“Which cities would you take people from?” asked Lyra.

“We should start with the citizens of Alamar,” answered Emperor Marak. “They are already displaced from their homes. It is not safe for my ships to come here any longer, but we can begin picking people up at Tanzaba.”

“It is only women and children fleeing the city,” General Manitow pointed out. “Every man of appropriate age is staying to defend the city. I suspect the citizens of the other cities will react the same. The Omungan people have indeed become Sakovan in spirit as well as name. They will not give up their homes without a fight.”

“We have great need of those citizens,” remarked Emperor Marak. “In fact, I have some suggestions for their use during the war, especially the fishermen and sailors among them.”

“There are many of them in the cities and villages,” responded General Manitow as Temiker walked into the building and joined the group. “Omunga was a country that depended heavily on the sea. What do you have in mind?”

“The first thing they must do is preserve their boats, large and small,” answered the Torak. “They should move them away from the battle or hide them where they will not be discovered. We must never lose the ability to take this war to the seas.”

“Fishing boats cannot battle the behemoths that carry a thousand men,” frowned Temiker. “What are you planning?”

“I don’t have a particular plan in mind,” admitted Marak, “but I can clearly see the need to maintain mobility on the water. Sometime during this war we may be faced with the problem of moving massive amounts of troops from one place to another. My fleet of ships is not large enough to handle that. Even transporting the women and children to Khadora will be a massive undertaking. There is no way that my fleet can transport all of them, but thousands of small ships may be able to.”