Kirov II: Cauldron of Fire

rose to greet him, his dark eyes alight with a smile.

“I’ve brought you a little something more for your file boxes,” said Tovey.

“Ah,” said Turing, “The photography!”

“Indeed. Two reels of film here with photos, and a full report. I’ve collected the logs of all ships involved, so you’ll have a good time sorting it all through before it gets filed away with everything else on this Geronimo business.”

“Very good, sir,” said Turing, his curiosity immediately aroused. “I wonder, Admiral. Might I persuade you to allow me to fly out to St. Helena one of these days and have a look for myself?”

Tovey raised an eyebrow, his face suddenly serious, and seated himself, his eye falling on the open volume of Byron’s poetry. He scanned the lines, reading inwardly:

“On the sea the boldest steer but where their ports invite;
But there are wanderers o’er Eternity
Whose bark drives on and on,
and anchor’d ne’er shall be.”

With a heavy sigh he looked at Turing, and all the unanswered questions in his mind took a seat there with him, waiting to have their say. “I’m afraid I have some rather interesting news for you, Professor,” he said quietly. “And I think it’s high time that you and I have a very frank chat.”

Illustrations

^{Battlecruiser Kirov as seen cruising in the Tyrrhenian Sea by 248 Squadron — Note Fire Aft.}

^{Royal Navy carriers Eagle, Indomitable, Victorious cruising as part of Force Z.}

^{Sigint Decrypt passed to Admiralty HQ with the jarring code word “Geronimo”.}

^{Kirov in action in the Med.}

^{LTC Melville-Jackson, who spots Kirov while on patrol out of Malta in his Bristol Beaufighter, and draws first blood.}

^{V. Adm Syfret, commandign Force Z in “Operation Pedestal”.}

^{Fire Control Box, used in the action fought by battleships Rodney & Nelson.}

^{Professor Alan Turing, the brilliant mathematician and code breaker who begins to unravel the mystery of Kirov.}

^{Helmut Rosenbaum of U-73.}

^{NOTE: This photo of Rosenbaum is the very same one Fedorov muses over in the narrative.}

^{Home Fleet Admiral John Tovey}

^{German WWII experimental U-Boat Launched Rockets in the Black Sea.}

Maps

 WARNING: Maps will reveal significant plot elements of the story. Spoilers dead ahead!  They are included here as references for those wishing to follow the saga graphically as they read. But if you don’t want to know what’s coming up ahead, steer clear of these waters.

Coming Soon: The Saga Continues…

Kirov III — By John Schettler

Reaching the island of St Helena, the battlecruiser Kirov vanishes without a trace, gone from that day and year and lost again in a desolate future. They sail east, round the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean, hoping to find some sign of human life in the southern hemisphere. Reaching the Pacific they soon discover that the ship has once again moved in time, to the year 1943.

Now the ship’s First Officer, Anton Fedorov is shocked to finally discover the true source of the great variation in time that has led to a devastated future they have come from and the demise of civilization itself. The chronology of the war at sea in the Pacific has been radically changed, and nothing in his history books can help them navigate the dangerous waters they now find themselves in, embroiled in a major Japanese offensive operation.

Discovered by the Japanese carrier raiding fleet, the ship now faces its most dangerous and determined challenge ever when they are hunted by the most powerful enemy task force they have ever faced—led by the battleships Yamato and Musashi, and an admiral determined to sink this phantom ship, or die trying.

In this amazing conclusion to the popular Kirov trilogy, the most powerful ships ever conceived by two different eras clash in a titanic final battle that will decide the fate of nations and the world itself.

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