The Ninja Murders

"Calbraith; you should have let me keep him. I know we have a warrant out for him concerning British subjects killed during an altercation of some sort about fifteen years ago in Bombay, or was it Madras? Probably both. With a little luck, we can hang him and send him to hell where he belongs. You are surely courting trouble by having him with you."

"What you say is undoubtedly true. However, despite his legendary partiality for violence, Mr. Fail is still alive and in one piece, and from what I understand, has accumulated considerable wealth through a great deal of enterprise and honest, hard work. These things speak well for him. I will take my chances."

"Well, that you surely will. I wish you the best of luck."

Admiral Seymour set down his empty wine goblet and rose.

"Mr. Fail, Commodore, I must make an appearance at the celebration downstairs in the lobby before returning to my flagship. If you will excuse me. Gentlemen."

The Admiral left the room.

"Old Bruin" regarded Fail for a moment before speaking. Perry's eyes reflected calmness of thought, while his mouth was turned down as if in disgust. The Commodore had heard all about Captain "Chink" Fail's whaling exploits as well as quite a few wild stories concerning his abilities with women, in fights or surviving the vagaries of nature while at sea. Fail's peerless navigational skills were a matter of myth. Supposedly, his sense of direction and intuitive abilities were infallible. His crew bragged that their captain never missed a landfall and could find his way to the nearest brothel in a strange port without taking a single wayward step. Of course, with the immediate proximity of brothels to waterfronts, the latter was no great feat. Though known as "Chink" or "Chinaman," very few people had ever dared to address him so in person. Perry could see why. He had never met a larger or fiercer-looking man. Since he had been born aboard his father's whaler off the coast of Greenland in 1810, Fail had not spent more than two or three years of that time ashore. A more experienced and capable seaman would be difficult to find.

Fail's face was set in a perpetual scowl of pained displeasure as if he was still suffering from the tortures of imprisonment when he was shipwrecked in Japan. He had a dark complexion, possibly from an ancestor several generations ago who might have been indigenous to the Far East. His scarred and weathered face was framed with a beard except for his upper lip, which he kept clean in the fashion of New England seafarers. His dark brown eyes had a distinct oriental cast to them. From years of having to bend over due to low overheads below decks, Fail tended to stoop, so that his large, hairy arms were reminiscent of a gorilla's. Though having a bit of a paunch, he was obviously an enormously powerful man.

Almost everyone in the "civilized" world had heard of Matthew Calbraith Perry. He was a person of such celebrity that his comings and goings were closely followed by the press. He was a good friend of both the un-nominated for re-election, outgoing, lame duck Whig President, Millard Fillmore and Democratic candidate General Franklin Pierce. He was also friends with almost every sovereign having a coast on the Atlantic Ocean, North or South, as well as the Mediterranean. The first thing that an observer would note was that Commodore Perry had one of the most gorgeous, carefully groomed heads of hair of any man alive. Dark brown with a slow wave ending in a bit of a curl and not a single strand of gray, his hair would be the envy of a man half his age.

"Sit down, Fail. I would have hired you in an instant to accompany my expedition, but Congress didn't appropriate the funds to engage civilians. The best that I can do is to enroll you as a master's mate at twenty-six dollars a month."

Commodore Perry was famous for sounding like a patient parent explaining the obvious to young, unaware children and did so now.

"I want to explain a few things so you will understand why I have you here. I am sure you know that the papers say that this voyage is just another example of a waste of the tax payer's money. They can't wait to see 'The Great Matthew Perry' fall flat on his arse. The Philadelphia Public Ledger actually derides the expedition to Japan as 'Romantic.' Fortunately, our President sees the matter differently, as does Secretary Webster and the rest of the cabinet. We also have the support of the trade lobbies and a good many congressmen, all who anticipate that their pocketbooks will get a good deal fatter if we succeed. When reporters ask us about the expedition, we tell them that it's for the noble cause of protecting our seamen from undue harm, opening trade that will generate income for American workers, spreading the benevolence of Christianity so the Japanese can be saved and have eternal life through Jesus Christ and last but not least in the hearts of our patriotic citizens and elected representatives, we will bring freedom to the oppressed masses of Japan through our system of democracy. Frankly, we don't really give a damn about any of that. Oh, to be sure, they are noble sentiments and I do intend to at least make them respect the wellbeing of citizens of our United States, but that is not why we are going there. Let me speak with perfect clarity and frankness. This expedition to Japan is nothing less than seizing the opportunity to claim the Pacific Ocean and all the commerce on it for the United States of America. Japan has vast reserves of coal and is just eighteen days steaming time from our west coast. If we can establish a naval base and coaling stations on the Islands of Japan, we will rule the Pacific. Obviously there are other nations who would seek to do the same. England greatly desires bases there, too, but the Japanese have been hostile towards them ever since Lieutenant Pellew's unwelcome visit to Nagasaki in the HMS Phaeton some years back. By assuring Admiral Seymour that the United States will not seek any exclusive treaty rights, I have managed to obtain their cooperation and use of their bases in the Far East for my expedition. Likewise, and for the same reasons, we have received full cooperation from His Majesty's government of the Netherlands. The Dutch have forwarded us a good many charts of the Japanese Islands, an absolutely invaluable contribution. So then, that leaves the Russians. While the Russians are less interested in ruling the Pacific, they feel that any other nation having bases in Japan would be a direct threat to their east coast. They desire naval bases there, as well. The Russians are not about to provoke a war with the United States, but they would certainly like to see our expedition fail. Also, there are some in Congress that feel we should be imitating the British and would like to see Japan become a colonial possession. They are hoping this blows up in our faces, so that we would be forced to declare war and conquer the country."