Introducing Wages of Empire

 Annamaria on Monday 

Today, I am very pleased to introduce you to Wages of Empire by Michael J. Cooper.  Michael has joined us here at MIE several times before, to talk about his previous historical thrillers, all of which are set in the Holy Land.  Chanticleer Book Reviews called his latest "Masterful Storytelling and gave it five stars.

Today, we have a special treat.  Michael has written a scene that does not appear in the book, but it is designed to present to us Evan Sinclair, his young protagonist, who—in the summer of 1914—joined the Great War for Civilization:

 

 

Interview with Evan Sinclair

Ten minutes out of Calais and bound for Dover, the HMHS Austrium pitched in the Channel swells on a cold morning in late November. Sixteen-year-old Evan Sinclair stowed his gear on the upper berth of a cramped cabin, and grasping the worn handrail, headed up the narrow steel stairwell to the ship’s deck. He stepped to the side as a deckhand descended the steps and asked, “Y’know where I might find Evan Sinclair?”

“Right here. That’s me.”

The man handed him a piece of paper. “This just arrived for you.”

In the half-light he could make out the words. 

 

PAT KING WISHES TO INTERVIEW EVAN SINCLAIR PLEASE RESPOND

 

Evan frowned and thought, “Who the hell is Pat King and what’s this about?

 Seeing that the deckhand was climbing back up the steps, he called out, “Hey! They want me to respond. How am I supposed to do that?”

“At the wireless office. Come with me.”

The deckhand led him up to the bridge, where he nodded at a closed door.

Evan pushed it open and saw a young man reading as he reclined, feet up on a low desk between a typewriter and a burnished brass telegraphy set. Looking up from his copy of The Argosy, he asked,“Are you Evan Sinclair?”

“Yes.” Evan held up the paper. “What do you make of this?”

The young man shrugged. “They want to interview you.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know, but if you’d like, we can find out right now.” The telegraph operator sat forward and readied his hand over the key-type transmitter. “Shall we?”

    Evan drew a deep breath and thought, I don’t even know anyone by that name—Pat King—it sounds like a made-up name. Maybe it’s a German spy. He decided to ask. “How do we know this cable wasn’t sent from Germany?”

“Because we determine the source of every communication. This came from the foreign desk of The London Times.”

Evan frowned. “But what kind of name is that—Pat King? Is that Pat as in Patrick or Pat as in Patricia?”

“What does that matter?” the operator replied sharply. “Look, shall I reply?”

“But do you even have time for this?”

“For now, I do. There’s nothing in the queue, and they’re waiting for your response at the destination station in London—”

“Isn’t that too far away?” 

“Not at all. We’re able to transmit wireless over twice that distance.”

“How?”

“Morse code by radio waves. C’mon! Do you want to do this or not?”

“Sure,” Evan said listlessly and watched as the operator began tapping the brass key. Once he stopped, Evan asked, “What did you transmit?”

“I told them that Evan Sinclair is standing by for an interview with Pat King.” The operator moved his headphones up from his neck to his ears and reached out to bring the typewriter forward. “They’ll get back to us soon enough, and I’ll type out the responses for you—” 

Before he finished speaking, Evan could hear the shrill staccato of the Morse code from the operator’s earphones. As he began typing, Evan leaned down and read the message.

 

WELCOME HOME HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A HERO

 

         A hero? he thought, and said nothing for a few seconds, then blurted out, “I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“Shall I ask?”

         Evan nodded. “Tell them that I’m not sure what they mean.”

The operator tapped out the message, and the reply came quickly. He typed it out for Evan to see. 

 

FLOODING POLDERS KEPT GERMANS FROM TAKING NORTHERN PORTS AND WINNING THE WAR NOW THEY WONT NOT NOW NOT EVER

 

Images flashed through Evan’s head—the bright moon over the lowlands, the partisans exposed by the sluice gate, the German machinegun firing from within the protecting nest of sandbags, firing and firing, smoke from the gun rising in the air, the desperate and failed attempts by the partisans to silence it, with pistol, with grenade. He remembered crawling over smooth stones in the mud, to reach the dark shelter of the poplars, there the foliage blocked out the moonlight, and he was able to stand and hurl smooth stones with his sling into the machinegun nest, again and again, drawing their attention away from the partisans at the sluice gate. And, finally—moonlight shining on rising water as the polders flooded…

Evan exhaled a sigh as the images gave way to the affirming thought, And it worked! Everyone knew that the key to a quick German victory would have been for them to seize the port cities of northern France and Belgium, but with the flooding of the lowlands, their progress was stopped, and without a quick victory, Germany would have none. Sure, the trench warfare is horrible, but it’s contained them, and a longer war will end in their defeat. Evan drew a deep breath with the final thought, That’s why I left home to join up, to make a difference. And I did.

Leaning forward, Evan spoke a shortened version of these thoughts to the operator who tapped them into the wireless radio waves bound for London. After a few minutes the next question came.

 

THERES TALK OF YOU RECEIVING THE VC

 

 The Victoria Cross? Evan shook his head in disbelief. Britain’s highest decoration? They’d give it to me for throwing rocks at Germans? The ones who really deserve a medal are the Flemish partisans who died at the sluice gate, the ones who actually flooded the polders—Emile Peeters and Hendrik Geeraert.

Evan proceeded to dictate these thoughts to the operator who tapped them out. Evan made sure that the operator got the spelling of their names right.

After a few minutes the next question came, the shrillness of the code less jarring as Evan was getting used to it. He read the typed transcription.

 

WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO ONCE YOU GET BACK TO ENGLAND

 

Before speaking, Evan considered how to reply. I’m pretty sure dad left Utah to look for me in England. He’s probably back at our old house in Oxford now. I definitely want to spend some time with him—to mend fences after the way I ran off. And once I’m fit for service I want to get back to the fight, that is, if the war is still going on. But not on the Western Front—I’ll request to be sent to Cairo. 

         Dictating these final thoughts to the operator, Evan hoped that his father might hear the news before he arrived at the front door in Oxford. As he waited for the tapping to stop, his thoughts turned to a beautiful young nurse he had met while hospitalized in France. I’d really like to get back to France for a quick visit—to see her again—

         “Uh-oh!” the operator cut into his thoughts. “I’ve got someone in the queue now. It’s the War Office at Whitehall,” he added, his voice rising. “I’m signing out to take this.”

         “No problem. I’m glad we’re done,” Evan said as he watched the operator hunch over listening as he typed out the incoming message.

 

GERMAN U BOATS SIGHTED IN CHANNEL BEGIN EVASIVE MANEUVERS

 

Evan’s breath caught as the operator grabbed the message off the typewriter and ran out to the bridge, yelling for the captain.

 

***

 

Where to find the full story of Wages of Empire, and more about Michael and his books: https://michaeljcooper.net/

 

With the publication date of November 30, 2023, Wages of Empire is available now for pre-sale on Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/Wages-Empire-Michael-J-Cooper/dp/B0CJYJCRR8/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1696005774&sr=1-1

 

 BOOK GIVE AWAY

The beautiful nurse pictured above is a real historical person. If you can identify her, you can win a free, hardcover copy of Wages of Empire. Please don't identify her in the comment section here. To win, go to Michael's website. Use the contact page to tell him who you think it is.  The first 8 people to do so will receive a free book