The Man from Leningrad Page 8

  Maddux looked at his watch. It was just after 3:00 p.m., but the sun was low on the horizon. Based on the sun’s location, Maddux would’ve guessed it was closer to 6:00 p.m. However, that wasn’t the only thing that felt disorienting.

  The early March winds whipped across the airfield, pelting them with granules of icy snow. With the temperature hovering just above zero degrees Fahrenheit, Maddux thought he’d been thrust back into the ice age.

  “Is it always like this in March?” Maddux asked.

  “What do you mean?” Milanovich replied.

  “The temperature—it’s freezing.”

  “This is our coldest month of the year,” Milanovich said. “It takes a while for all the heat on the top of the planet to disappear, but when it does, this is what you get.”

  “This is brutal,” Dex said.

  “On the bright side, you will have an opportunity to see more polar bears,” Milanovich said. “They’re starting to get desperate and will be on the prowl for something to eat.”

  “As long as it’s not me,” Maddux said.

  “We should be fine in our boat,” Milanovich said. “You’ll see them paddling around between chunks of ice floating in the water, though I doubt we’ll encounter any up close. But if we do, that’s why we all have rifles.”

  “That’s an experience I’d rather forego,” Dex said.

  Milanovich laughed. “I’m sure Stump at Gunnar’s Tavern will agree with you.”

  “I’m not sure I want to know how Stump got his nickname,” Dex said.

  “If you’re brave enough, you can ask him yourself when we go there after dropping off all your gear and supplies at my place.”

  * * *

  GUNNAR’S TAVERN was already packed by 5:00 p.m. when Milanovich led Maddux and Dex into the establishment. Darkness had fallen, and coal miners had begun streaming inside to relax. They all sat down at a table and ordered drinks.

  After a few minutes, Stump hobbled over to them. Leaning on his crutch, he smiled as he asked Milanovich about his two guests.

  “I’m taking them to Barentsburg tomorrow to deliver some parts for the Arktikogul mine. Ball bearings, right?” Milanovich asked.

  Maddux nodded before taking a sip of his beer.

  “Well, you’re in good hands,” Stump said in his Scandinavian-tinged English accent. “This man will get you where you need to go so you don’t end up like me.”

  Stump gestured toward his left leg, which was amputated just above the knee.

  Dex leaned to the side to inspect it.

  “Do I dare ask what happened?”

  “Believe it or not, I was one of the lucky ones that day,” Stump said. “A few years ago, I was dog sledding with five friends along the coast and stopped for a short break along the top of a ridge. And while we were enjoying a nice hot drink and admiring the view, two polar bears came up and started mauling me and my mates. We couldn’t get to our sleds fast enough. Three of the men in our party were killed, while I lost a leg and one other man lost a hand.”

  “And the sixth guy?” Dex asked.

  “Hardly a scratch. He managed to reach his sled and started mushing before either of the bears took a run at him.”

  “That’s one lucky bastard,” Dex said.

  “Not really,” Stump said. “He died a week later in a mine collapse. It’s a hard life around here, but most of the men wouldn’t have it any other way. It also happens to be great for business.”

  Stump winked before hobbling away.

  “I’m starting to think anyone is crazy for living here,” Dex said.

  “You’re just now starting to think that?” Maddux asked. “This weather alone is enough to make you think everyone living on this entire island is insane.”

  Milanovich chuckled. “I’ve lived here for five years, and you just might be right.”

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING, Maddux and Dex followed Milanovich to the docks where they loaded all their gear and prepared for the trip along Isfjorden, one of the largest fjords around Svalbard. They waved to a few workers loading coal onto a nearby barge. Across the water, Maddux watched the sun creep up over the mountains, bringing welcome warmth.

  Maddux jammed his hands into his coat pockets and stood on the bow of the boat, which was a modest forty-foot trawler. In the distance, he noticed a dark front rolling toward them.

  “Do we need to be worried about that storm?” Maddux asked, nodding in the direction of clouds.

  Milanovich stopped what he was doing and glanced up. He shook his head.

  “That storm is at least several hours away,” he said. “It’ll only take us a couple of hours to get to Barentsburg on the water. You’ll be there before you know it.”

  Maddux helped Dex finish loading all of their supplies into the boat before untying from the dock and shoving off. In less than a minute of feeling the already-cold air rush against his face, Maddux retreated up the steps to the enclosed area around the helm and perched a few feet above the rest of the vessel. Dex and Milanovich shuffled to the side to make room for Maddux.

  “Couldn’t take it out there?” Milanovich asked.

  Maddux shook his head. “It’s bad enough when you’re just standing in the stillness of the air, but when it’s blowing in your face?”

  “Welcome to Svalbard,” Milanovich said with a chuckle.

  “As intrigued as I am by this place, I prefer to do my exploring in much warmer climates,” Maddux said.

  “It takes a special kind of person to enjoy life in this part of the world,” Milanovich said. “So, I understand. But me? I love this place.”

  The boat chugged along at an easy pace, handling the choppy waters with ease.

  “I can’t go too fast through this fjord,” Milanovich explained. “There’s always the danger of colliding with large chunks of ice. You have to be on the lookout for them from up here. And that’s why this trip is so exhausting.”

  After a few minutes of silence, Milanovich pointed toward something off the starboard side of the boat.

  “Do you see that?” he asked.

  Maddux peered in the direction Milanovich pointed and strained to see anything.

  “Where?” Maddux asked.

  “Do you see that chunk of ice?”

  “Yep,” Maddux said before a pause. His eyes widened.

  “Now you see it,” Milanovich said with a laugh.

  Maddux’s mouth fell agape as he watched a polar bear swat at the water, presumably in search of some food.

  “They get hungry this time of year,” Milanovich said. “The ground is still covered with snow, and it’s not easy to find seals in the frozen water. So, they’re hunting for anything they can find.”

  “Good to know,” Dex said. “But we don’t want a closer look. We can see them from right here.”

  Milanovich smiled and continued navigating.

  The next half hour was relatively uneventful aside from observing a herd of reindeer roaming along the banks of Isfjorden. With the wind picking up, the waves slapped more fiercely and frequently against the hull.

  “Are we going to make it before that storm gets here?” Dex asked.

  Milanovich nodded. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Five minutes later, what shouldn’t have been an issue became a dangerous one when the boat’s motor sputtered before stopping altogether.

  “What’s going on?” Maddux asked.

  Milanovich didn’t respond, instead climbing down the stairs and rushing over to the motor in the back. Curious as to what was happening, Maddux hustled after Milanovich. Mumbling a few curse words in Russian, Maddux descended to the depths of the vessel to tinker with the engine.

  “Have you had any issues with this boat before?” Maddux asked.

  Milanovich laughed and shook his head.“If you aren’t a mechanic, you don’t belong here. Whenever anything breaks, you can’t just fix it with new parts. You have to figure out a way to do it with what you’ve got.”
r />   Maddux furrowed his brow. “So, you have had problems with this boat?”

  “It’s been a while, but I’ve been stranded out here before. But we’re not that far away from the shore. We’ll figure out a way to get you and your supplies to Barentsburg.”

  The wind whistled across the hatch, and the waves rocked the boat more vigorously than Maddux had experienced since he’d boarded. Tilted toward one side and then back toward the other, Maddux reached for the railing near the stairs. He stumbled before catching himself and maintaining his balance.

  A loud crack arrested both Maddux’s and Milanovich’s attention. The rough seas thrust a jagged piece of ice through the hull. Water gushed into the opening, forcing Milanovich to slog toward the stairs. Maddux paused to wait for the captain, but he wasn’t having it.

  “Get up there, and start untying the life boat,” Milanovich said.

  Maddux followed the commands and found Dex already in action. The storm had obviously moved faster than Milanovich anticipated, putting them in a challenging situation.

  With all the supplies for the operation stored in a chest on the deck, Maddux worked with Dex to get everything ready, explaining the urgency of their situation. After a minute, Maddux looked toward the stairs for Milanovich and then up toward the helm. There was no sign of him.

  “Where’s Milanovich?” Maddux said.

  “I thought maybe he was trying to plug the leak,” Dex said.

  Maddux raced back toward the stairs and then eased down the steps before quickly coming to a halt. The water was already chest deep inside and had shorted out the electrical system, leaving only the small opening to light the hull.

  “Save yourselves,” Milanovich cried from the back.

  Maddux stooped down to see the captain near the leak, pinned against the wall by a piece of machinery.

  “I can help you,” Maddux said as he prepared to wade into the water.

  “Don’t,” Milanovich said. “This boat is going down in less than a minute. We’d never have enough time.”

  “Can you swim out?” Maddux said.

  “I’m stuck, and half my body is already numb. Now go. Save yourselves.”

  Maddux ignored the command, instead hustling up the steps to grab a rope. He raced back down the steps and tied a circle knot before tossing it around the large piece of equipment that had slid across the hull and trapped Milanovich.

  “Get ready to swim,” Maddux said.

  With a straining heave, he yanked on the rope and the machinery began to move, freeing Milanovich. He swam toward the stairs and followed Maddux to the deck. With the hull taking on so much water, they didn’t have much time.

  Dex stared wide-eyed at Maddux and Milanovich as they rushed toward him.

  “I wasn’t sure you two were coming back,” Dex said as he finished placing their supplies in the raft.

  “Are you ready?” Maddux asked.

  Dex nodded, and the three men sprang into action. They lowered the raft, which was already loaded with their equipment. The waves thrashed at the side of the boat as the men eased down one by one. When they were all inside, Maddux and Dex used the paddles to maneuver toward the shore. Maddux guessed it was about a quarter of a mile away, which seemed like several miles given the status of the water.

  The boat pitched and yawed with the seas, creating a challenging environment to reach shore. After a few minutes, Milanovich relieved Dex to give him a rest. All three men rotated through to ensure a constant push to reach the banks along the Isfjorden.

  Maddux thought it seemed like hours, but the struggle only last about twenty minutes. Eventually, they reached the shore and clambered up the slippery embankment, tugging the raft up with them.

  Maddux felt like collapsing onto the ground, but he resisted the urge since the ground was still covered in snow.

  Milanovich identified a small grouping of bushes that could serve as a windbreaker until the storm subsided. The men dragged all their supplies to the spot and set up a makeshift lean-to. Propping up the raft with the oars and then anchoring the ropes into the ground, they were able to create a serviceable cover when the snow began pelting them. Milanovich dug through his bag for a towel and a change of dry clothes. He shivered uncontrollably before reached into his pack and producing a tarp he had stashed there. He laid it on the ground for all of the men to sit on beneath their cover.

  “How long do these storms usually last?” Dex asked.

  Milanovich shrugged. “It’s hard to say. Sometimes they will last for just a few minutes, but others can go on for hours, even a couple of days. The weather out here is just so unpredictable.”

  “You made it sound like we weren’t going to have any problems reaching Barentsburg when we started despite the looming storm clouds,” Dex said.

  “I was wrong,” Milanovich said. “It happens sometimes.”

  Maddux didn’t say a word but was irked by Milanovich’s nonchalant attitude about the disaster they all narrowly escaped. Being wrong wasn’t something they could afford, not with the Soviets about to launch a nuclear sub to attack the U.S.

  “How far away are we from Barentsburg?” Maddux asked.

  “Maybe five or six kilometers,” Milanovich said. “It shouldn’t take us long to get there after this storm blows over.”

  “But we don’t know when that will happen, do we?” Maddux asked, his tone getting edgy.

  “Unfortunately not. But usually we know about all the bigger storms that thrash the island well in advance. This is more like a squall.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Dex said. “I wasn’t planning on this being an extended stay.”

  With palpable tension, the men sat in silence for the next hour as the snow pelted their shelter and the winds continued to whip across the land. Though they were only about fifty meters from the shoreline, Maddux could no longer see the water. Everything had become a white haze with visibility no more than twenty meters.

  Less than ten minutes later, the storm subsided. High winds yielded to a gentle breeze. Then the sun peeked out from behind the clouds for the first time all day.

  “Is it finally safe to venture out?” Dex asked.

  Milanovich nodded as he scrambled to his feet.“It’s a perfect day now,” he said as he scanned the mountains. “But I still need to warm up before I go anywhere.”

  “I’ll go get some firewood,” Dex said.

  “I’m going with you,” Milanovich said. “I need to keep moving or else I’m going to freeze.”

  “Suit yourself,” Dex said.

  “I think there are a few dwarf shrubs by that creek over there. They burn really well. And believe it or not, this is quite a green meadow in the late summertime.”

  Dex started to walk away, but Milanovich hustled over to their supplies and fetched a rifle.

  “And what am I supposed to do now if a polar bear attacks me?” Maddux asked.

  “Use your rifle,” Milanovich said.

  Maddux’s eyes widened, but he tried to hide it from Milanovich. There were no weapons in those cases, just oxygen tanks.

  “And if my gun jams?” Maddux asked.

  “Run,” Milanovich said with a wink. “But don’t worry. I doubt they’re going to bother you with this giant raft here.”

  Maddux waited until they were a couple hundred meters away before he took inventory of all their supplies. Wanting to ensure that nothing had been damaged, he carefully inspected the diving equipment as well as some of the devices Rose had given them. As far as he could tell, everything appeared to be in working order. While the knife appeared to be a sufficient blade, given the situation, Maddux would’ve preferred to have a gun in that case as opposed to oxygen tanks in the event that he needed to ward off any polar bears.

  After he returned all their supplies to their proper place and secured the crate, he checked his watch. He then peered out toward the direction Dex and Milanovich had gone. No longer visible from where Maddux was standing, he headed in their directi
on, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. But he still couldn’t see anything.

  Maddux decided to stay put and spent a few minutes pondering the best way to move their supplies along the icy snow toward Barentsburg for five or six kilometers. But his pondering was arrested by the sound of gunshots.

  Chapter XVI

  MADDUX STRAINED TO SEE what was happening near the brush where Milanovich had taken Dex. At first Maddux couldn’t make out anything. Several different scenarios flashed through his head, none of them positive. Then after a few seconds, a figure came into focus.

  “Dex?” Maddux wondered aloud.

  Weaving back and forth across the snow, the man raced in the general direction of Maddux. After a few more seconds, he could tell it was his colleague.

  “Help me,” Dex cried.

  Maddux sprinted toward his colleague, who was holding his shoulder. As Maddux drew closer, he could see Dex’s arm covered with blood.

  “Help,” Dex said again before stumbling and falling face down into the snow.

  Upon reaching him, Maddux dropped to his knees and turned Dex over. Snow covered his face, which was also scratched and bloody.

  “What happened?” Maddux asked. “Where’s Milanovich?”

  “We need to get moving,” Dex said.

  Maddux halted his inquisition and took Dex’s suggestion seriously. With all the blood covering the right side of Dex’s upper body, five simple words were all he needed to convince his fellow agent that immediate action was necessary. Placing his arms underneath Dex, Maddux helped his partner to his feet. Dex swayed back and forth, clutching the rifle against his chest.

  “You’re going to need this,” Dex said, offering the weapon to Maddux.

  Maddux took the gun and let Dex put his arm around him as they headed toward the shelter.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened?” Maddux asked, looking intently at Dex.

  “Don’t pay me any attention,” Dex said, wagging his finger before wincing in pain. “Look behind us for that monster.”

  “Milanovich did this to you?” Maddux asked.

  Dex shook his head. “It was a polar bear.”

  “So, where’s Milanovich?”