year is actually 1941,” said Karpov.
“Perhaps,” said the doctor, “but do you have another explanation that fits with all the other things we have noted?”
Karpov steamed. “You ask me to choose between two nonsensical alternatives,” he said brusquely.
“Yet that is exactly what we must do here,” said Zolkin. “We must decide and choose, and then act accordingly. If we are in our own time, then our actions will soon bear that out. We can simply turn about and steam for Severomorsk, and that will settle the matter once and for all. Before that we should consider the situation carefully. Because if, by any stretch of the imagination, all these facts do add up to the improbable conclusion that we have somehow shifted in time, then realize what this means.” He looked at them all now, casting a knowing glance at the Admiral as well. “It means that we would be sitting in the most formidable ship in the world, with full knowledge of the history that is about to unfold, and the power to change it…”
The doctor had the undivided attention of every man present. Even Karpov seemed to settle into some deep inner thought, ruminating and planning. His eyes betrayed the operation of his mind as he considered the incredible advantage of the position he might now find himself in, no matter how much his every instinct screamed that this whole premise was patently ridiculous.
“The reactors,” said the Admiral in a low voice. “Chief Dobrynin said the reactors sounded odd when we experienced those strange effects in the sea. He had unusual readings and requested we reduce speed. I wonder…” He had not yet formulated a complete thought here, and so he put the matter aside, the other evidence appearing to be conclusive in his mind, however preposterous it seemed.
With the weight of both the Admiral’s considered opinion and that of the ship’s physician, both well liked and respected men, the others present voiced no objections, waiting in silence. Even Orlov, practical and gritty in every respect, a man who would normally be delivering a stream of invectives at such nonsensical ideas, sat dumb.
“Mister Fedorov,” said the Admiral. “For those of us not so well schooled in the history of the Great Patriotic War, can you tell us anything about what would be happening at this time if it were indeed late July of 1941?”
“Well sir, at this time Great Britain’s lone stand against Nazi Germany has been broken by the German invasion of the Soviet Union some months ago. And as we heard in some of the radio broadcasts we have intercepted, German panzers have reached Smolensk and will be fighting an encirclement operation there for the next month. They will then turn south to take Kiev before pressing on to threaten Moscow in what will be called Operation Typhoon in October. The Germans are also tightening the noose around Leningrad, as St. Petersburg was called then, and the siege there will begin in early September of this year.
“Remember that the United States has not yet entered the war, and will not do so for five months until the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor in December. There is, however, increasing cooperation between Great Britain and the United States, particularly over the conduct of operations in the Atlantic. The United States landed the 1st Marine Brigade at Reykjavik and officially began relieving the British garrison there the first week of July, 1941. They have already transferred fifty destroyers to Great Britain to assist their defense of the convoy routes, and the Lend Lease law will have narrowly passed the American Congress allowing the Allied powers to ship supplies and material directly to the Soviet Union in the Murmansk convoys. The first of these, Convoy Dervish, would be very close to setting out for Murmansk. It was a small, and rather insignificant convoy, just six ships carrying raw materials and fifteen crated hurricane fighter planes. It was meant to demonstrate the feasibility of organizing Arctic convoys to the Kola Peninsula area in the future.”
“I can't believe I am hearing this!” Karpov exclaimed. “We have enough to worry about given the situation in Europe and Asia now, let alone this nonsense about having to refight the Second World War.”
“True,” said the Admiral. “But assuming these facts present us with an impossible truth, we would be well advised to study the tactical situation we may now find ourselves in. Consider it an exercise, if you will. If events soon prove otherwise, you can have a good laugh about it. If however…”
Karpov shook his head, pinching his nose, his eyes tightly closed. “We should return to Severomorsk at once and put an end to this fantasy,” he said.
“You advise we withdraw to the bosom of Mother Russia?” Volsky leaned heavily back in his chair. “That would be an easy course to take. In a few days we would either be sitting on base with cold beer and a horse laugh or two while Mister Samsonov there entertains us with his balalaika.”
Samsonov smiled, nodding his head. “And if all this is nonsense,” the Admiral continued, “then we can return to our humdrum existence there in the cold, gray north, hoping the country can perhaps deliver another frigate or two, or maybe even a new destroyer and few more modern submarines before the end of what promises to be the most threatening period in our history since the conflict Mister Fedorov is so well schooled in.”
Orlov had a sallow look on his face. “And we’ll all end up sleeping with some old babushka and wishing we were young again to have a little fun,” he said.
“Very true,” said the Admiral. “On the other hand…We could do some snooping around while we are out here. We will also have to account for the loss of Orel and Slava. There will be questions, very many questions, I’m afraid, and as yet we have no firm answers. What is this surface contact up to? Where is it going? What about that submarine contact? If these are NATO forces then we are the only countervailing military force in theater at the moment. So no matter the date, we must carry out our mission, which is to secure and defend our nation against all harm.”
“One way or another you are going to bump into the reality of the situation,” said Zolkin, even as he had advised earlier in the sick bay. “You must act, and the truth will become obvious.”
“I thought that was what I was doing by sending this detachment to Jan Mayen,” said the Admiral. “Yet we are left in much the same uncertainty as before. We see the evidence, it leads us to an obvious conclusion, yet we are unwilling to believe it.”
“Alright, alright,” said Orlov gruffly. “Let’s assume the worst. Assume something happened to the ship. I’ve been to Jan Mayen myself,” he said to Karpov now, “and believe me, Captain, that was not the same island. It was completely empty! No roads, no buildings, no airfield.”
“Very well,” said Karpov sharply. “Let us indulge ourselves in the fantasy. We have two contacts approaching us from the south. Let us go and have a look at them, up close and personal. No long range video feed that could give us any reason to doubt what we see. Will that settle the matter?”
“You will see the light cruiser, Adventure and a single destroyer, the Anthony,” said Fedorov. “At least this is my best guess given the history. One of the British carriers we saw earlier was supposed to join this group, but… something has changed…”
“Indeed,” said Admiral Volsky. “Did we change it? We have done nothing of any consequence as yet.”
“We’re here, sir,” said Fedorov. “We’re here and we shouldn’t be, and the British forces operating in the Arctic waters have discovered our presence and already made decisions that were clearly not made historically. So far the variation seems insignificant. HMS Furious was supposed to accompany these other two ships for a time, and instead it remains with the main body that Rodenko has been tracking. A small change. Nothing momentous. But the Admiral commanding those ships out there knows an unknown ship of considerable size is at large, and he’ll be wondering about us. It could be he’s decided to keep his two carriers together as a precaution until he can learn more. And these two ships approaching us may have been sent out as a reconnaissance group. If we proceed as you suggest, understand that we may begin to make a few more ripples in the waters of history, and the changes might be very significant.“
“Yet one question remains,” said the Admiral. “The good doctor here put it to me when I first raised this problem with him in the sick bay. If these are found to be British ships, old British ships that should have been broken up for scrap metal decades ago, then it is a question we must surely answer, and it is this: Who’s side are we on in this war?”
Chapter 11
It was some time before anyone spoke, and Doctor Zolkin took a keen interest in the reactions of every man present. Karpov was still sulking, but behind that storm front in his mind he was already thinking, planning, looking far ahead at some distant outcome. Orlov seemed torn between anger, confusion and irritation over the matter. The junior officers, Rodenko, Nikolin, Tasarov and Samsonov fidgeted uncomfortably, waiting. Fedorov seemed
