Kirov Saga: Armageddon (Kirov Series) (33 page)

“What you say is all too true,” said the Admiral. “It leaves us
with only one option. If we engage
Kirov
, then we must prevail, and decisively.
The ship and every man aboard it must be destroyed.”

“Completely destroyed,” said Kamenski.

“But Admiral,” said Fedorov. “We would have to use a nuclear
weapon to insure this.”

Volsky lowered his head, eyes closed as he pinched the bridge of
his nose. “Captain Gromyko. Can you use your sensory antenna or sonar to
acquire the ship at this time?”

“Our radar has cleared up but we will have better luck with the
sonar. It will hear
Kirov
long before we might acquire it with the Snoop
Pair surface search radar. With your permission, sir I would like to move into
the sound channel and see about that.”

“Do so. And you may also prepare your missile inventory for
action.”

“Then you have decided to engage, sir?”

“Once we have acquired
Kirov
, I intend to fire a single
missile as a last warning shot to Karpov. Would this compromise your defense of
this submarine, Captain?”

“That depends on the range, sir. If I am not mistaken
Kirov
has
Vodopad
torpedoes that can fire out to 120 kilometers. Our P-900s
can beat that by a hundred kilometers.”

“Yes, but that would mean we would have to open the range
considerably. My feeling is that
Kirov
is no more than a hundred
kilometers to the south at this time.”

“They must be in the straits preparing to engage the Japanese,”
said Fedorov.

“If it comes to combat I would risk a missile launch even inside the
Vodopad’s
effective range. We are very stealthy, and the sonar on that
system is not very sharp.”

“Agreed,” said Volsky. “I have seen all the live fire exercise
data. We have never had good results with the
Vodopad
against our
quieter submarines. So this is what we will do…We will fire one warning shot, a
single missile. We will tell Karpov that he either alters course to Vladivostok
or we must engage with a full barrage.” Volsky took a deep breath, as though he
had just set down a heavy burden that he had been carrying for some time.

“With conventional warheads?”

“No, Mister Kamenski, you have ably demonstrated the folly of
that.
Kirov
has a very robust SAM defense. If all our missiles struck
home I would rest easier and believe we might have a chance to rescue the few
survivors that remain. Then we could also assure the wreckage is completely
destroyed. But I am afraid that
Kirov
will get many of the missiles we
fire. We upgraded the SAM inventory to P-400s before Karpov sallied with the
fleet. They also have the
Klinok
system, then the
Kashtan
system,
and the 30mm Gatling guns. Something may get through if we fire a full barrage,
perhaps we might even get several hits, but not enough to assure the
destruction we have spoken of.”

“Then we will use the nuclear warheads?” Gromyko waited.

“I’m afraid we have no other choice. We will have to hit the ship
with everything we have. If the P-900s do not get through, then one of those
torpedo rockets must do the job.”

There was a long silence as each man considered this, and then
Fedorov offered a grim smile. “Now we are the madmen flinging nuclear weapons
around. But something tells me that if we do not do this, and Karpov remains
free to do what he wishes here, it is only a question of time before he uses
another nuclear warhead himself.”

“Yes, and there is also the possibility that he will be so
possessed by the threat we pose now that he will do so at once to assure our
destruction. He may think we are at Vladivostok, as Fedorov told him, but the
instant
Kirov’s
Fregat system picks up our warning shot he will know
otherwise. I know Karpov. That hot minute will be one of intense peril for us
all. He has undoubtedly done an aerial survey of the region and knows no other
surface ships are behind him, so he will quickly deduce we are in a submarine.
The list of those available with nuclear reactors is very short.”

“And he will know our bearing and approximate range the instant we
fire,” said Fedorov.

“So the question is this—what will he do? Will he perceive the
action for what it was intended, a warning shot, or will his fear of undersea
boats blind him and compel him to make an immediate reprisal? If he does
counterattack, how will he come after us? This is the crucial question. If he
uses the
Vodopad
system, Captain Gromyko and I both feel our chances of
surviving to make a second launch are fairly good. But what if he uses a
MOS-III with a special warhead, just as he did in the North Atlantic? That
missile could be over us in a matter of seconds, and we would have to be very
deep to avoid serious damage.”

“The water here is not that deep,” said Gromyko.

“Any action we take will have risks,” said Fedorov. “If he uses a
MOS-III, we will see it coming, and then we could still fire everything we have
with the hope one of our own warheads gets through.”

“Unfortunately, in this event we may not survive to find out what
happened.” Kamenski folded his arms, still kibitzing.

“Then I will contact the ship just as we fire and give fair
warning. That is only just. It means we will have to drop the pretense of our
being at Vladivostok, and all element of surprise, but that vanishes the instant
we fire anyway.”

“Unless you make the first blow the final one,” said Kamenski.

Volsky looked at him, very troubled. “You suggest we make a
pre-emptive nuclear strike?”

“We have always based our naval strategy around the struggle for
the first salvo, Admiral. You know this as well as I do. Here you have pointed
out the dangers inherent in a limited response. The warning shot could set
Karpov off like a time bomb, and he could lash out with every intention of
destroying us completely. The conventional barrage will not assure what we need
to achieve here. So it is a process of elimination.”

“I understand what you are saying, Director, but I feel we must at
least make one last chance at resolving the matter before the missiles fly.
Find your target, Gromyko. In the meantime, we are going to send one last
message before we do anything else.”

“Very well, Admiral. I’ll see what our sonar man has for us and report
the moment I have any news, but this raises one last question.” Gromyko scratched
his head, continuing. “Only Belanov and I know what has happened. The rest of
the crew still believes we are out here facing the Japanese and Americans, but
Chernov is very good. He will find
Kirov
, and he will recognize its
sonic profile as well. How do I explain the situation when it comes time to
fire on our comrades?”

“I had not considered this…Well I will be right there by your
side, Captain. Leave that to me.”

Gromyko saluted and went forward to the main operations center to
check with Chernov on sonar.

When he had gone Volsky shook his head, a discouraged look on his
face. “What can they be doing out there? What about Rodenko, and Samsonov and
the others? Did they not hear my order?”

“They may not know, Admiral. Karpov would have certainly been
startled by the radio call. He may have taken it on a closed channel. You saw
how devious he can be when he tried to take the ship before. It took Sergeant
Troyak’s Marines to regain control last time.”

“Yes, well I cannot send Troyak over on a cruise missile, can I?”

“No sir.”

“This is very hard… I can still see Nikolin sitting at his post
with those headphones on, Tasarov lost in the sea beneath his headset, Samsonov
stiff backed and ready at the Combat Center. They were good men, and it is a
good crew—a good ship. To see it end this way…”

“There may still be hope, sir,” said Fedorov.

“I do not see it. And I have had my fill of weapons and missiles
and war. It has also occurred to me that Karpov might be correct.”

“Sir?”

“What if he can prevent Japan from becoming the Imperial power it
was in the Pacific? What if he can stop Japanese aggression and keep that
nation out of the Second World War? Do you realize how many died during the war
in the Pacific?”

“It is estimated that 22 million died in China alone, sir, and
another 10 million died in other theaters.”

“So if Karpov succeeds in preventing that, all those lives are
spared. It sounds noble enough, does it not?”

“Who can say?” said Kamenski. “Who knows what they would do in the
years ahead, and all their ancestors?”

“You seemed to be convinced that this would cause some great
catastrophe, Kamenski.”

“Perhaps…” The Deputy Director had a distant look in his eye now.
“Then again, we were hard at work on catastrophe as we left it.”

“Well as we cook in the oven, I cannot help but wonder whether
Karpov is doing the right thing here. I know we saw Karpov’s acts as those of a
madman when he used that tactical warhead on the Americans in the North
Atlantic. But look what happened! There was no Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
and no bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic weapons.”

“No,” said Kamenski, “that sad fate was reserved for Vladivostok,
or so Gromyko would tell us.”

The Admiral gave him a quiet look, still thinking. “Indeed it was,
though I know nothing of that. Events are all jumbled up like a puzzle now, and
I have no idea how things will look when we finally get it back together again.
The history is so broken by what we have done that it seems impossible to heal,
Fedorov. I know this is what you want, and what you hope for—a chance to set it
all right again as it was, but that may not be possible now. Too much has
happened.”

“We can try, sir.” Fedorov did not know what else to say.

“Yes, we can try by becoming madmen ourselves and smashing
Kirov
to dust with our own little cataclysm here in 1908. The catastrophe that was
upon us in 2021 was the result of the history playing out just as you might
want wish restore it! We could not stop it, even knowing it was coming. So here
I am haunted by the notion that Karpov was correct after all. He thinks he can
shape the years ahead with the power of
Kirov
. Imagine that power redoubled
with
Kazan
. We could truly impose our will on the world, here and now,
just as Karpov envisages it.”

The admiral looked for a chair, wanting to get off his tired feet,
and slowly sat down.

“Don’t mind me,” he said. “I’m just a worried old man, like
Kamenski here. We will try to set things right. I have no intention of
conquering this world, and only hope we can get safely back to our own. But you
must brace yourself against the possibility that we may not succeed. I doubt
Karpov will relent. He will fight. That said, we will certainly have to destroy
Kirov
to be sure the ship and its weapons and technology do not further
pollute this era of history, and then we must take the blood on our hands home,
if we can get there. I wonder what we will find this time, even if we do
prevail here?”

They were all silent, the depth of the irony and the sadness of it
all weighing on them. Then Volsky spoke again, his voice dark with misgiving.
“I dread the moment Gromyko calls us to the bridge with news of
Kirov
,
Fedorov. I dread the order I must give to unleash the missiles in this
submarine, and send them on their way. I dread this whole dirty business of
war…”

“So do we all,” said Kamenski, “but it seems we cannot avoid our
fate here, Admiral. There was even war in Heaven.”

“Indeed,” said Volsky. “Well here we have war in Hell, one demon
facing another in the abyss, and I shudder to think that the world waits on the
outcome.”

The Admiral’s worst fears were soon realized, though Gromyko’s
voice sounded hollow when he returned to say that Chernov believed he had a
contact nearly matching the profile stored for
Kirov
.

 “As you might expect,” said Gromyko, “this was some news for the
bridge crew. We all believed
Kirov
was lost. And Admiral,” he added with
an edge of caution, “Chernov believes the ship is engaged in battle at this
very moment. There’s a lot of noise off to the south now, and we’ve detailed a
long line of surface contacts emerging from the Shimonoseki Strait—a very large
formation of ships, sir. It has caused a bit of a situation, Chernov can’t
understand why he has no profiles on any of these contacts. Beyond that, the
mood of the crew is hot to get to
Kirov’s
side and join the battle. Chernov
says the ship is making a hell of a lot of noise on sonar.”

 “Yes, the thunder and clamor of war. Well it is time I went
forward to speak with the men. Now we come to what may be the final log
entry—for
Kirov
, for
Kazan
, or for time itself insofar as all
this history is concerned. Now we come to the final battle, here on the edge of
perdition. What is the word for it, Mister Fedorov?”

“Armageddon, sir. Armageddon.”