Grand Alliance

Chapter 25

Karpov had a new airship. He had ordered its construction shortly after he took command of the Siberian Air Corps, and now it was finally ready to join the fleet, larger and more powerful than any other Zeppelin in Siberia, if not the world. With airships named for every major city of note, he decided to christen this one with a regional name, derived from the river valley where the ship’s duralumin metal frame had been mined and forged, in the cold, inaccessible north. So it was that Tunguska joined the fleet in late January of 1941, with a full 225,000 cubic meter volume, and the best recoilless guns and most advanced radars that Siberian industries could produce.

Tunguska was 250 meters in length, larger than any other airship in the Orenburg fleet, and bigger than the Narva in Soviet Russia by a full ten meters. It was even slightly larger than the mighty German Zeppelin Hindenburg that had been destroyed in a tragic fire that ignited its hydrogen lifting gas in 1937 before the war. To avoid that, this airship would use the rare helium gas, which had been mined from now classified sources within Siberia, and conserved to support the fleet. By reaching those metrics in her design, Tunguska would rightfully claim the title as the largest aircraft ever to be built and fly on the earth, three times the length of the biggest jumbo jets of modern times.

With all that lifting capacity the ship was endowed with a suite of 24 recoilless rifles, six more than Volkov’s flagship Orenburg, and the advantage was all in the bigger 105mm rifles on the main gondola. Better yet, there were secret racks of new rocket designs that Karpov had initiated a year ago for this project. They were based on the RS-82mm and RS-132mm rockets that had been in development as early as 1920 by the Soviets, but Karpov had used the information he commanded in his service jacket computer to modify them, and give them much better aerodynamic performance. They were unguided, and still too inaccurate to use against small ground targets, which was the reason the Russians abandoned them as a potential tank killer, and moved to the more promising PTAB bomblets instead. But Karpov believed they would still be useful as an area saturation weapon, like the dread Katyusha rocket that appeared in the Soviet arsenal, though that was not his primary use for the weapon.

Another airship was a very big target, and airship duels could often occur at very close ranges. So Karpov had a special swiveling rack installed forward of the main command gondola, and there he hid away his little surprise, one of several built into the design of this new airship. After seeing the success ‘Big Red’ had with his air fuel bomb, he also had a special bomb delivery rack installed on this ship so it could easily accommodate that weapon. When finally completed and commissioned, Tunguska had more guns and sheer fighting power than anything in the sky, and a double thick self sealing lining on the interior gas bags. With six powerful 1200hp engines, a third more power than the Hindenburg, it was capable of reaching speeds of 115km per hour in spite of its mass, or just over 70 miles per hour. And it could climb higher than any other airship then designed, capable of reaching 15,000 meters and still operating safely, which was well above the service ceiling of any fighter aircraft of the day.

Karpov had his Kirov, a fighting airship that he believed was unmatched by anything that might try to challenge him. Tunguska was twice the size of the Abakan, and so he naturally transferred his flag the day of the commissioning, and promoted his trusted Captain Bogrov to this new command. He was told to scour the fleet and select the very best air crews to serve aboard Tunguska, and he assigned it a company of his best troops for security, led by his Intelligence Chief Tyrenkov.

Striding aboard that day, Karpov was in a high mood, his newly shined boots hard on the metal mesh deck as he walked the long central passage from nose to stern. He greeted the new crew, spoke with them at their assigned action stations, touring every corner of the airship, from the high top platforms where machine guns and even 76mm recoilless rifles were mounted, to the Topaz Radar in the nose, and finally his secret rocket turret. He had business that day, a very special inaugural cruise planned for Tunguska.

The meeting had been arranged just after the collapse of the Omsk accords. Enraged at Volkov’s treachery, Karpov had made quiet contacts with Soviet Russia, and he convinced Kolchak that they should explore possibilities for cooperation in that area. So he was flying to Moscow that day, high above the Siberian cloud deck, where no other airship or plane could find or follow him. Yes, Volkov would learn of his arrival in Moscow soon, as his intelligence network was simply too good, but by then Karpov would have already achieved his aim.

Let him find out when I arrive over Red Square with Tunguska, he thought with a smile. That will put some ice in his veins. I’ve stopped his little offensive on the Ob, and his bid to quickly eliminate me as a threat on his eastern flank has been foiled. Now the Soviets are pushing hard in the Caucasus, and Volkov will be getting just a bit worried. Good! Let him stew and think I’m here to sign a new treaty with Sergei Kirov. He’ll likely go running off to Hitler again and whine that he needs more air support to stop Kirov’s troops.

The meeting was conducted as an official state function, with the proverbial red carpet rolled out in the Kremlin Square, and an honor guard and rousing band waiting when Karpov exited his vehicle with Tyrenkov, and a troop of personal security men following in his motorcade from the hotel. It was exhilarating to be back in Moscow again, and Karpov breathed deeply, taking in the clear, cold air that smelled sweeter than he ever remembered. It spoke of home in a way that affected him deeply, and one day, he thought, I may just make this place my home. I’m twenty years younger than Kirov, am I not?

After the formal greeting from a line of state officials, with publicity photographs and hearty handshakes. Karpov’s pulse was up when the door to the gilded, octagonal Hall of the Order of Saint Vladimir in the Kremlin Palace was opened by a white gloved attendant, and he stepped inside. That was a nice touch, thought Karpov, as he had been named after that saint, and someone was making a subtle gesture by staging the reception here. He walked into the hall, his eye straying along the pink stucco pillars and up to the high vaulted dome lit by a skylight by day and an ornate chandelier by night. There he saw the words of the insignia and motto of Saint Vladimir, “Good, Honor, Glory.”

The Red Security contingent was there, and his own personal guards joined them, departing through a doorway on the right, while Karpov was steered in to the meeting room beyond. He found himself alone for one minute in the lavishly appointed room, standing near a comfortable satin lined couch near a warming hearth. The door opened and a voice announced the arrival of the Secretary General, Sergie Kirov.

Karpov’s heart leapt a beat as the man entered, his presence like that of a figure stepping from old memories of the past, a statue made real, endowed with the luster of history. Kirov had been an almost legendary figure in Russia at one time, and here was the man himself, a strong and vital presence, slightly gray, but with a ruddy, healthy face and sturdy build. He walked over to extend his hand, greeting Karpov warmly as he gestured for him to be seated.

Karpov had removed his officer’s cap and set it aside on a marble topped table. “It is my very great pleasure to meet with you,” he said politely.

“And my pleasure as well,” said Kirov, who then got right down to business, with no dawdling on pleasantries. “I must tell you that I wondered if you might wished to take this meeting after what happened at Omsk, in fact I was looking forward to it.”

“Indeed,” said Karpov. “That was most unfortunate at Omsk, but the matter has evolved since then, and Ivan Volkov will come to regret his distasteful behavior.”

“Undoubtedly,” said Kirov, eyes narrowing, as he looked Karpov over, taking the man in. He had been told to be wary of this man, warned by Admiral Volsky and his young Captain Fedorov. So this was the former Captain of the Admiral’s ship, that amazing vessel that had come here from the future.

“A most impressive airship you have out there. Is it new?”

“Just commissioned,” said Karpov. “It was christened Tunguska, as its duralumin and steel rivets were mined and forged there.”

“A good name. I see you have a fondness for large ships and the power they can wield.”

That comment had an edge to it that Karpov did not fail to perceive. He shifted uncomfortably, knowing that Kirov had been at Murmansk, and that the appearance of the ship there meant the Soviets had certainly come to some arrangement with Admiral Volsky. He decided to be equally pointed and spoke his mind directly.

“It has come to my attention that a most unusual ship has been seen in your harbor as well, Mister General Secretary.”

“Please, simply call me Kirov… That is the name of the ship you ask about. Yes?”

Karpov’s pulse quickened again with that. How much did this man know? “Then you have seen this ship? You have met with its commanding officers?”

“Admiral Volsky? Yes, I traveled to Murmansk to see just what had dropped anchor there — also very impressive. I must say that I found him to be a most ingratiating and remarkable man, just as his ship is remarkable.”

“I see… And may I ask what you learned about this ship?”

“You wish to fill in the blank pages on your intelligence reports? Has your man Tyrenkov been slacking off?” Kirov smiled, deciding something inwardly. “I must be frank and tell you that your name was mentioned in that meeting, Admiral Karpov.”

“Then they told you? You know who I am?”

“Perhaps you can fill in a few blank pages in my intelligence book.”

Karpov knew he was on thin ice here. He could not allow this meeting to fail. Too much was riding on it. If this man met with Admiral Volsky, who knows what they discussed. Would Volsky have been bold enough to tell Kirov everything? He had to find out, but to do that he would have to reveal much here about himself. This was dangerous, he knew, but he started out across that ice, hoping it would hold.

“It may surprise you to learn that I know quite a bit more about that ship and its crew than you may realize,” he said. “And no, this information was not provided to me by my intelligence people. Let me say I have some firsthand experience in the matter. But before I go beyond that, I must understand what you have learned about this ship.”

“Yes, the mysterious ship. We thought Volkov had built it at first — who else? You have no major ports under your control, nor the industry to build a large capital ship like that in Siberia. There it was, and with a Russian crew — a real mystery when it turned up in the North Atlantic, and then an even bigger mystery when it sailed and fought to support the Royal Navy! It was then that I received a message, one that struck a particular note with me. It was from a man named Fedorov — Captain Fedorov I later discovered, from that very ship. It referenced an incident from my past — very many years ago, but one I could never forget or even truly explain. So I was compelled to learn more, and was delighted when this ship sailed north to Murmansk as it did.”

“And what did you learn from your meeting with this Admiral you mention?”

“Enough to know this ship could never have been built by the Orenburg Federation either. It certainly wasn’t a British ship, nor of any other nationality. It flew the Russian Naval ensign, and by god, it was named in my honor — what a surprise!”

“Then Volsky told you? You have learned the real origin of that ship?”

Kirov folded his arms now, enjoying his little chess game with Karpov. The man was trying to be very cautious here. He suspects everything, but really knows nothing. What should I tell him? If he is, indeed, the man I was told about, then this game can lead only one place. It could go on like this, move after move, check and escape, so why not just end it and come to the heart of the matter. He looked at Karpov, a determined expression on his face.

“Admiral Vladimir Karpov, First Air Commandant of the Siberian Aero Corps…. I was told a man by that same name was once a senior officer aboard that ship. Suppose you tell me plainly now, and then we can get to the real questions that need answers between us. Are you that same man?”

Karpov pursed his lips, instinctively defensive, yet he appreciated the other man’s candor, and directness. He decided he would be equally direct. “I am. Before I assumed this rank I was a Captain, but not in the Siberian Aero Corps. No. I was a Captain in the Russian Navy, commander of the battlecruiser Kirov, the very same ship we are discussing. So anything you may have learned about that ship, its origins and true nature, applies to me as well, Mister Secretary.”

Karpov set aside his doubt and worry now. He realized who he was, and the power he had at this moment. Kirov must understand that as well.

“I see… Then you were the man they struggled with, correct? There was a power struggle on that ship, and you opposed your Admiral?”

“Yes, that is true.”

“And it is clear that you did not prevail. Most unfortunate for you, but in appears you are very resilient. How was it that you came to your present post?”

“That is a long story, and one we need not go into here. Yes, I failed in my bid to assume full command of that ship, and we parted company. Call me Lucifer if you will, thrown out of heaven when he thought he could rival God himself. That is my sad fate, but I have made the most of it. Now I rule here, in this little corner of the hell we’ve created of our motherland.”

Kirov smiled. “Then you came from the upper floor as well, right along with Volsky and Fedorov.”

“I don’t understand. Upper floor?”

“Just a metaphor that Captain Fedorov used to explain himself to me. Imagine a simple boarding inn, lost on some forgotten stretch of railway. Imagine the people boarding there all come from different places, which is not that unusual. Yet now throw in a most remarkable twist — say they all come from different pages in the history, different eras in time. The bottom floor houses guests who lived before the revolution, the middle floor is reserved for travelers from this day… and the upper floor? Suppose men from tomorrow board there. Men with ships no one ever heard of, impossible for any nation on earth to build today, and with weapons so potent and advanced they become a most decisive force in little disagreements like this sad war we’re fighting. There, Captain or Admiral if you prefer the loftier title now. Is that enough for you?”

Chapter 26

“Fedorov told you all this?” Karpov could not keep himself from leaning forward, the implication of what he was hearing now obvious. He suddenly realized that this story, this metaphor, was very telling. It was not just any railway inn, but a very particular one.

“Then you know about Ilanskiy?”

“Of course. And it seems Ivan Volkov knows about it as well, or what was that little spat you had with him there? I believe he lost a pair of airships and some good men in that little raid — a bold maneuver, even for him. Well let’s put it this way. Let’s say we all seem to have one thing in common here, you, me, the men I met off that ship, and even Ivan Volkov. We have all signed our names in the register of that inn. Have we not?”

Karpov’s mind spun round and round with that. Yes, that was where Volkov disappeared, in the year 2021, so the man obviously knew about Ilanskiy if he was ever smart enough to put two and two together. But what did Volsky and Fedorov have to do with it? And how did Sergei Kirov learn of Ilanskiy?

“You know everything? About that inn, the stairway there. You were behind that mission to destroy it?”

“Destroy it? Is that what was going on there?”

“That was the result of that engagement. Whether Volkov intended to destroy it or not, I do not know. Are you saying you had no part in that? If not, what was a Soviet airship doing there, ferrying men off my old ship to the scene of the crime?”

Kirov knew the details of that mission. He had given his permission to use Narva, sending the go ahead through Admiral Golovko, and he had been informed of the results in a message from Admiral Volsky. Since frank truth seemed to be the best way forward here, he was forthright again.

“The mission was conceived by your former comrades. Admiral Volsky requested the use of an airship, and I provided one. He has already been of great service to me in return. I think I had better tell you about my stay at that inn, and then everything will be clear between us.”

Kirov continued, relating the strange events of that morning in 1908 when the loud roar lit up the sky with a second sunrise, and a strange young man appeared at his breakfast table — a man named Fedorov. He told him of his curiosity, and how he ventured up to the second floor to satisfy that. And he told him of that fateful whisper in his ear when Fedorov let him go.

“So you see,” he said at last. “That curiosity of mine got me into some real trouble in the past, but not this time. This time it put me here!” He gestured to the setting all around them, the palace, the Kremlin, the Soviet State he now ruled.

“I went back to that inn, and took a few more trips up those stairs. It told me very many things, terrible things, and they were centered on the name of one man — Josef Stalin. I knew who he was, just a minor rabble rouser in the early days of the revolution. The Okhrana was hounding us all, throwing us into the nearest prison on trumped up charges, and I found out which one Stalin was in one day… The rest is history, at least for the moment, unless someone else gets a notion to try their luck on that back stairway.”

“Amazing,” said Karpov. “Yes, now it all makes sense. Removing Stalin opened the door for you here, but you did not count on Ivan Volkov.”

“Nor did I count on meeting that man Fedorov ever again, until I received that message. And to be honest, I did not count on you either, Karpov. They say knowledge is a powerful thing, and I suppose knowing what the days ahead are likely to bring is a good stiff vodka. So it doesn’t surprise me that this man Volkov outmaneuver Denikin, or that you are going to replace Kolchak in due course. The only question I have is whether you think you will be replacing me?”

Karpov smiled at that. “I would never presume such a thing, but we must reach some understanding, you and I. As you say, we seem to be common fated, our names written in the same ledger of time.”

“It looked to me like you had hoped to engineer something quite different at Omsk. Yes?”

“That was… Unfortunate.”

“Yes it was. And now that Volkov has shown you his true nature, you come to me.”

Karpov hardened, knowing this awkward issue would have to be dealt with, but pressed on. “The Free Siberian State needs friends, Mister Secretary. You need friends now as well. I tried to make peace with Volkov because we have the Japanese to worry about at our backside. Volkov had other plans, and he has also chosen to ally himself with Hitler, which is something I would never do. I know the man from my time. He was a petty operative in Russian Naval Intelligence assigned to inspect my ship, and a nuisance. My meeting with him was meant to sound out his thinking and see what he had under his fingernails. Well he has shown me that, hasn’t he, and he got a nasty surprise the other day for getting too pushy. I won’t mince words here. You and I both know that Russia is in grave jeopardy now. Volkov sits atop all that oil and curries alliance with Hitler. At the moment the war is in North Africa, but you and I both know that it will soon be here — and not the back stabbing civil war we have inflicted upon ourselves, but the German Army.”

“True enough,” said Kirov. “They moved another infantry corps to the border near Moldavia. That is where they will cross soon, and drive on the Crimea. They would be fools to try and push for Moscow.”

“They did both in the history I know,” said Karpov.

“Yes… I learned that the hard way on one of my excursions up that stairway. They swept all the way to the Volga!”

“Where you have divisions presently facing down Ivan Volkov. If they do this again, they will bring misery and hell to your world, Kirov, and eventually to mine. Hitler and Volkov — what a pair they make. I wonder if Volkov is smart enough to realize what Hitler will eventually do to him after he gets his oil. So yes, I came here to seek an alliance. There is much I can offer you. I can bedevil Volkov on his eastern front and force him to keep a substantial military presence there. You don’t want him free to use those divisions against you, do you?”

“Certainly not, but as I see things Volkov has already decided what he wants to do with those divisions, and that is to crush you.”

“Let him try. He’ll get more of the same medicine I gave him at Novosibirsk — and that’s another way I can help you. I have information, Kirov, knowledge of how this war played out once, and knowledge of all the advanced weapons systems that were born from it. I can be very useful to you and your war industries. Your tanks, for example. Most of your units are still equipped with older T-26 infantry tanks, and the light BT-Series tanks. They will not do the job when the Germans come.”

“Don’t worry, we have other designs on the drawing board.”

“Yes, the new T-34. But your generals want more of the older tanks, do they not? You must silence them and shift all production to this new tank. Believe me, Kolchak found out the hard way in our skirmishes with the Japanese. The T-26 is a metal coffin in battle. It is prone to catching fire, because you don’t use diesel fuel. Beyond that, the welding is bad, and the riveted armor plating is a faulty design. One hit from an enemy shell and the rivets break off and become steel bullets inside those tanks. They are all but useless, and this was against an inferior tank fielded by the Japanese. If you do not quickly build this new T-34 tank, you will be crushed when the German Army comes east. I can tell you what to do, warn you of wrong turns in the production cycle. I can be very useful.”

Kirov’s eyes narrowed as he considered this. “I could get this same information from your Admiral Volsky.”

“Possibly, but I am here, and Volsky is out to sea. The war will be won or lost here, Kirov. Hitler will not invade England, and at the moment he has no more than a few divisions deployed in North Africa against the British. You think he is serious about that little side show? No. He is planning to move on the Crimea, just as you say. That will stop your drive into the Caucasus. You want the oil at Maykop. Yes? Well you had better hurry, because once the Germans invade you will have a very short lease there.”

Now Kirov began to hear things that struck close to the bone. This man knows why I have opened my offensive in the south. He knows I need the oil too! Maykop is nearly within our grasp, but what he says is true. How long can I hold it? And if the Germans take it, then where do I get my oil?

“Go on,” he said quietly. “What do you propose, Karpov?”

“It’s very simple. You can build these new tanks, but you’ll need the fuel to keep them operating, Just like Hitler covets the oil Volkov is sitting on. Well you may be interested to know that I’m sitting on billions of barrels of oil at the moment. Reserves are found in Siberia that make Russia one of the top producing oil countries in the world in my era. I know exactly where these fields are, but we do not have the means to drill for them, nor the equipment. You can provide that, and if you do so we can get you all the oil you would ever need. And we have men who will fight, tough, hardy soldiers. The Siberian divisions were among the very best in the war. But we lack the heavy industry to give them the tanks and artillery they will need. Don’t you see? By cooperating we are much stronger together than we could ever be alone, and if we do not join hands now, we will fall under Hitler’s shadow, and that is a certainty. Oil and industry, Kirov. That is what will win this war. How many of these new tanks do you have in production?”

“That is classified.”

“Oh? Let me guess. You produced about 400 last year in 1940. Correct? Before this war ended in the history I know, it took over 35,000 to beat the Germans. And that is just for the initial design with the 76mm main gun. A newer model with a better 85mm gun comes later, and it took nearly another 30,000 of those too! And that is just for the T-34 model tank. Now do you begin to see the urgency of this moment? 400 tanks? That is bird feed! You must scale up production dramatically, and make this a matter of the highest priority. Don’t you see what’s about to happen? Hitler will sweep into the Ukraine, take the Crimea and make a quick end of your little adventure in the Caucasus. Then the combined might of Orenburg and Germany will turn north. You won’t last a year, and once the Soviet Union falls then they’ll come east and finish me. They could do all this before the United States even enters the war, and that will be that. Hitler will dominate all of Europe, and he will join with Japan in the far east. The Axis empire will be invincible. Even with the United States and Britain allied, it took them until mid-1944 before they could muster the strength to invade the continent. And that was with a united Russia still locked in combat with 80 % of the Wehrmacht.”

“I must say that I have considered all this, and you describe the nightmares I have been having very well, Karpov. I know full well how vulnerable Soviet Russia is. This man from the upper floor, Volkov, has made German victory almost inevitable.”

“Yes? Well you have been up those stairs, Kirov, and I am a man from the upper floor as well.”

Karpov thought for a moment. He still had a few cards in his hand to play, cards that might trump all others. Should he speak of this? Kirov was no fool. He was a shrewd and determined leader, and he could be ruthless when pressed, even as Stalin was. So he will certainly not fail to understand the power I hold. Power is one thing he knows well enough. He pressed on.

“As to the matter of my disagreement with Admiral Volsky,” he began. “It centered on the power inherent in the ship we commanded. Volsky was taken ill, and I assumed command. I immediately realized the power I had at my disposal, and I was determined to use it. Volsky was not so inclined.”

“So you tried to seize the ship?”

“I did take it, but the crew eventually sided with Volsky, damn them all. They could not see what I saw — the necessity of using power to the fullest when necessary to achieve your aims. They wanted to dawdle about, thinking they could prevent changes in the history. Me? I wanted to write it all anew. Well, we have seen what their dawdling has produced. If they had done things my way, Russia would be supreme today, and not the broken, fragmented state it is now. Power, Kirov. You are no stranger to that bedfellow if you fought your way to the top here. Well… Before this war ends there will be weapons designed and deployed that will trump all others — weapons of unimaginable power. Volsky has them aboard that ship at this very moment, but he is too timid to use them. I know how they will be designed and built, Kirov. Understand? The Germans and British are tinkering with these weapons programs even as we speak. The Americans too! Yes, they will all be in a race to see who can deploy these weapons first. Thankfully, that time is many years off, but beware. Ivan Volkov knows this as well. He may have a similar weapons program underway too, and if he is successful…”

Karpov did not have to say anything more. Kirov was listening, his mind focused, his thoughts darkened with the burden of impending war.

“And I have one more thing…” Karpov hesitated, then pressed on. “Ilanskiy,” he said, “that lonesome railway inn. You wanted to know why Volkov would throw away a couple old Zeppelins and a few battalions of troops to raid Ilanskiy? Well, I learned something during our conference at Omsk. That was where Volkov went missing in our time — he was foolish enough to tell me so. After the conference ended, I got curious and went there to have a look around. It was only by chance that I ventured up that back stairway, and discovered what could happen.”

“I see,” said Kirov. “Yes, Ilanskiy. I begin to see why Volkov is so interested in driving east now. It is not merely to settle his flank so he can turn his full force on me. He wants Ilanskiy.”

“Correct, and he was stupid enough to think he could take it with this raid and drive all the way from Omsk in one fell swoop. Well he failed, on both counts. We are stronger on the ground than he realized. He won’t get over the Ob easily, if at all. I can stop him, Kirov, and I have Ilanskiy. Do you understand what I am saying now?”

“Only too well,” said Kirov.

Yes, Ilanskiy, he thought. That was what this whole affair between Volkov and Karpov was about. Two men from the upper floor were having a nice little tussle for control of that stairway. They know the power it represents, even as I do. I used it to see tomorrow — to see this time from where I was on the bottom floor, and I used that knowledge to eliminate my enemies and take control of the revolution. But I did not count on Ivan Volkov, and I certainly did not count on this man Karpov.

Yes, he’s every bit as dangerous as Volsky said, a bit of a viper, this one. Can I keep him in a basket if I join with him now? He has Ilanskiy…

“What’s to stop me from sending ten divisions east to do what Volkov failed to do?”

“Don’t be foolish,” said Karpov. “You would have to start from as far away as Perm, and its 2500 kilometers from there to Ilanskiy. No force on earth is going to take that place from me. Understand?”

“So what do you propose to do, Karpov? Are you going to sneak up those stairs and bring back these terror weapons you spoke of?”

Karpov smiled. “I suppose I could do that, but that stairway goes two directions, does it not?”

Now the full implications of what Karpov was saying struck Kirov like a hammer. My god, he thought. That is true! What if this man were to start on the upper floor and go down those steps? Why, he could do what I did with Stalin! He could do that to any man alive in that time….even me…

“Unfortunately, the place was destroyed, Karpov. You said as much yourself.”

“Yes, it is destroyed,” said Karpov, deciding to play his Ace, “a nice pile of rubble — for the moment.”

Chapter 27

“For the moment? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that if an inn was built in that place once, an inn with a nice back stairway leading to heaven and hell, then one can be built there again. Yes, their little mission was successful and they destroyed the stairway. But I could rebuild it.”

Karpov knew it was dangerous to reveal this, for it would show Kirov the full breadth of the power he had at his disposal. What would he do now? Here I sit, right in the heart of the Kremlin, and with no more than a company of security men and the Tunguska hovering overhead to protect me. Kirov could lock me away in a heartbeat, or worse. Yet if he would do that now, then he would also do it later, under other circumstances. Yes? So I must measure the man, and find out where he stands. He will either be my enemy, or my friend here. The die is cast.

“Rebuild it?” Now it was Kirov who leaned forward. “Would it still work?”

“Perhaps. That remains to be seen. I have found the original plans and construction diagrams, though the builder is long dead. That said, I have skilled men on the job this very moment.”

“I see… Then you intend to use that stairway again? In which direction will you go, Karpov, back to your upper floor to fetch a devil’s brood of new weaponry for your army, or back to the time of the early revolution?”

Karpov smiled. Now he had this man’s full attention, but he had to be very careful here. Kirov could be sounding me out to determine what to do about this situation, he thought.

“I have not decided to use it at all, except perhaps to test and see if the gateway still remains open. Once I learn that, simply having it there presents me with a final option should things ever go wrong for me. Think of it, Kirov. That stairway represents ultimate power — the power to pluck out any weed that might one day bloom in your garden, and long before it ever gets rooted and goes to seed. I have ringed Ilanskiy with my best troops, and stationed three airships there now. That and the vast distance any army must march to reach the place make it a castle I can easily defend and hold.”

“I suppose that is true. You would see any threat coming long before it could reach you. But what if Volkov were to throw his entire airship fleet against you, with every ship carrying a full battalion? He has twenty four Zeppelins! That could carry over two full divisions of his best troops to that place, and your air defense could not stop him.”

“He has twenty-two Zeppelins, remember? And now I have nine. Yes, he might still win that air duel, but he could not win the battle on the ground — he learned that the first time he tried to raid that site, and he would be foolish to try again.”

“What if he were to use other means? Assassination could solve his problem easily enough. One good man with a rifle could do what all his airships might not accomplish. You know how good his intelligence service is.”

“I’ll match my security forces against his any day,” Karpov folded his arms, confident he could prevent such an attack.

Now it was Kirov’s turn to smile. “Suppose I have you taken out and shot this very moment, Karpov. I could eliminate your little security contingent, and then turn every flak gun in Moscow on that overinflated balloon you have out there.”

“Yes, you could do that if you wish. I was very bold to come here, and even more rash to tell you all of this. You could kill me here and now — but not my plan — and you could not get force to Ilanskiy before it was carried out. So you see, I am neither stupid nor foolhardy. I determined that you would either end up my enemy in this war, or my friend. I had to know which was to be. Coming here like this would answer that question, for if you are determined to be my enemy, then you should kill me — here and now — because you know that I can do to you what you once did to Stalin. Do that, however, and you now make a permanent enemy of the Free Siberian State. You decide the fate of your own nation if you kill me here, for in that instance, Soviet Russia, and your regime, could not survive. No. Your only hope is to find in me the strongest possible ally you could ever have — stronger even than Admiral Volsky and his fighting ship. Kirov is a great foil at sea in this war, but it only has so many missiles in its hold. Once they are gone, that ship is no more than a dangerous looking cruise liner. So what is it to be, Mister General Secretary? Do you want my death, and the eternal enmity of the Free Siberian State with it, or do you want my friendship in a grand alliance?”

Kirov nodded his head, leaning back now and reaching for a flask of vodka and two glasses that were on a side table. “You have thought this through very well, Karpov. You are a very daring and determined man. I can appreciate that in a man. You understand power like few others, and you know how to use it. So no, I do not think I will have you taken out and shot today, because I understand power as well, and I know how to wield it when necessary.”

He slowly poured two small glasses of Vodka, handing one to Karpov. “So there is no poison in this glass. Instead I will extend my hand to you in friendship, if that is what you truly pledge here. I have no doubt that you could be a strong ally, and one I desperately need at this moment. But can you remain loyal, Karpov? Yes, there I do have my doubts, as your infighting with Admiral Volsky has shown you will not think twice about opposing any man who disagrees with you. The threat you leveled at me just a moment ago will overshadow all our dealings, would it not?”

“Pardon me for that,” said Karpov. “But I had to make it clear to you that I have a power now that cannot be matched in any way. And yet, it is clear that without your help, your leadership here in the heartland of Russia, the Free Siberian State will remain nothing more than a cold backwater wasteland on the fringe of this war. Then one day, just as I have warned, the tanks would come for me. Could I find a way to prevent that by venturing up or down that back stairway at Ilanskiy? Possibly, but why take the risk? I don’t want you dead, Kirov, nor do I want to sit in this gilded palace in your place. What I do want is the survival of our nation. Everything I have done in the past was to further that aim, and not merely for my own personal aggrandizement. The Motherland must survive!”

“Then let us drink to her good health,” said Kirov raising his glass, and he took a long sip of the vodka, breathing deeply with the heat of the liquor on his throat. Karpov drank as well, heedless of any risk of poison. It was all or nothing where Kirov was concerned. He had determined that the moment he decided to come to this place.

“Together we can try to save her,” said Karpov. “Together we save Russia from the cruel fate that looms on our horizon. It was never supposed to be this way, Kirov. This endless civil war should never have happened. We caused it, unknowingly, and now it threatens to destroy our nation if we do not stand and act to save it. Volkov does not see this, thinking that Hitler is too powerful to oppose. He knows that the Germans will not be stopped while Russia remains divided. He has seen the history of this war, and its outcome.”

“What does happen, Karpov? I have not ventured up that stairway to your floor. My sorties only took me to this time, and then back to 1908, never anywhere else.”

“What happens? I cannot say that for certain now. In our history we prevailed in this war, driving all the way to Berlin and crushing Hitler and his Third Reich under the tracks of our T-34s. Build them, Kirov! Build them by the thousands. Only you can do that. Russia needs you now more than ever, as I need you.”

“But after that? After the war?”

“Fifty years of guarded enmity with the West. They never trusted Stalin, and soon we had the terror weapons they developed in the war, and so we sat, like two men on opposite sides of a great stone wall that had been built between us, and we never knew real friendship. Russia was strong, Russia was powerful, but they worked to undermine us, a death of a thousand small cuts. We were never really welcomed as a European state, always mistrusted. In my day we were a provider of the oil and gas — the energy they needed to build and run their glittering cities. And just as the oil will eventually bring Hitler’s armies to the Caucasus, so the wars for control of that energy began in earnest in the 21st Century.”

“Another great war?”

“Unfortunately,” said Karpov. “I reached an accommodation with Admiral Volsky, and put to sea as the Captain of the battlecruiser Kirov in 2021. I fought the opening rounds of that third great war — for Russia! Then that slippery fish of a ship displaced in time again. It is too complicated for me to try and explain it all to you here. Suffice it to say that the ship took its own journey, all the way to the time of the bottom floor — the time of your youth, Kirov. There I found myself in a most interesting position! I could start anew, and re-write the pages of the history that has been so cruel to our Motherland. That was what I planned, but Volsky, Fedorov, they had other plans. They are always scheming, those two, and they found a way to stop me and regain control of the ship. I need not go into all the details now. Perhaps they have already told you all this.”

“Somewhat,” said Kirov. “Well I will tell you that I have also extended my hand in friendship with Volsky, even as I do so with you here. Will that become a problem for you?”

“I cannot say. They will not think fondly of me, nor I of them just now. Both sides feel they were betrayed, and that is a hard fence to mend.”

“Consider trying, Karpov, for the Motherland you say you are so dearly hoping to protect. You know as well as I do that we would all be stronger together as one. If I could persuade Volkov to join us, I would do that as well.”

“That would be a fruitless venture,” said Karpov. “Volkov has made his choice in the matter, He makes it each time he orders his guns to fire on your forces, and on mine. If there is any man I might wish to eliminate from the world stage, it would start with Volkov. Who knows. I just might go down that back stairway and collar the man before he can cause all this mischief.”

“And what about Hitler. Have you considered that?”

“Of course. But one must be very careful here, Kirov. We had no intention of causing these changes in the history — at least that was the way Admiral Volsky and Fedorov tried to play it. Yet Volkov slipped through, probably by sheer coincidence, and here he is now, a boil on our backside and the undoing of the Russian State. Perhaps I was rash and thoughtless in believing I could deliberately re-write the history, and have it all come out they way I might choose. I have learned a few things, Kirov — learned the hard way. Loyalty means something. Power is one thing, but it is not something one can wield thoughtlessly, and it is sustained and nurtured by those the powerful hope to lead.”

“Or so I have learned as well,” said Kirov. “So then you will think long and hard before you rebuild that back stairway at Ilanskiy, or ever think to walk those seventeen steps again.”

“Seventeen? I hadn’t taken any notice of that.”

“I did. I counted them every time I went up those stairs, and every time I walked back down. It is dark there, Karpov. There is a frost on that stairway that chills one to the bone, to the root of your soul, the cold breath of infinity. Rebuild it, if you must, but be cautious. Fear that place, Karpov. You may think it is the stairway to heaven, Lucifer, but it can also be the stairway to hell, just as you said earlier.”

“I understand what you are saying. That said… Have we reached an understanding here? Do we stand together as allies and friends?”

“I will draw up a formal accord, if you wish, and we can make it a diplomatic reality. Hitler will take notice, as will Ivan Volkov. Who knows, this news may even compel them to move against us sooner, so there is some risk in all of this.”

“Yes, but you know they would come one day soon in any case. Perhaps now they will take pause, and know that they will find stronger opposition than before. There is much we must do, Kirov. Build those tanks! I can send you my engineers with plans for new weapons that I believe your industry could bring to life.”

“These terror weapons you spoke of earlier?”

“No, merely more advanced versions of the things you may be designing even now. Yes, we could build the awful weapons I spoke of, and perhaps we will be forced to do so in time. We must certainly be ready to do so, and we must use all the skill and guile we can muster to determine whether our enemies are building these things. Volkov is the real threat. Hitler has the industry and the military might, but Volkov has knowledge of things that can lead Germany forward as well. We must know what they are up to, and be prepared to oppose it.”

“How do you think Volkov will react to our newfound accord here?”

“He already considered that when he launched his attack at Omsk. Frankly, I believe he thinks he can beat us to the punch by standing with Hitler.”

“Yet he knows about Ilanskiy. He must fear that you could wield that ultimate power against him.”

“Perhaps. He obviously had some reason to try and seize that place. I do not know if he fully understands what that stairway opens, but he was suspicious enough to try and find out. Well now that opportunity is lost to him, and I will make sure that he never gets his chance there again. I will be calling up more troops from the east soon, enough to begin a real offensive on Volkov’s exposed right flank.”

“You will be calling up troops? What about Kolchak? What about the Japanese?”

“We have time, Kirov. Not much time, but a little breathing space now before Japan gets serious about entering this war. In our history they did not become an active belligerent until December of 1941.”

“But can you be sure that will repeat?”

“Not entirely. In our history the Japanese never took Vladivostok, and all of Amur province from us either. I was trying to see to it that they never could pose a threat to us again, but as I have said, Volsky interfered and this is the outcome of his stupidity. Who knows how much time we really have, but we may have some months yet before Japan becomes a strong threat in the east. When they did enter the war, they drove into the South Pacific and incurred the wrath of the United States. That was their undoing. As they already have a strong position on the Asian continent, and all of Amur province, my best guess is that they will drive for the South Pacific Islands again.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Oil again,” said Karpov. “Oil is the blood of war. Over half a million men died on both sides in the fighting to control the Caucasus. Your operation has already began that tally. So the Japanese needed oil, rubber, and natural resources to sustain their empire. The US and British initiated oil and steel embargos against Japan in August 1941. The Netherlands East Indies followed along, so the Japanese just took them. They nearly drove all the way to Australia.”

“I see… Is Kolchak prepared for what might happen?”

“Kolchak, he is a tired, sick old man. I’ve been handling this entire affair with Volkov, and as you said, I will soon replace him. That is one thing I am certain of.”

“Well enough. Kolchak was never going to amount to anything in any case.”

“Yes, in our history your Red Guard had him executed! But it was Stalin’s Red Guard that time around. Things will be different this time, Mister General Secretary, very, very different.”

Karpov extended his hand, and as Kirov took it, he felt, on one level, as though he were shaking hands with the devil. The man called himself Lucifer, he thought. I must be very careful in my dealings with Karpov. There is more driving his ambition than his love of the Motherland. But for now… I think I will build those tanks!