‘Still ticking away, sir. Captain Montgomery says he’s going to shut down his engines in another half-mile. Sees us clearly and reckons he’ll come to a stop more or less alongside. He says that if he’s going to overshoot he’ll use a sea anchor or drop a stern anchor and if he stops short of us he’ll send a crew with a rope. From the way he talks he seems to regard either possibility as a remote contingency. Doesn’t seem the shy or bashful type.’
‘I gathered as much from the admiral. Has our cryptologist arrived?’
‘Yes. Calls himself Theodore. Speaks perfect English but I suppose he’s Greek. Installed in Denholm’s cabin. Denholm himself is up in the wardroom trying to resume his slumbers.’ Van Gelder broke off to accept a sheet of paper from a seaman who had appeared in the doorway, glanced briefly at the message and handed it without a word to Talbot, who read it in turn, muttered something inaudible and swung his legs to the deck.
‘He’ll have to try to resume his slumbers later on. Tell him to join us in the admiral’s cabin at once.’
A pyjama-clad Vice-Admiral Hawkins, propped up on the pillows of his bunk, glowered at the message in his hand and passed it across to Denholm. ‘Pentagon. Unsigned. This krytron device you suggested.’
‘If I were the spluttering type, which I’m not, this would be a sure fire-starter.’ Denholm re-read the message. ‘”Understand krytron experimental device in hand. Endeavour expedite soonest clearance.” Gobbledygook, sir. Writer is ignorant or stupid or thinks he’s clever. Very likely all three at once. What does he mean – “endeavour”? He can either do it or not. What does he mean — “understand”? He either knows or not. Expedite? Means to try to hurry things along. The Pentagon doesn’t expedite — they demand immediate compliance. Same goes for that meaningless word “soonest”. Again, should be immediate. Clearance by whom? The Pentagon can clear anything they want. What do they mean — “experimental”? Either it works or it doesn’t. And doesn’t the phrase “in hand” have a splendid meaningless vagueness about it. Gobbledygook, sir.’
‘Jimmy’s right, sir,’ Talbot said. ‘It’s insulting. Stalling for time. What they’re saying in effect is that they’re not going to entrust their latest toy to their closest ally because we’d flog it to the first Russian we came across.’
‘It’s rich,’ Denholm said. ‘It’s really wonderful. The Americans positively force their Stinger surface-to-air missiles on the rebels who are fighting the Marxist regime in Angola and the Contras in Nicaragua. It’s no secret that those guerrilla bands contain a fair proportion of characters who are just as undesirable as the dictatorial governments they’re supposed to be fighting and who would have no hesitation in disposing of those $60,000 missiles, at a fraction of their cost, to any passing terrorists who, in turn, would have no hesitation in loosing off one of those missiles at a passing Boeing 747, preferably one packed with five hundred American citizens. But that’s perfectly OK for the American administration’s ad hoc knee-jerk set of reactions that passes for their foreign policy. But it’s unthinkable that they should allow the krytron into the hands of their oldest ally. It makes me sick.’
‘It makes me mad,’ Hawkins said. ‘Let us give them a lesson on clear and unequivocal English. “Unsigned message received. Meaningless mumbo-jumbo designed to stall and delay. Demand immediate repeat immediate repeat immediate dispatch of krytron or immediate repeat immediate repeat immediate explanation of why not available. Sender of message and person responsible for delay in clearance will be held directly responsible for possible deaths of thousands. Can you not imagine the world-wide reaction when it is learnt that not only is America responsible for this potential disaster but that it was almost certainly caused by treason in the highest American military echelons? A copy of this message is being sent directly to the President of the United States.” That do, you think?’
‘You could have pitched it a bit more strongly, sir,’ Talbot said, ‘but I’d have to spend the rest of the night thinking how. You spoke earlier of sleepless heads along the Potomac. I think we should now talk of heads rolling along the Potomac. If I were you, sir, I’d keep clear of Washington for some little time, by which I mean the rest of your life.’ He rose. ‘The Kilcharran will be alongside in a few minutes. I assume you are in no hurry to meet Captain Montgomery?’
‘You assume right. There is no charity in me.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Five-thirteen. My respects to the captain and ask him to join me for breakfast at, say, eight-thirty. In my cabin here.’
Captain Montgomery, whether by luck or design — design, Talbot was certain — brought the Kilcharran alongside the Ariadne with faultless precision. Talbot stepped across the two gunwales – they were almost exactly of a height – and made his way up to the bridge. Captain Montgomery was a tall, burly character with a jutting black beard, white teeth, a slightly hooked nose and humorous eyes and, in spite of the immaculately cut uniform and four golden rings on either cuff, could easily have passed for a well-to-do and genial eighteenth-century Caribbean pirate. He extended a hand.
‘You’ll be Commander Talbot, of course.’ The voice was deep, the Irish brogue unmistakable. ‘You are welcome aboard. Has there been any further deterioration in the situation?’
‘No. The only deterioration possible, Captain, is one I don’t care to imagine.’
‘Indeed. I shall be sadly missed in the Mountains of Mourne. We’re great ones for the lamentations, the weepings and the wailings in the Mountains of Mourne. Is this atom bomb, or whatever, still ticking away?’
‘It is. I suppose you might call it a deterioration when the ticking stops. You shouldn’t have come here, Captain. You should have nipped into the Gulf of Corinth — you might have stood a chance there.’
‘Not to be thought of for a moment. Nothing to do with heroics — heroics are for those epics they make in Hollywood — or the fact that I couldn’t live with myself. I just couldn’t stand the thought of what that man would say.’
‘You’ll be referring to Vice-Admiral Hawkins?’
‘The very same. Maligning and blackening my character as usual, I dare say?’
‘Hardly.’ Talbot smiled. ‘He did, mind you, make some casual remark about you being allergic to certain naval regulations. He also said you’re the best in the business.’
‘Aye. A fair man and a bloody good admiral — but don’t tell him I said so. I suggest coffee in my cabin, Commander, and perhaps you’ll be kind enough to tell me all you know.’
‘That shouldn’t take long.’
‘Eleven p.m.,’ the President said. ‘What’s the time over there?’ ‘Six a.m. There’s a seven-hour time difference.’
‘A very forthright character, this Admiral Hawkins.’ The President gazed thoughtfully at the two dispatches lying on his desk. ‘You know him, of course?’
‘Pretty well, sir.’
‘An able man, General?’
‘Exceptionally so.’
‘He also appears to be an exceptionally tough s.o.b.’
‘That’s undoubtedly true, sir. But then you have to be to command the NATO Mediterranean sea forces.’
‘Do you know him, John?’ This was to John Heiman, the Defence Secretary, the only other person present.
‘Yes. Not as well as the General, but well enough to agree with the General’s assessment.’
‘Pity I never met him. Who selected him for the job, General?’
‘Usual NATO committee.’
‘You were on it, of course?’
‘Yes. I was the chairman.’
‘Ah. The man with the casting vote?’
‘No casting vote. The decision was unanimous.’
‘I see. He — well, he seems to have rather a low opinion of the Pentagon.’
‘He doesn’t exactly say that. But he does appear to have a low opinion, deep suspicions if you like, of a person or persons in the Pentagon.’
‘Puts you in a rather unhappy position. I mean, there must be some stirrings in the Pentagon dovecote.’
‘As you say, Mr President, a few ruffled feathers. Some are hopping mad. Others are giving the matter serious consideration. Generally, you could speak of an air of quiet consternation.’
‘Are you, personally, prepared to lend any credence to this outrageous suggestion? Or what appears to be outrageous?’
‘Think the unthinkable? I don’t have any option, do I?
Every instinct says no, this cannot be, those are all my friends and colleagues of many years standing, all honourable men. But instinct is a fallible guide, Mr President. Common sense and what little knowledge of history I have tells me that every man has his price. I have to investigate. The enquiry is already under way. I thought it prudent not to involve the intelligence arms of the four services. So, the FBI. The Pentagon does not care to be investigated by the FBI. It’s an extremely difficult and delicate situation, sir.’
‘Yes. One can hardly go up to an admiral of the fleet and ask him what he was doing on the night of Friday the thirteenth. I wish you luck.’ The President looked at one of the “papers before him. ‘Your message re the krytron that provoked Hawkins’s ire must have been badly handled.’