mettle of the man who on three occasions had bull-whipped racing yachts through the wildest seas in the world broke through.
He rose impatiently. 'What the devil have we been waiting for – we've lost hours! The wind's been good since this afternoon! We could have been away on the high seas by now!'
'I was tempted also,' I replied. 'But there's another consideration…' And I explained to Kay and Tideman, with the help of Brockton, about Grohman's angry exchange with me at Comodoro Rivadavia and its disturbing political under-currents.
'Dawson is playing along in the interest of what he terms a modus vivendi between the Falklands and Argentina,' I added. 'I don't know how Grohman fits in. However, I believe he's playing some deep game of his own.'
'Then why did you allow for four Argentinians to join our crew as extra hands? They can only complicate the issue,' said Tideman. 'What did you say?' I asked incredulously. 'We didn't need any extra hands,' Tideman added.
'You must be joking,' I said.'‘ certainly brought no one with me from the mainland.'
'Say, remember those guys with Grohman in the plane, Peter?' asked Brockton.
I felt the same surge of alarm as when I learned about Grohman's proposed picnic. It was another sinister straw in the wind.
Kay added, 'There wasn't room in the foc'sle for them with the rest of our crew. Grohman has housed them in the passenger accommodation.'
I faced their stares and said tersely, 'You have my word that I brought no crew with me.' Then I asked Tideman, 'Are the men sailors?'
'Aye. Good ones, too, from what I could make out. They speak only Spanish.'
'Maybe they're, crew from Grohman's old schooner and he took them on when he thought he was going to be the skipper,' I said. 'It's too late now to send them ashore, damn it, without giving the game away. Besides, there'd be too many formalities. Apart from you three, no one knows we're sailing tonight. I want to keep it that way.'
'We're wasting our time with all this talk,' Tideman said. 'Why don't we get the sail on Jetwind now?'
'Sorry, John. Until the Almirante Storni actually puts her nose into The Narrows, Jetwind does not budge.' 'Why?' He looked at me as if I were mad, 'What's behind the stalling?' asked Brockton.
I looked at each in turn as I explained. 'I summoned you here tonight because I felt I knew you well enough to trust you in an extreme situation. Equally, I hope you will trust me. I'm saying this because I realize that there are questions in your minds whose answers you will have to take on trust.' 'Such as?' asked Tideman.
'I have taken a major decision for which I alone can assume the responsibility. It is a captain's decision. I will tell you what I intend to do once the Almirante Storni shows up in The Narrows. I alone will have to take the rap for the consequences. I do not wish to implicate you. The matter is too serious. If you don't know in advance you cannot be held responsible after the event.' 'Who by?' asked Kay.
'International opinion for one’ I answered. 'Jetwind versus the Falklands is a powder keg ready to explode. Dawson is trying to keep the lid on by appeasing Argentina. What I intend to do tonight will trigger the explosion. It's too late now for any of you three not to sail with the ship. However, you're free to withdraw from assisting me if you feel you cannot cooperate on the basis of being only half informed.' 'I'm with you – naturally.' Kay's voice was tense.
'The sooner we sail, the happier I'll be,' repeated Tideman. Brockton said unhesitatingly, 'I go, whatever.'
I warmed to him. But a second later, I found myself questioning his intentions when he struck what I felt was a false note. 'Oh boy, what a story!'
'There'll be no story yet,' I retorted. 'No use of the ship's communications either.' 'Okay, okay,' he said. 'Forget it!'
'Now listen, Paul. There's no sign yet of the warship -I've just come from the crow's nest. That's to be your spot. I want you there for the next couple of hours. Report the moment you sight the Almirante Storni. My guess is that she'll anchor in the main fairway just outside The Narrows. Then, the moment she up-anchors after that, I have to know. I have a hunch that she'll do so when the sky clears in the early hours, as I'm told it does in these parts.' 'You can count on me all the way,' replied Brockton.
'Fine,' I said. 'That's not all. You're an America Cup expert. You've watched those craft wring every knot out of a situation…'
'Correction,' he smiled. 'Every hundredth of a knot. Timing is as hairline as that.'
'Our own position is going to change like lightning,' I went on. 'Once this ship enters The Narrows, I want human, as well as mathematical, appraisal of the way things develop. So you'll use a portable analogue computer and give me – every thirty seconds, or every second, if necessary – manual feed-in. I'll make any further decisions on the basis of what yon supply. You'll be one of the most vital elements in the entire break-out operation, Paul.' ‘I’ll do it – and not just for the hell of it, Peter.'
Tideman added, 'I don't know what's on your mind, Peter, but remember you have precious little room in which to manoeuvre in The Narrows – it's only three hundred metres wide.'
'That's where I need you, too, Kay. None of us has any idea at this stage what the wind speed will be, say at two o'clock or whenever the destroyer makes her entry. There's one hell of a lot of unknown quantities at this moment. But I must have at least ten knots speed when we enter The Narrows.'
Kay's eyes became abstracted as they always seemed to when she was busy with a calculation. 'It's a hell of a short take-off distance from anchor. Our harbour course is roughly a dog-leg, right? The first is the longer part, which will bring us to the southern entrance to The Narrows. Then, an almost right-angle change of direction to take us through-right?'
‘Jetwind keeps out of sight behind the intervening hills until the last moment before The Narrows,' I added. 'Our mast-head, where Paul will be stationed, is a fraction higher than the hills. So I'll keep the royals stowed until the last possible moment so there's no chance of detection. Once I set them, it will be too late – the race will be on.'
'Too late?' queried Tideman, voicing the question which was clearly in all their minds. 'Too late for what?'
'Sorry. That's the part of my plan you must take on blind trust. If it fails, it's the end of Jetwind. And of me.'
Chapter 13
There was a deathly silence, which I broke.
'There's something else. I'm not inviting any opinions about it. I want Number Two anchor cock-billed from the end of the fore-yard from a couple of metres of chain.' Tideman repeated the order as if to reassure himself he was hearing right. Kay and Brockton stared in incredulous silence.
'That's correct,' I said. 'John, that task is priority once you leave this cabin.'
'The crew is keen to get to sea but I'm afraid this business of the anchor will appear like a rank-pulling exercise to them,' he said. 'It seems, if I may say so, utterly purposeless, especially following on your cancellation of the picnic. The old-timers had a name for it – chipping the anchor cable.'
'I hope to change their minds before the night is out. Meanwhile, my order stands. Do it, will you, John?'
'Of course. I wasn't speaking for myself. But haven't you forgotten Grohman? All this activity must give him an idea that something is up.'
'I certainly haven't forgotten him. Take a look at the way I've arranged the watches. He's off duty during the vital early hours.'
'Once you give the order to make sail Grohman – and everyone else in the ship – will know.'
'By that time it will be too late for him to do anything, if indeed he is contemplating anything.'
'He knows this ship, Peter, and he's a good sailor,' Tideman went on. 'One touch of the wrong button could upset everything.'
'We must consider Grohman to be hostile because we don't know what's behind his political motivations,' I
