Adele smiled. ` He wouldn't know what you meant, put like that.' She spoke rapidly, circumlocuting. ` The radio station on Agalega reported one-twenty knots.
MKG gave a low whistle.
Andre went on, indicating MKG, He says it is better to be out in a small boat like this in a cyclone than a big ship,' translated Adele. ` The waves can break a long ship's back, but this one-never.'
Andre took the radio and Adele said, Andre says there are radio warning stations on St Brandon and Agalega. Agalega is operated by Chepe, who is a master shipbuilder and a sailor. He uses his brains to see whether there is really a cyclone coming. He does not merely pass on what some some-' she paused= sonofabitch in Chagos thinks.'
The old fisherman shook the radio. Chepe! Chepe!'
Adele's eyes were on mine. He's calling Chepe. He thinks because Chepe can hear Chagos, there is no reason why he cannot hear Andre, who is much closer anyway.'
The old man fiddled angrily with the dials, but with Adele's help we were rewarded by a singsong voice. Andre pointed in triumph and grinned. Chepe'
Adele was puzzled. ' Even I do not know what Chepe is saying: he repeats, the frigate birds are coming in from LoveApple Crossing and the Agalega lagoon is full of noddies.'
Andre looked grave. Adele spoke for him. ' Big cyclone. Chepe is telling the fishermen in the sort of terms they understand.'
A stylized voice came through after a flood of Creole. It was still Chepe, but he was repeating by rota. AgalegaAgalega met. calling. General gale warning from the northeast. Chagos met. station reports Force Five wind and sea building up.' There was another volley of Creole. Andre shook his head at the eastern horizon.
Adele translated. This morning I saw a giant ray a mile south of Taillevent Head.' Andre pursed his mouth. It is bad very bad. A ray going south-west from Taillevent means he is running from the coming cyclone.'
' This could wreck the launch schedule, apart from any other considerations,' said MKG.
' No,' replied Peace. A cyclone generally lasts no. more than four-five days. We still have eight. Thornton's men will never find us in a full-scale blow.'
M K G s m i l e d w r y l y. I g r a n t i t ' s g o o d c o v e r, b u t w h a t about the rest-open sea, tiny boat?'
I'll pick up Bellatrix either tonight or tomorrow before the full force of it hits us,' asserted Peace. And once I have Bellatrix, Semittante is ours.'
In short, you choose a cyclone rather than the Seventh F l e e t? ' T h e r e w a s a n u n d e r t o n e o f a d m i r a t i o n i n MK G ' S
voice.
Any day,' replied Peace. The sea is on my side.' It always has been,' I added.
He looked at me for a long moment. Yes-but, like now,
I am never sure.'
Adele said, Before we find Semittante, won't the Seventh Fleet fliers come looking for this cutter?'
So what?' asked Peace. Spread over the Sea of Limuria are hundreds of island cutters, pirogues and fishing craft. Even if a Navy plane comes-you can't distinguish us from the others.'
Y e s, y o u c a n, ' r e p l i e d A d e l e. ' I n t h i s, I l o o k l i k e n o other Limuria woman. I… I…' She smiled delightedly a n d s p o k e t o A n d r e w h o, w o n d e r i n g l y, h a n d e d o v e r h i s knife. Adele seized the material of her pants and hacked round the leg, reducing them to shorts.
And fishermen wear hats.' She spoke again to Andre, who pointed to the forward decking. Adele came back with four enormous latanier-leaf hats, which she crammed down amid laughter on our heads.
No fisherman wears a jersey like yours,' she told Peace. I t m u s t c o m e o f f. Y o u r s t o o, J o h n. A n d – ' s h e w e n t o n shyly= yours also, Mister Vice-President.'
MKG,' he corrected. My by-line on this edition is MKG.'
When we had pulled off our sweaters and concealed our faces under the ragged-edged hats, Andre grinned. Chepe would laugh at this,' Adele translated. He is my cousin and a man to laugh. Maybe you will drive the cyclone away, looking like that.'
MKG checked his watch and asked Adele to switch on the radio. Limuria is nine hours ahead of Washington. Although s t a t i c m a s k e d t h e V o i c e o f A m e r i c a a n d o t h e r A m e r i c a n stations, there was no mention of the Seventh Fleet's mission. Peace impatiently asked Adele to tune it to the Navy waveb a n d. T h e s e a s s e e m e d t o h a v e a s s u m e d a s i n i s t e r g l a z e a n d I d i d n ' t c a r e f o r t h e l o o k o f t h e e a s t e r n h o r i z o n a n y more than Andre did.
Here it came-a pattern of quickfire Morse. Adele jotted down the close letter-groupings and deciphered them with the aid of the Navy code-book.
CIC to Willowtrack x am sending for you for personal report when in range x return with helo to Rio Grande x Willowtrack to CIC x helo pick-up of myself impos sible x weather deteriorating rapidly x
I could visualize the big seas smashing against St Brandon's reef. Here, scores of miles away, apart from their strange s h e e n, t h e y h a d t a k e n o n a l o n g s u r g e. T h e g a y b l u e o f Limuria had turned to grey, presaging trouble.
Thornton's reply showed the sandpaper temperament for which he was famous:
CIC to Willowtrack x stand by x helo will pick you up as ordered x
We drove north.
By afternoon the lateen sail was snugged down to two ' reefs. It was blowing hard from the north-east and the seas had a nasty lop to them. Adele kept radio watch on the Navy wavelength; only once Peace reluctantly agreed to listen to a newscast, but there was nothing.
W i t h t h e l o w e r i n g s e a s c a m e c l o u d f r o m t h e e a s t. W e thankfully pulled on our jerseys. There was little point in camouflaging ourselves as fishermen in the deteriorating visibility. Peace began to grow anxious lest we should miss Bellatrix. The sun was hidden by overcast and, according to my dead reckoning, we were on a collision course with the yacht. It would, however, be possible not to spot her at a couple of miles in the threatening seas.
After hours of silence, a clatter of Morse came through. Adele, sheltering a scrap of paper from the spray, noted down the groups. It was Tyler:
Willowtrack to CIC x helo last on pick-up attempt x rescued survivors x
CIC to Willowtrack x have dispatched second helo x stand by for pick-up 7600 GMT x
Willowtrack to CIC x submit weather conditions impos- sible x
CIC to Willowtrack x repeat stand by helo pick-up 1600 GMT x
I pictured Tyler's predicament in trying to save the second helo from the fate of the first. At four o'clock GMT-eight p.m. by Limuria time- St Brandon's reef would be a wild h e l l o f d a r k w a t e r . I t s h o w e d t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e T h o r n t o n attached to the news of the disappearance of the Vice-President. Tyler's seamanship must have been magnificent to have 147 rescued the first helicopter's crew. MKG'S face was grim.
1 Another two men were risking their lives for him.
The cutter drove on.
Adele took the radio and wrapped herself in an old blanket under the for'ard decking out of the spray. The cutter was making a good nine knots-better than Peace had counted on. Somewhere ahead in the waste of waters was Bellatrix, merged with the grey gloom. Peace took the sail from Andre and sent him into the bows to try and spot the yacht. MKG and I took turns at the tiller, but I decided to join Andre. Water burst along the planking, blinding me. In contrast to the grey east, the horizon in the west was still unnaturally bright.
Then I saw it.
The sea seemed to be fashioned from a solid, not fluid, medium. The wall of it rose up square, about half a mile to windward. Unlike an ordinary wave, its top was not spumewhite and boiling: this was calm, squared-off, confident of its mighty power. Icy fear gripped me, I recognized it, although I had never seen one. I tried to find the three words, but fear strangled my voice.