Chapter 16: The Raid -- Aftermath

Judy Bondi watched Tuck, laying full length across the rocks, still warm from the afternoon sun. She knew enough of his moods now to know that since he didn't have his hat down over his eyes, he was truly concerned.

Across the river, a few fires lit the night, backlighting the low walls of the Zarthani fort. There had been no sound since Captain Leitnos and the others had moved out, two palm-widths before. No sound, no trace of them.

That had to be, she thought, a good sign. They should be ready now for the moment when Captain Leitnos would fire the first round. If they'd been found out, there would be shooting, a great hullabaloo.

Tanda Havra and Tazi were a few yards off to one side, watching for anyone to approach from that direction. Judy hadn't had any more luck seeing either of them than she'd seen of the soldiers.

Gamelin. The name echoed in the halls of her mind. She really, really wanted him to come back safe. She shouldn't be thinking things like she'd been thinking lately. She was too young; too young at home and even too young here. But they had let her come along. Now she knew what Tuck was up to. Doing something, you focus on that, and what you have to do, no matter how painful, is bearable. Just sitting on your haunches, waiting for something to happen... Worrying about someone out there in the dark might do right or wrong was nearly unbearable.

She was well down the road of feeling sorry for herself when she heard the sound of the first mortar shot. Only one of the first six shells fell outside of the fort and that was close to the wall.

Then the bombardment began in earnest. Mostly she'd only seen one mortar fire at a time, single, aimed shots. Now explosions rippled inside the Zarthani fort. There were a few rifle shots at first, but the number steadily ratcheted upwards.

Then the night split asunder as a huge fireball rose over the northern part of their camp. Judy literally fell over, so startled she was. She started to get up and Tuck brought her up short.

"Stay down! Protect your head!"

She put her hands over her head, thinking Tuck was being over cautious. Then, around her came soft thuds and thumps as bits and pieces landed around them.

There was a pause all around. For a second the mortars were stilled, as was the shooting from inside the fort. Then the mortars fired their last few shots, including some on the Mexicotal camp. The last was hard; the Mexicotal had done the one thing that was effective: they doused their fires. Except there were dozens of fires in the fort, and the Mexicotal soldiers were clearly lit by the flames.

The gunfire was now a loud and continuous thunder. From the distance, bugles blared. It was then that Judy realized the mortars had stopped.

"Be alert," Tuck said loud enough for all to hear, "we want to make sure it's our people coming in, not some rabbits that got flushed."

A finger-width later the raiding party returned. The only casualty was Captain Leitnos, who'd fallen from the top of the wash when the magazine had exploded. He had a skinned hand and a bruise on his leg.

"Have they reacted?" the captain asked Tuck.

"Not yet, except to call a cease fire. I'm sorry to say, they responded very quickly. Maybe a hundred heartbeats between the first bugle call and the last shot."

"Did you see their fireseed store go up?" Gamelin said, excited. "That was Vosper's gun!"

Judy spoke up. "We noticed something of that, a little."

Tanda Havra came out of the darkness, with Tazi in tow. "Your gun, sergeant?"

Vosper turned towards her. "Yes, Lady Tanda. That was my gun."

"Then, I believe this is yours." Judy wasn't sure what Tanda dropped into Vosper's hand. Vosper looked sad, Gamelin looked away and Captain Leitnos laughed.

"That landed on Tazi's back. I think we will find her a whole hand taller, come morning."

Tuck leaned close and looked and then Vosper closed his fist and vanished into the night.

When Vosper returned, his fist was empty.

"You show a strange concern for the enemies who've come this far to burn and kill you, your family and kin," Tanda said, her voice bitter.

"A finger-width ago that was a living, breathing man," Vosper said, his head high. "He might have been an enemy, he was undoubtedly one of Styphon's Anointed, their guards at the fireseed store. Still, to be ripped asunder in an instant, shattered by your God... that is evil enough."

"I just saw three guys, traveling really fast, fetch up in the Mexicotal camp outside the walls," Tuck advised them. "Odds are, they're going to try to cross the river."

"Set up the mortars!" Captain Leitnos ordered.

The men moved quickly into position. This time they weren't concerned whether or not the enemy saw the gun flashes.

Long after they were ready, a column of torches started from the Mexicotal camp, a column of fours, heading towards the river.

"Make sure you have everything prepared to go," Tuck told everyone. "It's shoot and scoot. Wait until the first two ranks are on this side, and then let them have it. Aim along the column. Fire off all of your ammunition." He laughed. "Unless you want to carry it home!"

A finger-width later the mortar tubes coughed again, the interval a heartbeat between the shots. When the aim was right, the shells rained down on the crossing. Very quickly the torches started going out and the night was dark again, much darker, because most of the fires were now out in the Zarthani camp, as well.

The soldiers tasked to do so picked up the mortars and started running. Tuck and Tanda stayed back, while the rest ran ahead. Tazi flashed Judy a grin as they ran, keeping pace easily with the soldiers. Judy just grit her teeth and told herself she could run as well as any of them.

Two palm-widths later the column was running two hundred steps, then walking a hundred. When the sun came up the number was reversed. Halfway to High Sun, everyone was walking, but they were nearly halfway back to the Barrier.

There was a short break at High Sun for food and a brief rest. That evening, as night was falling, they pulled up at the base of the Barrier and took up positions to defend the trail up, even though Tuck and Tanda both said there was no one coming after them.

At first light the next day they started up and as before, there were horses and wagons waiting for them at the top.

Count Tellan was there, looking at the disheveled men, marching rapidly past, after loading their equipment into the wagons.

"Did the raid go well, Captain Leitnos?" the Count asked.

"My Lord, words fail me. If I were to have heard the tale told around a campfire at night, as soldiers tell stories, I'd have laughed at the storyteller for being such a huge liar.

"Count Tellan, we damaged their fodder. We destroyed their fireseed store. I have no idea how many we killed, but a thousand, perhaps more."

Gamelin spoke up. "I saw Styphon eat the Zarthani, Lord Count! A red flash, that turned white, a flash so bright, I could see it half the night! One end of their camp vanished in smoke and flame." He nodded at Tazi. "Tazi was a mile and a half away and the finger of one of our enemies landed on her back."

The count nodded soberly. "The High King has long counseled extreme safety when working with fireseed. Fireseed mills may not be near towns or farms. Only those absolutely needed may work there. Fireseed stores are to be kept away from things as well. Here, our fireseed mill is buried deep in the rock of Outpost, and we keep most of our fireseed as raw materials, to be ground in the mill at our need. The fireseed store is also buried deep in the rock, far from the fireseed mill."

The count looked at Captain Leitnos. "You hurt them, then?"

"We hurt them, then, Lord Count, some five thousand Mexicotal set off in pursuit of us. We gave them a bloody nose and came home. Captain Tuck and Lady Tanda said they did not pursue."

"They did not. Also, there were no patrols sent out either yesterday or today. The scouts say smoke still hovers over their fort," Count Tellan confirmed.

That evening Judy was savoring the comfort of sitting at one of the long tables in the main dining hall, sipping from a cup of well-watered wine, replete from a dinner of venison and potatoes, carrots and corn.

Gamelin appeared and she waved to him to come and sit with her.

"Was the raid what you expected?" Judy asked him.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," he replied. They traded grins.

"Waiting is the hardest part of it," Judy told him.

Gamelin smiled. "Waiting is the hardest, none will disagree!"

"It looked so easy; I know it can't be that," Judy told him, "but your soldiers made it look easy."

Gamelin sighed. "When I was a boy my father told me many stories. Until I got older, I thought they were for my entertainment. One thing he told me that I will always remember. Apprentices, he said, labor long and hard at a task. They make many mistakes and complain about how difficult the task is.

"A journeyman labors less, makes fewer mistakes and talks about how well he understands the intricacies of his craft. A master now," Gamelin beamed, "a master makes it look easy, labors hardly at all and makes light of the difficulties.

"You must not, he told me, ever forget that the master learned the ease he takes with his craft over many years and with much hard work, many mistakes, and having learned the intricacies of his craft. That is Captain Tuck. A master of his trade."

"Killing people."

Gamelin looked at her calmly, but he nodded. "The High King, Lady Judy, is famous in all the kingdoms. He prefers to settle disputes peacefully. He has never, ever, betrayed an ally in any way; he's never broken an agreement with anyone, even his worst enemies. Yet, many times men have dealt falsely with the High King. And then he kills them. It isn't his wish to do so; it isn't his choice. They choose their paths, my lady."

He waved around them. "When they come up to the walls of Outpost, as they surely will, no matter how many times we set them back, there will be a parley. And they will call for our surrender and instead, Count Tellan will call on them to surrender. The men of Zarthan are average; maybe they will keep a bargain they make with you, or perhaps not, if they think it is to their advantage to deal falsely with you. No one, no one has ever heard of Styphon's priests bargaining in good faith. Or the priests of the Mexicotal."

He smiled at her. Judy felt her heart go thump-thump, and a pang ran through her body.

"Tell me more how your people live, Judy. Tell me more about how they are governed."

Judy remembered what Tuck had said. But this was Gamelin. He was her friend. He had to understand, of all the people here, he was the one who had to understand.

"Gamelin, we were brought here. Not of our free will, but by men who took us from our homes. Do you understand?"

"But not Tuck? He had no part in the taking?" he asked.

"No, not Tuck. Without Tuck... I don't think we would be alive."

He nodded in understanding.

"These men, Gamelin, the ones who brought us here. They are evil, do you understand?"

"That's not hard to understand at all! If they were to be caught, the High King's justice would be swift and sure!"

"These men are more powerful than we are. As our weapons are better than yours, so are theirs better than ours. We could not wrench people from their homes and families so; we would not take people so. They are unspeakably evil."

He nodded again.

"If we were to go around talking about them and their evil ways, they would hear of it. Then they might very well seek us out, to shut our mouths, to keep us from talking about them. Tuck thinks they lost track of us and can't find us. Perhaps the Zarthani attack messed up their plans too. I trust you, Gamelin. I trust you with my life, Tuck's life, and the lives of the rest of my friends. But this isn't something we can talk about, do you understand? If you talk about it, you could bring about our deaths, even with a harmless word to a relative or friend."

Gamelin nodded soberly. Trygath was famous for plots and intrigues. This sounded entirely too much like home. It would not be long, his father had told him several times, before the High King hung the last Trygathi who plotted against him... assuming any of the other nobles lived that long.

"And if we were to talk to you about how we are governed... that could lead them back to us as well. Tuck says we will talk about it, but it has to be done slowly, carefully, so that it can't be traced back to us."

"My father fought alongside the High King several times," Gamelin told Judy. "He learned the value of true friendship from him. I will not ask more of you, nor will I speak of it with you or your friends. But when the time comes, you will find in me an avid listener."

"I could end up talking your ear off," she said with a grin.

"Well -- that's not what I'd hoped you do with my ear..."

She blushed and he laughed. They talked for long into the night about many other things.

Manistewa listened to Tanda's report, shaking his head. "Like the High King. Utterly wasted on his home timeline. We ran some high altitude conveyors over the Zarthani camp the morning after the attack. They've lost a large fraction of their cavalry mounts, although they are trying to round them up. The Zarthani road will be complete in another moon-quarter or so. They've already moved up grain and fireseed to be the first supplies through.

"At a minimum, Tuck and his raid set them back a half moon. Maybe more... and that's to get back to where they were before the raid."

"We're going to have a meeting with Count Tellan this afternoon. Tuck says he has another plan," Tanda told him.

"Do you have any idea what it is?"

"I think so. He's asked a number of questions about the bridges the Zarthani have built across the larger washes. There is one about thirty miles west of their fort, another twenty miles further on. That isn't, he contends, a likely distance for a wagon train to cover in a single day. And he's right; there is a way station half way between the two rivers. Right now, those 'bridges' are unguarded. And the wagon trains don't travel at night. I think he plans to burn the bridges."

"That will only work once," Manistewa said reasonably.

"Yes, but right now he's more interested in battering their morale, before they can mount an effective attack against Outpost. He wants the Hostigi morale up and the Zarthani morale down."

Manistewa chewed that over. "As long as he can keep pulling rabbits out of his hat, that will work. But a defeat will really suck the air out of his stature."

"Then we'd better do what we can to make sure he doesn't get defeated."

"Well, that road is going to be complete in a moon-quarter, and like I said, they've moved wagons with fireseed and horse fodder forward. Those will be the first to make the last push. And, I think, they have a clever logistos. No one saw fireseed, but those Mexicotal had to have been carrying some as well as the hay. I suspect that they are going to run the first few loads heavy on fireseed and hay, but some food and other supplies as well."

"We'll just play the cards the way they fall," Tanda told him.

Later, it was just like she expected.

Tuck was standing in front of a map. "This time, we go a little further south, then much farther west. There are riverbeds here and here," he pointed them out on the map. "Those rivers travel north to south. The Zarthani have built plank bridges to cross the sand," he went on, explaining the lack of guards.

"So, the plan is to pull up the planks, for a couple of hundred yards at a stretch, make a pile, and put a soldier to guard the pile. Then on command, they all set their piles on fire."

"What signal?" Manistewa asked, "Your men will be spread over a mile on the big river, half that on the other."

"Someone in the middle will light theirs first, then will wave a brand over their head. Everyone should be able to see the signal and would proceed from there.

"We would do that at two palm-widths before dawn. It shouldn't take long to pull up the road and stack the stuff. Once that's done, the raiders will move here." He put his finger down on the way station midway between the two dry rivers.

"We will put the mortars just north of the way station. If they send out a patrol or patrols, to find out what's burning, we'll ambush them. As soon as the ambush bites, the mortars fire on the stock corrals. We stampede the stock, then we pull out... this time going north. We exit back towards Outpost staying west, before we cut east."

"Risks?" Count Tellan asked.

That question surprised Tanda. That was a question she was virtually certain Tuck had talked to him about before. Probably going so far as asking Count Tellan to ask it.

"The biggest thing on the approach is we need to know if they've started mounted patrols again, particularly if those patrols are now east of the mountains. They pretty well have to know we came and went that way, the first time. It's one reason I've picked the route I have. Use it a third time, and that's where they are going to look for us to return. But obviously, if they're already there, we'll have to think of something else."

"You mean withdraw?" Captain Leitnos asked. "Without fighting?"

"I mean, not even start if we see them on this side of the mountains. This only works if we can get in clean. Afterwards, they will get the idea we keep using the same route. Even a dunce could figure it out after three times. It doesn't take someone much smarter to know that if they aren't patrolling there and we've used that route twice, like as not, we'll be back. So we won't come back and they will be concentrating on the wrong place.

"Another problem will be if the men at the way point don't come out. We've had varied reports about how many men are at these places, from a dozen to several hundred. I think that's a function of the wagon trains passing through. But I don't know. So that's a risk. Of course, if they don't come after us they'll get pounded by the mortars.

"Last but not least, if they get on our trail quickly, they can send a force at an angle to intercept us, before we get back to safety. And that's a problem, because for this attack, we're going to need a hundred men and a dozen tubes."

There was considerable discussion, until finally Count Tellan looked around the room.

"In the days before the High King, in a Council of War, the plan would be outlined as Captain Tuck has done now. Then, the senior officers would discuss it and offer changes, then a few more officers of middle ranks would be invited to comment.

"The High King has taught us many things, one of them is that instead of letting the senior officers start, we should start with the most junior officers present and that all officers should discuss the plan. When a junior goes first, he is unlikely to try to curry favor with his seniors, because he won't be sure what they think. Thus, Lady Judy, you may discuss Captain Tuck's plan first."

Tanda saw Judy lift her chin slightly. "Count Tellan, I have talked to Tazi and Tanda Havra. They say there is a trail suitable for our needs that goes along here." She stood and walked to the map and sketched a line down the ridge of the mountains that led from the Barrier towards the Zarthani Fort.

"I propose we go that way, instead of the route Captain Tuck proposed. From on top of the ridge, we would have an easier time spotting patrols, and would have several routes to choose from, should we see them. Out in the basins, there is but one way to go, north. Along the crest of the mountains we could east or west, depending on where we saw them or even backtrack and then go east or west."

"Is the trail suitable for horses?" Tuck asked Tanda. "We were going to bring along two horses per mortar, giving us another twenty rounds per gun. Twelve tubes, twenty-four horses."

"Yes," Tanda told him, "the trail isn't difficult at all. There is a good path that follows the mountain crest. There is only a little up and down. It shouldn't be an obstacle for pack horses."

Tanda nodded at Judy, acknowledging the good suggestion.

There were quite a few comments, once Judy opened the gates.

"A hundred men, Captain Tuck," Captain Leitnos said. "Fifty for the mortars, what are the rest for?"

"Some men to hold horses. Five spare horse holders. Four sections of cavalry or mounted infantry to be used in ambushing the Zarthani guards at the way station."

Captain Leitnos grunted in agreement and sat down.

"And when would you propose departing, Captain Tuck?"

"Tomorrow morning, early. Alert the men who will go this afternoon. Final preparations today, then an inspection and start tomorrow as early as possible. It's two days to their fort; we'll bypass to the south and swing west, staying south of their road. Three more full days until we are ready to attack. Again, we would send Tanda and Tazi ahead to scout."

Count Tellan nodded, and then looked speculatively at Captain Leitnos. "Captain, the training of additional mortar crews is not going as well as it should. You will stay here and see to that. Tuck will command the raid."

Captain Leitnos nodded. "As you command, Count."

"Then let it be so. Gamelin, you will command the mortars, Sergeant Vosper as your deputy. Captain Andromoth will command the cavalry element. Four sections. Captain Andromoth, you will be under Captain Tuck's command."

"As you command, Count Tellan." The captain was tall and fair-haired, one of the younger officers at Outpost.

"Then alert the men. All they need to know is that they go on a raid to the south and they leave at dawn," Count Tellan told them.

The meeting quickly broke up, and Tanda walked with Tazi outside. A few moments later Tuck, Judy, Gamelin and Vosper emerged. "Tuck, do you want us to leave now?"

Tuck grinned. "Well, not now. As soon as you can."

"The nights are now dark, we will not be able to travel as fast as before," Tanda reminded him.

"It will be enough for you to get a half day in front of us. Don't see how fast you can there, this time." He unfurled a map roll, and pointed out a spot to her. "We will reach here on the evening of the second day. Meet us there. We'll give you a little time to get going the next day, but I want to know what you've seen then."

Tanda bobbed her head. Not two palm-widths later, as the sun was sinking towards the west, she and Tazi were trotting on the now familiar road that led down the Barrier.

They stopped well back from the Barrier, to await the dawn. "Are you okay with this, sister?" Tanda asked Tazi. "Truly?"

"Yes! Sister Tanda, when the sky split asunder the other night, I wanted to dance for joy! We killed, in a single stroke, more than we lost at Mogdai! My father has a thousand Mexicotal and Zarthani servants in Ragwarn! Now I will go with Lord Tuck and we will do it again! And then again! And when we are finished, the Mexicotal will fear us! They will never again come against us!"