“Damn me, Jenks, it is you conducting this circus!” the diminished man managed, gazing about. “Thank God you’re here! Too late for so many, I’m afraid-my poor tortoises! — but here you are at last. The princess?”
“Safe, Sir Humphries.” It occurred to Jenks that the last the governor would have heard of him was his expedition to seek the lost princess, and there was no way he could know of all that transpired since. Some few ships had escaped the Enchanted Isles to report that the Doms were coming, but apparently no word had made it back until the leaflets were dropped. Well, this wasn’t the time to catch him up on everything.
“Thank heavens the dear child is safe,” Humphries continued. “I met her once, you know? I believe she was two or three. Couldn’t possibly remember me…” His voice trailed off; then he spoke with more energy. “I’ve read of these ape folk, of course, in the Founders’ logs. You’ve found them again, have you? However did you train them as troops?” He paused, scrutinizing Blas. “And females! Extraordinary!”
“Sir Humphries, I cannot even begin to tell you all that has occurred these last months in the time we have, but these”-he nodded at Blas and Stumpy-“are not ape folk; they are Mi-Anaaka, or Lemurians, and firm allies of the Empire against the bloody Doms. And honestly, sir, if anyone has been training troops, theirs have been training ours!”
“Extraordinary!” Humphries repeated. “Are there tortoises in their lands? There are none left here, you see, except for a very few I could not bear to see eaten. But the Doms have all the other islands, and the tortoises and other creatures that lived on them were different, unique!” His expression became desolate. “All gone, most likely.”
“A great tragedy, Sir Humphries,” Jenks said, “but we must look to the present for now.” The transports were coming alongside the dock. “You have noticed the battle in the north? Our troops are landing there as we speak under the command of a most able officer, but we must land more forces here to march to his relief as quickly as we can. The enemy will have turned to face him and may yet retain the advantage of numbers. If we strike quickly across the frontier you have maintained, we should catch the enemy in the rear, perhaps even while he is redeploying.”
“What remains of our garrison is in no condition for an attack,” the factor said doubtfully.
“I expected that,” Jenks agreed, “but if you shift all you have to face the enemy beachhead in the east, surely it can no longer threaten the city here. We will destroy it at our leisure. Once the sun is up, our aircraft-”
“Aircraft? You mean the flying machines that brought your note?” Humphries asked, seizing upon the unfamiliar word.
“Yes. A gift from our allies. They will bomb the enemy in the east and prevent resupply. Soon the Doms there will be in worse straits than you were.”
“Extraordinary,” Humphries muttered. His sunken eyes grew earnest. “Your… Lemooans. They will not eat any tortoises they stumble across? Perhaps a few others have survived?”
“You have my word, Sir Humphries,” Jenks said gently.
“Sir,” Blas said to Jenks, motioning at the transports. “Colonel Blair will soon be ashore.”
“Of course. You have duties. Good hunting, Captain, and God bless.”
“Thank you, sir, and may the Maker be with you.” Saluting the governor, Blas backed away, then darted through the jumble of forming companies.
“Extraordinary,” Humphries repeated again, watching Blas depart. “Such a polite little thing.”
Jenks smiled. “I assure you, sir, the enemy will not think so.”
Nancys started landing in Elizabeth Bay by early afternoon. Most of these were damaged to some degree, by ground fire or Grikbirds, but some were just low on fuel or out of ordnance. They gathered around a tender to be refueled and rearmed or hoisted out of the water for repairs. The citizens of Elizabethtown lined the shore, watching the strange machines come and go, as fascinated by the Nancys as they were the people who flew them. Supplies were landed on the dock to be distributed among the people. Guards stood around the bales and crates, but hungry as the people had to be, there was no rush, no misbehavior. The island had been relieved and there would be food. They could wait a little longer. The wind carried the sound of the great battle in the north, but the same wind swept the thunder of the closer battle in the east completely away. The only evidence of the fighting there was the quick return of aircraft that flew in that direction, and the steady trickle of wounded that wound back down the high-pass road.
“Doc’Selass,” daughter of CINCWEST Keje-Fris-Ar, flew down from the fighting in the north to tend the wounded in the city and take charge of the local hospital. There was the usual resistance by Imperial doctors, but when Jenks commanded that Selass, as personal physician to the Imperial family, be obeyed in all things medical, indignant obstructionism turned to skeptical observation-and soon enthusiastic cooperation. Human and Lemurian physiologies were strikingly similar, but Selass had grown quite familiar with the differences as well. She was far more qualified than any local physician, particularly when dealing with battle injuries, and when the curative powers of the Lemurian polta paste were explained-and confirmed by Selass’s Imperial assistants-her former rivals became willing students and helpers.
At nightfall, Jenks trotted up the steps of Government House with Admiral Lelaa-Tal-Cleraan and Orrin Reddy in tow. Lelaa matched Jenks’s energetic steps, even though her massive ship had been in the thick of the fight since before dawn. Maaka-Kakja ’s great guns and aircraft had pounded the surprised and horrified Doms in ways they’d never imagined. Maaka-Kakja had taken a few light hits herself, mostly by heavy roundshot dropped by Grikbirds-but new countermeasures rendered Grikbirds less of a threat to well-protected ships and aircraft than they’d been before.
Orrin was dragging a bit. He’d flown many sorties that day-before flying Lelaa here. He couldn’t stop yawning. Jenks had never even approached the front as the battle raged. Forming and sending troops forward had required all his efforts and he was just as tired as Orrin, but nervous energy kept him going.
Sir Humphries’s factor met the trio at the top of the stairs and led them inside to a sitting room where the governor sat hunched in a chair, a large brandy at his elbow. The garrison commander was seated beside him, his white tunic with red facings was stained and rumpled. Jenks glanced around. Frankly, he’d expected a larger reception. He bowed to the governor, and the garrison commander stood. The factor edged around the room to stand behind Sir Humphries, who remained seated, staring at the once-lush carpet at his feet.
“Sir,” Jenks began, looking at the sitting man. “May I present Admiral Lelaa-Tal-Cleraan, commander of the Naval element of Second Fleet?”
“How charming,” Humphries said softly. “Another Lemooan female! And a Naval officer, damn me!”
“And this is Orrin Reddy, Commander of Flight Operations. It was his aircraft you saw today-and that the enemy have learned to fear so much.”
“Indeed?” Humphries asked, a spark igniting behind rheumy eyes. “Flying machines might be of great use in locating tortoises!”
The garrison commander cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I am Colonel Alexander, and am most pleased to meet you all. As you may have gathered, the situation here had grown quite dire. Another mere week would have seen the end of us.” He cast a quick glance at the governor. “Many have suffered, in a variety of ways.”
Jenks looked at the man. “Then you will appreciate the honor it gives me to announce that Albermarl Island is secure and your suffering is over. General Shinya and Colonel Blair have pushed the remnants of the northern invasion force against the base of that smoldering hill on the northernmost point. It cannot escape and has no choice but to surrender or die.”