by Alan Furst
“Maybe Orslandet,” Ratter said, looking at the chart. “But who knows.”
“We’ll call it that, then,” DeHaan said. He wrote it in, added the phrase Ran aground, signed the entry, closed the log, and put it in his valise. With the engine off, the Noordendam was barely making way. Out on deck, the passengers and crew had gathered in the dawn light, standing amid their baggage, waiting. The Noordendam, very close now, caught on a sandbar, but, with the incoming tide, slid off it and headed for the island.
Maria Bromen’s hand took his arm as they hit. The bow lifted, the hull scraped up over the rocks and then, with one long grinding note, iron on stone, the NV Noordendam canted over and came to rest, and all that remained was the sound of waves, lapping at the shore.
They searched for her, some time later, once the war in that part of the world had quieted down. She was, after all, worth something, there was always money to be made in rights of salvage, and all it would take was the filing of a claim. By that time it was full autumn, when the ice fog hung in the birch forests. There were two Swiss businessmen, a man of uncertain nationality who said he was a Russian migr, several others, nobody knew who they were. They asked the people who lived along that rockbound coast, fishermen mostly, if they’d seen her, and some said they had, while others just shook their heads or shrugged. But, in the end, they found nothing, and she was never seen again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALAN FURST is widely recognized as the master of the historical spy novel. He is the author of Night Soldiers, Dark Star, The Polish Officer, The World at Night, Red Gold, Kingdom of Shadows, and Blood of Victory. Born in New York, he has lived for long periods in France, especially Paris. He now lives on Long Island, New York.
Visit the author’s website at www.alanfurst.net
ALSO BY ALAN FURST
Night Soldiers
Dark Star
The Polish Officer
The World at Night
Red Gold
Kingdom of Shadows
Blood of Victory
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2004 by Alan Furst
Map copyright 2004 by David Lindroth
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Random House and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Warner Bros. Music Publications for permission to reprint an excerpt from “Shanghai Lil” by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, copyright 1933 (renewed) by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Warner Bros. Publications, U.S., Inc., Miami, FL 33014.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Furst, Alan.
Dark voyage : a novel / Alan Furst.
p. cm.
1. World War, 1939–1945—Secret service—Fiction. 2. World War,
1939–1945—Sweden—Fiction. 3. Merchant mariners—Fiction. 4. Dutch—Sweden—Fiction.
5. Tramp shipping—Fiction. 6. Ship captains—Fiction. 7. Cargo ships—Fiction.
8. Refugees—Fiction. 9. Sweden—Fiction. I. Title.
ps3556.u76d373 2004
813'.54—dc22 2004046674
Random House website address: www.atrandom.com
eISBN: 978-1-58836-424-1
v3.0_r1