“He’ll get to his world, the one he came from, and you’ll get to the original meridian,” said Fedorov, trying to put this issue to rest.
“Perhaps, but I’ve already seen that world. I told you I went up the stairway at Ilanskiy and it wasn’t very pleasant. Someone dropped a nuke on Kansk, so I get a nice little hell if I do this, a demotion from Admiral and head of the Free Siberian State, to a lowly Captain in the midst of World War Three.”
“It’s either that or we get to the dirty business here,” said Gromyko. He had been silent all this time, but became increasingly annoyed with Karpov’s freewheeling attitude.
Karpov gave him a long look. “Do you really want to lock horns with me, Captain?” He leaned heavily on that last word, letting the other man know that he saw himself as something much more than a Captain by rank, and a cut well above Gromyko’s pay grade.
Gromyko remained cool, calmly folding his arms. “I could ask you the same question?”
“Look,” Fedorov intervened. “This gets us nowhere. Whatever we do, we have to reach an accord here. There are other fish to fry. We’ve got Ivan Volkov to deal with, and we’ve also got Orlov at large somewhere, so this may take some time. Orlov is likely to reappear and I think that must be at Ilanskiy, but we can’t know when. He might have shifted into 1944, or 1945. We have no way of knowing, nor can we go to those times to look for him.”
“Good,” said Karpov. “No wild bear hunt for Orlov this time. I agree that he will probably appear at Ilanskiy, and I’ve already set the watch for him there. That’s all we can do. As for Volkov, we will have to take stronger measures. I may agree to move forward, but I do not think Volkov will.”
“Then we will have to persuade him,” said Volsky, “and you, Mister Karpov, can be a most persuasive man. We both know that Kirov has special warheads. Kazan has them too. So we can be very persuasive.”
“My, Admiral, you’ve certainly changed colors concerning the nuclear option. What do you suggest, that we nuke Orenburg? I’ve considered that, but its nearly 2000 miles from the Arabian Sea, and over 1500 from the Persian Gulf. We would have to be in the Black Sea to do so. That’s under a thousand miles range, and even then I’d have to make the delivery with one of the KA-40s… Unless of course Gromyko has something with better range than my P-900s. Who knows, we might get lucky and catch Volkov at home.”
“Perhaps the threat alone would be sufficient,” said Volsky.
“If we make such a threat,” said Fedorov. “Then Volkov would probably abandon that city, and then we’d never find him.”
“Oh, I’ll find him,” said Karpov. “My man Tyrenkov is very clever. His network will turn up the location of a man like Volkov easily enough. He’s a head of state, and trying to run a war with his good friend Adolf Hitler. We’d find him.”
“And then just nuke the location? He’s not stupid. You know he would move as far north on his territory as possible to get out of range of any sea based attack. Besides, we’d kill a whole lot of other people if we do that, and who can say if those lives might matter a great deal to the future?”
“Don’t get squeamish on us now, Fedorov,” said Karpov.
“That’s not my being squeamish. It’s just common sense. We’ve already done terrible damage here. Perhaps it’s irreparable. Shouldn’t we try something a little less traumatic? If it’s true what you say, and Tyrenkov can locate Volkov, then a good sniper might be the best way to proceed. Let’s use a needle to stitch away this problem, not a hammer.”
“I suppose you have a point there,” said Volsky. “Very well, but will we give this man an opportunity to come along of his own accord?”
“Volkov?” Karpov laughed at that. “No, I think he is too rooted here to give up his Orenburg Federation.”
“I see,” said Volsky. “And are you ready to give up your Free Siberian State?”Karpov gave him a narrow eyed stare.
Chapter 24
Admiral Kita looked over the results for some time. The vote was in from every ship, and there were two questions on the ballot. The first was answered with an almost unanimous vote in the affirmative—shall we use this task force to find and destroy the Russian ship Kirov? There was no question that the crew wanted that resolved, and they were ready for the battle that decision might bring. It was what they had trained for, and what they would be doing now if Kirov were at large in their own time to threaten Japan’s interests.
The second question was more difficult—assuming we prevail against Kirov, shall we use the power remaining to us to further the aims of Japan in this war? A ‘No” vote will prompt us to withdraw from the theater and remain neutral, allowing this history to proceed without further interference. After asking permission to do so, Fukada had campaigned on every ship to try and persuade the crews to see that they must support Japan. He was very persuasive, but even so, the results were close.
In the end, the measure passed by only five percentage points. The vote to withdraw and remain neutral was 47 percent, with 53% carrying the motion to give Japan a most unexpected offering, and a very powerful weapon of war. Those who opposed that choice were resigned to support the decision of the majority, slim as it may be. All had reservations, and most were still in the fog of disbelief, but they would muddle through just as so many others beset with this dilemma had done so before them. Yet the choice they made that day would count for much, in this world and those that might come after it.
When the decision was finally announced, Admiral Kita convened a meeting of all senior officers to plan strategy. In addition to Harada and Fukada, there were Captains Shoji Yoshida off the Akagi, Ichiro Akino from Atago, Kenji Namura from Kirishima, Hiroji Asano from Kongo, Hideo Hironake from the escort destroyer Takao, Daishin Shima from the destroyer Kurama, and lastly, Arimoto Tachino off the fleet replenishment ship Omi. The first item on the agenda was whether or not they would operate autonomously, independent of the prevailing Japanese authority.
“We are expected to escort that tanker out there to Yokohama,” said Harada. “Those were orders we received from Yamamoto himself.”
The Admiral wanted to be very careful here. His instinct was not to concede his authority to the men of this era. “Concerning those orders,” he said flatly, “they are cancelled until we reach a decision here as to how we wish to proceed. It is my opinion that this task force should remain independent, particularly during any operation that involves direct conflict with the Russians.”
“I will second that,” said Harada. “We told Yamamoto that we would answer to him, and do all in our power to serve. Yet when it came down to it, the presence of WWII era ships and planes in the engagement served more as a hindrance than anything else. They were just targets Karpov could hold hostage, ships and lives we felt compelled to defend.”
“Should we then inform Admiral Yamamoto that you will not arrive at Yokohama as ordered?”
“If I may, sir, I think I can handle that directly. But this raises the larger question of whether or not we should fully reveal ourselves to the men of this era. At present, there are only a very few officers of rank who know the truth concerning our identity. Many others have seen our ship, and seen us in combat. Knowledge of our advanced radars and weaponry are no longer a secret, even though it may remain a mystery largely spread by rumors. The fact is, the men of this era have already seen what Kirov can do, because that ship has been here for a very long time. We believe they may think of our missile technology as prototypes arising from a secret weapons program, and since Japan is already designing its own rocket weapons, that belief is given credence.”