Splashdown

Chapter 18

“They'll want to be at sea and at depth to launch the nuke. We need a place to hide until the sub gets underway.”

Dane suppressed a wave of panic at the long narrow passageway ahead of them that offered no such shelter. They walked briskly, Dane in the lead, down the tight passageway, stopping once to consult a schematic that depicted a room layout. Though not overly familiar with this Typhoon class sub, their time aboard other subs allowed them to recognize the torpedo room in context. Dane memorized its position relative to other major parts of the ship.

They moved down the passage, their footsteps echoing as they traveled through the sprawling steel tube. Halfway down the passageway a sailor entered from the other end and strode their way. Bones walked close behind Dane to hide his head as much as possible, while Dane kept his head down with a hand on one side of his face like he was scratching an itch. They passed without incident and took a left turn into another even narrower passageway, this one with doors spaced at even intervals on both sides. They had proceeded down most of the length of this passage when Dane stopped at a door marked in Russian but with a diagram of a trash can.

“Trash disposal room.” Dane knew from his own Navy experience aboard subs that large ones like this ejected biodegradable trash in compressed discs at sea, while non-degradable trash was stored aboard for later disposal at port. He doubted Ivkin would want trash dumped on his private island sanctuary. “Let's duck in here.”

“Into the garbage chute, flyboy,” Bones said.

Dane fixed him with a quizzical look.

“Star Wars? Seriously, Maddock, sometimes I think you’re a Philistine.”

Dane opened the door and stuck his head inside, listening. It was a small room, the walls lined with metal drums. He didn't see or hear any signs of people. Dane and Bones entered the room and closed the door behind them. The space was chilly and reeked of garbage.

“Our accommodations just keep getting better and better on this trip, Maddock. You really know how to travel in style.”

“Remind me to request a refund from my travel agent when I get back.”

Dane ducked behind a group of drums and hunkered down. Bones followed suit. Should someone open the door and casually look inside, they would not be visible.

A few minutes passed and then they heard a voice come over the sub's PA system. It was in Russian, but from the sound of it the message was not urgent and Dane guessed it meant they were announcing the intention to get underway shortly.

“Hopefully they're still looking for us on the island,” he said.

“And they get eaten by those hideous crabs in the process.”

“If we're lucky they think we were eaten by those hideous crabs.”

They felt a vibration in the room's wall. “Engines are starting up,” Dane said.

Shortly after that the pitch of the vibrations changed. “We're underway. Give it fifteen minutes or so. Once we dive we should make our move.”

They were both aware that prior to a submarine diving a general alarm would sound along with a message for all submariners to man their stations. After waiting several more minutes, that alarm notice came. Dane raised himself to a kneeling position.

“Torpedo room,” Dane said to Bones. “That's where the nuke will be.”

They rose and crept to the trash room entrance. Bones put an ear to it and listened for approaching footsteps. Hearing none, he stepped back and opened the door. They left the smelly hiding place, closed the door behind them and took a right down the passageway toward the torpedo room. They had the sub's walkways to themselves since all sailors were manning stations, but this would also raise suspicions if they were noticed. They increased their pace, as if they might be late reaching their stations.

At the end of the walkway Dane consulted another placard map. “This way.” They took off down a gangway to the left. Dane held out a hand when he reached a closed door on the right.

“In here. It'll be crawling with people. Hide or blend in until we can make our move.” Dane pulled open the door, which led into a short hallway open to the torpedo room. Bustling with activity, there had to be at least twenty people inside, although they were highly preoccupied with various technical jobs. Ivkin was yelling at a technician next to a bank of control equipment against the left wall of the room.

And in the center of the space, Dane and Bones saw the atomic bomb on a workbench. It had been fitted with an outer casing as well as an application of some sort of lubricant. An assortment of electronic devices and testing equipment littered the work area next to the nuke. Dane recognized an oscilloscope and a voltage meter, but saw other machines he was not at all familiar with.

“Makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside to know I’m this close to a forty year-old nuclear bomb being tinkered with by Doctor Dumbass,” Bones whispered..

Ivkin continued to make demands in Russian to his torpedo technician, his back turned to Dane and Bones. The crewman animatedly explained something, while Ivkin gestured irritably.

Then a Russian voice over the intercom barked out a single word.

Ivkin started to say something to his technician. He was interrupted by a blaring, high-pitched klaxon alarm that initially froze the crew to attention but in short order sent them scurrying to action. He began yelling in Russian and a crewmember reported to him. Dane wasn’t sure what was being said, but whatever it was, Ivkin didn’t look pleased. He did notice, however, as did Bones, that no one was paying any attention to the nuke.

Another crew member ran to Ivkin, barraging him with a litany of complaints about whatever technical problem it was that they faced.

Then a different alarm, this one a lower, more buzzing sound, joined in with the klaxon.

Dane and Bones looked at one another. Bones glanced at the bomb, ten feet from them on the workbench, unattended while the crew grappled with the alarms.

Bone’s eyes widened a split second before he made his move for the nuclear weapon.