Thunder Point by Jack Higgins Read Free Book Online

of the reef and went for the anchor.
    He made it with five minutes to spare. Stupid bastard, he told himself, taking such a chance, and he ascended just by the book, one foot per second, one hand sliding up the line, the briefcase in the other, leaving the line at twenty feet to swim under the boat and surface at the stern.
    He pushed the briefcase on board, then wriggled out of his equipment, which was always the worst part. You’re getting old, Henry, he told himself as he scrambled up the ladder and turned to heave his buoyancy jacket and tank on board.
    He schooled himself to do everything as normal, stowing away the tank and the equipment following his usual routine. He toweled himself dry, changed into jeans and a fresh denim shirt, all the time ignoring the briefcase. He opened his thermos and poured some coffee, then went and sat in one of the swivel chairs in the stern, drinking and staring at the briefcase encrusted with coral.
     
     
    The encrusting was superficial more than anything else. He got a wire brush from his tool kit and applied it vigorously and realized at once that the case was made of aluminium. As the surface cleared, the Eagle and Swastika of the German Kriegsmarine was revealed etched into the top right-hand corner. It was secured by two clips and there was a lock. The clips came up easily enough, but the lid remained obstinately down, obviously locked, which left him little choice. He found a large screwdriver, forced it in just above the lock and was able to prize open the lid within a few moments. The inside was totally dry, the contents a few photos and several letters bound together by a rubber band. There was also a large diary in red Moroccan leather stamped with a Kriegsmarine insignia in gold.
    The photos were of a young woman and two little girls. There was a date on the back of one of them at the start of a handwritten paragraph in German, August 8, 1944. The rest made no sense to him as he didn’t speak the language. There was also a faded snap of a man in Kriegsmarine uniform. He looked about thirty and wore a number of medals, including the Knight’s Cross at his throat. Someone special, a real ace from the look of him.
    The diary was also in German. The first entry was April 30, 1945, and he recognized the name, Bergen, knew that was a port in Norway. On the flyleaf was an entry he did understand. Korvettenkapitän Paul Friemel, U180, obviously the captain and owner of this diary.
    Baker flicked through the pages, totally frustrated at being unable to decipher any of it. There were some twenty-seven entries, sometimes a page for each day, sometimes more. On some occasions there was a notation to indicate position, and he had little difficulty in seeing from those entries that the voyage had taken the submarine into the Atlantic and south to the Caribbean.
    The strange thing was the fact that the final entry was dated May 28, 1945, and that didn’t make too much sense. Henry Baker had been sixteen years of age when the war in Europe had ended, and he recalled the events of those days with surprising clarity. The Russians had reached Berlin and reduced it to hell on earth, and Adolf Hitler, holed up in the Führer Bunker at the Reich Chancellery, had committed suicide on May the 1st at 10:30 P.M. along with his wife of a few hours only, Eva Braun. That was the effective end of the Third Reich and capitulation had soon followed. If that were so, what in the hell was U180 doing in the Virgin Islands with a final log entry dated May 28?
    If only he could speak German, and the further frustrating thing was that he didn’t know a soul in St. John who did. On the other hand, if he did, would he want to share such a secret? One thing was certain: If news of the submarine and its whereabouts got out, the place would be invaded within days.
    He flicked through the pages again, paused suddenly and turned back a page. A name jumped out at him.
Reichsleiter Martin Bormann
. Baker’s