of Fedorov was preposterous. Karpov shook his head, his anger becoming disdain. “So Orlov was correct, Fedorov, and the Doctor still has work to do with you. Now it’s delusions of grandeur.”
“Take the call sir. This is what you wanted, isn’t it? They are standing by. You can finally get to the bottom of all of this.”
Karpov gave his Navigator a dismissive wave of his hand, his attention now pulled to Nikolin’s station. “Damn right,” he said, striding over to Nikolin’s side. “Get yourself back to sick bay, Fedorov. Nikolin, have them identify themselves again,” he said gruffly. “And I want it straight. Get the speaker’s name, rank, position and ship number. Send them the same information from us, and identify me as acting Captain.”
“Aye sir.” Nikolin toggled a switch and sent out a response. “Roger Geronimo, please say all again. Identity, name, rank, position, and state ship name and pennant number. This is the Russian Navy ship BCG Sergei Kirov, pennant number 072, presently in the Norwegian Sea south of Jan Mayen. Over.”
There was a brief pause, and a voice came back, speaking English, which Nikolin quickly translated. “This is Admiral John Tovey, Commander of Home Fleet, Royal Navy, aboard HMS Invincible, fleet pennant number 50.”
“Commander of the Home Fleet?” Karpov looked surprised as Nikolin listened, an odd look on his face.
“Sir… He’s requesting to speak with Admiral Volsky… or Mister Fedorov!” He looked at Fedorov strangely, obviously as surprised to hear this as Karpov was.
“Fedorov?” Karpov turned, eyeing his Navigator with a suspicious look. “How could you know what that man would say?” He pointed at the radio set, turning to Fedorov. “How could you know his name like that? And why in the world would he be asking to speak with you, a simple minded Lieutenant in the Russian Navy?”
A moment ago he had glibly suggested Fedorov was working for the Royal Navy, yet now a thrum of real suspicion pulsed up, and he looked at Fedorov with new eyes.
“Because I personally know the man, sir,” said Fedorov quickly. “In fact, I have met with him on that very ship, HMS Invincible. He is exactly who he claims to be, Admiral John Tovey, Commander of the British Home Fleet. This man can identify those other two ships we’ve been monitoring. He will know the deployments of all Royal Navy ships.”
Karpov was looking at him, a hard, suspicious look now. “You know him personally? The Admiral of the British Home Fleet, is it? Leaving aside the fact that there is no British Home Fleet any longer, at least not that I am aware of. It’s been simply called Fleet Command, since the 1970s. Yes, Fedorov, I went to the Naval College as well, but it seems you’ve forgotten a few lessons.” He nodded his head Nikolin’s way. “Look up that pennant number. Find out what ship this really is.”
“Aye sir, keying the ship data bank now.”
“You won’t find it in our data,” said Fedorov. “And if you will meet with me in the briefing room, sir, I will tell you why.”
“Correct Captain,” said Nikolin. “No ship by that pennant number or name is correctly active in the Royal Navy.”
Now Karpov’s suspicions redoubled.
* * *
“Standby Kirov,” said Tovey, switching off his radio microphone and turning to the others. “Well this is one smelly kettle of fish,” he said. “They’re back alright. I recognize that young lieutenant on the line that Admiral Volsky always used as a translator—a Mister Nikolin. Yet I’m told the Admiral is presently indisposed, and the acting commander of the ship is being named as a Captain Karpov. This was the name of the officer that caused such a row aboard that ship earlier, but how could he be there now? Admiral Volsky made no mention of any planned meeting with the man.”
“Are you certain?” said Dorland.
“That was the name I was just given. Captain Vladimir Karpov.”
“Strange,” said Paul. “We were having a look at that name, as it cropped up in our research—a prominent figure in the Siberian State.”
“That’s the man,” said Tovey. “I was told he was a former officer on the Russian ship.”
“Aboard Kirov?” In all the rush to plan this time shift to the Azores, they had never had time to fully investigate the key officers on the ship. Paul assumed his people were running all that down, but he had been too eager to shift again, and had not been briefed.
Mack Morgan cleared his throat and spoke up now, remembering some