Icefall

by Hallowes, Guy

  'I think we should just blast them off the planet.'

  'That is the fall back position. If they continue to resist I will give the order to fire, and you should all be prepared to kill.'

  'Are you sure they will come at all?' asked one of the women.

  'No, but it's better to be prepared. They probably assume you are weak and unable to defend yourselves. We now know differently.'

  'I'm uncomfortable about shooting at and killing another human being,' said another.

  'They've already taken one of yours, heaven knows with what intent. Have no doubt they will have no compunction in raping the women here and then killing the men. If necessary, we should all shoot to kill. Have no hesitation. At that point it will be either you or them, 'Jim replied firmly, but quietly.

  They were all in place a full day before a small cloud of dust was seen in the distance. Jim had made certain the defenders had food and water and were able to sleep comfortably in position. He had moved between them regularly during the wait.

  'Here they come,' he told everyone. 'They'll be here within an hour or so. Remember, don't fire until I tell you.'

  They could see the cloud of dust rapidly approaching and, within the hour, the group with horses all of a lather came galloping down the lane in single file as Jim had predicted. Jim took down in rapid succession the first three horses, their riders crashing down to earth. One of them lay there moaning. Some of the other riders were unable to avoid the mayhem and there was a tangle of men and horses all trying to avoid each other.

  Jim fired a burst over the heads of the raiders. 'Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air.'

  Some members of the group reluctantly obeyed, but the leader who'd recovered from a heavy fall from his horse, yelled, 'Take no notice. It's just a couple of farmers.'

  Jim aimed his rifle and shot him in the leg and the man fell down screaming. 'Drop your weapons. Now!' Jim yelled. 'All of you! I will count to three—one, two, three … '

  Most complied. Two started to wave their weapons about, supposedly looking for their assailants. Jim shot them both, one in the leg and one in the arm.

  After a few minutes, a very subdued group were standing in the laneway with their hands above their heads, having dropped their weapons.

  'All of you, move twenty metres down the road in the direction of Kurri-Kurri. Move!' He fired a shot over their heads and the now thoroughly intimidated group shuffled along the road. 'Now lie face down. Quickly.' He fired another shot.

  He and the five other Settlement people emerged from hiding places. Two herded the now very nervous horses into a nearby paddock. Three searched the raiders lying on the ground. 'Look for hidden weapons. Woe betide any of them that have kept a weapon of any sort.'

  One man leapt up brandishing a revolver. There was a shot from one of the still hidden Kurri-Kurri settlers. The man dropped down dead.

  'Any more of you lot with bright ideas?' asked Jim in a loud voice.

  There was silence.

  'Okay, tie them up,' Jim instructed. The Kurri-Kurri adults emerged and within thirty minutes all the raiders had their hands tied behind their backs, still lying in the road.

  The Settlement people gave first aid to the three wounded raiders, but the dead man was left where he was.

  'Why did you do this to us,' asked a plaintive voice. 'We come in peace.'

  'We will have little Emilie back here shortly,' Jim replied. 'Perhaps she will have something to say about what happened to her. I know what you intended here—murder, rape, enslavement, and theft.'

  Derain, Josie, and a still very dirty Emilie arrived on horseback shortly after the raiders had all been pacified. Emilie, still perched on her mother's horse, shrieked and hid her face in her mother's dress when she saw the men.

  'Do you know what happened to her during the months she was away?' asked Jim.

  'She was treated like a slave, a rope tied around her neck. She was raped, almost daily,' answered Josie. 'Do what you will with these men. I must get Emilie cleaned up and start helping her get through all this.' She rode off with Derain accompanying her.

  'You heard all that,' said Jim. 'So much for coming in peace.'

  He asked for one of the horses to be brought. The dead man was loaded onto the animal and firmly tied on. Two Barrington men, under guard, were detailed to gather all the water and food the raiders had brought with them.

  The raiders all looked anxiously at Jim, 'You are to walk back to your village. When you get there you will make plans to leave the district altogether,' Jim said harshly to the group. 'If any of you are seen again, you will be shot out of hand.'

  'What about our horses and guns?' asked one of the men.

  'Your actions have forfeited them altogether. I will allow you to take two rifles for hunting and a few rounds of ammunition. Now get going before I change my mind.'

  Three Settlement people, on horseback, escorted them for two days and then, as Jim had instructed, rode on to the Barrington village ahead of the raiders.

  Several women scattered when shots were fired into the air on arrival. They told the one or two that had remained visible, 'We have come to take back what belongs to those people in Kurri-Kurri, no more, no less. We have the girl back, badly damaged, and we are going to take back the cattle you stole. If you resist in any way you will be shot.'

  The women looked blankly at them and one of them then asked anxiously, 'Where are all the men that left here? What has happened to them?'

  'Most of them will be back here in a day or two, very much the worse for wear,' was the unkind answer.

  'Most of them?' one woman shrieked.

  'You will find out. In the meantime, you'd better start packing this place up. If we return and find any of you here, we'll burn the place down and you'll be shot.'

  They drove the selected cattle off, amid shrieks of anguish.

  In Kurri-Kurri, the wounded were moved to one of the houses while their injuries were attended to. A week later, Tanya passed by in the helicopter. With a frown on her face, she listened to Jim's report. 'As a priority, I think Emilie and her mother should be transferred to our hospital. The girl was raped and seems to be pregnant. She also yells blue murder at the sight of one of our captives in particular. As for the wounded, you can do with them what you like. I wish we had shot them all dead, to be honest.'

  'You have done well,' Tanya responded. 'The sooner we can get some of our people here permanently, the better.'

  During Tanya's visit, the stolen cattle were returned. The one wounded Barrington man, who was mobile, looked on forlornly.

  Once Emilie and her mother had been properly accommodated, the wounded raiders were transferred to The Settlement hospital for treatment. Mark agreed with Tanya that the prisoners were to be kept completely isolated. The staff tending them were changed at regular intervals, so there was no chance of any sort of personal relationship developing.

  'When these people have recovered from their wounds, we must decide what to do with them,' observed Mark. 'It would've been much easier if they'd died.'

  Tanya looked at him, Somehow we have risen above our animal instincts.

  When Emilie's condition was confirmed, she and Josie asked if the pregnancy could be terminated. She was also able to confirm that one of the wounded men had raped her on many occasions.

  'I'm not going to run an elaborate court case for any of this,' Mark announced, after a discussion with Tanya. 'When these bastards have recovered, we'll have a very short court session during which I will make my recommendation regarding their punishment. We'll then dump them back in the bush and they can rejoin their ghastly compatriots.'

  A few weeks later, when the three had sufficiently recovered, a notice was published in the newspaper detailing the incident at Kurri-Kurri and the fact that, undeservedly, three of the wounded raiders had been treated at the hospital. It finished by stating one of the men had been found guilty of rape and had been sentenced to forty lashes with a cane
and that the other two had been given sentences of twenty lashes each for their part in the raids on the Kurri-Kurri settlement. All the sentences had been administered and the three had been expelled.

  Mark, with Roger piloting the helicopter, dropped the three men off halfway between Kurri-Kurri and Barrington Tops. They were given three days' food.

  Mark told them, 'The fact that we treated you and saved your lives is more than you deserve. If any of you ever appear in this vicinity again, you will be shot.'

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Jason’s Appraisal

  When Jason was dropped off at The Vikings, with another bull calf, after the usual friendly greetings, Tanya suggested to Thor, 'Perhaps you would like to visit Newcastle with me today. It might be interesting for you to see what we're doing.'

  Thor shook his head. 'I hear bad things of that place, ghosts and terrible whooshing noises in the night, fire in the trees, then with no sign of any burning the next day. No thanks, you are welcome to it. I will stay here among things I know.'

  After take off, Tanya thought to herself smiling, 'Thank God for Derain. We're getting Thor into a place where he will no longer be any kind of threat.'

  Tanya had told Jason on the journey to The Vikings, 'They will challenge you to all sorts of competitions such as riding, shooting, and hunting; if there is anything left to hunt in that place. Whatever happens, firstly understand what the competition is all about and then totally thrash them, which you will be able to do. There is one exception to that.'

  'Hercules?'

  'Smart boy! Yes, let him win, but only occasionally. And one other thing ...'

  'Decline all the fanny offerings that will come my way?' answered Jason.

  'You took the words out of my mouth,' Tanya smiled. 'Remember the prize.'

  'Venus,' said Jason firmly.

  'For you, yes. For another thousand or more people, peace. Just keep a small part of your mind on that.'

  Jason started to install solar power in Thor's palace. Using the well-established discipline taught by Joe, he always checked his earlier work at the start of each day. On the second day he took one look at the uncompleted installation and immediately tracked Thor down.

  'I installed this yesterday and some ungifted nincompoop has messed with it in the night. If I hadn't seen what had been done, when the sun comes up in an hour or so it would have set fire to your palace. It would only have taken a few minutes for it all to go up in smoke, including you probably. I don't really care whether or not you want solar power, but if you do please have all this nonsense stopped. If you don't want it, tell me and I will pack everything up and take it to Banksia.'

  'Banksia has solar?'

  'Yes, they are paying for it. Maybe I should suggest to Tanya that you might appreciate it a bit more if you were asked to pay as well.'

  He re-examined all his work each day after that, but had no more trouble.

  Most evenings he was obliged to join in heavy drinking sessions with many of the young men. Jason was quite unused to alcohol, especially the home-distilled variety on offer. He managed to pour away most of what he'd been given, but he often still felt somewhat unsteady when he was allowed to leave. On the fourth night, just as he entered his hut, he noticed a fresh, feminine smell. Remembering his discussion with Tanya, he turned on his heel and quickly left, spending the rest of the night sleeping on a couch in the semi-public area in Thor's palace.

  Thor found him at dawn the next morning. 'Don't you like your own place,' he asked acidly.

  'It's very nice,' answered Jason. 'I was late after all the drinking, and there was another person in the hut I thought was mine, so instead of disturbing anyone I came here. I've slept very well.'

  Thor looked furious, but said nothing.

  Jason had no difficulty in beating the dozen or so opponents who challenged him in various contests. Although, on one occasion, he allowed Hercules to win a riding competition by a short head.

  Earlier he had talked with his two colleagues that had been assigned to train The Vikings.

  'The problem is lack of discipline,' he was told. 'None of them attend all the training sessions. They only attend when they feel like it, so sometimes we have a fairly full group, but for tougher things like long runs or cross country riding, only one or two turn up and often none at all. There are no sanctions, nothing like being put on a charge like we have at home and Thor takes very little interest.'

  A week into what Jason considered his two-week penance, he was walking briskly to complete one of his solar installation projects. To his horror, he saw a small girl of two or three on the path walking unsteadily, as children of that age do, with hands outstretched, towards an enormous black snake which appeared to be dancing on its tail threatening her. A woman emerged from a nearby hut, took in the scene, and immediately started shrieking, attracting many bystanders.

  Jason knew he had to act quickly, and, without a thought for his own safety, he dropped his workbag, picked up a nearby fallen tree branch, broke it in two, and rapidly approached the child and the snake who were now less than a metre apart. The snake sensing the new threat focussed on Jason, rather than the girl.

  Derain's first lesson, the thought flashed through Jason's mind. Keeping the stick in his left hand to attract the snake's attention he slowly moved around, snatching the snake up by the tail and in a whip-cracking movement he broke the snake's back. He then stood on its head, killing it.

  Jason gently picked up the crying girl, and walked the fifty metres to return her to her hysterical mother.

  'It's alright, she wasn't bitten,' said Jason gently. 'No harm was done. Easy.' He put his arm round her shoulder until the sobs had ceased.

  'Oh, thank you, thank you!'

  A small crowd gathered to comfort the woman. When Jason could extricate himself from the melee, he collected his discarded work bag and picked up the dead snake.

  Later, having skinned it and removed its head, he took it to Thor's kitchen and suggested to the woman in charge that it could be eaten for the next meal.

  'Thor won't eat snake,' said the woman.

  'Tell him its chicken, he won't know the difference'

  The woman laughed

  'Enjoy the meal?' she asked Thor and several of his lieutenants when the plates had been cleared. The only subject of discussion at the meal was Jason's apparent heroism.

  'Yes, it was delicious,' most of them chorused.

  'Jason's snake,' she told them, to many disbelieving looks. One of them clutched his throat as if to be sick.

  Although horrified to start with, Thor recovered his composure quickly and said, 'Snake? Delicious, seems a bit like chicken. Maybe we could include it as a regular in our diet.' He winked at Jason. All his lieutenants quickly followed suit and made positive remarks.

  For the last ten days of his stay, Jason was treated as an honoured guest. He had several long discussions with Thor, especially about the military training. Resulting from that a "volunteer" group of twenty trainees was formed with Thor personally administering the discipline. Dawn runs and uniforms were introduced, and any transgressors were severely punished.

  'If they really fuck-up, I have the dungeon,' he said to Jason conversationally, as if it was the most commonplace punishment in the world.

  The Settlement trainers suddenly had a real job on their hands and said laughingly to Jason, 'Pity we didn't have the snake incident earlier in the piece. Seriously, within a few months, this squad will be up to the standard of The Academy,'

  Jason was ready to greet Tanya and gave her a full briefing when she arrived to pick him up. Leaving nothing out he said, 'I really don't think there'll be any problem getting Thor's permission to marry Venus. I thought she might come with you; I'm looking forward to seeing her. And no mention has been made of the bride price issue, by the way.'

  'It wouldn't enter Thor's head to discuss that with you. He may mention it to me later. I suggested to Venus that she should come today, but she seem
ed focussed on making sure you had a warm welcome when you returned.'

  Thor was very polite and said to Tanya, 'Exceptional young man, your Jason. He has been very helpful here in the last two weeks. He will have told you about saving that child from the snake? We now have a very good military training program and he has installed solar in many places. He has my permission to court Venus as you describe it.'

  'Thank you,' said Tanya quietly, 'as you say he is an exceptional young man.'

  'If she agrees, we'll have to discuss the question of a bride price, it is … '

  'I understand the concept,' Tanya interrupted. 'Normally, his father would be involved in this discussion, but in this case the possible marriage represents an alliance between your family and the Bower family.'

  'Yes,' said Thor excitedly.

  'So either David or I will be having those discussions with you.'

  Thor nodded. 'If you can finally agree terms, then I am happy to deal with you.'

  'I can agree to terms, the matter doesn't have to be signed off by anyone else.'

  Thor looked surprised.

  On the way home, Tanya said to Jason with a half-smile on her face, 'You have permission to court Venus now, you obviously did well.'

  Not taking the bait, Jason responded, 'The snake incident made the difference; before that I had to put up with all sorts of crap.'

  'Being a woman, Thor thinks I'm likely to be a soft touch when it comes to negotiating a dowry, so he's agreed to deal with me on the issue.' She paused and smiled. 'Don't worry, I'll have him tied up in a cock lock and ball press like he has never dreamt of, and he'll think it was all his own idea,' she said aggressively.

  Jason laughed. He then added, 'There are a couple of other things you should be aware of.' Tanya looked at him curiously. 'There was a man called Harold who gave you a lot of grief in the early days of The Settlement.'

  'Yes, I was sure I saw him during our first visit to The Vikings.'