“Yes, but we haven’t confirmed that. What if they are Japanese planes?”
“You’ve already heard Ugaki on that, and if they are American bombers, they would probably be B-17s. I did some reading and found they had a squadron based at Del Monte Airfield here on Mindanao with B-17s. They evacuated to Batchelor Field near Darwin, and began bombing Japanese shipping near Davao, sometimes even landing there at Del Monte until we finally took that field.”
Harada had a pained expression on his face, and Fukada gave him a long look. “What’s the matter?”
“We’re about to cross a real bridge here if we engage.”
“What else can you do Captain? If you let those planes come in, and we just sit here and do nothing, then we’ll look weak, and everything we’ve said to these men will go out the window. It’s a matter of face. Beyond that, if one of those planes gets lucky….”
Harada nodded, taking a long breath. “Very well,” he said. The decision was his, and that was why the Captain’s stripes were on his uniform. This was what he got paid for, but the thought that he was now going to use American made radars and missiles to shoot down American bombers was still unsettling. He realized that if he engaged, the course they were on would pull them inexorably into this war as an active combatant on the side of Japan. There were still so many unanswered questions here….
“Karpov,” he said quickly, on eye on the contact radar track. “Could that be the Russian Captain?”
“It might be a coincidence,” said Fukada. “But what was all that about the Free Siberian State? That’s the same stuff Ensign Shiota has been hearing on the radio broadcast intercepts. She even monitored news out of Japan, and the Admiral was correct in what he said. As far as the homeland is concerned, they’re getting a much different story than the one we just heard, but there has been news about open hostilities between Siberia and Japan. I couldn’t make any sense of it, but then again, nothing that has happened in the last week has made any sense.”
“Hiryu sunk….” Harada’s eyes darkened. “And by naval rocket attack. We know damn well the Russians of this era would have nothing in 1942 that could do that. Did you catch what Yamamoto said? He claimed there was a Russian ship in the Atlantic too, with confirmed use of rocket tech. What is this all about?”
“I haven’t any idea,” said Fukada.
“What if it’s that damn Russian battlecruiser?”
“You mean Kirov?”
“Yes, the same ship commanded by this Captain Karpov. I heard he was running his mouth for a good long while before they came to blows with the Americans. The word was that he and the American Captain Tanner had a little chat before the missiles went hot. Then that volcano erupts, and the Russians just flat out disappear. I got hold of some intel on that after it happened. The Americans slipped in a sub to look for the Russian flotilla, but there wasn’t a sign. They just flat out vanished, no wreckage of any kind, and nothing on the seabed. Frankly, nobody on the American side believed they were sunk, and so they started snooping up north for them in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Russians had a deep sea submersible operating up there. Some hotshot picked it up on a satellite.”
“Well did they ever find the Russian flotilla?”
“No. There was not a sign or whisper of them after that eruption. Now look at us here, about to take dinner and tea with Admiral Yamamoto…”
“Alright,” said Fukada. “Suppose the same thing did happen to the Russians. Let’s suppose that’s Kirov up north beating up on our fleet. If they showed up here, who knows when, they certainly decided who’s side they were going to be on easily enough. They were our enemy in 2021, and it looks like that holds true here as well. If that’s the case, then what are we going to do about it? You still want to sail off to Argentina and try to play this out being a neutral? Yamamoto just said they were getting ready to send a much stronger force up north. If that is Kirov, you know damn well what will happen next. You were just bragging about our capabilities to the Admirals. Well, we both know that Russian battlecruiser is one tough ship. This is going to get ugly, and hell, for that matter, those contacts will be on us inside thirty minutes.”
Harada nodded gravely. “They’ve seen the dazzle here in the CIC. I was about to explain the rest when this business concerning the Russians came up and threw me off my stride. Yet I don’t see any way around it now.”
While the Captain was away, Ugaki took the time to voice his own concerns with Yamamoto. “Who are these men?” he said emphatically. “They are certainly not in the naval intelligence network. They seemed to know nothing of what has transpired these last weeks. Then they appear here out of nowhere. Well, who sent them? Why do they insist on this meeting, and what is the real motive behind all this glitter they have shown us?”
“This is all very strange,” said Yamamoto, “particularly this command center. Have you ever seen anything remotely like this equipment?”
“Never, but it could all be theater. Yes, we saw them shoot down that target plane, but I find their other claims hard to believe. How could they have all these advanced radars and weapons without the navy knowing it? And that assertion that this ship was built in the shipyards of Nagasaki is certainly a lie. You and I both know that much.”
“A real mystery here,” said Yamamoto. “And I have the persistent feeling that they are holding something back. We have not yet heard their whole story.”
“But we have certainly heard them boast. If that radar is real, and there are airborne contacts headed this way, then they are undoubtedly American bombers. How convenient that this should happen now, while we are both here on this ship, away from Yamato. Admiral—this could be a trap!”
Chapter 27
Captain Harada could feel the tension in the room when he returned with Fukada. Ugaki was looking at him with dark eyed suspicion again, and he did not fail to notice the man’s hand had strayed to the hilt of the samurai sword at his waist. It was clear he still remained unconvinced, but here was a moment of truth, a well timed crises that was bringing everything to the edge of a very precipitous cliff. He knew he could not hesitate here, not show weakness, and that in coming to Davao, requesting this audience, he had cast the fate of his ship and crew to the winds of this war.
And there could no longer be a question as to which side they were on. Lieutenant Otani’s warnings about the monsters inside many of these men were well taken, but they had come to this man, Yamamoto, knowing the caliber of his character. Were they foolish to think his power and prestige alone could set the war onto a new course that might avoid the years of bitter fighting, and the millions of deaths yet to come?
One thing was certain—if he could not impress Yamamoto that Takami was a war winner, then this whole mission was fruitless, and they would have done better to beach the ship and burn it, as he had mused earlier when this question first came up. He could sense the urgency in Fukada, and knew his First Officer had already made his own choice, and now he was urging him to do the same. The pressure was mounting, and he also couldn’t forget that Yamato was out there, with a forward turret trained their way, effectively holding the entire ship quite literally at gunpoint to serve Admiral Ugaki’s suspicions. Yet once I engage here….
Another long minute passed, and then he nodded to Fukada, moving back towards the Admirals where they were closely watching him, their attention sometimes pulled to the dazzling screens and displays of instrument panels lit up by rows of lights.