Chapter 20: Going All the Way

Tanda Havra scanned the desert ahead of them. Night would fall soon and once again they would be on the move. She was about fifty feet below the crest of a ridge, lying in a crevice in the rocks, using Tuck's glasses to watch for any movement at all out on desert floor. A few feet away Tazi slumbered peacefully, a smile on her face.

This was going to be their longest night march so far, almost forty miles. They would be leaving as soon as it was full dark and would probably have to hurry the last few miles, and those last few miles would be uphill. Still, they would then be on the other side of the ridge from the town that was their target.

She couldn't fault Tuck's caution. The main force still had two more days of marching ahead of them just to reach where she was now. Then they would have to march to the ridgeline she could see dimly in the distance. There they would be south of their target and would rest for a day and a half, before the attack. Almost, but not quite, a full moon-quarter. Compared to Tuck's attacks before, almost lethargic.

Having the help of Lost Ruthani from the redoubt was making a great deal of difference. Even though she couldn't see a single sign of movement out there in the desert, two dozen of Pinyon's scouts were in position. As soon as it was dark, another dozen men would move south and half of those deployed would be returning, to give Tuck specific information.

They had good maps of the area around the Mexicotal town that sat between the forks of two small rivers. Some rivers! One was already dry and the other would be in a few moon-quarters. The town had wells and primitive irrigation canals that would move some water around. And one of Manistewa's guards, Xenos, had made contact with Manistewa's agents inside the town. Xipototec, the Mexicotal called the town.

It had taken a great feat of talking by Tuck to get the Lost Ruthani to agree to his plan. What they wanted was the town burned and the bones of people dumped in tall pile for all to see. Tuck had patiently made them recognize that most of those who lived in Xipototec were like so many of those that had come to the Lost Ruthani: oppressed and helpless against the nobles, priests and soldiers of the God-King.

The realization of that truth had raised Tuck's stock with the Lost Ruthani a great deal. The scouts reported that there were about twenty-five hundred Mexicotal soldiers in the town of about twenty-five thousand. Parties of male workers would go into the fields each day, each escorted by a company of cavalry. If someone tried to flee, they were ridden down and captured, then skinned alive and left for the buzzards and the ants. If the person who ran had family, all of them went to feed the Gods the next Feast Day... those were held every moon-quarter.

And if someone snuck away, avoiding the guards? Everyone in their family died as soon as the person was reporting missing. They were tortured terribly, publicly, including the newborn.

In spite of the dire punishments there had been volunteers aplenty willing to help the Hostigi soldiers. They might have been terribly oppressed, but the people of Xipototec could still talk amongst themselves. And they must have talked a lot about life in Hostigos.

She hadn't told Tuck about it yet, but tomorrow she would reach the town. Tomorrow night, they would sneak her inside and a few days later, just in time for Tuck's attack, she'd come out again. Tazi too would be left behind. Tazi was a proud young woman, who walked with her head held high, able to look any man in the face as forthrightly as any other man would. She would be spotted and killed almost at once.

Tanda didn't like walking with her head bowed. She didn't like avoiding the glance of those who oppressed these people. But if by doing so, she could work for their downfall... she was more than willing to do what had to be done.

Tuck coughed and she looked up. "You're slipping, Tanda Havra!"

She bobbed her head. A few moon-quarters ago she'd have lied. There were enough lies between them, most of which she could do nothing about. So, about little things, she told the truth.

"Xenos, my uncle's guard, is going to take me close to Xipototec tonight. I'll meet one of my uncle's agents and talk to him. Xenos will tell him who I am and that I command him."

"Obliging fellow, this Xenos," Tuck commented.

"Manistewa gave me a letter telling him I was in charge."

"I notice your uncle keeps out of the line of fire as much as possible," Tuck observed.

"There are many reasons I never considered his entreaties -- and why he never tried to force the issue."

Tuck nudged Tazi with his foot. She woke up at once. "Tazi, please watch for what little time remains. I need to talk with Tanda Havra about tomorrow."

Tazi was only too happy to take the glasses from Tanda. She was fascinated by them, and had spent some time talking with Tuck about how they worked. The last time they'd been in Outpost, she'd found some broken glass and had played with the pieces, watching how the glass affected the way the light moved through it.

Tanda followed Tuck over the ridge. He moved quickly back towards the scout camp, stopping a few hundred feet away. There were at a level place in the wash when he stopped. "I will draw a line in the sand," Tuck told her. "I want you a step back from it. When I tell you to, step forward, putting your foot in the middle of the line, then walk naturally for ten steps, then stand still until I come up."

Mystified, Tanda did as she was told. She stopped and a heart-beat later Tuck also took ten steps and finished about a foot in front of her. "Once again, only this time with your eyes closed," he said, dropping a rock where she'd stopped.

She did it again, eyes closed. Tuck was watching, she was sure. But, when it came time for him to come, he too walked with his eyes closed. They ended up in almost the same relative positions as before.

"Your steps are two inches shorter than mine," he told her. "I have a natural thirty-three inch stride, that makes you a thirty-one."

Tanda shrugged, not understanding.

"When you are in Xipototec, see if you can step off some distances, even an approximation will help us register mortar shells."

"Ah!" she exclaimed. She gave him a sidelong glance. "I did not want to worry you unnecessarily."

"We're here, a long way from home. Forget about trying to save me from worry. I worry every day in every way about all of us. A little more or less isn't going to matter."

A few feet away a couple of doves suddenly flew up from a bush. Tanda turned to look; sure someone was sneaking up on her. Then, almost on the edge of her hearing, there was a low roar as the ground began to shake. It wasn't a hard shaking, it wasn't for very long but she found it profoundly disturbing.

"Earthquake, I guess," Tuck said. "I've never been in one before."

The word he used sounded like Zarthani, but the first word she didn't recognize. "Beben?"

"Shake," he said. "The ground shakes."

"Why?" Tanda asked.

She listened to his explanation patiently, but patently disbelieving him. The ground had cracks; sure she'd seen those. But cracks that ran for miles along the ground? Deep into the ground? She'd never seen that! How could anyone see that deep?

Before Tuck had finished explaining to her, he was explaining it to everyone. After about a half palm-width he threw up his hands. "You will have to trust me. It happens. It happens more often as you go south. You might as well get used to it. Do you know about mountains that spit fire?"

No one knew about mountains that spit fire, either. Finally Tuck told everyone to stop talking and get the camp ready to go. Men hurried to the task, and shortly it was dark enough to leave.

Tazi was not happy when she was told that she could not go with Tanda. It was Lady Judy who finally calmed Tazi down, whispering something to her that Tanda couldn't hear. Tazi's eyes dwelled on Tanda, angry. "Do not set me aside, sister, because you fear for my safety."

"I do not. What I fear is that you will be Tazi: a girl who walks with her head held high, proud and unafraid. To come with me you will need to walk stooped, your eyes on the ground, bowing to every man you meet."

"Lady Judy says that if I'm patient, one day I will know as much as you. But that if I'm not, I will never be as old as you."

Tanda nodded. "Please, sister Tazi. I would take you with me if I could. I will try to return before the attack, and you will go into battle at my side. I promise you that."

"I will do as you bid, sister Tanda."

Much later, out in the desert, Xenos stopped for a break. "Xenos, do you know of earthquakes and mountains that spit fire?"

"Yes, of course."

It took some additional questions before she had to admit Tuck was right. "The earth is round, I knew that," Tanda mused. "I never thought to ask about these other things."

Xenos glanced at her. "Tanda, you know we don't tell people like you everything. You don't know beans about chemistry, physics, biology, and geology -- nothing technical. If you wanted to study something technical instead of anthropology, right now you'd be cleaning some Home Timeline toilet."

It was a cold, brutal thing to think about. "Look, the Chief and Manistewa told me that you're the boss. You're in charge. I have less than six moons experience in the field here. I don't know much about the terrain, the people or the issues. The Chief said that since you already know the Paratime Secret, what was the point of keeping you from knowing anything else?"

He glanced at her. "And where we're headed, they have earthquakes often and volcanoes erupting every couple of years. You'd find out anyway."

"And I will do what I have to do. But Xenos, understand this. I've been well taught and well conditioned. But not everybody is. Someone brought Tuck and his girls here. It wasn't any licensed conveyor. Someone is out here, right now, breaking all of your laws save one. Tell me, Xenos, do you think they've broken that one last law?"

"I imagine the thought gives the Chief nightmares."

"I imagine it does. It gives me nightmares, too."

They started running again.

Freidal watched as the council chamber filled up. Once, a few moons ago, there was a pretense about who he was. He'd sat along one side of the table, near the middle, the only captain at a table filled with high nobles, priests and generals.

Now he was seated squarely at one end, Xitki Quillan on his left. Straight down the table were seated the Mexicotal High Priest and Captain-General Upharsim. There were no longer any pretenses.

The Mexicotal general spoke first, after Quillan called the council into session.

"We should tear down the dam and drain the lake. When the lake is empty, we should attack the Hostigi!"

Freidal nodded. "We have discussed this plan several times, Quillan and I, while I recovered.

"We have lost the least leg of support for our undertaking, Styphon. I know not what Hells there are for a God of such foul deeds, I shudder to think of his punishment at the hands of the True Gods. Further, one man in two of the army we had here to fight is dead or unfit. The Hostigi mount daily attacks against the Great Road and troops that should have come to our reinforcement have been held back to defend our supply route. In truth, if they were to arrive here in any number, we'd all starve.

"Once, we could have planned a night attack. It would have been a tricky thing to do and the empty lakebed a dangerous place. But, the Hostigi have checked us there as well, because we've seen their fires that float in the sky. Night would not cloak us and to try to cross a mile of ground that broken, under artillery firing case shot... our loses just reaching the base of Outpost's walls would be terrible. Perhaps enough to cause the attack to fail before we could launch it. We would only have one chance.

"And then, there is something else to consider. We are here, facing an enemy a fraction of our number. They are behind a lake, behind stout walls and defended by cannon and rifles. Taking this place by storm would cost any army dearly. What about next season? It should be clear that the Great Plan is dead. Even if we win here, this will be as far as we can go in force this year. We would spend the rest of the season chasing down the Hostigi raiding parties, patrolling eastwards to see what we face there, and bringing up supplies and men that should have already been here.

"You, our fine allies, are running out of scouts. Yours are better than ours and our enemies know this. They attack them again and again. It's hurt the morale of all of the scouts and decimated their ranks.

"Thus, we should stop and think about what we do here. We can go no further this year. We must chase down the Hostigi raiders and we can do that just as well or better, with our troops spread out along the Great Road. Strong patrols have been sent out towards the east and more will be as time passes.

"So... here we sit. And here they sit. Early on, Count Quillan called a parley and offered the Hostigi fair terms. That was more than a moon ago. Count Tellan said no. What might he say today? We should ask again for his surrender. And if he says no, why we will let him sit on his rock in the middle of his puddle. Perhaps they will be able to eat rocks before we finish with them. Certainly if we wait long enough, they will be hungry enough to!

"If we capture the city intact, we will be able to use it ourselves. Destroy it by storm and it will be just another pile of rocks in a landscape filled with piles of rocks."

There was a low murmur down the table as Freidal's comments were digested.

"You sound as though the decision has been made," the Mexicotal Captain-General stated, his face angry. "Why then, have you not consulted with your allies?"

"We're here, talking about what we are going to do," Freidal said equitably. "I offered a plan. If we desire to storm Outpost, first we would need a few days to pull down the dam."

"Fireseed would bring it down quickly!"

"Fireseed, while not in short supply is not in great supply," Freidal told him. "I would prefer to use what we have on our enemies, not rocks."

Freidal looked at the man steadily and when he didn't say anything more, went on with his thoughts. "Suppose we pull down the dam? We know the Hostigi have snipers out, they shoot anyone who goes near the dam. We would lose some men, no matter how carefully we go about pulling down the dam and even if we use fireseed, it would take several days to properly place it.