Devil's Due (Destroyermen #12)(94)
That was what made him increasingly desperate as the rickshaw approached the prison compound. Kurokawa had said nothing as Rizzo threatened and cajoled, his demeanor merely shifting from manic fury to that unnerving, icy resolution. Rizzo still hadn’t known what Kurokawa meant to do, even as they strode toward the confrontation in the compound, and if things had gone as Rizzo feared, he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done either. That Kurokawa’s behavior had surprised him was an understatement. He wondered if it signaled a return to sanity, or had merely been a fragile bubble of reason and humanity rising through the swamp of madness, only to pop at the surface. Hesitantly, he decided to test it.
“She was right, of course, as you know,” he said. “Besides Laborde and Dupont, only a tiny handful of Savoie’s crew remained behind. They have taught your Grik to make steam, handle ammunition, even fire her guns. But to teach them to maintain her, to repair critical damage, will take much longer. Old as she is, she is infinitely more complex than any of your other vessels.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Kurokawa spat. “That’s why I add my own people to each division. Amagi was far more advanced than Savoie. They will make the difference.”
“But will it be enough? I have seen. And the simple fact that your people are used to more—and less—sophisticated equipment makes Savoie difficult for even them to master. Then, as Signora Reddy guessed, you have very few men available not already occupied with critical tasks. Dumb Grik must operate equipment that takes men many months to learn.”
“My ‘dumb’ Grik are smarter than you think now, and even the stupidest can learn anything by rote.”
“But rote can quickly vanish in battle. How can they cope with the unexpected? With damage? With the loss of their precious few supervisors with the understanding they need?” He paused, knowing he was about to tread on dangerous ground. “And what will you do for fire control? Without it, Savoie is much like your ironclad battleships. Far more powerful and better protected, but little better able to strike a target.”
Kurokawa seethed. “I should kill Laborde for allowing his lieutenant, Morrisette, to savage her fire-control equipment!”
When Kurokawa’s fleet returned from the battle north of Mahe, Leopardo and her oiler had already sailed and Gravois had departed. But he’d been entranced by Gravois’s “gift” of Savoie. It was in that mood that he received Sandra for their first meeting, even before inspecting the great battleship. That Morrisette, apparently under Gravois’s orders, had taken a party and utterly disabled the ship’s primitive but still quite effective fire-control equipment, had come as a terrible surprise. Even the critical level/cross-level mechanism had not been left him. It was simply gone. Perhaps removed and taken aboard Leopardo, or even thrown over the side. It had probably been Gravois’s final way of leveling the playing field one more time.
“Laborde and Dupont had no idea,” Rizzo said. “Or opportunity. I had placed them under arrest. I didn’t know Gravois would give them the choice to remain with you, to redeem themselves. Had they known what Morrisette would do, they might’ve chosen otherwise.”
“If I thought you had anything to do with it . . .” Kurokawa muttered menacingly.
Rizzo, driven beyond fear, simply laughed. “Do you think I would have stayed, had I known? Not counting Laborde and Dupont, who have been abandoned, I remain the ranking League representative—and I only stayed because my countrymen, in my planes, are here. And one of those planes has already been lost. It’s fortunate I moved them to a different airfield, or more would’ve been destroyed tonight. If your enemy continues to bomb us, can your aircraft defend the airfields? In the dark?”
“Not as well as yours,” Kurokawa confessed. “Your planes must protect us!”
Rizzo laughed again. “I only have five left, and little more than the ordnance they brought with them! Your aviation fuel is terrible and bad for their engines. More ammunition for their guns will arrive with the submarine, but no parts, no more aircrew.”
“Then place the submarine under my control!” Kurokawa demanded. “With it, I could seek out and destroy the rest of the enemy’s carriers, at least!”
All expression vanished from Rizzo’s face. “Honestly, General of the Sea, I would never do that, even if I had the authority to do so.”
Kurokawa actually gasped with fury, his eyes bulging beyond the point that Rizzo thought they must pop out of his head. Practically flailing with his hands, Kurokawa groped for the pistol at his belt. Rizzo saw what he was doing, but only sat straighter in his seat, turning to look directly ahead. “If you kill me, you may as well murder my pilots. They will never fly for you. Some of your people might use my planes, but not well. Nor will you get the ammunition the submarine is bringing. And there will be no further aid of any kind from the League.”
Breathing hard, Kurokawa slouched back, as if his fit had exhausted him. Finally, when he spoke, his voice had lost all inflection. “Then your planes—and pilots—had better make themselves useful, Maggiore Rizzo. The next time Allied bombers come, I want them opposed. Discuss how best to do that with General of the Sky Muriname.” He pursed his lips. “And as you say, the Lady Sandra may be right about the rest as well. The damage we sustained tonight will trap us here for a time, and might prompt Captain Reddy to focus on the Grik at Sofesshk.” He smirked. “General Esshk has been under heavy bombardment as well, and the airship couriers imply that he must soon launch his offensive against Madagascar. He desires that we join him, of course, and I’ve assured him we will. But my . . . sudden inability to do so can’t be held against me. Esshk’s offensive should force Captain Reddy’s attention away from here, long enough for us to repair Akagi, at least,” he smoldered, “and then we can, perhaps belatedly, join the attack and destroy whatever the Grik were unable to, whether they’re successful or not.” He smiled at the thought, but just as quickly his expression turned grim once more. “And if Captain Reddy comes sooner rather than later, we will destroy him with what we have. Savoie’s secondary batteries are more powerful than anything Reddy has, and my Grik can at least fire her main battery in local control. Not ideal, of course, and many shots will miss—but one hit on whatever he brings against me will be quite enough. We still have the advantage.”