The Golden Rendezvous by Alistair MacLean

Author:Alistair MacLean
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Action & Adventure
ISBN: 9780007858095
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1962-01-14T22:00:00+00:00

chapter 8

[thursday 4 p.m.-10 p.m.] it was late afternoon when I awoke, round four o'clock: still a good four hours short of sunset, but already the surgery lights were on and the sky outside dark, almost, as night.

Driving, slanting rain was sheeting down torrentially from the black lowering clouds, and even through closed doors and windows I could hear the high, thin sound, part whine, part whistle, of a gale-force wind howling through the struts and standing rigging. the campari was taking a hammering. She was still going fast, far, far too fast for the weather conditions, and was smashing her way through high, heavy rolling seas bearing down on her starboard bow. That they weren't mountainous waves, or waves of even an unusual size for a tropical storm, I was quite sure; it was the fact that the campari was battering her way at high speed through quartering seas that seemed to be almost tearing her apart. She was corkscrewing viciously, a movement that applies the maximum possible strain to a ship's hull. With metronomic regularity the compari was crashing, starboard bow first, into a rising sea, lifting bows and rolling over to port as she climbed up the wave, hesitating, then pitching violently forward and rolling over to starboard as she slid down the far shoulder of the vanishing wave to thud with a teeth-rattling, jolting violence into the shoulder of the next sea, a shaking, shuddering collision that made the campari vibrate for seconds on end in every plate and rivet throughout her entire length. No doubt but that the clyde yard that had built her had built her well, but they wouldn't have constructed her on the assumption that she was going to fall into the hands of maniacs. Even steel can come apart. "Dr.

Marston," I said, "try to get carreras on that phone." "Hello, awake?"

he shook his head. "I've been on to him myself, an hour ago. He's on the bridge and he says he's going to stay there all night, if need be.

And he won't reduce speed any further: he's taken her down to fifteen knots already, he says." "The man's mad. Thank god for the stabilisers.

If it weren't for them, we'd be turning somersaults." "Can they stand up to this sort of thing indefinitely?" "I should think it highly unlikely.

The captain and bo'sun how are they?" "The captain's still asleep, still delirious, but breathing easier. Our friend mr. macdonald you can ask for yourself." I twisted in my bed. The bo'sun was indeed awake, grinning at me. Marston said, "seeing you're both awake, do you mind if I have a kip down in the dispensary for an hour? I could do with it."

he looked as if he could, too, pale and exhausted. "We'll call you if anything goes wrong." I watched him go, then said to macdonald, "you like your sleep, don't you?" "Just naturally idle, mr. carter." he smiled. "I was wanting to get up, but the doctor wasn't keen."

"Surprised? you know your kneecap is smashed and it'll be weeks before you can walk properly again.

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