“. . Getting under way at this time. The Northern Fleet will provide escorting warships to ensure privacy in the operational area. They will be in the area four days before the K-2 sails.” Zotkin tapped the board with his ruler. “It is a glorious day for us. Our first sea trial with the K-2.”
“What if it sinks?” Danzinger asked.
Zotkin stopped talking.
What was wrong with this Danzinger? Submariners, regardless of which Navy they served, were a superstitious lot at heart. Danzinger had cast a pall over the Whale. “It won’t sink,” Anton said. “It is my boat, and with officers such as Commander Gesny, who have such experience on the K-2, the worst that could happen is that we shut down the atomic engine, blow ballasts, and surface.”
“But that’s not going to happen,” Zotkin protested. “The sea trial is well planned. The tests on the engine have been flawless. We are not going to sink. We are not going to have to turn off the atomic engine, blow ballasts, and surface. Everything is going to go well!” Zotkin said, his voice nearly shrill in opposition to both Danzinger and Anton’s comments.
“ ‘Flawless’?” Danzinger asked, his graying eyebrows arching.
“ ‘Flawless,’ ” Zotkin said, wiping his hands on his smock. He dropped his ruler but did not bend down to pick it up. He stared at Danzinger. “Very flawless, as you know, Doctor.” His words were short and harsh.
Why was this Danzinger deliberately antagonizing Zotkin? And him also? Anton kept quiet, though he wanted to object to anyone discussing the idea of the Whale sinking. He was glad that only he and Gesny were here from the boat.
After a few awkward seconds, Danzinger sighed and said, “My apologies, Doctor Zotkin. You are right. We have had typical Soviet flawless tests. What in the world am I thinking?”
The accent and the name came together in his mind. Doctor Danzinger was German.
Anton had heard of how the Americans and the British had taken German scientists in the dead of the night after the war, spirited them secretly to their countries, where today they worked on their rocket programs. Maybe his government had done the same thing — only they took the atomic program scientists. Maybe being a German scientist was good — or maybe it was a bad thing to be at the end of the war? He had heard rumors. He had tried during his career to discount rumors. Rumors have a way for those repeating them to wake up one morning and discover the pleasures of chopping frozen trees in Siberia.
“Captain Zegouniov?”
Anton looked at Zotkin. “My apologies, Doctor Zotkin; I was thinking of the upcoming sea trials.”
“And so am I. My question was, do you see anything on this board that is out of the ordinary, or do you have any additional recommendations for the sea trials?”
Anton cleared his throat. “If I may, Doctor Zotkin.” Anton stood and glanced around the table, deliberately ignoring eye contact with Danzinger. “I would like to thank everyone involved who have worked so hard and done so much to bring us to where we are today. Atomic power will cease to be the sole property of the American Navy, and when we finish our sea trials”—he looked at Doctor Zotkin—“for we know many sea trials are needed to furrow out any issues, problems, or criticalities of a new technology. Commander Gesny and I are dedicated to this project; we are dedicated to the Soviet Navy; and we are dedicated to the Soviet Union, and we recognize the honor of serving with the scientists who have worked so hard to bring us atomic power. You should be proud of your accomplishments for the party and the state.”
“To the glory of the Soviet Union!” everyone shouted.
He glanced at Danzinger, who even raised his empty espresso cup.
“This one sea trial may be all we need,” Doctor Zotkin continued to protest. The clapping started to subside, and when no one acknowledged his statement, Zotkin added, “Maybe we won’t need more than one.”
Anton added, “You may be right, Doctor Zotkin. It would be a great achievement to have only one sea trial. I know how you feel. I have always thought when testing new technology that I would like to do it once and then be finished. But as we have discovered with radar, high-speed modifications, sophisticated silencing techniques, sensitive sonic technology, and electronic warfare detection systems there are unforeseen events in integrating new technologies and techniques.
“Thanks to you, atomic power will move us along with the other technological advancements to a day in the not too distant future when we will sail ahead of the Western forces. But in sea trials you don’t know what you don’t know.” As soon as he echoed Danzinger’s earlier words, Anton wished he could have withdrawn them.
Red began to creep along Zotkin’s throat. The repeat of Danzinger’s earlier warning had not gone unnoticed by Zotkin.
“But I would like to add that never have I seen such a well-run, well- orga nized, and well- thought- out technological marvel.” He nodded at Zotkin. “And I, for one, attribute that to the leadership of Doctor Zotkin.”
Zotkin gave a sharp nod. Polite applause followed the words. The red seemed to disappear again. Anton glanced at Gesny, who dropped his eyes for a moment before looking toward the front of the room at Zotkin.
Zotkin looked at his watch. “We have thirty minutes before my next meeting.” He bent and picked up his ruler. “The K-2 will leave the facility before daylight eight days from now. It will be escorted on the surface by the destroyer Razyarenny.”
Razyarenny? Anton nodded. Razyarenny was a Soviet destroyer launched in 1941 and that fought in the Pacific Theater before it shifted to the Northern Fleet. It was not one of the modern prototypes he had expected, but it was a proven Soviet warship.
“While the Razyarenny is your escort, Captain Anton, you are to stay close alongside her and are not to submerge until you reach the Barents. We don’t want to chance an inadvertent collision with the fishing fleet or having the K-2 hit the shallows along the bay.”
What an insult. The idea that he and Gesny would be unable to avoid fishing trawlers and shallows was ludicrous. Both of them were submarine veterans of the Great Patriotic War! He took a deep breath. He had already upset Zotkin once; no need to do it again.
“Once in the Barents, the commander of the Northern Fleet Submarine Force, Admiral Katshora, will assume command of the test. I will be with the admiral as his scientific adviser.” Zotkin nodded with a grin. “Together we will watch the K-2 submerge. Captain Zegouniov, there are to be other destroyers engaged in this sea trial. They are there to track the K-2 while it is submerged. We know why, don’t we?”
Anton nodded, because if he tried to leave the sea trial area, the destroyers would sink him.
Zotkin continued, “Because they will be gathering data on your maneuvers to help us further identify the glorious advantage atomic power will bring to the Soviet Navy and to the Soviet Union.”
As Anton brought his gaze back to the table, he saw Danzinger’s eyes roll skyward. The man’s face was a bright red, Anton noticed, just before the scientist rolled to the left and collapsed on the floor. Neither scientist on the sides of Danzinger moved to help; they just looked down, as if it were something they had seen before.