1943 (Kirov Series Book 27)

by John Schettler

  “In what way?”

  “His authority is good for nothing here, but in 2021, he still has considerable clout. I thought about trying to use the stairway at Ilanskiy for this, but it’s of limited use. Even though the Naval Armory is right there at Kansk, and just south of Ilanskiy, a Moskit II weighs over six tons. There would be no way to use that old stairway.”

  “You’re keeping me in suspense. What is this all about?”

  “You said it yourself, just a minute ago. How many missiles will I have left by the time I conclude these affairs? I’ll need power if I am to enforce my will in the post war world, and yes, I’ll probably have to face down the Americans.”

  “That did not go so well in 1945,” said Fedorov. “And you even had the Admiral Golovko and Orlan with you.”

  “True, but now I have Kazan. That boat is worth more than both those other ships.”

  “That’s a pretty bold conclusion to jump to. We haven’t reached any decision here yet, and Volsky and Gromyko will both have to weigh in on anything we present to them.”

  “Four votes? That won’t do,” said Karpov. “Who would break the tie, my brother?”

  “You’re getting ahead of yourself—but first, tell me what you’re scheming on.”

  “Missiles, Fedorov, missiles. I’ll be needing refills soon. That little scrap I had with the Takami forced me to expend thirteen SSMs, and a good many SAMs. I may have to use more to sink that damn ship, and I want to replenish.”

  “But that’s impossible,” said Fedorov. “This is a come as you are party, Karpov…. Unless… Are you thinking to get more missiles from Kazan?”

  “You and Volsky did that before, yes?”

  “I don’t think Gromyko will be so generous this time. He’s been given a mission here as well, and one you may not like if we can’t reach an agreement.”

  “Then I have another idea,” said Karpov. “First we’ll come to some accord here. Surely Volsky and Gromyko will understand what we’ve just determined. Trying to purge the contamination now is simply impossible. We have no other choice but to remain here, work our will upon this war, and bend it to an outcome that we can all agree upon as favorable.”

  “Favorable for who? Right now, we may see Tojo, Hitler and Volkov as the enemies we must defeat, but something tells me that if we do accomplish that, then you’ll be lining up new enemies.”

  “Only if they make an enemy of me,” said Karpov. “As to my idea, let me run it by you and see what you think.”

  Chapter 35

  “I want to see if I can retrieve more missiles from our own future.”

  “What? With Kirov? You were planning a shift?”

  “No, not with Kirov. I can’t take a risk like that. You yourself know that. Isn’t this what Kamenski is so worried about? He’s afraid the ship will shift again, not forward, but backwards to a time before its first arrival. He’s afraid it will start this whole paradox hour thing again and create this insoluble time loop. I suppose he has a point, but I’ve already told you that I could care less about that. The future can be damned as long as I have the present, and the thought that I could live it over and over again, indefinitely, remembering the events that transpire in each loop, is very appealing. What was that American movie where that happened? Ah—Groundhog Day.”

  “Do you realize how incredibly selfish that attitude is?”

  “Let’s not start leveling fingers, Fedorov. There’s plenty of blame to go around for all of us. In any case, I was thinking to try and get some men to 2021, load a replenishment ship, and then try and move it back here. I like what you said earlier about this affinity to one’s point of origin during these shifts. That gives me hope that this ship might get back here safe and sound, and laden with munitions and supplies, spare equipment, the works.”

  “I see…. So you can continue ripping up the history here.”

  “You mean continue rewriting that history. Remember, we’ll never put this puzzle back together again as it was. I thought you understood that. You yourself pointed out my dilemma. I’ll need power after this war ends—power to prevent the Americans from throwing their weight around as we both know they will. I’ve seen fit to be their ally here, but I want to be in a position where they cannot simply discard me and impose their will on the world.”

  “Which is to say that you want to be sure we get the Cold War after this one ends.”

  “If need be. I won’t be marginalized, Fedorov. Nor will I let them patronize me. When I’m finished here, I intend to reunite the Free Siberian State with Soviet Russia—yes, the Soviet Union will live again. Isn’t that the inherent imperative surrounding this ship? Kirov was born of that union. The Soviet State must arise to give birth to this ship. Can’t you see that my aims are very much aligned with yours? Only then might we see the wounds on the face of this history heal and reach a point where we might recognize it again. You see, we both really have similar goals. I just go about it by taking action, here and now. You want to sit there and think about it until your head spins. The world is still turning, Fedorov. It hasn’t come to an end. Each second that passes takes us to a future that we build, moment by moment. It may not be the one Kamenski might prefer, but it will arise. I can guarantee you that, because I intend to build it myself, just the way I like it. Let’s stop all this speculation and get out there and do something about it.”

  The world was certainly still spinning, thought Fedorov. But which world were they really trying to mend now? One thing Karpov said earlier kept sticking in Fedorov’s head…. “I don’t think our disappearance may have been the first instance of travel through time.”

  He thought about that, feeling deep down that it was true. No, it was more than a feeling. The more he thought about it, the more he came to believe it had to be the case. The evidence was right there before him, all along. First off, there was this strange Commander Wellings who appeared on HMS Rodney, and who later turned out to be an American physics professor, Paul Dorland. He knew that man had developed a detailed theory of time travel, chapter and verse, complete with a lexicon of terminology to explain it.

  Then there was Kamenski…. Fedorov was already beginning to think he may not be native to the timeline in 2021, that he might even be a man from some future time. He was a Keyholder, that much is certain, and he claimed to have the Master Key, the one he left on the nightstand before he unaccountably vanished aboard Kirov.

  The keys were the deepest part of this whole mystery—seven keys. Professor Dorland claimed that some had carefully machined serial numbers that corresponded to coordinates. That was why they had sought to save the Rodney, for that key had once been in the possession of Dorland himself. In fact, he claimed to find in on some odyssey involving the German battleship Bismarck.

  So yes, there were other travelers in time. Kirov was not the first. And considering that these keys were all hidden away as they were, the question of who put them there leapt to the forefront. Who made them?

  He had come to the conclusion that they were made in the future, yet the key they sought on the Rodney had been first found embedded in the base of the Selene Horse, an artifact of ancient Greek sculpture. Kamenski never really stated exactly how he came by the key he possessed. Fairchild told him the key that led her to Delphi had simply been delivered to her, and that she knew of at least one other key, though she could not say who possessed it.

  Now he came to feel that all of Karpov’s assertions and suspicions were somehow wrapped up in the mystery of these keys, and connecting the dots in his mind, he suspected they all had something to do with the Tunguska Event. That impact was largely ignored around the time it occurred. It produced quivering lines on some seismic equipment, painted the night skies with eerie light as far away as London, and generated a few headlines in world newspapers, but little more was ever known of it until Leonid Kulik’s expedition in 1927, more than two decades later. There was much speculation and research done after that, yet none of it discovered that
vortex they had run into aboard the Novosibirsk, at least not on the meridian I first came from, he thought.

  It is very clear that this meridian is quite different, perhaps irretrievably different. He sighed, thinking that everyone seemed to be working at cross purposes. Fairchild seemed to be intent on ferreting out those other missing keys. In fact, the box she found at Delphi had clearly been engineered to hold all seven. Why? Was it meant that they should all be gathered there?

  Thinking about that, Fairchild had used that box to move her entire ship in time, and then asserted that the hunt for the key aboard Rodney must have been the reason for that. So her key would lead Argos Fire to a place where she might find another. Interesting. And she had that mysterious box where they could all be collected together…. Then what?

  The prevailing wisdom was that these keys secured hidden doors that protected time fissures created by the Tunguska event. Those doors were all locked, so why would it be necessary to gather all the keys into one place—into that box, where a clever recess was embedded in a hidden drawer to hold each one. Was that just for safekeeping, or did it have some other purpose?

  All these things went round and round in his head, as confusing as they were helpful. He had only a part of this puzzle, but somehow, he thought the quest for these keys would reveal much more. Yet Kamenski seemed convinced that it could not be Kirov that would undertake that quest. They had to go home, but how could they do so while still leaving Volkov here, let alone Orlov?

  “Well?” Karpov pressed him. “What’s it going to be, Mister Fedorov? Are you siding with Volsky and Gromyko on this? Will you stand with me? Help me convince them that we simply cannot leave here, not now, not yet; not while there is so much left undone, and Volkov is at large here.”

  Fedorov shrugged, his eyes on the desktop, heart heavy as he realized Karpov was correct. They could not leave now—at least not without dealing with all the other loose ends that would be left behind, and chief among them was Ivan Volkov.

  “What could we do about him?” he said slowly. “Is there any way we could get to him?”

  Karpov smiled. “Ah,” he said. “Assassination? Don’t think I haven’t considered that. He’s very well protected. Believe me, I captured his Chief of Security during one of those Zeppelin raids he staged at Ilanskiy. In fact, I almost bagged Volkov himself. This man, Kymchek, has been very cooperative in revealing the security layers Volkov has around him. Remember, Volkov was a Captain in Russian Naval Intelligence, so he’s very clever; very cautious. Could we get to him with an expert marksman… Perhaps. It would certainly be worth a try. Historians probably wondered why no one could take out Hitler. Oh, they tried, but there must have been countless opportunities where a man with a rifle might have changed the course of WWII.”

  “Alright,” said Fedorov. “I’m convinced that we just can’t pull up anchor and take a risk shifting now with Kirov, and I think I can convince Volsky and Gromyko as well.”

  “Excellent!” said Karpov. “Now you’re talking. I had hoped you would see reason, and you did not disappoint me.”

  “Hold on. Let me finish. Yes, you’ve convinced me we cannot simply leave—at least not now. We’ll have to see to all the other loose threads here first, and get them resolved. Some of the work has already been done. There was a brigade of modern British troops that fell through in southern Egypt. I was there when it happened.”

  “Tyrenkov got wind of that,” said Karpov. “Yet we don’t have the details. Fill me in.”

  “It occurred when Russia targeted the BP facilities at Sultan Apache in southern Egypt. As we both know, a nuclear event can rupture time, and it certainly did, but for a reason that I have yet to disclose.”

  “Still keeping secrets?” said Karpov, wagging a finger.

  “It comes back to Tunguska—all of it,” said Fedorov. “You remember that mission I ran against Ilanskiy?”

  “Certainly. That wasn’t very sporting of you, Fedorov. It took me nearly a year to rebuild that railway inn and staircase.”

  “Sorry, but I was possessed with the thought that Ilanskiy represented a grave threat. It still does. Only our restraint has prevented us from doing something catastrophic. Well… On that mission, we got lost in a storm, and were hovering low looking for clues to get back on course. Orlov was down in a sub cloud car and he saw something on the tundra below. We stopped to investigate, and found it was just one of those cauldron sites that they tell stories about back home.”

  “Ah yes,” said Karpov. “The mysteries of Siberia. It’s all nonsense.”

  “Not quite,” said Fedorov. “Orlov found something there, and I think it was a fragment from the Tunguska Event. He had it with him when we were in the desert, and very near the site of Sultan Apache when that incident occurred. I think that object had much to do with opening that fissure that sent the British 7th Brigade through from our time. Yet it’s irrelevant now. There was another incident at Tobruk. I learned that from Tovey when I contacted him on the secure radio set.”

  “Yes, Fedorov. As long as we’re confessing things here, I was listening in on that conversation as well.”

  Fedorov shook his head. “You certainly are devious, Karpov.”

  “No more than you, Fedorov.”

  “Very well, then you already may know that the Brigade, as they called it, is gone. That Tobruk event ruptured the continuum again, only this time I think something more got through—one of our own goddamned missiles. I’m not sure how it happened, but it did.”

  “Interesting,” said Karpov. “You realize what that means, don’t you? That future Volsky is so keen on getting to may be up in flames when we get there, if we ever do.”

  “I’ve certainly thought about that,” said Fedorov. “So Kinlan’s Brigade is gone, though a small force was not there when it happened. Churchill ordered it to the UK on the funnies—that’s what they call that replenishment fleet.”

  “Yes, yes, I’ve heard this.”

  “Argos Fire will leave voluntarily, and take on all the crews from the funnies, which will be destroyed here.”

  “And I’ll handle Takami,” said Karpov. “Gromyko is also welcome to lend a hand.”

  “That leaves only Volkov, so we need to seriously plan a mission to take that man out—not on the back stairway at Ilanskiy, but in the here and now. If you agree to that, commit your resources to it, then I think I can get Volsky and Gromyko to side with us.”

  “Done,” said Karpov with a smile. “I’ve been planning it for some time, and now we can all pool our assets to see that it gets done.”

  “Then that leaves us with Orlov,” said Fedorov.

  “Yes… Orlov. That son-of-a-bitch is at it again, isn’t he? Why don’t you work on that problem. I’ll handle Volkov with Tyrenkov and my brother.”

  That brought the last straw to Fedorov’s mind. “Now that you mention him,” said Fedorov.” I think that will be the final problem we’ll have to solve.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your brother… He can’t remain here either, and I have no way of knowing what might happen if the two of you try to shift forward.”

  Karpov was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he looked Fedorov in the eye. “If we do this—shift forward—where in God’s name do you think we’ll end up? Did Kamenski talk about that?”

  “I’m not exactly sure, but I think he meant for us to return to our native time—to 2021.”

  “Yes, but which 2021—from which meridian? Will we arrive back on the time line where we first started? Will we reach the future we may be building now on this altered meridian? Was that where Gromyko shifted in from with Volsky? Did you hear what he said? Volsky has a third layer of memories in that old head of his. He said he was just sitting at his desk at Red Banner Fleet headquarters when in walked Kamenski. How could he be doing that, when we both know he was supposed to be aboard Kirov? That means that timeline was not the original one we came from. It was a third world.”

&n
bsp; Fedorov nodded, thinking. “You may be correct,” he said slowly, still coming to grips with that thought.

  “Of course I’m correct. I’m getting very good at this time business. So let’s explore this further. Was Kirov in that world along with Volsky? Kazan was. Were you there? Zolkin? The rest of the crew? Is there another version of me there? Something tells me that Kamenski meant for us to return there, to that world, but how would that be possible if we are already there. Imagine it, Fedorov. If I’m already there, what would happen if two more versions of myself try to shift there. Don’t you see? We can’t simply shift off to that future. Time won’t allow it. I’m all for rounding up all the other loose ends, but before we do anything more, we’ll have to all huddle and figure all this out. There are too many unanswered questions. Agreed?”

  Fedorov nodded. “That is certainly true. Alright. I’ll stand with you, Karpov, on one condition. You agree that when we sort this out, you’ll take the ship forward. Give me that, and I can get Volsky and Gromyko on board.”

  “You have my word, Kirov will go forward too. Now let’s get busy, because we have a lot to figure out here. The first thing we need to do is coordinate with Kazan. Why don’t you get back on the secure comm-link and allay Volsky’s fears? Tell him you have my full cooperation. Then the four of us can arrange a meeting place to work out our plan. We’ll figure out how we can get Takami, and then determine what to do about Orlov, not to mention my own little brother out there. Then, when we have our house in order, we’ll settle affairs on Kamenski’s plan for how we move forward.”

  Chapter 36

  Yes Fedorov, thought Karpov with an inward smile. I’ll take Kirov forward, but I didn’t say how I would do that, did I? Kamenski has some grand scheme in mind, but he hasn’t really explained how his plan would work. I’ll have to see if Volsky knows anything more, and also learn about the world he came from—a third meridian, apparently branching off from these other two I’ve been caught up in.