Passage to Marseille Page #7

- Take the altitude.

- Yes, sir.

Well?

I'm worried, Captain Freycinet.

I want your advice.

About what?

If I follow my orders and go to Marseille,

you'll see what will happen.

My ship and her cargo will fall

into hands that are friendly to Berlin.

You can imagine

how delighted the Germans would be

- with a gift of 6,000 tons of nickel ore.

- Yeah.

Well, they're not going to get it

or the Ville de Nancy, either.

When the watch changes,

I'm altering our course for England.

Fine.

What about Duval?

He is to know nothing about it.

The new course will be kept a secret.

My mates will know, naturally.

They'll be as pleased as yourself.

I can count on every one of the seamen,

but the engine room,

they're not to be trusted,

least of all, the Chief.

You know how he hates the English.

What's your opinion of the convicts?

In the event of trouble,

will they be with us?

- To a man, I think.

- To a man, except Matrac.

And where he leads, they follow.

Did you see him when we got the news?

I'm not too sure of him.

I'd stake my life on him.

I don't know why,

but I feel I know my man.

At heart, he's a Frenchman,

more than any of them.

More than any of us, perhaps.

- I'll have to take your word for it.

- I think you can.

Captain Freycinet?

- May I ask you something, sir?

- What is it?

Can you persuade Captain Malo

to reach Marseille at night?

Marseille? Why do you ask?

So I can swim ashore.

I don't trust this Major Duval.

- Yes? Why not?

- He'll radio the police.

I've been fighting his kind all my life.

I know what to expect.

There are many ways

to serve your country, Matrac.

What if you didn't reach Marseille?

I've got to reach Marseille.

I don't care about my country.

The France you and I loved is dead,

Captain.

She's been dying for a long time.

I saw her die

in the Rhineland and in Munich.

Now that her death is complete,

I can stop lying and tell the truth.

I'm trying to get back to a woman.

I never intended to fight.

I know about Paula

and all that you've suffered.

But the France that you and I love, Matrac,

is at war.

If you won't fight,

why should we help you escape?

I'll leave that to your conscience.

Your wife is waiting

for the man who went away,

the man who loved his country,

the patriot.

Would you betray such a woman?

I leave that to your conscience.

Imperceptibly, we swung northward,

marking a course that would take

the Ville de Nancy to England.

But could the secret be kept?

On the morning of June the 26th,

I was awakened by the profound silence

which had settled over the ship.

I attributed this to the old cause, engine

trouble, and thought no more about it,

except to wonder

how long we'd be adrift this time.

Fortunately, the sea was calm.

I rang for the mess boy.

As yet, I had no suspicion

that anything was wrong.

Then I noticed that my pistol was missing

from its holster.

What the devil do you mean?

Open this door.

What's the meaning of this?

Who locked my door?

- I did, sir.

- For what reason?

Commandant Duval's orders.

You're to come with me.

- Where's Captain Malo?

- You'll see him, sir.

Go on.

Come on!

What the devil is the meaning of this?

Captain Malo,

I understand our course has been changed.

- Have you received new orders?

- That's my business, sir.

I've studied your chart.

We're no longer heading for Marseille.

- Correct, sir.

- For what reason?

On our present course,

we run the greatest risk

of being picked up by a British destroyer.

Would you consider that such a calamity?

I would consider it

a great misfortune, certainly.

France has no ships to spare for England.

You'd prefer the Germans

to have her, perhaps?

I prefer to be a realist. We've argued

these matters before, Captain Malo.

Now we'll settle them with the only

argument that means anything. Force!

Take him down with the rest.

Men, a new order has been born in Europe.

France has been given the privilege

of becoming a part of it.

The watchword

of this new order is discipline.

From now on, you will navigate

this ship under my command

until we reach Marseille.

- This is piracy, Duval.

- And your action is treason.

I'm willing to let both questions

be decided by the authorities at home.

But I'm a reasonable man.

If I give you your liberty,

will you give me your word of honor

- to take this ship back to Marseille?

- Certainly not.

You may control the ship,

but you'll never bring her into port.

No decent seaman would serve you.

The men will do well to consider.

Those who cooperate will be given

rewards and security in the new France.

I speak especially to you convicts.

To every man

who helps bring this ship to Marseille,

I promise a full pardon

and favor of the Vichy government.

Don't move! Hold it, men! Hold it!

Take your stations

and prepare to get underway.

Confine the engine-room crew

below decks,

- and see that they do their work.

- Aye, aye, sir.

And no more nonsense.

Lead them below! Lively, men!

- Get going!

- Move on.

Get below.

Get down.

- Good work, men.

- It was a pleasure, mon Commandant.

- Are there any killed?

- No, sir.

Good.

Obviously,

some skulls are too thick to damage.

Have Duval and his yes man locked

in a cabin for the rest of the voyage.

Aye, aye, sir. You two, up on the B Deck.

Thank you, Matrac.

Clear the deck. Hook up the boom, guys.

Lend a hand, men.

All right, grab ahold.

You'll regret this, Malo. The day will come

when you'll bitterly regret it.

Quiet, men. Quiet.

The dirty rat is giving our position.

Commandant, let me have him.

Carry out the orders.

- Turn to.

- Turn to.

- Motors.

- A plane.

I can't see it.

- Man the guns.

- Man the guns there.

Man the aft guns.

You men, take cover.

Hurry up, you men, take cover!

Look, they're still alive.

Matrac, what are you doing?

Stop it! Stop it, Matrac!

What are you doing?

You cannot assassinate helpless men!

Look around you, Captain,

and see who are the assassins.

We finished them.

We've shown the dirty Germans.

It was great, what you did.

We all did it.

I just happened to get to the gun.

We'll destroy them all, won't we?

Just like we got this plane.

Drive them out of France.

Of course we will.

Well, we got the ore to England,

and very glad they were to get it.

- Got the men there, too.

- They weren't interned?

Oh, no. We all stuck with the story they

were survivors from a torpedoed ship.

I remember this Matrac now.

His paper was small, but every journalist

in Europe admired the fight he put up

against appeasement

in the Munich sellout.

He still fights.

The bombs they're dropping tonight are

editorials the Germans will understand.

There are so many questions

on the tip of my tongue.

Has Paula rejoined her husband?

Did he ever see his son?

- Never, but he visits them often.

- But how, if he's never seen them?

Well, he visits them in a strange way.

Often when he's on a bombing mission,

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