第34节

make a coordinated plan to defend themselves.

On the other hand...

Prime-Cut angrily drove these last-minute regrets from his mind. What

was done was done. The battle would be harder but that would only make

the winning of it more worthwhile. Death, if it was to have any

meaning, should be a memorable occasion.

As dawn broke the situation changed rapidly. The warming rays of the

rising sun burnt away the blanket of mist revealing the disposition of

the opposing forces along the shore. And as the sun lifted clear of

the eastern horizon, the wheel-boats of the Iron Masters came into

view. But this time, the flotilla consisted of five vessels instead of

the usual three.

Mr Snow and the other wordsmiths heading the She-Kargo faction did not

know that the two extra wheel-boats had been leased by the Ko-Nikka and

Se-Iko families. To them, the approaching vessels meant only one

thing; the Yama-Shita had come back in strength and that spelled

trouble.

Steaming in V-formation, with smoke belching from their twin funnels,

the five wheel-boats headed towards the trading post, their

stern-mounted paddles churning the blue sun-struck water into wide

swirling ribbons of green and white .foam. The relentless

thump-thump-thump of their engines, the boom-pound-boom of the

revolving blades plunging into the water which then cascaded noisily

and by the ton off the rising blades, merged into one endless barrage

of sound, a continuous roll of thunder that reached out across the vast

expanse of the lake, striking terror in the hearts of those who stood

watching and waiting on the shore.

Sky and earth-thunder were sounds which triggered a primal fear within

a Mute's soul. Within the folk-memory of their race, passed down

through the generations like their warped genetic code, it recalled the

terror inspired by the unbearable brilliance of The War of a Thousand

Suns when the earth and sky was riven by fire.

Oshio Shinoda, supreme commander of the punitive expedition despatched

by the Yama-Shita family, stood on the bridge of the leading vessel

next to its captain, Kato Yukinagi. Both men had polished brass

telescopes trained on the approaching shore.

On their rear starboard quarter was the boat crewed by the Ko-Nikka.

The Se-Iko boat lay to port. These, in turn, were flanked by the two

other boats belonging to the Yama-Shita. Their commanders also had

telescopes trained on the crowded shore, and outside the wheelhouse of

each ship stood a flag-officer and his men, ready to relay messages to

and from the expedition's commander.

On its last visit to the trading post, Yukinagi's vessel - its huge

black superstructure relieved with red and gold trim - had carried

Domain-Lord Hirohito and Clearwater to their secret meeting with Mr

Snow. This time, the elegantly appointed stateroom occupied by the

late lamented domain-lord had been left empty, a shrine to his memory,

with flowers and various other prayer offerings placed before the dais

on which he sat when giving audience. And it would remain so until his

death had been well and truly avenged.

With the aid of his powerful spyglass, Samurai-General Shinoda was just

able to identify the different bloodlines.

The She-Kargo, and M'Waukee were grouped together on the right hand

side of the beach. The D'Troit and San'Louis were ranged in the

centre and to his left.

Normally, the Mutes gathered in one huge throng in front of the trading

post, but now, the centre of gravity had shifted noticeably to the

right, with the She-Kargo and M'Waukee spread out quite thinly along

the lower sandbar.

This was not what Shinoda had expected to find. The plan had been for

the She-Kargo to be separated from the M'Waukee and sandwiched between

the C'Natti and D'Troit. But there was no si