of small dirty bombs, nuclear material packed with traditional explosives such as plastique and dynamite. The best- case scenario involved the deaths of over 10,000 people.
Spider appeared oblivious to concepts of that magnitude. Nor was there any reason he should be aware of them. But his
Leyland parked the Humvee near the helicopter pad. He set Little Maluka down. The koala returned to the tower. Then Leyland called Eva and asked her to get the pilot from the cabin. The fire warden said nothing about their mission to his two associates.
'I expect you may get some fallout from all this,' Jelbart told Leyland. He realized, after saying it, what word he had chosen.
'I can handle it,' Leyland said. 'He can't prove I knew what you blokes were up to. Besides, what are they going to do? Fire me?' Leyland winked. He had obviously meant to use that word.
'You're a good man,' Jelbart said, shaking his hand.
Loh bowed slightly to Leyland. Herbert clasped the captain's hand with both of his. Behind him, the pilot readied the chopper.
'The koala idea was a damn good one, Captain,' Herbert said. 'I'm the guy that mucked things up. If they do kick you out, come to Washington. There's a job waiting for you.'
'Thanks. You're definitely a bloke to go scrub-bashing with,' Leyland told him.
Loh had opened the door, and Herbert wheeled over. The three climbed into the helicopter. They were airborne in under a minute. Jelbart glanced at the spotlit observation tower as it receded. It tightened the warrant officer's throat, just a little, to know that there were men like Captain Leyland. Men who did not limit their sense of duty to what was in their job description. That did not diminish Spider. But it certainly elevated Leyland.
Herbert leaned forward as they soared toward the starlit skies. 'What the hell is scrub-bashing?' he asked Jelbart.
'That's when you make your own road through dense brush,' Jelbart replied. 'It's a he-man's Sunday drive. If you get invited, it means you rate. You obviously made a good impression.'
'Oh,' Herbert replied.
The intelligence chief sat back. He looked confused.
Jelbart had not known Herbert long. But he knew how a man looked when he was frustrated. Herbert had that look. Leyland had to have noticed that, too. That could be why he said what he did, to give Herbert a little boost.
Jelbart smiled as they headed toward the coast. That elevated Leyland a little more.
Chapter Fifty-five
Captain Kannaday was unable to pry open the cabin door. That was ironic. He did not want to get out when he could. Now that the door was locked, he desperately wanted to be on the other side.
Without access to the radio room, he could not call out. Here in the cabin he had very little at his disposal. A porthole just wide enough for his head. He could not crawl out. There was also the shower. If he plugged up the drain and tore the desk lamp from its cord, he could drop the loose ends into the water. Anyone stepping in the water would get a jolt. But the lamps in the yacht were run off a marine deep cycle battery. The 550 ampere charge would not kill them. He did not even think it would stun them.
And Kannaday would still be trapped in here.
He had a cigarette lighter, but the door was fireproof. He would not even be able to burn through it.
He swore. He could not understand what Darling and Hawke were up to. The captain's body had adjusted to the pain. He started to pace. He felt as though he were working sore muscles. He paused now and then to kick the door. The cabin had never seemed so small.
Suddenly, he heard a low growl from down the hall. The floor began to vibrate. It sounded as if someone were using an electric drill or router. They were kept in the event the yacht suffered damage in a collision or storm. But the sound seemed to be coming from below. There was a long, narrow crawl space between the deck and the red cedar outer hull. The area was accessible through a trapdoor in the corridor. Cables, extra gear, and emergency equipment such as the tools and flares were kept there.
The ship was in fine shape. There was only one reason to enter the crawl space with tools. They were putting a hole in the outer hull. The
'Hawke!' the captain screamed as he pounded on the door again. 'Dammit,
Kannaday cursed himself for not having acted sooner. What was happening out there transcended discipline and retribution. Darling would only sink the ship if it could be used against him. Something must have gone wrong somewhere in the network. Darling needed to get rid of the evidence. Hence the smashing of the equipment. Darling also needed someone to take the fall. A corpse could not deny its guilt.
Kannaday was not especially close to the crew. Darling would not have had to offer them much to cooperate.
'You
Even if the men were listening, no one could have heard him. The winch and whatever tools they were using made too much noise.
The winch stopped. The two boats must be in the water. Kannaday could not be sure. His porthole looked out toward the starboard side of the yacht. A moment later, the rumbling sounds from the interior corridor also stopped. The captain heard voices and hurried footsteps. A few seconds later, all the noises on the vessel were coming from above deck. The men were rushing to the stern. They were obviously getting into the dinghies. Kannaday wondered if his own crew knew he was not coming.
Kannaday screamed in frustration. He ran at the door again. It was reinforced and watertight to prevent flooding. The impact hurt his shoulder, and he backed away.
Rubbing it, the captain paced anxiously in a tight circle. He looked around, trying desperately to think of a way out. There were aerosol cans in the bathroom. Perhaps he could puncture them, cause them to explode. But how, without hurting himself in the process?
Suddenly, the yacht became very still and stable. Kannaday heard the two masts creak. The waves were no longer moving it from side to side. That meant it was bottom heavy.
The yacht was going down.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Monica Loh knew that the search for Jervis Darling's vessel was probably hopeless.
The Singaporean patrol boat was moving at top speed toward the area. It was listening for the ship in a continuous sweep of all radio frequencies. The chopper was watching for the vessel. But a boat running silent and probably dark would be virtually impossible to find at night. Radar was unreliable due to the sheer number of hits they picked up: not just boats but reefs, sea creatures on the surface, even large waves. Modern equipment was occasionally too sensitive to be useful. She was guessing that by daybreak it would be gone completely. And with the ship hidden, they would lose their best chance to track this action to Darling and find the missing nuclear waste.
Jelbart was on the radio with his home base. When he was finished, the pilot contacted the RAAF Airfield Defence Squadron satellite base in Cooktown. That was the nearest refueling point in the region.
FNO Loh did not feel comfortable about the new world in which they were living. She did not yearn for a simpler era. Nor did she doubt her skills or those of her shipmates. They were smart and disciplined. What worried
