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Authors: John Schettler
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come
to a real disagreement with his other self?
As if
to comfort himself, more than out of any need, he gave Tyrenkov an order.
“Inform Bogrov that we are to hover over the aft quarter of the ship at 200
meters. No man is to be at any battle station, and all weapons will be
un-chambered and cold. Understood?”
“As you
wish, Admiral.” Tyrenkov noted one thing in the man. His tone and manner when
he gave an order were identical to that of the Siberian. Even the way he
finished the order with that single word, which Tyrenkov quietly repeated back
for confirmation. “Understood.”
Part III
Unmasked
“Wise were the
kings who never chose a friend till, with full cups, they had unmasked his
soul, and seen the bottom of his deepest thoughts.”
― Kahil Gibran
Chapter 7
The Siberian was not satisfied. He had done a very thorough
search of the ship’s computers, and even spent time in the library, but he had
come up empty. He was looking for any reference he could find to the British
use of the word Geronimo in the second World War, but the data was very
sketchy, and most of his hits related to more modern operations of the US Army
in Iraq and Afghanistan. In WWII, the American Airborne troops were said to
have shouted out the name as they jumped from their planes. There was a liberty
ship by that name, and a USS Geronimo , no more than an auxiliary fleet
tug built in 1944. No other references were even that close.
There
was one vague reference to a P-51 fighter pilot calling a British radio station
code named Geronimo , but that was in 1944. Yet Tyrenkov had discovered
the secret code handle some time ago, and informed him that the British were
using it to refer to Kirov … So how could Fedorov have plucked it from
his history books? Clearly his material must be much more detailed than
anything available in the ship’s library. He wanted to get to the bottom of
this little mystery, and soon.
“This
is the reference?” he said to Fedorov, who sat sheepishly across the desk from
him in the command briefing room off the main bridge citadel on Kirov. There it
was, a simple list of British code words of WWII:
GABLE
- Eastern Fleet evacuation craft interception, 4/45
GABRIEL
- Planned raid on Cotentin, 1942
GAMBIT
- Midget submarine navigational markers, 6/44
GANGWAY
- Planned Landing at Naples, Italy, 7/43
GAUNTLET
- Allied landings & evacuation at Spitsbergen, 8/41
GEARBOX
- Relief supplies to Spitsbergen, 6/42
GERONIMO
– British radio operations center, London, 1941
“Where
did you get this list? I could not find anything like it in the ship’s
library.”
That
put Fedorov on his guard, realizing that Karpov had been suspicious enough to
investigate the matter himself. Would he believe this ploy?
“It was
just a reference PDF I’ve had in my files for some time. This is only the data
for the letter G. I can show you the entire file if you wish, sir.”
“That
won’t be necessary,” said Karpov, scanning the rest of the page. “Interesting…
Operation Grasp, the British takeover of French vessels in England, and a good
name for that one. Guillotine, the transfer of RAF personnel and weapons stored
to Cyprus. That was putting their heads under the blade, wasn’t it? The Germans
have the place now, right along with Gibraltar and Malta…. Gymnast, the planned
landing in North Africa in February of 1942. Yes, they’ll have to have the
skill of a gymnast to get past Gibraltar. That isn’t very likely now, is it
Mister Fedorov?”
“That
will depend on what happens with Rommel,” said Fedorov.
“I’ve
heard the British have a new heavy tank in North Africa?”
“Sir?”
Fedorov knew he had to play dumb on that score.
“Yes,
I’ve had Nikolin listening in on long range shortwave chatter, and it was just
a gurgle in the stream. Anything about that in your books, Fedorov?”
“Not
that I recall, sir, unless that refers to the Matilda II tanks replacing
to a real disagreement with his other self?
As if
to comfort himself, more than out of any need, he gave Tyrenkov an order.
“Inform Bogrov that we are to hover over the aft quarter of the ship at 200
meters. No man is to be at any battle station, and all weapons will be
un-chambered and cold. Understood?”
“As you
wish, Admiral.” Tyrenkov noted one thing in the man. His tone and manner when
he gave an order were identical to that of the Siberian. Even the way he
finished the order with that single word, which Tyrenkov quietly repeated back
for confirmation. “Understood.”
Part III
Unmasked
“Wise were the
kings who never chose a friend till, with full cups, they had unmasked his
soul, and seen the bottom of his deepest thoughts.”
― Kahil Gibran
Chapter 7
The Siberian was not satisfied. He had done a very thorough
search of the ship’s computers, and even spent time in the library, but he had
come up empty. He was looking for any reference he could find to the British
use of the word Geronimo in the second World War, but the data was very
sketchy, and most of his hits related to more modern operations of the US Army
in Iraq and Afghanistan. In WWII, the American Airborne troops were said to
have shouted out the name as they jumped from their planes. There was a liberty
ship by that name, and a USS Geronimo , no more than an auxiliary fleet
tug built in 1944. No other references were even that close.
There
was one vague reference to a P-51 fighter pilot calling a British radio station
code named Geronimo , but that was in 1944. Yet Tyrenkov had discovered
the secret code handle some time ago, and informed him that the British were
using it to refer to Kirov … So how could Fedorov have plucked it from
his history books? Clearly his material must be much more detailed than
anything available in the ship’s library. He wanted to get to the bottom of
this little mystery, and soon.
“This
is the reference?” he said to Fedorov, who sat sheepishly across the desk from
him in the command briefing room off the main bridge citadel on Kirov. There it
was, a simple list of British code words of WWII:
GABLE
- Eastern Fleet evacuation craft interception, 4/45
GABRIEL
- Planned raid on Cotentin, 1942
GAMBIT
- Midget submarine navigational markers, 6/44
GANGWAY
- Planned Landing at Naples, Italy, 7/43
GAUNTLET
- Allied landings & evacuation at Spitsbergen, 8/41
GEARBOX
- Relief supplies to Spitsbergen, 6/42
GERONIMO
– British radio operations center, London, 1941
“Where
did you get this list? I could not find anything like it in the ship’s
library.”
That
put Fedorov on his guard, realizing that Karpov had been suspicious enough to
investigate the matter himself. Would he believe this ploy?
“It was
just a reference PDF I’ve had in my files for some time. This is only the data
for the letter G. I can show you the entire file if you wish, sir.”
“That
won’t be necessary,” said Karpov, scanning the rest of the page. “Interesting…
Operation Grasp, the British takeover of French vessels in England, and a good
name for that one. Guillotine, the transfer of RAF personnel and weapons stored
to Cyprus. That was putting their heads under the blade, wasn’t it? The Germans
have the place now, right along with Gibraltar and Malta…. Gymnast, the planned
landing in North Africa in February of 1942. Yes, they’ll have to have the
skill of a gymnast to get past Gibraltar. That isn’t very likely now, is it
Mister Fedorov?”
“That
will depend on what happens with Rommel,” said Fedorov.
“I’ve
heard the British have a new heavy tank in North Africa?”
“Sir?”
Fedorov knew he had to play dumb on that score.
“Yes,
I’ve had Nikolin listening in on long range shortwave chatter, and it was just
a gurgle in the stream. Anything about that in your books, Fedorov?”
“Not
that I recall, sir, unless that refers to the Matilda II tanks replacing
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