The Emperor's Men 7: Rising Sun. Dirk van den Boom

of misfortune. Those who are loyal to us should remain untouched, otherwise chaos breaks out. I’m hunting for a bigger fish,” the King said, smiling. “We beat the smaller cities at any time, if they should ever be rebellious, and after our last victory, it won’t even come to any fight. They will throw themselves on the ground in front of us. That would be … unsatisfactory. We don’t want to waste our power and time on unworthy opponents.”

      “Who is our enemy?”

      “Someone big. An enemy that presents a challenge. An adversary who, when defeated, brings us such riches that no one has to work for a year. And an opponent who doesn’t expect our attack. Who thinks he is safe or directs his mistrust in a completely different direction.”

      Pakul licked his lips, not because they were wet with chi. That sounded very auspicious to him. He nodded.

      “Lord, name the city, and I’ll start preparing right now!”

      Tatb’u smiled.

      “Our destination is Yax Mutal, my friend!”

      Pakul’s eyes widened. First he looked almost as if he wanted to accuse his king of madness, but then he saw the scope and genius of the project.

      Truly, a real challenge.

      He bowed deeply.

      “It shall happen as you command, my Lord!”

      Tatb’u waved. “More chi.”

      He looked again at Pakul, behind whose eyes the military genius had already begun to work.

      “Let’s drink to that, my friend.”

11

      “We’ll stay inside the boat first,” Inugami said after briefing the crew on the current situation. With the exception of Lengsley, who frankly exposed all of his feelings, as one might expect, the other crew members kept tight self-control. Most of them seemed to have taken it easy, though their face showed faint traces of worry. Everyone looked indignantly at the Briton, as he let his emotions run wild, while Aritomo had kept them all in sight, as they had gathered in the open air on the foredeck of the submarine, watched by the Maya, who surely entertained their own speculation about what was happening up there.

      Only two of the men, still very young, had burst into tears. Inugami had looked at this for a moment, then he had bent back and slapped them hard. The clapping sound had been heard loud and clear. The crying had turned into a painful whimper and was quickly suppressed. Inugami liked to beat, as he said, to maintain discipline. If properly angered, he wouldn’t have a problem with hitting his first officer as well.

      Nobody else stirred. In the men’s eyes, the fear of the new situation mingled with fear of the captain. Aritomo knew that wouldn’t last long. They were not in Japan anymore. The country was far, and the longer they stayed, the more this knowledge would sink in.

      If Inugami overdid it, the men would eventually run away from him.

      “We can endure for some time, because the air supply is secure, and we have enough food. There is no need to hurry. The savages aren’t hostile and are quite impressed by us. We will explore the situation. We will, of course, always look for a way to take us home. But I admit, at the moment we are at a loss. We don’t know how we got here and surely don’t know how to reverse this process. But don’t be afraid. This place gives us other opportunities, new chances to create something great. We should all show confidence and hope. This is a special moment in many ways, and it is our privilege to experience it. The Prince is in our care, men. That alone should give us more than enough incentive to continue to do our best.”

      That was the official address.

      Aritomo, Sawada and Inugami, who formed something like the leadership trio who made the decisions, had some other nuances to discuss among themselves. Above all, Sawada had emphasized the need to get out of the dead end of the boat as quickly as possible and to establish itself within the city in a way that would make it possible for them to survive long-term. Inugami and Aritomo had agreed in general, but they differed on the strategy to achieve this. While the commander continued to advocate a tough approach with the establishment of clear authority, Aritomo pleaded for learning more about their new world and to try to develop a more friendly relationship with the natives in order to avoid counter-reactions, perhaps even hostility. They were so few, the Maya were so many. To be rash and ruthless was risky.

      Inugami didn’t want to hear about it. He thought only in the categories of ruler and ruled. Sawada also seemed to have his doubts but didn’t say so, because all the time Inugami stressed that he didn’t see himself as this ruler but that the young Prince as a member of the imperial family was predestined to build a new empire here if there seemed to be no option to return anymore. Anything else – a life side-by-side with these savages, probably even under a king from among them – was absolutely unacceptable to Inugami. Either they would rule, or they would die trying to gain dominance. There was no alternative for him.

      Aritomo complied. He yielded with a sense of impending disaster, but the obedience to his superior had been implanted deep within him. He knew that another important condition for their survival was inner cohesion. They had to work as a unit. Otherwise, no strategy would be successful.

      After a short discussion, the commander prevailed, and that was the tenor of his speech to the crew. Despite his volatile reaction to the crying men, he finally seemed to hit the right note, because the men accepted his vision. Those of them who were gifted with a great deal of imagination quickly began to think a life in luxury, with servants and willing native girls, which heightened the general mood. Those who thought a little further frowned at these reveries. The one who lived in wealth and at the expense of others should better strive for his subject’s loyalty, otherwise, one morning he’d wake up with a blade in his chest. The numerical inferiority of the Japanese was something that no one could overlook, who didn’t intentionally close his eyes.

      Inugami then proceeded methodically, something he was quite good at.

      On their first night, the two bodyguards left the boat. Of course, the savages knew of no lighting, had only a few watchfires built around the boat, and still at a respectful distance. The two men managed to sneak undetected to the ground without problems to carry out Inugami’s orders. The Maya made it easy for both of them: At one of the watch fires, only one group of three men had gathered next to a single guard, two of whom had earlier joined their reception committee. Sawada was convinced to see them as notables or priests. In any case, his argument had been, they belonged to the upper class, most likely to those who could read and write.

      That was sufficient for Inugami’s plans. The bodyguards had been ordered to kidnap one of these men and bring him aboard. There he would be placed in the care of Sawada, with the aim of working on joint language studies. Inugami had formulated two intentions: The Japanese had to learn the savages’ language – that there was no way around, he quite accepted that –, and the savages should also be taught, but not in Japanese – that should remain solely the language of the new ruler’s elite – but English, which both the two officers and the two senior NCOs were quite familiar with. A barbarous language, good enough for savages of all kinds, and much easier to learn than Japanese.

      Again, Aritomo agreed that this decision wasn’t stupid. And again, he got a bad feeling in the matter – especially with the approach of the commander to force their first teacher and student to his lessons. That could surely be achieved in a different way.

      When the two bodyguards returned, they had an unconscious man with them, limp in their arms. They had caused a bit of commotion, but Inugami had asked them not to kill anyone, and they said they had stuck to it. Aritomo helped to put the man on the bunk in the captain’s cabin, as far as the glorified cabinet was to be called a cabin. It was one of the four men who had visited the boat during the day, no doubt about that. He slept peacefully.