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He stepped off a ramp onto a pier, waiting for passengers to arrive. In a side pocket of his jacket a few hours ago there was a pack with last two sticks of chewing gum. Quitting cigarettes turned out to be difficult, but now, after two months of abstinence, the old habit made itself felt less often and the desire to smoke seemed less strong. Now it became clear that if he could endure a little longer, the craving for cigarettes would exhaust itself forever. Even service in the navy was unable to curb the addiction to this poison. And now, when he managed to gradually begin to kill the bad habit, there was no chewing gum in his pocket and thoughts about a cigarette occupied his brain more and more every minute.

A man dressed to the nines appeared on the pier. He was a tall black man with short hair. His eyes were hidden behind narrow sunglasses with thin, neat frames. He was dressed in an expensive beige suit, the jacket of which was thrown over his shoulder, holding it with a hook from his index and middle fingers.

The stranger walked along the pier with ease until he approached, after which he said:

– Good morning.

– Good morning.

– Mr. De Bont, I suppose? – asked the stranger.

– Yes – the captain answered with some suspicion.

The man in the suit extended his hand and introduced himself:

– My name is Stephen Frost. Nice to meet you. Do you have five minutes?

Captain De Bont looked at his watch and said:

– Judging by the fact that the concept of «punctuality» is alien to some people, I probably have extra time.

With these words, the captain, with a gesture of his hand, suggested having a conversation while walking along the rest of the pier.

– In that case, I will try to be as brief as possible.

– By the way, do you happen to have any chewing gum with you? – interrupted the captain.

– Only lollipops.

– Fine.

Stephen Frost placed five lollipops in a rustling wrapper on the captain’s palm and continued his thought:

– I represent the company «Best Technologies».

– Yes, I heard about you. You are involved in technical development.

– That’s right – Frost answered, smiling slightly. – But these are all rather basic developments. We, as a rule, conduct research, and their results are then used by manufacturers of some consumer goods, transport and various equipment.

– But you also had a hand in the technology of the Ministry of Defense, right?

– Yes. Software and electronic stuffing are our business. But in recent years we have moved into production. Innovative technology, as it turned out, is always in demand and even exorbitant prices are unable to stop the crazy demand – Frost answered, again bursting out with his snow-white smile. He lightly scratched his nose with his index finger, paused, and then continued: – Mr. De Bont, when was the last time you led a crew on a submarine?

– Last year I had a fixed-term contract with the Ministry of Defense for seven months.

– Where did you command?

– Bay of Bengal. Mediterranean Sea. Antarctic. A little near the Panama Canal.

– Why didn’t they want to renew your contract?

– The commander, whom I replaced, recovered from a course of chemotherapy and returned to duty.

– So what, the British fleet is so perfect that it doesn’t need such an experienced captain with a crystal clear reputation?

– They didn’t have any vacancies for the position of captain. They offered me the position of chief mate, but do I look like the kind of person who would be grateful for a demotion?

Frost shook his head slightly and said:

– Yes, it’s an insult.

– But they still didn’t want to let me go and offered me command of a surface ship. They were just about to launch a new aircraft carrier and wanted to entrust it to a not very old, but experienced captain, so that one person would be assigned to the ship for a long time and would not have to constantly change the commander. It was considered that a forty-nine-year-old captain with submariner experience was perfectly suited to manage affairs on this ship.

– So you also have experience with surface ships?

– I started with them, and at thirty-one I became a senior mechanic on a submarine.

– And you refused?

Captain De Bont took a deep breath and said:

– I prefer immersion. It’s hard to understand. And it’s even more difficult to explain. And so, as a result, now I am steering the yacht of a moneybag.

Stephen Frost wiped the sweat between his nose and upper lip, then spoke in a slightly different tone:

– Well, I won’t beat around the bush so as not to delay you too much. Let’s get down to business. Our company wants to offer you a job. The case concerns the operation of a submarine designed for civilian purposes.

– Someone created a submarine for a civilian?

– I agree, it sounds a little strange.

– And what is this submarine?

– Unfortunately, I do not have the authority to disclose such information. I can name only a few parameters. Length – thirty-five, displacement – two thousand and… basically, that’s all.

– Where are you planning to swim?

– Well, this detail will still be clarified. At the moment, all that is known is that it will be the Atlantic.

– Deadlines? – Luther de Bont asked in a somewhat doubtful voice.

– Launching is planned in approximately eight to twelve months.

– That is, the boat is already at the assembly stage.

– At the moment we have seventy percent of the assembly. As you understand, given the specifics of our company’s activities, this submarine is much more advanced than those in service with any military superpower. But I repeat, the ship is intended for civilian purposes, and more precisely, for scientific purposes.

Captain De Bont looked thoughtfully at the port waters and asked:

– How long is the voyage planned for?

– From sixty to eighty days. But if the swim turns out to be successful and the vessel performs well, then we will be ready to offer you cooperation on an ongoing basis. I’m not rushing you to make the decision. You still have more than enough time. And then, I understand perfectly well that you will want to look at the submarine with your own eyes before giving an answer.

– Sorry, but there’s no way without this.

– No, no. No hard feelings. This is understandable. Therefore, our company invites you to conduct practical tests of the vessel during launching. Of course, for a certain fee.

The captain ran his fingers over his chin and asked:

– Why did you contact me? Or is there a queue in which I am far from the first?

Frost carefully took off his glasses, after which he smiled again and answered:

– No, Mr. De Bont. There is no queue. At the very least, it depends on you whether it will appear at all. Since we often carry out government orders for the Ministry of Defense, our representatives have extensive connections in the department. So we requested information about officers who had the opportunity to command on submarines, but, due to reasons beyond their control, are not currently in His Majesty’s military service. In addition to you, recommendations have been received for nine more captains. But all of them are either near retirement age or do not have impressive achievements or valuable skills in their track records. And judging by what is indicated in your personal file, you have mastered the art of underwater maneuvering extremely well, enjoyed impressive authority among the personnel, over your entire career, ninety-eight percent of the shells fired hit the target; moreover, each new crew that came at your disposal demonstrated dramatic progress and organization in their work. As for the results of psychological tests, you didn’t disappoint either. You have been described as an organized and pragmatic commander, with no tendency to make impulsive decisions, cool-headed and able to sensibly set priorities when emergency situations arise. There is also emotional stability, which is maintained during a long voyage. But most of all I liked what was indicated in the «flaws» column – a strong addiction to smoking.

Frost said his last words not without laughing.

– My bosses almost fought with me over this. I constantly heard that a person who organizes an entire crew is not able to show his own organization.

– Stop it. Our company is not an army. With us you can smoke as much as your heart desires.

Captain De Bont rubbed the lollipop in his mouth more carefully with his tongue when Frost mentioned cigarettes.

Frost stopped and, after rummaging a little in the inside pocket of his jacket, said:

– I’ll leave you my number. As soon as you decide on your decision regarding practical testing of the submarine…

– I agree – the captain interrupted. He wanted to quickly inflate and explode a gum ball, but suddenly he remembered that he had a lollipop in his mouth, not gum.

Frost extended his hand.

– Glad to hear that. – Shaking the captain’s hand, he added: – But I’ll still leave the number for you in case any questions suddenly arise. I will be available to you twenty-four hours a day.

– Oh, really. Very rare even for hotlines.

Frost again burst out with his snow-white smile, which all dark-skinned people have. Suddenly he remembered:

– Oh yes, and one more thing. Mr. De Bont, do you have a smart chief mate in mind?

– Sure. He and I have been serving together for eleven years – we step on a board together, we leave it together.

– And can we count on him?

– Of course.

– Then great.

After a short pause Luther said with some doubt:

– Mister… Frost?

– Yes.

– Of course, I haven’t seen this submarine yet, but with such parameters I don’t think that two people will be enough to control it.

– You’re right. There will also be an engineer. But don’t worry about that. We will provide the engineer.

– And as far as I understand, this conversation did not happen?

– Now I have no doubt that this is a military man in front of me. You understand everything correctly. More questions?

Captain De Bont gave a negative answer.

Frost shook his hand again and slowly walked away. On the way back he took his phone out of his pocket, dialed a number and put it to his ear.

At this time, Captain De Bont looked at his boss’s yacht for the thousandth time. Suddenly the boat disgusted him more than usual. At the mere thought that today he would once again have to steer a toy-sized surface ship, Luther wanted to return to this ship even less. But it didn’t take long before he started smiling. This might have surprised even Luther himself, but there was nothing strange about it. He just thought that he wouldn’t have long to drift on this toy. Soon he will leave this boat.

A few seconds later, Luther de Bont looked at the figure of the owner of the yacht and a provocatively dressed girl, whom he carefully hugged by the fillet, who appeared on the pier.