فصل 9

9

The Mother Lode

Hatch had wildly underestimated the Electroclan and had never considered the battle of Hades as anything more than an easy victory and practice for his soldiers. War games. In this he had left himself wide open. Had Enele and his Tuvaluans arrived before the battle, they would have met the fiercest, best-trained squads of Elgen in the world. They wouldn’t have even made it off the dock. They wouldn’t have made it off the boat. But that was before the battle. Now the most opposition the Elgen put up was when one of the soldiers was hit in the face with a Ping-Pong paddle.

It took Enele less than an hour to secure the whole of the Elgen’s war headquarters, with only one shot fired. They forced the guard stationed inside the armory to open the room, which wasn’t hard once Enele threatened to blow up the room with the man still inside.

Inside the armory Enele couldn’t believe what he saw. The room was more than a hundred feet long and fifty feet wide, with racks of guns and munition filling the room. “This is more than we can use,” he said to Adam. “This could equip an army.” “Two of them,” Adam said. “What do you think it’s all for?” “It’s more than they needed for Tuvalu. Before Hatch came, we had less than two dozen guns in the whole nation. He’s arming up for his next conquest.” “What should we do with it?”

“Take it all. We can drop what we don’t need into the sea.” Enele had his men back the trucks up to the front door and began loading them up with weapons. They created a chain of more than a hundred Tuvaluans as Enele and Adam walked through the room, directing what weapons should be moved first. A half hour later Zeel walked into the armory. “We’ve secured the explosives armory.” “Any trouble? I heard a gunshot.”

“No trouble,” Zeel said, looking slightly embarrassed. “That was one of my men dropping his rifle. He was inexperienced. What do you want me to do with the explosives?” “What did you find?”

“Half the room was filled with grenades, mortar shells, land mines, and munitions. The other half was filled with heavy stuff. C4. Blasting caps. Slurry. Even some dynamite. There’s enough in there to make a very big hole in the world.” “Take your men and one of the trucks and start transporting the heavy explosives to the Neutron. Leave the land mines but take all the ammo, grenades, and shells and leave them on the dock with the other weapons. Do you have anyone who knows anything about explosives?” “Just the Elgen guy who was working there.” “Will he cooperate?”

“I think so. He says he has a secret Tuvaluan girlfriend on Nui.” “Have him help you, but have two guards on him at all times. Let him know that you’ll shoot him if he tries anything.” “Yes, sir.”

Only a few minutes after Zeel walked out of the armory, Raphe walked back in. “We’ve already filled the first truck.” “We haven’t even made a dent in this,” Enele said. “Take everything to the dock and unload it in organized piles, then come back for more. Don’t put anything on the boats yet. We’ll do that after we know where we want everything.” “Yes, sir.”

“Pass the word on to Nazil and the others.” “Yes, sir.”

Adam frowned. “This is going to take us all day.” “That sounded like a complaint,” Enele said. “That’s like complaining because you got too much for Christmas.” “Sorry,” Adam said.

Enele put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “We were wondering if we’d find any weapons. I’d say we hit the mother lode.” * * *

It took three hundred men nearly five hours to clear out the armories. When Enele drove back to the dock, he was surprised to see just how much they had confiscated. Stretched out in the open, it looked like a military flea market.

Zeel walked up to him. “We’ve filled the Neutron with the heavy explosives. The rest we’ve piled over there.” “Good,” Enele said.

“Not for the crew,” Zeel said. “That’s one nervous group of men. Sterling told them there were enough explosives on board to blow up a third of Funafuti.” “Sterling?”

“He’s the Elgen.”

“That’s good to know,” Enele said.

“Again, not good for the crew.”

Enele grinned. “Just tell them that if the C4 explodes, they’ll never even know. But if they suddenly find themselves on a beautiful island with perfect weather and fine hula dancers—just relax. They’re already dead.” Zeel grinned back. “I’ll let them know.” “How’s your Elgen? Sterling.”

“He’s swapping stories with the men.”

“Just keep your eye on him. Nazil!”

Nazil had just arrived at the dock and was climbing out of a truck. He walked up to Enele. “Yes, sir.” “We need to get the boats loaded before dark. Have each soldier arm himself with the best weapons he can find. Have them take a utility belt, grenades, and ammunition as well. I want them armed and prepared to fight.” “Yes, sir.”

“After they’ve armed themselves, have them secure their weapons and then start transporting the rest of the weaponry and ammo to the ships. Adam and Raphe will oversee the distribution.” “Yes, sir.” He looked puzzled. “We leave for Funafuti tonight?” “No. Our men need rest. And food. When they’re done, send your men back to the headquarters to eat. I’ll order their chefs to cook for us.” “We can trust the Elgen chefs?”

“I should hope so. They’re Tuvaluan.”

The sun was setting in the western Pacific as Enele watched the men close up the last doors on the ships.

“It’s done, sir,” Adam said. “The ships are full.” “Well done. Let’s get us something to eat.” “Thank you.”

They drove the last truck over to headquarters. Most of the men had already eaten, and some were out in the yard, shouting and laughing.

“What’s going on over there?” Enele asked.

“Looks like sport,” Adam said.

They pulled up outside a wide circle of men. In the clearing were two Elgen stripped down to their underwear, fist fighting.

“What’s going on?” Enele asked.

“Just having a little fun,” one of the men said. “We put wagers down on who’s the better fighter. The loser gets fed to the rats.” Enele flashed with anger. “Stop this.” He pointed at the two men, who were both bloodied. One of them had a broken nose. “Elgen, stop this right now.” The men gladly obeyed.

Enele turned back to face his own men. “What are you, Elgen? This is not us. We are here to liberate our islands from the Elgen, not to become them. Do you wish to offend the gods? Go to your boats. Now!” The group quickly dissipated, all except one, whom Enele ordered to stay and gather up the men’s clothes. Enele walked up to the two Elgen men. He threw them their clothes. “Get dressed.” The men looked at him with surprise. “We are not uncivilized,” Enele said. “We leave that to you.” He turned to the soldier he’d kept back. “Take them back inside where you got them.” “Yes, sir.”

Adam looked at him. “They were just releasing tension, sir. They may be killing Elgen soon enough. Or being killed.” “I know.” He started to the building. “There are worse things that could happen.” “Sir?”

Enele stopped, then said, “After slavery was abolished in America, many Africans were returned to their own country. Instead of returning to their way of life, they imitated the cruel world they had left and began capturing and enslaving other Africans.” “Why are you telling me this?”

“I’m worried that we might not get the Elgen out of our islands. But I am far more worried that, after the cruelty our people have suffered, we might not get the Elgen out of our people.”