DeCurtis noticed the curtness and stepped in. “Let’s see what transpires, then we’ll decide on a course. Meanwhile, have all the information archived ready for review. There’s got to be more on these guys then what we have now.” Anthony felt safe in his ruling. “We can’t overlook Dan’s suggestion. If Stemovich has any intention of going through with this insanity, then we’ll grab the cash. Do a little creative banking from this end. That should solve the problem.”
The meeting ended. Levi and Dan bid their goodbyes and headed out the door. Anthony gave each a pat on the shoulder and a smile. Once the door was closed, Levi turned his attention to Dan.
“I’m sorry for getting after you in there, but you have got to be smarter than that, Danny.”
Dan wasn’t insulted. He knew it was Levi’s way of making a play for the chair. He did feel that Levi took this situation too lightly. He didn’t like the way he had lulled Anthony into a false sense of security. One thing was for sure. He didn’t want to work with him. “Just trying to be cautious,” he replied.
“That’s fine, but let’s operate under my control from here on out. Talk to George and send him back to monitor the transaction. Then we’ll tail Stemovich after the pickup and that will be that.”
“Okay.” The situation didn’t bother Dan in the least. He would do as Levi asked, but he also resigned himself to conducting a parallel investigation. One only he and a few, very few, would know about.
The two men separated and went to their respective offices. Dan walked briskly to his and ran into Sharon, who was leaving for the night.
“I thought you’d never return. I got George settled in. He fell asleep before I left the apartment.”
Dan went to his desk and pulled up the phone catalog on his computer screen. “Good. Let him rest tomorrow, then have him come to my office the morning of the day after.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Yes. I’ll be out tomorrow.” He copied down a number from the screen.
“Going any place interesting?”
“Time to call in a marker.”
“I don’t think he likes you much.” Sukudo smiled as he sipped his beer.
The officer’s club was mostly naval, and Josh looked out of place with his wild blue uniform and black eye patch. Sukudo waved and greeted other officers as they walked in and ambled to other corners to let the admiral and Josh have their privacy.
“Don’t give a fuck.” Josh gazed at the wall, covered with ships engaged in fierce battles with the enemy.
“He’s a good guy. Mik and I have a history. It goes way back. He just takes his work seriously.”
“Let me ask you, Admiral. What did we want to find out?”
“I don’t know. Maybe to make sure it wasn’t some type of doomsday machine.”
“Then what’s next?”
“You go back to Houston. I’d like updates, if you can, please.”
“It’s no real problem, but as of now, we can’t classify the situation as urgent. It’s secondary at best. Which means for you that my other assignments take precedence.” Josh hated saying that since he had grown to like Sukudo, but business was business.
“I understand. Can you at least keep tabs on it?”
“I’ll do what I can. I can configure a flyby about every other orbit. I can’t let ODIS sit in fixed position, though.”
“Good enough,” replied Sukudo. “I’ll take whatever I can get.”
The conversation turned to small talk and war stories. Josh was glad of this because the whole situation about the sub suddenly was worrisome. Both men felt that there was more to what they had witnessed, but they had nothing else to go on.
The security guard led Dan up the stairs to Mikhail’s office in front of the USS Jimmy Carter. It loomed in the background, awaiting its last coat of black polymer paint and then a foam cushion to make it slippery and quiet in the water. The morning sun splashed across the top of the bow as if to wake a sleeping giant. It was an awesome sight for anyone, yet Dan had too many things on his mind to notice the engineering marvel that sat before him.
Mikhail tried to look comfortable at his desk. Papers were still strewn about, and he used them as a psychological fortress to hide from his visitor.
The first and last time he saw Dan Archer was years ago, when the young CIA operative made his way into the Soviet Union and saved his family from certain death at the hands of the government.
Mikhail had been outspoken about the Soviets. So much so that it literally put his life in jeopardy and surely slated his family members for the gulags. Engineer or not, at the time, Mikhail was in too powerful a position for the government to allow him to continue voicing his opinions. He escaped narrowly with his family and only the clothes on his back.
Dan kept them one step ahead of the GRU (the KGB’s military branch), and ironically they escaped from the Soviet State by way of a submarine.
Mikhail found the US ships brilliant and the government accommodating. He immediately went to work designing subs for them. It was the least he could do for having his family rescued, and the money was much better.
The day he got away he thanked the young Dan Archer for all he had done. Dan’s reply was that someday he might return to ask for a favor. That’s why Mikhail was so nervous. The man who had saved his family was coming to collect. What did he have to offer?
The guard opened the door and let Dan in. Mikhail motioned for the guard to stand outside. “Dan Archer, it’s nice to see you after all these years.” He was sincere, yet cautious.
“I’m glad you remember me, Mikhail.”
“I could not forget you. You have grown older, but you still look well.” Reading Dan’s friendly approach made him feel more at ease. “Please sit down.”
Dan took an overstuffed chair across from the desk and glanced around the open, airy room.
“Looks like you’re set up pretty well.”
“I found the United States to be quite anxious to get me working. They have been very pleasant.”
Dan moved closer to the desk. It was a habit of his when he wanted to discuss serious business. “Submarines are the reason I came to see you, Mikhail.”
“I know a little about the subject,” he replied jokingly.
“Yes, Soviet subs.”
The coincidence that two high-ranking officials from the government had come to see him about Soviet subs on separate days indicated to Mikhail that something was brewing. “What do you need to know?”
“How many men does it take to run a sub?”
“Alfa or Victor class attack subs?” Mikhail knew that Dan’s knowledge was probably very limited, so he offered an average number. “Forty.”
“No. I’m thinking along the lines of a missile boat. Something nuclear.”
The similarities became too great. He wanted to tell Dan about Sukudo, but he wasn’t completely sure. He decided to lead him in the right direction. “Twenty, maybe.”
“Twenty?” Dan almost jumped from his chair. “That few?”
Mikhail was ready to pull out the pictures, but he had to be sure he was in the same ballpark. “I’d like to tell you, but it’s the ‘need-to-know’ thing.”
Dan hesitated as he pondered how to structure his response. “The Russians could be selling one of their nuclear subs.” It was a half-truth. Stemovich was Russian.
Slowly Mikhail got up and rummaged through the file cabinet and pulled out the pictures of the Saratov. “Here is a Typhoon class submarine with missiles. The ship is revolutionary for them. Their thinking increases the automation of the vehicle. We also noticed the bow of the ship opens to allow for mass arms loading.” Mikhail outlined the various parts of the ship. “This leads us to the conclusion that the torpedo crew could have been dramatically cut or eliminated. If the philosophy is followed throughout the ship, we can extrapolate that other areas have been automated, cutting the crew size significantly.”