To Risks Unknown (26 page)

After a few hours' sleep and a hurried breakfast of cooked meat and black bread he and Coutts had followed Soskic at a brisk pace along what was little more than a goat track. It wound between the hills and steep-sided gorges, and Crespin was surprised to find that he was able to keep up with the long-legged commandant who strode ahead with the sureness and the confidence of a cat. They had soon left the inlet and village far behind, but when they finally reached this crumbling hillside Crespin realized just how small the island really was. For the sea was waiting to greet them once more and the scenery, like the air, was a tonic.

The distant islands reached out from every direction, overlapping and shimmering in the pure sunlight, separated by ribbons of deep blue water like the arms of some giant river. In fact, everything seemed to be painted in different shades of blue. The sea and the sky, and the hills and mountains of the other islands which shone in the sun with the paler, more delicate hue of ice.

Soskic turned to look at them. ‘Over there is Korcula. There are still some German troops but they are less willing to move far from their base.' His arm swept towards the north-east. ‘And that is the Peljesac peninsula, not another island.'

Crespin shaded his eyes against the glare and followed the direction of his arm. The peninsula did indeed look like just another island. The fine air made it seem so close, yet he knew from the chart that it was all of ten miles away. Korcula was about half that far, but a man less used to the sea's deception would probably imagine he could row a boat there in a matter of minutes. It brought a cold sensation to his spine to realize the enemy was so near, so rooted, and he was better able to understand Soskic's bitterness because of it. To see the shining peninsula, part of his homeland, almost within reach, yet to know that it was remote as another world.

The tall commandant added slowly, ‘When the Chetniks attacked us they succeeded in one thing. They destroyed our last large boat. They might just as well have cut out our hearts.' He turned back towards the sea. ‘There is a small village some twenty kilometres from here. For weeks we have been sending word for our comrades to gather there. All who can bear arms or who wish to come and join us. A secret is hard to keep for long. Now without a boat to bring them I am afraid that they are already as good as dead. When word reaches the Germans, and it will, they will be quick to make an example of those people. It will make up for their reverses at our hands. In their perverted minds the murder of women and children is totally justified.'

Coutts was puffing a cheroot, the smoke streaming behind him in an unbroken plume. ‘How many men do you have here?'

‘I have two hundred fighters.' Soskic did not turn. ‘Men
and
women.'

Crespin studied the firm set of his shoulders and thought of the girl who had died as Porteous had tried to bind her wound.

He said quietly, ‘If we can help you, I will be happy to put the schooner at your disposal.' He saw Coutts' eyebrows lift with surprise but added firmly, ‘What would be the best time?'

Soskic swung on his heel and stared down at him. ‘The earlier the better. We may already be too late.' He thrust his hands into his leather coat as if he did not know what to do with them. ‘I should warn you that your action might lead to your own death. I could add that if the schooner is destroyed then you, too, will be a prisoner here on Gradz. I could say all of these things, but I will not.' He gave a small smile. ‘You would not listen, and I would not want you to.' He pulled out a gold pocket watch and flicked open its cover. ‘Time to move. You must reach the next headland within the hour.' Without waiting for questions he turned and hurried down the slope, his boots sending the stones bouncing towards the sea with each stride. Over his shoulder he said, ‘I got the watch from the same German who wore these fine boots.'

Coutts said quietly, ‘I hope you know what you're doing! What are you hoping for? A private war all of your own?'

Crespin smiled. ‘I think you would have done the same.'

The soldier lapsed into silence. Then he said, ‘He's a proud bastard. That was the nearest thing he's done to thanking anyone for a long, long time, I shouldn't wonder.'

Crespin slipped and struggled back on to the rough track. ‘Did you know he was once a schoolmaster?'

Coutts nodded. ‘I got it from one of his men. The Germans wiped out over fifty hostages. His wife and family were among them.'

When at last Soskic called a halt Crespin was gasping for breath. He had pulled out his watch again and was studying it intently.

‘Now we shall see, comrades. But I am sure that the German dedication to routine and punctuality will not disappoint us!'

Crespin lowered himself gingerly on to a flat rock and stared at the blue water beneath him. Near the shore it was so clear that even from the tall hillside it was easy to see the jagged outlines of rocks and pieces of fallen cliff lying far below the surface.

He found himself thinking of the partisan women he had seen that morning by Soskic's bunker. Young girls for the most part, but with all the stamina and determination of regular troops. Coutts had told him that they lived and slept beside the men without embarrassment or any fear of being molested. For the moment their sex had been put in reserve and their presence was accepted with neither surprise nor compromise.

He thought, too, of what might have happened if the Germans had succeeded in occupying Britain. It was not difficult to picture Penny sharing the risks and privations like these partisan women.

Crespin heard Coutts scrambling on the stones as he struggled to get to his feet, and his sudden gasp of surprise. When he looked up to see what was exciting the normally unruffled soldier he imagined for a moment that his eyes were playing tricks, or that the sun's glare had presented a strange mirage above the placid water.

As he pulled his binoculars from inside his shirt he heard Coutts exclaim, ‘Well, I've seen some odd ships in my time, but this one beats them all!'

Crespin steadied his elbows on his knees and trained the glasses towards the far side of the channel where the blue ridges of Korcula Island appeared to reach out and overlap the jutting spur of mainland. The ship had come around the end of the island and was altering course in a wide sweep towards the open sea. Her hull was heavy and businesslike, and he guessed that she had once been a sizeable cargo or passenger ship, and even the grey paint could not completely disguise the outdated cut of her bow with its heavy crest which told of more leisurely days.

But above the level of the main deck she bore no resemblance to any ship he had ever seen. The bridge and superstructure had been completely enclosed in steel plating, each piece angled in such a way as to make a direct hit almost an impossibility.

Crespin was reminded of the old pictures he had seen of the American ironclad
Monitor
in the Civil War. It looked indestructible, and even the ugly appearance could not detract from an overwhelming sense of danger and menace. Two tall funnels jutted from the steel canopy abaft the bridge, and the smoke which poured busily astern gave the only visible sign of life. She was like some remotely controlled juggernaut which might at any second change to a submarine or take to the air.

Soskic was watching him, a small smile playing about his lips. He said, ‘Well, Commander, what do you think of her, eh?'

Crespin moved the glasses slightly as the strange ship completed her turn and began to head for the channel below the cliffs. Now he could see two massive guns, each independently mounted at either end of the superstructure, again heavily protected by additional steel plate. Other, smaller muzzles jutted from dark slits cut along the side of the lower bridge, and right aft on her deserted poop he could just make out some sort of small railway which was obviously used for mine-laying.

He asked slowly, ‘Is
this
the rhinoceros you spoke of?'

Soskic nodded. ‘She used to be the
Morava
before the Germans seized her. She is forty years old, and until before the war ran between Greece and our own ports with general cargo and a few passengers. The Germans took her to Split and transformed her into what you now see. They even call her the
Nashorn
, and she is very similar to a rhinoceros in many ways. Awkward to handle, and because of her massive layers of armour she must be almost blind except for the most elementary movements.' He sighed deeply. ‘But as you see, Commander, she is indeed formidable. We used to attack coastal shipping and cause havoc with German convoys between the islands. The
Nashorn
put an end to most of that. She steams around the islands as regularly as my watch. She can shoot down any attacker with ease, can smash a wooden craft without even reducing speed.'

Coutts said, ‘
This
is a problem.'

Crespin lowered the glasses and studied the ship for several seconds. She was pushing very slowly inshore and would pass within a mile of the headland.

He asked, ‘Where is she based?'

Soskic pointed towards the peninsula. ‘Beyond there. Forty kilometres from this island the Germans have set up a special headquarters just for the
Nashorn.
It is a small place called Tekla, not really suitable for a ship of her size, but it does have the advantage of a railway. You see, the
Nashorn
is coal fired, and every piece of fuel must be carried to her base by rail.'

Coutts said sharply, ‘She is training one of her guns!'

Soskic grimaced. ‘Every time she passes she fires a few rounds at us.'

There was a bright orange flash which seemed to dart straight out of the steel mass like a tongue, and seconds later the shell exploded somewhere far to the left, the roar of the detonation echoing around the cliffs like thunder.

Crespin wondered if anyone on the
Nashorn
's bridge could see the three figures watching from the hillside.

‘I am surprised the Germans haven't used her to force an entry to your inlet.'

Soskic smiled. ‘One good rifleman with endless ammunition and no need for sleep could hold an army from landing. The Germans are probably afraid that once inside the inlet their rhinoceros might be trapped in some way.'

Another shell slammed into the cliffs and brought down a great mass of rock and earth into the water below. Although hidden from view Crespin could see the sea churning back from the foot of the cliffs as if from some submarine explosion.

The gun swung back to train once more towards the bows, and with the haze of the explosions drifting to mix with her funnel smoke the ship swung away from the headland and continued towards the end of the channel.

Soskic climbed down from his rock and pulled out a cigarette. ‘That monster is commanded by one Kapitan Otto Lemke. He is twice your age, Commander, and as wily as a fox. He served aboard a commerce raider in the First World War, and I am told he often boasts of the ruses he used to beat your countrymen. I think he only got this appointment because the German Navy did not really know what to do with him. But he came here, and he used his wits when most of his colleagues were using their firing squads!'

The ugly vessel vanished beyond the headland leaving only a smudge of smoke against the clear sky. Soskic led the way back along the path adding, ‘The
Nashorn
was his idea. He thought it out by himself, and
made
it work!'

Crespin glanced at Coutts and wondered if he was thinking the same thing. That Lemke sounded exactly like a combination of Admiral Oldenshaw and Scarlett. He had invented a new craft of warfare. Now he had to make it useful if only to prove his own worth.

Soskic turned and looked at Crespin's thoughtful features. ‘Whatever you are planning, let me warn you. Lemke will have thought of it already. His only weakness is his coal, and even if we managed to delay his supply he would still have sufficient to steam north to Split.' He shook his head. ‘If we are to defeat him, then we must find a way to destroy him. There is no other way.'

Crespin followed the others in silence. The sudden appearance of the armoured giant had meant a change in everything. As Soskic had realized the ship did not need to be fast and manoeuvrable. She merely had to
be
here. A policeman and executioner rolled into one.

If the Allied invasion proved successful it would not take many more months to install bases along the Italian east coast. From Bari or Brindisi for instance they could operate a separate striking force which would soon hunt down and destroy Lemke's juggernaut. But in those precious months the partisans would be unable to move and the Germans would be free to release more and more troops to throw against the battle-worn Allies. Just that one stupid fact might turn the whole progress of the war, and with winter drawing inexorably closer there was no saying what the enemy might pull out of his hat. They had done it before in North Africa, but this time it would be far worse. The Allies had the sea at their backs, and in any case the damage to their morale which such a reverse would bring might postpone any further eagerness for invasion for years to come.

Coutts looked sideways at him and smiled gravely. ‘Don't worry about it too much. You've done what you came to do. Leave the policy-making to the great brains of Whitehall!' He rolled his eyes. ‘And God knows what sort of mess
they'll
make of it!'

Crespin found no comfort in his words. Running guns and landing small parties of raiders was no way to finalize a war. It had to be faced from the opposite viewpoint, as Lemke had so clearly done. His experience astride the British shipping lanes in that other war must have taught him the vital importance of communications and supplies, without which whole armies ground to a standstill and nations lost the will to withstand the shortages and privations which followed.

And while the
Nashorn
maintained her vigilant patrols the enemy had nothing to fear. No wonder they could send troops from their occupation forces without bothering to hide the fact. Those who remained in Yugoslavia might be unable to move about as freely as they would have wished, but as Soskic had remarked, they were like maggots. They could live and grow fat on what they controlled. If anyone suffered it would be the Yugoslavs themselves.