and so let me rephrase your question. Did I have foreknowledge that one of our ships would go missing in time? Well, I certainly had my suspicions, Mister Fedorov. In fact, I have been watching this ship of yours for some time, and you already know through your discussion with Admiral Tovey, that other men were watching for Kirov as well.”
“You mean the organization that Tovey founded, the Watch?”
“Exactly. Well, it may not surprise you to learn that we found out about that as well. Secrets are very difficult to keep over the years. We didn’t know exactly what the British and Americans were up to, but we realized that it had something to do with time. You see, their own testing of these strange effects preceded ours. Ivy Mike took place in 1952, and Castle Bravo in 1954, but we did not learn definitively that time displacement was possible until our big Tsar Bomba test of 1961. It was only then that we realized the full implications of what the British and Americans had been doing. But that only confirmed a suspicion I have held about your ship for a very long time.”
“You mean you suspected Kirov had moved in time?”
“I did, and I was sleuthing the history for hard evidence of that.”
“But why, Director? Why did you suspect this?”
“Because that magic wand of yours, Rod-25, changed things, Mister Fedorov. But I remember how they once used to be. Yes… I remember it all very well.”
Kamenski’s assertion was most alarming. Fedorov did not know what to make of it at first, until he thought deeply for a moment, realizing that this Director Kamenski was a man they had encountered after their return from their sojourn in the Pacific. He had been enmeshed in the mystery of Kirov by Inspector General Kapustin, who had used him as a sounding board for the evidence he was digging up concerning Kirov . Yet that world was subtly altered. Men aboard the ship found that out the hard way, when they went ashore to see expected loved ones, and found strangers living in their homes! One crewman was so distraught over what he had discovered, that he committed suicide… Just like so many in the crew of the cruiser Tone .
Was Kamenski altered with the changing of that world? Was he the same Director Kamenski that might have existed before Kirov ever left Severomorsk? He seemed to be saying that he had been able to perceive the subtle changes introduced in the course of events. Yet how was this possible? Wouldn’t he have changed right along with everything else. He asked Kamenski about this.
“Sir, how could you know anything changed?”
“Because I could still remember the world as it once was,” said Kamenski flatly. “I went over this with Admiral Volsky once. You can remember Pearl Harbor, yes?”
“Of course,” said Fedorov.
“But yet you realize that your intervention after that first displacement, the use of an atomic weapon in the North Atlantic, caused the United States to enter the war early. You know both entry dates. In the same way, I know several versions of the history, and I have watched it change in my history books for some time. Yes! The books change, Mister Fedorov. But this old head seems immune.”
So Kamenski remembered things from other time meridians, thought Fedorov. Just like Admiral Tovey seems to be haunted by memories of his interaction with Kirov in 1942. I wonder how this is possible? Yet I remember things from the world we first came from easily enough. I remember having that last breakfast on shore leave at Severomorsk before we left for those live fire exercises—something that may never happen now that we have twisted these events so badly.
“Yes,” said Kamenski. “I thought retirement would be a nice quiet time with my books, good wine and tea, and a little gardening—but look at me now!”
Fedorov suddenly remembered what Admiral Volsky had asked him to mention. “Director,” he said. “The Admiral asked me to enquire as to how your garden
“You mean the organization that Tovey founded, the Watch?”
“Exactly. Well, it may not surprise you to learn that we found out about that as well. Secrets are very difficult to keep over the years. We didn’t know exactly what the British and Americans were up to, but we realized that it had something to do with time. You see, their own testing of these strange effects preceded ours. Ivy Mike took place in 1952, and Castle Bravo in 1954, but we did not learn definitively that time displacement was possible until our big Tsar Bomba test of 1961. It was only then that we realized the full implications of what the British and Americans had been doing. But that only confirmed a suspicion I have held about your ship for a very long time.”
“You mean you suspected Kirov had moved in time?”
“I did, and I was sleuthing the history for hard evidence of that.”
“But why, Director? Why did you suspect this?”
“Because that magic wand of yours, Rod-25, changed things, Mister Fedorov. But I remember how they once used to be. Yes… I remember it all very well.”
Kamenski’s assertion was most alarming. Fedorov did not know what to make of it at first, until he thought deeply for a moment, realizing that this Director Kamenski was a man they had encountered after their return from their sojourn in the Pacific. He had been enmeshed in the mystery of Kirov by Inspector General Kapustin, who had used him as a sounding board for the evidence he was digging up concerning Kirov . Yet that world was subtly altered. Men aboard the ship found that out the hard way, when they went ashore to see expected loved ones, and found strangers living in their homes! One crewman was so distraught over what he had discovered, that he committed suicide… Just like so many in the crew of the cruiser Tone .
Was Kamenski altered with the changing of that world? Was he the same Director Kamenski that might have existed before Kirov ever left Severomorsk? He seemed to be saying that he had been able to perceive the subtle changes introduced in the course of events. Yet how was this possible? Wouldn’t he have changed right along with everything else. He asked Kamenski about this.
“Sir, how could you know anything changed?”
“Because I could still remember the world as it once was,” said Kamenski flatly. “I went over this with Admiral Volsky once. You can remember Pearl Harbor, yes?”
“Of course,” said Fedorov.
“But yet you realize that your intervention after that first displacement, the use of an atomic weapon in the North Atlantic, caused the United States to enter the war early. You know both entry dates. In the same way, I know several versions of the history, and I have watched it change in my history books for some time. Yes! The books change, Mister Fedorov. But this old head seems immune.”
So Kamenski remembered things from other time meridians, thought Fedorov. Just like Admiral Tovey seems to be haunted by memories of his interaction with Kirov in 1942. I wonder how this is possible? Yet I remember things from the world we first came from easily enough. I remember having that last breakfast on shore leave at Severomorsk before we left for those live fire exercises—something that may never happen now that we have twisted these events so badly.
“Yes,” said Kamenski. “I thought retirement would be a nice quiet time with my books, good wine and tea, and a little gardening—but look at me now!”
Fedorov suddenly remembered what Admiral Volsky had asked him to mention. “Director,” he said. “The Admiral asked me to enquire as to how your garden
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