1

The early evening sun had set and turned the waters of Polyarnyy harbour a deep red, the colour of blood. Seagulls whirled over the cold waves like carrion crows, mesmerised by the rainbow glint of oil coating the sea and the promise of fish underneath.

Cutting through the waters like a knife and making the birds scatter, the imposing metal hulk of the Akula class submarine entered the dock and drifted to a slow, grinding halt. Activity in the harbour began almost immediately as workers and technicians rushed to fix moorings and disembarking ramps, while unnoticed in the bustle, the tall, well-built man in dark blue overalls casually made his way through the area and started towards a single story outbuilding on the far side of the dock.

The quartermaster's office was, like the outside, a hive of activity and filled with noise. The excited chatter of a dozen personnel joined ringing telephones, churning tele-fax printouts and the gentle thrumming of outdated computer machinery. The man entered the room calmly and made his way to one of the main consoles in the center. After powering up the machine and waiting an age for the 10 year old bootleg operating system to start, he punched in several key codes and called up the information he needed easily. He finished memorising the details and shut the monitor down with a crackle of static just as a voice called loudly from behind him.

"Hey! What are you doing? Are you authorized to be in here?"

A few heads turned in their direction but most were too busy and carried on working as if it was none of their business. The man checked his watch and turned towards the officer with a smile.

"My mistake Tovarisch, I thought this was where I check my emails." He answered in flawless Russian, the grin on his face showing through his grey beard. Not fooled by his response, the officer angrily moved from behind his desk and made his way to the center of the room.

"A likely story. Who are you? What is your rank and work number?" Here was a man who clearly loved ridiculing his subordinates.

Tiring of his charade, the bearded man reached inside his overalls and took out the lightweight Stechkin APS machine pistol. At once, the officer recognized the danger and backed away in fear. He turned to run, scattering papers as the intruder calmly finished attaching the silencer and sprayed his fleeing body with a burst of lead, causing him to be thrown violently against the wall and slip to the concrete floor.

The room was suddenly plunged into silence, then absolute chaos as the personnel ran over themselves to get to the exit and raise the alarm, none of them attempted to subdue the stranger. In seconds they were all dead. Only the noise of the ringing telephones intruded. The bearded man moved to the sockets on the wall and ripped them free. Kicking the desks over and smashing the computers beyond repair he watched the small electrical sparks ignite into flame and threw a handful of paperwork onto it, soon it was blazing. His destructive frenzy finished, the man flipped open his radio and keyed the correct frequency.

"Yuri, you may begin."

As if in answer, from outside the office came the unmistakable sounds of small arms fire and screaming. After a few minutes of watching the flames dance up the walls, the man left the building and strolled leisurely amongst the growing carnage. By the time he had reached the edge of the dock, it was nearly all over. From the distance came the occasional gunshot and cry of pain, then silence. He turned calmly as a man dressed entirely in black approached and shouldered his weapon. Saluting as he spoke.

"The area is secure Commander."

"Good, make your way on board the submarine. We have around…" He checked his watch again. "Six minutes before the guards are alerted and the entire VMF comes bearing down upon us."

"What of the crew?"

He turned away from the man and stood in front of the jet black submarine, dwarfed by its incredible hull. The Akula, called by Western powers, the Typhoon, was the largest vessel of its type in the Russian Navy. This one, the Arkhangelskwas 574 feet in length and weighed 26,000 tons. He was impressed. It would make a worthy addition to the cause.

"Kill them. dump the bodies into the harbour."