Free B00DSDUWIQ EBOK by John Schettler Page A

Orlan firing off his starboard bow.
    “Where
Angels fear to tread,” said Rodenko at his side, the duty on his radar assigned
to a Lieutenant. He was acting Starpom now, and promoted to Captain Lieutenant.
When the ship was at action stations he was up and at Karpov’s side, inwardly
proud of his promotion and ready for both the new authority and responsibility
it brought him. Always a level headed man, Rodenko remained cool under fire and
was a natural leader for all the junior officers in his section during the
ship’s earlier ordeals. While he had never mustered the courage to confront
Karpov in the beginning when he opposed Admiral Volsky, he regretted that now
that he knew what it felt like to be standing in command level officer’s shoes.
    When
Fedorov had been promoted to Starpom , and then ship’s Captain during Karpov’s
rehabilitation in the Med, Rodenko never fretted or felt passed over. He saw
how the young Fedorov was struggling to assume his new role, seeing he was over
his head in many ways, and tried to help him as much as he could. The cooperative
relationship he managed to forge with Karpov was inspiring to the entire bridge
crew, and with Orlov gone, things seemed much more stable on the ship. Now his
tactical sense, overall situational awareness born of his years as a radar man,
and his general competence made him perfect for the role as the ship’s Starpom ,
Executive Officer and second in command after Karpov on the fleet’s flagship.
    He
admired the Captain’s skill at the helm, particularly in combat, and it was true
that Karpov had saved the ship many times in tight situations. But Rodenko had
seen, and knew well, the darker side of Karpov, and now that the ship had regressed
again in time, he began to perceive the Captain’s shadow thickening on the deck
of the bridge again, and flashes of his old self—his ambition and yes, his
arrogance was apparent at times, particularly after their battle with the US
Captain Tanner and CVBG Washington .
    Rodenko
knew that had been a real threat, and that circumstances and strong support from
both the Naval Air Arm and the undersea boats had been decisive in the engagement.
If the fleet had faced the Americans without them, things might have been very
different. The initial eruption of that volcano had also forced the Americans
to divert left and right to avoid the ashfall. While Karpov was clever in
moving the ship south beneath the ash cloud that morning, they had still seen a Harpoon come within a whisker of striking the ship. Varyag had
saved the day, and then all hell broke loose when that volcano erupted again.
    Now,
thrown back into the same impossible situation as before, Karpov seemed to regress
in his behavior, his own inner Demon restlessly awakening in the heat of
imminent battle. Rodenko had seen how both Volsky and Fedorov had served as strong
counterfoils to Karpov before, and wondered how he would measure up to that
task. In the end he realized it was his job to give the Captain his best judgment
in any situation they encountered, and his best effort at the helm.
    “They
have no idea what they’re facing,” said Karpov. “And that’s why they seem so brave,
I suppose. If they knew there was no way they could penetrate our SAM defenses,
they might fear the skies over this ship.”
    “But
they don’t know,” said Rodenko. “Which is why it hurts a bit to watch this.”
    Karpov
turned his head, lowering his field glasses, but said nothing. The light in his
eyes was lit by the flames of battle. The action had moved inside the 50 kilometer
range circle, and radar reported that the formation was pressing doggedly
forward. Orlan had fired three salvos of eight, and she was near
perfect. Two of the missiles had consumed the same plane when they tracked in
on fireballs, moving too fast to switch to a new target in time. They had listened
to the reports on radio from Orlan . 22 kills, and yet they came. Karpov
was holding all his precious