Medusa

‘Good. I think you do.’ Evans swung round on me. ‘But for your benefit I’ll spell it out. If your wife’s lover — ’ the words were spoken quite viciously, so that it was obvious he got a vicarious pleasure out of his shock use of them — ’doesn’t shift his ship out of here within quarter of an hour, you could be getting her back in bits and pieces. Okay?’ He got to his feet.

I had an instant ghastly picture in my mind of Soo laid out on a wooden slab while a man stood over her with an axe, her arms stretched out and pinioned ready for the blow. I felt sickened, and glancing across at Gareth I saw his face was ashen. What must have been going on in his mind at that moment I cannot think, Soo’s life balanced against those years of being trained to carry out the orders of his naval superiors, and all the time the knowledge that forces beyond his control were moving inexorably to a point of crisis. And if he gave in to Evans’s demands I had the feeling he would be doing so on the basis that, whatever he did, he and his men were doomed to extinction.

Evans glanced at the clock on the wall, then at his watch. ‘Okay, so you’re on local time. It’s now 21.53. If you’re not fetching your anchor by 22.10 — ’

‘I can’t do it. Not to an exact deadline.’ Once again he was arguing that the state of the ship’s engines made an immediate move impossible. I don’t know when he decided to do what he finally did, but it must have been at about this point, and he must have been something of a natural actor — maybe that was the Celt in him — but he did manage eventually to convince Evans there was a problem with the engines. I think what finally did it was an open discussion over the telephone with Robin Makewate, his Marine Engineer Officer, which ended with him saying, ‘Half an hour then. I’ll have them standing by the anchor at 22.15. I want power on that one engine by 22.15 at the latest. Without fail, Robin … Yes, that’s an order. Do it how you like, but get one of them going by then or we’re in trouble.’

He put the phone down and turned to Evans. ‘That’s the best I can do. I presume you didn’t come on board without making some provision against my detaining you here?’

‘Correct. VHF contact.’ He patted the sagging pocket of his camouflage jacket. ‘If I don’t report in on the hour …’ He gave a little shrug. ‘But don’t worry, I’ll be on to them in a minute. Meantime, you want to know how we hand the woman back. Since you’ve got Steele here, and she’s his wife, it better be to him.’

They discussed it between themselves, no reference to me and Soo treated as though she was some sort of parcel that was proving difficult to deliver. In the end it was agreed that Evans and I should be landed on Bloody Island to await the frigate’s departure. As soon as it was out past the island of Lazareto, Evans would radio his base contact and Soo would be delivered to me in exchange for Evans. ‘I’ll have the Sergeant of Marines issue you with a gun,’ Gareth said to me. ‘You’ll have to sign for it, of course, and somehow it will have to be returned.’ He turned back to Evans. ‘I take it you’re not armed.’

Evans laughed. ‘Not much point, one man against a whole ship’s company.’

Gareth nodded and dabbed a number on the intercom system. ‘Have Sergeant Simmonds report to my cabin and tell the First Lieutenant I want a word with him.’ He went to the curtain and pulled it back. ‘Escort Mr Evans to the head of the ladder,’ he told Davison. ‘He’ll be sending his boat back to Cala Llonga. And have our own launch stand by to take both these gentlemen across to Bloody Island. After that have it brought on board and stowed.’ He turned to Evans. ‘Whilst you’re out in the open I suggest you take the opportunity to report in to your base that you’re okay.’

Evans stood there for a moment, frowning, his eyes fixed on Gareth who had already turned back at the sound of a voice calling him over the intercom. It was Mault and he told him, ‘I want the ship closed up ready for sea, Number One. We’ll be getting under way as soon as MEO can give us the necessary power.’

‘We’ve received new orders, have we?’ Mault’s voice was a mixture of curiosity and doubt.

‘You’ve just received my orders, Number One, so get on with it.’ There was a crisp finality in the way he said it that even the thickest-skinned could not fail to understand. ‘We’ll be out of here by 22.15 at the latest.’ He switched off before his second-in-command could ask any more awkward questions and turned back to Evans. ‘When you report in, tell your people to bring Mrs Steele down to Cala Llonga ready to take her out to Bloody Island. I don’t know how far away she is, but I’d like her down on the beach there before we sail.’