Several contingents of Shotarian soldiers rushed back to help defend the base. When dawn broke, the exhausted troops saw the entire force of the One Mountain Society descending upon them. Believing that every Green Bone would be as terrible and nearly unkillable as the twenty sent in advance, the defenders panicked. Many of the soldiers were not even Shotarians, but Tuni, Uwiwans, and other poorly trained conscripts brought from other parts of the empire. In the first wave of the attack, they fled or surrendered.
The One Mountain Society spread news of the heroic Charge of Twenty across the country through secret radio broadcasts, print, and word carried through the country’s network of Lantern Men. Within days, all of Kekon was in open rebellion against the remaining occupation forces. Two weeks later, the beleaguered Shotarian military officially withdrew from Kekon.
At Kaul Du’s belated state funeral, his grief-stricken father declined to speak, asking his comrade Ayt Yugontin to do so in his place. “Good men are remembered with love by their friends,” declared the Spear of Kekon. “Great warriors are remembered with awe by their enemies.”
Ayt brought the hero’s two small sons and his pregnant widow onto the stage and declared that Kaul Du’s descendants would be forever favored by the gods. A new martial school would be built and named in his honor to train generations of future Green Bones to protect Kekon and carry on his legacy.
CHAPTER
51
Enough
Lula kept her eyes lowered as she was ushered into Ayt Madashi’s presence. Please let it be today, she prayed silently. I can’t do this anymore. She stepped through the rising midday heat into the shade of the gazebo and sat down in her usual spot, hands folded in her lap. She glanced up briefly. The Pillar of the Mountain was wearing a bright green silk scarf that complemented the jade coiled around her bare arms. For a woman in her midsixties, Ayt was still admirably fit. Her skin was wrinkled but not saggy and the gray in her hair was blended into silver highlights. When the lines around her eyes tightened, however, Lula thought she looked ancient and terrifying.
The Pillar uncrossed her legs and smoothed a crease in her linen pants. She lifted a pitcher and poured cool mint tea into a glass, setting it in front of Lula before pouring one for herself. The gesture of regard for an honored guest made Lula’s breath catch with hope. She glanced at the thick stack of paper that the Pillar had been examining and could see that they were transcripts. Pages and pages of dense text with only a few pertinent sections highlighted and marked with red tape flags. They represented hundreds of hours of recorded conversation from the meetings and phone calls of Art Wyles, CEO of Anorco Global Resources, gathered from wiretaps and recording devices that Lula had hidden inside the Espenian executive’s houses.
“How’s your family, Lula?” asked the Pillar.
“They’re very well, Ayt-jen,” Lula answered quietly. “My mother’s new medications are helping and now that we have the nurse coming in as well, my sister is able to work again. They’re happy in the new house.” It was appropriate that every time they met, the Pillar reminded her of her family’s greatly improved fortune. “As always, they pray for the gods to shine favor on the Mountain, and they thank you for your generosity.”
“They ought to thank you,” Ayt said matter-of-factly, leaning back and sipping from her glass. “It’s your work for the clan that has rewarded them.” Sharply, “Look at me when I speak to you. You know I hate that demure expression you use.”
Lula firmed her lips and forced her eyes up. “I’m sorry, Ayt-jen, it’s become a bad habit.” She’d learned that the foreigners liked it when she acted awestruck in their presence, but right now, she was not acting. How could she not be nervous when sitting across from the forbidding woman who controlled her life completely?
“What have you learned since we last spoke?”
“Premier Waltor has officially approved the cabinet appointment,” Lula said. “Mr. Wyles will take office as secretary of Foreign Trade at the end of the month.”
“And he will step down as president and CEO of Anorco?”
“Espenian law requires that he do so to avoid conflicts of interest. But he’ll maintain a controlling stake in the conglomerate and remain president emeritus of the Munitions Society. As for Operation Firebreak, he’s putting his Keko-Espenian business partner Jim Sunto, the head of GSI, in charge of the contract with the War Department.”
The Pillar nodded. “And what of his arrangement with the Crews?”