"I would, of course, like her to discharge the cargo we're interested in as soon as possible after she drops anchor in Samboromb¢n Bay. If that is in six or seven days..."
"I think I can be ready for that. I've already done a little preliminary plan-ning,'" Gr?ner replied, indicating the papers on his desk. "There's one bit of in-formation I'd love to have."
"Which is?"
"In the ideal situation, the Oceano Pacifico carries aboard a boat suitable for our purposes."
"I'm not sure I understand you. You're talking about lifeboats?"
Gr?ner shook his head, "no."
"She will anchor over the horizon from the shore. The horizon is approxi-mately eleven kilometers. If I were her captain, I would probably at least dou-ble that distance, which would mean she will anchor somewhere between twenty and thirty kilometers offshore. The engines in lifeboats-where in fact they have engines-propel them at no more than five or six kilometers per hour. That's a very long voyage from ship to shore. At thirty kilometers offshore, five to six hours."
"And acquiring a much faster boat here would pose problems?"
"I know where I can get a boat," Gr?ner said. "In a little town called Magdalena. One capable of about thirty-five kilometers per hour. But we don't gain much time."
"Explain that, please."
"For the sake of argument, say the Oceano Pacifico is anchored thirty kilo-meters offshore, the boat would have to put out from Magdalena to the Oceano Pacifico."
"That would take an hour," Goltz said.
"Presuming the Oceano Pacifico was thirty kilometers offshore from Mag-dalena. She may not be so conveniently anchored. She may be further down in Samboromb¢n Bay. Another twenty-five or thirty kilometers distant."
"I see what you mean."
"So if I utilize the boat in Magdalena, we have at least an hour's trip to the Oceano Pacifico-probably more. Then a trip of approximately the same length to the place where we will discharge the cargo-which I think you will agree should not be at Magdalena-and then however long it takes to travel from the discharge point to Magdalena. Unless, of course, there are other potential prob-lems."
"Which are?" Goltz asked, forcing himself to smile. He was torn between impatience at Gr?ner's methodical listing of all problems, and admiration for his methodical mind.
"The boat I have available in Magdalena has a captain," Gr?ner said. "He would of course know how we have used the boat. He'll have seen us take the cargo from the Oceano Pacifico and land it under suspicious conditions. He might talk, of course."
"That could be dealt with, couldn't it?"
"Of course, but dealing with the captain might attract attention in itself. And there's another problem tied in with that: Who will physically unload the cargo at the discharge point?"
"Seamen from the Oceano Pacifico," Goltz said impatiently.
"In that event, they would have to be carried back to the Oceano Pacifico before the boat returned to Magdalena."
"How would you deal with these problems, Oberst Gr?ner?"
"They would all be solved if there was a suitable boat already aboard the Oceano Pacifico. Failing that, I would suggest that we acquire a boat which could be taken aboard the Oceano Pacifico-if only temporarily. Then that boat, loaded and crewed by Oceano Pacifico seamen, would go directly to the discharge point, unload the cargo into our waiting truck, and return directly to the Oceano Pacifico, greatly reducing the chance of interception."
"You want to buy the boat in... where was it?"
"Magdalena. But no. I would suggest keeping that in reserve."
"You want to buy another boat? Buy another boat."
"That raises the question of the captain again. Who would command the boat?"
"Von Wachtstein," Goltz said. "If he can navigate an airplane across the River Plate, he certainly should be able to navigate twenty or thirty kilometers in a boat."
"He would need a crew."
"He can get a crew from the Oceano Pacifico."