Santorini

by Alistair MacLean

  'I don't think we have to worry about that, sir. Weather conditions in the Cyclades between early July and mid-September are remarkably predictable. It's already eleven forty-five. Any minute now the Meltemi, the Etesian wind, will start up from the north-west. During the afternoon it reaches Forces 5 or 6, sometimes even seven. Usually dies away in the evening but it has been known to last all night. The Meltemi will be ideally suited for the Angelina. Those luggers, as Denholm said, are hopeless windward sailors but in this case it will be directly astern of them and carry them down towards the Kasos Strait to the east of the easternmost tip of Crete.'

  'Sounds fine, but, well, even if Montgomery manages to raise this bomber, f/'he manages to cut a hole in the fuselage without blowing us all to kingdom come, if he manages to extract the atom bomb and if he manages to secure it to the Angelina's cradle, what happens if the thing detonates before he reaches the Kasos Strait?'

  'Then that's it for Wotherspoon and his crew. For us, the risk is low. I've been talking to Dr Wickram about this. He seems convinced of the inherent stability of the hydrogen bomb -- after all, he does build the damn things. While he says it would be a hundred per cent certain to go up if an atom bomb exploded alongside it, we mustn't over-estimate the effects of a more remote explosive shock, even at a distance of a few miles. After all, those bombs did survive the effect of the explosion in the nose of the bomber and the impact of the plane hitting the water at high speed. Besides, the intervening miles of water -- we hope there will be those intervening miles - should have a powerfully dampening effect.'

  There'll be no such effect for those aboard the Angelina.

  Curtains. What motivates a man like that, John? Obviously, he's incredibly brave -- but, well, is he all right?'

  'If you mean is he off his rocker, then we're all off our rockers. He's as sane as you or I. He's a romantic at heart, a born adventurer; a couple of hundred years ago and he'd have been somewhere on the other side of the world building up the odd empire.'

  'That's as may be. But it's still a terrible thought that a man like that should die for us.'

  'He won't be dying for all of us. I'm going on the Angelina. So is Vincent Van Gelder.'

  Hawkins put down his glass and stared at him. 'Do you know what you're saying? / know what you're saying and I think you've taken leave of your senses. Are you mad? You and Van Gelder? Quite mad?'

  'Van Gelder insists on coming along. I insist on going. That's all there is to it.'

  'I absolutely forbid it.'

  'With the deepest respect, Admiral, you'll forbid me nothing. Did you honestly expect me to leave a job half done? Did you honestly expect me to let him go out there and die alone? I would remind you that I am the captain of this ship and that at sea not even an admiral can take over from me or give orders which I consider to be to the detriment of this vessel.'

  'Mutiny!' Hawkins waved a dismissive hand at his lime juice. 'Have we nothing stronger than this?'

  'Naturally.' Talbot went to the Admiral's wine cupboard and prepared a drink while Hawkins gazed at a spot on the deck which was about a thousand miles away. 'A large scotch and water. No ice.'

  'Thank you.' Hawkins drained almost half the contents. 'Mutiny, forsooth!'

  'Yes, sir. Can't hang me from the yard-arm, though. It's my yard-arm. You haven't yet met Angelina - Professor I Wotherspoon's wife, I mean, not the lugger. But you will, I I've invited them aboard for lunch. Young, rather lovely, nice I sense of humour and dotty about her husband. She has to be I - dotty, I mean - to do something she clearly doesn't want I to do, that is to go along from here with her husband and the I bomb on the lugger.'

  'I'm sure I shall be delighted to make her acquaintance.' Hawkins took another sip of his drink. 'What's she got to do with the matter in hand?'

  'She's not going with the bomb and the lugger. Neither is Wotherspoon, for that matter, or his two crew members. They remain aboard the Ariadne. Wotherspoon, of course, will have to be forcibly restrained, but that's no problem at all. Van Gelder and I will take the Angelina down through the Kasos Strait. Two small medals will suffice.'

  Hawkins was silent for quite some time, then said: 'How are you going to pin on a couple of posthumous VCs or whatever when you're circling the earth in a vaporized orbit?' 'One problem at a time. We can't let the girl go.' 'Good God, no. I'll never forgive myself. I never even started to think. I wonder -- '

  'Wonder me no wonders, sir. We don't have room for three heroes aboard the Angelina. Someone has to take the Ariadne home again, remember? Well, that's the Angelina. Now, the Kilcharran. I've just been talking to Captain Montgomery. He's just given a couple of experimental tugs on the lifting slings and he reckons the bomber, with the help of the flotation bags, of course, is nearing a state of neutral buoyancy. Twenty minutes, half an hour at the most, and he's going to start to haul away. You won't want to miss that, sir.'

  'No, indeed. What did Walter de la Mare say - look your last on all things lovely every hour? This may be the last thing I'll ever see?' 'I rather hope it doesn't come to that, sir. Apart from the lugger and the recovery of the bomber, we have to wait for three other things. The reaction to the message we sent to the President via our embassy in Washington, which might take quite some time, for even the most co-operative of banks, and banks almost by definition are secretive and detest the very thought of co-operation, are going to be very reluctant to disclose any information about their important clients, because important clients don't like that sort of thing. Admittedly, Air Force Generals and Admirals are unlikely to be very important financially, but they are from the point of view of prestige and power and would, I should think, carry a disproportionate amount of clout. I do hope we haven't upset too many people over there. Then, and this I should expect very soon, there should be a reply from Greek Intelligence to our query asking for the complete list of places where Andropulos has conducted business, any kind of business, over the past few years. Then, of course, we await the arrival of this krytron device from America.'

  'Which may arrive any old time. I mean, we have no idea, have we? Do the Americans have supersonic planes?'

  'Sure they have. But fighters only. And their nearest refuelling point would be the Azores and I'm quite certain no fighter could fly the close on two thousand miles they'd have to travel to get there. Question of fuel capacity. Besides, it's not absolutely essential that we get this device before leaving with the bomb -- always assuming, of course, that we do leave. We could always dump the bomb, drop a marker, warn all shipping to keep clear, wait for the krytron to arrive, return there and detonate the bomb.'

  'Much more satisfactory if it could all be done in one fell swoop.' Hawkins thought for a moment, then smiled. 'What's the time in Washington?'

  'Four a.m., I think.'

  'Excellent, excellent. A short message. Ask them how it's being transported and what's the expected time of arrival.

  Give 'em something to do.' Talbot lifted a phone and dictated the message.

  'Haven't seen your second-in-command lately,' Hawkins said. 'I understood he was prising secrets loose from Andropulos's niece?'

  'Vincent normally carries out his duties with efficiency and dispatch. When the duties involve Irene Charial, it seems to take a little longer.'

  'Not so many years ago it would have taken me a little longer myself. Ah!' Van Gelder had appeared in the doorway. 'Just discussing you, young man. A difficult and protracted interview, I take it?'

  'One treads delicately, sir. But she told me everything she knew.' He looked reproachfully at Talbot. 'I detect a trace of scepticism in your expression, sir. Unwarranted, I assure you. I believe her, I trust her and I was not bewitched by her green eyes, owing to the fact that I was on duty at the time.'

  'Less than admirable though they may be, Vincent, devious-ness and low cunning have their place in the scheme of things.'

  'It wasn't like that at all. I told her that you had sent me to try to trap her into making unwary and ungu
arded statements and unwittingly to betray herself. After that, we got along famously.'

  Talbot smiled. 'Just another way of being devious. What does she know?'

  'Nothing. I guarantee you'd come to the same conclusion, sir. She doesn't know her uncle, except superficially. She doesn't trust him. She thinks he's a highly suspicious character. She thinks Alexander is a highly suspicious character, although that wouldn't require any great acumen on anyone's part. She knows nothing about his businesses. She's never travelled with him. Her father, whom she obviously dotes on and has the highest respect for, thinks he's a highly suspicious character - he and Andropulos haven't spoken for years. She's convinced that her father knows a great deal about her uncle and his businesses, but Dad refuses to discuss any aspect of the matter.'

  'Sounds as if we could do with Dad aboard right now,' Hawkins said. 'I have the feeling we could learn some very interesting things from him.'

  'I'm sure we could, sir. One odd thing - she's convinced that her uncle is genuinely fond of her.'

  Hawkins smiled. 'I think it would be rather difficult not to be fond of the young lady. However, I would point out in the passing, and apropos of nothing, that mass murderers have been known to dote on tiny tots.'

  'I hardly think he's a mass murderer, sir.'

  'And she's certainly not a tiny tot.' He looked speculatively at Talbot. 'A passing thought, John?'

  'Yes.' Talbot looked out through the window for an unseeing moment, then back at Hawkins. 'How do we know he's not a mass murderer?'

  The speculation was still in Hawkins's eyes. 'You don't normally make remarks like that. Not without good reason. You have something in mind?'

  'I think I have. But it's so far back in my mind that I can't reach it. It'll come.' He turned as Denholm entered the cabin. 'I seem to recall having asked you this question before. What drags you away from the fleshpots?'

  'Duty, sir.'

  'You will have noticed, Admiral,' Talbot said, 'how devoted the Ariadne's officers are to their duty. I thought, Jimmy, that you were supposed to be lurking and eavesdropping?'

  'I have lurked, sir. And eavesdropped. I have also been plying Mr Andropulos and his friends with strong drink.'

  'At this time of the morning?' Hawkins said.

  'Captain's orders, sir. I hope, Captain, that the Admiralty are going to take care of my bar bill.'

  'Prodigious?'

  'Not as prodigious as their thirsts. They have relaxed a bit.

  They have apparently agreed that I'm simple-minded. They are quite certain I don't know a word of Greek but even so they're still very cautious. Much given to allusions and cryptic references, all made, for good measure, in a Macedonian dialect.'

  'Which you learnt at your mother's knee?'

  'A bit later than that. But I'm at home in it. I don't know whether you will consider this good news or bad, sir, but Andropulos knows there are hydrogen bombs aboard that bomber. He even knows there are fifteen of them.'

  There was a fairly lengthy silence while the other three men in the cabin considered the implications of Denholm's words, then Hawkins said: 'Good news and bad news. Good news for us, bad news for Andropulos. Well done, my boy. Very well done.'

  'I echo that, sir,' Talbot said. 'Lieutenant Denholm is miscast as either a classicist or electronics officer. MI 5 should have him. There is no way that Andropulos could have learnt aboard the Ariadne of the existence of those bombs. So he knew before. Proof, if that were needed, of our near-certain conviction that Andropulos has penetrated the Pentagon.'

  'I would point out, sir,' Denholm said, 'that the words hydrogen bombs weren't actually used. Also, it's only my word against theirs.'

  'That's irrelevant and this is no court of law. There will be no confrontation. All that matters is that we know and they don't know that we do.'

  'My usefulness is over? Or do I continue to lurk?'

  'Lurk, of course. The three A's must be making some contingency plans. We know now why they wanted aboard the Ariadne. What we don't know is what they intend to do now that they are here. Resume your wassailing.'

  'Wassailing?' Denholm sounded bitter. 'I have an arrangement with Jenkins whereby I consume copious quantities of tonic water, lemon and ice. Ghastly.' He turned to go but Talbot stopped him as a seaman entered and handed over a sheet of paper.

  'You might as well hear what's in this.' He studied the paper briefly. 'This is in reply to a request we made of Greek Intelligence for as exhaustive a list as they could supply of all places where Andropulos is known either to do business or have contacts. No names, no addresses, just towns. Forty or fifty of them. My, my. This list wasn't compiled on the spur of the moment. Greek Intelligence must have been taking a more than passing interest in the activities of our friend Andropulos over a long period, years I would think. I wonder why. About half of those places are marked by asterisks. Again I wonder why. Was that for their own information or is it intended to suggest something to us?'

  He handed the paper to Hawkins, who studied it for a moment, then said: 'I know those places marked with an asterisk. I don't see their relevance in our circumstances. I can't even remotely associate them with our problem. I'd swear that none of those places had any connection with hydrogen bombs.'

  'So would I,' Talbot said. 'Maybe they handle something else. In spite of the situation we find ourselves in, maybe hydrogen bombs aren't the biggest cause for concern. If you can imagine anything worse than our present situation, that is. Could I have that back, sir?'

  He sat at the desk, made some marks on the paper before him, then looked up.

  'Bangkok, Islamabad, Kabul, Bogota, Miami, Mexico City, Tijuana, San Diego, Bahamas, Ocho Rios, Ankara, Sofia -Andropulos playing both sides of the fence with those last two, the ethnic Turks are having a very bad time in Bulgaria just now, but Andropulos wouldn't let that interfere with his business interests -- and Amsterdam. What does that list suggest?'

  'Drugs,' Van Gelder said.

  'Drugs. Heroin, cocaine, marijuana, you name. it. Now some more towns. Tehran, Baghad -- Andropulos again playing both sides of the fence, Iran and Iraq had been at war for six years now - Tripoli, Damascus, Beirut, Athens, Rome, East Berlin, New York and London. That suggest something?'

  'Yes.' It was Van Gelder again. Terrorism. I'm not quite sure why New York and London qualify.'

  'I seem to remember there have been two attempts, one at John F. Kennedy, the other at Heathrow to smuggle bombs aboard planes. Both bungled, both failed. I think it's fairly safe to assume -- in fact, it would be criminally negligent not to assume -- that the terrorists who planned those crimes are still in residence in London and New York, waiting. Jimmy, would you please go to your cabin and bring Theodore here with whatever further results his cryptology has turned up.'

  Hawkins said: 'I most sincerely hope that you are not thinking what I think you are, if you follow me.'

  'It may be, sir, that I am thinking what you are, if you follow me.'

  'What you are suggesting is that this Andropulos is some kind of mastermind -- possible world co-ordinator -- of drug-smuggling? Is that what you meant by your remark that we didn't know he wasn't a mass murderer?'

  'Yes, sir. What else can that list of contacts he has in drug areas mean? Where else has he accumulated his vast wealth - and we haven't added it all up yet, not by any means.'

  'There's no actual proof.'

  'All depends on what you call proof. It's very powerful suggestive evidence. How far are you prepared to stretch the long arm of coincidence? To infinity?'

  'And you're further suggesting he's engaged in terrorism. That he's using his vast profits from drug-smuggling to finance his terrorist activities?'

  'It's possible, but I don't think so. I think the two activities are being run in tandem.'

  'A drug-peddler is one thing. A terrorist quite another. Incompatibles. Poles apart. Never the twain shall meet.'

  'One hesitates to contradict a senior officer. But I'm afraid
you're wrong, sir. Vincent, would you enlighten the Admiral? You know what I'm talking about.'

  'All too well, sir. October 1984, Admiral, our last submarine patrol. North Atlantic, about two hundred miles west of the Irish coast. I can remember it as if it were yesterday. We were asked to move into position to observe, but not to intercept, a small American ship en route from the States to Ireland and given its course and estimated time when it would pass a certain point. Neither the crew of this vessel nor its captain, a certain Captain Robert Anderson who, I believe, is still at large, knew that they had been monitored from the moment they had left port by an American spy-in-the sky satellite. We upped periscope, identified it, then downed periscope. They never saw us. It was a New England trawler, the Valhalla, based on Gloucester, Massachusetts, from which it had sailed a few days earlier. It transferred its cargo to an Irish tug, the Marita Ann, which was duly seized by the Irish Navy.