Richard Tuttle - Island of Darkness

“So we cannot ship any food to Okata or Gatong?” inquired the general. “Is that the statement that you are making?”

“Actually,” smiled Lyra, “the forbidden cities would be Okata, Tanzaba, and Campanil. Gatong is a Sakovan city.”

“Gatong is Sakovan?” questioned the general. “That is hard to believe. What did you promise General Papper to get such an agreement?”

“I promised him nothing,” answered Lyra. “I made my case to General Papper and Mayor Robit, and they chose wisely.”

“Bah,” snipped General Smythe. “Papper cares only for himself. Without you promising him something, he would never join with you. In fact, even if he joined with you, I would not trust him. He would just arrest you the first chance he got when your back was turned.”

“I think you misjudge him,” Lyra replied. “He has had every chance to renege on his agreement, and he hasn’t. Do you attribute to him what you yourself would do?”

“I am not someone who is wrapped up in myself,” declared the general. “My actions are for the good of the people of Fortung. They always have been, and they always will be. That is why I do not need the mayor here. He will agree with my judgment.”

“And what have you decided?” asked Lyra. “Will you join with the Sakovans in peace?”

“Frankly,” the general said, “I see no point in joining with the Sakovans. Oh, Manitow made it all sound so rosy, but I know differently. As we speak, General Romero is leading his army to crush Alamar. The citizens of Alamar are going to pay dearly for Manitow’s foolish decision.”

“The people of Alamar are growing fat while yours starve, General,” countered Lyra. “As for General Romero and his army, they will retreat before Alamar falls.”

“Ten thousand men against one thousand?” balked the general. “You are too young to understand what you are saying. Manitow doesn’t stand a chance.”

“That is where you are wrong,” smiled Lyra. “General Romero has already lost all of his siege engines. The fields around Alamar are barren, while the city is supplied by ship. And we are not talking about one thousand defenders. You see, General Manitow did not decide to become Sakovan. The citizens of Alamar made that decision, and they are willing to help defend the city against General Romero. The Katana’s army will retreat in defeat, and they will die of starvation during that retreat unless they surrender to General Manitow.”

General Smythe stared at Lyra in disbelief. He mulled over her words in silence for some time before he spoke.

“I do not know whether to believe you or not,” he finally said, “but the strategy is sound. If Romero had no food and no siege engines, he would be in for a rough siege, but do not underestimate him. He can build new siege engines.”

“Quite right,” agreed Lyra, “and they will be destroyed as the last ones were. There are forces at work in Omunga that you are not aware of, and I will not divulge them to an enemy, but I assure you that General Romero will never bring a siege engine to bear on the walls of Alamar.”

“You have confidence,” the general noted. “I grant you that. Perhaps you are too confident. I believe that you would have marched into this office on your own if you had not been captured.”

“Captured?” grinned Lyra. “I would hardly call my coming here a capture.”

“What would you call it?” the general asked with genuine confusion. “I saw you escorted into this room myself. Are you telling me that those Imperial Guards merely responded to your request to see me?”

“That is precisely what I am saying,” smiled Lyra. “Those Imperial Guards were from Gatong, General. They were escorting me under orders from General Papper. You had issued orders to have me imprisoned. That was not an acceptable entrance for me. I have seen the inside of a cell before, and I will not see one again.”

“A very bold statement,” replied the general. “I should have realized that their faces were unfamiliar to me. I may not recognize every man under my command, but I know most of them. I am surprised that General Papper did not order them to arrest you. Perhaps you left Gatong too quickly for orders to be issued?”

“Hardly,” replied Lyra. “General Papper escorted me almost to your city gates. He was adamant about sending men into the city beforehand to determine what kind of reception I was likely to receive here.”

“I may have misjudged Papper,” conceded General Smythe, “but that is not the issue here. Regardless of what happens in Alamar or Gatong, I will not subject the people of Fortung to the wrath of the Katana. I am much better off defending against any Sakovan attack. Frankly, I don’t expect that there will ever be one. Surely you know that General Valdey must be deep inside the Sakova by now. This war may be over sooner than you think.”

“The war is already over for General Valdey,” reported the Star of Sakova. “While his army is still roaming around the Sakova searching for StarCity, the general is dead.”

“Valdey is dead?” questioned General Smythe. “Am I to take your word for this?”

“Again,” insisted Lyra, “this discussion is not germane to the future of Fortung. You can believe it or not, as suits you, but I believe what my people tell me. General, you state that you can see no reason to join with the Sakova. Do you not care for the plight of your people? How do you plan to feed them? Surely you do not expect the Katana to send any food this way?”

The general frowned and stared silently at the Star of Sakova. Lyra could almost hear the thoughts passing through his mind, so it was no surprise when he finally answered.

“I will accept your offer of food for the city,” declared the general. “A ship load will ease their starvation for a time. That is still not reason enough to abandon our country.”

“The food will only last for a few days, General,” frowned Lyra as she sought a way to move the stubborn general. “What will you do when it runs out? I have the means to restore your fields to health, and I can supply food by ship until the fields are ready to harvest. What possible reason can you have to refuse me?”

“A number of reasons,” responded the general. “In fact, I can think of ten thousand of them.”

“Are you referring to General Kapla’s army that is advancing towards us?” asked Lyra.

The general’s brow creased in confusion. He wondered if Lyra did have information about Omungan troop movements, but was confused about the generals’ names, or she was just bluffing.

“General Kapla is the Minister of Defense,” the general stated as he tried to discover the extent of Lyra’s knowledge. “As such, there is little reason for him to leave Okata.”

“Generally that is true,” smiled Lyra. “I think you are probably expecting General Didyk’s army, but you will be surprised. General Kapla’s army is coming instead.”

“How can you possibly know this?” questioned the general.

“Surely you know the answer to that question,” replied Lyra. “We have the ability to talk over great distances. Did we not arrange for General Manitow to speak to you from Alamar? Did you think that we would not have spies in every Omungan city? We know where every Omungan army is and what their orders are. You will see when General Kapla arrives.”

“General Kapla or General Didyk,” shrugged General Smythe. “It makes little difference in the end. The point is ten thousand Imperial Guards will be here in a few days. They will march through Fortung and crush the rebellion in Gatong. Your days are numbered. In any event, I see no reason to continue this conversation.”

“I disagree,” declared Lyra. “You have not yet agreed to give me your allegiance.”