‘The odd pistol. A few gas grenades. Useful things like that.’
‘I’d like some of those,’ van Effen said. ‘Gas grenades, I mean. In a small satchel or suitcase. Like Mr Samuelson, I’m averse to unnecessary violence and the people on the dam are, after all, my adopted countrymen. If it’s necessary to restrain any of them I’d much rather do it with a whiff of gas rather than a bullet.’
‘My sentiments exactly,’ Samuelson said. ‘You shall have them.’ ‘One further point,’ van Effen said. ‘How are you going to account for the presence of two civilians in an army group?’
‘Aha!’ Samuelson smiled broadly. ‘Civilians, but not just ordinary civilians. You are two senior members of the Amsterdam police specialist anti-terrorist squad. That should fit the bill rather nicely, don’t you think?’
‘That’s nice,’ van Effen said. ‘I always wanted to be a policeman. How do you propose to gain entrance to the dam, Mr Samuelson?’ ‘Nothing simpler. We land on the roadway on the dam. First, of course, we send a radio message to the dam to the effect that there is a suspicion, nothing more, that the FFF may be thinking of making an attack on the dam either from the sea or from the river side and that patrol boats will be approaching from the river side and a destroyer from the sea side. We, of course, shall be there first — it’s only a few minutes flying time from here. They will be ordered to maintain complete radio silence — no transmissions, no receptions.’
“Me simplicity of true genius,’ van Effen said. ‘You have your nerve. The young ladies, of course, remain behind?’
‘Most certainly not. I wouldn’t have Kathleen and Maria miss this splendid denouement for all the world. The rear of the helicopter will be screened off and the four ladies will remain in hiding until we have taken over.’ ‘It has occurred to you that the other two girls might scream for help or attempt to overpower Kathleen and Maria?’
‘They find it difficult to scream for anything when they’re gagged and difficult to attack anyone when their hands are tied behind their backs. As an additional precaution, Joop will be with them. Joop is very useful with a gun.’
‘You think of everything,’ van Effen said. He hoped Joop wasn’t too useful, for then Joop would have to die.
Samuelson rose, went to a desk and brought out two sheets of paper. ‘These are the ground and elevation plans of the Haringviiet dam. Leonardo, go and bring the others here. I want every man to know exactly what to do, to know exactly where every guard will be on duty, where the off-duty guards and workers are, and where each man on duty may reasonably be expected to be. There will be no slip-ups.’
Daniken returned just as Leonardo left. In seconds only Leonardo returned, bringing with him Joop, Joachim and the two nameless RAF youths that had been at the other windmill, four older men in their thirties and forties whom van Effen had not seen before and two of the guards he had seen before. The last six looked very tough, very competent. They all crowded round the table, followed by van Effen, Vasco, George, Samuelson, Romero Agnelli, Daniken and O’Brien. Only two men were missing — Willi, who was locked up in a cellar somewhere and Riordan, who was presumably above such mundane and secular matters.
Although it was Samuelson who had called the meeting it was Romero Agnelli who conducted the meeting. His organizational abilities were indeed quite remarkable. He pointed out to each man exactly where he was to go and what was expected of him. He also insisted that they co-ordinate their watches so that each — an should know exactly what time he should be at any given place. This took about five minutes. He then started it all over again. When he started a third time van Effen, accompanied by George and Vasco, headed resolutely towards the bar. Samuelson, smiling, came after them and moved behind the bar.
‘You get easily bored, Mr Danilov?
‘I don’t have to be told the same thing twice, far less three ‘You have a point. Maybe I am overdoing it a bit. ‘He looked at his watch. ‘I find this a bit worrisome. I should have thought the truck would have been hem by this time.’
‘Ylvisaker struck me as being a pretty competent character,’ van Effen said. ‘Engine trouble, heavy traffic, burst tyre, anything. Anyway, you can soon find out. You’ve said you have a radio transmitter here. The Lieutenant is an expert operator — and, of course, he knows the frequency of the truck.’
‘Would you, Lieutenant? Thank you.’ Samuelson pointed across the room. ‘There.’
Vasco seated himself at the transceiver, adjusted his headphones and started transmuting. After two minutes he took off the headphones and returned to the bar.
‘Nothing, Mr Samuelson. Can’t raise him.’
Samuelson pursed his lips. ‘You’re sure?’
‘Sure I’m sure.’ Vasco spoke with just a faint trace of irritation. ‘I know what I’m doing. If you don’t believe me, let Daniken try. He knows what he’s doing too.’
‘No, no. I’m sorry, Lieutenant. Worried, you know.’ ‘Two things may have happened,’ Vasco said. ‘He may have had an accident. That’s the more serious and less likely happening. What’s more probable is that the on-off switch is in the off position.’
Samuelson’s brow cleared slightly but only slightly. ‘If he’s late, why doesn’t he call us?’
‘Does he know how to operate the radio?’
Samuelson’s brow cleared even more. ‘Quite honestly, I don’t know.’ He looked up as an aproned maid approached him.
‘Sorry, sir,’ she said. ‘I thought you might like to know that there is to be a government broadcast in two minutes. Less.’
‘Thank you, thank you.’ Samuelson hurried round the bar, gestured to Agnelli to end the lecture and switched on the TV set. Within half a minute, the announcer appeared on the screen, a much younger one than previously, but one who had clearly been trained in the same mortician’s school.
‘The government have three announcements to make. The first is that the British government and Stormont have agreed to withdraw all British troops to barracks. As the troops arc scattered all over Northern Ireland this is expected to take several hours but the process is already under way. Although no statement to this effect has been made, this is taken to be indicative of London’s intentions.’
Samuelson beamed in satisfaction. At that moment, Ylvisaker was the last thing in his mind.
‘The second is that the British Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, the chief of the Imperial General Staff and the First Sea Lord are en route to Amsterdam in a VC10 to witness the detonation of this nuclear device in the Markerwaard at 2 P.M.
‘The third is that the government have offered an amnesty to the two as yet unnamed prisoners whose release has been demanded by the FFF. ‘We will, of course, be back on screen at 2 P.m.’
‘Well,’ van Effen said, ‘it looks like wholesale surrender.’ ‘Matters are certainly proceeding quite satisfactorily,’ Samuelson said modestly. ‘We will each take a minimum of luggage with us. This can be concealed in the rear of the helicopter — soldiers on active duty do not carry suitcases around with them. Lunch will be at twelve-thirty, so we have about two and a half hours to wait till then. I do not think it would be a good idea to indulge in any more jonge jenevers so I suggest we rest. Although we are not returning tonight we have quarters prepared for you, to which you will be shown. Tell me, Lieutenant, do you intend to have a snooze?’
‘No’
‘Then perhaps you would be kind enough to come down, say, every twenty minutes, and try to contact Ylvisaker?’
‘If you think it’s worth trying, certainly. I’ll go upstairs, have a wash, pack what little equipment I have to pack and be down in twenty minutes. After that, I might as well stay down. ‘Vasco smiled. ‘No furtive trips to the bar, I promise you.’
The room to which van Effen and his companions were shown was almost a duplicate of the one they had left in the other windmill. Vasco carried out his usual meticulous search and pronounced the room clear. Van Effen said: ‘Samuelson is rather concerned about the non-arrival of Ylvisaker and his friends who, I think we may take it, are at present being detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
More importantly, Samuelson seems to think that it’s all over bar the shouting. The possibility of failure doesn’t now exist for him. That’s a very dangerous state of mind to be in — dangerous for him, I mean.’ George said: ‘And what do you think he’ll do when he gets to the dam.’ ‘Take it over. I can’t see that giving him any trouble. Then he’ll tell the government that he has done just that. Coming so soon after the nuclear explosion in the Markerwaard, it should have a devastating effect on the government who will all too clearly appreciate the implications and realize that the FFF has the nation by the throat.’ ‘And then,’ Vasco said, ‘they blow a few bits of concrete off the dam just to show they mean business.’
