That decision seemed to suit most islanders, but greed did dreadful things. It took few brains to guess that the insurgents who’d stormed the capital would be interested in only one thing-oil money.

‘It’s just as well the island has big friends,’ Sam said, moving on, and Ben nodded. The call for help had been frantic. The insurgents had blasted their way into Kapua’s council compound, and there were reports of deaths and chaos across the island. This wasn’t a political take-over where oil wealth would be shared among the whole population. The opinion of those who knew was that this would be a group with outside backing-backing that could potentially cause instability in the entire Pacific region.

With such destruction-with human loss and chaos-there was little choice for Kapua’s political allies. Troops were therefore flying in immediately. Among them would be Lieutenant Ben Blayden, M.D.

She’s probably forgotten me, he thought grimly. What’s the bet she’ll be a fat island mama by now, with six or seven kids?

That thought made him smile. Domesticity would have made Lily happy. All through her medical training she’d ached to be home.

‘My island’s family to me,’ she’d told him. ‘Come and see what it’s like.’

Not him. He was in too much of a hurry to get where he wanted, and he wanted action. The thought of settling on a remote island and raising children made him shudder.

But Lily…

‘Lily was great,’ he told Sam. ‘She was a good-looking lady.’

‘Look her up when you get there.’