Triple (44 page)

TRIPLE

But even if Hassan did not find him, Nat was in danger from the Russians.

And if he was forewarned, he could escape both dangers.

Perhaps, too, she could get rid of Hassan somehow, before she actually

reached Nat

What was the alternative? To wait, to go on as if nothing had happened,

to hope for a phone call that might never come ... It was, she realized,

partly her need to see Dickstein again that made her think like this,

partly the thought that after the hijack he might be dead, that this

might be her last chance But there were good reasons, too: by doing noth-

Ing she might help frustrate Hassan's scheme, but that 80 left the

Russians and their scheme.

Her decision was made. She would pretend to work with Hassan so that she

could find Nathaniel.

She was peculiarly happy. She was trapped, but she felt free; she was

obeying her father, yet she felt that at last she was defying him; for

better or worse, she was committed to Nathaniel.

She was also very, very frightened.

She got out of the bath, dried herself, dressed, and went downstairs to

tell them the good news.

At four A.M. on November 16, 1968, the Caparelli hove to at Vlissingen,

on the Dutch coast, and took an board a port pilot to guide her through

the channel of the Westerscbelde to Antwerp. Four hours later, at the

entrance to the harbor, she took on another pilot to negotiate her

passage through the docks. From the main harbor she went through Royers

Lock, along the Suez Canal, under the Siberia Bridge and into Kattendijk

Dock, where she tied up at her berth.

Nat Dickstein was watching.

When he saw her sweep slowly in, and read the name Co. Parelli On her

side, and thought of the drums of yelloweake that would soon fill her

belly, he was overcome by a most Peculiar feeling, like the one he had

when he looked at Suza's naked body... yes, almost like lust

He looked away from berth No. 42 to the railway line, which ran almost

to the edge of the quay. There was a train on the'line now, consisting

of eleven cars and an engine. Ten of the cars carried fifty-one 200-liter

drams with sealed lids and the word PLumBAT stenciled on the side; the

eleventh car

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had only fifty drums. He was so close to those drums, to that uranium; he

could Woll over and- touch the railway cars-he already had done this once,

earlier in the morning, and had thought: Wouldn't it be terrific just to

raid this place with choppers and a bunch of Israeli commandos and simply

steal the stuff.

The Coparellf was scheduled for a fast turnaround. The port authorities had

been convinced that the yelloweake could be handled safely, but all the

same they did not want the stuff hanging about their harbor one minute

longer than necessary. Ilere was a crane standing by ready to load the

drums on to the ship.

Nevertheless, there were formalities to be completed before loading could

begin.

'17he fint person Dickstein saw boarding the ship was an official from the

shipping company. He had to give the pilots their pourboire and secure from

the captain a crew list for the harbor police.

The second person aboard was Josef Cohen. He was here for the sake of

customer relations: he would give the captain a bottle of whiskey and sit

down for a drink with him and the shipping company official. He also had a

wad of tickets for free entry and one drink at the best nightclub in town,

which be would give to the captain for the officers. And he would discover

the name of the ship's engineer. Dickstein had suggested he do this by

asking to see the crew list, then counting out one ticket for each officer

on the list.

Whatever way he had decided to do it, he had been successful: ashe left the

ship and crossed the quay to return to his office he passed Dickstein and

muttered, "Me engineer's name is Same," without breaking stride.

It was not until afternoon that the crane went into action and the dockers

began loading the drums into the three holds of the Copareffl. IMe drums

had to be moved one at a time, and inside the ship each drum had to be

secured with wedges of wood. As expected, the loading was not completed

that day.

In the evening Dickstein went to the best nightclub in town. Sitting at the

bar, close to the telephone, was a quite astonishing woman of about thirty,

with black hair and a long, aristocratic face possessed of a faintly

haughty expression. She wore an elegant black dress which made the

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most of her sensational legs and her high, round breasts. Dickstein gave

her an almost imperceptible nod but did not speak to her.

He sat in a comer, nursing a glass of beer, hoping the sailors would

come. Surely they would. Did sailors ever refuse a free drink?

Yes.

The club began to fill up. The woman in the black dress was propositioned

a couple of times but refused both men, thereby establishing that she was

not a hooker. At nine o'clock Dickstein went out to the lobby and phoned

Cohen. By previous arrangement, Cohen had called the captain of the

Coparelli on a pretext. He now told Dickstein what he had discovered:

that all but two of the officers were using their free tickets. Ile

exceptions were the captain himself, who was busy with paperwork, and the

radio operator-a new man they had taken on in Cardiff after Lars broke

his leg-who had a head cold.

Dickstein then dialed the number of the club he was in. He asked to speak

to Mr. Same, who, he understood, would be found in the bar. While he

waited he could hear a barman calling out Same's name: it came to him two

ways, one directly from the bar, the other through several miles of tele-

phone cable. Eventually be heard, over the phone, a voice say, "Yes?

Hello? This is Same. Is anybody there? Hello?"

Dickstein bung up and walked quickly back into the bar. He looked over

to where the bar phone wa& The woman in the black dress was speaking to

a tall, suntanned blond man in his thirties whom Dickstein had seen on

the quay earlier that day. So this was Same.

The woman smiled at Same. It was a nice smile, a smile to make any man

look twice: it was warm and red-lipped, showing even, white teeth, and

it was accompanied by a certain languid half-closing of the eyes, which

was very sexy and looked not at all. as though it bad been rehearsed a

thousand times in front of a mirror.

Dickstein watched, spellbound. He had very little idea how this sort of

thing worked, bow men picked up women and women picked up men, and be

understood even less how a woman could pick up a man while letting the

man believe he was doing the picking up.

Same had his own charm, it seemed. He gave her his

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smile, a grin with something wickedly boyish in it that made him look ten

years younger. He said something to her, and she smiled again. He

hesitated, like a man who wants to talk some more but cannot think of

anything to say; then, to Dickstein's horror, he turned away to go.

Ile woman was equal to this: Dickstein need not have worried. She touched

the sleeve of Same's blazer, and he turned back to her. A cigarette had

suddenly appeared in her hand. Same slapped his pockets for matches.

Apparently he did not smoke. Dickstein groaned inwardly. The woman took

a lighter from the evening bag on the bar in front of her and handed it

to him. He lit her cigarette.

Dick9ein could not go away, or watch from a distance; he would have a

nervous breakdown. He had to listen. He pushed his way through the bar

and stood behind Same, who was facing the woman. Dickstein ordered

another beer.

The woman's voice was warm and inviting, Dickstein knew already, but now

she was really using it. Some women had bedroom eyes, she had a bedroom

voice.

Same was saying, '9rhis kind of thing is always happening to me."

"Me phone call?" the woman said.

Sarno nodded. "Woman trouble. I hate women. All my fife, women have

caused me pain and suffering. I wish I were a homosexual."

Dickstein was astonished. What was he saying? Did he mean it? Was he

trying to give her the brush-off?

She said, "Why don't you become one?"

'I don't fancy men."

"Be a monk."

"Well, you see, I have this other problem, this insatiable sexual

appetite. I have to get laid, all the time, often several times a night.

Ifs a great problem to me. Would you like a fresh drinkr'

Ah. It was a line of chat. How did he think it up? Dickstein supposed

that sailors did this sort of thing all the time, they had it down to a

fine art.

It went on that way. Dickstein had to admire the way the woman led Same

by the nose while letting him think be was making the running. She told

him she was stopping over in Antwerp just for the night, and let him know

she had a room in a good hotel. Before long be said they should have

cham-

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pagne, but the champagne sold in the club was very poor stuff, not like

they might be able to get somewhere else; at a hotel, say; her hotel, for

example.

They left when the floor show started. Dickstein was pleased: go far, so

good. He watched a line of girls kicking their legs for ten minutes, then

he went out.

He took a cab to the hotel and went up to the room. He stood close to the

communicating door which led through to the next room. He heard the woman

giggle and Same say something in a low voice.

Dickstein sat on the bed and checked the cylinder of gas. He turned tke

tap on and off quickly, and got a sharp whiff of sweetness from the face

mask. It had no effect on him. He wondered how much you had to breathe

before it worked. He had not had time to try out the stuff properly.

1"he noises from the next room became louder, and Dickstein began to feel

embarrassed. He wondered how conscientious Sarne was. Would he want to

go back to his ship as soon as he had finished with the woman?.That would

be awkward. It would mean a fight in the hotel corridor-unprofessional,

risky.

Dickstein waited-tense, embarrassed, anxious. The woman was good at her

trade. She knew Dickstein wanted Sarne to sleep afterward, and she was

trying to tire him. It seemed to take forever.

It was past two A.M. W.hen she knocked on the communicating door. The

code was three slow knocks to say he was asleep, six fast knocks to say

he was leaving.

She knocked three times, slowly.

Dickstein opened the door. Carrying the gas cylinder in one hand and the

face mask in the other, he walked softly into the next room.

Same lay flat on his back, naked, his blond hair mussed, his mouth wide

open, his eyes closed. His body looked fit and strong. Dickstein went

close and listened to his breathing. He breathed in, then all the way

out-then, just as he began to inhale again, Dickstein turned on the tap

and clapped the mask over the sleeping man's nose and mouth.

Same's eyes opened wide. Dickstein held the mask on more firmly. Half a

breath: incomprehension in Sarne's eyes. The breath turned into a gasp,

and Same moved his head, failed to weaken Dickstein's grip, and began to

thrash about. Dick-

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