Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [34]
„May I remind you, Lieutenant-Commander Hogben, that as a brigadier I outrank you by a considerable margin. Even a four-ring captain would only be the equivalent of a colonel.
Or am I wrong?‟
„And may I remind you. Brigadier, that as... as Commanding Officer of this ship, I have abso... absolute authority over it and everybody on board. And that includes you, sir.‟
Only the occasional hesitation served to confirm the Brigadier‟s diagnosis that Hogben would have been neck and neck in a drinking competition with an alcoholic newt.
He tried again. „What were your orders from London?‟
„To put myself at the dis... disposal of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce in all respects.‟
„That‟s what I understood. You are proposing to disobey those orders?‟ The anger in the Brigadier‟s voice hung in the air.
There was a long pause.
„This is getting out of hand,‟ said Hogben. „Sit down, Brigadier. Have a drink...‟
For a moment, the Brigadier was tempted to give the young fool the benefit of his long experience in taming cocky young subalterns who felt they could get away with anything short of murder. But then... there was more than one way to skin a hare, as his dad used to say. And he could do with a dram.
„A wee one, I said,‟ he protested as Hogben poured out nearly half a tumbler of Scotch.
Hogben took a sip of his equally full tumbler of gin. He had seemed to be sobering up, thought the Brigadier. It wouldn‟t last long if he drank that lot.
The CO took another sip before he spoke. „I don‟t think you quite realise how much power the skipper of any vessel has -
let alone a Royal Navy ship.‟
„I certainly...‟
The CO held up his hand to stop the Brigadier. „There‟s a story we were told in our last year at Dartmouth on this very point. The evacuation of Crete during the war...‟
Now the Brigadier started to listen. He‟d been amongst the first troops ashore when Crete was later retaken.
„There was a midshipman who‟d been given the job of ferrying troops - in a small landing craft. Taking them to Egypt. He had on board as many as he thought he could safely manage - as you can imagine, they were queuing up like Saturday night at the Odeon, but the sea was getting nasty. And as he was about to slip, a major-general arrived and demanded to be taken too.‟
You could see what was coming.
„Yes, the midshipman refused. Even when the general ordered him, he still wouldn‟t let him aboard. The day after he got to Egypt, he had a signal to report to the commander-in-chief‟s cabin. When he got there, there was the general.
The admiral asked him if the story was true. And he said it was. And do you know what the admiral said? “Well done.”
That‟s what he said. He said, “I‟m glad to know that my officers know how to do their duty...”„
There was another long pause.
„I take your point,‟ said the Brigadier, quietly. „So you think the ship is in danger.‟
„Well...‟
„And you‟ll be willing to defend your action? For make no mistake, I shall see that you face a court martial.‟ He picked up his whisky. „Cheers,‟ he said.
The Doctor and Bob Simkins were discussing the effect the deep ocean ridges near the island might have on tidal currents, with Sarah a rather bemused listener. Every head turned as the door burst open and in came Lieutenant-Commander Eugene Hogben, followed by the Brigadier.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows in a mute question. The Brigadier gave a little nod and a satisfied twitch of a smile.
The Commanding Officer of HMS Hallaton looked at the steering compass to check the course. He gave the First Lieutenant a furtive glance. He turned to the helmsman.
„Port ten,‟ he said.
Just after 3 30 in the afternoon, Whitbread came to his senses. A seaman who doubled as the Captain‟s steward –
„Blackie‟ Blackmore by name - had been put on Alex watch, and promptly fetched the Brigadier.
But when he was confronted with the description in the pilot book, Alex insisted that the book was wrong.
„Why the devil should I get you to take me to a place like that?‟ he said. „Use the little