Chapter 22

The tide was a little higher this time, when Beck swam back out to Dolphin. That just made Beck’s job easier. He wasn’t diving down this time – he was closer to his target.

He still had to shin a couple of metres up the mast to the crosstrees, sticking out horizontally on either side. Attached to one arm of the crosstrees was Dolphin’s radar reflector.

It was made of three metal squares, all intersecting and at right angles to each other, so that it would have fit inside a cube the size of a basketball. And it was dead easy to operate – you didn’t have to do anything. The flat metal surfaces, all facing different directions at different angles, gave any radar signals something good and firm to bounce back off.

If they had had this with them on the signal point, maybe that cruiser would have noticed them after all. Even if they didn’t keep a human lookout, someone might have noticed the unusually bright signal bouncing back at them.

It took a minute to unscrew the reflector from the shackle that fastened it to the yacht, and then reattach it to a rope that was tied at the other end to the floating life buoy. It would be bad news to drop it now and watch it sink to join the rest of Dolphin. He started the swim back to the island, kicking his way with the life buoy looped under his arms and the reflector in both hands.

But the other topic of thought as he kicked his way back to the island was those wretched dragons. He wasn’t an expert on reptile thought patterns, but so far they hadn’t shown much fear of the three humans, and they seemed to be getting used to thinking of the humans as a handy food source. That was bad. If they had the same outlook as many animals then their sense of expectation could change to a feeling of entitlement. Like those seagulls infesting British coastal towns, which have come to expect that humans would feed them and can turn aggressive if they don’t.

The basic anti-dragon device wouldn’t be enough if they got more insistent, and they didn’t want to have to live on the platform permanently. There might be enough net to surround an area of the beach – but he wanted to use the net for other things. No, the friends would have to think about building some kind of stockade – a permanent fence that the dragons couldn’t get through. It would have to be really sturdy – even if it was moderately strong, the dragons would be heavy enough to get through it if they threw their weight against it.

Problem was, Beck didn’t know exactly what the dragons could do. They could probably swim, so if they built the stockade around the camp, they would have to include all directions, even the sea. Alternatively, they could shift their camp to an easily defended bit of land, like the signal point, which could only be approached from one direction. But then – well, even if they blocked off the land approach, could the dragons climb the point’s sheer sides? Beck wouldn’t be surprised – they seemed hardcore enough. Everything you expected, they did something different.

Back on the island, he hurried up to the signal point. A breakfast of oysters and cooked lobster was calling his name.

“Woah!”

He emerged from the undergrowth and found himself staring at two very hostile-looking friends – heavy sticks in their hands, poised and ready to attack, waiting the other side of the plastic net that Ju-Long had set up as a barrier across the neck of land joining point and island.

“Only me?” he added with a hopeful smile. Between them they managed to crack a smile in return, and relax.

“We thought you were a dragon,” Jian admitted.

“Well, I am as hungry as a dragon – that’s for sure.”

As Ju-Long set about cooking the lobster over the fire, Beck showed them the radar reflector and described his ideas about building a decent dragon defence.

“A stockade?” Jian asked.

“Or something like it. Something stronger than this.”

Beck paced by the net. It was bright orange, and tough, so it might deter dragons if they weren’t too determined. Problem was, it wouldn’t stop them if they worked out that hey, it was only plastic.

The radar reflector now hung from a tree, the rebuilt signal fire was ready to go, the lobster was cooking nicely in its shell – all was well. For the moment. It was never too late to adapt your plans. And frankly, moving camp up here might be the best course.

Beck looked thoughtfully at the ground beneath his feet. It was the narrowest part of the signal point, only a couple of metres across, but building a fence that was long enough to cover that distance, and high and strong enough to deter dragons, would still take a lot of wood.

Of course, they had quite a bit of wood down on the beach, in the form of the platform. Which meant that the platform would have to be dismantled. And the water bank was down there…

“Too many options, and I’m hungry,” he muttered. He went to join them and sit by the fire. “Thing is,” he said as he sat down, “we don’t know how long we’re going to be here, and they’re losing their fear of us, if they ever had any. We don’t even know how many there are, but…”

“At least four,” Ju-Long said slowly, looking past them.

Beck looked round.

Four dragons had emerged from the bushes and they stood where he had just been, at the neck of the signal point. The smell of cooking lobster must have lured them out.

Each one was the length of an adult human and about the same weight, with teeth and claws and jaws that could inflict serious damage. Chew through flesh, quite probably crunch a bone.

Two of them hissed at the humans and then, with the friends’ escape route blocked, the four of them started to walk forwards. They trampled the plastic net without even noticing it, and kept coming.