John Schettler - Devil's Garden

“But he intends to use Kirov to try and redress that.”

“In what way?”

“I believe he thinks he can confront the Japanese and recover the ground and prestige Russia lost to them in the war.”

Zolkin was very quiet now. “Looking for another war to fight, is he? Hasn’t he seen enough? We’ve fought the British, Italians, Japanese, and then the Americans in two different eras, and now he wants to take on the Imperial Japanese Navy again? It has been said that there is nothing more dangerous than an admiral with a compass and a map. Men like Karpov are at the heart of that truism.”

Rodenko lowered his head, thinking before he asked his next question, an edge of uncertainty in his voice now. “Doctor…What if the Captain persists with this? He will be trying to reverse the course of history itself, and restore Russia as a Pacific Power, yet with only this single ship. Certainly we are powerful. We can impose our will at sea and outfight anything we encounter here. But Japan has an army too, and they beat the Russian army of this era convincingly. I think the Captain has again bitten off more than he can chew.”

“Yes, and if he keeps doing that he will choke one day and that will be the end of it.”

“But the men, Doctor. Can we keep asking the men to fight like this? They hardly had a week ashore after we got home, and then we were out to sea again to fight the Americans.”

“I agree, it’s been difficult for them all. That Russian Inspector General didn’t help matters either. Yet I see quite a few in here for one thing or another. The men still seem rather buoyant to me. Their morale has not flagged.”

“That’s the problem,” said Rodenko. “They’ve seen Karpov fight, and fight hard. Yes, he’s a good tactical officer, but he makes grave strategic errors in my opinion. He puts the ship at risk in situations where it could easily be avoided. We could have steamed due east into the Pacific long before we ran into the Americans in 1945. I was in favor of our intervention to assist the Soviet landing in the Kuriles, but Karpov didn’t have to pick a fight with those old American destroyers and cruisers when we found them patrolling there. It was as if he really wanted to provoke them, and anyone could see what they would do in return. Firing on those first planes they sent to have a look at us was an accident, or so I have heard. What came after was something more intentional.”

“You believe Karpov was deliberately trying to provoke the Americans? That sounds very much like the man I know.”

“Of course! He knew that if they came in force he could then use the real power of this ship to try and convince them they were overmatched.”

“Yes, I saw his little demonstration when he fired that first missile into the sea. The strange thing was the reaction of the crew. They seemed ebullient. A couple even came by to tell me what Karpov had done, and they were literally shaking a fist in approval.”

“And look what happened to the Admiral Golovko.”

“That was a hard thing to see. I can only wonder what happened to Orel as well. We felt time’s cold hand on our neck again and escaped a hard fate there. I wonder if Orel moved in time as well? It may have gone somewhere else-to another year. I hope Yeltsin keeps his head if that was the case.”

“It isn’t Yeltsin I’m worried about now, Doctor.” Rodenko got round to the point of his discussion with Zolkin again.

Zolkin nodded. “Let’s get to the heart of this, Rodenko. You came to me to sound me out regarding Karpov’s state of mind. Yes, he’s been under stress, as we all have. Yes, his moods have shifted considerably, but is he incompetent? This is what you are getting at here, yes? At the moment I think it would be difficult to make such a case against him. He may seem to be making irrational decisions, yet who do we take the matter to? When Volsky was here there was always some superior authority aboard, but that is not the case now. If you want my advice, you must do what you have been doing up until now. Observe, and report any unstable behavior to me. Otherwise do your duty for the ship and crew. Should the time come when things take a darker turn, I think you may rely on me to use my professional judgment. This is what you came here to learn, yes? So now you have heard it.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“Do not thank me yet, Rodenko. If anything happens to Karpov, then this whole mess is yours. I hope you understand that and make yourself ready should you ever find yourself in that Captain’s chair.”

Rodenko thought about that, but then the sound of a deck cannon cracked and he found himself looking out the porthole to see what was happening. He could see a pair of steamers, commercial traffic, and Kirov was running parallel to them about five kilometers off their port side. There was just enough sunlight to catch the small plume of seawater as the first round fell in front of the lead steamer.

“Here we go again,” he shrugged. “The Captain has fired what looks to be a warning shot on a steamer.”

“A trade ship? What could he be doing now? Why bother with that?”

“I think he means to do the same thing he did in 1945 when he attacked those American destroyers in the Kuriles. He’ll sink a steamer; the Japanese will send a warship to investigate. He’ll attack that ship and on we go-another war.”

“Perhaps you had better get to the bridge and see what is going on first hand, Rodenko. Remember what I said. You must do your duty, but yet you are still Starpom , and second in command here now. Your voice counts, so if you have anything further to say about the matter, you must say it to the Captain’s face.”

The sound of the deck gun firing was enough to get Rodenko moving, and his heart beat faster with the anxiety of anticipation as he went.

“Thank you, Doctor.”

He was through the hatch and gone.

Karpovwas in the flag room of the bridge, pouring over charts and several old books from Fedorov’s old library. He found them most useful for the research he was conducting now, sizing up his potential enemy. The ship was still off the Tsugaru Straits in a blockading position. After sinking the Tatsu Maru , he watched at a distance while the second steamer attempted to rescue the stricken crew, and when he saw the steamer turn about and head back for the friendly shores of Japan, he was finally satisfied.

Rodenko had come to him in the midst of that action, returning to the bridge shortly after the Captain ordered Samsonov to fire.

“Marching to the sound of the guns, Rodenko?”

“Yes, I heard the forward deck gun, sir, but there was no call to action stations.”

“That was not necessary. We just happened across a pair of Japanese steamers bound for Dailan near Port Arthur. That traffic stops now. We will not permit the Japanese to resupply their forces in Korea or Manchuria.”

That remark surprised Rodenko. “But sir, how can we possibly enforce such a quarantine? We are one ship. There could be ten or twenty ships en-route to those harbors even as we speak, most likely well south, coming from the bigger Japanese ports. There is no way we can stop them all.”

“I understand that, but what we can do is set an example to show what will happen to any ship we do find in violation of this order. Once we slap a few around, the others will think twice about the voyage. We can have a great effect, even if we cannot be everywhere at one time.”

“Violation? What order are you speaking of, sir? Have you communicated with the Japanese?”

“Not yet, Rodenko, but that is coming in due course.”

“Then how can they be expected to comply? If you just attack unarmed ships like this it is tantamount to piracy.”