«I guess they probably are. We saw the flags for sure.» He grunted. «And then they started shooting at us. The first air burst we saw, we got the hell out.»
Matt nodded, deciding not to chastise the flier for the risk he’d taken. «Lucky they didn’t let you get closer before they opened fire. Sounds like they got anxious.»
«Yes, sir. They must’ve been pretty surprised to see us too.»
Matt rubbed his forehead. «Maybe not. We’ve been transmitting in the clear all this time. Maybe they’ve been reading our mail. Any transmission at all would’ve warned them we were here. If they’ve been listening in, they may even know where Baalkpan is,» he added darkly. «And if that’s the case, we won’t know until they’re almost here whether they’re all coming here or they mean to dispatch forces to both places.» He ground his teeth. «Damn.»
«I’d think Amagi would go wherever she thought Walker was, Captain,» Mallory speculated.
«Maybe. If they know where we are. I wonder if they do?» He paused for a moment and then answered his own question. «Probably. The lizards certainly know we’re here.» He scratched the stubble on his chin. «But they may not know there are two of us. Anyway, that answers my question. We have to assume the Japs know, and the last I heard, they don’t like us very much. If they figure we’re evacuating for Baalkpan they might try to get between us. Make us come to them.» He shook his head. «It’ll be tough to do at eight knots. I wonder why they’re so slow? Amagi used to make over thirty.»
«Only as fast as the slowest ship?» Bradford opined.
«Yeah, but the lizards are faster than that. unless maybe Amagi is the slowest ship! You’re sure it was coal smoke you saw?»
«Positive.»
«That may be why we haven’t seen her till now — they’ve been converting her boilers. Coal’s a lot more efficient than wood, but not as good as oil. Shorter range and a fair cut in speed. Still.»
«Damage,» Sandra said suddenly. «We’ve all been thinking of Amagi only in terms of firepower. That’s a pretty one-sided comparison. But remember, as bad as she roughed us up, Walker and Mahan got in some pretty good licks. Maybe enough that she nearly did sink!»
«Right,» Matt breathed. «We know how tough it’s been for us to make repairs. Just think of all the problems they’ll have had to face! Every pies. He is a Jaap. You are the sworn enemy of his emperor, and so, in the collective eyes of his people, you are evil. He knows that is not the case. In your eyes, his people are evil. Not just because they support the Grik, but because they attacked you in the world you came from. I’ve seen how quick you are to anger in the face of such a thing. But in spite of whether you or I — or even he — believes his people in this world are on the side of evil, he cannot believe that all of them are evil.»
«What will he do?» Matt asked, alarmed. Not because he believed Shinya would turn on them, but because he had, after all, become such an integral part of Walker’s family — not to mention the war effort as a whole — and he was worried about him.
The lights of their «allies’ " ships were all around them on the broad expanse of the sea, clustered about them as if shepherding them along. That infuriated Kurokawa more than anything else. Amagi was the most powerful ship in the world. By rights, she should be leading this task force — not groping along trying to keep up. The Grik had slowed their advance so Amagi could remain with the fleet, but «keeping up» wasn’t what he wanted to do.
Sato glanced at the captain and noticed with a rush of alarm that he was moving in his direction. He braced himself for the onslaught. To his surprise, the captain’s voice was quiet, even mild when he spoke.
«I hope you are feeling better, Commander Okada.»
Sato gulped and bowed his head slightly. «Yes, Captain. Much better, thank you. It must have been something I ate.»
«Of course. I know you are not timid.» The captain’s face clouded slightly. «Either in the face of the enemy, or my own.»
«It is my duty to advise you, sir.»
«It is your duty to obey me!» Kurokawa snapped.
«I have always obeyed.»
The captain’s face clouded still more but, forcibly, he pushed back the threatening storm. When he spoke again, his voice was controlled once more. «Very well. Since you see it as your duty to advise me, how" would you do so now?»
Sato looked at the captain, appalled. It was the first time since Kurokawa assumed command that he’d ever asked anyone what they thought. That might be entirely appropriate under most circumstances, but since the Strange Storm, things had been anything but normal. Still, for Kurokawa to actually ask, let alone care, what Sato thought about their situation was most uncharacteristic. It was probably a trap. Something to get him to commit to a course of insubordination.
«On what subject would you seek my advice?» he asked carefully.
«Ah. Of course. I assumed you would have a differing opinion than I on everything we have done. I was correct. Your reports seethe with discontent! Let us limit our discussion to strategy so I might get some sleep tonight!» His face became grim. «I am frustrated with these barbaric ‘allies’ of ours, as you know. Dreadful creatures, but useful.»
Sato had to suppress a shudder at the thought of the Grik. They’d encountered them first at Singapore when they went there for repairs after their battle with the retreating American force. It was then that they discovered something extraordinary had happened to them. Singapore wasn’t there! In its place was only a strange village of some sort with a harbor filled with sailing ships — which had attacked them immediately and as apparently automatically as a disturbed hive of bees. Throughout the day and night they fought, killing thousands of the hideous creatures, which continued the assault even as Amagi tried to steam away. But the ship had been too badly damaged by the American destroyers and it couldn’t outrun the red-hulled ships.
Finally, after they repelled what seemed like countless assaults, a single ship approached but did not attack. Negotiations were established and a bizarre alliance was struck. Amagi would join the creatures that attacked her so fanatically suly a stran furry folk that resided at sea on large ships, and in the Dutch East Indies. To make matters even more bizarre, the «tree folk» — he believed that was the best translation — seemed to have allied themselves with one of the American destroyers they’d been fighting when they were swallowed by the Strange Storm. It was that discovery, Sato thought, that finally drove Captain Kurokawa mad. If he’d ever had the intention of slipping away from the Grik, it had now certainly passed.
The captain blamed everything that had happened to them on the two destroyers that so arrogantly charged them right before the Strange Storm brought them here. Sato had been secretly stirred by the courage of their crews, but Kurokawa took their escape and the damage to his mighty ship quite personally. Each wound to the ship was matched by one to the captain’s pride. That two such outdated and dilapidated vessels could wreak such destruction on Amagi was as if house cats had savaged a tiger. And then, as if in punishment, Amagi was taken from the world she knew. That was the Americans’ fault too. The fact that one of the badly damaged destroyers still existed in this twisted world struck Kurokawa as a personal insult. He was now obsessed with its destruction in an almost Grik-like way, and if it took alliance with such unpleasant creatures to accomplish that goal, so be it.
«What can we do to increase our prestige among those monsters?» Kurokawa asked, waving toward the endless fleet beyond the glass windows of the bridge and returning Okada’s thoughts to the unusual conversation.