He stood up. "General Florz said he was too tired to talk tonight, that we'd discuss this tomorrow. No, by the Dragon! We'll talk about it tonight! This is not a time for sleep!"
He told Jack he did not need him, and he left. Jack sat for a while, thinking, began yawning, and got ready for bed. It seemed to him that he had just closed his eyes when he was being shaken awake.
A sergeant was standing over him.
Jack blinked in the pale light of the oil lantern hanging from the cord in the middle of the tent. He said, "What in hell's wrong, Sergeant?"
"You must be a great lover, you dog," the sergeant said. "There's a woman outside the camp. She says that she has to see you; that it'd be all right to wake you up. Now, when in hell did you get time to even talk to a woman?"
Jack sat up and began to put on his boots. "I haven't."
He stood up, very excited. "Maybe it's my mother or one of my sisters. Oh, God, maybe they got out of the mines alive!"
"She's too young to be your mother. Must be your sister."
"Didn't she say who she was?"
"No. Just said she was one of the women on your father's farm."
"Lunk's daughter?" Jack said. "Was she dark and bony-faced?"
"No, she was blonde and good-looking."
"Elizabeth!"
Jack ran out of the tent, then returned when the sergeant reminded him that he had left his revolver and rifle behind. It was death for a soldier to be caught unarmed during the campaign.
Jack thanked him and resumed his running. Near the borders of the camp, he slowed to a fast walk. He did not want some trigger-skitty sentry shooting at him.
The camp had been ringed by the steamers, all of which pointed outward. Every third one had at least two men standing duty by it, and these had built fires outside to keep warm. A sentry challenged him; Jack gave the proper password. He asked the fellow where the woman who wanted Jack Cage was. The sentry pointed at a small fire about a hundred and fifty yards outside the camp. That was as close as the woman had been allowed to come.
He ran across the frozen ground, his breath coming out in steam. During the day, the snow was thawing, but it was still quite cold at night. He almost slipped on a thin patch of snow. Then he was with the heavily bundled figure that had been standing by the fire.
"Elizabeth!" he cried. He enfolded her in his arms and began to weep.
A soft familiar voice murmured, "No, Jack. R'li."
He stepped back. For a moment, he could not speak.
"You? What. . . how? What are you doing here? I thought. . .?
"I went back to my home, Jack. But the cadmi had already been blown up. Everybody was dead. So, I went to the valley in the Thrruk. But we heard about the war between the humans and the Wiyr. We could not stay there in safety while our fellows were being slaughtered. We organized in small harrying groups; I was in one.
"Finally, after almost being killed or captured several times, I was forced into taking refuge in a cadmus that was still holding out. We thought we would all be dead in a few days, because the humans had dug great holes under the cadmi boneplates and were getting ready to place mines under it.
"Then we heard about the Socinians. Our besiegers left us; I suppose they joined in defense of Merrimoth. I hoped that you would be in the invading Socinian force, so I came here. And. . . here I am."
Jack crushed her to him and kissed her violently. "You don't know how I missed you!" he said over and over.
"I was afraid that you would hate me because I left you."
"I did for a long time. Finally I told myself that you could not help yourself. You had been a horstel too long. Then I began missing you. There were nights when I couldn't sleep because of thinking about you. I planned to go looking for you when this was over. But I never really expected to find you. It would have been too good of God to have permitted me to love you again, to hold you in my arms."
He stood irresolute. "I can't let you stay out here all alone. There are too many stragglers around. I don't want to find you just to lose you. But I can't take you back to camp with me. They're strict as hell about discipline.
"Still, the Earthmen -- you've heard about them, yes? -- have made a change in our plans. We'll stay here until something is settled. So. . . but where can you be safe?"
"My cadmus is only five miles away. Even though it's so close to Merrimoth, it's a large one and situated on top of a plateau on a high hill. It was easily defended; the humans lost many before they forced us to go underground. I can return there and be safe."
"I'll go back with you as far as your home," he said. "I don't want you killed by any skulkers. Hell, I'll desert! I'll stay with you!"
She smiled, shook her head, and touched him lovingly. "No, I won't allow you to place yourself in peril again for me. If the Socinians came after you, they'd shoot you. No."
"I'll at least go back with you."
"It's not necessary. I have an escort hiding back in the shadows. I am the daughter of an O-Reg, you know."
They talked for an hour, kissed, wished they could have some privacy. Then, gently but firmly, R'li said au revoir, and she walked away into the darkness. Jack returned to camp, where he had to endure some obscene but good-natured jests. By the time he got back to the tent, it was dawn. Chuckswilly met him outside the flap.
Surprised, he asked Jack Cage where he had been. Jack told him. Chuckswilly seemed pleased, but his spirits soon faded. He had Jack make some more hot totum water.
"Florz was too stunned and awed to take any action. I didn't think he was going to do anything. We can't just sit here on our numb butts, so I farspoke to headquarters in Socinia. They agreed they need a man who can take positive action. They spoke to Florz. He was no longer much use to them. So, tomorrow, he returns to Socinia to get a hero's welcome. Big parade, speeches, flowers, wine, women.
"I'm now in command."
Chuckswilly rose from the table, clenched his hands behind him, and paced back and forth.
"It's not been an easy decision to make. If we attack, we will probably be annihilated. Or the ship will just rise into the air and leave us helpless. If we do nothing, we may get a few crumbs of knowledge from their lordly table. But not much. They wouldn't want us to know too much. We might be too well armed when they return.
"We need their science. The Arra might come before the Earthmen's second ship does. We'd be helpless. Furthermore, if we could seize the ship and its crew, it might be a hundred years or more before another Earth ship came this way. And when it did, we'd be ready for them and for the Arra and the Egzwi, also."
"You intend to attack, sir?"
"Yes. But how! As long as the ship is sealed shut, we could do nothing. Our cannons wouldn't hurt it, I'll bet my kilt on that. Nor can we get close enough to rush inside when the port opens. Their captain was kind enough to let me know that they have detection devices that would forestall that.
"In fact, for all I know, my words may even now be overheard by their devilish machines!"
"It seems to me, sir, that you have only two chances and those not very good. You can seize the captain and whoever is with him when they next come out. Or you can talk him into taking some Socinians back to Earth with him. Then, somehow, the Socinians seize the ship and return with it."
"Socinian passengers wouldn't be able to steer that vessel. Even if they should force some Earthmen to do it for them, it's likely that the Earthmen would wreck the vessel rather than allow it to fall in our hands. There's always a hero or two aboard any ship.
"But. . . hmmm!. . . if enough of us could get invited aboard for dinner or an inspection trip, then. . ."
"They'd take precautions against treachery."
"It wouldn't be treachery if we didn't give our word not to attempt anything."
Chuckswilly abruptly went to bed and Jack did the same a few minutes later. However, he had slept only two hours when his superior awakened him. The Earth vessel had opened its port ramp again, and Swans
on and others had come out. This time they were in a vehicle of their own. It was small, needle-shaped, and floated several feet off the ground. It was heading toward the camp.
Chuckswilly flew into a frenzy of action. He gave instructions to twelve officers, made them repeat them, so there would be no mistake. If they saw him give a certain signal, they would jump upon the men, as planned, and overpower them. The aliens were to be silenced at once, and the officers were also to be silenced. Should the Earthmen have devices on them that could transmit sound to the ship, the devices must register nothing suspicious. Captain Swanson would then be taken away, out of earshot of the others, stripped of any farspeaking equipment, and told what he must do if he wished to live. If he agreed, then he must be returned at once to the group so that he could talk as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, the others would be removed and given the same choice as the captain. Then the aliens and their captors would go to the ship. They would enter, and the Socinians would attempt to hold the port open long enough for a force, which was already stationed at the edge of the plain, to rush in.
To effect Chuckswilly's plan, the Socinians would take the Earthmen's hand-weapons, find out how to fire them, and then use them inside the ship.
If Chuckswilly's men observed no signal during the conference, they should treat the Earthmen as honored guests.
"It's a weak and wild plan," Chuckswilly said to Jack. "A weakness and wildness born out of desperation. If one of Swanson's officers decides to sacrifice himself to save the ship and yells, we've lost. Even if we get inside the ship, we may not be able to get to the control room -- whatever a control room looks like!"
The Earthmen arrived. They were surprised to find that Chuckswilly was now general, but they complimented him. Swanson said that he had decided that the Arra were too important to Earth to delay reporting about them. The United would leave within a week.
However, he did want to make arrangements to leave a certain number of technicians, engineers, and scientists behind. These would not only gather data on the planet and its life and history but would help actively in Socinia's progress. Convinced that the Socinians would not only win their campaigns but should, because Dare would then be a single people, the Earthmen had decided to recognize Socinia as the de facto government of the planet.
"However," Swanson continued, through the two interpreters, "it's necessary that we make an official treaty. It's equally important that we establish a base for those we're leaving behind. We will leave certain equipment there, and our men will operate out of there. I suggest that some of your men, perhaps even you, General Chuckswilly, come with us to Socinia's capital. You can explain to the head of your state who and what we are and what we'd like."
Chuckswilly smiled. Only Jack knew what lay behind that smile. Chuckswilly said, "Our army should continue at once to the borders. But you are even more important than the conquest. My colonel-general can lead our forces while I accompany you to Greathopes."
"Would you like to complete your conquests with an absolute minimum of bloodshed?" Swanson said. "If you could hold up your advances, we might be able to supply you later with this means."
"We have several that could do the job," the alien captain replied. "But I was specifically thinking of a gas which would render your enemy unconscious for a few hours. We also have a device for paralyzing individual combatants at short range, out of gunshot, that is."
"Very well," Chuckswilly said briskly. "I'll make all the arrangements with the capital by farspeaker. And I'll take about ten of my staff with me."
"I'm sorry, but we don't have accommodations for that many,'' Swanson said.
Chuckswilly hid his frustration and the knowledge that the captain was lying. He asked if he could take at least four, and Swanson agreed. They left without Chuckswilly giving the signal.
Jack said, "May I take R'li along, sir? I'd like to see her safe in Socinia.''
"Not a bad idea. Maybe if the Earthmen see us bring a female along, they'll worry less about our trying to seize the ship."
"You're still thinking about doing that?"
"If I get the slightest chance," Chuckswilly said. He wrote some names on a paper and handed the paper to Jack. "Now, before you go for your siren, summon these men. They're bold and quick."
Several hours later Jack drove back into the camp with R'li beside him. He had explained to her what might happen and told her that it might be better if she did not come with him. But she had insisted that she preferred to be with him.
On the way back to camp, Jack had said, "I've been thinking about what Swanson said. That Earthmen are one now, Earthmen everywhere. But the Socinians don't want that. They want Dare for themselves. Yet they argue that their war is justified because it will unite Dare and make it strong enough to present a solid front against the Arra or Egzwi.
"Now the tables are turned. Earth could make us one. And we need them, they're an absolute necessity. So what if we do lose our language, our religions, our customs? They are lost just as much under Socinian rule. Besides, they don't matter. Chuckswilly himself said that they would have to perish; a new culture will arise. The difference now is that it'll be Earth culture, not Socinian."
"What do you intend to do about it?" she said.
"I don't know, I was a traitor to my country once because I believed that it was an evil thing. Can I be a traitor a second time? I'd be even more justified in this situation. But I'm in agony. Was I a traitor because I have no loyalty and I'm an opportunist? Or are my motives really justified?''
On arriving at the general's tent, Jack and R'li were greeted by Chuckswilly. He took Jack aside and said, "You won't have to do anything while we're on the ship. In fact, to show the Earthmen I intend no treachery, you, R'li, the priest, and myself will be the only ones going."
"Why?" Jack said. He knew Chuckswilly well enough to guess that he had a far better plan.
"There's a meadow near the People's House," Chuckswilly said, referring to the mansion in which the Socinian head of state lived. "Thousands of men are digging like barefoxes now. They'll plant a huge quantity of mines in the hole, cover it up, and replace the grass. I'll direct the Earthmen to land there. There's no reason why they should refuse, they're so smug about their invulnerability. After the port has been opened for the Earth delegation and us to go to the People's House, the mines will be set off.
"We don't think the explosion will harm the ship in the slightest. But the shock waves going through the vessel should either kill the occupants or knock them out. Our soldiers will rush in immediately after the explosion, board, and take the ship."
Chuckswilly walked back and forth, grinning triumphantly.
"What about the next Earth expedition?" Jack said.
"If we're ready, we fight them. If not, we won't even have to let them know that the United ever came to Dare. And we'll take them too!"
Chuckswilly continued talking and did not stop until word came that Swanson was ready to go. Chuckswilly said he was not quite ready yet. He got into contact with the capital via farspeaker to inquire how far the work on the mine-trap had progressed. He was told to delay for another two hours. Chuckswilly sent a message to Swanson that the Socinian president was still in conference with his cabinet on terms of the treaty. But he would send word as soon as the conference was ended. The Earthmen did not need to be in any hurry, since they had said the ship could fly to the capital in an hour.
"That'll give us at least three hours," Chuckswilly said to Jack.
Jack thought the time would never arrive. He sat by the farspeaker, waiting for a message from the capital. R'li sat on a chair near him. She looked strange to him in clothes; moreover, she had a strained expression. Finally, when Chuckswilly had left the tent for a minute, Jack said, "What are you thinking?"
"At first, I was thinking about the old ways and how they're lost forever. You can't possibly know what this means to a Wiyr. Despite the faults of human society, humans are more adaptable -- as a
general rule. However, I can make the change. To survive, I must.
"But Socinia, which once represented the new ways, has suddenly become the old itself. Its ideals, if ever they were valid, are no longer so. Therefore, it should go down into the dust as surely as the humans and horstels went before the horman. It's logical and just."
Jack did not reply, but he was thinking much. Two hours passed. An additional half hour. Then the far-speaker came to life. The trap was set.
Chuckswilly, Jack, R'li, and Bishop Passes rode out to the United. They carried no weapons, for Chuckswilly wanted to convince the Earthmen that no treachery was intended. They entered; the port closed; the vessel left the ground.
Captain Swanson and Father Goodrich wore small black boxes, suspended by cords from their necks. From each box, a wire ran to a plug inserted in the wearer's ear. Swanson took similar boxes from a table and handed one to each Darian. Through the priests, he explained.
"This device should help us to speak without too much recourse to interpreters. My converter will receive your English speech, give those words that need it the vowel values of my English, and transmit the words as speech with Terrestrial English pronunciation -- General Midwestern American, to be specific.
"It's not a perfect interpreter, because your English has quite a few vocabulary differences. You've retained words that have dropped out of our speech. Some that both speeches still use now have different meanings. You've borrowed a number of words from the horstels. And your syntax is somewhat different. However, I think we can manage at least a ninety-per-cent understanding.
"Your devices convert my vowel pronunciations into yours."
They tried out the converters. Although the words coming into his ear sounded metallic and inhuman, and the vowel correspondences were not quite exact, Jack soon got over his uncomfortable feeling. He could comprehend most of what Swanson said. The main difficulty was that he could hear Swanson speaking with double voices. However, since Swanson's native speech was unintelligible, it was only a distracting noise. Jack learned to ignore it.
Dare - rtf Page 18
