Meknikov looked up from his notes. “I’m sorry to hear about your daughter’s cancer, Tatiana. But I understand her new treatment holds promise.”
“She’s responding well,” Tatiana replied, wondering why the FSB would be interested in Natasha.
“I understand the new drug is expensive. Do you happen to know the price?”
Tatiana recalled the meeting with Dr. Vasiliev at the hospital, and how distraught she’d been after learning how expensive the treatment was.
“Three hundred million rubles,” she replied, concluding Meknikov already knew the answer: he took no notes.
“How did you obtain the money?”
“My husband has a friend, someone he served with on his first submarine. He’s an executive in the oil and gas industry.”
This time, Meknikov entered a comment into his smartphone. “What is your friend’s name?”
“My husband didn’t say.”
There was a slight pause before Meknikov asked his next question, using a slightly accusatorial tone. “Your husband managed to obtain three hundred million rubles from a friend, and you didn’t ask who he is?”
“It was very rushed. Aleksandr left only a few minutes later to return to Gadzhiyevo to take his submarine on its first deployment. He is the commanding officer of Kazan,” she added proudly.
“That is a very prestigious assignment.” Meknikov smiled warmly, then asked his next question. “What else did your husband say about this friend?”
Tatiana searched her memory, but recalled no other details. “I’ve told you all I know.”
Meknikov wrote another note, then looked up. “About your husband’s deployment. I assume he has deployed many times during your marriage, yes?”
Tatiana nodded.
“Did you notice anything unusual this time? Did he behave any differently, meet with anyone new, or do anything out of the ordinary?”
It was a difficult question to answer, since her husband had been dealing with Natasha’s illness. He had traveled to many hospitals searching for the best care, and had pleaded Natasha’s case to anyone who might have the means to help.
“He spoke to many doctors, friends we had lost touch with, and all of our relatives, some of whom he had never met. But anything new was related to our daughter’s illness, either arranging for her admittance to Blokhin Medical Center or obtaining the money for her treatment.”
“Of course,” Meknikov replied, adding another note. “We will contact you again at eight in the morning. By then, please make a list of everyone your husband spoke to concerning your daughter’s treatment.”
Meknikov glanced at Sobakin, who stood nearby, apparently finished poking around.
“Was there anything else unusual?” Meknikov asked. “Anything that caught your attention or seemed odd?”
Nothing occurred to her at first, but then she remembered her anniversary card. A card she had been directed to open early.
Tatiana shrugged. “He gave me an anniversary card I’m supposed to open one week early. When I asked why, he said there were preparations I need to make.”
“Is the card here?”
Tatiana retrieved the card from her purse. She was about to hand it to Meknikov, then asked, “May I read it first?”
Meknikov nodded.
She opened the envelope, but instead of a card, inside was a handwritten letter.
As she read the letter, her hands began trembling, then tears formed in her eyes. When she finished, she handed the letter to Meknikov, then buried her face in her hands.
36
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Christine O’Connor entered the Situation Room in the West Wing basement, taking a seat at the conference table. On her way to CIA headquarters this morning, she had been diverted to the White House at the president’s direction for an unscheduled meeting. Already seated around the table were SecDef Tom Drapac, SecState Dawn Cabral, National Security Advisor Thom Parham, and Captain Glen McGlothin, the president’s senior military aide.
Chief of Staff Kevin Hardison, followed by the president, joined them in the Situation Room. After the president took his seat, he looked to SecDef Drapac.
“Go ahead, Tom.”
“Good morning, Mr. President. The reason for this morning’s meeting stems from USS Pittsburgh’s sinking and our assessment she was sunk by a Russian submarine. I spoke two hours ago with Defense Minister Nechayev, and he informed me that President Kalinin was planning on discussing the issue with you as well.”
“We spoke an hour ago,” the president replied. “Bring everyone up to speed.”
Drapac glanced at the others around the table. “First, we’ve located Pittsburgh on the ocean floor, just northwest of Iceland, and there are survivors. We’ve detected mechanical transients at periodic intervals, which correlate to someone banging tools on the submarine’s hull. Rescue assets have landed in Iceland and are being loaded onto a support ship, and we expect to send a rescue module down to Pittsburgh within the next eight hours.
“Regarding Russia’s position on what happened, they’ve evaluated our assessment that Pittsburgh was sunk by a Russian submarine, and while they don’t concur, they also don’t disagree. They’ve conceded it’s possible.”
“Why do they think it’s possible?” Captain McGlothin asked.
“That question gets me to the main reason for this morning’s briefing. Defense Minister Nechayev informed me that they believe the commanding officer of their newest guided missile submarine, Kazan—the submarine Pittsburgh was trailing — has gone rogue. His daughter suffers from a rare cancer and the only viable treatment is an experimental drug that costs five million dollars. Someone paid the first half of the bill, and the Russians believe the second half will be paid after Kazan conducts some sort of operation.
“We think Pittsburgh regained Kazan’s trail after her transit through the GIUK Gap, and that Kazan’s commanding officer decided to attack. It appears he doesn’t want a U.S. warship trailing him.”
“Do we know what he’s planning or when it will happen?” Christine asked.
“We don’t know what he’s planning, but we have an idea of when it will occur. Kazan’s commanding officer wrote a letter to his wife that she was supposed to deliver to Russia’s Northern Fleet command in eight days, explaining that the actions about to be taken by Kazan’s crew are his responsibility alone — no one on the crew is aware that the deployment orders they’re following are fake. He also wanted his letter to serve as proof that the Russian government wasn’t involved so there would be no retaliation against Russia.
“That provides a few clues. First, whatever he’s planning will occur in about eight days, and second—Kazan will be attacking an entity with the ability to retaliate against Russia. Unfortunately, that’s a long list. An attack on any NATO country or even a non-ally could provoke a response. Additionally, Kazan could be headed almost anywhere — to the Mediterranean per her deployment orders or somewhere in the Atlantic.”
“What kind of weapons does Kazan carry?” the president asked.
“Kazan is a cruise missile submarine carrying torpedoes and cruise missiles, with the current loadout being a mix of land-attack and anti-ship missiles. With the ordnance aboard, the list of potential targets is vast. We need more information.