“No sir, the ship was engineered and built in Japan, as I have said. But if I may ask… You say a Russian ship attacked the Kido Butai?”
“That information is classified,” said Ugaki, casting a furtive glance at Yamamoto.
“Under the circumstances,” said the Admiral, “I believe we can safely divulge this to the Captain. Yes, our carriers, and aircraft, were hunted by these naval rockets, just as you described a moment ago. Hiryu was lost, and both Kaga and Akagi damaged before Nagumo was able to break off and evade further contact—though he reports we never saw the ship that fired these weapons.”
Harada looked at his First Officer, both men finding this story hard to swallow. Yet here they were, about to feed Yamamoto a lump of concrete truth that would sit in his gut from this moment on. Everything was topsy-turvy in this world now. Krakatoa had apparently erupted here just days ago, when that had clearly not happened in 1942. And now here was the Commanding Officer of the Combined Fleet telling him that a Russian ship had sunk the carrier Hiryu.
“Our carriers were struck by rockets?”
“Correct,” said Yamamoto. “So it is clear that our enemies have these weapons as well. To find we now have them is a great relief, yet I for one cannot imagine how this ship could ever have been built in the shipyards of Nagasaki, or anywhere else in Japan.”
“You say it was built there,” said Admiral Ugaki, “and then in the next breath you contradict yourself and tell us this technology is beyond our capability to engineer. Which is it? Why do I have the unsettling feeling that you are hiding the real truth concerning this ship? Yes, every man aboard here is clearly Japanese, but it has occurred to me that this ship could have also been built by the Russians, and that you and your entire crew could be infiltrators, intending only to come boldly into the tiger’s den like this, and with a motive or mission we have yet to discover.”
“Sir,” said Harada, “I do not think the Russians of this day would possess anything remotely like the technology and weapons we have shown you. Yes, the Russians are beginning to develop missile technology, but it could in no way compare with ours.”
“I beg to differ,” said Yamamoto. “Admiral Nagumo claimed that our planes were struck by rockets, just as you demonstrated. And only a few days ago, there was another engagement off Kamchatka in the Sea of Okhotsk. There we had two ships also struck by these naval rockets, and both so badly damaged that they will not be useful again for years, if ever.”
Again Harada looked quickly at Fukada, and the two men were now concerned. They knew that no Russian ship of this era would possess that kind of missile technology. Then Harada thought about that damn volcano, the impossible fact of his very own presence here, speaking with Isoroku Yamamoto. Earlier he had wondered about the disappearance of the Russian battlecruiser when the Demon Volcano erupted. They had all thought the Russians were lost at sea in that event, but now the possibility that they might have experienced the same fate as Takami bloomed darkly in the Captain’s mind. The Russians…. A ship with advanced missiles shooting down planes and sinking Japanese ships…. He needed more information.
“What makes you think it was a Russian ship that attacked your carriers?”
“Because we were forewarned,” said Yamamoto. “The Siberians made impossible demands of us, and when they were ignored, Siberia declared war the moment we struck the Americans at Pearl Harbor. This Vladimir Karpov is quite headstrong, quite brash, but he has apparently made good on his threats with the unexpected attack on our garrisons in Kazantochi.”
“Where did you say you were attacked?”
“Kazantochi. The Siberians once called it Kamchatka, and apparently that will be its name again now, until we take it back, as we certainly will. This is also highly classified, and no one in the homeland knows a word of it, but we have lost that entire peninsula to the Siberians, and nearly lost Mutsu and Chikuma trying to stop their surprise invasion. That was my fault. We should have heeded the warnings and been more vigilant. Soon we will move with much stronger forces and settle the matter. If the Siberians do have a ship in the north, then they most likely got it from the Russians. Their use of naval rockets in the Atlantic has now been well documented.”
That was all a lot to take in, and Yamamoto ended up stealing their thunder for a while as they considered it. At this point, neither Harada nor Fukada had any knowledge of how badly fractured the history was by 1942. They had no idea that the Soviet Union was divided, no knowledge of the Orenburg Federation, no idea that Japan had been sitting on Siberian soil for decades, and now controlled Vladivostok. Yet one thing Yamamoto had said struck Harada, and he asked about it.
“That Russian you mentioned a moment ago—what was his name again?”
“Vladimir Karpov, and he is Siberian, the head of the Free Siberian State in fact.”
Harada looked at Fukada, a question evident on his face. “Pinch me again,” he said under his breath, “but wasn’t that the name of the Russian Captain who tangled with the American 7th Fleet?”
“Yes sir—Karpov. I can show you the SITREP we received on that engagement before the Russian flotilla went missing.”
“Very interesting….” Harada needed to think, needed time to digest this, but he could see that Ugaki was watching them closely, a look of suspicion and impatience on his face. At that moment, a junior officer came up, saluting, and leaned in to say something to the Captain.
“How far out?” said Harada.
“Sir, we have them inbound at 180 kilometers, and about 35 minutes out at their present speed.”
“Very well, come to air alert one, and sound action stations.”
Out of the blue, he thought. This whole insane scenario is exactly that. Now what in God’s name is out there?
“Admiral, would there be any friendly aircraft inbound to Davao at the present time? I have just been informed of an airborne contact approaching from the south.”
“From the South?” Yamamoto looked at his Chief of Staff.
“We have a squadron at Ambon,” said Ugaki, “but it has only just arrived and has been awaiting delivery of aviation fuel.”
The alarm sounded and new screens lit up all around them, with the radar plot and contacts clearly indicated on the map. Fukada pointed to one screen close enough for the Admirals to see, and noted the projected course line indicating the heading of the inbound contacts.
“They must be American bombers flying from Darwin,” said Ugaki. “They struck here last week as well, which is why I advised against this meeting here. If Imamura wanted to speak with you, he should have come to Rabaul. Perhaps the Americans learned of our presence here—of Yamato’s arrival, which may have been reported by enemy coast watchers still operating from these islands. This was risky, and now we see the cost.”
“Everything we do in this war will entail risk,” said Yamamoto quietly. “But if this Captain makes good on his boast, we should be in no danger. Yes?” He looked at Captain Harada, who realized that the challenge had been thrown to him now, and with each minute those contacts were drawing ever nearer.