Villiers took his place at the periscope and watched the island sliding past on the port side, while Hamilton rifled through the chart-table drawers in search of the maps he needed for his Council-of-War with Mannon, Scott and O’Brien.
‘Can’t see Betty Grable coming down the beach to welcome us ashore,’ the young reservist joked to pass the tedium of Rapier’s slow approach. ‘I hope you blokes remembered to bring the map showing where the treasure was buried.’
The men on duty watch in the control room grinned. Villier’s casual attitude made a change from the skipper’s customary dour concentration or Mannon’s pedantic attention to detail.
‘As long as you can’t see Errol Flynn swinging about in the trees I don’t mind, sir,’ Venables retorted from his seat at the diving panel. ‘I don’t fancy having any competition when I meet all them hula-hula girls!’
Villiers winked broadly at the chief ERA and then returned to his solitary vigil at the periscope. Suddenly something caught his attention and he flicked the lever of the high magnification lens.
‘Hey! Scotty! I thought you said those two volcanoes were extinct?’
Hamilton looked up sharply. ‘They’re as dead as dodos. I’ve been up and inspected the craters myself. Why?’
The grin on the sub-lieutenant’s face faded. He stared through the lens again to make sure he wasn’t mistaken. ‘There’s black smoke coming up in the direction of the more northerly one, sir.’
Hamilton put the charts down on the table and took over the periscope. He stared at the smoke, scanned along the length of the island, and then returned the lens for a more detailed examination of the northern sector. Villiers’ report◦– and it was a natural enough error◦– had been wrong in locating the smoke as rising from the extinct crater of the squat volcanic hill dominating the lagoon on the left hand side of the island. It was, in fact, coming from a wooded area at the base of the hill and less than half a mile from the north shore itself. It was impossible to determine the exact location, because the fire was spreading rapidly through the dense undergrowth, but Hamilton felt his mouth go dry as he realized that somewhere in the midst of the smoke and flames, was Rapier’s carefully prepared base camp and storage depot. Was it just a spontaneous bush fire◦– or had the enemy discovered their secret?
‘Down periscope! Stop motors. Are you getting any HE, Glover?’
The hydro-phone operator slipped the pads over his ears and moved the knobs of his listening apparatus. He shook his head.
‘No HE, sir. Just the surf breaking on the beach.’
‘Try an Asdic probe.’
Glover swivelled his seat to the right and transmitted a series of sonar pulses that pinged sharply in the loudspeaker above his cabinet. ‘No contacts, sir!’
‘I reckon this is when we could do with one of these new-fangled radio location sets,’ Hamilton grumbled quietly to Mannon. ‘But I’m certain about one thing◦– if there is an enemy vessel in the vicinity it must be anchored or else we’d have picked up its engine noises on the hydrophone.’ He paused to consider his next move. ‘Slow ahead both motors. Stand by Torpedo Room. Up periscope.’
The fire was still burning and the northerly breeze was sweeping the dense smoke out across the lagoon, where it hung above the water like a heavy sea mist. Rapier glided silently inshore while Hamilton carried out a detailed examination of the anchorage. Satisfied there was no enemy ship in the lagoon he turned the lens towards the entrance. This time there was something◦– a small boat chugging slowly towards the shore from the direction of Taichi Rock.
‘Close up Attack Team! Steer one point to port… blow up all tubes!’
Hamilton could well understand the reluctance of an enemy commander to enter the lagoon. Its waters were uncharted and treacherous and he would have had no time to survey the depths or locate any hidden reefs. In addition, no sensible captain would want to find himself trapped inside a virtually landlocked harbor in the event of a surprise attack. And this appreciation of the enemy’s reasoning led him to one inevitable conclusion◦– a conclusion backed by Glover’s failure to pick up any HE and his own inability to sight the ship through Rapier’s periscope. The intruder must be anchored in the lee of Taichee Rock.
Swinging the eye of the upper lens to starboard, he waited tensely as the submarine moved into the area which would enable him to see what was lurking on the inshore side of the gaunt, granite rock. Yard by yard, more of the northern face of the rock became visible and then, suddenly, the dark grey paintwork of a Japanese warship came into view.
‘Enemy destroyer anchored between Taichee Rock and the island. Small boats going ashore,’ he reported back to Mannon and the other men in the control room. ‘Estimated range two miles…’
‘Someone must have given us away to the Japs,’ Mannon said bitterly. ‘It would have taken them months to find this place.’
‘Steer zero-six-five. Reduce to half power. Open bow caps.’ Hamilton waited to complete his instructions and then glanced at Mannon. ‘No one’s given us away, Number One,’ he said sharply. ‘Chai Chen realized she would die whether she talked or not. She must have told them about the island in order to put them on a false trail.’
‘I can’t see anything false about it, sir,’ Mannon objected. ‘If the enemy has destroyed our storage depot Rapier will be about as battle-worthy as a bloody canoe without paddles.’
‘Perhaps so◦– but, in my opinion, she was trying to lead us to the men responsible for her death. And that destroyer anchored under the Rock proves it. If she’d told them the truth the Japs would have ambushed us when we arrived at the refueling point. And the reason they didn’t do so is because they did not know we were planning to meet the junk at sea.’
Mannon shrugged. ‘I’m not denying the girl’s courage, sir. She may not have told them about the rendezvous, but she certainly seems to have given away the secret of our supply base. And while I don’t blame her after what they did to her I’m damned if I can see any advantage in it.’
‘In that case, Number One, I’ll spell it out to you,’ Hamilton said coldly. ‘If Chai Chen had told the Japs about our refueling plans, Rapier would be lying on the bottom of the South China Sea by now because they would have caught us by surprise. She knew, however, that once we found the junk we’d be very much on the alert.’ So she told them the oil was being shipped to the island◦– it would have sounded a plausible enough story. As a result, the Japs are still under the impression that they have surprise on their side and they’re hiding behind Taichee Rock waiting to jump us when we arrive.’
‘But Chai Chen was obviously thinking several moves ahead. She realized we’d make for the island and she knew, also, that we’d be prepared for trouble after finding the junk. So by telling them about the replenishment base she made sure that retribution would follow within a few hours. And, in addition, I would know that the officer commanding the Japanese ship waiting at the island must be the man responsible for her death.’