Santorini

them along. Just in case,'

'There will be no firearms. If there were to be any exchange of fire you know where the first bullet would lodge, don't you?'

'Yes. You do put things so nicely. Less than an hour ago you were prepared to restrain me at all costs. You seem to have changed your mind, Admiral.'

'It's not my mind that has changed. It's the circumstances.'

'A rapid change in circumstances,' the President said, 'does give one a rather more balanced view of life. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I enjoyed that lunch, but then, a couple of hours ago I didn't expect or wish to have any today. Although the memory of the treachery will be with us for a long time one has to admit that the discreet if tragic settlement of the Pentagon question removes a major burden of worry. But that was only a local and, let us confess it, a basically selfish concern.' He waved the paper he held in his hand. 'This, of course, is what matters. The good ship Angelina, with this damned bomb aboard, is heading steadily south-east and with every second that passes it is putting another yard ? or is it two? ? between itself and all the horrors of Santorini. It is not too much to say, gentlemen, that a holocaust of unimaginable proportions has been averted.' He raised his glass. 'I give you a toast, Sir John. The Royal Navy.'

The President had barely returned his glass to the table when a messenger entered. The President glanced at him briefly, looked away, then looked at him again. All traces of satisfaction drained from his face.

'Bad news, Johnson?'

'I'm afraid so, Mr President.'

'The worst? The very worst?'

'Not the very worst. But bad enough.'

The President took the message, read it in silence, then looked up and said: 'I'm afraid our celebrations have been rather premature. The Angelina has been hijacked.'

Nobody repeated the word 'hijacked'. Nobody said anything. There didn't seem to be anything to say.

'Message reads: 'Angelina and armed mine hijacked by Andropulos and two criminal associates. Five hostages taken ? Commander Talbot, Lieutenant-Commander Van Gelder and three ladies, one of whom is Andropulos's niece. Physically impossible for Angelina to return to area so major danger no longer exists. Will keep you posted hourly. Our major and only concern now recovery of hostages.''

'Dear me, dear me,' Sir John said. 'This is distressing. Both ominous and confusing. Here we have this madman ? or genius, who knows how much truth there is in the old maxim that they are the two sides of the same coin ? loose in the Levant with an armed atomic mine aboard. Does he know that it's armed? One rather suspects he doesn't. Where have the three ladies suddenly appeared from and what were they doing aboard one of Her Majesty's frigates in the first place? Why, of all improbabilities, should this villain elect to kidnap his own niece? And why, not to mention how, did this same villain kidnap the captain of the frigate and one of his senior officers. And where, in the name of all that's holy, does he hope to sail his ship, cargo and prisoners, when he must know that every ship and plane in NATO will be searching for him? But he does so hope. That is obvious. His long and spectacularly successful criminal career, undetected until now, proves that he is a devious, cunning and brilliant operator. He has another scheme in mind. Not a man, as we have now learnt to our cost and should have known from his record, to be underestimated. A villain, indeed, but a very resourceful villain.'

'Indeed,' the President said. 'One can only hope that Commander Talbot proves to be even more resourceful.'

'I have the uncomfortable feeling,' Sir John said, 'that at the present moment Talbot is in no position to prove anything.'

Chapter 10

On the hour of midnight, Eastern Mediterranean time, Commander Talbot was in no position to prove anything and, judging from his uncomfortable position on a sofa in the Angelina's saloon, with his ankles lashed together and his hands bound behind his back, it didn't seem that he would be in a position to prove anything for quite some time to come. Van Gelder, equally uncomfortable at the other end of the sofa, was in no better case. Aristotle, with a wholly unnecessary pistol held loosely across his knee, was seated very comfortably indeed in a large armchair facing the sofa. The three ladies were in smaller armchairs towards the after end of the saloon and didn't look at all comfortable. They hadn't exchanged a word for upwards of two hours. There didn't seem to be much to talk about and all three, understandably enough, were preoccupied with their own thoughts.

Talbot said: 'Tell Andropulos I want to speak to him.'

'Do you now?' Aristotle lowered the glass from which he had been sipping. 'You are not in a position, Captain, to give orders to anyone.'

'Would you kindly present my compliments to the captain and say I would like to talk to him.'

'That is better.' Aristotle rose, crossed to the short flight of steps leading up to the wheelhouse and said something in Greek. Andropulos appeared almost at once. He, too, was needlessly armed. There was a relaxed and confident, even cheerful, air about him.

'When you were aboard my ship,' Talbot said, 'we catered for your every desire. Whatever you wanted, you had but to ask. J, wish I could say the same for Greek hospitality. Well, your version of it.'

'I think I take your point. It can't be easy for you to lie there and watch Aristotle steadily lowering the level in a bottle of retsina. You are thirsty?'

'Yes.'

'That's easily remedied.'

In very short order, Aristotle had their bonds quickly and skilfully re-arranged, with Talbot's left wrist and Van Gelder's right loosely but securely attached to each other. Their free hands now held a glass apiece.

'I am becoming suspicious, Captain,' Andropulos said. He neither looked nor sounded suspicious. 'You seem totally unconcerned as to the immediate past and the immediate future. I find it very curious indeed.'

'There's nothing curious about it. It's your behaviour that I find extraordinarily curious although I have to admit that that is based entirely on my complete ignorance of what is going on. I fail to understand why you, a very wealthy and, I assume, highly respected businessman, should suddenly decide to put yourself outside the bounds of law. I don't have to tell you that, by hijacking the Angelina, you have done just that. I can't even begin to understand why you should jeopardize your career, perhaps even risk a prison sentence, although I have no doubt that with the kind of money you must possess you wouldn't have too much trouble in bending the law in your direction. Most of all, I don't understand how you can possibly hope to get away with it. By six o'clock, possibly seven, tomorrow morning every ship and plane in NATO will be looking for you and you must know that it will take very little time to locate you.'

'You have this famous Royal Navy signal, locate, engage and destroy. Locate, yes. Destroy, no.' Andropulos was quite undisturbed. 'Not with the kind of cargo and very select group of hostages I have on board. As for jeopardizing my career, well, I think the time comes in many people's lives when they should abandon the old ways and strike out in a fresh direction. Don't you, Captain?'

'Not where I'm concerned. And perhaps, where you are concerned, it's not a choice but a necessity. You appear to have taken a fresh step along the road to crime. It's just possible — it's difficult to imagine but it is possible — that many of your past steps have led along that same road and that your past is catching up with you. But that's just empty speculation. I really don't know and, to be honest, I no longer care. Could I have some more wine?'

'What are you going to do with us?' Irene Charial was trying to keep her voice steady but the undercurrent of strain was there. 'What is going to happen to us?'

'Don't be ridiculous, my dear. Nothing is going to happen to you. You heard me saying that to Commander Talbot when we came aboard. Unthinkable that you should come to any harm at my hands.'

'Where are you taking us?'

'I'm not taking you anywhere. Oh dear, that does sound ominous. To what will probably be my lifelong regret, I shall be parting company with you. Dear, dear, that doesn't sound much better. Within a very short time I shall be transferring you aboard the Ariadne's launch and bidding you farewell.'