Читать книгу Beyond the Barrier Reef - Christopher Cummings - Страница 12

Chapter 5

Andrew felt a spasm of pure terror slither through his stomach. For a moment he felt as though he was going to lose control of his bladder and bowels.

“Here they come. We must hide,” he said.

Anxiously he looked around, seeking the best hiding place. Behind them was the main part of the reef. The tide was now well up over it, but many coral outcrops still showed above the surface. About a hundred metres away was the small sand cay that was exposed at low tide. This was about a hundred metres long and perhaps half that wide, but it was totally devoid of any cover.

We must get there later, Andrew thought.

But for a hideout their best immediate option looked like going back underwater into some coral crevice or cave. “We have to go under,” Andrew said, pulling up his face mask and groping for his regulator.

Carmen did likewise. But then she stopped. “Look. It is turning away,” she said.

Andrew pulled his facemask down again—it needed some spit anyway—and stared. To his enormous relief he saw that the game fishing boat was continuing to turn to port. It went on turning until it had passed astern of the dive boat. Then it went on south.

“I wonder where he is going?” he said.

“Out into the Boat Passage I reckon,” Carmen suggested. “To where that net is.”

“Yes, but why? What is the net for?” Andrew asked. He had a few ideas but was now very curious to know what was behind all the killing and sudden death.

What is so important that these men would just kill strangers on sight? he wondered.

Carmen shrugged but then said, “To RV with the submarine that Barry mentioned?”

Andrew nodded. “That’s what I was thinking,” he agreed. “But is it a submarine and whose is it and what is it doing here?”

“I don’t know. Spies maybe?” Carmen suggested.

Andrew shook his head. “I don’t think so. Smugglers more like. They don’t look like professionals,” he replied.

“Why do you say that?” Carmen asked.

“Because they have someone like Barry in their gang. He acted like a real loose cannon back there. I don’t think his boss Mr Ivanoff was very pleased with what he had done. Besides, if they were a government group I think they would all be the same nationality.”

Carmen nodded. “I suppose so. Killing Tristan wasn’t part of their plan, that is for sure.”

Andrew watched the game fishing boat turn to port again about half a kilometre away. “You are right. It is going into the Boat Passage. What language did Mr Ivanoff and the radio operator speak do you know?”

Carmen shook her head. “Not really but with a name like Ivanoff I guess he is a Russian. He called the radio man Igor and one of the crooks was named Viktor,” she added.

“Russian. I agree. But not Russian Navy or Special Forces. These are gangsters. But a sub?” Andrew said.

“Might be like those little ones the Yanks have been catching in the Caribbean, you know the ones we saw on the TV news, the ones the drug smugglers use to get cocaine into the USA from South America,” Carmen said.

“Could be, but it might just be an old Russian Navy one,” Andrew answered. “I read that back when Russia was the centre of the Soviet Union they had about six hundred subs and when the Soviet Empire fell apart most of them were just junked or scrapped and that lots were just abandoned in disused bases. It might be one of them.”

“Well, we will never know,” Carmen answered.

The moment she said that an idea leapt into Andrew’s mind and he was suddenly seized by a burning desire both to know and for vengeance.

“We might. I am going to have a look,” he said.

Carmen was appalled. “Oh Andrew, don’t be stupid!” she cried.

“Why not? Those men probably think I am dead. They won’t be looking out for me—and I don’t need to go close. It has to be near that net and you can just see that from the edge of the reef,” Andrew replied. The plan had seemed to form in his mind as he spoke.

“No! Not only is it too dangerous but it is more important that we try to rescue Ella,” Carmen answered, pointing to the anchored dive boat.

“Ella?” Andrew said. A spurt of guilt made him feel ashamed of himself. “Is she still alive?” he asked.

“I think so,” Carmen answered.

“Why would they keep her alive?” Andrew asked. But even as he said the words the concept of her being kept for sexual gratification occurred to him and a wave of embarrassment made him wish he could bite his tongue off.

Carman made a wry face then said, “For the radio. I think the crooks need her to talk on the radio so that our family and friends think we are all safe and happy.”

“But why? Why won’t they just get their goods and clear off. They could just sink the dive boat to get rid of the evidence,” Andrew said. By this time he could no longer see the game fishing boat. It had vanished behind the sand cay. He switched his attention back to the dive boat and tried to detect movement on it.

Carmen shrugged. “Because they have to stay here for at least five days or come back then,” she answered. “I heard that Ivanoff creature say that to Barry when he asked. So they don’t want this area crawling with search planes and boats looking for us while they do whatever it is they want to do.”

“So we had better try to rescue Ella,” Andrew said.

Carmen stared at the dive boat and frowned. “Yes, but it will be incredibly dangerous. I don’t even know if she is still on the dive boat and we have no idea if any of the crooks are on it. They have machine guns remember.”

Andrew did remember and he shuddered as horrific images of Mr Craig being shot down swamped his mind. Various concepts of swimming underwater to the dive boat flitted through his mind.

But the tricky bit is when you surface, he thought. You have no idea if you have been detected and are blind for a few seconds. The image of surfacing to find a gun aimed at his face caused him to shedder. And then I have to get aboard undetected and find some sort of weapon, he added. It did not appear possible and was very sobering stuff.

At that moment his eyes detected movement on the focsle of the dive boat. “There’s somebody moving near the bow,” he said.

“Winding up the anchor. They are getting under way,” Carmen said.

Andrew experienced a mix of regret at not having rescued Ella, and relief that he would not now have to make such a dangerous attempt. “Too late!” he said.

“It is the thin man with the pony tail,” Carmen commented. “I didn’t hear his name.”

Brother and sister watched as the man wound the anchor up. It was soon aweigh, and the dive boat began to drift astern, pushed westwards away from the reef by the wind and tide. The man obviously knew what he was doing because the anchor was lifted up and secured within a couple of minutes. The man then made his way to the wheelhouse. A few seconds later Andrew saw a puff of black smoke spurt out of the exhaust behind the mast.

“He’s started the engine,” he said.

Then the sound reached them. A few seconds later the dive boat began moving forward and swung its bows towards them. It then began travelling north just clear of the reef.

“Coming this way. We had better hide,” Andrew said. Once again, he made preparations to dive. This time he spat in his face mask and rinsed it before pulling it on. Then he checked the regulator and put it in his mouth. By the time both were ready the dive boat was only a hundred metres away and approaching fast. Andrew knew it could do about 12 knots at full throttle and it looked to be doing that now.

Carmen took her regulator out and said, “I can only see that one man in the wheelhouse. There is no-one else on deck.”

“You are right. I think this fellow is just moving it out of this area,” Andrew agreed.

“You don’t think he is looking for us?” Carmen asked.

Andrew shook his head. “No. He is going too fast. He might have a general brief to locate us if he can, but I think he is going somewhere. OK, we had better dive.”

With that he replaced his regulator and let enough air out of his BCD to allow them to sink just below the surface. Carmen sank with him, again holding her nose and the air tank while Andrew held onto the coral and to her. He checked that they could move around into the shadows behind the coral outcrop and then rested to listen and watch.

I don’t think we need to go any deeper, Andrew told himself. But his heart rate still went up as the dive boat got closer. Underwater the sound of its engine and the grind of its propeller shaft were very clear.

Then the boat came into view. Andrew tensed, ready to flee and he nudged Carmen to keep sliding around to keep the coral outcrop between them and any observers in the boat. From underwater the hull looked dark brown to Andrew, but he knew that close up it had a coating of marine growth and looked green. He could even see the whirring blur that was the rotating propeller.

The dive boat did not deviate from its course or slow down. Instead it just went on northwards. Andrew really wanted to take a peek to see if he could spot Ella but decided the risk was too great. To his own shame he thought that his survival and that of his sister were more important.

Only when the sound had receded and he was sure that the dive boat was at least two hundred metres away did he slowly surface, again making sure he was behind a coral outcrop. First, he stayed with only half the face mask above water until his eyes confirmed the location of the dive boat. Then he surfaced and took the regulator out of his mouth and pulled his mask down.

By then the dive boat was at least three hundred metres away and looked to be almost stern on. Andrew noted that it was towing the rubber boat and the sight of a dark lump in it made him feel ill.

That might be Tristan’s body, he thought.

Carmen joined him and they both watched until the dive boat was half a kilometre away and rapidly dwindling into the distance. “Going north,” Carmen said.

“Maybe to our camp on Prescott Island?” Andrew suggested.

“Possibly. If they know it is there. Now, let’s get ashore. I am getting really cold,” Carmen replied.

Andrew was too but had put his shivering down to shock. He looked around and could not see any sign of the game fishing boat. “We will still be careful,” he said. “We will look silly if we just stagger ashore and those men are watching.”

“Swim then. There is just enough water if we are careful,” Carmen agreed.

“I am taking this air tank,” Andrew said. “Lock it onto my BCD please.”

Carmen shook her head. “Don’t you think of doing anything silly,” she said.

“I won’t. Now hurry up,” Andrew replied.

He turned his back to her and waited until Carmen had secured the air tank to the bracket on the BCD. Then he partially inflated his BCD by mouth. Satisfied it provided sufficient buoyancy he pulled on his face mask and began breast stroking, breathing through his snorkel. Carmen followed, keeping her head out of the water.

The tide was now sufficiently high to allow them to skim across the top of most of the coral so progress was relatively easy. Andrew thought this was good because a lot of the coral was branch or staghorn and was sharp and brittle. As much as possible he tried to follow the small gullies and dips to keep as much water under them as possible. He also kept a wary eye below them for possible hazards like the spiny sea urchins or creatures like moray eels and sting rays.

It only took the pair five minutes to cover most of the distance to the sand cay. For the last ten metres they had to stand and walk. Andrew slipped off his fins, slid his face mask down and then struggled to his feet, weighed down as he was with weight belt and air tank. A quick look around revealed that the dive boat was now a small dark blob two or three kilometres away on the far side of the Challenger Channel but west of the main reef.

Not going to Prescott Island then, he deduced.

There was no sign of the game fishing boat. Watching where he put his feet to avoid standing on sharp objects or brittle coral Andrew waded and sloshed his way to the sand. The sharp pains in his buttock and thigh he ignored.

As he reached the cay Andrew was able to look over the top. The sand was only a metre or so above the tide level and was quite bare and flat on top. The first thing he saw was the top of the game fishing boat’s mast.

Carmen was right. It is in the Boat Passage, he thought.

But just the sight of it was enough to spark a panic attack and Andrew sank down behind the sand cay and signalled Carmen to keep low. As he looked back to check that she was doing that Andrew also looked northwards to check on the dive boat. By this time it was just a tiny dark spot on the horizon and he was sure they were not visible to people on it.

“The game fishing boat is there alright,” he said.

Carmen nodded and sank gratefully onto the lovely warm sand.

“What will we do now?” she asked.

“You are going to dig a small hole here in the lee of the sand ridge so you can hide and stay out of the wind. Make sure you don’t stick your head over the top and get seen,” Andrew replied.

“And what are you going to do?” Carmen asked.

“I am going to have a look at this submarine,” Andrew answered.

Carmen shook her head and looked very unhappy. “Oh Andrew, please don’t. It is too dangerous. We have managed to get away with our lives, let’s not risk them unnecessarily,” she said.

But Andrew was determined. He pressed his lips together and then said, “But it is our duty. If there really is a submarine, then our navy will want to know. We have to have details to tell them when we report,” he replied. That was true, but he did not add that not only was he now consumed by curiosity but as the shock wore off a burning desire to see the killers brought to justice was building.

Carmen shook her head but was still unhappy. “But if they see you they will kill you,” she said.

Andrew really admired her for that because in his own mind he added the fact that if they found him they would come looking for her.

Her chances of escaping a second time will be nil, he thought. But it did not sway him.

“Sorry, but I am going. You stay safe here.”

“But you have been wounded. You might not be up to it,” Carmen said.

Andrew had been dimly aware of the throbbing ache but had actually forgotten. Now he bent to look, fingering the rent in his wetsuit. “Am I bleeding?” he asked.

Carmen leaned forward and examined the back of his thigh and both buttocks. “No, not really,” she admitted.

“Then it can’t be too serious,” Andrew said. He was worried but equally was determined not to let his injuries prevent him finding out.

“But you could cause some permanent damage,” Carmen said.

Seeing the distress in his sister’s face caused Andrew to weaken for a moment but then he shook his head. “Too bad! I will worry about it when I get back.”

“Oh Andrew, please don’t!” Carmen pleaded.

“It will be alright, sis. I know what I am up against now. I will hide against the reef and just watch from a distance. Don’t worry. I will be gone about an hour,” he said.

“But it is unsafe. Divers should always dive with a buddy,” Carmen said.

Andrew nodded. “I know, but in this case the risk must be run. Sorry, I am going, and you can’t stop me,” he said.

“If you must,” Carmen answered. She bowed her head and let out a sigh, then clenched her teeth and looked directly at him. “You take care then,” she said.

Andrew felt a rush of affection for her. “I will. You dig a hidey hole and relax. If you want something to do keep a lookout out to sea there for periscopes,” he said.

“Periscopes?”

“Yes. That sub won’t just navigate by sonar in amongst all these reefs. They will want some visual references too,” Andrew explained. At the back of his mind was his own experience but also a comment he had heard about how hard it was to navigate safely through the outer reefs when the tide was up and there were no large breakers to mark the coral from the openings.

“OK,” Carmen replied. “I guess those crooks will be in radio contact with it.”

“Yes, but not much. They wouldn’t want their transmissions to be picked up by the wrong people, like our navy or Coastwatch. Now stay down and rest. I will be back,” Andrew said.

With that he set off crawling on hands and knees around the north side of the sand cay. As he did several sharp pains shot through his right leg and buttocks but he gritted his teeth and ignored it.

I will worry about that later, he thought.

As he reached the edge of the water again Andrew turned and looked back. He saw Carmen watching him and she gave a small wave but looked very drawn and anxious.

I should be worried too, Andrew thought. But to his own surprise he just felt determined. I will make sure these murdering mongrels pay, he vowed.

Pausing behind the last of the sand rise Andrew spat in his face mask and rinsed it then pulled it on. Then he checked his air. 165psi. That should last half an hour or so, he thought.

Then he paused to study the sea out to the east. Even from right down at water level he was able to pick out the darker water of the Boat Passage and the distant wrecks on Longbow Reef. There was a light chop ruffling the ocean.

That will make it hard to spot a periscope, he thought.

Seeing none he placed his regulator in his mouth and slid forward into the water, crawling and pulling himself along using his hands until the water was deep enough to swim. Then he began to fin, taking care to avoid scraping or bumping the coral as much as he could. The shoals of brightly coloured fish that flitted away he barely noticed. Even a small octopus that he would normally have cringed away from Andrew just noted and ignored.

Not a blue ringed. It won’t bother me, he told himself.

As he made his way east across the now flooded reef Andrew tried to use the remaining coral outcrops as cover to observe from. At each one he selected the next one he wanted to hide behind and then swam to it and carefully surfaced. Each time he remained as low as he could and with most of his head hidden behind the coral. And each time he noted the position of the game fishing boat.

It isn’t moving. It must be anchored or moored to that net arrangement somehow, he decided. A check of his watch showed it was 1050. Ten minutes to the top of the tide. If I was in a sub I’d want to use the slack water to get in and out, he thought. That told him to get a move on as he had about five hundred metres to swim.

Andrew went under and finned fast east. He noted that there was now almost no current and that many more fish were in evidence. Ahead of him he saw the colour change and he knew he was reaching the seaward edge of the reef. Having swum along it only an hour before he knew what to expect he did not waste time but swam straight out over the edge and turned right. Then he went down to five metres to get out of the surface disturbance and began swimming as fast as he could.

I don’t need to go any deeper, he told himself.

That would only give safety and decompression problems. As he swam he hugged the side of the reef. Every couple of strokes he looked in all directions. But now he was not thinking of sharks or gropers. In the front of his mind was that deadly powerhead striking the back of Tristan’s skull. Fear made him very alert and very cautious.

The sand of the seabed was only about five more metres below him and out to his left, extending to the limit of visibility was the slowly shelving sand of the large triangular area between the Challenger Channel and the Boat Passage. That area was much too shallow for a submerged submarine to operate in and Andrew was pretty sure that the vessel would not surface in daylight.

Too much risk of being seen by one of our Coastwatch or surveillance planes if it did, he thought. There would be no point in using a sub in that case. It will come in submerged along the Boat Passage.

He also surmised that the sub would probably not even surface at night but would use a snorkel to recharge its air and batteries.

It must be an old diesel. No navy is going to lose even an old nuclear powered boat, he decided. His compass warned him when he began changing direction to southwest. I am rounding the southeast corner of the reef. Almost there. I had better go slowly, he told himself.

So he slowed down and began to hunch in crevices while he scanned the water ahead. Then he moved a few metres to the next one and repeated the process. His watch told him it was 1100—the top of the tide.

Can’t be much further, he thought.

And it wasn’t. As he peeked around the next coral outcrop Andrew saw dark shapes ahead and fear sent him close in against the seaweed and coral. At first he could not make out what he was seeing, but then the distinct shape of a diver showed against the lighter shade of the sand. That sight sent a stab of pure terror coursing through Andrew and he began to breathe fast and tensed, ready to flee.

But the diver was busy working and obviously had not seen him. The man was about fifty metres away and he appeared to have a long hose and was at the corner of a dark triangular object that was getting bigger and spreading on the sea floor. Then a large, dark spherical shape began to rise and as it did the hazy triangular thing went up with it. Then Andrew understood what he was looking at.

It is that net. They are using the winches to spread it out along those steel wires using the pulley blocks and now they are raising the corners of the net with air bags, he noted.

Then he saw a darker shape off to his right and saw that it was the back of the net. It was being winched up to where the game fishing boat was just visible as a dark shadow on the silver ripples.

They have lifted the whole of one half of the net by the boat and two air bags and have spread the other half of the net out across the sea floor and have lifted the two front corners by air bags, he thought. How bloody ingenious!

But he wasn’t quiet sure why the murderers had done it or how it was to be used although he had a few suspicions.

Off to his left front a hundred metres away was the start of the bathtub shaped depression that led northeast as the deep part of the Boat Passage. Even as Andrew looked at it a dark shape began to materialize out of the blue background. The sight sent shivers of apprehension through Andrew because whatever it was it was big.

Is that the sub? Andrew wondered.

He thought it was and it was what he was expecting to see but he wasn’t sure. But then his ears confirmed that the distant object was man made. The noise of a rotating propeller carried through the water to him. Fearful lest he be detected by some means he squeezed right in among the coral and tried to slow his breathing.

And then the shape was right there, close to the net and he was sure.

It is the sub! he told himself.