Singh's reaction

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Did you turn it on? Good. Personal Journal autolog number...28 I believe, Wayland Singh.
I certainly did not believe I'd be making an entry like this.

Clara and Cordelia arrived at the workshop. I could tell something was very troubling as neither of them seemed flirtatious; but rather anxious and glum. They said not a word, only handed over the newspaper for me to the see the headline for myself.

WAR! in huge black letters with a photograph of what looked like some sort of mining vehicle with a big drill on the front sticking out of the ground with a burning Somatrain in the background. The subtitle was...dear God this is absurd...."Americans or Mole Men?"

What is more absurd is that I am entertaining that idea. Americans somehow getting past Her Majesty's Fleet enough times to build a mining tank and attack a train, which happened to have the owner of the East Orion Company on board, was also incredibly far-fetched.

Now of course I don't believe it is "real" mole men, but if those miners up in the hills start opening holes down in the proper colonies and spewing forth the absolute scum of our Empire that they are, God help us all. Taking Prescott for ransom or as a hostage would be a great way to get an awful lot of what they want.

Still, there is the very real fact that whether Americans, or Viet, or Thugee miner, or even "mole men"; Kingston was about to become a very dangerous place to be. I'd meant to send Clara home with Cordelia, but I shall be packing my things and joining them, seeking refuge in New India's more affluent and therefore more defensible regions. I've paid half a dozen hindus to pack my things on the last train out, but there is one more thing I need to do.

We have a local "hero" named Oliver Vandergane Drake. Drake, from what I understand, was one of the very first men off the initial exploration vessel that first entered the Fold. But he was neither scientist nor astronaut. Whereas others brought scientific equipment, he brought an enormous rifle that fires conventional shells of terrible size whose purpose is to fell big game. He'd lived among the Hindus back on Earth, travelling by elephant to hunt great beasts. When the Empire called for best of India to go and prepare Utopia, and be counted truly our equals; well Drake just decided that sounded delightful.
And hunt he did. His trophy hall is lined with hundreds of heads of Rajan game, big and small; some of which no other hunter or scientist has seen. He is truly at home in the savage jungle, on this or any other world.
Back in those days, he supposedly got into many strange adventures involving the Thugee cult and a missing Brahman's daughter, various epic battles of survival in the bush, etc etc. One of those adventures took place in the mines, making him the only person I know of that has actually been in one those and came out.
If I was going to be making weapons for war, I needed to know as much as possible what sort of enemy they might be engaging. I'll be leaving shortly to get his take on this before he heads for what will probably the deadliest battlefield on the planet to have a few more adventures. Stop Transcription.

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Journal addendum, Wayland Singh
Christ and Krishna! Well, I found Mister Drake where I anticipated him to be, that being the Royal Lion Pub in the hindu part of town. The establishment is a mad mixture of colonial and hindu that suits Drake well. I approached him, reminded him of our aquaintance, and bought him a drink. When he asked me what I wanted, I produced the paper; indicating the cover and if he could identify what that vehicle was, and what his take on everything was. He took one look at the photograph and with no hesitation, pointed to the drill tank and said "That, sir, is Mole Men."