But Miss Smith stayed where she was. She did not seem to think she was in the wrong place. She stared into the cavern.
On the jetty ahead of them, a solitary figure was crouched on the ice, bending over the water. His hair stuck up and his clothes were dishevelled. Marina saw the glint of a blade in the man’s hand. He was sawing at ropes fastened to a large block of ice. But the work was hard: the knife was too small and too blunt.
A splash. A dark shape flicked out above the water and was quickly drawn back in. Could there be a whale in that water? But the cavern would be too small for such a creature. Perhaps it was a whale calf that was trapped.
‘What’s happening?’ Marina clutched at Miss Smith’s sleeve. ‘You said my father would be in the transmitter station.’
Miss Smith seemed transfixed by Commander Denham’s behaviour. ‘But that’s just where we are, Marina. And your father is trying to smash my transmitter.’ She turned to face Marina, standing so close that Marina could feel the woman’s warm breath on her cheek, smell that heavy scent of gardenias, so out of place in this cavern of ice. ‘Can you be brave?’ she whispered. ‘Can you be braver than you’ve ever been in your life? It’s such a lot to ask of you, but I must. If we are to save your father, I need to know that I can rely on you. That you are loyal.’
‘I’ll do anything to save my father.’ Marina felt this so strongly that Miss Smith could have asked her to throw herself into the water and she would have done it happily. Now she finally understood what loyalty meant, what following orders meant. It was to save the lives of those you loved.
A flicker of a smile. ‘We’re a good team.’ And she grasped Marina’s hand in her own. ‘Courage,’ she whispered.
Miss Smith stepped forward, her chin tilted up. She looked determined and without any fear. She took a breath. She would speak and Marina hoped, passionately, that when she did so, her father – please, just this one time – would listen.
‘Denham!’ Miss Smith’s voice rang out, clear as a bell.
Her father froze when he heard his name. But within seconds he started to saw even more frantically at the rope.
‘Enough, Denham. Why don’t you stop? You know it’s over.’
Marina’s head felt heavy. She looked at Trenchard to see if he, too, was confused – what was her father doing, and why they were standing next to the sea instead of in a room with a transmitter? Surely her father would not be in trouble. He had done nothing to any equipment. But Trenchard’s face was blank, giving no indication of what was happening or her father’s part in it.
And still her father feverishly carried on with his work, not bothering to look up. ‘You know I won’t stop.’ His voice was breathy from the effort. ‘I can’t. This is what I came here to do.’
‘It will end badly for your father if he doesn’t stop,’ Miss Smith whispered to Marina as she took another step towards the ice jetty. ‘Commander Denham.’ Her voice was softer, more pleading. There were tears in her eyes. ‘For the sake of your country, stop this now. Admit your treachery and let me do what I can to make your sentence bearable. The high command will listen to me. They trust me. They might even let you slip away from here and let you go and buy a cottage in the countryside where you can live quietly and safely with your daughter.’
‘Let me live quietly with my daughter? Oh, I think not! I think your high command has other plans for me!’
Miss Smith pulled Marina closer. ‘Tell him,’ she whispered. ‘He must stop. He must. Or he’ll be shot for treason. The guard will be here in just moments. They will arrest him. You must speak to him.’
What should Marina do? Her father was no traitor, she was sure. But what was he doing here? And what was he doing trying to cut through those ropes? What could be under the water?
‘Marina,’ Miss Smith urged. ‘Please. Do what you can to persuade your father to stop. If you succeed, I will beg the Admiral to spare his life.’
‘You’ll let him leave here safely?’ Marina whispered. ‘And let us live somewhere safe?’
Miss Smith nodded.
Commander Denham gave a cry of frustration. ‘Wait . . . Wait . . . Oh, just wait a while longer. I’m here. I’m here . . . Why won’t this rope – argh!’
Marina stepped forward. ‘Father?’
At the sound of her voice, her father’s hands became still.
He groaned, ‘No, no. Please. Not this.’
‘Father, please stop. I don’t know what you’re doing, but you must stop now because . . . because . . .’ Marina felt as if her tongue had swollen in her mouth. ‘I don’t think you are a traitor like Miss Smith says . . . So I want you to explain to her that you are not doing anything wrong. That you only want what’s best for everyone.And that this is just a misunderst—’
As she was speaking, her father turned slowly towards her. Marina was shocked at what she saw. A face so sad, so disappointed, so empty of any recognition of her that she took a step back. Miss Smith put her arm round her.
‘There, there.’ The woman stroked Marina’s hair. ‘It will soon be over. Your father will give himself up.’
The black water convulsed. Whatever was in the net was trying to free itself.
‘Hush, hush,’ Commander Denham said, as if speaking to the water. ‘Forgive me. I tried my best.’ And then he put his hands up in surrender.
‘You knew, didn’t you?’ He looked broken. ‘That no mission is worth my daughter’s life. Her mother would never forgive me if I sacrificed Marina. She loved her so much. It broke her heart to leave her. She made me promise that I would
