“Yes, you could do that if you wish. I was very bold to come here, and even more rash to tell you all of this. You could kill me here and now-but not my plan-and you could not get force to Ilanskiy before it was carried out. So you see, I am neither stupid nor foolhardy. I determined that you would either end up my enemy in this war, or my friend. I had to know which was to be. Coming here like this would answer that question, for if you are determined to be my enemy, then you should kill me-here and now-because you know that I can do to you what you once did to Stalin. Do that, however, and you now make a permanent enemy of the Free Siberian State. You decide the fate of your own nation if you kill me here, for in that instance, Soviet Russia, and your regime, could not survive. No. Your only hope is to find in me the strongest possible ally you could ever have-stronger even than Admiral Volsky and his fighting ship. Kirov is a great foil at sea in this war, but it only has so many missiles in its hold. Once they are gone, that ship is no more than a dangerous looking cruise liner. So what is it to be, Mister General Secretary? Do you want my death, and the eternal enmity of the Free Siberian State with it, or do you want my friendship in a grand alliance?”
Kirov nodded his head, leaning back now and reaching for a flask of vodka and two glasses that were on a side table. “You have thought this through very well, Karpov. You are a very daring and determined man. I can appreciate that in a man. You understand power like few others, and you know how to use it. So no, I do not think I will have you taken out and shot today, because I understand power as well, and I know how to wield it when necessary.”
He slowly poured two small glasses of Vodka, handing one to Karpov. “So there is no poison in this glass. Instead I will extend my hand to you in friendship, if that is what you truly pledge here. I have no doubt that you could be a strong ally, and one I desperately need at this moment. But can you remain loyal, Karpov? Yes, there I do have my doubts, as your infighting with Admiral Volsky has shown you will not think twice about opposing any man who disagrees with you. The threat you leveled at me just a moment ago will overshadow all our dealings, would it not?”
“Pardon me for that,” said Karpov. “But I had to make it clear to you that I have a power now that cannot be matched in any way. And yet, it is clear that without your help, your leadership here in the heartland of Russia, the Free Siberian State will remain nothing more than a cold backwater wasteland on the fringe of this war. Then one day, just as I have warned, the tanks would come for me. Could I find a way to prevent that by venturing up or down that back stairway at Ilanskiy? Possibly, but why take the risk? I don’t want you dead, Kirov, nor do I want to sit in this gilded palace in your place. What I do want is the survival of our nation. Everything I have done in the past was to further that aim, and not merely for my own personal aggrandizement. The Motherland must survive!”
“Then let us drink to her good health,” said Kirov raising his glass, and he took a long sip of the vodka, breathing deeply with the heat of the liquor on his throat. Karpov drank as well, heedless of any risk of poison. It was all or nothing where Kirov was concerned. He had determined that the moment he decided to come to this place.
“Together we can try to save her,” said Karpov. “Together we save Russia from the cruel fate that looms on our horizon. It was never supposed to be this way, Kirov. This endless civil war should never have happened. We caused it, unknowingly, and now it threatens to destroy our nation if we do not stand and act to save it. Volkov does not see this, thinking that Hitler is too powerful to oppose. He knows that the Germans will not be stopped while Russia remains divided. He has seen the history of this war, and its outcome.”
“What does happen, Karpov? I have not ventured up that stairway to your floor. My sorties only took me to this time, and then back to 1908, never anywhere else.”
“What happens? I cannot say that for certain now. In our history we prevailed in this war, driving all the way to Berlin and crushing Hitler and his Third Reich under the tracks of our T-34s. Build them, Kirov! Build them by the thousands. Only you can do that. Russia needs you now more than ever, as I need you.”
“But after that? After the war?”
