Kirov II: Cauldron Of Fire (Kirov Series) by John Schettler Page A
Authors: John Schettler
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would seem to be required. Also at least a
dozen fast supply ships, for which super-priority over all civil requirements
must be given. I shall be glad to know in the course of the day what proposals
can be made, as it will be right to telegraph to Lord Gort thus preventing
despair in the population. He must be able to tell them: “The Navy will never
abandon Malta.”
- Prime Minister, Sir Winston
Churchill
Most Secret memo to
the first lord of the Admiralty, the First Sea Lord, and his Chief Of Staff,
Gen. H. L. "Pug" Ismay.
Chapter 4
Fedorov flipped through the pages of his
book, intent on running down Nikolin’s clues in the history. His first thought
was that the ship had rebounded in time, and had returned to the year 1941, but
as he read the entries for activity in the Mediterranean, he could see nothing
that mated with the cryptic message his radio man had received. He was sitting
in the quiet of the Admiral’s cabin, where he had found the book there on the
nightstand, just as Zolkin had advised him.
“An eagle, a
ship, the fifth of the war,” he muttered aloud. He was sure of his hunch now.
HMS Eagle was the name of a British aircraft carrier operating in the
Med during 1941 and 1942. She was found by a German U-boat that slipped inside
her destroyer screen and the carrier was hit by four torpedoes broadside,
keeling over and sinking in a matter of minutes. There! He had the reference
now, and he had slipped in a photograph of the from page of the Daily Telegraph
when the story broke in England under the glaring headline: “Fifth Aircraft
Carrier Lost.” He squinted at the blurry text, reading:
“Admiralty
communiqué this afternoon announced that the aircraft carrier H. M. S. Eagle has been sunk by a U-boat in the Mediterranean. A large number of the ship's
company are safe. Next of kin will be informed as soon as details are received.
H M S Eagle ,
22,600 tons was commanded by Captain L. D. Mackintosh. She was begun by
Armstrong Whitworth as a battleship for the Chilean Navy in 1913, but in 1917
Britain purchased her for 1,334,358 pounds and she was commissioned for trials
as an aircraft carrier on April 13, 1920.
The last
British aircraft carrier to be lost was Hermes , which went down last
April in sight of Ceylon, sunk by Japanese bombing. Since the outbreak of war
three others have been lost. The first was Courageous , torpedoed in
September, 1939. Glorious was lost in 1940 after an action with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau off Norway, and the third was Ark Royal .”
Eagle was the fifth carrier lost in the
war, thought Fedorov. He had been correct! But oddly, when he checked the date
of the article it read August 12, 1942, a full year after their last dreadful ordeal
in the North Atlantic. Since then they had vanished into to some unknown future
time where blackened cinders seemed to be all that remained of the world. They
had cruised across the whole of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, and their
chronometer now read August 20. Yet checking his references it was clear that
the Eagle had been sunk August 11, 1942 at 1:15PM, and that story in the Daily Telegraph had come out a day later. The dates did not match up,
and he was suddenly confused.
The attack
by that plane, clearly not a modern aircraft of any sort, and the sudden change
from darkest night to mid-day sunshine convinced him that they were indeed
outcasts in another time again. Was Nikolin receiving a radio story about an event
that happened weeks ago? Or was the event current, happening now, and a clear
signpost to their present position in time? He needed more information, and he
looked to his radioman eagerly for any further news.
He stood up,
feeling the urgency of the moment and nagged by the realization that he should
be on the bridge. As he did so he noticed a photo of the Admiral and his wife
together there on the nightstand, and the thin tracings of pen on paper. The
Admiral had been writing a
dozen fast supply ships, for which super-priority over all civil requirements
must be given. I shall be glad to know in the course of the day what proposals
can be made, as it will be right to telegraph to Lord Gort thus preventing
despair in the population. He must be able to tell them: “The Navy will never
abandon Malta.”
- Prime Minister, Sir Winston
Churchill
Most Secret memo to
the first lord of the Admiralty, the First Sea Lord, and his Chief Of Staff,
Gen. H. L. "Pug" Ismay.
Chapter 4
Fedorov flipped through the pages of his
book, intent on running down Nikolin’s clues in the history. His first thought
was that the ship had rebounded in time, and had returned to the year 1941, but
as he read the entries for activity in the Mediterranean, he could see nothing
that mated with the cryptic message his radio man had received. He was sitting
in the quiet of the Admiral’s cabin, where he had found the book there on the
nightstand, just as Zolkin had advised him.
“An eagle, a
ship, the fifth of the war,” he muttered aloud. He was sure of his hunch now.
HMS Eagle was the name of a British aircraft carrier operating in the
Med during 1941 and 1942. She was found by a German U-boat that slipped inside
her destroyer screen and the carrier was hit by four torpedoes broadside,
keeling over and sinking in a matter of minutes. There! He had the reference
now, and he had slipped in a photograph of the from page of the Daily Telegraph
when the story broke in England under the glaring headline: “Fifth Aircraft
Carrier Lost.” He squinted at the blurry text, reading:
“Admiralty
communiqué this afternoon announced that the aircraft carrier H. M. S. Eagle has been sunk by a U-boat in the Mediterranean. A large number of the ship's
company are safe. Next of kin will be informed as soon as details are received.
H M S Eagle ,
22,600 tons was commanded by Captain L. D. Mackintosh. She was begun by
Armstrong Whitworth as a battleship for the Chilean Navy in 1913, but in 1917
Britain purchased her for 1,334,358 pounds and she was commissioned for trials
as an aircraft carrier on April 13, 1920.
The last
British aircraft carrier to be lost was Hermes , which went down last
April in sight of Ceylon, sunk by Japanese bombing. Since the outbreak of war
three others have been lost. The first was Courageous , torpedoed in
September, 1939. Glorious was lost in 1940 after an action with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau off Norway, and the third was Ark Royal .”
Eagle was the fifth carrier lost in the
war, thought Fedorov. He had been correct! But oddly, when he checked the date
of the article it read August 12, 1942, a full year after their last dreadful ordeal
in the North Atlantic. Since then they had vanished into to some unknown future
time where blackened cinders seemed to be all that remained of the world. They
had cruised across the whole of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, and their
chronometer now read August 20. Yet checking his references it was clear that
the Eagle had been sunk August 11, 1942 at 1:15PM, and that story in the Daily Telegraph had come out a day later. The dates did not match up,
and he was suddenly confused.
The attack
by that plane, clearly not a modern aircraft of any sort, and the sudden change
from darkest night to mid-day sunshine convinced him that they were indeed
outcasts in another time again. Was Nikolin receiving a radio story about an event
that happened weeks ago? Or was the event current, happening now, and a clear
signpost to their present position in time? He needed more information, and he
looked to his radioman eagerly for any further news.
He stood up,
feeling the urgency of the moment and nagged by the realization that he should
be on the bridge. As he did so he noticed a photo of the Admiral and his wife
together there on the nightstand, and the thin tracings of pen on paper. The
Admiral had been writing a
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