Assassin

50

Oslo is sheltered by a belt of islands, stretching the full width of Oslo fjord, just south of the city. Tyzack's pilot headed straight for the shelter of the nearest island, flying low and getting into its lee, so that the helicopter could not be seen from the mainland. He flew slowly, creeping between the outcrops of land until he reached the fjord's main shipping channel. That was when he saw the massive hull of the Queen of Jutland, to the right of his aircraft, steaming towards him from the north.

The light was fading now and it had started to rain, making the visibility still worse. So it took the pilot a couple of seconds to spot the RIB coming up behind the ferry's stern, and a few more to realize that whoever was driving the boat wasn't going to miss the Queen of Jutland. In fact, he was… well, for a moment it looked like he might be trying to board it.

'Take a look down there, boss,' he said to Tyzack, pointing towards the ocean. 'There's some bloke on an RIB playing silly buggers. Total bloody lunatic.'

Tyzack rolled his eyes and then, like a parent indulging an attention-seeking child, did as the pilot asked.

He looked down towards the ferry.

And that was when he burst out laughing.