Geoffrey Jenkins: A Ravel of Waters

The pilot's voice cut me short with a shout. 'Sub! Sub! Sub! Sub! Action stations!'

I froze. Kay shrank against me. 'Dear heaven, no! Not now! Not after what we've been through!'

Tideman leapt as if galvanized to the bridge windows, searching the surrounding sea.

The pilot's voice rose. 'She's surfacing! Alongside you! To starboard! I'm going in after her!'

Tideman's sight was phenomenal. 'There she is!' He seemed to point, grab the mike from me, and snap on its energizer button all in one motion. 'Hold it, Orion! Hold-it! That sub's British!'

There was nothing to show that there was a submarine running parallel with Jetwind, let alone identifying marks. 'Look — flying antenna — only the British Superbs have it! Hold it, I say!' roared Tideman into the mike-Now I saw. Two high swells chased each other; in their trough for one brief second I spotted the top of a black sail, periscope extended. Rust showed redly against the black. Paintwork had been stripped by abrasive speed in the abysmal deeps of the Drake Passage. This was one of the lean musclemen of the nuclear age: had the Seascan rendezvous come off, Jetwind, equally lean in her own way but with the priceless attribute of silence, would have become her killer.

The Orion was wheeling like an eagle ready to swoop. 'She's signalling!' exclaimed the pilot. 'Code's okay — she's kosher, whaddyer know!'

'Kay!' snapped Tideman. 'Fetch Greg — quick! Light signal!' Kay sprinted off.

'Light signal?' I echoed. 'A light signal from a nuclear sub?'

'Aye, it's rarely used. Only then for top secret sub-to-ship exchanges when the coast is clear. No chance of interception. Orion — the sub's putting out a light signal… yes, I said, a light signal. I'll keep you informed.'

He rounded on Greg, who had arrived with Kay. 'Read it, Greg!'

A bright eye of light winked from the periscope tip from among the grey waves.

' "Admiralty to Rainier, Jetwind. Top secret. Seascan rendezvous was at 0900 GMT."'

'Was?' I interrupted. 'Was? You've got it wrong, man! The rendezvous is only this afternoon! Get a repeat!'

Greg blinked his hand-lamp at the sub. The sub responded quick as automatic fire.

Greg mouthed the words. "Signal correct as sent. I am ordered to inform you that the Seascan intercept took place at 0900 GMT this morning. Results were satisfactory."'

Nearly two hours ago! I couldn't believe it. Nor could Tideman or Kay. I managed to say, 'Ask the sub — why the change of plan?'

Greg repeated after the light. c "Owing to the uncertainty following the apparent disappearance of Jetwind, the United States Navy, in consultation with the Admiralty, decided to divert the surveillance satellite slightly from its original track and accordingly advance the rendezvous schedule. Nadir was at 0900 GMT today."' Kay, Tideman and I stood transfixed. 'There's more coming, sir,' said the signalman. No cargo-haul life for you, Jetwind.

' "The Admiralty directs me to convey its congratulations to the flagship of the Cape Horn Patrol."'