Shout at the Devil - Smith Wilbur - Страница 92

"Home,"said Flynn.

"Wait for me. "Sebastian scrambled to his knees.

The engines roaring in reverse pulled the torpedo-boat back off the log-boom, her plywood hull crackling and speaking, but she was mortally wounded. She was sinking with a rapidity that amazed Sebastian. Already her cockpit was flooding.

"Abandon ship, "shouted the commander.

"You damned tooting," said Flynn O'Flynn and leaped in an untidy tangle of arms and legs into the water.

Like a playful seal the torpedo-boat rolled over on its side, and Sebastian jumped. Drawing his breath while he was in the air, steeling himself against the cold of the water.

he was surprised at how warm it was.

from the bridge of HMS. Renounce, the survivors looked like a cluster of bedraggled water rats. In the dawn they floundered and splashed around the edge of the balloon of stained and filthy water where the Rufiji had washed them out, like the effluent from the sewer outlet of a city. Renounce found them before the sharks did, for there was no blood. There was one broken leg, a fractured collar bone and a few cracked ribs but miraculously there was no blood. So from a crew of fourteen, Renounce recovered every man including the two pilots.

They came aboard with their hair matted, their faces streaked, and their eyes swollen and inflamed with engine oil. With a man on either hand to guide them, leaving a trail of malodorous Rufiji water across the deck, they shuffled down to the sick bay, a sodden and sorrow-full looking assembly of humanity.

"Well," said Flynn O'Flynn, "if we don't get a medal for that, then I'm going back to my old job and the hell with them."

"That," said Captain Arthur Joyce, sitting hunched behind his desk, "was not a roaring success." He showed no inclination to whistle "Tipperary'.

"It wasn't even a good try, sir," agreed the torpedo-boat commander. "The Boche had everything ready to throw at our heads."

"log boom!"-" Joyce shook his head, "good Lord, they went out with the Napoleonic War!" He said it in a tone that implied that he was a victim of unfair play.

"It was extraordinarily effective, sir." Yes, it must have been." Joyce sighed. "Well, at the very least we have established that an attack up the channel is not practical."

"During the few minutes before the tide swept us away from the boom I looked beyond it, and I saw what I took to be a mine. I think it certain that the Boche have laid a minefield beyond the boom, sit."

"Thank you, Commander, "Joyce nodded. "I will see to it that their Lordships receive a full account of your conduct.

I consider it excellent." Then he went on, "I would value your opinion of Major O'Flynn and his son do you think they are reliable men?"

"Well the commander hesitated, he did not want to be unfair, they can both swim and the young one seems to have good' eyesight Apart from that I am not really in a position to give a judgement."

"No, I don't suppose you are. Still I wish I knew more about them. For the next phase in this operation I am going to rely quite heavily on them." He stood up. "I think I will talk to them now."

"You mean you actually want someone to go on board Blitcher!" Flynn was appalled.

"I have explained to you, Major, how important it is for me to know exactly what state she is in. I must be able to estimate when she is likely to break out of the delta. I must know how much time I have." Madness, whispered Flynn. "Stark raving bloody madness." He stared at Joyce in disbelief.

"You have told me how well organized is your intelligence system ashore, of the reliable men who work for you. Indeed it is through you that we know that the Germans are cutting c(rdwood and taking it aboard. We know that they have recruited an army of native labourers and are using them not only for wood-cutting, but also for heavy work aboard the Blucher."

"So?" Into that single word Flynn put a wealth of caution.

"One of your men could infiltrate the labour gangs and get aboard Blucher." And Flynn perked up immediately; he had anticipated that Joyce would suggest that Flynn Patrick O'Flynn should personally conduct a survey of Blitcher's damage.

"It might be done." There was alengthy pause while Flynn considered every aspect of the business. "Of course, Captain, my men aren't fighting patriots like you and I. They work for money. They are..." Flynn searched for the word. "They are..."

"Mercenaries?"

"Yes," said Flynn. "That's exactly what they are."

"Hmm," said Joyce. "You mean they would want payment?" "They'd want a big dollop of lolly and you can't blame them, can you?"

"The person you send would have to be a first-class man."

"He would be," Flynn assured him.

"On behalf of His Majesty's Government, I could undertake to purchase a complete and competent report on the disposition of the German cruiser Blitcher, for the sum of he thought about it a moment, one thousand pounds."

"Gold?"

"Gold," agreed Joyce.

"That would cover it nicely." Flynn nodded, then allowed his eyes to move across the cabin to where Sebastian and Rosa sat side by side on the day couch. They were holding hands, and showing more interest in each other than in the bargainings of Flynn and Captain Joyce.