‘A brave man, sir. His whole life was service,’ concluded Steadfast.
Cunningham, clearly embarrassed at being caught up in this ceremonial, muttered something that Steadfast did not catch.
‘Incidentally, sir,’ said Steadfast, ‘where’s Moresby? I thought he’d be here to see his men back.’
‘Dead,’ said Cunningham, ‘at Tobruk. We’ll need a new flotilla commander now.’
*
The welcoming party departed and the four seaman took Duckworth’s body away to one of the ambulances. The waiting lorry moved forward and backed up to the launch. By now all the decks of the four remaining launches in the flotilla were crowded with officers and men agog at these unexpected ceremonials. They saw the flap go down on the lorry and the canvas parted a little in the middle. Two men on 378M passed some heavy objects, shrouded in canvas to two men on the quay. The boxes were whisked into the lorry, the flap closed and the canvas tied up. The men ran round to the cab and drove off.
‘What the hell was all that?’ asked one seaman.
‘Never seen anything like it in my life. The C-in-C and some mysterious cargo. And how is that Steadfast always seems to be around when there’s these funny goings-on?’
He received no reply.
*
Steadfast turned to Kouvakis.
‘Kouvakis, you have been a brave and noble servant in our cause,’ he said.
‘Thank you, commander. I’d like to do more.’
‘In that case, we’ve brought you to the right place. There’s a training camp here for Greek resistance fighters. Would you like to join it?’
The huge smile on Kouvakis’ face confirmed his determination to fight on in the Allied cause.
*
As soon as the boxes were safely off the quay and Duckworth’s body had been carried away Steadfast allowed a medic to take him off (under protest) to treat his leg and head wounds. The medic agreed that they were hardly life threatening. He teased the bullet out of Steadfast’s leg, washed, disinfected and dressed the wound. Then he released his patient with firm instructions to take only light exercise for the next few weeks.
After seeing the medic, Steadfast went to his favourite café and ordered his usual Egyptian breakfast. His dishevelled and rather dirty appearance was not out of place in what was more or less a workmen’s café. His breakfast over, he picked up the phone on the bar and dialled the YMCA. Then he took a taxi to Walker’s flat, bathed and dozed for a few hours. In the late afternoon he put on clean clothes and headed for the Yacht Club.
Virginia was waiting for him on the terrace, a pink gin on the table in front of her. They embraced without much discretion, despite the public nature of their surroundings.
‘Oh, George,’ said Virginia when they sat down. ‘We’ve been having such a panic in the office about the false intelligence that’s been coming in. Caroline and I think we’ve worked it out. It’s a terrifying situation. We’ve been through all the suspect messages from our agents in the Balkans. It looks as if the Germans have been capturing resistance radio operators in Crete and then forcing them to send out messages using our codes. They lured an Army commando group to Kryptos and killed all but one of them.’
‘Duckworth?’
‘Yes, how did you know?’
‘He was with me on the Platos run. Poor man.’
‘Why “poor man”?’
‘Dead. But I reckon that’s how he wanted to go. He’d had a full life but a soldier’s life was too much for him by the end.’
‘I’m sorry. That’s so sad, given he was yet another victim of the intelligence breach. And they nearly got you too.’
‘So you knew about Platos?’
‘I didn’t know that you had gone to Platos, but Caroline found the message that made the Army interested in the island. We were sure it was another of Jerry’s false trails.’
‘You don’t mean to say that the whole Platos thing was a trap?’ asked Steadfast.
‘Indeed it was, George,’ replied Virginia. ‘The Jerries turned, or perhaps forced, a Greek on Crete to send the message that took you to Platos.’
‘So why didn’t they just gun us down on the beach?’ asked Steadfast.
‘That’s anyone’s guess,’ said Virginia, ‘but Caroline and I have a theory.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I don’t know if I should tell you, George. It might make your head swell.’
‘Now, old girl, no teasing. What’s the theory?’
‘That they wanted to capture you alive. Crazy, don’t you think?’
‘Well… no. That’s exactly what Unteroffizier Friedländer told me. He said the whole thing was a plot to lure me to Platos and then take me off to Berlin!’ laughed Steadfast. ‘Of course, it all backfired on them since they didn’t get me but we did get the radar boxes.’
‘Oh George, why are you so important?’ asked Virginia in a worried voice.
‘Who knows. But it’s quite fun being a wanted man.’
‘George! Do stop being so ready for all the nasty jobs! What will it be next?’ asked Virginia.
‘God, I wish I knew. I want to get my teeth into something big. While I’ve been pottering around Platos, Rommel has retaken Benghazi, we’ve abandoned the Malayan Peninsular and Singapore’s under siege. And where do I fit into all this?’
‘But, George, you’ve been doing important things. Churchill said so.’
‘Yes, but is he right? They don’t feel important to me. I want some real action.’
Virginia reached her hand across the table and squeezed his: ‘Not too much action, George,’ she said as she looked pleadingly at him. A hint of a tear exposed her dread of actions yet to come.
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Naval terms
Cable (length): 200 yards.
E-boat: A German fast launch of 100 tons. Top speed more than 40 knots. Carried four torpedoes.
Fairmile B: A British motor launch of 85 tons. Top speed 20 knots.
Folbot: A collapsible canvas canoe carried on submarines for making landings.
ML: A British motor launch.
RN: A career naval officer.
RNR: A professional seaman who volunteered to join the reserve.
RNVR: A civilian who voluntarily does part-time naval training.
SBA: Sick bay attendant.
Enemy In Sight (A Commander Steadfast Naval Thriller) Page 15