92 
Frantic New Message

By now Lieutenant Langham had reached the bottom of the lighthouse, entered the small door to the tower, and had begun running up the steep, winding stairway to the top. He was followed by three uniformed soldiers.

Whoever was up there sending those signals, thought Langham, they could not escape now. There was only one way down, and he had it blocked.

Out at sea, a frantic new message was just coming in as the Admiral Uelzen, having deposited its three passengers, was now speeding toward the last coordinates it had been given. But even as it ploughed through the waters off the English coastline, periscope officer Ubel continued to watch for any final signals from the lighthouse as it receded behind them.

“Captain!” he suddenly shouted. “Captain Dietz . . . a new message is coming through.”

“What do you mean, Corporal—new?” said the captain, turning toward him. “I thought we were through here.”

“I’m . . . just taking it down now,” replied Ubel.

A brief pause followed. The captain waited.

“It says they are being raided, sir,” said the corporal. “We’re . . . being asked to stand by to take aboard—”

He paused.

“Go on, Corporal.”

“It’s broken off for now, sir.”