Kirov (20 page)

“What
does our resident historian think?” The Admiral invited Fedorov to speak.

“Well,
sir, the Captain makes a good point. Of approximately 330 German divisions,
about 270 were facing us on the eastern front at any given time. The rest were
garrisons in France, Italy, the Low Countries and Norway, and these postings
were largely to rebuild and reconstitute divisions we destroyed as the war
progressed, at least until the landings at Normandy. The Allied strategic
bombing campaign had considerable impact, however. It should not be
underestimated. And they single handedly contained the Kriegsmarine and Italian
Navy as well, controlling the Mediterranean, North Africa, and knocking Italy
out of the war. We could never have accomplished that. Our campaign would have
been a long, grinding advance on Berlin, as it was historically. Yes, I believe
we would have prevailed, but the war might drag on another several years,
taking the lives of countless millions more without a second front in the west.”

“True,”
said Karpov. “But consider this. If we are clever, and act at the appropriate
moment, we can bring about a post war environment that is much more favorable
to the Soviet Union. The two sides were in a race to Berlin. We got there
first, and received little thanks other than thirty years of American suspicion
and enmity in the cold war. We could make certain that Russian troops get much
farther, establishing a much stronger position in Europe, by simply acting to
delay
the allied advance. If Soviet troops are standing behind the Rhine before the
British and Americans get there, then there will be no Berlin Wall, no divided
Germany. NATO will not sit at our doorstep and the Warsaw Pact may replace that
organization altogether. Germany is the heart of Europe, and there will be no ‘West
Germany’ to collaborate with Britain and the US. That is all we really need to
do—delay the Western powers advance with selective intervention. By this we
could strongly affect the post-war environment. It will not be the Americans
with their hand on the neck of the United Nations that reigns supreme—
we
will dominate that body. And NATO? We can see to it that it never even exists!”
He planted his finger firmly on the table as he finished, then folded his arms.

“I
agree with the Captain,” said Orlov. “We need not aid the Germans in any way. To
do so would be treasonous considering the hell they brought upon us in that
war. My grandfather died at Stalingrad. But sticking a thorn or two in
Roosevelt’s or Churchill’s bottom might prove interesting.”

The
doctor spoke next. “What would be the effect if it became known that this was a
Russian ship? If we were to engage a British fleet, for example, how might this
affect the relationship between Great Britain and the Soviet Union. It was the
British who organized and guarded the Murmansk convoys. Suppose this aid is
withdrawn?”

“We
can keep our identity secret,” suggested Orlov, “at least at the outset. They
will most likely assume we are German, yes?”

“If
I may, sir,” said Fedorov. “Engage the Royal Navy and they will stop at nothing
to sink this ship. They will use their entire fleet, all their air-sea assets,
and soon, in a matter of just a few months time, they will also have the United
States Navy to support them.”

“They
have nothing that can match us,” Orlov said derisively.

“Oh?
Do you have any idea what a 15 or 16 inch shell would do to this ship if we
should be hit? Even an 8 inch shell could easily penetrate the forward deck and
ignite the missile fuel and warheads there, and my guess is that this ship would
literally be blown to pieces in that event. We are not invulnerable.”

“But
our advantage lies elsewhere,” said Karpov testily, annoyed to be arguing with
a junior officer like Fedorov. “True, we have only armored certain segments of
the ship, the citadels, the reactor cores. But we do not have to come anywhere
near an enemy ship to deliver a barrage of precision guided firepower on the
enemy. Our missiles can fire from a range of 250 kilometers or more! Our cannon
can use rocket assisted munitions and range out to 50 kilometers if need be. We
can stand off and destroy any fleet we encounter, and they will never even see
us. The only equivalent weapon the enemy might deploy is a fleet of aircraft
carriers, and we can find them with our helicopters first and sink them before
they become a threat. Should any dare launch an air strike at us, our SAM
defenses will be more than enough to protect us.”

“What
you say is true for a time,” said the Admiral. “It was fortunate that we
replenished our primary missile inventory for the live fire exercise before we
were able to complete our scheduled maneuvers. We find ourselves with reloads aboard
for our Moskit-IIs. But yet there is a limit to what we can accomplish, yes? We
now have forty Moskit-IIs in inventory instead of only twenty, and ten each for
our other missiles. That means we have a gun with 60 rounds, and after they
have been fired, all we have left are the 152mm cannon and a few torpedoes,
twenty, to be exact. Certainly no ship in the world can match us now, yet we
must be very judicious as to how we choose to actually use the weaponry we
have.”

“You
are forgetting one other thing,” said Karpov, his face hard, eyes narrowed. “We
have nuclear warheads aboard.”

The
tension in the room seemed to elevate at once. Zolkin shifted uncomfortably,
looking at the Admiral, who covered his mouth, stroking the unshaved stubble of
his graying beard. “There will be no use of nuclear weapons without my
expressed approval,” he said flatly. “And at the moment I do not believe we
need to consider this option.”

“The
enemy will have them in a matter of a few years,” said Karpov. “And they will
not hesitate to use them. This we have clearly seen.”

“We
will
not
engage anyone with nuclear weapons,” said the Admiral firmly. “Such
a use would come into consideration only in the most extreme circumstances, and
only after deep consideration of the effect this would have on future events.
This may indeed be nothing more than a fanciful exercise of thought, gentlemen.
But if we find these two ships approaching us are not modern day cruisers and
destroyers in the Royal Navy inventory, then we will be faced with profound
choices, decisions of greater weight than any commander in the field has ever
faced in history. We must acquit ourselves well, gentlemen. For we, too, must
all die one day.”

“Yet
we should consider every advantage possible,” said Karpov. “War is war. This
one, of all wars, was fought with utter ruthlessness and single minded
determination. Are we men? We are sworn to the defense of our nation.”

“And
we
will
defend her,” said the Admiral. “Yet we can do so without
dropping a 15 kiloton warhead on London or New York. I remind you that neither
Britain or the United States were enemies of the Soviet Union in 1941. We have
other means—a limited inventory of conventional weapons to defend ourselves if
attacked. And we also have our brains, along with the foreknowledge of every
significant event in history from this day forward. With Mister Fedorov here,
and his useful book, we have details that can give us a decisive edge in
battle, at least for a time.”

“What
book?” Karpov looked at the Navigator. “What have you been reading now,
Lieutenant?”

“Sir,
I have a volume of—”

“Never
mind that now,” the Admiral cut him off. “Gentlemen, I assembled you all here
to discuss this matter, and hear your viewpoints, but I must now remind you
that this is not a democracy, not for the moment. The chain of command will
prevail as always, and my decision is final in every circumstance we may encounter.
Is that clear?”

Karpov’s
jaw was set, but he did not directly challenge the Admiral. Orlov looked at
him, but he, too, said nothing.

“Now
then,” said Volsky. “Mister Fedorov, I want you to plot an approach to these
two ships that are presently advancing on our position. The evidence obtained
at Jan Mayen speaks loudly, yet it appears we need more jam on the blini before
we will savor it. We must determine what is real and what is not here, and we
must do so at our earliest opportunity.”

“If
I may, Admiral,” said Fedorov. “We have other options as well. We could sail
for Iceland and overfly Reykjavík as we did Jan Mayen. If this is a PSYOP, then
NATO cannot hide an entire modern city from us, can they?”

“Yes
we could do this, but I believe our answer is close at hand. What was this ship
you believe is approaching us?”

“HMS
Adventure
, along with a destroyer.
Adventure
is a mine laying
scout cruiser, not heavily armed, sir. She had four 4.7 inch guns, primarily
used for anti aircraft defense, and other smaller caliber weapons. The 4.7s can
range out to about 16,000 yards or so. The destroyer has the same, along with
eight 21 inch torpedoes. Neither ship presents any long range threat. We would
not even have to use a single missile if they sought to engage us. We could
simply direct radar controlled gun fire well outside their range.”

“Or
we could send you to have a look in the KA-226. You can identify these ships by
sight?”

“I
believe so, sir.”

“No,”
said Karpov. “I want tangible evidence, not simply this man’s assessment from a
long range camera. I want to see these ships myself.”

“Well
you could fly with him, Mister Karpov. However, if this is an anti-aircraft
cruiser, perhaps we should be cautious with our helicopters.”

“If
we wish to make a close approach with the ship,” said Fedorov, “then we could
put men up on the highest mast and establish a watch there. You can see out
twelve to fourteen miles from that height, and we’ll see them on radar long
before that. With a good, high powered observation lens we can probably identify
these ships at that range visually. In fact, we could even simply use the high
powered cameras on the Tin Man watch decks. Even the Captain’s field glasses
would do,” Fedorov finished. “And we would still be three or four miles beyond
the range of their 4.7 inch guns.”

“We
can get closer than that,” said Karpov sourly. “If they dare attack us I will
make short work of them.”

“Very
well,” said the Admiral. “Then this is exactly what we will do, and hopefully
before this weather front makes observation impossible. But Captain, I will be
on the bridge for this operation.” He eyed Karpov, noting the man’s reaction.

“Gentlemen,
let’s get moving. Anyone scheduled for relief get some sleep. I am well rested,
and I will take the ship in, Mister Karpov. You may stand down and get some
rest. Join me on the bridge in 6 hours. By that time we should be very near
these ships. Mister Fedorov—plot me a good intercept course. I want to sail
west of Jan Mayen.”

“Aye,
sir.”

Karpov
sighed heavily, still convinced this was all a waste of time. Yet the first
thing on his mind now was his stomach. He was hungry and wanted to get in a meal
and a few hours sleep before he returned to the bridge. On the way to the officer’s
mess he pulled Orlov aside and asked him what he thought of the situation.

“It’s
one fine
v’zádnitse
, Captain. How is it the Americans say this? Up shit
creek without a paddle. It’s crazy. And the more I think on it the more
I
begin to feel crazy. Yet, after all this, it begins to paint that impossible
picture.”

“Don't
be a fool, Orlov. Yes, I know the evidence seems convincing, but everything we
have seen could have been part of a psychological operation staged by NATO,
even the removal of the facilities on Jan Mayen, in spite of what the Doctor
says.”

“I'm
not so sure about that, Vladimir. That's the one thing about all this that
bothers me. I've been on that island too, and I'm telling you there was nothing
there when we overflew it a few hours ago. You don't disassemble those
buildings in a few hours time. What, do you think they've stored everything in
some underground bunker to put them back together again after they've had their
fun with us? This is very disturbing, Captain. I can dismiss the other things,
even that airplane, but this business concerning the island is very perplexing.”

Karpov
said nothing for a time. He was also finding it difficult to dismiss the
evidence they had uncovered by visiting the island. Yet something in him
remained stubborn, holding on to the world they had come from, and unwilling to
embrace the prospect that it was entirely gone now—possibly gone forever. He
felt like a spider without a web, a mouse without a hole to hide in any longer.
Even so, another part of his mind was creeping ahead, sifting through the
possibilities. “Who do you think our real enemy is, Orlov?”

“The
British, the Germans, the Americans, they are all the same as far as I'm
concerned. Aren’t they all in league together anyway? We have few friends in
the world, Captain. Even the Chinese eye us with suspicion these days.”

“But
let's assume the impossible. If this
were
1941, would you join the
British in opposing Nazi Germany?”

“I
would find some way to stick it to them
both
,” said Orlov emphatically.

Karpov
thought about that for some time as they walked, and when they had reached the
officer’s mess, he leaned close and gave Orlov a quiet order. “When we finish
up here, Chief, I think it best we put some men to work and remove any obvious insignia
on the ship. Pull down the ensigns as well. Just as a precaution.” He forced a
weak smile.