Wilbur Smith's Smashing Thrillers (41 page)

She spoke for twenty minutes, wheedling and
charming, while the blood-curdling transatlantic rumblings on the
receiver slowly muted to reluctant and resigned mutterings.

‘
You're going to get me into trouble one of these days, Nicholas Berg
,’
she
told him primly as she hung up.

‘
Now there is a happy thought
,’
Nick agreed, and she hit him with her
pillow.

The telephone rang at two minutes past nine the next morning. They were
in the bath together and Nicholas swore and went through naked and
steaming and dripping suds.

‘
Mr. Berg?
’
James Teacher's voice was sharp and businesslike.
‘
You were
right, Christy Marine petitioned for postponement of hearing late
yesterday afternoon.
’

‘
How long?
’
Nicholas snapped.

‘
Ninety days.
’

‘
The bastard
,’
grunted Nick.
‘
What grounds?
’

‘
They want time
to prepare their submission.
’

‘
Block them
,’
Nick instructed.

‘
I have a meeting with the Secretary at eleven. I'm going to ask for an
immediate preliminary hearing to set down and confirm the return date.
’

‘
Get him before the arbitrators
,’
said Nick.

‘
We'll get him.
’

Samantha welcomed him back to the tub by drawing her
knees up under her chin. Her hair was piled on top of her head, but
damp wisps hung down her neck and on to her cheeks. She looked pink and
dewy as a little girl.

‘
Careful where you put your toes, sir
,’
she cautioned him, and he felt the
tension along his nerves easing. She had that effect on him.

‘
I'll buy you lunch at
“
Les A
”
if you can tear yourself away from your
microscope and fishy-smelling specimens for an hour or two.
”

‘
Les
Ambassadeurs? I've heard about it! For lunch there I'd walk across
London on freshly amputated stumps.
’

‘
That won't be necessary, but you
will have to charm a tribe of wild desert Sheikhs. I understand they
are very sympathetic towards blondes.
’

‘
Are you going to sell me into a
harem - sounds fun, I've always fancied myself in baggy, transparent
bloomers.
’

‘
You, I'm not selling - icebergs, I am. I'll pick you up at
the front gate of the museum at one o'clock sharp.
’

She went with
laughter and a great clatter and banging of doors and Nicholas settled
at the telephone.

‘
I'd like to speak to Sir Richard personally, it's Nicholas Berg.
’
Sir
Richard was at Lloyd's, an old and good friend.

Then he called and spoke to Charles Gras
.

There were no new delays or
threats to Sea Witch's completion date.

‘
I am sorry for any trouble you had with Alexander.
’

‘
C
a
ne
fait rien,
Nicholas. Good luck at the hearing. I will be watching the Lloyd's
List.
’
Nicholas felt a sense of relief. Charles Gras had risked his
c
areer to show him Golden Dawn. I
t could have been serious.

Then Nick spoke for nearly half an hour to Bernard Wackie of Bach Wackie
in Bermuda. Warlock had reported on the telex two hours previously; she
was making good passage with her oil-rig tow, would drop off at Bravo
II
on schedule and pick up her next tow as soon as she had anchored.

‘
David Allen is a good youngster,
’
Bernard told Nick.
‘
But have you got Levoisin for Sea Witch?

‘
Jules is playing the prima
donna, he has not said yes, but he'll come.
’

‘
You'll have a good team,
then. What's the latest date for Sea Witch?
’

‘
End March.
’

‘
The sooner the
better, I've got contacts to keep both tugs running hard until the
iceberg project matures.
’

‘
I'm having lunch with the Sheikhs today.
’

‘
I
know. There's a lot of interest. I've got a good feeling.
There is something big brewing, but they are a cagey bunch. The
inscrutab
le smile on the face of the sph
inx
-
when do we see you?
’

'I'll
come across just as soon as I've got Duncan Alexander into the
arbitration court - end of the month, hopefully.
’

‘
We've got a lot to
talk about, Nicholas.
’

Nick hesitated for the time it took to smoke the
first cheroot of the day before he called Monte Carlo - for the call
would cost him at least fifty thousand dollars, probably closer to
seventy-five.
The best is always the cheapest, he reminded himself,
picked up the receiver and spoke to a secretary in Monte Carlo, giving
his name
.

While he waited for the connection he thought how his life was
complicating itself once more. Very soon Bach Wackie would not be
enough, there would have to be a London branch of Ocean Salvage,
offices, secretaries, files, accounts, and then a New York branch, a
branch in Saudi, the whole cycle again. He thought suddenly of
Samantha, uncluttered and simple happiness, life without its wearisome
trappings - then the connection was made and he heard the thin, high,
almost feminine voice.

‘
Mr. Berg - Claud Lazarus.
’
No other greeting, no expressions of pleasure
at the renewal of contact. Nick imagined him sitting at his desk in the
suite high above the harbour, like a human foetus - preserved in
spirits, bottled on the museum shelf. The huge bald domed head, the
soft putty-coloured rudimentary features, the nose hardly large enough
to support the thick spectacles. The eyes distorted and startled by the
lens, changing shape like those of a fish in an aquarium as the light
moved. The body unde
rdeveloped, as that of a foetus
, narrow shoulders,
seemingly tapering away to the bowed question mark of a body.

‘
Mr. Lazarus. Are you in a position to undertake an in
-
depth study for
me?
’
It was the euphemism for financial and industrial espionage; Claud
Lazarus
’
network was not limited by frontiers or continents, it spanned
the globe with delicately probing tentacles.

‘
Of course
,’
he piped softly.

‘
I want the financial structuring, the lines of control and management,
the names of the nominees and their principals, the location and
inter-relationship of all the elements of the Christy Marine Group and
London European Insurance and Banking Co. Group, with particular
reference to any changes in structure during the previous fourteen
months. Do you have that?
’

‘
This is being recorded, Mr. Berg.
’

'Of
course. Further, I want the country of registration, the insurers and
underwriters of all bottoms traceable to their holdings.
’

‘
Please
continue.
’

‘
I want an accurate estimate of the reserves of London and
European Insurance in relations to their potential liability.
’

‘
Continue.
’

‘
I am particularly interested in the vessel Golden Dawn presently
building at the yards of Construction Navale Atlantique at St Nazaire. I
want to know if she has been chartered or has contracted with any oil
company for carriage of crude and, if so, on what routes and at what
rates.
’

‘
Yes? Lazarus squeaked softly.

‘
Time is of the essence - and, as always, so is discretion.
’

‘
You need not
have mentioned that, Mr. Berg.
’

‘
My contact, when you are ready to pass
information, is Bac
h
Wacky in Bermuda.
’

‘
I will keep you informed of
progress.
’

‘
Thank you, Mr. Lazarus.
’

‘
Good day, Mr. Berg.
’

It was
refreshing not to have to pretend to be the bosom comrade of somebody
who supplied essentials but nonetheless revolted him, Nick thought, and
comforting to know he had the best man in the world for the job.

He looked at his watch. It was lunchtime, and he felt the quick lift of
his spirits at the thought of being with Samantha.

Lime Street is a narrow alleyway, with tall buildings down each side of
it, which opens off Leadenhall Street. A few yards from the junction,
on the left hand side as you leave the street of shipping, is the
covered entrance to Lloyd's of London.

Nicholas stepped out of James Teacher's Bentley and took Samantha on his
arm. He paused a moment, with a feeling of certain reverence
.

As a
seaman, the history of this remarkable institution touched him
intimately. Not that the building itself was particularly old or
venerable. Nothing now remained of the original coffee house, except
some of the traditions: the caller who intoned the brokers names like
the offertory in the temple of some exotic religion, the stalls in which
the underwriters conducted their business and the name and uniform of
the institution's servants, the waiters with brass buttons and red
collar tabs.

Rather it was the tradition of concern that was enshrined here, the
concern for ships and for all men who went down to the sea in those
ships and did their business in great waters.

Perhaps later, Nicholas would find time to take Samantha through the
Nelson rooms and show her the displays of memorabilia associated with
the greatest of Britain's sailors, the plate and letters and awards.
Certainly he would have her as lunch guest in the big dining-room, at
the table set aside specifically for visiting sea captains.

But now there were more important considerations to demand all his
attention. He had come to hear the verdict given on his future - within
a few hours he would know just how high and how fast the wave of his
fortune had carried him.

‘
Come
,’
he said to Samantha, and led her up the short flight of steps into
the lobby, where there was a waiter alerted to receive them.

We will be using the Committee Room today, sir. The earlier submissions
by both parties had been heard in one of the smaller offices, leading
off the high gallery above the vast floor of the exchange with its rows
of underwriters stalls. However, due to the extraordinary nature of
this action, the Committee of Lloyd's had made a unique decision - to
have their arbitrators give their findings and make their award in
surroundings more in keeping with the importance of the occasion.