Alexander Belyaev - The Amphibian

Zurita ran down the companion ladder to his cabin, snatched the pouch with pearls out of his chest, thrust it inside his shirt and took along a belt and a bandana. The next moment he unlocked Gutierrez’s cabin, gathered her up into his arms and carried her out on deck.

“Ichthyander’s a bit unwell. He’s in the cabin,” Zurita said as he put her into a boat, lowered it on the water and sprang in himself.

The submarine could not give the boat chase for the water was too shallow for her. But Gutierrez had already recognized Baltasar on her deck.

“Father, save Ichthyander! He’s-” but she could not finish, for Zurita gagged her with the bandana and started, hurriedly, tying her arms with the belt.

“Take your hands off the woman! “ Salvator ordered.

“This woman’s my wife and nobody’s a right to come between us,” Zurita shouted back and pulled away.

“Nobody’s a right to treat a woman in that way,” shouted Salvator. “Shipyour oars or shoot.”But Zurita went on rowing hard. Salvator levelled his revolver. The bullet hit the boat above the water-line.

Zurita picked Gutierrez up as a shield.

“Go on! “ he shouted.

Gutierrez was struggling in his arms.

“A prize scoundrel, he is! “ Salvator said and put down his revolver.

Baltasar jumped into the water and swam towards the boat. But Zurita was already far ahead. Another pull and a wave carried the boat ashore. Zurita picked Gutierrez up and disappeared behind an outcropping of rocks.

Seeing he could not overtake Zurita, Baltasar headed for the schooner and pulled himself aboard by the anchor chain. The next moment he disappeared down below, in search of Ichthyander. After sometime he came into view again.

“Ichthyander isn’t on board”! Baltasar shouted to Salvator. “But he’s alive and must be somewhere near,” said Cristo. “That’s at least what Gutierrez had time to tell us before that brute gagged her. Otherwise we’d know now where to look for him.”

Scanning the ocean’s surface Cristo saw a ship’s mast tops just showing abovethe water. He thought that Ichthyander could be down in that wreck.

“Perhaps Zurita had sent Ichthyander to look for treasures on board thatwreck?” said Cristo.

Baltasar picked up a chain with a band at one end to show them. “Looks like Zurita was lowering Ichthyander into the water chained to this thing. Without it he would have swum away. No, he can’t be on that ship.” “No,” Salvator said pensively. “We’ve licked Zurita but it’s a barren victory.”

They had no way of knowing what had happened on board the Jellyfish that morning.

All through the night the crew had put their heads together and by the morninga plot had been formed to attack and kill Zurita at the first opportunity and take possession of ship and diver.

Zurita was up and on the bridge with first light. The wind had let up and the Jellyfish slowly proceeded downwind at a couple of knots.

Then Zurita spotted a dim something ahead. Through his binoculars that something turned into the radiomasts of a sunken ship.

Presently Zurita noticed a life-buoy floating on the surface.

He ordered a boat on the water to pick it up.

When it was brought up to Zurita he saw, to his astonishment, the word Mafalda block-lettered on it.

“Mafalda sunk?” whistled Zurita. He knew that big American express liner.

There must be lots of valuable things on a ship like that, he thought. Suppose I send Ichthyander to get them. But will the chain be long enough? Hardly. On the other hand Ichthyander won’t come back if let away without it.

Zurita’s mind resembled a battle-ground where avarice and caution were struggling for the upper hand.

Slowly the Jellyfish was drawing nearer to the masts sticking out of the water.

The crew crowded at the rail. The wind dropped dead. The schooner came to a standstill.

“I once had my berth on the Mafalda,” said one of the sailors. “A good ship she was. Big as a town. Rich Americans used to cruise on her.”

The Mafalda must have sunk without having radioed her SOS, Zurita was thinking. Perhaps her WT was out of order. Otherwise the place would have been lousy with launches, speedboats, yachts from all the neighbouring ports loaded with officials, reporters, cameramen, salvage crews and what not. He couldn’t throw away a chance like that, could he. He’d have to risk letting Ichthyander go without the chain. There was no other way. But how could he make Ichthyander come back? And if he must take a risk, why not take it sending Ichthyander for his ransom, his pile of pearls? But was it really all that valuable? Was Ichthyander not laying it on thick?

Of course he must get both treasures. The pile of pearls would stay where it was. Nobody could find it without Ichthyander’s help, and that made it safe as i long as Ichthyander was in his hands. As to the treasures on board the Mafalda,[ they would be beyond his reach in a matter of days, perhaps even hours.

And Zurita resolved to begin with the Mafalda. He ordered the anchor to be cast. Then he went below to his cabin, where he wrote a note and, with it in his hand, went across to the cabin occupied by Ichthyander.

“Can you read, Ichthyander? Here’s a note for you from Gutierrez”. Ichthyander quickly opened the note and read the following;

“Ichthyander, please do what I’m going to ask you. There’s a sunken ship near the Jellyfish. Go down and bring back everything valuable you can find there. Zurita will let you go without your chain but you must come back to the Jellyfish. Do this for me, Ichthyander, and you will soon regain your freedom. Gutierrez.”

Ichthyander had never before received any letters from Gutierrez, so he did not know her handwriting. For a moment he was happy to have received thenote but then it suddenly entered his head that it might be another trick of Zurita’s.

“Why doesn’t she ask for it in person?” Ichthyander said.

“She’s not quite well,” Zurita replied, “but you’ll see her as soon as you’re back.”

“What does she want with all those valuable things?” Ichthyander asked, still unconvinced.

“You wouldn’t have asked that if you had been a real man. Is there a woman who does not want to wear beautiful clothes and expensive jewellery? But that costs money. And there’s plenty of it in the sunken ship. It’s nobody’s now, why not get it for Gutierrez? What you must do first is find the gold pieces. Look for leather mail bags. Besides, the passengers might wear articles of gold, rings-”

“Do you imagine I’m going to search corpses?” Ichthyander said indignantly. “And then I don’t believe you. Gutierrez is not greedy, she could not have asked me to do a thing like that.”

“Carramba! “ Zurita exploded. He could see his scheme was about to fall through unless he tried some other tack. So he collected himself.

“You’re nobody’s fool, I can see,” he said with a good-humoured laugh. “Well, I’ll be frank with you. Here it is. It isn’t Gutierrez who wants the gold from the Mafalda but me. Can you believe that?”

Ichthyander couldn’t help smiling.

“Rather.”

“Fine. You’re beginning to believe me, that means we’re coming to an understanding. Yes, I need that gold. And if you bring me as much gold from the Mafalda as your pearls’re worth I’ll let you go. The trouble is you don’t quite trust me, neither do I trust you. I’m afraid to let you go without your chain, for down you go and-If I give you my word to come back I’ll keep it.”