The Governor-Emperor visibly tensed. “How… extraordinary,” he managed. “And where is this… young lady, Captain? Where is my daughter?”
“It’s a long story, sir, and you’re not going to like it any more than I do,” Matt said softly.
Over the next two hours, Matt, Jenks, Courtney, and Gray told how Rebecca had survived the shipwreck, been rescued, endured the Battle of Baalkpan, and ultimately been abducted by the Company warden, Commander Billingsley. Throughout the story, the Governor-Emperor asked sufficient questions to ensure that they were telling the truth and, as Jenks foresaw, became completely convinced. He called for refreshment, chewed a quill, jumped to his feet and ranted around the room, and even shed miserable tears. He couldn’t hear enough about his daughter’s adventures, but he was in agony all the while. He blamed himself completely, since it was he who’d sent her away in the first place-to protect her from just such an attempt by the Company to gain her custody and use her welfare against him.
“I love her quite desperately, you see,” he tearfully explained. “She is my only child.” He glanced at the ceiling and by inference, the living quarters above. “ Our only child. My wife has not been the same since… Oh, God damn those evil creatures! I will have all of them hanged!”
“Of course, sire,” Jenks agreed, “but first, we need more proof than our own mere words. Ideally, we’ve beaten Billingsley here. I take it there’s been no news of Ajax?”
“None. Nor has New Dublin declared a quarantine-the only way to prevent news of her arrival there,” answered the Governor-Emperor. He paused for a moment, a troubled expression clouding his face. “Of course, there has been precious little out of New Dublin of late.” He shook his head. “But surely, they could not hide Ajax.”
“Then we must wait a bit longer,” said Jenks. “Either until Ajax arrives… or Achilles brings Icarus and Ulysses in. Either will provide sufficient proof to destroy the Company and hang half the Court of Proprietors. If you act before then, it might well fracture the Empire and cause a civil war.”
“It might regardless, but you’re right, of course.” The Governor-Emperor sighed. “What to do in the meantime? As your battle would testify, the Company certainly knows you found my daughter; they sent more ships to seize her. They cannot know of Ajax yet, so they must assume she’s either with you or left behind. Safe from them, at any rate. What will they do? We cannot pretend we know nothing of their scheme.”
“With respect, sir,” Courtney interjected, “I believe we can. They have no way of knowing we ever met their, ah, criminal squadron-not yet. I propose that Mr. Gray immediately return to Walker and make sure everyone aboard understands they must make no reference to the hostilities, or to any meeting with other Imperials besides Jenks and his people. As far as any of us are concerned, the princess is safe with the rest of Jenks’s squadron and coming on directly.”
“Oh, if only it were true!” the Governor-Emperor practically moaned, then shook his head. “Of course. An excellent stroke, Your Excellency. Playing that role might be more than my wife can bear, but I shall try to manage. Andrew?” He gestured to the man still standing just inside the door, where he’d remained since they entered. “Please escort Mr. Gray back to Captain Reddy’s ship-with your permission, Captain.”
Matt whispered something in Gray’s ear, and the older man nodded. “Absolutely, sir.”
When Andrew and the Bosun left, Jenks looked questioningly at Matt. “Is there a concern you’d like to share?”
“Not really. I hope not. It just occurred to me, though, that this ‘Andrew’ guy has heard everything we’ve said. I told Boats to keep an eye on him.”
The Governor-Emperor looked shocked. “Preposterous! I’ve known Andrew my entire life.”
“As you knew Sean Bates?” Matt asked.
“How the devil do you know that name?”
“Through Commodore Jenks,” Matt replied. “I knew the man by another name-‘Sean O’Casey.’ I still call him that.”
“Good God!” The Governor-Emperor looked at Jenks in amazement.
“Yes, sire,” Jenks admitted. “He never abandoned us, though we abandoned him. It was he who first saved your daughter, and lost an arm doing it.”
“Good God!” he repeated. “Bates! Where?”
“Aboard my ship,” Matt said.
Governor-Emperor McDonald’s face worked. “He was right all along,” he said. “We knew it too. We just didn’t know how right.” He straightened. “You were wise to leave him aboard ship. Even missing an arm, he would be recognized. Please convey to him my deepest appreciation, affection… and apology, until I can do it in person.”
“Yes, sire.”
There came a knock at the door, and a sentry opened it slightly. Without waiting to be announced, a small, plain, unremarkable-looking man strode through the gap, an annoyed expression on his baggy face. “We are invaded by strangers, and I only learn of it from my barber!” he complained. Despite his bold entrance, the man’s voice was wispy, almost whiny.
The Governor-Emperor regarded the man coldly and Matt feared that Courtney’s new plan would disintegrate immediately. Instead, Jenks spoke. “They’re not strangers to me, Sir Reed, and they have certainly not invaded. They brought me here at my request aboard their remarkably swift vessel so I might acquaint His Majesty with the results of our expedition.”
“Jenks!” the man exclaimed, taking a step back as if he’d met a ghost.
In the meantime, the Governor-Emperor had regained his composure. “Yes, it is Jenks,” he said. “Not lost after all. You’ll have to withdraw your self-serving appropriation to erect a monument to ‘the noble explorer.’ ” In an aside to Matt, he said, “This is the ‘Honorable’ Harrison Reed, supposedly former Director of Company Operations. He is currently my chief antagonist in the Court of Proprietors, among whom he holds the Prime Seat.”
So this-unimposing person-was the instigator of all the hardships and loss they’d endured, first through Billingsley, then through his subsequent responses to news of the princess’s rescue. Keeping his features carefully neutral, Matt stood. “Mr. Reed,” he said in greeting, “I’m Captain Reddy.” Was there the slightest hint of recognition?
“ Sir Reed,” the man said, almost absently. “But where is Ajax… and Achilles?” Reed plowed on, clearly dismissing him. “And the other two-I can’t remember their names.”
“ Achilles will be along shortly,” Jenks said. “I regret to report that the others were variously lost, one to a leviathan, and Ajax is missing and presumed lost. There were storms… In any event, I dispatched Agamemnon home some time ago with news of our situation and the happy rescue of the Princess Rebecca. Did Agamemnon not arrive?”
“She did not,” Reed lied smoothly with just the right tone of regret. If anyone had harbored the slightest doubt that this ridiculous man was involved in the conspiracy, it was swept away. Agamemnon had returned with the others as part of the “criminal” squadron and engaged them in battle alongside the other Imperial and Company ships. Agamemnon had been destroyed by Walker.
“Most tragic,” commented the Governor-Emperor. “Unless Ajax turns up, Achilles will be the only survivor.”
“A stiff price to pay for the life of a single girl,” Reed stated. “As I initially argued.”
“But well worth the price,” Jenks jabbed, “since the princess was indeed rescued. Even now, she returns aboard Achilles in the company of a protective Allied force that carries enough fuel for Captain Reddy’s ship to return home.”
“What size force?” Reed demanded, suddenly less haughty. “How do we know their intentions? If all Captain Reddy needs is fuel enough to go home, we can provide that.”
“ Walker doesn’t burn wood or coal, sir,” Matt said simply.
“Ridiculous! She’s a steamer-I saw her myself on the way over.”
“She’s a steamer, all right,” Matt agreed, “but she burns oil-refined petroleum. You have none here.”
“Preposterous,” mumbled Reed. He looked at Jenks. “Where’s Commander Billingsley? Company wardens are sent aboard Imperial ships to ensure there are no grievous lapses in judgment-such as bringing strangers to our sacred home. I’d like to hear what he has to say about all this.”
Jenks shook his head. “Regrettably, Commander Billingsley desired transfer to Ajax some months ago, and as a Company warden”-he almost sneered the words-“it was not my place to discourage his whim.”
“Then send me his deputy!” Reed demanded, his voice rising.
