The Sea Chase Page #7

and my aides will be at your disposal.

So for now, good day, captain.

Good day.

Must have been exciting, one woman

on a ship, alone, with so many men.

Especially with the great

Captain Ehrlich.

- He is so, so...

- I know.

Good evening.

- How perfect.

- Thank you.

You know, for once,

I'm actually sorry for Ehrlich.

Why? After all, he's achieved

everything he's wanted.

Well, every man to his own desires.

- Where are we dining?

- A little caf.

- Do they have music?

- Oh, yes.

- Exciting?

- With you, yes.

Stand up straight, please.

Lean closer, please.

Easy, man.

She's enough for both of us.

- Take another picture.

- Thank you.

Here comes our captain now.

- Tell us how you evaded the English.

- No, Auckland Island, captain.

Now, I've covered that for you.

Have your pictures, but the captain's

too weary to be interviewed.

- Even about Auckland Island?

- Take your pictures, sir.

All right.

Again we must emphasize,

photographs, but no interviews.

It's been a long chase, Karl.

I wish I could say

it had been a good one.

All I care to hear is a retraction of these

German lies about Auckland Island.

Do you say those men were armed?

Do you say they were building a

military wireless on a shipwreck station?

Do you say they opened fire, these

helpless, unarmed men I found dead?

Do you?

You were in command

of that shore party.

- And you were the last to leave.

- British lies.

Not from Jeff Napier.

Do you?

Whatever my ship is charged with,

I am charged with.

The truth is set down in my log

for you or anyone else to read...

...the day you take my ship.

I never wanted to believe

you sanctioned those murders...

...but now I call you what you are:

A murderer, a liar and a coward!

Napier! You're forgetting

who and where you are.

Wait outside.

Captain Ehrlich, the Rockhampton

will be waiting for you.

Nothing would give me greater pleasure

than to have you attempt to leave.

Good night, sir.

- Elsa, please.

- Don't touch me!

The English are bad losers

and flaunters of international law.

Proceed with the banquet.

I'll join you later.

I'll soon have a statement ready

on this barbaric incident.

- Get the people to the banquet.

- Yes, sir.

Captain.

Your restraint was admirable, captain.

The courage of silence.

It made the English appear

all the more the aggressors.

Get out.

Oh, this has upset you.

- You shouldn't be alone.

- Perhaps not, but I can do without you.

You're tired. I'll see you

after you've had some rest.

- Operator.

- Miss Keller's room, please.

One moment, please.

- She's not?

- Shall I try later?

- Did she leave word where she'd be?

- I'm sorry, sir.

- Shall I try later?

- Thank you.

Thank you.

Elsa.

Oh, Karl!

That night aboard the ship,

I told you my way of thinking.

Yet I didn't tell you

the complete truth...

...because I never even

admitted it to myself.

Still, it was there.

You had your illusions and ideals.

I never had any illusions...

...but I had an ideal.

I've known many men, Karl.

I won't deny that.

But I never thought I would meet one

that I could be proud of.

Now I've found him.

Don't confuse sincerity of purpose

with success.

There's still 15,000 miles

to the flag stead light.

That's what I'm trying

to tell you, darling.

The consul has orders

that I should stay here.

But why must you try to go on?

You've done the impossible.

No one would think less of you now

if you accepted internment.

Oh, please, Karl, give it up.

Elsa...

...you call it an illusion.

Perhaps it is, but it's part of me.

I may fail, but I can't quit.

Hold me.

Tell me.

Tell me.

I love you.

With the scarcity of shipping

in this area...

...I don't think we can get in trouble

until we reach here.

You've said nothing about Elsa.

Elsa remains ashore.

How about supplies?

Everything's onboard, sir,

including ample fuel.

- Of course, our main worry...

- Is the men.

Some of them won't return to the ship,

and I can't say I blame them.

They'll all be here, sir.

- Everybody's onboard, sir.

- Everybody, sir.

Good. Thank them for me, will you?

No, I'll go below

and thank them myself.

- Captain.

- We've got a problem, sir.

- Trouble ashore?

- Yes, sir.

Last night we're in the bars and we

run up against some British sailors.

- A fight?

- No, sir.

- They seemed decent.

- A lot like us.

So we decided to have a contest.

- Drinking?

- Well, sort of, sir.

They promised to bring us back, sir.

And that's the last thing I remember.

But the problem is, sir:

How do you get rid of a tattoo?

- Looks like it's been there a long time.

- Not that one, sir.

Turn around.

This one, sir.

"Britannia rules the waves."

We maintained our blockade

at the harbor...

... and no cat ever watched

a mouse hole more intently.

Would Ehrlich chance it

or wouldn 't he?

It was becoming

an international thriller...

... with sympathy running,

as it always does, to the underdog.

And the dog

was about to have his day.

Number One!

- Sir?

- We're going to have more exciting duty.

Our cruisers Ajax, Achilles and Exeter

are in action off of Uruguay...

...against the Graf Spee.

We are ordered to proceed at once.

What about the Ergenstrasse?

Where's your sense of proportion, man?

A battleship is worth 10 tramp steamers.

Yes, but not 10 Ehrlichs, sir.

Napier, you're making this altogether

too much of a personal vendetta.

Then perhaps you'd endorse

my request for a transfer...

...to the North Sea patrol.

- He's gotta come through there.

- I'll see that you are accommodated.

Now, if you don't mind,

I have my ship to look after.

The lights of Valparaiso

are still astern, Mr. Bachman.

Any further instructions

for the night-order book, sir?

No further instructions

for the night-order book, Mr. Kirchner.

Just keep to your quarters

when not on duty.

No premonition this time?

For better or for worse.

While the Rockhampton headed

for the Graf Spee...

... I was in an airplane

bound for England.

But Karl Ehrlich,

through the fortunes of war...

... had once more gained valuable time.

He was still beating the sea and us.

Still sailing homeward

against almost impossible odds.

His obsession had made a new crew

of the men of the Ergenstrasse.

And in spite of my hatred for the man,

I felt a certain ironic admiration...

... for the captain who had welded

the steel of his own character...

... into that plodding heap

of scrap iron.

Fed and rested,

she beat her way up the Atlantic.

Her belly was full now of all

necessary coal and provisions...

... and new lifeboats

hung from her davits.

The storms threatened her,

yet in a way they aided her...

... by hiding her in their turbulence.

A little ship unnoticed

in a big ocean...

... battling and staggering

under the fury of the elements.

As I waited for her in the North Sea

at the crossroads of the war...

... I hoped desperately that no other force

would rob me of my quarry.

And I was alert day and night

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