Men of War (2013) (41 page)

“There’s
another way, sir.
Kirov
is not the only ship with nuclear reactors. The
Anatoly
Alexandrov
is in the Caspian Sea at this very moment and it operates two
KLT-40B naval propulsion reactors—the exact same power rating as
Kirov
.”

“
Anatoly
Alexandrov?”
Karpov raised an eyebrow in surprise. “That’s just a floating
nuclear power facility. It was delivered via the rail quay at Kaspiysk to
Gazprom for use in its Kashagan superfield offshore drilling operation. But I
don’t even think it is crewed at the moment.” Karpov knew much about the
operation as he had been a former executive in Gazprom before coming to the
navy.

“Precisely,
sir. It’s fully functional, but not yet scheduled for operations—and with no
crew on site it is just perfect for what I have planned. All we would have to
do is send Dobrynin and a few engineers with a security team from the ship.
It’s anchored about ten kilometers off Kaspiysk harbor, and that is only about
120 kilometers south of Kizlyar! We can fly Rod-25 to
Uytash
airfield at Kaspiysk tonight. We have a coast guard base there, hovercraft,
helos, the entire 77th Guard Naval Marine force at our disposal. If the Admiral
orders it, we could easily commandeer the
Anatoly Alexandrov
, secretly
install Rod-25, and it would shift the entire facility back. It displaces only
21,500 tons, which is less than
Kirov
. Perhaps we could move one of the
new assault landing ships at Kaspiysk. I believe the
Lt.
Rimskiy
is stationed there. It can range out to 1000 kilometers, requires only a small
six man crew, and can transport 140 tons—a fast hovercraft, a helicopter, or
even tanks! If you moved it tight on the
Alexandrov
, I think those
reactors will shift it back as well. That would give our Marines a fast mobile
platform for the extraction mission, and a few surprises inside in case we run
into trouble. You can signal your arrival by radio and home in on us. We can
meet you anywhere on the Caspian coast!”

“Amazing,”
said Volsky. “You have the whole mission planned!”  He sat with that for a
moment, thinking, and realizing that as wild as the operation seemed, they had
to try.

“Very
well…It’s decided. You have your mission, Fedorov, but why not launch it from
the
Alexandrov?
Why risk the long journey east from here?”

“It
will take time to set things up in the Caspian, Admiral”

“Yes,
perhaps several days, even a week.”

“But
I can leave tonight from here. Yes, it makes for a long, hard journey in 1942,
but if I don’t act immediately the situation could change here with these
recent developments. A week from now who knows what we will be facing? We
should act immediately, sir. This way I can verify the day of our arrival with
a letter as planned. We know the approximate time we might displace to from
the  Engineering Center, but not so with the
Alexandrov.
”

“Suppose
you appear in September of 1942 as with Markov, but the
Alexandrov
shifts to a different date, perhaps in 1943 or 1944? Or not at all?”

“These
are the risks we will have to accept, Admiral. If the relief force shifts late,
then we wait for you. If you never come…Well, I will write you a long letter
about us.” Fedorov smiled, but it was clear that he knew all too well that this
might be the last night he would ever see the world he had been born to, or at
least the semblance of that world, changed as it was, a chameleon of time and
fate.

“Very
well,” said Volsky heavily. “Go to the test bed facility and call me on a
secure line when you are ready. On my command have Dobrynin run the procedure.
I will issue orders immediately and Dobrynin can then lead a team with one or
two engineers and a Marine detachment from the ship. They’ll be on a plane for
the Caspian region tonight. Admiral
Kamilov
is an old
friend—he commands the Caspian Flotilla and I can arrange for everything
Dobrynin will need when they get there. The remainder of the Ship’s marine
detachment will go with him as well. The whole thing will be a top secret
operation, and make that stick.”

“Thank
you sir!”

“Don’t
thank me yet, Fedorov. We may never see you again.”

“We’ll
win through, sir. I can feel it.”

“I
believe you…and may God go with you, but what if this mission fails, and you
are trapped there in the past?”

“I’ve
considered that, sir, and I have a solution.”

“What
solution? What will you do?”

“We
will have to end our lives…. It sounds terrible, but it would be the only way.”

Neither
man said anything. Volsky rubbed his brow, then spoke softly, a sadness in his
voice. “Orlov heard the siren’s song, and now we follow. We jump right
overboard even though we see the bleached skulls on the shore. But the end of
that song is too often death. Let us hope you and the others do not have to pay
that price.”

He
looked down to the harbor, saw the
Admiral Lazarev
again, breathing
deeply. “This leaves the ship free to do what we must in the here and now.” He
turned to face Karpov.

 “As
for you, Captain, you are going to lead the Red Banner Pacific Fleet out
tonight. Weather conditions have been worsening and it looks like we will have
a storm on our hands. It will keep prying eyes in space from following our
deployment. I’ve recalled
Admiral Golovk
o and
Orlan
, a couple of
new ships to keep
Kirov
company. You’ll also have the cruiser
Varyag
,
four
Udaloy
class destroyers and our best attack submarine in escort,
the
Kazan
. The rest of our submarines have already deployed in a wide
arc east of Japan.”

He
reached for a map to show Karpov his plan. “We will use the storm front for
cover. Your mission will be to rendezvous with the
Admiral Kuznetsov
,
add those four ships to your flotilla, and then we thump our chest. There won’t
be another surface action group within a thousand miles with the firepower you
have at your disposal, and you’ll have carrier based air power and anything
else we can give you from our airfields. You will be the most formidable force
at sea, so while Fedorov is on his way to the history books, you will take
Kirov
and lead the fleet north of Hokkaido to the Kuriles. You are acting Task Group
Commander. Understood?”

“Very
well, sir.” Karpov sat taller, the pride in his eyes evident.

“You
are to conduct operations intended to make a show of force, but not to provoke
or engage our adversaries. If you find the flotilla under direct and immediate
threat, then you will take appropriate offensive and defensive measures
utilizing conventional weapons only. I repeat. No use of tactical nuclear
weapons is authorized. You will have them, but you must not use them unless you
receive a direct order to do so. Is that clear?”

“I
understand, sir.”

“Other
than that, you have complete discretion as to how to employ your force to achieve
our ends. Deter the enemy, and if he will not be deterred, then oppose him, but
realize every missile you fire may be the one that sets off this war in
earnest. Then the ICBMs fly. Remember, Karpov, if a nuclear warhead is your
only tactical option, then your battle has already been lost, and the fleet
with it. I believe you, of all men now walking this earth, know the hard truth
of that. In fact, you are the only man in this world now who has ever ordered
the use of a nuclear weapon in anger. Let us hope that first time was the
last.”

Karpov
nodded, his eyes serious, realizing what the Admiral meant all too well. “Rely
on me, sir. I will not let you down.”

“I
will rely on you both, as I did before when I could not stand on these old legs
and was stuck there with Zolkin in the sick bay. The world is on your shoulders
now, gentlemen, not just the fate of the ship. God go with you both.”

* * *

That
night Fedorov met with Sergeant Kandemir Troyak and two Marine volunteers,
Corporals
Bukin
, and
Zykov
.
The four men moved slowly down the long corridor in the Primorskiy Engineering
Center, with Engineer Dobrynin following behind. When they reached the sealed
test bed facility, Dobrynin indicated a spot across the room where four chairs
waited in a zone he thought would be closer to the effect produced by the
reactor.

“I
still have no idea why this happens, Fedorov. Are you sure you want to try this
again?”

“We’re
determined, Dobrynin. Let’s get started. When we finish you will need all the
time left to you to get Rod-25 back aboard
Kirov
.”

“Very
well, I’ll initiate the procedure, and then move to the data center. I can use
those panels to monitor the reaction, and I think they are far removed from any
possible effects.” He turned and pointed above the door. “I had a technician
place a camera there, and I’ll be watching you throughout the procedure. Those
chairs are securely bolted to the floor, so you are the only free objects in
the room—you and your equipment.”

Dobrynin
shook their hands, and then the telecom panel on the wall sounded with a quiet
tone. It was Admiral Volsky wishing them well, and thanking each man for their
service.

“Don’t
forget to retrieve my letter, sir,” said Fedorov. “It’s very important. I will
note the time we arrive and the time you can hope to expect us at Vanino on the
coast.”

“Are
you sure it will remain undisturbed all those years?”

“I
have every confidence in that, sir”

“Very
well…Ride the Dragon’s back, Fedorov. We will do everything possible to come to
your aid. You may begin, Chief Dobrynin.”

Dobrynin
left to initiate the procedure, and then the wait began. The first hour seemed
to pass with agonizing slowness. The implacable Kandemir Troyak seemed
completely unbothered, quietly checking his equipment. He had spent many long
hours waiting like this, in cold helicopters chopping through the black night
for hours to a secret mission point. This was no different. The other two men
were equally cool, checking arms, ammunition reserve, supply packs, comm-link
system, and other things Fedorov had never seen.

For
his part Fedorov had a small map tube and compass for navigation, along with
other documents he had prepared. His pack carried high energy food sap pouches
and other food stores. He went into town the day before and bought up any old
rubles he could find released before 1942. They also had small ingots of gold
and silver to give them a little more buying power. Their clothing was warm,
packs remarkably light, as they had determined to live as much off the land itself
as possible.

Another
long hour passed, and Rod-25 was in retraction mode. Dobrynin’s voice reassured
them that all was well, and then they heard it. A distant sound, undulating,
shifting in tempo and pitch as Dobrynin’s voice faded into a garbled wash. The
sound increased, seeming more urgent as the volume amplified. The siren song of
time was calling to them, beckoning, tugging at their minds with an insistent
quality that seemed almost seductive. The light in the room fluttered. The men
stood and Fedorov looked down at the chairs, which seemed to suddenly fade in
and out—there, not there, and then they were gone.

Dobrynin
looked up at his monitor with a shocked expression. Where there had once been
four chairs and four men quietly waiting on them in the room, there were now
three empty chairs and one man standing by the fourth with an astonished look
on his face!

Chapter 32

 
The
nuclear attack submarine
Kazan
slipped quietly from its underground pen
at
Pavlovsk
Bay, restored to full operation for the
specific purpose of housing and supplying the deadly new submarines of its
class. There were only three, with
Severodvinsk
in the Northern Fleet
and
Yasen
in the Mediterranean, but they were
the best and quietest attack submarines Russia had ever designed. Four more had
been ordered, but the money never came and neither did the subs.

Kazan
left the base submerged, the thick overhead fog and low clouds also masking her
departure on infrared. The boat would be the tip of Karpov’s spear, a fast,
deadly forward scout heading east for the passage above Hokkaido Island. Within
the hour the ships of the Red Banner Pacific Fleet would follow in the cruising
order Karpov established: frigate
Admiral Golovko
, destroyer leader
Orlan
,
and cruiser
Varyag
would lead the way,
Kirov
would then follow
with the four
Udaloy
class destroyers in her wake. These eight ships
would rendezvous with the carrier
Admiral Kuznetsov
and her three
Krivak
class frigates—the twelve apostles of
Russia’s Red Banner Pacific Fleet were going to sea.

They
slipped out of the Golden Horn Harbor like a whisper in the night, passing
Russky Island and then turning east to skirt the coast and approach Fokino
where Admiral Volsky waited in his office, his eyes heavy with sadness as he
stared out into the foggy night. Then there came the distant call of a ship’s
horn, three long notes in the quiet night. Volsky recognized it at once, and
knew the fleet was now passing Askold Island just off the bay at Fokino.
Kirov
was signaling farewell.

The
telephone rang and he picked up the receiver with a slow, deliberate movement,
as if he was afraid to hear the news it might bring. It was the man he had sent
over to Naval Supply, Cellar 5, beneath the old Fleet Logistics Building on
Svetlanskaya Street. He had told him to call his office at midnight, and the
man was very punctual.
“Lieutenant
Kaslan
reporting, sir.”