The Black Tide

He nodded. ‘They’ll have a full account of it waiting for them in their office tomorrow morning. Mr Saltley can then take what action he thinks fit.’ He lifted his head, looking at me down his long nose. ‘If they locate this ship, the one you say is the Aurora B, then there’ll be all sorts of problems. Maritime law isn’t exactly designed to cope with this sort of thing. And you’ll be in the thick of it, so much depending on your statement.’ And he added, ‘On the other hand, if she’s sailed and the subsequent search fails to locate her …’ He paused, watching me curiously. ‘That’s why I stayed on, to warn you. What happens if they don’t believe you? If they think you’re lying, then they’ll want to know the reason and that may lead them to jump to conclusions.’ He smiled, ‘Could be awkward, that. But let’s take things as they come, eh?’ He clapped me on the shoulder. ‘Have a good rest. I’ll see you in the morning.’

Sleep came in a flash and I woke sweating to a

surge of sound, red lights flickering and a wild voice. My body, naked under the coarse sheets, felt battered and painful, my limbs aching. I had no idea where I was, staring wide-eyed at the big fan blades above my bed, revolving slowly to reflect a kaleidoscope of colours and that voice. I sat up. A woman was singing, a high Muslim chanting, and the surging sound was an Eastern band, the shriek of pipes and tam-tams beating.

I pulled back the sheet and stumbled to the window, conscious of the stiffness of my muscles, the ache of a deep bruise in the pelvis, staring down into the courtyard, which was a blaze of light, girls in richly coloured saris, tables piled with food and drink. A wedding? So much tinsel decoration, balloons and lanterns, and the men loutish and ill-at-ease in their bright suits. The singing stopped. The music changed to Western jazz played fast and the crowd mingling, men and women clinging uncertainly, dancing double time. A bird swirled up like a great bat, the lights red, yellow and green and somebody pointing so that I drew back quickly, conscious that I was standing there stark naked. But it was the bird they were pointing at.

A shadow moved beside me. ‘You all right, sahib?’ It was my watchdog.

I couldn’t sleep for a long time after that, listening to the band and the high chatter of voices, the lights flickering on my closed eyes, and thinking about what was going to happen when they found the ship. Would they arrest her on the high seas? Who would do it — the British, the Americans, who? And what about me?

Nobody was going to thank me for handing them such a problem. I wondered what Sadeq would do when the Navy came on board, what explanation he would give. Would he still be flying the hammer and sickle? And Baldwick — I suddenly remembered Baldwick. Baldwick wouldn’t be able to leave without the dhow. He’d still be on board. What would his explanation be, or would Sadeq dispose of him before he had a chance to talk? I could see Sadeq, as I had glimpsed him when I was crouched below the poop, the gun at his waist, the bearded face fixed in what was almost a grin as he sprayed bullets with cold professional accuracy and Baldwick thrown backwards, his big barrel of a stomach opened up and flayed red. Choffel — my mind was confused. It was Choffel whose stomach had been hit. And I was in Pakistan with information nobody was happy to hear… except Pamela and those two sailing men, her father and Saltley. If I was in England now, not lying here in Karachi with a wedding thumping out jazz and Eastern music…

I suppose I was in that limbo of half-coma that is the result of shock and exhaustion, my mind in confusion, a kaleidoscope of thoughts and imaginings all as strange as the lights and the music. Darkness came eventually, and sleep — a sleep so dead that when I finally opened my eyes the sun was high above the hotel roof and Hussain was shaking me. He was even more unshaven now and he kept repeating, ‘Tiffin, tiffin, sahib.’ It was almost ten o’clock and there was

a tray on the small central table with boiled eggs, sliced white bread, butter, marmalade and a big pot of coffee.