‘Hey! It’s the English kids from Tromsø. The soccer players, right?’
The American had his arms open, like Kester and Lily were lifelong friends he’d not seen for years. He was wearing a patterned shirt and holding a yellow jumper over his arm.
Lily grinned at him, but said nothing. She would leave the talking to Kester.
‘Hello. It’s nice to see you again,’ Kester said, sounding calm. ‘What are you doing onboard? I thought you were involved in the conference.’
Frank Hawk glanced briefly at his colleague, who was also wearing a shirt under a colourful jumper. They were dressed as if they were about to go and play a round of golf.
‘Well, we wanted to see something of the area,’ Hawk explained. ‘And, you know, the next day of the conference is about paperwork, so here we are. We thought we’d take in some views. Are you heading out there too? What brings you aboard? Don’t you have a soccer game coming up? Training?’
Kester shook his head. ‘Iris wanted to see the Northern Lights,’ he said, knowing that Hawk had never heard Lily’s real name. ‘We were told we had a better chance if we headed further north.’
‘It’s a dream of mine,’ Lily added seamlessly.
‘Wonderful.’ The American rubbed his hands together. ‘For me too. It’d be good to talk to you kids some more. Hear about your lives in England. You know, I’m having dinner with the captain tonight. How about you two join us? We need some kids around to stop the conversation getting too boring. What do you say?’
Lily expected Kester to find a convincing reason to say no. Why would they want to have dinner with a suspect? It was true they needed to observe him, but that would be getting a bit too close.
She was surprised by his answer.
‘Yes, please,’ Kester said, sounding excited. ‘Do you think the captain will mind?’
‘He’ll love it,’ the American replied. ‘Who wouldn’t?’
‘Thank you,’ Kester finished. ‘That’s very kind of you.’
‘Why?’
Lily was marching along the length of one of the ship’s corridors, Kester trying to keep up with her. The two Americans had gone the other way to have breakfast.
‘What?’
‘Why are we having dinner with that man? We have no idea what he’s up to.’
‘It’ll be interesting, Lily. We need to get close to him. To find out more. He knows something about that warhead. That may even be why he’s here. This is the perfect way to do that.’
‘Hmmm,’ Lily said. ‘We’re going to have to be really careful.’
They stopped when they reached room 247.
‘This is his room,’ Kester whispered, looking both ways. ‘Quickly now.’
Lily nodded and held her SpyPhone up to the door. Immediately, the lock lit up and beeped. Kester pushed the door open and they both disappeared inside, quietly easing the door shut. Without speaking, Lily passed Kester three small pin-sized bugging devices. Two cameras and one microphone. Kester carefully chose the best angles and placed them above the door, in the corner of the bathroom mirror and on the rim of the room’s large square window. The room was at least four times as big as theirs. Lots of space. A nice desk and a bar filled with bottles. There was even a sofa.
‘It’s funny,’ Kester said to Lily. ‘One minute we’re being all friendly with him, accepting his dinner invitation: the next we’re rifling through his room.’
Lily shrugged. It was true. She had that same thought every day.
They lied.
They deceived.
They cheated.
They were spies.
Fifteen seconds after they’d entered the room, ready to leave, Kester glanced out of the window, just to compare the American’s view to theirs. He saw early morning light coming off the sea and one of the two enormous lifeboats suspended on the side of the ship.
‘Ready?’ he asked Lily.
‘Ready.’
Time to leave. But, as Lily reached for the door, turned the handle and pulled it open, Kester’s mind jumped back.
To the light coming off the water.
To the lifeboat.
‘Shut the door,’ he whispered.
Lily shut it and watched Kester drop to the red-and-white carpet, roll underneath the square window and stand again, concealed by the dark blue curtain hanging on the other side. She knew not to ask questions. If Kester wanted her to do anything, he’d say so. She understood he’d have a very good reason for doing what he was doing.
Kester slowly moved the edge of the curtain away from the window so that he was concealed from anyone who might be looking in from outside. He looked out and waited. Kester’s dad used to take him birdwatching when he was a boy. When you’re watching for something, his dad had said, you may not see it straight away. You might have to wait.
So Kester waited, aware that Lily was watching him, wondering what he was doing, her back to the door of the American’s cabin. And he knew that she would be thinking the same as him. What if the American comes back? What are the chances he’ll return? It’d happened once before. They’d never get away with it twice.
This part of spying was a bit like a game. A game of chance. It was most likely that the two Americans were still downstairs eating their breakfast and that they’d be there for another ten minutes at least. But there was also a chance they were about to head down the corridor and come into this cabin, catching Lily and Kester, who had absolutely no means of escape.
That was Kester’s gamble.
But for Kester these were just minor worries. He concentrated on the very front of the nearest lifeboat. He’d seen a fleck of light coming from there. Just like the ones coming off the sea. But there was nothing on the boat for the light to reflect off. That was what had stopped him. That was what had made him turn back.
Kester was always asking himself questions and this was one he needed an answer for. It was time to take another risk.
‘Lily?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Walk across the room so you can be seen from the window.’
Lily edged round a table and two chairs, moved slowly in front of the window, then back to the door and Kester saw what he was looking for immediately.
The edge of the tarpaulin that covered the lifeboat lifted and two hands emerged, pointing a camera at the window, a flash of light coming off its lens.
‘Open the door,’ Kester said, crawling towards it to join his friend.
‘What is it?’
‘Someone was filming us from the lifeboat.’
Lily pulled the door open. ‘Come on then,’ she said. ‘Let’s get out there. Now.’