'We've done it,' he was saying.
'You mean you've done it, Dave. All I had to do was persuade the Northern Fleet commander to lend me a submarine.'
'Is that all?' laughed Dave. 'You're right, that's not very much. Just the loan of a sub.'
'He was very glad to do it. Things were a lot worse than even I had imagined. The Navy in Murmansk owes the local electricity company almost four million dollars in unpaid bills. Last week, they cut off the power supply to three nuclear submarine bases. I'm no nuclear physicist, Dave, but even I can see that the consequences of what these guys at the electricity stations are doing could be disastrous. The prospect of someone providing the Navy with several million dollars of cash in return for preventing nuclear disaster was an offer he could hardly refuse.'
'It's really that bad?'
'For sure. There are dozens of retired submarines awaiting decommissioning, and quite a few of them are leaking like sieves. They need a constant supply of electricity just to keep the pumps going so that the subs don't sink. It's hard enough to decommission an old reactor on land, let alone at the bottom of the White Sea.' Gergiev laughed loudly. 'Under the circumstances I was able to cut us a very generous deal. A very generous deal.'
'What's the percentage?'
'You won't believe it.'
'Einstein, there must be forty million dollars in those bags.'
'That much, eh?'
'At least. So what's the cut?'
'They settled for 30 percent.'
'Thirty percent. That's only twelve million.' Dave looked delighted.
'It's three times what they owe Kolenergo. That's the power authority.' Gergiev shrugged. 'The Russian Navy's desperate for hard currency. Frankly the commander would probably have settled for 25 percent, but well, I was feeling patriotic. And it's not just the Navy either. Just a few weeks ago, Kolenergo cut the power supply for two whole days to the central command of the Strategic Rocket Forces at Plesetsk. Dave, this is the place that controls our ICBMs. They even cut the power to an air traffic control center when the Prime Minister's plane was in the air.' Gergiev laughed. 'Twelve million? Believe me, they'll think it's a bargain. After all, they had nothing to lose and everything to gain.'
'Leaves us maybe twenty-eight million dollars,' breathed Dave. 'That's fourteen million each.'
'Any trouble?'
'Plenty. But it's a long story.'
Gergiev was older than Dave. He wore a Lenin-style beard and mustache and, like the captain lieutenant, he was wearing a grimy blue boilersuit. He looked more of an intellectual -- a university professor, or a medical man -- than someone connected to one of St Petersburg's biggest Mafia gangs. He nodded and said, 'You're right. You can tell me about it later, when we're on our way back to Russia. We'd better be going. The Northern Fleet Sonar Surveillance System reports another submarine in the area.'
'Probably the French one Kate was expecting,' said Dave.
'She's the doll, right?'
'She's the mother of all dolls. A real matrushka, my friend. One woman inside another. There was me making love to her, and it turned out she was FBI all along. Not that I ever accepted her at face value. You know me, Einstein. I don't believe in anything.'
'Then we'll make a real Russian of you yet,' grinned Gergiev. 'What was she doing on the ship? Were they onto us, do you think?'
'Not for a minute. Like I said, it's a long story. This boat we're on? As bad luck would have it, the FBI had been keeping it under surveillance. Hard currency isn't the only thing being smuggled across the Atlantic. The fuel tanks of this boat are full of cocaine. She thinks that's what we came after.'
Gergiev looked thoughtful.
'A pity,' he said after a moment.
'What?'
'I was thinking it's a pity we don't have more time. There's a big market for cocaine in Russia these days. Please don't tell me how much there is down there.'
'Not just cocaine. There are three bodies too. I told you. We had some trouble.'
'In that case I'll feel a lot happier when we've sunk this boat.' Gergiev glanced over at Al, who was now restrained by two burly Russian sailors. 'Was the killing down to him?'
'Only partly.' Dave shook his head and said, 'I think he likes shooting people. Ten minutes ago, he was planning to shoot me.'
'So what are you going to do with him?'
'That all depends on whether Kate's still disposed to be the scrupulous federal agent. I was hoping I might be able to persuade her to come along with us.'
Gergiev looked doubtful. 'There are plenty of women in Russia, Dave. With the exception of our politicians' wives, most of them are very beautiful. A little corrupt, maybe, but that shouldn't worry you.'
'This one's special, Einstein. Any objections?'
