Chapter 16: Cambon

Gamelin saw the Mexicotal colonel he was talking to suddenly turn slightly away and stare. He was too good of a man not to have a reason, so Gamelin craned around to look as well.

A horse and rider were coming from the city, the horse run at a reckless pace, the rider flogging the poor animal. He had to have been a fair horseman, because a short finger-width later the horse slid to a stop a few feet from Gamelin, and one of the signal sergeants came down quickly. "Lord! An urgent message from the Countess! She's been ambushed!"

The sergeant started to say something more, but the colonel spoke first. "My men are ready to march this instant! Say the word and we're on the road north!"

"Go!" Gamelin told him without hesitation. "You yourself, stay and await orders, but get them moving."

He reached out for the message, silently cursing himself for reacting too quickly. Wouldn't it look silly if the message said she'd killed them all and was returning as planned? He saw the pale look on the messenger's face and decided that he'd have the other division moving in a palm-width as well.

"Five thousand infantry bar my advance south. Reports of another thousand in my rear. They have offered to parley. At least we have time to dig in. J."

Gamelin looked up at the messenger. "Where are they?"

"Just south of the village of Chilaic, Lord Gamelin. Perhaps a hundred, a hundred and fifty people."

Vosper had been with one of the regiments and he came running. Gamelin handed him the message and waved at his batman. "Our horses! Right now! Turn out the other division, as quickly as possible! Have them ready to march at once! No more than a palm-width!"

The man jumped to obey, and Gamelin swung easily into the saddle, and heedless of Vosper, his dignity or common sense, he too flogged his horse back to the city and the perch on the wall where the northern signal station was located.

It wasn't even a finger-width later and he was standing next to a signal sergeant who was writing down a message as the signalman repeated letters. Gamelin frowned. Code? That was odd. Why code? What code? It was clear the signalmen didn't know it.

Lady Lydia appeared and held out her hand for the paper. She looked at it for a moment and then signaled for Gamelin to follow her.

He liked Lady Lydia; she was easily Judy's best friend, after himself, and he knew she'd been Judy's best friend before she had ever met Gamelin. Still, it was a little hard to be ordered around by a sixteen-year-old girl. It was impossible to forget, of course, that those who had gotten in the way of these girls, then two years younger, were all dead now.

"Judy is parlaying with the commander of King Xyl's soldiers. Their commander has allowed a signalman to accompany her, and is letting him signal in the course of the parlay."

"That makes no sense."

"Well, consider that this General Cambon says he's King Xyl's brother and was sent north to kill Judy. And now he says he's changed his mind."

That stunned Gamelin. Vosper had made it up to the station and he'd listened as well. Vosper spat. "Like Lord Gamelin said before. That makes no sense."

"Yeah, well there's three words here that say it all. 'Plague in Tenosh.'"

Gamelin's breath sucked away, but Vosper wasn't a soft man. "And this hurts us how?"

The signal officer was now present and he handed another sheet to Lady Lydia. Now it was her turn to pale. "Because the messenger sent from Xyl to Cambon passed through Zacateca and Tecpan. He arrived half dead and died a few palm-widths later from the plague. This General Cambon wants to know if we know the plague and if there is anything we can do to save the people of their Heartland."

She swallowed, and one of the sergeants ran and fetched her some water. It amused Gamelin that he wasn't offered any. He wasn't sure if that was because he was strong and Lydia seemed weak, or because the soldier had more regard for her than for him. He was a townsman, and as a signalman, it meant it was likely he was married. The conclusion that led to was that he was concerned about Lady Lydia.

Lydia took a swallow and then spoke clearly -- to the signalmen. "You all swore oaths that signals stop here. This time will test that oath. If you walk away from here and tell people that plague is abroad in the city, you will kill thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of innocent people."

She held up the sheet. "Lady Judy is talking to us at the same time as she talks with Lord Tuck."

Another paper was placed in her hand.

She nodded. "Yes, it's true. Tuck thinks he knows this plague. It isn't good, but we can fight it. We cannot have people flee the town, as a good many will carry this plague with them. Within the city, with the resources and the people in the city, we can save most of us. Anyone who flees will die alone and unaided in the desert, without what they need to live. You think about that, when you go home tonight and see your wives and children. Yes, you can tell them the plague is here. But don't you understand? The plague is here!"

"We can fight it?" the signal officer asked.

"Yes. We won't save everyone and it certainly won't be easy, but we'll be able to save nine in ten. But we have to start preparing as soon as possible. Lieutenant, you run to the council chambers, there is always someone there. Tell that person to call the Council for a meeting in a palm-width. Tell the Alcalde to come here. Do not, under pain of death, tell anyone anything else. Do you understand, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Lady Lydia!" He saluted and sprinted down the steps from the tower in the corner of the city walls.

Lydia turned to Gamelin. "The conversation is going to go slow now. It's three times as far to Tuck as it is to us. He's at the signal tower in Xipototec."

"Thank you, Lady Lydia. What plague is this?"

"One that no one here seems to have seen before, although as I said, Lord Tuck has a name for it, he believes. Small demons, the ones we call bacteria, live in our guts. Most of them don't hurt; in fact, many of them help us digest the food we eat. However, some are nasty. They burrow into the walls of the gut. It's like a burn, only on the inside. The injury leaks fluid. Three or four days after the devils enter the body, essentially you shit yourself to death... if you're not treated. Lady Judy says General Cambon described it as the messenger's insides turned to water."

Gamelin grimaced. It was hard enough to be in battle, never knowing if a bullet was coming for your head. To be sitting in your room, never knowing if you'd breathed in a demon? And if you did, that you'd die? Battle, it seemed to him, was a much cleaner death.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"Tuck's working on a reply," Lady Lydia told him. "Even now, it's probably on its way. We'll just have to be patient, Lord Gamelin."

"And Judy?"

"She asked Cambon why he didn't destroy her. His reply parallels Lord Tuck's reasoning about how at some point all the stupid God-King's generals would be dead. 'Aside from the fact that my brother commanded me to return with all dispatch, without engaging you? Because the High King is reputed to be a sorcerer, as is Lord Tuck and as are you? Right now, I'd do anything I have to, to save even one of my men from this death. Men I'd cheerfully have sent into a hail of your gunfire, if things were otherwise. Because if I can save these men, then perhaps my brother can save those in the Heartland.'"

Another sheet of paper was put in her hand. "Treatment is water. Salty water. Sea salt is best with a pinch of fireseed..." She went down the list of things that would have to be done with Gamelin.

Gamelin wasn't entirely sure, but he thought that Lady Lydia was delaying. That turned out to be right. The Alcalde came up the steps, not running, but faster than usual. "General Gamelin, Lady Lydia," he said when he reached them.

Gamelin saw Lydia pass Vosper a glance. He wasn't sure what the message was, but Vosper moved, as if looking back into the city.

"Alcalde, in a few moments we will have fell news for the Council and for Tecpan."

"My lady?"

"Probably two days ago now, a messenger of King Xyl's passed through Tecpan on his way to join the King's brother, General Cambon, near the village of Chilaic. The message the man brought was that there was plague in Tenosh and to return home at once."

The Alcalde's brow furrowed. "Lady Judy? Is she in trouble?"

"No more than we are, Alcalde. The messenger died before dawn this morning of the plague. He brought it with him to Tecpan as well as to this General Cambon's soldiers."

The Alcalde took a step back and started to turn, but ran solidly into Vosper. Gamelin had to admit, that had been very nicely done!

"Alcalde, this is a test of your leadership. Of all of our leadership. If we prepare, we can beat this. We'll be hurt, but nothing like the hurt those who aren't prepared will be dealt. If people panic, if they run, they'll die alone in the desert, far from help. Help that is here, Alcalde. Help we can offer them, if we keep our heads and do our duty.

"General Cambon talked to Lady Judy instead of fighting. That was a brave, desperate act. He knew, as should you, the hope for survival is in the knowledge of the High King, Lord Tuck, Lady Judy and myself. If you turn and run, if you shout a warning to the rooftops, half of the people of Tecpan will be dead in a moon. Or more of them.

"Listen to me, listen to Countess Judy, Duke Tuck, and I'm sure the High King. If you do, some will die, but not nearly as many as if they panic and run. It won't be pleasant; it will mean long, hard, arduous work of the most unpleasant sorts.

"We can only deal with this if we are together, if we are organized and prepared. There isn't much time, perhaps two or three days at most. There will be much to do. Now sir, will you stand with us or against us?"

The Alcalde glanced over his shoulder and looked at Vosper. The old man had a face that looked like it had been carved out of rock. There was no doubt when he turned back he'd just seen his death.

"Of course, Lady Lydia! Lord Tuck, Lady Judy, Lord Gamelin! All of you worked to free us from the God-King! Command me, and it shall be as you order!"

Lydia turned to Gamelin. "You are the military commander, General Gamelin. While I can't order you, I would strongly suggest that you place Tecpan under martial law, as of this moment. Bar the gates, let none enter or leave. Get the soldiers that are outside the walls, inside, except for a thousand or so. The barracks outside the walls can house those who come who are sick."

"There are barracks for sixty thousand soldiers!" Gamelin complained. "Putting that many soldiers in the city will significantly increase crowding. That's always bad in a plague."

"Tuck and Judy talk about containing it. Lord Gamelin, Lord Alcalde, I tell you now they are wrong. I've read about this disease and it spreads by contamination of food and water with the fluids from the sick. No matter how much we stress to the people and soldiers to wash their hands, to drink only boiled water, they will be careless and make mistakes. Maybe afterwards they will be more careful, but not now.

"Anyone who touches someone with the disease will almost certainly transmit it. I know what it's like and you don't. Your bowels turn to water. You don't shit; you pee out the wrong hole. It's forceful, very forceful. The way you treat it is to make the sick person drink salty water. Lots and lots of water, as much as their body sends out. Even if a finger-width later what you give them comes out the other end! I swear to you, that if you take care, if you make them drink salty water, and even plain water is a little help, most will live. As I swear to you that without treatment, most will die in hours after they sicken."

Gamelin looked at her, then past the Alcalde at the city. More than two hundred thousand people lived in or around Tecpan these days. He looked at Lydia; it was something he had to ask. "At best? How many die?"

"One in ten who are treated. Without treatment, with luck, one in two. Without luck... nine of ten."

Gamelin restrained his urge to start being sick right away. "Vosper, find another officer. He is to pass the word, officer's call in half a palm-width at the main gate. Continue on to the duty officer and tell him to close the city. Case Maya."

There was the faintest trace of a smile on Vosper's face. "Maya, eh?" Then he was trotting back down the steps.

"The spy?" the Alcalde asked, horrified at the very mention of the woman's name.

"Yes, the former spy and now our prisoner," Gamelin told him.

"She is to be succored as all the rest," Lydia told the Alcalde. "She will be useful."

Gamelin nodded his head, understanding why that would be. There were only four people in Tecpan who knew that secret. He spoke formally to the Alcalde. "Sir, Countess Judy has placed me in charge of the city in her absence; I have always been the military commander. Sir, the gates are being closed and there will be martial law inside the city. We will go and inform the Council of these facts and the reasons for my actions."

The Alcalde stood stiff and concerned. "Lord, you have my word. Until you inform the Council of your decision, none shall hear any of this from my lips!"

Gamelin waved the man on, and turned to Lydia. "You'll stay here for a while longer?"

"Yes, at least half a palm-width. Establish your command post in the Council chamber; it's a central location."

He contemplated if the girl had any idea how hard it was for him to listen to her. Then he laughed, loud and openly.

"I keep thinking I shouldn't have to listen to you," he told Lydia. "And then I realize just who you are."

"I am a girl, not that much different from Judy, Becky or Elspeth."

Gamelin hugged his sides with laughter and bowed to her. "My point exactly, Lady Lydia! A queen, a countess, and the greatest scholar west of the Great River!"

Tanda had been back only for half a moon from her visit to Outpost. She was a little ashamed of herself, but it was her son; what was she to do? And of course, Lady Inisa continued to care for John, even though Puma was never far.

It was, in a word, nerve-racking.

Tuck came in her office and stood for a moment. As if there was a link between the two, Puma arrived.

"Lady Puma," Tuck said carefully. "I want you to take two of your most reliable Ruthani scouts. In a finger-width I will send Lady Inisa to our quarters to fetch John. You and your people will arrest her, as gently as you can, before she gets there. You will take her to your unit's detention cell, where she is to be held, safely, I might add, until Tanda or I have a time to talk to her.

"When that's done, assemble your people and report to General Andromoth for your assignment. He's going to be a little busy for a while, but I assure you, you won't have to wait long."

Puma bowed, then left. Tanda had no doubt that the instant Puma was out of sight, she'd be running. Probably singing and skipping as she went, because for whatever reason, Puma and Lady Inisa hated each other.

It was, Tanda thought, a telltale. She'd never found anything to dislike about Lady Inisa and she had never really taken to Puma. Why it was that she distrusted the first and trusted the other seemed to defy comprehension. Unless you threw in a baby, not quite a year old -- then it made perfect sense, at least to Tanda.

"Tuck?"

"Come with me. I want your unvarnished opinions. Later, in private, your knowledge."

She grimaced. Each and every time that Tuck went to that well, there was a measurable chance she'd overstep the line that Chief Verkan had set for her. It was vague and even worse, she didn't understand most of what she knew, in the context of that line.

They went quickly to the signal station on the southeastern wall, where a flurry of activity was underway. The signal officer handed Tuck a pile of paper that Tuck read through quickly. When he didn't move to hand them to her, she held out her hand.

He smiled and did just that. Gibberish; even so, she recognized it as a language, which almost certainly made it Hispano-Columbian English. This was very, very bad. She contemplated taking two steps to the south and then diving over the wall to the desert floor twenty feet below. If she went headfirst and found a convenient rock, well that would do it. "It" though, wouldn't do John any good, it wouldn't do Tuck any good, but it would prevent her from dying as a menial cleaning toilets someplace unpleasant, smiling and happy at her job with no knowledge or memories of her son or of her husband.

It was the thought that Tazi might go unremembered that did the most to stop her.

Tuck spoke softly. "You can't even read the words and yet you cry?"

"If they learn of this, you're dead; I'm dead. To be secure we would need to destroy any copies made between here and Judy and between Judy and Tecpan."

"It might not matter," he told her. "There's a plague in Tenosh. Cholera. Have you ever heard of it?"

She shook her head. "Plagues, yes, I've heard of plagues. Yes, I know the symptoms and effects of many. What are the symptoms of this one?"

She listened as he explained.

"I've never heard the word, but the disease isn't uncommon."

"Yeah, well it's coming."

"We can bar the gates," Tanda said reasonably.

"We probably could. But what about the nearly sixty thousand right now outside those gates? Do they get to come in, before we close the gates?"

"Of course!"

"Tanda, it sounds simple, but it isn't. When do you stop letting people in? What do you do when the people trying to enter the city mass at a gate in numbers sufficient to overpower the guards there? Can we afford not to succor strangers in their time of need? Hostigos is famous for hospitality, particularly to those in need. What about later, after the plague has run its course?"

"I don't know the answers to those questions. I know how far those I once served are willing to go to protect their secrets. This is, I'm sure, going too far."

"Well, frankly I don't care. We have two tasks to deal with in the short term. The first is preventing a panic, the second is preparing for what comes next. That last has two parts, getting the supplies and things needed ready, and preparing the people. Cholera is a disease of the intestines; you can deal with it by what are called supportive measures: replacing the fluids and chemicals lost from the body. Often times there is a high fever as well, and that can be treated with water baths.

"All of that will take a great deal of time and preparation to get ready."

Another message was handed to him and he grunted. "Yes, Lydia has asked Gamelin to declare martial law in Tecpan and he's agreed. Real soon now, you'll see the explosion from over that way, when Gamelin realizes he's not going to be able to go to Judy's aid."

"Judy doesn't need aid," Tanda said. "She needs to get to Tecpan as quickly as possible. Gamelin obviously needs to stay there."

"Yes. Well, I'm going to stay here. I had them flash a message in the High King's special code back north to Pinyon and Count Tellan. I've sent another in Elspeth's code to Baytown. They'll have a lot more time to get ready, but it's going to be important for what they have to do, if we can do it right here, first. If we can show that what we do works, at least as well as anything will work, then they can hold out hope to their people and keep them from panicking."

He stopped talking, then reached out and hugged her tightly. She hugged back, and then looked at him. "What was that?"

"If it is cholera, my people had ways to prevent people from getting the disease. I don't know if any of the others had the treatment, but I did. I won't get it. You, John, Judy, Lydia, Elspeth... everyone else, is going to get it. There is virtually no sure way to avoid it. We can tell people to wash, we can boil water and all of that, but it's going to be hard to keep it from spreading.

"And even if you miss it this time, the disease is going to be hanging around now, waiting to strike again. We will always have a few cases, I suspect. It was that way in the country where I fought."

"This treatment -- can you duplicate it?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea how it was done. A few vague words that might just as well have applied to something else, not this. Perhaps your former employers protected you."

"I could ask, but I have a feeling that the less I have to do with them, the better."

"I'll have the signalmen send to all the stations, that they are to burn the coded messages. It won't be the first time they've gotten messages like that."

"They'll know."

"Probably. I am not actively trying to tell people about their secret, or even letting on that there is one. I can't live as if there is a giant axe hanging over my head if I make a mistake. I swear I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag about their secret, but I'm not going to fail to use every means I have short of that, to keep our people as safe as I can keep them."

Tanda nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"Get with Brigadier Andromoth. Tell him I'm going to speak to the people of Xipototec again in a palm-width, as many as can come. I want all of soldiers formed up in the square. This time they need to be in uniform, but not armed. Either our people can deal with this rationally or not. If we let the information dribble out, they won't trust us."

She went to tell the general what Tuck wanted. Puma was with him, and Puma was the first to speak. "Lady Tanda, Lady Inisa is under confinement."

"Thank you, Lady Puma."

"I have put two of my people, girls of fourteen, with your son for the time being. You can choose who you want later, if you like."

"No, pick two and assign them permanently."

General Andromoth cleared his throat. "Lady Tanda, I assume something unfortunate has occurred."

"Something like that. It would be better to say a catastrophe is about to happen. Lady Judy reported earlier that she had been ambushed again. However, it would be a better description to say that King Xyl's brother stopped to ask her for directions."

General Andromoth tried to keep control of his face, but eventually he shook his head. "My lady, I have no idea what you mean."

"There is plague in Tenosh. This general who could have ambushed Lady Judy asked instead for the High King's help, Tuck's help, her help, to deal with the plague."

"Are we going to do that?" Brigadier Andromoth asked, his eyes bright.

"Yes. If treated, the disease will kill one in ten. Untreated... half or more."

"Good!" the general said with alacrity.

"Very good!" Puma agreed.

"No, not so good. With a tenth of his people dead, King Xyl might retain control. Might. With half of them dead? The Heartland will fall apart and who knows what will happen then? And in any case, the messenger that brought King Xyl's message to his brother passed through Zacateca and Tecpan to reach his destination -- and died before the next sunrise of the plague."

"You are afraid it will come here?" Andromoth asked.

"Tuck is certain it will come here. He says it is spread by bad sanitation. That is, not washing with soap and water after using the latrine, by coming in contact with the sick and then not washing correctly. Washing in boiled water, I might add, as well as drinking it. A person who is sick from this plague spews waste like a summer flood. They can die from water loss, lying in their own bed in a pond of waste. It is an awful, terrible disease and the least contact with the person who is sick, or that person's waste will spread it. What chance do you think we will have to avoid it?"

"None. But, Lord Tuck says we can treat it?"

"Yes -- if we start making preparations now, if we prepare the people for what is coming now. Once again, he wishes to speak to the people and the soldiers of Xipototec. In a palm-width. The soldiers in uniform, but not armed. Would you please pass the word?"

Andromoth nodded, stood and left. Puma looked at Tanda, obviously quite nervous. "We of the Ruthani get sick, sometimes. But nothing like what you describe."

"These things are a terrible curse," Tanda explained. "We will do what we can to make things come out well."

"Will it come to the Ruthani as well?"

Tanda sighed. "Yes. Tuck has already sent word to the High King, to Count Tellan and Queen Elspeth at Baytown, because sooner or later this will come to them, too."

Puma bowed her head, and then looked at Tanda. "It never came to the Ruthani before, because we were isolated and kept to ourselves."

"Probably. Plus, there aren't that many of you and you don't live in big towns."

"Was this deliberate?"

The question took Tanda aback. "No. What it will do to King Xyl and the Heartlands of his people is unspeakable, and will hurt them far more than it does us. We would never do such a thing! Never!" Her eyes blazed in anger.

Noia was working with two of the brighter sailors, teaching them the rudiments of navigation when the lookout, up the mast called. "Deck! Ship in sight to starboard! Looks to be at anchor! Just bare poles!"

Noia joined several others at the rail; in truth the small ship was hard to see, with no sails set. Even as she saw it, a signal light began to flash in their direction.

"Signalman to the quarterdeck!" Noia called loudly, before she turned to her students.

"Gentlemen, you are dismissed. We'll take this up later."

She went and stood next to Captain Amby, saying nothing as he dealt with the signals. After a finger-width, the mast lookout called down. "Small boat under sail, exiting the channel, Captain! It looks to be stepping out pretty good!"

It was something Noia was coming to learn. Things seemed to move so slowly, at sea!

Captain Amby turned to the third officer, who was officer of the deck. "If you would, set a course just north of the channel entrance. Slow to barely steerageway before we get closer than half a mile. Anchor when the water depth is forty feet."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" the third officer said, saluting.

"Lady Noia, if you would, join me at the side. That boat's carrying the commander here, with new orders for all of us."

There was another half a palm-width wait, before the Brigadier who commanded the fort climbed up. He saluted Captain Amby and Noia. "We need to talk privately, Captain. You and I and Lady Noia."

"Yes, sir. Please, come this way." Captain Amby led the other two to his cabin.

"I have a change of orders for you, Captain. I'm afraid it's not good news."

"Lately bad news seems to be all we hear," Captain Amby replied.

"Yes. Well, the new King in Tenosh has besieged Zimapan. He landed a hundred thousand or so soldiers north of the city, and brought up a quarter million from the south. So far there doesn't seem to be any sign that they plan on storming the city, but the Grand Marshal and a hundred thousand of our soldiers are trapped there."

Amby winced. "Can we supply them?"

"Probably, but the fact is that if they decide to storm the city, one of these days there will be nothing there but rubble. Xyl would probably lose a million men in the process, but he's got them to lose. We don't have a hundred thousand soldiers to spare."

"What am I to do?"

The general laughed. "Well, you will significantly enhance my defenses here. As soon as you are anchored close ashore, we'll start transferring your guns, shot and powder to land. I will go from sixty-eight cannon to a hundred and ten. You can keep the mortars for self defense."

"We'll not be able to defend against much," Captain Amby said reasonably.

"I'll send along a couple of spare mortars as well, if you like. They're a chancy weapon from a ship unless you are anchored."

"That they are!" Captain Amby agreed. They'd tried firing the mortars at sea. To say that they were a mixed blessing was being kind. They only worked well if you were becalmed or anchored.

"You will also go through your crew. Lady Noia and her party will remain aboard, and will not be figured in your calculations. You will then release to me all of your people that are above the bare minimum to work the ship."

Amby swallowed. "We're going to Zimapan empty?"

"You'll have some crates, boxes and barrels we've got. You'll have to fill them with seawater or something, to keep them stable. Those go to Zimapan. Once there, you will take off as many of our soldiers as you can crowd below decks. You must look like an unarmed cargo vessel going in, Captain, and an empty one coming out.

"They've done some testing in Harphax City. You'll be taking out six hundred men, Captain. You'll need rations for just your crew until you get there and a small amount for safety. They will supply their own stores in Zimapan. Unload everything here that you won't need for this mission."