‘Just one of those things,’ said Jensen. He nodded at Wills. ‘He doesn’t mind, even if you do.’
But Wills was not listening. His mind was back on the submarine, standing in the conning tower, feeling the last pressure of Clytemnestra’s hand on his, watching her steer the boat into the smokereeking night, heading for Parmatia. The turbulent currents of war had washed them apart, sure enough. In the smoother flow of peace, though, he would be back …
Jensen was saying something. ‘Well,’ he said, briskly. ‘All’s well that ends well, eh?’
‘Yessir,’ said Mallory.
‘And I am very glad to see you. Very glad. Particularly glad today, as it happens …’
‘Oh, no,’ said Miller, under his breath. ‘No, please.’ Andrea was staring at Jensen, horrified. Mallory opened his mouth to speak, but Jensen put up his hand.
‘… because I have a job for you,’ he said. ‘Just a tiny little job, really. And I thought, since the three of you are here anyway …’
Mallory sighed. ‘We would be fascinated to hear about it,’ he said. ‘But we will need brandy.’
‘Large amounts of brandy,’ said Andrea.
‘Five star,’ said Miller. ‘Roll out the barrel.’
‘Of course,’ said Jensen. ‘And then we will begin.’
About the Authors
Alistair MacLean, the son of a Scots minister, was born in 1922 and brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 at the age of eighteen he joined the Royal Navy; two-and-a half years spent aboard a cruiser was later to give him the background for HMS Ulysses, his first novel, the outstanding documentary novel on the war at sea. After the war, he gained an English Honours degree at Glasgow University, and became a school master. In 1983 he was awarded a D. Litt from the same university.
He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century. By the early 1970s he was one of the top 10 bestselling authors in the world, and the biggest selling Briton. He wrote twenty-nine worldwide bestsellers that have sold more than 30 million copies, and many of which have been filmed, including The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, Fear is the Key and Ice Station Zebra. Alistair MacLean died in 1987 at his home in Switzerland.
Sam Llewellyn is the author of a number of hugely successful thrillers, including Blood Knot, Clawhammer and The Shadow in the Sands, the continuation of Erskine Childers’ classic adventure, The Riddle of the Sands. An experienced sailor, he has sailed all over the world and now lives with his wife and family in Herefordshire.
Other Works
HMS Ulysses
The Guns of Navarone
South by Java Head
The Last Frontier
Night Without End
Fear is the Key
The Dark Crusader
The Satan Bug
The Golden Rendezvous
Ice Station Zebra
When Eight Bells Toll
Where Eagles Dare
Force 10 from Navarone
Puppet on a Chain
Caravan to Vaccares
Bear Island
The Way to Dusty Death
Breakheart Pass
Circus
The Golden Gate
Seawitch
Goodbye California
Athabasca
River of Death
Partisans
Floodgate
San Andreas
The Lonely Sea (stories)
Santorini