“Star Empire” is a continuation of the “The Sea Wolf” cycle—the story of a nuclear submarine “Voronezh” that ends up in 1942. In this world, Victory comes in 1944, and the USSR is much stronger: by 1955 it already puts a satellite into orbit, and Stalin (who didn’t die in March 1953) watches a film news report from the Star spaceport. But a day earlier, the Soviet Tsar Bomba of one hundred megatons was detonated at the testing range on Novaya Zemlya. Yet you can remember that in our history, too, the USSR had enormous military power in 1991—which still didn’t save it from “perestroika.” So what was missing for our country—and can it be avoided in another world?