The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy [203]
"We go to Norfolk or Charleston?" Ramius asked.
" Norfolk, I think," Mancuso said.
"Didn't you know they'd send the whole fleet after you?" Ryan snapped. "Why send the letter at all?"
"So they will know," Ramius answered. "So they will know. I did not expect that anyone would locate us. There you surprised us."
The American skipper tried to smile. "We detected you off the coast of Iceland . You were luckier than you imagine. If we'd sailed from England on schedule, we'd have been fifteen miles closer in shore, and we would have had you cold. Sorry, Captain, but our sonars and sonar operators are very good. You can meet the man who first tracked you later. He's working with your man Bugayev at the moment."
"Starshina," Borodin said.
"Not an officer?" Ramius asked.
"No, just a very good operator," Mancuso said, surprised. Why would anyone want an officer to stand watch on sonar gear?
The cook came back in. His idea of the standard U.S. Navy breakfast was a large platter with a slab of ham, two eggs over easy, a pile of hash browns, and four slices of toast, with a container of apple jelly.
"Let me know if you want more, sir," the cook said.
"This is a normal breakfast?" Ramius asked Mancuso.
"Nothing unusual about it. I prefer waffles myself. Americans eat big breakfasts." Ramius was already attacking his. After two days without a normal meal and all the blood loss from his leg wound, his body was screaming for food.
"Tell me, Ryan," Borodin was lighting a cigarette, "what is it in America that we will find most amazing?"
Jack motioned to the captain's plate. "Food stores."
"Food stores?" Mancuso asked.
"While I was sitting on Invincible I read over a CIA report on people who come over to our side." Ryan didn't want to say defectors. Somehow the word sounded demeaning. "Supposedly the first thing that surprises people, people from your part of the world, is going through a supermarket."
"Tell me about them," Borodin ordered.
"A building about the size of a football field—well, maybe a little smaller than that. You go in the front door and get a shopping cart. The fresh fruits and vegetables are on the right, and you gradually work your way left through the other departments. I've been doing that since I was a kid."
"You say fresh fruits and vegetables? What about now, in winter?"
"What about winter?" Mancuso said. "Maybe they cost a little more, but you can always get fresh produce. That's the one thing we miss on the boats. Our supply of fresh produce and milk only lasts us about a week."
"And meat?" Ramius asked.
"Anything you want," Ryan answered. "Beef, pork, lamb, turkey, chicken. American farmers are very efficient. The United States feeds itself and has plenty left over. You know that, the Soviet Union buys our grain. Hell, we pay farmers not to grow things, just to keep the surplus under control." The four Russians were doubtful.
"What else?" Borodin asked.
"What else will surprise you? Nearly everyone has a car. Most people own their own homes. If you have money, you can buy nearly anything you want. The average family in America makes something like twenty thousand dollars a year, I guess. These officers all make more than that. The fact of the matter is that in our country if you have some brains—and all of you men do—and you are willing to work—and all of you men are—you will live a comfortable life even without any help. Besides, you can be sure that the CIA will take good care of you. We wouldn't want anybody to complain about our hospitality."
"And what will become of my men?" Ramius asked.
"I can't say exactly, sir, since I've never been involved in this sort of thing myself. I would guess that you will be taken to a safe place to relax and unwind. People from the CIA and the navy will want to talk to you at length. That's no surprise, right? I told you this before. A year from now you will be doing whatever you choose to do."
"And anybody who wants to take a cruise with us is welcome to," Mancuso added.
Ryan wondered how true