CHAPTER ONE

Marina Goes Looking
 
Angelina had been reported missing three years ago. She would be twenty two if she were still alive. But Marina knew her friend was dead. She had that kind of certainty. Angelina was dead and she had not gone to Paradise.

Angelina and Marina had been close since childhood when their parents had moved into adjacent houses in a West Country seaside resort. They had done everything together, been to the same school and were due to go to the same college. But Marina had been taken ill with glandular fever just before the pair were to visit the Island republic of Bastania, where before the Pacific island had become independent, a great uncle of Angelina's had once been Governor. The girls had been invited by a Mr Marcilenus and his wife, who had known the ex Governor and been his close friends.

So Angelina had gone by herself and had never returned. Her father had gone out to the island and spent weeks looking for her, but no sign had ever been found. Marina knew it was useless. Angelina was dead and in Hell.

Once Angelina had been involved in an accident and been injured. Marina had known she was hurt and she had known where. That's how close the couple were. people said of them that they were more like twins than ordinary friends.

Marina went to Mass every week these days. She didn't want to go to Hell and join Angelina. Angelina would not want her dear friend to share her misery. She devoted her spare time to good and charitable works and she mystified and enraged a succession of boys with her refusal to allow them to do more than kiss her. She was determined to stay a virgin until she married.

Then one day soon after the third anniversary of Angelina's disappearance, Marina had a dream. She heard her friend's voice and it was immediately recognisable as Angelina, although it was years since she had heard it last.

"Keep away from me, Marina. Go home and forget me. I am the damned! I love you, Marina, but you can't help me. Nobody can help me. Good luck my friend!"

Then Marina went away for a few weeks and toured several European countries. One day while walking in Greece she saw a monastery across the valley and wanted to visit it. But a notice on the gate made it clear that her dress was inappropriate. She rang the bell and asked if they could provide some clothing to cover her shoulders and legs, bare from many inches above the knee. The request was refused with regret by the old monk, who assured her that she would be most welcome if she returned more soberly dressed.

Next day she was being shown around by the same old man. Before she left she was ushered into the chapel. Not knowing why, she knelt before one icon and crossed herself reverently. It was an icon showing the Theotokos and Child and the eyes of the Mother of God seemed to be staring right into her soul. It was some minutes before she felt able to rise to her feet.

"You are a troubled woman, my daughter, said the monk before showing her to the gate. "I hope you have taken a step towards seeing a way ahead. You have a long and terrible journey in front of you. our Saviour and His Blessed Mother be with you!"

"One from the dead cannot speak to one still living, can they Holy Father?"

"Remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man, my child. Enjoy the rest of your stay in our country."
Before he closed the gate behind her, he handed her a small and simple cross on a chain.
"Wear this! Wear it always!" And she was alone in the fierce heat of midday.

Later that day she removed the crucifix she usually wore and replaced it with the much less ornate one she had recently been given. She wasn't aware of any particular sensation as the cross rested on her chest, but it seemed right, somehow, that she was wearing it.

She always carried a Bible with her somewhere in her luggage and soon she was reading that disturbing story - a story that had always frightened her whenever she had heard it read.

The parable didn't say that it was impossible for someone in Hell to be heard by one still living. It merely said that such a message would be useless because it would be unheeded. Even so, she was beginning to be convinced that Angelina must still be alive on Earth, but in such a hopeless predicament that the last thing she wanted was for her dearest friend to be in the same appalling straits herself. But Marina knew she had a duty to her friend. She must help her.

The more she considered it, the more she knew she must go to the Island and look for her. Angelina was alive and in pain, misery and despair. Marina would not rest until her dear companion was released from whatever fate that had befallen her.

Marina was due to start work in two months. She resolved that she would use that time to search for Angelina. Her current boy friend, Mark was unable to accompany her so she flew out alone, expecting Mark to join her in three weeks.

The minute she arrived in Bastania she felt Angelina's presence in the very sultry humid air she breathed. Angelina was all around her, and at the same time she was nowhere. And Angelina seemed to be crying out at her to go home. But Marina would never leave this island, except with her friend at her side. Never!
She took a cab, a rickety affair that seemed about to fall to piece at any moment, to her hotel. Soon she was unpacking and pondering her next move. This was a big island, some two hundred miles long and fifty across at its widest. The north was mostly desert and sparsely populated. It was rich in several minerals and that was all she knew. Angelina must be up there, somewhere. Her father had not been able to discover a trace of her in the main town or the places most frequented by visitors.

In the morning Marina took a stroll about the town and went back to the hotel for lunch. After the afternoon siesta she went out again. The heat was almost unbearable and she was about to seek some kind of shade when she heard a commotion and made her way in the direction of the noise.

Some kind of fair was in progress. Stalls were laid out with items being offered for sale. A man was performing conjuring tricks, another man was swallowing fire, but most people were clustered around an outdoor ring. They seemed to be awaiting the start of a wrestling contest and Marina went over to get a closer look.

She was right. Two fighters were led from a tent towards the ring. They climbed through the ropes and removed their upper garments, standing stripped to the waist and wearing no more than a pair of flimsy and tattered shorts, which reached less than half way down their thighs. Then they removed these and stood naked.

They both held out their hands and their fists were bound with tape. Neither seemed totally in this world, somehow. There was an automaton like quality about both of them. Then a signal must have been given, for both started fighting. They were pretty skilled and it was only after a lot of probing shots that one drew blood and sent her opponent reeling against the ropes.

For both these fighters were women. Even more remarkably, both were white! These were the first white people Marina had seen since she had arrived the day before!

Marina had been to a mixed school and one where the boys were encouraged to learn boxing. She and Angelina had thought it would be fun to intrude on this most male of activities and pressed to be allowed to join the team.

"If you can find six other girls to apply, then I will agree to forming a women's team" said the Games master, thinking that he would not hear from the pair again. But they found ten willing volunteers!

Marina had never been exactly brilliant at it, but had enjoyed herself nonetheless. Angelina had been a natural, though, and had chafed at the lack of competition. But neither of these two women was Angelina!
One was about thirty and red haired. The other at least ten years younger and raven haired., Both were good! Marina might never have excelled at the sport herself. But she could tell class when she saw it. And these two were VERY classy!

Looking at her watch, Marina saw that the pair had been fighting for four minutes before the round finished. Back at school it had been one minute per round for three rounds and she had been tired and thirsty even after sixty seconds. These two must be exhausted and dehydrated after four minutes in intense one hundred degree heat. There was absolutely no shelter from the sun for the two fighters and both drank gratefully from the bottles offered to them in the all too short break. Within sixty seconds they were facing each other again and showing no sign of fatigue as they exchanged some pretty hard blows. Although both women were highly skilled, their taped fists caused appreciable damage whenever they made contact and by the end of eight minutes of fighting they were both marked and both bleeding.

Marina could hardly believe that either fighter could still be standing when the fight entered its twelfth round! This was the equivalent of twenty four rounds for a normal professional woman's bout. It was beginning to horrify her to see how the pair were suffering. It was getting even hotter, as the day reached late afternoon and these two were causing terrible damage to each other. The elder woman was the more skilled but the eighteen year old had the greater stamina and sharper movement. In the early rounds the girl had taken most of the punishment but she was making up for lost time now. She put the older woman down three times in the thirteenth round and Marina saw that this was no normal fight, in which both contestants would walk away at the end, even if one was the loser. One of these fighters was due to be killed!

Finally the older woman was sent crashing to the ground for the eleventh and last time. She did not move and Marina guessed that she would never move again. It had been a sickening spectacle and Marina's head was ringing as she staggered back to the hotel.

"I saw a fairground boxing booth on my walk about the town" she told the desk clerk. "It was a fight between two women and both women were white!"

"They must have been prisoners. They get extra rations if they agree to entertain the crowd on market days. Who knows? If she were good, she might get early release!"

"White prisoners? How come?"

"We were a colony once and were oppressed by white people who thought they were like gods and we were lower than animals. They humiliated us and now we humiliate them if they break our laws!"

Next day, Marina went to the British Consulate. She was shown into the Consul's office. Mr Hargreaves looked worried.

"We don't get many tourists here, Miss Green. Just a few business people. I think it advisable that you leave as soon as possible. You won't find your friend."

"My friend is still alive and she's on this island. I know it! And who were those women who fought that savage fight at the market yesterday? I was told they were prisoners. Can't you get better treatment for foreign nationals than that? I know we must obey the law when in another country. I accept that. But treating prisoners like that - forcing them to fight maybe to the death to earn enough to feed themselves. That's barbaric and disgusting! This country is hardly a superpower Mr Hargreaves! Surely we can put pressure to stop our people going through what I saw yesterday!"

"They weren't our nationals, Miss Green. They are citizens of this country. Quite a few Europeans stayed behind after independence and for a while they had a good life here. Then there was a coup and things got bad for them. Now most are in prison camps. And the women are treated worse than the men. In the heyday of Empire they would treat the servants like dirt and strut around in their brief figure hugging shorts, with bared arms and shoulders, in a country where great store is set on female modesty. They are reaping what they have sown, I'm afraid, Miss Green. And that fight yesterday was not to the death. The defeated woman is alive and well, if a trifle bruised and concussed! "

"She was more than a trifle bruised, Mr Hargreaves! And I'm not leaving without Angelina! And what's more, I'll have great pleasure in going to the Press when I get home and telling the world what a wicked place this is and how little our Government is doing to help! I don't care if white people did exploit this country once. That was wrong, of course but it all ended more than twenty years ago. The younger woman yesterday wasn't even born when the British left! She was a very good boxer, by the way although the loser was once even better!"

Marina left the Consulate and continued exploring the dusty run down city. The Consul picked up the phone.

"Hello, Minister? Got a bit of trouble I'm afraid! Just had a long chat with a Miss Marina Green. Come here to look for her friend Angelina Morrison. Remember that bitch! That one's trouble on two legs if ever I saw it! The daft cow went out in the heat of the day and saw yesterday's little bit of fisticuffs! Yes! I backed young Miss Lilly Chambers! Good girl that! A born killer and a born survivor; she'll continue to provide us with superior entertainment for many months. But we'll need to dispose of Miss Green! She's a strong enough girl, Minister!  Not as strong as her friend, but we'll get plenty of work out of her before she falls by the wayside!"