Read Online Beyond the Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico - Free Book Online
Authors: Paul Gallico
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wrinkled his gorilla features in incomprehension at the contented smile on his captain’s face.
“See, captain!” he cried. His arm, as thick as a tree, swept to include the freighter on the starboard side of the Poseidon and the yacht lazing in the sun. “People here before us. Not good, eh?”
Captain Bela’s look of gratified tranquility did not diminish. He moved to the wing of the bridge and examined the scene and, again touching one cuff, replied to his waiting lieutenant. “Not good, you think, Anton. No, not good. Excellent! One might almost say perfect.”
He stepped through the door from the bridge into the cabin, and picking up a magnifying glass confirmed their respective positions on the chart on the table. Anton’s bulk filled the doorway and threw a large shadow across the chart. His over two hundred pounds of muscle had many applications in his captain’s interest, but planning strategy was not amongst them. His small, ratlike eyes watched patiently from the fleshy face, and his thickly padded fingers drummed heavily on the door frame as he waited for the explanation.
Captain Bela put down the magnifying glass. “Ah, Anton, my dear fellow, I hardly know where I would be without you. But I have warned you before about the dangers of thinking too much.
“You are worried about what we have seen, right? Three men, we must assume survivors, have returned from the helicopter to the ship for God knows what reason. A broken-down coaster has put a line aboard her, presumably hoping to claim salvage rights. And a pleasure yacht crewed by amateur thieves has come to take a look. Oh yes, I know the Naiad all right. They are the pickpockets of the ocean. It is my business to know about such people.”
Anton thrust a thick finger into his ear, pulled it out, and reviewed the result with some pleasure. “But they’re all here before us,” he repeated.
There was a discernible sigh in the captain’s voice as he resumed, “Quite so, Anton, they are here before us. Let them be first. Let them go about their business. Then we shall move in, which is a great deal better than having them interrupt us at our business. Since the freighter is apparently an honest ship, we must point out that we are much better equipped for such a task, that authority is vested in us from Athens, and that life might become difficult for them if they were to get in our way. The three men must leave on the freighter since they cannot have any conceivable right to be on board. And the petty pilferers from the Naiad? We should not be doing our duty, Anton, if we did not dispose of them permanently.”
Anton’s broken teeth emerged in a smile that spread across his flat, battered face. Disposal was his territory. “Kill them, captain?”
“Certainly, Anton. We owe it to the world. And the world will thank us for making the seas safe for honest sailors.”
His voice took on a more purposeful tone. “Take these instructions. There is a diving job to be done. The Naiad has six or seven scuba divers down and they will almost certainly be heading for the main dining room to rob the dead. Tell Hugo to take nine divers, with spear guns and knives, and lose them. It should not pose any problems. They are children in these matters. I will deal with the freighter and those three men.”
Captain Bela hummed a jaunty tune and strolled back onto the bridge as Anton lurched down the companionway to deliver his instructions. Ilich Bela was a happy man. It was a tricky job, but he had the crew and the vessel to accomplish it, and if there was an opportunity to exercise his own ingenuity and capacity for violence, then so much the better. Captain Bela enjoyed a challenge. His crew of Iron Curtain thugs was unquestionably well qualified in all matters of brute force, up to and including murder. His vessel, its decks packed with cranes and hoists and booms, was admirably suited to the work of quickly shifting and carrying unspecified cargo. There
“See, captain!” he cried. His arm, as thick as a tree, swept to include the freighter on the starboard side of the Poseidon and the yacht lazing in the sun. “People here before us. Not good, eh?”
Captain Bela’s look of gratified tranquility did not diminish. He moved to the wing of the bridge and examined the scene and, again touching one cuff, replied to his waiting lieutenant. “Not good, you think, Anton. No, not good. Excellent! One might almost say perfect.”
He stepped through the door from the bridge into the cabin, and picking up a magnifying glass confirmed their respective positions on the chart on the table. Anton’s bulk filled the doorway and threw a large shadow across the chart. His over two hundred pounds of muscle had many applications in his captain’s interest, but planning strategy was not amongst them. His small, ratlike eyes watched patiently from the fleshy face, and his thickly padded fingers drummed heavily on the door frame as he waited for the explanation.
Captain Bela put down the magnifying glass. “Ah, Anton, my dear fellow, I hardly know where I would be without you. But I have warned you before about the dangers of thinking too much.
“You are worried about what we have seen, right? Three men, we must assume survivors, have returned from the helicopter to the ship for God knows what reason. A broken-down coaster has put a line aboard her, presumably hoping to claim salvage rights. And a pleasure yacht crewed by amateur thieves has come to take a look. Oh yes, I know the Naiad all right. They are the pickpockets of the ocean. It is my business to know about such people.”
Anton thrust a thick finger into his ear, pulled it out, and reviewed the result with some pleasure. “But they’re all here before us,” he repeated.
There was a discernible sigh in the captain’s voice as he resumed, “Quite so, Anton, they are here before us. Let them be first. Let them go about their business. Then we shall move in, which is a great deal better than having them interrupt us at our business. Since the freighter is apparently an honest ship, we must point out that we are much better equipped for such a task, that authority is vested in us from Athens, and that life might become difficult for them if they were to get in our way. The three men must leave on the freighter since they cannot have any conceivable right to be on board. And the petty pilferers from the Naiad? We should not be doing our duty, Anton, if we did not dispose of them permanently.”
Anton’s broken teeth emerged in a smile that spread across his flat, battered face. Disposal was his territory. “Kill them, captain?”
“Certainly, Anton. We owe it to the world. And the world will thank us for making the seas safe for honest sailors.”
His voice took on a more purposeful tone. “Take these instructions. There is a diving job to be done. The Naiad has six or seven scuba divers down and they will almost certainly be heading for the main dining room to rob the dead. Tell Hugo to take nine divers, with spear guns and knives, and lose them. It should not pose any problems. They are children in these matters. I will deal with the freighter and those three men.”
Captain Bela hummed a jaunty tune and strolled back onto the bridge as Anton lurched down the companionway to deliver his instructions. Ilich Bela was a happy man. It was a tricky job, but he had the crew and the vessel to accomplish it, and if there was an opportunity to exercise his own ingenuity and capacity for violence, then so much the better. Captain Bela enjoyed a challenge. His crew of Iron Curtain thugs was unquestionably well qualified in all matters of brute force, up to and including murder. His vessel, its decks packed with cranes and hoists and booms, was admirably suited to the work of quickly shifting and carrying unspecified cargo. There
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