The Doomsday Conspiracy   ::   Sheldon Sidney

Robert decided that it was time to make his first move. He left the restaurant and wandered down to the waterfront. It was crowded with large and small boats leaving from Portoferraio.

Robert approached a man polishing the hull of a sleek motor boat. It was a Donzi, powered by a V-8 351 inboard engine.

“Nice boat,” Robert said.

The man nodded. “Merci.”

“I wonder if I could rent it to take a little cruise around the harbour?”

The man stopped what he was doing and studied Robert. “That might be possible. Are you familiar with boats?”

“Yes. I have a Donzi back home.”

The man nodded approvingly. “Where are you from?”

“Oregon,” Robert said.

“It will cost you four hundred francs an hour.”

Robert smiled. “That’s fine.”

“And a deposit, of course.”

“Of course.”

“She’s ready to go. Would you like to take her out now?”

“No, I have some errands to run. I thought tomorrow morning.”

“What time?”

“I’ll let you know,” Robert said.

He handed the man some money. “Here’s a partial deposit. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He had decided it would be dangerous to let the Halcyon come into port. There were formalities. The capitano di porto – the harbourmaster – issued each yacht an autorizzazione and recorded its stay. Robert intended for the Halcyon to be as little involved with him as possible. He would meet it at sea.

In the office of the French Marine Ministry, Colonel Cesar and Colonel Johnson were talking to the marine operator. “Are you sure there has been no further communication with the Halcyon?”

“No, sir, not since the last conversation I reported to you.”

“Keep listening.” Colonel Cesar turned to Colonel Johnson and smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll know the moment Commander Bellamy boards the Halcyon.”

“But I want to get him before he’s aboard.”

The marine operator said, “Colonel Cesar, there is no Palindrome listed on the map of Italy. But I think we’ve pinned it down.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s not a place, sir. It’s a word.”

“What?”

“Yes, sir. A palindrome is a word or sentence that is spelled the same forward or backward. For example, ‘Madam I’m Adam’. We’ve run some through our computers.” He handed him a long list of words.

Colonel Cesar and Colonel Johnson scanned the list.