by Pj Belanger
and give them a good drink. You should be able to make it back here after that. We’ll have plenty of food for your mounts.
“I assume that we will again meet up with the Sergeant by the lake?” she saw Polk nod. “Then we will return to the base?”
“Yes. I’ll debrief you and then you and your contingent can leave,” he said. Yoria started following her team out of the briefing room but General Martin called her back. “This isn’t going to be easy,” his voice held regret. “Don’t think we don’t realize that, Yoria. I wish we had more intelligence for you. I can’t even tell you what you’ll encounter at the top of the plateau.”
“It’s all right, Sir. We’ll mange, we always do.” And with that she left heading toward the holding pens.
The beast enclosure could only be described as controlled chaos. The handlers were placing the harness saddles on the beasts with huge saddlebags attached to the back. The riders were keeping the beasts as calm as possible, giving them the last water they’d see in two days. The lizards, however, didn’t need to replenish their liquids often unlike their human masters. Still, they let the reptiles drink as much as they wanted. Even though the arid dry land was ideal for the beasts, being very similar to their own planet environment, the landscape was still very hot and they were going to be ridden hard.
Yoria went over to her mount grabbing the beast’s bridle from the handler. She’d named her Lady Lily, mostly because the title didn’t fit the massive lizard at all. This beast was anything but a Lady. Her breath was bad, her body odor worse. When Lily opened her mouth and roared it was ear shattering and her breath heated and steamy.
Yoria made eye contact with her huge mount. It was a technique that every rider first learned. Take command by staring intently into the small beady intelligent eyes and don’t let up until the beast calms completely down. Most sat quietly on their haunches swishing their tails gently. Then and only then could you feed or do anything with the animal. A rider’s ability was defined by how well eye contact worked. Few managed to master it. It took a lot of courage to stand before a four-ton animal that could easily swallow you whole for a snack, never mind the huge six-ton Reds.
“You are as ready as we can make you,” Makebee told her. “Their stomachs are full, their liquid bladder pouches are filled. Good luck out there, you’re going to need it. Wish we could be there with you but we’ll be waiting when you return to take over.”
“Thanks Corporal,” she saluted him. “I don’t know what we’d do without you. I just hope we’ll be able to manage out there alone but rules are rules. Damn Federation!”
“Yeah, they don’t make it easy but I suppose they have their reasons for keeping it simple and primitive. See you in a couple of days.” The head handler saluted her one last time. Makebee proceeded to check every one of the beasts. Yoria, as did all the riders, did a walk around of her animal. Although she explicitly trusted her lead handler, it was standard procedure for every rider to double-check his or her mount. Her eyes scanned the huge body for any sores, cuts or missing scales. Lady Lily was fine.
Then came the equipment check. The bridle was secure and tight. Unseen, were small metal clips on the inside that pinched the beasts to encourage obedience as to the direction they were suppose to go. Yoria tugged on the saddle’s cinch, also tight and secure.
The saddle had been made to look crude since most of these worlds had not progressed that far in leather and metallurgy. This assignment needed a “harness” saddle. Strong straps were attached to the body of the saddle; these were used to keep a rider on the beast as it climbed a mountainside. Also at the head of the saddle were two handles to grab on to. These aided further in keeping the rider in place.
For this deployment, extra large saddlebags were added, each disguised as sheepskin pouches. They were full to capacity with extra food for the beasts; mostly sheep and pig parts that had been preserved in a brine solution. It wasn’t that the beast wouldn’t eat rotten meat, since they were scavengers on their own native planet, but the smell of decaying meat was horrendous and the riders had enough to cope with.
Yoria finally climbed up, using the large reptile’s scales to reach the saddle. Swinging her leg over she settled in. The saddle wasn’t that comfortable but she had developed calluses in just the right places and no longer noticed. Every time she got on the beast’s back, the size of Lily struck her with amazement. The feeling of massive brutal strength hit home.
She adjusted her earpiece. Every rider had one, one of the few tech devices allowed. They were small plugs that fit deep into the ear cavity and were unnoticeable by the natives. She touched her necklace amulet. It looked old and of this world. It was in reality a translator and microphone. It was Yoria’s alone to operate. The communicator was allowed by the Federation to be used only by the Commander and only to connect infrequently with her team and once with home base to report that their work was finished. Her riders, although they could hear her, did not have the capability to answer.
Every one of her riders was proficient in sign language. Audible words were to be kept to a minimum, only when the natives were not around. Seeing that everything was ready, she waved her hands forward as the command to move out. Yoria watched as each of the other eleven riders rode past Lily. Each soldier, as was the tradition, saluted her. Finally, she joined the end of the line and headed out into the barren land, leaving the temporary army base behind. Quite a few of the base’s personnel had come to watch their departure; most used binoculars, afraid to get any closer.
The sun’s rays were directly overhead making the heat excruciating but it was something the riders always dealt with. Their skins were dark from the constant tanning. Each one had been treated back at the central army medical space station with skin protection. The riders had inoculations for every known disease and still it wasn’t unknown for them to catch some new virus from all the worlds they visited. It was part of the risks. It was part of their lives.
Polk, good as his word, rode along with them. He had two sleek almost gazelle-like horses. They kept right up with the beasts that could do seventy miles a day if pushed. She kept them at a slower pace of about fifty. From the map it showed a little less than ninety miles to Hellgate and she wanted the lizards in good shape for the climb up the cliff.
Yoria, now leading the pack, kept Calston’s Red beast to her right as they followed two by two. She didn’t trust the immense animal and wanted to keep it in her sight at all times. They saw no one. To their left and right, steep rocky plateaus and high peaked mountains dotted the hot desert landscape. The majority of nearby villages were congregated near the large lake to their left. This route took them miles out of the way so no encounter would be likely. The least contact with the natives the better.
It wasn’t until late afternoon that the village they call Ponstria came into view. She had read the reports. The village was strategically placed between two mountain ranges. The valley had a small river running right down the middle of it. Beyond was the Hellgate Plains. The community was the largest trading center in this barren region. Thus the village was relatively peaceful as fat-cat merchants kept it that way.
“Stay here until I come and get you,” Sergeant Polk told them. “I have to get the Chief to walk us through the village. I also have to deal with their witch doctor, who can be a royal pain in the ass.”
So they all took the opportunity to dismount and stretch. Each rider went in front of their mounts gazing intently into their eyes and giving the hand sign for “stay”. The beasts did indeed just lie lazily in the sun, occasionally rolling side to side in the dusty dirt. Even the Red seemed to doze quietly, only occasionally letting out a giant roar then settling back down again. Still, none of the riders wandered far from their care but stood close by just in case the unpredictable beasts acted up.
Finally, Polk came riding back. “Well, I’ve prepared them the best I can. Even though I always stress the immensity of these animals, they’ll still be surprised and fright
ened. I’m having trouble with the Chief letting us have the number of cattle we requested.”
“We need those to feed the beasts,” Yoria insisted. “He either gives us the livestock or we’ll take them!”
“I’m sure he’s just blustering. After all, this is a trading hub. I will just have to promise him more. Don’t worry. Just be prepared for the kooky witch doctor. I swear the man is totally crazy!”
She gave the signal to remount and once again the beasts headed toward the village. She was surprised to see how large the village was with several sizeable meeting huts and tons of thatch-roofed shacks made of crude mud brick. As they approached two men came toward them. Each was of a hefty build with protruding round bellies. Upon seeing the beasts both men stopped and one of them quickly turned and ran back. The other slowly advanced, seeming to dance as he came closer. Ah, the witch doctor, Yoria thought, and grimaced. She’d dealt with these clowns before. Their egos were all the same, huge.
Still, the raggedly dressed shaman stopped short of approaching too closely. Polk rode out and talked animatedly with the man and slowly brought him nearer. The seer rattled his beads in the air, chanting loudly as he did so. The
