Dive in the Sun Read Online Free PDF

buy his popularity, and he still felt the quiver of complete shame he had experienced when one of the girls had said, ‘Does your dear daddy know you’re out so late, spending his cash?’ He had driven home like a maniac, their laughter still in his ears.
    He realized that Jervis had asked him a question, and the boy prodded the chart with his finger.
    ‘… I mean, shall we leave the harbour the same way as we enter?’
    ‘We’ll have to wait and see what the exact situation is before I can answer that. According to reports there are at least two nets to get through. Then we’ll have to creep right across the harbour, and that’ll mean dodging the harbour traffic and hardly using the periscope at all, and then I’ll try to get up alongside the main loading jetty.’ He rubbed his chin slowly. ‘The dock is apparently right alongside, and we should be able to duck underneath and drop the charges.’
    ‘Here, Ian, come an’ wipe down the flamin’ boat!’ Duncan’s voice cut across their conversation like a saw. ‘She’s runnin’ already!’
    Jervis seized the big roll of old towelling and began to mop the streaming plates free of condensation. The air was still fresh, but the damp chill was already making itself felt, and they were all grateful for their extra clothing.
    Curtis was glad to be left alone. He felt that by turning his body to the chart he could blot out the others, and by concentrating on his proposed attack he struggled to shut out their bantering conversation.
    He tried to picture his boat as she must look to the fish. A small, whale-shaped object, thrusting her blunt nose through the dark water; blind, but for her instruments; helpless and lost, but for his calculations. Strangely enough, he felt a little calmer, but he had drained away so much of his energy that he found it difficult to decide whether or not that was a sign of hope or of resignation. He reached for his notebook and started again.
    They would lie on the bottom for the following day and start to move in on the harbour defences just before nightfall. They ought to be at the first net before dusk, to allow Jervis a bit of practice before his real job started. If all went well they should be clear of the harbour and on their way out to the open sea by five in the morning. The charges would be set to explode beneath the dock at six, so they should be well clear before the pursuit started. Then rendezvous with the towing submarine the following night. He began to sweat again. That was less than forty-eight hours away! Yet it was a life’s span, an eternity!
    He forced himself to think of the Allied armies crouching on the Sicilian shores, waiting to make their spring across on to the Italian coast. What would they be thinking? Not about this ruddy dock, he thought fiercely.
    ‘’Ere, can one of you gentlemen give me a break on the wheel?’ Taylor glanced over his shoulder, his dark eyes gleaming. ‘An’ I’ll get a nice cup of char goin’.’
    ‘Sure. Take over, Ian. Old George’ll show you how to mix a good brew.’ Duncan laughed lazily. ‘Perhaps that’ll be some use to you in your career, too.’
    Jervis grinned and slid into Taylor’s seat, his hands gripping the brass spokes of the wheel. He was used to Duncan’s humour, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to react to Taylor’s casual acceptance of his companions. If they had all been officers it might have been different, he told himself, but each time Duncan shared a joke with the petty officer, at his expense, he felt a needle of resentment prodding him. I’ll get used to it, he thought; we’re just four men. He glanced quickly across at Curtis’s shoulders, stooped over the table. Perhaps we’re only three men, and a leader of men! He smiled at his own reflection in the compass, embarrassed by the complicated depth of his own thoughts. Must be going off my chump. He spun the spokes and started to hum to himself.
    The electric kettle began to whistle