Alector's Choice

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  “It’ll be good to have a solid meal,” Alendyr said in a low voice. “Too bad we can’t stay for the night and sleep in a decent bunk.”

  “If we stay, Majer Vaclyn might find us something else to do,” Mykel pointed out.

  “That could be, sir. Patrolling the area around the mine hasn’t been that bad. The growers and those folk in Jyoha were a lot worse.”

  Mykel reined up outside the stable and turned to Alendyr once more. “After the men deal with their mounts, any who need replacement equipment should take care of that. They can have the freedom of the compound until half a glass after the evening meal. That’s when we ride out, back to the mine compound.”

  Alendyr laughed. “One good meal, anyway.”

  “It’s the best we can do.” Mykel shrugged and dismounted.

  After he’d seen to the chestnut and arranged for some ad-ditional fodder for all the mounts in the squad, Mykel walked toward the officers’ quarters, wondering what other captains were in Dramuria, or whether he was the only one reporting weekly to the majer. Carrying a soft leather case that held his reports, Mykel was still a good ten yards from the quarters when Dohark stepped out of the shadows cast by the building. The older captain glanced in the direction of the Headquarters building, then gestured to Mykel.

  “You look like there’s trouble,” Mykel observed as he neared the other captain.

  “I don’t know what you did, Mykel,” Dohark began, “but the majer’s looking for you. You’re supposed to see him as soon as you get here. He’s fingering those frigging knives of his, and he’s got that look in his eye, like when you bailed him out with the Reillies by disobeying his stupid orders. He’s so upset that he didn’t even ream me out for getting here early.”

  “Did he say why?”

  “No. He’s got some of Kuertyl’s squads locked away, under quarantine, but I haven’t seen Kuertyl himself. I didn’t want to ask.”

  Mykel frowned. He could understand Dohark’s reluctance to probe when the majer was in one of his moods. Kuertyl and Thirteenth Company were supposed to be in Jyoha. Had something happened there? Or had some other seltyr attacked? Or had Rachyla escaped?

  “Are all of us captains supposed to report here on Octdi afternoon?” asked Mykel, still trying to figure out what he’d done to upset the majer.

  “I’d thought so, but I haven’t seen Rhystan yet. Heransyr came in just a bit ago.” Dohark shook his head. “Bad idea, having us all report on the same day.”

  Vaclyn was having more and more bad ideas, far more than in dealing with the Reillies on the last deployment, and Mykel and the other captains had been concerned then. “I suppose I should go see him.”

  “Don’t get him any madder than he is.”

  Mykel laughed harshly. “Just seeing me upsets him.”

  “What did you do to him?”

  The younger captain shook his head. “I haven’t done anything different. If anything, I’ve tried to avoid upsetting him.”

  “Agree to everything.”

  Mykel nodded. He wasn’t about to argue with Dohark, but he had been agreeing with the majer—except when it was going to get his men killed for no reason at all, and even then, he hadn’t disobeyed any direct orders. Case in hand, he walked swiftly to the headquarters building.

  Jiosyr was sitting at a small table outside the major’s study. “Majer said you were to wait here, sir. He’s with Captain Heransyr, sir.”

  Mykel nodded.

  He tried not to pace, but still found himself walking back and forth, back and forth. A good glass passed before the study door opened, and Heransyr stepped out.

  The dapper captain’s eyes slid away from Mykel, and the smile he offered was weak, almost sickly. “Good day, Mykel.”

  “Good day, Heransyr. I hope things are going well for you and Seventeenth Company.”

  “That they are.” Heransyr nodded and hurried away.

  Behind him, Mykel heard Jiosyr close the door, leaving him alone in the corridor outside the study. The door remained closed only for a fraction of a glass before Jiosyr emerged.

  “You can go in now, sir.” The senior squad leader stepped aside, holding the study door. He avoided looking at Mykel. After Mykel entered the study, Jiosyr closed the door behind him.

  Vaclyn had been pacing, but he turned at Mykel’s entrance. His face flushed.

  “You asked for me as soon as we arrived, sir.” Mykel waited.

  Vaclyn did not speak. He glared silently at Mykel.

  Mykel could do nothing but remain silent.

  “I’d like to know what you did up in Jyoha, Captain.”

  “I did exactly what you ordered me to do, sir, and I reported what I did. You told me to round up the Codebreakers. I surrounded them, and they refused to surrender. They said that they’d rather die than go to the mines or go back. They attacked us. We wiped most of them out. We lost two men, had several wounded. We returned here, as you had suggested. I reported what happened, and you ordered us to mine duty.”

  “Do you know what happened?” Vaclyn’s right hand dropped to the hilt of the throwing knife at his belt, his fingers touching it lightly.

  “What happened where, sir?”

  “In Jyoha, of course. Are you deliberately trying to seem stupid, Captain?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Then why are you asking such inane questions?

  “Majer, sir… I don’t understand. When I reported the roaming riders in Jyoha, I had deep concerns about trying to capture them. I wrote you those concerns. You sent back a dispatch ordering me to capture them or kill them if they resisted. Fifteenth Company followed your orders. The results were devastating. That was why I chose to withdraw, as you may recall.”

  “Captain… you were close to insubordinate.”

  Mykel waited.

  “Before Thirteenth Company reached Jyoha, they were ambushed. Even children attacked them. They used arrows and crossbows and makeshift catapults. They dug huge hidden pits across the road. They threw gourds filled with flam-wg oil. This was your doing, Captain. You abandoned Jyoha and let this occur, and you misled me.”

  “How badly was Thirteenth Company—”

  “Captain Kuertyl was killed almost immediately. Less than two full squads remain. They returned to Dramuria last night.”

  Vaclyn pulled his hand away from the throwing dagger, as if he had wanted to draw it and fling it at Mykel. “Beyond that, I also learned that you have been visiting the seltyr’s daughter—and that you did not request my permission.”

  “I was attempting to find out more about the rifles—”

  “You cannot be trusted, Captain. You have consistently ignored my orders and put your company into danger. You seem to consider yourself above the commands of your superiors.”

  “Sir…”

  “Consider yourself confined to the compound, Captain. I will be recommending your court-martial for insubordination and for incompetence. I had warned you.” Vaclyn’s left hand dropped back to the hilt of one of his pair of throwing daggers.

  Mykel studied the majer. “I would like to request that you reconsider that, sir.”

  “Reconsider? Who are you to tell me? You are an insolent junior captain who has consistently refused to follow orders. Your men are unruly and don’t follow your orders. When you do follow orders, you change them to suit yourself. Get out of here! If you aren’t in quarters within moments, you’ll face additional charges.”

  “Yes, sir.” Mykel bowed and stepped back.

  Then he opened the door and departed, not looking back as he left the headquarters building. Anger welled up inside him. Vaclyn was not only being unreasonable. His decisions were bound to lead to some sort of disaster within months, if not days. Mykel didn’t have that long. He had no doubts about how his actions would be written up in the report to Colonel Herolt in Elcien—or to Colonel Dainyl, if the Myrmidon colonel even saw the report. Still, a Myrmi-don colonel outranked a Cadmian colonel, and Mykel doubted th
at he had anything to lose, not the way matters were turning out.

  He swallowed, then crossed the courtyard to the senior officers’ quarters, where he climbed the steps to the second level and the open balcony fronting the four doors for the senior officers’ quarters. Mykel knocked on the first door. There was no answer. He moved to the second door and knocked again.

  “Yes?” The Myrmidon colonel’s voice was deep, resonant

  “Captain Mykel of the Cadmians to see you, sir.”

  There was a pause. Then the door opened.

  Tall as he was compared to most Cadmian officers, Mykel found himself looking up at the colonel. He swallowed and spoke, “This is highly irregular, Colonel, but I don’t know how else to keep matters from getting worse.”

  “Could you explain, Captain? You might as well come in.” The alector stepped back.

  Mykel closed the door and stood waiting, but the colonel neither seated himself nor asked Mykel to do so, but merely looked at the Cadmian officer.

  Mykel moistened his lips, then began. “This is a difficult situation, sir. I was ordered to report to Majer Vaclyn this afternoon, every Octdi afternoon…” He went on to explain the series of events, beginning with the discovery of the rifle and continuing through the majer’s reaction to the trial of Polynt and the latest happenings in Jyoha—and the majer’s reaction and the threat of a court-martial. “… because I worried about the situation in Jyoha, I had made copies of my report and the majer’s orders.” Mykel extended the sheets of paper.

  The colonel took them without speaking and read through them slowly.

  Mykel stood there, shifting his weight from one booted foot to the other, unable to read or sense any feeling from the Myrmidon officer.

  Finally, the colonel looked up. “I appreciate your diligence, Captain, and your concerns. You will remain here in the compound while I look more into these matters. So will the squad you brought with you.”

  “Yes, sir.” Mykel bowed, then stepped back toward the door, letting himself out.

  From the senior officers’ quarters he headed to the quartermaster’s building, hoping to find Alendyr. The squad leader was there, talking with a squad leader from Seventeenth Company. Both men broke off their conversation abruptly as they saw Mykel.

  “We may be staying here tonight, Alendyr. I will be, and the squad will be as well. I’ll be in the officers’ quarters, and, if you’ll check with me tomorrow, we should know more.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  As Mykel walked away, he caught a few words.

  “… too bad… sticks up for you…”

  “… good time to be a squad leader, not a captain…”

  Mykel had his doubts about it being a good time for either. When he reached the junior officer’s quarters, he found two rooms on the ground floor empty. He took the one least dusty. There he put the leather case on the desk and sat down in the single chair. He hadn’t brought much gear, as he had expected to ride back to the mine camp before dark.

  Now what was he going to do?

  The majer had been so upset that he hadn’t even asked about recent events, but Mykel hadn’t wanted to bring those up because Vaclyn would have just turned them against him. And, in fact, Mykel had ignored or evaded the intent of the majer’s orders. According to discipline and the Code, it didn’t seem to matter that the orders were generally unwise, or worse.

  Mykel stood and walked around the small room, then seated himself again. i

  Would the Myrmidon colonel do anything? Or would he just support Majer Vaclyn. For all of Colonel Dainyl’s calm words, Mykel had no idea what the senior officer would do.

  Thrap. At the knock on the door, Mykel got up. “Yes?”

  “Sir?”

  “Who is it?”

  “Jiosyr, sir.”

  What did the majer’s senior squad leader want with him? Mykel walked tiredly to the door. He eased it open, little more than barely ajar. “Yes, Jiosyr?”

  “Alendyr’s been hurt, sir. One of your rankers took a knife to him. I thought you ought to know. He’s over in the infirmary. He’s hurt pretty badly.”

  “Frig!” That was all Mykel needed. How had something like that happened? Alendyr was a good squad leader.

  He hurried out of the quarters and around the corner into the long shadow on the east end of the building. He halted abruptly, realizing that Jiosyr had not followed him and that another figure waited in the shadows—Majer Vaclyn.

  Vaclyn was smiling coldly. “I believe you were ordered immediately to quarters, Captain, and to remain within them.”

  “My squad leader’s been hurt—” Mykel doubted that, but it was a better excuse than outright disobedience.

  “A likely tale—like all your others.” Vaclyn’s smile widened. “Captain, you have been most insubordinate. You even tried to go around the chain of command. Now, you seem to be trying to escape. We can’t have that.”

  Mykel waited until the last moment, then tried to jump to one side, but Vaclyn had anticipated that, and the throwing dagger knifed into his left shoulder.

  Mykel tried to regain his balance.

  “You’re quick, Captain, but not quick enough.”

  “No!” snapped a deep voice, seemingly out of nowhere.

  Colonel Dainyl appeared between Mykel and the majer, but the dagger was already in the air. With the pain stabbing through his shoulder, Mykel watched the silvery weapon bounce off the alector’s tunic. The colonel’s hand blurred to his belt, and a pistol-like sidearm appeared.

  “He was trying to escape, Colonel!” The majer’s voice rose. “He was.”

  A flare of blinding blue light enveloped Vaclyn. The captain blinked. When he could see again, a charred figure lay on the stones of the courtyard.

  “Captain…”

  Mykel leaned against the wall, trying to clamp the flow of blood from his shoulder with his good hand.

  “Captain… you’ll need some attention.” The colonel stood empty-handed. “Can you walk to the infirmary?”

  “If I don’t wait too long,” Mykel managed.

  He took one step and then another. A strong arm steadied him. Now… if he didn’t bleed to death on the way to the infirmary. Mykel kept walking, past the smoldering remains of the majer.

  He supposed he should have felt some regret, but all he felt was relief—and another kind of apprehension. Why hadn’t he seen the colonel? What did the Myrmidon have in mind?

  He kept walking.

  53

  After Dainyl settled Captain Mykel in the infirmary, making sure that the wound was clean and well bound, the colonel hastened back toward headquarters. Whether he liked it or not, whether he had any effective strategies, with Majer Vaclyn dead, he had no choices. Majer Herryf had no idea how to command his own two companies, much less an entire battalion.

  The sun was almost touching the top of the western wall of the compound when Dainyl walked into Majer Herryf’s study in the headquarters building.

  Herryf bolted upright. “Oh, Colonel… I hadn’t realized you were here.”

  Dainyl closed the door. “Sit down.”

  Herryf sat.

  “Majer Vaclyn just attempted to kill one of his captains, then me,” Dainyl said coldly. “Did you have anything to do with it?

  The color drained out of Herryf’s face. “No, sir. No, sir.”

  About that, the majer was telling the truth.

  “I’m very glad to hear that. Majer Vaclyn is dead. I’m using my authority as acting Submarshal to take over command of all Cadmian activities and forces in Dramur.”

  “Yes, sir.” Herryf was so shocked that he lacked, momentarily, his natural arrogance.

  “Majer Vaclyn’s body is rather badly charred. It’s in the courtyard at the east end of the senior officers’ quarters.”

  “I had a report about a body, but no one knew—”

  “It’s the majer. You will dispose of the carcass.” Dainyl looked sternly at the majer. “You will remain at the
compound until I have had a chance to talk to all officers. Find me the majer’s senior squad leader. Jiosyr, I think, is his name. I want to speak to him first.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Since I have to take command, I’ll be needing this study. Until I leave, I imagine you can make do with the one Majer Vaclyn was using.”

  Herryf nodded.

  “Now… find me that senior squad leader.”

  “Yes, sir.” The Cadmian majer rose and hurried out.

  As he waited for Herryf either to find the man or to report that he had fled, Dainyl considered what he knew in light of Vaclyn’s attempted murder of Captain Mykel.

  Dainyl had already noted that Vaclyn had been exposed to

  Talent-manipulation, but he had not had the ability to determine what had been done. In retrospect, there was no question that the marshal had used Talent to force a compulsion on the majer. Such compulsions were almost always worse than useless for anything but the simplest prohibitions, because they restricted both thought patterns and actions, and left the one who had been Talent-compelled in situations where he inevitably acted unwisely. The marshal knew that. Why had he wanted a comparatively low-ranking Cadmian officer to behave unwisely? It made no sense, but the marshal was anything besides stupid. He had wanted Vaclyn to act unwisely.

  After hearing what the captain had said when he had come to Dainyl, Dainyl had used Talent to follow the captain unseen. The one surprise had been seeing Vaclyn’s squad leader go to the quarters and lure Mykel from his room, but that suggested that the majer had feared what would come out in a court-martial.

  “Sir?”

  Dainyl looked up. Herryf stood in the doorway with a short senior squad leader.

  “This is Jiosyr. The one you wanted to see.”

  “Come in, Jiosyr. Sit down.” Dainyl pointed to one of the armless wooden chairs. He did not take a seat. Even without using Talent, he could sense the fear in the squad leader, who barely looked even in the general direction of the colonel, especially after Herryf had closed the door on the two.