Hunter Killer

by Geoffrey Jenkins

  ' Did Peters radio all this?'

  He had to, in order to communicate with Tyler—they

  haven't been in physical touch. Think of what St Brandon reef is like with this sea and wind! Peters, by having announced himself, also puts the DNI in the clear and the British part in the mission—Peters maintains that he acted under orders to pick up an American VIP, name unknown, for secret, missile tests in the Seychelles. He knows nothing else, he states. Then, at the first opportunity when his radio has been fixed, he reveals his position and comes clean. No, Bob's been very clever.'

  How did he account for our disappearance?'

  Peace laughed. This is how Bob put it: the American VIP, purporting to be an expert on inertial navigation, came aboard Devastation in " unusual circumstances ". This man, together with a naval officer who went by the name Peace, disappeared with another man called Garland and a woman named Adele, whose surname he does not know. That,

  asserts Bob flatly, is all he knows about the whole thing. He's playing awful dumb. He's even offered Devastation to assist the Seventh Fleet!'

  Is Tyler still aboard Willowtrack?'

  ' Yes. It's impossible to get him off in this weather for all Thornton's wishes—the second helo Thornton sent also

  crashed, but Tyler picked up the crew. One of them is badly smashed up. After that, even Thornton decided to play it more gently. But he'll be up with Willowtrack by morning.'

  That's a respite.'

  It's not. Thornton wouldn't waste a whole night.'

  What do you mean?'

  ' He's taken Devastation as his datum point. Fanning out from her, he's launched a carrier task-force grid search.'

  My God! But how do you know all this—the signals are

  i n c o d e — ? '

  He smiled grimly. ' I dragged Adele out of bed. She's been decoding for hours. I sent her back when she couldn't

  keep her eyes open any more.' He slapped the clip signals.

  It's all there: Thornton has split the Seventh Fleet into three hunter-killer groups, each with one carrier, three nuc152 lear subs and six destroyers. And you ask me why I haven't

  sent off MKG's signal! Thank God for that u.s. Navy codebook, and thank God for Adele. At least I can keep track of the opposition's moves.'

  Geoffrey,' I said slowly, do you really think it's worthwhile trying to play this kind of hide-and-seek? This massive force will catch up with us as soon as it's light enough to see.'

  He came across and stood by me. ' While I have one card

  left, I go on playing the game—to the finish. You should

  know that, John. It's because the odds started to mount up

  early that I called in your help in the first place.'

  At that moment, I remembered the still face in the coffin

  and the host of thoughts it had aroused in me. Not least

  among them had been Peace's unswerving loyalty—to the

  DNI, to the sea. He was invoking that now ; he had always been at his best when the odds were stacked against him.

  He was terse, edgy. I wonder if Mac can get more out of

  these engines ...'

  He knew the answer as well as I did. ' It's not the engines, it'

  s the hull.'

  ' There's a general cyclone warning. The centre is moving

  rapidly from Chagos towards us.'

  We have a week still to the launch.'

  ' I'd rather it was less. Give the cyclone three-four days to blow itself out. No cover after that.'

  Don't forget, Geoffrey, the two big unknowns in Tyler's search are, first, where is the launch from? Second, where is Semittante?'

  The signals indicate that Thornton has called his three HUK forces Red Force, Blue Force and Green Force,' Peace went on. They fan out from Seahorse Sound. Green will

  cover the southern quadrant Mauritius-Rodriguez-Reunion

  and along a line to the eastern coast of Madagascar. Green's no worry—he's way outside our area. Blue has been assigned

  everything between St Brandon and Chagos, east of the 60th

  parallel. That mean Saya de Malha and a lot of Devasta- tion's first route to St Brandon. There's an outside chance that one of Blue's search aircraft might pick us up. But

  Blue Force is steaming and flying right into the heart of the cyclone ..

  I gestured beyond the spinning screens. No one can fly

  in this.'

  Thornton's men do,' he rejoined. ' Christ! Imagine a carrier take-off on a night like this! They're in the air tonight, all right. Two aircraft have been lost already, but they rescued the crews. Thornton's flying them off, regardless.

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  God pity them!' I exclaimed involuntarily. The best

  place would be a sub.'

  A sub's sonar would be ineffective in these seas—they'd

  damp out the sound of a ship's engines. Besides, a sub is not the most useful HUK weapon, alone. But teamed with helos

  or aircraft, it's deadly.

  Bellatrix yawed heavily and I found myself sweating at the effort to bring her back on course.

  Peace went on, I hadn't the heart to cut old André's cutter loose. It's his everything. Besides—' he turned away so that I would not see his feelings—' I like that bloody old boat.'

  The third HUK force?' I prompted.

  Red,' he replied slowly. Red force is our danger. They've

  been assigned the biggest bloc, but it includes us—St Brandon westwards to Madagascar and north to the Seychelles.'

  Love-Apple Crossing!' I exclaimed. Semittantê!'

  He nodded. Thornton has put Tyler in command of Red

  Force, operating from Willowtrack.'

  Tyler thinks like you do, Geoffrey.'

  He damn' near cornered me in Seahorse Sound.'

  If Tyler's Red Force picks us up, the game is over. In

  some ways Bellatrix is a liability.'

  He looked at me sharply and then said slowly, A liability, yes, she's made of steel, which makes her easy to pick up by radar.

  ' So is Semittantê.'

  He remained thoughtful.

  When do you expect to sight Semittanté?' I asked.

  ' Mid-afternoon today. I'll have to risk using our radar a

  little then. It's almost certain she won't hold her course in this weather.' He broke off suddenly. I'm going aft to

  make sure the tow to the cutter is secure. Maybe I'll doublelash it, even.'

  When he returned, he seemed pleased about something.

  Then he glanced at his watch. Adêle's slept long enough.

  Something important may be going on.' He jerked his head

  at the radio. I think it's your privilege to call her, John.'

  Let her sleep,' I answered. She's dead-beat.'

  No,' he rejoined. The DNI sent her to do a job and this is the time for her to do it. At this stage of things, she's worth any two of us put together.'

  I went. I paused at her door, wondering whether I should

  knock until she awoke. Then—I pushed it open and went in.

  She lay almost exactly as I had left her. I stood in the darkness, looking down on the slim person who had come, in

  such a short time, to mean so much in my life. The quiet 154

  serenity above the high cheek-bones was as calm as the rest of her was disturbing. Worth any two of us put together 'Peace's words held a new context for me: she was worth any two other women I had ever known. In that certainty, I

  pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and clicked on the

  bedside light.

  She must have been sleeping on a hair trigger, for she woke instantly, alarm in her eyes. John!' She glanced at her pyjamas and laughed. How long have you been here?'

  I sat down on the bed next to her and put off the light.

  For a short moment, it seemed—then the telephone bell

  shrilled. It was Peace. Adele—come quickly! Thornton's on

  the air!' />
  She threw on some clothes and together we raced up to the

  wheelhouse. Peace had the radio ,on. Adele pushed the hair. out of her eyes and under a shaded light decoded the complicated groups. CIC Seventh Fleet to all ships and aircraft x return to base x stand by for further orders daylight x

  ' Thornton's called off the search for tonight,' Peace exclaimed with satisfaction. It was a bonus of six hours. I made a quick calculation. '

  Long enough for us to cover almost a third of the way to

  Semittant

  Peace remained without speaking, so that both Adele and I

  looked at him in surprise.

  MKG'S message,' he said slowly. Now would be the time

  —the air will be full of routine signals and the boys will be relaxing with the prospect of some sleep.' He pulled it from his pocket and read aloud:

  ' Request your personal and categorical affirmation that it is in order for me to continue with Little Bear mission in light of developments—MKG:

  Group it up in Royal Navy code,' he told Adele. And then send it to the um—quick as hell. Try and send it at a

  moment when Thornton's fliers are making their landing

  approaches—the carriers will be using their DF equipment on them then.'

  Adele took the paper and hesitated. There's no mention

  here of a return signal, or a fixed time for it.'

  Peace's reaction astonished me. Send it!' he snarled. '

  You're here to take orders—from me!'

  Adele recoiled at his vehemence, glanced at me, and then

  sat down without speaking at the angled light. She coded the message and then listened on the u.s. Navy waveband. If

  Williams had been there, he would have admired Adele's

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  t r a n s m i t t i n g e v e n m o r e t h a n h e h a d d o n e b e f o r e . T h e Morse chattered off her deft fingers like machine-gun fire. She stopped, looked up at Peace, who seemed to watch her every movement, and then wrote down an incoming signal. '

  The Seventh Fleet has picked up a series of radar contacts round Raphael.'

  The fishing fleet,' answered Peace.

  One very firm one among them,' she added in an impers o n a l v o i c e . M e t a l , a c o u p l e o f h u n d r e d t o n s , o f f S i r e n Island. Tyler thinks it may be important.'

  Island steamer,' replied Peace.

  The thought struck me. Does Tyler know about Bellatrix?' N o , ' r e p l i e d P e a c e . H o w c o u l d h e ? B u t w h e n h e a n d Thornton meet and the name John Garland is mentioned as having sailed the yacht of the late Commander Peace from the Seychelles, they'll put two and two together—and Bellatrix will be their target.'

  How far has the search ranged so far?' I asked.

  Red Force—and we're principally concerned with Red—

  doesn't seem to have got beyond a limited number of sorties over St Brandon itself,' answered Peace. ' In this weather it must be hell trying to identify anything.

  Impossible visually, I should say.'

  Adele did not join in the conversation, but she yawned and

  tried to keep her heavy eyes from closing.

  With an odd warmth after his earlier attitude, Peace said to her, ' You go and get some more sleep, Adele. It looks as though things will be pretty quiet now until morning, seeing the search is off.'

  She smiled her thanks as she went ; to me her eyes said

  everything.

  Peace switched off her angle-light, leaving the wheelhouse b l a c k e d o u t o n c e m o r e . H e c a m e a n d s t o o d b y m e a t t h e wheel, his face shadowed by the compass-light. I was about to take him to task about Adele when he said: ' Tyler's force will have to waste time during daylight by first following up the radar contacts they made tonight—maybe half a day. By that time we'll almost be up with Semittante. And almost out of range of carrier-based aircraft, assuming that the carrier itself stays in the vicinity of St Brandon.'

  The thought hit me with the force of one of the seas against Bellatrix's hull. Geoffrey—Semittante! What if the signal has to report her position?'

  H e w a s u n e a s y , a l m o s t a s u n e a s y a s h e h a d b e e n o v e r MKG's signal. Adele picked up a signal about just that while you were asleep—it's amongst that lot there. Safer not to put 156

  the light on. I'll tell you: Thornton and the Chief of Naval Operations have had an exchange over the point. Thornton

  says that to signal her will scare her away. He believes that she is part of the kidnapping plot, that her skipper is one of the gang who kidnapped MKG. Thornton doesn't know yet that she's important beyond carrying an American classified weapon. Of course he doesn't know about the space-shot yet. So for the moment Thornton's view has prevailed and

  they're not signalling Semittanté. For the moment, that is.'

  I wonder how long that moment will last?'

  Aye,' he reflected. Maybe only until Thornton talks personally to Tyler.'

  But behind it all lay the one unanswerable questioin—why had the President not informed the Seventh Fleet? He knew Semittantes part in the Little Bear mission.

  Hasn't Semittanté sent out any routine signals?' I asked. No—why should she? An ad tramp like that is lazy—

  probably listens to the weather reports every so often, that's all. From our area I've had cyclone warnings from the met. stations all round—St Brandon, Tromelin, Agalega—old

  Chepé again—and Madagascar.'

  I thought Adele was the radio operator,' I said.

  These were en clair, anyway,' he replied. ' But I can manage the odd bit of Morse myself, you know. Not the highpowered American stuff, of course, but Royal Navy, yes.'

  I gestured beyond the screen. It's getting worse.'

  ' It is getting worse,' he answered with satisfaction. , The worse the better, so far as we are concerned. They've pulled the South-Africa-Australia jets into Mauritius on the strength of a POMAR report.'

  Peace went on, ' If it were only a question of dodging short-range carrier-based aircraft, I'd rate our chances pretty high, since they'll be out of the picture once the cyclone

  reaches full strength. But you haven't heard this—the signal came through while you were asleep—the Americans are flying out a squadron of big w-5's from Greenland to the Seychelles to assist in the search for MKG. They're the planes for the long-range Atlantic patrols. At a guess, I'd say a VP-5 can stay in the air the best part of twenty hours and cover thousands of miles. And instruments—they have everything that opens and shuts.'

  I concentrated on holding Bellatrix on course so that Peace should not sense the tumult of my thoughts. What he had

  just said confirmed my fears—the President himself believed that MKG had been 'kidnapped! Why, I questioned, had he allowed the massive air-sea search to proceed if he were

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  satisfied in his own mind that MKG was safe? Why fly out the deadliest patrol bombers half-way across the world to look for someone he knew was proceeding according to a secret plan? Or had—I had almost rejected the thought as unworthy when I remembered Peace's bulldozing attitude towards the mission: that at all costs he would put SNAP into space and prove Little Bear.

  Had Peace faked the messages to the President?

  My mind went over each point in turn. No, they could not have been faked, I argued, because Adele herself had decoded the President's okay, the single-letter word Washington '. But—Williams had brought it through to the cabin. Could Williams be part of an elaborate hoax? I rejected the t h o u g h t . I m y s e l f h a d s e e n A d e l e s e n d o f f t h e V i c e - P r e sident's own signal ; we were now awaiting a reply which could come through at any time. Strange—Peace had sent Adele off to bed . . .

  I deliberately broke the silence to still my doubts. Not

  even vp-5s could operate in a cyclone.'

  The radio crackled and Peace-cocked an ear. ' Our call

  sign!' he exclaimed.

&nbs
p; ' I'll fetch Adele,' I said.

  He listened. No, it's Royal. Navy stuff. I'll manage.'

  He sat down at the table behind me and switched on the s m a l l l i g h t . I n a m i n u t e o r t w o t h e M o r s e s t o p p e d . I glanced back at Peace over my shoulder. He was sitting, staring silently at the code groups in front of him. For the next ten minutes my whole attention was occupied with keeping Bellatrix on course. It seemed as if we were running into the outer fringes of the cyclone, judging by the violence of some of the gusts and the mounting sea. In a calmer patch I. turned to speak to Peace, but the words died. He sat staring still at the signal, which he seemed to have decoded, his e x p r e s s i o n s o w i t h d r a w n a n d h a r d t h a t I k n e w w h a t h i s anger would be at disturbing him. Another ten minutes went by. I risked another look. Now he was writing something on a signal pad, laboriously consulting his code-books.

  Half an hour must have passed before he spoke. "This

  should satisfy MKG.' He waved the signal.

  What does it say?'

  ' Washington x you have my personal authorization to con- tinue with Little Bear mission as planned x'

  His voice was without inflexion. I glanced keenly at him. '

  You don't seem very thrilled about it.'

  He shrugged. I don't like being strung on to the end of

  a radio line for every little action I wish to

  take.' 158

  This is not a little action,' I pointed out. MKG's whole

  future depends on it.'

  He grunted, staring at the racing seas.

  ' Shall I take it through and wake MKG?'

  ' What the hell for? It'll keep till morning. It doesn't alter anything, anything at all.' He went to the table and gathered up the signals.

  Better let Adele check them over,' I said.

  For a moment before he clicked out the light his eyes were full upon me. They were not pale like the DNI's, but the cold deadliness was the same.

  ' I told you, I am quite capable of handling Royal Navy signals,' he said levelly. He brushed past me and stood staring out into the wild night.

  ' It's Semittanté I'm worried about,' he muttered—and by breakfast it was all Semittanté as the vast drama of the VicePresident cracked open after Thornton had interviewed Tyler. MKG, shaved and dressed in some of my clothes, looked grave as he stood with Peace, Trevor-Davis, Adele and myself in the wheelhouse. Trevor-Davis, rested, pursed his