Алистер Маклин: Santorini

Talbot sampled his drink, ‘It is to be hoped that you will never hear another like it again.’

‘So what’s going to happen?’ Wotherspoon asked.

‘One of two things could happen. He could try to transfer the mine to the Taormina, the sound of whose engines would blow them all to a better world. Well, in the case of Andropulos and his friends, we would hope a much worse world. The crew of the Taormina may be a relatively innocent bunch. Or he could elect to sail it to Tobruk, his final destination. Don’t forget, he would think it perfectly safe to do so because, as far as he knows, the world would still think that he has five hostages aboard. At the sound of the first ship’s or industrial engine in Tobruk, the mine is activated. How many guiltless people dead? Ten thousand? A minimum estimate. Lieutenant Denholm, I grow tired of my own voice. You are alleged to be the Ariadne ’s electronics officer. Would you show them this device and explain its purpose.’

‘It’s called the krytron,’ Denholm said. ‘Looks like a small and rather old-fashioned portable radio, doesn’t it? This is what the Captain meant when he said that if Andropulos knew of the existence of this instrument he wouldn’t have gone to all the vast trouble of obtaining an atomic mine. By carrying out a very few simple actions – it is in fact an extraordinarily complex mechanism and I know practically nothing about it – you can send an electronic impulse on a selected wave-length and detonate an atomic bomb. If Andropulos were to have laid this mine in the Ambrose Channel it could have been destroyed from almost any given distance without a ship or a plane going anywhere near it.’

Wotherspoon said: ‘Is one allowed to ask how you so conveniently came by this lethal instrument?’

‘We sent to America for it. It arrived yesterday.’

‘That implies two things. You had prior knowledge of the existence of this device and you’ve known for quite some time about exactly what Andropulos was up to. Did anyone else know?’

‘The Captain disapproves of his officers gossiping.’

Wotherspoon turned to Talbot. ‘You’re going to blow up the Angelina ? My Angelina !’

‘Well, yes. I dare say there will be some form of compensation.’

‘What compensation?’

‘How should I know? I’m not sufficiently senior to make any offers. I’ll have to ask the Admiral.’

‘Does it have to be done this way?’ Irene said. ‘You do have a radio. Couldn’t you just tell him to drop the bomb over the side and then have him picked up later?’

‘Apart from the fact that he wouldn’t believe me, I wouldn’t do it anyway. I have told you that obtaining proof against him might take months, even years. I suggest that you and Eugenia ask your respective fathers about him. You will find that they will totally agree with what I am about to do, and that is not to let a mad dog run loose in the world.’

Van Gelder said: ‘This is what you meant by saying, not once but many times, that Andropulos would never come to trial?’

‘He has been tried.’

At 2.30 a.m. Talbot called up the Ariadne and was through to the Admiral immediately.

‘It’s two-thirty, sir. Has the Kilcharran brought all the hydrogen missiles aboard?’

‘It has.’

‘So we go. Two small points, sir. Professor Wotherspoon seems somewhat peeved by the imminent – ah – demise of the Angelina. ’

‘Tell him it’s all in a good cause.’

‘Yes, sir. Do you think the Ministry of Defence could run to a replacement?’

‘Guaranteed.’

‘He also mentioned something about goldplated taps in his bathroom.’

‘Good God! The other small point? A mercifully small point, one trusts.’

‘A bagatelle, sir. How do you view the suggestion that, after all their harrowing experiences, the crew of the Ariadne deserves some leave?’

‘Precisely the same thought had occurred to me. A week, I think. Where do you suggest?’

‘Piræus, sir. I thought it would be rather a nice gesture to take the two girls back home. It would also be an excellent centre for Professor Wotherspoon and his lady to start looking round for gold-plated taps. We will call again in five minutes.’

Talbot replaced the telephone and said to McKenzie and Brown: ‘A couple of sweeps out, if you please, and have the bows lined up to the south-east. Well, Professor, what do you think of the Admiral’s generous offer?’

‘I’m staggered.’

‘So you might well be, as the Admiralty was under no obligation whatsoever to replace it. You must be well aware that Andropulos intended to sink it anyway. Lieutenant Denholm, pass me the krytron.’

‘It’s my job, sir. You can’t have forgotten that I’m your electronics officer.’

‘It’s also your job to call to mind the rules and regulations about seniority,’ Van Gelder said. ‘Pass it to me.’

Talbot reached out and took the krytron, already connected to a battery, from Denholm. ‘Neither of you. When we get to Piræus, I think that those two young ladies will feel under a moral obligation to show you around the University precincts and indulge in other such-like cultural activities. I don’t think, somehow, that they would feel entirely comfortable in the presence of whoever pressed this button.’

Talbot cracked both orange domes with the hammer, rotated the switches through 180° and pressed the button.

‘“Commander Talbot has elected to destroy and has destroyed the Angelina by detonating the atomic mine. He had my one hundred per cent encouragement and support. Andropulos and his two friends were aboard the Angelina. ”’

The President shook his head in disbelief and laid the message down. ‘This Commander Talbot. A totally ruthless and highly resourceful man.’

‘Not ruthless, sir,’ Sir John said. ‘A kind and thoughtful man. If he were ruthless, he could have permitted the destruction of a ship or a city. But resourceful? Yes, I rather think he is.’

Alistair MacLean, the son of a Scots minister, was born in 1922 and brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 at the age of eighteen he joined the Royal Navy; two-and-a-half years spent aboard a cruiser was later to give him the background for HMS Ulysses, his first novel, the outstanding documentary novel on the war at sea. After the war, he gained an English Honours degree at Glasgow University, and became a school master. In 1983 he was awarded a D. Litt from the same university.

He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century. By the early 1970s he was one of the top 10 bestselling authors in the world, and the biggest-selling Briton. He wrote twentynine worldwide bestsellers that have sold more than 30 million copies, and many of which have been filmed, including The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, Fear is the Key and Ice Station Zebra. Alistair MacLean died in 1987 at his home in Switzerland.