by Wilbur Smith
away with elaborate safety functions and fail-safe systems designed by
Nicholas Berg, and he had cut it too fine. He had forfeited the Al
Lloyd's rating, the mark of approval from the inspectors of that
venerable body; without the insurance backing of that huge underwriting
market, he had been forced to look elsewhere to find the cover to
satisfy his financiers. The premiums had been crippling. He had to
pledge Christy Marine stock, the Trust stock.
Then the spiralling cost of production had overtaken him again and he
needed money and more money, He had taken it where he could find it, at
rates of interest that were demanded, and used more Christy stock as
collateral.
Then the insurance cover had been insufficient to cover the huge
increase in the cost of the ultra-tanker's hull.
When luck runs out - Duncan shrugged eloquently, and went on, I had to
pledge more Christy stock, all of it.
It's all at risk, Chantelle, every single piece of paper, even the
shares we retrieved from your Nicholas - and even that wasn't enough.
I have had to write cover through front companies, cover that is
worthless. Then, Duncan smiled again, relaxed and unruffled, almost as
though he was enjoying himself, then, there was that awful fiasco when
Golden Adventurer went up on the ice, and I had to find six million
dollars to pay the salvage award. That was the last of it, I went out
for everything then, all of it. The Trust, the whole of Christy Marine.
I'll break you/ she whispered. I'll smash you. I swear before God -
You don't understand, do you? He shook his head sorrowfully, as though
at an obtuse child. You cannot break me, without breaking Christy
Marine and yourself. You are in it, Chantelle, much much deeper than I
am. You have everything every penny, this house, that emerald on your
finger, the future of your brat - all of it is riding on Golden Dawn..
No. She closed her eyes very tightly, and there was no colour in her
cheeks now.
Yes. I'm afraid it's yes/ he contradicted. I didn't plan it that way.
I saw a profit of 200 millions in it, but we have been caught up in
circumstances, I'm afraid./ They were both silent, and Chantelle swayed
slightly as the full enormity of it overwhelmed her.
If you whistle up your hounds now, if you call in your axemen, there
will be plenty for them to work on/ he laughed again, buckets of dung
for us all to wallow in.
And my backers will line up to cancel out, Golden Dawn will never run
down her ways - she is not fully covered, as I explained to you.
It all hangs on a single thread, Chantelle. If the launching of Golden
Dawn is delayed now, delayed by a month - no, by a week even, it will
all come tumbling down., I'm going to be sick/ she whispered thickly.
No, you are not. He stood up and crossed quickly to her. Coldly he
slapped her face, two hard open-handed back and forth blows, that
snapped her head from side to side, leaving the livid marks of his
fingers on her pale cheeks. it was the first time ever that a man had
struck her, but she could not find the indignation to protest. She
merely stared at him.
Pull yourself together/ he snarled at her, and gripped her shoulders
fiercely, shaking her as he went on. Listen to me. I have told you the
worst that can happen Now, I will tell you the best. If we stand
together now, if you obey me implicitly, without question, I will pull
off one of the greatest financial coups of the century for you. All it
needs is one successful voyage by Golden Dawn and we are home free - a
single voyage, a few short weeks, and I will have doubled your fortune.
She was staring at him, sickened and shaken to the core of her
existence. I have signed an agreement of charter with Orient Amex, that
will pull us out from under a single voyage, and the day Golden Dawn
anchors in Galveston roads and sends in her tank pods to discharge, I
will have a dozen buyers for her. He stepped back, and straightened the
lapels of his jacket. They are going to remember my name. In future
when they talk of tankers, they are going to talk of Duncan Alexander. I
hate you/ she said softly. I truly hate you.
"That is not important. He waved it away. When it is over, I can
afford to walk away - and you can afford to let me go. But not a moment
before. How much will you make from this, if it succeeds? she asked,
and she was recovering, her voice firmer.
A great deal. A very great deal of money - but my real reward will be
in reputation and achievement. After this, I will be a man who can
write his own ticket. For once, you will be able to stand comparison
with Nicholas Berg. Is that it? She saw she had scored immediately,
and she pressed harder, trying to wound and destroy.
But you and I both know it is not true. Golden Dawn was Nicholas
inspiration and he would not have had to descend to the cheat and sham
My dear Chantelle - /You will never be, could never be the man Nicholas
is. Damn you. Suddenly he was shaking with anger, and she was
screaming at him.
You're a cheat and a liar. For all your airs, you're still a cheap
little barrow-boy at heart. You're small and shoddy I've beaten
Nicholas Berg every time I've met him. No, you haven't, Duncan, It was
I who beat him for you!
I took you, For a while, she sneered. Just for a short fling, Duncan
dear. But when he wanted me he took me right back again. What do you
mean by that he demanded.
The night before last, Nicholas was here, and he loved me in a way you
never could. I'm going back to him, and I'll tell the world why., You
bitch., He is so strong, Duncan. Strong where you are weak., And you
are a whore. He half turned away, and then paused.
Just be at St Nazaire on Tuesday. But she could see he was hurt, at
last she had cut through the carapace and touched raw quick nerves.
He loved me four times in one night. Duncan, magnificent soaring love.
Did you ever do that? I want you at St Nazaire , smiling at the
creditors on Tuesday. Even if you succeed with Golden Dawn, within six
months Nicholas will have your job, But until then you'll do exactly
what I say. Duncan braced himself, a visible effort, and began to walk
away.
You are going to be the loser, Duncan Alexander, she screamed after him,
her voice cracking shrilly with frustration and outrage. I will see to
that - I swear it to you., He subdued the urge to run, and crossed the
terrace, holding himself carefully erect, and the storm of her hatred
and frustration burst a-round him.
Go into the streets where you belong, into the gutter where I found you,
she screamed, and he went up the stone staircase and out of her sight.
Now he could hurry, but he found his legs were trembling under him, his
breath was ragged and broken, and there was a tight knot of anger and
jealousy turning his guts into a ball.
The bastard, he spoke aloud. That bastard Berg. Tom? Tom Parker?
That's right, who is this, please? His voice was so clear and strong,
although the Atlantic
Ocean separated them.
It's Nicholas, Nicholas Berg. you? the big voice boomed with genuine
pleasure. Nick, how are you? God, I'm glad you called. I've been
trying to reach you. I've got good news. The best. Nicholas felt a
quick lift of relief.
Samantha? No, damn it/ Tom laughed. It's the job. Your Job.
It went up before the Board of Governors of the University yesterday.
I had to sell it to them hard - I'll tell you that for free - but they
okayed it. You're on, Nick, isn't that ?) great It's terrific, Tom.
"You're on the Biology faculty as an associate, it's the thin end of the
wedge, Nicholas. We'll have you a chair by the end of next year, you
wait and see. I'm delighted. Christ, you don't sound it, Tom roared.
What's bugging you, boy? Tom what the hell has happened to Samantha?
And Nicholas sensed the mood change, the silence lasted a beat too long,
and then Tom's tone was guileless.
She went off on a field trip - down the Keys, didn't she tell you? Down
the Keys? Nicholas voice rose with his anger and frustration. Damn it,
Tom. She was supposed to be here in France.
She promised to come over for the launching of my new vessel. I've been
trying to get in touch with her for a week now. She left Sunday, said
Tom.
What is she playing at? That's a question she might want to ask you
sometime. What does that mean, Tom? Well, before she took off, she
came up here and had a good weep with Antoinette - you know, my wife.
She plays den mother for every hysterical female within fifty miles, she
does. Now it was Nicholas turn to be silent, while the coldness settled
on his chest, the coldness of formless dread.
What was the trouble? Good God, Nick, you don't expect me to follow the
intimate details of the love life. Can I speak to Antoinette? She
isn't here, Nick. She went up to Orlando for a meeting. She won't be
back until the weekend. The silence again.
All that heavy breathing's costing you a fortune, Nicholas.
You're paying for this call. I don't know what got into Sam. But he
did. Nicholas knew - and the guilt was strong upon him.
Listen, Nick. A word to the wise. Get your ass across here, boy. just
as soon as you can. That girl needs talking to, badly.
That is, if you care about it, I care about it, Nicholas said quickly,
But hell, I am launching a tug in two days time. I've got sea trials,
and a meeting in London. Tom's voice had an air of finality. A man's
got to do what he's got to do. Tom, I'll be across there as soon as I
possibly can. I believe it, If you see her, tell her that for me, will
you? I'll tell her. Thanks, Tom.
The governors will want to meet you, Nicholas. Come as soon as you can.
It's a promise. Nicholas cradled the receiver, and stood staring out of
the windows of the site office. The view across the inner harbour was
completely blocked by the towering hull of his tug. She stood tall on
her ways. Her hull already wore its final coat of glistening white and
the wide flaring bows bore the name Sea Witch and below that the port of
registration, Bermuda'.
She was beautiful, magnificent, but now Nicholas did not even see her.
He was overwhelmed by a sense of imminent loss, the cold premonition of
onrushing disaster, Until that moment when he faced the prospect of
losing her, he had not truly known how large a part that lovely golden
girl had come to play in his existence, and in his plans for the future
There was no way that Samantha could have learned of that single night
of weakness, the betrayal that still left Nicholas sickened with guilt -
there must be something else that had come between them. He bunched his
right fist and slammed it against the sill of the window. The skin on
his knuckles smeared, but he did not feel the pain, only the bitter
frustration of being tied down here in St Nazaire, weighed down by his
responsibilities, he should have been free to follow the jack-o'-lantern
of happiness.
The loudspeaker above his head gave a preliminary squawk, and then
crackled out the message, Monsieur Berg. Will Monsieur attend upon the
bridge? it was a welcome distraction., and Nicholas hurried out into
the spring sunshine. Looking upwards, he could see Jules Levoisin on
the wing of the bridge. His portly figure foreshortened against the
open sky, like a small pugnacious rooster, he stood facing the
electronics engineer who was responsible for the installation of Sea
Witch's communications system, and Jules cries of Sacro bleu and Merdel
and Imbocile carried clearly above the cacophony of shipyard noises.
Nicholas started to run as he saw the engineer's arms begin to wave and
his strident Gallic cries blended with those of Sea Witch's new Master.
It was only the third time that Jules Levoisin had become hysterical
that day, however it was not yet noon. As the hour of launching came
steadily closer, so the little Frenchman's nerves played him tricks, he
was behaving like a prima ballerina awaiting the opening curtain. Unless
Nicholas reached the bridge within the next few minutes, he would need
either a new Master or a new electronics engineer.
Ten minutes later, Nicholas had a cheroot in each of their mouths.
The atmosphere was still tense but no longer explosive, and gently Nick
took the engineer by the elbow, placed his other arm around Jules
Levoisin's shoulders and led them both back into the wheelhouse.
The bridge installation was complete, and Jules Levoisin was accepting
delivery of the special equipment from the contractors, a negotiation
every bit as traumatic as the Treaty of Versailles.
I myself authorized the modification of the MK IV transponder/ Nicholas
explained patiently. We had trouble with the same unit on Warlock. I
should have told you, Jules. You should have, agreed the little Master
huffily.
But you were perceptive to notice the change from the specification/
Nicholas soothed him, and Jules puffed out his chest a little and rolled
the cheroot in his mouth.
I may be an old dog, but I know all the new tricks. He removed the
cheroot and smugly blew a perfect smoke ring.
When Nicholas at last left them chatting amiably over the massed array
of sophisticated equipment that lined the navigation area at the back of
the bridge, they were paging him from the site office.
What is it? he asked, as he came through the door.
It's a lady/ the foreman indicated the telephone lying on the littered
desk below the window.
Samantha, Nick thought, and snatched up the receiver.
Nicky. He felt the shock of quick guilt at the voice.
Chantelle, where are you? In La Baule. The fashionable resort town
just up the Atlantic coast was a better setting for Chantelle Alexander
than the grubby port with its sprawling dockyards.
"Staying at the Castille. God, it's too awful. I'd forgotten how awful
it was. They had stayed there together, once long ago, in a different
life it seemed now.
But the restaurant is still quite cute, Nicholas. Have lunch with me. I
must speak
to you. I can't leave here. He would not walk into the trap
again.
It's important. I must see you. He could hear that husky tone in her
voice, imagine clearly the sensuous droop of the eyelids over those bold
Persian eyes. For an hour, only an hour. You can spare that.
Despite himself, he felt the pull of temptation, the dull ache of it at
the base of his belly - and he was angry at her for the power she could
still exert over him.
If it's important, then come here/ he said brusquely, and she sighed at
his intransigence.
All right, Nicholas. How will I find you? The Rolls was parked
opposite the dockyard gates and Nicholas crossed the road and stepped
through the door that the chauffeur held open for him.
Chantelle lifted her face to him. Her hair was cloudy dark and shot
with light like a bolt of silk, her lips the colour of ripe fruit, moist
and slightly parted. He ignored the invitation and touched her cheek
with his lips before settling into the corner opposite her.
She made a little moue, and slanted her eyes at him in amusement.
"How chaste we are, Nicky. Nicholas touched the button on the control
console and the glass soundproof partition slid up noiselessly between
them and the chauffeur.
Did you send in the auditors? he asked.
You look tired, darling, and harassed. Have you blown the whistle on
Duncan? he avoided the distraction. The work on Golden Dawn is still
going ahead. The arc lights were burning over her all night and the
talk in the yards is that she is being launched at noon tomorrow, almost
a month ahead of schedule. What happened, Chantelle?
"There is a little bistro at Mindin, it's just across the bridge DAmn
it, Chantelle. I haven't time to fool around. But the Rolls was
already gliding swiftly through the narrow streets. of the port,
between the high warehouse buildings.
It will take five minutes, and the Lobster Armoricaine is the local
speciality - not to be confused with Lobster Arnoricaine. They do it in
a cream sauce, it's superb/ she chatted archly, and the Rolls turned out
on to the quay.
Across the narrow waters of the inner harbour humped the ugly
camouflaged mounds of the Nazi submarine pens, armoured concrete so
thick as to resist the bombs of the R.A.F. and the efforts of all
demolition experts over the Years since then.
