“Captain,” said Fedorov. “I have no designs on making a career in the Siberian airship fleet, nor did I really come here to relieve you. I am Captain Anton Fedorov, off the battlecruiser Kirov, presently operating off Sakhalin Island. I just need your ship to get to Ilanskiy.”
“Battlecruiser Kirov—that’s the ship we’ve heard all the rumors about. Men say it has the Japanese all riled up. I’ve had the watch over Lake Baikal for three months, and they’ve doubled down on their troop deployments there, that’s for sure. So you need my ship? Why not fly off in that contraption you came in on?”
“It hasn’t got the range. We’ve already come all this way from the Sea of Okhotsk, and can go no further. So I need this airship, but I’ll want your cooperation in managing it, and your crew. I can navigate, but I’m no airship Captain, rest assured. I don’t want your job.”
“Mother of God,” said Symenko, a light of understanding in his eyes now. “You’ve gone and pulled a fast one on his lordship, is that so? It’s true that he wants the lot of you rounded up and hauled off to Irkutsk, isn’t it.”
“Is that where he wanted us? It doesn’t surprise me, but I have another mission, and it simply won’t wait. Now… I’ll need this airship turned around and headed to Ilanskiy—right now. Will you give the order on that telephone to the bridge? If not, I’ll have to send Sergeant Troyak and Mister Orlov here to see that it gets done, and that could get… uncomfortable. You get me to Ilanskiy, and this ship is yours to do whatever you please, but now please. Give that order.” He gestured to the telephone.”
“He says please, does he? No pistol at my head, is it? I rather like your style, Captain. Why are you so hot and bothered to get to Ilanskiy, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Later. I’ll explain everything on the way there.” He waited.
“You realize you’ll meet his Lordship there, and aboard that bloody fleet flagship of his—Tunguska.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
“And if he doesn’t take a fancy to my docking on the tower?”
“I’ll deal with that later. For now, Captain, if you please?”
Symenko gave him a narrow eyed smile. “You starting your own private war with Karpov out here? Good luck, Captain. Alright. I’ll give the order, so long as you have one of those Marines point a rifle my way. I’ll need to say it was done under duress, you understand. Because Karpov will want to see me about what happens here, won’t he, and I can’t very well just say I ferried you out here because you asked me so nicely.”
Symenko reached for the telephone and rang up the bridge. “Helmsman, this is the Captain. Come about and resume our original plotted course to Kansk. 3000 meters, and ahead full.”
Over 1800 kilometers to the west at Novosibirsk, Vladimir Karpov was clearly not happy. He had just received an emergency action message from his elder brother aboard Kirov. The planned rendezvous at Ilanskiy was cancelled. Instead he was to take Tunguska southeast to Irkutsk, but not until he could post a strong airship patrol over Ilanskiy. It had come in on the radio, and his brother had explained the problem.
“I’m still at Novosibirsk,” he said to the Siberian. “We were going to leave for Ilanskiy at 18:00 tomorrow.”
“Well, leave now,” his brother self insisted. “It’s Fedorov. You were right, brother. We can’t trust that bastard.”
“Fedorov? What has he done this time?”
“He’s up to his old tricks again.” The Siberian explained what had happened, and what he had ordered Symenko on the Irkutsk to do. “No one goes down that stairway at Ilanskiy. Understand? And we’ll need a strong airship patrol there.”
“That business with Angara got your dander up?” said the younger self. “Did you get my report on the wreckage? There was clear evidence they were hit with large caliber rounds.”
“Yes, yes, we can go over that later. For now, Ilanskiy must be adequately garrisoned against any similar incursion, and I want you to round up Fedorov and the others.”
“The others?”
“Orlov is with him, and Troyak with four Marines.”
“I see… That won’t be easy, brother. Troyak could be a problem.”
“Don’t worry about it, they are all already under custody on the Irkutsk. Just get over there, and bring the whole lot to our new base at Okha on Sakhalin island. We’ll talk privately there, and I’ll fill you in on all the details.”
“Alright, but I’ll need to take on more fuel. It’s 1400 kilometers to Irkutsk from here, but I can leave in two hours.”
“And Ilanskiy?”
“I have Riga and Narva with me. I’ll send them both.”
So even as Fedorov sped west towards Ilanskiy, Tunguska would be heading the opposite direction towards Irtutsk. Narva and Riga were much closer to Ilanskiy at Novosibirsk, but they were both in the process of replenishing, and planned to leave in two hours. It was going to take Fedorov just under 18 hours to reach Ilanskiy, and even with their delayed departure, those two airships would reach their defensive posting in just eight hours.
Miles to the north, another airship drifted through the grey mist over a long winding river. Hauptmann Karl Linz was studying his charts as he peered at the river below. They had been following the Yenisei for some time, waiting for it to branch off to the east in the Angara. If they continues south, it would take them to Krasnoyarsk, and only about 120 kilometers west of Kansk. But that route was always closely watched by flights of roving aircraft from the fields near Krasnoyarsk. Taking the Angara tributary would see them moving almost due east, about 230 to 250 kilometers north of Kansk. A good compass was all he needed to navigate south, and they had scouted the route earlier.
He was following charts that had been provided to him by Otto Kluge, the Kapitan of Fafnir, for he was commander of her sister ship, Fraenir, out on its maiden voyage.
Kluge got an airship out here on his first sortie, he thought. Maybe I’ll get lucky too. His chart says to follow this river and look for a knob like bend at the small village of Pinchuga. That’s where I make my turn. Perhaps we’ll sneak into Ilanskiy and give them a nasty little surprise.
What he did not know at that moment, was that a pair of good fighting battleships were already en route to Ilanskiy on Karpov’s orders, and when he got there the reception was likely to be none too cordial, particularly after the loss of the Angara. Even so, the presence of this massive new German airship was going to factor heavily in what was now to happen. Karpov’s bombing run over Germany would have repercussions he could have never imagined when he first ordered the bombs to fall.
As for Fedorov, he realized that he would likely meet opposition at Ilanskiy, both in the air and on the ground. So he had no intention of trying to take the airship in close to the town. He would leave it to Symenko, and take to the ground east of Ilanskiy, along the same route they had once planned for their raid. There was a full Siberian Division at Ilanskiy now, and that became his next problem. He would now be trying to do what Ivan Volkov, and all his legions and airships had failed to do over a long year of struggle. But they had slipped in once before, and with Troyak, they would try once again. Everything depended on them doing so successfully, or so he believed, even though his nemesis, Karpov, saw things in an entirely different light.