Wyatt left Julie at the hotel and drove on through the town and round
to the Base. There were
a lot of soldiers on the
streets of St Pierre, but Wyatt thought only of Mabel. When he got
inside the Base, he saw
officers and sailors
hurrying everywhere. Men with guns stood outside every building.
Wyatt wondered what was
happening.
He ran into his office and asked for the latest satellite pictures of
Mabel. He sat down to study
them carefully, and to
check all the figures again and again. But it was no good. The
information from the
photographs and the figures said
that Mabel would go past San Fernandez. It would come near enough to
give the island
only a few hours of strong winds and heavy rain. But Wyatt knew, and
the old man in the
mountains knew, that
Mabel would hit the island.
Wyatt went to see Schelling, who told him he was crazy. They argued
for some minutes, then
Wyatt said he wanted
to see Brooks, the Captain of the US Base.
'The Captain will be too busy to see you,' said Schelling angrily,
but Wyatt refused to listen.
Half an hour later he was standing in front of Captain Brooks's desk.
'I understand from Schelling here,' said Brooks coolly, 'that you
think this hurricane is going to
hit the island. Please
explain.'
'I agree with Schelling that it's a very small chance, sir,' said
Wyatt carefully. 'But Mabel is a
very bad piece of
weather. And there is another danger, too. If Mabel does hit the
island, she'll come from the
south, straight into the
shallow water of Santego Bay. The air pressure in the centre of Mabel
is extraordinarily low;
because of this, the sea
under the centre will rise many metres above normal. In shallow
water, this will be worse. The
sea will rise by more
than fifteen metres. The highest place on Cap Sarrat is, I believe,
thirteen metres. There will be
a huge tidal wave,
which will go right over the top of the Base.'
He looked at Brooks, who said softly, 'Go on, Mr Wyatt.'
'In the hurricane in 1910 half the people in St Pierre died. Most of
the town is no higher than
Cap Sarrat. If Mabel
hits, there will be 30,000 deaths in St Pierre. If the wind doesn't
kill them first, the flood
waters will kill them a few
hours later.'
Captain Brooks looked at Schelling. 'I think we need another report
on Mabel. Send a plane
off at once.'
'Yes, sir.' Schelling turned and left the office.
Brooks then looked at Wyatt. 'I have a problem, Mr Wyatt,' he said
calmly. 'Clearly, you think
that I should get
everybody out of Cap Sarrat because there is a chance, a small
chance, that Mabel will hit us.
And perhaps you are
right. But Serrurier's army is getting ready to fight a war. There
are rebels coming down from
the mountains.' He gave
a half smile. 'The President of the United States will be very
unhappy indeed if I leave this
Base while there is a war
on the island. So, I must stay, and hope that you are wrong about
Mabel.'
Wyatt looked at him sadly. He could understand the problem. 'And the
people of St Pierre?
Can't you tell Serrurier to
warn the people about the hurricane?'
'President Serrurier won't talk to me at all,' said Brooks, with
another half smile. 'He believes
that the Americans
have paid for the rebels' guns - which of course is not true. But
you, Mr Wyatt, are not
American. Perhaps he will
listen to you.'
'I shouldn't think so,' said Wyatt, 'but I'll try.'
He left the Captain's office, and decided to go down to St Pierre
immediately.
At the President's palace there were soldiers and police everywhere.
There were several people
waiting at the big
front doors, and Wyatt saw John Causton among them. He went over to
talk to
him.
'You were right about Favel, then,' he said
'Yes, I'm afraid so,' replied Causton. 'There's going to be some
serious fighting soon. I'm
waiting here for news. But
what are you doing here?'
Quickly, Wyatt explained his fears about Mabel and his conversation
with Captain Brooks.
Causton listened
carefully.
'And you think Serrurier will listen to you?' he asked.
'No,' said Wyatt, 'but I've got to try.'
'You're right,' said Causton. 'Come on. Let's talk our way in
together. Two voices are louder
than one.'
It took a long time. Wyatt and Causton argued first with one police
officer, then with another.
'We have very
important information for the President,' Causton said, again and
again. At last they found
themselves outside the
door of the President's office. A soldier opened the door, and Wyatt
and Causton walked down
the long room to a
small group of men at the far end. They were all army officers in
uniform. Serrurier was in the
middle - a small man,
with angry eyes and a thin, hard voice.
'What is it? What is this important information?' He stared at them
coldly.
Wyatt stepped forward. 'Mr President, in two days' time a dangerous
hurricane will probably
hit San Fernandez
'What!' shouted Serrurier. 'Have you come here to talk about the
weather? I thought you had
news of Favel! Favel, do
you hear? I have to fight a battle tonight, and you talk to me about
the weather!'
'Mr President, this hurricane began in Causton.
'We do not have hurricanes in San Fernandez.' Serrurier stared at
them with wild eyes.
'You had one in 1910,' said Wyatt quickly.
Serrurier's voice rose to a scream. 'We do not have hurricanes in San
Fernandez. Get out!
Officer, take these men
out at once!'
Policemen ran in and pulled Wyatt and Causton down the
long room. As the door closed, they could still hear Serrurier
screaming, 'We do not have
hurricanes in San
Fernandez.'
A few minutes later Wyatt and Causton were pushed violently out into
the street.
'The man's crazy,' said Wyatt. 'Just crazy!'
'Well, we tried,' Causton said tiredly. 'What now?'
'I'm going to the hotel to get Julie, and thenÄ'
Suddenly, Causton held his hand up. 'Listen! What's that noise? Is
that your hurricane
already?'
Wyatt listened. 'That's the sound of guns!' He looked at Causton.
'Favel has arrived!'