"Nothing else could possibly make that bunch move so fast. And who are we to grudge them the just rewards for their labours? After so long, so arduous, so dangerous a spell of duty in Northern waters..."
The first shrill blast of a bugle killed the rest of the sentence.
Instinctively, their eyes swung round on the crackling, humming loudspeaker, then on each other in sheer, shocked disbelief. And then they were on their feet, tense, expectant: the heart-stopping urgency of the bugle-call to action stations never grows dim.
"Oh, my G.o.d, no!" Brooks moaned. "Oh, no, no I Not again! Not in Scapa Flow!"
"Oh, G.o.d, no! Not again, not in Scapa Flow!"
These were the words in the mouths, the minds, the hearts of 727 exhausted, sleep-haunted, bitter men that bleak winter evening in Scapa Flow. That they thought of, and that only could they think of as the scream of the bugle stopped dead all work on decks and below decks, in engine-rooms and boiler-rooms, on ammunition lighters and fuel tenders, in the galleys and in the offices. And that only could the watch below think of, and that with an even more poignant despair, as the strident blare seared through the bliss of oblivion and brought them back, sick at heart, dazed in mind and stumbling on their feet, to the iron harshness of reality.
It was, in a strangely indefinite way, a moment of decision. It was the moment that could have broken the Ulysses, as a fighting ship, for ever. It was the moment that bitter, exhausted men, relaxed in the comparative safety of a landlocked anchorage, could have chosen to make the inevitable stand against authority, against that wordless, mindless compulsion and merciless insistence which was surely destroying them. If ever there was such a moment, this was it.
The moment came, and pa.s.sed. It was no more than a fleeting shadow, a shadow that flitted lightly across men"s minds and was gone, lost in the rush of feet pounding to action stations. Perhaps self-preservation was the reason. But that was unlikely, the Ulysses had long since ceased to care. Perhaps it was just naval discipline, or loyalty to the captain, or what the psychologists call conditioned reflex, you hear the scream of brakes and you immediately jump for your life. Or perhaps it was something else again.
Whatever it was, the ship, all except the port watch anchor party, was closed up in two minutes. Unanimous in their disbelief that this could be happening to them in Scapa Flow, men went to their stations silently or vociferously, according to their nature. They went reluctantly, sullenly, resentfully, despairingly. But they went.
Rear-Admiral Tyndall went also. He was not one of those who went silently. He climbed blasphemously up to the bridge, pushed his way through the port gate and clambered into his high-legged armchair in the for"ard port corner of the compa.s.s platform. He looked at Vallery.
"What"s the flap, in heaven"s name, Captain?" he demanded testily.
"Everything seems singularly peaceful to me."
"Don"t know yet, sir." Vallery swept worried eyes over the anchorage.
"Alarm signal from C.-in-C., with orders to get under way immediately."
"Get under way! But why, man, why?"
Vallery shook his head.
Tyndall groaned. "It"s all a conspiracy, designed to rob old men like myself of their afternoon sleep," he declared.
"More likely a brainwave of Starr"s to shake us up a bit," Turner grunted.
"No." Tyndall was decisive. "He wouldn"t try that, wouldn"t dare. Besides, by his lights, he"s not a vindictive man."
Silence fell, a silence broken only by the patter of sleet and hail, and the weird haunting pinging of the Asdic. Vallery suddenly lifted his binoculars.
"Good lord, sir, look at that! The Duke"s slipped her anchor!"
There was no doubt about it. The shackle-pin had been knocked out and the bows of the great ship were swinging slowly round as it got under way.
"What in the world------?" Tyndall broke off and scanned the sky. "Not a plane, not a paratrooper in sight, no radar reports, no Asdic contacts, no sign of the German Grand Fleet steaming through the boom------"
"She"s signalling us, sir!" It was Bentley speaking, Bentley, the Chief Yeoman of Signals. He paused and went on slowly: "Proceed to our anchorage at once. Make fast to north buoy."
"Ask them to confirm," Vallery snapped. He took the fo"c"sle phone from the communication rating.
"Captain here, Number One. How is she? Up and down? Good." He turned to the officer of the watch. "Slow ahead both: Starboard 10.", He looked over at Tyndall"s corner, brows wrinkled in question.
"Search me," Tyndall growled. "Could be the latest in parlour games, a sort of nautical musical chairs, you know.... Wait a minute, though!
Look! The c.u.mberland, all her 5.25"s are at maximum depression!"
Vallery"s eyes met his.
"No, it can"t be! Good G.o.d, do you think------?"
The blare of the Asdic loudspeaker, from the cabinet immediately abaft of the bridge, gave him his answer. The voice of Leading Asdic Operator Chrysler was clear, unhurried.
"Asdic-bridge. Asdic-bridge. Echo, Red 30. Repeat, Red 30. Strengthening. Closing."
The captain"s incredulity leapt and died in the same second.
"Alert Director Control! Red 30. All A.A. guns maximum depression. Underwater target. Torps ", this to Lieutenant Marshall, the Canadian Torpedo Officer, "depth charge stations."
He turned back to Tyndall.
"It can"t be, sir, it just can"t! A U-boat, I presume it is, in Scapa Flow. Impossible!"
"Prien didn"t think so," Tyndall grunted.
"Prien?"
"Kapitan-Leutnant Prien-gent who scuppered the Royal Oak."
"It couldn"t happen again. The new boom defences------"
"Would keep out any normal submarines," Tyndall finished. His voice dropped to a murmur. "Remember what we were told last month about our midget two-man subs, the chariots? The ones to be taken over to Norway by Norwegian fishing-boats operating from the Shetlands. Could be that the Germans have hit on the same idea."
"Could be," Vallery agreed. He nodded sardonically. "Just look at the c.u.mberland go, straight for the boom." He paused for a few seconds, his eyes speculative, then looked back at Tyndall. "How do you like it, sir?"
"Like what, Captain?"
"Playing Aunt Sally at the fair." Vallery grinned crookedly. "Can"t afford to lose umpteen million pounds worth of capital ship. So the old Duke hares out to sea and safety, while we moor near her anchor berth.
You can bet German Naval Intelligence has the bearing of her anchorage down to a couple of inches. These midget subs carry detachable warheads and if there"s going to be any fitted, they"re going to be fitted to us."
Tyndall looked at him. His face was expressionless. Asdic reports were continuous, reporting steady bearing to port and closing distances.
"Of course, of course," the Admiral murmured. "We"re the whipping boy. Gad, it makes me feel bad!" His mouth twisted and he laughed mirthlessly. "Me? This is the final straw for the crew. That h.e.l.lish last trip, the mutiny, the marine boarding party from the c.u.mberland, action stations in harbour, and now this! Risking our necks for that-that..." He broke off, spluttering, swore in anger, then resumed quietly:
"What are you going to tell the men, Captain? Good G.o.d, it"s fantastic!
I feel like mutiny myself..." He stopped short, looked inquiringly past Vallery"s shoulder.
The Captain turned round.