A Time to Die by Robert Moore

Author:Robert Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307419699
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2007-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

9

I: 2 P.M. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16

Severomorsk Naval Headquarters

A THOUSAND MILES TO the north, in his command headquarters in Severomorsk, Admiral Popov could vividly picture the horrors of being trapped inside a submarine. He had come close to disaster himself back in 1983, while commanding a ballistic nuclear sub on exercise in the western Atlantic. The SSBN had suffered a series of major technical failures, which culminated in both of the nuclear reactors shutting down. Temporary repairs had saved the day, but not before Popov had come face-to-face with the fear of going down with his submarine.

On Wednesday, he decided he had given his own rescue specialists enough time. Popov knew perfectly well the pitiful state of the equipment available to the rescuers aboard the Rudnitsky. His submariners deserved better than this. Early that afternoon, he reached for the dedicated telephone link to Admiral Skorgen’s Norwegian headquarters in Bodø. This moment represented both a humiliating comedown and the bravest step that Popov had ever taken as commander of the Northern Fleet. Whether or not Popov received clearance from the Kremlin for making the call is not clear. Never before had a Russian admiral been reduced to asking a Cold War adversary for assistance in such circumstances. Forty-eight hours had passed since the Norwegian commander had first offered help, only to be brushed aside, but now Popov was facing the loss of the entire submarine crew, and the West represented the one real chance left.

“Hello, Admiral Skorgen. I need you to help me.”

An interpreter on another handset translated from Russian into English. The simple statement stunned Skorgen.

“Admiral Popov, just tell me exactly what you need, and I will try to assist.”

“I need divers. Men who can operate down to a depth of one hundred and ten meters. I need them to help us connect our rescue submersibles to the emergency hatch. That way, we can reach the survivors in the submarine. Can you help?”

The reference to survivors was electrifying after three days of silence.

“Give me some time,” Skorgen replied. “Just a few hours, and I will find out and call you back.”

“OK. We will wait for your call,” Popov concluded.

Skorgen was convinced that the Russian commander cared deeply about his sailors and was sincere in his request. If Popov was merely playing politics—following orders from Moscow to appease Russian public opinion—he was giving a remarkably convincing performance.

The two men were hardly strangers. Skorgen and Popov had met on several occasions and been to each other’s headquarters during reciprocal visits designed to break down the barriers of mistrust between the two Arctic neighbors. Norway and Russia have long viewed each other warily. Not only is Norway host to a long-running, top-secret U.S. intelligence effort—the frontier region of Finnmark bristles with intercept masts—but the Russian-Norwegian maritime border is still disputed. At first glance, the argument appears to be over wild and remote ocean, but both sides recognize that the seabed is rich in resources and that the sea-lanes are of great strategic importance. Russia’s

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