Hunter Killer

1 2 THE HOME OF TWENTY – FIVE LASHES

Scuttle!' burst out MKG. ' Scuttle our only chance-Little

Bear!'

There was a murmur from Boz Blair's team and the genial face of the stocky scientist became grave. MKG had given them an outline of the hunt; like Devastation's crew, they took it in a holiday spirit. The tall Texan's name I learned was Pete Allingham, and the other three missile experts-looking curiously disreputable in a variety of sailors' rigs-were John Palmer, Nat Reece and Lofty Reilly. Trevor-Davis, our expert, seemed completely at home in his silent way with his American opposite numbers.

Every moment now is important,' replied Peace obliquely. He picked up the engine-room voicepipe. Mac-give her everything she's got' His eyes fell on Adele who stood next to me. I had better not repeat what Mac thinks of the engineroom!'

From the sound of it, he at least will be pleased to see this crate scuttled,' said Boz Blair.

The screw began to thump. Peace brought her head round towards the storm and then handed over the wheel to Andre.

We waited.

Bellatrix was a liability, now she's an asset,' Peace explained, looking round the silent launch team. ' You must see it like this: Semittante is a bigger liability still. We simply have to get rid of her. We're being squeezed between weather, position, and the launch deadline.'

MKG explained, But to scuttle Little Bear after all we've been through to get here, and God knows, there have been times in the past couple of days when I have doubted if my decision-'

Little Bear goes down with Semittante,' Peace cut in. Boz Blair gave a gasp and stepped forward, but Peace went on quickly before he could protest. 'In a few hours' time it will be six days to the launch, not so?' Boz merely nodded – the suggestion that his missile should be sent to the bottom of the sea had left him speechless.

MKG started to speak, but Peace silenced him with a gesture. '

I'm not sanguine enough to think I can evade Tyler for six days. You know and I know that Tyler and Red Force will track down anything that floats. They may already have a fix 170 on Semittante's position; Adele's not sure. Once the vP-5's are in the air…'

Allingham whistled. ' They got vP-5's out on our tail too?'

Peace nodded. With them around, I don't rate our chances very high.'

He explained that they would use the new MAD gear-an abbreviation for Magnetic Anomaly Detection. It was an electronic marvel used by the vP-5's. It picked up variations in the earth's magnetic field and showed up objects like wrecks, or other undersea metal objects. They had, he stressed, to be metal. Boz's team warmed towards Peace. He was talking the sort of technical language they appreciated.

Even Semittante sunk at Love-Apple Crossing won't be safe from the vP-5's,' he added.

Then what's in your mind, Commander?' asked Boz.

This sure is some wind, too.'

Cyclone,' corrected Peace. ' It's our big hope. It could last between four and five days. But it's good only to stop Tyler's search aircraft-it won't worry the nuclear subs.

We'll take a leaf out of their book by sinking Semittante. Tyler in Willowtrack could pass by Love-Apple crossing with the heat full on and-inside the coral barrier-he couldn't detect Semittante, sunk. He's looking for a ship afloat-so are the vP-5's.'

Fine and dandy, if all you're about is escaping Tyler,' remarked the tall Texan dryly. But not us. What about Little Bear?'

We'll lash Little Bear securely to Semittante's deck. That'll be your job, Boz. The water in Love-Apple Crossing lagoon isn't deep-fifty, maybe even forty feet. Little Bear's operational depth is six hundred feet, so it won't harm her. The day before the launch I'll go down in my skin-diving suit and cut the missile free. It's buoyant, it'll float up. Then it's over to Boz and you fellows to see she's all set for the launch. Then we'll tow her out to the launch-point.'

I heard Boz's, indrawn breath of admiration, but MKG's eyes were on Peace. You're not snowing me, Commander?'

He screwed up his eyes in his characteristic way.

' It's the only way left.'

The Vice-President's face was expressionless. Then he said, `

The DNI said you were quite a guy, Commander. I believe it.'

Me too,' grinned Boz. ' Why, it's a cinch-we can get out the DATICO gear and space-suit beforehand-'

What's DATICO?' I asked.

Digital automatic tape indicated check-out,' enthused Boz.

' It's like a small tape-recorder for the final moments of the 171 countdown. When MKG mashes the firing-button for Little

Bear six hundred feet down, DATICO goes into action. One minute later Little Bear emerges-she don't even wet her ass, as we say in the Navy.'

The other scientists started to grin at Boz's enthusiasm.

All the instrumentation is packed with Little Bear,' he went on. ` Did it myself. Know where every damn' thing is, exactly – from the VLF set to the space-suit..

I was already lost among Boz's technicalities, but he rushed to fill the gaps in my missile ignorance. Very Low Frequency radio,' he explained, grinning. We-the Navy-found years ago that you can send very low frequency signals-between five and fifteen kilocycles-almost anywhere in the world over an ocean surface. So we built the biggest vu' station in the world at Cutler, Maine..

Aw, Boz, don't give the guy a lecture,' said the Texan good-naturedly. All he wants to know is, will the goddam' thing work?'

Boz cut short his technicalities. Sure, sure. I'll operate the VLF transmitter to MKG's marker buoy-Little Bear's marker-and at T minus sixty a red light comes on on his instrument panel-'

But a crated Little Bear is not exactly a Little Bear ready to blast off,' I ventured.

Boz interrupted. The top, which is in fact the capsule, is covered by a plastic membrane which will withstand water pressure up to seven hundred feet, but it ruptures at the thrust of compressed air from the firing-flask-just like the ordinary Polaris. The inertial navigation-sINs-holds the missile continuously vectored on a point in space, in this instance, the Santa Fe staging station… which reminds me; I must check the calibration of the space-docking computer..

' Aw, gee, Boz, quit it, willya ' exclaimed the Texan. The guy's drunk with words, can't you see! How in hell you're going to live without this damn missile once she's on her way, I dunno.'

MKG said, Commander, it's easy to say, tow Little Bear to the launch-point, but what with?'

The cutter,' replied Peace. That's why I wanted her safe. I' ve had a look at the auxiliary engine. It works, although Andre won't use it if he can help it.'

You can't tow a twenty-ton missile out to sea with a cutter's engine,' I objected.

You can,' said Peace. ' Ask Boz here: Little Bear is the finest hydrodynamic and aerodynamic machine man has yet evolved-eh, Boz?'

' Sure,' replied BOZ. You have some damn' original ideas about missiles, Commander.'

Peace grinned back at him. Little Bear is designed to travel-through water, air and space. She offers the minimum resistance to water. Only a few horsepower is enough to pull that pencil-slim shape through the sea. In fact, I think the cutter could do it with all of you at the oars, but I'll spare you that. Blast-off point is not more than a couple of miles offshore.'

He looked enquiringly round the team. Trevor-Davis said, I would have liked a couple of days, not just one, to check her over.'

We pre-set the inertial navigation back home-she's continuously vectored on Santa Fe,' replied Boz. The accelerometers, though-it's been a long voyage-' began Trevor-Davis.

We set 'em also-the gyros and the accelerometers of the stable table,' said Boz.

I'm anxious about the correct toss-off point.' TrevorDavis seemed to find his voice in talking about the abstruse technicalities of the missile.

New jetavators with a simple thrust-reversal system-blowout points explode along the leading edge of the second stage and then thrust backwards, but the capsule flies on..

Trevor-Davis let out a sigh of relief. That takes a load off my mind. I wasn't too happy about the old ones.'

Peace said, It's my turn to break up this fascinating conversation, boys. We've got a lot of work to do. John, go and fix the radio aerial you chopped-I must know if Tyler heard Semittante's call. And Adele, ask Andre before you go if he'd like the job of being permanent helmsman of Semit- She translated and he nodded, pleased. Adele kept close to me. She was pale and quiet. I put it down to the strain of the cutting-out operation.

Tell him to steer zero-seven-zero degrees,' ordered Peace.

Zero-seven-zero!' I exclaimed. ' You're steering right into the arms of Thornton's Blue Force!'

MKG, Boz and the team looked startled.

Peace's answer was again evasive. See if Bellatrix is following us.'

I stepped out on to the bridge wing. The wind ripped at my clothing. A mile or so behind, Bellatrix was in our wake. I went back, thoughtful. Bellatrix can sail rings round this old basket,' I told the waiting group. She has only to stay where she is.'

' Precisely,' replied Peace. ' At this moment her doctored compass reads zero-eight-zero-ten degrees out. When Blue or Red Force catches up with her, she'll report that when last seen Semittante was steering that course-clean away from Love-Apple Crossing. Tonight, when it's dark, we'll give the yacht the slip.'

The admiration in MKG's face was overlaid with doubt. But Tyler, Commander-'

Tyler is smart, bloody smart. I'm doing with Semittante what would be a classic manoeuvre for a sub: I'm breaking away upwind into a heavy sea which will mask the sound of my engines. Once Tyler or Thornton pick up Bellatrix, which is only a matter of time on the course she's steering, they'll bring every Red and Blue sub, destroyer and search plane into that area, which is on the edge of the Saya de Malha. I want Tyler to think I've run for the shoals and banks to use the shallow seas and breaking water to damp the sound of this old tramp's engines. I want them to concentrate the search there. But in fact I'll be hundreds of miles away in the opposite direction, at Love-Apple Crossing.'

Aren't you playing this game a little too cosy, Commander?' asked MKG. Sure, sure, guessing's fine; Tyler will do this, Tyler will do that. But what if he doesn't? What if Tyler out-thinks you, smells the double-cross?'

' We sit at Love-Apple Crossing, waiting.'

What!'

A bunch of fishermen with an island girl-everyday islanders, all of us. We'll have lines over the side of the cutter and big hats on our heads. Adele or Andre will answer any questions in incomprehensible Creole. Under our keel will be Little Bear, also waiting.'

MKG assumed a remote faraway look which was to become more and more frequent in the coming days. He clapped

Peace gently on the shoulder.

Adele said, with a peculiar inflexion, 'John, shall we get the radio going?'

We left the group and went to the radio shack.

As we entered, I started towards the cut aerial, but Adele closed the door sharply. I turned to face her. She was standing with her back to the door, her face dealthy white. She started to pull a scrap of paper from her blouse, but her hands trembled so violently that she could not manage it.

It was a fake!' she choked. I suspected him before, but here's proof-'

A deadly fear spread over me. Peace?'

She nodded, and handed me the scrap of paper. It was simply a jumble of letters. I shook my head at it.

' He forgot this, among the others he faked. You see, the signals pad is carbon-backed-one copy for filing, the other for the captain. This is the copy.'

She took the slip and read out the code:

' President of the United States to Marvin K. Green, via Seychelles x unless you reply personally to this via same channel within six hours I shall assume the kid- napping report of Willowtrack to be correct and that you are no longer a free agent x whatever the circumstances, the Little Bear project is to be called off now x' There was a long silence. I said, The version Peace passed on to MKG read something like this: " You have my personal authorization to continue with the Little Bear mission as planned." '

Adele sat down in the operator's chair, taking a grip on herself. She nodded at the severed wire. 'Fix that first anything may be happening.

It was only a matter of minutes to fix the wire. Adele checked the set. My thoughts were in turmoil.

Do we tell MKG?' she asked, her eyes on me. Perhaps she wondered whether my own loyalty to Peace would prevail. The implications are too colossal to contemplate,' I said. '

No wonder Thornton and Tyler were throwing everything into the search.

`Far from the President recalling the Seventh Fleet, he must be urging them on,' she said, fiddling with the dials. She held up her hand. Wait!'

It was Mauritius Radio:

… an announcement of major importance. The President of the United States announces that an incident has taken place which is without parallel in American history.

The Vice-President, Markin K. Green, has been kidnapped by foreign agents. The White House states that although the circumstances of the abduction are not clear, it appears that the Vice-President was on his way to superintend the testfiring of a secret new American missile in the Indian Ocean when the kidnapping took place. The Vice-President was seized aboard the nuclear submarine Willowtrack and conveyed aboard another submarine, which was then shadowed to a remote atoll barrier reef named St Brandon. Although this submarine has since been located, the Vice-President has disappeared. In view of grave fears being ex175 pressed for the safety of Marvin K. Green, the United States Seventh Fleet in Limuria waters has been deployed under command of Admiral Thornton and is now searching the area.

The search is, however, being impeded by a cyclone.

The White House announcement adds that the situation is aggravated by the fact that the secret missile which was to have been test-fired by the Vice-President has also disappeared. It was being transported in a French freighter named Semittante. Captain Revs Tyler, the famous American submarine ace who was decorated for his epoch-making dash under the ice-cap of Antarctica, is in command of Willow- track and is leading the search.

Peace must know he can't get away with it!' exclaimed

Adele. How could he have faked that signal from the President?'

Because,' said a menacing voice from the doorway, nothing can justify Little Bear except MKG.' We spun round. It was Peace. He stood swinging with the motion of the ship, spray on his turtle-necked sweater and black trousers. He held the Remington lightly by the triggerguard and in his other hand was the hocked Colt. The lightness of his movements lent him the air of a predator about to spring.

I jerked my head at the loudspeaker. ' You heard that?'

Aye,' he said, 'I heard.' He watched us both for a moment and then closed the door behind him, still with that air of coiled power about to strike. He spoke to Adele. '

Jenkins, Geoffrey

Hunter Killer

How did you find out-did I muff the code?'

It's of no consequence how we know,' I retorted angrily. It is,' he replied. I want to know how many people I have to deal with.'

The signals pad had a carbon backing,' said Adele. You overlooked it.' I wondered whether I could jump Peace. Adele sensed it. John, don't!'

So it's only you two, then,' said Peace. He put the weapons on the table, but he stayed close.

Geoffrey,' I said, your devotion to Little Bear has gone beyond the point of sanity.'

Sanity does not enter into this,' he answered. Every mile an hour the gale puts on, every foot the sea rises, puts the odds more on my side. Are-you-going-to-tellhim?'

I walked deliberately past the pistols and confronted him. We've sailed before on tough missions, Geoffrey, but we won through because right was on our side.'

Who are you to set yourselves up as a judge of my 176 actions?' he blazed back. 'Right! What is right in this instance? Is it wrong to have one's heart in a weapon whose lethal efficacy is obscured by petty rivalries between Services and a bunch of politicians who don't know Polaris from a pump-handle? This thing is big-bigger than we dream of!

It is power, power unlimited in the hands of the nation who owns it! Now it's to be sold down the river because some bloody fool thinks we've kidnapped the Vice-President!'

That's not the way of it and you know it,' I snapped back. MKG risked himself and his standing in the first place by consenting to the test-fire. That is the measure of his faith in Little Bear. But then it was secret and he was safeguarded. Now the whole world knows; his position is endangered; the President has called it off. You can't go on with it!'

The Seventh Fleet plus the whole world versus us!' he said. I looked at him and marvelled inwardly. He wanted the odds as high as that.

' Are you going to tell him?' he repeated.

' If we don't, someone else will,' I said. There's Boz Blair, Pete Allingham

No. This is the only radio aboard Semittante. I've told Mac to keep the transistor under guard.' We did not reply and he went on, By tomorrow we should be at Love-Apple

Crossing. I shall sink Semittante. The space-shot will still go on.'

MKG is undertaking it voluntarily,' said Adele. ' You force him to take a space-ride.'

If he doesn't know, he will go through with it,' he replied. He swung on us, his voice harsh. Think, if you break the news to him, you will sacrifice the West's nuclear weapon lead for the next decade at least. Can you reconcile that with your consciences? The consequences of your discreet silence are immeasurable in the field of future peace. Has either of you the right, without express permission from the DNI, to back down on the mission? Have you?'

You'll be launching MKG under false pretences,' I said.

Put that way, yes. But it does not invalidate the weapon or the need to show the world how mighty a thing Little Bear is.'

I looked deep into Adele's eyes and saw the conflict raging in them, too.

Give me just one day until I can scuttle this bag of bones,'

Peace went on vigorously. Leave it to me after that. All I ask is your silence.'

And if not?'

Peace picked up the telephone, dialled the engine-room.

Mac-come to the radio-room. Drop whatever you are doing.

The sea beat like drum-fire against the old hull. It seemed like hours until Mac came.

Peace picked up the Remington, handed it, to Mac. He took the Colt himself. Adele was pale.

`, Mac,' he said, the President has blown the gaff on the

Little Bear mission. MKG doesn't know. John and Adele heard the broadcast. The others don't know, either. If MKG has an inkling, the mission is off. I faked a signal so that he would carry on. Now-' he waved at us-' it's in danger.'

Mac eyed us with his bloodshot eyes. I'm an old shipmate of Number One, sir, and I wouldn't like to hurt him. There are plenty of spare places in the engine-room where I could look after him. The girl's easy.'

It means as much as that to you, Geoffrey?'

He didn't look me in the face but nodded. I'd rather you came along, John, but nothing will stop me-do you hear-. nothing!'

And if Tyler and Thornton catch up with you?'

I'll see you right,' he replied. I'll take the whole rap. I'll say, what you did, you did under duress. Try and see it as a hunt, without the other implications, which aren't your concern anyway-they're MKG's.' He turned to Adele. I need you, too. The end will justify the means.'

' What if MKG comes and listens to the radio here?' she asked. Soon every radio station in the world will carry the story.'

The seas will be breaking right across the deck shortly,' said Peace. I'll put the radio shack out of bounds to everyone except John on the grounds of limbs or ribs being broken. I'll tell 'em we can't afford injuries to the launch team, or to MKG.'

I made up my mind. ' You deserve to luck out, Geoffrey,' I said. I'm not with you in the way I was before, but for old times' sake, I'm not against you. I can't speak for Adele.'

She hesitated and then said, ' It's too big a decision for me to take alone. I would like to signal the DNI-'

That's out of the question,' answered Peace. You are still under his orders, remember. As far as I am concerned, they stand. He didn't offer you any loopholes: if this happened, then that. He ordered you, go ahead.'

' Like John, I am not for or against,' she said unhappily.

You have my word for my silence too.'

Peace nodded to Mac, who left, morose as ever, throwing down the pistol.

Peace opened his mouth as if to say something as he left, but changed his mind and said formally, Thank you both.

This is the only way left. I'd rather it had been otherwise.'

When he had gone, Adele concentrated on the radio and I rigged a lifeline from the radio shack along the upper deck. The barometer was alarmingly low and squalls burst at intervals from the north-east. Although it was barely five o'clock, the sky was dark and grey scud streamed across the heavens. I didn't care for the way the old ship was behaving, either. She was putting her bows under and the seas were sweeping right back to the winches on the foredeck. It was the beginning of a wild night. Somewhere in the north-east was the centre of the cyclone-a wild-lashed convulsion of sea which had sent better ships than Semittante to the bottom. As I put the last knots into the lifeline, I saw Boz Blair and his men struggling to secure the long crate containing Little Bear. I went aft and helped them double-lash the crate to the deck with a two-inch manila. We then ran a heavy wire through one of the deck winches and drew it tight for additional security. Shouting above the howl of the wind, I reminded Boz to cut it free when we scuttled the ship. Astern, throwing her bows high in the air and much closer now, was Bellatrix.

Boz indicated the end of the case. ' Lend me your axe!' he shouted. ' Gotta get the loose gear out and stow it in the cutter.'

I handed him the axe and he chopped open the crate. Under heavy plastic waterproofing we found three small cases, one marked SPACE-SUIT', the second DATICO and the third ' vu RADIO', in clear stencilling. Boz yanked one towards him, freeing the lashing of tarred paper and plastic. Beyond – and a thrill of awe passed through me, as Boz gestured Little Bear's nose-cone reflected the dull light.

The interior of the crate smelt like a new car-tarry, plastic, sterile. Boz and I crawled in farther. Behind the thick plastic protective membrane of the casing was the capsule, its rubber-cushioned seat and safety straps facing us from behind the perspex. There was an array of instruments and, fixed in the transparent canopy on a stay, was some sort of gyro or altimeter. A thick rubber cable, heavily waterproofed, was sealed into the side of the casing. Attached to one end was a metal ball which looked like a dunking helo's sonar buoy. That was all we would see on the surface once MKG was submerged in the missile. A telescopic radio antenna was attached to the hull. The sight of the sleek metal cylinder seemed to mitigate, somehow, the burden of the secret inside me.

Hearing a sound, I spun round, my nerves sandpapered by the sight of the sinister weapon and the crisis it had caused. It was the Texan.

' The dame wants you in the radio shack,' he said. ' Seems it's off limits to all of us now-and I must admit it's goddam' rough going up there.' He explained Peace's ban to Boz. Commander doesn't want any broken limbs amongst us.'

Like Boz, though, his interest seemed entirely focused on

Little Bear.

At the radio shack, Adele said, Geoffrey wants you to black out this place. He doesn't want a light showing anywhere tonight.' She smiled gravely at me. Every radio station in the world is interrupting its programmes with monotonous regularity to give the latest on the MKG crisis. I thought the Voice of America announcer would have kittens the first time he came on the air with the news.'

I stayed and listened with her. Stunned reaction, incredulity, disbelief-the ether could not hold them all. Space experts discounted the attempt, but the National Space Administration seemed to give credence to it by saying the earth would be in the most favourable position for a space-shot a week hence. Experts, within the bounds of security and supposition, tried to assess Little Bear's chances of reaching Santa Fe. The President remained silent. The one thing the listening world did not seem to take into account, however, was the cyclone. Arm-chair strategists and geographical experts all had their say about how easy it would be to locate any ship, anywhere, any time, in the Sea of Limuria.

Tyler and Thornton were ominously silent. I thought of those deep-diving subs 500 feet down closing relentlessly towards us, patiently searching, searching. I had finished the improvized black-out when Adele raised her hand.

Here it came!-the close Morse grouping, the expert, rapid sending of the Seventh Fleet. Adele's hand danced over the paper.

Blue Force to Red Force x Semittante transmission too short for reliable fix x on basis of fixes from Blue and Red Forces evaluate her position as north-west St Brandon and west of Saya de Mal ha x subs on their way x weather deteriorating x how is it with you? Tyler was brief:

Damage and casualties all surface ships x cowboys hove to x search birds roosting x Willowtrack making all available speed with two other subs to general area in- dicated by Semittante fix x

I took it to Peace on the bridge. They'll be here by morning,' he said. MKG stood silent by the wheel, his thoughts beyond the streaming windows, across the-storm-swept sea.

Semittante plunged into the night.

Two hours later, after Mac had reported that Semittante was taking in water through cracked bow plates, Peace altered course in complete darkness towards Love-Apple Crossing. As she swung round to take the sea astern, Semittante gave us a breath-stopping moment. A heavy sea broke aboard, carrying away the starboard boats and tearing the for'ard hatchway from its roaming. Tons of water poured in. Semittante lay over like a heeled cur; I thought she would never come up. Mac's voice in the voicepipe was fluent with profanity. He wasn't sure if the pumps could cope, he said. Boz's men and I tried to lash a tarpaulin over the shattered coamings, but it was torn from our hands and whirled away into the night. Bruised, with fingernails bleeding, we fought our way back to the bridge.

Chagos, Mauritius, St Brandon, Tromelin, and Chepe on

Agalega broadcast continuous cyclone warnings. It seemed that the eye of the storm still lay well to the east. Adele at my insistence tried to snatch some sleep on a rough couch I arranged in the radio shack. Peace, MKG, Andre and I kept the old ship alive while the launch team dozed fitfully in the chart-room. With the run of the sea and the wind astern, she made for her last resting-place.

When it was light enough to see at about eight o'clock the next morning, Boz brought us all hot cocoa and bully-beef sandwiches. We ate the rough fare hungrily. There was no sun, only a transparency in the grey, but the sea seemed somewhat easier. There was no sign of Bellatrix. I took Adele's ' breakfast' to her and she reported silence from the searchers, but the news bulletins were anything but silent: Moscow offered Soviet planes and tracking stations ' . n the interests of world peace '. The BBC said that if the kidnappers were British, they were unscrupulous adventurers who had assumed the name of one of Britain's most illustrious naval officers who was buried recently with full honours Ain the Sea of Limuria.' When Peace joined us, he saw in this an official disavowal of himself, but shrugged his shoulders and said it had happened to him before. Behind-the-scenes pressure must have been intense, for this disavowal was reinforced by an offer of the British missile-tracking cruisers Loch Vennachar and Loch Rannoch. But, it was added-and Peace saw in this the DNI's hand as a means of keeping the mission alive-these ships were at present storm-bound in the Seychelles. Speculation ran riot about the massive operation which the Seventh Fleet had mounted; Thornton's silence was attributed to security, not to the cyclone.

I felt uneasy in mKG's presence when we returned to the bridge and I was glad when Peace called me to the chartroom. What do you make of it, John?'

I studied our line of dead-reckoning pencillings on the chart which we had made during the night. We could be thirty miles any way.'

If you are remotely right, we should sight Love-Apple

Crossing about four or five hours from now.'

Sight!' I laughed ironically. ' Love-Apple Crossing is maybe half a mile long and a quarter broad. It's ten feet above sea level, with the exception of the northern end near Vingt-Cinq Coups. On a calm day you wouldn't sight it at ten miles; today, not at ten cables.

True,' he reflected. Nothing but a sandbank with some piddling little palms. But if we miss Love-Apple Crossing today, we could beat about for days looking for it. We have six days left to blast-off.'

Providing this old crate holds together.'

And she's leaking like a sieve,' he said. ' Mac's worried.

And if Mac's worried, the situation is critical.'

He turned back to the chart. So you think this is a lot of bull, John?'

Frankly, yes.'

' You really haven't a clue where we are?'

' I said so.'

What is the alternative?'

Andre. He has some peculiar built-in sea-sense which tells him things which even Tyler's radio sextants and inertial navigation wonders don't.

The triumph of spirit over science,' Peace said quietly.

Could be. Ask him, anyway.'

We stumbled on to the bridge as Semittante staggered over another wave. I fetched Adele from the radio shack. The news bulletins were ceaseless on the Vice-Presidential crisis. It seemed unreal that the man at the centre of the storm should be standing, unaware of the quick-fire of news, within 182 yards of it. Peace, I noted, had been careful always to be with me when I spoke to MKG.

When Adele, who was constrained with Peace, passed on our message to Andre the old fisherman, grey with fatigue from his long trick shared with MKG at the wheel, gestured for me to take the spokes. He went to the starboard bridge window.

He says, Love-Apple Crossing is out there. He thought you were bound for Agalega previously.'

' Could he find it?'

For the first time I saw Andre rattled. ' Of course, he knows exactly where the ship is. This is yellow tunny sea. The Japs fish them off the Saya de Malha, but this is their main route.'

Cut the fishing stuff,' retorted Peace. The strain of the night had told more on him than he showed outwardly. Tell him, we're lost. Will he take Semittanth to Love-Apple Crossing? If so, he's in command: Adele translated. Surprise and delight passed across the old man's face and he went forward and kissed Adele's hand with a gesture which I think must have been a survival of eighteenth-century French manners in Mauritius. He bowed to Peace and put his hand on MKG's shoulder. He spoke long and eloquently to Adele. She smiled and it lighted up her strange, lovely face.

At Agalega, he says, the children from La Fourche play on the beach with the rose and blue and carmine shells-shells which are found nowhere else in all Limuria. Chepe's wife is from the Amirante Isles and everyone knows that Amirante women are… are… how do you say, they see things…' '

Fey,' I supplied.

She smiled her thanks. Chepe's wife is fey. She reads fortunes in the shells. She told Andre that one day he would be the captain of a great ship, greater than any he had known. Now he thanks you because you have made it come true.'

Great ship!' sniffed Peace, but he smiled affectionately at the old fisherman.

' There is more,' went on Adele. ' He would never forgive me if I cut it short. This is a woman's fortune, he says, which may or may not be true. But-' she hesitated= he feels that the real captain of our spirits here is-' She nodded at MKG, The strain of the long night showed on mKG's face, too.

There was a rim of salt and dried sweat on his hair-line and his eyes were bloodshot.

MKG said, ' Tell him, Adele, tell him my mission.'

Peace said, Wait

MKG said, shaking his head, ' I want him to know.'

Adele explained, stumbling over the words. You see, there is no word for rocket or missile in Creole. I must try and explain it simply, in other terms.'

Andre still had his hand on MKG'S sleeve.

' Does he know we are being hunted?' asked MKG.

Adele replied, Yes, we are running like a school of frightened tunny with devil-fish after them.'

The old man bowed ceremoniously again to Peace and me and took the wheel. He swung Semittantes head about five degrees to starboard.

How soon does he think he will be at Love-Apple Crossing?' asked Peace.

' Early afternoon.'

We're back in the ranks, John,' Peace said with a faint glimmer of humour. Let's see what's on the air, Adele.'

' Let me know if there's anything-' began MKG, but

Boz Blair broke in with some technicalities about Little Bear and I was glad to escape from the bridge.

In the radio shack, Adele searched the air for signals from the Seventh Fleet. Again nothing but menacing stillness.

Peace listened expressionless to the newscasts about the crisis. Adele tried the Navy wavelength again. She stiffened at the call-sign.

It's Tyler!'

Peace and I read over her shoulder as she decoded.

Willowtrack to CIC x intercepted yacht Bellatrix position long. 60° E., lat. 10° 30' S.

The radio spluttered its reply and Adele went through the agonizing slow business of decoding.

CIC Blue Force to Willowtrack x is Vice-President in yacht? x

Willowtrack to CIC x no radio contact with Bellatrix x seas make boat contact impossible x yacht seems full of men x

CIC to Willowtrack x stick by that yacht fellah x

Willowtrack to CIC x you bet x closer than his shirt x no answer to my light signals x

CIC to Willowtrack x concentrate all forces Bellatrix area x where is Semittante x

Willowtrack to CIC x Bellatrix flag signal flies word Semittante x

CIC to Willowtrack x what hell's he playing at x

Willowtrack to CIC x closed yacht in heavy seas x trying 184 to get a man across x at least 20 men aboard Bellatrix x no sign Vice-President x

I could picture the scene: Tyler, frantic for information, jockeying the big sub, awash to her casings to give her maximum stability in the swells, as close as he dared to the strangely silent yacht. Despite everything, the thrill of the chase raced through my veins. I was half-glad, half-ashamed, that I had given my undertaking to Peace about MKG. Here it was:

Willowtrack to CIC x fired line from Willowtrack bridge x chief quartermaster volunteered to go across x difficult evolution but achieved it x with loudhailer says no sign of Vice-President x men all foreigners x unable to under- stand what they say except they repeat Semittante point- ing to themselves x

CIC to Willowtrack x what language x

Willowtrack to CIC x leader repeats du Plessis x

CIC to Willowtrack x du Plessis captain Semitumte x try French x I want that man x detach Shenandoah ex Red Force and bring him to me x

Peace whistled, but he became less tense. ' One less sub to hunt us.'

It's going to take the best part of today for Shenandoah to reach Blue Force and get du Plessis aboard Thornton's flagship,' I observed. He glanced keenly at me, still talking about the hunt in positive terms.

Adele said, Are you intending to show those messages to MKG?'

Peace gathered them up. ' Of course. These are operational. There's nothing in them about-the other side of the picture.'

All operational messages?' she insisted.

The smile didn't reach his eyes. Subject to my approval.' I feel pretty cheap standing next to the man with the knowledge I have-' I began.

Peace's tone hardened immediately. There's no point in discussing it further.'

Doesn't he want to signal the President again?' asked

Adele. After all, it's days still until the launch.'

' He mentioned it, but he realizes as well as we do what the consequences would be of a signal while they're hunting us.'

Hunt! Peace and I had risked death together in the past, both as the hunter and the hunted; despite myself, the thought surged up in my mind, what if Peace after all was right and the outcome of a successful mission would be worth 185 the immediate risks involved to the Vice-President? Peace had been right before when the whole world believed him w r o n g ' I'll take these to the bridge,' he said, picking up the signals. Adele listened gravely to me after he had gone when I told her of our past missions, of my mixture of feelings about

Little Bear and MKG. Before she could reply, a stream of signals started to go out to Red Force allocating them new dispositions. Shenandoah grumbled at being taken from the hunt to taxi Captain du Plessis. Thornton and Blue Force abandoned their previous search area and turned on a heading towards Bellatrix. Tyler ordered all his ships into the same area.

Peace had bought another day with his ruse.

By early afternoon the squalls started to increase in violence and frequency from the north-east. Semittante took a fearful beating. The gusts, catching the old ship under the bow, laid her under with a peculiar, sickening corkscrew motion. It was impossible to stand on the bridge without holding on; the hazard of the lifelines to the radio shack was more than real. Boz and his men risked their lives to check Little Bear's lashings. Semittantes deck was continuously awash in the violent cross-sea, which jounced and jerked, pummelled and hammered her. Three of the lifeboats hung smashed, but the cutter with its precious load was secure. I had demanded some jerrycans of petrol for its auxiliary engine from Mac-the tank, I found, was empty.

Tyler and Thornton were on the air without a break. Both

HUK forces were taking a tremendous hammering, they reported. Andre and MKG were fighting the wheel when I felt the tempo of Semittante's motion change-from the long, swooping dives with water pouring off the rusty bows to a quick, shuddering action. The bottom seemed to be dropping out of the barometer, which stood at 28.80 of mercury. We had run into a fearful cross-sea. On Peace's orders I brought

Adele to the bridge-we were afraid that the radio shack might be swept overboard.

Andre shouted above the din, `Love-Apple Crossing!'

Beyond the bridge visibility was down to about fify yards.

The sea was shrouded in spray; the summits of the waves were carried aloft bodily in a white shower of salt as high as a carrier's deck. It was a formidable, awe-inspiring sight. Adele translated. ' We are coming in from the east, straight towards the lagoon.'

' Where is it?' demanded Peace.

Andre pointed, but we could see nothing. Then, slightly to port, I caught a glimpse of a coconut tree bent like a whip on a low point of land.

There!' I yelled. 'That's it-look l'

Adele said, Vingt-Cinq Coups.

The flogging,' said MKG quietly, ' is coming to old Semit- tante.'

Trevor-Davis gave a thumbs-down sign to Pete the Texan.

Peace swallowed hard. Can Andre take her through the reef into the lagoon-in this?'

Andre's reply was grave. It is a very big ship and the pass is narrow.

Peace slowed the engines. ' It doesn't matter if she strikes, so long as we get her inside.'

Without warning, the wind cut.

Semittante lay in a vacuum of silence.

Adele grabbed me. John darling, what-?'

Cyclone centre,' replied Peace. We're dead in the heart of it. We're in the middle of the whirlpool: everything spins around creating a small patch in the very centre which is absolutely without movement. I've never seen it myself, though, until now.'

Our voices were loud, unnatural.

We waited-hours, it seemed, though it could not have been more than five minutes.

Then Adele said, Andre thinks he can take her in now.'

The narrow spit of land was a dirty grey compared to the fanged whiteness of the water. The reef was a horseshoe of wild surf. At Vingt-Cinq Coups was a small roofless hut and a strange square trellis of iron.

Peace said, That axe, John; we may have to cut the cutter clear if we strike. Boz, slack off that wire cable round Little Bear. I'll be here at the wheel with Andre. As soon as we get inside the lagoon, get up for'ard with Pete Allingham and knock the shackle out of the anchor cable. I want everyone else in the cutter, ready. Then get below and open the sea-cocks with Mac. Adele, I want you with me.'

She hesitated and looked deep into my eyes. Hers told me all I wanted to know.

I went for'ard with the big Texan. The unnatural quiet persisted. Twice I was thrown to the deck as the cross-sea dealt the old tramp a quick left-right to the jaw and water swept across the deck.

The bows swung high. I looked down into the entrance race.

I saw the coral-head too late.

Andre's course was slightly off centre in the reef passage. I yelled frantically, gesturing. The bow paused-plunged down-on to the dagger of coral.

The crash and scream of metal threw me hard against the deck. Up she came to impale herself again, but the bow swung away and the second strike was only glancing. She limped clear, tired to death, her head starting to droop. Then the sea quietened-we were through!

Pete and I clouted the inch-thick anchor shackle. Once twice. It gave and the anchor fell in a shower of sparks.

I ran for the engine-room while Pete made for the cutter. '

Mac!'

It was as quiet as a cathedral, except for the ominous sound of water flooding in.

' Mac!'

' Here!'

I dropped into the shaft, up to my knees in sea-water. Mac fought to open the rusty sea-cock. We threw our combined weight on the heavy wrench and it gave, water spurting over us. We raced on deck, making for the boat. Andre was speaking rapidly, pointing seawards. Semittante was settling at an awkward angle, making the launching of the cutter difficult. She could not be cut clear now-she would simply smash herself against the steel side.

I jumped into the boat. An icy spear of fear went through me. Adele was missing!

I clutched the fall and swung myself back on deck.

' For Christ's sake!' yelled Peace. ' She's going down like a stone-'

Semittante gave a lurch.

' Adele!' I screamed above the din. I sprinted up the sloping planks, hauled myself bodily up a steel ladder, and propelled myself to the radio shack by hauling myself along the ropes of the lifeline I had rigged. I kicked once, twice, at the shack's door, which had jammed from the angle of the sinking ship.

' Adele!'

She sat at the radio, headphones on, and stared unseeingly. For a moment, I thought she was dead.

' The ship's sinking-any moment-come, for God's sake!'

She seemed to come back from a great distance. Silently she pushed across the transcript of a newscast. It was headed Voice of America.

It read: Flash. The White House announces that the Pre- sident has suffered a severe stroke. His condition gives rise to the gravest anxiety.