Jack stood waiting with his exposed weapon at his side. He felt someone next to him and saw that it was Henri Farbeaux. Jack’s eyes saw the dirt and grease on his BDU and knew that the Frenchman had already been inside the cruiser.
“Exploring, Henri?” he asked out of the side of his mouth.
Farbeaux’s eyes never left the man who was smiling and walking toward them with thirty-two men dressed just as they were. The Frenchman’s eyes narrowed.
“I thought I would do the job I was kidnapped to do, Colonel. Then maybe my part in this foolishness can come to an end sooner rather than later.”
“Well, is that him?”
Henri watched the Russian’s approach. His mouth went into a straight line.
“Yes, it is him.” He faced Jack. “Do not trust this man, Colonel. His mission here is to destroy your assets and kill every one of you.”
“Why don’t you tell us what it is you really think, Froggy?”
Henri looked at Everett, who smirked. “This may be one situation you won’t find so amusing, Captain. I do not see an acceptable outcome here.”
Carl saw the seriousness in Farbeaux’s face and decided to stop chiding him. He didn’t particularly care for that look on the former French Army colonel’s face.
A man who stood the same height as Jack came up and stopped. He eyed the two men beside him and then the Royal Marines to his right and left. He looked behind him at his own black-clad warriors.
“At ease. Inform your men to sling weapons, Captain.”
Jack watched as the men with their black helmets and Russian-made Nomex BDUs on did as ordered. He also noticed that these soldiers were far more heavily armed than his own contingent.
“There. Now, we can all be friends,” Salkukoff said as he faced Jack. He stood rigid for the briefest of moments and then gave Collins a very fast and ill-mannered salute. Collins just as quickly returned it. “I hope I did that right.” He smiled over at the larger Everett and Farbeaux. “It’s been quite some time since I played soldier.”
“Colonel, your mission here is illegal. I request that you and your men fly back to your cruiser and let the courts decide what happens next.”
The smile remained as Salkukoff tilted his head as if he were attempting to understand a language he did not know.
“So you can rape this vessel for her technology? Colonel, you of all people know better than that.”
“Rape the technology of a ship over seventy years old? Colonel, in poker, you never show an opponent just how weak your hand really is.”
Salkukoff turned his head, and instead of answering Jack, he faced Henri Farbeaux.
“Colonel Collins has a very diverse sense of humor. He accuses the Russian government of wrongdoing but at the same time has in his employ one of the greater antiquity thieves in modern history.” He stuck his hand out to Henri. “Colonel Farbeaux, I find you in the strangest locales.”
The Frenchman looked at the outstretched hand, and then his eyes moved to the colder, darker eyes of the Russian.
“I am a thief, yes. All here can attest to that fact.” He didn’t notice nor did he care that Salkukoff dropped the offered handshake. “But you are a murderous pig of the first order. I was witness to your bravery on the battlefield.”
A knowing look crossed the Russian’s features. “Ah, the Ukraine. They were thieves, Colonel, just like yourself. They paid the price. You, sir, have yet to meet our justice.”
“And that time is not here and not now,” Collins said as he stepped in front of Henri. “This man is under my protection.”
Salkukoff smiled even wider. “As you are mine, Colonel Collins. While aboard the Simbirsk, you will be offered our hospitality. At the end of this, we will see if you wish to pursue matters in another direction.”
He stepped past Collins and then eyed the vessel around him. He shook his head and then ran a hand along the bottom of the number three-gun turret.
“They don’t construct them like this anymore”—he turned to face Jack—“do they, Colonel?” He saw that the American was going to remain silent. “Today’s surface ships of aluminum and composites, they would never have withstood phase shift dynamics.”
Collins and Everett exchanged quick, nervous looks.
“I believe you may have an engineer aboard?”
Jack stood silent as he eyed the man before him. The Russian brushed the rust off his hands and looked at the group of NATO representatives. “No, you did not bring along your brilliant Master Chief Jenks, the man responsible for getting your response to the alien incursion into the air. I must say a thrilling sight to see something as large as that battleship rise into the blue skies of Antarctica. It gave me goose bumps.”
Collins was having a hard time not only hiding his anger but also his shock that even the master chief was known to this man.
“Uri, it looks like you will not get to have the intellectual exchange you had hoped.”
A smaller man emerged from the group of Russian commandos. He was wearing glasses and had a distinct look of discomfort about him. He removed the helmet from his head and then held it at his side.
“A shame. I am a great admirer of the master chief. I have read all his work on hydrodynamics and naval engineering. Marvelous mind.”
“May I present—” Salkukoff started to say.
“Dr. Uri Gervais, chief engineer of the Orion project.”
Jack turned and saw the master chief with Ryan and Charlie standing next to him. Jenks lit his cigar and then eyed the smaller man before him.
“He’s the man behind Russia’s effort to get to the moon.”
Jack looked from Jenks to the small scientist before him. The man looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. Collins could also see that the older scientist was terrified of Salkukoff.
“Professor, it was my understanding from our intelligence briefings that you wouldn’t be caught dead in the company of assholes like this.”
All eyes went from the cigar-puffing Jenks to the Russian professor and then to the colonel, who merely laughed at the insult from the career navy man. Dr. Gervais, for his part, said nothing. The man looked downright uncomfortable.
“And our briefings on you are as accurate as yours are on the good doctor. Now, shall we see about our mystery ship and where she could have been hiding since World War II?” He stepped past Jack and the others and made for the hatchway that led into the darkened interior of the ship. Collins and Everett both noticed the satchel charges being carried by every one of the Russian commandos. It was clear what their intent was if they could not recover the Simbirsk.
The Americans and British followed the Russian strike team into the phantom of the Atlantic.
8
The smell of oil, grease, and sweat permeated the air inside the blackness of the Simbirsk. The lingering aroma of baked goods and meat, beets, and other smells greeted them. The Americans allowed Salkukoff and his men, with the exception of the twelve who followed them, to lead the way. The Russian colonel held up a diagram as they slowly eased their way down a deserted and dark companionway.
“Ah, here we are,” he said as he indicated a hatchway that led downward. “Engineering spaces right this way.”
“Do you guys feel it?” Charlie asked as he caught up to Jack and the others.
“What, Charlie?” Jack asked, wanting everyone’s impressions about the situation.
“Ghosts. I don’t know, but this ship is all wrong. I felt it while in the water, and I feel it now.”
“Just your nerves, Doc,” Ryan said with not much conviction. Even the clattering of their footsteps on the metal stairs made a hollow, echoing sound that felt like a harbinger of something waiting for them below.