“Peter, it’s so good to see you again.” Marina laughed as he pulled her over the counter and gave her a big kiss.
“Even in a worker’s uniform you look stunning,” he returned. Peter was no older than twenty-five. He was portly for his age and chuckled rather than laughed. A twinkle in his eye made him likable from the start.
Marina didn’t bother to introduce Nick this time. She felt that it wasn’t necessary. Peter gazed over her shoulder and evaluated him as he tried to look like he belonged. He poured Nick a shot and handed it to him. Nick retreated and held the glass in his hand until they were through talking.
“Big crowd tonight, Peter. You’ll make some rubles,” observed Marina.
“I make a little money every night, Marina. You should work for me. We’d make a lot together.”
She returned the compliment with a smile.
Peter leaned over the bar to speak more privately. “Marina, listen. This call for the ‘special workers,’ it’s not where you belong. This is a dangerous group. They even scare me.”
“I know who I’m dealing with, Peter. No one knows better than I. I’ll be all right.”
“Not with that puppy, you won’t.” His reference to Nick was not good news to hear. She had done what she could to try to make him blend in, but it wasn’t complete.
“He knows the stakes. I have to watch out for myself from here on. No one else.”
Peter scowled. “Unnecessary. We’ve all done risky things in the shadows. This time the situation is beyond me. You don’t want to know what this group has going on. It’s military, which makes it twice as bad. I don’t even want to know.”
“I already do. That’s why I need to be with it.”
He sighed. “Marina, you are so bold. I forget who really knows how to use the market. You are one of the few who cannot only produce the goods, but the information.” Again he glanced over at Nick. “How does he fit in?”
“I won’t know him in five minutes. After he’s on his own.”
“What is he here for?”
“Don’t ask, my friend. There may be many things you may want to ignore.”
“Very well, Marina. This time I think you might have bitten off more than you can chew.” The bar still was a ruckus, yet he leaned over the counter again and whispered, “Top floor, first door on the left. The old ballroom.”
She smiled and grabbed his hand as a sign of thanks. She looked over her shoulder and tilted her head to the stairs to show Nick the way. They waded through the crowd and up the stairs to the abandoned part of the building. On each floor, they heard faint squeals of prostitutes performing. She took no notice, but Nick was engulfed in the poverty of the sight. A few drunken men littered the stairs, and they had to step over them to continue climbing. Some had defecated in their stupor, and one was completely naked. The scene was in sharp contrast to the clean and deserted streets he had seen before he entered the bar. Five flights and they arrived at the top. In the darkness, he could hear rats scurry along the baseboards. The only sense of direction came from a faint light seeping from underneath the first door on the left. Silence occupied the air.
“Come in five minutes after me.” He couldn’t see her, but she had grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear. Even now her hot breath sent a wanting chill up his spine, and Nick found himself slightly aroused. Danger hung thick, and it only added to his state. A black figure moved close to the door, and then it opened. He saw her silhouetted in the light, and then she was gone. A few muffled voices told him that there were people on the other side.
Nick wasn’t even sure how long he stood in the darkness. The whole while he had a feeling that something ominous was hovering behind him. Concentrating on the light from beneath the door was all he could do in his frozen state. After counting to one hundred several times, he opened it and walked in.
The room was massive. It seemed at least fifty yards long, but the end was lost in the darkness. Only some rather poor lamps lighted the side near the entrance. Ten men rested on old and draped furniture. Then there was Marina. She stood against the wall, smoking a cigarette. Nobody spoke or motioned, so Nick leaned against the wall and waited. Marina didn’t want to acknowledge him, and he returned the favor.
It was five minutes before there were any other stirrings of life. In the pitch-dark at the other end of the room, a small light clicked on. Footsteps then began to walk out of the darkness. Everyone was straining to see who would emerge, and slowly the smallish, dark figure of Sasha appeared. He seemed very pleased as he lit a smoke and eyeballed the candidates. Everyone stood transfixed on the little man.
“You are here for the jobs?” he uttered.
All nodded yes.
“Good. It’s dangerous, so if you don’t want to participate, you can leave now. There are only a few positions left to fill.”
No one budged. “What’s it pay?” spoke one bold individual.
Sasha glared. “One hundred thousand American to each member of the crew. A guarantee that there are no mutinies.”
The figure shocked and loosened the men abruptly. It was apparent they liked what they heard.
“What do you need?” asked another.
“First let me ask. Are you all submariners?”
Everyone nodded. Nick was in a dilemma. His false identity didn’t allow for that, and he had to decide what his character would do. “I’m not.”
This got Sasha’s immediate attention. “Really. No wonder you look so nervous. Why are you here then?”
“I need a job. I like what I heard.”
“Did you even serve in the navy?” Sasha was ready to eliminate him as soon as possible.
“I did.” Nick tried to sound surer of himself.
“On what and as what?”
“On the Catherine.”
Sasha was taken by surprise. His face indicated clearly that he knew the ship.
Nick continued. “I was the second engineer for the nuclear reactor team.”
Sasha narrowed his eyes. “Whatever happened to the Catherine?”
“Broke up at sea.”
“Who was her captain?”
His identity gave him no answer for that, and he had to answer quick and sure. “The ship never had a captain. The Soviet government felt that it couldn’t risk an experienced captain on a ship that did experimental research on nuclear power plants. They gave us a pilot instead.”
Sasha looked enlightened by the answer. “Many of our sub’s power plants were born in the hull of that ship. Why did she go down?”
It became apparent that Sasha, like Nick, was only vaguely familiar with the ship.
“The exposure to radiation made the hull brittle. One night we hit a reef, and she broke apart.”
“I heard there were no survivors.”
“There were some.”
“You were one of the lucky ones, obviously.”
“The radiation gave me a death sentence,” Nick replied. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Sasha gazed at him long and hard. “Hmmmm. You are very interesting. Now the rest of you,” he said, turning his attention away.
The other interviews went about as quickly. Nick found it odd that everyone was taken at their word, though Sasha questioned their backgrounds. It must have been a condition of doing business in the underworld. Those who Sasha seemed to like were sent to stand in the darkness by the small lamp. Nick became worried that he had blown it and quietly cursed Sukudo. It was all he could do. That and watch Marina drown in her story.
“A woman comes through the door.” Sasha was amused by her presence.
“I am as qualified as any man here.”
“Oh. And what all-male submarine did you happen to serve on so unnoticed.” He waited for her to begin the game.
“The Elbe,” she blurted with enormous confidence.