Ship to Shore by Peter Tonkin

Author:Peter Tonkin [Tonkin, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2018-05-29T23:00:00+00:00

24 - Day Ten

Friday, 28 May 17:00

Clotho was still capable of twenty-five knots and her turbines could take her up to full speed within a mile. Sitting high in the water, with the undamaged base of her bow cleaving the near calm at the southern edge of the ice, she raced eastwards, all of her high-tech equipment at the fullest possible alert for a way north through the ice barrier. While she sped towards distant Greenland, Richard and the others sat in the wheelhouse and held a council of war. Sir William’s shocking news had come near to destroying an afternoon of careful, detailed planning between Richard and Robin. The detailed notes he had made from their initial radio phone conversation lay beside the further information which had arrived by fax a little later. The words ‘explosives expert’ and ‘Bowie knife’ had been underlined. Joan Hennessy’s photograph glared at the ceiling, but because she had faced the police camera that had taken the original square on, her eyes followed anyone who moved around the room.

‘I’ll stay on watch,’ Richard was saying. ‘Johnny, I’ll need you at the radar, and Bill, you’d better stay at the radio now that it’s working properly again.’

‘If you’re going to keep her at these revs, I’d like to stay in the engine room,’ added Andrew.

‘That leaves Harry and you, Nico. What do you think?’

‘We can’t run the risk that there is anyone aboard. We must look carefully. And if Sir William’s information is accurate, we need to do it soon.’

‘And not alone,’ said Harry Piper feelingly, running a freckled hand through the curly shock of his carrot-red hair. ‘I don’t want to blunder into any terrorist stowaways. If they brought explosives aboard, they could well have brought guns too.’

‘I think there might well have been someone aboard,’ added Nico thoughtfully. ‘I’m certain someone was tampering with the stores in the lifeboats. I remember, when we went over after poor Jamie ...’ His voice trailed off. There was nothing more to say. He had noticed something but what with one thing and another he had done nothing and told no one. Until now.

‘Take the walkie-talkies and keep in touch,’ said Richard. ‘Sorry I can’t offer you anything more in the way of protection.’

The two men went out of the wheelhouse and the last thing Richard heard from them was Harry saying, ‘Let’s look in the galley first.’

‘You think they’re going to start by making a sandwich?’ asked Johnny Sullivan almost wistfully.

‘No. I think they’re going to borrow some of the chefs biggest knives and cleavers. Just in case.’

*

On Atropos, Robin was having a very similar conversation; but whereas Richard had nothing but senior officers, Robin had nothing much except crew at her command. As Atropos was still tied up and unlikely to be going anywhere before Richard had finished his exploration of the ice barrier and confirmed whether or not he could get in to help them, Robin had no real need to be on the bridge.

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