A Soviet submarine named *Saratov*—decommissioned and slated for the scrap heap—arrives in a small Atlantic port town; this is the unexpected premise around which the plot of a novel by a contemporary Belgian writer unfolds. It is this rusting hulk, harboring deadly weaponry in its hold, that is destined to become the last hope and final refuge for those who have found no place for themselves in life. Donning the uniform of a Soviet captain, a former mechanic seizes a dream as if it were a woman...