The Ironmaster: Or, Love and Pride (Classic Reprint) by Georges Ohnet

Author:Georges Ohnet [Ohnet, Georges]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, romance, General
ISBN: 9780267261468
Google: 37h4tAEACAAJ
Publisher: Fb&c Limited
Published: 2018-01-30T23:57:12+00:00

The Sons of Ne-Issan did not yet possess the rapid-fire guns and explosive devices that made the flying-horse such a deadly weapon, but that day would come.

Meanwhile, their speed meant that a strong force of samurai could rapidly reach any part of the country regardless of the intervening terrain. They would, literally, drop out of the sky like swooping falcons. The ability to execute such manoeuvres would demand a complete revision of military tactics.

Lord Kiyo Min-Orota was aware of the delicate line he had to tread.

The task of building these craft had been given to his family because they were regarded as fudai trusted allies of the Shogunate. But success had its dangers. If the Heron Pool expanded too rapidly and its importance was inflated by loose talk and wild speculation, it might cause the young Shogun to think twice, and perhaps withdraw the licence in favour of his own family - a situation to be avoided at all costs. If the TohYota became the sole possessors of such a weapon they would use it to hold their opponents in check, thus ending all hopes for a new age of progress.

As a key participant in the ‘modernist’ conspiracy, Min-Orota had therefore been at pains to create the impression that, whilst he was prepared to back the flying-horse project, it did not have his unqualified support. To this end he had slowed down the pace of development by trimming back Cadillac’s constant requests for more manpower and resources, and he had let it be known in court circles that even if a craft capable of sustained powered flight was eventually constructed, he feared that, in the long term, its impact on Iron Master society would be more adverse than beneficial.

All lies, of course, but it bore the appearance of a face-saving exercise whilst expressing his support for traditional values. And it also provided him with an escape hatch if YamaShita’s plan to recapture the Dark Light backfired - an enterprise which certainly did not have his wholehearted support.

Translated into Basic, the message he was beaming towards the Shogun read thus: ‘I’m only going along with this because you guys twisted my arm.”

It was a neat ploy. The whole deal had, of course, been put together on the back-stairs by YamaShita, but the records would show Kiyo Min-Orota hadn’t pitched for the business. It was Ieyasu, the wily old Court Chamberlain, who had advised the Shogun to grant the manufacturing licence to the Min-Orota family without going through the usual process of soliciting the highest bid from other interested parties. All that remained now was to find some way, short of death, to prevent Nakane TohShiba, the Consul-General, from screwing things up - both literally and figuratively - and everything would fall into their hands.

Jodi caught up with Simons as he passed through an archway in the back wall of the compound, opposite the main gate. There were more buildings beyond. Simons paused expectantly.

‘Listen,’ said Jodi. ‘Before this goes any further I

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