The Sea Chase Page #6

You'll continue to

address me as "captain"...

...or spend the rest of this trip

in irons.

I consider you a filthy murderer, unfit

to grace the company of decent men.

You've dishonored a ship.

Were we to be captured now,

we'd be tried and hanged as criminals...

...and deservedly so.

There are good men aboard this ship,

Kirchner, and dark nights.

So for your own sake, say nothing

till we get to Valparaiso.

Now, crawl out of here.

Schlieter, you're doing all right.

- I got a system.

- I heard about it.

It works.

Probably never be any love lost

between us, but I was wrong about you.

You're doing a good job.

Heinz!

My heart...

You won't tell the captain?

Well, I'm afraid I must.

You're not fit to be here.

No, no, please.

Down there, I'm only Heinz,

the cook's mate.

Washing pots and pans.

- Up here, I'm the lookout.

- And we all depend on you.

- Yes, even Captain Ehrlich.

- Even the captain.

- I'm important now.

- Yes, you are.

But since we do depend on you,

you better get down and get some rest.

Of course. Of course.

They'll need somebody always alert.

Anyhow, I haven't missed everything.

At least once, a beautiful lady

had her arm around me.

Thank you, miss. Thank you.

Napier, I looked at those charts again.

There are many, many islands.

Needle-in-the-haystack stuff.

The more I think about it, the more

certain I am he's gone to Pom Pom Galli.

You may be right.

That's where we'll head for.

Right, sir.

Kruger tells me he has

a bearing on the Rockhampton.

She's getting closer, chief.

Captain, I've been going over my figures,

and with what wood we have cut...

Wesser.

Is he resting?

Didn't you hear me?

Is he resting?

What's it to you?

Do you wanna log it?

You wanna make it look good

in your reports?

You think of everything.

Pulling the strings on all of us

like we're puppets.

He's in there dying, understand?

You're getting your wood chopped.

- You're gonna be a famous...

- Wesser...

Nothing.

You young fool!

You know what the captain has been

doing for both you and Stemme?

Making you sailors!

Trying to make men out of you!

You realize how he feels

about Stemme?

What he would do for Stemme

if he could?

That boy isn't dying. He's dead!

He's been dead since eight hours

after that shark bite.

- When gangrene set in, he was...

- That'll do, chief.

Wesser, go below.

He's only a boy, captain.

He was overwrought.

- What he said...

- What he said was that...

...I've been trying to play God.

Perhaps he's right,

perhaps I have been.

Working them, driving them,

starving them, for what?

Integrity.

Integrity or vanity?

I don't know.

- I'm gonna signal the Rockhampton.

- Why?

If there was one chance in a million of

saving that boy, I would agree with you.

But there isn't, and you know it!

If you notify the Rockhampton

of our position...

...it means every man, including Wesser,

will be stamped a war criminal.

I tried to tell you before, captain.

I'm fairly certain, if we clear the wood on

the beach, I can get you to Valparaiso.

Don't make a decision tonight, captain.

Wait until morning.

All right, chief.

Prepare to get underway

in the morning.

We'll bury him at sea.

Bosun!

Stop that work.

There will be no burial.

Schlieter, take those men with you

and lower the boat again.

Yes, sir.

- That's the last boat.

- You heard the order, move.

Captain, I've got Winkler and Heinz

on the boat deck.

He can't mean that!

I don't know.

It'll mean medical attention

for you, Heinz.

And you'll walk again.

- I'm willing, sir.

- So am I, sir.

I knew you would be.

Thank you both.

Start heaving.

That's their story, sir.

They were carrying a charge

of explosives.

When they hit the reef,

it blew the keel wide open.

They had only one lifeboat.

Ehrlich got some of the injured into it,

and then there was a second explosion.

Anything to say about

the Auckland murders?

They denied it, of course.

- Have the surgeon take a look at them.

- Right, sir.

When a search disclosed no wreckage

or other survivors...

... we knew he'd slipped

from our grasp.

The Ergenstrasse,

that tired old woman of the sea...

... had gained the slight margin of time

necessary to reach Valparaiso.

She was fast becoming

an international heroine...

... and German propaganda

was smothering the Auckland incident...

... to make a legend of her.

Make her fast where she is.

Tell Mr. Kirchner to wait in

the mess room until I've seen the consul.

Yes, sir.

The consul's in your cabin, sir.

I'll see the port authorities

after I've talked to him.

Yes, sir.

Elsa, I wanna talk to you

before we go ashore.

About this great glory you've won?

Well, it's all yours.

Enjoy it.

But enjoy it alone.

Hepke, consul general.

Ehrlich, you've established

a great tradition.

Thank you, consul general.

Have a chair.

An accomplishment to be written

in the annals of the sea.

- The voyage isn't completed yet, sir.

- You achieved your purpose.

To risk capture again

might destroy everything.

You are proof that the great

Royal Navy is not, after all, invincible.

Now, give me the straight story on this

propaganda the British are putting out...

...those so-called murders

at Auckland Island.

It's not propaganda.

They were murders.

There's the proof.

I prefer to believe they were armed

belligerents erecting a wireless station.

That they were killed

in open combat.

The first land action in the Pacific,

and a gallant victory for us.

That story, with the news of your arrival,

has flashed around the world.

By what right do you compound murder

with a bald-faced lie?

By whose authority do you compromise

this ship and my personal honor?

Think of your crew.

Haven't they a right to a good name?

I intend they'll keep that right...

...not have it dragged through the mud

for one man's crime.

I plan to take the man responsible,

my chief officer, Mr. Kirchner...

...before a naval court-martial

as soon as we're home.

That's your privilege,

and it's quite correct...

...but for the sake of our country...

...let's not air our dirty linen here,

before an often hostile press.

What do you suggest that I do?

The Rockhampton is due in Valparaiso

tomorrow. You can't leave.

I'll take my chances with the British.

They won't waste a warship

watching this harbor for long.

Very well, captain, if you insist.

Seamanship is your forte. But I beg

to remind you, propaganda is mine.

- Lf I assist you, you must help me.

- I won't lie for you.

I wouldn't think of asking you to lie.

You haven't had the diplomatic training.

Just let me handle the press releases.

In exchange, I'll get you your clearance

papers, everything you need.

Kirchner will ask for a passport

and passage home.

I insist that he return

on this ship with me.

If that's your wish, of course, captain.

Don't forget, tomorrow you'll be guest

of honor at a banquet, Hotel Astur.

I've arranged quarters for you there,

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