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  “Ah yes, so young and so quick to grasp the idea of ours. Yes we will train to, as you say, kick the crap out of Bao.”

  “Your assignment will be to coordinate the efforts from Sir Malcolm to me. We have much work to do, you are dismissed.”

  Keith saluted both the Prince and the Minister as left the room. Sitting in the ante chamber was Princess Sophia; she saw him start to walk by and said, “Ah the great naval officer forgets his friends?’

  He stopped and looked and was immediately, as always, captivated by the young lady. She gave him a slight bow and then walked down the hall with him. She signaled her guard to be scarce and the guard found great interest in the garden and turned her head away.

  Sophia ran to Keith and gave him a hug he would never forget. They talked for about an hour and he was

  summoned back to the Emperor’s office. He went despite his desires to talk to Sophia. They were both victims of teenage crushes on each other. But now, it seemed to be more than just crushes.

  When he entered he was pleased to see Rodrigo Maxmillian sitting in an easy chair with a cold one in his hand and a smug look on his face. He knew about Sophia and hoped the best for the two youngsters.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Colonel Trang visited the commando training unit that she had originated. They were going through drills and

  actions and didn’t take much notice of her. Just as well, she would have reamed out anyone who did.

  The only person to pay attention was the Master Sergeant running the training. He slightly bowed to her, and she returned it to him and then he went back to training. Most military service men go through a hundred hours of training for maybe two hours of either intense action or total horror. It was that way back when Caesar was consolidating the empire, and probably was that way in the Biblical days of Joshua. Of course Trang’s men would have little knowledge of Joshua.

  An ancient Chin proverb was “Dig the well before you are thirsty.” It may have been one thousand or more years that it was written, but it applied just as much today. Prepare, train, and be ready.

  Trang approved of what she had seen this day. The time was when she had been out there too. Now she was partially crippled from a raid on the Han (Korean) Island of Jeju. She had led a small group of commandos to collect food and water so they could stay out at sea longer.

  The Han just didn’t like it that she had taken it rather than buying it. They would not have sold it to her anyway, but

  that wasn’t the point. When she returned she was praised for getting what she did before a rifle bullet hit her left shoulder. She healed, but wouldn’t be doing any rope swings ever again.

  Colonel Trang went to the base commander’s office and asked to see the training records on Antonio Vasquez. The commander had someone pick them up and with Colonel Trang they went through them page by page. She saw a few items that had to be corrected. The commander had made note of the deficiencies and let her see them.

  It wasn’t much, but for the job he was going on, they had to be as close to perfect as possible. She told the commander that there was no real hurry. She would like the training finished by May.

  What Trang liked, she usually got. The commander said that Vasquez would be ready to go by then, or he would be dead. Trang just nodded and left for her car to have a meeting with Dao. Trang briefed out Dao and he said it was fine that they recognized the shortfalls and got them out of the way early. Dao then confided in Trang that he had another scheme in mind and that he would tell her about it within a week of starting it off.

  She said she was ready to help and then she was dismissed. On her way back home she noticed that their submarine was missing.

  She hadn’t been by the docks for at least two weeks, so it could have sailed anytime. She honored the “need to know” dictum but felt she needed to know. She was, after all the head of intelligence.

  If Dao couldn’t tell her, she might as well retire. She would do some searching about first. She decided to check around some of the seaside taverns and restaurants. Someone would spill the beans to her.

  She was right. It took about two hours but she met a man more than willing to talk. He was a low ranking petty officer and had been involved in a few too many bar room brawls. He almost lost an eye. A submarine isn’t the place for a handicapped sailor. He understood but was bitter about it. Trang set him up for a couple more drinks and when she felt he was far enough off his guard she started questioning him. It worked. He told all he knew.

  It seems the submarine was sailing for the Philippines. That was unusual for Bao to send a sub there. Trang thought that there was more going on than she needed to know. But she would find what she could without raising suspicion.

  The sailor had been to the Philippines before and longed to go back to the place. The islands were a paradise for a single sailor who had money to spend. He had money to spend.

  The sub may be out for a month and in the meantime he may be reassigned to a desk job or a supply ship. Neither of them met with approval in his alcohol clouded mind.

  Trang got no more out of him when his head did a dive for the table. It bounced once on his forehead and he never flinched. Trang went to her call and had her driver call the Military Police.

  The drunken sailor was never heard from again. The word got around that Colonel Trang had been talking to him and that was enough to still any gossip.

  His records were noted that he was lost at sea in a training mission. His mother and father mourned him, collected his back pay and got on with their lives. He hadn’t been around that much anyway.

  Trang was upset. As the Government Information Officer she, above all people, should know what’s going on. Why hide it from her? She had no resources inside the navy that could dare to pass on secrets.

  She could be testing them to see if they could keep a secret. If not then they would be put to work at looking for old French mines from the French domination during the fifties. Not many retired from that job.

  Trang could be transferred there also. That was what she did to her predecessor. He never returned. No one cared.

  She decided to hang around the docks for a couple of days and try to look busy. In all of the time, she would be listening and recording any scraps of the goings on with the sub. It was the only operational sub they had.

  The old Japanese subs that they had were long gone, along with the crewmen. The subs from the Empire of Chin were junk. Most were not even good enough to junk. She would listen, she would record. Trang would then try to find out what was going on by asking Bao directly.

  Colonel Trang thought about that for a few hours and decided not to. She really didn’t want to be on a mine clearance detail for life. She would wait. In the meantime she would monitor the Commando training and make sure all was in order there. She also would put out feelers around the dockside. If one man talked, others would too.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The brain trust of King Edward and Sergeant Major Sir Malcolm of York late that evening had decided that they needed outside help. Although both were bloodied military men, neither had operated in a jungle environment. They needed those skills and they were not practiced by New England forces.

  Malcolm thought of their ally to the west and brought up the chance of asking Rodrigo for help. But even Emperor Rodrigo did not have the ability to go into that kind of war.

  Rodrigo had not participated in any battles to his South, where there really was little more than jungle. Most of his action had been in the plains and the mountains of the north.

  Edward decided there would be no help there. They had agreed, along with their advisors, especially Sir Humphrey, that if they were going to go after Bao, they would have to take him on the ground rather than bomb him or attack from the sea.

  Humphrey had been in battle and had fought in the river areas up around Canada. No help there from him. He did, however, say that to send their navy out, with a submarine prowling around, was inviting disaster. It was looking more and more like “boots on the ground”, or in this case, “sandals on the ground.”

  Malcolm decided to call his son Keith who was on detached duty to the Emperor of Mexico. Keith had just recently graduated from the Academy and would be current on warfare. He may have some input.

  Malcolm laughed and said, “From the mouths of

  babes.”

  Edward laughed and said, “Babes such as you and

  when we hit the revolutionaries in Maine. When you led that artillery barrage against the rebels across the Penobscot and up into The Hampden Highlands, you were what, twenty years old?”

  “Yes sir, I know that, but this is different.”

  Sir Humphrey, in an unaccustomed flash of almost insolence said, “Sir Malcolm, what is the difference? Is it possible you don’t trust your son to be as sharp as you?”

  “No, your majesty, it is just because he is my son.”

  Humphrey was able to get away with that, he had led a platoon over the river in a rubber boat that night. He had been wounded in action and still made his presence known. He also had a unique diplomat’s way of appeasing people that he had irritated. He could tell you to go to hell and then wait for you to ask directions from him. He got away with questioning the one Knight of the Realm.

  Malcolm gave Humphrey his most baleful stare and said, “Sorry Humphrey, don’t you have anything else to do?”

  “No your honor, I have nothing to do but wait for the two of you to quit wringing your hands and give me some orders that I can send out.”

  King Edward said, “Humphrey, call Ensign York back with whatever help he may need.”

  “That’s what we like Sire, a man who can make a

  decision.”

  With that, Humphrey went to sign the orders.

  Malcolm waited until the man left to address the King. “Your Majesty, why do we put up with him?”

  “Because he pulled my cold ass out of the river when the attack boat hit a limb and started to sink.”

  “Ah, I guess that’s good enough.”

  Sir Humphrey walked back into the room. He never knocked. He handed a sheaf of papers to Malcolm.

  “Here, my Lord is the folder containing young Keith’s transcripts and curriculum vitae. Here’s one for you, Your Majesty and I have one for myself to answer any questions that you may have.”

  The three men read the papers and were impressed.

  Malcolm was because Keith was his son; Humphrey was because he had helped raise both Keith and King Edward, because the lad was a York.

  Humphrey said, “His language skills and arts are top of the class for his year. He is fluent in speaking three languages and can get along in two others. Note the first one. I do believe it answers our needs very well.”

  The King agreed, so, of course, Malcolm agreed. This was the case most of the time, but not always.

  “Humphrey, make up a briefing for him and have it ready when he checks in in the morning. Now get going, you have work to do.”

  Humphrey handed the two other men another folder apiece. And then he left the room with a slight grin on his otherwise stoic face.

  “Malcolm, how the heck did he know all the details to be able to do this?”

  “I don’t know Ed; I’ve only been around him for thirty years now.”

  Of course he knew what to do. After all, he had been taking care of them for over thirty years. This made Humphrey feel good, but he knew royalty was fickle to say the least.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Humphrey made up the orders and took them to the Communications room at the Lake House. There they would be encrypted and flash sent to the Communications office in the Mexican Capitol.

  The message was downloaded and printed. From there a messenger set out to find Ensign Keith York. He was working on his martial arts in the gym, when he was found.

  Keith took the papers and read them. The messenger waited. Keith told him to pass the word on to the major domo of the Emperor and he would be there in thirty minutes.

  He needed to get cleaned up and dressed in his full uniform to see the Emperor. They were old friends but it was just correct protocol for a visiting officer to be dressed properly. No one considered it a burden.

  Emperor Rodrigo Maxmillian had finished business for the day and sent everyone home. The message that he shared with York bothered him in that he didn’t know what all it portended.

  He would find out when Keith got there. Ensign Keith York knocked on the door in exactly thirty minutes after receiving the message.

  Rodrigo called for him to enter. Rodrigo and his sister, Princess Sophia, were waiting for him. Sophia to see him before he had to move on and Rodrigo was there to discuss the order and to get some lubrication from the beer cooler.

  Sophia stood to greet Keith. She had been developing feelings for the young man. It didn’t matter that he was beneath her station, so to speak. But this was Mexico not England, nor even New England. Sophia spoke, smiled and left. She made sure that Keith watched her leave. She took a second to point at her wrist where a watch would be, if she wore one. She didn’t.

  York caught the gesture and would meet her later.

  Over a cold beer Rodrigo said, “I think I know what this is about. That sounds like The Thang Dynasty area. Do you agree?”

  “I do, and the fact that they want me up there now tells me that they have something brewing.”

  “Your plane arrives at 0500 in the morning. Try to get some sleep tonight. Show them what a good military leader can do.”

  Keith would do just that, if he didn’t accidently run into Sophia. He did.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The ski season had wrapped up for the area of the Pyrenees just north of the foot hills. Most of the shops and Inns were preparing for their final total and then vacation.

  One café never closed. The café was operated by a retired Army General and his sister. They had a full time helper who was a retired Colonel. Besides them there was a bellman that would help until it was time for his vacation.

  Jacques Lapre turned the corner of the intersection and pulled into the alley to unload cleaning supplies and more food and coffee for the late checkouts. There were only two now and it was going to be a chore to get them out. They were German, students, and cocky.

  When Sophia served breakfast one of them tried to grab her. She pushed him away; he made another grab at her and suddenly felt something very hard in his back.

  Alain VanNess had been watching and when he saw the kid he grabbed his sawed off shotgun and slipped up behind the boy. He stuck the barrel against the young back and assured him that he had no qualms about pulling both triggers. The kid believed him and froze in place.

  Renee called for Jacques and he came around the building in a trot. He saw Alain holding two men against a wall with a shotgun aimed at them. Shotguns usually trump bravado anytime.

  Renee and Alain explained what happened and Jacques said to call the airport taxi. She said, “I did, they said they were handling a fare now and would be out as soon as possible.”

  She went upstairs and met the Bellman and they packed the two young men’s clothing bags, none too neatly. The Bellman went to the window and tossed them into the street just as the taxi arrived.

  Two men got out and watched, the two Germans were shoved into the cab and sent on their way. One gave the higher part of the peace sign, Jacques just shrugged.

  The two newcomers just watched and waited.

  Alain said, “Sorry gentlemen, we are closing for the

  season.”

  “That’s okay we only need a few hours to talk to

  Jacques Lapre. Is that you?”

  The other man said, “No that would be me. What can I do for you?”

  Automatically Ensign Keith York came to attention and introduced himself to the Retired General. Lapre returned the compliment and told him to stand at ease.

  “Now, let’s be seated and have some coffee, sweet rolls and conversation.”

  “Ensign York, you favor your father. I spent thirteen hours on a plane with him a few years ago. I know you know why. Moving on, Prince Rodrigo you are welcome here too sir.”

  “How did you know who I am?”

  “We do get news here, we have to bring in the bags by mules, but it gets here.”

  Everyone laughed as the coffee and rolls came out.

  The ice was broken.

  “General, I am under orders from His Majesty Edward and Sir Malcolm York of Eastern America, and New England. We have some problems and we would like to talk to you, and Brigadier VanNess, of course.”

  Rodrigo was trying to keep up, his French was good enough, but not fluent. He wasn’t worried; he knew Keith wasn’t selling Louisiana back to the French. He looked at Keith and urged him on.

  “General, Colonel, I speak for the King and the Emperor. Emperor Maxmillian wanted to come along but he is ailing and has little French. Spanish is close but not enough.”

  “But your French is delightful; you must have spent a lot of time learning it. Carry on.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Rodrigo and Keith were half way over the Atlantic before they woke up. It had been a long flight over and a long drive from the airport and back. They rested but still had four hours before the plane landed in Philadelphia.

  Back in France it was late at night, but the air was still warm and no bugs were about. Renee had listened to the

  conversations and wasn’t particularly pleased with what she was hearing. She kept her peace though.

  “Jacques, it sounds like they are in need of real help. Malcolm is a good soldier, as we all know, Edward is a powerful leader, but they don’t have the ability to accomplish this.”