“We’ll bring them in on this shortly, and we’ll have to throw the same bucket of ice water in their faces that I just dumped on Major Isaac here. I’ll want them ready for anything when we move north. But first I’ll want senior staff briefed on this, and on our planned movement north in the next 24 hours.”
“We’re taking the whole brigade?” Sims had one last question.
“No, I’m sending the Gurkha Light Infantry Battalion to Siwa, just in case those really were Italian infantry in those photos. They certainly weren’t Egyptian Army, and they certainly weren’t Berbers. This Fergusson fellow at Siwa might be glad to have a little company. The rest of the mechanized elements move north. But I’ll want to know what we’re up against, one way or another. We have no idea what’s really going on-no reliable sit-rep.”
“What about that Russian Helicopter?”
“My thoughts exactly,” said Kinlan. “Gentlemen, I think it’s time you met this Russian Captain that Reeves rounded up out here… and someone else.”
Fedorov had struggled for some time with everything that was happening, and Popski did not have to work too hard at finding out what was going on. Fedorov realized that if he were to communicate here in any way that could be convincing, he would have to rely on Popski for the moment. The man would simply have to know what was happening, who they were, yet he felt a deep reluctance to reveal the information. Something told him that they wanted to keep this secret for as long as possible, but here he was, in the midst of an entire armored brigade from the year 2021. They were going to be pulled into the maelstrom of this war, and there was nothing he could do about that. They were going to know-a few key officers at the outset, yet all the rest in due course. They were all going to know, but what chaos was he now about to unleash upon this world?
He had worried about contaminating the time line, cracking that pristine mirror of history. Look at the damage they had already done! Their homeland was shattered in civil war, a circumstance that now made the prospect of a German victory in WWII very likely. He had long since abandoned any hope that they might ever get the history back on track again. It was broken beyond repair. There were now simply too many men who must know why, and that knowledge would spread like a fatal illness and contaminate this whole world.
What should he do? He wished he had Admiral Volsky here, or Director Kamenski, and he remained haunted by the dreadful, aching feeling that he had been responsible for the hell they had unleashed upon this world. Every instinct in his body was screaming at him to be silent, to hold the secret within, but how could he do this with these men here? They were going north and in another 24 hours they were going to learn a very hard truth, one with or without his intervention. That fact alone decided his course. He could not stop what was about to happen. He could no longer hold back the flood-the dam of secrecy was breaking, but what he could do was try to open the sluice gates slowly. He could try to channel and guide what happened next, as best he could.
It was his doing, he thought. Admiral Volsky wasn’t here, and Director Kamenski wasn’t here, so this was all on his shoulders now. It was up to him.
“Alright, Popski,” he said just as Sims was waving them to approach. “You are going to hear some things now that will sound unbelievable, but bear with me. I tried my best to speak with General O’Connor earlier, but I will need you to translate here now, and this is of critical importance. Stay with me, believe in me, and do your best.”
“Alright, Captain. I’ve had my notions that something was amiss here, but you have your say.”
“Popski…” Fedorov gave him a long look. “You might think I’m making a fool of myself, and you in the bargain here, but I assure you, everything you are about to hear is the truth.”
The truth… a terrible truth. A secret about to be revealed that could shake this world to the core. That was how Fedorov began his briefing, feeling the awful weight grow heavier on him with each word he spoke.
