Under the Ice

“We’ll be staying well away from that monster,” returned Colter, who next led his guest over to the chart table.

Here they joined the XO before a detailed bathymetric map of the Lancaster Sound. There were a confusing series of colored lines and x’s on this chart, yet before asking what they all meant, Redmond softly vented his curiosity.

“You know, I never realized that the US Navy had women aboard its submarines.”

“We normally don’t,” answered the captain.

“Dr. Lansing is on temporary loan from the Naval Arctic laboratory. She’s currently operating a prototype surface-scanning Fathometer that uses lasers to determine the exact state of the ice conditions topside. It was such a device that helped us surface as close to the northern edge of the Brodeur Peninsula as we did.”

“We’re at depth and on course. Captain,” said a voice from behind.

This revelation seemed to reenergize Colter, whose face suddenly turned in a broad grin.

“Now, Lieutenant Redmond, I’ll show you how we’re going to catch up with a group of very nasty Russians.”

“All ahead, flank speed!” he ordered firmly.

“And someone better call the boys in the torpedo room and the sound shack and let them know that the season for Ivan hunting has officially opened!”

In the locked confines of Viktor Belenko’s cramped cabin, both of the Neva’s senior officers were in the midst of an intense hushed conversation.

“I tell you Sergei, as sure as the snows fall in Siberia, our esteemed admiral is holding something back on us. Why did you see his face when he got back to the ship? He looked like a little boy who had just been given the keys to the candy shop!”

Sergei Markova grunted.

“I know what you mean, Viktor. That smirk was painted all over his face, and he could barely tone it down when he matter-of factly informed us of the deaths of all five of the men sent along with him.”

“He certainly was possessive about that cockpit voice recorder,” observed the senior lieutenant.

“From what I understand, he wouldn’t even let any of the men help him with it as he whisked it off to the safe in your stateroom. It’s just too bad our Zampolit chose this inopportune moment for the weekly Komsomol meeting. Instead of giving the speech he’d promised to present, the admiral could be analyzing that precious tape that he’s been ranting and raving about ever since we left Murmansk.

Do you really think that the Americans would have the audacity to shoot down the Flying Kremlin, Sergei?”

The Neva’s captain hesitantly answered.

“I don’t know what to think anymore. Comrade. Though I do know that it was a big mistake to incur the wrath of that Sturgeon class vessel like we did. We had no business ramming them in the first place. We should have just gone ultra quiet and let them pass on their merry way in peace. Then we could have gone on and completed our mission with Uncle Sam none the wiser.”

“The old fox certainly did some job of stirring us up to a feverish pitch,” Viktor commented.

“With all that talk of launching torpedoes, you would have thought there was actually a war going on.”

Sergei sighed.

“We were lucky to get by with our lives. And for what, may I ask? A damn black box, that we could have just as easily have asked the Canadians to retrieve for us.”

“I still think Kharkov’s trying to pull something off on us, Sergei. At the very least, he should have postponed that damn Komsomol meeting and gotten right down to the analysis of that cockpit voice-recorder’s tape like you asked him to do. Why the way he looked at you when you made this request, you would have thought you had asked him to burn his Party card!”

The captain nodded.

“The way I read Kharkov, it appears he’s not in a rush to analyze that tape because he already thinks he knows what’s on it. And no matter what it contains, he’s still going to blame the crash on the Americans.”

Viktor absorbed this thought, then leaned forward and lowered his voice even further.

“From what I hear, the Admiral of the Fleet and Premier Suratov were not exactly kissing cousins. Tanya has a niece who’s a secretary in the Ministry of Defense, and she says it’s no secret that the admiral has gone on record as opposing Alexander Suratov’s peace initiatives with the West every step of the way. Why when Kharkov heard of the Premier’s Arctic demilitarization proposal, he supposedly threw a nasty fit that included overturned furniture and torn-out phone wires. For an old-timer, the old fox certainly has some fire left in him.”

“I’ll say,” said Sergei.

“He’s in remarkable physical shape for his age. To even think he was out there on the ice the whole day, and we almost froze our buns off just standing on the bridge to greet him.”

Viktor sat back, and absentmindedly picked up his roommate’s portable cassette player. While studying its compact lines, a thought suddenly came to him.