فصل 3

3

Building an Army

Almost two hours after the Joule set sail, Enele Saluni and the rest of the Tuvaluan prisoners completed their walk-through of Hades island, gathering the Elgen weapons and ammunition that had survived the battle. Many of the rifles were pried from the charred, skeletal hands of dead Elgen soldiers. The bones crumbled as the Tuvaluans pulled the weapons loose. With the magnitude of the Elgen’s assault, Enele’s men easily gathered more weapons and ammunition than they could use. Still, at Enele’s insistence, they took all they could, filling the bottom of their small boats with as many rifles and as much ammunition as they could carry. They planned to provide weapons for the Tuvaluans they recruited into their army, and they didn’t know if weapons would be available on the other islands.

Tragically, of the hundreds of Tuvaluan natives that the Elgen had sent to their prison on Hades, only a few dozen remained. Enele divided the survivors up between the three boats that Welch had left them, putting his two strongest warriors, Zeel and Nazil, in charge of the other two craft. Before setting sail the three men gathered together to plan their mission.

“We’re ready,” Nazil said, speaking for both himself and Zeel. “Our boats are full of weapons.” “How many arms have you collected?” Enele asked.

“Seventy-three rifles, twenty-five magazines of ammo, and twenty-four grenades.” Enele turned to Zeel. “And you?”

“Sixty-nine rifles, twelve sidearms, thirty-four magazines of bullets, and one fifty-millimeter machine gun with about three thousand rounds.” Enele wiped the sweat from his forehead, then said, “That will do for now. It’s time to go.” “Where are we going now?” Nazil asked.

“We sail to Nanumaga.”

“Nanumaga?” Nazil said with surprise.

“Yes. Then Vaitupu.”

Nazil and Zeel glanced at each other in surprise.

“Not to Funafuti?” Nazil asked.

“If Hatch is still alive,” Zeel said, “he will be in his Starxource plant in Funafuti. We should sail to Funafuti first.” Enele looked at them angrily. “You don’t think I have more reason than anyone to sail to Funafuti?! My grandfather is being held there in a monkey cage. Yes, I know Hatch will be in Funafuti. And for good reason. It’s his stronghold. The man, Welch, told me that Hatch has enough weapons in his Starxource plant to destroy our nation many times over. What are you thinking? To attack him with the thirty-two of us? Any fool can attack an army and die. A wise man doesn’t plan an attack; he plans a victory. I will act the part of the wise man. We will build an army, then, when we are strong enough, attack. Do you disagree with me?” Both men sheepishly shook their heads.

“Then we sail to Nanumaga. The Elgen brought many of our people there to work the fields and run cattle. There we’ll find food, soldiers, and large produce boats to transport them. If we are lucky, we can gather more than five hundred soldiers. After we have taken what we can, we’ll sail to Vaitupu, where the Elgen train their soldiers. There we’ll find more weapons. There may even be warships.

“Then, after we have sufficiently armed our soldiers, then, and only then, will we attack Funafuti. Then we will be victorious.” “Our apologies,” Nazil said. “You are wiser than us. You let your intelligence not your anger rule you.” Enele looked at his comrades sympathetically. “You both have great reason to be angry. You are loyal Tuvaluans, as well as courageous warriors. You’ve seen Hatch’s cruelty to our people. You’ve suffered that cruelty. I too am filled with anger so deep, I fear it might consume me. There’s no doubt that the time will come when anger will rule us all. But for now, we must remain in control. We’ve an army to build.”