فصل 8

8

Fish in a Barrel

When Adam returned, he was directed inside the dock house by the soldier guarding the door. Enele had already gathered the other leaders around the map of the island and was writing on it.

“Back, sir,” Adam said.

“Good. I’ll start again from the beginning. Surprise and speed are vital to our success. The last thing we want is a handful of men hunkered down for a week in the building. Zeel, I want you to march the men from your boat and position here, east of the HQ.” Enele moved his pencil down the side of the map. “Split your group; have half the men take the explosives armory behind the main building.” He looked up at Nazil. “How many of your men are armed?” “About sixty.”

“I want you to take your soldiers and position them here, at the west side. I want you in behind me. We’ll send word.

“Me, Raphe, Adam, and all our men in Elgen uniforms will drive up through the front gate. If we’re lucky, they’ll think we’re just soldiers returning from the battle. We’ll leave fifty of my men here to hold the dock.

“Do not fire until you’ve been fired upon or you hear gunfire. This is a surprise attack. If we can do this without firing a shot, we’re better off. Our pigeon said that the Elgen they left behind are mostly paper pushers, not fighters. They might not fight unless they think they have to. But don’t count on them going peacefully. They are still Elgen.

“After we’ve taken the building, we’ll pull the trucks up and load them with every weapon they’ve got. We’ll put all the explosives on one boat.” “Which boat?” Nazil asked.

“The one farthest from mine,” Enele said. Everyone looked at him, and a sudden, unexpected smile crossed his face. “I was kidding. What’s our smallest boat?” “Mine,” said Pio, one of the four boat captains. “The Neutron.” “How many passengers are you carrying?”

“Forty-six. Six crew.”

“We can take your soldiers on the Regulator. We’ll fill the Neutron with the heavy explosives and your crew. Grenades and mortar shells we’ll divide between the rest.” Enele looked around. “Any questions?” No one said anything.

“Let’s do this. Have your men ready to move in five minutes. My team won’t make our entrance until everyone’s in place.” Zeel held up a handheld radio. “We got these. Should we use them?” “No. From here, those are powerful enough to reach Funafuti, and we don’t know who’s listening. We go in radio silence.” Enele and his men waited ten minutes for the other squads to take their positions before driving the dock trucks up to the Elgen’s main building. The front gate was attended by only one guard. As they approached, the man stood at attention.

“You made it back, sir,” he said.

“Barely,” Enele said.

The guard looked at him, then at his badge. “You aren’t Collins.” “No, I’m not,” Enele said, lifting his pistol at the man. Three of his soldiers pointed their guns at the man as well. “Hands on your head,” Enele said. “Speak into that radio, and we blow your mouth off.” “Yes, sir. I mean, no, sir.”

“On your knees.”

“Yes, sir.”

Two men, Adam and one other, jumped down from the truck and went inside the guard booth. They cuffed the guard’s hands behind his back, then took his radio. Then they went through the booth, confiscating all the weapons inside.

“Sir,” Adam said. “We can see inside the building from here.” Enele climbed down from the truck and walked around it to the guard booth. There were four different monitors on the wall, all of them switching camera views every few seconds.

“Right there,” Adam said. “They’re in those two offices.” “And the break room,” Enele said. “They’re playing Ping-Pong.” After a moment Adam said, “They’re not very good.” Enele laughed. “Earl wasn’t kidding, was he? It looks like a bunch of accountants.” “What kind of uniform is that?” Adam said, pointing at one of the monitors. “It looks . . . wimpy.” “So far I haven’t seen a single weapon.”

“That guy has one,” Adam said, pointing at the screen. He leaned forward to read the small type across the bottom of the image. “That must be the explosives armory.” He turned back. “Should we warn Zeel?” “Not for one guy. They’ll handle him.” Enele started back to the Jeep. “Let’s go catch us some Elgen.” “Like fish in a barrel,” Adam said.

“Elgen fish,” Enele said. “They stink more.” * * *

Only one Elgen even noticed Enele and his men as they entered the building. He wore thick glasses and was carrying a stack of papers.

“It’s about time you got back,” he said. “It’s gone to pot around here. Literally.” Enele pointed his gun at him. “On your stomach, hands behind your back.” “What?”

“Do it. Now.”

The man dropped to his stomach. Two soldiers ran to him, cuffed him, and dragged him out of the hall.

“Raphe, find Nazil. Tell him we’re in the building.” Raphe nodded.

“. . . And don’t surprise them. You might get shot.” “Check.” He turned and ran out the front door.

Enele split up his men, and they went separately down opposite corridors.

“This should be the room on the monitor,” Adam whispered.

Enele put his ear up against the door, looked back, and nodded.

Adam signaled for his men to line up behind the door, then turned back to Enele. Before Enele could open the door, the knob turned and began to open. They let the door open enough to expose a sloppily dressed, middle-aged man holding a porcelain coffee cup. His eyes were dull and his face was remarkably calm as he stared at the Tuvaluans in Elgen uniforms. He looked more confused than worried.

“Now!” Enele shouted, kicking open the door and knocking the man onto his butt. Coffee flew everywhere. Adam and his men ran into the room, brandishing their rifles. “Everyone, hands up. Now.” The men inside the room watched the intrusion as casually as if they were watching a TV show.

“Up!” Adam shouted.

The men slowly raised their hands.

“What’s the meaning of this?” one of the men asked, his voice soft and slightly slurred.

“Hands on your head! Mouth shut!” Enele said.

The man looked back and forth between the Tuvaluans, lifted a drink to his mouth, and then said, “Thank God, you’re just Tuvaluan. For a moment I thought Admiral-General Hatch had sent you.” Their behavior was so peculiar that Enele walked over to see what they were drinking. He held up a cup. “Kava Kava.” The Tuvaluans nodded knowingly.

“Kava,” Adam said. “That explains everything.” * * *

Enele’s soldiers lined the men up, checked them for weapons (the only thing anyone had resembling a weapon was a letter opener), cuffed them, and then put them all into a closet and locked it.

“You’re going to let us out eventually?” the last man into the closet said.

“Eventually,” Enele said.

“I rather need to use the water closet. That’s where I was going when you barged in.” Enele left one man to guard the closet, then went back out into the hallway. One of their soldiers was bringing a man back from the bathroom. “Found this guy in there.” “Put him in the closet with the others.”

“Enele,” someone shouted.

Enele looked down the hallway. Raphe had returned with Nazil. The two men came down the hallway after him.

“What’s going on?” Nazil asked.

“Only thirty on the island. We just locked up a roomful of krunked accountants.” “Krunked? You mean drunk on kava?”

Enele nodded. “They were more afraid I was Elgen than Tuvaluan.” “Not surprising,” Raphe said. “Hatch would have them fed to rats.” “When the cat’s away, the mice play,” Nazil said. “What do you want us to do?” “Check the rest of the rooms throughout the building,” Enele said, stopping outside a door. “Adam and I will take this one.” Nazil’s forehead furrowed. “What’s that sound?” Enele grinned. “Ping-Pong.”