Chapter 13: Nighttime Activities

Tanda Havra stood in silence after she finished her report to Chief Vall. He in turn regarded her without expression as he mulled her words.

"Did you deliberately reveal your position to the Hostigi?" Manistewa asked after the silence had grown uncomfortable.

Tanda had left that part out of her report. She looked directly at the Chief. "Tazi moved. They had just fired one of the mortars and she didn't have a good spot to see what happened. So she stood up and moved to shade her eyes. She was outlined on the horizon and half a dozen people saw her move."

"Is there anything else you left out?" Chief Vall growled, obviously not happy.

"Yes. I've already reported that a number of times William Tucker has spoken to me in English. When we were alone, he did it again. He said, 'Hold your friends close and your enemies closer.' He said that immediately after he told me about his feelings for me."

"Why should he suspect you?" Manistewa seemed genuinely surprised.

Tanda looked at him and sniffed in derision. "You are a spy; they all know it, have known it for a long time. I am your cousin; I do things that are odd. I'm not like you and I'm not like the villagers. He knows the Paratime Secret; we know he does. A good cover for a spy is being a spy."

"And Calvin Morrison has never had anyone to talk over his experiences with. Any of these five people, if they talked about what happened to them could, together, quickly work through the whole thing," Chief Vall said. He rubbed his chin reflectively. "It would be stupid to think that Tuck and his charges haven't done that very thing.

"Moreover they must know that we and they look the same and that anyone could be a spy. A fool would trust anyone, even one with a history before they arrived; these people aren't fools.

"The worst thing is contemplating what will happen if they and the High King compare notes. The High King is intelligent and capable; I'm sure he suspects that we're watching him. I consider it virtually certain that he's had me followed several times." He made a dismissive gesture with his hand.

"If I could not bring myself to kill him for knowing the Paratime Secret, but doing what he could to protect it -- I can't very well kill five people for doing the same. They know they were kidnapped and taken elsewhere and elsewhen. Neither the High King nor Tuck is stupid. They can figure out that if they start talking about travelers and watchers they will be found dead sooner rather than later.

"They have arrived in an alien place and have reached an accommodation with it."

"And you have violated your oath," Tanda pointed out, "about revealing the Paratime Secret. If we were to simply tell them 'Don't talk about it, on pain of death, ' that would break our oaths."

"It would," the Chief agreed.

"Now," Verkan Vall went on, "we come to this notion of attaches. Like Kalvan, Tuck is a very clever man."

"It's not a problem for us," Manistewa told his boss. "It's routine, in fact. We use a lot of locals in various positions to keep suspicions down to a minimum."

Verkan Vall nodded. "And you, Tanda? How do you feel about such an assignment?"

Tanda shrugged. "As you said, he is clever. We get to spy on the Hostigi with their blessing. He keeps me close. He says he has romantic intentions towards me. He doesn't seem like the sort of person who would normally come out and say something like that until he thought those intentions might be mutual."

"Are they?" the Chief asked, probing.

Tanda shrugged. Such things were virtually never permitted. "He's not as ugly as Manistewa," Tanda said, trying to keep her tone light.

"The Paracops are famous for putting the mission ahead of personal considerations," Verkan told her. "Right up to sleeping with someone. However, it is always left to the individual. You may, Tanda, do as you wish."

"If there is any romance," she told him forthrightly, "it will be real and not feigned."

"Once upon a time, my wife considered trying out some theories of reincarnation. Real, not feigned."

Tanda blinked. In order to do that you'd have to die.

The Chief grinned at her expression. "Yes, there's that downside. Instead, we tried it out on some other folks. I never wanted to know the results. All I know is Lady Dalla smiled like a Cheshire cat for weeks and weeks and gave a long paper at a meeting of people who investigate such things."

Tanda shivered. That was carrying devotion to duty to another level.

"So, now what?" Manistewa asked.

"I'm supposed to report to Count Tellan in the morning if you agree."

"Oh, I agree," Manistewa said, then looked at Chief Vall. "We are agreed, aren't we?"

"We are," the Chief told him. "And I'm about to head east. I need to spend some time at Headquarters, and then I need to be close to Kalvan when word of the invasion reaches him. We have an eye on the courier headed towards Xiphlon from along the frontier, where the Mexicotal are coming north in very large numbers. Certainly more than a million men."

"And will the High King be able to defeat them?" Manistewa asked soberly.

The Chief of the Paratime Police stood up. "You have no need to know, but I'll tell you anyway. Tube mortars are the very least of the surprises the High King has in store for the Mexicotal. The Zarthani will take a little longer, as the distance is great.

"You have, no doubt, heard about the High King's road building projects?"

Manistewa nodded, Tanda shrugged.

"Well, small details of construction are hardly worth comment. The roads are gravel, on graded beds. There are trestle bridges over all streams and rivers. Two things are worthy of note. One is that there are no unbridged crossings between Harphax City and Xiphlon. The second is that many people think the High King is daft. He put solid iron rails down the road, dividing the road into two lanes -- one for each direction. He's told people the rails are to keep drivers from falling asleep and swerving into the oncoming traffic."

"Pardon?" Manistewa said, uncertain. "That doesn't make much sense. A simple wooden barrier would suffice and would be much cheaper."

"You'd think so. But as strange as that is, the High King's inspectors make sure those rails stay the same distance apart. About four feet... about the width of a rail car."

"He's built a railroad? In secret?" Manistewa's eyes goggled in surprise. "That's incredible! Does he have enough rolling stock to be effective?"

"Two weeks after the dispatch reaches Xiphlon, fifty thousand of Harmakros' First Mounted Rifles will be in Xiphlon stepping off the trains, mounting their horses and heading southwest. Every two weeks after that, another fifty thousand men. The plan is to send Harmakros, then two more loads, the High King with the second. With a hundred thousand men of his own, the High King will take the field. Harmakros is supposed to skirmish against the Mexicotal vanguard, to slow them down until the High King arrives. Two moons, more or less, before Harmakros fights his first Mexicotal. Another moon and the High King will be there with two hundred thousand of his finest soldiers.

"The High King will call out all of the levies. He will feed a hundred thousand fresh soldiers into the battle every moon. And a good many of those levies will be busy extending track towards the southwest. Before the first snowfall in Hostigos, the High King is going to have his entire army facing the Mexicotal. Next spring, he'll be taking it to the Zarthani, here."

There was silence in the room. Chief Vall waved something that might have been a salute and was gone.

"We are in the midst of a war commanded by a very clever man," Manistewa said, his voice a little bitter. "Facing men of unsurpassed evil and cruelty. We all need to be careful, Tanda."

"Are you going to stay in Outpost?" she asked.

He nodded. "I'll be sending most of the families away. The few that will remain will be Paracops. If worst comes to worst, we'll take a conveyor and burn the base."

Tanda looked at him for a long moment. "And the attache?"

"Will have to take the same chances as the rest of his people."

"You understand, don't you, Mannie, that I won't be there for the evacuation?"

He grimaced. "I could try to make you, but that wouldn't work. Tanda, it's easy to feel sympathy towards Out Timers. They are, after all, human, just like we are. But they are still Out Timers."

"Mannie, one day First Level will reap what it has sown. The Paratime Secret is like any secret: no matter how hard you try to protect it, at some point it will get out. And I don't think the 'Out Timers' are going to think very kindly of us. At best, we study them like ants under a microscope. At worst, we enslave them; we steal their art, their finished goods and their resources. We kill them like vermin if it suits our needs."

"You should get some sleep, Tanda," he said, ignoring her comment. "And stop talking about 'us' when you quite clearly mean 'you guys.'"

Judy Bondi was roused early when one of the servants shook her awake. "My Lady," the girl, a little younger than Judy, bowed slightly. "They said to wake you, a palm-width before Cock's Crow."

"Thank you," Judy managed.

"In the Council Chamber, my Lady, as soon as you are ready."

Judy went and splashed water on her face, spent a few minutes brushing the worst of the tangles out of her hair. Was this part of the 'make-Judy-wish-she-should-reconsider' effort that she was sure was going to come?

She remembered something her brother had said. "I thought it was BS when they'd wake us at three in the morning in Basic. Then when I got to Nam, that's when you get up so you're set at dawn; that's the time Charley prefers to attack, right out of the rising sun."

So, maybe not.

She donned a fresh pair of underwear, jeans and a blouse. The women here didn't wear bras; they wore strips of material they wrapped around their chests that were supposed to serve the same purpose. Some wore the strips, some didn't; it was a matter of personal choice. Judy didn't bother.

She walked down dimly lit corridors until she came to the Council Chamber. Tuck was there, but obviously he'd just arrived. The count was there; he looked like he'd never left. A few minutes after Judy entered, so did Gamelin and Vosper, then two more officers. Tanda Havra came last, with her friend Tazi once more in tow.

Count Tellan stood, walked a few feet and unrolled a map of the area. It took Judy a few seconds to orient herself. The familiar boundaries of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada were gone. All that was on the maps were squiggles for rivers and mountains.

"I have formulated my own plan for how to defend Outpost," Count Tellan announced. "Tuck, before I speak my plan, I would like to hear yours."

It was, Judy thought, a setup, because Tuck had written notes in front of him.

"My Lord Count..." Tuck started.

Count Tellan raised his hand and Tuck stopped talking. "We meet here in War Council. I command. I have officers who command others. We will be polite, but not formal. Use 'sir' when referring to a senior, 'Count Tellan' referring to me, and names referring to equals and juniors."

"Count Tellan," Tuck continued, "in my service with my king, the one thing we counted as the most important was knowledge of our enemy. Any knowledge, all knowledge. No detail was unimportant. Location of enemy bases, supply lines. Company names, locations and strengths. Who commands a unit and what is that man's personal history? The history of the unit? Who are the officers and what is their experience? How are companies equipped; how much does the average soldier carry in his pack? How much fireseed, how many bullets, what tools, how much food? No detail was too small.

"The information must be timely. It does little good to know that last year a company was in one spot and it's not known where it is today.

"So, the first order of business must be finding out where and how many your enemy numbers. The supply route must be located and thoroughly scouted. You need to know how many wagons are traveling on it at any time, where they are located, what they are loaded with, where are they bound and for what purpose.

"Obviously, no army can learn all these things about an enemy. Details have to be checked; your enemy has no obligation to tell you the truth."

"And why would they tell us anything at all?" Captain Leitnos growled.

"Because men taken prisoner, if treated well, will sometimes volunteer the most extraordinary things," Tuck went on. "Beat them and of course they will close their mouths, or worse, lie. To many soldiers, what they are about is simple and unimportant. Their officers are feckless tyrants who don't understand them. These attitudes can be used to your advantage."

"You advocate then," Count Tellan said politely, "that our scout patrols attempt to take prisoners?"

"Yes, sir. Obviously, a prisoner is a great risk to a patrol. A hostile presence, who, at the wrong time, can give the patrol away. Obviously, it is a judgment call about whether or when to let a possible prisoner go, but sometimes the knowledge that you treat prisoners well can bring great rewards, rewards worth the risks."

"It is Galzar's Way," Gamelin said simply. Judy looked at him, aware that everyone else in the chamber was looking at Gamelin.

Gamelin simply sat quietly, saying nothing further.

"It is indeed Galzar's Way," Count Tellan added. "And what do we do to their prisoners, Tuck, when they kill ours out of hand? Or take them south to be sacrificed to the Mexicotal God-King?"

"Send a few back with a message: treat your prisoners well, or theirs will also be killed out of hand. Perhaps they are fanatics and don't mind dying uselessly. Mostly, even fanatics, given a choice, choose differently. Tell them we'll exchange prisoners, if nothing else. Capture officers; capture their priests. Take hostages."

Count Tellan nodded. "But, scout the enemy?"

"That has to be the first thing, Count Tellan," Tuck replied. "If you know what they are going to do next, you have a chance to catch them unawares; do to them before they do to you. Count, if they are reacting to your attacks, they are on the defensive. No one on the defensive has ever won a war."

"That is the truth," Count Tellan agreed. "And if we know where they are and how strong they are, we can field a stronger force and catch them by surprise. That is good."

"Ambushes, Count," Tuck went on. "They will have patrols out. If you can see them before they see you, you can ambush them. If they are ambushed often, it will affect their thinking. They will put more men with their patrols."

"And what good is that?" asked the officer that had come with Captain Leitnos.

"If you use two men to do one man's work," Tuck told him, "the extra effort is wasted. You get half the work."

"If," Count Tellan spoke up, "their patrols have to be two or three times the size they have to be, it means they can run only half or a third as many patrols. Consider that, Captain Furia."

The captain bobbed his head in understanding.

"So first, we will scout their advance," Count Tellan said. "And obviously, as you have said, it is our intention to strike them at their weak spots."

"Count Tellan, I tell you true. Those attacks have to be very carefully thought out. The first time you strike will have ten thousand times the surprise and impact of the tenth attack. If possible, use the mortars against the biggest, fattest target out there."

Count Tellan walked to the map and touched a spot with his finger. "They are building a camp, here, to base their advance against Outpost."

"Are they continuing to advance or has their vanguard stopped there?" Tuck asked.

"They patrol, but the bulk of their forces are around this camp. There are horse caravans arriving, I'm told, but no wagons."

Tuck nodded in understanding. "They have outrun their supplies, even now."

Count Tellan nodded in agreement.

"That has to show how dangerous their position is," Tuck continued. He got up and walked up to the map, and put his finger down on the same spot the count had touched. "The first attack should be here."

"That's insane!" Captain Leitnos spat with anger. "Attack their main force? We'd be destroyed!"

"How many mortars do you have, Count Tellan?" Tuck asked. The two men's eyes met.

"Four dozen, about a thousand rounds for each. The High King's message told me that such weapons eat ammunition at an astonishing rate."

"Six, then," Tuck suggested. "Eighteen rounds for each. A dozen rounds to be used in the initial attack, four more to use against the initial pursuit, two as a reserve."

Captain Leitnos' jaw dropped. "Not even twenty rounds? They will simply ride you over in a finger-width! That's if you survive to fire a single round, as they see you setting up!"

Tuck grinned. "Captain, it will be in the middle of the night. They will see nothing." Tuck turned to Judy. "Do you have a hairbrush?"