Yozef found the cathedral packed. He squeezed into the main hall, content to find a place among the throng standing to one side, when Brother Fitham appeared, grasped his right elbow, and dragged him to a front pew, where Denes held a space for him.
He had attended many services since his arrival, and this one started out with the standard call to worship and a series of traditional calls and responses between Abbot Sistian and the people. The difference came when Sistian, instead of launching into a sermon, recounted their deliverance from the Buldorians. Naturally, primary thanks were given to God, then the abbot named names: the fallen, the dead, and the seriously wounded; those who had lured the Buldorians to the open gate; Denes Vegga, for organizing the defense; and Yozef, for his insights into defending the abbey. Yozef dreaded the attention. He had been so afraid. Four days since the raid and he still shook and his throat constricted whenever he let his mind linger over that morning.
“And thank you, Merciful God, for Yozef Kolsko,” the abbot intoned, “the stranger who came to us in need, who became part of our community, who brought so many betterments, and who has been the implement of God’s grace on our day of danger.”
Yozef cringed. He’d only made a suggestion that had popped into his head! He’d wet himself! He didn’t want everyone looking at him as a hero.
No one knew it, but the abbot’s reference to Yozef being “an implement of God’s grace” would linger in people’s minds.
Chapter 34: Not Over
Okan Akuyun dismounted, gave the reins to a guard, and was halfway to the headquarters entrance when stopped by Admiral Kalcan’s voice.
“General, a moment of your time, please.” Akuyun turned to the naval commander walking briskly toward him.
“Yes, Admiral. Come on up to my office.” The two men entered the outer foyer. Guards came to attention, as did other staff, as they climbed the staircase into Akuyun’s office.
“So, Morfred, what has you excited this morning?” Once alone, Akuyun often used first names with his immediate subordinates and allowed them the same privilege. While such familiarity was not universal among the Narthani, Akuyun believed it helped them believe in his trust and confidence.
“The Buldorians, Okan. They were due back from the raid on the Keelan abbey by yesterday at the latest, possibly sooner since the distance is so short. There’s been no sign of them. This morning I sent a sloop to the Buldorians’ base at Rocklyn. They should be back late today or tomorrow. In addition, another sloop reported back today after finishing a routine sweep along that part of the Caedellium coast. They were some distance offshore, but the captain reported that the abbey and the nearby village appeared intact. The Buldorians had orders to burn anything they couldn’t carry off, but the captain saw no indication of fires. The last time we had contact with Captain Adalan and his ships was when they left four days ago for the raid.”
“I assume there continues to be no sign of any other warships around the island, except ours? No one else the Buldorians could have run afoul of?”
“No. So the question is, where are the Buldorians?”
“Your conclusion?”
Kalcan shrugged. “I expect they decided their association with us had reached an end, and they sailed for home.”
“Well, I suppose that simplifies how to end our relationship,” Akuyun grimaced. “We are about to move into the next phase anyway, so this won’t change our plans.”
“I agree. We suspected the Buldorians would do this eventually. What about Major Nertof and his two aides?”
“Ah, our redoubtable Major Nertof. It seems unlikely the Buldorians would take them home to Buldor, so I surmise our liaison men came to an unfortunate end.”
“That would be my guess,” agreed Kalcan. “Too bad the Empire loses such a capable and well-connected officer.”
Both men smiled. Nertof was from an important Narthani family but had been considered incompetent by superiors in his previous and current assignments. Only his family connections had protected him. Even worse than his incompetence was his delusion of his own superiority and resentment at not having advanced faster.
“What an unfortunate coincidence the Buldorians ran for home on the first mission Major Nertof served as liaison,” Kalcan commented, with a raised eyebrow and tweak to his lips.
“Yes, a tragedy. I’ll write a report extolling the major and his contributions to the mission. He’ll be remembered as having fallen in service to the Empire.”
“Naturally, we’ll want to exact revenge against the Buldorians,” Kalcan said cryptically.
“Naturally. And you’re already looking for their ships. Unfortunately, the ocean is wide, and our mission here takes priority. We’ll give assurances we’re on the lookout for these particular Buldorians.”
Kalcan smiled and nodded. Without words, the communication was clear: they were well rid of Nertof and his two junior officers and would think no more about them.
That point settled, Akuyun sat at his desk and motioned for Kalcan to seat himself. “Now, I assume the navy is ready to take the Buldorians’ place in future raids and to support our direct ground operations?”
Boyerman Vorwich had used the Clengoth/Caernford semaphore line to relay raid updates to Hetman Keelan as fast as details were known. Even the fastest semaphore station crews could only transmit the equivalent of six complete pages of text a day. As a consequence, for two days, the limited capacity of the semaphore line was preempted from more routine communications, including news of friends and relatives. The commandeering of the semaphore lines from Caernford to the rest of Caedellium lasted an entire sixday with messages among the clan hetmen.
“The reports from St. Sidryn’s are thorough, but I want firsthand accounts,” Culich said to Kennrick and Vortig. “Let’s get Abbot Beynom and Vegga here as soon as possible.” Thus, three days later Denes Vegga and Sistian Beynom, accompanied by Boyerman Vorwich, answered the summons to Caernford and spent an entire day with their hetman, along with Kennrick and Luwis, going over the events in excruciating detail. Denes then returned to Abersford, while Sistian remained for more discussions, one topic of which was Yozef Kolsko.
“The new knowledge he’s given us is already amazing, but he’ll often say something without realizing the impact. For example, when we first talked about the lack of poppy extract, I explained that poppies only grew under conditions found in Eastern Landolin. He stated there was no reason they couldn’t be grown anywhere by making the right conditions inside an enclosed area. He called it a ‘greenhouse,’ a small building with windows all around the sides and roof so the sunlight can get in. The light passes through glass to allow plants to grow. It also warms the inside of the structure. The warmth can escape out through the glass in the other direction, but as he describes it, the energy of the sun passing in is more than the warmth that passes out. By adjusting various factors, it should be possible to grow the plants to produce opiates here on Caedellium, if we obtained plants or seeds.”