On the Beach Read Free Page B

or the radioactivity spread south more quickly than the wise men estimated … Put away that thought.
    Mary would be furious if he turned down this job and sacrificed his career. She was a naval officer’s daughter born and brought up at Southsea in the south of England; he had first met her at a dance in
Indefatigable
when he was doing his sea time in England with the Royal Navy. She would want him to take this appointment …
    He raised his head. “I should be all right for those two cruises, sir,” he said. “Would it be possible to review the situation after that, I mean, it’s not so easy to make plans ahead—at home—with all this going on.”
    The Admiral thought for a moment. In the circumstances it was a reasonable request for a man to make,especially a newly married man with a young baby. The case was a new one, for postings were now so few, but he could hardly expect this officer to accept sea duty outside Australian waters in the last few months. He nodded. “I can do that, Holmes,” he said. “I’ll make this posting for five months, till the thirty-first of May. Report to me again when you get back from the second cruise.”
    “Very good, sir.”
    “You’ll report in
Scorpion
on Tuesday, New Year’s Day. If you wait outside a quarter of an hour you can have your letter to the captain. The vessel is at Williamstown, lying alongside
Sydney
as her mother ship.”
    “I know, sir.”
    The Admiral rose to his feet. “All right, Lieutenant-Commander.” He held out his hand. “Good luck in the appointment.”
    Peter Holmes shook hands. “Thank you for considering me, sir.” He paused before leaving the room. “Do you happen to know if Commander Towers is on board today?” he asked. “As I’m here, I might slip down and make my number with him, and perhaps see the ship. I’d rather like to do that before joining.”
    “So far as I know he is on board,” the Admiral said. “You can put a call through to
Sydney
—ask my secretary.” He glanced at his watch. “There’s a transport leaving from the main gate at eleven-thirty. You’ll be able to catch that.”
    Twenty minutes later Peter Holmes was seated by the driver in the electric truck that ran the ferry service down to Williamstown, bowling along in silence through the deserted streets. In former days the truck had been a delivery van for a great Melbourne store; it had been requisitioned at the conclusion of the war and painted naval grey. It moved along at a steady twenty miles anhour unimpeded by any other traffic on the roads. It got to the dockyard at noon, and Peter Holmes walked down to the berth occupied by H.M.A.S.
Sydney
, an aircraft carrier immobilised at the quay side. He went on board, and went down to the wardroom.
    There were only about a dozen officers in the great wardroom, six of them in the khaki gabardine working uniform of the U.S. Navy. The captain of
Scorpion
was among them; he came forward smiling to meet Peter. “Say, Lieutenant-Commander, I’m glad you could come down.”
    Peter Holmes said, “I hoped you wouldn’t mind, sir. I’m not due to join till Tuesday. But as I was at the Navy Department I hoped you wouldn’t mind if I came down for lunch, and perhaps had a look through the ship.”
    “Why, sure,” said the captain. “I was glad when Admiral Grimwade told me he was posting you to join us. I’d like you to meet some of my officers.” He turned to the others. “This is my executive officer, Mr. Farrell, and my engineering officer, Mr. Lundgren.” He smiled. “It takes a pretty high-grade engineering staff to run our motors. This is Mr. Benson, Mr. O’Doherty, and Mr. Hirsch.” The young men bowed, a little awkwardly. The captain turned to Peter. “How about a drink before lunch, Commander?”
    The Australian said, “Well—thank you very much. I’ll have a pink gin.” The captain pressed the bell upon the bulkhead. “How many officers have you in
Scorpion
, sir?”
    “Eleven, all