The Red Collusion Read online

  Yevgeni watched the obedient naval officers carry out his instructions without comment – each man and woman walked to his or her position. He now examined, with great interest, the three male and the two female officers around him. Yevgeni turned to the most senior, a female Lieutenant Commander.

  “I understand that you received a preliminary briefing this morning. Is this correct? And by the way, what is your name?”

  “My name, Sir, is Lieutenant Commander Doctor Irena Pashutin, and my doctorate is in operations research. And yes, Sir, we were indeed briefed this morning.”

  “Very well. Is one of you a seismologist, as I requested?”

  A young junior Lieutenant raised his hand.

  “I am, Sir. My name is Lieutenant Junior Grade Belov.”

  Yevgeni scanned the faces of the other team members, but decided that this was not the time to elaborate on their functions, preferring to get to work immediately.

  “Your mission is perhaps the easiest and the shortest, but it also requires the most precision. Your starting point for all your calculations is a nuclear blast with a magnitude of twenty megatons. You should calculate for me what the earthquake value should be, or the magnitude of a land shockwave on the Richter scale that is felt at a distance of six thousand nautical miles from the blast’s epicenter. That is essentially your job as a seismologist, Lieutenant Junior Grade Belov. This is where we’ll start, your starting point. This point, which, as I said, is six thousand nautical miles from the explosion, we shall name the Alpha Point. The magnitude of the shockwave that we get at Alpha Point, which will be measured on the Richter scale, we shall call R. Is everything clear so far?”

  The five officers concurred, nodding their heads.

  “Now we advance to the next stage. I want to create a small explosion, using standard explosives, not far from that Alpha Point. The explosion must be made under two conditions. One, the explosion will take place far enough away from our Alpha Point that acoustically, the explosion will not be heard at Alpha Point. The second condition is that the magnitude of the blast, the same R value, identical to that received from a nuclear explosion far away, will be received at Alpha Point. What we need to find out is how many kilos of standard army explosive, and at what distance from Alpha Point, would create that blast. Will two hundred kilos of TNT at a distance of 10 kilometers from Alpha create the desired effect, or perhaps I need to explode half a ton of TNT thirty kilometers away from Alpha? This is exactly what I need to get from you.”

  Yevgeni finished his speech and looked at the five officers sitting across from him. It seems, he thought, that I am not really challenging them. He would now challenge them with another task, and maybe then they would start sweating.

  “So far things are simple and relatively easy. Right, Lieutenant Colonel Doctor Pashutin?”

  “Yes, Sir”, answered the operations research specialist. “This is really not complicated and you will get exactly the two figures that you requested. However, Colonel, you probably intend to carry out the blast at a specific location. Therefore, I need to get data on the type of soil at that location. I also need to know the temperature and wind speeds and directions at that location. These are important for our calculations. Of course, I mean the data for the two regions, points, Alpha and R.”

  Yevgeni decided that now was the time to give the team a shot of motivation, before elaborating on their mission.

  “Before we left Moscow to come here, I asked for a team made up of the best of the best in the Soviet Union. I am happy to see that this is exactly the case.”

  “Thank you, Colonel, for the compliment”, replied Dr. Pashutin. Yevgeni hurried back to his subject.

  “Everything you said is very true, but I can’t provide some of what you requested, for reasons of state security. Moreover, we are now coming to another stage where the picture gets a little more complicated.”

  The officers, three men and two women, listened closely to what the colonel had to say, and were even more attentive than before.

  “The speed of sound in the air is well known, even to schoolchildren. In water, however, the speed of the sound waves is about three times faster. I am reminding you of this because our Alpha Point is actually located 300 meters underwater.”

  “Then it is a submarine!” exclaimed Doctor Pashutin almost involuntarily, as if she were a schoolgirl.

  “Exactly”, replied Yevgeni. “We do not need soil data. Please consider the sea and climate data that are prevalent and typical during this season here, in the sea near Murmansk.”

  Yevgeni again paused for a few seconds, to give his words more emphasis.

  “In light of this new data, your answer as to the size of the explosive charge and distance must contain another critical piece of information. In order to obtain the same result, which we are calling R, with our Alpha Point being underwater, should the explosion take place above water, or perhaps on the water surface, or even on the sea bed, which is two thousand meters deep at that point?”

  Yevgeni stood up and motioned to the group of officers to remain seated, as they were about to rise to their feet in respect.

  “Before I move on to the other teams, please tell me if everything is clear. Do you have any questions to ask me?” Yevgeni asked.

  “Everything is clear, Colonel”, Dr. Pashutin replied.

  “And when do you estimate I will have your answers?” asked Yevgeni.

  “We need to collect historical data stored in various seismic stations, and all the rest is already available to us. There is a chance that we can provide you with data before daybreak”, replied Dr. Pashutin.

  “Very well”, Yevgeni said. “I’ll be staying here in the room, and if you need clarifications or more data, please do not hesitate to ask.”

  Brigadier general Dimitri approached Yevgeni and asked, “Have you made progress with your geniuses?”

  “It appears that they really are geniuses, especially the female officer, the Lieutenant Commander Doctor. She has a doctorate in operations research, she is sharp, she understands the mission, and I think their part will be finished before daybreak.”

  “Sounds great”, replied Dimitri.

  “Now look, we have another issue, of field security, or counter- intelligence, that may belong to our anonymous team member, the KGB man. But I believe it falls under your overall responsibility and authority”, said Yevgeni.

  “What is the problem? What field security?”

  “I had to tell the mathematics genius team that the center of activity is a submarine, and that they should take that into account. I think it is better that you remind your friend, the Admiral, of the letter from the Minister of Defense, and instruct him that all three team members must immediately be placed in total isolation. In my opinion, this is essential until our operation is concluded. What do you say?”

  “I think you are right. By the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already received such an order, but I will still tell him. Come, let’s check the other teams. Let’s see how our sensitive fellow the General, Okhramenko, is doing.”

  The two joined the General and the local team attached to him. The

  General’s face expressed his characteristic smugness now that he had people under his command who were making progress, and Yevgeni decided to check if it was justified.

  “General Okhramenko, how are we doing? Are there any problems?”

  The General looked at Yevgeni dismissively, as if he were asking how he liked his tea.

  “Oh, there is no problem”, the General finally said. “Just as I already told you in Moscow. The officers here have already instructed the technical section in the shipyard to dismantle several instruments and antennas from one of the frigates that are moored here, and tomorrow in daylight they can be installed on the trawler.”

  “More power to you, General. Can I move on, then
?” Yevgeni asked, somewhat sarcastically.

  “You are dismissed”, the General said, and Yevgeni pretended not to hear.

  Yevgeni and Dimitri then joined Colonel Nazarbayev’s team. In the past few days, the two had come to like him and to share with him the closeness and fondness that they felt towards each other. They especially liked his sincerity and modesty.

  “How goes it in your kingdom, Comrade Colonel?’ Yevgeni asked.

  “It isn’t straightforward”, replied Nazarbayev. “We are trying to think of applicable solutions.”

  “And where is the main problem?”

  “The depth charges have been completely ruled out”, said the explosives expert. “Indeed, I am sitting here with the best experts. The depth charges are built just like ordinary barrels, and at a depth of several hundred meters, they will be crushed. We contacted an aerial ordnance specialist, and we are checking the possibility of dropping an aerial bomb from a jet fighter-bomber. Because of the aerodynamic structure of the aerial bomb, it will enter the water at a very high speed. The problem will be the bomb’s fuse. Delaying the explosion until the bomb reaches the bottom of the sea is no problem, but as it looks now, the challenge that we are facing is that the fuse of the aerial bomb can jam because water will seep into it under extreme atmospheric pressure. The solution will have to come from improvisation.”

  Colonel Yevgeni scratched his head and looked with concern at his teammate and buddy Dimitri, who was thinking about Nazarbayev’s problem.

  “I would like to tell you, my friend, Colonel Nazarbayev, that you’re absolutely right and we need to think of an improvisation, especially since we only have to meet a one-time need. Our solution does not have to comply with the standards of manufacturing a series of such bombs. I will tell you a story, and maybe your teammates should also hear it.”

  Colonel Nazarbayev turned to call his five teammates, but there was no need for that as they had already been following the conversation with interest.

  “They are listening. Please go on, Colonel Yevgeni.”

  “Well, this is the story. Once upon a time in a war, and I don’t remember exactly which one, maybe the Great Patriotic War. It’s a true story of an extraordinary capacity for improvisation. One of our Air Force planes discovered during the fighting that the bombs they dropped on enemy ships pierced through the ships before exploding. In other words, the bombs went clean through the ships, continued sinking and only then went off, underwater. To solve the problem, they needed another type of fuse with a shorter delay, so that the bombs would only penetrate the upper deck and go off inside the ship. You realize that such an explosion inside a ship is the most effective way to sink it, and that the ship has almost no chance of surviving.

  “Of course, the middle of a war is not the best time for developing and manufacturing new fuses, as this can take a year or even more. Everybody tried to come up with a solution, until one junior ordnance officer from one of the bomber squadrons came up and proposed an idea that, superficially, sounded dumb, if not totally weird. But then someone in the system decided to check it out anyway. The outcome was that the enemy ships started sinking one by one.”

  Yevgeni felt like a teacher in front of young students, who were all agog and curious to hear the end of the story.

  “The junior officer”, Yevgeni continued, “proposed to use standard impact fuses, which go off immediately upon impact, and to put into them one half of a wooden laundry clip. With a wooden clip in the fuse, when the bomb hit the target, it required another fraction of a second for the clip to be crushed and for the fuse to detonate the bomb. This way, the blast happened after the bomb pierced the upper deck and was already inside the ship.”

  Yevgeni looked at the smiling faces of the team members. “That’s a good story, right?”

  The ordnance team agreed, waiting for more.

  “Now, you’re asking yourselves why I told you the story, right? Well, the reason is not what you think, to encourage you to think of an improvisation or something new. I just wanted to gain a few more minutes so I can also come up with an idea.”

  The team members smiled. This time, and in light of Colonel Yevgeni’s openness and humor, some of the ordnance team members felt free to laugh openly.

  “Which one of you knows best about depth charges?” Yevgeni asked, and one naval officer, a Lieutenant raised his hand and stood up.

  “Sir, Lieutenant Ilya Trepishchev, Commandant of the Undersea Ordnance Section.”

  Yevgeni waved the Lieutenant back to his seat.

  “Lieutenant Trepishchev, the fuses of the depth charges are watertight. I am considering the possibility of fitting such a fuse to an aerial bomb. If the fuse cannot withstand the high pressure at the seabed, maybe it can be protected by a steel cone, like a hat, that we can weld to the nose of the bomb in a way that will also preserve the bomb’s aerodynamic quality. We will only extend it by several centimeters. It seems simple to me because these bombs are made of iron.”

  Lieutenant Trepishchev looked at Yevgeni, requesting permission to reply.

  “Speak up, Lieutenant. I’m listening.”

  “In principle, it is possible, but it depends on the diameter of the screw thread of the nose bearing shell. If the thread of the aerial bomb’s fuse is larger, I can very easily make an adapter that will allow the bomb charge’s fuse to fit into the aerial bomb. It’s simple to make such an adapter”, the Major said.

  “Please tell me, Lieutenant, what happens if it’s the other way around, meaning the fuse of the charge is thicker and fatter than the screw thread in the aerial bomb? What do you do then?”

  The lieutenant seemed to choose his words carefully and then, with a slight smile, he said: “Then, Colonel, we would have a real problem. I think we may have to find that junior officer who used laundry clips in bombs.”

  The Lieutenant immediately regretted using a type of language that was unacceptable in such military forums. To his great surprise and relief, he noticed that Yevgeni was smiling.

  This fellow is either rude or he is very brave, thought Yevgeni, and he is exactly the type of person that can make a difference when necessary.

  It was way past midnight when Yevgeni returned to his first team, the operations researchers. When Dr. Irena Pashutin noticed him, she stopped working on the paperwork laid out before her.

  “Well, have you reached a solution?” asked Yevgeni. “Yes, Sir Colonel”, Pashutin replied.

  Yevgeni called over his four teammates and all of them waited patiently for Dr. Pashutin’s explanation.

  “We have completed all the calculations and validated the data several times”, said Dr. Pashutin. “In order to produce the R effect that will optimally simulate a nuclear blast, which will allegedly occur at a distance of six thousand nautical miles, we need to detonate approximately 500 kilograms of standard issue Red Army explosives at a distance of 47 kilometers from Alpha Point.”

  “What is the Alpha Point?” Colonel Nazarbayev asked.

  Yevgeni motioned swiftly to Dr. Pashutin to disregard the question, saying to his mate Nazarbayev, “I’ll explain to you later”; then he turned back to Dr. Pashutin.

  “Lieutenant Commander Doctor, what is the most effective location to execute the blast? Is it over water? At the water surface level, on the seabed, or somewhere in between? Have you reached a decision on this?”

  “Yes, Sir”, replied Dr. Pashutin. “I am sorry I did not say this before, but the most effective blast, compatible with the data you provided, Colonel, should be conducted on the seabed.”

  Lieutenant Alexey, the young submarine officer, entered the room. He saluted Yevgeni and informed him that a meal was ready for them in the next room. Yevgeni saluted him back and thanked him, and the younger officer quickly left the room. Yevgeni announced a half-hour break, but requested that his four colleagues remain with him for an inter-t
eam coordination session.

  “The fog is starting to clear”, said Yevgeni. “In my opinion, within 24 hours, we can go out to sea for a full wet run. Colonel Nazarbayev, excuse me for not keeping you up-to-date. The Alpha Point is where the American submarine will be cruising at the time of the blast. General Okhramenko, I understand that tomorrow, installations and fittings on the trawler will be completed. Am I right?”

  “Right, Colonel”, the General replied curtly.

  “Colonel Nazarbayev”, Yevgeni said. “We now understand that we need to deliver 500 kilos of explosive to the bottom of the sea. With these numbers, our situation is not so bad, because a standard 1-ton aerial bomb contains about 500 kilos of explosive, while the other 500 kilos are its metal components. I ask that you immediately activate whoever needs to be activated in order to fly two one-thousand- kilogram bombs from the nearest Air Force base. Actually, not two but three. The bombs must be here by morning. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, Colonel Yevgeni”, Colonel Nazarbayev answered.

  “By the way”, Yevgeni continued, “I don’t want any fighter jet to drop a bomb for me in the sea. I have two good reasons for that. One, I don’t want the Americans to detect any aerial activity in the perimeter of our operation. Two, I’m afraid that when the bomb hits the water with force, its non-standard, improvised fuse will be damaged, if not activated. Therefore, we will do it differently. We will do it like a couple of hedgehogs making love – very, very carefully.”

  The team members, including the dour General, broke into relieved laughter, all of them feeling that they had indeed made substantial ground that evening. When they resumed their serious expressions, Yevgeni continued.

  “We will drop the bomb from the trawler using a crane. The bomb is very heavy, but with its elegant aerodynamic figure, it will sink quickly to the seabed. What do you say, my friend, Colonel Nazarbayev?”

  “What I am saying”, Nazarbayev said with amusement, “is that I am starting to get tired of agreeing with you all the time. But it sounds logical to me.”