Singapore
British Empire
Saturday May 25th, 1940
Illuminated by a waning and gibbous moon, the froth on the breaking waves shone in the darkness like rows of jagged teeth before crashing into the breakers outside of Singapore harbour. Inside the port, the Eastern Fleet of the Royal Navy including the battleships Prince of Wales and Nelson and the battlecruiser Repulse lay moored. Their commander, Admiral of the Eastern Fleet Sir Tom Philips would probably not had slept very well that night if he had been witness to how the black surface of the pounding sea was broken by an angular metallic structure; the conning tower of a submarine. But the Admiral had no idea, and slept soundly in his bunk.
At the top of the tower, the hatch popped and a serious-faced japanese, an officer of the Pan-Asian Imperial Navy climbed out with a pair of binoculars, to peer across the tumultuous sea towards the light of the distant city. After a few minutes, he turned towards the open hatch and grunted unintelligibly; immediately, there were sounds of several more people climbing up on the metallic ladder leading into the bowels of the Pan-Asian submarine.
Once up beside the submarine captain, Doctor Henry “Indiana” Jones inhaled the fresh sea air voraciously; just a few days inside the Japanese-built sub had been enough to give him an incipient claustrophobia.
‘Honoured Dr Jones, we have arrived at Singapore!’ the Captain said formally in Japanese. ‘My men will be preparing your raft within moments.’
‘Thank you, honoured Captain!’ Jones replied in the same language. ‘It has been a joy to travel with you and your fine crew!’
The captain smiled broadly. ‘Lier! But you are most gracious. Our stinking tub is unworthy of this great honour that has been bestowed upon it. Long shall we remember and be proud of having been the ones to carry Her Imperial Majesty and the Imperial heirs to safety!’
Indy still hadn’t forgot his initial fright when instead of the promised “boat”, a Pan-Asian Navy submarine had surfaced in the Fuji river, as he and the Empress had swum downstream from the blown bridge. But it had turned out that Fah Lo Suee had not deceived him; indeed, the sub had been the promised rescue boat, it’s captain and crew diehard Japanese loyalists, fierce in their allegiance to the Emperor, but somehow convinced by Fah Lo Suee of the fact that their Emperor wasn’t his own master. Captain Yamaguchi and his men would have died a thousand deaths, and laughing, to free their Emperor and their home country from the clutches of Fu Manchu. For the moment, they had had to settle for saving the Empress and her sons.
As if conjured up by the mentioning of her, Empress Nagako, dressed for anonymity in a sober European dress, hat and coat, appeared on the bridge, and the Captain bowed so deeply he seemed to double over.
‘Imperial Highness! I am honoured to inform you that we have arrived!’
‘My sons and I thank you for your bravery, honoured Captain!’ she replied. ‘Once we’re rid of the enemies of the Emperor, who even now hold him in ignominious captivity, we shall not forget those who remained loyal to him in his darkest hour! By deeds and men such as you, Japan will still be restored to her former glory!’
‘Imperial Highness!’ was all that the Captain was able to reply, his voice choking with emotion.
While Indy observed the exchange, Professor Falken, who had already been onboard the submarine when Indy arried with the Empress and her sons, and the young Princes climbed up too, joking and laughing. For some mysterious reason of personal chemistry, the boys had taken an instant liking to the white-haired archaeologist, and now exchanged constant pranks, banter and jokes with him. For the whole trip, they had accepted before sleeping only Falken’s lectures on classical history, poorly disguised as bedtime stories rather than more conventional fairy tales. Perhaps it was because he and Indy were the only ones on the boat who treated them as children, and Indy had killed their beloved bodyguard, Major Ishikawa, and pulled a gun on their mother. Children had a hard time forgiving such slight faux passes.
‘Now what?’ the Empress wondered as she stood beside Indy, looking towards the lights of Singapore. ‘We row into Singapore harbour and proclaim our existence?’
‘No on the second account, Highness. I’ve decided we’d better not inform anyone that you’re alive just yet, not even my superiors. One can never bee too certain about moles and double agents.’
‘That’s probably wise.’
‘You’ll be Mrs Cheng,’ Indy continued. ‘I know people at the Secret Service offices here who’ll be able to provide you with a Hong-Kong passport, no questions asked, before we catch the next Imperial Airways flight back to London. Then, and only then is it time to let the British know who they have on their hands; otherwise there’s a real risk they’d decide to quietly return you to Fu Manchu, given how reluctant they seem to fight Pan-Asia, and we can’t have that, can we, your Highness?’
‘Certainly not, Dr Jones!’ Nagako said, smiling sadly. ‘Not in any way or fashion.’ She looked thoughtful for a few seconds before continuing. ‘Besides, Fu Manchu has been too busy with preparing his ascension ceremony to the Dragon Throne to level any accusations; the “investigation” around the circumstances of our deaths is not due deliver it’s conclusion yet. I’d say that in a week or two, after the coronation and the funeral, there will be an official communiqué blaming the United States or Britain for our murder; then, it will be the time for us to step forward, to expose Fu’s lies to the people of Japan and let them know what kind of monster now rules them and enthrals their Emperor!’
‘That’s the spirit, your Highness! Of course, when that happens, Fu Manchu will have no other choice than claim Britain has abducted you and declare war. And frankly, that sounds fine to me; America could use a little help right about now!’
At the very least we need to get some hypnotists of our own.
