A Ravel of Waters

'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 replied. ‘I can't take any chances. But, like it or not, we're stuck with Grohman till we reach the Cape.'

Tideman went on, 'Make no mistake, ‘I’m one hundred per cent behind the idea of getting to sea and your scheme to elude the Almirante Storni- whatever it may be. I don't want to sound as if I'm throwing cold water on it, but where is it going to get us? Or Jetwind?’ 'What are you driving at?'

'We slip past the destroyer in The Narrows. Fine. She can't turn there, it's not wide enough. All she does then is to carry on to where the inner port opens out, make a U-turn, and come after us at full speed. She'll catch us before she's halfway to the open sea. Into the bargain, you will have deliberately provoked counter-action. I'd say it would be much better to slip away to sea at this very moment.'

All three eyed me expectantly. I was greatly tempted to take them into my confidence. But the implications were too great. I repeated to myself what I had said to myself before, I alone would have to take the consequences.

'I asked you earlier to take me on trust. That is still what I say.'

Kay came tactfully to the rescue. 'You're going to make one man aboard this ship very happy — Sir James Hathaway.'

I laughed ruefully. 'When I talked to him earlier on I was surprised he didn't rip the panelling off the bulkheads.'

Kay steered Tideman away from something else he seemed about to say. 'Was he still acting up and hopping mad?'

'Let's say he'd rather go to sea in a sieve than set foot in a sailing ship again, let alone buy one.'

'He was keen enough while Captain Mortensen put her through her paces,' added Tideman. 'But of course once Grohman took over it was a different matter.'

'Everything always comes back to Grohman,' Brockton concluded.

I shrugged, checked my watch, and straightened up. 'Paul, up you go to your perch in the crow's nest. Report to me on the intercom the moment you spot lights in the main fairway. Bearing, distance, position. If you have any doubts…'

'I guess I know a Fletcher class lights as well as anyone afloat.'

'She may be rigged up differently than when she was U.S. Navy,' I replied. 'I reckon her spot will be near Ordnance Point, in the main fairway, as I've just said.'

'Why there?' asked Tideman. 'There's plenty of room elsewhere.'

'Because at almost any other place one or both the beacon lights at Navy Point or Engineer Point are obscured. They are essential for her entry. In the fairway sector I'm talking about, a ship can sight both lights at the same time. I consider the Almirante Storni will anchor there to get an exact fix of her position. Later, when it's light enough to see both headlands, she'll navigate The Narrows proper.'

I hoped I wasn't talking myself into a tailcr-made plan which made no allowance for contingencies.

I swamped my doubts with more orders. 'Kay, I want you to keep busy at your sums. I want optimum readings and sail settings at intervals of every half an hour from now until we sail — and after too. Clear?'