“If they’ll come,” said another of the councilors, shaking his head. “They may rise as well, given what they have seen of these strangers.”
“Call them up anyway,” growled the Archduke. “If they come, good. If they don’t, we will settle their hash when this current crisis is over. Now, what about air units?”
“We can call up our own hawk units,” said another secondary councilor, a retired officer of the Imperial Army. “That gives us about two hundred birds. But I’m afraid the only dragons are owned by the Imperial Army garrisons.”
“Then get in touch with them as well,” said the Archduke, again slamming his hand on the table. “I have orders from the Emperor to use whatever forces I have available to crush these outsiders. So any Imperial forces garrisoned on my lands are mine as well.
“Don’t just sit there,” yelled the Archduke, looking at the men around the table. “Contact the troops and get them marching. I want to engage in offensive operations against these people within the next three days.”
Murmuring broke out along the table at that as councilors whispered to each other.
“If we don’t beat these people,” continued the Archduke, “the Emperor has sworn to have my title and my head. Any guesses as to what might become of my staff if that happens.”
With that the Archduke turned and walked from the council chambers, and the panicking voices that rose behind him.
* * *
“You wish to speak with me, my Lord,” said the sibilant voice coming from the shadows.
“We have strangers in the Empire,” said the Archduke, his light sensitive eyes making out the squat figure standing in the darkness of the unlit cellar, his sensitive nostrils taking in the smell of death.
“My people know of them, my Lord,” said the Gimikran male, not making reference to his birth people, but those of whom he now led.
“I am under orders from the Emperor to destroy their war making abilities and capture those I can capture,” said Millosa, grimacing. “They have already shown that they can destroy my forces in the field, if given opportunity.”
“What do you wish of us, my Lord?” hissed the undead male, his eyes glowing red.
“I wish for you and your people to make them fear the night,” said the Archduke, a smile coming to his face. “I want them to look at the sun going down and know that they will not sleep well this night. I want them to look into the faces of their dead come back to life and quiver in fear. Do that for me and you will be well rewarded.”
The male smiled at that, his sharp canines glinting in the low light. “It shall be done, my Lord.” And with that the male slid back into the shadows and was gone.
* * *
The smells of roasting meat rose up from the many pits and wafted through the encampment. People were gathered around the cooking fires, waiting for their turn at the food that was being turned out by the volunteers. Soldiers stood nearby, making sure their presence was noticed so that order was maintained.
“At least we won’t starve tonight,” said Kurt, sitting with Levine around a large fire along with many German soldiers. Both men had already eaten their fill of well cooked pork, and drank from earthen cups of the good ale that had been procured in the village. As heroes of the hour they were not required to help with the food, or the security of the area. Levine had told Kurt that they might not have to take guard duty ever again. Levine had been cryptic as to what that meant, but several of the civilians had again taken to calling Kurt Kaiser, which might mean something, though Kurt definitely still didn’t like the sound of it.
The small Halfling people of the village had come out of hiding soon after the Elves were beaten back. They called the Kashana’liya in their native tongue, but some of the Earth people had taken to calling them Hobbits or Halflings, after the references from Earth literature and movies. Whatever they were called, they were a friendly people who had opened their homes and their larders to the beings that had beaten their overlords. Whether that was out of gratitude or something else remained to be seen. But so far they had been friendly.
“The ale is not half bad,” said Ishmael, taking a swig of the brew.
“One day we will brew good German beer here,” said Kurt, putting his own cup on the ground. If we survive long enough to prosper.
“You think to stay here?” asked Levine cryptically, looking around the large farming area that was being temporarily taken over by the refugees. There were scores of large fires, all with hundreds gathered around them, and hundreds of smaller camp fires, all glowing into the night. Their smoke had obscured the stars, but from what could be seen it was obviously not the sky of Earth. The three moons in the sky, largest just rising over the horizon, would put that doubt to rest.
“Unless we find some way to return I don’t see what else we can do,” said the German, waving at a group of soldiers who had waved his way as they walked by. “And I’m not sure what we would find if we could get back. An area of nuclear devastation, irradiated to deadliness. No, my friend. I think we are stuck here for better or worse. And I think I will do all within my ability to make it better for my people.”
“How many so far?” asked Levine, looking out into the gathered fires. There was a comfort in the numbers that had gathered here, no matter how outnumbered they really were by the natives.
“That Oberst, Wittman, told me they thought there were almost fifty thousand civilians gathered here,” said Kurt, looking over at his battle mate. “And dozens more coming in every hour. And that’s just here. Who can say how many Germans came across to this world? A hundred thousand? A million? And millions of others.”
“And about four thousand soldiers just here,” agreed Levine, nodding his head. “Other German units. The Americans. Those who already live here must be shitting their pants seeing all of these strangers coming into their lands.”
“We will have to keep provisioned somehow,” said the German, reaching over to grasp a jug of ale and pouring another measure in his mug. “We will strip the land like locusts if we are not careful. And then the people will stop with the welcoming, hide what they have, and do what they need to protect their lives from us.”
“You sound like you know what you speak of,” said Levine, giving his friend a quizzical look.
“Of course I do,” said Kurt, nodding. “It was like that when we marched into France, though we didn’t try to take everything away from the people. It was more so that way in Russia, where we did. Have you not seen as much in your years? Is that not the ways of migrating or conquering people? And what are we but a migration that was plopped right down into the middle of an established nation?
“We must win the hearts and minds of the people here who are being oppressed by the dominant power,” continued the German, looking to the sky. “They must not see us as conquerors, as the locusts I mentioned early. They must see us as saviors and friends. And for them to see us as such, we must make our actions suit our words.”
“I think the Americans have tried that several times,” said the Immortal Jew, smirking at the German. “I’m not sure how successful they were.”
“They weren’t,” said the German. “But we will be living here among these people. We must have their goodwill if we are to survive and prosper.”
“And if we must take military action to survive?”
“Then we must,” said the German, looking the elder immortal in the eye. “I’m no pacifist. I just believe in trying to work out differences first. If that doesn’t work, then we beat the hell out of them, disarm them, and then work on our differences.”
“Sounds like a good Roman solution,” said Levine with a laugh. “Don’t get me wrong. The Romans did a lot of good, and spread the dominant civilization through the Mediterranean basin. But they were the masters at applying maximum force for maximum result. And they got their way.”
“I think we will not have to go to the extremes that those people went to,” said Kurt, shaking his head. “Besid
es, I don’t see us being much more than advisors. Others will make the decisions, and we will lend our strength to make those decisions real.”
“I think you are wrong about that, my friend,” said the elder immortal. “You will find that here we have much power. And the people will ask us to rule. I am sure of it.”
“Mein Herr,” said a voice from behind the men before Kurt could respond to Levine. He turned to find himself looking at a slender man of medium height, wearing the rank insignia of an Oberst. Kurt came to his feet, old habits hard pressed into him. The man waved him back to his seat and sat down on a log near the immortals.
“A beautiful night Oberst Wittman,” said Levine with a nod. “What brings you to our fire?”
“It is not often I find myself in the presence of true supermen,” said the Oberst, pulling a pipe from his pocket along with a pouch of tobacco.
“I didn’t think the Germans were allowed to believe in supermen anymore,” said Levine with a smile, pulling his own pipe out of the comfortable outdoors jacket he was now wearing, his armor put aside for the day.
“Especially Jewish supermen,” said the officer with a laugh. “I personally think your people were the closest thing to a superior race the Reich had within its borders. Fortunately I was not alive at that time. Though from what I have heard, you, Herr von Mannerheim, were alive at that time. And you, Herr Levine, have been alive since before the coming of our Lord.”
“Do you believe that, Colonel?” asked Levine, packing his pipe, a coy smile on his face.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” said the officer. “My men fought a battle with magic wielding Elves today. They fought battles with Elves yesterday. Today one of my artillery units was bombed by giant birds with riders. We seem to be on a new world, because last thing I knew we were in Germany and this does not look much like the Germany I know. Oh, and the last thing I knew I was about to be wiped out of existence by a fireball from at least one nuclear weapon. Is all this real, or am I totally raving mad, wandering the countryside of Germany while people call the police on my crazy ass? So what’s a little story about a man who appears to be thirty years old but is over a hundred, who has the strength of several men? And his companion who saw the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and was a learned man back when my ancestors were barbarians living in the endless forests of Germany?”
“I can see your point, Colonel,” said Levine before he puffed his pipe into life, then held the lighter out for the officer. “I’m not sure I believe all of this either, and I’m one of the stranger things in the story. The alternative is to sit on the ground and rock back and forth, telling myself it can’t be real. Until it kills me.”
“Everything else is so normal,” said the Colonel, puffing his own pipe into life. “All of my soldiers are so normal and real, at least as much as they can be in these circumstances. I’m sure if I were insane I would not bring these remnants of the normal world into my dream world.”
Kurt looked at the men sharing a smoke and determined that he would have to try the habit. Especially if he was as cancer proof as Levine had told him.
“Still leaves us with the dilemma of what to do?” said Kurt, looking into the face of the Oberst and wondering what the man’s take would be on that.
“There’s no dilemma,” said the Colonel, shaking his head. “It is very simple. I know exactly what I have to do.”
“And what is that, Colonel?” asked Ishmael Levine with a nod of his head.
“I am tasked by the government of the Republic of Germany to defend her citizens against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” said the officer with a serious look. “And I assume that means Elves and dragons, which occupy another world on which those German citizens are now residing. I am ordered to use all of the forces under my command to accomplish that task, while also safeguarding those forces to the best of my ability. And I am tasked with obeying the orders of my superiors, both within the German Army and within the command structure of the European Union and NATO.”
“Not sure if you’ll get too many orders from those last two,” said Kurt with a laugh.
“I have already been in contact with a Major General Zachary Taylor of the United States Army,” said the Colonel with a small smile. “Radios do not work well here, but we were able to talk for some little time about our options in between failures and static. The General commands a force of Americans of about division strength, though they are from no one division, much as our forces seem to be from no one unit. He is in contact with other German and some British forces, and is assuming overall command on this world. I have agreed to follow his orders, at least until we can come up with a civilian government to follow.”
“And what has this American General commanded?” asked Levine, cocking his head to the side as he placed his pipe back in his mouth.
“What I agree is sound military strategy,” said the Oberst, looking the immortal in the eyes as if expecting a disagreement. “We concentrate our forces. One of his recon units has found a good valley, large with lots of open land and no villages, where we can gather and supply most of our people. He has a brigade working on taking control of that valley and he will move his headquarters there as soon as it is secure. And he wants the rest of us to move our forces there as soon as possible so that we can have an interlinking defense of a defensible area.”
“That is sound military planning,” admitted Kurt, nodding his head and looking at Levine. “In our time and in any time. We are much more survivable if we have the forces gathered to support ourselves. And a nice farming valley, or even several, is really a necessity if we want our people to make it.”
“So we march toward this valley,” said Levine, “which is how many hundreds of kilometers from here through rough terrain? Which means that most of the people will get there on foot. What does the military do while we are walking?”
“Of course General Taylor wants us to protect the civilians with some of our force,” said the Colonel, glancing down at a writing pad he had opened. “But as there are some other considerations, we cannot commit all of our forces to guarding the herd.”
“What other considerations?” asked Kurt, not liking the sound of that word, herd.
The Oberst hesitated for a moment, looking back and forth at the two men. He then nodded his head and pulled the pipe from his mouth.
“You both are technically civilians,” said the Colonel, pointing the pipe stem from one to the other of the men. “Old habits die hard, and normally I would not be talking with two civilians about military matters. But you are also warriors. Assets in a situation which frankly baffles and disturbs us of the regular military establishment. I have to admit that you are probably the most knowledgeable military minds among us, as well as the two most likely to become the civilian heads of government, from what I have been hearing from the civilians around here. So I will tell you what our other considerations are. You must promise not to let this information disseminate among the other civilians until we feel they are ready for it.”
Kurt and Ishmael both nodded their heads and mumbled their promises. Levine gave the officer a fierce look, as if chastising him for even suspecting that the ancient Jew might attempt to subvert the legal authority, or to panic the civilians.
“OK,” said the officer with a return nod. “It is believed that we will only have our technological edge for a couple of weeks, a month at the most. And we will have diminishing returns during that time.”
“Because?” asked Kurt, his eyebrows rising.
“Because this is not the Earth,” exclaimed the Colonel. “Because it is the land of the Faery, the land of Elves, the land of magic. Not the land of Chrysler and Krupp.”
“In other words, our mechanical and electrical things are not from this Universe,” said Levine, nodding. “And so they are not long for this world operationally.”
“That is correct,” said Wittman, nodding.
“Then why do they work at all?” asked
Kurt, puzzled. “I mean, why do the engines work, the guns work, the radios work? If they are foreign to this place why should they function at all?”
“Because they worked in our world,” said Levine, looking down at the ground. “Because we brought that belief that they would work with us, the millions of us that are now in this world. And they will work because our belief brings our residual physical laws with us, and allows those laws to conflict with the laws of this place, at least for a short period of time.”
“That is what the scientists think as well,” said Wittman, repacking his pipe, then looking at his pouch as he noticed how little of the herb he actually had left.
“Scientists?” asked Kurt, wondering of whom the man spoke. “Were they in the army?”
“No. Some of the physicists and chemists of a Munich University are with us. They still have some of their instrumentation and have gathered as much data as they could in the last couple of days. And they believe that there are some different physical laws at work here. The good news is they think they can find ways to work those laws, much as the locals do. Magic. But it is going to take a little time.”
“And meantime?” asked Levine.
“Meantime, we use it or lose it,” said the officer. “Which brings us to the second part of the strategy. General Taylor wants us to hit everything that looks like a fortification that we find in our path. Even those we don’t find in our path. Smash everything of military significance unless it might be of immediate use to us. Use our firepower while we still have it. Hopefully cause a response from the natives that brings more of their forces into our field of fire. Meanwhile, General Taylor is going to use the forces already under his local command, about a division’s worth, to bring to battle a large force of the enemy and destroy them.”
“And what do we do when we no longer have the modern weapons of war at our disposal?” asked Kurt. “We will still be strangers in a strange land, forced to use weapons that we are not familiar with to fight those who are quite expert with such weapons.”
Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1 Page 16
