H. M. S. Ulysses (12 page)

Two hours passed, two hours in which the temperature fell to zero, hesitated, then shrank steadily beyond it, two hours in which the barometer tumbled crazily after it. Curiously, strangely, the snow still held off, the livid sky to the north-west was as far away as ever, and the sky to the south and east had cleared completely. The squadron presented a fantastic picture now, little toy-boats of sugar-icing, dazzling white, gleaming and sparkling in the pale, winter sunshine, pitching crazily through the everlengthening, ever-deepening valleys of grey and green of the cold Norwegian Sea, pushing on towards that far horizon, far and weird and purply glowing, the horizon of another world. It was an incredibly lovely spectacle.

Rear-Admiral Tyndall saw nothing beautiful about it. A man who was wont to claim that he never worried, he was seriously troubled now. He was gruff, to those on the bridge, gruff to the point of discourtesy and the old geniality of the Farmer Giles of even two months ago was all but gone. Ceaselessly his gaze circled the fleet; constantly, uncomfortably, he twisted in his chair. Finally he climbed down, passed through the gate and went into the Captain's shelter.

Vallery had no light on and the shelter was in semi-darkness. He lay there on his settee, a couple of blankets thrown over him. In the half-light, his face looked ghastly, corpse-like. His right hand clutched a balled handkerchief, spotted and stained: he made no attempt to hide it. With a painful effort, and before Tyndall could stop him, he had swung his legs over the edge of the settee and pulled forward a chair. Tyndall choked off his protest, sank gracefully into the seat.

‘I think your curtain's just about to go up, Dick . . . What on earth ever induced me to become a squadron commander?'

Vallery grinned sympathetically. ‘I don't particularly envy you, sir. What are you going to do now?'

‘What would
you
do?' Tyndall countered dolefully.

Vallery laughed. For a moment his face was transformed, boyish almost, then the laugh broke down into a bout of harsh, dry coughing. The stain spread over his handkerchief. Then he looked up and smiled.

‘The penalty for laughing at a superior officer. What would I do? Heave to, sir. Better still, tuck my tail between my legs and run for it.'

Tyndall shook his head.

‘You never were a very convincing liar, Dick.'

Both men sat in silence for a moment, then Vallery looked up.

‘How far to go, exactly, sir?'

‘Young Carpenter makes it 170 miles, more or less.'

‘One hundred and seventy.' Vallery looked at his watch. ‘Twenty hours to go—in this weather. We
must
make it!'

Tyndall nodded heavily. ‘Eighteen ships sitting out there— nineteen, counting the sweeper from Hvalfjord—not to mention old Starr's blood pressure . . .'

He broke off as a hand rapped on the door and a head looked in.

‘Two signals, Captain, sir.'

‘Just read them out, Bentley, will you?'

‘First is from the
Portpatrick
: “Sprung bow-plates: making water fast: pumps coming: fear further damage: please advise.”'

Tyndall swore. Vallery said calmly: ‘And the other?'

‘From the
Gannet
, sir. “Breaking up.”'

‘Yes, yes. And the rest of the message?'

‘Just that, sir. “Breaking up.”'

‘Ha! One of these taciturn characters,' Tyndall growled. ‘Wait a minute, Chief, will you?' He sank back in his chair, hand rasping his chin, gazing at his feet, forcing his tired mind to think.

Vallery murmured something in a low voice, and Tyndall looked up, his eyebrows arched.

‘Troubled waters, sir. Perhaps the carriers—'

Tyndall slapped his knee. ‘Two minds with but a single thought. Bentley, make two signals. One to all screen vessels—tell 'em to take position—astern—close astern—of the carriers. Other to the carriers. Oil hose, one each through port and starboard loading ports, about—ah—how much would you say, Captain?'

‘Twenty gallons a minute, sir?'

‘Twenty gallons it is. Understand, Chief? Right-o, get 'em off at once. And Chief—tell the Navigator to bring his chart here.' Bentley left, and he turned to Vallery. ‘We've got to fuel later on, and we can't do it here. Looks as if this might be the last chance of shelter this side of Murmansk . . . And if the next twenty-four hours are going to be as bad as Carrington forecasts, I doubt whether some of the little ships could live through it anyway . . . Ah! Here you are, Pilot. Let's see where we are. How's the wind, by the way?'

‘Force 10, sir.' Bracing himself against the wild lurching of the
Ulysses
, the Kapok Kid smoothed out the chart on the Captain's bunk. ‘Backing slightly.'

‘North-west, would you say, Pilot?' Tyndall rubbed his hands. ‘Excellent. Now, my boy, our position?'

‘12.40 west. 66.15 north,' said the Kapok Kid precisely. He didn't even trouble to consult the chart. Tyndall lifted his eyebrows but made no comment.

‘Course?'

‘310, sir.'

‘Now, if it were necessary for us to seek shelter for fuelling—'

‘Course exactly 290, sir. I've pencilled it in—there. Four and a half hours' steaming, approximately.'

‘How the devil—' Tyndall exploded. ‘Who told you to—to—' He spluttered into a wrathful silence.

‘I worked it out five minutes ago, sir. It—er—seemed inevitable. 290 would take us a few miles inside the Langanes peninsula. There should be plenty shelter there.' Carpenter was grave, unsmiling.

‘Seemed inevitable!' Tyndall roared. ‘Would you listen to him, Captain Vallery? Inevitable! And it's only just occurred to me! Of all the . . . Get out! Take yourself and that damned comic-opera fancy dress elsewhere!'

The Kapok Kid said nothing. With an air of injured innocence he gathered up his charts and left. Tyndall's voice halted him at the door.

‘Pilot!'

‘Sir?' The Kapok Kid's eyes were fixed on a point above Tyndall's head.

‘As soon as the screen vessels have taken up position, tell Bentley to send them the new course.'

‘Yes, sir. Certainly.' He hesitated, and Tyndall chuckled. ‘All right, all right,' he said resignedly. ‘I'll say it again—I'm just a crusty old curmudgeon . . . and shut that damned door! We're freezing in here.'

The wind was rising more quickly now and long ribbons of white were beginning to streak the water. Wave troughs were deepening rapidly, their sides steepening, their tops blown off and flattened by the wind. Gradually, but perceptibly to the ear now, the thin, lonely whining in the rigging was climbing steadily up the register. From time to time, large chunks of ice, shaken loose by the increasing vibration, broke off from the masts and stays and spattered on the deck below.

The effect of the long oil-slicks trailing behind the carriers was almost miraculous. The destroyers, curiously mottled with oil now, were still plunging astern, but the surface tension of the fuel held the water and spray from breaking aboard. Tyndall, justifiably, was feeling more than pleased with himself.

Towards half-past four in the afternoon, with shelter still a good fifteen miles away, the elation had completely worn off. There was a whole gale blowing now and Tyndall had been compelled to signal for a reduction in speed.

From deck level, the seas now were more than impressive. They were gigantic, frightening. Nicholls stood with the Kapok Kid, off watch now, on the main deck, under the port whaler, sheltering in the lee of the fo'c'sle deck. Nicholls, clinging to a davit to steady himself, and leaping back now and then to avoid a deluge of spray, looked over to where the
Defender
, the
Vultra
and
Viking
tailing behind, were pitching madly, grotesquely, under that serene blue sky. The blue sky above, the tremendous seas below. There was something almost evil, something literally spine-chilling, in that macabre contrast.

‘They never told me anything about this in the Medical School,' Nicholls observed at last. ‘My God, Andy,' he added in awe, ‘have you ever seen anything like this?'

‘Once, just once. We were caught in a typhoon off the Nicobars. I don't think it was as bad as this. And Number One says this is damn all compared to what's coming tonight—and he knows. God, I wish I was back in Henley!'

Nicholls looked at him curiously.

‘Can't say I know the First Lieutenant well. Not a very—ah— approachable customer, is he? But everyone—old Giles, the skipper, the Commander, yourself—they all talk about him with bated breath. What's so extra special about him? I respect him, mind you—everyone seems to—but dammit to hell, he's no superman.'

‘Sea's beginning to break up,' the Kapok Kid murmured absently. ‘Notice how every now and again we're beginning to get a wave half as big again as the others? Every seventh wave, the old sailors say. No, Johnny, he's not a superman. Just the greatest seaman you'll ever see. Holds two master's-tickets—square-rigged and steam. He was going round the Horn in Finnish barques when we were still in our prams. Commander could tell you enough stories about him to fill a book.' He paused then went on quietly.

‘He really is one of the few great seamen of today. Old Blackbeard Turner is no slouch himself, but he'll tell anyone that he can't hold a candle to Jimmy . . . I'm no hero-worshipper, Johnny. You know that. But you can say about Carrington what they used to say about Shackleton—when there's nothing left and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for him. Believe me, Johnny, I'm damned glad he's here.'

Nicholls said nothing. Surprise held him silent. For the Kapok Kid, flippancy was a creed, derogation second nature: seriousness was a crime and anything that smacked of adulation bordered on blasphemy. Nicholls wondered what manner of man Carrington must be.

The cold was vicious. The wind was tearing great gouts of water off the wave-tops, driving the atomized spray at bullet speed against fo'c'sle and sides. It was impossible to breathe without turning one's back, without wrapping layers of wool round mouth and nose. Faces blue and white, shaking violently with the cold, neither suggested, neither even thought of going below. Men hypnotized, men fascinated by the tremendous seas, the towering waves, 1,000, 2,000 feet in length, long, sloping on the lee side, steep-walled and terrifying on the other, pushed up by a sixty knot wind and by some mighty force lying far to the north-west. In these gigantic troughs, a church steeple would be lost for ever.

Both men turned round as they heard the screen door crashing behind them. A duffel-coated figure, cursing fluently, fought to shut the heavy door against the pitching of the
Ulysses
, finally succeeded in heaving the clips home. It was Leading Seaman Doyle, and even though his beard hid three-quarters of what could be seen of his face, he still looked thoroughly disgusted with life.

Carpenter grinned at him. He and Doyle had served a commission together on the China Station. Doyle was a very privileged person.

‘Well, well, the Ancient Mariner himself! How are things down below, Doyle?'

‘Bloody desperate, sir!' His voice was as lugubrious as his face. ‘Cold as charity, sir, and everything all over the bloody place. Cups, saucers, plates in smithereens. Half the crew—'

He broke off suddenly, eyes slowly widening in blank disbelief. He was staring out to sea between Nicholls and Carpenter.

‘Well, what about half the crew? . . . What's the matter, Doyle?'

‘Christ Almighty!' Doyle's voice was slow, stunned: it was almost a prayer. ‘Oh, Christ Almighty!' The voice rose sharply on the last two syllables.

The two officers twisted quickly round. The
Defender
was climbing—all 500 feet of her was literally climbing—up the lee side of a wave that staggered the imagination, whose immensity completely defied immediate comprehension. Even as they watched, before shocked minds could grasp the significance of it all, the
Defender
reached the crest, hesitated, crazily tilted up her stern till screw and rudder were entirely clear of the water, then crashed down, down, down . . .

Even at two cable-lengths' distance in that high wind the explosive smash of the plummeting bows came like a thunder-clap. An aeon ticked by, and still the
Defender
seemed to keep on going under, completely buried now, right back to the bridge island, in a sea of foaming white. How long she remained like that, arrowed down into the depths of the Arctic, no one could afterwards say: then slowly, agonizingly, incredibly, great rivers of water cascaded off her bows, she broke surface again. Broke surface, to present to frankly disbelieving eyes a spectacle entirely without precedent, anywhere, at any time. The tremendous, instantaneous, upthrusting pressure of unknown thousands of tons of water had torn the flight-deck completely off its mountings and bent it backwards, in a great, sweeping ‘U', almost as far as the bridge. It was a sight to make men doubt their sanity, to leave them stupefied, to leave them speechless—all, that is, except the Kapok Kid. He rose magnificently to the occasion.