Exodus - Leon Uris [24]
Zev Gilboa was left behind, as he was already at work selecting the three hundred children and setting up special training courses for them.
Mandria was feeling quite proud of himself as they drove along the Famagusta-Larnaca road. At a halfway point Ari was suddenly attracted by some activity taking place in a large field off to the left of the road. He asked Mandria to stop the car and stepped outside for a look. There was feverish building going on in what appeared to be military barracks.
“The British are building new detention compounds,” David said; “they’ve reached the saturation point at Caraolos.”
“Why wasn’t I told about this?” Ari snapped.
“You didn’t ask,” Joab Yarkoni answered.
“The best we can figure,” David said, “is that they’ll begin transferring the overload from Caraolos in two or three weeks.”
Ari returned to the car and they drove on. Joab Yarkoni, who declined to try to second guess his friend, could nevertheless see that Ari was definitely intrigued by the new compounds. Joab could almost hear the wheels grinding in Ari’s brain.
The car entered the narrow bending streets of Larnaca and moved onto the waterfront road, lined with its neat two-storied white houses. They stopped before the Four Lanterns Tavern where the Turkish owner of the ship, a man named Armatau, awaited them. Ari insisted they forego the round of drinks, the fencing for price, and general bartering that was so much a part of the normal business transactions. He wanted to see the ship immediately.
Armatau led them over the street to the long pier that jutted more than a half mile into the water. As they walked past a dozen or more trawlers, launches, and sailboats Armatau kept a constant stream of talk over his shoulder. He assured them that the ship they were about to inspect was, indeed, a queen of the sea. They came to a halt near the end of the pier before an ancient wooden-hulled salvage tug that bore the faded name on her bow: Aphrodite.
“Isn’t she a beauty?” Armatau said, glowing. Then he held his breath apprehensively as four pairs of cold eyes surveyed the old scow from stem to stern. “Of course,” the Turk continued, “she is no racing cruiser.”
Ari’s practiced eye estimated the Aphrodite at a hundred and fifty feet in length and displacing around two hundred tons. By her general build and appearance she was in the neighborhood of forty-five years of age.
“Now just who was Aphrodite?” Joab Yarkoni asked.
“Aphrodite was the goddess of Love. She was washed up in the surf just a few miles from here—five thousand years ago,” David answered.
“Well, this old girl has sure had her change of life,” Joab said.
The Turk swallowed and tried to smile at the jibes. Ben Canaan spun around and faced him. “Armatau, I’m interested in one thing. It’s two hundred miles to Palestine. She’s got to make one run. Yes or no?”
Armatau threw up both arms. “On my mother’s honor,” he said, “I have made three hundred runs between Cyprus and Turkey. Mr. Mandria owns the shipping company. He knows.”
“It is true,” Mandria said. “She is old but reliable.”
“Mr. Armatau, take my two friends aboard and show them the engines.”
When the other three had gone below decks Mandria turned to Ari. “Armatau may be a Turk but he can be trusted.”
“What kind of speed can we get out of this thing?” Ari asked.
“Probably five knots—with a gale in her back. The Aphrodite is in no hurry.”
They went on deck and looked over the topside. She was half rotted away and long past the time it would have paid to repair her. Yet, despite the obvious qualifications there was something very sound about her. A solid feeling that she knew the tricks of the sea and had won many battles against it.
In a half hour David and Joab completed their inspection.
“This ship is an absolute abortion,” David said, “but I am positive she’ll make it.”
“Can we get three hundred aboard?” Ari asked.
David rubbed his jaw. “Well ... maybe, with a shoehorn.”
Ari