Blue Force will pick him up-he'll run right into their arms.'
Trevor-Davis shook his head sadly. To regard a lovely craft like this as expendable…'
You gave me the idea, John,' said Peace. You said
Bellatrix was a liability. Now, with the Frenchman, she's become an asset to us-the perfect decoy.'
Andre said something and we followed his pointing hand, '
He says Semittante is turning away.'
Anything on the radio, Adele?'
Nothing from her. Plenty of " report your position " from Thornton.'
Perhaps she's spotted us,' suggested MKG.
She doesn't know about Bellatrix,' rejoined Peace. ' I'd say she was merely easing off the wind.'
The old-fashioned stern of the tramp, which must have' been built about the time Red Raborn confounded the critics with the first Polaris, rose and fell in the trough.
' Look!' I exclaimed.
`Little Bear!' mKG gasped.
There it was, lashed on the deck askew from the starboard railing towards the stern on the other side: a long wooden crate about eight feet square and sixty long, looking like a number of automobile shipment crates fixed together.
I'll call her first on the loud-hailer,' said Peace. ' If she'll let the pirates aboard peaceably, so much the better'
Andre under Trevor-Davis's guidance closed in. A heavy sea broke over the tramp's rusty bows and creamed over winches and hatches. An oilskinned figure appeared on the bridge wing.
Semittante… report your position..
The voice was obliterated by a clatter of Morse. Adele whispered, ' United States Seventh Fleet, this is Semittante Jam him, for Christ's sake,' snarled Peace. He grabbed
Andre by the shoulder. Alongside! Quick!'
Andre understood. He read the meaning of the guns in our hands. He spun the wheel and opened the throttle Bellatrix was back on the auto gear. MKG switched on the loud-hailer. He deliberately made his vowels longer. Boz!' he called imperatively. Boz-it's Marvin Green here-MKG! Do you hear! A couple of
Limeys are coming aboard with hand-guns-help 'em, willya
All I saw was the rusty, red-leaded side of the plunging old tramp looming like a skyscraper. Andre shaved round the stern and banging screw into the quieter water in her lee.
Trevor-Davis looked enquiringly at us, waiting for the right moment.
Peace jacked a shell into the Remington, snapped home the bolt. Come on!'
Mac and I raced with him to the twisted starboard decking.
Semittante lurched towards us, the red-painted patches grinning like bloodied lips as the high side sought to crush the slender yacht. Then the sea spurted and the hulls drew apart, like an outward-facing V. Peace shouted an oath at TrevorDavis and Andre, but his voice was lost in the cavern of boiling seas. Down went Bellatrix until we looked into the foul bilge vents of the old tramp, and then sky-rocketed on the next wave. Peace swung a Jacob's ladder of thin nylon rope in his hand. A shot crashed out: a man with a gun, in yellow oilskins, stood at the head of the bridge ladder. The strike of the bullet was lost in the noise. Even under the whip of excitement I admired Trevor-Davis's handling of the yacht: she rose past a scum-shrouded porthole to deck level and he held her there.
Jump!' yelled Peace.
We leaped as one man. Peace landed agilely on the ship's rail and dropped to her deck. But the wet wood slipped from under my feet and I crashed down. Bellatrix fell away like a lift. I saw the death-engulfing water. I toppled overside and snatched with the axe-head at the rail. It bit. In a flash Peace hauled me clear, gasping, on to the deck. I didn't hear the second report but only saw the splinter of the bullet a foot from my head. I looked upwards and saw the ugly muzzle pointing straight at me. The man on the bridge steadied for the shot. I cringed away. Peace started at a crouching run for him, but I knew he would never make it. Then a figure raised an arm over the man's head and struck him down with a length of piping. He sagged and fell ten feet to the deck below.
Peace almost ran down my rescuer. ' Thanks-Boz! It is
Boz?'
Sure, sure,' exclaimed the stocky scientist. I heard MKG'S voice-was him, wasn't it?'
Yes,' replied Peace. No time now to explain-the bridge.
Come on, Boz!'
They tore up the ladder and I paused only for a second to trace the course of the radio aerial from the masthead down to a peeling deckhouse. At the door a heavy sea threw me fulllength. Semittante calling…' chattered the Morse. I prayed for Adele's jamming skill.
I kicked up the door. The operator, an acned youth in a sweaty towel shirt, gave a terrified glance as it burst open. I cannoned into him as he jumped to his feet. I smashed the axe down, once twice, across the Morse key and the aerial wire. There was a small puff of blue smoke and a smell of burning rubber.
The youth gave a high scream. I lifted the axe. ` Shut up!'
The inhuman sound ended in a gurgle. I jerked my head.
Out! Get out!'
He edged past me, terror in his eyes. I found the key and locked the shack. I gestured for'ard and saw him down the main deck companionway. I swung the axe as a heavy figure sprinted along the deck at me.
Hold it, buddy!' The Texan voice was unmistakable. look after him!'
` Thanks.' I made for the bridge.
The quartermaster lay on the gratings with a weal across his forehead. Peace was trying to quiet the kicking wheel.
Boz Blair had exchanged the length of piping for the Remington and was standing at a half-crouch trying to cover two men in a corner.
Peace said, before he saw me, ` Just mash the tit if they move, Buz! Don't let 'em come at us.' Then he saw me and grinned. Okay?'
Okay-he was still transmitting, though.'
I wonder if he got past Adele's jamming.'
These bums look like wanting to jam us all any moment,' said Boz. ` Here, you're better with this than me.' I swapped my axe for his Remington.
Peace said, ' Good work John! Now give your French an airing. That bastard-' he indicated the unconscious man -‘ came at me with a fire-extinguisher.
` The engine-room?' Boz asked quickly. We told him. He whistled. One man!-I'll round up a couple of my boys: d help Mac.' He darted off. Peace picked up the engine167 room voicepipe. His eyes clouded when there was no reply.
Which of you is Captain du Plessis?' I asked.
The flow of invective from the smaller of the two was impressive. Peace and I let him finish before grinning at each other. That's him.'
Tell him we're taking his ship I'll give him and his crew five minutes. They're going aboard Bellatrix. I hope Mac's all right..
Pirate! Murderer! Thief! Abductor!' screamed the little manHe knows all the words,' I said.
The skipper came forward shaking his fist. The other officer looked ready to jump me. I raised the Remington. He Stopped.
He says piracy on the high seas is a hanging offence. He will see you hanged, if it takes him all his life.'
Tell him an exchange of vessels isn't piracy. In fact, he should be pleased. He's getting a luxury yacht in exchange for a clapping-out lump of floating ironmongery'
I couldn't give full value to the French, but none the less the little skipper turned purple.
Peace went on, Tell him to line the crew up on deck.
Anyone who stays behind is liable to get hurt.'
The voicepipe gave a whistle. Peace picked it up and there was a rattle of unmistakable Glasgow gutter oaths. He gave me the thumbs-up sign.
Pirate!… Thief!
The big Texan whom I had met came clattering up the bridge ladder with what looked like a stoker's iron in his hand. Aw, put a sock in it!' he told the Frenchman. ' Come on
– join the other suckers!' Bewildered men in a disreputable array of dirty garments began to emerge on deck, guarded by three Americans, two of them with guns. The crew looked more resentful about being lined up in the rain than about losing their ship. The Texan shoved the French skipper and the other officer down the ladder. I gave him the Remington. He stopped for a moment at the head of the steps. MKG okay? The air's been full-'