It was his doing, he thought. Admiral Volsky wasn’t here, and Director Kamenski wasn’t here, so this was all on his shoulders now. It was up to him.
“Alright, Popski,” he said just as Sims was waving them to approach. “You are going to hear some things now that will sound unbelievable, but bear with me. I tried my best to speak with General O’Connor earlier, but I will need you to translate here now, and this is of critical importance. Stay with me, believe in me, and do your best.”
“Alright, Captain. I’ve had my notions that something was amiss here, but you have your say.”
“Popski…” Fedorov gave him a long look. “You might think I’m making a fool of myself, and you in the bargain here, but I assure you, everything you are about to hear is the truth.”
The truth… a terrible truth. A secret about to be revealed that could shake this world to the core. That was how Fedorov began his briefing, feeling the awful weight grow heavier on him with each word he spoke.
“I will see the unbelief in your eyes,” he said with Popski translating. “And yes, I know that you may look upon me as your enemy, though I offer my hand in friendship now, and I speak to you with absolute fidelity and sincerity. Yet the information I must now disclose is critical, the darkest secret the world has ever known. I do not use these words lightly. Secret. Yes, My ship and crew have lived with the burden that word implies since the accident I will soon reveal to you—a mishap that changed the course of history itself. Only one man among us is entirely convinced that he has his feet firmly planted in the here and now—General O’Connor. He will tell you to a certainty that this is the year 1941, and you must believe him, as I have had to believe this same terrible truth. Yet he now struggles to believe that we now stand here like dark angels from another world, with weapons and power at our disposal unlike anything this world has ever seen.”
He looked from one officer to another now, seeing various reactions in the eyes of the men, and when his gaze fell on O’Connor he felt an upwelling of compassion for the man. The innocence of his life was now forever gone. He would never be the same man again after hearing all this.
“Yes,” Fedorov continued, “that is how many might perceive us. This world may not be able to hear what you must now hear and know. The collective arms of every soul on this earth may not be able to hold what you must now grasp. Can you imagine it? This knowledge is, in itself, a force of chaos and terrible power. My crew learned all of this the hard way, in the fire of combat. Your men, each and every one, will soon learn the same way. Yet though it was easy to contain this terrible knowledge on a single ship, hidden in the vast oceans of the world, that will not be the case here if this brigade goes north, as it certainly must in the hours ahead.”
He looked at them, an almost pleading look on his face. “But anything we can do to limit the general knowledge of what you learn here is of the greatest importance. In war there are secrets—we all know this. Weapons will be built, forces moved and gathered in secrecy, plans devised and sprung into motion. Secrecy is no stranger to the war fighter. Lives depend on it. The hope of victory over a determined and dangerous enemy requires it. But in this we face the hard task of denying even those we fight for the full knowledge of who we are, and where we have come from—a future that was again wracked in the throes of an all consuming war. Well, I have seen the end of it, as I will soon relate. I have seen the place we were all condemned to, the purgatory, the hell of our own making, and I have been struggling here to prevent that enmity and war from ever taking shape—the war that will follow this one as surely as night follows day. And yet we must struggle on in the shadows, gentlemen, even though we few will be the sole carriers of this light of truth, and we will bear a very hard burden as we do so.”
He could see that some of the officers were following him, others waiting for more clarity, still others with expressions of disbelief and suspicion, but he struggled on.
“Some men of this world must know what I will now reveal, a chosen few who find themselves entrusted with the fate of all those they now guide and command in this war. Up until this moment only two men in this world have come to learn this truth. General O’Connor here is the third, and soon we will have to welcome General Wavell to this dark circle. Yet, as I will now tell you, the force inherent in this knowledge can tear this world apart. It is fantastic, unbelievable, terrible, but nonetheless true. And we are now watchers on a crumbling wall of secrecy that hold the full fury of this knowledge from the innocence of this world. If it breaks, if we break, and this truth were to become generally known… I fear the fabric of history, perhaps even the fabric of human society itself, might be rent asunder and lost forever. And what world would it give rise to? This will be our responsibility, because Destiny now lies prostrate at our feet. Fate waits at our beck and call, and gentlemen, Time itself has lost her cold hard grip upon our souls. We are men unlike any others who have ever walked this earth, and we must measure that, stand up now, and act accordingly.”
Then he told them… he told them the whole long and bewildering journey that had brought him to this place, beginning slowly with that last moment when he still sat in the innocence of unknowing.
“It was the 28th of July, in the year 2021, and I was at my station as acting Navigator on the bridge of the Russian battlecruiser Kirov…”
Chapter 9
The three men huddled together at the back of the FV432, and Popski stood respectfully off to one side, waiting. He had heard more than he expected in the briefing, and more than he could get comfortably under his belt for the moment. Yet here were two British Generals taking the whole matter in hand, and with the utmost seriousness. The Russian Captain was also there, waiting while Kinlan activated a digital map of the region.
“Captain Fedorov, that was one hell of a story,” said Kinlan.
“My Captain says that is not too far off the mark,” said Popski. “It has been his private hell for a good long time now, and while sharing it here might offer him some relief, he knows that he has laid a heavy burden on your shoulders, and those of all your men.”
“That he has.”
Fedorov spoke again and Popski interpreted. “I took a grave risk in telling you this, and I hope that all I have said concerning the importance of secrecy was taken to heart.”
O’Connor had listened, dazed and confused at the outset, but then slowly embracing another mood, one driven by a burning inner energy. At one point he had quietly tapped his riding crop on his thigh as Fedorov spoke, his mind galloping ahead like a wild beast, seeing a thousand possibilities if this incredible story was true.
“You know what this means,” he said, looking from Kinlan to Fedorov. “Why, if this is true then you know everything—the history, the war, the outcome of all this madness.”
It was a question Fedorov had been waiting for, and he turned to O’Connor now, knowing that silence on this subject would only invite frustration. Yet his answer was much the same as the one he and Admiral Volsky had given Tovey.
“Yes,” he began. “We know how these events once played through, but our presence here in the past, and the actions we have taken, have obviously altered the course of events, as I tried to describe in my briefing. The Germans never took Gibraltar in the history we know, nor did they ever put troops onto Malta. These developments will make for a dramatic change in the course of the war here, but the most critical change is the civil war that continues within my homeland. It took a strong, united Soviet Union to defeat Germany, and that was with all the might of Great Britain and the United States thrown into the equation as well. General O’Connor, the Germans have committed no more than two divisions here at this point. Yet before this war ends, they will field over 300. Understand? Britain has not yet faced the real strength of the German war machine, and so the outcome of events now is completely in doubt. I know you look to me as a signpost with knowledge of all that is yet to come, but that is not so.”
“But surely you can provi
de the most valuable intelligence we could ever possibly want,” said O’Connor. “Why, you at least know what did happen once, and whether we stumbled here or prevailed. I’m no fool, and I know that mistakes are made in war by men who have every good reason for acting as they do. You know all of this, the victories, the blunders, the wrong turns and dead ends on the long road ahead.”
“Yes, what you say is true, insofar as any of the history holds true. In some ways it does echo our own history. Your first offensive, for example, was known as “O’Connor’s Raid,” and from what I have been able to determine, it played out much as it did in our history—a bit early, but the outcome was the same. Yet listen now, General, in the counter offensive now underway our history records that you never made it safely back to Alexandria, and not because your Blenheim crashed here in the desert and you met up with us. No. Both you and General Neame stumbled right into a German column and you were captured. You spent the next several years as a prisoner in Italy, escaping in December of 1943.”
“I see… 1943, you say? So we have a good long slog ahead of us, do we? The war drags on another two years?”
Fedorov was reluctant to get into a discourse on the future course of events, but he knew he had to give O’Connor something here, if only to impress upon him the true gravity of what they were all now facing.
“This war goes on a good while longer than that. It eventually ended in 1945.”
“And we prevailed? General Kinlan is standing here with his brigade, so we won the damn thing, yes?”
“Yes,” said Fedorov, knowing that answer would put at least one thing into O’Connor’s soul—hope. “A grand alliance was formed between Great Britain, Russia and the United States. Together we defeated the Axis powers, in a long and bitter struggle that consumed all of Europe and Asia, and lasted until late 1945.”
O’Connor’s eyes narrowed, an expression on his face akin to that of a hiker looking up at a mountain he must climb, knowing he could get to the top, but realizing the agony and hardship that climb might bring. Fedorov continued, needing to emphasize the key point he had been trying to make.
“What you must understand now, General, is that this history may not repeat itself. There is no united Russia. Even if Sergie Kirov is inclined to join with you now, Ivan Volkov is not, and the Siberians are a wild card that could figure heavily in the outcome.”
“This Captain of yours, what was his name again?”
“Karpov.”
“Yes, well could you talk some sense into the man?”
“Possibly, yet Karpov is a man of dark ambition. At the moment that appetite has led to his conflict with Ivan Volkov and Orenburg—a Federation that never existed in our history. Don’t you see now how dangerous the knowledge we possess is? Volkov obviously used that knowledge to achieve the position he has. Our wayward Captain Karpov has done the same. And both men know full well how all this ended once. It may be that Volkov sees advantage now in his alliance with Hitler, but realize how dangerous that is. Orenburg controls 80% of the oil that Soviet Russia needed to prosecute its war—the very same oil Hitler coveted, which was one reason he invaded Russia in the first place.”
“Yes, I don’t have to be a mind reader or man from tomorrow to figure that much.”
“So you see, the Soviet Russia today under Kirov is in a very serious and dangerous position. At the moment, there is still a cautious neutrality between Germany and the Soviets, even though Kirov has publically signed an accord with Great Britain. There is fighting on the Volga, and in the Caucasus, and none of that occurred in our history. Kirov’s army is on the offensive, but you, yourself, know the bitter tides of war.”
“I do indeed.”
“Exactly, and if the Soviets are defeated…”
Fedorov did not need to say anything more. He could see that O’Connor now appreciated the gravity and the magnitude of all that lay before them. He nodded grimly, but then looked up, another question in his eye.
“Indulge me one step further, if you would, Captain Fedorov. I have come to gather that this grand alliance you spoke of was short lived. This war you speak of in your time, the war you are trying to prevent… Your country was our enemy?”
“Sadly, this is the case. Soviet Russia and the West never found any true harmony after the war. There were decades of guarded watch, on both sides. We called it the Cold War, as no open conflict occurred, though both sides maintained armies at the ready.”
“Yes.” Kinlan had been listening to all this, and now he finally spoke. “This very brigade stood a long watch in Germany as part of an allied force facing down the Russians—and with German troops as our allies, if you can fancy that.”
“German troops?” O’Connor raised an eyebrow at that. “I see the future holds a good deal more than we might expect.”
“It does,” said Fedorov. “But the enmity that separated our two nations need not repeat, any more than the history governing your own personal fate has—though I might advise you to watch where you are driving in the days ahead, General O’Connor.”
O’Connor smiled at that. “Then you have come here to try and mend fences and set things right?”
“No, our presence here was a complete accident. We have been trying to get back to our own time ever since we arrived, but it seems time had business for us here, and so here we stay.”
“But you say you moved about from one year to the next?” Now it was Kinlan’s time to look for answers. “How did you manage that?”
Fedorov had not told them everything. He indicated that their position in time remained unstable, but said nothing of Rod-25, or the stairway at Ilanskiy. He anticipated this question as well, but knew that his best answer was to simply say they did not know.
“We’re as much in the dark as you are, General. In fact, we truly don’t know what really caused all this to happen. It’s a mystery I could guess at, and we are gathering clues as we go along, but I can’t say I have put all the pieces together.” That was true enough, he thought.
“But you say you saw the outcome of the war—our war—in 2021? How was that possible? How did you get back there?”
“As I have said, our position in time was unstable. We moved forward again, like a rock skipping off a pond I suppose, but then fell back again. On one of those skips, I think we arrived at a future time beyond the onset of that war, and we saw the utter devastation of the entire world—our world. Then we fell back again, and now that we are here we decided to try and do something about that. It started with the hand of friendship we extended to Great Britain. That grand alliance has to begin somewhere, does it not? Perhaps this time we can hold it together.”
“Good enough,” said O’Connor. “Any man who’ll sail and fight with Admiral John Tovey is a friend in my book. And as for you, General Kinlan, I don’t think there’s any question where you and your men will stand in this fight.”
“None sir. I signed on to fight for the Crown, no matter who’s wearing it at the moment.”
“Good enough, but may I ask… As to the chain of command.” O’Connor gathered his thoughts, then came out with it. “Are you and your men prepared to fall into line behind our current leadership?”
Kinlan had thought about this, and knew the question might soon arise. O’Connor was a Lieutenant General, and the ranking officer present in the British chain of command. “It seems you are a couple rungs up on the ladder, General O’Connor. Yet you must understand my position here is … rather unique. You saw the inside of that tank, and I daresay that the methods we use have changed somewhat when it comes to war fighting. I have the greatest respect for you, and for the chain of command, and intend to do all in my power to cooperate and achieve victory here. But we fight a new style of maneuver war, General. I think it is one you would take to easily enough. In fact, your tactics and maneuvers are well studied in our training schools.”
O’Connor seemed to glow at that, very pleased.
“That said,” Kinlan continued,
“if the General would grant me the license of a free hand here, I think it would best serve the interests of all concerned.”
“The Captain has a point on that,” said Popski. “Aside from yours truly, General O’Connor is the only man here in theater that knows what we have been discussing. He says that General Wavell will most likely have to be briefed, but wonders where the line should be drawn.”
“Secrecy,” said Fedorov on his own in English. “Is very important.” Then Popski translated further.
“Some men must know the truth I have shared with you. Certainly all the men of your brigade will know in due course. As to the men of this time… I think the less they know the better. The true nature of this unit, and its origin, must be kept the most closely guarded secret. This may mean that it would be best, as General Kinlan suggests, if this unit remains a separate fighting entity.”
“Yet you’ve told us your own ship now flies the flag of our own Horatio Nelson,” said O’Connor. “You sail right alongside HMS Invincible.”
“Yes, but we remain the sole authority insofar as the operation of our ship is concerned, and there are no British seamen aboard Kirov. Only one man in the Royal Navy knows we are from your own distant future, Admiral Tovey himself. And he has even held this secret from the Admiralty, and from your own government.”
“I see… Somewhat cheeky, wouldn’t you say?”
Popski found a Russian equivalent for that, and Fedorov smiled. How could he impress upon this man the utter seriousness of this situation. “General,” he began. “Suppose knowledge of our presence here became generally known. I would say you have a thousand unanswered questions in your mind about what the future holds, and as I have told you, not all of that future is rosy. The war in Asia ignites into a new conflict just five years after this war concludes. It continues for over a decade, then the oil wars begin, the struggle for resources and energy that has its roots even in this conflict. Yes, there are marvelous things in the future, like that digital map there on General Kinlan’s television, but there is poverty, inequality, racism, disease, and yes, there is war. Any knowledge of these events can become a poison in this world. There are wonders ahead, but also darkness and terror, and like our Ivan Volkov, and Captain Karpov, there are men who would use the knowledge of the future for personal gain, and many others who would stop at nothing to obtain this knowledge. Understand?”
Grand Alliance (Kirov Series) Page 8