“Have you thought about going to the president with it?” asked Sukudo.
“Straight to the president? That’s my director’s job. Plus, I’ve only met him once.”
Sukudo savored his drink. “If worse comes to worse, I’ll go see him.” The waitress brought Dan’s Bloody Mary, interrupting their conversation briefly. “I can at least get five minutes of his time,” Sukudo snapped.
“Sounds like your guy lost the last election.”
“I like him well enough. I don’t like his politics. Commander in chief of the armed forces doesn’t fit him, but what are you going to do? When you’re making decisions in difficult situations you must ultimately go with what you feel is right. Your gut instinct. There is no poll, no system. You can’t let your decisions rest on someone whispering in your ear. Unfortunately, that’s how he operates, and it’s fucking scary.”
“We don’t tell him then.” Dan threw the thought out, though he knew the answer.
“I have responsibilities to the office.”
“Black and white as that?”
He chuckled. “The military doesn’t fuck around like you spooks.”
“I can see that,” retorted Dan. “But I do find some comfort that he’s out of the loop — for now.”
“Probable deniability. No reason to get his shorts pulled up his ass if this turns out to be nothing. If that sub pokes its nose through the Barents Sea, that’s when we have to start panicking.” Sukudo began to speak a little too openly for Dan, and he lowered his voice in reply.
“If that sub comes off the seafloor, the leaders of the two largest war machines in the world are going to shit their pants, along with everyone else in striking distance.”
Sukudo replied, “Yeah, that’ll be an interesting conversation.”
“Do you take it out?”
Sukudo shrugged. “Not if it merely surfaces, but I’ll blow it the fuck out of the water if it fires a missile.”
“I hope you’re in a position to do so.”
“So do I,” groused Sukudo.
“What about Shaw?”
Sukudo didn’t answer, which made the point.
There was much more to think about. For Dan, he had to start considering every aspect of the operation. Not just from the CIA’s point of view. He had thought that he had done this before, but now he was unsure. A great weight rested on his shoulders as he would soon be by himself. Sukudo was to leave to oversee his part in the mission later that day, and Dan would be alone.
It was midnight, and all Nick wanted to do was sleep. It seemed like a long night full of much excitement. After being plucked from his sailplane, he stood by and watched five men dismantle it into several pieces and stow it away in a truck. The end for the plane was obvious. The working parts would be sold on the black market and the metal cut and sold for scrap. It took them half an hour, and they were off down the road in the truck, leaving Nick and his mystery woman in the blackness of the field. He remembered to speak in Russian. “What’s next?”
“Don’t ask. Just do.”
“Can I at least know your name?” Nick was anxious to get acquainted.
“Marina Romanov,” she snapped.
“Okay then…” The cold shoulder was even too cold for him. He got the message and backed down.
She led him to a small car, and they started down a gravel road. Inside the car was a bag that held the contents of his fake identity. She tossed him the bag and a flashlight. “These are your papers. Study them. Security around Russia isn’t what it used to be, but you can’t afford to make a mistake.”
His new name was Nicholas Kulakov, a nuclear engineer born in Belarus who had served in the Soviet Navy for six years. His ship was the old cargo boat called the Catherine. It was commissioned by the Soviet Navy as a test ship for experimentation with different nuclear reactors. Radiation leakage was so severe from changing reactors that the hull became extremely brittle. In rough waters off the Siberian coast, the ship hit a shallow reef, and the bottom crumbled out from underneath. All but ten hands were lost, and the tragedy was downplayed in the press. Nick was supposedly one of those survivors. He went on duty again until he was caught stealing goods from the state. The punishment was imprisonment until six months ago. Unfortunately, he had been unemployed and living on the streets since that time. He had become a desperate man looking for some way to survive. Quietly he slipped into the black market and sold rare necessities at inflated prices. His character looked out only for himself and didn’t care about the rest of the world. It made him a perfect candidate to work with the reactor on a submarine. But only for the right price. “You didn’t make me a very noble person.”
“Pay close attention to that, Nicholas.” Marina was extremely serious. “You have to know the part the way it is written.”
“As you wish.”
“You don’t seem to be taking this very seriously.”
“I am. I sneaked into Russia in the middle of the night. I’m riding around with a woman whom I don’t know. And I’m supposed to be a person who will do anything for money. I understand.”
“In Saint Petersburg, there has been a quiet call for a crew. A submarine crew. No questions asked. That’s what scares the honest men. It only leaves crew members who have tarnished pasts. Traitors, if you will.”
“I’m one of these guys,” moaned Nick.
“And me,” replied Marina.
It surprised him. “You too? You’re going to try to get on this boat?”
“I have a better chance than you. I at least know what I’m doing.”
“That’s comforting,” Nick said sarcastically. It gave him a sense of security, though, that he would know someone on the mission. His outlook brightened considerably.
The road became a better grade from the usual washboard path they had traveled on for the past hour. A checkpoint appeared in the distance. The police car was flashing its lights, and several officers were instructing them to pull over as they approached.
“You weren’t trained for this type of work?” she said, referring to spying.
“No. Not really.” Nick noticed that she stayed extremely calm when he gave his answer. There was no change in emotion. She was one very cool customer.
Marina pulled the car over and parked. “Now’s your chance to see how far we will get.”
An officer tapped on the window, prompting Marina to roll it down. Two others walked around the car and scrutinized it. “Identification.”
Marina handed him her Identification, which he barely looked at.
“You next,” he said.
Nick gave him the new ID. The officer stood and examined them closely with his flashlight. He bent over and shined the light in Nick’s eyes. “There seems to be a problem.”
Nick replied callously. “I have never had a problem.”
The officer looked at them again. “Why are you out here so late?”
“We were on the way to Kiev and took the wrong road,” Marina replied.
“No, you,” snapped the officer. “The man.”
Nick was on top of things. “We wanted to go to Kiev, but we got lost.”
“Why Kiev?”
“That is where we first met. That is where I wanted to ask her to marry me.” Nick thought it was a brilliant line. The answer not only surprised Marina but made the officer feel like he had ruined what was supposed to be a very tender moment. “I guess I’ll have to do it now.”
Marina was stunned at the reply. Which was good, because it worked to their advantage. She quickly gathered herself and threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, oh, yes. I will.”
The officer relayed the news to the others, and they laughed and applauded. Nick thought himself very clever.