For answer he pulled open the topmost drawer and extracted the chart that gave plans of Marion and Fornells harbours, as well as two in Ibiza. 'About there, we reckon.' He indicated the Mahon plan, where he had pencilled a cross just south of Gala Llonga right opposite Villa Carlos. 'ETA is now 09.30 approx.' He looked at me curiously. 'You staying on board or is the Captain arranging to put you ashore?'
'I'm not certain,' I said.
He nodded, smiling at me. He understood the problem. It might interest you to know he's just rung me to say he wants one sailboard with wet suit and goggles ready on the flight deck by 09.00. I'm in charge of sailing, you see.' And he added, 'Sorry about the board, but it's the best we can do. No dinghies, I'm afraid.'
It was probably nervous exhaustion that finally got me off to sleep that night for I was dead to the world when Petty Officer Jarvis shook me into consciousness. He was earlier than usual. 'Lieutenant Craig would like you to select whichever one fits best.' He dumped three wet suits on the foot of the bunk. 'They're the only sizes we have on board.' And as he went out, he asked me to leave the two I didn't want and any borrowed clothing on the rack above my bunk.
By then the bo's'n's mate was rousing the ship, and shortly afterwards Gareth's voice announced: 'This, is the Captain. Just to bring you up to date. We are now approaching Port Mahon, the main harbour and capital of Menorca, one of the Spanish Balearic islands. For obvious reasons we shall not be tying up alongside. Instead, I propose to anchor well clear of the town in the approaches opposite Villa Carlos. In the circumstances, I do not see any possibility of shore leave. I will let you know how long this courtesy visit is to last as soon as I can. That is all.'His cabin was empty by the time I arrived for breakfast. 'Captain's on the bridge,' Petty Officer Jarvis told me. 'And there's no choice this morning.' He placed a heaped plateful of bacon, sausages, eggs and fried bread in front of me. 'He thought you might appreciate it. Later in the day, that is.'
I was still working through it when Gareth appeared. 'We shall be abreast of St Carlos Point and La Mola in approximately fifteen minutes. Things will begin to hot up then. As soon as you've finished, I'd be glad if you'd return to your cabin and wait there until Petty Officer Jarvis comes to take you down to the quarterdeck. Chief Petty Officer Clark will meet you there. He will have…' The Sinbad loudspeaker interrupted him, a voice from the bridge reporting that revs were now being reduced. 'Also, there's a small vessel lying off Lazareto. Spanish Navy by the look of her, sir. Could be coastal patrol, or one of those small minesweepers, can't tell yet.'
Gareth reached for the mike. 'Very good, Simon. I'll be up.' He turned to me again. 'That could complicate matters. I didn't expect an escort.'
'You've decided have you — to get me off the ship by sailboard?'
'Yes, didn't Peter Craig warn you last night?'
'All he told me was that you'd ordered him to have a board ready on the flight deck by 09.00. I didn't know you'd made up your mind till your steward brought me a choice of wet suits with my tea this morning.' I hesitated, but this looked like my last chance to question him. 'Has Wade been in touch with you?' I asked him.
'Commander Wade?'
I nodded, watching him closely as he said he couldn't discuss official contacts with me.
'Particularly Wade I suppose?'
He didn't answer. I think he had intended having a cup of coffee with me, but now he put his hat back on his head. 'I'll try and arrange it so that Medusais between you and the escort when we drop you off. The engines will be stopped for that moment and I'll get as much of the way off the ship as I can. You've got a good breeze, so with luck you'll be on the board and sailing fast enough to remain hidden from the escort vessel as we gather way again. Okay?' He smiled then and held out his hand. 'Good luck, Mike!' And as we shook hands he had the gall to add, 'If you make it to Bloody Island you'll be able to hide up with that archaeological Amazon of yours.'
There is something about a Navy ship that instils a sense of something akin to discipline even in a civilian visitor like myself. I could have turned left, gone up to the bridge and watched our approach to Mahon. Nobody would have stopped me. I could have got my things, found my way aft down to the flight deck and waited there. Instead, I did what Gareth had told me and went straight to my cabin. I wished I hadn't. Sitting on the bunk, staring at nothing except the opposite berth and the cabin fittings, rime passed slowly. There was no porthole and even if I had had something to read, the ceiling light was too dim, so that I would have had to stretch out on the bunk with the little bulkhead light on.
Shortly after 08.401 felt the engines slow, then Mault's voice called for the watch on deck to muster and put fenders out on the starb'd side. Somebody was coming aboard, presumably from the patrol boat. The engines stopped, feet pounding on the deck and orders shouted, then a slight bump as the other vessel came alongside. This was the moment they should have dropped me over the side, but nobody came and the beat of the engines started up again.
It was 08.55 when Petty Officer Jarvis knocked at the cabin door. 'Everything's ready, sir, if you'll bring the wet suit with you. And the Captain asked me to give you this.'
'What is it?' I asked as he handed me a nasty-looking bit of black fur in a plastic bag.
'A beard, sir. Compliments of our entertainments officer. The Captain thought it might help if somebody had their glasses on you.'
There was a CPO waiting for us on the flight deck. The sailboard was propped against the hangar doors, mast and sail rigged, and a thin line attached to the bows was coiled ready. To starb'd the cliffs of La Mola and the brown of the military casements came into view. 'We'll be approaching the narrows at the southern end of Lazareto Island in a few minutes,' the CPO said. 'Lieutenant Craig estimates the distance from the buoys marking the narrows to the spot where we'll be anchoring as roughly nine cables. He'll stop engines when we come abreast of the little island immediately beyond Lazareto. That will be the signal for you to go.'
I stripped off my clothes and he helped me into the wet suit, zipping me up and slipping a bum-bolster round my buttocks. ''Fraid the harness isn't exactly a speed seat You'll have to adjust it as you go. And the board's just an ordinary production job for funboard sailing, so if you want air, you won't find it.' Looking at it, I could see it was no jump board, more a beginner's board, which suited me in the circumstances. 'Got any goggles?' I asked.
He reached into his pocket and produced a narrow, almost slit-eyed pair with black surround. I put them on and adjusted them to fit my head. 'Don't forget the beard, sir.' He was grinning. 'You look like you could play Mephistopheles in that. Nobody could possibly recognise you.'
By then the conical buoy with its flashing light marking the channel on the starb'd side was already bobbing in our wash, the sharp southern point of Lazareto, Punta de San Felipet, appearing at the same instant. The engines were slowing now, the speed dropping off. 'How long do you reckon?' I asked the CPO.
'Seven, eight minutes.'
The beard was close-fitting and warm, the sea goggles on the tight side. They wrapped up my clothes and taped them into a plastic bag, which they tied firmly to the base of the sailboard's mast in such a way that it did not restrict its pintle fitting. Petty Officer Jarvis excused himself. He had to attend to the needs of the Captain and his visitor, who was the Spanish Navy's Jefe,Capitan Perez. The long brown line of Lazareto went slowly by. Peering out to port, I could see the buildings of Villa Carlos coming closer. Soon now, and I was wondering whether Petra would be back from burying her father, whether she would be on the island, and how the hell I was going to live with the police watching for me and no money. All I had in the pocket of my trousers, now screwed up in a plastic ball, was 5 in traveller's cheques which I couldn't cash because it meant going to a bank or a hotel.