Jerry was listening carefully, and Petrov could see that he knew more. The American had been surprised by the topic, but had listened like someone who knew what the speaker would say.
“Tell me how Gepard was lost,” Petrov demanded. “You know, don’t you?” There might have been more intensity in his words than he planned, but he didn’t regret them.
Jerry took a deep breath. “Your navy found Gepard. The investigation determined that she had been sunk by one of her own torpedoes.”
“Yes, but what was she firing torpedoes at?” pressed the Russian. “Was Kirichenko chasing your sub when he sent all those ships and planes out?”
Petrov was watching Jerry’s face. He’d always believed Mitchell was honest and fair-minded, but the American seemed to be struggling.
Jerry sat for a moment, then another. He turned toward the desk, as if looking for something; then he faced Petrov again. “It probably doesn’t matter now, since the barge’s location was revealed to your government. Senator Hardy, my former skipper aboard Memphis, told me he briefed the Russian ambassador about our mission, but it was while my government was investigating the Kashmir explosion. Nothing has been made public.”
“There are many families that need to know how their loved ones died.” Petrov stated it flatly, and he could see it hit home with Mitchell. “My government will never tell them, not when it involves a breach of Russian nuclear safeguards.”
“You’re right,” Jerry admitted. After taking a deep breath, he started. “Dr. Patterson, and Emily, came aboard to oversee a secret mission that involved conducting a survey of radioactive waste disposal sites on the east side of Novaya Zemlya…”
It took the American almost ten minutes to describe Memphis’s mission into the waters near the Russian coast, their inspection of several dump sites, and their discovery of something far more dangerous. They were pursued and fired on by Russian naval forces. Damaged, they made good their escape, and had thought themselves safe when Gepard suddenly appeared and almost sank them. If not for Jerry’s Manta UUV, confusing and distracting the Russian sub, Memphis would have been sunk. “But we never fired a weapon, Alex, we physically couldn’t,” Jerry insisted.
Petrov had remained silent, asking only an occasional question about positions and ranges, as one submarine captain explained the engagement in terms the other understood completely. There was no uncertainty in the American’s narration. No fuzzy memories or gaps in the timeline.
“For what it’s worth, Alex, I’m very sorry about Gepard, and she’s never been far from my memories. We did our level best to just get away, and it was really just luck that saved us.”
Petrov scowled. “Did you intend to lure that last torpedo back toward Gepard with the Manta?”
Mitchell shook his head sharply. “No, absolutely not! I was trying to force Gepard to break off by running the Manta right at her. But she was violently maneuvering at the same time. She simply zigged when I had the Manta zag… both in the wrong direction. Before we knew it, one of the torpedoes had locked on to the Manta, and followed it in. The torpedo hit Gepard before I even had a chance to send a course-change order.”
Petrov felt a weight lift off his chest. He’d feared Mitchell’s answers, but they weren’t what he’d expected, and his faith in his friend had been confirmed. But now his mind was whirling with the new facts, comparing and fitting together pieces that spanned more than ten years, perhaps much more than ten. How long ago had Kirichenko hidden those warheads?
“Another seventy-three lives to lay at Kirichenko’s feet,” Petrov finally observed.
“On his headstone would be better,” Jerry added. “We can only hope, but first someone has to find him. Gepard, all the dead in Kashmir, and how many more could there be in China?” Jerry shuddered. “I’ll do anything I can to stop Chakra, even if it means sinking her. This must be tearing Girish Samant apart.”
The American paused for a moment, then added, “And now I’ll ask you for a favor. If you’re satisfied with my answers, please don’t tell anyone, for just a little while longer. Please,” he entreated.
“The families…” Petrov began, but trailed off.
“This won’t be secret for much longer. Four governments are involved as major actors: the U.S., Russia, India, and China. Now the Littoral Alliance is joining in the hunt. If it doesn’t leak out soon, the whole story will be revealed once Chakra is stopped. My country has no interest in keeping this secret once it’s over. If you’d like, we can speak to Joanna about the best way to get the information out.”
Petrov thought about it. Realistically, he couldn’t tell anyone until North Dakota returned to port. After that, how would the Russian government react to him spreading this information? And concealing his source would be nearly impossible, which might cost Jerry his career. But Joanna Patterson was in a position of power to force the issue, backed by the U.S. president; perhaps she could finally get the truth out. “All right, you have my word,” Petrov agreed.
In fact, how would the Russian government react when the entire episode became public? He asked Jerry that question, and the American just scratched his head. “The world’s been going nuts over the Kashmir explosion and the idea that there really could be loose nukes. Now add a whole barge full of them, hidden in violation of an arms treaty, being used by an Indian conspiracy to severely cripple China. And we’ve got hard evidence to back up the story. Can you imagine the media feeding frenzy?”
In spite of himself, Petrov laughed. “It will be interesting watching the news shows for several weeks.”
“And the best place for us may be on this submarine, at sea, and at depth,” Jerry added, smiling, “at least until the smoke clears.” He sat up straighter. “Migawd. I’ll have to warn Emily, and my sister Clarice in Minnesota. Emily can stay on the base and away from the media, but Clarice may have to move into a convent to get any peace.”
Petrov laughed again, remembering his own close family members. He told a story about his older brother Yevgeny’s experiment with propane in the family’s tractor. Then Jerry told one involving the use of high-pressure air in cleaning a bilge, and Alex told one about how the Russian Navy had once tried to clear the snow in Murmansk — with a turboprop. They talked for hours, and only stopped when it was time for Jerry to make his next set of rounds.
Petrov napped that afternoon, and woke refreshed.
To Samant, it was more like a movie set than a submarine control room. He and North Dakota’s executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Bernie Thigpen, had decided after dinner to continue work on the search plan. Samant was tired, and a full stomach had him yawning, but his mind was still alive with questions about the search: How would the new towed sonar affect Chakra’s ability to detect other ships and subs? But towed arrays didn’t work well in shallow water. Would Jain adjust his route to stay in deep water, even if it took longer?
As they worked, part of his mind cataloged the many differences between American and Indian submarines. The American sub’s control room was more spacious than he was used to, which was surprising because North Dakota was three-quarters the size of Chakra. The layout was different, of course, but he understood what everything did. And it amazed and frightened him. The American sub had better sensors, including the UUVs, and a far superior combat system to use the data those sensors provided. To top it off, her enlisted men were better trained. American senior petty officers were doing the same jobs as lieutenants on his submarine.