Days of Infamy (74 page)

Wearing no expression whatever, the bishop set one crown on Stanley Owana Laanui's head, the other on Cynthia Laanui's flaming locks. “God bless the King and Queen of Hawaii,” he said in a voice also empty of everything.

Flashbulbs popped. Newsreel cameras had been grinding away all along. The audience applauded, perhaps more politely than enthusiastically. Fuchida and Genda, Minami and Murakami looked at one another and smiled as they clapped. They'd got the job done.

“I thank you,” King Stanley said, looking out over his subjects—and his masters. “The American annexation and occupation of Hawaii were not only illegal and immoral but also disastrous for the Hawaiian people. There are less than half as many Hawaiians alive today as there were fifty years ago.”

Is that why you have a redheaded Queen?
Fuchida wondered. Stanley Owana Laanui went on, “Now that these islands are free again, I intend to make them into a kingdom that can feed itself and support itself instead of being caught like a fly in a spiderweb of ties to the mainland. Cooperation with the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere will help Hawaii to achieve this goal.” That was nicely done: he admitted being a puppet without ever naming Japan.

“Now we do not have to pretend to be Americans any more,” he said—in English. Did he notice the irony, or did it slide past him? Fuchida couldn't be sure. The new King was shrewd, but whether he was really clever was much less obvious. He finished, “We may choose our own friends once more. With the help of those friends, we will continue to live untroubled lives here in the heart of the Pacific. Thank you.”

The Kingdom of Hawaii's . . . friends had sunk two U.S. carriers and smashed up a third. As long as they could keep that up, Hawaii would remain untroubled—by the Americans, anyhow. As Fuchida applauded once more, he caught Genda's eye. Now they had to make sure the newly revived kingdom stayed as independent as Japan wanted it to be—and not a bit more.