Grand Alliance (Kirov Series) (13 page)

“It
will be my intention to target the capital ships,” said Volsky. “Past
experience has shown me that the shock of seeing a battleship on fire, with no
clear enemy on the horizon, can be quite disconcerting to the enemy. May I ask
if you know who commands the German Task Force?”

“Admiral
Lütjens, a cautious, professional officer. It was he who led the attack on our Faeroe
Island base very near the place we met, Admiral. He slipped away to Brest, and
from there down to Gibraltar once that fell into German hands. Now the best
ship in the German navy is here in the Mediterranean, a match for my own HMS
Invincible
,
as I daresay the
Normandie
would be as well. As for the Italians, they
have been somewhat timid at sea in the early going, but that seems to be
changing. They have strong new ships that we would be wise to respect.”

“Undoubtedly,”
said Cunningham. “But you say you suggest we use all our carrier borne aircraft
in a strike role, Admiral Volsky. May I remind you that the enemy air presence
will be thick as we approach Malta, and I’m given to understand that the
Germans have a carrier with the
Hindenburg
. If so, how will we protect
the fleet?”

“I’ll lend
a hand there,” Captain MacRae spoke up, “with assistance from
Kirov
.
We’ve a good magazine for air defense, nearly full, and I can extend a
defensive umbrella out over thirty kilometers with our
Sea Viper
system.”

“That
will be a good second line of defense,” said Volsky. “Our own S-400s have a
considerably longer range, so we can provide the initial salvos against any
incoming air strikes. Between the two of us, I believe we can adequately
discourage an enemy air strike, depending on its size. But it will be necessary
to coordinate on IFF codes. We should program each of our systems to treat all
missiles as friendly.”

“A good
point,” said MacRae. “I suppose we can send some people aboard your ship, or
vice versa, and take care of that.”

“Good
enough.”

They
worked out the details, and the Russians made ready to depart with Admiral
Cunningham. It was decided that they should rejoin the main British fleet and
move west at their earliest opportunity.

“Admiral
Tovey,” said Fairchild. “I wonder if I might have a word with you before you
depart.”

Tovey
gave her a knowing look, for he knew there were still things unsaid between
them that had not been covered in the briefing given by Director Kamenski.
After seeing Admiral Volsky off, he found himself in the relative quiet of the
Fairchild executive suite, politely removing his hat and taking the seat
offered.

“Well,”
he began. “You have been looking at me like I was a long lost uncle ever since
we met. What is it, Miss Fairchild?”

She
looked at him again, eyes full of uncertainty, then took the same tack that
Director Kamenski had used in his briefing and just came out with it.”

“Admiral…
There was no nuclear detonation anywhere near my ship, and yet here we are,
displaced to this time as
Kirov
was. We stated that in general terms
during the briefing, but the devil is in the details. I must tell you now that
the agent of our displacement is a peculiar device aboard my ship—one that I
was led to by a direct order from my superiors. In fact, I did not expect to
find what I did. Director Kamenski has told you how large detonations had a
secondary effect of fracturing the time continuum. What he has not told you is
that the Russians are capable of initiating a similar effect by utilizing the
nuclear reactors aboard their ship. Yet
Argos Fire
is not so equipped.
We have a pair of two Rolls-Royce gas turbines and diesel driven generators
providing what we call integrated electric propulsion—not nuclear propulsion.
So you might wonder how my ship came to be here.”

“You tell
me this device you mention has something to do with it,” said Tovey. “You say
you were led to the discovery by your superiors?”

“Yes
sir, by the G1 Watchstander at that time. His name isn’t important, but I
receive my orders on a secure communications link on the other side of that
bulkhead.” She pointed to her hidden office now. “I must tell you that when I
heard your voice in that first communication with the Russians, I was quite
relieved and surprised. Things might have gone badly otherwise, but it was more
than that. You see, I am a member of the group I believe you have just begun to
form here sir—a group known as the Watch by its members. The odd thing about
it, was that this dated from 1942 in the history I know. This business about
all this being an alternate history is quite daunting. So what was familiar and
well known to you, that Russia was fragmented into three states, was a great
surprise to me, and I have only just learned about it.”

“There
was something in the tea for all of us, or so it seems,” said Tovey by way of comforting
her. “Admiral Cunningham got the bitter dregs , no sugar and double lemon.”

“Yes
sir, and he also became a member of the Watch in the history I knew, as did the
other man you mentioned, Admiral Fraser. And you haven’t mentioned him, but I
know about Alan Turing. All Watchstanders are given the whole history when they
are inducted.”

“A
fascinating fellow,” said Tovey. “Yes, Turing and I have been thick as
thieves.”

“Well
now…. There is something else I must tell you about this device I mention.” She
reached into her pocket now, and produced what looked like a typewritten page,
handing it slowly to the Admiral. “I found this note in a compartment within
the device itself.”

Tovey
took the note and scanned the page quietly:
“Should you read this your mission
will have concluded as planned. Keep this device within a secure room aboard
Argos Fire at all times and it will serve to hold you in a safe nexus. As of
this moment, you are now Watchstander G1. Godspeed.”
His eye lingered on
the typewritten signature, his own name plain to see.

“Curious,”
said Tovey. “I have no recollection of ever writing this note, but seeing these
words now gives me an odd feeling that I did write this, odd as that may
sound.”

“Admiral,
there’s more to all this than I was able to share in our full meeting. This
device I was led to. I believe it did not originate in our own time. In fact, I
believe it was brought here from the future.”

“The
future? By whom?”

“I
haven’t determined that, but your name was on the list, as you can see by the
presence of that note there in the device itself.”

“Well,”
said Tovey. “I might also share something odd with you, Miss Fairchild. It
concerns our Mister Turing. It seems this isn’t the only piece of paper my name
has been put to. He told me he had come across something most unusual in the
archive at Bletchley Park.”

Most
unusual indeed, he thought. And he told her about the box of files, reports and
photographs, intelligence gathered in years he had not yet even lived—in 1941
and 1942, and yet his name, his signature, was right there on them all, and to
his great amazement.

“Turing
and I had a good long talk about those files. They had to come from somewhere,
and when I presented the matter to the Russians they believed the files might
have been brought here, just as you say that box was brought here, from the
future. Only I assumed that was from the time the Russians lived in. It never
occurred to me that this whole affair may go both directions—deep into the
future even as it has come here, into your past—our present.”

“Yes,”
said Elena. “Those fissures in time that Director Kamenski mentioned. What
makes us think they only move in one direction?” She folded her arms. “There it
is—that note was brought here by someone, right along with that device, and now
I need a good stiff drink! Care to join me?”

Chapter 11

The
Italians had not been
idle during the conference off Crete. By the time
Invincible
rejoined
the main battlegroup, fleet reconnaissance off the carrier
Eagle
had
spotted a large enemy force at sea southeast of Messina. At least six large
capital ships were reported, and though the British did not know the exact
ships involved, they were able to take a good guess. In fact, the battleships
Roma,
Venetto
and
Littoro
had just transited the Strait of Messina,
sailing to join
Andrea
Doria
,
Duilio
and
Conte Cavour
from Taranto, with four heavy cruisers, several light cruisers and fourteen
destroyers.

Far to the northwest, the Vichy
French would contribute another powerful fleet led by the pride of their navy,
the battleship
Normandie
, battlecruisers
Strasbourg
and
Dunkerque
,
with two heavy and four light cruisers, and ten destroyers. Admiral Jean de
Laborde was in command, a man who placed little faith in Darlan, liking him
even less. Yet he also loathed the British, and the actions off Mers el Kebir
and Dakar had made him a determined foe.

Strong enough on its own this
second fleet was even more potent with the addition of the Germans task force
arriving from Gibraltar. Admiral Lütjens still sailed independently, but he was
within close supporting distance to the French fleet with
Bismarck
and
Hindenburg
,
escorted by their light carrier
Goeben
and the new fast battlecruiser
Kaiser
.
This combined force was still in the Tyrrhenian Sea, and heading south.

Tovey and Cunningham were quick
to appreciate the advantage this situation now presented them. They determined
that it was now or never if they were to have any chance in this engagement,
and the British fleet mustered some 300 kilometers southeast of Syracuse. As
they expected, the enemy was not without eyes in the sky as well, and the
threat of preemptive air strikes was the first attack they encountered.

The Italians had put up three
SM-79 Squadrons for their initial attack, about 60 planes in all with escorting
fighters, and they would soon be supported by the thickening presence of German
aircraft. The boast made by Volsky and Captain MacRae concerning fleet air
defense would soon be put to the test.
Kirov
received word of the initial
incoming strike wave at 08:00 hours on the morning of January 31, 1941. Admiral
Volsky was on the bridge when Rodenko reported the data feed had been sent by
Argos
Fire.

“So it seems the British Sampson
is as good as they claim,” said Volsky. “We have not picked up those planes
with our own Fregat system yet.”

“We will in five minutes,” said
Rodenko.

“Yes, but five minutes is an
eternity in modern combat. Thankfully we will not be fighting the British
today. What is our situation?”

“It looks to be a fairly large
formation, sir. At least sixty planes.”

“Sixty? Mister Samsonov? What is
our SAM inventory?”

“Sir… We have 25 S-400
Triumf
missiles ready in silos, 94 missiles on the Klinok system, and 50 Kashtan
missiles still available with the close in defense systems.”

“Very well, we will open the
defense at long range as promised. Salvo of five S-400s please. This is
something the British cannot do, eh Rodenko? No matter how good their radar is,
it hardly matters if their
Sea Vipers
can only provide a defense out to
30 kilometers. Our S-400s can fire now, and even our Klinok system more than
doubles the range of the British missiles. The ship will come to Air Alert One.
You will fire on my command, Mister Samsonov.”

There seemed a weariness in the
Admiral’s tone, which Rodenko perceived at once when Volsky settled into his
chair, his heavy features clouded over with inner thought. It’s not his tooth
this time, thought Rodenko, it’s this endless war. We’ve already fought our way
through 1941 and 1942, not to mention that little sortie to 1908! Then we back
stepped to 1940, and here we are back in 1941 all over again. The Admiral is
tired, and not just of standing his watch here on the bridge. It’s the killing
that bothers him most, which is something that never preyed on Karpov’s mind.
That said, I’d rather have Volsky here in command. Karpov knew no limits, and
for all his tactical prowess, his hubris continually put the ship at grave
risk. I wonder what would have happened in that final battle against Togo if
Kazan
hadn’t pulled us out of the borscht?

Rodenko looked at his bridge
crew, as he was now acting Captain in Fedorov’s absence. The men were still
fresh and ready for anything. Tasarov was listening under his ASW headset, in
spite of the liability with the loss of their bow dome sonar. The towed array
was still an order of magnitude better than anything of this era, and he had
every confidence that the submarine threat could be answered. And Samsonov was
his old self, stalwart, broad shouldered strength with lightning quick
reactions, like a good heavyweight at the CIC. He had circulated among the
crew, and found them to be remarkably buoyant with Volsky back at the helm. The
shadow that Karpov had cast had lifted, and the men seemed eager for the coming
fight. But what of the ship itself?

Kirov
was holding up as
well as might be expected. Their reactors and propulsion systems had been
running smoothly, in spite of a brief glitch just before Fedorov departed on
the KA-40. The hull repairs were holding up, but would need attention soon. As
the British fleet could make no more than 20 to 24 knots, speed was not an
issue now, and so the stress on the hull was lessened. The crew had just
completed a full inspection and maintenance evolution on all weapons, and
Kirov
was ready for action. There was only one concern Rodenko still had in mind,
their missile inventory. It still seemed ample now, but he noted that Volsky
was committing only five of the S-400s here, and knew they would switch to the
Klinok system soon after this salvo.