Geoffrey Jenkins - Hunter Killer

MKG turned to Adele and pointed with the glowing tip of his cigarette to a bright constellation in the south. Pity Love-Apple Crossing is so far south. I would have liked to show you Little Bear in his own place in the firmament.'

' Why can't we see him?' asked Adele in a small voice.

Perhaps the thought was eating her, too-what if Little Bear did not go according to expectation?

There was a lightness in the Vice-President's voice, by -contrast. ' You can't spot Little Bear in the southern hemisphere,' he told her. Nor Polaris, which is in Little Bear's tail.

Orion's Belt was a jewel above our heads; on the right the Southern Cross hung over the limitless ocean. The silence was immense. In my heart I knew that if ever MKG came back, he would bring with him something of the incalculable horizons which lay before our eyes to add to a personality so full and strong that I, for one, had never encountered anything like it before. Could the end justify the means in this fantastic space-journey? I hastily stopped my thoughts; I was beginning to think like Peace, without considering the vast consequences of the act. 201

I said, breaking the spell, 'How long will your flight to

Santa Fe take, MKG?'

A few hours,' he replied. ' I'll orbit a couple of times to get the automatic docking computer lined up on its target, which is the space station. We know Santa Fe's orbital position exactly at any time. It's a relatively easy thing since we developed the locking beam which Acton and Davis used so successfully.'

Boz came and squatted on his haunches in front of MKG. ` Can't we float up Little Bear as soon as the cutter is ready, MKG? That check-'

MKG flicked away the glowing end of his cigarette. Sorry, Boz. The longer she's out of sight the safer. It'll louse up the whole project if she's spotted at the very last moment. And it's getting that way, time-wise.'

Tyler's fliers will be over Love-Apple Crossing tomorrow,' said Peace flatly.

Guessing's fine-' objected Boz.

' I'm not guessing, Boz,' answered Peace. ' The helos and carrier planes will have sanitized Grid E-12 east of us by tomorrow. Then-Love-Apple Crossing, Grid E-13. That's the way it goes; one grid finished, the next grid begun.'

MKG said, It's as relentless as… as..

A countdown,' said Peace.

I gotta have more time,' insisted Boz. I can't risk a failure.'

Peace said quickly, Can you work in the dark on Little

Bear, Boz?'

` No.'

` See-there's one hell of a moon,' went on Peace. What if I go down at sunset, cut Little Bear free?'

Boz swung excitedly on Peace. ` You're sure an ideas man,

Commander.'

It will leave Little Bear completely vulnerable for the two hours it takes to pull rods and fully activate the SNAP motor,' said Peace. Maybe not completely, for it'll be dark and there'll be enough moon for Boz and his team to work by.

There's Andre's acetylene lamp until they can draw their own power from the missile's power plant.'

Jeez I' exclaimed the Texan. ` That'll give us a whole night to test her, Boz!'

When Peace spoke, I detected the real reason for his concession. You'll want to help the boys for a while, won't you, MKG? Don't get short on sleep, though-you and Boz and the others can rest up here tomorrow afternoon.'

In other words, Peace would keep the radio well out of the way until it was too late to retract.

Boz and the scientists were enthusiastic. See here, Commander,' said Boz. As soon as the power starts coming through from the reactor, we'll submerge her up to the capsule. We'll have power then to operate the ballast pumps.'

The Americans and Trevor-Davis crowded round MKG, squatting like Boz on their heels.

Boz turned to Trevor-Davis. Can do, fellah? That SNAP is your pigeon.'

The thought of getting back to mechanics seemed to animate the silent Englishman. Can do,' he replied. I'll want light, though, from the acetylene.'

We'll have to risk it,' said Peace.

It's not such a big risk,' said Adele. ' All the fishing boats in Limuria will be out now that the storm's over-I expect everyone is as hungry as we are. Tyler's men will see hundreds of fishermen's acetylene lights at sea tonight and tomorrow.'

Good!' breathed Peace.

Adele jerked up and pointed south. Look at that light!

What a meteor!'

A distant stain of red, followed by brilliant white, blotted out the Southern Cross for a moment.

It isn't a meteor,' said Peace grimly. That's a flare dropped from a plane.'

Adele gave a shiver and a silence fell upon us. Would Tyler discover Little Bear-with a flare like that tomorrow as the missile lay immobile on the surface of the lagoon?

Peace broke the silence. Tyler's driving his men into the ground. Anything that floats, they'll find.' His voice became hard. Tomorrow we-that is, Mac, Andre, John and Adele and I-will play at island fishermen in the lagoon. Boz, you and your boys will need all the sleep you can get if you're going to work right through the night. We'll bury the DATICO gear, the VLF radio and the space-suit here in the sand of the hut in case we have some nosey helo overhead. The dunking helos will come first, then the vP-5's.'

It sure looks as if we're on the hook,' remarked the big

Texan.

On the hook, but not landed,' Peace replied. Everyone will play absolutely dumb if a helo comes over-in the boat we don't speak, except Adele, if she wishes, in Creole. If a helo comes over the hut, act like sleeping fishermen. Andre's safe anyway. None of us look too zazzy in our present rig.

We'll pass for islanders.'

MKG laughed and assumed a Southern drawl. For them kind words, Commander, I thank you from the bottom of mah cotton-pick'n' heart.' His easy confidence broke the tension. Peace went on, ' While we're playing round in the lagoon tomorrow, I'll put a marker over Little Bear so that we know exactly where to look after dark.'

What if the fliers spot Semittante?' I asked.

The water will be as clear as glass,' added Adele.

They will,' said Peace. ' They will. But until a vP-5 can get here with MAD gear, they won't know whether the wreck is new or old. The Sea of Limuria hasn't only got one wreck,' he went on. Look at 'em all on the St Brandon reef. I think it's unlikely that they'll divert a vp-5 specially to investigate yet one more wreck. Most likely it will be logged for routine investigation when a vP-5 comes to case Grid E-13. We can only watch and pray.'

Boz, carried away with enthusiasm, asked, How long do you reckon it'll take to get Little Bear into her firing position, Commander?'

Two-three hours, maybe,' he replied. I'll have Mac check over the engine again tomorrow. It hasn't been used in ages, but it looks okay. I'd like to start out of the lagoon before daybreak.'

I asked, Once Little Bear is submerged at the firing point, there's one hour to go?'

T minus sixty-yeah,' Boz corrected me. ' Sure, you got it. The countdown routine's pretty simple-mKG gets my messages via the radio buoy on the surface. He gives us a count every few minutes-T minus fifty-nine, T minus fifty, and so on down to zero. At T minus one I start the DATICO checkout. But forget it, fellah-that's what me and Pete and Trev are all here for. You got yourself a ringside seat-no work'

Peace added quietly, And as you count, every helo, every plane, every surfaced sub in Grid E-13 will hear you?' Sure.'

– ' When Little Bear is on the surface, a helo, a sub, a plane anything with search radar or sonar-could pick her up?' •

Yeah.'

And when her generators get going, any nuclear sub within sonar range will hear them?'

' Sure-twenty thousand yards. Nearly twelve miles.'

' So from tomorrow evening until MKG is launched, Little Bear is wide open?'

` Wide open as the prairie, Commander. If Tyler and his merry men pal around Grid n-13, then-' Boz shrugged.