"Thank you, Conrad," she said. "I—well, I will consider it. You will tell Helmuth that I am all right—after I'm gone?"
"When you have left," he promised, "He will feel better if he knows that you will be safe from here on."
"Thank you again, Conrad," she said. "Tell him not to worry!"
She left quickly, and he wondered if she meant to accept his advice, or were her last words merely, in effect, a smoke screen?
By midafternoon the Saint Egbert had been sent on her way to the Indian port of Cochin, on the Malabar Coast, no more than a day's sail distant, and a safe point from the Emden's point of view, being comparatively out of touch with those major British bases from which trouble might be expected. It would require at least twenty-four hours for the authorities there to get in touch with Bombay or Colombo, and by that time the Emden and her comrades would be far away.
The grim work of destruction went on aboard the captive vessels, and by nightfall it had all been completed. Exford was manned by a crew from the Emden, under the command of Kapitanleutnant Gropius, and sent off to a rendezvous in the Indian Ocean, near the Cocos Islands, where at a specified date she would meet with the Emden and the Buresk. Meantime, but for those few, all hands were once again gathered aboard the cruiser, and Conrad Lauterbach went to make his report to the Captain. He lifted the curtain and stepped through the doorway—and froze in his tracks.
Kapitan Karl von Mueller sat behind his desk as usual. But drawn up beside him, clearly in conference on some matter of ship's business, sat the executive officer, Helmuth von Muecke.
For a moment Lauterbach hesitated. Von Muecke was the last man he wanted to see at just that moment. He murmured an apology and started to withdraw. But von Mueller stopped him almost jovially.
"Not at all, Conrad!" he cried. "Helmuth and I were only discussing our recent activities and speculating on the future. We have been expecting you. Come in!"
There seemed to be little choice. Lauterbach stepped forward. After all, he reminded himself, he would have to tell von Muecke about Caroline sooner or later. Now was as good a time as any.
"Reporting, Kapitan!" he said. "I'm sure you are already familiar with the details—such provisions as were needed for the prisoners were sent on board the Saint Egbert. Whatever remained that could be of use to us was divided between Emden and Buresk, and Troiliis was then sunk. I will submit my written report of all this to you in the morning. In the meantime, however"—his glance slid toward von Muecke— "there are some items of information in connection with the Troilus which I discovered, and which, though they have no proper place in an official report, will be of interest to you and others on board."
"So?" Von Mueller's eyebrows lifted. "I do not understand. Are they of a private nature?"
"To some extent, yes, Herr Kapitan," Lauterbach replied. "But I would rather consult with you before mentioning it elsewhere."
Von Mueller nodded.
"In the first place," said Lauterbach, glancing at von Muecke, "the female passenger on board the Troilus was Miss Caroline Grey."
Von Muecke's head jerked up. "What?" he shouted. "Why wasn't I informed? Do you mean to tell me that all this time—"
"Kapitanleutnant!" von Mueller interrupted sharply, though there was a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth and eyes.
Von Muecke caught himself with visible effort. "I am sorry, Herr Kapitan!"
"You were saying, Herr Oberleutnant?" von Mueller prompted.
"Yes, Herr Kapitan," Lauterbach replied, "the lady was the English Fraulein, Caroline Grey. I anticipated some protest from the Kapitanleutnant when it came time to make that fact known. Nevertheless, because she asked it I did not identify her before now—"
"Why would she ask such a thing?" von Muecke exploded. "Surely, she recognized the Emden! And she recognized you, didn't she? Did she ask about me at all?"
"You were the first one she mentioned, Helmuth," said Lauterbach. "When I assured her of your health she asked me to say nothing of her own presence because she felt that such a swift passing encounter could bring only distress to you. She wanted to spare you that."
"But what of her?" von Muecke demanded. "Wouldn't she—"
"Feel the same?" von Mueller interrupted. "Helmuth, don't you see? Of course she did, or she would never have made such a request. She already felt the hurt, and she did not want you to feel it, too. It was enough for her to know that you were still safe and in good health. I am sure that was the way of it. Am I right, Conrad?"
"Thank you, Kapitan," said Lauterbach fervently. "You are exactly right!"
a/^,?"^ f^\ '"^^ ^^^'■^ ^^^ nothing more, Conrad?" Von Mueller looked at Lauterbach searchingly.
"••I am certain, Kapitan," Lauterbach replied emphatically, she has no interest in espionage, nor-you should be pleased to hear, Herr von Muecke-any interest in any other man, such as myself. I could wish it otherwise. But—"
"Never mind, Conrad," von Mueller broke in, "I think we understand. I believe you said that you had several matters to report?
"I do! We can thank Miss Grey for the information. Tsingtao IS under siege-has been for many weeks now-by the Japanese. It cannot hold out much longer. Frau Voss and Frau von Braun are still there. Of them Miss Grey gave me information. Undoubtedly Frau Schultz is also still there though as to that she could not say. I think these men deserve to hear from me what she had to say."
"I understand, Conrad," von Mueller said, "and I agree. You alone can report it exactly, so speak to them individually. I will call all hands together and announce the general situation. Try not to break their hearts, eh, Conrad?"
"Zum Befehl, Herr Kapitan!" Lauterbach replied.
Try not to break hearts!
Lauterbach listened as von Mueller addressed the assembled officers and crew. ". . . Tsingtao is under siege. There IS no possible means of relief. Our garrison will resist as long as possible, but already they are eating rats, cats, and anything that will sustain life. I cannot give you reports of individuals, though Oberleutnant Lauterbach has managed to pick up a few details. The single fact remains that now we are without a base-without a port of refuge. But, gentlemen, we shall continue to serve!"
The men cheered. There was no question as to their spirit.
As the Emden and her consort swept under the belly of Ceylon, then bore east and finally east by north, it was clear that Captain von Mueller had a definite objective in mind. But even to his principal officers, in council, he made no mention of it. Battle practice, gunnery exercises, conferences, and even a sort of boning classroom work for the officers, probing their knowledge of navigation and their familiarity with charts and waters to the east, became a regular order of the day—and night, for at any instant all hands might be tumbled out to action stations. In a way it was much like the first few weeks after their departure from Tsingtao. But it was far more concentrated and intense.
Because their pace had to match that of their slower companion, it took four days to reach across into the lonely Nicobar Islands, where at dawn they slipped into the secluded shelter of Nancowry Harbor. There the Buresk drew alongside, and once again the Emden's bunkers were filled against inifjending activities. At dusk the Buresk weighed once more and stood away to the southeast. Half an hour later Emden, too, left her mooring and continued east on a course that would bring the island of Sumatra between them.
Through the night and the day and into the next night that followed they steamed steadily, and old hands among the crew noticed that almost from hour to hour the course was altered, a degree, a half a degree, a few points southward. At the same time, gunnery was ordered to the alert. All guns were cleared and batteries readied for instant action. Radio silence was imposed, and most significant of all, the false fourth funnel was hoisted into place.