Nemesis Read Free

want to reveal the real truth to
Kirov, that the ship had originally appeared in July of 1941, just days ago.
    “My
intelligence is very good, Mister General Secretary. Trust me, the ship is back,
and it’s in the Norwegian Sea, but it may not be there for long. I want you to
order it to Murmansk, and as soon as possible.”
    “Order
it there?”
    “I can
tell you what channel to use to get through, if you don’t already know, and you
can use all that sugar in your tea to convince them they need to come see you
in Murmansk, just like before. But I am the rightful Captain of that damn ship,
and I want it back. Give me that, and I’ll send you all the men you need. You
can build five shock armies, and yes, you can give them to Konev. And you’ll
get my full and complete support for the duration of this war. That’s your
little deal with the devil now. You give me my ship, I’ll give you the manpower
you need—real fighting men. It’s either that or you can continue to raise raw
recruits from the peasant farmers, and see how well they like dancing with
Hitler’s SS.”

Chapter 2
    “Why in the world would you need that ship?” Kirov shifted in
the chair, squaring off to Karpov. “The last time I consulted a map, Siberia
had no viable ports.”
    “For
the moment.”
    That
gave the General Secretary pause. “Vladivostok? You are thinking to try and
take back that port from the Japanese?”
    “You
and I both know that will have to be done,” said Karpov. “Why bandy words about
it here? Of course I want it back, and with that ship I’ll have the power to
take it.”
    “The
Japanese have at least five divisions in Primorskiy Province. I’m told that
ship has some marvelous weapons—rockets that are very powerful, but it can’t
win a land battle like that. Surely you must know this.”
    “It can,
and it will. A moment ago you were telling me how I could put the troops
Kolchak has in the Trans-Baikal to good use. Taking Vladivostok is a good
choice. If I do this it will make the position of their Kwantung Army
untenable. For that matter, we should take back Port Arthur as well.”
    “We?
You are expecting Soviet support for these operations?”
    “Of
course, just as you are expecting Siberian support for the building of these
new armies. Face it, Kirov. I don’t know what you saw when you went up those
stairs at Ilanskiy, but at least you had the good sense to know what to do
about it. Once this war is over, and that is a matter of just a few more years,
then Russia must be re-united as one state. There can be no Orenburg
Federation, and no Free Siberian State either. There must be only one nation.
Correct? Otherwise we will not survive the challenges that come after this war.
History does not end in 1945, even if this war may end that year.”
    Now
Kirov realized that there was another dimension to this man that he must never
forget. Yes, he was a devil, just as he had said to the man’s face, but he was
also from another time, a future time, and the knowledge of all that might
happen in the decades ahead was a very powerful thing. Now he indulged a moment
of weakness that he had tried to resist before, even with a man as amiable as
Admiral Volsky there to confer with him.
    “You
spoke of that future time when we first met. Tell me more,” he said quietly,
his tone suddenly very serious.
    Karpov
saw his moment had come, and knew he needed to take every advantage of it.
“Long years of enmity fall between Russia and the West—yes, your nice loyal
allies, with all their talk of cooperation, Lend-Lease trucks, and a second
front against Germany. After this war ends, a chill falls on Europe, and the
frost line runs right through the heart of a divided Germany. They called it
the Cold War, because we seldom ever fired a shot in anger at one another, but
it was war nonetheless. It was waged with politics, covert operations, spies, economic
oppression, and a long, guarded watch was set on all our