" That won't help at all," said Pirow. " The seaplane will be using radar, anyway. Thorshammer took a hell of a risk flying her off in this sea."
" It just shows how important she considers us," said Walter. " There's nothing we can do now to avoid being caught."
" Don't throw in the bloody towel before you're even hit," said Upton curtly. " I'm not beaten, by a long chalk. By all that's holy!" I heard him say slowly. " Wetherby has been of more use than he thinks. We'll keep our previous course. We'll hide away in the heart of his so-called atmospheric machine. If it's anything like he says, there'll be so -much fog and ice that Thorshammer will never find us. And in that weather, she won't be able to use her seaplane."
My heart sank as I heard him pick up the telephone and order Bjerko to return to our former course. The ship had scarcely had time to settle on the south and west course. We were now racing towards our doom as fast as the screws could turn. By the vibration, I could tell that the Antarctica's engines were being pushed to the limit. In my mind's eye I saw that deceptively calm sea, damped by the ice as the crystals formed, and thickening to a viscous-porridge-like consistency; the loss of speed as a ship fought against the massive drag of the sea starting to freeze; the great bank of fog which was the invariable accompaniment of the freeze-up; and finally, the rapid coagulation of water into jaws of ice which would clamp like a vice round the ship and crush her to death.
" Anything from the seaplane?" asked Upton.
" Yes," said Pirow, " steering straight here. She can't miss. She'll be overhead in less than a couple of hours."
" Peter!" came Upton's voice. " When do you think, at our present speed, we will be in Wetherby's danger area?"
" Maybe twelve hours," replied.
" We could avoid Thorshammer intercepting us herself to-day, and during the darkness to-night we could dodge her," went on Upton. " By early to-morrow the weather will probably start to become pretty bad. With Thorshammer minus the seaplane, we have a sporting chance."
" Minus the seaplane," echoed Pirow.
Upton's voice was brittle when he spoke after a pause, even allowing for the quality of the loudspeaker. " Your Spandau-Hotchkiss is a very fine weapon, Peter."
Pirow's voice held a thrill-whether of dismay or astonishment, I could not tell. " You'll get Walter to shoot down a plane-a naval plane-in cold blood in peacetime?"
I could tell from the way Upton said it, that he had just thought it up, and novelty of the idea appealed to him. " No, not Walter, Captain Wetherby will shoat down Thors- hammer's seaplane."
I went closer to the loudspeaker grille to make sure I was not dreaming. It was a closed-circuit affair between the cabin and the radio office, but the voices were as close as if they had been talking next door and reaching me through an open ventilator. The diabolical ingenuity of Upton's mind revealed itself as he went on.
" We now have the chart, and both Wetherby and the islander are only in the way," he said. " Sailhardy is easy to dispose of. Walter will rough him up a bit more, and he'll be found to-morrow morning, or the morning after, lying under one of the big tackles aft. Poor fellow, they'll say, the tackle came adrift in the gale and its whole two tons fell on him."
Walter interjected, " Someone else will have to do the 95 job, specially since it'll be at night. I can't shuffle backwards and forwards from Aurora in a small boat with a tiny engine in these seas. It was bad enough to-day. If the weather becomes anything like Wetherby says, it'll be impossible."
" It is not vital," said Upton. " I'll smash him up myself."
" The Herr Kapitan Wetherby is the one to be afraid of," said Pirow. I wondered wryly if he was thinking of the Meteor's end. " I want to see you force him to shoot down Thorshammer's plane."
" So do I," said Walter.
The voices receded and I jumped up and jammed my ear against the loudspeaker. I heard only a word here and there-" Luger… take him across to Aurora… clear them out of the way, of course, they're your crew, Walter.. . lash his wrists, one each side of the trigger…" Upton's voice and the others sank into an incomprehensible mutter.
What in God's name was Upton about, I asked myself. It was obvious from the scraps of conversation I had heard that I was to be tied to the Spandau-Hotchkiss and be made to take the blame for shooting down the seaplane. How? Then I saw: Walter would take one harness and I would be lashed into the other-it must have been the crew Upton had been referring to, about clearing them out of the way. In the sort of seas we were encountering, the only members of the crew who would be about would be those strictly on duty, a handful of men who could easily be ordered out of the way. The gun itself was situated aft the wheelhouse, and the helmsman would not be able to see what was going on without leaving his post. I guessed Walter would come to take me across to Aurora from my cabin. He'd stick the Luger in his pocket and be at my back…
The voice became stronger as the three men moved about the radio office. I could pick up Upton's words, faint at first and then stronger. "… other harness. Wetherby will be helpless. Shoot the bloody thing down and don't fluff it, do you hear, Walter?"
There was a surly mutter and then Pirow's voice was clear. " It is clever, Sir Frederick. So Wetherby takes all the blame, if Thorshammer should catch us?"
I lost the end of Upton's sentence, but the beginning sent me cold. " The blame-and the bullet… through the head with the Luger… cut him loose…"
I could see it in my mind's eye: a burst from the SpandauHotchkiss from Walter which would send the seaplane 96 into the sea. A bullet for me and then a fake rescue attempt, Walter shouting to the helmsman to alter course to the crashed plane, knowing full well that the cold water would kill them in three minutes. And then Walter explaining how he had been obliged to shoot me to stop my madness with the gun. The pieces fitted together with diabolical cunning.
The voices became so faint I had to strain to hear.
" What about the other skippers?" asked Pirow. " They won't like it. They may turn against you."
"Turn-to whom?" asked Upton confidently. "Thors- hammer? Don't be crazy. Can you see them simply handing themselves over to Thorshammer? Never! They're in this thing too deep already, and they'll be deeper in still after the seaplane has been shot down." I heard a mirthless chuckle. " If you miss the seaplane, Peter, I'll come after you with a Luger myself."
I looked at the unconscious man on the floor. Sailhardy and I had been in some tight spots during the war, but this looked tougher than any of them: I could see only one way to save our. lives, and that was to tell Upton the real secret of Thompson Island. The bargain would be purely one-sided, for Upton would certainly never tell me now what he was really after on Thompson Island. It would be a plain barter for our lives, with Upton raking in all the winnings. The Tannoy repeated the slam of the radio office door, after the crunch of footsteps. It remained alive, but silent, except for an occasional splutter of Morse. Pirow must have been left alone on watch. An hour dragged by, and then another half. Sailhardy moaned and stirred from time to time, but did not come round. A kick like Walter's would have killed anyone less tough than the islander. My only ally outside the cabin seemed to be Helen. Would she, though, having been so long under her father's sway, assist me, even if she wanted to? I strained every sense to hear her footsteps outside, but everything remained silent.
Another five minutes dragged by. The Tannoy broke into life. I heard a door open, and almost at the same moment Upton's voice. " Yes, Carl, yes?"
I could not help admiring the brilliant, dispassionate professionalism of The Man with the Immaculate Hand. " Seaplane reporting ship contacts to Thorshammer. Five ship contacts on her radar."