"Alistair MacLean - San Andreas" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maclean Alistair)

'Our mortuary?"

'Yes, sir.'

'You heard, McCrimmon? How many men?'

'Eight, sir.'

'Eight. Two look-outs. The two seamen to bring up the canvas and whatever required. The other four to clear the crew's mess. Don't you try to tell them, they'd probably throw you overboard. Tell the Second Engineer and he'll tell them. When they've finished have them report to me, here or on the bridge. You too. Off you go.' McCrimmon left.

The Bo'sun indicated the two Colts lying on the table. 'I wonder what McCrimmon thought of those.'

'Probably old hat to him. Jamieson picked the right man - McCrimmon's tough and hasn't much in the way of finer feelings. Irish-Scots from some Glasgow slum. Been in prison. In fact, if it wasn't for the war that's probably where he'd be now.'

The Bo'sun nodded and opened another small wall locker

- this one had a key to it. It was a small liquor cupboard and from a padded velvet retainer McKinnon removed a rum bottle and laid it on the Captain's bunk.

'I don't suppose the Captain will mind that either,' Patterson said. 'For the stretcher-bearers?'

'Yes, sir.' The Bo'sun started opening drawers in the Captain's table and found what he was looking for in the third drawer, two leather-bound folders which he handed to Patterson. 'Prayer book and burial service, sir. But I should think the burial service would be enough. Somebody's got to read it.'

'Good God. I'm not a preacher, Bo'sun.'

'No, sir. But you're the officer commanding.'

'Good God,' Patterson repeated. He placed the folders reverently on the Captain's table. 'I'll look at those later.'

'"Home signal",' the Bo'sun said slowly. 'That's what the Captain said, wasn't it? "Home signal".'

'Yes.'

' "Homing signal" is what he was trying to say. "Homing signal". Should have thought of it before - but I suppose that's why Captain Bowen is a captain and I'm not. How do you think the Condor managed to locate us in the darkness? All right, it was half dawn when he attacked but he must have been on the course when it was still night. How did he know where we were?'

'U-boat?'

'No U-boat. The Andover's sonar would have picked him up.' The Bo'sun was repeating the words that Captain Bowen had used.

'Ah.' Patterson nodded. 'Homing signal. Our saboteur friend.'

'Flannelfoot, as Mr Jamieson calls him. Not only was he busy fiddling around with our electrical circuits, he was transmitting a continuous signal. A directional signal. The Condor knew where we were to the inch. I don't know whether the Condor was equipped to receive such signals, I know nothing about planes, but it wouldn't have mattered, some place like Alta Fjord could have picked up the signal and transmitted our bearing to the Condor.'

'You have it, of course, Bo'sun, you have it to rights.' Patterson looked at the two guns. 'One for me and one for you.'

'If you say so, sir.'

'Don't be daft, who else would have it?' Patterson picked up a gun. 'I've never even held one of these things in my hand, far less fired one. But you know, Bo'sun, I don't really think I would mind firing a shot once. Just one.'

'Neither would I, sir.'