John Schettler - Grand Alliance

“Is that what you were here for, Battle Damage Assessment?”

“No General, you must understand that I was never there-never in that time. I was here all along, with my Marines and helicopter, and we were out here doing exactly as we have told you, looking for General O’Connor. You see, when we found ourselves here, in this time, we realized there was no way we could stand apart from this conflict. We had to take sides, one way or another, and knowing that Russia and Britain were allies once eventually guided our thinking to the right path. So it is as I have told you. My ship is out there right now, waiting for my return. Kirov is cruising with Cunningham’s Royal Navy fleet, and ready to do battle in support of the British here-and it is a grave hour indeed. Believe me, General, it’s all in shreds and patches now, but you will piece it together soon enough, just as we did, and the quilt of your understanding could save your country now-here-in 1941.”

Shreds and patches… That was as good a way to put things as he could fathom. Here he was, a king of shreds and patches, just as Hamlet put it. Yet he wanted to shout at this man as Hamlet’s mother had… ‘No more! Your words are like daggers, please no more, sweet Hamlet. Angels in heaven protect me with your wings!..’ A ragtag king he was, lost, completely out of his world, but a king indeed. That was what this man was saying to him now, that he was here and that meant something. He had a responsibility here, and it would begin with the same choice this Russian Captain had made, to be or not to be, here and now, in this war, taking up arms against a sea of trouble and by opposing…

“You’re asking me to fight here… now?”

“Where else?” Fedorov gave him a thin smile. “We fought. We were misguided by a headstrong Captain at first-the very man I replaced. His was a hard line, and he had no love of the West, or the British. But my view was that if we could somehow prevent the enmity between our nations from ever taking root after this war, then we might prevent the one that comes after, the searing fire that you have only just escaped. Understand, General? You are here. This war is here as well. Your countrymen fight even as we speak. We have joined them. That decision should be much easier for you.”

Popski was following the essence of this, but could not see why this Fedorov would have to try and convince a British serving officer as to which side he was on in this damn war, and he said as much.

“I’ll admit I had my doubts about you when you gave us the rough treatment up front,” he said to Kinlan, “but forgive and forget, General.” This man here seems to think he needs to persuade you to take up sides here, as silly as that may seem.”

Kinlan gave Popski a look, then realized that if any of this were true, then this man was not of his day and time. He was a man of this era, the very same man he had stared at in the data files on his library pad. He was ‘Popski,’ head of the PPA, a fringe element of the Long Range Desert Group, the Number One Demolition Group, to be more accurate. He wanted to dismiss all this with one boisterous ‘bloody hell,’ but that would not do. What he needed now was more than the evidence he had before him. He needed information on what was happening here in the desert.

“So tell him to look at the uniform I’m wearing,” he said to Popski. “That should answer his question.”

“Clear enough, General,” Popski returned. “Not that I can say as I’ve ever seen kit like that before. So I’m thinking you’re a special unit, seeing as though General O’Connor doesn’t even seem to know anything about you. But you had old Wavell on the blower a while back. What did he say?”

“Popski,” said Fedorov urgently, picking up some of what he had been saying. “Don’t converse. Please stay with me and translate. This is urgent now.”

“Alright, alright. Don’t get all hot and bothered. The man is obviously a British serving officer, and so there should be no question as to whether or not he will do any fighting, and which side he’s on.”

“He said that? He’s willing to engage here? Ask him again. I need to be certain of this now.”

“Very well… General, this man wants to know if you’re prepared to engage here-take up the good fight, eh? I’m not sure what your orders are, but Wavell must have given you an earful.”

“That he did,” said Kinlan. “Tell him Wavell was just a tad upset, but he’s grateful we’ve found O’Connor. Yet he doesn’t seem to know much about my unit here… secret and all, even from the up and ups.” He gave Popski a wink.

“That will be the case at the outset,” said Fedorov through Popski. “You are a great unknown. There will be questions, a good many questions, and it would be wise if you allowed me to assist you in answering them. You see, only a very few men alive here know the real truth concerning our presence here, and the operations we are presently undertaking.”

“You were ordered here by the Russian government?”

“No. We are acting independently. Our present intention is to try and reverse what is looking to be a very desperate situation in the Mediterranean at the moment.”

“Well, we know how it all turns out,” said Kinlan, still inwardly shaking his head to hear himself admit the insanity of the thought that this man was telling him the truth, and this was, indeed, 1941.

“We know how it once turned out,” said Fedorov quickly, in halting English, wanting to make certain Popski got it right. “This time things are different,” he said again to Popski in Russian. “Tell him that the Germans have taken Gibraltar.”

“What’s that you say? Gibraltar?”

“Yes,” said Fedorov. “And if you know this history at all, then you know that was never supposed to happen.”

“Know what history?” said Popski.

“Just translate what I said! We’ll have time to talk later.”

Kinlan could see that Popski was in the dark. He did not really know who this Russian was-at least who he claimed to be. So he decided to explore this ground briefly.

“These men don’t seem to know the whole story, Captain,” he said. “Have you told them the same tale you’ve spun out for me?”

“Only one man here knows the whole truth-two actually.”

“Wavell?”

“No sir, General Wavell has not yet been briefed.”

“Is this man here in the know?” He nodded to Popski.

“No,” said Fedorov directly, his eyes carrying a note of caution that he did not wish to try and put into words.

Popski knew what they were saying, but if this was something that Wavell was not even privy too, then he was in good company, and he did not let any of this bother him. Yes, this was some secret unit assembling out here. Perhaps that’s why the LRDG has units down at Siwa, and why Jock Campbell is there now.

“Look General, this is the situation as far as I understand it. I was in Alexandria yesterday, and with Wavell himself, along with Admiral John Tovey, who has been fully briefed in this matter.”

“Tovey?” Kinlan knew the name, and knew Tovey had been the man in charge of Home Fleet during these years. “Who else knows?” he asked.

“That isn’t important now,” said Fedorov. “But what is important is that your unit here is going to eventually be discovered. You had orders to withdraw to Mersa Matruh? Thankfully that was still in British hands when we left yesterday, though it may not be theirs for very much longer. Now it’s time I gave you a good briefing. Gibraltar was attacked last September, and the Germans have closed the entire Western Mediterranean. All traffic to Egypt now has to go by way of Capetown, and that’s the least of it. To take Gibraltar the Germans persuaded Spain to join the Axis, and the Vichy French have followed suit. That means all of North Africa, from Casablanca all the way to Tobruk, is now Axis controlled territory. The British still have Tobruk itself, or they did yesterday, but Rommel is here early, and he’s doing what he did so well before-raising hell. We’ve saved O’Connor, which may be a real plus, but for now the British are overmatched. The Germans have already sent the 15th Panzer Division to reinforce Rommel’s 5th Light Division and, after recent operations, the British have nothing in the way of mobile armor left.”