The Trek: Darwin's World, Book II (The Darwin's World Series 2)

by Jack L Knapp

  But suppose the slavers decided to raid the tribe, either at Riverbend or after they got back on the trail?

  Some would remain behind to guard the captives they already held. Perhaps half the number the two girls had mentioned, say thirty of them, were available for a raid.

  Thirty raiders, that was a threat the tribe could handle, and it wouldn’t last forever. After two weeks or so traveling with their new carts, they’d be too far away for this group to pursue.

  People who moved every day; finding a place to attack them was not the same as raiding a fixed camp.

  The raiding party had mobility; they could choose when and where to strike a village. They could surprise the residents, hit them when they were least ready. Defensive walls made a difference, but Lee had seen none. Building fortifications took time, materials, and labor, none of which were available to people barely managing to feed themselves. Their primary need would be food, followed by shelter from weather and animals. So raiding such small unprotected villages was a simple matter.

  But when the raid’s objective was moving every day, especially when that objective was a well-armed tribe, things changed. The travelers would be alert if for no other reason than because they were traveling into the unknown; surprise was unlikely. So a direct assault wouldn’t succeed.

  How long could the raiders follow? Two weeks travel by the tribe meant twice that long for the slavers. The tribe would now be moving faster and with less effort. Hauling supplies by cart instead of backpacking or dragging them on a travois made a huge difference. As for the raiders, they would have to travel light in order to be more mobile than the tribe. The shortage of supplies would force the raiders to attack before they ran out of food.

  Launch a quick frontal attack on people armed with bows? Suicide. The raiders’ only chance would be to get far ahead and pick a spot to ambush the tribe.

  Already a warrior, Lee was learning to think like a leader. He would discuss his ideas with Matt when he got back to camp.

  What if the tribe changed course every few hours? The raiders might lose the trail entirely. It wouldn’t have to be a large change, just enough to evade any attempt at setting up an ambush.

  It seemed that the mathematics of a chase favored the tribe, not the raiders.

  The tribe had food enough on their carts to keep moving. The raiders had no way of knowing that, but it would complicate their tactical problem when the tribe kept moving every day and the pursuers began to run low on food.

  Even in a world that hadn’t developed military science, logistics ruled. And when it became obvious that a raid was too risky, the slavers would have to turn back.

  Lee thought while he watched the trail. Finally, he ate some of his dried meat and decided he’d waited long enough.

  Regretfully, he slipped away and went to find Matt.

  #

  Lee arrived late in the afternoon.

  “I don’t think they’re coming, Matt, at least not today.”

  “I agree. I’ll leave Laz and Sandra to watch the trail. Everyone else can go back to camp.

  “Lee, you and I can take over after midnight. It’s always possible the slavers got smart and waited. We’ve based our plans on what we thought they’d do, but we’ve got to consider what they’re capable of.

  “If one of their scouts got past us, they’ll know about Riverbend Camp. It would take time to ready their people for a full-scale raid, so they may be intending to attack tomorrow. Attacks usually happen at dawn, so if you and I are the ones watching, we’ll know about it before it happens.

  “I’ll keep Piotr with me when we relieve Laz and Sandra. The two of us will watch this side of camp until daybreak, you take Marc with you and watch the other side. I’ll talk to Robert; he can wake everyone else up at dawn and get them moving. We’ll keep watch behind the tribe for a while and catch up after they’re on the trail. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds good, Matt. You feel sure of Piotr? I know you had concerns earlier.”

  “He’s been steady. No way to tell for sure until he actually has to shoot someone, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.”

  Lee nodded. He waited with Matt as the rest of the ambush party left their cover and assembled.

  “Looks like we wasted our time, people. Laz, you and Sandra find a place closer to camp where you can watch the trail. We’ll relieve you at midnight. If you spot anything, I’m depending on you to get back and warn us. Questions?”

  The two glanced at each other and shook their heads. “I understand, Matt,” Laz said.

  “Good enough. The rest of you, back to camp. Get some food, catch a little sleep, be ready to leave at dawn.”

  The group began to straggle as Matt led them toward camp. “Keep together, people. We don’t know for certain that the slavers didn’t slip past us. Stay alert. We know we’ve got enemies, we just don’t know where they are.”

  The party closed up and they arrived as the sun slipped below the tree line. The weary party of would-be ambushers found little left to do; others had already done much of the work. They ate a cold supper and soon sought sleep.

  Matt discussed his plans with Robert, then sought his own bed.

  #

  Lilia woke him at midnight and he got Lee and Marc up.

  All four had food, saved from the evening meal, and Lee and Marc ate as they moved out to watch the camp’s northeast side. Matt woke Piotr and the two ate breakfast as they slipped away to the southwest in the darkness.

  Laz and Sandra were nearly exhausted when Matt relieved them and sent them back to the camp.

  #

  The night passed slowly, then first light brightened the eastern sky. Matt decided to wait a few more minutes before heading back to camp.

  He had just joined Piotr when Lee approached.

  “Matt, we’ve got movement. I can’t tell how many yet, but they’re not really skilled at moving in the dark. They’re coming from the east and making more noise than we would. They might be following the drag marks.”

  “You left Marc watching them?”

  Lee nodded.

  “OK, I’ll leave Piotr here and I’ll go join Marc. Lee, you slip into camp and wake up Robert. Try not to make any noise. We need everyone up, armed, and ready.

  “If the raiders don’t realize they’ve been discovered, we can surprise them. How far out are they?”

  Lee thought for a moment. “Half a mile at most. We were about five hundred yards out from camp when we heard them moving. I didn’t think anyone could cross the stream without us hearing so we’ve been concentrating on the land approaches. I really didn’t expect anyone would try an attack from there. Good thing we kept watching!”

  “Yeah. I don’t know if the people you saw are the mine guards…it sounds like them, coming from the east, but I didn’t expect them this soon. But if it’s the slavers, they circled around and found our drag marks. Now they’re following them.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter. Whoever it is, we’re going to fight. Friends don’t sneak up on a camp in the dark.”

  Lee nodded. “Any instructions for me?”

  “Collect the people you know, the ones who were scouts before we got here. They’re tired, but they’ll just have to keep going. Keep them quiet, move out to the north and head east for maybe five hundred yards. I’d like you to be about a hundred yards north of the trail and five hundred yards east of camp.

  “I’ll take charge of the rest of the tribe and we’ll set up a defensive line east of the camp. If this is the guards, they’ll have Pavel with them, Gregor and Vlad too. They’ll know about how many we are, but they might not expect the three deserters we picked up.

  “Anyway, the new guys can stay on the line with me.

  “Something to consider, the raiders won’t know how the camp is laid out and they won’t expect us to be ready and waiting behind cover. But if Pavel’s with them, he has that rifle. Hiding behind a bush won’t be good enough, bullet
s will just go through it. You’ll need to take cover behind large trees, something at least eighteen inches thick. Bigger is better.

  “Have your people ready to hit them from the side. As soon as we start shooting, you attack from the flank. I doubt they’ll stand. The survivors will pull back as soon as the others start falling. But we don’t want to scare them off, we want to kill as many as possible before they run.

  “One rifle is dangerous but not that bad if you’re careful. If you get a clean shot at Pavel, take it. I doubt anyone else knows how to use the rifle, he wouldn’t have let them even touch it. But in any case, kill as many as you can but don’t worry about the ones who are down and can’t fight. We’ll deal with them later.

  “If they turn on you, try to counterattack you I mean, we’ll move out from where we’re hiding. Either way, we’ll have them between two forces.

  “Pass the word to your people. Kill them all.”

  Lee nodded, grim faced. “We’ll do it. Be careful, Matt.”

  “You too, Lee. Good luck.”

  Matt caught up with Robert where he was waking the camp.

  “Send people out as soon as they’re ready, Robert. I’ll set up the defense line over there, to the east. We’ll meet the raiders just past the edge of camp. Tell people to be quiet when they move and bring all the arrows and spears they’ve got. Tell them to find me when they get there and I’ll guide them into position. I’ll keep Carlo and the other new guys with me. If this is Pavel and the guardsmen, I plan to teach them a permanent lesson.”

  Robert nodded and moved silently away.

  Matt reached into his belt pouch and unwrapped a slab of the dried meat. He would eat it now; he might not have time later. He waited, and chewed.

  #

  Tribespeople soon began arriving, most of them nervous. Matt pointed out places where he wanted them to wait. They moved silently into position, all of them tense and some clearly fearful. But fearful or not, they would fight.

  Matt took up his own position near the center, spear on the ground by his right foot, quiver ready, arrow on the string.

  Once again, Darwin’s World presented them with a stark choice.

  Chapter 14

  Matt settled in for more waiting, glad he’d had time to eat. Wonder of wonders, none of his archers had the urge to talk. The only way of knowing that two dozen people waited behind cover, all with bows and arrows ready except for the tiny group waiting with Matt, was the absence of forest noise. And the group moving toward them would have caused the animals to be quiet anyway.

  If Lee was right about the raiders and the noise they were creating, they wouldn’t notice.

  At least the raiders were prompt; Matt had been waiting less than an hour when he spotted the first pair approaching.

  Very careless; they hadn’t even bothered with scouts. As nearly as he could tell, the oncoming group had spread out and was following the drag marks the tribe had left more than two weeks ago. If this was their idea of a combat formation, they were in for a rude lesson in tactics!

  The raiders were too far away and he couldn’t recognize faces, but it wouldn’t be much longer. Matt spared a glance to each side, then to the three spearmen who would act as his personal guard while he killed as many as possible before exhausting his arrow supply. They appeared ready.

  As soon as his arrows were gone, Matt would look for a place where he and his spearmen could join the fight. Other tribesmen would be watching; from that point on, the fight would be hand-to-hand and spear on spear.

  The sky continued to lighten and the raiding party got closer. Could that be Gregor near the center? If so, Pavel would be nearby.

  Matt waited. The raiders were now less than forty yards away, almost in range for the least-capable of his bowmen. He waited; his conscious mind might wander, but the subconscious would be calculating distance, visibility…

  Matt raised his bow and launched his first arrow. Thirty yards away, Gregor feebly clutched at the feathers sprouting from his throat as he fell. Matt had another arrow on the string before Gregor hit the ground.

  That other one, there…but the man dropped, two arrows sticking from his abdomen. Matt’s tribesmen had been ready.

  Matt waited, bowstring half-drawn and an arrow ready. Where was Pavel?

  The rifle fired from somewhere behind the first clump of raiders, two quick popping sounds, then silence. Was Pavel that skilled, that he could limit fire to only two rounds?

  Someone among the tribe was down, wounded at least and possibly dying. Matt couldn’t tell who, but there had been a choked scream and a thrashing in the brush where the tribespeople waited. No time to worry now, there was one…the man Matt shot fell. Matt reached for another arrow and searched for another target.

  No Pavel, and the surprised raiders were beginning to back up. They bunched together and Matt put more arrows into the mass without waiting to see what he’d hit.

  Still no sign of Pavel. Matt’s searching hand came up empty. He glanced at the quiver; he had no arrows left.

  Matt dropped his bow, shrugged the quiver strap from his shoulder and let that drop too. He stooped and picked up his spear, the long steel blade glinting wickedly in the morning light.

  “Time to get among them. You four, stay close and make sure the one you stick your spear into isn’t me!”

  There was no time to look back; they would follow, or not. Matt crouched slightly and charged toward the raiders.

  There were few still standing. Bodies littered the ground, some moving feebly. The arrows had done good work.

  Matt spared a glance at Gregor…dead…as he ran past. Still no Pavel.

  The group ahead was retreating. Not running yet, but if any of their leadership survived it was not apparent.

  Suddenly more of them began falling, the arrows now coming from Lee’s position. Confused, they hesitated and Matt caught up. He found them within reach of his spear and slashed at them with the long steel blade.

  They were targets for arrows as well, continuing to fall from Lee’s flanking attack. Matt, spear thrust forward, saw an intended victim fall to an arrow that suddenly appeared in his shoulder. Grabbing an overly-enthusiastic Piotr by a bloody sleeve, Matt yanked him back from the melee.

  “Watch where you're shooting!”

  The arrowstorm stopped; Lee had heard. The bushes rustled, then Lee and his men filtered through to attack the remaining guardsmen from the flank.

  There were only a few of the guardsmen-turned-raiders still able to stand. One by one, they dropped the crude spears they were holding, those that still had them.

  “Take off those short swords, too. You won’t be needing them.”

  Finally, one of the raiders stepped forward.

  “Are you going to kill us?”

  “I haven’t decided,” Matt answered. “Lee, take them around and see to the wounded. Use your scouts as guards. As for the wounded raiders, have the ones we captured finish them off. But not Pavel or Vlad…if you find them alive, put a guard on them.

  “If any of our people are wounded, find the Wise Woman. Sal can help her move people that need to be taken back to camp. She can decide how best to care for them. Piotr, you find Robert and ask him to join me here, Colin and Margrette too. I need to talk to them.”

  Margrette was the first to arrive, followed closely by Colin.

  “Margrette, our people are going to need food. Round up a few people to help, get the kitchen going. Hot meal for everyone as soon as you can, OK?

  “We’ll need to sort all of this out first, but if we can, I still want to leave the camp today. We’ve still got those slave-raiders to worry about.

  “Colin, you’re with me. You, me, and Robert will decide what to do with the guards that are still alive.”

  Piotr came back and found Matt. Matt looked at his pale face and understood something was wrong.

  “What is it, Piotr? Are you hurt?”

  “No, Matt. It’s Robert. He’s hurt bad. The Wise W
oman is with him now, but Robert…”

  “All right. You stay with me. I’ll see Robert as soon as I finish here.”

  Colin soon came up to join Matt.

  “Colin, we’ve got a mess on our hands. People aren’t going to want to move, but we’ve got to. We have no way of disposing of the bodies. I don’t have a count yet…I estimate twenty dead just from what I can see, about seven unwounded or only lightly scratched. I haven’t seen Pavel yet, but he was here. He had the rifle and I heard two shots.

  “Lee is seeing to the wounded. I told him to have the ones we captured execute their own wounded, except for Vlad and Pavel. If they’re alive, they don’t deserve any better, but they’re our special problem.

  “This is a lot of dead meat. It’s going to draw scavengers as well as flies. Since Robert’s hurt, can you get our people ready to move as soon as we finish here?”

  “Sure, Matt. I’ll take care of it. What are you going to do with the prisoners?”

  “Probably turn them loose. I won’t let them have weapons, nothing but those emergency packets we all carry. I’ll donate mine, can you round up six more?”

  “Sure. You can have mine too. Did Pavel and his three have them already?”

  “You’re right, they did. Collect Robert’s packet too, he won’t be able to use it right away.

  “I’ll go have a look at Robert and our other wounded. As soon as the Wise Woman has them ready, we’ll fix a place on a cart for the ones who can’t walk. Lots of furs for padding, you know what’s needed.

  “Everyone’s tired, but they have to work. Maybe we can travel for a couple of hours and quit early. But we’ve got to get as far away from here as possible.”

  Colin nodded and left.

  #

  Lee returned with the prisoners, all of them pale and shaky.

  “I’ve got one more job for you people. After that, I’m going to turn you loose. What happens after you leave is your problem. The mine people didn’t trust you, neither do I. If I ever see you again I’ll kill you on sight.

  “Lee, let’s walk over here a bit. I’ve got instructions for you. Are you OK?”