by Larry Bond
Chairs filled the room, with most of them occupied by naval officers, with the occasional civilian mixed in.
Petrov pointed to three empty chairs one row back as they hurried up the center aisle. They had slips of paper taped to them with “Rudel,” “Mitchell,” and “Manning” spelled in Cyrillic, and below in English. Petrov, Kalinin, and Lyachev joined the rest of Severodvinsk’s wardroom, already seated in the front row.
They’d barely sat down when a shouted command brought everyone in the room to attention. Jerry rose with the rest, and watched as a party of senior officers entered from a side door. “The one in front is Vice Admiral Kokurin, commander of the Northern Fleet,” Manning explained in a whisper, “then Vice Admiral Baybarin, his deputy. Vice Admiral Radetskiy is his chief of staff...”
The group reached their seats at the table, and stood for a moment before turning to face the Russian flag, displayed at one end of the table. The recorded strains of the Russian national anthem played; then, at another command, everyone sat.
Kokurin spoke first, and Manning translated. “We meet here to investigate the loss of the Russian Federation submarine Severodvinsk and the death and injuries suffered by its crew. We thank those who have come far to testify. There is much to learn from this tragedy. May we all grow in wisdom.”
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