“It's possible,” Olaf said. “The longer they go without knowing the true state of affairs, the better off we are.” He had no illusions though. If the commander who set that ambush up was in charge, he had to assume they got the word to the Imperium somehow, someway.
“I think it's too much to hope that we can drag this out another annus ,” the domina said dryly. “When they do come with a full army, it will break us.”
"Then we'll make it clear that if they step over the river, we'll send them their lordlings and princess back in pieces," Percival said darkly.
A few heads nodded in grim agreement.
~~~^~~~
Stephan was annoyed and in bed with Freya when he got the call from Dominus Fenton. He swore viciously as he got dressed and then stormed out in the biting cold to go to the office across the street.
“You are going to organize a work party, at least a dozen men and women. We need at least ten stout trees for wood,” Dominus Fenton stated.
“You woke me for that? If it's for the castle, it's your problem,” Stephan said with a shrug.
“It is our problem you fool so get busy. You've got the most people.”
Stephan thought about going out to the woods and supervising the group. He could delegate it. In fact he would, but he wasn't sure who he'd trust. Some might just run off.
Then an idea came to him. He thought it was inspired. “You know what, no.”
“No?”
“Tell that lovestruck twit to do it,” Stephan said as he turned away.
Dominus Fenton scowled but then blinked as he forced himself to think about it. It made sense. Finally he nodded. “You know, that's not a bad idea,” he said as he sat back.
“Anything else?”
“You heard about the ambush?”
“Ambush?”
“Fifteen dead.”
“We got that many of the Imperial scum?” Stephan asked gleefully.
The dominus pursed his lips and shook his head. He saw Stephan's face fell and then grow angry. “We lost that many to an ambush. They were rather clever about it too from the report.”
“How many did they lose?”
“None according to the report. And they stripped the farm and force too,” the dominus said.
“Great,” Stephan said heavily. “So, they'll either cross the border and get to their people or what, attack us? Harry our people? Turn bandit? What?”
“The smart pecunia would say they'd return to their people with warning. I don't know. They are very loyal to their own; the ones in the dungeon have proven that much.” His jaw worked.
“You should let me and my boys have some fun with them,” Stephan said. “We could use some entertainment.”
The dominus looked at him sharply. “We need them alive, not dead.”
“We can send them back alive. Just not necessarily in one piece,” Stephan said with a cold smile.
“No. Now, we have other business to attend to.”
“What, more?” Stephan demanded. He looked at the window. It was still mid-afternoon.
“You have someplace more important to be?” When Stephan went to say yes, the dominus snorted. “Tough. So do I, but we're here so let's get this done.”
“Fine, let's get this over with,” Stephan growled.
“First up, we need more patrols and less attacks on the merchants. They are complaining, and some are threatening to pull out. Your men are hurting their business. That's a problem.”
“I can't help it if they have to supplement their income somehow. It's not like we're paying them much. Patriotism is nice, but it doesn't put food in an empty belly.”
Fenton looked ready to argue but then shook himself.
“Get a handle on it.”
“Sure thing,” Stephan said lazily as he sat back and propped his feet up. “Next?”
The dominus ground his teeth but stuck to his list.
~~~^~~~
Percival informed Siegfried he was going to cut wood the following morning, weather permitting. Siegfried blinked, confused by that news. “Me?”
“Yes, you. It's time you earn your keep.”
Siegfried went to protest but the glare from the knight brought him up short. Instead, he nodded compliantly.
Something eased in the other's eyes. Siegfried realized the knight had been expecting a challenge, possibly even looking forward to it. He wasn't sure if that was good for him long term or not to be so compliant.
“I'll have some people. Bring your own. I want two dozen trees felled and brought back for cutting.”
“Two dozen? With how many men and how many women? And dragging them in this snow?”
Percival laughed. “Then you may take a day or two. But each day you take, I'll add half again as many trees. So, you better figure it out then,” he said nastily before he departed.
~~~^~~~
Zara heard the commotion before first light and checked the window despite the bitter cold from the draft. She watched a reluctant cutting party form up. There were about a dozen men and women; all dispirited from the look of their faces and the way they were huddled together. No doubt none of them wanted to be out of their warm beds at the terrible hour.
“Oh, what are those fools doing now?” she muttered, stroking an imp lying on the back of her hand. He looked up to her, eeped, and then went back to purring softly as she stroked him.
She looked at the group and noted Siegfried. From the look of the axes they were carrying, they were planning to cut wood. She wasn't sure if she should hope they succeed or get eaten by a basilisk.
~~~^~~~
Siegfried was surprised when Percival was there to see them off. His men and women worked at sharpening the axes and tools. He had more than the dozen; he'd had to promise they'd get a cut of the wood and anything they found. It had allowed him to get some draft animals though. He kept reminding himself that many hands made light work.
Percival laughed at him when he asked if some of the Terran weapons would be coming too.
“Of course not,” he muttered. He glanced over his shoulder to the group. Some had spears, some had a broad ax. Well, they couldn't go deep into the forest then.
“Get it done.”
Once they were gone, he organized a hunting party too. He might as well do the best they could at the same time. If they played it right, the cutters would drive the game away so he had the hunters go downwind and then wait. The cutters would act as beaters. Hopefully, it would drive game to them. He sent the hunters out with a partner first, then had his cutters move out the north gate and trudge down the trampled snow-covered road until it turned away from the woods. From there they had to get through the deep snow.
~~~^~~~
Percival was on the battlements when he saw work parties come back with logs and even some men and women carrying or dragging litters of animals.
He went down to meet the lad and nodded. “Nice job,” he said, looking at the haunch of a woodpecker giraffe. It was thin but any meat was better than none. He'd even eat stewed long snout giraffe.
“The hunters have first dibs. And I am taking cuts to the prisoners including the princess. That lout you've got in charge of the forces at the gate already took an entire buck for himself and his men as a toll,” Siegfried said, too tired to couch his words diplomatically.
The knight grimaced but then nodded.
“The rest can go to the kitchens,” Siegfried said. “But I want the meat for the prisoners cooked! And they better get proper portions for at least two days!” he called out to the men taking poles of animals into the kitchens.
“You can have the furs,” the lad said, turning back to the knight.
“And you can do this again next hafta ,” the knight said, turning away.
“Does that mean you agree?”
“Hard to set terms after you bring the catch of the day in. But this time, yes,” the knight said with a nod of approval.
Siegfried felt a bit better of himself at t
hat rare show of approval.
~~~^~~~
Zara watched the work party came in. When she saw the meat, her mouth instinctively watered. She fought it down, focusing on her contempt for the leader of the group. She took a step back when Siegfried looked around and then up to her narrow window.
She sat on her bed and then turned and pulled her feet up so she could wrap her arms around her legs. She didn't want to be beholden to the traitor. That hurt.
~~~^~~~
Olaf watched as the artisan tested more parts. They could produce a few of the parts in the simple tube-loaded weapon. In fact, they were down to just the long tube itself. They had apprentices turning out parts. But his real focus was on the more complex weapons that fired the brass cylinders.
According to the alchemist, the powder was contained in the bottom cylinder. That much they knew. But all the intricate parts of what they called the bolt and trigger were beyond him. Apparently beyond some of the artisans.
He watched as they tried to fit another part and failed. A bit of judicious filing and bending came up with an approximate shape but it wasn't a perfect match.
“I thought this was from a casting?” he rumbled, touching the copy.
“It is. But a casting is nigh perfect. Far from it. This takes time,” the jewelry smith said absently as he worked.
The drott scowled but left him to it. He was coming out of the chamber when he noted the work party's return. He saw the wood and meat and nodded. At least something was going right for once.
~~~^~~~
Despite the orders from above, the prisoners were still cold and hungry. They huddled together whenever the cold got terrible, especially at night. More rags and blankets were dropped on them. Their old ones were confiscated after a dies . They came back two dies later but by then two people died from the cold. One was the servant girl who'd had her hand broken. Augustus wasn't sure if it had been infection from the broken bones or if she'd just given up.
The warden was none too pleased about it. He ordered that they be given more scraps and for one of his guards to give them fresh water and clean up after them.
When the cold got especially terrible during a storm, Augustus ordered them to huddle up as much as the chains would allow.
"Just because we're getting friendly doesn't mean we're friends. I'm just too damn cold to care," Brynhild said tiredly.
Augustus grunted but the humor was leached from his voice. He was too cold and hungry to care. Trying to get off the cold dirt and stone was hard. Their guards had stopped sending down fresh hay and straw.
They were surprised when they were given fresh meat. Some of it was either over cooked or under cooked but each was given a proper portion. Some of it was even still warm.
A few of them were given a bone to gnaw on. “Courtesy of Dominus Siegfried,” the warden said as he slammed the door shut.
“Well, I'll be,” a miles muttered. “The little bastard amounted to something. Though I hate taking his charity.”
“Eat it but do so slowly. Your stomachs have shrunk; don't vomit it back up. Set aside pride. This is about survival,” Augustus ordered. He was careful though to chew the meat, too many teeth had been loose for too long.
~~~^~~~
Zara fed her imps small bits. The imps had learned to hunt at night but couldn't with the cold weather. They huddled with her under the blanket for additional warmth.
When Emma came to deliver food, she had them hide. Some hid under the bed; others hid in the rafters above.
Twice the girl heard her talking and looked around suspiciously but never found anyone. The girl scowled and then thought that Zara was slowly going insane. She smiled at that idea and left her.
Zara realized what the girl had been thinking. She toyed with working on that but decided she didn't want additional interest from their leaders. No, best to play it by ear.
Chapter 39
Gateway Plateau
Once the weather cleared, General Peroit threw a weighted message through the portal back to Earth to requisition better vehicles. He knew it would mean a further delay to their mission.
It also meant that they had to take up residency in the fort and were subject to the native's hospitality. His people had MREs, though he ordered them to conserve them and eat the native food.
He considered returning to Earth himself, but he didn't want to return so early. It might look like he was returning with his tail between his legs and he'd lose his command.
Besides, he needed a vehicle. His drivers and one mechanic were going over the equipment but had found that everything was dead. The computers and batteries had not been insulated enough; they were bricks.
The scientists were pissed over their gear as well and not shy about complaining about the damage. The damage inflicted came from the impact of the two trucks, not just transiting through the portal.
The vehicles had all been heavily loaded. Unfortunately, the planners had been misinformed about the season. One of his urgent requests was for better cold weather gear.
Despite his best diplomatic efforts, he hadn't managed to convince the leader, this legatus to not report their arrival. Short of taking over the fort by force he'd had no choice but let it happen. He just had to factor that into his planning.
~~~^~~~
Doctor Delecroix, the physicist of the science group, ignored the others and worked on setting up his gear in order to study the wormhole. He was concerned about the calibration after the impact but everything looked fine.
He also had some maintenance spares for the gateway equipment. To his surprise a native tech stepped in and helped him. The woman softly informed him that she had been trained to run the maintenance on the gate equipment as well as the equipment in the fort.
~~~^~~~
The next set of vehicles were the two Strykers that had brought Perry and crew back, along with four supply trucks and four other vehicles from Ryan's company. More relief vehicles were promised as well as parts and gear. A driver handed him a chip with contingency orders.
That meant a further delay though. To his irritation the company had sent the volunteers too, including the old hands.
He'd wanted to strip out the vehicles in his impatience to get going but held off. They needed that cold weather gear.
An inventory of the trucks showed that the company had gone through with Ryans' original orders for support. They were carrying electronics, medical supplies, and other gear.
He was thoroughly annoyed with them. "They won't be needing them."
"We'll see," one of the women said, giving him a sharp look.
“We might. Remember, the equipment to keep the gate functional has been in operation for a year,” Doctor Delecroix warned. “I can't shut it all down at once to maintain it. It only has one backup for each major system.”
The general looked at him, then turned to the distant gate and then nodded. He decided to leave off the gear from any discussions with McEntire and his crony. The last thing he needed was to endure any more of their harping. If he wasn't charged with their safety, he was ready to feed them to one of those mythical basilisks one piece at a time.
He looked over to where some of the civilians were still recovering from their trip through the gate. The old hands seemed to have it under control.
He looked back to the fort. His impulse to take over had ended when he'd seen how they had been armed and how many were crammed into the fort. They were there to protect the machinery and anyone who came through. He grudgingly appreciated the sentiment. It would complicate things in the future though.
~~~^~~~
Wanda Smith looked over to her family and then to the other familiar faces around them. For a while there, she'd been unsure they were going to be allowed to return. Definitely something fishy was going on.
She'd had her fill on Earth. It was a madhouse. She wanted to get back to where things made some sense. She sniffed in amusement at that thought. Travel to an alien planet, with ali
ens, medieval natives trying to kill each other, in order to feel normal.
Yeah, that's not nuts, she thought to herself.
“Just a sign of our times,” she murmured over and over to herself.
She wasn't the only one curious about what Max and the others had been up to in their absence.
She sniffed again as the wind shifted and then wrinkled her nose at the sweet-sour smell. She covered her nose as nausea tore at her own stomach.
Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2) Page 51
