they stood. “You have observed. It is up to you what you have learned.
Learn quickly and you will live longer.” He turned back to the technician.
“Tell me about this explosion.”
“it- it was far from us, maybe thirty kilometers,” the technician
babbled, profound relief at still being alive making his voice shaky and
uneven. “The Oscar–she fired, I think. Maybe a torpedo–I don’t know, I
couldn’t hear it all, but-”
“The target,” Rogov demanded. “Was it the carrier?”
The technician shook his head. “No, Comrade, the carrier was too far
away. It was another surface vessel, I think. There was a fishing
boat–at least I think it was a fishing boat. It sounded like one,
although it did not act like it. The diesel engine, yes, but no indication
of trolling nets or any of the other activities I expect from a fishing
boat.” His voice ceased abruptly, as though he realized he was babbling.
“There is nothing else I can add, Comrade.”
Rogov seized the back of the man’s neck, clamping his vise-like
fingers down hard. He felt the man’s pulse beat under his fingers,
fluttering now like a bird’s. “Do not call me Comrade,” he said quietly,
menace in his voice. “You may call me sir, you may call me Colonel, but
never Comrade. You and I–we have no blood in common. You will remember
that, along with your other duties.”
“Yes, Colonel,” the man squeaked, barely able to force his voice past
the cruel pressure on his throat. “I will remember.”
“And so will the rest of you,” Rogov said, raising his voice slightly.
“Your people have forgotten much, but I will ensure that you remember this
much. A Cossack is no comrade to any of you,” he said, pronouncing the
hated word with disgust dripping in his voice. “We remember what you have
forgotten. You will learn, during the next weeks, how much that is.” He
turned back to the navigational chart, pretending to examine their position
relative to the Oscar, buying himself some time to think at the expense of
the crew’s nerves.
It must have been the Oscar, he decided. Her orders were to stay in
the deep waters that were her natural abode, using her speed and nuclear
propulsion to interdict any vessels that approached too close to Aflu or
threatened to compromise the mission. For now, at least. Later, she’d
have other missions, ones that made better use of her potent ship-killing
capabilities.
But why surface to fire? He puzzled over that for a moment, trying to
peer into the mind of the other submarine commander’s mind. Maybe to get a
visual on the contact, to better weigh the delicate considerations that
went into deciding to fire. With the American carrier in the area, the
Oscar’s commander would have wanted to make sure he was not attacking
within clear view of any warship. Unexplained losses in the North Pacific
were common since the poorly equipped fishing vessels plied unforgiving
waters and treacherous, unpredictable seas, but killing one of them within
sonar range of the battle group would have been idiotic.
That must have been it, he decided, and felt a sense of relief as the
unexplained explosion slipped neatly into an understandable tactical
pattern. The Oscar’s commander was also a Cossack, as reliable and
implacably determined as Rogov himself. And, as with Rogov, the Russian
submarine force’s chain of command had never suspected either man’s higher
loyalties.
The engineering problems the sonarman mentioned–was it possible? He
shrugged. There were contingency plans for just such an occasion. There
always were. But before he could alter his own plans, he had to find out
whether or not the Oscar was out of commission.
Rogov turned to the conning officer. “I wish to observe this boat
that the Oscar has attacked.”
The conning officer nodded and gave the commands preparatory to
surfacing the submarine. Facing the churning ocean above was far less
dangerous than remaining submerged below.
1508 Local
Adak
Tombstone Magruder strode briskly to the front of the room. He paused
behind the podium and surveyed the faces arrayed before him. The assembled
media and camera crews had that eager, slightly slavering look he’d come to