When the aide arrived, von Mueller read the sheaf of papers that were handed him—the flimsy blue telegram with the urgent stamp, the far more detailed and carefully prepared orders and recommendations from the Governor, and finally the hastily scrawled note in longhand.
"I take it that the coal and stores are ready for loading?"
"At dockside, Herr Kapitan," the aide replied, "a crew of coolies is standing by to start work as soon as you have moored."
Von Mueller nodded. "Then if you please, Leutnant, you will return at once to the Governor and inform him that we will dock within an hour and that I will begin immediately to carry out his orders. Once the work is under way, I will come to his office—say, in a matter of two hours."
The aide saluted and departed.
When he was gone, von Mueller studied the longhand note again thoughtfully. Then he folded it carefully, put it in his pocket, and reached for the telephone.
^ "Officer of the Deck Gropius speaking, Kapitan," came the instant response.
"Please summon all officers to meet with me in the wardroom immediately. Have the bridge maintain bare steerage-way towards the harbor." "Zum Befehl, Herr Kapitan!"
By the time von Mueller reached the wardroom, the rest of the ship's officers had already assembled and were waiting with an air of tense expectancy. Such orders as these could only foreshadow some serious emergency. The little room was crowded. Under his feet von Mueller could tell by the slow, throbbing pulse of the engines that the ship was only barely moving. He nodded his satisfaction to Gropius.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I need not remind you that we are now at war with three of the most powerful antagonists in the world. Any one of their navies outnumbers our own small fleet, and Britain's—especially with her Dominions' forces—IS almost overwhelmingly superior. This does not mean, however, that we shall give up without a fight. They are not invulnerable, and I have every reason to believe that if we can hold them off for a little time, our German shipyards, which are the most efficient in the world, will come forth with the ships; our German arms manufacturers, who are acknowledged second to none, will provide the weapons, armament, and munitions needed; and the Empire itself will not lack for seamen of devotion!"
There was a murmur of applause at diat. "However, gentlemen," von Mueller went on seriously, that IS not all. The task will not be easy. Nevertheless, gentlemen, whether we enjoy it or not, we—you and I—must accept it and carry it out to the best of our abilities — not simply for the War Lord, who is our symbol of Empire, but for the Empire itself; and for all the people who look to us for protection in war and peace."
There was silence in the room now, the silence of expectancy.
"I have here, in my hand," von Mueller went on, "our most recent orders from Admiral von Spee. I cannot read them to you in full at this time, since part of them, for obvious reasons, must remain secret until we are at sea. What I can read, however, I am afraid some of you may find dismaying. Our orders are to dock as quickly as possible; to refuel, revictual, and take in such stores as we need; and to put back to sea immediately—and that means immediately. For your information, gentlemen, I expect this ship to be in readiness to sail by six o'clock this evening!"
There was another silence, silence of a different kind; almost of consternation. Bunte Lange turned white. Von Muecke looked grim but resigned. Franz von Hohenzollern spoke up.
"It will take time to revictual, Herr Kapitan," he said almost hopefully.
Marine Oberingenieur Ellenbroek followed his lead. "We'll have to have more coal if it's to be a long voyage."
Von Mueller smiled slightly with his eyes, but his mouth was a flat line. "What about ammunition, guns?" he said. "As much as we can get, sir," replied Gaede. "Torps?" demanded the Captain crisply. "We've all the fish we can carry now, Kapitan," von Witthoeft answered. "But only a few of them are armed. We'll need warheads all around for full operation."
"All right, gentlemen," said von Mueller. "You will find everything we need all ready and waiting dockside, with coolies standing by to help load. Your duty will be to see that everything necessary is brought aboard at once. Lange, you and Schall will oversee the coaling. Von Hohenzollern, you will be 'ship's housekeeper.' I want sufficient stores for both officers' and crew's mess—and don't overlook the men's beer and grog rations! Ellenbroek, be sure that you have all spares necessary for the proper function of the engines. It may be a long time before we will be able to refit. Von Braun, see to the ship's stores, including paint and spare rigging, torpedo mats and plates for replacement of damage. Andresen, see to it that everything needed to keep the electrical system, including the wireless, in full working order is on board. Doktor Luther, I want your medical locker overstocked—over-stocked, do you understand me? We may not be able to restock for a long time, and we will have casualties."
He paused to let the import of that remark reach them.
"Herr Kapitan?" Bunte Lange found his tongue.
"One moment, Leutnant!" von Mueller snapped.
"Kapitanleutnant Gropius, you will now take the ship in as quickly as possible. The sooner we dock, the sooner we will be away!"
Gropius saluted and started to turn away.
"By the way," said von Mueller, halting him, "as soon as you have seen to that, will you send word to the officers' cook to report to me in my quarters?"
Gropius looked baffled, but knew better than to question an order. "Zum Befehl, Herr Kapitan!" he replied, and disappeared.
The rest started to follow him.
"Just a moment, gentlemen!" von Mueller halted them, "I have not finished."
They turned back expectantly—a little sheepishly.
"Kapitanleutnant von Muecke," the Captain went on, "you will oversee all of this and be sure that it is carried out in every detail. For the rest of you—and for all of you—it is no secret that we are to rendezvous with the fleet. After that our movements will be subject to the orders of the Admiral. Neither you nor I can even guess at them at this moment. Leutnant von Guerard, Leutnant Lange, will you both remain here for a moment? Division officers will inform the men. There will be no shore liberty beyond the gates of the dockyard. Dismissed!"
When the others were gone, von Mueller glanced at von Guerard. "Anton," he said, "I understand that the Rjasan has not yet been passed through the nets."
"No, Herr Kapitan!" von Guerard replied.
"Very well," said von Mueller. "When she does come in, she has her mooring orders. I want you to see to it that Oberleutnant Lauterbach is apprised of the situation. His orders are to take his prize crew over to the Staatssekrettar Kratke as soon as he has surrendered the Rjasan to the local authorities, and to assume command of the Kratke for the time being. She will accompany us to the fleet rendezvous, and we will probably coal from her, after which Oberleutnant Lauterbach will come back aboard the Emden and the Kratke will be converted to an auxiliary cruiser for convoy duty. Please make that clear to him. She must be ready to sail with us by five o'clock this afternoon."
"Jawohl, Herr Kapitan," said von Guerard obediently.
"You may also inform the commanders of the Elsbeth, the Prinz Eitel Friedrich, Markomannia, Prinz Ludwig, Speervald, and Captrafalgar that they must be ready to sail at the same time—fully loaded. And, Anton," added von Mueller, "you must do all this by messenger. Do you understand? We can risk no wireless broadcast."
"Jawohl, Herr Kapitan," repeated von Guerard.
When he was gone, the Captain turned to Bunte Lange. "I'm sorry, Leutnant Lange," he said. "I'm afraid this is not very happy news for you."
"You made it plain, Herr Kapitan," Lange replied, "that we could not expect the best at this time."