realized clearly that he had completely alienated the girl and he wanted
to turn back to her and say something gracious that might retrieve the
situation, but he could think of nothing and instead lifted the hand
microphone to his lips and spoke to Baker over the VFH radio.
How's it going, Chief?
There were ten seconds of delay, and Nick was very conscious of the
girl's presence near him.
Their emergency generator has burned out, it win need two days work to
get it running again. We'll have to take on the alternator, Beauty told
him.
We are ready to give it to you, Nick told him, and then called David
Allen on the fore-dec.
Ready, David? All set. Nick began edging Warlock back towards the
finer's towering stern, and now at last he turned back to the girl.
Unaccountably, he now wanted her approbation, so his smile was ready -
but she had already gone, taking with her that special aura of
brightness.
Nick's voice had a jagged edge to it as he told David Allen, 'Let's do
this fast and right, Number One., Warlock nuzzled Adventurer's stern,
the big black Yokoharna fenders gentling her touch, and on her fore-dec
the winch whined shrilly, the lines squealing in their blocks and from
the open salvage hatch the four-ton alternator swung out. It was
mounted on a sledge for easy handling.
The diesel tanks were charged and the big motor primed and ready to
start It rose swiftly, dangling from the tall gantry, and a dozen men
synchronized their efforts, in those critical moments when it hung out
over Warlock's bows. A nasty freaky little swell lifted the tug and
pushed her across, for the dangling burden was already putting a slight
list on her, and it would have crashed into the steel side of the liner,
had not Nick thrown the screws into reverse thrust and given her a burst
of power to hold her off. The instant the swell subsided, he closed
down and slid the pitch to fine forward, pressing the cushioned bows
lightly back against Adventurer's side.
He's good! David Allen watched Nicholas work. He's better than old Mac
ever was. Mackintosh, Warlock's previous skipper, had been careful and
experienced, but Nicholas Berg handled the ship with the flair and
intuitive touch that even Mac's vast experience could never have
matched.
David Allen pushed the thought aside and signalled the winch man. The
huge dangling machine dropped with the control of a roosting seagull on
to the liner's deck. Baker's crew leapt on it immediately, releasing
the winch cable and throwing out the tackle, to drag it away on its
sledge.
Warlock drew off, and when Baker's crew was ready, she went in to drop
another burden, this time one of the highspeed centrifugal pumps which
would augment Golden Adventurer's own machinery - if Baker could get
that functioning. It went up out of Warlock's forward hold, followed
ten minutes later by its twin.
Both pumps secured. Baker's voice had a spark of jubilation in it, but
