The Sea Chase Page #5

before we leave.

I wonder who it is.

Schaffner and Becht.

Fever got them.

I was young Stemme's age then,

in charge of the burial party.

Yes, we'll have to get it cleaned up.

And you remember their names

after all this time?

The Greeks believed that a man

was immortal...

...as long as his name

was remembered on earth.

These two were good men.

Seamen.

You wanna see the island,

I'm taking this food up to the peak.

Thank you.

You'd better take a little rest.

I hope the old soldier is all right.

Tougher climb than I thought.

In all your life,

you've never done very much...

...except for your men and your ships,

have you?

When I was a cadet, they taught us

that was a way of life.

Pretty hard to change what you learn

in your youth and believe.

And that's what this whole

fantastic voyage is, really:

A habit of life,

stubbornness of the soul.

Not entirely. This is a part of the war.

I'm still beating the enemy at it.

You've never really been

in love, have you?

Once or twice I've had

charming illusions.

But never strong enough

to chance marriage?

To put it another way,

I'm a practical man, a realist.

With only one love, the sea.

I never quite looked at it that way.

I'm beginning to understand

why men go to sea.

I've been watching it.

It's never the same.

One moment calm...

...then stormy.

Darkness, light...

- It's always changing.

- Like a woman.

A mystery.

Part of a great mystery.

When I first met you...

...I never thought I could sit here

trying to understand you.

Or even liking you.

I'll give you a hand, Mr. Kirchner.

That should stop you.

- Teaching her chess, chief?

- No, she's teaching me.

- Everything go well today, captain?

- Wonderful.

I'm glad to hear it.

I hear you've asked for

a work party for tonight.

That's the order.

Don't you think you're pushing

them beyond their capacities?

These men aren't you.

A man's capacity is

usually relative to his goal.

You've got them working

incredible hours.

While there's a full moon,

they'll work nights.

They won't be able to go on

if you persist in driving...

Elsa, in there.

I forgot to mention a highly probable

reason why I've never married:

I like to run my own ship.

Excuse me, sir, Miss Elsa.

Everything will be ready,

as you ordered.

Won't be able to give you

anything special to eat.

But this is the last bottle,

as cold as I can get it.

I found your navy buttons

and put them in your white jacket.

Special dinner tonight, Elsa.

Captain's orders.

Our best tablecloth.

Haven't used it since Singapore.

Brounck.

So not since Singapore?

- Did you remove the rat guard?

- Right now, sir.

- How's it going ashore?

- Nearly finished, sir.

Smear it as far out as you can.

That ought to do it in reverse.

I got to admit, I was wrong this time.

I thought he was gonna feed it to us.

Let's get back to the ship

and get clean.

- What's the matter?

- Rats!

Getting rid of some of our

more unwelcome passengers.

Don't worry...

...it's according to plan.

How's it working?

It's working.

I'd hate to come back to this island

20 years from now.

Ours was the desperation

of groping in the dark.

And then I began to remember an island

I'd once heard Ehrlich talk about:

Pom Pom Galli.

And our search was leading us

in its direction.

I knew he was fighting

the laws of nature...

... with survival hanging on the human

endurance of weary, driven men.

If we could overtake him,

he would hang.

He and his criminals.

We've scoured the Chathams,

Samoa, Fiji and the Tongas.

And it's very doubtful

he could make Pitcairn.

It almost has to be

one of the Tuamotus.

Some island with a deep harbor,

good water and a good stand of timber.

He has some idea about an island

in one of the more remote groups.

That's right, Pom Pom Galli.

A place Ehrlich said the German raider

went in the last war.

A reason why they

might not go there.

I can't bypass

all islands in between.

Unfortunately, I can name 50 such

islands over 1000 miles of ocean...

...but search parties will be organized.

- Thank you.

- This will take time.

It'll take Ehrlich time

to chop his wood.

The ax against the hangman's noose.

I got a system working for me

on these trees.

I pretend they're all named

Captain Ehrlich.

First I give him this!

Then I give him this!

And then I slice him port to starboard!

- How did it happen?

- It was an accident.

No, it wasn't. It was my fault.

Sorry, Winkler.

Get him aboard ship. Not you.

All right, the rest of you,

get back to work.

Schlieter, from now on, you're gonna

do the work of two men.

Not two like you, but two like him.

Best man in our crew.

And I don't think you can do it.

Like I've been telling you,

there's one lifeboat left.

Tahiti looks pretty good now, huh?

Oh, shut up! I'll show him who's

the best man in this crew!

Better hurry up with swimming.

You'll miss breakfast.

That'd be a great loss.

He means we might miss the pleasure

of our little excursion ashore.

Shark! Shark out there!

Shark!

Help!

Help!

Help! Help! A shark!

Woolrich, give me your shirt

for a tourniquet!

- Brounck.

- Yes, sir.

Clear a table

and boil all the water you can.

Break out some clean sheets.

Mr. Bachman.

- Sir?

- Get him into the mess hall.

Anything I can do, captain?

Looks like we're gonna have to...

- You better put an edge on that.

- I know, I know.

You can be of some help

in the mess hall.

Take this to shore and get rid of it.

You'd better get on

with your working party.

He's still alive.

Give her one.

It's awful nice of you

to do this, Miss Keller.

No trouble at all.

I'll have them for you tonight.

Thank you.

- I'll give you a hand with that line.

- Well, thank you.

You know, for the past

three or four days...

My leg! My leg!

My leg!

- My leg!

- Brounck! You know we need... Walter!

Hurry!

Walter.

He'd be more comfortable in my cabin.

- Get it ready, Brounck.

- Yes, sir.

Take it away!

Captain.

What is it?

I'm sorry to interrupt your work...

...and I have no intention of telling you

how to run your ship.

The only important thing now

is the condition of Stemme.

We're doing the best we can.

The Rockhampton

has a doctor onboard.

Captain. A signal, sir.

Elsa, if I were to call the Rockhampton...

First, let me explain about gangrene...

This ship or 10 more like her

isn't worth this boy's life.

Ashore there! Have Kirchner

report aboard immediately!

Pardon me.

Kruger, join me in my cabin.

You sent for me?

At Auckland Island, Mr. Kirchner,

you committed murder.

That word hardly applies in war.

You slaughtered those fishermen

without cause.

- I did what was necessary, expedient.

- Log it as it happened.

I'm waiting, Mr. Kirchner.

Did they attack you?

I don't give my enemies

the opportunity to attack me.

Were they armed?

I didn't waste time searching them.

So stated.

Sign it!

Ehrlich, I promise you,

you're gonna live to regret this.

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