Алистер Маклин - Santorini

‘That sounds a very nasty thing to suffer from. And what might that be?’

‘Vertigo. A fear of heights. Almost got him disbarred from entry to the Navy. He had a powerful aversion to climbing up rigging.’

‘You know him well, then?’

‘Pretty well. Now, this evening. I’d normally send young Henri to pick anybody up but Vice-Admiral Hawkins and the two no doubt equally distinguished civilians who are with him are not anybody. So we do it in style. A Lieutenant-Commander, I thought.’

‘My pleasure, sir.’

‘And tell them all you know about the plane, the Delos and the survivors. Also our suspicions about the survivors. Saves the time when they get here.’

‘I’ll do that. Speaking about the survivors, when I go ashore do you want me to take them along and dump them?’

‘You are unwell, Number One?’

‘I’m fine. Didn’t for a moment think you’d want them out of your sight. And we couldn’t very well abandon the two young ladies on that barren rock there.’

‘It’s as well the islanders can’t hear you. There’s fourteen hundred people in the Thira township and there’s a fair amount of tourist accommodation. And speaking again of the survivors, not to mention our three other visitors, we’ll have to find sleeping accommodation for them. The Admiral can have the admiral’s cabin – it’ll be the first time an admiral has slept there. There are three empty cabins. You can have mine, I’ll sleep here or in the chart-room. The rest, well, you fix it.’

‘Five minutes,’ said he confidently.

He was back in forty-five.

‘Took me a little longer than I thought. Ticklish problems.’

‘Who’s got my cabin?’

‘Irene. Eugenia has mine.’

‘It took you three-quarters of an hour to arrange that?’

‘Decisions, decisions. Calls for a little delicacy and a modicum of finesse.’

‘My word, you do do yourselves well, Commander,’ Andropulos said. He sipped some claret. ‘Or is this a special treat for us?’

‘Standard fare, I assure you.’ Andropulos, whom Grierson had reported as having a remarkable affinity for scotch, seemed relaxed to the point of garrulity. Talbot would have taken long odds that he was cold sober. He talked freely about quite a number of subjects, but had not once broached the question of being sent ashore. It was clear that he and Talbot had at least one thing in common – the wish that he remain aboard the Ariadne.

Jenkins came in and spoke softly to Van Gelder, who looked at Talbot.

‘Call from the radio-room. Shall I take it?’ Talbot nodded. Van Gelder left and returned within half a minute.

‘Call was delayed, sir. Difficulty in contacting us. They will be there in less than half an hour. I’d better go now.’

‘I’m expecting visitors later this evening,’ Talbot said, ‘I shall have to ask you not to come to the wardroom for some time after they come. Not for too long. Twenty minutes at the most.’

‘Visitors?’ Andropulos said. ‘At this time of the evening. Who on earth are they?’

‘I’m sorry, Mr Andropulos. This is a naval vessel. There are certain things I can’t discuss with civilians.’

Vice-Admiral Hawkins was the first up the gangway. He shook Talbot’s hand warmly. The Admiral didn’t go in much for saluting.

‘Delighted to see you again, John. Or I would be if it weren’t for the circumstances. And how are you, my boy?’

‘Fine, sir. Again, considering the circumstances.’

‘And the children? Little Fiona and Jimmy?’

‘In the best, thank you, sir. You’ve come a long way in a short time.’

‘Needs must when the devil drives. And he’s sitting on my tail right now.’ He turned to the two men who had followed him up the gangway. ‘Professor Benson. Dr Wickram. Gentlemen, Commander Talbot, the captain of the Ariadne. ’

‘If you will come with me, gentlemen. I’ll have your gear taken to your quarters.’ Talbot led them to the wardroom and gestured them to their seats. ‘You want me to get my priorities right?’

‘Certainly.’ Talbot pressed a bell and Jenkins came in. ‘A large gin and tonic for those two gentlemen,’ Hawkins said. ‘Lots of ice. They’re Americans. Large scotch and water for me. Quarters, you said. What quarters?’

‘You haven’t been aboard since before commissioning but you won’t have forgotten. For an admiral, an admiral’s quarters. Never been used.’

‘How perfectly splendid. Honoured, I’m sure. And for my two friends here?’

‘A cabin apiece. Also never been used. I think they’ll find them quite comfortable. I’d like to bring along some of my officers, sir.’

‘But of course. Whom did you have in mind?’

‘Surgeon-Commander Grierson.’

‘Know him,’ Hawkins said. ‘Very wise bird.’

‘Lieutenant Denholm. Our electronic Wunderkind. I know you’ve met him, sir.’

‘That I have.’ He looked at his two friends, smiling broadly. ‘You’ll have to mind your p’s and q’s here. Lieutenant Denholm is the heir to an earldom. The genuine article. Fearfully languid and aristocratic. Don’t be deceived for an instant. Mind like a knife. As I told General Carson, he’s so incredibly advanced in his electronic speciality that your high-tech whizzkids in Silicon Valley wouldn’t even begin to understand what he’s talking about.’

‘Then there’s Lieutenant McCafferty, our senior engineer, and, of course, Lieutenant-Commander Van Gelder whom you’ve already met.’

‘For the first time. Favourably impressed. Very. Struck me as an able lad indeed.’

‘He’s all that. More. If I were laid low tomorrow you wouldn’t have to worry. He could take over the Ariadne at any moment and you wouldn’t notice the difference.’

‘From you, that’s worth any half-dozen testimonials. I’ll bear it in mind.’

Introductions completed, Hawkins looked at Talbot and his four officers and said: ‘The first question in your minds, of course, gentlemen, is why I have brought two civilians with me. First I will tell you who they are and then, when I have explained the purpose of our coming, you will understand why they are here. In passing, I might say how extraordinarily lucky I am to have them here with me. They seldom leave their home state of California: it just so happened that both were attending an international conference in Rome.

‘Professor Alec Benson here.’ Benson was a large, calm man in his early sixties, grey of hair, cherubic and cheerful of countenance, and wearing a sports jacket, flannels and polo jersey, all of varying shades of grey and all so lived in, comfortable and crumpled that he could well have inherited them from his grandfather. ‘The Professor is the director of the seismological department of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He’s also a geologist and vulcanologist. Anything that makes the earth bang or shake or move is his field. Regarded by everybody in that line as the world’s leading expert – he chaired, or was chairing until I so rudely interrupted him, an international conference in seismology in Rome. You all know, of course, what seismology is.’

‘A rough idea,’ Talbot said. ‘A kind of science – I think “study” would be a better word for it – of the causes and effects of earthquakes.’

‘A kind of science?’ Hawkins said. ‘I am distressed. It is a science.’

‘No offence meant, I’m sure, and none taken,’ Benson said equably. ‘The Commander is perfectly correct. Far from being a science, we’re still only dabbling on the periphery of the subject.’

‘Ah, well. Dr Wickram is a physicist, as well known in his own field as Professor Benson is in his. He specializes in nuclear physics.’