Step on the Sun

by Doug Plamping

  Paul took the sidearm out of her hand. Paul ejected the clip, and seeing it full, pushed it back in. “13 shots, and 13 bandits dead or wounded. When you said very good I thought you might be able to hit a few and scare the rest. I don’t think my instructors could do better.” Paul handed the sidearm back to Amy. “Hold on to this in case they try anything.” He didn’t say anything about the ones she’d shot in the back. “If you have to shoot, shoot, but we do give slavers a chance to surrender. Stay aware of everything around you. That spear in the ground behind you was close enough that I was expecting a scratch on your face, but I don’t think you were even aware of it.”

  Amy looked behind her; she was looking straight down the shaft of the spear which meant it went really close to her head. Amy couldn’t answer, she just nodded, and Paul squeezed her arm and led her towards the villagers, saying, “My first time too, but at least I have some training to rely on.”

  Firstscout was organizing the villagers guarding the disarmed slavers. Some villagers watched the wounded slavers, and others tried to bind up the villager’s wounds with strips torn from the clothing of the dead. Amy thought that without a hospital, which didn’t exist here, most of the wounded slavers and villagers wouldn’t survive, and she became angry again. “Let’s find out what’s going on.” She went across the meadow to Fancy Hat.

  They'd bandaged Fancy Hat’s leg with strips of his own shirt. Blood stained the bandage, and leaked down his leg from the front and rear of his thigh, the bullet must have passed right through. There were three of the older men standing around the officer. Amy nodded to one she knew by sight.

  “Amy Elizabeth La Reine, I am Brightfinish of Ravinesedge. We were never introduced, but I know that you were kind and polite. Thank you for saving us.”

  “Thank you Brightfinish of Ravinesedge. You always had a cheerful wave for us. However, I’m sure these people don’t think I’m kind and polite. In fact I’m angry that they forced me to kill people.” Amy looked down at Fancy Hat. He was young, perhaps the same age as Amy. Fancy Hat looked up into her eyes. Apparently not liking what he saw, his eyes drifted down to Amy’s hand holding her sidearm, and then to the ground.

  One of the other men asked, “What do you intend to do to this slaver?”

  So, they are slavers! Amy saw that the questioner’s clothes, although similar to the villagers, were a better cut and material. Amy responded to the questioner with a determined tone, “We’re going to find out what their plans are. We haven’t been introduced. Who are you? You’re not from the village?”

  Brightfinish introduced him, “This is the Holy One of Great Island One. We were all in the Temple getting ready for a celebration when they attacked us.”

  Paul asked them, “What happened in the attack?”

  Brightfinish answered for the villagers, “They were trying not to kill anyone then, but they separated us from the rest. The young men and women, and the children, were still at the Temple under guard when they brought us here. They’ll take them to their planet. We can’t stop them.”

  Amy whispered, surprising herself with the fierceness in her voice, “Yes we can!”

  Paul squatted down at the feet of Fancy Hat and looked at his face. “Is that true?”

  Fancy Hat just looked down at his hands. “I am the officer in charge. If I answer your questions the Evil One will know it and have me killed. My family will pay a ransom if I live.”

  Paul looked up at Amy and shrugged. “We’re too far from the village for the other slavers to have heard the gunfire, so they shouldn’t know what happened, yet!”

  Amy looked at Paul. She believed that they should rescue the other villagers, but they needed more information. Especially how many other slavers there were, and when they would start missing this group.

  Amy saw that this officer was in shock from the wound. Maybe if they scared him enough he might talk. Amy, making sure the officer was not looking, nodded to Paul and Frank, putting her finger across her lips.

  Putting on a blank expression, Amy turned back to the officer, stating, “There are worse things than dying!” The officer heard but chose to ignore her. “Paul, I want you to prepare a fire for this officer.” The officer’s head jerked up, not knowing what was going on. “Get some of the husbands, wives, fathers, and mothers of those they killed to help you. I want to know this officer’s name, the name of his commander in the village, how many slavers there are, how they are armed, when they plan to leave the village, and anything else you need to know.” The officer’s lips were tight together; he was determined not to answer questions. “I want you to stake him out in the meadow and put one of his feet in the fire until he talks.” The officer looked even whiter than before. “If he doesn’t talk, burn his other foot off.” The officer looked at Amy in disbelief.

  The Holy One pushed forward with a horrified look on his face. Paul restrained him, but he was shouting, “Amy Elizabeth La Reine, you can’t do this. It’s against the laws of the One Who Tests. It’s barbaric!”

  Amy saw an opportunity to play this for the benefit of the slaver. Paul understood what was happening, and was keeping a poker face. “Holy One of Great Island One, we are not from this planet and these slavers are our prisoners. We will deal with them under our laws.”

  Amy addressed Paul loudly so the officer would hear everything, “Paul, if he still doesn’t talk, then burn off one hand at a time.” At this, the officer puked on the grass. No one moved to help him; they all were frozen in place, shocked at what she was saying.

  “If he isn’t going to talk then I want you to castrate him and cut out both eyes. He will have to live the rest of his life begging for food from these people. Line up the prisoners so they can watch this. I’m sure the next one will talk even if this officer is going to be a hero. Holy One, you shouldn’t watch this. Come with me.” Amy started to walk away. Paul released the Holy One, who stumbled after her.

  The Holy One was upset and breathing heavily, trying to keep up with Amy who was walking quickly away from the officer. “You must not do this! It’s against all the laws of the One Who Tests.” The Holy One continued to beg for the officer as they walked across the meadow.

  Amy was silent until they were far enough away that the officer couldn’t hear. She stopped and answered quietly so the other prisoners couldn’t hear, “Holy One, our God also wouldn’t have us torture people. But there is no law against a bluff.”

  “A bluff?”

  “Yes, a bluff. We haven’t tortured people in that way for hundreds of years.”

  The Holy One didn’t look very reassured, asking incredulously, “So you never intended to burn off his feet?”

  “No, but you helped him believe that we would.” Amy turned around to look back to where Paul was questioning the officer. “He’s talking to Paul. We’ll get the answers we need.”

  The Holy One finally understood that there would be no torturing of the prisoners. “Merciful One Who Tests, what you said will give me nightmares for a year. How did you think of that?”

  “It was from a ‘movie’,” Amy used the English word, “like a play, something we watch, a form of entertainment.”

  “Entertainment! How can that be entertainment?!” the Holy One protested.

  “A play, based on our history, except its pictures on a wall. It was a story about warriors who fight with two swords.”

  The Holy One shook his head, and shuddered. He kept looking at her and back to the officer as they walked across the meadow to where the villagers were gathered. “What now?” he asked.

  Chapter 21 – Rescue the Innocent

  Amy stopped in front of the villagers sitting on the grass, and raising her voice announced, “We’re going to get back your families and neighbors, and put a stop to this. My name is Amy Elizabeth La Reine. You know me; we have stayed with you and were tutored by Wellfilling of Ravinesedge. This time we brought weapons from our planet. As you can see, they are very effective against slavers. We
need somewhere to lock up these prisoners. Any suggestions?”

  There was some discussion in the group. Firstscout called out from where they were guarding the slavers, “There’s an old stone barn on the way to the village, and it has a storage pit under it. We can put them in there. If we pile stones on the trap door, they won’t be able to get out.”

  One of the women stood up. “I’m Colorglass of Ravinesedge. What do you intend to do?” In the circumstances, no one said anything about her lack of politeness.

  Amy looked around the group, looking each one in the eye. “Together, we are going to rescue the young men and women, and the children.”

  Colorglass was still standing, so she spoke for the rest, “But we are just old women and men. Even with your weapons, what can we do?” Colorglass collapsed on the grass crying.

  Amy knew they’d been through a lot, but she needed them. “If you saw a child slipping into a river, who wouldn’t risk their own life to save the child? This is no different. Paul Augustine Fortezza is coming now. Once we have his information we will decide what to do.” Amy waved for Frank to come from where he was guarding the prisoners, and he joined her as she walked to where Paul was. Amy wanted a quick discussion out of earshot of the older men and women. The Holy One followed her to where they met in the middle of the meadow.

  “Amy,” Paul said in Galactic as the Holy One was listening, “he talked. If you hadn’t given me the signal, I’d be puking on the grass too. Remind me not to play poker with you. There’s another forty of them, all men, like this group! We’re not prepared for this Amy!”

  Amy ignored Paul’s last comment. “I’ve got 13 bullets left, a full clip. Paul, how many do you have?”

  “I’ve got three in this clip, and a full clip, that’s 16. How about you Frank?”

  Frank checked his shotgun and his pockets, “Ten shells left, five in the shotgun, five in my pocket.”

  Amy added that up. “That’s 39, it should be enough!”

  Paul laughed, “Well I miss sometimes, and they’re going to be throwing spears at us. It’s not going to be that easy. They’ve already left the village with the young men and women, and they locked the children in the Temple. These slavers were to pick up the children after they killed the old men and women, including you, Holy One.”

  “Then we can save the children at least,” whispered the Holy One of Great Island One.

  “That’s not good enough!” hissed Amy. “Slavery is wrong! 620,000 died in a Civil War in my country to bring an end to slavery.”

  Frank added, speaking to the Holy One, “Canada, my nation on Earth, abolished slavery early in its history, and hid and protected escaped slaves in later years.”

  Paul, not to be outdone, added, “Giuseppe Garibaldi, the military leader in the unification of Italy, my nation on Earth, was opposed to slavery on principle, as is Italy.” Paul paused, then with a weak grin added, “OK, we’re all opposed to slavery, but we can’t go in guns blazing; people will get hurt.”

  Amy was satisfied. “Paul, tell us what else the officer told you, and give us a plan that gives us the best chance of success.”

  Paul called over Firstscout, and then gave the group all of the information he’d obtained from the officer. They discussed how to rescue the villagers, relying mostly on Paul’s military training for options, and Firstscout for the abilities of the villagers, before Paul put forward the option that he thought had the best chance of success.

  Amy led the group back to the villagers who'd been watching them intently. Amy spoke, restraining her anger, “The slavers have left the village, leaving the children there, but if we don’t act now your grown sons, daughters, and friends, will be lost forever. We will not force anyone to help us, and those that help us may die. The wounded and those that decide not to volunteer will guard the prisoners, and rescue the children from the Temple.” Amy saw many nods at that. She thought that most of the able bodied villagers would come with them.

  “This is the plan: From the officer we questioned, we learned that the slavers march in a column with ten men and an officer at the front, and ten men at the rear. Another twenty slavers are spread out, ten on each side of the column, to guard the prisoners who are tied to a long rope. Paul, Frank, and I, will attack the front group of slavers, surprising them as we did here in this meadow, killing or wounding them all.” That got a few murmurs of support; the villagers had seen, first hand, the effect of the weapons they used on the slavers.

  Amy continued, “In the shock of that attack by the three of us, those of you who volunteer will attack the guards from one side of the column; this means that you’ll outnumber the guards on your side of the road, three to one. You will cut the ropes, and help your family members to escape into the forest. The three of us will come down the road and attack the rear group giving you all time to get away.” Seeing no immediate opposition, she decided to get things moving before people could think too much. “Holy One of Great Island One, would you please give us a blessing?”

  The Holy One was startled at the request, but then nodded. He stood to one side of Amy and with everyone’s heads bowed spoke a singsong chant that she had difficulty following. It seemed to her that the One Who Tests, blessing, and protection were mentioned a number of times, so it should be good enough. The Holy One stopped, lowered his arms, turned, and gave a short bow to Amy.

  Paul took over. “OK, we need people as scouts, able to run to the forest road and back to us. We need four volunteers?” There was some looking around, and three women and one man stood up. One of the women had a bloody bandage on her arm, but Amy didn’t think that would slow her down.

  Paul gave them instructions. “I want you to follow the slavers without being seen, and send a runner back down the road at intervals to tell us where they are. Go!” The four hugged husbands, wife, and friends, and then headed off across the meadow at a pace they should be able to maintain for hours.

  Continuing Paul instructed, “Those not volunteering for the attack in the forest are to help the wounded, get the prisoners in that barn, and rescue the children who are locked up in the Temple. The Holy One of Great Island One will lead that group” Some people picked up spears and shields and moved off towards the prisoners, while others helped the wounded to get up. The Holy One led less than half the villagers across the meadow with the prisoners and the wounded towards the barn.

  Firstscout took off running with a group of four volunteers to gather weapons from the village. They would catch up to them on the road. The rest of the villagers, about twenty five volunteers, followed them across the meadow in the direction the scouts had taken.

  Paul looked at Amy, quietly asking, “And what happens when we run out of ammo?”

  Amy looked bleakly at Paul and Frank, “We run away like everyone else.”

  * * *

  They were in position. The villagers were in groups, spaced out, ready to attack each guard on their side. A couple of the older men were still strong enough to use bows; they would stay on the side of the fight and try to pick off some of the slavers. After attacking the lead group, Frank and Paul would go down the far side and take care of the other guards. Frank would need the open space working with a shotgun. Amy would work her way down the near side helping the villagers. Paul thought that Amy’s accuracy with a sidearm should prevent any friendly fire problems.

  The last few hours seemed to have both raced by, and taken forever! Amy had time to think while they waited for the slavers, and the line of bodies in the meadow kept flashing in front of her eyes. Amy knew she’d have nightmares about that.

  They watched the slavers come into the ambush. Finally, the lead contingent was close enough. Paul walked to the far side, Frank walked to the middle, and then it was Amy’s turn; she walked out to the nearside edge of the road. They were in position, ready to move down both sides of the road towards the rear contingent. Slavers in the lead contingent laughed and hefted their spears. Amy could guess they were
thinking that here were new slaves, a bonus.

  Amy grasped the sidearm with two hands, slid off the safety and assumed the stance she’d been taught. Only eleven shots, she thought, I’ll have to count them this time. They had agreed to wait until the slavers were as close as possible to lessen their chances of missing. She saw that the lead slaver would soon be able to reach her with his spear. Close enough. The sidearm came up; the slaver was looking at it. The sharp crack of the sidearm staggered Amy as it broke the silence, he was down. One. Amy heard Paul’s sidearm fire and the boom of Frank’s shotgun. It was time to focus on those in front of her.

  A slaver with his mouth open in surprise. Two.

  A slaver ready to throw his spear, down, twitching. Three.

  A slaver running towards her with a spear and shield, she missed. Four. Fired again, through the shield, the slaver was down, holding his belly, screaming. Five.

  All of the lead group were down, dead or wounded, out of the fight. Frank was so close that he must have hit two or three with each shot. The villagers were out of the forest attacking the guards on their side of the road. The villagers outnumbered the guards. Villagers tried to get behind each guard, getting in a thrust in the back or the legs, but the guards from the other side of the road were now trying to get through the line of tied villagers.

  The first three guards were down, but one of the guards had forced his way through from the other side. A young man, she saw it was Firstlight, with his hands still bound, was struggling with the slaver, trying to hold the spear way from an older woman on the ground. Amy ran up and put the sidearm to the side of the slaver’s head and pulled the trigger. The head exploded in blood and brains. Nasty! Six.

  Another guard was through. She heard the sounds of Paul’s sidearm and Frank’s shotgun. Just before she shot him, another slaver went down, an arrow through his throat. Good! Amy thought, saved me a bullet.