Grand Alliance (Kirov Series) Read Free

to do with our reactors.” Fedorov did not want to get into all the
details of Rod-25, Tunguska, the fragmented time that event had caused, the
hidden places in the world where fissures in time had been created to allow men
and objects to make impossible journeys through time. It was enough to try and
give this man some footing here, some kind of solid ground to stand on, as
shiftless and windblown as it all might seem now.
    “General,”
he said through Popski. “When this storm finally abates, your systems will
settle down, but you will never establish satellite links again—ever. In fact,
you will never again receive another message or word from the world you knew.
The only communications you will ever pick up will be things of this world, of
this time, and the year is 1941—January of 1941 to be more precise. That is why
the stars and moon seem to conspire against you. Believe me, I was a navigator by
trade before being promoted to my present position. When this first happened to
us, I used my skills as a navigator to determine the stars and moon were not
what they should be, just as your men did.”
    Popski
could not help but cast a furtive glance at the night sky above as the evening
settled over the scene and the first stars were again visible in the slowly
clearing airs.
    “Then
you’re trying to tell me this man O’Connor is the real thing? This fellow
Wavell that was bending my ear ten minutes ago is indeed General Archibald
Wavell?”
    “Correct.
Impossible, but true. It took us a very long time to determine what had
happened to us, and relate it to the strange effects of a nuclear detonation.
Apparently the same thing has just happened to you. We determined that these
effects have a radius—like the EMP effect can influence an area beyond the core
blast zone. Well, even if this detonation missed its target, you must have
remained inside the zone.”
    Kinlan
stood with that for some time, removing his sand goggles to get a better look
at the man, noting the unfailing sincerity in his tone and expression. He
allowed himself a question, even though it would admit to grudging acceptance
of this whole wild scenario.
    “Then
how do we get back?”
    Fedorov
gave him a look of real sympathy and understanding, then spoke quietly. “That
may no longer be possible.”
    “What?
You mean we’re marooned here, for good?”
    “For
good or for ill, but you are here, that much you will inevitably come to
realize and believe, just as we did. And being here is a matter of grave
concern, not simply for your own fate, or the lives of the men you command, but
for the fate of this world. Do you understand what I am saying now, general?
You are no ordinary man here—not in this time and place. This is the Western
Desert of Egypt in 1941. You know what is happening here now, and why men with
names like Wavell and O’Connor are before you. And you will soon hear of
another familiar name—Rommel. He is here as well, and undoubtedly up to the
same old tricks that confounded the British for years in this campaign. But you
can change all that, General Kinlan.”
    “Change
it?” Now Kinlan remembered his own impulsive vow to Major Sims, that he would
kick Rommel’s ass half way to Berlin if he found him.
    “Yes,”
said Fedorov. “That is the real dilemma now. We faced it, talked endlessly
about it, debated it, and then we realized we could not remain here in the
midst of this terrible war without choosing sides. And General, there was some
contention among our ranks over that choice. There were those who were very
embittered over the hostility and enmity that has grown between our nations in
our day. It was a struggle, but my Admiral held firm and eventually opted for
reason in the face of all this insanity.”
    “Admiral?”
    “Leonid
Volsky. You have heard of this man?”
    “Volsky.
He’s the commander of the Red Banner Northern Fleet, or at least he was before
your ship went missing.”
    “Correct,
and he was to