Analog Science Fiction and Fact - July-Agust 2014

by Penny Publications

  "Well, Sammi find boss officer behind thunder-stick warriors, all alone. So Sammi keep him company. He not say much after clap mouth and knock head. I drag him aside, not even need quiet. Thunder-sticks loud!"

  Teodorq grunted. "They didn't try an' look for their officer?"

  "No. Big hurry for other appointment, I think. Old subadar holler and horsewhip so not run. That good news."

  Kal laughed. "Good news, was it?"

  "Sure. Easier kill enemy who walks away."

  Teodorq hesitated. "What's the bad news?"

  Sammi pursed his lips and looked around the barracks at the other bowmen, point guards, and foresters who were listening to his tale. "Men like that... Sammi not think they ever run twice."

  The Wisdom seemed convinced that Teodorq sunna Nagarajan knew more about the ancient Commonwealth of Suns than Teodorq himself believed; and under the gray-beard's incisive questioning he recalled details of his visit inside the Shuttle that he had thought unnoticed or forgotten.

  "Our word for ghost," the Wisdom told Teodorq, "is vroyegisha. But close study of the word suggestions it was once pronounced 'projection.' That means the Jamly you saw was an image of the real Jamly that was somehow 'thrown forward' from her true hiding place. That suggests a level of cowardice similar to that of the greenies."

  Teo was not sure that Jamly was cowardly. Her sentry-go had lasted uncounted years with no sign of relief. A coward would have slain herself long before. But neither was Teo inclined to debate the old man to whose curiosity he owed his current status of guest-soldier. Join the legion or sit on the Spit was a fine recruiting slogan, but promised a far more uncomfortable position than that of First Bow.

  However, his own curiosity got the better of him and he asked the Wisdom why he thought the greens were cowardly.

  The graybeard seemed surprised at the question. "Because their captain hid in the rear of their battle line. Our captains lead from the front."

  That seemed to Teodorq a fine way to use up captains. Standing behind the lines had enabled the greenie captain to observe the entire killing field and issue commands accordingly. Standing in front, he would have been unable to see how his own men were deployed. Teodorq spoke slowly, "I would not count on their cowardice."

  "They ran from you, didn't they? What would they have done had they faced a charge of armored eridzars in full career?"

  That was an interesting question. Teodorq agreed that a line of heavy cavalry was an edifying sight when you were on the sharp end, and it was likely that the greenies had not before encountered anything more formidable than the primitive weapons and tactics of the forest men, and whoever else might live farther east.

  But surely the greenies fought among themselves... and that meant they had faced similar ranks of thunder-sticks. And that meant that their tactics had been planned to counter others who thought like they did. Teo had admired the way they continued to step forward in ranks even while getting feathered from outside their range.

  No, they might be slow learners, but they were not cowards.

  "Tell me, Wisdom... are they green all over?"

  Wisdom Sharèe Mikahali Fulenenberk laughed so heartily that he lost all dignity. He slapped his thigh several times. "Oh!" he said. "Oh, ho ho! The Lady Anya asked the same question and had the creature stripped down just so she could see for herself. Yes, my wilding friend. It is not war paint. Their skin really is green. I think from the captive's behavior in the exercise yard when he extends that strange frill of his that he bathes in sunlight."

  "Yuh mean that ruff is like a big leaf? What is he... a plant?" Trees were quite bad enough without they walked and used thunder-sticks.

  But the Wisdom shook his head. "No, surprisingly, I think not. In every other respect he seems as human as you or I."

  "Where does he come from?"

  "East of the forest is all we know. He speaks a language utterly unknown. I showed him some common objects and none of the names he used resembled those of the People; nor those of the swampers, the sodbusters, or even your own and your companion's far western tongues." He sighed. "A captured warrior does not speak willingly in any case, and torture would do us no good if we cannot understand his answers."

  "Why not show him the Relic and see if he recognizes any of the sigils on it?"

  Teodorq watched as delight at a good idea wrestled across the Wisdom's face with the dismay at not having thought of it. "Yes," the old man said at last. "Yes. I planned to do so tomorrow."

  As the Little Winter was coming on, the Wisdom invited Teodorq to the tower of the Keep, where he also kept a look-glass. They studied the Red Sun, which now lay entirely in the night sky after the True Sun had set. "We call it the Red Sun," the Wisdom explained, "because he casts shadows and warms our nights at this time of year, just as the True Sun does during the day. Some Wisdoms think this means that it also shines by its own light, not by reflectance. But that violates the law of parsimony. Never multiply entities without need."

  "That's nice," said Teo, who thought that if World had two moons, then surely it ought to have two suns. But before he could voice this thought a white streak crossed the sky like the slash of a longsword scratching the skystuff from the dome of the heavens.

  Teodorq whistled. "Would yuh lookit that, Wiz! Think it's a good omen or bad?"

  The old man snorted. "It is simply a form of comet, faster and without the horsetail. We see two or three each year, but sometimes none at all. Unlike the normal stars, they do not follow regular sky-paths. Many years ago, Wisdom Gerekorai Chosenof of House Bear made a list of all known sightings and compared them to important events. There was no evident pattern. So these gogo-comets do not 'portend' anything."

  Teodorq scratched his chin. "Or the portents are meant for other people. Maybe the greenies."

  The Wisdom grimaced and Teodorq deduced that the man had not thought of that, either. Every man supposes that World revolves around his own people. But Teo wondered now, having met Jamly-the-ghost, whether these scratches on the sky might be attempts by the Commonwealth of Suns to contact the wrecked shuttle.

  Teodorq heard later that the Wisdom had shown the Commonwealth door to the green prisoner and that the greenie had appeared to recognize the fourth set of runes, the ones that ran YOMPRES. He had followed it with his finger and his lips had moved and he had whispered as if to himself the word "èmbrace," with the accent on the first syllable. Then he had laughed uproariously. This had outraged the shaman so badly that the kospathin had ordered the prisoner flogged. Like most of the upper class, the First followed Vokh, the One; but the common folk still held to the old gods and it was not good to create disturbance among them by allowing rank impiety.

  There was seldom snow during Little Winter, but the winds howled and whipped up great storms, so there were long stretches when the legion barely stirred out of barracks. The land was too muddy for travel and the dirt roads became quagmires. Teo and Kal worked on training more archers—the Wisdom wanted as many as possible by campaigning season—but there were long stretches when the rain and wind were too strong for practice, and the barrack windows whistled and the walls shook.

  "Maybe this storm big greenie attack," suggested Sammi one time; but no one laughed.

  Small Spring was marked by occasional rimes of frost on the morning ground, since the Red Sun was growing smaller and now set before the night was ended. But the True Sun rolled closer to World with every passing day, heralding the arrival of Great Spring. The roads were drying out and the bogs and morasses that had marked Little Winter would soon be passable.

  "That'll make trouble," Teodorq told his bowmen as he led them on a probe toward Woody Ridge to check the quality of the ground. He had two score bowmen now, not all of top notch, but most could hit their mark at distances beyond the range of the thunder-sticks. No one could match Kal and Teo, although the swamper brothers, 'Dosh and 'Dan came close. On Yar Yoodavig's recommendation, kospathin Aya Herpstone appointed Teodorq sunna Naga
rajan the Ironhand as subyar for the Horse Bows of the legion, as befit his prowess. He did this in the Great Hall, where Teodorq had last stood as a shackled prisoner, and tapped Teo on each shoulder with a bow.

  Karakalan was also appointed subyar, and each took half the troop with one of the Ghenri brothers as his lieutenant. It was understood by everyone except Kal that Teo was senior subyar.

  They had drilled all during Small Spring on maneuvers which, while familiar to the horsemen of the Great Grass, were unknown to the eastern men. The troop could easily split their roundelay into halves and quarters on command and the bannermen assigned to them by the flag master had worked out a set of signals proper to horse bow tactics.

  "After the ground is hard but before Big Winter sets in," Teodorq judged during one maneuver. "That's when the greenies will come."

  "Yuh don't think they'll be content with raiding the Nobeshtinny this year?" Kal said.

  "Nothing left there to raid. Besides, they wasn't so much raiding as probing. They wanted to know what was west of the forest, and they found out. No way they let that beating we give 'em last year go unavenged." Teo turned to his bannerman. "Two columns," he said.

  The bannerman hooked two blue streamers to his staff and raised it. Teo and Kal veered off in different directions and the Bows split up behind them. When he judged the distance between the columns sufficient, Teo told his bannerman, "Four columns," and the man added two more streamers to his staff. This time he spun his bullroarer when he raised the staff to make sure the other column saw it. Immediately, the two Ghen-ri brothers raised their personal guidons and the odd numbers in each column split off to ride behind them.

  It was all neatly done, though Teo would not care to go up against the Riders of the Grassy Sea with them. A khorden of plainsmen might number a thousand or more. If the Gudawan Adyawan were here, with all the Serps and Scorps and Sidewinders, they would make short work of the greenies. But watching the four columns, he was grimly aware that there were only ten bowmen in each. Their main advantage lay in having the range on the thunder-sticks. But a large enough force could lose many men to the hail of arrows and still charge forward. And once they got in range...

  Much would depend on what the greenies brought to the party.

  It was near the end of Little Hunger Month, when the overwinter stores were just beginning to give out but the spring harvest was not yet in that the flags began waving and plumes of black smoke rose where the Woody Ridge watchtowers had stood. The watchers on Topof-World reported that the new tower at Windy Gap was destroyed, as was the one at Middle Gap, though the one south of Moose Creek Gap still stood.

  "They're coming up from the southeast," Yar Yoodavig told the legion as they assembled on the yard and everyone stood by his horse. "It's our task to hold them near Joojen's Creek until the heavies can be mobilized."

  "That'll be when two suns are in the sky," groused Kal. The Red Sun was rising earlier each day and now peeked above the eastern horizon shortly before sunset.

  "You are in the legion to die," the yar told them cheerfully, "and the kospathin will tell you where and when you are to die."

  "That's right thoughtful of him," said Teo.

  "Why can't they send the heavies to buy time for the legion?" said one of the new men. "We're the only ones ever beat the greenies."

  Kal crossed his forearms. "Waddaya mean we? Was you there, recruity?"

  The yar raised his voice. "Never mind that. He's here now. Thewèhdarosh, you take the point guards. Ride far and ride fast. Don't stop and fight. Count heads, mark direction of march, and get your asses back here. Or at least get the pigeons back."

  "Don't worry, boss," said Sammi o' th' Eagles. "We give you the bird okay."

  On the march, Kal came up to ride beside Teo. "How come we beat the greenies in the Nobeshtinny last year, but this year we gotta fight 'em on this side o' the Ridge?"

  "Home park advantage," Teo told him, an old plainsman proverb.

  "How much range you think men with swords got on men with thunder-sticks?" Kal meant the remainder of the legion, three hundred men in multiple columns spread across the flat ground that lay between the Keep and Woody Ridge.

  Teo patted his bow-case. "That's why the yar scrounged the crossbows from the militia. Based on what we saw last year, they got about the same range as the thunder-sticks. Ol' Yoodavig can dismount half the swords to pin the enemy with bolts while the other half ride in swinging. A charging horse can cover a lot of ground while the thunder-sticks reload."

  Kal scratched his beard. "How many greenies, you think?"

  Teo shook his head. "Too many, most likely. This won't be no raiding party or reconnaissance."

  "You think the heavies'll make a difference? The greenies ain't never run into the heavies before."

  "First time for everything." Teo looked behind at the dust raised by the supply wagons and the artillery train. "The field throwers should help. Lob rocks at 'em."

  "If Chum and his pals get time to assemble them, and range them in."

  They rode at the walk. The point guards had sent back word of activity on the trails leading down from the gaps. But the greenies had had enough time to reach the flatlands by now, which meant that they were in no great hurry to encounter the son of Nagarajan. Yet, as flattering as this motive might be, it made Teodorq uneasy. The first rule of fighting was to get there first with the most, and he did not suppose the greenies ignorant of the rule.

  In the far distance, they saw smoke about where Bitter Springs lay. The village must be burning. The yar thought with his look-glass he could make out horsemen leaving the area. A little later, a second plume marked the location of Twin Forks. The greenie horse were rieving the southern Tiger-lands.

  That evening, at the council of subyars, the yar announced happily that that the point guards had sent word of the enemy's continued slow progress. "They're on new ground and probing cautiously," he said.

  Atglen subyar said that would give the legion the chance to engage the green horse without their foot support. "If we ride hard and fast, we can catch the rievers before they reach the River Thenepher."

  "If their foot keep moving this slow," said Hegge subyar, "we can deal with their horse, rest, then come back for their foot and catch them between us and the heavies."

  Yar Yoodavig listened patiently. He pursed his lips and turned to face Teodorq. "You've been unnaturally quiet. What do you say?"

  Teo exchanged a glance with Kal. "It looks too much like 'chase me, chase me.' I don't think we oughta do what the enemy wants." Kal nodded and spat in the fire. Thewèhdarosh and Belepo said nothing, but the point guard was also nodding.

  The yar chased a toothpick around his mouth and looked off toward Woody Ridge. He considered the matter in silence while the fire crackled and cast everyone in an eerie light.

  "Their foot will have to pass north and west of Bogen's Marsh," he said. "If we push it, we should make the line of Joojen's Creek, well forward of where I had hoped. If we can catch him still descending the switchbacks, we can give him a good mauling, maybe change his mind about stepping onto Tiger land. What is it, Teo?"

  Teodorq sunna Nagarajan the Ironhand spoke carefully. "If'n I wanted to destroy this legion, I'd put on a big shindig and draw us forward as far as I could. Then I'd call in my boys from the flank." He gestured toward Woody Ridge, where the Red Sun was rising over the crest. "We ain't seen no smoke north of Middle Gap, but that don't mean they ain't there. We march all the way to the Joojen, and who knows what's lurking those trees over yonder. The greenies might be raiding the south and dawdling on the switchbacks to tempt us too far forward. Might be best to let him cross the Joojen and come to us on our ground."

  "You think the greenies are that clever?"

  Teodorq shrugged. "When me an Kal fought our duel last year, I didn't go in expecting he was stupid."

  "Thanks, Rabbit," said the Serp.

  "On the plains we call it the 'horns of the ox.' The center hold
s back, the sides sweep around." Teodorq illustrated by opening his arms wide, backing away, then sweeping his arms out and around into an embrace. "Waddaya think, Kal?"

  The Serp pursed his lips, as if surprised to be asked his opinion. "Yeah. Yeah, that might could be. That's the stunt they pulled last fall with their recon party. Just one horn, though."

  "There's high ground north of the Joojen," said Thewèhdarosh subyar. "Not enough to call it a hill, but broad enough to park the legion. And it puts the greens with their back to the water and us charging down on him."

  "Could work," allowed Atglen subyar. "We're supposed to just hold 'em here until the kettleheads show up and run 'em down."

  "Tell you what, yar," Teo said. "Send the foresters into Woody Ridge north of Middle Gap, just to see what they can see. And if we face off with these greenies along the creek and they seem to fall back too easy, maybe don't chase after 'em."

  The yar gave that considerable thought. "It would be hard to hold the kettle-heads back. They love to chase people who run."

  Teo bobbed his head side-to-side. "Sure they do, but they ain't up with us yet, and I think if the greenies run, it'll be because they want us to chase 'em."

  Belepo did not look happy, but agreed that a creep into the trees might pay off. "'Member, yar, at's why you send patrols by the southern valley last fall," he said in his forestman accent. "You say be looking for them where they ain't been seen."

  Yar Yoodavig plucked out his toothpick and tossed it into the fire. "All right. Do it. Thewèhdarosh, have your boys probe up the ridge near False Gap. Oh, and Belepo, you all got crossbows, don't you? Good. From Wala's report last fall, I think the crossbows got better aim than the thunder-sticks at the same range."

  The forester grinned. "Dzha," he said. "An' they be quieter."

  There were fewer greenies than Teodorq had feared, but a lot more than he was happy to see. They came up the road from Windy Gap four abreast, stepping in unison and with their thunder-sticks couched on their shoulders. Another column was emerging from Middle Gap about half a day behind. Yar Yoodavig studied them through the look-glass and passed the tube around to the subyars who had joined him in the fore of the legion's line around the rim of the higher ground. "They're all foot and we're all horse. That's one advantage to us."