telephone beside the bed. There is no dial tone. "Yes. Cut the power, cut the phones. Then what?"

Nobody answers. Danielle wonders why they bothered coming up here. The master bedroom's door is solid wood, it's only a short hop from the window to the roof of the verandah, and the ensuite bathroom's door locks, but none of this will do them any good. As if huddling in the bathroom behind a locked door, then making a final stand with kitchen knives, will make any difference to the outcome. Danielle realizes that this is very likely the room she will die in. Unless they find some way out.

"We have to get out of here," Danielle says. "We can't just wait for them."

Angus says, "She's right. They may not want to come in, but they will when they know we're not coming out. Or they'll just burn the house with us in it. Like Jayalitha."

Keiran says, "I'm going downstairs."

"What for?" Danielle asks.

"Look and listen. We don't know enough to make a plan."

"Do we have any flashlights?" Laurent asks.

"Flashlights?" Angus asks, his voice puzzled.

"Torches," Keiran translates. "I've got a little Maglite in my room."

"I brought matches and candles up here," Estelle says.

"Good," Angus says. "There are more, and torches, downstairs in the closet off the TV room. Behind the toolbox."

Keiran stands. "I'll bring them back. How do I get into the crawl space?"

Angus says, "I think there's a trapdoor under the stairs. But they're down there. They cut the generator power."

"They probably won't have stayed down there. I might take a look." He tries to sound casual, insouciant, but Danielle can tell by his uncharacteristically high voice how frightened he is. "Back in a jiffy."

Nobody says anything as Keiran leaves the room.

** *

The waiting is almost unbearable. They can hear men outside now, at least several of them, moving through the garden, talking in low voices. Danielle almost wishes they would just do something, smash down the door, throw in a Molotov cocktail, as long as it ends the waiting.

Estelle says, "I still think we should shout for help. Somebody's bound to hear us."

Laurent shakes his head. "That will force their hand. They'll burn us if they see help coming."

"What are they waiting for?" Danielle asks.

Nobody answers.

"I wish I knew why I was going to die," she says bitterly. "I've never done anything to them. If they read your email, they know that. I've got nothing to do with whatever you do. Why was I on that list in the taxi?"