Rought Draft..................................
Antarctica Somewhere Under The Ice
Captain Maslow felt a slight shift under his feet as he braced himself against another blow that was bound to come.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he stared at the sonar, Shaking his head, he bellowed
Lieutenant Uvarov hold your course, steady, steady.
A screech starting from the front of the Submarine and inched it’s way along the side until it ended in the back.
Suddenly the sonar Pings ceased.
What the Hell Captain Maslow thought
“Captain Maslow, there seems to be a malfunction with the sonar Sir”.
“Lieutenant Rzaev see if you can fix that. NOW”
“Yes Sir” Lieutenant Rzaev replied and he turned more knobs on the console
Shaking his head Captain Maslow Yelled “Full Stop”
“Lieutenant Uvarov update please”
“Full Stop” Sir
“Captain switching to radar” Lieutenant Uvarov replied
“Captain Maslow we have some kind of magnetic abnormality and its causing hell with our navigation and communication,” Midshipmen Bartrev said.
Nervous looks came from everyone in the control room, the tension of crawling through the Ice Tubes barely big enough for them and sometimes not big enough was starting to wear them down.
On the too small Ice Tubes, they would have to back up and take another only to find a jettison or other obstruction and they would have to blow it away so they could move forward.
They already lost one Deep diver during one of these times.
He placed the charge and was heading back to the sub when all of a sudden he was gone , One minute there and the next gone.
It shook the men and their confidence after a short search only brought up a diving mask and fragments of his suit. Most thought maybe an underwater burst of cause him to collide with the ice walls and cut him to ribbons but the Men still were not sure and the tension only because worse, Stories started to circulate , fairy tales of monsters found around Antarctica all old wives tales.
The Men have had more than their fair share of mishaps, lost items, and the strange noises since they entered this Ice tube.
The tube they were in now was different, it was larger
It had been days since they enter it, hardly moving 2-3 knots, sometimes not at all until they enlarged it with underwater de-icers.
The charges were faster but no one wanted to volunteer to go out into the water. The Captain didn’t want to push the men farther, they were already at their breaking point.
The Ice tubes were found a year before by a Russian research team, warm fresh water from some unknown source had grooved caverns and tunnels through the ice into the Southern Ocean it was thought the tunnels followed the natural curvature of the valleys of the mountain range that was under the ice, most likely the same valleys as rivers flowed thousands of years ago.
The crew knew that one false move and the sharp Ice could cut into the sub and send them all to the bottom.
“Sir we are having malfunctions throughout the ship,” Lieutenant Rzaev said.
Lieutenant Uvarov, moved to Captain Maslow side
“Captain my men are scared and exhausted from all these break downs and the loss of Vladamir”.
Captain Maslow put his hand up to silence him before he said it
Captain Maslow looked from face to face, knowing his men well, he knew they were tired and soon mistakes would be made , He also knew at least one of them was a spy.
He had received a teletype from Vostok Station that they had picked up a coded radio transmission from The Kraken, the only possible recipient was an American Oceanic Research ship that was anchored in the Ross Sea by McMurdo Station.
“Lieutenant we’ll stop here for a while for repairs, now make your rounds”
The Lieutenant started to argue but seeing the look on the Captains face he held his breath and left.
After Lieutenant Uvarov had turned and left, Captain Maslow patted his breast pocket, feeling some comfort from the outline of the photo he always kept there.
Pulling out the picture, he smiled at the faces of his family, touching the same spot where he always rubbed the small gold frame when he held it.
Staring at the faces of his wife and the beautiful children his wife had given him, Sighing he thought, Pavla, Nitca I’ll be home soon and my beautiful Anna please hold a flame for me, for soon I’ll be in your arms..
Captain Maslow, thought of his father, a strong man that didn't know how to love his family, a man who stood on principle, a man who gave his life to Mother Russian without even saying goodbye.
His mother worked long hard hours so she could bring home enough money to raise him and his sister, what little money his father had as a pension never was enough for the loss.
He worked odd jobs through his youth never having time to be a child, He was the Man of the house now, It was his honor to help.
Captain Maslow vowed to show his family love and always say goodbye before he left for service.
Shoving the picture back into his pocket he said,
“Lieutenant Uvarov, I still feel us moving did you not hear me earlier when I said Full stop?”
“Sir are you sure?”
“Are you questioning my command again Lieutenant?”
“Of course not Sir, I just feel we are close”
The Captains lean brown face looked troubled, if not taken back with the disobedience.
“Lieutenant we are officers of the USSR not gypsies with crystal balls”
“Full Stop and Now” The Captain bellowed
“Lieutenant Uvarov yelled Full Stop Again”
“Lieutenant now maintain our position and change the guard”
Snapping to attention, Lieutenant Uvarov said “Yes Sir” as he saluted Captain Maslow.
Lieutenant Uvarov barked orders to his First Officer to change the guard.
“Lieutenant I would like a word with you in my quarters”
Turning to his second in command of navigation “Take the helm”
Following the Captain out of the control room Lieutenant Uvarov braced himself for what was coming.
But something has to be done , this mission is going to kill them all and the men were ready for Mutiny
“Shut the door Lieutenant”
Turning to shut the door the Captain slammed him up against it.
Reaching around him the Captain locked the door and kept the Lieutenants head pinned to the door with his hand…
“OK Lieutenant I’m not sure what you and your men have been planning but I'm three steps ahead of you”
“Captain what the hell is this about, I have no idea what you're talking about”
“Like hell Lieutenant, you have been questioning my command since we entered this Ice Tube ”
“Captain we have been searching these Ice Tubes for weeks trying to find a way to this imaginary Vostok Lake, we are all exhausted”
Shoving his head hard into the door again.
The Lieutenant Stifling a cry for help
“Sir we have been concerned for you”
Laughing the captain said “For me? I am fine It is you who needs medical attention.”
Keeping him pinned up against the door, Lieutenant Uvarov felt knifepoint pressing into his back.
“How would you like me to kill you right here and now for mutiny or maybe you're the spy?”
Startled, “What?” is all he managed to say before his head was slammed into the door again.
“Yes Lieutenant I know we have a spy on board and maybe it's you”
“Sir I beg you, let the Doctors look you over, maybe its only something minor, maybe its radiation poisoning and you're the first to show signs”
The Captain thought for a moment.
“And what? Maybe the Doctor is in it with you and he gives me a shot to silence me forever?”
“Is that what you want Lieutenant?”
A crackle came out of the loudspeaker and then the broadcast warning klaxon sound came next.
Captain Maslow to the bridge ASAP
Releasing the Lieutenant, Captain Maslow hissed, “Well finish this later”
Knocking the Lieutenant out of his way the Captain stormed out of his cabin.
Touching the spot on his back where he felt the knife, his hand came away with blood.
Lieutenant Uvarov knew he had to do something before it was too late for all of them.
Pulling the Captains desk drawer open he lifted out the pistol he knew was there and put it in his pocket.
Realizing fate had given him a crappy hand he headed for the door, The time has come to put an end to this insanity
Moving through the gangway he felt the Sub pitch forward as the ballast filled with air, the nose of the Sub is starting to raise he thought.
My God he is going to kill us all The Lieutenant thought as he broke into a run.
“Captain Maslow the sonar and radar are not reading anything above us”
“That's impossible” but the words faded from his lips as his face turned gray.
Unless we found Lake Vostok, he thought
A murmuring between the men in the control room turned to excited talk…
“Quiet now I need to think”
Surveying the faces of the men under his control the Captain realized there was only one decision to be made .
We are surfacing for Mother Russia
“Fill the Ballast slowly” , Lieutenant Korneyev
“Raise the periscope” The Captain yelled
“Raise us slowly Lieutenant, I don't want to be bumping into anything”
“Midshipmen Bartrev , can we talk to the Base yet,” he asked
“No Sir there has been interference since we entered the Ice Tube ”
“What about Ultra-low band”
“No Sir”
“How about carrier pigeon?” The Captain smiled
Everyone in the control burst into laughter
Breaking the tension in his men before the surface would help in what lay ahead he thought
The Captain felt a jolt from under his feet as the Sub leveled itself
Sir, we have surfaced
Surfaced he rolled the word around in his mouth. It had been months since they had touched land.
But how can there be land so far under Antarctica, this is madness he thought.
They had already been two weeks out testing this new secret Class K-10 Triple Titanium hulled Sub "The Kraken" a big brother of the "Leninskiy Komsomol" but with modifications for range, depth, food storage, and a science lab, it could reach depths of 5000 m and stay underwater for years or until they ran out of food.
When he received a dispatch with information for this detour, he was happy to serve Mother Russia until he read what they expected him to find, as the Americans say “a pin in a haystack”.
????????? Atlantis
A wild goose chase of course, but who was he to question Mother Russia?
But now they were on the edge of a discovery that would gain them all medals if they lived long enough to enjoy it.
“Lieutenant Vaelbe mark our location, date and time”
“Sir, location marked, Date: 17th, July 1962”
Grasping the periscope, he looked around the room, it was the first time he noticed the pungent smell of sweat, fear mixed with oil in the control room.
Searching the faces in the control room for any hope that may be left he knew they needed some type of hope, something to get them through this…
"Men we are on the eve of a discovery that has evaded mankind for thousands of years and we will soon go home as heroes"
Cheers rose from the men, as the Captain turned his cap around and peered through the periscope.
Quickly he turned in another direction, then another as if he was searching for something…
The laughter turned into silence as the seconds turned into minutes as they patiently waited for some words from the Captain.
Frantically he swung the periscope left than right and around as if he couldn't believe what he saw.
"Mother of God" escaped his lips…?????.. A City
Behind him, he heard his name called
Captain Maslow, I hereby remove you from a command
The Captain pulled his eyes from the periscope and stared at his own pistol aimed at his heart and the hand that was holding it . . slowly he lifted his eyes and looked into the face of insanity.
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