It took four more trips to get everyone evacuated, and when Magne eventually returned to the Falcon for the final time, his worst fears were realized. He found himself escorted into the galley where the rest of the ship’s complement was seated on the floor. Three of the Germans watched over the crew, with Uzi submachine guns held threateningly in front of them.
Magne was led into the adjoining wardroom, and it was here Otto Koch issued his demands. In exchange for the safe release of all the hostages, Magne was to return to the sunken U-boat and retrieve two portions of the vessel’s cargo. Once this material had been brought topside, all personnel not vital to the actual running of the ship were to be released on life boats.
Then the skeleton crew, together with the German submariners and their cargo, would initiate a voyage to South America’s Rio de la Plata. At the conclusion of this trip, the Falcon and its remaining crew would be free to go where they pleased.
If Magne refused to meet all of these conditions, the penalty was to be deadly simple. Every five minutes until he changed his mind, a member of the Falcon’s crew was to be executed, beginning with Karl Skollevoll.
To show that he meant business, Otto Koch pulled out his pocket watch, and informed Magne that he had four minutes and fifty-nine seconds before Karl would be shot. A bare thirty seconds later, Magne gave in, and agreed to immediately return to the moon pool to initiate the remaining salvage effort.
This operation proved to be an enormous one. Even with the use of two bells, the transfer of the 499 gold bricks took most of the day. This left seventy-two carboys of heavy water, each holding twenty-five gallons to convey topside.
It was while this task was being carried out that the commander of the Nordkapp contacted the Falcon to get the results of their initial investigation into the condition and identity of the sunken submarine. The captains of the American and Soviet warships that were anchored nearby also desired this information, and Otto Koch made the difficult decision to inform them that the Falcon and its crew were now under his control.
Koch left the Norwegian commander with a stern warning that if any attempt was made to interfere, he would not hesitate to begin carrying out the executions of his hostages.
The final carboy of heavy water reached the deck of the Falcon at 4:30 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, the diving support ship weighed anchor and began transit ting the waters of the Kongsfjord Strait, headed south for the open sea beyond.
The departure of the diving support ship did not go unnoticed. Neither did the two hyperbaric lifeboats that the Falcon left behind in its wake. Inside these small all-weather craft were the thirty-two nonessential hostages that Otto Koch had promised to release.
These fortunate individuals were subsequently debriefed aboard the Nordkapp.
At 5:45 a.m.” a strategy session was called to order in the cutter’s wardroom. In attendance were Commander Gunnar Nilsen, Captains Steven Aldridge and Grigori Milyutin, and Admiral Alexander Kuznetsov. It was during this session that Gunnar Nilsen revealed a portion of what he had learned as a result of interviewing the freed hostages. Alexander Kuznetsov was particularly interested in the cargo that the Germans ordered brought up from below. This supposedly included a large stash of gold bullion and several dozen, plastic containers of a substance known only as heavy water. Yet it was as the Norwegian mentioned the prisoners that had also been brought up from the U-boat’s hold that Alexander’s eyes opened wide and his pulse quickened. For one of these individuals was described as an old, white-haired Russian, with a scar lining the side of his face. Alexander knew in that instant that he had found his brother Mikhail!
Knowing full well that his twin would never survive the sea journey if Otto Koch escaped, Alexander decided that the only way to stop the Falcon was by a united effort. Since even Grigori Milyutin still didn’t understand the full scope of this incident, Alexander stood and told everything he knew about Werewolf, the gold, and his brother’s involvement in these matters.
By the time he completed this impassioned discourse, his rapt audience was ready to act.
“But how can we stop the Falcon without bringing harm to the hostages?” asked Gunnar Nilsen, whose good friend Magne Rystaad was among those still on board.
“I believe that my ship could stop them,” offered Steven Aldridge.
“All the Cheyenne would have to do is hit the Falcon’s stern with a non-detonating, wake-homing torpedo. That will put them dead in the water soon enough. But that still leaves us with having to get a rescue team on there.”
“You could use the Nordkapp’s helicopter,” offered Gunnar Nilsen.
“I’m afraid such a delivery system is too dangerous, Commander,” returned Aldridge.
“The kidnappers would know that a chopper was coming long before it got there, and would be ready for it the moment it landed. We need something more clandestine. We need a group of professionals trained for just such a risky mission.”
“I happen to have both of those things, Captain!”
revealed Alexander Kuznetsov.
“Currently deployed aboard the Lena is a three man Spetsnaz unit. These naval commandoes have been specially trained in all facets of counter-terrorist operations, including the rescue of hostages. As the fates so have it, they are also fully equipped with weapons and other necessary gear.”
“But how will they get onto the Falcon?” quizzed the Norwegian Coast Guard officer.
Alexander’s eyes gleamed as the vision came to him.
“I’ll tell you how, Commander Nilsen. The moment the Falcon goes dead in the water as a result of the American torpedo, the Lena will surface beside the diving support ship and our commandoes will board her. This transfer can be accomplished in a matter of seconds, with the Lena diving back into the depths long before Koch and his gang of Nazi pirates have a chance to spot our vessel.”
“If these commandoes of yours can handle it, I believe such an operation might work,” observed Aldridge.
Alexander smiled.
“Don’t worry about the Spetsnaz not being able to handle this job, Captain. There’s no better trained group of warriors on this planet, except perhaps for your SEALs.”
Steven Aldridge nodded in reference to the U.S.
Navy’s special warfare unit, and listened as the Soviet admiral emotionally continued.
“So it seems that we’ve gone from adversaries to allies overnight, Captain Aldridge. I thank the fates that you had the wisdom to listen to my humble plea earlier, and now we go out to attack a common enemy as a team. Isn’t it ironic that our foe in this instance is once more the nazi beast?”
“It’s just too bad that it always seems to have to be some kind of threat that brings our two nations together,” said Steven Aldridge, who picked up a legal pad and began sketching out a preliminary attack plan, with the able assistance of his contemporary in the Soviet Navy.
It took almost the entire morning for the members of NUEX to explain to Magne and his American friend the sequence of events that led to their eventual imprisonment aboard U-3313. Of course, David Lawton was particularly interested in the fortune in gold bricks that was presently locked away in the Falcon’s hold, for he had participated in the exploration of the U-boat’s sister ship, and had been there when Jakob chanced upon a brick from this very same shipment.
Karl Skollevoll was somewhat embarrassed as she explained how she came to be involved in this whole mess. Her boss, though, was very understanding, and Magne revealed that he would have probably done much the same thing if he had been in her position.
This made Karl feel better, and she tried hard to get the old Russian general to brief Magne on all he knew about their kidnappers.
Unfortunately, Mikhail Kuznetsov was in no condition for talking. His encounter with Otto Koch and his subsequent imprisonment had injured his psyche.
In a way, he felt like he did on that day when he was at long last released from the death camp — empty, with no goal, and psychologically r
aped.
All that Mikhail could see before his mind’s eye was the gloating image of his arch-nemesis the moment Koch discovered him in the U-boat’s radio room. Was he condemned to go to his grave with this sickening picture engraved on his soul, to haunt him for all eternity?
Was evil destined to ultimately win out over good, as it had done in this instance, and so many times before throughout human history? These were the questions that raced through the veteran’s mind as he sat there in the corner of the Falcon’s galley, waiting for Otto Koch to come and end his misery with a bullet into the back of his skull.
Knut Haugen had yet to give up hope and he found an unlikely co-conspirator in David Lawton. The Texan seemed to be a man of action like himself, and Knut sensed that this rugged fellow diver had seen his share of bloodshed in his day. Both of them seriously doubted that their captors would keep their bargain in the end, and with this in mind, they began plotting to overpower the three armed men who presently stood at the head of the galley with Uzis in their hands. They had just come up with a plausible plan, when the doors to the galley swung open, and in walked the man known as the Director.
Otto Koch was dressed in a black velvet smoking jacket and gray slacks. He looked a bit like a character from an old-fashioned movie with his bald shining scalp, monocle, and carved walking stick that he carried at his side. Arriving along with this imposing personage was a large, black German shepherd, and two tall blond men carrying combat shotguns.
“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen,” greeted Koch, after he loudly cleared his throat to draw everyone’s attention.
“But it has come to my attention that there are several among you that are plotting to disrupt this voyage. Such insubordination will not be tolerated! To stem it right now, I’ve decided to pull from your ranks a select few who will be placed in isolation. If any subterfuge is subsequently attempted, these individuals will be shot immediately. Will the following please stand and come with me. Karl Skollevoll…”
No sooner was the helicopter pilot’s name out of Koch’s mouth when the deck beneath them briefly shuddered. This unusual vibration was enough to divert Koch’s attention, and cause his dog to suddenly start barking.
“Beowulf, behave yourself!” ordered Koch forcefully.
The dog continued his mad yelping despite this command, and did so even when his master raised his stick overhead and prepared to strike the German shepherd. Yet once again Koch found his attention drawn away, this time by the urgent buzzing of the bulkhead-mounted intercom.
“One of you morons get that telephone!” demanded Koch to his sentries. A young seaman moved to the bulkhead and lifted the receiver.
“It’s Captain Kromer, Herr Director. He’s calling from the engine room. It seems that we’ve hit something that’s damaged the ship’s prop. At the moment, the vessel is incapable of any forward velocity.”
“What?” cried Otto Koch in utter disbelief.
“What nonsense is this? ” he spat out as he hurried over to have a word with the captain himself.
Just as Koch put the receiver to his ear, the door to the galley burst open and in strode a single figure, dressed in black fatigues. With his right hand, Lieutenant Vasili Kalinin raised his Kalashnikov assault rifle and cooly put a bullet into the foreheads of the two sentries standing nearest him. Before the others could react, he tossed a stun grenade into the startled bunch of remaining guards. This device detonated with an ear-shattering blast that sent up a wall of thick white smoke. Veiled in this choking mist, a dog could be heard barking, along with the deafening crack of a pistol firing, All the while, watching this drama unfold from the back corner of the galley, were the equally startled hostages. David Lawton alertly ordered his fellow prisoners to hit the deck. They did so at once, and were soon enveloped in the roiling white smoke that filled the entire room in a thick shroud.
The sound of exploding gunfire was everywhere as Alexander climbed onto the diving support ship’s deck from the sail of the Lena. He was determined to be instrumental in bringing his brother’s tormentor to justice, and he ordered Captain Milyutin to supply two armed men to accompany him onto the Falcon. With their help he made it onto the vessel just as the Spetsnaz team began its well-coordinated attack.
While one of the commandos secured the bridge, the other took care of the engine room and the adjoining compartments. This left the squad’s leader free to penetrate the galley, where the hostages were last reported to be held. It was to this section of the Falcon that Alexander hurried.
As he frantically rushed down the passageway that led him further into the ship’s interior, the crack of exchanged gunfire triggered memories long since forgotten.
Had it really been fifty years since that fated train ride so changed the lives of him and his twin brother?
Excited to be this close to the monster who took Mikhail from him and scarred his very soul, Alexander took a deep breath and readied himself for the inevitable confrontation.
He located the galley and saw the smoke that was pouring from its open doors. With no thought for his own safety, Alexander entered the compartment and found himself engulfed in a blinding veil of white mist. His stinging eyes were all but useless, and like a blind man he extended his arms outward and groped into the roiling haze. Suddenly he flashed back to the nightmare that he had experienced several days ago back on the Lena, and just like in that terrifying vision, his hand made contact. New hope filled his spirits as he grasped the hand that he had just discovered in the blinding haze and slowly pulled it forward. And out of the smoke, like a ghostly apparition, emerged his twin brother.
“He’s dead!” cried Mikhail joyfully.
“The bastard is finally dead!”
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The Golden U-Boat Page 34