schemed.
Finally, Kurokawa turned to Niwa. “I have missed you, General, more than you know. You have accomplished much and made me proud.”
For a moment, Niwa could only stand in shock. “Uh, thank you, General of the Sea,” he managed at last.
Kurokawa smiled for an instant, then a frown creased his face as quickly as if a switch had been thrown. “Your exemplary actions to this point leave me particularly surprised that you did not seize the opportunity to destroy the forces that retreated from Madras. They were strung out, drawing supplies, helpless. Now they have established a strong defensive position that cannot be ignored.”
“I…” Niwa stalled. How could he describe how difficult it was to launch any kind of coordinated attack through that dense jungle south of the road the enemy took? He had attacked, and the fighting had been fierce-it was still going on-but most of the enemy had reached its new defensive perimeter. He simply hadn’t been able to bring sufficient force to bear at any one place to scatter the column. “I have no acceptable excuse, General of the Sea,” Niwa finally replied. “I tried, but was not successful.” He glanced at the others. The same could be said of all of them.
Amazingly, Kurokawa’s expression softened. “Never mind,” he said. “You and General Halik will have a chance to redeem yourselves. You have the enemy surrounded now, do you not? It should be a simple matter to coordinate your forces now and utterly destroy these… refugees. I leave the planning and execution to the two of you.” He held up a hand. “I will require some thousands of your warriors to assist in the refitting of my ships. Also, some of the local civilian population, including many artificers, that fled the enemy are with you, General Niwa? I need them back. See that they are sent here immediately.”
“Of course, General of the Sea.”
“Very well. Then if you have no further questions, I shall leave you to your task.” He turned to Muriname. “You remain a while longer before you fly away. I have other things to discuss with you.”
Niwa turned to leave, but noticed Halik hadn’t moved.
“You refer to your regency, General of the Sea, but what of Regent-Consort Tsalka and his vice regent, N’galsh?” Halik asked.
Kurokawa swiveled his head and rested his eyes on the Grik general. An odd smile twisted his lips. “Lord Regent Tsalka was given the traitor’s death,” he said bluntly, watching Halik’s crest flatten with horror and disbelief. “Vice Regent N’galsh died leading the airship attack against the enemy fleet, and I will have to replace him. But by the express wish of the Celestial Mother herself, I am Regent-Consort of Ceylon and All India now, by conquest!” Kurokawa paused, and actually giggled. “Perhaps not Consort,” he said, “but Lord Regent? Oh yes! I have reconquered the bulk of the lost regency; Ceylon will come in time. This land is mine, by promise of the Giver of Life!”
Niwa’s head spun. N’galsh lead an attack? Impossible! Kurokawa, a Grik noble? The man is utterly mad.
“Does First General Esshk support that?” Halik demanded, and Kurokawa’s face reddened.
“Why on earth would that matter?” he roared, forgetting himself at last. “It is the will of the Celestial Mother, supported by the Chooser. And as Lord Regent, I am no longer bound by the whims of such as General Esshk!” Kurokawa’s smile twisted further. “This land belongs to me now, as do all the warriors upon it. As do you, General Halik!”
CHAPTER 30
Baalkpan, Borno
The mood was grim in Adar’s Great Hall. It wasn’t an open meeting, and with a few exceptions, only the high command and senior Allied representatives were present for this first consultation. But there were too many for the privacy of the War Room. Adar sat rigidly on the stiff cushion he preferred, while frantic jabbering filled the lamp-lit chamber. He tried to calm himself by staring at a charred tapestry on the far wall, reminding himself that things had been much worse before. The tapestry was one of the few that had survived the destruction of the previous hall presided over by the great Nakja-Mur. Rising, angry voices brought him back to the present.
“General Alden and three corps-nearly forty thousand troops-are all alone out there!” Alan Letts shouted. “Surrounded and cut off! We have to get him some relief! Figure out a way to resupply, reinforce-”
“I doubt he has nearly that many troops now, Mr. Letts. He has lost! We should concentrate on getting his remaining troops out!” Commander Herring shouted in return. He paused in the silence that ensued. “I agree about relief, however. General Alden should be relieved of his command at once!”
“Under these circumstances? Are you insane?” Alan yelled, stunned. “And pull out? You are insane! We must have India, to keep it from the enemy, if for no other reason. Ceylon can’t hold without it nor can Andaman, eventually. After all the blood we’ve spilled, you’d have us right back where we started!”
“I guess it’s a damn good thing you ain’t in charge, Mr. Herring.” Dennis Silva rumbled. He was one of the exceptions, and he’d just “come along” with Bernie again. Now he towered beside Letts, his mighty arms crossed. “Or is that what you’re anglin’ for, Mr. Herring?”
“Don’t be absurd!” Herring snapped. “And just who the devil are you to make such an accusation?”
Silva leaned forward. “You might just be amazed how ‘absurd’ I can work myself up into bein’,” he said in a tone too many people recognized. Herring took a step back, but Sister Audry-another exception-reached up and put a restraining hand on Silva’s bicep.
“You might indeed be amazed, Commander Herring,” Sister Audry said, just as angry, but controlled. “Very briefly. Pray do not bait the beast. You are new here, so perhaps you do not understand. General Alden and his command are family to most of us here. In some cases, quite literally. God alone knows how many cousins our Lord Adar himself has in the field! General Alden has faced the Grik many times before, and you have never done so. It is easy for you to decry his ‘incompetence’ while safely away from the fight!” She glared around. “It would seem General Alden made some mistakes, but so did Admiral Keje-so did everyone! The enemy is changing somehow, and most dramatically.” She looked back at Herring. “But once those mistakes were made, can you think of anyone else who could have salvaged anything of the situation, as it appears General Alden has done? Could you?”
Adar began to realize that perhaps things had never been this bad after all. Before, they’d always been united, and now he saw… factions… developing. Far too many of his own people seemed to support Herring’s proposition. He reached over and struck the bronze pipe gong insistently. “Gentlemen! My dear Sister Audry!” he said into the dissolving roar. “My people, my friends,” he continued more quietly. “As you know, the situation is this: The government of the Empire of the New Britain Isles remains in disarray after the cowardly assassination of the Governor-Emperor and his mate. Our dear Princess Rebecca Anne McDonald, whom many of you know so well, has ascended to the throne with the aid of loyal elements and our ambassador, Mr. Braad-furd. I am hopeful that stability there will soon be restored.” He blinked determination. “I said the new Governor-Empress is ours, and I meant it. She has won greater love from Baalkpan, Saan-Kakja, and doubtless the Amer-i-caan clan than I ever will. She and Saan-Kakja are as sisters. If nothing else, her ascension will likely garner even greater support from Maa- ni-la than had been forthcoming thus far.
“Otherwise, in the east, Second Fleet has succeeded in driving the Dominion from Aal-ber-maarl, the most important of the Enchanted Isles, thereby securing a forward base for eventual operations against the evil Dominion itself.” He sighed. “That is the good news, such as it is.
“In the west, Generaal Aalden has encountered a more vigorous and much more advanced and cunning Grik force than we have ever seen. He was unprepared for this, as anyone would be, and his campaign is faced with stalemate.”
“Disaster, you mean!” someone shouted in Lemurian.
“ Not disaster!” Adar retorted. “He has quickly-and I must say, masterfully-consolidated his continental force into what he calls a ‘satisfactory’ defensive posture. He needs supplies to maintain it, of course, and with the reverse suffered by First Fleet, those will be difficult to deliver for a time. We still hold all of Saa-lon, and should be able to keep it. The enemy has no means of delivering troops there at present except across the low-tide crossing, and it is well defended. Saa-lon will become our forward supply base for the Expeditionary Force. We will sustain it until it can be relieved!”
He stared hard at Herring. “And as long as I am chairman of the Grand Alliance, there will be no more talk of
