Medusa

'If I go at all I'll go under my own steam. Not under tow. And what I do depends on my orders.'

There was a long silence after that, the two of them staring at each other, and in that silence I heard my own voice, sounding like a stranger, as I said, 'And what about my wife?'

There was no answer, both of them apparently locked in their own thoughts.

'Where is she?'

Evans turned slowly and looked at me. 'Not far away.' He said it so reasonably, as though kidnapping a woman was the most ordinary thing in the world. 'I'll come to her in a moment.' He glanced at his watch. 'It's nine forty-seven. I'll give you until ten p.m. to sort your engines out and get under way. Fifteen minutes. Okay?' He had risen to his feet.

'And if I don't?' Gareth hadn't moved from his chair and the silence stretched between them as they stared at each other like a pair of gladiators.

'It's been a long time,' Evans said. 'Must be four years now.'

'Just on five.'

'Yeah. Well, you would remember, wouldn't you. Moira wrote me you'd been picked up. Sent me a copy of the East Anglianwith a picture of you tied to the buoy.' His mouth stretched to something close to a grin, the teeth bared. 'And now they've landed you with something that looks to me like a bloody suicide mission.' He leaned forward again. 'Look, boy, you owe it to yourself, to the men you've got cooped up in this tin can they've given you get out now, before it's too late.'

Gareth stared at him as though hypnotised.

'Well, say something, for Christ's sake. What's it to be? Stay here and get pulverised to nothing, or up your hook and get to hell out before it's too late?'

A funny little half-smile showed on Gareth's face. He shook his head. 'Come off it, Pat. You're not here just to try and save my life again. You're here because you know damn well the presence of one of HM ships in Mahon harbour makes the whole thing impossible. Your plan of operations depends on two things for success — surprise and unimpeded access to the harbour here. The first you've achieved. In fact, your people exploited the element of surprise so well that you were able to seize control of all the key positions at this end of the island. What you didn't expect was that there would be a Nato warship anchored in Port Mahon. Your coup now needs the backing of a major power and I doubt very much whether you'll get it as long as this tin can, as you call it, remains anchored here. At least that's my reading of all the flurry of signals my Communications Office is picking up.'

His voice had become stronger, more authoritative as he developed his argument. Now he leaned forward, both elbows on the desk, his eyes fixed on his half-brother. 'My advice to you — it's the same advice as you've just been giving me — get out now, while you can.' Abruptly his right hand came up, jabbing a finger. Time is against you, man. You know it. I know it.'

'You'll be smashed to hell, boy.'

'Maybe. But I don't think so.' Somehow his voice managed to carry conviction. 'By dawn you'll be faced with crack Spanish troops and the arrival of the first of their naval units.'

'And how will they get into Mahon? We'll blast them out of the water with those big guns on La Mola. As for troops — what troops? They can't land…'

'Paratroops,' Gareth said quietly. 'I've just heard they'll be taking off about an hour before dawn.'

'Thank you. I'll pass the information on. But I think Madrid may have second thoughts. Landing paratroops anywhere on Menorca would amount to invasion of the new republic's territory, and with the powerful support we shall then have — '

'That's provided you can get Medusaout of the way/ Gareth cut in. 'That's why you're here, isn't it?' And he repeated his previous argument: 'Because you know damn well that support won't be forthcoming so long as there's a Nato presence in Port Mahon.'

'So you won't listen to reason.' The line of the man's mouth had hardened, so had his voice. There was anger in it now as he said, 'Then I'll have to use another form of persuasion. The woman. We're holding her hostage for your departure.' He turned to me. 'Your wife, Steele. You haven't said much so far, but I'm telling you now, if you don't want her death on your hands, you'd better start persuading young Gareth here to get the hell out of Mahon.'

'Where is she?' I asked.

'I told you, not far from here.'

'Was it you who broke into the house and took her?'

He shook his head. 'Not me. Two of my crew. You met them the day you agreed to swap Thunderflashfor that fishing boat of yours. They say she fought like an alley cat.'

'Is she all right? Is she hurt?'

'They had to tie her down, that's all.' He was looking straight at me. 'No, she's not hurt. Not yet.' He turned back again to Gareth and added, 'But she will be if you don't get out of here fast.'

'I have my orders.'

Then get some new ones. Tell them there's a woman hostage and you're in love with her. You arein love with her, aren't you?' Gareth's eyes flicked in my direction and he passed his tongue over his lips. Evans was grinning, knowing now that his information was correct. 'You can have her back the instant you're clear of Port Mahon. I'll hand her over to Steele here. That suit you?'

Gareth half shook his head, his hands locked, the fingers moving. I thought I detected a new mood, one of indecision. Evans saw it, too, and it was then that I heard him say, 'Look, Gareth, the people I'm with aren't squeamish, you know. Nor am I. But they'rereal hard. You know what I mean?'

Gareth half shook his head again, his eyes slitted as though wincing in advance of what he seemed to know was coming.

'Good. I think you do.' Evans swung round on me. 'But for your benefit I'll spell it out. If your wife's lover — ' the words were spoken quite viciously, so that it was obvious he got a vicarious pleasure out of his shock use of them — 'doesn't shift his ship out of here within quarter of an hour, you could be getting her back in bits and pieces. Okay?' He got to his feet.

I had an instant ghastly picture in my mind of Soo laid out on a wooden slab while a man stood over her with an axe, her arms stretched out and pinioned ready for the blow. I felt sickened, and glancing across at Gareth I saw his face was ashen. What must have been going on in his mind at that moment I cannot think, Soo's life balanced against those years of being trained to carry out the orders of his naval superiors, and all the time the knowledge that forces beyond his control were moving inexorably to a point of crisis. And if he gave in to Evans's demands I had the feeling he would be doing so on the basis that, whatever he did, he and his men were doomed to extinction.

Evans glanced at the clock on the wall, then at his watch. 'Okay, so you're on local time. It's now 21.53. If you're not fetching your anchor by 22.10 — '

'I can't do it. Not to an exact deadline.' Once again he was arguing that the state of the ship's engines made an immediate move impossible. I don't know when he decided to do what he finally did, but it must have been at about this point, and he must have been something of a natural actor — maybe that was the Celt in him — but he did manage eventually to convince Evans there was a problem with the engines. I think what finally did it was an open discussion over the telephone with Robin Makewate, his Marine Engineer Officer, which ended with him saying, 'Half an hour then. I'll have them standing by the anchor at 22.15. I want power on that one engine by 22.15 at the latest. Without fail, Robin… Yes, that's an order. Do it how you like, but get one of them going by then or we're in trouble.'