Ice Road to Hell, Book II

BOOK II. After a harrowing transit north from Canada, surviving ships of Allied Lend-Lease convoy PQ20 limp into Kola Bay, just north of grim Murmansk. There - poorly protected by scarce Coastal Artillery or Soviet Navy ships not detailed to other business against Nazi forces just kilometers away in occupied Norway - the merchant ships wait for Russian pilots to bring them into port. Even if the Germans do not attack this deepening December day, PQ20's vessels face the new danger of being moored in a port for unlading, incapable of dispersing. Every ship's master and crew want to "deliver the goods," and leave this target whose bull's eye they so nicely augment. It is a wishful thought that cannot be, for the Soviet hosts are hampered by equipment problems, continual threat of enemy air attacks - and the crushing weight of Arctic winter. However, the "down-time" is not wasted: cargo handling requires paperwork and liaison with port authorities. It is a rare commonality between Capitalist nd Socialist "partners," defeating he fascist enemy being another. Meanwhile, ships with Armed Guard detachments embarked brave the harsh weather as they maintain their AAA weapons and small arms, and help their civilian seamen de-ice just about everything outside the ships' skins. Amid the ongoing bad dream of helpless vulnerability, sparks of hope and humanity persist: Hitler cannot destroy Russian nationalism - and, after a long, horrible night of snow and suffering, the sailor's home may yet be found at a rainbow's end....