by D.P. Allen
The “wall” of the phenomenon did look like energy of some type and probably would not be something that a person would want to touch. It may have destroyed someone’s boat in front of witnesses and thus the story and the avoidance of open ocean travel began.
Mike had figured out very early on that the city names were bastardized pronunciations of old Georgia (Joe'Ja) towns such as Tif’n, which had been Tifton, Alb'ny was Albany, ‘Acon was Macon, etc. From these and the Spanish coastal chart, he had been able to use a map program in one of his computers to produce an approximation of current land. In a graphic program he trimmed off the parts that were now under water and what was left was a pretty accurate scaled map of the existing lands.
The north road appeared to follow old Interstate Highway 75. He was told that a story was handed down of a great city on an island southwest of the mainland that had been a center for trade and fishing until a great storm swamped the city and washed the island away so that there was only an area of shallows and exposed rocks left. This city had been called Dosta. Valdosta?
There were times when he felt like he was eating their food and living under their roof without contributing anything back to the city. On one of these occasions he happened to be walking with Erman and he voiced his thought. Erman looked at him for a long moment and then said” You have given this city and its people things that they haven’t had in recorded history.
You’ve given them freedom and the self-assurance to keep it. For these things we owe you more than we could ever give in ten lifetimes. You are an icon of our independence and a bastion to protect us from our fears. We know that as long as you are here, we have someone to lead in any defense that may be required.
To be quite honest, we are scared to death of the deus. We know that you have given us ways to defeat them, but no known person has ever hurt one except you. There is still a “deus can’t be hurt except by another deus” mindset and yes there is still the thought just below consciousness that says you are a deus.
If you were to leave us, I think the people would run and hide if they saw the deus boat sailing toward the harbor, but as long as you are standing beside them, they would have the strength to do what they must. You are doing so much even though you don’t feel that you are doing anything.
This really didn’t make Mike feel much better. Being an icon was not what he had been during his life and he didn’t like people thinking him more than he was. They might come to expect too much of him and the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint these wonderful people.
He hoped that war would never come to these peaceful people as war changed everyone it touched and not for the better he thought. At the same time, war or his expertise in waging it was why he was in the position that he was.
He still had trouble calling them his people because there were so many naive and innocent ways in their culture that he felt like a barbarian among civilized people. His size also caused problems. He couldn’t go out and sit down with friends at a local eatery and chat. He was very conscious of the damage his bulk could cause to the delicate items in the city and he literally stood out in any crowd. He had no private life even though all of the girls had offered themselves willingly. He enjoyed sex as much as any other male, but he was very much afraid that he might hurt one of the diminutive beauties accidentally.
He had finally settled into a life of wandering the close environs of the city, spending much of his time working out or wandering the bluffs so that he knew every inch of the countryside. He often would look from the heights down to north road and think about doing some exploring, or looking out to sea and at his boat tied to a dock. He knew that his conscience wouldn’t let him leave until the Spaniard and Royal issues were settled.
He spent some of his time maintaining his boat, but it seemed that there was an unseen crew that kept everything clean and shined. He could rarely find anything needing work. He would still sit down at a computer on occasion and play a game, but that was just a way to kill time. The real problem was that he had always been a person of action and this inaction was getting to him.
Chapter 23
Hi honey I’m home!
Then one day everything hit the fan at once. He awakened to the big bell that he hadn’t heard since his arrival. When he got to the front door of the government center, a messenger was waiting with word that a boat was coming around the south side of the hill and looked like it was heading for the harbor.
By the time he armed himself and got to the harbor, the boat was turning for the harbor. The watchers on the cliff signaled that it was Marcel’s cousin’s boat. The harbor cables were lowered, but the ballistas tracked its movements and all four of the Harbor Defense Force boats moved out to intercept it. They met it as it passed over the cables and when assured that it was friendly, escorted it to a dock.
Mike was waiting as the lines were tied and the captain and crew came ashore to shouts of welcome and cheers for their safe return. Crowds of people had gathered, so Mike knew he’d have to wait to get a report of what had transpired. Mike, the captain, whose name was Marir and the crew walked back towards the government center in what looked more like a conquering hero’s parade after Mike had welcomed them back and praised their heroism for what they had done.
Along the way the crew members dropped out of the procession as they met friends and sweethearts and vanished down the side paths. By the time they arrived at the government center, Marir was the only one left. Mike told him they would talk briefly and then he could go to his friends. They could go into greater detail after the returnee had had a chance to relax. In the government center the elders, guild masters and as many others as could fit assembled. Mike asked Marir to give a short account of conditions and then told the crowd that questions should be asked of Marir at another time.
Marir said, It was as you expected. Alb'ny is filled with Royals from here living with their families who rule there. There was no sign of any who were banished from here. No one there even knew they had been banished. We gave them the story we had prepared and they accepted it.
The Royals from here wanted the Royals from there to come here and capture their city back, but the Royals there wanted no part of it saying that it wasn’t their city. They told the Royals from here that they could march down the road and take their city back any time they wanted.
We sat there for weeks while they argued with each other. Finally one of the Royals from here approached me and said that he and a few of his friends would sail with us here to see for themselves what the conditions were. With that, we were ordered to sail here. I told them it was too dangerous, but they insisted. The audience laughed at that.
Ah, where are the Royals now? asked Mike
A terrible accident happened about a day out of Alb'ny, answered Marir All four were on deck complaining about the terrible living accommodations on the boat, even though they had my cabin, and the terrible food and lack of women or any other pleasures when suddenly they all fell overboard and sank from sight before we could get the boat stopped.
Well accidents do happen, said Mike in the same falsely regretful voice as that used by Marir. Erman added a short prayer for their souls and ended with they will be missed, also in a regretful voice.
Thank you Mike said to Marir. You and your crew did a great job. It will probably be a week or so before they start wondering what happened to the boat unless the bodies wash up and are found.
There won’t be any bodies, said Marir. We could see some of the large fins moving that way. They are very dangerous and so we couldn’t stay in the area, but they are also very good at cleaning the seas of any garbage.
I don’t like that very much, said Mike. In my time some people would have considered that cruelty to the big fins to make them eat royals?
Marir looked at Mike for a few seconds while he digested what Mike had said. It was only after Erman broke into laughter that Marir realized that Mike had been joking with him.
With a
promise to return to answer any questions and to give more details Marir was dismissed to do some well-earned relaxing. He didn’t get a foot out of the hall before he was assaulted by a pretty young woman and dragged away to the laughter of the crowd.
A female voice was heard over the crowd’s laughter that he could come back in a few days to answer questions, but not before. This increased the crowd’s laughter and some added cheers and other comments about letting Marir get some rest too.
Well folks, it looks like it may be a while before we have to worry about the Royals, but let’s stay watchful as the dear departed may have friends who decide to come looking for them. Said Gabre’
What followed was another full day of celebrating within the city. Mike thought that these people used any excuse to throw a party. This he knew was a good thing for their morale and let them relieve some of the tensions of the constant vigilance they had to maintain.
Several days later after a detailed report of the conditions in Alb'ny had been made, the council of elders made a public statement that it seemed likely that Tif’n wouldn’t have to worry about Alb'ny for a while. The city was nearly in ruin trying to support the Tif’n and the Alb'ny Royals.
Their fishing fleet was ordered to stay nearby in the depleted fishing grounds so as not to risk the discovery of Alb'ny by the deus and their crops were being depleted by the extra mouths to feed while the number of workers available was being depleted by the Tif’n Royals’ “need” for servants and retinue.
The food supplies would probably last another two months and then the Royals would have to go looking for additional sources. That was when Tif’n should expect them to come in strength and probably by land, as they didn’t have enough boats to move a force of any size. They might send an envoy earlier, but that would be only to spy.
Mike agreed with the assessment based on the arrogance of the Royals. They wouldn’t admit that anything was wrong until they were near starvation and had to do something. Mike felt sorry for the citizens of Alb'ny, as they were going to be the ones to suffer first and most.
He would have suggested taking an army there and ousting the Royals, but there was insufficient manpower available in Tif’n to mount an offensive against the much larger Alb'ny and leave defenders in case the Spaniards should arrive.
That was another thing that bothered Mike. He had expected the Spaniards to at least send a boat to find out why nothing was being sent to Acon as tribute. Surely they had noticed the lack of communication by now. He was tempted to sail up the coast and get some better intel, but knew better than to suggest that. The Elders would probably want to send a “more expendable” boat north and that would not be acceptable to Mike.
Chapter 24
Not all enemies are human.
Things got quiet for a while and then Mike heard a smaller alarm bell that sounded like it was near the agricultural area. One of his protectors ran to him and said that a big gat had just gotten into the orchards and the Watchers were organizing to chase it away. Mike grabbed his .308 rifle and a bandolier of military ball ammunition because of its greater penetration power than his hollow points and with the .357 that he still always wore, headed for the city gate and the orchards beyond.
It took about ten minutes of fast walking to reach the gate with his Protectors jogging to keep up. The gate was packed with people herding livestock through to the safety of the city side of the wall and more lining the top of the wall pointing and talking excitedly.
Mike was tempted to stop and get a look from up high on the wall, but he didn’t want to waste the time it would have taken to clear people away from the wall so he could get a view. He made a mental note to recommend putting the top of the walls off limits to all unauthorized personnel. He could imagine defenders having to fight their way through the tourists to use the wall to defend the city.
Another few minutes had Mike where he could see the orchards and a group of Watchers with torches forming a line. As he got closer, he could see the gat. It was an alligator at least 14’ long standing over what looked like one of the goats that it had killed and was going to defend. It didn’t seem to be trying to drag it to the marsh, which was normal behavior for alligators. Either it had decided that this was its new home or had become confused and didn’t know where the exit was. Whatever the case, Mike doubted that it was going to let itself be herded away by a bunch of torches. At least not before it did damage to many of the torchbearers.
The line of Watchers started forward and to Mike’s horror not only didn’t the gat back away, but it started forward to meet them. Mike yelled for the Watchers to stop and back away, but it was too late. The gat charged at an amazing speed and with a quick snap of its head a Watcher was dead, his body almost torn in two. It happened so fast that he didn’t even cry out. The other Watchers backed away in good order, but it was obvious to them that this was going to be expensive in Watcher lives.
Mike finally reached the line and told them to freeze in place. They immediately obeyed as he knelt and shouldered his rifle. It barked once and he watched the center of the gat’s head explode. He immediately cranked in a second round and fired as the gat started in his direction as if it hadn’t been hurt. The second round hit in almost the same spot and the gat went into its death roll, flipping over and over as an alligator does when it is seriously injured. The flipping lasted for more than a minute with Mike watching down his once again reloaded rifle. He fired a third time and the gat jumped again, not dead quite yet. The fourth and fifth rounds finally impacted without any response from the gat, but Mike reloaded five more rounds before moving in.
At point blank range, Mike put another bullet through an eye socket and jumped back as the gat jumped one last time and was still. He then took a torch from the nearest Watcher and tossed it onto the face of the gat. After a few seconds, the smell of burning hide filled the air, but the beast remained still. Dead at last.
Several of the Watchers picked up their lifeless companion and started for the city gate. The other Watchers gave the dead creature a wide berth as they followed the trail it had left in the dirt of the orchard. Just beyond the orchard was a spot where the rains had made a small gully that went under the wall and marks could be seen where the creature had forced its way under the wall, widening the gully until the monster could force its way into better feeding grounds. The wall was only sunk into the ground a foot or so at this point.
A wagon appeared from the city and approached the dead gat. Another team was brought up and a very nervous young man imbedded a hook in the soft upper mouth of the monster. The second team was then used to drag the carcass onto the wagon, which then creaked, away towards the city. More meat for the city was Mike’s guess. One of the herders came out and the dead goat was also loaded into a wagon.
Soon a work crew arrived and began digging a trench along the wall and deep into the gully. It took less than ten minutes and a new section of wall was in place against the old. Then a liquid was poured over the joint of the two pieces and they melted into one solid piece. The gully was filled and the work crew headed back to the city.
Mike slung his rifle and in company with the remaining watchers walked back to the city gates where a subdued crowd cheered him who were happy the creature was dead, but had watched a brave Watcher lose his life.
Back at the government center, Mike was met by Hue and the entire on duty Watcher platoon. Hue thanked him for killing the beast and Mike asked what the procedures were for the funeral of their fallen comrade. Hue said that funerals were intimate family affairs in the city, so all we could do was send our condolences to the family.
Mike suggested honoring the young man for his heroism, which Hue liked. Mike had already learned from Erman that there wasn’t and as far as anyone could remember never was any religion in this society other than that which the Spaniard priest had tried to begin. A funeral was simply a time when the family said goodbye to the deceased, cremated the body and mixed the ashes into the cit
ies septic system to let the departed help the city one last time as the ashes traveled out through the system and nourished the crops.
It was arranged that the next afternoon after the family had had their funeral in the morning that Mike and Hue each say a few words about the bravery of the young man who Mike was told was named Talle. Hue spoke first of the boy’s good lineage and his family name and how he would be remembered by all of his friends in the Watchers.
When it was Mike’s turn, he talked about how dangerous the life of a Watcher could be and how much he respected their dedication to their profession. He told the listeners that they should stop calling him a hero for killing the beast. The gat hadn’t stood a chance against his weapon. In his time people of Mike’s kind had hunted them almost to extinction. The real heroes were the Watchers who went against the gats with only torches and courage.
After the memorial, Mike went back into the Government Center and after recleaning his rifle, which he habitually did for several days in a row after having to use it, sat for a bit thinking about the needless waste of a human life.
He heard a movement by the entrance and looked up to see Erman standing there. Erman said, There wasn’t anything you could have done any sooner or better. It was his time and that was that.
You are probably going over everything you did in your mind looking for that something you could have done to save him. You did right and saved the rest of the boys, because you know that creature would have killed many more if you hadn’t been there. Look at the lives you saved and not the life you couldn’t save.
As usual you have the right words at the right time, but I’m responsible for all of these boys. I had forgotten how hard it could be when you lose one. Eventually I will have to lead them into battle and some will die because of it. I’m getting too old for this type of life. I’m beginning to care too much for the “boys” instead of keeping that officer’s aloofness needed in battle.
