Doppelganger

Doppelganger

Number XVII of
Kirov

John Schettler

The Writing Shop Press (2015)

Kirov Saga:

Doppelganger

By

John Schettler

A publication of:
The Writing Shop Press

Doppelganger
Copyright©2015, John A. Schettler

KIROV SERIES:

The Kirov Saga:
Season One

Kirov
-
Kirov Series - Volume 1
Cauldron Of Fire -
Kirov Series - Volume 2

Pacific Storm -
Kirov Series - Volume 3

Men Of War -
Kirov Series - Volume 4
Nine Days Falling -
Kirov Series - Volume 5

Fallen Angels -
Kirov Series - Volume 6

Devil’s Garden -
Kirov Series - Volume 7

Armageddon
– Kirov Series – Volume 8

The Kirov Saga:
Season Two

Altered States
– Kirov Series – Volume 9
Darkest Hour
– Kirov Series – Volume 10
Hinge Of Fate
– Kirov Series – Volume 11

Three Kings
– Kirov Series – Volume 12

Grand Alliance
– Kirov Series – Volume 13
Hammer Of God
– Kirov Series – Volume 14
Crescendo Of Doom
– Kirov Series – Volume 15
Paradox Hour
– Kirov Series – Volume 16

The Kirov Saga:
Season Three

Doppelganger
– Kirov Series – Volume 17

More to come…

Kirov Saga:

Doppelganger

By

John Schettler

“We are past the end of things now, but I don't want to leave.”

—Richard Ford:
The Sportswriter, 1986

“The vision recurs; the eastern sun has a second rise; history repeats her tale unconsciously, and goes off into a mystic rhyme; ages are prototypes of other ages, and the winding course of time brings us round to the same spot again.”

―
The Christian Remembrancer,
1845

Kirov Saga:

                   Doppelganger

By

John Schettler

Part I –
Fire & Steel

Part II –
The Final Shift

Part III –
Gladiators
Part IV –
Interlopers

Part V –
Nothing Is Written

Part VI –
Mirrors

Part VII –
War Plans
Part VIII –
Doppelganger
Part IX –
Backwash

Part X –
Loose Ends

Part XI –
Chaos Zone

                               
Part XII –
The Second Coming

                               
Dorland’s Time Glossary

Author’s Note:

Dear
readers, this is the opening volume of the third “season” of the Kirov Saga,
Doppelganger
, and a proper continuation of the events presented in
Paradox Hour.
The challenge facing the ship on 28 July, 1941, only just began to manifest in the previous novel, and will reach a full resolution here. In writing this, I thought long and hard about the Paradox facing the ship as it approached that date from both the future and the past. That collision in time promised to be as harrowing as the strange incident with the cruiser
Tone
at the end of
Pacific Storm
. Then again, it might be nothing at all.

The mystery inherent in time travel has long been at the heart of this series. You sat with me, patiently watching Fedorov and Volsky slowly peel that onion, discovering what was moving the ship in time in Rod-25.
Men of War,
introduced yet another major element of that mystery when Fedorov inadvertently discovers the natural time rift aligned with the back stairway at Ilanskiy. The connection of this event to 1908, concurrent with the Tunguska Event, took the mystery of time displacement to another level, particularly when Inspector Kapustin discovers that elements used in the making of Rod-25 were mined near the epicenter of that event. The importance of Tunguska in what is now happening is far from over, and more of this segment of the mystery will be revealed in upcoming books.

You have also watched the slow evolution of Director Kamenski’s character, from a whimsical old man discussing battleships with his grandson, to something quite more. I have used this character to be a mouthpiece for some of this mystery of time travel, a sounding board for Fedorov as he struggled to understand what the ship and crew might be facing soon, and the consequences of his own actions in the past.

Kamenski’s revelations concerning the Russian nuclear test program were another peek behind the curtain and, in
Paradox Hour
, he spends some time trying to explain the nature of time to Fedorov, and also reveals one other startling fact—like Elena Fairchild, he has been the keeper of a strange artifact from the future.

The “Keyholders Saga” was first introduced as the final scene in my five volume Meridian Time travel series, which was reprised in an edited version in
Paradox Hour
to help explicate events that are now unfolding in the Kirov Series. Another enigmatic figure, Sir Roger Ames, the Duke of Elvington, also served to slowly plant the seed of the tree that is now growing when he took us on that strange retreat to the castle of Lindisfarne, yet another hidden natural rift in time, secured, and opened, by a key from the future.

The mystery and purpose of these keys soon became an imperative in the naval chase that saw
Kirov
sail with Admiral Tovey’s HMS
Invincible
, first in the hunt for the
Hindenburg
, and then in the desperate effort to save the battleship
Rodney
, and the secret cargo it was transporting to Boston. Readers should know that this mission by
Rodney
was not a device arising from my own imagination. It was entirely historical. I merely inserted the key in the base of the Selene Horse in my Meridian Series. When
Rodney
sets sail to rendezvous with
Kirov
, those two story worlds also begin to join in
Paradox Hour
with the introduction of Lieutenant Commander Wellings—another historical figure whose identity was filched by an enterprising Physics Professor, Paul Dorland.

Readers of the Meridian Series will know this man well, along with the other team members from the Meridian Project. Some of you have even written to me asking whether the Meridian team was going to discover what
Kirov
was doing on its chaotic sorties through WWII. Now you have your answer. As the Kirov Series progresses, you will occasionally meet the Meridian team members operating from their Arch facility in the Lawrence Berkeley labs. Considering what has happened to Director Kamenski at the end of
Paradox Hour
, Professor Paul Dorland now steps in to help explain the Paradox, and further unravel this Gordian knot of time travel.

Through the mind of Professor Dorland, you will now gain an understanding of just what is happening to the time continuum. In this regard, I have included the lexicon of his time travel terminology as developed in the Dorland theory here at the end of this volume as an easy reference. (Just be sure you don’t peek at the ending if you navigate there!) If you listen carefully to the Meridian team leader here, you will soon come to understand why
Kirov
experienced all those strange effects, Lenkov’s fate, and by extension the fate of the entire ship and crew. You will also learn just what Elena Fairchild fears, even though she does not quite understand it, when she speaks about a “Grand Finality.”

Beyond that, there is a great deal more to come as
Kirov
finally faces the effects of
Paradox Hour
. An intriguing story line develops that will further explore this mystery inherent in time travel, and explain how the Keyholders relate to it all, while also taking us towards the year 1942. Yes, though these two volumes are heavy on the time travel angles in the story, the alternative history of WWII will also continue in season three.

There’s a lot of military action yet to come. Operation Barbarossa gathers momentum, as well as Volkov’s war with Sergei Kirov on the Volga front. In that regard, the fate of Captain Karpov will take an interesting turn here, for he must also stand before Time’s court, and answer for the many misdeeds he has committed. In this book you get the verdict.

The Japanese will soon be entering the war, and the Americans right on their heels. Meanwhile, the shock of
Kirov’s
missile technology, and the appearance of Brigadier Kinlan’s unstoppable 7th Armored Brigade, will prompt Germany to launch crash programs to develop new heavy tanks, jet engines, and rockets. The WWII looming ahead will be profoundly influenced by these developments, and Kinlan’s troops will be in the thick of that action.

To faithful crew members, my readers who have been with me from the first book, this volume will finally take us
through
the fateful date of 7/28/41 and lead to the progression of the war in 1942. Thank you all so much for staying with this story. I promise you another exciting ride here in season three. So without further preface, let us begin!   
- John Schettler

Part I

Fire & Steel

“The hardest steel is tempered by the hottest fire.”

―
Proverb

Chapter 1

Tovey
stood on the bridge of HMS
Invincible
, struggling to resist the urge to pace. Somewhere within him, he ladled up the cool waters of that reserve of calm he could call on—when his temper wasn’t hot and fired. He was fire and steel, the cold strength of well tempered metal, the heat and energy of the flames, all in one.