anything unusual, a wreck or something, then it will show.’
‘And you’ll be able to recognise the boat we want from that?’
‘No. It could be any wreck. Then we have to send down a submersible with a video camera to take a look.’
‘Do people go down in the submersible?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’d very much like to go down some time.’
‘It’s really only for experienced divers,’ Dyan started to explain.
But, ‘I have diving experience. I told you I’ve been to the West Indies before; I took a diving course then.’
‘Well, in that case, I’m sure we could arrange something,’ Dyan smiled. There was a question which had been niggling at the back of her mind, and now, glancing at the bank of phones, she saw a way to answer it. Gesturing to them, she said, ‘We’re connected up to the international communications satellite; if you’d like to phone your wife and family, to tell them you’ve arrived safely, you can do it from here.’
‘How very kind of you.’ Oliver gave her a quizzical look in which she thought she noticed a touch of amusement. ‘I’d like to use the phone some time—but there’s no one waiting with breathless anxiety for me to call.’
‘Oh. Fine.’ Dyan turned away, feeling slightly abashed, which was totally unlike her. She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s almost time for dinner. We’re eating early tonight so we can sail on the tide. Would you like a drink first?’
He nodded. ‘Sounds a good idea.’
They went back to the rest room where Dyan poured the drinks herself and noted them in the book. Oliver asked her what it was and she explained that everyone entered the drinks they’d taken and settled up at the end of each voyage.
‘Doesn’t that encourage drunkenness?’ Oliver questioned.
Dyan shook her head. ‘Starr Marine doesn’t employ drunks. Any crew member who got drunk would be put ashore at the next port; they all know that.’
‘The men in the crew—I take it that they are all reliable and discreet?’
‘Of course. They’ve been hand-picked for this project. They’ve all been with the company for some years and are seasoned sailors and divers.’ That hadn’t been what Oliver meant, but Dyan deliberately paused before she looked him straight in the eyes and added, ‘They are all also honest men. You need have no fear that they’ll steal anything they find.’
She had spoken stiffly, her tone cold, affronted by the implied insult to the men. But Oliver said, ‘I’m more worried that they might be indiscreet, let fall information about the—about our quarry, so that another salvage company might get there first.’
‘They haven’t been told what we’re going after. And as for where—well, no one knows that yet. You’re supposed to be bringing that information with you,’ she pointed out rather tartly.
Oliver nodded, but his eyes had drawn into a frown again.
A bell sounded. Russ came in with the first mate, followed by most of the crew. He introduced them to Oliver and they almost immediately moved into the galley for dinner. There were no set places; people sat round the long table where they pleased. Dyan would have sat next to Oliver, but she was still a little annoyed with him, although she supposed that he was bound to ask about the integrity of the crew given the nature of the salvage they were to raise. So she sat next to Hal, the head of the diving team, and let Oliver find a place next to the chief engineer.
There were four empty spaces round the table, those of crew members that they would be picking up in Antigua, local men who were taking advantage of their being in the area to take a break with their families. Dyan heard Oliver ask about the empty chairs and the chief engineer tell him that there were some men to come, but then Joe began to serve the food and nothing more was said. It was a good meal, made of fresh food and plenty of it. Not up to five star hotel standard, but very good for a Starr Marine boat. Dyan couldn’t help glancing at Oliver to see his reaction, but he was apparently eating with as much appetite as the rest.
She only glanced at him a few times, and seemed to be giving her attention to Hal, who was recounting the story of his very first dive. But she had heard it all before and so her mind wandered, and naturally dwelt on Oliver, the stranger in their midst. He seemed a paradox; to be so open-minded that he had accepted her at once and without question, and at the same time anxious about the reliability of the men— men that he must know had been thoroughly vetted by Barney before they would be employed for a project such as this. And whatever his mind, his character wasn’t open; he seemed to have a natural reserve, an air of reticence about him. The chief engineer was talking to him and Oliver was listening politely, but he glanced up before Dyan could look away and caught her eye. She gave him one of her warm smiles and he looked at her for a moment before nodding in return, but he didn’t smile back. He didn’t seem to smile much at all. Perhaps this is his first assignment, she thought excusingly. Perhaps he’s too tense to relax.
His meal finished, Russ, the skipper, glanced at his watch and stood up, several other men doing the same. But those not on watch stayed in the cabin for coffee.
The boat made little noise as it put slowly out to sea, its modern engines hardly vibrating, the calmness of the harbour holding the boat steady. The curtains in the cabin were drawn and there were no passing lights to show that they were moving. Not until they were out of the harbour and into the open sea, when the engines were opened up, did a slight tremble along the decking betray that the boat was in its element at last.
Oliver felt it and looked up in sharp surprise. Putting down his coffee-cup, he said to Dyan, ‘I’d like to talk to you, if I may?’
‘Of course.’ She stood up. ‘Shall we go to the operations room?’
She walked ahead of him, her legs immediately adjusting to the movement of the ship, finding it no problem after so many salvage operations such as this. When they reached the ops room she waited until Oliver had followed her in and then closed the door behind them.
‘This room is completely soundproof,’ she told him reassuringly. ‘I expect you want to give me the coordinates for the last known position of the Xanadu. All I know at the moment is that she went down off the Windward Islands.’
‘No, that isn’t what I want,’ Oliver said tersely. ‘What I want to know is just when your father is coming aboard?’
‘My father?’ She stared at him incredulously, thinking that she couldn’t possibly have heard right. ‘I haven’t got a father—I mean, I did have one but he died years ago.’
‘Well, your brother, then,’ Oliver said impatiently. ‘Whatever relation to you this man Logan is who’s supposed to be in charge of this expedition. He should have been here from the start, but now I want to know exactly where he is.’
All the happy thoughts of a uniquely open-minded man faded abruptly. Dyan’s face hardened. ‘You’d better come with me,’ she said shortly, and led the way into the office section where all the telephones were. Glancing at the clock, she calculated that Barney would still be in the office, hopefully having lunch…and hopefully the call would give him acute indigestion. She wrote the number down and gave it to Oliver. ‘This is Barnaby Starr’s private line in
