Kirov Saga: Hinge Of Fate: Altered States Volume III (Kirov Series) Read Online Free Page B

more than impressed.
The interior of the silo was immaculate, the missile threatening in every line
and aspect. There was clearly technology and knowhow on this ship far in excess
of anything he could imagine possible. Was the admiral merely boasting to make
an impression? Could this missile hit its target over a hundred miles away? How
would it see it? He asked this, and got an answer.
    “Those radars tell it the general
location of the target, and then when it is in flight it uses its own radar,
right there in the nose, to have a look for itself. It is extremely accurate.”
    “My God, your advances in radar
technology must be very far ahead of our own.”
    “Come, now I will show you my
bridge.”
    They made their way up, climbing
ladders and stairways, and in time came in through the aft hatch of the main
citadel.
    “Admiral on the bridge!”
Rodenko’s voice was sharp and clear, and Tovey needed no translation to know
what he had said when every officer and watchstander snapped to attention.
    “As you were, gentlemen. Admiral,
may I present the ship’s Executive Officer, Grigori Rodenko, a very able man.
He will show you the control interfaces and systems we use to receive the data
those big radar dishes send here.”
    Rodenko walked them from station
to station, describing the equipment as Nikolin translated, and noting its
basic purpose. They toured Radar and then Sonar, where Tasarov waited quietly
beneath his headset.
    “We could hear the approach of a
German U-Boat from over twenty kilometers away, and if we were simply listening
for your ship, we would hear it coming at many times that range.”
    Then came to the combat
information center, aglow with lights and status panels, where the Admiral
introduced Victor Samsonov. “Here is my strong right arm, Admiral Tovey. This
man executes battle orders to deliver the appropriate ordnance on the target,
and he is very efficient, as the German navy has already seen.”
    Tovey was taking this all in, one
amazing fact after another. The electronic devices that seemed to be everywhere
hummed with quiet energy. There were no telescopes for sighting on distant ships,
no voice pipes for the officer of the watch to bawl out orders to stations
below. Instead there was an enormous flat black panel overhead that suddenly
came to life with the image of his own ship, HMS Invincible , where it
road at anchor behind a screen of destroyers hundreds of yards away. To his
utter astonishment the image was zoomed in at Admiral Volsky’s request, and
Tovey gaped when he clearly saw men he recognized standing on the weather deck
at their watches. The resolution and clarity of the image was impeccable.
    “Now let us retire to the
officer’s dining room for dinner. I am eager to repay your hospitality in hosting
us for lunch some weeks ago, and there is much we have to discuss.”
     
     
    Chapter 3
     
    If a man could eat the
finest cut of steak and not taste it, that was Tovey’s experience that night,
so focused as he was on what the Russian Admiral was telling him.
    “So you have seen this ship, and
I can imagine you find it more than uncommon.” Volsky set down his napkin,
taking a sip of wine as he finished. “Your next question is obvious. How could
Soviet Russia build such a ship, develop such advanced weaponry, electronics,
radar, and more? There are things hidden behind those glowing consoles and
screens that I have not mentioned, Admiral. We have a machine that allows us to
make precise calculations, faster than the speed of thought itself. The
application of these weapons requires it, the hand of man being simply too slow
to adequately manage these weapons once they are unleashed. The world I come
from demands such precision, and a matter of even a few seconds could make the
difference between life or death in battle there.”
    “The world you come from? I will
admit that the nature and capabilities of the weapons and machinery you have
shown me here seems