Niwa was proud of his Grik friend. Never had an underling stood so straight and spoken so forcefully to Kurokawa before. He hoped it wouldn’t cost Halik his life. He prepared for Kurokawa’s explosion. Instead, to his amazement, the general of the sea merely stared. Eventually, he nodded.
“You make sense, General Halik. The enemy has better weapons than even I believed possible,” he admitted. He glared at Muriname. “As the travails of my own Grand Fleet can attest. I suppose you did well, under the circumstances. You did not take the pass from the enemy, but you denied him the open plain beyond where I fear his flexibility would have been far more difficult to counter-and where he might have interrupted your only secure line of supply.” He fumed, looking around. “We have no other as yet, and will not until we control the sea and sky!” He glared at Muriname again.
“In all honesty, my Grand Fleet was savaged,” he confessed. “We have more ships on the way, but nothing faster than theirs, so the matter of supply and reinforcement remains. If the new bombs had been used sooner, I would not have lost so many ships-including my own flagship!” The rage threatened to spill over again, and Muriname shifted uncomfortably.
“General of the Sea,” Muriname said, “I ordered the attack as soon as I received word-and it did succeed in the likely destruction of one of their carriers…”
“For the loss of nearly every airship under your command!” Kurokawa snapped. “And you would not even know what they accomplished if I had not seen it myself! All that attacked were lost!” A troubling thought resurfaced in Kurokawa’s mind. He’d been too distant to see what did it, but something destroyed the last of Muriname’s airships before they could finish the big enemy carrier, and something else wiped out the second force with equal ease. Or could it have been the same thing that destroyed both? he wondered.
“More airships are on the way,” Muriname soothed. “But they remain at a disadvantage in speed and maneuverability-not to mention other inherent risks.” He straightened and looked strangely at Kurokawa. “Ultimately, they are all we have for now. We must make do, and devise better tactics for their use.”
Kurokawa nodded thoughtfully, oddly quick to halt his attack against Muriname, Niwa thought. What is that look? Is there something better than dirigibles taking shape at the Japanese enclave on Zanzibar? Suddenly, Niwa was sure of it. But why keep it secret? Then it was clear. For the same reason they kept communications secret-from the Grik. He remembered Kurokawa’s ways well enough to know the madman doubtless still plotted and 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!”