«What do you think it is?» growled Chief Gray.
Bradford shrugged. «Some kind of massive, instinctual panic attack that renders them totally incapable of concerted efforts — such as war. Be lovely to turn it on and off again at will, but so far the only things I’ve seen do the trick are massive doses of automatic weapons, heavy artillery, and having their assault stopped cold by what were, at least briefly and locally, superior numbers that attacked them with mindless ferocity.» He beamed at Lord Rolak.
Matt frowned. «So, in other words, pretty much the same thing that has stopped every other attack in history.»
«Indeed. But the effect was still significant, don’t you think?»
«It was certainly significant,» Shinya confirmed. «And if we could learn how to create it at will, even strategic perhaps.» He turned to Matt. «But Mr. Bradford is right. We cannot ‘plan’ for it. We have fought the Grik enough now to know that it does not always happen. In fact, sometimes their ‘rout’ can make them even more dangerous.» He was remembering the losses they’d taken in the hold of Revenge when they scoured the last of the Grik from below. Slowly he brightened, his hand still resting on the pommel of the cut-down katana/cutlass Sandison had given him. «But they are gone from here now!»
«Good,» said Matt with a genuine smile. «At least the ‘land’ lizards no longer seem a threat.» There were a couple of chuckles from the destroyermen nearby. «What’s the condition of the task force?»
«All is well, Cap-i-taan Reddy,» Keje said, but then he put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. Adar continued for him. «No serious damage yesterday, or in the fighting with the Grik ships. Ammunition is depleted. We expended more than half of what we brought. As you know, weight and storage is not a problem, only production. We brought what we had. As more is made in Baalkpan, it will be sent.»
Matt nodded. «What about those feluccas we couldn’t account for?»
Rick Tolson spoke up. «We found one, Skipper. Hard aground in the shoals around those crummy little islands off the southeast coast of Madura. Everybody got off okay, but the ship was a total loss.» He shook his head. «Lucky we didn’t lose a dozen of ’em in there. No sign of the others. Lizards must’ve got ’em.»
«Poor bastards,» muttered Gray. Matt glanced at him, then looked at the bay where Walker had finally backed clear of the river. Even as he watched, her horn tooted exultantly, and Matt grinned in spite of himself. Dowden must have known he’d be as nervous as a cat. He had every confidence in his exec’s seamanship, but he still felt tremendous relief.
«Well, now that it’s clear our exuberant Mr. Dowden has saved my ship from further exposure to freshwater, I guess I’ll report that she came through the fighting with no damage except for some scorched paint, some busted glass, and the loss of one of her propeller blades.»
The Lemurian sea folk all nodded seriously at the news. They’d never seen Walker’s propellers, of course, but they’d seen drawings of the magical things that moved the iron ship so swiftly. Also, they’d seen the propellers on the PBY and knew the principle was the same. Matt had have thrown spears at it or started a new religion. They certainly wouldn’t have acted like «Oh, yeah. Pretty neat. We can’t make one, but it makes perfect sense.»
The fact that their culture — at least that of the sea folk — revolved around the reality of moving air, or wind, must have given them a pretty good grasp of the idea that air had substance whether you could see it or not. There were enough creatures that flew to prove flight was possible too. So from there, the notion that people might fly in a machine of some sort wasn’t as big a stretch to them as it probably would have been among Bronze Age humans. Anyway, it was just another example of how sophisticated Lemurians could sometimes be. He didn’t know why it surprised him anymore.
«That brings up another matter,» he said, addressing Jim Ellis. «I want Mahan to make for Baalkpan as soon as possible. We don’t have a dry dock, of course, but there are facilities there. Whatever we decide to do next, Mahan’s in no shape to fight. If we can get her to Baalkpan, at least we can start to change that.» He paused and grimaced. «Before she leaves, though, I want one of her propellers if we can manage it.»
Jim whistled. «That’s a tall order, Skipper. How are we going to get at them? Hell, we can’t even go in the water.»
Matt was relieved that Jim didn’t show more resentment at the prospect of crippling his ship further. He hated to ask it of him, but he didn’t see any choice. If Walker couldn’t run on two engines, it would seriously hamper any plans they made for further offensive operations.
«I don’t know, Jim, but we’ll think of something. I’ll get with you after the meeting and we can hash it out. We’ll work out a schedule to get Mahan as seaworthy as possible too. Now» — he looked back at Rolak" what’s going on in the city? I see guards on the walls, but no one’s answering the door.»
«Civil war,» growled Rolak through Adar. «Warriors came out during the night, warriors loyal to me. They told of fighting throughout the city and. horrible deeds.» He cast down his eyes. «It seems that by trying to save my city’s honor, I may have caused its destruction. None have come out since morning, though, and I don’t know what’s happening now. My best guess is that the king’s loyalists have retaken control of the main gate.»
«What happened?» Matt asked gently.
Lord Rolak sighed. «As you know, when Fet-Alcas refused to allow us to strike the enemy rear, as we agreed, my forces and those of Queen Maraan swept north through the city and came out through the north gate. We had to fight to get out even there. Apparently, word spread of the specifics of the disagreement and many were appalled not only by the king’s treachery but also by the fact that they had been deprived of participating in such a great battle. I know it may be hard for some of you to understand, but to watch such a fight from behind stout walls and do nothing, regardless of the honor at stake, would be difficult for Aryaalans to bear. Fet-Alcas has never been a popular king. He assumed the throne upon the death of his brother, who was popular and widely respected. Even, I think, in B’mbaado.»
Safir Maraan nodded. «Tac-Alcas was a worthy opponent,» she agreed without reluctance. «We warred with him often and he was difficult, difficult, but my father respected his courage, as well as his honor. As did I. Tac-Alcas would never have betrayed us as his brother didt>
«We must talk to them, nevertheless. Whoever’s in charge,» Matt observed.
«Indeed. Many of my warriors who would wish to join you still have families within those walls. None of them are bound by my friendship with you, although most will consider themselves so. I will storm the city myself, if necessary, to get their families out.»
«Hopefully that won’t be necessary,» Sandra said in a fervent tone.
Heads nodded in unison and Matt cleared his throat. «Well. That’s pretty much how things sit, I believe. The way I see it, we have, almost in spite of ourselves, won a major victory here. It was costlier than it should have been and we’re not in as good a shape as we’d hoped to be at this point. But that doesn’t change the ultimate strategy of our campaign. We’ve got to keep up the pressure and move against Singapore as quickly as possible. The intelligence we gained from the captured charts suggests the enemy has only an outpost there so far. While we can presume that the force we destroyed here probably at least stopped off at Singapore, there’s no indication in the charts that they dropped off any sizable force. That being said, I expect that’s probably where the ships that escaped the battle in the bay retreated to, but they left their troops behind. With the addition of Queen Maraan’s troops, and those of Lord Rolak, we should have sufficient forces to evict them — if we act before they reinforce.» He looked at the gathered faces and wished again that he had some inkling of their thoughts. «Therefore, our priorities are these: first, bring the B’mbaadan and Aryaalan troops up to speed as quickly as possible.» Matt let his gaze rest on Queen Maraan and Lord Rolak in turn. «That’s going to take considerable cooperation from both of you. Your people are proud warriors and they may resist training in the new tactics, particularly since their instructors will be ‘mere’ sea folk.»