“I assure you, we will never see each other again.”

Gleb changed the subject and asked, “Do you think this seaman is still onboard?”

“Where else would he be?”

“He should be in the ocean wearing a life vest.” He added, “A sailor is taught how and when to abandon ship.”

Petrov thought about that, but did not reply.

Gleb continued, “From here, it could take him about ten hours to reach shore. If he didn’t die first from hypothermia.” He added, “But he could be picked up by a passing ship.”

“Let us assume he is not a factor.”

“Let us assume he is.” He informed Colonel Petrov, “We saw two high-speed craft on the trawler’s radar. And we observed two helicopters flying what appeared to be search patterns.”

“Then they are searching for a ship in distress. They are not searching for The Hana.”

“Well, you would know more than I on that subject.”

“I would and I do.”

Gleb told Petrov, “A man named Leonid from your fine organization who is on the trawler has a message for you.”

Petrov did not reply.

“He says that if you believe the mission is compromised, you should go to the default plan. I have brought with me five kilos of plastique—” He nodded toward his overnight bag. “We can blow a hole in the ship’s hull and sink The Hana and her secrets. You and I and your man Viktor, and also the physicist, will board my craft and sail to the trawler, which will take us and the black trunk home.”

“That is not what I came here to do, Captain.”

Gleb shrugged. “The decision is yours. But consider that the Americans may be looking for us.”

“Well, then we have sat here too long.” He said to Gleb, “It is time to get underway.”

Gleb went to the radar screen and said, “Come here.” He pointed to the screen. “See this blip? You see how fast it is moving?”

Petrov did not reply.

“Why would a craft travel at forty or fifty knots in this fog?”

“I have already told you why.”

Gleb looked at Colonel Petrov. “Well, I see you are a stubborn man. Or a brave one. Or perhaps… well, driven by your love of the Motherland. Or something else.”

“They are not paying you two million Swiss francs to psychoanalyze me.”

Gleb laughed. “All right. Then we set sail for New York.” He said to Petrov, “I will turn off all the deck lights and the bridge lights, and you will go through the ship and turn off all the interior lights that can be seen through the portholes.”

“Why don’t you use the circuit breakers?”

“Because that will cause the emergency lighting to come on.” He said to Petrov, “I know a few things about ships, Colonel.” He also reminded Petrov, “I am in command of this ship.”

Petrov did not reply.

“And while you are at it, remove the prince’s ensign from the stern.” He asked, “Can you do all that?”

“I can, if it makes you feel better, but I am sure they are not looking for us.”

“Let us act as though they are, and let’s not make it easy for them.” Gleb continued, “I will turn off the yacht’s AIS—the Automatic Identification System—which will make us disappear from the Coast Guard’s monitors and their computers.” He added, “We won’t disappear from radar, but we will be only a blip, without an identification tag.” He added, “Not all craft are required to have AIS. So that will not raise suspicions with the Coast Guard.”

Petrov nodded.

“I will also shut off the GPS and radar and navigate by compass. I will leave one radio on to monitor police and Coast Guard traffic.”

Again, Petrov nodded. The original plan did not call for The Hana to hide. The prince’s yacht was in the Coast Guard AIS system, and it was on a pleasure cruise. They were to make the two-hour run to New York Harbor at 4 A.M., then enter the harbor at dawn. But the situation seemed to have changed—if Gleb and Leonid’s suspicions were valid.

Gleb continued, “I will head south, to the edge of the shipping lane, so that we will not appear on radar as a lone ship between the shore and the shipping lane.”

Petrov had no reply.

Gleb went on, “But we will be traveling faster than that very slow line of ships waiting to get to Ambrose Buoy, and that may draw attention. So perhaps we should keep pace with them.”

Petrov considered all this, then said, “In my business, Captain, we rely on speed.” He told Gleb, “If they are looking for us, they will find us if we give them the time. So we need to be ahead of them. And you need to sail now directly to New York at full speed.” He added, “The Hana can make twenty-five knots, which will put us at the entrance to New York Harbor in less than two hours.”

Gleb thought about that, then replied, “I think a slower approach, near the shipping lane, is better. It is easier to hide in a crowd.”

“Do you watch soccer, Captain?”

“I do.”

“Then you know that if the ball progresses slowly toward the goal, the defense is in place and the ball is not likely to get into the net.”

Gleb drew on his cigarette.

“But if the ball moves quickly, before the defense can react, then there is only the goalkeeper between the ball and the net. So if you believe that the Americans are looking for us, you will now set sail and we will arrive at the goal before the defenders are in place.”

Gleb pointed out, “This is not a soccer game, Colonel. This opposing team has guns.”

“All the more reason to run faster.”

“And radiation detectors.”

“Which is why we are going to sink your lifeboat in the flooded compartment.”

Gleb stayed silent, then said, “We may get to the goal, but we may find the entire opposing team waiting there for us.”

Petrov replied, “We only need to get close.” He reminded Gleb, “This ball explodes.”

“Yes, it does. But perhaps you are forgetting our escape plan—our sail in the amphibious craft from The Hana to the pier in Brooklyn, and our car ride to the airport.”

Petrov did not reply immediately, then said, “You and Viktor may be making that trip by yourselves.”

Gleb looked at Petrov. “Well, you can kill yourself if you want. But we may all be killed or captured before then.”

“I assure you, Captain, you will be on that flight to Moscow.”

Gleb stared at Petrov, then said, “When an SVR man makes me assurances, I can be sure of only one thing.”

“You can be sure that if you don’t get this ship underway quickly, Captain, you are no longer needed.”

Gleb took a deep breath, lit another cigarette, then said, “I am just pointing out some problems that you should consider, Colonel. And I am reminding you that we can still safely abort this mission by sinking this ship.” He added, “The trawler will remain on station for another thirty minutes.”

“Thank you for reminding me. Now, we will get underway. And if you refuse to do so, we will indeed sink this ship, and when we get to the trawler, my colleague Leonid and I will hold a very short summary court-martial and execute you on the spot. So now you have your choice of how you wish to die—doing your duty, or not doing your duty.”

Both men made eye contact, then Gleb stared out the windshield, smoking his cigarette. “Well, this fog helps.”

“Get underway, Captain.”

Gleb replied, “Hoisting an anchor is usually a two-man operation, but since neither you nor Viktor are available, I can do it myself, but it will take some time—”

“Quickly.”

Petrov took a flashlight from the bridge and left Captain Gleb to his duties.

As he walked into the vestibule, he heard a noise and looked over his shoulder to see the bridge door sliding shut.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Vasily Petrov slung his submachine gun over his shoulder and went first to the captain’s quarters, then to the ship’s office where he had dragged the bodies from the bridge, and shut off the lights, barely noticing the corpses as he thought about Gleb the man and Gleb the bearer of bad news.