Carter watched him go and then shrugged his shoulders. Trouble is, every time he meets Randall he acts as though he’s a steam hammer driving sense into a block of pig iron.’
‘What’s Randall like?’ I asked. I wasn’t really interested. This was none of my business. I had picked up the paper and was searching through it for a follow-up to the ‘Callahan’ story of the previous day.
‘Oh, he’s not a bad fellow really. Got more money than sense, that’s all.’
I had found what I wanted now, a paragraph on an inside page stating that the police believed ‘Callahan’ had left the country. I folded the paper and laid it on the bench. There was nothing for me to worry about. I looked across at Carter. ‘Why does Randall want to sell up?’ I asked.
Carter shrugged. ‘Bored, I suppose. He’s not really interested in aircraft. Horse racing is what he lives for. Besides, three years is a long time.’
I glanced at the plane and then back again to Carter. There was something here I didn’t understand. It had been at the back of my mind and now that I didn’t have to worry about myself any more it came to the fore. ‘It doesn’t take three years to get a plane into the air,’ I said.
Carter looked up at me guardedly. ‘Hasn’t Saeton told you anything about these engines? I thought you were an old friend of his?’
I didn’t pursue the matter, but turned back to the lathe.
It must have been about half an hour later that Saeton came in, his face dark with anger. With him was a tall, erect-looking man with a brushed-up ginger moustache and rather prominent eyes. He wore tweed trousers and a cloth cap and the open neck of his sheepskin jacket was filled with a brilliant blue and cold silk scarf. Behind them trotted a soft, plump little nan with a brief-case.
Saeton went straight over to Carter. ‘You can pack up work on that induction coil, Tubby. We’re through.’ His voice was hard and vicious.
Carter sat back on his stool, still holding the coil in his hands as though he didn’t want to let it go, and stared at Randall unbelievingly. ‘Doesn’t he understand we only need two more months?’ he asked Saeton. ‘With Fraser here-’
‘I’ve told him all that,’ Saeton cut in. ‘But we’re not dealing with Randall. We’re dealing with Mr Reinbaum here.’ He nodded to the plump little man whose white fingers were fidgeting with the lock of his briefcase. ‘He holds the mortgages.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Carter said slowly. ‘Those mortgages were given to Dick as security for money he advanced to the company. How does this fellow Reinbaum come into it?’
Randall cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘I borrowed money on the mortgages,’ he said.
‘Well, surely if you repay the money-’
‘We’ve been over all this,’ Saeton cut in impatiently. ‘Randall has lost heavily — betting.’ The word came out with an explosive violence. ‘Reinbaum has received an offer for the plane and all our tools and equipment and Randall has agreed to close.’
‘It is out of the question that we should receive a better offer,’ Reinbaum said. He had a soft, slightly foreign voice.
‘The offer,’ Saeton said harshly, ‘is twenty-five thousand for the whole box of tricks. That’s just two thousand more than the mortgages.’
‘But that means winding up the company,’ Carter said. ‘Randall can’t do that unless one of us agrees. Together we out-vote him. Under the articles of the company-’
‘Please, Mr Carter,’ Reinbaum interrupted. ‘It is not a question of voluntary liquidation.’
‘You mean your going to force us into liquidation?’ Carter asked and there as an obstinate note in his voice that made me suddenly respect him.
‘The damnable part of it is,’ Saeton said angrily, ‘that when Randall advanced us that last five thousand his solicitor insisted that since it was for material for building the engines, the engines themselves must be included in the mortgage.’ He swung round on Randall. ‘By God!’ he said. ‘If it wasn’t that I’d swing for it, I’d-’ He turned quickly and started to pace up and down, his hands clenched as he fought down the fury that mottled his features. He stopped as he came face to face with the completed engine. Then he reached up to the wall and pressed the starter switch. The engine turned, coughed twice and roared into life. Thev hangar shook to the thundering din of it. He turned to Randall. ‘Come here, Dick,’ he shouted. ‘Look at it! Feel the power of it! That engine is ready for installation.’ He waved his thick hand at the bench. ‘The second is already taking shape. In a month it will be finished. In six weeks we’ll be on test. And on the 25th January, we’ll be on the airlift. In two months you’ll be director of a company owning the most talked-of plane in the world. Think of it! Saeton Aircraft freighter slashes fuel costs! My God, man, haven’t you any ambition? We’ll make a fortune, and all I’m asking you for is two months. You’ve carried the company for nearly three years. Another two months isn’t much to ask.’
So that was it! Saeton had something new in engine design, something that would reduce fuel consumption. His wasn’t the first company that had come to grief trying to pursue this particular mirage, and yet the vibrance in his voice, the sheer gripping enthusiasm of the man carried conviction. I stared at Randall. Surely he would give Saeton those two months? I wanted to see those engines finished now. I wanted to see them in the air, to see them tested. If Saeton succeeded. …
But Randall was shaking his head. ‘I’m s-sorry, Bill.’ He was stuttering now in his embarrassment. ‘I’m p-pretty well cleaned out, you know.’
‘You mean you’ve lost so heavily you can’t buy those mortgages back?’ Saeton was staring at him hard.
Randall nodded.
‘But what about your horses, your car, that house down at Hatfield?’
The other stared at him. ‘But dash it,’ he exclaimed. ‘I can’t sell the house. It’s been in the family for generations. And I won’t sell my horses.’ His face was flushed and there was an obstinate look in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Bill,’ he said again. ‘But you’ve had all the money you’re going to get out of me. My solicitor warned me against-’
‘Oh, damn your solicitor!’ Saeton shouted. ‘Can’t you understand that in two months’ time-’ He didn’t finish. He had seen the obstinate look in Randall’s eyes and he turned away in disgust. His hand reached out and switched off the engine. The din gradually died away. Saeton’s hand tightened on the boss where the propeller would be fitted as he turned slowly and faced Reinbaum. ‘So it comes to this — we’re dealing direct with you, Mr Reinbaum. Is that correct?’ His voice was quiet and controlled.
Reinbaum beamed and bowed slightly.
‘What are your terms for allowing us to continue with the fitting out of the plane?’
Reinbaum shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Saeton. I do not speculate.’
‘I’ve given you some idea of what we’re doing here,’ Saeton said. ‘Surely we can come to some arrangement?’
‘The offer I have for your plane and the equipment here is conditional on acceptance within forty-eight hours.’ Reinbaum spread his hands in a little apologetic gesture. ‘Unless you can pay what is due on the mortgages I must foreclose.’
‘You know damn well we can’t pay. In two months-’
‘I want the money now, Mr Saeton.’ The softness was leaving Reinbaum’s voice.
‘But if you wait two months …’ Saeton’s voice was desperate. ‘Two months isn’t long. In two months’ time I’ll have all the backing-’
‘I repeat, if you cannot pay what is due, then-’ Reinbaum shrugged his shoulders.
Saeton turned away and in the light from the high windows I caught a glint of tears in his eyes. He went slowly over to the bench and stood there, fiddling with the armature he’d spent so many laborious hours winding, his back towards us.
‘Well, I think that is settled then,’ Reinbaum said, glancing up at Randall, whose face was stiff and wooden. ‘We had better go now, Major.’
In a flash I saw my refuge up here on this aerodrome disappearing. But it wasn’t only that. I believed in Saeton. I wanted to see these engines in the air. The money I had made ferrying planes and on currency deals wasn’t honest money. I didn’t care what happened to it. Probably it would be better if I threw it away and I might as well throw it away on this. ‘Just a moment,’ I said as Reinbaum and Randall were turning away. ‘Is it one of the mortgages that has fallen due?’