“We’ll have to wait until our friends pop smoke for a more detailed sighting, but the preliminary coordinates are as follows.”
Ryan punched in the numbers on the directory system. It had taken him three full minutes to decipher the Cyrillic language, but he finally saw the small diagram that explained it all.
“Preliminary coordinates entered.”
“Okay, now we wait.”
Ryan looked at the two marines.
“If we lose our landing party, I think it only fair to warn you gentlemen that I intend to use those shells against the submarine out there.”
“Look, Commander,” the oldest of the two marines said, “we were shown film once of the old Missouri shooting those big bloody guns of hers — they are quite devastating. I don’t see why we don’t do things the old way.”
“What’s that?” Ryan asked curiously as he saw the smile on the face of the marine take shape.
“Two of these monstrous things will kill every fish man in that area. The concussion alone would kill them. If that is the case, why don’t we save the third shell for our unwanted guest?”
The smile became infectious as Ryan raised the radio to his lips and called Everett and informed him of their new plan.
Someone was going to get shot.
The two men faced each other, and not a word was said between them. Even as Salkukoff’s men gathered up the remaining weapons of the ship’s defenders, men from both forces became silent and hateful. Jack had been worried that the Russian had seen Carl and the others vanish, but thus far, Salkukoff gave no indication that he had. Thus far, the commandos had rounded up seventy-five men in varying states of injuries and anger. The Russian sailors were particularly having a hard time facing the very countrymen who had stabbed them in the back. One of these came close to being executed as he refused to raise his hands to be searched.
“I may assume your Master Chief Jenks and Professor Ellenshaw are in the phase shift engine spaces?” Salkukoff said as he stepped closer to Jack. “Ask them to secure the space and join us, please.”
Jack raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t know what Salkukoff was speaking of.
The Russian nodded toward one of his men. The Russian sailor he grabbed could not have been more than nineteen years of age. Collins and Farbeaux knew what was coming, and they also knew they had to talk as the hammer of the Makarov clicked back as the boy was sent to his knees.
“One more time, ask Dr. Ellenshaw and the master chief to join us, please.”
Collins allowed his eyes to move from the frightened boy to those of Salkukoff.
“Both men are dead. The engine spaces are empty. We had everyone above decks fighting your creatures.”
Salkukoff studied the American for the untruth that would surely be there. He seemed satisfied as he nodded for his men to secure the phase shift engine. The Russian sailor was released.
“Is that what you do now, Colonel — kill all of those in the path of your plans?” Jack asked as he heard sounds coming from the number-three turret and tried his best to cover the noise with his own words.
“The sacrifice of some for the greater good is always acceptable. You know the old tale, Colonel Collins. Or are you that twisted inside that you cannot recognize your own shortcomings?”
“I recognize them and have come to embrace them. But one thing I don’t do is turn on my allies — or my own people, for that matter. You, sir, do. A traitor to his country and fellow soldiers is the lowest form of life and always has been.”
“Noble speak, that is what I like to call it, and that is the particular reason your nations have always been vulnerable: the illusion that you are the force of good in our world. There is no such force, Colonel. And today it will be explained to you in no uncertain terms.” Salkukoff moved away and faced Farbeaux. “Treason, as the old saying goes, is a matter of dates, am I right, Colonel Farbeaux?”
Henri, to his benefit, remained silent.
“Why did you attack our ships?” Jack asked as he again heard more noises coming from the turret and from below, where the carousel and elevator to the armory began to move, transporting powder bags and shells to the turret itself. He knew he needed more time.
“Colonel, it is obvious to those who know how to rule with an iron fist. We cannot have witnesses to our dealings here. Blue diamonds are only a rumor, at least according to you Americans. No one can know how many we have collected. But alas, our mission here has come to an end, and now we have accounts to settle. Even our own people will be forever expendable in the constant endeavor to overcome the failings of our shared Russian history. Yes, they did their duty but will go down as merely missing at sea.” He smiled. “Just as yourselves and your brave Shiloh. An unfortunate way of doing business, I’m afraid, but a necessary one. My associates are now ready to make our move into the world, and you, sir, stand in the way of that. You and all these men. It was a fluke of science that brought us here, but that is why I will attribute that luck to destiny. It is our destiny to move now against the West.”
Jack watched over the Russian’s shoulder as both Peter the Great and Shiloh continued to fight for their lives. Salkukoff saw this, and again he smiled.
“As soon as we conclude our business here, we will sink both ships. A shame, but again, very necessary.”
“Why didn’t you attack Simbirsk?” Farbeaux spoke up for the first time.
Salkukoff laughed as he watched several of the dead defenders of Simbirsk unceremoniously jettisoned over the side.
“I think if given the time, your amazing master chief and your small portable computer, of which I must get a copy, would have figured it out. Our Captain Kreshenko was quickly becoming wise to our only vulnerability.”
“You can’t lock onto this world. You need the constant appearance and disappearance of Simbirsk to lock on to. You can’t duplicate your own science, just like we Americans couldn’t do it in the Philadelphia navy yard in ’43. If you tried to go it alone without Simbirsk, you would randomly come out wherever the phase shift sent you. You can’t duplicate the frequency. USS Eldridge had the same frequency, and when you stole the design, you inadvertently dialed the phase shift to the same frequency.”
“Your Jenks was getting close when he realized that the frequency of any phase shift engine is completely random. It all has to be precise to be useful; otherwise, you end up in even far more hostile worlds than this one. But since we could only come here with any hope of return, thanks to Simbirsk, we had no choice. The blue diamonds were found, and we used the constant phase shifting of Simbirsk to hitch a ride, if you will. Why she never powers down is still a mystery, but she’s become erratic, just as you saw in the North Atlantic, and that was the reason we are pulling the plug, as you Americans say. We didn’t expect her to produce the hurricane the way she did. Something is starting to fail in the phase shift engine. It’s deteriorating at an alarming speed. Her power is shifting our very atmospheric conditions. This is why we were caught off guard when she appeared in the North Atlantic. She has now outlived her usefulness. When she is powered up and we hitch our last ride home with her, she will immediately be scuttled in the deepest part of the Atlantic. And then, because of our missions to this world, we will be on an equal footing where blue diamonds are concerned.”
“And how many innocent sailors were wasted in your attempts to find other frequencies?” Henri asked.