Hunter Killer

7 THE MAN FROM ANACOSTIA

Up periscope!'

With a cheerful hiss, the long barrel slid up from the well of the ship. Peace snicked down the hinged handles and looked into the eyepiece.

It was three days later. We had made our rendezvous-St Brandon. Four hundred miles to the north-east lay the Saya de Malha.

Fifty feet,' reported the diving officer.

All stop,' ordered Peace. There were great shadows under his eves. He seemed never to have left the Control Centre during the long plot of an ocean-bottom contour chart of 81

Saya de Malha. The abstruse technicalities of it had kept at bay the foreboding which grew in my mind as we approached the rendezvous. Peace still refused to aliow Adele to do a radio stint. She had been listless, almost a prisoner in the tiny cabin, but during the long hours of her company one thing was clear and I would have traded away Little Bear for it: her deep and growing affection for me.

There had been no signals from the DNI, nothing to indicate that Willowtrack was converging on the remote reef to meet us. The isolation of being 500 feet beneath the widest ocean in the world, completely alone, preyed on my mind, shadowing my anticipation of the coming meeting with the Vice-President and making it seem unreal.

On Peace's curt order the needlepoint of light under the glass-topped chart table slowed, halted.

It was scarcely necessary for Peace or myself to consult it, since we had drawn the chart ourselves during our trip from Mauritius to the Seychelles in his yacht. It seemed years away now. The great boomerang-shaped reef of St. Brandon, twenty-six miles long and five wide, narrows at both extremities and is broadest northwards, diminishing to less than a mile in the south. Inside its enclosing horns are 22 islands and islets, all on the western side of the main reef. The islands are ludicrously small-even Raphael, which has a permanent population of little over a hundred, is less than half a mile long and a few hundred yards wide.

' Like a look?' Peace asked.

I adjusted the focus lever, blinking at the bright sunlight. The day was brilliant. It seemed impossible to distinguish where the china-blue sky began and the china-blue sea ended. Dead ahead were two islets, no more than sandbanks, a strip of yellow sand, a few coconut palms, a millrace of water between them, back-dropped against a high misty curtain of spray which stretched out of sight westwards as 'far as the eye could see-the great St Brandon reef. Over this immense and awesome natural barrier the open ocean pounded and thundered, throwing spray high into the air, to be caught by the trade wind and flung far across the coral barrier.

A big shoal of fish tore for the shelter of the reef, and above it, like a tenacious carrier attack squadron, hung grey noddy birds, sooty terns, startlingly white love terns and white tropic birds. Majestic and deadly, echelons of broad-spanned frigate birds crash-dived the mass to snatch a tasty morsel. The sunlight flickered, flashed, reflected off the wheeling birds and the churned-up sea; it turned to pale pink and rose against the two islets; and then blurred into a breath-taking gauze of reds, violets, yeliows, greens and blues as the seaspray separated out the colours of the spectrum. Delicate as a water-colour, the tiny twin islands of Big Capitaine and Little Capitaine-our rendezvous-point with Willowtrack- stood out against the spume-filled mist.

I drew back from the exquisite scene in the periscope. Peace was at the radar repeater. Its eerie green glow reflected his face as the electronic sweep revolved. Anything yet?' he asked.

No, sir. Nothing yet. Plenty of land echoes.'

Report any moving target immediately.'

Aye aye, sir.'

Peace glanced briefly into the eyepiece.

No sign yet of Willowtrack,' he said. ' But-' glancing at his watch= we are ahead.'

He went on, Let's get some fresh air. Down periscope!' A flick of the periscope jockey's hand on the hydraulic oil control and the steel tube slid out of sight.

Stand by to surface!'

Like a spring released, men went into action.

All vents shut, sir, ready to surface,' reported the diving officer.

The surface alarm-klaxon sounded three times.

Peace said, Blow all ballast.'

Surface, surface, surface!' said the loudspeakers.

Peace checked the control-room barometer after the lowpressure blower had taken a suction on the ship. Open the hatch!'

The rating spun the handles of the locking dogs and opened the vault-like cover. Peace, as was his prerogative, was first out. I waited for the bridge personnel before I squeezed out. The fresh air on the trade was moist. salty, satisfying, after the sterile dryness of Devastation's interior, but with it was the fishy, deep-water smell which a submarine gathers after long submersion.

Here was the full beauty of Big Capitaine and Little Capitaine: both were miniature replicas of a hundred other islands in Limuria. Flanked by yeliow and rose coral, the lagoon of each islet stood out like a green gem set in the deeper circle of the blue sea. The illusion of a ring setting which sprang into my mind was enhanced by the platinumwhite reflection of the sun glancing off the restless water as it surged and plunged through the pass between the two islets. Limuria's daylight dreams; night-time and the trades breathe 83 with a curious rise and fall through the palms and scrub thickets and in the distance is always the sea, eternally burnishing the coral for the next day's loveliness. Peace called out, Take a look there, John.'

He pointed at the hull. The forward bank of stabilizers, like projecting bollards, were twisted aside.

Devil-fish. There, too.'

Paint was stripped raw to the hull. A ragged fringe, curled and blackened along ^the casing, marked where the monster had lain.

Peace added, He took a bit of Devastation for a souvenir, too.'

About six feet of bridge handrail was missing.

' What do you really think it was?' I asked.

He shrugged. ' Devil-fish-that's good enough, I suppose.'

Finding it difficult to shake off my uneasiness, I said, '

These are coelacanth waters. God knows what else they conceal.'

He looked round the gentle scene and then his eyes moved to the south, from which Willowtrack would come.

From what I've heard about Tyler,' I said, it would have been better to have told him everything.'

' No,' retorted Peace. More than enough people know. Look at the leak. Look at the intruder-and this business of my funeral.'

Are you going to tell Tyler straight from the shoulder that from St Brandon onwards his part of the mission is accomplished?'

Peace looked uncomfortable. ' I'll play it by ear when we meet.'

The metallic voice of the speaker cut in. ' Bridge-Control!

Possible radar contact bearing one-six-zero degrees!'

Peace snapped the knob of the bridge command speaker.

Control-Bridge. Keep and log ranges. Any sonar contact?'

None, sir,' came the answer. The reef's in the way.'

We searched the quadrant of sea with our binoculars, but it was obstructed by the blowing spray.

Contact now bears one-seven-zero true, moving right..

' It must be Willowtrack,' said Peace, coming round the point.'

Contact not evaluated,' droned the radar-man. Approximate course two-seven-five degrees. Approximate speed sixteen knots.'

Control-Bridge,' said Peace. Report immediately you evaluate contact.'

Range twelve thousand yards, closing'

Bridge-Control-sonar reports, probably a submarine.'

The radar-man said, ` Contact closing rapidly, course now three-five-zero degrees..

Sonar reports contact evaluated as submarine.'

She's up!' exclaimed Peters. He became formal. BridgeControl-submarine, range eight thousand yards and steady.'

Contact now bears two-two-zero true,' droned the radarman. A long black shape came into sight round the reef, riding low, her sail half awash, and the identification numbers painted out.

The bridge speaker said, Message coming in, sir' `

Send it up,' ordered Peace.

He glanced at it. Brickbat Zero One! That's Willowtrack all right.' He turned the slip over and scrawled a combination of code letters for transmission.

The sub rounded the point and then, as if reassured, she shook the sea clear of her casing and came swiftly across the anchorage. A churn of white at her stern, and she anchored. Within minutes, the rubber dinghy was in the water and

Peace and I were being rowed across to Willowtrack. Halfway, I looked back. 'Never had the Bay of the Two Capitaines seen such an array of naval power. The two lean black shapes offset the fairy colours of the breaking spray.

A capless figure in faded sea-going khaki looked down from

Willowtrack's paint-scuffed bridge. Despite the cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth, it was easy to see in those strong features where the command lay. There was about him that inherent air of anticipation, of intuition, which stamps a great sub skipper. This was the famous Revs Tyler.

You Devastation?'

The question was rhetorical, but a menace underlay it, had we not been.

Aye,' called Peace. ' No reception committee, I see.'

Tyler leaned over and grinned lopsidedly, the cigar in his teeth. I could see the ripple of muscle at the base of his neck. We got everything pointed at you,' he said. There was no laughter in the long-drawn vowels.

It was the sort of finger-on the trigger attitude which Peace respected. It was reflected in his voice as he called back, I was all ready to pull the plug if you didn't add up.'

Revs tugged the cigar from his mouth and gestured widely round the bay. Right on the nose with the navigation we've split this dump in two. Now come on in.'

Tyler had a new cigar in his mouth when we reached the bridge. His handshake was like iron. ' Glad to have you aboard,' he said. ' Glad to get a breath of fresh air, too thirty-six days submerged. Nearest we got to the surface was periscope depth for the White House messages. And-' he indicated the cigar-' whatever the General Dynamics guys say, they can't make a cigar taste the same below as in the open air.' He took a large breath of the fresh, cool air. '

Boy, if anyone sleeps better than me tonight, he's drunk.'

I wondered after what we had to tell him. Still, I knew how he felt. Submarine air is like drinking stilled water aseptic, safe. Even the cook aboard a nuclear sub falls under the whip of pure air restrictions and cannot use lard, for instance, because it gives off acrolein, which is an eye irritant. No aerosol sprays, either-because of the gas they contain.

I'm Peace-Commander Geoffrey Peace,' Peace said.

This is John Garland.'

The American looked at me penetratingly. It was a strong face, tough, without the cruel lines round Peace's mouth. If he had every weapon pointed at you, it flashed across my mind, he wasn't the man to jib at using them, if he thought it necessary.

Tyler inclined his head slightly. 'Hi, Geoff, hi, John.'

But he still stared at me. The morning's pretty well shot,' he added. Let's get below, much as I hate to, but we can't talk up here. MKG'S waiting.'

Peace nodded perfunctorily and Tyler led us below. If I had been uneasy before, I was more so now after meeting Tyler. His integrity and loyalty to the Vice-President were obvious.

Peace, too, was tense as we entered Willowtrack's Control Centre. It was airier and lighter than Devastation's, but that seemed about all. The steel-walled compartment, the instrument consoles, the diving-stand, the soft whirr of machinery, were all the same. But the tight groups of men, taut, alert, were not. Peace nodded towards them. Action stations?'

`Relax, fellahs-,' said Tyler informally. ' It's okay. Break it up.' He turned to a stocky officer. You have the deck and the conn, Lou. I'm going aft. We'll take time out to let these guys get some fresh air topsides. Call me if there's anything.'

With this sub skipper's time-honoured injunction on handing over, we threaded our way through to Tyler's cabin. For the first time in my life I felt a shut-in feeling in a sub; the steel walls did not seem big enough to contain our anxieties and our secret.

Tyler remained distant. He kicked the cabin door closed,

turned his back on us, picked up a phone and spoke in to it. MKG? The Limeys are here.' As the instrument crackled, he turned and looked hard at Peace. Sure, sure, he says his name is Peace. No, I dunno the guy. But the code reply was in order-Brickbat Zero One.' He put down the phone. `

The way MKG feels about Commander Geoffrey Peace, he'd give him a command in the United States Navy itself.'

His voice had a curious edge to it, and his use of the third person instead of speaking directly to Peace, left me wondering. Was the famous skipper jealous of the Vice-President's regard for the bright star of another Navy?

I am Commander Peace,' said Peace evenly.

Yeah, oh yeah,' said Tyler in the same tone. He paused for a moment, but neither of us spoke. Then, as if to cover up his unfriendliness, he said quickly. I don't as a rule hold with vips in my ship, but MKG is different.' He shrugged as if he realized he was just talking. Anyhow, you guys don't want me to give my own Vice-President the soft sell, but MKG sure has a way with him. My navigator's Chuck Wilson MKG shares a cabin with him, wouldn't hear of taking over mine. That's the kind of guy he is. Chuck's a whiz when it comes to figures, but MKG has him beat. Somehow-don't ask me how-we began to get some drift in the gyros of the analogue computer. Who fixes it?-mkg;!' He gave me an acute glance, sensing my confusion. You familiar with these ships?'

` No,' I said.

Again the tight scrutiny. 'I see. Well. there's seventeen thousand transistors, thirty-nine thousand diodes and forty thousand circuits in the system-'

A dockyard job,' said Peace.

Tyler's pride was touched. I guess there are at least thirty-five American nuclear subs on station in all oceans of the world at this moment,' he said with a thin smile. The u.s. Navy doesn't care for dockyards when they can do the job at sea.'

Peace and I exchanged glances. Tyler was certainly not making it any easier for us.

But in this case.' he went on, ' I'd say Willowtrack needed the whole goddam' Massachusetts Institute of Technology! But MKG fixed it and we hit St Brandon right on the barrel-head.'

He gave a short laugh, the first touch of warmth that had come into his conversation. He and Chuck Wilson talk, but what in hell they say, don't ask me.'

I said. ` Well, he's one of the great scientists.'

Somehow, the remark seemed off-key.

' Sure, sure,' replied Tyler briefly. Just that.'

Our voices fell dead. In the silence we could hear the chatter of the off-duty men on the casing above.

Tyler pushed across a box of Phillies Bonanzas and Peace took one.

Willow track's poison,' he remarked, glancing towards the door, as if anxious that MKG should not come in on us sitting silent. I tried putting out the crew's smoking lamp for a week once-medical experiment. It lowered everyone's morale so much that I stopped it after three days. I must say, though, I wouldn't mind a Jack Daniels at this moment. But the urge goes, once you can't get it.'

American ships still dry?' asked Peace noncommittally.

Tyler frowned, as if wanting to take exception to any remark. Sure, always have been. Always will be. Keeps the crew fit. And the fittest of all is MKG-punchball, medicine ball, Relaxicizor-the lot. You'd think he was training for the World Series.

Well, he's an astronaut-' I began, but the words froze as

Peace glanced at me. I'd forgotten-Tyler knew nothing of the space-flight to Sante Fe! All he knew was that MKG was to test a secret weapon.

The look was not lost on Tyler.

Then the American skipper said casually, What's the news – topsides?'

I saw Peace's momentary hesitation-he had been in the headlines for days-and then he replied, Usual. Nothing you'd want to look up for reference.'

Tyler seemed to relax a little. Fine. You know, this past week I've been lying awake nights and thinking what if some sonofabitch had mashed the tit and started a shooting war, and here I am cruising five hundred feet under the sea not knowing a word about it?'

I felt the sweat on my palms, but Peace said levelly, You were in touch with the White House every day.'

Twenty-four hours between signals,' answered Tyler. The Whole U.S.A. could be in ruins before I knew.'

I said gravely, Then you'd be the only fighting unit left in the world. You'd carry the decisive factor in your Sherwood Forest.'

Uh-huh,' Tyler replied noncommittally, looking again towards the door. MKG seemed a long time in coming. No news, eh? Well, that's good, because if there's anything my crew likes, it's news. News. They must have it. Normally on a deep-water mission I put up a radio antenna and tape it up. Then we play it back in the mess hall when the crew comes 88 off watch, but on this mission-' he swung his bulk aggressively to and fro= no dice. Strict orders. White House signal at sunset only. Not even a news flash. Nothing to fill the ship's newspaper except the same old corn, and you get pretty tired of that after a while. After all-' he seemed to be talking just to study us and our reactions= I'm editor-in-chief. I get sick of my own corn. Just about as sick as the boys do with the same old movies. We play 'em over and over. They speak the parts, they know them so well-run 'em into the ground, funning around-'

There was a light tap at the door.

Come in!' called Tyler.

Peace and I swung round. As the door opened, a thrill passed through me. I can still smell the acrid aroma of Tyler's cigar and see the tiny pastel-green cabin in sharp focus: the gyro repeater, speed indicator and depth gauge at the foot of the bunk; four telephones; a brace of speakers; the greenish-moon reflection off the bottom of the snicked-up Pullman washbasin; the grey metal lockers; the utilitarian desk.

MKG stood in the entrance.

He wore the same sea-going, washed-out khaki as Tyler. He was much the same build and had to stoop to enter. The face was long, the jaw badly shaven, squarer than Tyler's. It lacked the captain's rangy, weather-beaten look. But there was no mistaking its power, its determination, its command. Black hair, submarine-cut, receded slightly at the temples. As he came forward, he screwed up his eyes like a sailor viewing a far horizon. The regular line of his teeth showed as he went forward and gripped Peace's hand.

His look was questioning, though, when he shook me strongly by the hand, as if to try and place me in the Little Bear project.

John Garland,' explained Peace. One of the finest navigators afloat. He's coming with us.'

We don't need a navigator,' said Tyler curtly. With this ship's instruments, I can find anything, anywhere. My instrumentation's better than any Limey sub's. MKG said quietly, The inertial navigation-it's one hundred per cent now, Revs.' He, too, seemed to be seeking neutral ground. I checked it over. The gyros and accelerometers are just dandy now.'

He hadn't Revs's long drawl, but a quicker, shorter accent, reminding me of President Kennedy's when I had heard him broadcast.

Tyler tried to soothe the unease in the cabin. Coffee? It's 89 the one thing we never run short of. Navy Nectar.' He picked up the intercom. MKG'S eyes were on Peace, waiting for him to make the opening.

Tyler went on. They're always trying out new shapes of coffee makers to see which gives the best-we've had cylinder shapes, round, square, even a triangular one with a shot of cream from a gadget in the side.'

It was MKG himself, however, who started the ball rolling.

He looked penetratingly at Peace. ' Is Semittante safe, Commander?'

Are we to start talking shop right from first base before the coffee comes?' asked Tyler.

The rapport between MKG and Peace was clear to see. I felt like a supernumerary, especially in the light of Tyler's antagonism towards me.

Semittante refuelled, in Mauritius and left on schedule,'

Peace replied. We should pick her up according to plan.'

The platitudes were not lost on Tyler. He frowned. See here, I got personal orders from the Secretary for the Navy himself. The Vice-President of the United States is entrusted to my special care. That cargo of mine is more explosive than a salvo of Polaris missiles. I mean to keep it that way. I don't go for cryptograms like that.'

It happens to be my responsibility to test-fire Little Bear, Revs,' said MKG levelly. I don't have to remind you that you are under my orders.'

Tyler looked truculent. I know my orders. I have to rendezvous with the British submarine Devastation at St Brandon, Indian Ocean. If she answers the code signal Brickbat. Zero One, she's okay. If not-' His smile was icy. She did. All I know is that I am to receive a new briefing from this point onwards.'

The prickly American skipper went on, as if he had been waiting to have his say: I can't make out why the Limeys have to come in on this mission at all. It's an American missile, a United States project and, goddam it, we've shown ourselves quite capable of looking after ourselves in two wars over seven seas.'

MKG remained unruffled at his outburst. Little Bear is a joint American-British effort. Revs. The motor, the key to the whole thing, is British-sNAP. It's good, or else I wouldn't be sitting here half-way across the world from the United States to prove the missile.'

Davis and Acton-' began Tyler. mkgs voice took on a strange resonance. I'm glad you mentioned them; it's just the sort of tragedy that SNAP can 90 prevent in future. Davis and Acton could have homed okay if they hadn't lost their power at the critical moment. Here is something you and the rest of the world haven't yet heard, Revs: as you know, Davis and Acton went into a shaliow orbit round the earth on their return from the moon. When the power from their solar cells started to fail, there was no chance of a space-liaise with Santa Fe and they knew it was only a matter of time before they were cremated in the earth's atmosphere. I spoke to Davis before his radio finally packed up. Know what he said? " It's not the thought that we are going to die so soon-it's pretty beautiful up here but that we nearly made home base. We would have done, except for the power." I tried to get him again, but the radio was dead. Dead, Revs, for want of the sort of power SNAP can give the next generation of missiles.' He added slowly, Davis and Acton were dead, too.'

A steward tapped and came in carrying coffee in the traditional United States Navy blue-trimmed crockery. The wait while he set out the cups seemed endless. How would Peace break the news to Tyler that the operation from St Brandon onwards would exclude him?

The steward went and Tyler poured coffee. He said impatiently, ' I don't want to gripe about security arrangements, but this whole thing seems a bit lopsided to me. First, we send Little Bear out in a French freighter. The u.s. Navy is quite capable of flying it out and looking after it en route. Or I could have brought it out myself in one of

Willowtrack's Polaris silos.'

That would have meant too many others being brought into the know on the project,' said MKG. No, the fewer people who are aware of Little Bear, the better. This was very carefully thought out. Semittante was the best and most unobtrusive way to transport Little Bear.'

Tyler rode the rebuke. ' I get a new briefing from St Brandon onwards. From whom? Where do we go for the test-fire?'

MKG, I'd like a word with you alone,' said Peace.

Tyler reddened. "This is my ship and I'm in sole command. Anything you have to say can be said in front of me. Nothing behind my back.'

Peace checked his anger. Very well. The plan has been changed because there has been a security leak. There is a new schedule from St Brandon onwards. MKG comes with, me in Devastation.'

The hell he does,' snapped Tyler. Just like that. You give me the orders. The Vice-President comes with me. 91

He glared at us and thumped the table with his fist. ' I take my orders from the United States Navy. On this mission, I take 'em only from the Secretary for the Navy. I don't aliow the Vice-President to go off with two Limeys who come aboard my ship and say the plan is changed, the Vice-President comes with us. Nor do I like the look of a submarine with her identification numbers painted out and her sail damaged!'

We ran into a devil-fish in the Saya de Malha!' said

Peace.

Fish!' snorted Tyler. Don't give me that bull!'

You can check-' began Peace, but Tyler would not listen. What happens to Willowtrack?'

You go home,' said Peace roughly. ' Your job's done.'

MKG stood up between the two tough skippers. Sit down, both of you,' he said. There was steel beneath his quiet tones. Order some more coffee, Revs,' he went on. We all need it.'

Tyler picked up an intercom. ' Dan! Come here-damn' quick!'

I told you to order coffee; Dan's the radio operator,' intervened MKG.

Tyler picked up one of the plastic coffee spoons which had fallen on the table. He jabbed it down on the surface. The snap of its shaft sounded like a pistol shot. He swept his hand towards the intercoms.

I got four telephones and two speakers,' he said tightly. I can pick up anyone. I can signal anyone, anywhere, in the world. I can start a nuclear war with that one, see? I am the captain, a Navy captain entrusted with the responsibility of the person of the Vice-President of the United States, and I don't buck my duty. And I don't simply hand over the Vicepresident to two guys who come aboard without credentials, from a suspicious ship.'

Willowtrack's crew certainly knew how to jump when they heard that note in Tyler's voice, for before MKG could reply, Dan had arrived. The boy looked scared.

Dan,' ordered Tyler. Send this signal-'

MKG stopped him. Revs, I am the Vice-President'

Sure, sure,' replied Revs. ' It's a responsibility I take seriously.'

No signals whatsoever are to be sent until I authorize them,' said MKG. Get that, Dan?'

The boy glanced uncertainly from mKG to Tyler. Yes, sir,

I mean, Mister Vice-President.'

'Get out!' snapped Tyler. Get the hell outa here!'

Dan fled.

I admired the superb command MKG had over himself

It was he who had taken over the situation, now.

Coffee!' he ordered.

Tyler picked up a phone, never taking his eyes from MKG.

In a moment, it seemed, fresh coffee was on the table. Tyler kicked the door shut.

Now ?' said MKG, turning to Peace.

The CIA got wind of our plan, somehow. They put a man on to tag me.' I nodded confirmation of this cryptic account. ' So the DNI decided it was safer to change the plans. I picked John up at sea, left no trail.'

' I can't accept a statement like that,' said Tyler stubbornly. '

I don't know either of you from a wave in the ocean.'

God's truth!' exploded Peace. At this stage I can't go into a round-by-round explanation. You have my word for it. That's why I wanted to consult alone with MKG. He'll vouch for me.'

I only take orders from the United States Navy,' repeated Tyler, the cigar clamped in his teeth. I want proof and documentation before I aliow MKG to leave my ship.'

MKG glanced quickly at Peace, whose anger at Tyler had begun to flare. Revs,' he said, Little Bear is more than a mere missile project. It is the ultimate weapon which will put us-the United States and Britain-way out ahead of any other nation for a decade at least. It's so good that I am going for a space-ride in Little Bear. This mission is not a simple test-fire. I am blasting off to Santa Fe in Little Bear.'

The colour drained from Tyler's face. He rose, sat down heavily again, and started to spoon sugar into his coffee, staring into the strong liquid.

The ultimate weapon, Revs.'

Peace gave a slight shudder. Perhaps the scar of the DNI's briefing in the blood-and-oil days of war would never heal, for him.

Tyler did not seem to hear. He stirred his coffee unseeingly. This thing has bucked me,' he said at last, ' I won't say it hasn't.' He looked up at MKG. I gotta Mark One eyeball check I'm speaking to the Vice-President, a top scientist of our age. Or else I'd think some boot seaman was razzing me with a phoney news item in the ship's newspaper. He says, I'm blasting off into space. To Santa Fe. In Little Bear. Experimental missile. Untested-'

The tough skipper stood up mechanically and sat down, automatically dumping more sugar into his coffee. MKG went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

Tyler jerked up, brushing aside MKG'S hand and facing him. '

The Vice-President test-fire an experimental missile and go to Santa Fe! We know you got the spellout, MKG: Anacostia. Naval Research Lab. And a great guy. But no Vice-President of mine goes on a space-ride in an experimental missile

– not while Revs Tyler is around. The safety of the VicePresident of the United States is my responsibility and I won't duck it.' His hand went out to the intercom.

Revs!' The power in the controlled tones stopped Tyler. '

I ordered you not to touch that phone.'

Tyler's hand wavered uncertainly and then fell back. The four of us were so close round the tiny table that I could smell the detergent from their sea-khaki, blended with the aftermath of the pungent Pinnies. It did not seem incongruous that MKG, in direct line for the Presidency, should wear drab khaki-in all the long line of Presidents there had been men in the garb of lawyers, doctor, businessmen, farmer, soldier, clergyman, artisan, and at that moment MKG symbolized our age, the space age. His was the ascetic raiment of science, the technocrat risen to the highest political rank and now seeking to set a seal on the new hierarchy by a voyage into the far-flung spaces of the heavens.

There was a curious, luminous light in the Vice-President's eyes. Little Bear is not only a question of justifying a supreme missile,' he told Tyler. It is also a question of justifying the spirit of the age-my age, the age of science.'

I'm not with you,' muttered Tyler.

I am the supreme representative of the new American technocratic society,' replied MKG. In the age of science, science's top representative and the American people have chosen me as that. Science must be at the helm; therefore I have to make the flight to Santa Fe!'

In an experimental missile!' burst out Tyler.

MKG went on quickly, Von Braun, the father of American rocketry, had the same basic idea way back in the fifties, namely, a sea-based missile. Von Braun's was rough-andready-pontoons in the water, the missiles to be sown like mines round the enemy's shores. But the seed-idea was there and it ripened-' he swung on Peace= in the brain of that remarkable old man, the DNI. Little Bear is the ultimate weapon.'

There was a pause so intense that again I could hear the cheerful voices of the crew on the casing above as they rejoiced in the sunlight.

Tyler stood up, his eyes hard. ' I don't buy it,' he said curtly. Nor would the American people. The office of President-and you are part of it-is one of the three bastions on which the Constitution rests. See Revs Tyler shooting off part of his heritage into space!'

We are only as great as we are to our inward vision,' said MKG. Remember that, Revs.'

Tyler raked the coal of his cigar across the ashtray and then threw it into the trash basket under the desk. He lit " another as automatically. Peace sat like a coiled spring. From the casing came the shout of a swimmer and the thump of his body against Willowtrack's hull.

Tyler looked from Peace to myself. Two Limeys-why bring them into it? Two Limeys I don't even know!'

"The motor is British-SNAP,' MKG repeated, his voice tinged with asperity. I don't have to explain it all again.'

Tyler wheeled on Peace and me, his face livid. 'That's what burns me up-two Limeys!' he shouted. It's not your goddam' Vice-President! What do you care if he's burnt to hell in a test-missile!'

' Sit down, shut up!' retorted Peace. He turned to mkg. '

My dinghy's waiting. Let's get aboard Devastation. Don't forget to bring your code so that we can signal the White

House at sunset.'

Tyler grabbed Peace by the shoulder. Who are you to order me and MKG around, fellah?'

Peace shook himself free and MKG interjected, ' You know the set-up with Commander Peace, Revs'

' You say you know this guy, but who in hell is this?' He indicated me. You didn't know him, did you, until now?'

MKG was on his feet, too, an angry light in those strange eyes. I know Commander Peace and anyone he vouches for I trust!'

But I don't!' came back Tyler. ' See here, this whole thing stinks to me. And when this guy says, bring along the White House code, it stinks more!'

MKG looked dangerous. Revs, as Vice-President I order y o u – '

I'm signalling the President direct,' replied Tyler. I dunno the original plan you talk about. I dunno the changes. I dunno this sonofabitch freighter's course, even. I thought all along there was something crook about a French ship carrying an American classified weapon. I don't like the look 95 of that sub across the bay. I don't like taking orders from anyone but the Secretary for the Navy, leastways this guy.'

He picked up the empty coffee-pot, tried to pour from it, and with an oath tossed it away, consoling himself with yet another cigar and glaring at us.

The essence of this mission is secrecy,' said MKG. If you signal, you destroy it.'

Tyler paused and then reached across for an intercom before MKG could intercept him.

Bridge-Captain! Clear the casing! Clear the bridge!

Rig for diving!'

MKG wrenched Tyler round to face him. ' I ordered y ou--!'

The alarm-klaxon brayed its mournful note, a double blast, through the ship. The thudding of feet overhead and the slam of steel doors foliowed.

Tyler put down the phone. He was in full command. ' You said-sure. But who are these guys? I'm taking no chances. I' m a Navy captain and I know my duty, and that duty is to the person of the Vice-President and the office of President of the United States. Santa Fe! It needs no speliout what it would mean when the world heard what a sucker Revs Tyler had been!'

' You are an American officer. I order you to put me aboard Devastation!'

There was no wavering or hesitation about Tyler. His voice was hard, his face strained with the weight of the decision he had taken. My duty is to protect the VicePresident with every means at my disposal-and that means I' d even set the birds flying to start a shooting war' He wrenched a key similar to Peace's from around his neck. If the Vice-President is going to Santa Fe, he is going in an allAmerican missile with American scientists under the eyes of the American people. If. That's as maybe, depending on a lot of things which ain't my concern. But it ain't gonna be this way.'

' You've talked a lot about your responsibility, now listen to mine,' said MKG. The condition on which I came on this mission was that during the outward leg of the voyage to St Brandon I would be in radio touch every day at sunset with the President at the White House. Anything could happen during such a long voyage. From St Brandon on wards things will be different. I'll be in friendly waters. close to the British base at Mahe. The arrangement from now on is that I'll signal regularly to the President through the DNI. It won't be the tight daily schedule because, if there is 96 anything I should know, the President will inform the DNI, and he can be in immediate touch with me. It's safer, too, at this distance from home, to use the British land-based communications facilities than a sub's radio.'

This is a United States sub and we're quite capable of looking after the Vice-President-' Tyler broke in angrily.

MKG ignored the interruption. ' If anything-anythingwere to arise during my absence from the United States which in the opinion of the President necessitated my abandoning the Santa Fe space shot, I would drop it here and now,' he said forcefully. He underlined each word, his, eyes going from Tyler to Peace in turn. "That is a basic condition of Little Bear. I know my duty to my office and to the American people as well if not better than you, Revs. So far nothing has cropped up to reverse the original plan, but if it did, I assure you I would call it off. The President and I both believe in this ultimate new weapon and I intend to prove its worth. We have had to resort to these unorthodox ways, but we feel them justifiable because of the supreme value of Little Bear to the free world.'

Tyler looked more rangy than ever. ' I'm taking this ship down,' he said doggedly. I'll use your sunset time to signal the President-direct.'

' You won't!' said MKG. Only two people know the code

– the White House and myself.'

Tyler shrugged. I'll send a signal en clair, then. I want this whole thing straight in my mind-from the President before I aliow you to go walking off with these two-two-'

He glared at us in unconcealed hostility.

As soon as this ship is ready-this is a crack Gold Crew and it takes less than three minutes-I intend to submerge to periscope depth. As a start, I'll signal Submarine Headquarters in New London.'

The loudspeaker blared metallically. All dear topside!

The ship is rigged for dive and compensated, Captain!'

Admiration chased the anger for a moment from Peace's face. By any standards, it was some going.

An intercom buzzed. Tyler answered in monosyllables, but his face darkened. Bring it through Dan-damn' quick!'

He turned on Peace, his face livid. So you're on the level, are you, Mister Goddam' Commander Peace l-while your sub tried to jam my radio!'

It was Peace's turn to look astonished. He swung on MKG.

Tyler picked up an intercom. Stand by to dive! Periscope depth! I'll come through and take the conn.

Dan came and retreated quickly at the sight of our faces.

Tyler read the signal, looked round at us, unspeaking, reread it. His mouth was like iron.

He addressed MKG. You say you know this guy.' Re jerked his head at Peace. Who is he?'

MKG looked pluzzled. Of course I know him, Revs. Commander Geoffrey Peace, Royal Navy.'

Tyler spun on Peace. That so?'

Peace nodded.

Then listen to this,' he replied grimly. It's a general signal from ComSubInd, submarine headquarters of the

Seventh Fleet in the Seychelles, incomplete because it was jammed towards the end. But enough' He quoted: " To all subs: Admiral Thornton, commanding u.s. Seventh

Fleet, has received the foliowing message from the British Prime Minister-on behalf of the Minister of Defence and myself, I wish to thank you and the officers and men of the Seventh United States Fleet, and especially units of the nuclear submarine force based on Mahe, for their generous gesture in according the last honours at the funeral of the distinguished British submarine ace, Commander Geoffrey Peace.."