Okay,' replied Peace. ' Little Bear's still on.'
Fine.' The long vowel made it sound the most wonderful adventure in the world. He stomped down the ladder.
Peace took an electric loud-hailer megaphone. 'Bellatrix!'
MKG's voice came back, metallic, anxious. ' Are you okay
– we heard shots?'
' Okay,' replied Peace. ' Ship's ours. I'm heaving her to.
I'll stream oil to give you a smooth patch. Trevor-Davis, tell 168
Andre I want his cutter hoisted aboard Semittante. We'll cut one of the lifeboats adrift and haul his boat up in the davits in its place.'
The Americans guarding the crew all grinned as passed. I hacked at a lifeboat's falls with my axe until it fell with a splash. Bellatrix held off until, at Peace's orders, Mac had blown hundreds of gallons of oil overboard from the old tramp's tanks and made a tolerably smooth patch under the stern. Then, with a display of fine seamanship, Andre laid her alongside. I dropped on to Bellatrix's deck at the end of a rope.
' We've got to move fast-that message of Semittantes,' I told MKG and Adele.
' I don't know how successful my jamming was,' she replied. I switched off the current in the wheelhouse and raised my axe. Trevor-Davis's eyes held a mute appeal, but he said nothing as the blade splintered the radar screen; another blow was enough for the radio. For the gyros, I reversed the blade and the sensitive instruments were soon a tangle of metal. I unlocked the automatic pilot and smashed its controls. We gathered up Peace's diving suit, the code-book and portable radio.
Boz Blair came to the rail and looked down into MKG'S face. Then the Vice-President swung up the rope to be grabbed by eager, welcoming hands from the American team.
Through Adele I explained to Andre about the cutter. He looked up at Peace on Semittantes bridge and said gently, He truly understands how a man can love his boat.'
Was it simply that?
I knew the answer after we had hoisted the cutter inboard and Boz's men had hustled the spitting skipper and his motley crew aboard Bellatrix, which now lay wallowing half a mile astern of us.
We'll use the cutter,' Peace told the group of us gathered on the tramp's bridge. I am going to scuttle Semittante at Love-Apple Crossing.'
1 2 THE HOME OF TWENTY – FIVE LASHES
Scuttle!' burst out MKG. ' Scuttle our only chance-Little
Bear!'
There was a murmur from Boz Blair's team and the genial face of the stocky scientist became grave. MKG had given them an outline of the hunt; like Devastation's crew, they took it in a holiday spirit. The tall Texan's name I learned was Pete Allingham, and the other three missile experts-looking curiously disreputable in a variety of sailors' rigs-were John Palmer, Nat Reece and Lofty Reilly. Trevor-Davis, our expert, seemed completely at home in his silent way with his American opposite numbers.
Every moment now is important,' replied Peace obliquely. He picked up the engine-room voicepipe. Mac-give her everything she's got' His eyes fell on Adele who stood next to me. I had better not repeat what Mac thinks of the engineroom!'
From the sound of it, he at least will be pleased to see this crate scuttled,' said Boz Blair.
The screw began to thump. Peace brought her head round towards the storm and then handed over the wheel to Andre.
We waited.
Bellatrix was a liability, now she's an asset,' Peace explained, looking round the silent launch team. ' You must see it like this: Semittante is a bigger liability still. We simply have to get rid of her. We're being squeezed between weather, position, and the launch deadline.'
MKG explained, But to scuttle Little Bear after all we've been through to get here, and God knows, there have been times in the past couple of days when I have doubted if my decision-'
Little Bear goes down with Semittante,' Peace cut in. Boz Blair gave a gasp and stepped forward, but Peace went on quickly before he could protest. 'In a few hours' time it will be six days to the launch, not so?' Boz merely nodded – the suggestion that his missile should be sent to the bottom of the sea had left him speechless.
MKG started to speak, but Peace silenced him with a gesture. '
I'm not sanguine enough to think I can evade Tyler for six days. You know and I know that Tyler and Red Force will track down anything that floats. They may already have a fix 170 on Semittante's position; Adele's not sure. Once the vP-5's are in the air…'
Allingham whistled. ' They got vP-5's out on our tail too?'
Peace nodded. With them around, I don't rate our chances very high.'
He explained that they would use the new MAD gear-an abbreviation for Magnetic Anomaly Detection. It was an electronic marvel used by the vP-5's. It picked up variations in the earth's magnetic field and showed up objects like wrecks, or other undersea metal objects. They had, he stressed, to be metal. Boz's team warmed towards Peace. He was talking the sort of technical language they appreciated.
Even Semittante sunk at Love-Apple Crossing won't be safe from the vP-5's,' he added.
Then what's in your mind, Commander?' asked Boz.
This sure is some wind, too.'
Cyclone,' corrected Peace. ' It's our big hope. It could last between four and five days. But it's good only to stop Tyler's search aircraft-it won't worry the nuclear subs.
We'll take a leaf out of their book by sinking Semittante. Tyler in Willowtrack could pass by Love-Apple crossing with the heat full on and-inside the coral barrier-he couldn't detect Semittante, sunk. He's looking for a ship afloat-so are the vP-5's.'
Fine and dandy, if all you're about is escaping Tyler,' remarked the tall Texan dryly. But not us. What about Little Bear?'
We'll lash Little Bear securely to Semittante's deck. That'll be your job, Boz. The water in Love-Apple Crossing lagoon isn't deep-fifty, maybe even forty feet. Little Bear's operational depth is six hundred feet, so it won't harm her. The day before the launch I'll go down in my skin-diving suit and cut the missile free. It's buoyant, it'll float up. Then it's over to Boz and you fellows to see she's all set for the launch. Then we'll tow her out to the launch-point.'
I heard Boz's, indrawn breath of admiration, but MKG's eyes were on Peace. You're not snowing me, Commander?'
He screwed up his eyes in his characteristic way.
' It's the only way left.'
The Vice-President's face was expressionless. Then he said, `
The DNI said you were quite a guy, Commander. I believe it.'
Me too,' grinned Boz. ' Why, it's a cinch-we can get out the DATICO gear and space-suit beforehand-'
What's DATICO?' I asked.
Digital automatic tape indicated check-out,' enthused Boz.
' It's like a small tape-recorder for the final moments of the 171 countdown. When MKG mashes the firing-button for Little
Bear six hundred feet down, DATICO goes into action. One minute later Little Bear emerges-she don't even wet her ass, as we say in the Navy.'
The other scientists started to grin at Boz's enthusiasm.
All the instrumentation is packed with Little Bear,' he went on. ` Did it myself. Know where every damn' thing is, exactly – from the VLF set to the space-suit..
I was already lost among Boz's technicalities, but he rushed to fill the gaps in my missile ignorance. Very Low Frequency radio,' he explained, grinning. We-the Navy-found years ago that you can send very low frequency signals-between five and fifteen kilocycles-almost anywhere in the world over an ocean surface. So we built the biggest vu' station in the world at Cutler, Maine..