by Mark A Biggs
‘Go on,’ I commanded in a loud voice to ensure the harbour officials could hear. ‘Toot sweet now, let Claudia know that Lady Olivia Suzanne Elizabeth Huggins has arrived!’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lelantos
Claudia
The security alert during the reception was caused by a faulty door sensor. The night had gone off without a hitch and our purchase of Kupari was all but guaranteed. Max’s attempted escape had been a source of much entertainment. Even I, when summoned to the control room, laughed as we watched him on CCTV, particularly as he sneaked about, hiding when someone approached, thinking he was going undetected. The funniest moments had been watching him trying to climb in and out of the submarine and the look of horror on his face when he pushed the flood button and the sea had started rushing in. I now understood why the guards in Moscow had been in stiches watching Max riding the scooter. Once I left the control room, having ordered Max to be brought up on deck, I wasn’t sure if I was embarrassed for him or in admiration for his doggedness. Whatever it was, after the fireworks display, I ordered that he be restricted to his cabin.
The last of our guests left the Lelantos around 11.30pm, encouraged by the engines being started. We sailed from Dubrovnik just after midnight. Security personnel did a final sweep of the yacht and, with the all-clear, I could finally relax.
The captain had advised us that the trip to Turkey would have pushed our fuel reserves, particularly if we needed to run at speed. He recommended refuelling in Corfu before continuing.
* * *
A commotion from outside brought me onto the deck. I was horrified with what I saw – Olivia. Somehow, she had managed to board. What was I going to do now?
‘What’s she doing here?’ I barked at the security guards protecting the gangway, before seeing the harbour staff on the dock, watching on, intrigued.
‘Olivia, sweetie,’ I called aloud, changing my tactics, while approaching with my arms stretched out for a warm embrace.
Giving her a big hug, I guided her away from the prying eyes.
‘You,’ I commanded to one of the guards who had let her on board, ‘take her down to the dining room, and if she gives you any trouble, tie her up. And, take that stupid umbrella away from her.’
‘Is Max on board?’ Olivia asked before being marched away.
‘Sweetie, you will be lucky if you live long enough to find out. You have no idea what you have done.’
When I had finished saying the words, I realised that my anger had been replaced by frustration.
‘What are you going to do? Kill her? You know she can’t stay.’ said Linda who had been on deck the whole time and watched the comedy of errors unfold.
‘It’s a dilemma, a real dilemma,’ I said. ‘Ordinarily, we would just dispose of her, but if she’s a wanted terrorist and is traced to us and with her Inspector Axel still at large, the authorities will want to arrest her. The harbour staff were watching us but we can’t hand her over to them now, because we have the Professor and Max on board. You can be sure that they would take the opportunity to search the Lelantos. No, we can’t kill her and we can’t hand her over, not yet anyway. For the time being, unless you have a better idea, we make the run for Turkey. Our priority must be the Professor. What do you think?’
‘You’re right, the Professor comes first, but when you hand over Olivia, what about Max? You can be sure that they will search the boat looking for him and what about the Professor then?’
‘The Professor will be gone by the time we have to deal with Olivia.’
‘Not if we are intercepted between here and Turkey and now that we have Olivia on board, that’s entirely possible. No Claudia, I think, as soon as we are at sea, we dispose of Max and get rid of all evidence that he was ever on board. We can just say that she was lying.’
‘The Professor?’ I asked, thinking that a sea intercept was a possibility.
‘If it looks as if we are going to be stopped, we put him and his wife in the mini-sub and they sit on the bottom of the ocean until we have been searched and cleared to continue. At worst, the sub can take them ashore.’
‘All right, Linda, we have a plan. I’ll go and issue the instructions to the captain.’
‘And Max?’
‘We put him down, wrap the body in weights, use the helicopter to fly him off the ship and then dump the body into the sea. He will never be found. But not until we are out of sight of the land, and we’ll do it nicely – kill him as painlessly as we can. You might as well take him to Olivia, so they can spend some time together before the end and I want to be the one who tells them. Max will understand and I’m sure Olivia will want to go with him. They’re a couple of silly old buggers. Olivia didn’t think that she was going to rescue him – she came to die with him. But that can’t happen right now. Linda, guard them carefully and I will join you once I’ve spoken to the captain.’
I found the captain and we discussed the safest and fastest route to Turkey. He recommended that we track deeper out into the Ionian Sea, as if we were heading into the Mediterranean, before cutting back inside of Crete for the Aegean Sea. A patrol vessel or a warship could easily outrun us, so our best strategy was to avoid them. If radar picked up a vessel and it altered course in response to a manoeuvre by us, he would alert our security and myself immediately.
Before joining Linda, I met with the head of security demanding that, until we were safely at the Turkish Riviera, I wanted the submarine manned twenty-four hours a day, ready to be deployed at a minute’s notice. If the Professor or his wife left their cabin, they were to be accompanied at all times, ready to be evacuated. The helicopter was to be prepared and I wanted all our CCTV recordings destroyed, especially anything featuring Max.
Corfu was one of my favourite islands and I decided that, rather than joining Linda, Max and Olivia in the dining room, I would stay on deck and watch as we pulled out of port.
I’m only putting off the inevitable, I thought as we gathered speed heading out to sea.
My mental torment started the second I hesitated and refrained from killing Max back in Scotland. This moment was always coming. I knew why I hadn’t pulled the trigger but Max was right, ever since, I had been at war with myself, trying to make sense of my life. There was no stopping it now and most of what was about to happen was of my own doing. If I had left him behind, things would have been different, but Max’s time had come to an end.
Yet, I felt stirred, even touched, by Olivia who had come all of this way to be with him at the end. It would be cruel to make her live. What an irony; sparing Olivia was going to be the most painful thing I could do to her and Max.
I feared killing Max, knowing that it would weigh heavily on me. Yet out of kindness, to ensure that it was swift and painless, it had to happen at my own hands. I lingered a moment longer, staring at the brilliant blue of the water, to where it met and mingled with the sky. In that space, I saw a frightened Lucia, with her arms stretching out before her, running.
‘I knew you would come,’ I said aloud.
* * *
Max and Olivia were sitting together, holding hands, of all things. I’m not sure if it looked odd or perfect.
Sighing loudly while shaking my head, I said, ‘I should have guessed, the moment I heard you were looking for us, that you would find your way here. I spared Max because I remembered, yes, I remember both of you. But I can’t help both of you now. Olivia, you are wanted for the Rome bombing, even though we both know you weren’t involved. Nonetheless, because of the terrorism alert, we must hand you over. It’s possible that they already know you are on board. I’m afraid, Olivia, that we can’t let them find Max and you understand what that means?’
From the expression on Olivia’s face, I knew that this revelation had taken her by surprise, but for Max, he was expecting it.
‘Believe it or not,’ I continued, ‘this is not how I wished it would end. It may come as a small consolation but, I promise you Max, that your de
ath will be quick and as painless as I can make it.’
I paused for a couple of seconds to let what I had said sink in.
‘How long do I have?’ asked Max looking at Olivia.
‘I’m afraid we risk being intercepted at any time, so it will be as soon as we are clear of the land and any other shipping. Maybe another hour, no more.’
If either of them was planning to fight, their expressions didn’t betray their intentions. Max simply tilted his head in recognition of his fate.
‘We will place guards on all the exits and they will be instructed to tie you both up if you try and leave. Linda and I will give you some time to be alone, that’s the best I can do.’
If these were lesser people, they would have begged, but with the stoicism you expect from the British, they remained resolute. The only thing that Max did say as we were leaving was, ‘Goodbye, my Lucia,’ which made me stop. When I turned, he looked deeply at Olivia, took hold of her hands and whispered, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.’
‘Wordsworth?’ I asked.
‘Keats,’ he replied, now smiling at me.
‘Yes, of course. Keats. Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness,’ I said, completing his lines. Our eyes met as they did in Scotland and once more I knew it was him. It was Max who came for me all those years ago – but this time I wouldn’t be safe.
I wanted to say, Goodbye. To say, sorry Max, but I stubbornly resisted and instead, Linda and I left, walking out and onto the deck. There we stood together in silence, gazing out over the water. She didn’t speak nor ask any questions but I felt that she knew, perhaps understood, that, even for a person like me, this was difficult.
Another Kupari – at least this is a beautiful day to die.
The sound of the explosion and the yacht being violently lifted and thrown from bow to stern shattered the tranquillity of the moment. The engines stopped, and the instant I regained my balance, it was almost lost again when the ship dipped noticeably to the stern. For a second, Linda and I were frozen, stunned, confused and unsure what was happening. Then, through the shouts of alarm, I looked around but could see no signs of fire or damage on deck. I guessed that the explosion had come from below the waterline.
‘We need to get to the bridge,’ I said to Linda, ignoring members of the crew who were now appearing on deck.
Calmly, despite the chaos that was beginning to unfold around us, we made our way to the captain. He was busy issuing orders over the radio as we entered the bridge.
‘She’s going down,’ was the first thing he said.
‘Do you know what happened?’
‘Torpedo, mine, or explosive device attached to the hull. Whatever it was, we have a hole in the stern. We need to abandon ship.’
‘Issue the orders,’ I said, ‘but I want the Professor off first and well away from here before any rescuers arrive. Can we launch the helicopter?’
‘No, she’s tipping too quickly.’
The emergency alert sound rang out over the ship’s PA system.
WOOP, WOOP, WOOP.
It was deafening and was followed by the captain’s voice saying, ‘All hands to your abandon ship stations.’ He paused before saying three times, ‘Abandon ship, abandon ship, abandon ship.’
‘Who?’ asked Linda.
‘No idea,’ I replied as we moved as quickly as we could towards the bow of the yacht in search of the Professor.
Moving about was becoming more difficult by the second. Because we were sinking stern first, the bow of the ship was beginning to point skywards at some twenty-five degrees. I was relieved to find the Professor and his wife being helped by two of our ex-special-services soldiers into a lifeboat.
‘Go!’ I yelled at them. ‘Get him off.’
The yacht dipped farther backwards, making moving about almost impossible. Looking around, I saw several life-rafts were in the water, filled with people. The captain, whom we had seen moving from one abandon ship station to another, ensuring that all of his crew were accounted for, was now holding on tightly to the rails with one hand, and speaking into his walkie talkie, as we joined him.
‘The Professor,’ he said, ‘is in one of our high-speed dinghies and heading away from here. The rest of the crew are all accounted for and have abandoned ship. Ladies, that leaves just us.’
‘Max and Olivia?’
‘They didn’t make it out of the dining room and, with the angle of the ship, it’s impossible to get to them. I would say it’s already flooded, gone under. I’m sorry but they’re gone. I suggest we abandon ship ourselves.’
* * *
Max
The sudden explosion and the violent movement of the yacht knocked Olivia clean off her chair and onto the floor. She must have struck her head, because despite my kneeling beside her and calling, ‘Olivia, Olivia,’ she didn’t move. The ship tipped suddenly and I found Olivia and I were sliding deeper into the ship, while the items on the tables, plates, glasses, knives, and forks, rained down upon us. When the ship tilted even farther, anything that wasn’t held securely on the walls and ceiling became missiles.
‘Help us!’ I cried out, but the men guarding the exits had gone.
From the depths, I could hear sea water as it flooded the compartments below. Looking about, I realised that, even if I could arouse Olivia, we couldn’t crawl up the slope to freedom. From where we were lying, the huge glass windows, which normally gave a magnificent view out over the front of the boat, were filled with sky. We were sinking stern first.
‘Wake up my love,’ I said again, and she stirred, probably because of the sea water which was beginning lap around us, rather than my voice. ‘We’ve got to try and move, Olivia, the water’s coming in.’
Opening her eyes, she somehow managed a smile and said, ‘You do seem to get us into some trouble.’
‘Me?’ I answered. ‘I was about to live out the rest of my life in the lap of luxury. Do you think you can move?’
With some help from me, she managed to stand and we rested ourselves against the rear wall, adjusting our position as the angle of the yacht increased. The water was now pooling about our feet.
‘Any suggestions?’ Olivia asked, unable to hide the distress in her voice.
The only response I could think of seemed wrong, but I said it anyway. ‘They say drowning is a nice way to go. Anyway, anything is better than dying in that godforsaken nursing home.’
‘At least we’re together,’ added Olivia, reaching out and taking my hand.
I could feel the seeping of the water as it climbed over our bodies. Glancing down, I saw that it had reached our knees. I was surprised how difficult it was to control the panic that was racing through my mind. I began to imagine the last minute of my life. The water would cover our faces and, even though there was little point, we would hold our breath anyway. We’d hold it until we were about to burst, with our eyes wide open, looking about in terror. Then we would take our last gasp but, instead of air, sea water would flood into our lungs.
Is there a God?
Thinking of all of the bad things I had done in my life, I wondered if Claudia had been right. If I came to knock on the Pearly Gates, what would St Peter say? A death is a death is a death? Or, Sometimes, Max, we must do these things for a greater good?’ I’m frightened.
The bubbling sound as the water filled the dining room was briefly overshadowed by the sound of gunshots from outside. I counted fifteen shots, a short break, possibly while somebody changed a magazine, then another fifteen rounds. Whoever it was, a rescue team perhaps, was trying to smash the windows that now sat almost vertically above us.
Olivia also heard the shooting and looked up.
‘It’s bulletproof,’ I said looking up at the window. ‘Someone is trying to reach us. Even if they do get through, I have no idea how they will get to us, but maybe we should put that table in front of us, in case of falling glass.’
With the water now well and truly above our knees,
moving to grab the table proved challenging. If nothing else, frantically working out a way to hide behind the table took our minds off drowning.
The dining room once again sank back into its new-found rhythm, a melody of gushing water. We huddled, hidden from the sky by our table but there were no more gunshots. Water began to lap around our waists and the thought of drowning swilled around in my mind once again.
‘Have I told you that I love you?’ I asked Olivia.
‘Not in many, many years, Max, but I know and have always known.’ She squeezed my hand with affection before saying softly, ‘I’m scared Max.’
I wanted to comfort her – to say something profound so Olivia would feel safe but, ‘I’m scared too’, were the only words that came to my lips.
A mighty thud was followed shortly after by another thud that was so loud I imagined the yacht exploding again. I went to peep around the table, to see what was making such a noise, but Olivia held me still, saying, ‘Not yet my love.’
A second later, another colossal THUD! sent glass cascading down, hitting the walls and bouncing harmlessly off our shield.
Items dislodged or upturned that could float began bumping into us as the water continued to rise, quicker now. Discarding our cover, I saw the hook from a crane dangle through the now shattered window and bump and crash as it was slowly lowered towards us. Its route down was difficult because the descent wasn’t vertical and it caught, before falling again, only to stop agonisingly close, just above us.
Stretching as high as I could, I even tried to jump, which was impossible as we were encased by water. It was just out of my reach, tantalisingly close. Dropping my arms back to my sides and into the water, I wondered what was the point. Even if we could have held it, then what? Neither Olivia nor I had the strength to haul ourselves along the cable.
Claudia appeared at the window and started the long climb down towards us as the water was reaching our chests. If it wasn’t for Olivia steadying me, when the ship tilted farther towards the sky, I would have fallen over and gone under the water. The movement of the yacht was throwing Claudia violently about but she kept descending. Finally, when she reached the hook, she wrapped her legs around the cable then entwined herself in the hook, before flipping upside down and hanging towards us with her arms outstretched. I reached up, stretching towards her and our fingertips touched ever so slightly, but she was too far away.