“I know they exist, but not much more. In fact, I had no idea what to really expect at Delphi. I was merely sent there, and told that I would need to use this key at that time. Oh, I had my inklings and speculations as well. We knew that one key opened to another passage similar to the one you describe at that railway inn. So I thought there might be a similar passage beneath Delphi, but found nothing but that box. Believe me, after I tested the key a second time aboard my ship, I was quite surprised at the outcome. But once I realized what had happened, I assumed it was all planned. Yet I could not see what I was to do here, aside from throwing in with you and the Royal Navy, Admiral Tovey. Now I think otherwise.”
“What do you mean?” said Tovey.
“Well,” said Elena with a sigh. “I told you I was aware of at least two other keys, but there is more to that. One was assigned to a another Keyholder. The other, however, was lost.”
“Lost?”
“Yes, in spite of its importance, it went missing. I suddenly realized that when I was trying to sort all this through in my own mind. Why was I sent here, I wondered? Was it only because your ship was here, in this time? This was my first guess, as I had long been standing a watch waiting for your ship to return. I must confess, Captain Fedorov, that your vessel was always regarded as a dire threat in my mind. My first thought when I realized you were here, was that I was sent to try and destroy Geronimo, sink your ship, and it took some adjustment to think of you as an ally. Now I finally think I know why I was sent here.”
Fedorov simply waited, his eyes on Fairchild, and the silence was thick in the room. Even Nikolin hung on her next words, waiting to translate, amazed to be hearing all this.
“The other key I knew about was found in an artifact retrieved from ancient Greece, a particular piece of artwork that was a part of the Parthenon. It was embedded in the base of the Selene Horse, along with other artifacts that have since come to be known as the Elgin Marbles. We learned it was there, at least this is what I was told, but it was never assigned to a Keyholder. It went missing, strange as that may sound. It went missing this very year, on the 27th of May, 1941. And as remarkable as it may sound, it was actually in your charge at that time, Admiral Tovey—at least in the keeping of the Royal Navy.”
“My charge? But I know nothing of this matter. Perhaps some other John Tovey, in some other time might be the culprit—the man you claim to have met in 1942, Captain Fedorov, but this John Tovey remains in the dark.”
Elena smiled. “That may be so, but I know for a fact that this particular key was loaded aboard the battleship HMS Rodney, right there in the Selene Horse along with other segments of the Elgin Marbles, and a goodly amount of the King’s Gold.”
Tovey raised an eyebrow at that. “The King’s business,” he said aloud. “So now I know what this is all about, and why Rodney was pulled from duty with Force H by the Admiralty. Are you saying their Lordships were aware of this key? They knew of its existence and significance?”
“I don’t think so,” said Elena. “Perhaps the curator of the British Museum might have had knowledge of it, but as for the Admiralty, no I think they just thought they were shipping valuables to safekeeping in Boston. That’s where Rodney is bound, is it not?”
“My dear woman, have you been listening in on Admiralty fleet signals traffic?”
“No Admiral, you forget that this is all history from my perspective. Strangely, in that history, Rodney was involved in a chase very similar to the one we now find ourselves on. It seems a coincidence, but I suspect it is something more. They say history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. As we know the history, you and your Home Fleet were out after the Bismarck this month, and now here we are chasing that ship as well, and its bigger brother. That little twist could complicate things, particularly if this coincidence holds true. You see, Rodney was in the thick of the final action that sank the Bismarck. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that, Admiral, but while the ruckus was going on, several pieces of the Elgin Marbles were knocked about, and one was slightly damaged—the Selene Horse—right at the base to reveal a place where the key was concealed. But the key itself was missing. It was never seen again after that engagement. When Rodney arrived in Boston, the artifacts were removed and stored. They were returned to England at a later time, and everything was accounted for—except that missing key.”
“Was it lost while those artifacts were still aboard the ship?”
“No one knows. All we know is that the damage to the artifact was discovered in Boston.”
“Then someone there was privy to the existence of that key?”
“Perhaps, but we aren’t certain who that was. Remember, there was no Watch at that time. It was not established until 1942. We only learned the significance of these keys later, and that this one had been aboard Rodney when it left for Boston. The ship was searched, of course, and the crew interviewed, very discretely. The Curators at the British Museum were behind that, probably by way of investigating the damage to the Selene Horse. They knew about the key, though whether they knew just what it was is not known. A suspicion remained that the key was still aboard Rodney, and when the ship was finally scrapped at Inverkeithing in 1946, the wreckage was gone over with a fine sieve. It was all handled by the Grey Friars, or so I was told, but nothing was found.”
“The Franciscans?” Tovey knew that order had been long known as the ‘Grey Friars’ because of the color of their robes.
“Yes,” said Elena. “Why they were charged with the task remains a bit of the mystery, but they were carting over bits and pieces of the ship, metal filings, nuts and rivets, and examining the whole lot in a quiet little room at Saint Peters Kirk, Inverkeithing.”
“Most irregular,” said Tovey. “The Grey Friars sifting through the bones of old Rodney to look for this key… Well, they certainly had to know something of what they were looking for. You say the Watch learned of these keys in those strange signals you received. If that is so, then how would anyone in 1941 know about that key, or attribute any significance to it, particularly the Franciscans!”
“Very good questions,” said Elena. “Yet this only remains perplexing when you assume that everyone alive in the here and now is native to this time. As you can see, you are presently sitting here with three people who were born long after your own death, Admiral.”
“Of course!” It was Fedorov speaking now, exclaiming his surprise in English. Then he spoke quickly, and Nikolin translated. “Other time travelers! We thought it was only our sad fate, the ship and crew of Kirov, but we all know that is not the case. Consider that stairway at the railway inn. I moved in time on that rift, as did Sergei Kirov, and another man, a name you will be familiar with Admiral—Ivan Volkov. But who knows who else may have used those stairs? If there are other sites, other rift zones as you call them, then it is not a stretch to imagine that others may have used those holes in time.”
“Well this is quite a fine mess,” said Tovey. “People coming and going, just as they please, and fiddling with history! I knew this world was something quite different after I learned the truth about you and your ship, Mister Fedorov, but now it seems we have others involved in this whole affair, in these rift zones you speak of, coming and going like servants in and out of the back door.”
“Correct,” said Elena. “The zones I knew about were all well hidden, and placed under lock and key.” She dangled the key on its chain again to make her point. “So they were open only to Keyholders. That took careful planning—planning that extended over long decades, because the sites I know of are both quite old, like Delphi. The sites had to be secured, protected, and then locked down to prevent anyone from using those passages through time. I wondered what I might find if I went there now to have a look at that site. Would I find the same passage and chamber I discovered in 2021? I was considering doing exactly that, flying in with my Argonauts to have another look, in case the Germans were about. Then this little foot race to Gibraltar started. As for th
at railway inn, that was a site we were entirely unaware of. That said, all this gets to my mission here, at least as I understand it now.”
“Your mission?” Tovey cocked his head to one side, waiting.
“Well Admiral, whether you remember it or not, it was you that determined I should go to Delphi, and now I think I may know why—HMS Rodney—that missing key. The signals we received in our time were very pointed. We were told the keys, and the sites they opened, were crucial. They must all be accounted for, and here, at this very moment, that missing key may be finally within our grasp. Believe me, we searched long and hard for it in the years after 1941, but it was never found. Yet here, at this moment, it is quite possibly within our grasp.”
“Suppose it is,” said Tovey, “sitting right there in the hold of Rodney, along with all the rest of the King’s business. What do you propose?”
“Why, to get my hands on the damn thing, what else! It will tell us where its corresponding rift zone is.”
“How so?”
“Because the keys were very carefully machined. If examined closely, with the right instruments, they reveal a set of numbers along the shaft, and these translate into geographic coordinates. That was how we determined where the other two rift zones were.”
“Oh? And may I ask where they are?”
“You may, but I do not think I should answer, for purposes of security. I’m sure you understand that these zones are very dangerous. The Keyholder for each zone was privy to its existence, and I learned a little more after being designated Keyholder Alpha. I suppose that means I’m to be the keeper of the keys, or that I hold the master key in all this. Well, one of my keys is still missing, and I think it would be wise to find it as soon as we possibly can.”
“Yes,” said Fedorov. “These zones are dangerous. We went so far as to attempt a demolition of the rift site in Ilanskiy. We sent our Marines in, and they got the job done. There was only one thing we did not count on—our ex-Captain Karpov. His appearance on the scene has complicated our effort to seal off access to that breach. Activity in that region leads me to suspect that Ivan Volkov may have also learned the significance of that place. Otherwise, why are the two still battling over control of Ilanskiy? We had word that another big engagement is underway there.”
“That is very troubling,” said Elena. “Why we never knew about that site is equally vexing.”
“Perhaps it was unknown, even to those who made these keys,” said Fedorov. “Or perhaps they suspected another rift was open, but never found it themselves. For that matter there may be others that no one has yet to discover.”
“A harrowing thought,” said Elena. “Just managing the two sites we knew about was more than enough. Yet now I see that it is imperative that we obtain the key, and locate this last site.”
“Well,” said Tovey, “I don’t see why you just weren’t told about it in these odd signals you received.”
“Perhaps for the same reason,” said Elena. “It is dangerous for anyone to know such a place exists, and even more dangerous to venture there. The condition we find the world in now results from one man’s inadvertent trip through a rift zone, and I do not mean to flay you with this, Captain Fedorov. I fully understand how you feel, but imagine if others knew of these rifts in time, and decided to use them…”
The darkness of that thought was a shroud over them all at that moment, deepening the silence, until Tovey spoke again. “Good enough. As to our HMS Rodney, I think I can be of some assistance. We find ourselves in a most interesting place, heading for Gibraltar and the Atlantic beyond. This little coincidence you speak of is presently underway. The players are on the stage and the first act is in the works even as we speak. If history does rhyme, then Rodney may have apart to play here as well. I can Imagine Admiral Holland is looking at this situation with Hindenburg very seriously now, and sizing up what assets he can commit. I’ll be in touch with him soon enough.”
“Admiral,” said Elena. “As to HMS Rodney, I do hope that ship comes to no harm. If it were to be sunk…”
“I understand,” said Tovey. “I shall see about keeping old Rodney safe and sound. Don’t worry.”
“Oh, but I must, Admiral. That was drilled into my head when I was briefed for that little trip to Delphi. Do not think that the history can protect you once you intervene. This is what I was told. Everything is on the table now, gentlemen, and not just this ship and key. It is all riding the whirlwind, as we seem to be. And if we are not cautious, if anything slips here, then god only knows what could happen next. The reason the makers of these keys didn’t just send us a nice little message telling us how to find the missing key is a dark one. They’re gone.”
“Gone?” Tovey looked at Fedorov, and then back at Elena.
“Yes Admiral. The key makers are gone. The changes rippling forward in time have been building and building, like a great tsunami. The messages they sent to us were their last attempt at saving the situation—saving the whole damn world I suppose. Because somewhere out there, in the years rolling on beyond the time where Captain Fedorov and I once lived, there is a darkness so all consuming that it devours everything. We were given a word for it from these people in the future, whoever they were. They called it a Grand Finality. A rose is a rose, gentlemen, and in that description I find yet another word that might express it just a little better—calamity.”
Silence. The only thing Fedorov could hear now was the sound of his own pulse, beating like a drum, and timing out the rising crescendo of doom.
The Saga Continues…
Kirov Saga: Paradox Hour
The hour and day that Fedorov and the crew of Kirov have long feared draws nigh, the moment of insoluble conflict, when their greatest enemy is not another hostile ship or plane, but their own selves—Paradox Hour.
Yet before that moment comes, the ship finds itself in one of the greatest naval chases of all time. It is May, 1941, and a powerful German battlefleet has broken out into the Atlantic. Admiral Tovey is fast on the heels of Hindenburg, but must first run the gauntlet of Gibraltar to get into the hunt. With him are three of the most powerful ships in the world, Kazan, Argos Fire, and the battlecruiser Kirov. Yet Admiral Lütjens will not fight alone. The Kriegsmarine now sorties with all its might as Raeder throws the dice in a desperate bid to prove his navy’s worth and power.
As Admiral Holland musters the fighting ships of the Home Fleet to join in the chase, Admiral Raeder springs yet another surprise in the north, and soon the Royal Navy is reaching for every warship it can find to beat to quarters. One ship called to the action harbors a secret, the missing key Elena Fairchild is so keen to find—HMS Rodney. It is now at grave risk, and should it be lost, the secret it might unlock will be lost with it, and the doom Fairchild so darkly describes may then be unavoidable.
Join Anton Fedorov, Admirals Volsky and Tovey, Captain Gromyko and a host of historical characters as the chase unfolds, a race against time itself, and the shadow of doom that hangs over the world. Meanwhile, consumed by the fire of his own thirst for vengeance, one other man figures prominently in that fate—Vladimir Karpov—for he holds yet another key to the outcome of all these events, as he sets himself on another chase of his own, desperate to find and cow his arch rival and enemy, Ivan Volkov.
Don’t miss the grand finale of “Season Two” of the amazing Kirov Series, coming soon from the Writing Shop Press.
Reading the Kirov Series
The Kirov Series is a long chain of linked novels by John Schettler in the Military Alternate History / Time Travel Genre. Like the popular movie “The Final Countdown” which saw the US Carrier Nimitz sent back in time to the eve of Pearl Harbor in 1941, in the opening volume, the powerful Russian battlecruiser Kirov is sent back to the 1940s in the Norwegian Sea where it subsequently becomes embroiled in the war.
Similar to episodes in the never ending Star Trek series, the saga continues through one episode after another as the ship’s position in time remains unstab
le. It culminates in Book 8 Armageddon, then continues the saga in Altered States, which begins the second saga in the series, which will extend to Volume 16.
How To Read the Kirov Series
The best entry point is obviously Book I, Kirov, where you will meet all the main characters in the series and learn their inner motivations. The series itself, however, is structured as sets of trilogies linked by what the author calls a “bridge novel.” The first three volumes form an exciting trilogy featuring much fast paced naval action as Kirov battles the Royal Navy, Regia Marina (Italians) and finally the Japanese after sailing to the Pacific in Book III. The bridge novel Men Of War is a second entry point which covers what happened to the ship and crew after it returned home to Vladivostok. As such it serves as both a sequel to the opening trilogy and a prequel to the next trilogy, the three novels beginning with Book V, 9 Days Falling. Each trilogy in the series is followed by a similar “bridge novel.”
The 9 Days Falling trilogy focuses on the struggle to prevent a great war in 2021 from reaching a terrible nuclear climax that destroys the world. It spans book 5, 6, and 7, featuring the outbreak of the war in 2021 as Japan and China battle over disputed islands, and the action of the Red Banner Pacific Fleet against the modern US Fleet. It then takes a dramatic turn when the ship is again shifted in time to 1945. There they confront the powerful US Pacific Fleet under Admiral Halsey, and so this trilogy focuses much of the action as Kirov faces down the US in two eras. This second trilogy also launches several subplots that serve to relate other events in the great war of 2021 and also deepen the mystery of time travel as discovered in the series. The trilogy ends at another crucial point in history where the ship’s Captain, Vladimir Karpov, believes he is in a position to decisively change events.
The next bridge novel is Armageddon, Book 8 in the series, which concludes the opening 8 volume Kirov Saga, continuing the action as a sequel to Book 7, while also standing as a kind of prologue to the next eight volume saga that begins with the Altered States trilogy. In this third trilogy, Kirov becomes trapped in the world made by its many interventions in the history, an altered reality beginning in June of 1940. The opening volume sees the ship pitted against the one navy of WWII it has not yet fought, the Kriegsmarine of Germany, which now has new powerful ships from the German Plan Z naval building program as one consequence of Kirov’s earlier actions.
Crescendo Of Doom (Kirov Series Book 15) Page 31