America

debt — he has judgments against him and every credit card company has shut him off.'

'Any family?'

'Single. An ex-girlfriend getting a grand a month in child support. His parents in Michigan that haven't talked to him for months. The last time he was home he hit them up for a five-grand loan.'

'Okay. Who's the other guy?'

Krautkramer took a deep breath and squeezed his nose before he answered that one. 'We aren't sure. Rothberg is apparently the only American who knew enough about America to be useful who can't be accounted for. Other people are on vacation or sick at home or whatever. One guy who is supposed to be on a fishing trip with his buddies is actually shacked up in Florida with a female co-worker.'

'So the other person isn't an expert on this submarine.'

'Apparently not. In fact, we're looking into the possibility this person isn't American. We're trying to sort out immigration entry information, build a list of possibilities. That's complicated. We're running the computers and talking to huge numbers of people… it's going to take a while. This massive power outage didn't help. The computers at headquarters here in Washington are history. We're using machines in St. Louis and Chicago, but' — he slammed his fist on the desk—'goddamn it, Admiral, it's going to take time. I doubt if we have enough. Those bastards could be shooting more missiles this very minute.'

'Antoine Jouany. Could that last person be someone who works for him?'

'We're trying to determine if that is a possibility.'

'A Russian or German official?'

'Government?'

'Why not?'

'Let's hope not,' Krautkramer said. 'They'll be covered too well for us to dig them out without moving heaven and earth.'

'I thought you were moving heaven and earth.'

'We can only shovel so fast, Admiral. I'm being fully supported with top priority, but there are lots of rocks to peek under.'

'I understand.'

'I'll put people to work on Cowbell.'

'Let's start with the list of people who had access. There couldn't be more than a couple dozen.'

Krautkramer made a face. 'In government, maybe. But you can't manufacture anything these days with only two dozen people. There's a factory somewhere, engineers, executives, assembly workers… Even people with superclearances who work on black projects have spouses and sweethearts and occasionally talk too much. And everybody uses computers, puts everything on them. Everything! Engineers use computers to design circuits and parts and you name it. E-mail, spreadsheets, contracts, specs — you heard about that fourteen-year-old kid who broke into the Pentagon computer system?'

After the FBI agent left, Jake got out a legal pad and turned it sideways. He sat for several minutes staring into the flame of the candles, then drew a small submarine on the pad. He put the sail well forward, made it long and slender. It looked like a man-made fish.

Or a shark.

The door to the captain's cabin aboard USS America opened inward. Vladimir Kolnikov knocked politely, then used the key from his shirt pocket to unlock and open it. Standing well back with his pistol in his hand, he pushed at the door with his foot.

Heydrich was sitting on the bed in his underwear.

'Ah, the jailer.'

'We need to have a little chat,' Kolnikov said, keeping the pistol down by his leg.

'Same thing you said to Steinhoff?'

'That is up to you.'

Kolnikov closed the door behind him and sat in the chair by the small desk so that he was facing Heydrich. He laid the pistol in his lap.

'I confess, I don't understand what you are doing or why you are doing it,' Heydrich said, watching Kolnikov's face. 'When this is over, we will need Willi Schlegel's help to permanently disappear. The Americans will be looking for us in every hotel, hut, and whorehouse on this planet. If you think you can hide in some backwater that has no extradition treaty with the United States, you are going to be severely disappointed.'

'I figured, taking these risks, why not maximize the return?'

'So you went looking for business.'

'Not really.' Kolnikov grimaced. 'I was approached by a woman. She knew about Blackbeard. Don't ask me how she heard it, because I don't know. I almost died of fright. After she got me calmed down, she introduced me to Schlegel's man. And another person.'

'You jeopardized Schlegel's mission.'

'If we had been arrested before we stole this boat, one suspects that the Americans would have done nothing. Schlegel, the man I knew — all of them would have denied everything and hidden behind a phalanx of lawyers. The CIA would have been grossly embarrassed — there was really little risk. They would have hustled us out of the country and told us to never come back.'

'Schlegel would have killed you.'

'We all have to die and, thankfully, only once. Everything worked out, the men and I will get you to Schlegel's treasure trove in the pink of good health, ready to apply your expensive skills in a cunning and industrious manner for the greater glory of Schlegel and friends. A few days later Herr Schlegel and the people I know will each pay us several million apiece. On that glorious day we shall set forth with wallets bulging to live in the happy ever after. You have been thinking of the happy ever after, haven't you?'

'Something like that, I suppose.'

Wondering if he was going to get there, Kolnikov thought. The fate of his shipmates was of no concern to Heydrich; it would never occur to him.

'Predicting the future is always tricky,' Kolnikov said thoughtfully. 'The slightest unknown can destroy the finest calculations. If nothing goes wrong, we will launch Tomahawks on at least one more occasion, perhaps two. There is no double cross. Everyone will share in the proceeds.'

'All these promises — I sincerely hope there is some real money in them.'

'Precisely my point. I recall saying that very thing to Schlegel the last time we met, that evening we ate at the Hotel George V.'

Heydrich yawned. 'Willi doesn't like surprises. I think they offend his orderly mind. He is not a man to mislead or leave with a false impression.'

'Fact is I sent Willi a letter above your signature, told him we were going to rob enough ships to either make some serious money or get killed doing it.'

The possibility that Kolnikov had a sense of humor had never before occurred to Heydrich. He said lightly, 'Did he write back?'

'No. Apparently he doesn't waste ink on the hired help.'

CHAPTER TEN

When the sun crept over the rim of the sea, America was still drifting fifteen hundred feet below the surface of the North Atlantic, dead in the water. Every minute or so, in response to the movement of people inside the hull, water was automatically and silently pumped into or out of the tanks to maintain the boat's trim. Kolnikov knew the pumps were working because lights flickered on and off on the control panel. Still, the way the computers kept the boat level and maintained its depth within inches seemed almost magic. The control room lights were very dim… in fact, Kolnikov concluded, they were off. The only illumination came from the sonar displays, computer screens, and LCD readouts.

Kolnikov studied the computer screen that monitored noise being manufactured within the boat. Every thump and click of metal on metal from the engineering spaces registered here, although the level of noise was far too low