Chapter 3: K-19

Amy couldn't believe the Doctor was standing there with his eyes closed, listening.

"Eleven… Ten… Nine…"

"Well if you won't do anything, I will!" exclaimed Amy. She ran down the corridor towards the voices.

"I've got it!" declared the Doctor as he snapped open his eyes. "We're too deep! Where's Amy?"

"About to get us in trouble!" said Rory. "She ran that way."

He pointed down the corridor past the Doctor.

"Come on!" said the Doctor. He took off after Amy, with Rory close behind.

"Early Soviet missile subs couldn't fire from underwater!" the Doctor explained as they ran. "They could only launch missiles from the surface, and we're at one hundred meters—over three hundred twenty feet down."

The alarm klaxon abruptly stopped. A moment later, a voice announced over loudspeaker, "Attention all hands. The remainder of this drill is canceled. Repeat. The remainder of this drill is canceled."

"I want names!' an angry voice said up ahead. "I want to know who is responsible for this American—a woman at that—getting on board this boat!"

"American!" Amy could be heard saying. "Who are you calling American!"

There was a crowd at the end of the corridor, or at least it seemed that way.

"Sorry!" said the Doctor as he began pushing his way past startled crewmembers. "Pardon me! Coming through! Sorry!"

Suddenly the Doctor and Rory were face to face with three unsmiling officers. One officer was holding Amy's arm above the elbow. It was suddenly very, very quiet on the bridge of the submarine.

"Ah, I see you've met," said the Doctor with the beginning of a smile on his face that quickly died away.

"Two more Americans, Captain?" said one of the officers with thick black hair combed straight back. He had the air of authority about him.

"So it would seem, Comrade Captain," replied the officer holding Amy. He was in his mid-30's with wavy hair.

"Americans?" said the Doctor, puzzled. He glanced at Rory. "Why does everyone think we are Americans?"

"Perhaps because we are dressed as Americans, Doctor?" Rory replied, eyebrow raised.

"Oh the clothes! Yes, I had quite forgotten," replied the Doctor.

He removed the Stetson from his head. "Is that better?"

"Comrade Captain!" spoke the third officer. "As political officer, I strongly recommend these American spies be locked up immediately!"

"And where do you propose to lock them up?" asked the captain with a slight smile on his face. "In your own cabin? This boat doesn't have the luxury of a brig."

"Pardon me, I didn't catch your name?" the Doctor said to the political officer. He pulled out his psychic paper and flashed it at him.

"I believe you'll find I out-rank you."

The political officer looked at the psychic paper, paled, and stiffened to attention.

"My apologies, Comrade. I am Igor Sergiyovich Boyakov." He turned to the captain. "This man is a Colonel in the KGB, Comrade Captain."

Now that the political officer had set expectations, the Doctor flashed the psychic paper at the captain as well, who simply nodded at what he saw.

"Captain, I believe I heard you asking for names," the Doctor said smoothly. "This man with me is… Roryski Pondkin, and the woman is Amelia Pondkina, his wife. I'm the Doctor. Now as for being spies, Igor… you don't mind if I call you Igor do you? Igor was half right – we are indeed spies, but we are KGB field operatives."

"As far as I'm concerned, your rank is only good on land," the captain said. "We are navy, we are at sea, and this is my boat! I want your name, Doctor!"

"I'm sorry Captain, it's just the Doctor."

"His name is a state secret!" Rory piped up. "Comrade Captain, my wife and I have been working with this man for over two years now, and even we do not know his name."

"Yes, it's true," added Amy. "After all this time, we still do not know his true identity, and I expect we never will."

She glared at the Doctor.

The captain was silent for a moment. "I will contact Moscow to confirm your story."

"Captain," replied the Doctor. "I can assure you Moscow will disavow any knowledge of our existence. You will have to go above the Admiral of the Fleet, into the very heart of the Kremlin to get any real answers, if they see fit to answer."

The captain and his executive glanced at each other. They both knew pushing things too far could spell the end of one's career, or worse.

"I will let that ride for the moment," the captain replied. "But I still want to know on whose authority you are here!"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that either, Captain. It was all rather hush-hush and rush-rush to finish training for these two."

The Doctor indicated Amy and Rory.

"Much too soon, if you ask me, and we were told we would be put on a ship scheduled to go near the American coastline for a drop-off. I'm afraid I don't even know the name of this ship."

The captain simply grunted. "That is typical of the Politburo," he said. "Always rushing things before they are ready."

The captain's attitude seemed to change. "I am Captain Second Rank Nikolai Zateyev, commander of this boat. And this…" He pointed to the man holding Amy, who now let go of her arm. "…is Captain Third Rank Vasili Arkhipov, Executive Officer."

Captain Zateyev pointed to yet another man. "That is Captain Third Rank Viktor Sitnikov, Torpedo Officer." Sitnikov nodded in acknowledgement.

The captain pointed to a man in his early twenties with striking blue eyes. "And over there is Lieutenant Boris Korchilov, Reactor Officer."

He paused for a moment to eye the Doctor.

"Comrade Colonel Doctor, in navel tradition, submarines are called boats, not ships. Boats do not have names. A belated welcome aboard K-19."

"Just 'Doctor' will do, Captain." The Doctor smiled. "Except when I need to pull rank of course."

"Doctor then," replied Captain Zateyev. "Sitnikov, you have the con. We will continue this conversation with the Doctor in private. Arkhipov, Doctor, you're with me."

Captain Zateyev headed for the corridor followed by the Doctor and the executive officer. They entered the first door into a small cabin with a table that served as both officer's mess and conference room. The door closed.

Amy noticed the lieutenant looking her way. She blushed slightly and looked around.

"So, nice boat," she said, and looked back at the lieutenant, giving him a hesitant smile.

That was all the encouragement the lieutenant needed to come over to where Amy was standing.

"Yes, she's a beauty, isn't she?" he said while standing close, looking Amy directly in the eyes.

"I assume you mean the boat," Rory said in a lower than normal tone, arms crossed.

"But of course!" the lieutenant said, looking over his shoulder at Rory. He turned back to Amy.

"If you like, I could show you around. You will need to be careful though – quarters are rather tight around here."

"Yes," said Amy. "I'll like that, but a moment please."

She stepped around the lieutenant and went over to Rory, who was glaring daggers at the lieutenant.

"Calm down, Rory!" Amy said in a low voice. "I'll be fine. And doesn't the name K-19 sound familiar to you? Maybe I can learn something."

Rory's eyes widened. "Oh my God!" he said in an equally low voice. "That movie, the one about a nuclear accident on a submarine! But how much of it was real, and how much was just Hollywood?"

"Yes! And when did the accident happen?" Amy murmured back.

"I don't remember the movie giving a date. It just happens about midway through, that's all." Rory glanced over at the lieutenant. "Just be careful, okay? That guy seems to be the groping type."

"I'll be fine, and sorry about the slap."

"What slap?"

Amy stepped back from Rory and put on a shocked expression.

"Oh!" she squeaked, and gave Rory a loud slap on the cheek. She turned and walked over to Lieutenant Korchilov. "Shall we go, Lieutenant?"

The lieutenant gave Amy a broad smile. As they walked off, he said, "Please, call me Boris."

As Rory stood there holding his reddening cheek, he could hear some quiet laughter among the crew.

"Well Comrade Roryski," said Viktor Sitnikov sympathetically. "You certainly have a hot potato on your hands. I'm afraid our Lieutenant has something of a reputation as a lady's man, but I do believe he's met his match."

A few of the men nodded their agreement.

"Could we perhaps talk about something else?" Rory said suddenly. This brought an awkward silence for a moment.

"Here's what I want to know," piped up one of the crew. "We have been at sea for eighteen days. How could you possibly have been here all this time and us not know about it?"

Rory hesitated, trying to decide how to answer that one when the cabin door opened and the Doctor stuck his head out.

"Rory, could you come here please? Amy too…" the Doctor looked around. "Where's Amy?"

Rory quickly headed for the Doctor. "She's being given the grand tour by that Lieutenant, Boris something-or-other," he replied as he stepped through the door.

Captain Zateyev frowned as he closed the door and motioned Rory to take a seat. "I will speak to Lieutenant Korchilov later – he should know better. Now then," he said. "Perhaps you can explain how you three have managed to stay hidden on my boat all this time?"

Rory gulped….

Amy was amazed at the conditions in the submarine. Unlike a civilian ship, everything here was utilitarian and out in the open. Supplies were squirreled away in every possible nook and cranny, and in some areas bunks were slung between pipes and machinery, which, in spite of its utilitarian nature, at least gave the submarine a lived-in feel. All that seemed to change when they reached compartment six. Here, it was strictly business.

"This is the starboard reactor," Boris Korchilov said proudly. "Behind that sealed hatch. Go ahead and take a look through the port – it's leaded glass so it's perfectly safe."

He paused until Amy was looking through the port in the hatch.

"Welcome to the future, Amelia. Imagine cars that never need refueling. Power so cheap it doesn't need to be metered. Chemical rockets will take us to the moon – ahead of the Americans I trust – but nuclear power will someday take us to the planets. Who knows what can be achieved in our lifetimes! This is just the beginning."

Amy straightened up and looked at Korchilov. "You're quite the forward thinker," she said with a smile.

"Yes, well, everything always starts as a dream, does it not? This is my dream."

Korchilov stepped over to a control panel to review reactor conditions before continuing the tour. As he did so, a flash of blue light seemed to fill the whole room for a fraction of a second.

"Lieutenant? Lieutenant?"

"Yes? What is it?" Korchilov said, turning away from the panel. The Chief Starshina was looking at him with an odd expression.

"Have you located the problem?" the Chief Starshina asked.

Puzzled, Lieutenant Korchilov looked back at the panel. "Everything is nominal. Why?"

"One of the crew reported a flash of light coming from the reactor compartment. Word got passed along, and I came to see if you were all right. There aren't any leaks are there?"

Korchilov checked the panel once more. "No, everything really is fine. No problem, no leaks."

"Well you've been staring at the panel for a good five or ten minutes, I'd say," said the Chief Starshina. "I thought perhaps you were hoping to catch a reading if the flash happened again."

Korchilov walked over to the reactor chamber hatch and looked through the port. "No really, everything is fine. See for yourself if you don't believe me."

The Chief Starshina simply shrugged. "You're the expert, not me."

Korchilov looked around. "Where's Amelia?"

"That exotic redhead? I think she got bored with you and went forward towards the bridge."

Korchilov cursed under his breath. He had been hoping to lure her away from her husband, but now he knew his chance of doing so was blown. He sighed and returned to his duty station.

As Amy returned to the officer compartment with the wood paneled cabins, she saw one of the doors open, and out stepped the Doctor and Rory.

"Amy! There you are," said the Doctor. "Come along Ponds!" He pushed past Amy and opened the last cabin door. "In you go."

Amy and Rory stepped through the door with the Doctor following close behind. They were back inside the TARDIS.

"Do you know what ship… boat this is?" Amy asked the Doctor excitedly. "A movie was made about it: K-19!"

"Yes, the 'widow maker,' which, by the way, is a bit of Hollywood rubbish. That was never the nickname for this boat," replied the Doctor as he began to work his way around the TARDIS console.

"Oh?" said Rory. "What was, or should I say, will be, the nickname?"

"Hiroshima."

"That's not an improvement," Amy commented dryly. "But as long as we're here—"

"NO!" shouted the Doctor emphatically. He took a deep breath.

"No," he repeated more calmly. "There isn't anything we can do. In a couple of hours, this boat will have a reactor accident, and that's all there is to it."

"Why not?" replied Amy, surprised at the Doctor's outburst. "If the movie's anything to go by, it was a very serious accident. People died horribly. I think I saw the actual reactor that goes pear-shaped, though it seemed fine to me. Not that I'm an expert."

She frowned. "There was an odd flash of light though…."

The Doctor wasn't having it. "No, no, I'm sorry. Like many well-documented events, this is a fixed point in time, Amy. Interacting with fixed points in time can have disastrous consequences. Best to leave things alone."

The Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS started off.

In the officer's mess, Vasili Arkhipov sipped a glass of hot tea when he heard a very odd sound – a sort of scraping or moaning. He jumped up, stepped out into the corridor, and walked aft looking for the source of the sound. He stopped at the end of the paneled officer's area where the sound was loudest and stared at the exposed pipes.

I could have sworn there was another cabin here, he thought to himself.

The sound faded away. He walked to the nearest intercom panel and pressed a button. "This is the Executive. I want a team to inspect compartments three and four."

He returned to the mess to finish his tea.

"Amy?" said Rory. "What happened to your gloves?"

Amy held up her hands. The palms of her gloves were grimy with greasy dust and there were dark streaks on the back. The right glove was torn and had a piece missing.

"Oh dear," she said. "Clearly white gloves and submarines don't mix. You have to hang on to something when stepping through hatches and there is exposed machinery everywhere. Is my dress alright?"

Both the Doctor and Rory gave her a quick inspection.

"Hang on," the Doctor said as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He held it up, changed the setting, and aimed it at the dress.

After circling Amy a couple of times, he was finally satisfied. "There we go, vibrated the dirt right off, but those gloves are a loss I'm afraid. But not to worry!" the Doctor said with a hop in his step. "There's plenty more where they came from. Go get a new set."

Amy flashed a smile at the Doctor. "Thanks!" she said, and ran off.

Rory turned to the Doctor. "So do we finally get to eat?"

The Doctor smiled, straightened his Stetson and fiddled with his bolo tie. "Next stop: the LBJ Ranch in Texas!"