Captain of the Kali

The story follows John Ward, a Terran naval tactician sent as a God Helper to advise a short, seafaring alien people called the Kali. He contends with their daredevil sea-war customs and resistance to cautious tactics while rival islanders, the Grimnal, and other interstellar Helpers escalate a broader conflict. Ward negotiates cultural misunderstanding, military necessity, and his own diminishing authority as the Kali prepare for a major engagement at Anda-Ke, where strategic choices, competing advisers, and the natives' fierce traditions converge to determine the outcome.