Operation Arctic Sting, page 1
Praise For Operation Arctic Sting
Operation Arctic Sting is the third in Robert G. Williscroft’s exciting Mac McDowell Mission Series, which began with Operation Ivy Bells. Operation Arctic Sting follows Mac’s exploits as he leads a team to recover the Soviet Alfa submarine abandoned in the previous Operation Ice Breaker. Naturally, the Soviets aren’t too happy about this, and the chase is on to sneak the crippled sub back across the Arctic ice pack to a US naval base while eluding the Russian pursuers. Further, Mac’s romantic interest, Kate Perry (also from Ice Breaker), is under threat by Russian agents. The tale is told with Williscroft’s usual attention to technical detail, while providing side encounters with everything from polar bears to killer whales to enemy divers. This Cold War adventure is a definite page-turner.
– Alastair Mayer
Author of the T-Space Series
Operation Arctic Sting is another great sea story, a worthy sequel to Operation Ice Breaker. Once again, we experience the adventures of Mac McDowell, a most resourceful Navy officer. In Operation Arctic Sting, American forces take over an abandoned Soviet Alfa submarine, and Mac maneuvers it through and under the Arctic ice pack all the way to the East Coast while eluding Soviet subs that want to recapture or sink it. It’s cat and mouse, chase and hide, with separated lovers adding to the tension. I especially love Borysko, the warrior Orca who comes to the rescue when hungry polar bears and hostile Spetsnaz divers attack Mac’s team. If you want to know what it’s like to fight for your life and country on a submarine and as a diver under the ice, then this is the novel for you. It’s as realistic as it gets, written by someone who lived it.
– Professor John B. Rosenman, Norfolk State University
Former Chairman of the Board, Horror Writers Association
Author of The Inspector of the Cross Series
Operation Arctic Sting:
A Mac McDowell Mission
Fresh Ink Group
An Imprint of:
The Fresh Ink Group, LLC
Box 931
Guntersville, AL 35976
info@FreshlnkGroup.com
FreshInkGroup.com
Edition 1.0 2021
Cover art by Anik / FIG
Artwork by Robert G. Williscroft
Book design by Amit Dey / FIG
Cover by Stephen Geez / FIG
Lauren A. Smith, Associate Publisher / FIG
Names, characters, and incidents in this story are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, names, and people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author and publisher.
Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 and except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, no portion of this book’s content may be stored in any medium, transmitted in any form, used in whole or part, or sourced for derivative works such as videos, television, and motion pictures, without prior written permission from the publisher.
BISAC Subject Headings:
FIC032000 FICTION / War & Military
FIC031050 FICTION / Thrillers / Military
FIC036000 FICTION / Thrillers / Technological
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021908224
ISBN-13: 978-1-947893-23-8 Papercover
ISBN-13: 978-1-947893-24-5 Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-947893-48-1 Ebooks
USS Teuthis Tracks through the Arctic
Ebook Readers: All ebook editions (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay, iBooks, etc.) have the Cast of Characters, Dedication, and Acknowledgements moved to the end of the story where you will find a Glossary and a lot more.
Table of Contents
Praise For Operation Arctic Sting
Operation Arctic Sting: A Mac Mcdowell Mission
USS Teuthis Tracks through the Arctic
Part One: The Snatch
Chapter One—Kodiak, Alaska
Kate Perry’s Cottage—Kodiak, Alaska
Soviet Sleeper Cell—Kodiak, Alaska
USS Teuthis—Woman’s Bay, Kodiak, Alaska
Chapter Two—Kodiak, Alaska
USS Teuthis—Woman’s Bay, Kodiak, Alaska
Breaker’s Bar—Kodiak, Alaska
Jack Petrikoff’s Place—Kodiak, Alaska
USS Teuthis—Woman’s Bay
Chapter Three—Underway
USS Teuthis—Underway from Woman’s Bay
USS Teuthis— Submerged off Kodiak Island
USS Teuthis— Submerged off Kodiak Island
Pearl Harbor—ComSubPac HQ
Chapter Four—Transit to Pt. Barrow
USS Teuthis—A Thousand Foot Ledge Above Aleutian Trench
Mystic—A Thousand Feet Deep Over the Aleutian Trench
USS Teuthis—Bering Sea
USS Teuthis—Bering Strait to Pt. Barrow
Chapter Five—The Chase
USS Teuthis—Pt. Barrow
USS Teuthis—Beaufort Sea
USS Teuthis—Beaufort Sea Canyon
USS Teuthis—Beaufort Sea Canyon
Chapter Six—Alfa Preps
USS Teuthis—Pt. Barrow
USS Teuthis—Bottomed at the Alfa
On The Seafloor—At the Alfa
USS Teuthis—Bottomed at the Alfa
Chapter Seven—Kate’s Journal—1
USS Teuthis—Underway from Woman’s Bay
USS Teuthis—Submerged off Kodiak Island
USS Los Angeles—North Pacific
Mare Island—Vallejo, CA
DIA—Anacostia, DC
Part Two: The Lyre
Chapter Eight—The Hole
On the Seafloor—Mystic Ops
The Alfa—Bottomed near Teuthis
On the Seafloor—At the Alfa
The Alfa—Bottomed near Teuthis
On the Seafloor—At the Lyre
Chapter Nine—The Lyre
The Lyre—At the Surface off Pt. Barrow
The Lyre—Bottomed near Teuthis
On the Seafloor—Mystic Ops
The Lyre—Underway off Pt. Barrow
Chapter Ten—Beaufort Sea
The Lyre—Beaufort Sea
The Lyre—Demarcation Point
The Lyre—North of the Pingos
The Lyre—Continental Break
The Lyre—Amundsen Gulf
Chapter Eleven—Amundsen Passage
The Lyre— Dolphin & Union Strait
The Lyre—Coronation Gulf
The Lyre—Dease Strait
The Lyre—Queen Maud Gulf
Chapter Twelve—The Tasmania Islands
The Lyre—Victoria Strait
The Lyre—Larsen Sound
The Lyre—Bottomed at the Tasmania Islands
On the Seafloor—The Tasmania Islands
Chapter Thirteen—Threading the Needle
On the Seafloor—The Tasmania Islands
The Lyre—Pemmican Rock
The Lyre—Bellot Strait
The Lyre—Bottomed at the Grindle Islands
Chapter Fourteen— Kate’s Journal—2
DIA Headquarters—Anacostia, DC
The National Mall—Washington, DC
DIA Headquarters—Anacostia, DC
The Army and Navy Club—Washington, DC
Part Three: The Sting
Chapter Fifteen—Current Express
The Lyre—Gulf of Boothia
The Lyre—Fury & Hecla Strait
The Lyre—Labrador Narrows
The Lyre—Foxe Basin
The Lyre—Hudson Strait
Chapter Sixteen—Akpatok Island
The Lyre—Bottomed at Akpatok Island
On the Seafloor—At the Lyre
Teuthis—Mystic Ops
The Lyre—Underway
Chapter Seventeen— Labrador to Nova Scotia
The Lyre—Southward along the Labrador Peninsula
The Lyre—Gulf of St Lawrence
The Lyre—St. Paul Island
The Lyre—Cabot Strait to Sable Island
Chapter Eighteen—Fire!
The Lyre—Port of Clyde
The Lyre—Seal Island
The Lyre—Bottomed off Seal Island
USS Teuthis— Bottomed off Seal Island
Chapter Nineteen—Battle for the Lyre
On the Seafloor—At USS Teuthis
On the Seafloor—At Carp
USS Teuthis—Surfaced at Seal Island
On the Seafloor—Mystic Ops
Chapter Twenty—The Trawler & the wayward Alfa
The Lyre—Davis South Shoal
The Lyre—Off New London Harbor
The Lyre—Off New London Harbor
The Lyre—Electric Boat
Chapter Twenty-One—Kate’s Journal—3
Army and Navy Club—Washington, DC
Underway—Washington National Airport to New London, CT
Epilog
General Dynamics, Electric Boat Division—Groton, Connecticut
Gold Star Memorial Bridge—Groton to New London, Connecticut
Article from CBC News dated November 2, 2016—Byline Jimmy Thomson
Article from Motherboard—Tech by Vice Dated October 4, 2018—Byline Tracey Lindeman
A Note about Saturation Diving
USS Teuthis (SSNR 2) Organizational Chart
Figure 1—USS Teuthis—Cross-Section
Figure 2—USS Teuthis—Cutaway
Excerpt from Operation Ivy Bells by Robert G. Williscroft
&
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Cast of Characters
Other Works by Robert G. Williscroft
Connect with Robert G. Williscroft
About the Author
Glossary for Operation Arctic Sting
PART ONE
The Snatch
Kate’s cottage & Jack’s house. Route from Kate’s cottage to St. Kate, and then to Woman’s Bay.
CHAPTER ONE
Kodiak, Alaska
KATE PERRY’S COTTAGE—KODIAK, ALASKA
I opened my eyes just enough to see Kate’s golden hair spread across the pillow, her head resting on my chest, a sweet, contented smile on her lips. I felt overwhelmed by her presence. My heartbeat quickened. This cannot be happening, I told myself. Kate brushed her left arm across my stomach and pulled herself closer to my body. But it is…
The phone rang. I started at the sound, but Kate just snuggled closer and moaned softly. I picked up the Princess handset and brought it to my right ear, wincing a bit at the pain in my left shoulder. That was a wound I received from a Soviet dart underwater off Pt. Barrow shortly before we transited to Kodiak, and I still had my left arm in a sling. The bedroom window across the room was dark, but this was Kodiak in the winter. It would remain dark for several hours still. Outside was bitter cold; even the room air was more than chilly.
“Yeah, it’s Mac.”
“Mac, it’s Jack…Petrikoff. Jack Petrikoff,” his Russian accent heavy. “Wake up, Buddy!”
Kate stirred and sat up, rubbing her eyes, the sheet slipping from her pert nipples. “Wha…?” she started to ask, but I put a finger to her lips and shook my head.
“No time explain, Mac. You and Kate get out of there right now…I mean RIGHT NOW!”
“Jack…”
“RIGHT NOW, Buddy…house gonna blow…you and Kate gonna die!”
That got my attention.
Kate looked at me through sleepy eyes, her tongue moistening her lips. She reached under the covers, a coy smile creeping over her face.
“Mac, you hear me? RIGHT NOW!”
I grabbed Kate’s wrist, interrupting her ministrations.
“Kate, we got a problem. Don’t know what it is, but Jack says we need to get out of here now!”
Kate looked at me in shock.
“He means it…says we’re in mortal danger.”
Kate pulled the sheet up around her chin, her eyes like saucers. I grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet.
“Get dressed warm, Girl…now!” I said sharply. “We’re leaving ASAP!”
“We’ll be out of here in a minute, Jack. We’ll take Kate’s Datsun. Shit…where do we go?”
“Don’t take her car. It’s gonna blow too!”
I heard some yelling from his end and then, “Jesus, Fuck!” apparently not directed at me.
“One of my guys will meet you out back on Poplar. He take you to my boat. Grab what you can to stay warm.”
I heard a shot.
“Go, go, GO!” Jack yelled, and the phone connection went dead.
SOVIET SLEEPER CELL—KODIAK, ALASKA
We rushed out Kate’s back door to Poplar, I in hastily donned uniform with my peacoat tossed over my sling, and Kate in a long skirt, sweater, and fur-lined topcoat. We both wore unlaced mukluks on our feet. The bitter cold stung my nostrils.
One of Jack’s crew was at the back gate in a beat-up pickup with the passenger door open.
“Get in quick!” the driver said. “We gotta get the hell outa here!”
Kate clambered into the cab, and I followed. The driver peeled away before I could shut the door. As we reached the curve where Poplar turned to end at Maple, a loud explosion ripped through the nighttime air, the low overcast reflecting a bright flash. I looked over my right shoulder in time to see pieces of Kate’s cottage tumbling through the air, reflecting flickering flames from the twisted mess below.
As we turned right to approach Maple, a second explosion shattered the night air. In the reflected flames from what was left of Kate’s cottage, I saw her Datsun roadster flip on its side, gasoline-fed fire engulfing it.
Our driver knew Kodiak well. We ripped down side streets, through alleys, across a couple of empty parking lots, and finally down East Rezanof Drive toward Alimaq and the bridge across the bay. At the end of the bridge, he turned hard right, and after about a minute, pulled into a parking lot overlooking St. Herman’s Harbor.
“Hurry,” he urged as we tumbled out of his rig and ran across a road to the outermost floating dock.
We ran down the walkway to an illuminated floating causeway that linked two brightly lit floating docks stretching into the harbor. The right one was filled with boat slips for smaller commercial boats. The left one, our destination, had six slips berthing larger vessels. Jack’s boat, the St. Kate, was moored to the outer dockside away from the slips, starboard side to. A crew member stood on the brow, urging us forward. A shot rang out behind us. We ran faster. I could see that the lines were already cast off. Another shot ricocheted off St. Kate’s steel side. The crew member pulled us across and then retrieved the brow.
Up in the pilothouse, Jack revved the engines and pulled away from the dock, pushing chunks of ice aside. As quickly as possible, he maneuvered past the breakwater and out to ice-pad-filled open water. Three more shots followed, one shattering a pilothouse window.
Our driver took us to the pilothouse where we met Jack standing at the helm—all five feet, eight inches of him. He gripped the large mahogany ten-spoked wheel with practiced ease. A Russian-style ushanka without a red star covered his salt and pepper hair, and his full beard was trimmed short. He reached out an arm to wrap around Kate’s shoulders and kissed her cheeks. He shook my hand warmly and gave me a quick hug.
“That close call,” he said. “I explain. My parents recruited in 1935 as members of Soviet sleeper cell in Kodiak. They die in 1950s. I never part of cell, but Soviets not agree. Last night, Soviets activate all ten members of cell with orders to kill Kate, blow up home and business, kill you, and destroy Teuthis. I call Coast Guard—they barricade front gate and notify Teuthis. I say I bring you and Kate by boat to Woman’s Bay. Later, we talk more, but first, you call Teuthis. Say you and Kate safe. Say we be there in thirty minutes. Tie up behind Teuthis.” He handed me a mike and set the hailing frequency on his overhead unit.
That was a lot to digest, but Jack was right. First, I had to call Teuthis.
“USS Teuthis, this is fishing vessel Saint Kate, over.”
“Saint Kate, this is Teuthis. Switch to channel forty-three, over.”
Jack changed the channel.
“Teuthis, this is Saint Kate…”
I asked to speak directly with the captain. When he came on, I briefly told him that Kate and I were okay and that we would arrive in Woman’s Bay shortly. I asked him to set up a meeting in his cabin for the four of us.
I glanced at my watch. It was 0530.
Forty minutes later, Kate and I were sitting on the red Naugahyde couch in the skipper’s cabin, and Jack was in the easy chair. Commander (Cmdr.) Roken sat in his desk chair with his back to a fold-down desk. Jack had just finished explaining the background to his involvement.
“So, when I get activation order, I send my guy to Kate. I quickly call Kate, and Mac answers. I tell them to get out. A cell member tries to shoot me. I nail him, but cell blows up Kate’s home, car, and shop. Mac and Kate escape to my boat, and we come to here.” Jack’s face was filled with worry. “Now, what to do?”
“Why do you think they are after Mac and Kate?” the skipper asked.
“After Kate, no reason,” Jack said, “except she’s with Mac.” He sighed. “Sometimes the Soviets seek revenge for a serious wrong. Revenge often kill entire family, close friends, even pets. Must be something Mac did.” He stopped talking and shut his eyes. “I introduce Mac and Kate when I take Mac to Kate’s This & That?”
The skipper lifted his eyebrows.
“That the shop Kate set up after Josh killed. It was a beautiful little shop, but all gone now.” He put his head in his hands, “My fault, all my fault.”
Kate stood and put her arm around him. “Jack, I’m a big girl. I chose to be with Mac. You made that possible, and I love you for it.”
The skipper’s phone rang. He answered, and his face dropped. He looked at Kate. “I don’t have time to explain, Kate. Please stay in my cabin, no matter what you hear or feel.” Then he addressed Jack and me. “The Coast Guard Station has been attacked, and the front gate breached. The combatants are on their way here.” He looked at Jack. “Jack, get your vessel out into Woman’s Bay. Arm your crew to hold off boarders from small craft.” Then he turned to me. “Mac, get us underway from the wharf in the shortest time possible—two to three minutes. I’ll be in Radio.”
