When they lost contact with the mystery Russian sub up along the Norwegian coast and then couldn’t find the guy again, Ward decided to stop the fruitless searching and go for something else. He had ordered the Anzio to race down the coast, through the Skagerrak, then through the Kattegat. The plan was to get ahead of the Russian, then wait for him to emerge into the Baltic Sea, assuming that was where he was headed in the first place. They were almost on station now.

“Well, Bob, it’s not really a hunch. Let’s call it an educated guess based on what we believe his mission to be. We think he has been sent down here to lob cruise missiles into the old homeland. He can’t do that from the North Sea. He has to get into the Baltic to be close enough. That means he has to come through here, right past us. We just need to latch on to him when he does.”

It sounded so easy when Ward said it, but both men knew how incredibly difficult finding a submarine could be. That was especially true in these shallow, crowded waters. It was worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack. It was more like trying to find one particular piece of hay.

Norquest turned to face Ward. “The P-3 is reporting that the sonobuoy pattern we left back in the Skagerrak is still cold,” he said. “No sign of our Akula coming this way yet.”

“No surprise there. If this skunk is making fifteen knots or so, I wouldn’t expect to find him for another couple of hours. We’ll see him soon, I expect.”

Ward hoped his words carried conviction. They were taking a gamble. If the boat they had lost was on its way to do mischief somewhere else but the Baltic, the bastard would have free rein unless somebody else detected him out there. Somebody not really looking for him. Every instinct he had told him they would meet the Russian boat again, and soon.

Jon Ward had learned long before that the best guide he had, the one thing he could count on, was his well-honed instinct.

Tony Martinelli was the first SEAL to see the big transport helicopter lift off from the Polyarnyy helipad. He had been busy brushing the snow from his eyebrows so he could see better when he looked back down at the base. He saw the chopper gain altitude and swing around. It got all his attention when its nose pointed directly at the little ledge where he and Jason Hall had been hunkered down.

“Hey, Jase. This ain’t good news. You may wanna look what’s coming our way.”