第15节

ower." ? 'Absolutely - and we plan to keep it

that way."

Gluing Karlstrom to his seat with an imperious gesture, the

President-General got up and began to pace slowly between his desk and

the fireplace on the far side of the room. Karlstrom slid round

sideways on his chair to avoid getting a crick in the back of his

neck.

'Have you considered how this latest episode might affect the

Federation?"

'The Yama-Shita's military expedition?" The question caused Karlstrom

to raise his eyebrows. 'It's nothing to do with us. They flouted the

rules laid down by the shogunate. They tried to avenge the death of

their domain-lord by an illegal act of war and came a cropper.

End of story."

'Not quite. They also tried to divide and rule the Plainfolk - and

almost succeeded."

'until Mr Snow pulled the rug out from under them."

Karlstrom smiled. 'The sonofabitch may have wrecked The Lady, but in a

round-about way we owe him a vote of thanks. If the deal with the

D'Troit and C'Natti had gone through as planned, we could have been in

big trouble."

'We still may be. Supposing they try again?"

'They won't,' said Karlstrom firmly. 'Not after the beating they

took.

Our inside sources all report that, as yet, none of the families

involved - the YamaShita, Ko- Nikka or Se-Iko- have a clear idea of

what happened at the trading post. All anyone knows - and that

includes our friend Ieyasu - is that five ships were lost, probably

with all hands."

'But the full story is bound to filter through eventually."

Jefferson paused half-way through a turn and pointed to the VDU on the

side-table on the left-hand side of his desk. 'According to Brickman,

anyone in the D'Troit, C'Natti and San'Louis delegations who survived

was allowed to return home - to spread the word. That was nearly two

months ago. More than enough time for that word to have reached any

one of those five Iron Master outstations."

'That's true,' admitted Karlstrom. 'And the japs will then know that

their boats were wrecked and their men were killed - along with

thousands of others - by a tidal wave raised by She-Kargo summoner. Mr

Snow might be dead, but as you saw from Brickman's report, there are

other powerful summoners. We got one ourselves. And that's a threat

the Yama-Shita can't ignore."

'I take the point, but the Iron Masters don't think like we do. They

can accept defeat, but not loss of face." The P-G went on the prowl

again. 'Let me run a scenario by you and see how it sounds."

'Okay .... ' 'You've mentioned the involvement of the Se-Iko and

Ko-Nikka families. They were given that trading concession by the

Shogun as a pay-off for switching their support from the Yama-Shita to

the Toh-Yota and here they are, two ships down and out of pocket. I

shouldn't be surprised if they haven't already sent a delegation to the

Shogun to ask for redress."

'Tough on them,' said Karlstrom. 'They got involved in an illegal

operation and ended up getting their fingers burned. They won't get

any joy from Yoritomo - or Ieyasu."

'They certainly won't get any compensation,' agreed Jefferson. 'But

there are other forms of redress."

'Such as a government-led punitive operation against the Mutes..."

'It's not out of the question. Despite their fall from grace, the

Yama-Shita still enjoy the covert support of the other progressive

domain-lords. And because of that support the Toh-Yota were unable to

eliminate the Yama-Shita family and seize its lands - despite the

treason charges levelled against them. Charges which were supported by

the majority of the other domain-lords.

And we know why. They all knew that if they stood by and let the

Yama-Shita family go to the wall, they could suffer the same fate.

Once the Toh-Yota had absorbed its most powerful rival, it could pick

off the others 'one by one."

.Jefferson paused mid-way between desk and fireplace with an expansive

gesture that matched the sweep of his scenario. 'The Yama-Shita may

have overstepped the mark by setting up those out-stations around Lake

Michigan, and in attempting to enlist the help of the D'Troit and

C'Natti in enslaving the She-Kargo and M'Waukee, but you have to admit