Men of War (2013) (16 page)

“The
Starpom
, sir. The ex-navigator.”

“Ah…yes.
Anton Fedorov. What about him?”

“He
was a Junior Lieutenant, and was promoted several ranks in just the last six
weeks! Volsky moved him all the way up to Captain of the Second Rank. That is
very unusual, sir.”

“I’ll
make a note to discuss the matter with the Admiral when he returns from his
business ashore. Is that all?”

“No
sir, I have one other issue that we need to discuss. There was one man on that
casualty list that
did
have a record on file in the personnel division.
He was Chief of Operations, Captain Gennadi Orlov.”

“Orlov?
I have heard of this man. He was on a
Sovremenny
Class Destroyer years ago and worked his way over to
Kirov
. A
disagreeable man, from what I have heard.”

“Well
he stood second to Karpov on this ship, sir. This Anton Fedorov appears to have
been promoted when he was killed in that helicopter incident.”

“That
explains Fedorov then.”

“Not
entirely, sir. Fedorov was just a navigator. He had no combat training at all.
Don’t you think it is odd for him to be made
Starpom?

“Perhaps,
but I said I would discuss this with Volsky. Get back to Orlov. What did you
learn?”

“I
overheard a couple of the Marines talking about this man—Orlov. They were none
too complimentary, and when I stepped into the helo bay to ask them about it,
they suddenly changed their tune, became happy little school boys and had
nothing but good things to say about him. It was very suspicious, sir.”

Kapustin
sighed, scratching his head. “Volkov, Volkov. You think the men in the ranks
will ever say what they
really
think of a senior officer to his face—or
to you, for that matter? You might be shocked to hear things that are said
about you behind your own back. And don’t be surprised to see a man’s
temperament change like the weather. Forget about such nonsense. Now I have a
matter that is of some real concern. I spoke with the ship’s Quartermaster—a
man named Martinov. This ship was issued three special warheads for this
sortie, though none were authorized for live firing exercises—but one is
missing, and a second has been mounted on the number ten cruise missile.”

“One
is missing?”

“Yes…
I suppose the warhead mounted is of no real concern. They may have run some
kind of drill for special weapons. But for a nuclear warhead to turn up
missing? What do you think about this, Volkov. You want a smoking gun? There it
is.”

“Correct,
sir. Could they have fired it in the drills on Volsky’s command?”

“Perhaps,
but it would be most irregular.”

“An
accident, sir? Considering what happened to
Orel
, I would not be
surprised…My God! What if this was the warhead that killed
Orel?”

“I
considered that as well. These are questions easily answered when we sit down
with the senior officers after the general audit. In either case, whether it
was fired on Volsky’s order, or whether it was a mistake, someone will have to
answer for it.”

That
brought a smile to
Volkov’s
face. “I
knew
there was something suspicious about the damaged logs, sir. They were trying to
cover something up, it was no accident. I think they deliberately purged the
records to prevent us from discovering what happened.”

“Then
they were quite stupid. As you can see, a simple audit of remaining weapons
inventory has led us to this. If they wanted to cover this up, they should have
worked a little harder.”

“I
don’t think they could create a dummy warhead, sir.” Volkov shook his head.
“Perhaps this Karpov is not so clever and conniving as his reputation
warrants.”

“Karpov?
Why do you grab Karpov’s ear? Volsky is the only one who could have authorized
the use of nuclear weapons. You think Karpov would have rotated a special
warhead into their firing plan without his approval? Don’t be stupid.”

Volkov
cocked his head to one side, thinking. “Then we have bigger fish than Karpov to
fry here, sir. You know Suchkov is very upset with Volsky as it stands.”

“Yes,
he was not happy that he continued his mission, particularly incommunicado,
without informing Severomorsk of his intention to do so. Here we thought
Kirov
was lost in that accident, and the navy expended considerable time and
resources investigating the
Orel
incident, including a great deal of my
own time. It was even considered that
Kirov
had been sunk by enemy
action. I know we don’t want our egos bruised, Volkov, but not even our mighty
Kirov
is invulnerable. Hit a ship with the right weapon, in the right place, and it will
sink. Well, we never found any sign of
Kirov
at the bottom of the Arctic
sea.
Orel
was there, but
Kirov
just seemed to have
disappeared—until she suddenly radioed in a week ago, badly damaged.”

“You
are correct, sir. Volsky must answer for this.”

“Yes,
and here he is poised to take over command of the entire Pacific Fleet, such as
it is. This is no small matter, Captain. You are well aware of what’s been
going on politically in the Pacific. China was not happy about the election
results in Taiwan. They have been taking their tea cups out of the cupboard and
setting the table all along the coast from Hong Kong to Shanghai. The Senkaku
Island dispute is just a sideshow. It’s Taiwan they’re after. They always have
been. Did you see the latest satellite photography from Shantou Harbor?”
Kapustin was obviously referring to the Chinese naval base there.

“Well
the Chinese have moved a number of their smaller Type 071 amphibious assault
ships there, and two more of the bigger Type 081s.”

“We
were aware of this in Naval Intelligence.”

“Of
course,” Kapustin continued. “And you are also aware of the fact that they are
moving more mobile ballistic missiles to that coastline. This may be more than
a simple show of force, Captain. What do your people think about it?”

“I
agree, sir. The Chinese are serious this time. They’ve been very patient over
the Taiwan issue, and frankly more than patient with Japan. They had to be,
sir, because they first needed to build a navy that could match Japan’s before
they started throwing their weight around. Now they have that navy, and they
won’t take no for an answer any longer when it comes to issues like the Senkaku
Islands or Taiwan. And by the way sir, as we have signed on to the SinoPac
alliance treaty, we have taken to calling those islands the Diaoyutai over at
Naval Intelligence Division. One has to be at least politically correct, even
if the Japanese still maintain control there.”

“Well
what I am suggesting, Volkov, is that things may change—and very soon. Yes,
China is sending a couple of destroyers to these islands, and we must join the
party. But the real business here is happening at Shantou Harbor. I have little
doubt that your satellite photo analysts will soon be reporting those
amphibious assault ships are loading tanks and helicopters.”

“There
has also been a major re-deployment of PLAN Air Force units to the coastal
airfields, sir.”

“So
the movement of all these planes, missiles, ships and helicopters will not go
unnoticed by the Americans.”

“Of
course not, sir. They have already dispatched another carrier to the region.
The
Eisenhower
left the Persian Gulf last week, but it did not head west
for Norfolk. They moved it into the Indian Ocean, and it is joining the
Nimitz
here in the Pacific. Both ships are quite old, and scheduled for retirement
soon, but they are still in the equation as far as we are concerned. The
Americans can double up on that ante if things get serious here. They still
have CVN
Washington
In Yokosuka ready for immediate deployment, and then
Stennis
and
Ford
on their Pacific coast
at Bremerton and San Diego. That’s a lot of carrier based air power if push
comes to shove.”

“Push
will
come to shove, Captain. There’s a real storm brewing this time. Why
do you think we transferred
Kirov
here to the Pacific fleet? Now look at
her! We can patch her up to get her seaworthy again, but Volsky has delivered
damaged goods and he’s going to have to pay for it, one way or another. And
that, Volkov, is why
we
are here. Yes? Follow up on that casualty list,
but I think we have all the rope we need to hang Volsky with this missing
nuclear warhead.”

Chapter 12

Zolotoy
Drakon
, or
the Golden Dragon, was in the growing Chinatown district near the naval
moorings in Vladivostok harbor, up a plain street of weathered storefronts and
eateries that were slowly remodeling for the new tourism business.

The
dinner house itself was nicely appointed, with white table linen, candle light,
a solitary orchid for an elegant centerpiece, and clean long-stemmed crystal
wine glasses. Admiral Volsky settled into the comfortable high backed chair
with Karpov and Fedorov, the irony of the moment not lost on him when Karpov
mentioned their second choice for the meeting was the popular
Yamato
Sushi bar a few blocks north off the wharf district.

“Here
we are, home at last, and settling in for Chinese food instead of a good
borscht!”

“Things
could be worse, Admiral,” said Fedorov. “The Captain here suggested sushi, but
somehow I could not bring myself to that just yet after what we have just
experienced.”

“Well,
things are heating up again around the islands northeast of Taiwan,” said
Volsky. “The Japanese have a destroyer flotilla on maneuvers and Abramov
informed me this morning that the government has received a formal request for
a combined show of force in the East China Sea. They want us to send a few
ships to join the party. Two of their new destroyers are set to deploy from a
Zhanjiang, the
Lanzhou
and
Haikou
.”

“Those
are updated destroyers,” said Karpov, “their newest designs.”

“Correct,”
said Volsky. “Which means we can’t very well send out a couple of old
Udaloy
class ships. It would be embarrassing. Here we taught them virtually everything
they know about building a navy, shipped them the necessary weapons, and then
watched them buy most of our carriers and start out producing us at our own
game. We will have to send the frigate
Golovko
and the destroyer
Orlan
.
Those are the only two ships we have that could show up dressed well enough to
make any impression on the Chinese.”

“Excuse
me, Admiral,” said Fedorov. “But why send any ships at all? It will just be a
provocation. We send a flotilla, the Japanese send one, and on it goes. The
next thing we know we are reading those headlines in the newspaper we found on
Malus island.”

“I
understand exactly what you are saying, Fedorov, But Abramov says he has been
ordered to send the ships, and until the Naval Inspectorate completes this
business over
Kirov
, he remains the nominal Fleet Commander for another
week The orders have already been cut.”

“Why
not speak with him, Admiral? Convince him this is useless escalation.”

“I
have spoken with him, and he agrees, but that does not change the fact that he
has orders from Moscow. Yes, Admirals get orders too. Hopefully this sortie
will be nothing more than a dog and pony show. But in the meantime, gentlemen,
I suggest we all get used to eating Chinese food. What do I do with these?” He
held up his chopsticks, winking at them. Then he settled in to a more serious
tone.

“How
are things going aboard
Kirov
, Karpov?”

“Not
as well as I might hope. We lost a man yesterday—an apparent suicide—Voloshin.”

“Suicide?
Did Zolkin say anything about it?”

“He
said the man was having nightmares, like we all are these days. On top of that
it looks like his wife and family ran out on him.”

Volsky
shook his head, deeply troubled by the news. “We must do more for the crew, be
more vigilant and see to their needs. They have been through hell and back.”

“The
Inspection isn’t helping matters either. This Captain Volkov is a bit of a
ramrod. He’s been walking the ship, talking with the men, prying into
compartments below decks. Yesterday he was jousting with Doctor Zolkin. Today
he spent half the day with Chief Byko.”

“Zolkin?
What did he want with him?”

“Ship’s
medical records. Reports on the men we lost during our little odyssey through
the 1940s. It still sounds crazy every time I think of it.”

“I
have a bad feeling about that man,” said Fedorov. “He seems like a dog pulling
on a rope. We did our best to cover things up, and our story seems to be
holding for the moment, but a man like that can be trouble, and there will
likely be things we overlooked or failed to consider completely. Everything
that man uncovers will just make him want to dig deeper.”

“Medical
records…” Volsky thought about that. “What would he want with medical records
of the men we lost?”

There
was a silence at the table, and then Karpov put his napkin down and spoke. “We
may have a problem here, Admiral. I received a communication from the Naval
Personnel Records Bureau. It was addressed to me personally, and came in
through Nikolin’s board, properly coded, so that makes it an order.”

“What
did they want?” Volsky had been so busy facilitating Dobrynin’s project and
conferring with Abramov that he had been out of the loop on ship’s matters.

“They
wanted me to transfer any and all information from ship’s records on the men we
lost. I told them that data was wiped out when the computers were damaged in
the accident, but they mentioned hard files on three men. These were the men in
the aft citadel when it got hit, and being Junior Grade Lieutenants or higher,
they had to submit a file to Zolkin when they signed on. The Doctor overlooked
these records when we purged our digital systems. Volkov found them.”