Providing this old crate holds together.'
And she's leaking like a sieve,' he said. ' Mac's worried.
And if Mac's worried, the situation is critical.'
He turned back to the chart. So you think this is a lot of bull, John?'
Frankly, yes.'
' You really haven't a clue where we are?'
' I said so.'
What is the alternative?'
Andre. He has some peculiar built-in sea-sense which tells him things which even Tyler's radio sextants and inertial navigation wonders don't.
The triumph of spirit over science,' Peace said quietly.
Could be. Ask him, anyway.'
We stumbled on to the bridge as Semittante staggered over another wave. I fetched Adele from the radio shack. The news bulletins were ceaseless on the Vice-Presidential crisis. It seemed unreal that the man at the centre of the storm should be standing, unaware of the quick-fire of news, within 182 yards of it. Peace, I noted, had been careful always to be with me when I spoke to MKG.
When Adele, who was constrained with Peace, passed on our message to Andre the old fisherman, grey with fatigue from his long trick shared with MKG at the wheel, gestured for me to take the spokes. He went to the starboard bridge window.
He says, Love-Apple Crossing is out there. He thought you were bound for Agalega previously.'
' Could he find it?'
For the first time I saw Andre rattled. ' Of course, he knows exactly where the ship is. This is yellow tunny sea. The Japs fish them off the Saya de Malha, but this is their main route.'
Cut the fishing stuff,' retorted Peace. The strain of the night had told more on him than he showed outwardly. Tell him, we're lost. Will he take Semittanth to Love-Apple Crossing? If so, he's in command: Adele translated. Surprise and delight passed across the old man's face and he went forward and kissed Adele's hand with a gesture which I think must have been a survival of eighteenth-century French manners in Mauritius. He bowed to Peace and put his hand on MKG's shoulder. He spoke long and eloquently to Adele. She smiled and it lighted up her strange, lovely face.
At Agalega, he says, the children from La Fourche play on the beach with the rose and blue and carmine shells-shells which are found nowhere else in all Limuria. Chepe's wife is from the Amirante Isles and everyone knows that Amirante women are… are… how do you say, they see things…' '
Fey,' I supplied.
She smiled her thanks. Chepe's wife is fey. She reads fortunes in the shells. She told Andre that one day he would be the captain of a great ship, greater than any he had known. Now he thanks you because you have made it come true.'
Great ship!' sniffed Peace, but he smiled affectionately at the old fisherman.
' There is more,' went on Adele. ' He would never forgive me if I cut it short. This is a woman's fortune, he says, which may or may not be true. But-' she hesitated= he feels that the real captain of our spirits here is-' She nodded at MKG, The strain of the long night showed on mKG's face, too.
There was a rim of salt and dried sweat on his hair-line and his eyes were bloodshot.
MKG said, ' Tell him, Adele, tell him my mission.'
Peace said, Wait
MKG said, shaking his head, ' I want him to know.'
Adele explained, stumbling over the words. You see, there is no word for rocket or missile in Creole. I must try and explain it simply, in other terms.'
Andre still had his hand on MKG'S sleeve.
' Does he know we are being hunted?' asked MKG.
Adele replied, Yes, we are running like a school of frightened tunny with devil-fish after them.'
The old man bowed ceremoniously again to Peace and me and took the wheel. He swung Semittantes head about five degrees to starboard.
How soon does he think he will be at Love-Apple Crossing?' asked Peace.
' Early afternoon.'
We're back in the ranks, John,' Peace said with a faint glimmer of humour. Let's see what's on the air, Adele.'
' Let me know if there's anything-' began MKG, but
Boz Blair broke in with some technicalities about Little Bear and I was glad to escape from the bridge.
In the radio shack, Adele searched the air for signals from the Seventh Fleet. Again nothing but menacing stillness.
Peace listened expressionless to the newscasts about the crisis. Adele tried the Navy wavelength again. She stiffened at the call-sign.
It's Tyler!'
Peace and I read over her shoulder as she decoded.
Willowtrack to CIC x intercepted yacht Bellatrix position long. 60° E., lat. 10° 30' S.
The radio spluttered its reply and Adele went through the agonizing slow business of decoding.
CIC Blue Force to Willowtrack x is Vice-President in yacht? x
Willowtrack to CIC x no radio contact with Bellatrix x seas make boat contact impossible x yacht seems full of men x
CIC to Willowtrack x stick by that yacht fellah x
Willowtrack to CIC x you bet x closer than his shirt x no answer to my light signals x
CIC to Willowtrack x concentrate all forces Bellatrix area x where is Semittante x
Willowtrack to CIC x Bellatrix flag signal flies word Semittante x
CIC to Willowtrack x what hell's he playing at x
Willowtrack to CIC x closed yacht in heavy seas x trying 184 to get a man across x at least 20 men aboard Bellatrix x no sign Vice-President x
I could picture the scene: Tyler, frantic for information, jockeying the big sub, awash to her casings to give her maximum stability in the swells, as close as he dared to the strangely silent yacht. Despite everything, the thrill of the chase raced through my veins. I was half-glad, half-ashamed, that I had given my undertaking to Peace about MKG. Here it was:
Willowtrack to CIC x fired line from Willowtrack bridge x chief quartermaster volunteered to go across x difficult evolution but achieved it x with loudhailer says no sign of Vice-President x men all foreigners x unable to under- stand what they say except they repeat Semittante point- ing to themselves x
CIC to Willowtrack x what language x
Willowtrack to CIC x leader repeats du Plessis x
CIC to Willowtrack x du Plessis captain Semitumte x try French x I want that man x detach Shenandoah ex Red Force and bring him to me x
Peace whistled, but he became less tense. ' One less sub to hunt us.'
It's going to take the best part of today for Shenandoah to reach Blue Force and get du Plessis aboard Thornton's flagship,' I observed. He glanced keenly at me, still talking about the hunt in positive terms.
Adele said, Are you intending to show those messages to MKG?'
Peace gathered them up. ' Of course. These are operational. There's nothing in them about-the other side of the picture.'
All operational messages?' she insisted.
The smile didn't reach his eyes. Subject to my approval.' I feel pretty cheap standing next to the man with the knowledge I have-' I began.
Peace's tone hardened immediately. There's no point in discussing it further.'
Doesn't he want to signal the President again?' asked
Adele. After all, it's days still until the launch.'
' He mentioned it, but he realizes as well as we do what the consequences would be of a signal while they're hunting us.'
Hunt! Peace and I had risked death together in the past, both as the hunter and the hunted; despite myself, the thought surged up in my mind, what if Peace after all was right and the outcome of a successful mission would be worth 185 the immediate risks involved to the Vice-President? Peace had been right before when the whole world believed him w r o n g ' I'll take these to the bridge,' he said, picking up the signals. Adele listened gravely to me after he had gone when I told her of our past missions, of my mixture of feelings about