as to maintain radio silence in this situation, but I have known many Captains who sometimes do foolish things at sea, particularly under stress—or under orders.”
“Agreed,” said Karpov, “but that suggests they have moved to a wartime footing, as we should by default given what has already happened. Where is Orel, Admiral? Where is Slava? We are the aggrieved party here, and we have every reason to assume the worst.”
“I do not disagree with you, but I choose to proceed as planned with the helicopter. If this is the Royal Navy, or perhaps Norwegian ships, then we will know in a matter of a few minutes. Which reminds me. Mister Nikolin, what did you learn from the weather station on Jan Mayen?”
“Nothing sir. They did not respond either.”
Now Volsky folded his arms, the situation becoming more serious with each passing moment. Why no radio response, from these ships or the facility on Jan Mayen? There was clearly a detonation of some kind, he thought. If Karpov was correct, then that was a submarine attack, possibly intending to take us out as well. Yet Tasarov is very, very good. He might have failed to detect a stealthy British sub, particularly if it was just lying in wait for us here, but he would have certainly heard torpedoes in the water, and without question. So I do not think Orel was targeted deliberately, yet the disappearance of Slava is most disturbing.
“Any word from the submersible?”
“They report all clear below, but they are still searching.”
Volsky nodded. Yes, where was Slava? That is the difficult piece of this puzzle. If there was an accident aboard Orel, we were much more vulnerable, within 5000 meters of that boat when it happened. Yet Slava was over 30 kilometers to the south, and well out of harm’s way. For it to simply disappear like this is a strong argument for Karpov’s view of things. One accident I might believe, but two, and both at the same time? That is preposterous… unless…
Sabotage…
That thought arose in his mind now like a dark shadow. The political situation has been very grim of late. There are many back home who are set on taking a hard line, just as Karpov might here. It is not outside the realm of possibility that someone would take such a rash action. Two old ships suddenly suffer catastrophic loss, but not Kirov, no, not the fleet flagship. Slava was ready for the bone yard, as was Orel, but this ship would be needed if it ever came to war. We are the heart of the entire Red Banner Northern Fleet.
“Nikolin,” he said. “Have you sent out an all ship’s respond on command level channels?”
“I have sir, on 272, but I get no response from any fleet unit.” He glanced furtively at Fedorov as he finished.
“Quite the little mystery here,” said the Admiral.
“Yet one that paints a very dark picture, Admiral.” Karpov still had that warning in his eyes.
“No response from any ship or submarine? You know as well as I do that a 272 coded message designates it as coming from this ship, the fleet flagship, and therefore from me,” said Volsky, “the current commander of that fleet. It demands a response, and yet we hear nothing, as if—”
“As if they were not there,” Karpov finished, “just like Slava and Orel.”
“You are suggesting that our enemies have destroyed every ship in the Red Banner Northern Fleet? Every submarine? Yet they overlooked us?”
“Those two ships out there may be here to finish the job,” said Karpov. “You and I both know what happens if they fire first. Our defenses are very good, but something might get through.”
“KA-226 is on approach,” said Nikolin. “I can hear their salutation, but there is still no response.”
“Mister Rodenko,” said Volsky. “I wish to know the moment you detect any targeting radars painting that helo.”
“I’ve been watching, Admiral, but nothing.”
“Rodenko,” said Fedorov quickly. “have a look down at 39.9MHz, then try 85MHz and finally 600Mhz. Look for 3.5 meter wavelengths.”
Rodenko gave Fedorov an odd look. “They shouldn’t be using that. British Sampson radar is in the S band, in the microwave spectrum, but I suppose there’s no harm in looking elsewhere.”
“Full of suggestions today,” said Karpov looking at his Navigator. “I did not know you were trained for radar, Fedorov. Kindly leave that job to Rodenko.”
Some tense moments passed, but soon Nikolin spoke up with an update. “I’m getting live video feed from the KA-226,” he said.