“Indeed,” said Tovey. “Perhaps it is far too late for that. All the King's horses and all the King's men, couldn't put Humpty together again, and that may be true of our situation.”
“Yet we still try,” said Volsky. “We have come all the way north again to the Sea of Okhotsk, and Karpov has arranged for us to go on a little Zeppelin ride. We are going to Ilanskiy, and I think Mister Fedorov has already told you the significance of that.”
“He has,” said Volsky. “But what is your plan?”
“Something to do with all this shifting about in time,” said Volsky. “Fedorov believes that since we are most responsible for what has happened, yes, even for the construction of that ship you are sitting on now, then if we all put our minds together, and focus on a single purpose, we might just change things again. We tried that here, but things are too broken; too scattered. Then Karpov convinced us that the only way we would have a chance is to leave this time, and travel back to 1908. Things happened there that set a great deal in motion—the least of which is the breakup of my nation, and the rise of the Orenburg Federation. We are going to try and take matters into our own hands, and change that.”
“Change it? How? In what way?”
“That remains to be seen, but in that time, we will have a great deal of leverage on the years that follow. We have discussed it at length, and the business surrounding the rise of Sergei Kirov is very complex. We might not be able to find him back there, but we do think we might catch Volkov before he has a chance to wreak havoc on the history of our revolution.”
“I see… Well, this is quite remarkable, and quite surprising to hear. What do you expect?”
“We aren’t sure, but if we could get that man, then much would change. I have no way of knowing how it might occur. In fact, it seems impossible to me, but then again, my very presence here is something equally astounding. I just wanted to warn you of what we are going to attempt. I don’t know that it would even matter, but it may be that the things you remember will begin to fade, even if they are sure memories now. Things that once were, but cannot be because of something we do in the past, may be like a candle in the wind. Some of my recollections are like that, fading away, day by day.”
“Well you have certainly stolen my thunder,” said Tovey. “I had another matter to relate to Mister Fedorov, and a request, but I suppose it will have to wait.”
“What was it?”
“It concerns that problem we had over London in February.”
“Ah, yes,” said Volsky. “I was told something about that—most alarming.”
“Indeed,” said Tovey. “To think they have such a weapon is more than unsettling. It’s got the whole government here in a tizzy. We took a crack at their development center, and threw over 500 bombers at the place, but I’m not sure we had any success.”
“And your request has something to do with this?”
“It does,” said Tovey. “I suppose it goes along the lines of fighting fire with fire….” He let that hang there, and Volsky knew exactly what he meant.
“That is a very grave matter,” said Volsky.
“I fully understand that, but this was our reasoning, if such madness can be sanitized by claiming it was born of reasoned deliberation at all. That attack on London was utterly chilling. If the Germans are getting close to deployment on any scale for this weapon, then we face utter disaster. Now, I’m not sure if your mission could change all of that, but in this war, here and now, we think we’ve found their nest for this program, and if we could get it with one fell blow, the scientists, materials, facilities, prototypes and all, then we might put this fire out before it becomes a conflagration that could consume this entire world. If they get this weapon, it will certainly make our chances of winning this war a very dim prospect. We simply must find a way to stop them. So I thought of you, your ship, and the weapons you have told me about on more than one occasion.”
“Fighting fire with fire,” said Volsky. “How very true that would be, but also quite terrible.”
“Yes, we do understand that. Yet think of one other possible outcome here. If we were to do this, we might then also make a back-channel communication to Hitler that offers a truce, at least insofar as that weapon is concerned. After all, we still have an understanding concerning things like Mustard gas and the like. If Hitler thinks we have these weapons, and the will to use them, then he might be persuaded to embrace such an agreement. It could matter a very great deal. In fact, it could be the single most important mission of this war.”
Chapter 36
It loomed in the sky, a massive presence over the bay, as long as the ship itself. Kirov had sailed north, moving well out into the Pacific to make the journey, until it finally arrived at Petropavlovsk, on the western shores of Kamchatka. This was the harbor that Karpov had taken from the Japanese in the early stages of his Plan 7 offensive, and now it served as his principle Pacific port, at least in the warmer months while it remained ice free.
Geography was never kind to mother Russia. She could never find good warm water ports that opened on the major oceans. Even Vladivostok, which Karpov had vowed to regain, was ice-bound in the winter. Ever since Peter the Great, Russia has sought to expand her borders to reach those deep blue waters where the warm currents keep ports ice free, but she had always been blocked. This time, it was Imperial Japan in the way, roosting on Dailan, Port Arthur, and now even controlling Vladivostok.
Karpov’s war with the Japanese had lapsed into a long stalemate on Sakhalin Island. While Kirov was away, the Japanese could ferry an endless stream of reinforcements to the troops holding the line there. With so many Siberian troops now fighting for Sergei Kirov, Karpov, the younger, simply could not build up enough ground strength to overcome the Japanese and push south. The best he could do was hold the ground he had taken by surprise. As for the remainder of Plan 7, it had ground to a halt under the weight of logistics. It was simply not possible to support an army capable of moving overland from the Sea of Okhotsk to Vladivostok. With few or no roads to move supplies and heavy equipment, everything had to be done by the airship fleet, and it simply wasn’t large enough to support an army capable of posing any real threat to the objective.
So Plan 7 became a point of honor. Karpov had taken Kamchatka, half of Sakhalin, and he had held those territories. In spite of his repeated offers to invite American bombers to his new sovereign territory, the region was too foggy in the warm months, and too cold and ice otherwise. There was only a narrow window for good operations, in the spring and autumn, and that simply wasn’t good enough.
The younger Karpov had become the de facto Premier while the Siberian was away fencing with the Japanese at sea. He had then focused his attention on securing Omsk, and expanding the perimeter in that region. Though the German operation in the Caucasus forced Volkov to transfer many divisions from that front, Orenburg still had just enough to hold the Siberians at bay, and continued to float peace proposals to try and get itself out of the dilemma it was in now, with enemies on every frontier. When Volkov broke with Germany, Hitler pressed the Japanese to begin putting pressure on Orenburg’s far eastern frontiers. They had mounted a few excursions, but Japan had no real interest in expanding in that direction, and frankly, the Empire needed no new enemies.
Kirov had come to Petropavlovsk with Kazan , largely to get to safe waters. Radar equipped Zeppelins now made regular patrols out beyond the Kuriles, and they could serve as early warning pickets for any move by Admiral Kita’s little fleet. For their part, after meeting with Yamamoto, Kita had been persuaded to sail home to Japan, through the Bungo Channel, into the Inland Sea and on up to lay anchor at Hiroshima Bay, northwest of Kure. There they appeared like any other ship out in the bay, while Admiral Nagano planned to meet with Yamamoto and the interlopers from another time, to decide how they would be utilized in Japan’s war with the United States.
Now Karpov, the Siberian, was ready to consider options for their fateful mission to 19
08. The difficulties had all been identified. They knew there would be a narrow window if they tried to reach the place on their own. Volsky was reluctant to make the journey himself, Fedorov would always have to arrive days after Sergei Kirov had taken the train east to Irkutsk. Karpov’s “service window” was very narrow, but one man, Tyrenkov, could undertake the mission without these limitations and restrictions.
Tyrenkov had already traversed the staircase, reaching a place and time where he had been able to identify Ivan Volkov, and so it was decided that he would become the messenger of Death for this mission, with a select group of the Marines who called themselves exactly that—the Black Death.
While this plan was being finalized, Admiral Volsky approached the group with news of the most unusual request put forward by Tovey.
“It was so good to hear his voice again,” said Volsky. “I can still clearly see his face in my mind, though I must admit there is still one corner of this old head that knows I have never met the man, at least in that life. How strange this all is. Now then… Here is what Tovey asks of us, and it comes directly from their Mister Churchill.”
Volsky related the fear that had gripped the British government after the stunning attack over London, and with a weapon unlike any other that had been used in this war.
“I still cannot understand how the Germans could have deployed such a weapon,” said the Siberian. “What could we have done to change the time line on their development of Atomic weapons?” He looked at Fedorov, but the Captain had no ideas on that.
“The fact remains,” said Volsky, “that they have at least developed a small prototype weapon, and that attack on London was its first deployment. We have already seen the early introduction of the Panzerfaust, and we all know why. Kinlan’s appearance has strongly spurred development of new and better armor on the German side, and the use of our missiles at sea may have had a similar effect. Look what the Germans did in the Black Sea. They have already used a rudimentary version of their V-1 cruise missile, and the Fritz-X radio controlled glide bomb. Now the British are terrified that the next raid over London will hit a much more important target. They have had to disperse their entire governmental infrastructure.”
“So now Churchill wants us to nuke them?”
“That sounds harsh,” said Volsky, “and I suppose it is, but here is what they proposed. They want us to strike the German special weapons development center at Peenemünde. Apparently, they attempted to bomb the place, but without satisfactory results. Now they are afraid the Germans will soon disperse their special weapons to avoid losing key assets in one place like that, so, and somewhat ironically, time is of the essence.”
“Operation Hydra used over 500 bombers,” said Fedorov. “That happened a few months early, as it didn’t take place until August on our original meridian. They won’t try another operation on that scale again for nearly a year, in July of 1944 with Mission 481. That sent almost 400 B-17’s escorted by nearly 300 fighters, and it still failed to shut the place down. Face it, these massed bombing raids just don’t have the precision to strike key targets, and we don’t have the missile range—or the missiles—to commit to such an operation with a conventional attack.”
“Well,” said Karpov, “unless we want to try and sneak in right off Bremerhaven, we’d have to be well out in the North Sea to avoid being found and attacked by German aircraft. That could be dealt with, but again, at a cost in SAM’s that we don’t really want to expend. That would put us 500 kilometers from the target. We would have to use one of the long-range Zircons , and yet, consider the cost to us in strategic striking power. We have only two special warheads left… Unless you have something in the sea chest, Captain Gromyko.”
“Gromyko gave Karpov a look, but said nothing.”
“Should we use that kind of power on an attack like this?”
“Here is what the British propose,” said Volsky. “London was already attacked, so they know the Germans have a working bomb. That alone should chill our blood. Even if we run a successful mission to eliminate Volkov, this is still a far more serious threat. Remember, we are staying here. This is our war, and we will have to face this question sooner or later if the German weapons program is not stopped.”
“Agreed,” said Fedorov. “Right now, everything is largely in one nest. Their project started September 1st of 1939. They have been working on getting enriched uranium, heavy water production, and uranium isotope separation. That was their main lagging point, getting the fuel they needed.”
“They obviously solved the problem,” said Volsky. “Mister Churchill now wants to make a most convincing demonstration. The British think the Germans may already suspect that London has the bomb. After all, there was that incident involving the detonation at sea during our pursuit of the German fleet.”
Karpov eyed Gromyko. At least this was one detonation that could not be laid at his feet. “Alright,” he said. “Our intelligence has determined that the Germans do, in fact, believe that the British have a weapon. Yet Hitler was bold enough to use his bomb the first chance he got! Our Mister Tyrenkov had determined that this was most likely a prototype.”
“So the British want to show Hitler that two can play this deadly game,” said Volsky. “Tovey said that Churchill believes this attack against Peenemünde can be most helpful, and not just by eliminating the German special weapons programs. He is planning to send a communication to Berlin after that attack, and state that it was in direct reprisal for the raid on London.”
“Tit for tat,” said Karpov.
“Precisely,” said Volsky. “But Churchill will also make a proposal that if the Germans refrain from any further deployment and use of these weapons, Britain and her allies will do the same. There is already an agreement concerning chemical and biological weapons.”
“The Geneva Protocol,” said Fedorov. “Yes, that was signed in The Hague in 1925. If they could add atomic weapons to the list, that would be a good step forward. It may give the Americans a bit of a problem if they can’t use the bomb on the Japanese, but at least it might stop a holocaust well before 1945 in this war.”
“That delicate balance of terror,” said Volsky.
“Would such an agreement hold?” asked Karpov. “Remember, this comes at a high cost to us.”
“Oh?” said Volsky. “You had other plans for your warheads, Mister Karpov?”
“Not exactly, though having a pair of Aces in your hand never hurts when it comes time to place your bets. And I’ll remind you that the only reason we are still here to even have this discussion is because I had a special warhead available for use in that most unusual engagement we just fought.”
“Yes, but if we could get such an agreement, with both sides vowing to refrain from using these warheads, then I think we have done something very significant here. That might even extend to the post-war world. Without the use of Atomic weapons in this war, perhaps we might prevent the arms race that leads inevitably to the next one.”
Hitler’s bomb would not be the last. They knew that the Americans were feverishly working on these weapons as well as the Soviets and Japanese. This would be the last great war fought with tanks and ships and planes. The next one would be fought with the sleek missiles that had come with the Russian ship, Kirov , and it would end in the bright fire of utter doom. After that, Einstein had famously said that any subsequent war would have to be fought with sticks and stones….
“I tend to agree,” said Fedorov, “but it will mean we would have to take the ship to the North Sea to get within Zircon range of Peenemünde. That’s a long journey, most likely over the north passage, and then we still have to defend ourselves to get in close enough to launch our strike.”
“It would also mean we leave the Pacific to the Japanese and their new F-35’s,” said Karpov, none too happy about that. “However, we have another alternative.”
“And what is that?” asked Volsky.
“Tunguska , that airship out there. We were going
to take it to Ilanskiy, but I have plenty of airships. We could rig out Tunguska to launch a shorter range missile and we could fly to Peenemünde much faster and easier than that trip through the north passage.”
“What about German air patrols?” asked Volsky.
“What about them? Tunguska is a high flyer. No German plane could reach us, and if one tried, I’d blow it out of the sky. We already have Oko Panel radars installed on Tunguska , and Ilga hand held SAMs that can range out 6000 meters. We’ll get there, and deliver the weapon on target. I’ll handle it—or at least my brother will. This is the perfect mission for him. That will also allow me to remain here in the Pacific, aboard Kirov . Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of this Japanese task force we tangled with. We could get news at any time that would require us to sortie.”
“You think they will be coming for us up here?” asked Volsky.
“No, I doubt that. But they’ll be gunning for the Americans soon if we allow them to persist here. I’ve spoken to the Captain of the ship we took down. If he survived that, we might just get him on the line again and see if we can come to some agreement.”
“Another protocol?” said Fedorov.
“Why not? They know damn well what they can do to Halsey’s carriers, but I think we should consider trying to dissuade them. We’ve hurt them once, and they know we’re a threat. If we could get them to stay out of this fight, I’m willing to agree to refrain from any further operations against Japan here.”
Fedorov gave him a long look. “Well, that is certainly a change of heart. I thought you were dead set on reclaiming Vladivostok and continuing your war on Japan.”
Nexus Deep (Kirov Series Book 31) Page 31