Furious

47

“You did much better than I expected,” Mr. Kawaguchi said later in the day as he handed Kris a blue envelope.

“What is that?” Kris said, eyeing it.

“It is a gag order from the judge. You are forbidden any more contact with the press. I think you did very well. By the way, do you have any other interesting conversations between you and your admirals?”

“As you pointed out, they are not my admirals. Vice Admiral Krätz was threatening to have his flagship shoot the Wasp out of space.”

“Oh, this just gets better and better. And why didn’t he?”

“Her Imperial Highness, the Grand Duchess Victoria Smythe-Peterwald was on the Wasp and objected to being blown to atoms with me. Admiral Krätz suggested she leave the Wasp.”

“Did she?”

“No, she was still on it when we finally made it back to human space.”

“Oh, I like this story. Now, how do I make sure the judges like it as well?”

“Don’t you mean the jury?”

“Not in Musashi, my dear. Usually, three judges hear cases. Since you face a capital charge, nine have been appointed for your trial.”

Actually, quite a few more judges had been appointed to try Kris. Several thousand to be exact. All in the media.

That evening, they gathered in the drawing room to watch several monitors. The news seemed to have nothing on but Kris’s presser, and all the talking heads had their own take on it. While they watched the four main news reports, Nelly collected them all and analyzed them. They ranged them from true to off-the-wall crazy.

“What’s the balance?” Penny asked Nelly.

“Not in our favor,” Nelly answered. “As usual, you can sell more soap the more outrageous you make your story. Take for example, your letting Sailors opt out of the battle. They’ve got a lot of old, retired generals telling everyone they can’t believe you did that.”

“Well, we’ve got a witness that I did,” Kris countered.

“No we don’t,” Tsusumu said, making a strange face.

“But Captain Miyoshi said—” Kris stopped in the face of her lawyer’s shaking head. “We don’t?”

“He said the young woman was pregnant. He didn’t mention that she was not married, and the pregnancy was initiated after Haruna departed on this mission.”

“Oops,” Jack said. “A lot of embarrassment all around, huh?”

“I can neither identify her nor get access to speak to her,” Tsusumu said, clearly disappointed in himself. “With her not talking, there are a lot of talking heads saying she does not exist and never did.”

“Is that the worst lie?” Kris asked.

“Sorry, Kris, no,” Nelly said. “There have been suggestions that you used, ah, sexual gifts, to keep the admirals in line.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Cara put in with full teenage outrage. “Why, she never even kissed Jack.”

Kris and Jack exchanged brief, very brief, eye contact. Fujioka House was full of servants. Abby had talked to several of them. Almost all were on retainer to one or more news sources.

Jack slept in the north wing of the house. Kris’s suite was in the south wing. They only met in the middle.

“I bet that sells lots of soap,” Abby said dryly.

“So there is a battle for my life going on in the media, and I’m gagged from fighting it,” Kris said, eyeing the table where the blue envelope with her gag order still rested. “What does the well-dressed innocent wear to meet the headsman these days? A white kimono? Should I start being fitted for one?”

“I hope not,” was all her lawyer said.

“You have a visitor. Several of them,” a Marine sergeant announced from the main hallway before quickly stepping aside.

A gray-haired man in what Kris took for very archaic Japanese garb stepped into the room. He held a heavy wooden staff, decorated with gold bands and designs that said nothing to Kris except that they were old, and this guy was important.

Everyone in the room was on their feet in a blink.

The man rapped his staff on the floor. In a booming voice, he announced. “The Princess Emiko comes. All who give her homage, give homage to the Emperor. Bow down in his honor.”

Beside her, Tsusumu bowed low. Remembering Captain Miyoshi’s comment about real princesses rather than jumped-up backwoods princesses, Kris bowed just as low.