Cast No Shadow, Peter Sharp [books to get back into reading txt] 📗

his full weight and the shock nearly made him lose his grasp; he hung on, gasping, flicked a leg over the rope and slid down. The friction burned through his fatigue trousers, and his hands felt as though they were being shredded. Through the pain, he became aware of the shouts above and general clamour from the ship.

Kelly hit the ground running. He had no idea how far behind him the Soviet marine detachment was, he simply ran as hard as he could. Then he became conscious of the next hurdle approaching fast. The British marine sentries at the base of the gangway had crossed rifles to prevent his entry onto the ship.

“British Officer! British Officer!” he screamed as he approached. Confused, the sentries momentarily dropped their guard, just long enough for him to punch a hole between them with his body and scramble up the gangway. As he reached the top a shot rang out and a round ricocheted from the metal of the ship a few feet from Kelly.

“Cease fire!” An authoritative voice roared out. It came from a man a few feet from Kelly. Tall and heavy, he sported a full facial set and was standing legs apart and hands on hips.

The roar had had the desired effect; there was almost total silence. Kelly was now on the frigate looking down on the scene below. It had become a tableau; the British marines had regained their composure and were now in the ‘on guard’ position blocking any further advance of the Soviet marines along with Botvinik and Vladeshenko. It was a classic stand-off.

“I demand to know who has fired on a British Man of War whilst a guest in a friendly Soviet port!” The big man again.

No response.

“I demand an answer! This is an international incident which I intend to report to the British Government.”

The silence was broken by the slowly approaching footsteps of two Soviet naval officers. Tzereskova and Yashin. Tzereskova looked calm and unhurried. He caught Kelly’s eye but displayed no outward sign of recognition. He was speaking to Yashin, his mouth close to the young officer’s ear.

“There is no need, Captain!” Yashin spoke on behalf of Tzereskova, who was clearly maintaining his ‘no English’ pretence. There must be benefits to this subterfuge thought Kelly. He imagined Vladeshenko and Botvinik speaking quietly in English to exclude others, whilst the captain listened in and understood every word.

Yashin spoke again. “Captain, Captain Tzereskova greets you and apologises for the incident. No harm or disrespect was meant. We were entertaining a countryman of yours when he decided to leave in a most entertaining and theatrical manner. Unfortunately, he had not apprised us of the joke he was about to play and this resulted in confusion among our sentries. In the confusion a shot was accidentally discharged.”

Kelly caught the whisper between the British captain and his number one standing alongside. “What’s old Tzereskova up to, Jock? He speaks better English than you do!” The Scots number one chuckled.

Aloud the captain shouted, “Please inform Captain Tzereskova that I accept his apology and the matter is now forgotten. It would be sad indeed if someone had deliberately attempted to sabotage the excellent relationship between our two great nations.”

Tzereskova spoke quietly to Yashin as the latter relayed his message. As he did so Tzereskova stared pointedly at Botvinik, who was now looking increasingly flustered.

“We will carry out an internal investigation at once, Captain. If we find that any member of our crew has attempted to initiate an international incident, they will be dealt with most rigorously.”

A clear threat to Botvinik, thought Kelly. Tzereskova had very cleverly turned this whole incident to his advantage.

As if to retrieve some credibility Botvinik called up to the frigate, “You have a man on board who may be implicated in espionage, Captain. May we interview him?”

“If you are referring to Second Lieutenant Dan Kelly, then I can tell you that I know him well and I can give you a personal assurance that he is a Royal Navy officer and is not involved in any form of espionage.”

Kelly started and looked more closely at the big man who was speaking. In the poor light it was difficult to make out his features clearly especially with his face covered in bushy grey hair. But was it not … Guthrie! He had been one of his instructors at Devonport.

Guthrie continued, “I trust that Captain Tzereskova is prepared to accept my word in this matter?”

A brief exchange between Yashin and Tzereskova before Yashin called up, “That goes without saying Captain. Please again accept the captain’s apology. We will trouble you no more this night.”

With that Tzereskova saluted, turned on his heel and strode off. The rest of his party followed behind with Botvinik bringing up the rear. Kelly had the distinct impression of a dog with its tail firmly between its legs.

Kelly sipped on his gin and tonic as he concluded the telling of his story for the second time in two days. Guthrie and Jock Shearer, his number one, had listened spellbound.

“Dear God! Old man, you’ve had more adventures than the rest of us put together,” said Guthrie. “That escape from the Rusky ship was real ‘boys own’ stuff.”

“Tzereskova’s idea. He is clearly uneasy with the regime and the likes of Vladeshenko and Botvinik,” said Kelly.

“That’s certainly the gossip around this port,” Shearer nodded. “He seems to have turned this whole episode to his advantage, but he’ll need to tread carefully. Stalin is said to be a tyrant.”

“Anyway, you two,” said Guthrie, “I’m going to get some kip and I suggest you do the same, Dan. I’m afraid Jock here is on watch shortly. Such are the hardships we endure.” Shearer and Kelly laughed.

“I’d like to play full role as part of the crew, Skipper, if that’s okay?” said Kelly

“Jock will arrange everything. I’ll leave you two to thrash out the detail,” Guthrie assented. He turned and made for the door. Just before leaving he stopped and