Dive in the Sun Read Online Free PDF Page A

thin tube hissed down into its well. He must keep going now. Must keep his mind on the present.
    ‘Ninety feet, Number One.’ He cleared his throat to disguise the harshness which had unwittingly crept into his tone. ‘Steer three-five-oh.’
    Taylor spun the wheel easily and watched the compass ticking round its case. ‘Course three-five-oh, sir!’
    Curtis leaned across the table at Jervis’s side. He could feel the warmth of his body against his arm, and shuddered at the thought of his groping through the dark water in his skintight diving suit. He picked up the dividers and concentrated on the wavering pencilled lines and the craggy, uneven outline of the Italian mainland.
    ‘Three hours to daylight,’ he murmured, half to himself. ‘We’ll surface then and get our last good fix.’
    ‘Where shall we hide up while we’re waiting, Skipper?’ Jervis’s voice was also low, as if the enormity of their task had humbled him.
    ‘Well, as you can see, the coastline up to the harbour approaches and main channel are pretty shallow, so I think we’ll settle on the bottom about here.’ He indicated a huddle of tiny figures on the chart. ‘There’s a sort of valley just there, carved out of the sandy bottom by the fast current which sweeps round the headland. The locals apparently call it “
il dietro del camello
”, the “camel’s back”. It’s a good sixteen fathoms deep, so we should be fairly snug there until nightfall, when we shall make our first run-in.’
    He felt Jervis shiver, and he glanced at him sharply. ‘D’you feel all right about cutting the nets?’ He tried to keep the fierceness from his voice, and added suddenly, ‘We shall at least have surprise on our side.’ And not much else, he thought bitterly.
    Jervis smiled quickly, his face pale against the glare of the chart-light. ‘I’m quite looking forward to it, Skipper! I was afraid the war would be over before I’d even finished my training. It all seems worth while now!’
    Duncan groaned loudly behind them. ‘For Chrissake! The war’ll go on for ever! Years an’ years! Don’t you fret, son, you’ll have plenty of time to be a ruddy hero!’
    Jervis laughed uncomfortably and looked at Curtis, his eyes grave. ‘Well, you know what I mean, Skipper. My father has always impressed it upon me that it’s vitally important for an officer to have war experience. It’s such a terrific help in later years,’ he finished lamely.
    Curtis looked away. It was amazing to think of this boy discussing the war so dispassionately and calmly, and to think that it might only be an interlude in his naval career, when in fact they were crammed together in this little steel shell, nosing through enemy waters with four tons of high explosive to keep them company.
    His father, he thought … so he, too, had a father driving him on. Suppose the war did allow them all to survive? He almost groaned at the idea of such a possibility. But just suppose. What would happen to them? Duncan would be all right, and probably Taylor would be quick enough to adapt himself, but would Jervis really be able to settle down to the rigours of a peace-time Navy? And as for me, he thought, suddenly angry … what would I do? Go back to my father’s company, or try to break away on my own?
    He remembered the last and only time he had tried to do just that. He had, through a few dubious contacts, managed to entangle himself with a group of young people in Chelsea. It had all seemed so different and vaguely daring. The loose talk, and midnight pyjama parties, and a few unsatisfactory meetings with trousered, overpowering girls who described themselves as either art students or models. It had been new, and for him, a glimpse of another life. But although they had been willing to accept his company, and had made him welcome , he had never been quite one of them. Always, behind him, lurked his father, and his background. In desperation he made the fatal mistake of trying to