Santorini (9 page)

'There's no doubt there was a huge natural disaster all those millennia ago. As to its cause, take your pick  --  your guess is as good as mine. Reverting to the situation we find j ourselves in at this moment, there are four facts that can be regarded as certainties or near-certainties. Santorini is about I as stable as the proverbial blancmange. It's sitting on top of  a thermal plume. Thirdly, the chances are high that it is sitting atop an ancient tectonic boundary that runs east-west under the Mediterranean  --  this is where the African and Eurasian plates are in contention. Lastly, and indisputably, we are sitting atop the equivalent of roughly 2.00 million tons of TNT. If that goes up I would say it is highly probable  --  in fact think I should use the word inevitable - that both the thermal plume and the temporarily quiescent earthquake zone along the tectonic fault would be reactivated. I leave the rest to your imagination.' Benson drained his glass and looked around hopefully. Talbot pressed a bell. Hawkins said: 'I don't have that kind of imagination.' 'None of us has. Fortunately. We're talking about the combined and simultaneous effect of a massive thermonuclear detonation, a volcanic eruption and an earthquake.  This lies outwith the experience of mankind so we can't visualize those things except to guess, and it's a safe guess, that the reality will be worse than any nightmare. The only consolation, of course, is that we wouldn't be around to experience anything, nightmare or reality. 'The extent of potential annihilation beggars belief. By annihilation I mean the total extinction of life, except possibly some subterranean or aquatic forms. What lava, volcanic cinders, dust and ashes don't get, the blast, air percussion waves, fire and tsunami will. If there are any 'survivors  --  and this could be in an area of thousands of  square miles - the massive radio-active fall-out will attend to them. It hardly seems necessary to talk about such things as nuclear winters and being fried by ultra-violet radiation.

'So you can see, Commander Talbot, what we mean when we talk about the greatest good of the greatest number. What does it matter if we have two ships or ten out here, two hundred men or two thousand? Every extra man, every extra ship may, just may, be of a tiny percentage more help in neutralizing this damn thing on the sea-floor. What's even two thousand compared to the unimaginable numbers who might perish if that device does detonate sooner or later - almost certainly sooner  --  if we don't do something about It?'

'You put things very nicely, Professor, and you make things very clear. Not that the Ariadne had any intention of going anywhere but it's nice to have a solid reason to stay put.'

Talbot thought briefly. 'Solves one little problem, anyway. I have six survivors from the yacht Delos aboard and had thought to put three of the innocent parties among them ashore but that seems a little pointless now.'

'Alas, yes. Whether they are aboard here or on Santorini it will be all one to them when they join us in what Lieutenant Denholm is pleased to call vaporized orbit.'

Talbot lifted a phone, asked for a number, listened briefly and hung up.

'The sonar room. Still tick .. . tick . . . tick.'

'Ah,' Benson said. Tick .. . tick . . . tick.'

Chapter 4

'You had an enjoyable tete-a-tete with Mr Andropulos, sir?' Vice-Admiral Hawkins, together with his two scientist friends, had just come to the bridge in response to Talbot's invitation that they join him.

'Enjoyable? Ha! Thank you, incidentally, for rescuing us. Enjoyable? Depends what you mean, John.'

'I mean were you suitably impressed.'

'I was suitably unimpressed. Interested, mind you, but deeply unimpressed. Man's character, I mean, not his quite extraordinary affinity for strong spirits. He comes across as whiter than the driven snow. A man of such transparent honesty has to have something to hide.'

'And he got his slurring wrong, too,' Benson said.

'Slurring, sir?'

'Just that, Commander. Thickened his voice in the wrong places to try and convince us that he was under the influence. Maybe he could have got away with it in his native Greek but not in English. Cold sober, I believe. And clever. Anyway he's clever enough to hoodwink those two charming young ladies he has with him. I think they're being hoodwinked.'

'And his bosom friend, Alexander,' Hawkins said. 'He's not so clever. He comes over as what he might well be  --  a paid-up member, if not a capo, in the Mafia. He was quite unmoved when I sympathized with them about the loss of the three members of their crew. Andropulos said he was desolated by the deaths of his treasured friends. Van Gelder

had already told us that. Maybe he was overcome by grief, maybe not. In view of the fact that, like you, I regard him as a fluent liar and consummate actor, I think not. Maybe he is conscience-stricken at having arranged their deaths. Again, I think not. By that I don't mean he couldn't have been responsible for their deaths, I just mean that I don't think he's on speaking terms with his conscience. Only information I gathered from him is that he abandoned his yacht because he thought his spare fuel tank was going to blow up. A man of mystery, your new-found friend.'

'He's all that. Very mysterious. He's a multi-millionaire. Maybe a multi-multi-millionaire. Not in the usual Greek line of tankers  --  bottom's fallen out of that market anyway. He's an international businessman with contacts in many countries.'

Hawkins said: 'Van Gelder told me nothing of this.'

'Of course he didn't. He didn't know. Your name attached to a message, Admiral, is a guarantee of remarkably quick service. Reply received to our query to the Greek Defence Ministry received twenty-five minutes ago.'

'A businessman. What kind of business?'

'They didn't say. I knew that would be your question so I immediately radioed a request for that information.'

'Signed by me, of course.'

'Naturally, sir. Had it been a different matter I would of course have asked your permission. But this was the same matter. The reply came in a few minutes ago listing ten different countries with which he does business.'

'Again, what kind of business?'

'Again, they didn't say.'

'Extraordinarily odd. What do you make of it?'

'The Foreign Minister must have authorized this reply. Maybe censored it a little. He is, of course, a member of the government. I would assume that the mysterious Mr Andropulos has friends in the government.'

'The mysterious Mr Andropulos gets more mysterious by the moment.'

'Maybe, sir. Maybe not  --  not when you consider the list of ten foreign trading partners he has. Four of them are in cities of what you might regard as being of particular interest -- Tripoli, Beirut, Damascus and Baghdad.'

'Indeed.' Hawkins thought briefly. 'Gun-running?'

'But of course, sir. Nothing illegal about being gun-runners  -- Britain and America are hotching with them. But all governments are holier-than-thou in this respect and never publicly associate themselves with them. Never do to be classified as a merchant of death. Could well explain why the Greek government is being so cagey.'

'Indeed it could.'

'One thing strikes me as odd: why is Tehran missing from the list?'

'True, true. The Iranians  --  with the possible exception of the Afghans, are more desperate for arms than any other place around. But gun-runners don't specialize in blowing up planes in flight.'

'I don't know what we're talking about, sir. The Hampton Court maze has nothing on this lot. I have the feeling that it's going to take us quite some time to figure this out. Fortunately we have more immediate problems to occupy our minds.'

'Fortunately?' Hawkins lifted his eyes heavenwards. 'Did you say fortunately?'

'Yes, sir. Vincent?' This to Van Gelder. 'I should think Jenkins knows the requirements of the Vice-Admiral and his two friends by this time.'

'You are not joining us?' Benson said.

'Better not. We expect to be quite busy later on tonight.' He turned to Van Gelder .again. 'And give orders for our six shipwrecked mariners to return to their cabins. They are to remain there until further orders. Post guards to see that those instructions are obeyed.'

'I think I'd better go and do this myself, sir.'

'Fine. I'm all out of tact at the moment.'

Hawkins said: 'Do you think they'll take kindly to this - ah  --  incarceration?'

'Incarceration? Let's call it protective custody. Fact is, I don't want them to see what's going on in the next few hours. I'll explain why in a moment.

'The Ministry of Defence had another item of information for us. About the bomber. It had been in touch with air control in Athens and had been instructed to alter course over the island of Amorgos - that's about forty miles north-east of here  --  and proceed on a roughly north-north-west course. Two fighter planes  --  US Air Force F15s  --  went up to meet it and escort it in.'

'Did you see any such planes in the vicinity?'

'No, sir. Wouldn't have expected to. Rendezvous point was to be over the island of Euboea. The destination was not Athens but Thessalonika. I assume the Americans have, a missile base in that area. I wouldn't know.

'Admiral Blyth on the Apollo has also come through. We've had luck here  --  two pieces of luck. A recovery ship en route to Piraeus has been diverted to Santorini. Diving crews, recovery gear, the lot. You'll know it, sir. The Kilcharran.'

'I know it. Auxiliary Fleet vessel. Nominally under my command. I say "nominally" because I also have the misfortune to know its captain. Lad called Montgomery. A very crusty Irishman with a low opinion of Royal Navy regulations. Not that that matters. He's brilliant at his job. Couldn't ask to have a better man around. Your other item of good news?'

'There's a plane en route to Santorini at this moment with a couple of divers and diving equipment for four aboard. Very experienced men, I'm told, a Chief Petty Officer and a Petty Officer. I've sent Sub-Lieutenant Cousteau ashore to pick them up. They should be here in half an hour or so.'

'Excellent, excellent. And when do you expect the Kilcharran?'

'About five in the morning, sir.'

'By Jove, things are looking up. You have something in mind?'

'I have. With your permission, sir.'

'Oh, do shut up.'

'Yes, sir. It will also answer your two questions - why Gelder and I are on the wagon and why the six survivors have been  --  well, locked up out of harm's way. When Cousteau comes back with the divers and equipment, Van Gelder and I are going down with them to have a look at this plane. I'm pretty sure we won't be able to accomplish much. But we'll be able to assess the extent of the damage to the plane, with luck locate this ticking monster and with even great luck try to free it. I know in advance that we're not going to have that kind of luck but it's worth a try. You'd be the first to agree, sir, that in the circumstances, anything is worth a try.'

'Yes, yes, but, well, you'll excuse me if I frown a bit you and Van Gelder are the two most important people on this ship.'

'No, we're not. If anything should happen to us personally and I don't see what can happen, you are, in your spare time, so to speak, accustomed to commanding a battle fleet.  I can hardly see that a mere frigate is going to inconvenience you to all that extent. And if anything should happen on a catastrophic scale, nobody's going to be worrying too  much about anything.'

Wickram said: 'You are a cold-blooded so-and-so. Commander.'

Hawkins sighed. 'Not cold blood, Dr Wickram. Cold logic, I'm afraid. And when and if you come back up, what then?'

Then we're off to have a look at the Delos. Should be very interesting. Andropulos may have made a mistake, Admiral, in telling you that he was scared that his spare fuel tank might blow up. But then, he could have had no idea that we were going to have a look at the Delos. That's why he's locked up. I don't want him to know we've got divers aboard and I especially don't want him to see me taking off with divers in the general direction of the Delos. If we find that there was no spare tank, we shall have to keep an even closer eye on him. And, for good measure, on his dear friend Alexander and his captain, Aristotle. I can't believe that that young seaman, Achmed or whatever his name is, or either of the two girls can have anything to do with this. I think they're along for the purpose of camouflage, respectability, if you will. In any event we should be back long before the Kilcharran arrives.' He turned to look at Denholm who had just arrived on the bridge. 'Well, Jimmy, what drags you away from the fleshpots?'

'If I may say so with some dignity, sir, I'm trying to set them an example. I've just had a thought, sir. If you will excuse me, Admiral?'

'I think that any thought you might have could be well worth listening to, young man. Not Greek literature this time, I'll be bound. This  --  ah  --  hobby of yours. Electronics, is it not?'

'Well, yes, it is, sir.' Denholm seemed faintly surprised. He looked at Talbot. 'That atom bomb down there, the one that goes tick . .. tick . .. tick. The intention is, or the hope, anyway, to detach it from the other explosives?'

'If it can be done.'

'And then, sir?'

'One thing at a time, Jimmy. That's as far as my thinking has got so far.'

'Would we try to de-activate it?' Denholm looked at Wick-ram. 'Do you think it could be de-activated, sir?'

'I honestly don't know, Lieutenant. I have powerful suspicions, but I just don't know. I should have imagined that this lay more in your field than mine. Electronics, I mean. I know how to build those damned weapons but I know nothing about those fancy triggering devices.'

'Neither do I. Not without knowing how they work. For that I'd have to see the blueprint, a diagrammatic layout. You said you had powerful suspicions. What suspicions, sir?'

'I suspect that it can't be de-activated. In fact, I'm certain the process is irreversible. The second suspicion is also a certainty. I'm damn sure that I'm not going to be the one to try.'

'That makes two of us. So what other options are open to us?'

Benson said: 'May a total ignoramus venture an opinion? Why don't we take it to some safe place a hundred miles away and dump it at the bottom of the deep blue sea?'