Colin Forbes - By Stealth

Tweed, seated on a plank at the prow, glanced back. The beach was crowded with Balaclava men carrying a fleet of dinghies to the water's edge. Marler fired the outboard motor. As it burst into life a sixth figure climbed aboard and they were moving. Tweed glanced back again and swore under his breath. Seated on the rearmost plank next to Marler was Paula. She lifted her left hand and waggled it, giving him a little wave.

On the bridge of the Mao III Kim stood beside Captain Welensky, who for the first time sensed nervousness in the Chinese, although his face remained impassive. They were hardly moving and behind them the Yenan was also nearly motionless.

`Well,' the captain told Kim with unconcealed satisfaction, 'we have made our correct landfall. The radio messages from the shore prove it.'

No more than what I would have expected,' snapped Kim.

`You sound tired,' Welensky ribbed him.

`I sense danger.' Again Kim snapped.

Welensky followed as Kim moved towards the weapons-control complex. Kim gave the order over the fixed microphone.

`Prepare missiles for launching. Red alert.'

Standing in front of a console, Kim inserted a key. The metal lid slid out of sight. A row of inset buttons, each a different colour, appeared. He only had to pass one and a missile would be launched.

When he had given the order two flaps near the prow had opened back, exposing the mouths of the slim silos housing twelve missiles. Kim remained by the console, hands clasped behind his back.

`Are you crazy?' Welensky roared. 'We are just off the coast of Denmark – not out in the middle of the bloody Pacific.'

`Has the retractable staircase been dropped?' Kim asked, his voice now calm. 'It must be in place for General Chang to come aboard. I will receive him. Kindly leave the bridge.'

`I am the skipper of this vessel,' Welensky said quietly. `So long as I am, I remain on the bridge.'

`If you insist.'

Kim decided it was pointless having a confrontation with Welensky at this critical moment. Kim was quite capable of taking control of the ship. They would cut Welensky's throat, weight him, and throw him overboard on the return journey to Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam.

Peering out of the narrow window almost flush with the curved deck, Kim saw a large man mounting the staircase over the hull. He opened a door and bowed low as Dr Wand came on to the bridge.

`Welcome aboard my most humble ship, General.'

Seated at the rear of the dinghy alongside Marler, who had one hand on the tiller, Paula gripped the underside of the plank tightly. The nightmare was starting all over again.

She recalled her lonely vigil at Lymington marina. Dense drifting fog. The terrifying incident aboard the Holsten. Again, dense swirling fog on the Elbe. As the dinghy moved straight out to sea the same atmosphere overwhelmed her – more fog, drifting slowly, assuming horrific shapes. She peered into it, convinced that something was close – and not one of Norlin's dinghies.

The fog cleared away briefly. She heard the chug-chug of a ship's engine on the starboard bow, stiffened. Marler whipped up his rifle. Tweed was the first to see clearly the launch, slowing down: the tall figure wearing a roll- necked white sweater. Dave Lane. He shouted at Marler.

`Lower that blasted rifle. These are friends.'

`Care to come aboard?' Lane enquired. 'Told you I would be coming south from the harbour to join the party.'

`Yes, we would indeed,' Tweed said with feeling. 'Get us out of this damned toy boat…'

He was the first on the launch's deck and helped Paula to come aboard. The others followed and then helped Lane and two of his crew to haul the dinghy aboard. Tweed became very active.

`We have to replace that light of yours with our green light. Immediately! It identifies us to a swarm of Danish marksmen floating around in dinghies.' While Lane removed the green bulb and substituted it for his own light, Tweed forced the beeper device off the side of the dinghy, wetted the suckers in the sea, attached it to the hull of the launch.

`A powerboat is roaring around somewhere in the fog,' reported Lane. 'One of your Danish friends' boats?'

`No. Certainly not as far as I'm aware.'

Tweed found the news disturbing. The launch was under way again as he asked his question.

`Did you hear a light aircraft flying down the coast?' `Yes, I did. I assumed it was checking out the lie of the land. Again, belonging to the Danish lot.'

`Norlin – the head of the strike force – decided not to fly in choppers until later so as not to alert the opposition.

I'm sure he wouldn't risk a light aircraft. It flew about fifty feet above the colony of bungalows – where we expect the Stealth ships to land more saboteurs.'

`So, a mystery powerboat, preceded by mystery plane. A weird business,' Lane reflected. 'And I think one of your people has seen something…'

Tweed swung round. Paula had positioned herself at the prow of the launch. She was alternately pointing to something in the fog, looking over her shoulder to beckon to Tweed. He ran forward with Marler at his heels.

`There's something large and very close.' She saw the sceptical expression on the face of Lane who had joined them. 'Don't look at me like that! Use your bloody eyes…'

The fog drifted away. A huge grey shape like that of a half-submerged giant whale appeared. Standing on the curved hull Dr Wand stared down at them. He snatched an automatic weapon from a man close to him, aimed it point-blank at Tweed.

Everything happened like a film running fast. The sound of a powerboat roaring in on the port side, stopping suddenly. A second before Wand sprayed them with a hail of bullets, Tweed fired his Walther, gripped in both hands, twice. Wand's right arm fell limp, the weapon tumbled to the deck. The shots flew harmlessly into the air. There were two more shots fired from the direction where the powerboat had stopped. Wand was hurled backwards against the low-profile bridge.

`That was a. 45 gun,' said Newman, now behind them.

The powerboat's engine started up. As Tweed glanced to his left it disappeared into the fog, only its wake visible as it headed towards the shore. Lane grasped Tweed's arm.

`Look! To starboard. The Minotaur…'

The frigate was less than a quarter of a mile away where the fog had temporarily cleared. It was racing forward as they heard Wilson's order to the Stealth ship magnified over a powerful tannoy.

`Lane, stand well clear. Now!' The launch was under way at high speed in seconds. At the prow they hung on to the rail to avoid being flung overboard. The tannoy blast was addressing the Stealth vessels now in Wilson's commanding voice. 'Heave to. We are coming aboard. Any hostile act will receive a hundred-fold retaliation…'

Inside the bridge of the Mao III Welensky was shouting at Kim, who stood in front of the console.

`It's over. Keep away from that goddamn console.' `Prepare to fire,' Kim ordered.

The Minotaur, which had been broadside on to the Mao, was turning swiftly, presenting now only the smallest possible target, its prow. Kim jabbed his thick thumb down to press the button. Welensky's weighty bulk collided against him, knocking him away from the control panel. It only took seconds. A knife appeared in Kim's hand, was rammed deep into Welensky's side. He staggered away. Kim jabbed his thumb down on the button – but it was seconds later. The missile soared out of its silo, sped towards its pre-selected target, a target which had now moved its position.

The missile exploded under the sea, fifty yards or so away from the Minotaur. Tug Wilson didn't hesitate. In a calm brisk voice he gave the order.

`Fire!'

A single missile whooshed through the foggy air, landed on the prow of the Mao. A perfect hit. On top of the bank of missile silos. There was a tremendous explosion. The shockwave swept across the sea, shaking the launch where Paula was hurrying back to the stern, gripping the handrail, followed by Tweed and Marler. Butler and Nield had already arrived there.