When the helicopter arrived its downwash battered the men waiting for its payload. When the fourth sled piece was lowered onto the trailer, men rushed forward to unhook the tethers, and the helicopter turned away. McNally signaled to the dozer driver to proceed and the men followed the bulldozer towing the trailer through the ice tunnel.
Brusilov gazed at the iceberg that slid past two hundred yards away. Even from this distance he had to tilt his head back slightly to see its top. It was an awe-inspiring and humbling sight.
“Approaching our point of entry, Captain,” reported Chersky.
The two men glanced down on hearing the cargo deck doors open and watched the crane swing into position. The cable was lowered into the hold and a few moments later the barge rose above the deck with two men onboard. They held on to the rail as the barge swung out over the side and was lowered into the water. As soon as it was afloat and the cables went slack, one of the men aboard released the tethers while the other man entered the small wheelhouse at the stern and started the powerful diesel engine, which belched out a thick cloud of black smoke when it chugged to life.
Brusilov was both apprehensive and excited by what they were about to do. As men scurried across the deck attaching cables to the equipment that would be craned onto the barge, he turned his attention back to the iceberg and scrutinized their landing point. It had been chosen not only for its proximity to the spaceship, but also because of the natural ledge of ice that protruded twelve yards from the wall of ice. The borer required a stable platform to begin its task and the ice ledge fulfilled that requirement.
When all the supplies were aboard the barge hugging the ship’s hull, the roll of climbing netting was unfurled over the side and the engineers clambered down and boarded the barge.
As the strange vessel headed for the iceberg, the crew in the ship’s hold moved the borer in position below the open deck hatch. When the engineers were ready it would be airlifted to the iceberg.
The barge slowed when it approached the ice ledge and two large harpoon cannons were moved to either side of the bow and locked into place. Beside each was a coil of thin, but extremely strong cable, attached to an electric winch. The harpoons had been designed to spin and in front of the barb at the harpoon’s tip was a screw thread that would pull it deep into the ice. When two explosions rung out, the spinning harpoons shot through the air and struck the ice above the ledge. The winches were powered up and as the slack was taken out of the cables the barge was pulled closer to the iceberg.
Nikolay moved to the bow and shot his gaze from the harpoons to the approaching ice. If one came free and snapped back, it could maim or kill someone, but they held firm and slowly the barge was drawn nearer the ledge. Nikolay ordered the winch operators, Alexei Vanyushin and Kolya Antonoff, to slow down when it was only a few feet away. The men stumbled to keep their footing when the barge struck the ice with a resounding boom a few moments later. When the cables were taut, the winch drums were locked and motors switched off. The metal platform chaffed against the ice as the waves raised and lowered it.
When he was satisfied the tethers would hold and were locked into position, Nikolay pulled out his radio and communicated with the ship, “Barge is secure, bring the borer.”
While four men flipped the wide metal ramp hinged to the bow over from lying flat on the deck to rest on the ice, Nikolay glanced back at the ship and watched the large helicopter lift from the helipad and maneuver above the hold.
The rotors of the large Russian Mi-26M helicopter, known in the West as the Halo, began to spin. It had the load-carrying capability of a C-130 transport plane and a payload capacity of twenty-five tons, making it the world’s largest production helicopter. It rose from the helipad and with constant directions from his co-pilot leaning out of the side door, the pilot, Yegor Kristoff, positioned the Halo over the open hold. The co-pilot winched down the cable and when the crew signaled the payload had been attached, he informed Yegor that all was ready.
The pilot applied power to the twin engines and slowly lifted the borer from the hold. As it was drilling through ice and not the rock for which it was originally designed, the borer’s frame didn’t have to be so strong, so along with any excess weight, some of the frame had been stripped away or replaced with lighter aluminum. Left in its original state the helicopter would have struggled to lift it. After the borer had cleared all obstructions, the Halo turned and headed for the men waiting to receive it on the iceberg.
An overhang of ice prevented the helicopter from hovering directly over the ledge, so it lowered its payload onto the barge. Men grabbed the skids they had added on the bottom and communicated directions to the pilot until the machine faced in the right direction. It clanged onto the deck with a thump that rocked the barge. The lift cable was released and the helicopter swooped away.
Nikolay glanced over at the men on the ice ledge. They had screwed an anchor into the ice and attached a diesel-powered winch. Two men dragged the cable towards the borer and attached it to the front of the machine. The winch was started and slowly the borer slid along the deck. Men positioned around it kept it on course. It reached the top of the gently sloping ramp and when it reached its center of gravity, it tilted forward just as a swell raised the barge a foot. Unable to hold the heavy piece of equipment back, the men released their hold. The borer slid and screeched down the ramp, heading for the winch-operator. The man dived aside a moment before the machine crashed into the winch and the borer skewed to one side before coming to a rest.
Nikolay rushed down the ramp, his view of the winch operator blocked by the borer. When he rounded the machine he saw the man sprawled on the ice. He was about to rush over to check if he was alive, dead or injured, when the man lifted his head and grinned.
A quick inspection of the borer proved it to be undamaged. The same could not be said for the winch that was damaged beyond repair and leaked diesel fuel. Luckily, it had already carried out its task and was no longer needed.
Nikolay glanced at the men who had gathered on the ice ledge. “Babinski and Mikhail, dump the winch into the sea.”
While that task was carried out, Nikolay positioned men around the borer, straightened it up and pushed it against the wall of ice. Metal struts were jammed into the ice at the back to keep the drill teeth pressed against the ice until it bit and dragged itself forward.
A power cable wound around a large drum and connected to the generator aboard the barge was unwound and attached to the borer. After Nikolay had checked all the connections, he flipped the ON switch. The control panel showed all green lights. He pressed the starter and disengaged the clutch. Slowly, at first, the borer cutting drum began to turn. Nikolay turned on the pump that normally sprayed a coolant on the rotating drill, which wasn’t necessary in this situation and had been replaced with anti-freeze. The jets spluttered before achieving a steady blast of liquid. The ice sheered from the wall as the borer inched forward was collected on the conveyer beneath the machine and disgorged behind; normally a long conveyer belt would remove the spoils, but in this situation it wasn’t possible. The men cheered. It was working.
“Okay, comrades, now the hard work begins,” warned Nikolay. “Remove the props, grab your shovels and clear the scrapings.”