“What does this mean, Nicholas?” Marina knew for now they weren’t going to die. They were away from the sub, and everything seemed to be holding, but Nick looked terrified.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait.”
She didn’t understand the possible dangers, nor did she care. She knew that suddenly their chance of coming out alive were better than a moment ago. That was something to be grateful for. Marina pulled herself closer to try to calm him down. It was reaction that their mouths touched, and at four hundred meters underwater in the Arctic Ocean, their primal instincts kicked in. Nick became very relaxed.
After Kyle reported the sub destroyed, Sukudo took the next flight off the deck. He ordered Booker to turn the Toledo around and head for home.
Book was glad to hear it, but he was still upset that Kenneth hadn’t confided in him the true nature of the mission that was taking place out there. He knew that there was no reason to sink the disabled vessel. It should have been boarded.
He stood on the bridge and watched as the transport plane was catapulted from the deck. His XO joined him with a cup of coffee. “We’ve got another transmission from Whiskey Bravo Seven.”
“What is it?”
“They’ve got a survivor.”
“Really?”
“Well, it sounds odd, but the man is pleading for them to hold position and wait to see if any of his crew comes up.”
“His crew? His crew? The fucking captain got off?”
“That’s what they gather, but they say his English is terrible and hard to understand.”
Booker almost laughed. “Okay. Why not? Have them stay a reasonable amount of time, then head in. I imagine he won’t go anywhere.”
“Aye, sir.”
Jim leaned against the bulkhead in the sonar room. Bumper had played the tape of the Saratov plunging to the deep several times for him. “We know for sure that’s she’s dying?”
“Yes. Mostly it’s water filling the ship, and the air being forced out. Without a doubt, she’s not coming back.”
“Anything nuclear?”
“No, I’m sure of that. There weren’t any real big explosions, so I believe that the emergency shutdown on that sub worked perfectly, and the reaction was stopped. We didn’t pick up any increased radiation, either.”
“No fanfare, no celebrating. We’ll head home.”
Bumper had been looking at Jim strangely, trying to convey that something was wrong. Jim looked over his shoulder and saw Mikhail standing behind him.
“Mik. Oh, sorry. Sorry about your boy, but we had—”
“I understand. It was a known risk from the outset. I just wanted to hear the tape myself.” Mikhail was rather subdued but not on the edge of depression.
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
Jim gave the nod for Bump to play it again. This time for Jim and Bumper to listen to it was uncomfortable because of Mikhail’s presence. As the ship drowned, so did Mik’s hopes of seeing his grandchild alive. It showed on his face.
The recording played, and the sounds of twisting and imploding metal were reproduced, then with one loud crunch the soundtrack went virtually silent.
Bumper turned in his chair to address the men. “That’s it. From here, she drops to the bottom. I’m not sure how far down. We didn’t pick up the vehicle hitting the floor. The ravine is deep.”
“That’s it, Mik—” began Jim.
Mikhail interrupted. “What was that?”
“What?”
“There was a sound there. When everything was silent.”
Bumper rewound and replayed the end. There was no sound except for a small hiss, which appeared from nowhere. “Oh that. Yeah, I heard that when I was listening. It sounds like a fuss in my equipment. Something interfered for a second.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. It was probably something small.”
“Was your system ready to be tuned?”
“Mik, I’m sure it was nothing. If Bump says it was nothing, then it was nothing.”
“Just enhance it for me.”
Bumper didn’t move. It was ridiculous for him to humor the old man. He was sad that his grandkid died, but he didn’t have to put up with being second-guessed by a civilian. Sub designer or not.
“Please. Enhance it.”
Jim sighed and gave Bump the nod. Bumper punched away on the keyboard and ran the tape back to the sound. He enhanced it and brought it up to a more audible level.
“Okay, here it is.” He played the sound, and to his amazement, it reproduced a balloon inflating. Then there was the faint sound of a cable coming taught and metal creaking. Then it went silent. “What the fuck?”
“What was it, Bump?”
“It’s something floating. An inflatable.”
There was hope in Mikhail’s voice. He didn’t know why or how, but he had some hope. “Can we ping it?”
The request wasn’t outrageous. It was just weird. Jim relented, though. He’d satisfy the old man if it helped. “Go to active sonar, Bump, and see if anything is out there.”
The War Eagle released the sound wave, and the whole ship listened to it travel in the depths. Nothing happened in the first couple of seconds. Then, very far off and very small, the wave came back.
“Jesus Christ, there is something out there.” Bump couldn’t believe it.
“Another sub?”
“No. Way too small.” Without asking permission, Bump sent off another wave. Again it came back. “Whatever it is, it’s coming up. Slowly, but up.”
Jim looked around the corner into the RRCC. There Josh was quietly conversing with O’Neil and McLeary. “Captain. Does your satellite still work?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Josh.
“Fire her up, please. We need to look for something.”
When the pod broke the surface, everyone was amazed but Andri. He smiled with great satisfaction.
“What the fuck is that?” remarked Kyle’s copilot.
The pod rolled over, and the small hatch swung to the top while the great steel sphere bobbed in the waves.
Kyle maneuvered above it, transfixed on who should emerge from the vessel. When the first person out was a woman, his jaw dropped to the floor. “She was with you?”
“Yes,” replied Andri. “My radio operator.” Then he saw Nick come up. It was a feeling of relief. He liked Nicholas very much. It didn’t matter who he was. Nicholas understood what he had created. No one else, even Sasha, had the insight to see how well the sub had been constructed. That made Nick respectable in Andri’s book.
“I guess we had better pick them up,” Kyle muttered.
Small cheers erupted from RRCC when Nicholas’s face appeared on Josh’s screen. ODIS’s console had been bounced off the wall, but its picture was clear enough for Mikhail to positively identify his grandson.
“He’s alive,” he said, smiling.
“With a woman, too,” McLeary added.
“Holy shit,” said Jim. “I can’t believe he pulled his ass out of that one.”
Mikhail’s chest swelled. “Of course he did. He’s my grandson.”
Jim, still in disbelief leaned his head into the conn. “Linc, Froggie was able to fix the rudder, somewhat. Head for home, best speed.”
“Aye, Cap.”
No one was more surprised than Nicholas when he saw the man helping him into the helicopter was none other than Andri Stemovich. Marina also was very confused by his presence and sat as far away from him as possible.
“I really didn’t expect to see you again, Captain.”
“Sasha pushed me over the sail when the torpedo struck. I felt you go under. I hoped you would get out. You see, my design worked.”