"What did you do tovarisch?" For PicFic Tuesday July 5th

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

The prompt:

T.H.R.U.S.H. had expanded its horizons beyond their ambitions to control nuclear weapons as they hadn’t had much luck there thanks to the efforts of the U.N.C.L.E.

However, now they’d come into possession of some heavy duty equipment, though not nuclear powered. they were the owners of a submarine;, not just any sub but one capable of launching torpedoes as well as ballistic missiles, but they were non-nuclear as far as intelligence indicated.

A single sub even with non-nuclear weapons capabilities wouldn’t dare to go against the likes of the United States, Great Britain or the Soviet Union for that matter, but there were other more vulnerable targets from which the feathered ones could choose.

Those countries not possessing such military might could easily become their next victim in their quest for world domination.

At the moment Illya Kuryakin was navigating inside a one man mini-sub heading directly for the THRUSH submarine.

The darkness of the water in the depths off the coast of Iceland helped to mask the yellow hull of the mini-sub as it approached its target, hopefully under their radar.

He was broadcasting an audio signal, playing the sounds made by the humpback whale, and as luck would have it a small pod was feeding nearby, all the better to camouflage his approach.

Illya picked up a microphone, calling his partner who was on an island roughly 18 km away from his position.  The broadcast frequency was low, one most likely not monitored. Still, he’d keep his communication brief.

Napoleon was situated on largest island of Heimaey, the only populated island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago that was part of Iceland. The other islands though uninhabited, had single hunting cabins on a few of them.

Solo stood on the  desolate Heimaeyan shore , scanning the water with his binoculars, though he had a feeling everything was too far off now to see. Best he keep an eye out for any other visitors in case there was a rendezvous.

“Napoleon are you there?Over.” Illya whispered.

“Go ahead. Over.”

“Am going to flood the mini sub; will be out of radio contact until I return, over,” Illya said.

“Read you tovarisch. Just be careful out there. Over.”

“Roger that. Kuryakin out.”

Though dressed his diving mask, wetsuit and tank there was a momentary feeling of uneasiness as the small sub filled with the cold water.  Once the process was complete, he opened the hatch and swam out.

Hanging from his belt was a canvas bag containing several explosive devices.

Illya paddled through the water, keeping a mindful eye to his surroundings. The Greenland shark,  a large apex predator, they were known to be in these waters as they were native to the North Atlantic.

They hunted seal among other things. In spite of these sharks being some of the slowest-swimming, their maximum speed being about half the maximum swimming speed of a typical seal; it was surmised they searched out seals and ambushed them while they slept.

Also known as a Gurry Shark; they’d been found with the remains of polar bears, horses, moose and reindeer in their stomachs, and Kuryakin didn’t want to end up being their next meal.

The species was attracted by the smell of rotting meat in the water and they often congregated in large numbers while feeding. As far as Illya knew there was nothing like that nearby, at least he hoped that was the case.

He reached the submarine at last as it was holding its position in the water. No threats had been issued as of yet but they were no doubt up to something.  That was a safe assumption as THRUSH was always up to something.

Illya drew one of the bombs and attached to the hull, followed by a second and a third.  He set the timers to explode in sequence, giving himself ten minutes to get back to the mini-sub and get away.

As he turned to go back, a dark shadow swam past him.

“Chyort!” Illya cursed. “A shark.”  He had no weapons with him, and swam furiously back toward the mini-sub.

The shadow returned, closing in on him. Illya made it to the sub and as he opened the hatch it came at him.

Much to his relief, it wasn’t a shark, but a Harbour Porpoise; these creatures were common around Iceland and usually swam alone or in small groups.  Kuryakin realized it was just being curious, as it swam close to him while he climbed into the sub and closed the hatch.

Would that he had the time to observe the creature as he had an affinity for these particular marine mammals.

The interior was drained and repressurized in minutes, and Illya, flicking the switch to resume his audio transmission of whale sounds found it not working.

For a second time he cursed.  The enemy sub was going to pick up the sounds of his engine...he had to risk it as he was too close to it; the explosions set to go off could destroy the mini-sub and him along with it.

Illya started up the engines and brought the sub about, heading towards Heimaey.

“Napoleon, charges are set and am on…”

His transmission was interrupted by a torpedo whizzing past the sub.

Kuryakin cursed for a third time and performed evasive maneuvers as best he could as he sped away. Two minutes to go before the bombs would go off.

Another torpedo passed him. He was lucky the Thrushies weren’t very good at their targeting.

BOOM! BOOM! The torpedos struck something one after the other, but at this point Illya didn't care what they hit, as long as it wasn't him. He looked at his diving watch, checking the time until his devices exploded.

Sixty seconds…

Thirty seconds…

Ten seconds… devyat' - vosem' -sem'- shest' - pyat' - chetyre-tri - dva, ” he counted aloud in Russian

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The mini-sub rocked, and it rolled several times before settling.  Much to Illya’s relief it hadn’t sprung any leaks, and giving it full throttle, he brought the sub to the surface.

Four explosions? There was not another torpedo? He only set three charges, though something on the THRUSH sub could have exploded as well.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

As soon as the mini-sub broke the surface, Illya opened the hatch; what he witnessed was something completely unexpected. There was a large plume of smoke surrounded by what looked like blue, volcanic lightning?

He told himself no...still the explosives he used weren’t ‘that’ powerful; what sort of weaponry did they really have on board that submarine?

Illya arrived at Heimaey and maneuvered his sub closer to the shore where his partner waited for him. As he swam to meet Napoleon the huge explosions and lightning continued in the distance.

“Tovarisch, what did you do? Those were some explosive charges you set.” Napoleon said as he helped the Russian ashore.

“That is not my doing,” Illya pointed. Together the two men watched as the pyrotechnics continued. He finally admitted as to what he suspected.

“I think it is a volcanic eruption.”

"And how did you manage that?" Napoleon asked.

Illya had no answer, and as the two finally walked away he'd periodically look back over his shoulder at the might of the explosions. They were amazing.

.

Weeks later the explosions continued, and volcanologists studying the event reported they were witnessing the beginnings of a new island. In November 1963, 'Surtsey' was formed in a volcanic eruption which heaved it up out of the waters south-west of Heimaey off the south coast of Iceland.

It was named after the Norse fire god Surtur... Surtsey, meaning Surtur's Island, and became one of the world's newest islands.

Whether the appearance of Surtsey was due to the destruction of the THRUSH submarine by Illya Kuryakin, or a serendipitous act of Mother Nature, no one would know for sure.

Rumor had it around the UNCLE water coolers back in the New York headquarters that not only did Kuryakin once burn down an igloo; he was now responsible for the the birth of an island.*

When brought up in conversation Illya took it with his usual aplomb, stating he was just in the right place at the right time. As to whether his work helped trigger an act of nature, that remained to be seen.

Secretly he liked to think it had...

* ref to “Lieutenant Kuryakin’s claim to fame”

.

A/N The Surtsey eruption is among the longest eruptions to have occurred in Iceland in historical times. The first sign of an eruption occurred on November 14, 1963, at a site approximately 18 km southwest of Heimaey, the largest of the Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands). The eruptions lasted until June 5, 1967.

Comments

[pfrye.livejournal.com]

Read on Fan Fic - very good as always!

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reading again and taking the time to comment. That is so cool of you to do!