“Let me get to the reason for speaking to you today,” Lyra said quickly as she knew that the time before confrontation with the Imperial Guards was running out. “The Sakovan people sincerely want to continue supplying food to Alamar, but as a leader, I cannot consign my people to death by forcing them to deliver it.”
“I will go get it,” shouted a man. Others chimed in and agreed to help.
“I appreciate that offer,” smiled Lyra, “but the Katana has thousands of men in the Sakova at this very moment searching for our homes. I would not be surprised if the Imperial Guards tortured those of you who did travel to the Sakova. They want desperately to find StarCity.”
Lyra saw Imperial Guards trying to push through the crowd to get to the table she was standing on. The citizens were shoving back. Lyra knew that the situation could turn ugly in a heartbeat.
“There is a way we can work together,” Lyra shouted over the commotion as she turned to face the general. “General Manitow, would you come up here please?”
The general’s face turned beet red. Lyra could not tell if it was from embarrassment or anger. He stood glaring at Lyra while nearby citizens urged him to get up on the large table. Finally, he nodded and leaped onto the table. He walked right up to the Star and faced her.
“I do not know what you are trying to do,” the general whispered, “but I will not have these people rioting in my streets. You are arousing their tempers, and I cannot let you continue to do so. Leave now, and you will be permitted to leave safely.”
“I am offering life and good health to your citizens, general,” Lyra replied. “The group has been extremely well behaved for a starving population. The commotion is only because they know that you ordered your soldiers to make me stop talking. Command your soldiers to halt, and the crowd will behave. Are my mere words so threatening to you?”
“It is not your words that I fear,” retorted the general. “What I fear is what my troops may have to do to restore order after you incite the people to riot.”
“Then I will not incite them to riot,” declared Lyra. “I have no desire for bloodshed whatsoever. Will you halt the advance of your soldiers?”
“No desire for bloodshed?” echoed the general, as the crowd grew impatient to hear Lyra speak. “What would your people do with the twelve soldiers that I have sitting in cells if I released them? Tell me that you would not have them torn apart.”
“I would hope that you would not release them,” replied the Star of Sakova. “They should be imprisoned until an investigation is completed. If they are found guilty of crimes, the government should punish them. If they are not guilty, they should be given a safe escort away from here.”
“That is what you really believe?” the general asked with disbelief evident in his voice. “You would let the murders of SpringThaw escape?”
“It is how I feel,” nodded Lyra. “I happen to believe that those soldiers took it upon themselves to murder innocent wagon drivers. I do not believe that they were working under any such orders, especially not yours.”
“Especially not mine?” questioned General Manitow. “What would you know about my orders?”
“Nothing,” admitted Lyra, “but I have heard that you care deeply for these people. You know that they are alive only through the intervention of the Sakovans. I could not imagine you being so cold and cruel as to punish these people just to kill five Sakovans. Am I wrong?”
“You are right,” sighed the general, “but things are not as easy as that. I warned your people to flee. Ask FalconEye. He was there.”
“I already know that is the truth,” conceded Lyra. “I believe you to be a good man in a hard situation, General. Please halt the advance of your men.”
The general turned with annoyance on his face. He waved his hand and signaled his men to halt. He turned back to face Lyra.
“There is an army approaching Alamar as we speak,” the general sighed with frustration. “Within the week, my men will be outnumbered ten to one. I cannot help you even if I wanted to. Take your people and go home.”
“I wish it were that simple, General,” Lyra responded. “I was serious when I said that thousands of Omungan troops were in the Sakova. The Sakovans have tried to avoid conflict with the Omungans for many generations. It seems that your people have a hard time finding true leaders.”
“I will not stand here and listen to you disparage our Katana,” scowled the general. “While I am grateful for your food and feel sorry about the coming hostilities, this country searched hard and long to select this Katana. He is a good man.”
“Did you ever speak with Larst, General?” asked Lyra.
“I have never had the pleasure of meeting the Katana,” retorted General Manitow. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I have,” replied Lyra. “Larst and I have met secretly for over six months on a regular schedule. We worked together on a plan for peace. It was not a month ago that I promised Larst that I would send food to the Omungan cities. I proposed the building of three roads through the Sakova to aid Omungans with their travel. We had agreed that the Omungans and Sakovans would work side-by-side to build those roads. I last spoke to him the day before he was chosen to be Katana.”
“How can that be?” questioned the general. “If what you say is true, you must have done something terrible to provoke him.”
The crowd was growing restless as Lyra spoke privately with the general. People began to shout because they wanted to know how the Omungans could work with the Sakovans to supply food to Alamar.
“We have done nothing to provoke him,” declared Lyra. “There is another explanation for his turnabout, but now is not the time to discuss it. I am about to make a public offer to you and Mayor Reaker, General. Think hard about your answer before you give it.”
Lyra immediately turned away from the general and walked to the edge of the table. She held both hands high above her head and the crowd instantly fell silent.
“People of Alamar,” Lyra shouted, “I said there was a way that we could work together in solving your problem of food scarcity. I am prepared to continue sending caravans of food to Omunga with only one condition.”
“What condition?” shouted several people.
“The condition is that General Manitow guarantee the safe passage of my people to and from the Sakova,” declared Lyra. “I ask nothing else of the people of Omunga. We will deliver the food for free as long as we are allowed to.”
The crowd roared with approval. The cheering reverberated for blocks as people relayed the Star’s words to those who were not close enough to hear it for themselves. The cheering and shouting continued for many minutes before it finally petered out.
“You know I can’t guarantee that,” scowled the general as he walked up behind the Star. “I trusted you, and now you are starting a riot.”
Lyra turned to face the general. “I have done nothing of the kind,” countered Lyra. “Listen to your people, General. Do you hear any threats being shouted? Or do you hear a starving people weeping for joy?”
“Oh, they are happy now,” retorted the general, “but they won’t be when they find out how you tricked them. You won’t even have time to get another caravan into this city before General Romero arrives.”
“I certainly will,” assured the Star. “Six wagons will be here tomorrow. What happens after that is up to you. If you are going to let the Katana starve your people, I suggest you wait until their bellies are full before you tell them that. Shall we go to your office? There are some things I would like to discuss with you and Mayor Reaker.”
General Manitow gazed out at the cheering crowd and shook his head. He felt he was too angry to speak civilly to the Star of Sakova, but getting her off the streets seemed to be a prudent approach.
“Very well,” he nodded curtly. “We shall go to my office.”
The general jumped down from the table in front of the mayor. He extended his hand to the Star like a gentleman and nudged the mayor to follow. The crowd parted for the Star, some citizens bowing as they would for the Katana. Others cheered as she walked by, and still others tried to reach out and touch her. The crowd surged after them as the general led the way to the headquarters of the Imperial Guard. As the general mounted the steps, a man called out to him.