Doppelganger

Doppelganger by John Schettler Read Free Book Online Page B

Book: Doppelganger by John Schettler Read Free Book Online
Authors: John Schettler
Tags: Science-Fiction, Military, Time travel, alternate history, Space Fleet
the bow was barely visible through the forward view screens.
    “So we are somewhere,” he said. “Elsewhere, a kind of purgatory where we sit in judgment at time’s court. Is that what has happened?”
    “That is a colorful way of thinking about it sir, but you may be correct. Then again, all these effects we’ve been experiencing may simply be the result of our approach to Paradox. To be equally colorful, it looms like a vast hidden ice berg out there in that fog somewhere, and there we were, sailing blindly along as the days ticked off and we came ever closer. Something was bound to happen sooner or later, and it did.”
    “Sooner,” said Volsky. “It was only May when we disappeared this time. Why is that, Fedorov?”
    “I don’t really know, but it happened. Perhaps the event we were facing was so critical, that it created effects that undulate out through time. We arrived here from the future, like a stone falling in a still pool, and we clearly disturbed the waters here, sending ripples out in all directions. We know those ripples affect the future from the point we entered here in July of 1941. Might they also affect the past? If this is so, then the effects we’ve been experiencing, Lenkov, men missing, the physical changes to the ship itself, might all be the result of these waves in time we created ourselves with that first arrival.”
    In this Fedorov was quite correct, and Volsky nodded as if he could sense this. “I understand,” he said. “At least I follow your metaphor. Then we may be riding one of these waves now. But what about Admiral Tovey and his ship? Is he lost in a grey fog as well?”
    “Who can say, sir, but I would think not. Invincible was native to the time we were in. it belonged there, even though it was the result of profound changes we caused to the time line. There were no odd reports coming from Tovey; no men went missing there.”
    “I see… Then we are affected more because we do not belong here. Yes?”
    “This is what I am thinking.”
    “These waves, Fedorov, will they get worse?”
    “The effects do seem to be progressively worsening, sir. It started with Tasarov and Dobrynin reporting that strange sound. Then we lost Lenkov. After that…”
    “Men started to go missing,” said Volsky grimly. “And I cannot believe I stood here on this bridge and could not remember Tasarov.”
    “Nor I, sir, until Nikolin jogged my memory. And now we have hit a wave that has had a broad physical effect on the entire ship and crew. We have phased completely, moved again, though we do not know where we are, or even when we are.”
    “Will we ride this wave, Fedorov? Will we re-appear in May of 1941 again until the next wave hits us?”
    “I’m not certain. We might, but if these effects continue to worsen, the next wave…”
    Volsky took a deep breath. “Well I do not think we can sail about like this for weeks waiting for a look at the stars. We may never see them unless we do re-emerge in that time we were in. Who knows, we might have been swept out into the seas of oblivion for good this time. We might never return to the place and time we were. That is good luck for the Germans, and bad luck for Admiral Tovey. From his perspective we must have simply vanished, and we’ve left him there alone to face the Hindenburg and all the rest. I was going to destroy the entire German surface fleet, Fedorov. We had the missile power left to do so. And then there was Gromyko. Whatever we failed to sink would remain easy pickings for him. The Kriegsmarine was on its last fatal sortie, or so I saw it when I decided to engage. It was not an easy decision—never easy to kill, particularly other sailors. Yes, we made them our enemies, but we are kinsman of sorts with them. The ocean we sail on, the depths below, are all our graves in waiting. Every sailor who ever set sail knows that, fears it. The sea holds them up, sustains them, yet it also waits for them, as the sharks wait, to

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