The QE2 Is Missing

“We always pay well for value received. We have cooperated amicably in the past; let us do so in the future. Now I suggest that we all sit down and relax. Would anyone like a drink? Hank, would you be so kind as to oblige?”

It wasn’t so much that Uzi took control of the situation, it was more that he ordered their relationships. Started them working together again. Hank was glad to physically do something, pouring out drinks for the few that wanted anything. “I didn’t know that you were aboard ship, Uzi,” he said, sloshing Scotch over the rocks.

“I came aboard in Hawaii but have been keeping to my cabin. I am sure that some of those Germans know me — they have their intelligence sources, too. But I have not been idle. One of the stewards is Maltese and has a large hungry family at home. He has been supplying me with information. Which is why I came here. I want to hear today’s tape. It appears that the Germans are no longer in the suite next to you.”

“They’ve left the ship?” Hank asked, worried.

“No, they are still aboard, they didn’t even go ashore here in port. It seems that as soon as the other passengers were out of the way this morning they changed cabins, moving to smaller ones on this same deck that have been vacant since the cruise began. Of course the stewards transferred their luggage which is how I found out about it. So now the two large suites are empty.”

“There is no need to listen to the tape,” Leandro Diaz said, accepting a drink from Hank with a nod of thanks. “A report reached me earlier today that General Stroessner left Asunci6n this morning by plane, bound for the military airbase at Maldonado in Uruguay. He will join Admiral Marquez there and they will be coming here. Those suites are for them.”

“Where will they board? Do you know that? I don’t think that the Mexican government would exactly welcome their presence.”

Leandro Diaz shook his head and sipped at the drink. “They would not enter Mexico in any case. They don’t want it known that they are out of their countries. They certainly don’t want it known that they are negotiating a large arms deal. Our sources did not know when or how they were boarding, just that they were coming to the QE2.”

“We’ll find out soon enough how it will be arranged,” Uzi said. “Since they are not here yet we can use the time to make arrangements. What kind of force do we have aboard the ship? Leandro, how many of your Paraguayans?”

“Three, including myself. We could not book cabin space for any more. Nor would it have made any difference. None of the others are good with weapons.”

“Josep — what about you?”

The Tupamaro leader pointed about the room. “The six of us you see here, and three more in a cabin. There was no more space available, as Leandro says, so these four came aboard as longshoremen and changed their clothes in the crew’s bathroom. All four are sailors, they know their way about ships. Most important of all is Esteban Valverde there.” The serious looking, dark — haired man nodded when they glanced in his direction.

“Esteban is Conception’s brother, and what might be called a sleeper for our organization. He has never taken place in an operation before, not directly, but he has been invaluable in many other ways. He is Captain of a deep-sea fishing boat. Now he joins us to put his expertise at our command. He and the other three sailors make any operations aboard this ship possible.”

“And you want all four of them to stay here in my cabin, don’t you Josep?” Hank said, looking first at the Tupamaro leader, then turning to face Uzi.

“Indeed?” Uzi did not seem shocked by the information. “That will be possible for a short period. We will come back to the point after we have discussed our mutual plans.” He turned to look at Hank as he said it, as though to reassure him that something would be done about it. Hank shrugged and drank his whisky.

“We have weapons of all kinds. They are also aboard,” Josep told them. “We are prepared for any eventuality.”

“Well, which eventuality are you exactly planning for?” Uzi asked.