“Sorry. Like I said, I was below decks at the time. Luckily, the room I work out of is insulated with soundproofing to prevent any sound intrusions from affecting the hydrophones I was using. As a consequence, I survived, while my crew all died.”
“That was fortunate. Pity we’ll never know what happened.”
Svetlana shifted uncomfortably in the leather lounge, uncertain if she was being reprimanded for intentionally sinking the Vostok, and thus destroying any evidence of what happened. She appeared to regain her composure quickly and asked, “What are you and Tom doing here?”
“Fishing.”
“Really?” she sounded incredulous. “Where did you come from?”
“San Cristóbal, Galapagos Islands.”
“That’s nearly two hundred miles north of here.”
Sam shrugged. “We like offshore fishing.”
“Well, you won’t have much luck out here. There are more than two thousand feet of water below our keel, I wouldn’t think there’d be a lot of fish out here, and I’d know, I’m an expert fish finder.”
“Right,” Sam said, and they both knew each other was lying.
“How long will you stay in the area?” she asked.
“Two more days. Possibly three. We’re waiting to meet up with my ship.”
“Your ship?” she cocked a delicately trimmed eyebrow. “I thought the Matilda was yours?”
“No. Just a rental. My ship’s on its way.”
“What’s sort of ship do you own?” she sounded impressed.
“It’s an old icebreaker, actually.” Sam smiled, ready to end the game of secrets. “But it’s been refitted to work in ocean salvage. Her name’s the Maria Helena. You might have heard of her?”
“Really?” she said, unable to conceal her interest. “What’s she doing out here? I hope you don’t expect to salvage the Vostok?”
Sam laughed. “No way in hell. As you pointed out, we’re in more than 2000 feet of water here. There’s nothing onboard the Vostok to entice me to drag her out.”
Svetlana asked directly, “So, what are you looking for?”
“A missing nuclear attack submarine called the USS Omega Deep.”
Her face paled. “What makes you think it’s out here?”
“Nothing. I was hoping you might be able to tell me where it is.”
“Why?” She couldn’t contain her concern now. “What makes you think I know anything about a missing submarine?”
Sam smiled. “Well, for a start, you were in the process of tracking her when your strange weather event occurred.”
Chapter Forty-One
Sam studied her face in silence.
Svetlana was attractive, not just beautiful, but striking. Earlier, she had flirted with a coy and coquettish appearance that didn’t match her obvious intelligence. That façade had been stripped back like the curtains at the opera, revealing a cold, calculating, hardness in her gaze. Her lustrous dark hair was smartly tied back in a single plait. She wore no makeup whatsoever. She had intelligent, smoky blue-gray eyes and a strong nose. Her jaw line was prominent, with high cheek bones, leading to a rosebud mouth and full lips that now appeared set with defiance.
She didn’t deny the truth, nor did she refer to it. Instead, she said, “Now what?”
“Now, we wait until my ship arrives. When it gets here, it will be with a support vessel. You may, if you choose, decide to join our support vessel, which should be able to accommodate you, and find a means of transport so that you can return home.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And what will you do?”
“Tom and I will continue to search for the Omega Deep.”
“You’re in the U.S. Navy?”
“No. Like I said, we work in ocean salvage. Our ship’s racing here as we speak and when it gets here, we intend to find the submarine if it has indeed ended up on the seabed somewhere.”
“You’re civilians?”
“Yes.”
“What’s a nuclear attack submarine to you?”
“We’re Americans. You could call it patriotic duty to help. We have the technology, and we’re going to try to help, if we can — as we would, if there was any other stricken submarine of any nation. Of course, for us, the Omega Deep is personal.”
“Why?”
“Its commander just so happens to be Tom’s father.”
Sam had a bite of a roast beef sandwich. In the excitement of the past few hours, he hadn’t realized he’d neglected to eat lunch.
Svetlana was the first to break the silence. “So, you’re willing to let me go?”
“Of course,” Sam said, his face a show of mocked indignance. “What sort of people do you take us for? As soon as we meet up with our support vessel, you can go aboard, and see what they can do to help you get home.”
“Don’t you want to interrogate me and find out if I know where the Omega Deep is?”
“No. You already said you didn’t know.”
“And you believe me?”
“Sure.”
“Why?”
“Because I know how its cloaking technology works, and we can’t track it, so there’s no way for you to track it.”
“But you knew the Vostok came into recent contact with the Omega Deep?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“The way your vessel froze all of a sudden. It’s a problem with the highly unstable material blackbody, which I presume some of your crew were experimenting on. Given that the Omega Deep had the last known supply of the rare element, it’s only natural to assume that you made contact with it or someone who’d made contact with it.”
Svetlana said, “Thanks for letting me know. I had no idea what went wrong. I was in my surveillance room, and my array of hydrophones were concealed, while a submarine mated with our dock beneath the keel. Our commander purchased something from that submarine — by the sounds of things, it was this strange material you talked about, blackbody. You have to believe me, that’s all I know.”
“Okay, I believe you,” Sam said, with his customary insouciance.
Svetlana said to Tom, “I’m sorry about your father.”
Tom frowned. “I still believe there’s a chance my father might still be alive.”
“I hope you’re right. Thank you, both of you,” she said. “What’s your support vessel?”
Sam smiled, “It’s the USS Gerald R. Ford.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Svetlana’s response was visceral. “No, you can’t leave me with the U.S. Navy.”
“Why not?” Sam asked.
He noticed her composure suddenly shatter.
“You have no idea what’s going on, do you?”
“No.”
“You think I’m frightened of your navy?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Then what are you frightened of?”
“It was recently discovered that advanced military technology and government secrets are being passed through senior officer’s hands. I was sent to join the Vostok in an attempt to discover who was involved from our side.”
Sam made a wry smile. “You’re worried about what your own people will do once they find out you’re still alive.”
“Yes.”
“You want to appear dead forever?”
“It beats actually being dead forever.”
“What would you do?”
“It depends. I have information. If I can work it out, and discover who’s responsible, then I can return to Russia. But until I know who’s responsible, I will be returning to a trap.”