On The Beach

Dwight Towers met him on the narrow deck. The admiral returned his salute. "Well, Captain, what sort of a cruise did you have?"

"We had no troubles, sir. The operation went through in accordance with the orders. But I'm afraid you may find the results are disappointing."

"You didn't get very much information?"

"We got plenty of radiation data, sir. North of twenty latitude we couldn't go on deck."

The admiral nodded. "Have you had any sickness?"

"One case that the surgeon says is measles. Nothing of a radioactive nature."

They went below into the tiny captain's cabin. Dwight displayed the draft of his report, written in pencil upon sheets of foolscap with an appendix of the radiation levels at each watch of the cruise, long columns of small figures in John Osborne's neat handwriting. "I'll get this typed in Sydney right away," he said. "But what it comes to is just this-we found out very little."

"No signs of lif e in any of those places?"

"Nothing at all. Of course, you can't see very much, at periscope height from the waterfront. I never realized before we went how little we'd be able to see. I should have, perhaps. You're quite a ways from Cairns out in the main channel, and the same at Moresby. We never saw the town of Darwin at all, up on the cliff. Just the waterfront." He paused. "There didn't seem to be much wrong with that."

The admiral turned over the pencilled pages, stopping now and then to read a paragraph. "You stayed some time at each place?"

"About five hours. We were calling all the time through the loud hailer."

"Getting no answer?"

"No, sir. We thought we did at Darwin just at first, but it was only a crane shackle squeaking on the wharf. We moved right up to it and tracked it down."

"Sea birds?"

"None at all. We never saw a bird north of latitude twenty. We saw a dog at Cairns."

The admiral stayed twenty minutes. Finally he said, "Well, get in this report as soon as you can, marking one copy by messenger direct to me. It's a bit disappointing, but you probably did all that anybody could have done."

The American said, "I was reading that report of Swordfish, sir. There's very little information about things on shore in that, either in the States or in Europe. I guess they didn't see much more than we did, from the waterfront." He hesitated for a moment "There's one suggestion that I'd like to put forward."

"What's that, captain?"

"The radiation levels aren't very high, anywhere along the line. The scientific officer tells me that a man could work safely in an insulating suit-helmet, gloves, and all, of course. We could put an officer on shore in any of those places, rowing in a dinghy, working with an oxygen pack on his back."

"Decontamination when he comes on board again," said the admiral. "That makes a problem. Probably not insuperable. I'll suggest it to the Prime Minister and see if he wants information upon any specific point. He may not think it worth while. But it's an idea."

He turned to the control room to go up the ladder to the bridge.

"Will we be able to give shore leave, sir?"

"Any defects?"

"Nothing of importance."

"Ten days," said the admiral. "I'll make a signal about that this afternoon."

Peter Holmes rang up Mary after lunch. "Home again, all in one piece," he said. "Look, darling, I'll be home sometime tonight-I don't know when. I've got a report to get off first, and I'll drop it in myself at the Navy Department on my way through-I've got to go there, anyway. I don't know when I'll be back. Don't bother about meeting me-I'll walk up from the station."

"It's lovely to hear you again," she said. "You won't have had supper, will you?"

"I shouldn't think so. I'll do myself some eggs or something when I get in."

She thought rapidly. "I'll make a casserole, and we can have that any time."

"Fine. Look, there's just one thing. We had a case of measles on board, so I'm in a kind of quarantine."

"Oh, Peter! You've had it before, though, haven't you?"

"Not since I was about four years old. The surgeon says I can get it again. The incubation time is three weeks. Have you had it-recently?"

"I had it when I was about thirteen."

"I think that makes you pretty safe."

She thought quickly. "What about Jennifer, though?"

"I know. I've been thinking about her. I'll have to keep out of her way."

"Oh dear… Can anyone get measles when she's as young as Jennifer?"

"I don't know, darling. I could ask the surgeon commander."

"Would he know about babies?"

He thought for a moment. "I don't suppose he's had a great deal of experience with them."

"Ask him, Peter, and I'll ring up Dr. Halloran. We'll fix up something, anyway. It's lovely that you're back."