A Ravel of Waters

'The same objection applies to Tristan da Cunha which is only a couple of hundred miles northwest of Gough,' he answered. 'If Group Condor occupied either of them, it would prejudice the Falklands attack in advance because the secret would be out. Also, any assault force would then have to cross twenty-one hundred miles of ocean in order to reach the Falklands.'

'Poor Paul!' I said. ‘I wonder if he got wind of Grohman's plans?' 'I'm in the same boat as Paul,' Tideman replied quietly.

'Grohman doesn't suspect a thing,' I reassured him. 'If he had, you wouldn't be here, John.'

'You're also living on borrowed time, Peter. Until Molot, Grohman said.'

It all came back to Molot. When night came, we were no nearer an answer. Suddenly the outer sick-bay door opened. 'Kay!' I jumped up to go to her.

'Keep back!' Grohman appeared behind her threatening with the UZI.

Kay and I looked at one another for a long moment. Her eyes told me everything. She was still pale but smiling. The guard warily pitched her suit-case inside.

Grohman looked strained. Holding down a crew of twenty-eight could not have been easy.

'She's to stay here,' he said briefly. 'It's not for the pleasure of your company, let me assure you. It's because I can't spare one man solely to guard her.' 'What do you expect me to say to that?' I asked.

'Listen, Rainier,' he said angrily. 'You and Tideman are expendable, understand? The final decision does not rest with me or else you'd have been overside already. This woman is not in the same category. She is valuable to us. Just as in another way Sir James Hathaway is valuable to us. A million dollars will help finance Group Condor's operations.'

I deliberately tried to rattle him. I would have been prepared to risk the second gun if I could have grabbed his automatic. Tideman, I knew, would back me to the hilt -the hilt of that wicked dagger, which he had managed to keep.

'You're going back to the Malvinas, you say – but you're heading in the opposite direction!'

Kay broke in. 'What possible use can I be to Group Condor! Who'll pay a million dollars for me?'

'You are an expert in sail aerodynamics – that is why you are valuable’ replied Grohman.

'Sail aerodynamics!' she exclaimed. 'What has that to do with killing and murder and unsuspecting attacks?'

'You play the innocent well,' said Grohman. 'But it doesn't wash. At Molot you will be transferred to Soviet protection. I have been notified that afterwards you will be transferred to Kyyiv in Russia itself where secret experiments are being conducted into sail aerodynamics.'

I was stunned; Kay was speechless. If Grohman got wind of Tideman's connection with the Schiffbau Institut's tests, he was a dead man.

Grohman looked triumphant. Perhaps it was his paranoid temperament which compelled him to boast of his superiority – in the face of murder.

'I have been to Kyyiv,' he said. 'We admit that the Schiffbau's experiments are ahead of ours. This ship proves it. You will be a valuable asset to our research team.' 'Kyyiv! Me! I won't go!'

Grohman stroked the finning along the UZI's barrel. It was a cat-like, sinister gesture.

'The decision is not mine whether to force you or not,' he said. 'That rests with Command at Molot. But I advise you not to push your luck too far.' 'Soviet Command, you mean?' I asked. He looked surprised. 'Who else?'

'Nothing will make me go to some secret test ground in Russia under threat!' Kay burst out.

'You have about three days to think it over before we reach "Moiot,' replied Grohman. 'Think about it well, Senorita Fenton. You will be treated well if you cooperate. Otherwise…' He shrugged. 'You bastard!' I said. 'You crazy bastard!' He swung the automatic on me. For a moment his eyes went kill-blank. Then he relaxed. 'Three days – that is all you have, Rainier!'

He backed out of the sick-bay; the guard took up his previous position behind the glass partition.

I felt as if I had been kicked in the stomach. For fully a couple of minutes we all stood rooted. Finally, I broke the silence.

'I'll put your case in a cubicle, Kay – any particular choice?' 'The closer to you both, the better.'

I started to pick up the case and she said, 'They let me bring my transistor radio. It might help pass the time -until Molot.' She was close to tears. 'What is Molot? Peter? John?'

'I wish we knew,' replied Tideman. 'We've been racking our brains all day.'

She went into her cubicle. I followed. Inside, there was no need to say anything. She came into my arms. I could feel the dry sobs from her throat through her breasts against me. Her lips were a warm pulse of agony and denied ecstasy, wet with tears.

'Just when I've found the man I want, I'm to lose him!' she whispered brokenly. 'Why didn't you just let me go this morning? It would have been better all round. Oh, my love, my darling!'

I held her close and said those things which can only be said in the presence of new love. Finally her sobs quietened.