below the bridge which comprises the sprawling ship-building yard of
Construction Navale Atlantique, one of the three largest ship-building
companies in Europe, The slipways for the larger vessels, the bulk
carriers and naval craft, faced directly on to the wide smooth reach of
the river; but the ways for the small vessels backed on to the inner
harbour.
So Jules parked the Citron at the security gates nearest the inner
harbour, and they walked through to where Charles Gras was waiting for
them in his offices overlooking the inner basin.
Nicholas, it is good to see you again. Gras was one of Atlantique's top
engineers, a tall stooped man with a pale ut he face and lank black hair
that fell to his eyebrows, he had the sharp foxy Parisian features and
quick bright eyes that belied the morose unsmiling manner.
He and Nicholas had known each other many years, and they used the
familiar tu form of address.
Charles Gras changed to heavily accented English when he was introduced
to Samantha, and back to French when he asked Nicholas, If I know you,
you will want to go directly to see your ship now, n'est-ce pas? Sea
Witch stood high on her ways, and although she was an identical twin to
Warlock, she seemed almost twice her size with her underwater hull
exposed. Despite the fact that the superstructure was incomplete and
she was painted in the drab oxide red of marine primer, yet it was
impossible to disguise the symmetrically functional beauty of her lines.
Jules puffed, and muttered Bordello and made remarks about 'Admiral Berg
and his battleship', but he could not hide the gleam in his eye as he
strutted about the uncompleted navigation bridge, or listened intently
as Charles Gras explained the electronic equipment and the other
refinements that made the ship so fast, efficient and manoeuvrable.
Nick realized that the two experts should be left alone now to convince
each other; it was clear that although this was their first meeting the
two of them had established immediate rapport.
Come. Nick quietly took Samantha's arm and they stepped carefully
around the scaffolding and loose equipment, picking their way through
groups of workmen to the upper deck.
The snow had stopped, but a razor of a wind snickered in from the
Atlantic. They found a sheltered corner, and Samantha pressed close to
Nick, snuggling into the circle of his arm.
High on her ways, Sea Witch gave them a sweeping view, through the
forest of construction cranes, over the roofs of the warehouses and
offices to the river slipways where the keels of the truly big hulls
were laid down.
You spoke about Golden Dawn, Nick said. There she is. It took some
moments for Samantha to realize she was looking at a ship.
My God, she breathed. It's so big. They don't come bigger/he agreed.
The structure of steel was almost a mile and a half long, three city
blocks, and the hull was as tall as a five-storey building, while the
navigation tower was another hundred feet higher than that.
Samantha shook her head. It's beyond belief. It looks like - like a
city! It's terrifying to think of that thing afloat. That is only the
main hull, the tank pods have been constructed in Japan. The last I
