Robert Williams - Ice Fortress

When he climbed into the conning tower, he waved his men to hold position. He wanted to savor this moment alone. From a pocket in his snow camouflaged parka he removed a small handheld device no larger than a smartphone. Only this was more like a Geiger counter than a smartphone, one calibrated to detect the emissions of a substance not detected by any instrument on earth for decades — Xerum 525. The last quantity in existence and manufactured during the final months of the war before the camp that had enriched it was liberated by the enemy.

Removing his glove, Muller swiped the screen to activate the small detector. A graphic wheel began to spin on the screen, like a snake chasing its tail. Seconds later the graphic changed from red to green and formed a solid circle. A reading of ‘100 %’ appeared inside the circle.

They’d found it. The weapon was theirs once again.

His cold blue eyes fell to the screen once more to verify the reading. It remained the same.

Muller’s orders were to report the success immediately to Barnes, a man not known for his patience. A quick look around at the immeasurably thick concrete that covered every surface put an end to the idea of using the satellite phone. He could barely hear half a dozen words from Barnes when he was using the phone out on the ice shelf. In the bunker, he wouldn’t have a chance in hell.

“Fuck him, he can wait,” Muller assured himself as he made his way down the ladder into the U-Boat.

Unlike Jack and Sam, Muller had fully expected to find the U-Boat in operational, seaworthy condition when his men breached the bunker. What he hadn’t expected to find was the Virginia Class nuclear attack sub. Barnes had told him it had been destroyed. Now he would have two prizes for The Brotherhood — the weapon and a nuclear sub. His place in the new Reich was assured.

Jack raced the length of the passageway, hurtling through open hatches as he sought out the weapons locker in the forward section of the boat. It was only when he saw the crew bunks did he realize something wasn’t right.

Wrong deck.

He recalled a mental image of the evacuation diagram in the sick bay. It wasn’t the first time Jack’s almost eidetic memory had come in handy. Now he knew exactly where to go.

Another companionway and ladder lay ahead, leading to the upper level where the weapons loading hatch was located. That’s where he’d find them. He hoped he was the first to find them, but shook the thought away. All he could do was keep them safe until they could work out a plan. Having civilians in the mix changed things, though. His mission was to secure the U-Boat. But one of his duties as a soldier was to protect the civilians.

At least he wasn’t alone. Turning his head, he expected to see Sam trying to fit through the last of the hatches leading to the crew quarters. The entire length of the narrow passageway was empty. Not only did the man not have his back, he was nowhere in sight.

What was the deal with the guy? Guys like him were the reason Jack worked alone. Nobody to let you down. Nobody to be looking out for.

“Goddamn it,” Jack mumbled under his breath. There was no time to turn back to help one man. There were five people up on the next deck that needed him. He climbed into the companionway.

Sam finished spinning the wheel, dogging the hatch closed before inserting a locking pin through the mechanism so it couldn’t be opened from the outside. The last thing he wanted was more party favors being dropped down the hatch. His head was still thumping like a blender full of rocks and fire alarm was still ringing in his ears, but he had to keep going. He needed to catch up with Jack. Fortunately, Sam knew exactly where to go. If there was one place aboard a submarine that he could find with his eyes closed, it was weps. Mission accomplished, Sam bolted aft along the passageway toward the crew quarters.

Finally urgent whispers could be heard from an adjacent compartment. Jack recognized Jameson’s voice and he didn’t sound too happy, either. Tension filled the air as Jack entered.

“Tell him I need a gun,” Leah demanded of Jack before he was even through the hatch.

“I’m not giving her a weapon. She’s more likely to kill one of us with it than the enemy,” Jameson said adamantly.

“Because I’m a woman?”

“No,” the captain responded, “because you’re a civilian oceanographer, that’s why.”

Leah waved at Dave and Juan who were each holding a handgun. “You gave them guns.” She planted her hands firmly on her curvaceous hips.

“We don’t have time for that, we need to Hotel Alpha out of here. The bastards dropped a grenade down the hatch. They mean business.”

“Hotel Alpha?” Leah stopped being a pro-gun advocate momentarily.

“Haul Ass,” Juan explained proudly.

“Where’s the big guy with the flattop haircut?” Durand asked, handing a fully loaded Sig-Sauer P226 to Jack by the barrel.

“If I had a dollar for every time I’ve wondered that,” was Jacks only reply. “Spare mags?”

Durand snatched a handful of spare magazines and handed them to Jack who shoved them into his pockets, regretting he hadn’t taken the time to find his tactical vest. Pockets would have to do.

“Do we have comms?” Jack directed his question to the captain.

“No. We were running silent and deep after engaging the Russian Yasen, so we had no contact with PACOM or we would have given away our position. And in here, there’s no way we’d get a signal through the concrete and ice. We’re on our own. Well… until PACOM figure out we’re MIA and send help.”

“Yasen? Those guys a up there aren’t Spetsnaz, that’s for sure. They look more like hired guns… I’ve come up against a few of them in my time. Nobody mentioned Russians…”

“We weren’t even sure they were Russians, but they got the drop on us and nearly took us out. The Yasen class is the only sub that can do that.”

“No, not you. I meant my people never mentioned Russians. What are they even doing way down here? They couldn’t be any further from Russia if they tried.”

“The Russians have an Antarctic base,” Leah offered.

“But they shouldn’t have any military firepower down here. This is a demilitarized area,” said Jack.

“Clearly.” Dave’s tone dripped with sarcasm.

“I don’t have any more idea what’s going on here than you do, my mission was to secure the U-Boat and whatever was on it. If we’re going to survive until the cavalry come and save our asses, then we’d better figure what’s going on here. If we don’t, then this Charlie Foxtrot is going to have a very bad ending.”

“Charlie Foxtrot?” asked Leah. “Can you guys not use actual words people understand?

Juan started to answer, “Clusterfu—”

Then Sam burst into the already crowded compartment, red faced and breathless.

“Miss me?” He slapped Jack on the back.

“These Americans are fools”, Captain Vasili Ketov whispered to himself. There was nobody nearby to hear them, but silent running meant running silent. Why take chances? One didn’t last as long as he had in the Russian fleet by taking foolish risks.