“Excellent,” Adar said happily. He looked back at Ben. “How many Mosquito Hawks are complete and how soon can we deploy them?”
“We’ve got six total, and four combat ready. The guys stood two of ’em on their nose, but nobody was hurt. They’re really light and landing will take some getting used to, especially since most of the new pilots are out of ‘Nancys.’ All they’ve ever landed on is water. Based on performance, I took the liberty of pulling the trigger on production, so they should roll out pretty fast. We really need rubber, though, for tires. We get that”-he paused, considering-“we can have ten a week in two weeks, and twenty a week in a month.”
“That’s much faster than ‘Naan-cee’ production,” Adar observed. “You do not mean to cut back on that, do you? As you say, ‘Naan-cees’ are versatile and popular with the Allied Homes-and we have promised many to the Imperials.”
“We don’t have to cut anything, sir, though I think we should concentrate more on the big ‘Clippers’ here in Baalkpan. With the Maa-ni-los making them too, we can’t crew ‘Nancys’ as fast as we make them. ‘Clippers’ aren’t B-Seventeens, but they’re the closest thing to a long-range, heavy bomber we’ve got. Besides, we need them as transports, to move people around. As for the Mosquito Hawks, now that we’ve done the heavy lifting development-wise, they’re less complicated in many ways than the others and require less than half the materials.”
“Indeed?” Adar said, but his grin faded. “Mr. Letts, perhaps it is time to reveal the not-so-good subjects we must discuss, so we may determine what to do about them. Colonel Maallory’s rubber is just one of many things at stake.”
“Yes, sir,” Alan agreed. He looked around the gathering, trying to meet as many eyes as he could, just as he’d seen Captain Reddy do so many times. “We’ve taken some hits,” he admitted at last, “and, as usual, it seems like everything has hit the fan at once. I know it’s impossible, but it’s enough to make you wonder if all our enemies somehow coordinated it. You all know about Mizuki Maru by now, and the threat Hidoiame represents? Well, the Skipper and Walker will try to deal with her on their way back here.” He grimaced. “I wish the Skipper was already here and the hell with the Jap, but right now Hidoiame ’s like a fox in the henhouse-ah, like a skuggik in the akka aviary. She’s got to be stopped.” He took a breath. “What you don’t know, because we’ve kept a lid on it until now, is that not only has the First Fleet Expeditionary force slammed into a brick wall in India, but we’ve got reason to believe things are about to get a lot worse in the west. The Grik are on the move on land and sea. They’ve finally brought their new fleet up, and Keje says it’s a doozy. We have to move everything we can up to Andaman-planes, ships, ordnance, supplies, the works-and we’ve got to make it snappy. No holding back.”
He looked at Adar. “What makes this a little awkward at this particular time are two other things that just came in. The elements of Second Fleet have rendezvoused, and Commodore Jenks has assumed overall command in the east, but reconnaissance confirms that the Doms have occupied at least a part of the Enchanted Isles. It looks like some of the Brit garrison is still holding out, but its relief has taken on even greater urgency, and the situation has become considerably more complicated and potentially more costly. Add to that, we just learned that an attempt has been made on the lives of the New Britain Imperial family, as part of an apparent coup.”
Nearly everyone cried out and stood at that announcement. Despite an almost universal attachment to Princess “Becky,” all knew how disastrous it could be if the Empire suddenly dropped out of the war. Not because it had large forces in the west yet, but because nearly a third of the Allied fleet and personnel relied on the Empire for logistical support and transport of supplies. Besides, though perhaps not an immediate threat to the western allies, the Doms were a terrible enemy.
Alan held up his hands. “The princess is safe!” he assured everyone, “and in the care of loyal forces, including our own. Mr. Bradford is also safe and, as you know, has considerable influence with her. He should be able to help her cope with the current emergency. Unfortunately, we don’t know yet if her mother and Governor-Emperor McDonald survived the attempt. They were attending a session of the Court of Directors when some kind of big-assed bomb went off. The wireless station on New Britain went down at about the same time and most communications are currently via a very confused and busy station on New Scotland. Some traffic is getting through to our ships there, repeated by the new Midway station.”
The great Lemurian Home Salaama-Na, commanded by “reserve” Admiral and High Chief Sor-Lomaak, had been tasked to establish a wireless and fueling station on “Wake” Island, but when it was found to be even smaller than its “other world” counterpart and entirely without water, Sor-Lomaak proceeded to discover that Midway was bigger than expected and did have water, which was necessary for the establishment of any long-term, secluded outpost.
“Nobody, even Mr. Bradford, knows exactly what’s going on,” Letts continued. “Needless to say, rescue efforts are underway, but few survivors have been discovered so far.”
It took a moment for the shouted questions and roars of outrage to subside, but eventually, Alan continued. “Clearly, we must lend whatever support we can to the princess and we will, but with the situation in the west heating up, our resources are limited. In response to these various emergencies, Chairman Adar and I have asked Commander Herring to assess the situation in his capacity as the new Chief of Strategic Intelligence.” He gestured at a thin man still seated to his left. “Commander Herring, if you please?”
Herring stood. He was tall and still gaunt, but his expression was determined. “Most of you don’t know me yet,” he began. “But after acquainting myself with the situation here and abroad as best I can, I have wholeheartedly embraced the Alliance and its cause. I am honored by the trust that has been invested in me, and I plan to do everything in my power to perform the duties asked of me. In my capacity as CSI, I have proposed a list of things I believe we must and can do immediately, along with other actions I consider crucial to prepare and that, I frankly believe, have been neglected.” He paused, frowning in the surprised silence.
“Let me say now that you have all accomplished amazing things before I ever arrived. I recognize and stipulate that, so please don’t take anything I say as criticism. The actions I must propose to counter not only the immediate crisis, but also to lay the groundwork for long-term operations are the result of independent and, hopefully, objective study. No one here has ever been trained for strategic thinking, and you have done well within the limits imposed on you. But I believe some rather fundamental changes must be made regarding the future prosecution of the war.”
“Sorta puffed up, ain’t he?” Silva whispered aside to Lawrence.
Herring continued. “In the short term, as Mr. Letts has said, the most pressing emergency is in the west, and all available assets must be sent to salvage that situation. Hopefully, the circumstances in the Empire will stabilize, but there is nothing we can do here to influence that at present, beyond assurances of support. Even Saan-Kakja is too distant to render immediate material aid-if, indeed, it is required. Consequently, Second Fleet must make do with what it currently has, or what is already in the pipeline for the foreseeable future. Likewise, Captain Reddy is essentially out of the picture for now.” He smiled, a little smugly, Silva thought.
“We will, of course, continue to value any… suggestions he might make regarding the disposition of our forces, but we are on the spot and must ultimately decide those dispositions for ourselves.”