Dagger Magic

"Which is all for the best," Aoife said, leaning down to press a mug of hot coffee into Adam's icy hands. "Can you imagine the flap it would have caused if she'd been found adrift and intact?"

Adam managed a shaky swallow of coffee, suppressing another cough, then nodded.

"Requiring a nimble display of press-obfuscation, at very best," he agreed.

"I do love your understatements," Aoife said with a chuckle. "Fortunately, Tory Sound is littered with old wrecks. If any of the wreckage from U-636 should eventually turn up, it will be assumed that it came from the sea-bottom - just one more wreck among so many others."

"What about the cave?" Peregrine asked hoarsely, over his own steaming mug.

"I'm about to deal with that,'' Magnus replied, getting to his feet.' 'First, though, I want to check again on our guest below."

In the heat of battle, Adam had forgotten the crewman from the Rose of Tralee.

"Is he awake?" he asked.

"Aye," said Magnus, "and pretty shaken up to find himself under lock and key. I'd cuffed him to a berth, just for good measure, since we didn't know who he was. I've given him to understand that the outfit he and his mates were messing with was a band of terrorists out to recover a cache of arms. When the cache goes up - in, say, about two minutes from now - I think he'll be relieved enough at the thought of staying out of jail not to pry too deeply into the matter. He hasn't said anything about seeing any monks with funny knives, so maybe he doesn't remember.

"The chaps on the Rose present different problems, but I'll think of something before the authorities get here. The one's no problem; the terrorist story will stick, so far as he's concerned. And the Lynx chap can't very well tell the truth without digging himself in deeper. We might make a hijacking charge stick, if the crew from the Rose are cooperative, but I expect we'll eventually have to let him skate. At least we'll have given him a scare, and we'll know to keep an eye out for him in the future."

He disappeared down into the hold. While he was gone, Adam prevailed upon McLeod to help him move around to the other side of the ship. To his surprise, the Lady Gregory was standing several hundred yards off the dark entrance to the sea cave opened by the departing submarine. Peregrine retrieved his glasses from his coat pocket and came limping to join him at the rail, gazing silently at the cave and the Rose of Tralee still lying at anchor off the little crescent beach. When Magnus returned a few minutes later, he was carrying a shoulder-fired rocket-launcher and a small but heavy canvas satchel.

"A parting gift from my friendly armorer," he explained as he set it up and aimed a charge at the shore. "We've only got two shots to get this right, so keep your fingers crossed. And it would be nice to have the second shot to dispose of that torpedo that ran up on the beach. Hold your ears, everyone.''

He succeeded with his first shot. A rumbling blast inshore collapsed the remains of the cave where U-636 had slept hidden for so long with its dangerous cargo. The second shot accounted for the inconvenient torpedo. As the Hunting Party watched the du.- clear away in the moonlight, Peregrine alone appeared dissatisfied.

"What's the matter?" Adam asked, as Eamonn advanced the throttles and began easing the Lady G in the direction of the Rose.

The young artist sighed and adjusted the set of his blanket, turning to ease back down on the deck with his back against the rail.

"This is all very well and good for cutting short all the official loose ends," he complained, "but I can't help wondering what Raeburn will be getting up to next. We know he got at least one crate of diamonds aboard that plane - enough of a fortune to keep him in business for a good long time to come."

"True enough," Aoife agreed. "On the other hand, he didn't get all the diamonds and he didn't get the Termas."

Peregrine's gaze shifted uneasily toward the sodden trunk in the stern.

"I suppose you're right," he acknowledged. "Only now we've got the Termas, what are we going to do with them? I mean, Lama Tseten certainly seemed to think they're very, very dangerous. Maybe we should have just let them sink to the bottom, along with the sub."

"We couldn't have been sure they'd be destroyed," Adam said, crouching down beside him as Aoife and the two policemen headed for the bow, to deal with the occupants of the Rose. "It simply would have postponed the day when someone else would have to reckon with the danger they represent. Things like this have a way of resurfacing - no pun intended. If true Termas can be expected to turn up when they're needed, who's to say that these false Termas may not do the same?