John Schettler - 1943

“Interesting,” said Karpov. “You realize what that means, don’t you? That future Volsky is so keen on getting to may be up in flames when we get there, if we ever do.”

“I’ve certainly thought about that,” said Fedorov. “So Kinlan’s Brigade is gone, though a small force was not there when it happened. Churchill ordered it to the UK on the funnies—that’s what they call that replenishment fleet.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard this.”

“Argos Fire will leave voluntarily, and take on all the crews from the funnies, which will be destroyed here.”

“And I’ll handle Takami ,” said Karpov. “Gromyko is also welcome to lend a hand.”

“That leaves only Volkov, so we need to seriously plan a mission to take that man out—not on the back stairway at Ilanskiy, but in the here and now. If you agree to that, commit your resources to it, then I think I can get Volsky and Gromyko to side with us.”

“Done,” said Karpov with a smile. “I’ve been planning it for some time, and now we can all pool our assets to see that it gets done.”

“Then that leaves us with Orlov,” said Fedorov.

“Yes… Orlov. That son-of-a-bitch is at it again, isn’t he? Why don’t you work on that problem. I’ll handle Volkov with Tyrenkov and my brother.”

That brought the last straw to Fedorov’s mind. “Now that you mention him,” said Fedorov.” I think that will be the final problem we’ll have to solve.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your brother… He can’t remain here either, and I have no way of knowing what might happen if the two of you try to shift forward.”

Karpov was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he looked Fedorov in the eye. “If we do this—shift forward—where in God’s name do you think we’ll end up? Did Kamenski talk about that?”

“I’m not exactly sure, but I think he meant for us to return to our native time—to 2021.”

“Yes, but which 2021—from which meridian? Will we arrive back on the time line where we first started? Will we reach the future we may be building now on this altered meridian? Was that where Gromyko shifted in from with Volsky? Did you hear what he said? Volsky has a third layer of memories in that old head of his. He said he was just sitting at his desk at Red Banner Fleet headquarters when in walked Kamenski. How could he be doing that, when we both know he was supposed to be aboard Kirov? That means that timeline was not the original one we came from. It was a third world.”

Fedorov nodded, thinking. “You may be correct,” he said slowly, still coming to grips with that thought.

“Of course I’m correct. I’m getting very good at this time business. So let’s explore this further. Was Kirov in that world along with Volsky? Kazan was. Were you there? Zolkin? The rest of the crew? Is there another version of me there? Something tells me that Kamenski meant for us to return there, to that world, but how would that be possible if we are already there. Imagine it, Fedorov. If I’m already there, what would happen if two more versions of myself try to shift there. Don’t you see? We can’t simply shift off to that future. Time won’t allow it. I’m all for rounding up all the other loose ends, but before we do anything more, we’ll have to all huddle and figure all this out. There are too many unanswered questions. Agreed?”

Fedorov nodded. “That is certainly true. Alright. I’ll stand with you, Karpov, on one condition. You agree that when we sort this out, you’ll take the ship forward. Give me that, and I can get Volsky and Gromyko on board.”

“You have my word, Kirov will go forward too. Now let’s get busy, because we have a lot to figure out here. The first thing we need to do is coordinate with Kazan . Why don’t you get back on the secure comm-link and allay Volsky’s fears? Tell him you have my full cooperation. Then the four of us can arrange a meeting place to work out our plan. We’ll figure out how we can get Takami , and then determine what to do about Orlov, not to mention my own little brother out there. Then, when we have our house in order, we’ll settle affairs on Kamenski’s plan for how we move forward.”

YesFedorov, thought Karpov with an inward smile. I’ll take Kirov forward, but I didn’t say how I would do that, did I? Kamenski has some grand scheme in mind, but he hasn’t really explained how his plan would work. I’ll have to see if Volsky knows anything more, and also learn about the world he came from—a third meridian, apparently branching off from these other two I’ve been caught up in.

Yes, I’ll move forward… but I may just end up doing that the old-fashioned way, one day at a time. But I must be very cautious here at the outset. Beginnings are very delicate times. New alliances can be very fragile. They will be suspicious, and I must allay their fears and seem the perfect co-conspirator. Kazan is a very dangerous adversary. That said, if I cozy up to Volsky and Gromyko now, and pretend we’re all one happy little family again, then I’ll have every opportunity to put a torpedo into that sub and rid myself of that threat—but not before I squeeze as much juice out of that orange as I can.

Yes, Kazan has missiles, and maybe I can talk Gromyko out of a few. At the very least, perhaps I can get him to take out Takami for me. That way I won’t have to expend any of my own missiles. Then I need to seriously consider my plan to fetch more ordnance from the future. That would be very dangerous. I suppose I could reinforce the stairway at Ilanskiy here with steel and concrete, and make it sturdy enough to allow for the movement of a missile weighing six tons. But I’d have to rig out a crane to lift them in the future, and then some kind of sled to move them down the stairs here. Even if I do reinforce it here, would that persist into the future? Could I reinforce it there? Would I have the time if the world there is on fire, as we both have already seen. It’s just too uncertain. I have no way of knowing what happens between this moment and 2021, or what will be underway when my team reaches that year.

In fact, I have no way of knowing whether I could successfully get men there at all by using those stairs. My own security forces would have no point of origin in that future pulling them forward, so I would have to use members of the crew—perhaps something for Troyak and his Marines to do. I might even have to send a control rod forward with them to move a ship with munitions back here. It’s either that or I would have to find a working control rod in 2021. I already know they were manufactured in lots, so Rod-25 may have a doppelganger as well. If I could find one there, get it to that ship…. That’s where Volsky could be useful. I’ll certainly have to butter that man’s bread for a while, even if it means saluting and calling him ‘sir.’

Well, I digress. First I have to make certain I have this situation with Volsky and Gromyko under control. Only then might I have the luxury of working out these other plans. Perhaps I’ll even give some more thought to my Omega Plan.

He smiled again. Yes, Kirov was the Alpha, but I will be the Omega. Interesting that Fedorov hasn’t thought of this yet. He’s all worried about those men from the future going silent. This is all the great mysterious cloud hanging over everything—this talk of a Grand Finality. Doesn’t he realize what I have in my power now? I don’t have to use Kirov to move in time. I have Tunguska , I have that vortex that Fedorov was kind enough to discover for me, and I have Ilanskiy. There are risks and uncertainties in all three, but Ilanskiy has been very consistent—old faithful.