Odessa Sea (Dirk Pitt 24) - Page 20
Both men crowded forward to peer inside. To their surprise, the interior was in pristine condition, the safe having remained watertight for a century. Their excitement dimmed when they saw that the safe was empty save for a thin folder. Mankedo opened it, finding a military report written in Russian.
“No payroll, I’m afraid.” Mankedo shook his head. “Not even a few emergency rubles for the captain.”
Vasko failed to hide his disappointment. “Nothing but sailing orders, I suppose.” He cursed. “I am sorry, Valentin. I had hoped a chest full of gold was waiting for us.”
Mankedo tossed aside the crowbar. “Life’s riches usually do not come so easily. Let us remain focused on the payoff within our grasp. Keep yourself invisible, Ilya, until the deal is done. We will obtain our riches soon enough.”
• • •
HE DEPARTED THE SALVAGE SHIP, motoring out of the harbor under the cover of darkness. As he watched the lights of Burgas slip by, he opened the sailing orders from the Kerch. The contents startled him and he studied them again carefully to make sure of their details. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.
“Yes?” answered a sleepy voice.
“It’s Valentin. I need you to get me everything you have on First World War Russian submarines in the Black Sea Fleet, along with a destroyer named Kerch. I mean, everything.” He hung up without waiting for a response.
Perhaps, he thought, Vasko had in fact delivered much, much more than a chest of gold.
9
Ralin’s head had barely hit the pillow when his cell phone chirped. He didn’t have to look at the number to know who was calling. “Good evening, Ana.”
“Petar, how soon can you be ready to drive to Burgas?”
“About five minutes.”
“I’ll be there in three.”
Ralin dragged himself to his feet, dressed quickly, and exited his apartment. Ana was waiting on the street out front. Ralin smiled as he climbed into a gray Škoda sedan identical to the one she had crashed two nights earlier. “You mean to tell me that the directorate chief has already entrusted you with another state vehicle?”
“My first stop when we got back to Sofia.”
“And he actually said yes?”
“Not exactly,” Ana said, shrugging. “But I agreed to let the motor pool administrator take me to lunch next week in exchange for the car.”
“Extortion at its finest.” He laughed. “So what’s this late-night excursion all about?”
“Our salvage ship may have reappeared. The harbormaster in Burgas sighted a vessel moored in the harbor that matches our description. He thinks it arrived just a few hours ago.”
“They might have already offloaded the HEU—if they ever had it in the first place.”
“It’s a possibility. I’m hoping the fact that they didn’t bring the ship to dock means it’s still aboard.”
“What’s our plan? Do we have clearance to board her?”
“The Burgas police have the ship under surveillance. I just woke up some people in legal and have requested a search warrant. I propose going aboard at dawn and searching her from top to bottom.”
“You’re banking on miracles, my dear.”
“You don’t think there’s a chance the HEU is still there?”
“No, not that.” He shook his head. “Obtaining a warrant from the Bulgarian judiciary before dawn. The salvage ship could sail to Antarctica and back before that’s likely to happen.”
“Petar, when did you turn into such a pessimist?”
He smiled. “When I joined the police force.”
Leaving Sofia, Ana drove fast through the night, arriving at the port city of Burgas three hours later. They threaded their way through the empty streets, reached the waterfront, and drove to the commercial port terminal. At the complex’s security office, a sleepy guard
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