Jed had no doubt of that. To a predator the size of a Pterodactyl a human would be easy pickings, and although he was certain a few well aimed shots from a rifle would bring one of the creatures down they had to either see it or hear it coming first. “I think our real problem will be if they hunt in a pack,” he said to the other two.
Jonathon looked alarmed. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“They might be reluctant to attack prey they’re not used to,” Rex suggested.
“That’s assuming they’re unused to humans.” Jed was carefully surveying the animal life up ahead of them as he spoke. “Humans must come onto this plain to hunt for food. Humans may even be a Pterodactyls prey of choice.”
“That’s a cheery thought,” Rex said glumly.
“Even so, it would pay for us to be vigilant at all times. I’ll take first watch,” Jed offered.
Jed’s thoughts slipped back to New York. The homesickness was really starting to get a hold of him now, and he just longed to be roaming those familiar streets again. Sure, you had to watch out for the occasional mugger, and now and then a crackpot would be on the loose until the cops got him. But out here was a totally different kettle of fish. A man had to be constantly on the offensive, his very life depended on it.
The problem now was that with all the adrenalin that had been coursing through his veins these past few weeks it had left him permanently on edge, and that wasn’t a condition he enjoyed being in. Still, it was probably all that had kept him going, especially given the state that his leg had been in these past few days.
His hand immediately went down to probe the wound. That hurt, it obviously wasn’t getting any better at all. But then he had never really believed that it would. Not after the penicillin failed to make any inroads. He knew it wasn’t going to be too long before he was going to be forced to take frequent rests, and too many rests were not good. Montrose was back there waging a war of genocide against innocent people, and so now every hour counted.
It was a good day for travelling, the hazy sun was warm, the sky clear, and the terrain easy. Jed looked across at the others. Rex seemed to be unusually tense. Gone was the excited gleam that had possessed his eyes so completely a few short weeks ago and now they betrayed the turmoil his fatigued brain was being subjected to. Still not fully recovered from his own wound yet he knew Rex would be full of concern for his friend and his rapidly deteriorating leg.
Amora was an open book. Her face oozed worry and fear from every pore. Her frequent glances in his direction told him she was deeply concerned about him, and her more frequent scanning of the sky and terrain suggested to him that she was equally concerned about becoming some creature’s meal. He did feel for her. She had believed him to be some sort of untouchable hero, a savior of her people, but that illusion must have taken a hammering each time she saw him hobbling along like the cripple he had become. What terrors must be doing the rounds of her mind? Her brother and her people on the brink of annihilation and here she was placing all her hopes on a spent warrior and his two sidekicks. No wonder she looked like she had aged ten years. He smiled grimly to himself. That would be a hundred years more or less for the pretty Noragin.
Jonathon was more of a mystery. His face wasn’t really giving too much away. Normally his friend’s facial expressions were there for all to decipher. He studied the young man as they trudged along. The normally cheerful features were now completely expressionless, they were as if set in stone. Maybe there was just the merest hint of determination in that dark eye, Jed wasn’t sure. But there was one thing he had absolutely no doubt about, and that was if Jonathon was in any way human then he must be as frightened as the rest of them were.
Jed thought about what lay ahead of them. They weren’t even half way to Chantros yet, and if what Amora had told them was correct then they were up for some tough times in the next few days. If they made it off this plain they had to get through the “Forbidden Lands” as Amora called them. He didn’t like the sound of the place, a place her father had told her that no Noragin should ever venture. He wondered what terrors lay lurking for them there and decided it was probably best they didn’t know. The last thing they needed right now was to become so discouraged they would be tempted to turn back.
He scouted the sky again. Nothing unusual up there to worry about just the usual small birds flitting around and so he let his thoughts slip back to the journey ahead. Getting over those distant hazy mountains was going to be no picnic. They didn’t have any climbing gear so if it became too rugged then they were sunk for sure. If they did make it over the top they still had this mysterious Chantros to find, if in fact it existed at all. He decided to believe that it did. Then what? Would they actually just be able to walk up to the big glass dome knock a few times and hey presto it would be open sesame? Or what if they found the city but couldn’t figure out a way of getting in? Maybe all the inhabitants of Chantros were long since dead and the domed city lay in ruins. So much was hanging on Chantros being everything they hoped it would be that he hadn’t dared to think about the consequences if it proved not to be. But he was thinking about it now. He couldn’t think of anything else, for there would be no salvation for the Noragin and Skraeling people if it wasn’t. Their combined strength would be nothing to what Montrose could muster against them.
Jed’s keen eye picked up a movement on the horizon. He could just detect a small black mass moving slowly towards them, and as he stopped to watch it more closely Rex joined him.
“Spotted something?”
Jed pointed in the direction of the slowly growing mass. “Might just be a large flock of birds, it’s too far away to tell yet.”
“Trouble is,” Rex said, shading his eyes with his hand to block out the sun’s rays, “the distances out here are so immense a man can’t accurately judge either how far away an object is or the speed it’s travelling until it’s almost upon him.”
Jed was still watching the mass with interest. “It’s suddenly veered off and I can’t say I’m sorry it’s no longer heading in our direction.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Rex said. “I wonder what…” He stopped short and stared in disbelief at the sky. “Did you see that? It just shot a big bolt of flame towards the ground.”
Jed’s attention was riveted to the spot as the black mass dropped swiftly groundwards until it was no longer visible. What was it? Was it some sort of alien aircraft that had just torpedoed something on the ground? The thing was there was no explosion to indicate a missile, only a short silent bolt of fire.
“What do you make of it?”
“I don’t know, Rex.” Jed thought it over. No creature could shoot bolts of fire. It had to be some sort of aircraft.
“Something from Chantros maybe?” Rex’s voice betrayed more than a hint of concern. “What if the inhabitants of Chantros are hostile?”
“Not something we’d counted on,” Jed confessed. “But I guess we’ve no choice but to press on and take our chances with them.”
“I vote we stay away from where that thing landed though.”
“I think that goes without saying. But whatever it is I don’t think we’ve seen the last of it.”
“This weapon had better be worth it,” Rex grumbled. “I left Frida behind and am risking my life to bring it back.”
“Think of it as risking your life to save Frida,” Jed suggested. “After all, if we don’t get this weapon Frida’s going to end up with Montrose’s lot and you know what’ll happen to her then.”
Rex gritted his teeth. “If he touches her I’ll tear him apart.”
“If we fail I doubt you’ll even be alive to make the attempt.”
“You really know how to deflate a fellow, Rand,” Rex said tersely.
“It pays for us to stay grounded. Everything hangs on us being successful because if we’re not it’ll spell the end not only of the Noragin and Skraelings but the peoples throughout this entire world, all the way to the North Polar entrance.”
“I didn’t think about this place being that big but I guess there’s nothing preventing it from being inhabited right through to the other entrance.”
“And you can count on Montrose knowing that too.”
“Why hasn’t Montrose tried to conquer the tribes this side of the mountains?”
“I don’t doubt he’s planning to,” Jed said. “He would have scouted the area out by air long ago. But he needs to conquer the Noragin and Skraelings first.”
“I don’t follow your reasoning.”
Jed stopped and scanned the sky thoroughly before moving on again. “Montrose needs a much bigger army than the one he’s got at the moment if he can achieve total domination of the world,” Jed explained. “To get an army of that size together he needs tens of thousands of new recruits.”
“The Noragin and Skraelings won’t fight for him they’d rather die than throw in their lot with that maniac.”
“And he knows that. So he’s prepared to kill all the men he conquers but keep the boy’s.”
Rex was beginning to catch on. “So he can then thoroughly indoctrinate them with his fascist ideas.”
“Exactly, in fact, much like Hitler did with the Hitler Youth movement of Nazi Germany. You see,” Jed continued, “he knows that he’s got all the time in the world to conquer this inner earth. He’s only aged six or seven years of our time since he’s been here. So he can afford to make his plan a long term one.”
“And he’s still got five or maybe six hundred years of their time left to live.”
“You got it. So if nothing else we know that Colonel Charles Montrose is a very patient man.”
“Within two hundred years he could conquer all the way through to the North Polar entrance then?”
“There’s nothing stopping him but us.”
“That’s a heavy burden to be carrying around on our shoulders, an entire world depending on us to stop a maniac intent on enslaving them all.”
“Nevertheless the burden does sit squarely with us,” Jed reminded him. “If we let him achieve that he may even attempt to invade our world.”
Rex laughed. “I’d like to see him try that one with his archaic weapons. He wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Who said he’d try it with archaic weapons?”
Rex looked at him with surprise. “Well, what else has he got?”
“You saw that aircraft out there,” Jed said, waving a hand in the general direction of the recent fire bolt. “If Chantros has weapons like that and the one we’re hoping to bring back then he has a very real chance of success.”
“He’d have to conquer the Chantrosians with his old weapons first,” Rex pointed out. “They’d be more than a match for him.”
“Montrose isn’t stupid, Rex. With weight of numbers and a carefully laid surprise attack he could take a small city, particularly if they weren’t expecting anything. Even Rome, as great as she was, eventually was defeated by a less organized army.” Jed shifted his rifle across to his other shoulder. “Montrose could become the greatest dictator this earth has ever known. Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, they’d all be small fry compared to him.”
“And all that’s standing in his way are three explorers and a rag tag army of primitives.”
Jed nodded. “Sounds incredible doesn’t it?”
“Put like that it sounds like suicide,” Rex said glumly.
“Unless we get to the weapons of Chantros first which means we will hold the balance of power.”
Rex’s eyes shone with admiration. “That was your plan all along wasn’t it? You’re always one step ahead of me.”
Jed allowed a rare grin to light up his features, “just one?”
Rex grinned back. “Okay, several steps ahead then. I’ve been wondering for a while now how you’ve been able to think like a professional soldier when you’ve had no training.”
“You have to try and get into the mind of someone like Montrose, learn to think like he thinks. In the end you discover you’re more like him than you ever cared to admit.”
“You’re nothing like Montrose. There’s not a savage bone in your body.”
“Don’t be so sure, I’ve learned a lot of things about myself these past few weeks that I haven’t much liked.”
“You’re nothing like Montrose,” Rex said again, only more firmly this time. “I ought to know, I’ve known you longer than anybody else.”
“War brings out the best and the worst in a man. More often than not the worst outweighs the best.”
“Nonsense,” Rex spluttered. “I don’t want to hear any more talk like that. You’re doing what you have to do. We all are. The only difference between you and us is you’ve got the intellect to figure out what that animal is up to and we don’t.”
“Like I said, I’m beginning to believe I’m more like him than I’d given myself credit for.”
“I’m not listening to any more of this,” Rex said angrily. “I’m not sticking around while my best friend is being slandered, even if it is by himself.”
Jed watched Rex as he stormed on ahead, leaving him to hobble along painfully in his wake. Pig-headed Rex, dear loyal pig-headed Rex, what would he do without him?
That evening they camped under the cover of a huge overhanging rock and ate the last of their rations. Jed knew they would have to risk using the rifles from now on if they wanted to eat, and it was going to alert every predator for miles around of their whereabouts. But what choice did they have, they had to eat.
Jed lay himself down and felt a sudden rush of exhaustion sweep over him. Jonathon had kindly volunteered for first watch and so he had several hours of restful sleep to look forward to, or he would have if it weren’t for his leg. He couldn’t have been asleep for more than half an hour when the dull throbbing brought him back to a state of painful wakefulness.
Jonathon looked across at him. “You really ought to try and get some more sleep. That leg will never get better otherwise.”
Jed hauled himself up into a sitting position. “I don’t think I can sleep, Jonathon. You might as well doze off and I’ll wake you when I’m getting sleepy.”
“All right,” Jonathon agreed, knowing it was better not to argue with Jed when he had that determined tone to his voice. “But make sure you do wake me when you’re getting tired.”
Jed’s bleary eyes ranged across the grayish sky, all was quiet. Being well hidden on two sides by the rock and by tall grass on the other two sides left him reasonably confident they were safe from ground dwelling predators. He kept his eyes on the sky as he attempted to block out the pain from his leg and ruminated on their situation. There couldn’t be more than a day’s walk of this plain before they reached the Forbidden Lands. All going well it should be another three days before they reached the first set of mountains, and then two or three days from there to Chantros. Even with everything going well it was going to be two weeks before they could get back with the weapon. He hoped it wouldn’t be heavy, for nothing must be allowed to hinder their speedy return.
What a weapon it must be, if it truly existed that was, a weapon that could rewind events, and give an army the opportunity to try out different tactics. Not a man would be lost until they found a tactic that won them the battle.
If only Jed could get his hands on that craft he and Rex had seen out on the plain today, something that could maneuver so deftly in the air like that and direct bolts of fire would give him a decided advantage. Now that Montrose had no choppers left an airborne assault on his compound with a craft that possessed that level of technology would produce devastating results.
A cruel stab of pain broke through the usual dull ache and racing down his infected leg caused a sharp intake of breath. He realized he hadn’t checked its condition for at least twenty-four hours now, and so quietly standing up he slid down his trousers and inspected the wound. It was as he had expected, gradually getting worse. Taking the handkerchief out of his pocket he gingerly wiped away the yellow
pus that was oozing up from its fetid depths. He was just cleaning up the last of it when he noticed them, a dozen or so big creatures flying towards his position at an alarming speed. Pterodactyls, he had taken his eyes off the sky and then foolishly stood up. It was all the movement they had needed to spot him, and now they were coming for him.
“Rex, Jonathon, Amora,” he shouted, “wake up.”
Rex and Jonathon were at his side in an instant.
“There’s got to be at least fifteen of them,” Rex said, hurriedly loading shells into his rifle.
Jonathon was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “It looks like they really mean business too.”
Kneeling down and pulling back the bolt on his rifle Jed took careful aim. “Amora…keep your back pressed into the rock, and whatever you do don’t try to run.”
The creatures swooped in low and passed overhead before anyone had a chance to get a shot off.
“What are they up to?” Jonathon spun around to see where they had gone.
“They’re just doing a little reconnaissance,” Jed said, calmly changing his position. “They’ll make their move when they’re ready.”
“Where are they?” Rex was frantically trying to pick them out against the hazy sky.
Jed was aiming at a spot just above the big rock. “They’ll come in low so as to use the rock for cover then drop on us suddenly. “Amora…,” he said, without taking his eyes off the rifle sights, “no matter how frightened you get or how close they get to you just stay where you are.”
Jed waited for what seemed to be an eternity for the predators to make their second appearance, four of them dropping swiftly and silently over the rock in exactly the same manner he had predicted. Firing off a round and hitting one squarely in the breast it reared back and let out an ear piercing shriek. He didn’t wait to see what it would do next before driving another round into its featherless body.
Another Pterodactyl landed deftly on the top of the rock and arching its long neck towards the ground made a stab at Amora. As she screamed Jed fired three rounds blindly into it until it lay in its death throes at the foot of the rock, and then looked across at Amora to check if she was all right. But she was gone. Blind panic gripped him. She had been there only a few seconds ago, pressed in tightly underneath the overhanging rock. As he glanced frantically around he caught a glimpse of blonde hair off to his left and his heart missed a beat. The foolish girl had broken cover and was running wildly out onto the open plain.
The Reluctant Warrior Page 17
