John Schettler - 9 Days Falling, Volume I

“Don’t do it,” he breathed.

“I don’t think they’ll be taking photos this time,” said Rodenko, and the Captain knew he was correct.

“Damn!” said Karpov, but he knew he had to act. “ Kashtan System. Now Samsonov—before they get in range.” He would not allow four planes to rake his ships with machinegun fire.

“Sir, aye Sir!” And the missiles fired, fast little air sharks with white tails as they streaked into the sky. They adjusted to lock on, and then accelerated towards the Hellcats .

Samsonov fired four missiles.

He killed four planes.

Commander Mulholland had been listening to the whole affair, his eyes darkening as he heard the sharp burst of static, the frantic call of a Hellcat pilot calling “Rockets! Rockets!” and then nothing more. He toggled his send button.

“Bulldog to Redeye. Report status, Over… “Bulldog to Redeye. Report status, Over….”

Nothing came back.

Mulholland scratched the back of his neck, the place where it always itched when there was trouble at hand. He was out there to look for it, and damn if he didn’t find some. “Some son-of-a-bitch just didn’t get the message that this damn war is supposed to be over.” It was clear that those contacts had opened up on the recon flight, and he dialed a new comm channel and radioed back to the Flag.

“Bullfrog One to Flag. Our contact is hostile—repeat—contact hostile. Splash Redeye One.”

There was a long pause, as if the news he had radioed had been most unwelcome, or difficult to comprehend. “Say again Bullfrog—You say Splash Redeye One? Did we lose somebody? Over.”

Mulholland thumbed his send. “We lost them all —repeat—splash all units. We have no radio contact and nothing on radar. Redeye One is history. Over.”

Again the long pause… interminably long it seemed. Then another voice came over the speaker and Mulholland had heard it before, many times, low and slow, calm and steady. But this time there was just a touch of weariness in the voice, and an edge of irritation and anger.

“Alright Bullfrog. Steady as you go. We’re coming.”

It was Ziggy Sprague.

A dangerous balance of power. Here is the lilneup in our day, but the PLAN adds two carriers in the Liaoning and Taifeng, and a number of new destroyers and frigates to beef up their fleet considerably by 2021.

The initial action in the early days of the attack is first a strategic missile bombardment followed by penetrating air strikes by China’s new J-20 stealth fighters.

The flashpoint in the Gulf as an Iranian swift boat fires a missile at supertanker Princess Royal. The ship is towed to Al Fujairah while US Marines land on the Iranian held Island of Abu Musa. Israel strikes Iran and this leads to a major ballistic missile attack on the oil production centers of the Persian Gulf.

The war continues on both land and sea as China invades Taiwan and North Korea joins to launch a devastating attack. Yet Kirov and the heart of the Red Banner Pacific Fleet has vanished, blown into the past by the massive wrath of the Demon Volcano. There Captain Karpov finds himself at the dying edge of the last great war, yet his own inner demons now wage war with his conscience as he contemplates another decisive intervention.

After secretly assisting the Soviet invasion of the Kuriles and engaging a small US scouting force in the region, Karpov has drawn the attention of Admiral Halsey’s powerful 3rd Fleet. Now Halsey sends one of the toughest fighting Admirals of the war north to investigate, the hero of the Battle off Samar, Ziggy Sprague, and fast and furious sea battles are the order of the day.

Meanwhile tensions rise in the Black Sea as the Russian mission to rescue Fedorov and Orlov has now been expanded to include a way to try and deliver new control rods to Kirov from the same batch and lot as the mysterious Rod-25. Will they work? Yet Admiral Volsky learns that the Russian Black Sea Fleet has engaged well escorted units of a British oil conveyor, Fairchild Inc., and the fires of war soon endanger his mission.