Kirov Saga: Armageddon (Kirov Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

committed against her.
But until we resolve this business with Karpov, everything is still in play. All
we can do now is work out our plan, and yet I believe our very intention to do
so seems to hold time in abeyance. It must wait for us, and see what we might do.”
    “I see…You mean the possibility that we might succeed in stopping
Karpov exists now, and so time must wait for us?”
    “You have it exactly, Admiral. Wouldn’t you agree, Mister
Fedorov?”
    “That theory coincides with work I have read on the subject by an
American physicist, a mister Paul Dorland. He even uses that same terminology—nexus
point. He would call this situation a deep nexus, and he believes it has a
universal effect on all time meridians passing through this point.”
    “Then my thinking has good company. In any case, I believe we need
only concern ourselves with the outcome of our plan. Let us begin with the
submarine. Kazan is a very good choice. Then we must decide what to do
with it!”
    Admiral Volsky looked at Fedorov now. “It is clear that we must
try to get the submarine back to 1908. We can do nothing with it here to
influence Karpov. Are you certain you can get us there, Chief Dobrynin? This situation
is somewhat different, is it not?”
    “Kirov used KN-3B reactors, and they are pressurized water reactors
using enriched uranium-235 fuel. Rod-25 also worked successfully on the Anatoly
Alexandrov , and it uses a KLT-40S reactor. Kazan uses the same basic
type. Rod-25 is compatible, and the other two control rods as well.”
    “Alright. Let us rely on Rod-25,” said Volsky. “If it fails us,
then we can try the others. And you say you can hear the shift and control it
now, Dobrynin?”
    “I got us home safely, Admiral. I cannot promise you anything, but
I will do my best.”
    “That is all we have to go on for the moment,” said Kamenski.
“Alright, gentlemen. Suppose we do get there safely. Then what?” He looked at
Fedorov now, wanting to know what the young Captain had in mind.
    “As I see things we have two choices,” said Fedorov. “The first is
to contact Karpov and see if we can all persuade him to relent and rejoin us.
This I would prefer, but the Captain may not want to cooperate.”
    “In that instance, contacting him will give away the enormous
advantage of surprise.”
    “Correct,” said Fedorov, though his eyes seemed troubled now.
“What you should know, Director, is that Captain Karpov has a kind of phobia
where submarines are concerned. Approaching him in any wise with an undersea
boat will be dangerous.”
    “And do not forget Tasarov,” said Volsky.
    “Tasarov?” Kamenski did not know the man.
    “He is the sonar operator aboard Kirov , and one of the very
best in the fleet. His ear for sonar is every bit as good as Dobrynin’s where
these reactors are concerned. If we do take the hard road, and that would be to
take action without first contacting Karpov, then Tasarov will be the main
obstacle to our success.”
    Volsky folded his arms. “This will not be an easy mission,” he
said with obvious sadness in his voice. “These are my men—the fighting crew of Kirov .
That ship has been through hell and back again, and to think of what we may now
have to do is most unsettling.”
    “We need not decide our final course at the moment,” said
Kamenski, “but I agree, this will be a major fork in the road, and in some
respects it influences a choice we must make before we get underway. I assume
we have an approximate idea of Kirov’s general position in 1908, Mister
Fedorov?”
    “We were able to generalize their signal as coming from the Sea of
Japan, and Karpov confirmed that.”
    “An encouraging start, but ships move, so we must wonder where he
might go.”
    “He will most likely look to dominate the Japanese Imperial Navy,”
said Fedorov. “This will be necessary if he is to have any real influence
there. To do so he will have to engage that fleet in battle, and he will be