Under the Ice

As a look of puzzlement etched the veteran’s face, Sergei excitedly said, “Here, listen for yourself. The voices are a bit muddled, but the sequence of events is startling clear. It all seems to have started when an incendiary device ignited inside the console holding the Il-76’s communications’ equipment. As they lost the effective use of their radio, the fire spread, until the plane’s operational systems were affected. At this point the 11–76 lost altitude and swerved off course, as the crew valiantly fought to control the choking flames. And in the process of this desperate struggle, yet another bomb was found attached to an avionic’s panel. This device had yet to detonate, and appears to have been controlled by some sort of timing mechanism, for you can hear the frantic cries of the flight crew as they struggled to disarm it.”

Taking a moment to control his rising emotions, Sergei somberly continued.

“Soon afterward an ear-shattering explosion overrode their shouts of concern, and was followed by the sickening, wrenching sounds of the plane breaking apart and proceeding to fall from the skies.

“Yet one thing still confuses me. Admiral. Upon opening my safe, I found yet another cassette tape lying beside the sealed black box. It proved to be constructed exactly like that tape inside the cockpit voice recorder. It had the same stainless-steel casing.

Yet when listening to it, I found it filled with nothing but undecipherable static.”

“You had no business doing such a thing!” the enraged admiral protested.

“I demand that you hand over both of these tapes at once. Captain Markova.

Or the severest penalties possible will be applied to you.”

“And why is that?” Sergei dared ask.

“Is it because you knew what was on the original tape, and intended to switch it for the other one you brought along?”

Conscious that the intuitive young officer still had no real proof of this, the veteran mariner decided to try another tack. Instead of trying to directly confront him, he would now attempt to win him over.

With a shrug of his shoulders, and the barest of forced smiles, the Admiral of the Fleet addressed Markova.

“You are most astute. Captain. And since it would be a waste of my breath to attempt to deceive you, I’ll be frank. Yes, my friend, it was a series of bombs that took down the Premier’s plane. And not only did I know this long before I recovered the aircraft’s black box, I was responsible for having these devices placed in the 11–76 as well.”

This shocking revelation caused Sergei to gasp.

“But that would mean you intentionally murdered Alexander Suratov!”

The Admiral of the Fleet nodded somberly.

“But before you condemn me to the firing squad, please take a moment to listen to our motives. For you see, I was not alone in this plot. Dozens of the highest-ranking members of the Defense Ministry worked at my side to see it through. And don’t think that it was an easy thing to do.

“Alexander Suratov was a dedicated public servant.

I knew him well, and to order his death and that of his staff and the Flying Kremlin’s flight crew was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do in my five decades of service to the Motherland.

But believe me. Captain, I had no other choice!”

Fighting to control his emotions, the veteran continued.

“It all started when Suratov began making those unprecedented peace overtures to the West.

Though we all desire to see a world free from war, our naive Premier was trying to make it come to pass without establishing the proper groundwork.

This really came to the forefront when he secretly announced his plan to demilitarize the Arctic in conjunction with the United States and Canada. As you can expect, the Imperialists jumped at this opportunity, and the Ottawa summit was hastily set up to seal the agreement in treaty form.

“As a submariner, I don’t have to remind you of the utter importance of the region Suratov was about to ban all weapons of war from. Though the Motherland is the largest country on this earth, we have historically suffered from a severe lack of warm-water ports. Those we do have are so poorly placed our fleet is forced to travel through Imperialist-controlled choke points to get to the open sea.

“The only ports that are completely free from outside interference lay above the Arctic Circle.

Though harsh weather and severe ice conditions make operating from them difficult, we have learned to make the most of it by building the greatest fleet of icebreakers and submarines the world has ever known.

“In the frozen expanses of the Barents, Kara, and Laptev Seas, and beneath the Arctic Ocean itself, we have positioned the ultimate revenge force. The Typhoon and Delta class submarines that patrol these waters have one purpose, to survive an Imperialist sneak attack, and to answer such a bolt-out of-the-blue strike with one of our own.