At the sound of the first shot a half hour earlier, Captain Nordstrom had put into effect the defensive plan he and General White and the Expanded Defense Committee had devised. With a prearranged signal, he dispatched Deck Officer Gustafsson to the village to carry the news and help arrange the defenses. Before the pirate queen’s feet touched the sand, his trusted aide had disappeared into the darkness.
Early that morning the captain had been awakened by Gustafsson and Olav Hamsun, the
To the north, the Ulundi battalion had been deployed to intercept the land invaders; and shortly after Queen Ranavolana’s fleet sailed, they had moved into action. The one hundred and fifty pirates were on the march, slovenly and unsuspecting, when the Ulundi force, five hundred strong—most of them young Zulus—attacked from the hills above. The assault quickly became a slaughter. The pirates fought with desperation, but they were surprised and outnumbered. And man for man, they were no match for the fierce warrior descendants of the mighty Shaka. Half the invaders were killed outright, including subcommander Yook Louie, who was simultaneously shot through the head with a bullet and run through the heart with a spear. Another twenty-five or so were wounded, which left only fifty standing. These threw down their arms and surrendered. Quickly, their hands were tied behind their backs. The whole operation was over in less than an hour. The surviving pirates, totally unnerved, were then forced to march south with their conquerors.
A courier on horseback brought news of the victory to General White and informed him that the Ulundi battalion, with its prisoners, was en route to the village, expecting to arrive by evening. The Defense Committee and the Coordinating Committee, meeting in a secret emergency session, were faced with a decision. It was now mid-day: Should the wedding celebration be allowed to proceed?
“Considering the alternatives,” Hardy had said, “I think we should carry on as normally as possible. A sudden cancellation would throw our people into a state of confusion that would only work to the benefit of the invaders. Besides,” he continued with a grim smile, “if you’ll permit a personal observation, my son—who you’ll note has not been informed of this meeting—is scheduled to get married in a little while, and I don’t want some two-bit so-called pirates to make us change our plans.”
General White agreed. “We have no way of knowing exactly where and when the invasion fleet plans to come ashore,” he said. “So let’s just stay alert and keep our troops at the ready but concealed. The mad queen’s eventual goal is certainly the village—and that is where we will prepare to meet her. In the meanwhile, let the celebration continue.” He stood up, ready for an adjournment of the meeting, but then turned toward Dr. Hardy and put a hand on his shoulder. “Just one thing, Wilson,” he said in a severe tone of voice. “I’m going back to join our fighting forces. But I don’t like the idea of missing a party, and I want it remembered that you owe me one!”
This lightened the mood as the secret meeting ended. Some of those in attendance filtered out to join the wedding festivities. Others, along with General White, went to rejoin the troops.
When darkness fell, the pirate fleet had made its appearance.
Ahead, Nordstrom and Hardy saw the lights of bonfires. Earlier in the day, these fires had been strategically placed to illuminate the length of the village, and orders were given for them to be ignited upon the approach of the enemy. The flickering glow now gave the scene a theatrical aspect, and the queen led her men confidently up to the small obelisk that marked the heart of the central square.
At this point, a shrill whistle was heard, and out of the shadows, on either side of the pirate force, there appeared a massed army stepping forward with practiced precision. To the invaders, this body of men appeared to be an enormous legion—a ghostly horde—arrayed row upon row and disappearing into the darkness. In reality, it was the Engineering Village battalion, somewhat less than five hundred in number, many of them armed with weapons of uncertain utility. But the most impressive-looking guns had been put into the hands of the front ranks, and the overall appearance of the force was fierce and intimidating.
Queen Ranavolana was stunned and she reflexively shivered. Chaos was the milieu in which she had risen to power. Here there appeared to be order and discipline, the nemesis of her reckless aggression. Still, she braced herself and managed to stand steady, pointing her gun ever more menacingly at Captain Nordstrom and Dr. Hardy. She was by no means vanquished by this latest turn of events. These two men had allowed themselves to become her hostages, a foolish move, she thought, which they must be very much regretting. And as soon as her land army arrived from the north—glancing at her watch she could see that they should be appearing at any moment now— they would attack this surrounding force and teach them a thing or two about battle. She knew her pirates to be ferocious fighters, each one the equal of several ordinary soldiers. Nevertheless, she was momentarily overcome by that same feeling of uneasiness she had experienced in the cove the previous evening.
As the two hostile forces stood staring at each other, fingering their weapons, General White stepped out of the ranks and walked forward to confront the queen directly. He was dressed in his precisely pressed U.S. Army uniform, golden stars ablaze in the flickering light, and several rows of battle ribbons arrayed imposingly on his broad chest.
“Madam,” he said, “may I point out that you are surrounded and outnumbered. I suggest that you surrender before we have a lot of unnecessary bloodshed.”
“May I suggest,” Queen Ranavolana replied, “that you get out of our way before I decide to shoot you between the eyes.” Confrontational talk seemed to revive the lady’s spirits.
“I think this is what they call a Mexican standoff,” Wilson Hardy quipped tensely; but no one was listening.
At this moment, from just outside the village, shouting could be heard. It was a crowd of warriors chanting a Zulu battle cry, at once spine-chilling and fiercely melodious. Closer and closer came the resounding chant, until suddenly Peter Mavimbela, streaked with dust and sweat, his clothing torn and bloodied, ran into view followed by a group of Ulundi militiamen. “We beat them! We beat them to a bloody pulp!” he exclaimed. “Come on in, boys!”
Queen Ranavolana and her men stood frozen, like disbelieving statues, as the Ulundi legions marched forward with the ragtag remnants of the pirate land army in tow. Mavimbela lined up the prisoners, bedraggled and defeated, heads hanging, unable to look in the direction of their queen. The Zulu warriors, some of them bedecked in animal skins and carrying large shields, struck terror into the hearts of the pirate invaders. The threatening precision of the Engineering Village battalion was now compounded by the savage menace of the Ulundi troops; it was too much to bear.
Captain Nordstrom reached toward the queen, palm upward, and said, “I will take your weapons, Your Majesty, if you please.”
The tables were now turned, and Queen Ranavolana was prisoner of the very people she had presumed to conquer. Oddly, she seemed almost relieved, and her body was totally limp as two militia officers half-carried, half- dragged her to the council pavilion for questioning.
General White took charge of the interrogation of the queen and her three surviving subcommanders. He asked Pascal Ralaimongo—because of his knowledge of conditions on Madagascar—to join the proceedings. Also in attendance were Nordstrom, Hardy Senior, and members of the Expanded Defense Committee; but they observed in silence. Although it was now approaching midnight, Wil Hardy, the new bridegroom, was called to duty as recording secretary.
The session lasted for several hours, and as it concluded, the dawn of a new day was breaking. The general wanted to be absolutely certain that there were no more reinforcements waiting to land on the beach and fall upon Engineering Village. It became obvious from the dispirited answers given by the queen and her subcommanders that there were no other hostile forces to be concerned about, nor anyone remaining on their home island who had
