Raise the Red Dawn

Epilogue

Peter MacKenzie brought the man with him onto the deck of Red Dawn. The sub was floating in a concrete sub pen and was moored to the dock. After the engagement with Akula, catching up to the slow-moving Phoenix had been a simple matter. Seawolf had shepherded both submarines until they met the surface escort. They had all arrived in Scotland together three days after leaving the ice cap.

Intelligence teams had already been on board to remove the crew. They would be returned to the Soviet Union within a few days. Other teams were uncovering the secrets of the drive.

“Go ahead. I’ll follow,” MacKenzie said, climbing down after him into Red Dawn.

They walked through the control room. It still smelled of fire damage and close-packed bodies with too little fresh air. Bowls of food still stood half eaten on the tables in the crew’s mess. “Wait here,” said MacKenzie. “Please.”

The man sat down wearily on a bench. He was still not healed from his ordeal.

MacKenzie walked aft. A lone figure was waiting in the engine room.

Ivanna Ligichova looked up, startled, when he approached. “Oh, I didn’t think anyone was left on board. My father was the last to leave. Who are you?”

“Captain Peter MacKenzie, U.S. Navy. The Seawolf is my ship.”

“Ah, our rescuer.” She held out her hand. “Pm grateful to you for all you did. So is my father.”

“Where is he?”

“He had to be taken to the hospital. Gunshot wound.”

That spoke volumes, but MacKenzie let it pass. “My wife said… Well, I’m not very good at this cloak-and-dagger stuff, but I guess I’m supposed to say the word ‘invictus’ to you. Does that mean anything?”

Ivanna smiled. “It means she would have been here if she could, but I should trust you as I would her. Very well. Here, this is what all the fuss was about.”

She dropped a block of irinium into MacKenzie’s hand. “Just don’t get it wet.”

“Is that what happened here?”

“That, and a few other things.”

MacKenzie turned the block over in his hands. “So you’re the reason we knew what was on Red Dawn?”

“Yes. My father is a patriot of the world. He knew irinium should not belong to any one country. But always the supply was too well monitored and he was too closely watched. We all were.” She shrugged.

MacKenzie nodded. “I’m supposed to remind you of our offer of asylum.”

Ivanna smiled. “Thank you, but it isn’t necessary now. Things are changing in my country. My father and I want to go back to strengthen those changes. Someday we will meet in the open, as friends should.”

MacKenzie thought back to Akula’s captain. “Maybe we will at that.” He slipped the bar of irinium into his pocket. “One last thing. It was impossible to tell you sooner, but we were able to save a diver off your ship. Brave boy. Without him none of us might be here. It was the cold that got him. My wife thought—”

Ivanna’s face flooded with surprise and happiness. “Pytor? Can you really mean it? Pytor is alive?”

“We got him to the surface in a DSRV. I guess he’ll tell you the rest himself.”

“Oh, my God, he’s here?”

“In the mess. Take your time. There’s a car on the dock to take you to the others.”

“But look what I look like, how can I? MacKenzie smiled. “We’re all a little worse for wear. Knowing the young man, I don’t think it will matter. Good-bye, Ivanna Ligichova, and good luck.”

He watched Ivanna run down the corridor like a schoolgirl.

Some things changed, some things never did.

MacKenzie walked back with a spring in his step.