Originally posted here. Posted with permission from Pinkamethyst.

Ten people are on a boat. One � Nina � becomes ill. Chaos ensues. Several people go under. Some escape. Some become ill with viral haemorrhagic fever. Turns out the Snakeheads were trafficking people into England. Nikki becomes obsessed with finding a little girl, Ying, and so does some very unprofessional things, including interviewing a suspect without permission. Somehow, they find Ying alive, Nikki isn�t reprimanded for all the unprofessional things she did and all the bad people are caught.

Episode One - Cargo [part one].
The episode begins with a rather nicely filmed scene underwater with lots of splashing. We then see Nikki examining a dead oriental woman, who we later find out was in her first trimester of pregnancy.

Nikki then does the autopsy on aforementioned dead oriental woman and discovers that her last meal consisted of wholemeal bread and alcohol. We see Leo doing his autopsy on a dead black man, who has a rather unhealthy amount of scars on his back. Both Leo and Nikki think they�re torture scars, and wonder if maybe it�s gang related. Leo slices open his stomach and discovers�wholemeal bread and alcohol. Coincidence? I think not.

Two more bodies are then discovered by the river, near a boat. Human trafficking, the police detective says. Said police detective (whose name happens to be Ashar, but this is not important to the plot) reckons the traffickers are maybe Albanian, and the fact that one of the bodies is Caucasian points to this. Nikki makes a point of pointing out that there may be a small child still out there.

We then get a nice little scene in which a small boy brings a hand into show and tell. Most children bring in pictures of their new pet; this kid obviously prefers bits of dead humans.

Cut to Harry wandering around the cool computer lab. He uses the cool new board to look at the hand and the tattoos and the head they have apparently found. The lady detective (whose name is Helen Radley, but again this is not important to the plot) informs Harry that the tattoo looks like a snakehead tattoo, which apparently points to a group called the Snakeheads, which is an off-shoot of the Triads. These Snakeheads are known for people trafficking and cutting off heads. Nice people, the Snakeheads.

Nikki then proceeds to wonder about why the pregnant woman came here anyway. As Nikki says �what�s so great about England anyway?�. I must admit, I can see her point: crap weather really ruins my enjoyment of this country. Leo, however, points out that Nikki moved here, so it can�t be all bad. Well, to be fair, compared to South Africa, England is pretty cool.

Harry and Radley have a nice walk in the sewers, and are on the look out for more body parts. Harry mentions the rats; Radley tells him to shut up. I think from this little conversation we can conclude the Radley is none too fond of rats.

Meanwhile, Nikki and the police detective are also walking, but this time in Chinatown (which is a very nice place to go if you�re in London, by the way). They have found a woman who may or may not be related to the pregnant lady on the boat. I think we can assume at the least that she knows something about said pregnant lady: her phone number was on pregnant lady�s hand. And yes, she does indeed know her � pregnant lady is her cousin. We do then discover who the small child is that Nikki was so preoccupied about earlier: Ying, the six-year-old child of pregnant lady.

Cut back to Harry and Radley, who are still wandering around in the sewers. They chance across a hand and a bag full of body parts. All they need now is the head and the torso, which are, in my opinion, rather important.

Nikki and her new friend and the police detective are all chatting about her cousin. Mai, the pregnant lady, Ying and her husband decided to come because Mai was pregnant and in that region of China you are only allowed one child and being a Catholic, abortion was out of the question. Turns out Mai�s husband, Li Fong is also among the dead. Ying, however, is not among the dead and Mai�s cousin is convinced she is alive.

Now we get a nice bit of filming in Chinatown, featuring a Chinese man who apparently does not know where he is. He is looking for his sister, but has no idea how to find her. I think we can safely assume this guy was on the boat too.

Nikki, meanwhile, is gazing sadly at a picture of Ying.

And it�s the next day, and the police are out stalking a young black man. Said black man looks a lot like the other black guy found on the boat. This guy also has some nasty scars on his back. He roams around the flat for a while, before hearing the police and making a run for it over the roof. The detective chases after him, but he is too slow. The subject has escaped.

We are then told his name is Lusi Chazika and that he is part of a group called The Ivory Coast. Ashar has discovered the other black guy is called Manulu � and was Lusi�s second in command.

Jessica, Mai�s cousin, has come to visit Nikki and asks her what she can do to help. Nikki convinces poor Jessica that the police are doing all they can and all she can do is wait for them to find Ying.

Cut back again to Harry and Radley in the sewers. They have discovered yet more in the sewer: this time a torso. Looks like the dead body is almost complete.

Meanwhile, a man named Doctor Luca Preka comes to see Leo. He says his brother, Sasha, was travelling on the boat. Leo recognises the photo: it�s the Caucasian man found dead by the river. Doctor Preka and Leo have a little chat about Luca Preka and Sasha. Luca says he came here to escape the conflict, that he couldn�t be part of that. His brother wanted no part in it either, and that he came because the two brothers wanted to be together.

In the mean time, Nikki is looking at more photos and the wallet a search team found. It contains an unclear photo, of a woman and a man. They also find a piece of paper with an address on it. Nikki and Ashar drive off to investigate.

Turns out the address is a factory that makes sandwiches and some other stuff. Most of the workers appear to be foreign. A Chinese girl runs from the room, who then tells the detective in Chinese that she knows nothing. I�m thinking she�s lying. Her name is An. She still claims to know nothing. I still think she�s lying. The detective also thinks she�s lying. He also thinks maybe they should bounce her off some walls. Nikki disapproves of the bouncing off walls idea.

Cut to Harry and Radley, who are examining the bits of body recovered from the sewers. The Radley is still going on about her dislike of rats, which Harry thinks is ridiculous. I have to admit, I think it�s ridiculous too: personally, I find rats quite cute. Anyway, the body from the sewer may not have been on the boat. His stomach contents are different from that of the other bodies.

We then cut to Harry in Chinatown, chewing gum. He has found some knives in a nice little shop and is measuring them with his tape measure in the hope that one will match up to the stab wounds on the sewer body.

Meanwhile, Ashar and Leo are talking to Luca Preka. The detective apparently thinks Luca has done something wrong, or that Sasha has done something wrong. Luca is convinced Sasha was a nice boy and would never do anything wrong and that he hated violence. Luca is also convinced it is impossible that Sasha was not cargo. He knows that the smugglers were from London, and he has their phone number. He does, however, know nothing else.

Cut to An eating a sandwich outside her sandwich making factory. She spots the Chinese man from earlier by the fence. His name is Chung and he is her brother. See, told you she knew something. Her boss discovers them eating and tells her she is stupid for bringing Chung here. He tells both of them to leave, but in a nice way. He also points out Chung is not well and that he needs a doctor. An says they can�t because he�s illegal and that if they do see a doctor, it needs to be someone who will ask no questions. Her boss tells her to take Chung home and let him rest, but they still can�t come back.

Meanwhile, Leo and the gang are standing around their board, writing things. Harry is unsure about the Snakehead connection: there�s nothing to connect the body in the sewer to the boat. Nikki reckons there�s little chance that anyone could have survived out there, so the team are now looking for bodies. Later, she rings Jessica to let her know about the search teams.

An and Chung are now catching trains and listening to a man playing a guitar on the train station. An is overjoyed; Chung is too ill to be overjoyed. An shows Chung into her flat and leaves him to sleep whilst she watches a TV show about people playing on railways. We get yet more water and drowning, before Chung wakes up with a start and declares that he has to go out to sort out some business regarding his journey to England. An promises to take him to Chinatown.

Jessica and Nikki meanwhile are having a drink in a nice little bar. Nikki tells Jessica that there is so little chance that Ying is still alive. Apparently, she has faith in probability. Jessica, however, just has faith. Jessica asks Nikki if she�s ever loved someone. Nikki has. So much so that she�d die for them? Nikki nods and looks more than a little upset. I�m intrigued about who Nikki loved this much. Jessica continues waffling on about chances and Ying being alive. She refuses to give up looking for Ying. She begs Nikki not to give up on Ying. Nikki says nothing.

Cut to a man in a restaurant, bossing people around. Chung enters said restaurant and asks to see Zhu and Kuan. Restaurant man tells a girl to take them out the back quickly. Chung meets a man named Zhu, who seems intent on ignoring him. Chung waffles on and introduces An to Zhu. Zhu tells An to get lost whilst he talks to Chung. He tells Chung that the crash hit the Snakeheads hard and they need their money now. Chung lost his money in the crash, but Zhu insists that he give the Snakeheads the money.

Nikki is now examining the boat and pulling bits of plant off it. This does turn out to be important later on.

Cut back to Chung and An. Chung is now throwing up violently in the street. Apparently, bed rest has not cured him of his ailment.

Nikki is now examining the plant she pulled off the boat. She makes notes and falls asleep on the sofa. She gets a message from Harry, saying he called her at home and her mobile. Nikki stops listening to the message when Ashar walks in. She tells him about the plants on the bottom of the boat. There were two types of plant: one found downriver and one upriver. She says this leaves them with an area between Richmond and Putney, and this is where the boat was kept. Seriously clever, that Nikki is.

Nikki points out to the detective that Ying may be alive and that people live for weeks under the rubble of earthquakes. Ashar says they have to shift their resources, which Nikki takes to mean as they don�t care about a little girl. Ashar walks out, and Harry walks in.

�You didn�t sleep here did you? Please don�t. You have a perfectly good bed at home. �Or so everybody says.�

(At this point, I jumped out of my chair and squealed over the wonderfulness of those lines.)

Nikki laughs a little and looks a little less upset. Harry grins and wanders off to chop up some bits of meat. Not human meat, animal meat. He is trying to find the weapon that stabbed the sewer body. Radley arrives and presents Harry with a gift: a head from the sewer. He compliments her by pointing out she�s the only person who smells worse than him. Harry then disappoints her by saying the head does not belong to the body. She overreacts somewhat by bursting into tears and screaming about rats. Harry gazes at her until she�s done, and then says the head may have been on the boat.

Meanwhile, the search team is still out and looking for dead people. They�re in luck: a new body is found. Nikki autopsies the body. She�s a female Caucasian, about twenty. Nikki then realises something about the liver: it�s haemorrhagic. Which is bad. Nikki talks really fast whilst telling Harry and Leo about the liver. Leo thinks it�s viral haemorrhagic fever. Leo tells Nikki to get out while he gets all suited up.

Ashar meanwhile is investigating a house, where he finds a lot of blood, a head and a body. Radley receives a call from Harry, telling them all to get out. They do, with all due haste. Harry tells them about the virus.

Cut to Chung, still ill in bed. I think it�s safe to assume he also has the virus.

The episode concludes with a nice bit of lullaby music, and a snapshot of a little girl in a hole in the ground.

Episode One � Cargo [part two].

Harry and Nikki go a-walking together, during which Harry inquires about her health and teases her about boils and promises to call her. Leo tells him to go do his job with Ashar, and he takes Nikki to get herself checked out. In graphic detail, he describes the virus. She has no symptoms, apparently. The nice doctor lady takes Nikki and Leo into her lab to check Nikki out. The nice doctor lady gives Nikki some drugs, which offer some protection.

Cut back to the house with the blood, head and body, with everyone all suited up. Ashar reckons the dead head and body must have known his killer, since there�s no sign of forced entry. Harry does his pathologist thing and finds where the blow was struck. Full rigor has set in; the body has been dead about twelve hours. The M.O is the same as the guy in the sewer. Radley agrees; it must be the Snakeheads again. Radley also finds some shoes with mud on them, but the treads aren�t the same as those found on the riverbank, but the silt is the same.

We then see a bit more of Chung and An. She says he needs to see a doctor; he disagrees. He also thinks he�s fine. I think he�s lying. An leaves. Chung coughs some more.

Harry conducts an autopsy on the body. The body is not infected, or is not as far gone as the girl. The body is a man named Pearson, who owned the boat.

Radley is watching Chazika again. Ashar tells her she has to bring him in: he could be infected. She closes in on Chazika, who quickly realises what�s going on and runs. He dashes up some stairs, but is quickly apprehended. Chazika claims his name is John Dexter. I think he is also lying.

Leo arrives on screen and says the girl�s name is Nina. Nina and a friend had sex with sailors, who gave them the virus. The virus is not ebola or lassa, so the nice lady doctor has no idea what they�re dealing with.

Once again, we cut back to Harry, Nikki and the police people, who are going through the list of people who were supposed to be on the boat. Ashar still thinks Luca Preka is connected and that his brother Sasha is on the boat collecting fares. Nikki once again points out that Ying Fong is still missing and that she is still six-years-old. She leaves to follow Ashar when he goes to talk to Chazika, to see if he knows anything about Ying.

Leo is once again talking to the nice lady doctor (who is apparently called Professor Danbury), who tells him it�s a variant of VHF, and that the drug is effective in halting the virus in its early stages.

Meanwhile, Nikki is trying to convince Ashar that she can talk to Chazika, who is still claiming to be John Dexter. She then bumps into an old friend: Tim Kallis. Apparently, Tim is someone she knew from South Africa and he is representing Chazika / John Dexter. He wants Chazika released immediately. Nikki tells Tim there�s a chance Chazika is infected; Tim says that since Chazika was never on the boat it�s all good. Nikki tells Ashar that Tim is one of the top human rights lawyers in Africa.

Nikki and Tim then go for a cup of coffee to have a chat and talk about old times and all that jazz. Tim is, apparently, doing well for himself. He�s working across the continent. He says she should come back to Joburg to see Stella and the twins. He doesn�t know why she left. She seems to think he should know. He says that this country�s time is over, that there is so much more to do. He also adds that she cannot think of this as home. (There�s a whole lot of interesting stuff in there, stuff I may need to analyse at a later date or possibly put in a fic. But now is probably not the time.)

Tim disappears off to talk to Chazika. Ashar wishes he could hear what they�re saying. Unfortunately, he can�t because Tim has clout and Tim has made his chat with Chazika private. Tim then informs Nikki that his client will submit to a medical examination. Nikki spots his nasty torture scars and connects them with the dead black guy. She checks his temperature and tells him it looks like he�s clear. And just as I thought she was going to leave the room and be completely professional, she ruined all my hopes with: �what happened on that boat Mr Dexter?�, ignoring Tim when he told her there were to be no questions. And also ignoring the fact that she�s a pathologist, and really shouldn�t be interviewing subjects. But never mind. She does then leave, mainly because Chazika says nothing.

Cut to Ashar interviewing Luca Preka. He tells Luca that Pearson tried to call him just before he died and that there are his fingerprints all over the flat. Luca is looking more guilty by the minute. Ashar thinks Luca killed Pearson. Luca says not. Pearson returned his call, eventually, though Luca didn�t tell the police because he didn�t think they�d believe him. Leo thinks Luca is innocent; Ashar disagrees. Leo takes his DNA and points out that Luca must see that his lack of co-operation doesn�t help. Luca says he just wants to find out the truth about his brother. Leo wants the same thing, apparently.

An has now returned to her flat to find Chung gone and a video taped to her TV. The video shows her brother being beaten by a group of people. The Snakeheads want An to get them their money, or they will not return Chung. Enter Zhu, who has just heard that Chung has been taken. He tells An Chung owes them �3,000. An wants Zhu to talk to them; Zhu says they cannot wait. But he does agree to talk to them and see what he can do.

Harry meanwhile is looking down a microscope at the meat he sliced up earlier, when Radley walks in. He takes her out for lunch in Chinatown and shows her the murder weapon in a shop. The two of them then go off to the restaurant we saw in the last part. Jimmy Han, the owner, tells them to leave. He apparently has the same name as the dead bodies. Jimmy says Deshi and Kuan were not Snakeheads. He also adds that Kuan should not have been here. He paid the Snakeheads to bring Deshi over, but when he arrived he began mixing them. Deshi then told the Snakeheads to bring Kuan over, but there was an accident and the Snakeheads lost money. The Snakeheads killed both of them. Jimmy doesn�t know who Deshi did the deal with though.

We then see Chung on the floor, with Zhu kicking him. Apparently, Zhu is not his friend after all.

In the meantime, Ashar is showing Chazika, who is still pretending to be John Dexter, some pictures of the people on the boat. Chazika reserves his right to remain silent. Nikki watches. Tim does lawyer things.

After the interview, Tim apologises. Nikki says the guy is Maluci Chazika and he knows what happened to Ying. Tim points out that he is a lawyer and the only thing he can do is tell Chazika to remain silent. Nikki only wants to find a little girl. She guilt-trips Tim into letting her see Chazika by asking what he�d do if it was Stella or one of the twins who was missing.

Nikki chats with Chazika about the boat accident. He says nothing. She says it�s off the record. Chazika seems somewhat cynical about privacy in Great Britain. Nikki admits that she can see his point: she knows what goes on in Africa and has seen the scars on his back. Chazika replies that she knows nothing about Africa or him. She is half South African and worked there and so does know about Africa. He continues pointing out all the reasons she knows nothing about Africa (she knows nothing about girls trafficked as sex slaves, people disembowelled and other rather unpleasant things) and also gives her reasons for him not to trust her. Apparently, she sees his point and says she knows nothing about those things because she lived in a nice part of South Africa (Joburg is the nice touristy bit of Africa, according to their website), but she does know about another little girl, her precious Ying. And Ying can only be saved if someone tells her what happened on that boat. And no, Nikki doesn�t give a toss who Chazika is, so long as he tells her about Ying. However, Ashar interrupts and Chazika refuses to talk. Ashar tells Nikki off for interviewing Chazika; Nikki doesn�t care that she may have just ruined their whole investigation because she still doesn�t know where Ying is.

We then find out that someone at An�s work has come down with the virus. Ashar is proved right: obviously An did know something because she has apparently been in contact with someone on the boat. An, however, is nowhere to be found. Ashar gets her address off another worker and the gang go to see if An is dead, alive or very, very sick.

An meanwhile receives a visit from Zhu. Chung is still ill and still tied up on the floor. Zhu tells An to go with him to a club. I presume he�s talking about a sex club, since he says the other girls will look after her. But she never goes to the club because the police turn up, so Zhu runs and An lies on the floor, looking rather sick. The police don white outfits and masks, and proceed to look for An. Ashar kicks down a door and finds poor An crying on the floor. She tells Nikki that Chung, her brother, is ill. Nikki is rather mean to An and tells her Chung will die and more will die if she doesn�t help. An cries and tells Nikki the Snakeheads have her. Nikki can�t resist asking about Ying. An knows nothing.

Cut to Nikki wandering along the river, looking mournful. Nice sunset though. Nikki then looks mournful in her office. Nikki tells Harry not to look at her like that. Harry replies that he�s not looking at her. She tells him not to not look at her like that. She then goes on to say that she has no idea why it happened and now he hates her. Harry says he could never hate her. (How cute.) He also thinks it�s likely Ying is dead. Nikki feels that life has ganged up on poor Ying and she needs someone in her corner.

Leo enters and says An�s boss had the virus, and that An gave it to him. Radley points out that Chung is on borrowed time: they still don�t know where he is, only that the Snakeheads have him.

Harry returns to Jimmy Han�s restaurant and asks him where to send the remains. Jimmy Han seems rather offended. Harry thinks Jimmy knows who killed Deshi and Kuan. Jimmy says not. Harry continues guilt-tripping him into telling him the truth. Well, not the truth, but Jimmy does give him a business card for the Shanghai Laundry, where Chung is being held. There�s some nice music as we see the police storming into the laundry and rescuing Chung. Chung is now even sicker but it�s okay because Harry�s with him and he�s going to be okay.

Meanwhile, Nikki�s dreams are dashed when Ashar tells her Chung saw a little girl go under the water.

Cut to Tim telling Ashar he wants John Dexter released. Ashar says it�s his birthday. Tim wishes him happy birthday. I fail to see what this has to do anything. Ashar gives Tim Nikki�s mobile number and lets Chazika go. He also adds that Tim should call Nikki before he goes. Ashar also lets Luca Preka go because he�s in a nice mood. He congratulates Radley on being right about the Snakeheads. Gosh, this guy really is a nice mood! He even lets Radley lead the interview with Zhu. Zhu explains about the murders of Deshi and Kuan and the kidnapping of Chung.

Nikki congratulates Chazika on his release. Chazika admits to being on the boat.

Leo tells Luca what happened to his brother on the boat.

There were ten going on the boat, but only nine were cargo. Zhu was there to make sure it all went well. However, it all went wrong. One of the women � Nina � became ill. Mai went overboard in the confusion. Sasha tried to get Pearson to go back, to rescue Mai, but someone attacked with a knife. Pearson lost control and the boat went over. Chazika started to swim, but Manulu shouted that he had the little girl. Chazika took the girl � Ying � because Manulu couldn�t swim very well. Chazika threw the girl onto the bank and was pulled back into the water. Ying stayed on the bank. Sasha was carried away.

Chazika tells Nikki that he left Ying near some bright lights. Tim thinks it was near a refinery. Tim tells Nikki she must understand why they did what they did. I�m not sure if he was referring to keeping Chazika�s identity a secret or something back in South Africa.

Nikki and Ashar go off to the refinery. Nikki points out that she never gave Tim her mobile number. Ashar smiles and says he has no idea what she�s talking about. Nikki smiles.

On the shore, the team search for Ying. Nikki sits on a swing, thinking about Ying. Apparently, she has an epiphany because she suddenly finds Ying hiding underground. And then there�s an awfully sweet moment where Nikki calls Ying �darling� and hugs her lots. I love how cute Nikki is with kids.

And that concludes the first episode of the tenth series.

To summarise briefly:
Ten people are on a boat. One � Nina � becomes ill. Chaos ensues. Several people go under. Some escape. Some become ill with viral haemorrhagic fever. Turns out the Snakeheads were trafficking people into England. Nikki becomes obsessed with finding a little girl, Ying, and so does some very unprofessional things, including interviewing a suspect without permission. Somehow, they find Ying alive, Nikki isn�t reprimanded for all the unprofessional things she did and all the bad people are caught.


DCI Helen Radley (Elizabeth Bower)
Det Supt Vijay Ashar (Zubin Varla)
Chung Hoi (Wai Kee Cahn)
Melusi Chazika (Patrice Naiambana)
Dr Luca Preka (Rad Lazar)
Jimmy Han (Burt Kwourk)
Zhu Yonghi (Bang Lui)
An Hoi (Maye Choo)
Ying Fong (Kim Dang)
Tim Kallis (James Weber Brown)
Professor Danbury (Sally Edwards)

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