Dark Side of the Street

or something very close to it and blood all over my best shirt.'

'You're breaking my heart.' Chavasse pulled Vaughan into a sitting position and took the mug of coffee that Molly handed to him. 'Drink this.'

Vaughan swallowed, then gasped. 'It'll never replace tea. From the motion, I presume we're on our way across the Channel?'

'That's right.'

'What time is it?'

'Round about midnight-why?'

Vaughan started to laugh weakly. 'Which means we've passed the point of no return.'

Chavasse frowned. 'What in the hell are you talking about?'

'It's really rather ironic,' Vaughan said. 'You see I knew you were on your way to Upton Magna because I had words with friend Pentecost after you'd left.'

'And you beat us to it? Bragg was putting on an act, wasn't he?'

'I'm afraid so. I stuck a limpet mine to the hull just before ten o'clock, timed to blow you all to hell in exactly four hours.'

'You included.'

'To be perfectly honest, that wasn't in the plan at all.'

Chavasse untied his ankles and pulled him off the bunk. 'Up on the deck and be quick about it.'

The Pride of Man was lifting well over the heavy swell that scattered spray in a great cascading sheet as they moved along the deck to the wheel-house. Youngblood turned in surprise as Chavasse pushed Vaughan in ahead of him.

'What's all this?'

Chavasse told him and when he had finished, Youngblood laughed uncertainly. 'He's trying to pull a fast one- he must be.'

'Suit yourself,' Vaughan said.

Chavasse shook his head. 'He means it, Harry.'

Youngblood stared at him for a long moment and then throttled down the engine until the boat was making no more than three or four knots and switched to automatic pilot.

'All right, so what are we going to do about it?'

Chavasse turned to Vaughan. 'If it's fixed to the hull then you must have used an aqualung and skin-diving gear to put it there. Where is it?'

Vaughan shrugged. 'Why not? You'll find it without any trouble anyway. In a locker under one of the bench seats in the saloon.'

'There's your answer, Drum,' Youngblood said. 'As long as we can reach it, it can be defused.'

'Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but not this baby,' Vaughan said. 'It can only be defused after complete dismantling and you have neither the equipment nor the facilities.'

'Electromagnetic, I suppose?' Chavasse said.

Vaughan nodded. 'And this tub has a steel hull so you'll never prise it loose, not under the conditions you're faced with. Try too hard and the damned thing might blow up anyway.'

'What type is it?'

'Getting technical are we? But of course, I was forgetting-you were a captain in the Royal Engineers, weren't you?'

'Never mind the funny stuff,' Youngblood said savagely. 'Just answer him.'

'Martinet Mark 4, and much good may it do you.'

Chavasse burst into sudden laughter, unable to contain the wave of elation that swept through him and the smile died on Vaughan's face.

'What's so damned funny?'

'You are,' Chavasse said. 'You're a hundred thousand laughs.' He turned to Youngblood. 'If you'll stop the engines for about ten minutes, Harry, I'll find the aqualung he mentioned and go over the side.'

'You mean you can fix it?' Youngblood said incredulously.

'To all intents and purposes, but I'll explain later. Just look after baby for me, will you?' And Chavasse moved back along the deck and went below.

It was bitterly cold down there in the dark water as he felt his way along the hull until he located the mine. He found the time switch and hung there for a moment, testing it with his fingers. If Vaughan had timed the explosion to take place within four hours then he must have moved the switch through four complete revolutions and the maximum was twelve. Chavasse turned the switch, counting slowly. Only when it refused to turn any more did he release his hold and drift up to the surface.

Youngblood and Molly helped him over the rail and he swore softly as the girl hauled on his left arm and pain coursed through him like fire.

'You all right, Drum?' Youngblood said anxiously.

'I am now.' Chavasse turned to Vaughan who stood by the companionway, wrists tied in front of him. 'Simple when you know how. The Martinet is a short term time bomb extensively used by both the Army and Navy. The timing device operates up to a maximum of twelve hours. All I had to do was move it on from the time of your choice. Right round the clock till we reached neutral again.'

'You mean you've defused it?' Youngblood demanded.

'To all intents and purposes.'

Vaughan sighed and shook his head. 'We learn something new every day. What time do we reach Longue Pierre?'

'Seven-thirty or thereabouts,' Youngblood said. 'Why?'

'It's just that I can't wait to get there, old man,' Vaughan said. 'I'm sure it's going to be a barrel of laughs for everyone.' He turned and disappeared down the companionway whistling cheerfully.

11

Fog in the Morning

Chavasse came awake to find Molly leaning over him, her hand on his shoulder. He had gone to sleep on one of the bench seats in the saloon and he swung his legs to the floor and took the mug of coffee she offered.

He swallowed some gratefully. 'That's better. What time is it?'

'Six a.m.'

'My God, have I slept that long?'

He went up the companionway, his coffee in one hand. Water slopped over the starboard rail and cold rain lashed his face as he walked along the heaving deck and went into the wheelhouse.

Youngblood turned to look at him briefly. 'How do you feel?'

'My arm hurts like hell, but I can use it, which is something. What about you?'

'I'm enjoying myself. There's been quite a sea running for an hour or more now. Likely to get worse before it gets better.'

'Will it affect our time of arrival?'

'If you'd like to take the wheel I'll have another look at the chart.'

Chavasse squeezed past, slipping into the pilot's seat and Youngblood went to the chart table. He made one or two calculations and threw down his pencil, stretching his arms.

'We could be a little earlier than I thought. It all depends on the way the weather goes. Think you can handle her for a while?'

'I don't see why not.'

'I'll take a break-maybe Molly can find me something to eat. Afterwards, we'd better talk things over. We still don't know what we're getting into. Maybe it's about time we put the squeeze on our friend.'

Chavasse nodded. 'We'll see.'