sight and removing the small intercom from the jacket pocket; he switched it off. Then, concealing himself in the shadows, he called out sotto voce, “From your silence, myhidden pigeons, I assume you’ve completed your assignments. With great caution, please return to Father Christmas.”
“My man’s asleep,” said Pryce, emerging from the palm-engulfed bushes. “He’ll be asleep for a couple of hours.”
“Here’s another on his hands and knees,” added Antonia, crawling with her captive out of the foliage. “Where’s the other man?”
“He was most impolite; he tried to kill me. He’s doing penance in our jungle.”
“What do we do now, my husband?”
“Simplest thing in the world, old girl,” replied Scofield, peering through the night-vision binoculars. “We activate the bowels of the captain of that so-called trawler.… Cam, have you got any rope in your tricky bag?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Not too bright, either. Take off your T-shirt, rip it in strips, and bind Toni’s prisoner, hands and feet. With what’s left, shove it in the bastard’s mouth, and, if you wouldn’t mind, a little physical anesthesia would be helpful.”
“It’ll be a pleasure.” Pryce went to work, his assignment taking less than ninety seconds.
“And me, Bray?”
“Wait a minute, lovey,” answered Scofield, still staring through the binoculars. “There he goes. He’s heading below, probably to a radio. He’s not watching the shore and obviously there’s no one else on board!”
“So?”
“So run back to the house and gather up a few flares, four or five’ll be enough. Then dash down the east path, say two or three hundred feet, and send one up.”
“Good heavens, why? He’ll know we’re here!”
“He knows already, dearest. Now we’ve got to confuse him.”
“How?”
“By your racing back to the house and into the
west
path, past the lagoon, and setting off another flare over there.Ignite the first one, say in eight minutes, the second in eleven, give or take. Don’t you remember?”
“I’m beginning to see what you mean.… Livorno, Italy, to be precise.”
“It worked there, didn’t it?”
“Yes, it did, my darling. I’m on my way.” Antonia disappeared into the brush.
“Since I was never in Livorno—actually, I was, but not when you two were,” protested Cameron, “would you mind telling me what you did there? And, while you’re at it, what am
I
supposed to do?”
“Can you swim?”
“Yes. Professional certification in deep-sea down to three hundred feet, and all certificates in scuba.”
“Very commendable, but we have no tanks here or the time for you to get into your Spider-Man outfit. I mean, can you just plain
swim?
”
“Of course.”
“How far in a breath underwater? Without fins?”
“At least fifty to seventy feet.”
“That should do it. Go out there, duck beneath the trawler, come up on the other side, get on deck, and take that soon-to-be-confused son of a bitch. Have you got a knife?”
“Need you ask?”
“Get going while our skipper’s still below!”
Pryce reached into his flight bag, pulled out his belted hunting knife, strapped it around his waist, and raced to the lapping waters of the beach. He plunged in and with strong strokes started toward the trawler two hundred yards away, his open eyes constantly on the deck of the boat. The captain emerged from the below cabin, so Cameron went underwater. Twenty, thirty, forty feet, surfacing for breath in the darkness, then under again and again until he reached the hull of the trawler. He surged beneath it, rising to the air on the starboard side.
He raised his hand in the water and looked at his waterproof watch. The radium dial told him it had taken nearly six minutes for him to reach the trawler; the first flare wouldappear in less than two. Slowly he made his way toward the bow. As the initial flare lit up the eastern sky, the captain would undoubtedly race to the stern of his
“My man’s asleep,” said Pryce, emerging from the palm-engulfed bushes. “He’ll be asleep for a couple of hours.”
“Here’s another on his hands and knees,” added Antonia, crawling with her captive out of the foliage. “Where’s the other man?”
“He was most impolite; he tried to kill me. He’s doing penance in our jungle.”
“What do we do now, my husband?”
“Simplest thing in the world, old girl,” replied Scofield, peering through the night-vision binoculars. “We activate the bowels of the captain of that so-called trawler.… Cam, have you got any rope in your tricky bag?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Not too bright, either. Take off your T-shirt, rip it in strips, and bind Toni’s prisoner, hands and feet. With what’s left, shove it in the bastard’s mouth, and, if you wouldn’t mind, a little physical anesthesia would be helpful.”
“It’ll be a pleasure.” Pryce went to work, his assignment taking less than ninety seconds.
“And me, Bray?”
“Wait a minute, lovey,” answered Scofield, still staring through the binoculars. “There he goes. He’s heading below, probably to a radio. He’s not watching the shore and obviously there’s no one else on board!”
“So?”
“So run back to the house and gather up a few flares, four or five’ll be enough. Then dash down the east path, say two or three hundred feet, and send one up.”
“Good heavens, why? He’ll know we’re here!”
“He knows already, dearest. Now we’ve got to confuse him.”
“How?”
“By your racing back to the house and into the
west
path, past the lagoon, and setting off another flare over there.Ignite the first one, say in eight minutes, the second in eleven, give or take. Don’t you remember?”
“I’m beginning to see what you mean.… Livorno, Italy, to be precise.”
“It worked there, didn’t it?”
“Yes, it did, my darling. I’m on my way.” Antonia disappeared into the brush.
“Since I was never in Livorno—actually, I was, but not when you two were,” protested Cameron, “would you mind telling me what you did there? And, while you’re at it, what am
I
supposed to do?”
“Can you swim?”
“Yes. Professional certification in deep-sea down to three hundred feet, and all certificates in scuba.”
“Very commendable, but we have no tanks here or the time for you to get into your Spider-Man outfit. I mean, can you just plain
swim?
”
“Of course.”
“How far in a breath underwater? Without fins?”
“At least fifty to seventy feet.”
“That should do it. Go out there, duck beneath the trawler, come up on the other side, get on deck, and take that soon-to-be-confused son of a bitch. Have you got a knife?”
“Need you ask?”
“Get going while our skipper’s still below!”
Pryce reached into his flight bag, pulled out his belted hunting knife, strapped it around his waist, and raced to the lapping waters of the beach. He plunged in and with strong strokes started toward the trawler two hundred yards away, his open eyes constantly on the deck of the boat. The captain emerged from the below cabin, so Cameron went underwater. Twenty, thirty, forty feet, surfacing for breath in the darkness, then under again and again until he reached the hull of the trawler. He surged beneath it, rising to the air on the starboard side.
He raised his hand in the water and looked at his waterproof watch. The radium dial told him it had taken nearly six minutes for him to reach the trawler; the first flare wouldappear in less than two. Slowly he made his way toward the bow. As the initial flare lit up the eastern sky, the captain would undoubtedly race to the stern of his
Similar Books
