Star of Africa. Scott Mariani

      ‘So,’ Jude said, ‘what if one of us was able to sneak up there?’

      ‘One of us?’

      ‘I was thinking of myself.’

      ‘Without getting caught and shot to pieces?’ said Condor, the eternal optimist. ‘You want to tell me exactly how you’re planning on managing that?’

      ‘Son, it might as well be on Mars,’ Gerber said. ‘You’d never make it.’

      Jude rubbed his chin and thought hard for a few moments. An idea was growing in his mind, and the more it grew the more he believed it could work. ‘Diesel,’ he said. ‘This is the engine room, yes?’

      ‘Last time I looked,’ Diesel said, sweeping an arm back at the blue-painted mass of iron machinery, pipes and control equipment behind him.

      ‘So we have control over the ship’s power and they can’t override us from the bridge in any way?’

      If the answer was no, Jude’s germ of a plan was dead before it was even born.

      ‘Sure, we can throw the master switches on everything right here. Engine power, electrics, hydraulics, air, emergency generator, the works,’ Diesel said, still staring at him, as were the others, apart from Scagnetti who had wandered off on his own to light a roll-up and pollute the unbreathable air of the engine room still further.

      ‘What about the radar?’ Jude asked.

      ‘Uh-huh,’ Diesel said, uncertain where Jude was going with this. ‘We can knock that out along with every other instrument in the conning station. So?’

      Jude could feel a smile spreading over his face as his confidence in his plan grew stronger. ‘And if we cut the engines, the ship will stop moving and stay pretty much put?’

      ‘As long as the sea’s calm, sure,’ Diesel replied. ‘We’ll drift, but not by more than a few points, depending on the currents. Cut to the chase, kid. What the hell is this about?’

      ‘Listen,’ Jude said.