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Amber - and at that moment a great cheer went up.
They had done it. They had finished their first adventure race - and in fine style.
Li, Paulo, Alex and Hex sat on the tarpaulin floor tent at the finish, their bare feet in bowls of warm water. All around were exhausted, relieved athletes who had finished the course, nursing their wounds while the results were calculated.
'Oh that feels good,' said Hex, wriggling his toes. 'I'm not going to wear shoes for days.'
'What I want right now,' said Li, 'is a huge plate of chips with mayonnaise. And I never want to see another fruit bar or packet of nuts.'
'I want a steak with garlic butter,' said Paulo.
'I second that,' said Alex. 'In fact, I'll have two.'
Amber was on her way back from the Land Rover, the medical kit in a red bag over her shoulder. Picking her way through the throng of bodies was like walking across a crowded beach - especially difficult with crutches. People took up so much room when they sat down. And why did they all put their hands on the floor?
She reached the others and dropped to her knees, lowering the medical kit to the ground. 'Doctor's here,' she said briskly. She brought out the bottle of antiseptic and a pad of cotton wool. 'Who's first?' Her mouth split into a grin of pure sadism.
'There's your uncle,' said Li.
From their seated position, John Middleton looked even taller than he actually was. He grinned at them. 'I've got your results. Out of forty teams that started, only twenty completed. So you've already done well to be sitting here in this tent. And . . .' He paused.
Five faces looked back at him. They were hanging on his every word.
'Spit it out, Uncle,' said Amber. 'It's been a long day.'
'You made no mistakes at the checkpoints, no mistakes in navigation, you got time penalties in the abseiling and hiking phase but I'm working on the judges about that because of the mitigating circumstances . . . you were first in the final sprint and . . . third overall . . .'
His voice was drowned in the cheer that followed. Water bowls went flying as the five all grabbed each other in a gigantic, boisterous hug. 'Oh,' added John Middleton, 'and you were voted friendliest team in the race.'
'That must have been you, Li,' said Paulo. 'You'll bat your eyelashes at anything--' His words became a splutter as Li upended the one surviving water bowl over his head.
'It can't have been you, Amber,' Hex was saying. 'You've been like a bear with a sore head.'
'I still beat you to the finish,' retorted Amber, picking up her crutch and poking him in the ribs. Hex grabbed it and yanked hard, and she fell over on top of him with a shriek, then rolled onto her back laughing.
'Listen, guys,' said John Middleton, 'I've got to go and see to something. But you should take this up properly. There are teams that do this semi-professionally. You'd be world class in no time.' His voice was serious.
Amber propped herself up on one elbow, frowning. 'But Uncle, that's not what Alpha Force is about.'
'Yeah,' said Alex. 'How would that help anyone?'
John Middleton spread his hands as though what he was about to say was a great revelation. 'Raising money for charity. You could do a lot of good like that. Think about it.' He looked at his watch. 'I've got to dash. See you later.' He raised his hand in a wave as he moved away.
Amber watched him go and let out an exasperated sigh. 'That's typical of my uncle. Now he's going to be finding us nice safe competitions instead of proper work. I don't want to be an athlete; I want to solve real problems.'
Alex lay flat beside her and closed his eyes. 'Then we do what we always do. We find our own missions.'
'Hear, hear,' said Hex, prodding his blister. Li and Paulo murmured in agreement.
'Team Alpha Force?' called a voice. A figure wearing a steward's T-shirt was picking his way through the bodies towards them.
'Over here,' Li replied, putting her hand up.
The steward hopped over a few pairs of outstretched legs and held out a piece of paper.