My name is Gelisah. I come from Pembelian although my parents were scholars in Merah. I have been asked by Captain Dreamy to take over as Annalist as well as Sergeant Politicos. I suspect my appointment is her attempt to install someone who might keep her relatively honest. I do not like the way half the company thinks she is a Saint; charisma and theatrics do not make a soldier. I am also the token outsider from her circle of friends in the officers. However, it would be unfair to prejudge her Captaincy in the first weeks. If she can translate tactical talent to strategy and relax her tendency for springing surprises we should be able to endure.
I dare say you have read Dreamy's final entry. Typical that she should choose that time to split loyalities with her assumption of the Crown of Galadiahos. Politically shrewd but militarily dubious. The evening after, when the hangovers had died down, she called the officers together for our first conference. I would not usually set down any militarily sensitive information in the Annals but the session was sufficiently interesting for our long-term plans that it would be best to set it down.
We met in the Citadel. The circular dining room had been converted into a planning centre with a large table overflowing with piles of maps and documents filling the central area, cocentral with the room and built around the central supporting horevo trunk. Seats were placed randomly around the perimeter of the room to create the effect of dynamic activity and urgency caused by chaos.
Artistically done.
The Captain was of course dressed in solider's uniform to demonstrate how serious she was being. She lounged in a chair with a broken arm, one leather clad leg on the table, at the far side from the door. Almost worthy of Aristomacia in Marazee's "Life of a Princess". She waved us at the seats; Putera dumped herself in the nearest one to the door to forestall any "nearness to the Captain" questions. Planned in advance or useful coincidence I leave you to decide. I pulled a worm-eaten chair with a stained cushion up next to the Captain and was chargrined to see the smile and wink that meant she'd just won a bet with Harapse. I hate being predictable. The demon skull was perched up in the rafters, along with three small songbirds whose droppings had obscured the westernmost portion of the southern valleys on the large map under the Captain's boot heel. It is possible to go too far with artistic preparation.
When the others had seated themselves on creaking furniture, the Captain unhooked her leg, stood up and started to pace. I placed my polite listening-to-speeches face on and started to read the upside-down requisition papers and count the court dismissal papers on the table. I'm sure it was a pretty speech. After I had counted the number of rings and beer stains on the table I started to watch the Captain's performance. A classical teacher might have advocated a drier presentation with fewer shakes of the hair (we all know how old you are, no need to show it off) but I could not deny that she used her natural endowments well. The speech was just a little long in order to let people doze slightly, which gave her the opportunity to stamp her foot to wake them all up and start issuing orders.
"Listen up!"
"We have three critical objectives. We have ten years to achieve them. First, we must totally dominate the seas or Golah Novak will wither and die. Second, we must dominate trade throughout the world so that everybody has some vice which only we can supply. Third, we must behead Ohia the Viper and smash her cities to dust before she can destroy us."
"Samudera- I did not appoint you as Lieutenant Politicos out of friendship, or out of spite either. You always complained about insufficient resources and not enough authority to built that perfect warship. Well now you have it- you have the city of Golah Novak and the Kingdom of Galadiahos at your beck and call. Prove that I did the right thing hauling you out of Pembelian. Give me a navy to conquer the world. Hasapikos, use her ships as hard as you can. Test them. Sink them. Sail them through the pillars of hell. Make sure she listens to your complaints and fixes them."
"Putera- annihilate Ohia for me."
"Uyuz, work with your predecessors. Form companies. Buy holdings. Kill kings, backstab merchants, sink tradeships. Do whatever it takes, but I want to own the supply lines for every luxury and every vice ten years from now. I want every peasant with more than two metakeenos needing his daily nopta leaf or swig of Inje and I want us to be there to sell it to him."
"Souvlia- give Samudera and Putera what they need. No excuses or complaints about stock levels. They want queen wasp eggs or King's Concubine down or a hair off Loyismos' backside, you deliver a week later even if you have to bleed the city dry to do it. Clear?"
"Iena- if Putera needs to reduce a city to rubble, you show her how and make the machines you need to do it."
"Plesacica- go wherever you need to go to defend our interests with as many of our Kemes lads at your back as you think you need to make the point. I want every petty king in the world to quake at the thought of crossing us. In ten years I want them to cower at the thought of a trader in red being molested inside the kingdom."
"Lumpius- train our lads. I want you to start training the non-company locals as well if they are willing to learn. Take no shit, and don't teach them anything secret, but I want them able to march in straight lines and if they break in battle I'm going to put you over my knee and spank you. I have a feeling we're going to need a large force of auxiliaries in the next decade and I want you to provide them."
"Treskati- you were appointed because you're good at learning how to fight. Find out anything and everything about how everyone else fights and make sure we get no damned surprises on the battlefields. If they use a tactical call, I want to know what it means. They use flags, I want the fake ones sewn and there in the command tent ready to be used. They use drums, I want to be pounding out their retreat signal just as we charge. They come at me with a fencing move I want you to have taught me six counters, two blocks and a clever move that we made up between us."
"Halintar- make sure the walls don't fall down, and make sure that I get central heating in this place. Then just make sure we can withstand a long seige. I want options when the armies are camped outside. Tunnels. Machines. Floods. Traps. Poisons. Diseases. Natural disasters can be helped along. Be creative. Surprise me, and it might surprise them."
"Lunak- you know your job by now. But I want you do something else. I want you to police the oath. No-one hesitates before bitching to you. I want you to sort out soldier grumbles from blood feuds in the making. There's a lot of us now and I need someone to see to the weeding of our garden. There's bugs in the flowers, I want the option to find a cure or enough notice to cut off infected heads before it spreads."
"Gelisah- keep the lid on the place. I want them hardworking and happy and healthy so they can pay taxes and hardly notice how much we're taking them all for. You're responsible for all the brawls and famines and plagues and droughts and whinging foreigners who've been done over and all the rapes and muggings. I'm sure you'll enjoy wallowing in it all."
"Jagal- I won't presume to tell you your job, but make I want at least half a dozen apprentices by next year."
"And what is the great Captain Dreamy going to be doing? I'm going to be doing all the juggling to make sure you can all do your jobs. What I said for Souvlia goes double for me. You need it, it is my job to get it for you. You're stuck, you're in the shit, it is my job to get you out. You come across something you can't handle, yell for me. I am here to advise and discuss but most of the decisions will be yours. Appoint non-coms as you see fit. But please, never ever hestitate to talk to me about anything. Ever. Oh, and I will tear you off a strip when you screw up, just to make you feel better.."
"One more thing. All of you are taking the Ranger's exam in two months and if you fail I'll replace you."
Groans went around the table, especially from Quartermasters and Engineers who don't get out too much.
So we're going to be a bunch of drug-runners with a navy and a grudge against the Ohians. Actually, it isn't a bad plan. I hope her husband doesn't have too many scruples.
Questions or comments to Hywel Phillips