Chapter 6

Selected scenes from the Rescue Mission episodes:

Morgan entered the headquarters of the King's Investigator's Office with a swirl of his dark blue cape and walked briskly down a corridor. It looked like any other public building - clean but well-used hallways with rows of office doors with lettering on them, chandeliers, a slightly dingy strip of carpeting down the center. "Any news?" he asked the man sitting at a desk just inside an opened door.

"Yes. The Chief is briefing the King at the palace in half a glass and they wanted you to be there, so you'll have to hurry. Small briefing room, ground floor."

"Thanks, I'm on my way," was the reply as Morgan turned and strode out.

The small briefing room was dominated by a two-by-three meter table. All the chairs in the room had been pushed back to the walls to accommodate the men standing around it. King Phillip, a tall man in a beautiful green doublet with a gold circlet on his head, stood at the end of the table. He looked up from the map spread on the table as Morgan entered the room. "Ah, Morgan, right on time."

Morgan nodded respectfully. "Your Grace."

The man standing next to the King said, "Your Grace, gentlemen, we have received information that a group of horsemen and two wagons left the Caravanserai five days ago headed west. The descriptions match those of the raiders. We sent two companies of the Lancers in pursuit as soon as we heard. They left at first light."

The King said, "Not enough. Put two companies of medium infantry - swords and leather armor - on horseback and start them off with two more companies of cavalry. The cavalry troops will take care of the horses. The infantry will dismount and pursue on foot after they reach the Caravanserai. The cavalry will rest the horses at the Caravanserai, then load the extra mounts with supplies and follow at their best sustained speed. The Lancers will continue the pursuit at their best sustained speed once the infantry passes them." There was a mutter of disagreement in the room. The King looked up and said, "Gentlemen, horse soldiers can outdistance foot soldiers for about three days. More than that and the foot soldiers have the edge unless the cavalry can carry their fodder with them. The cavalry can't do that in this case. Best sustained speed means that the cavalry won't drive their horses until they drop dead. We have to assume the worst case -- the raiders are smart enough to abandon the wagons and use their horses as pack animals instead of riding them. If that's the case then the infantry will run them down eventually. If they've been stupid the Lancers may already have caught them." He paused and looked around. Everyone nodded in acknowledgment.

"Morgan, you'll be in command with Our full authority to dispense justice. Only bring back those who, in your mind, require Our judgment."

Morgan was taken aback by this. "Me, your Grace?"

"Yes, you. You have, ah, recent experience in the area and I have been reminded of your abilities frequently." The King smiled. "This is not a case of 'fail not at your peril.' I expect the best efforts of everyone involved but I realize that I cannot make something occur merely by commanding it so." He gathered the glances of the room. "Thank you all," he said in dismissal. His courtiers began to disperse with nods and murmurs of "Your Grace."

Morgan asked, "Your Grace, may I have a word?"

"Yes, wait a bit." The King addressed the man beside him, "Charles, keep me informed but briefings like this aren't necessary for everyone."

The man looked crestfallen. "Yes, your Grace."

The King said, "I know, everyone would complain about being left out. Just keep me informed and let 'em complain." The man left and the King looked at Morgan, "Yes, Morgan?"

"Your Grace, I have some ... friends, Urgah and Talia, who are guarding a caravan going south from the Caravanserai to Freedom. They should be there in about four days. They have a message scroll that can be activated from here in two days. I could send them a message to leave Freedom and go north-west in an attempt to get ahead of the raiders. I have another group of friends about here, west of the Caravanserai, a village run by a man named Zoltan, that's in the path of the raiders. It's not on the map yet. They'll know if the raiders have passed through the area. Zoltan's villagers will help Urgah and Talia get the scrolls and the Princess back, if possible. If there are too many raiders they'll be able to slow them down and keep an eye on them."

"Why would any of these people help us?" He answered his own question, "For a reward, obviously."

"Zoltan and his people will do it partly for a reward, partly because Urgah and Talia ask them to. Urgah and Talia will do it because I ask them to. Urgah and I watched each other's backs while I was, ah, away. Talia's a slave girl we freed. Urgah taught her to fight and I taught her to read and write."

"And all these people will take risks like this just because you ask them to?"

"Yes, your Grace, they will."

"Shall I send some nice big bags of gold for rewards?"

"Your Grace, may I suggest you send a few medium-sized bags for, uh, encouragement and extraordinary expenses. Actual rewards to be determined later, after a successful outcome."

"Very well. You go home, prepare your message and get ready to leave. My scribe will have your orders delivered to your house. Once you have your orders and the message is ready to be sent, leave for the Caravanserai immediately. I'll send a reasonable supply of gold with the troops. Wait for the troops, don't go off on your own. Listen to your military commanders. Keep your head about you when handing out rewards and punishments."

"Yes, your Grace." Morgan had a sudden thought. He looked at the map intensely. The King watched him with curiosity but didn't interrupt his train of thought. Morgan looked up and said,"Your Grace, may I suggest that we establish a courier chain along the trail with all the extra horses? Posting some people and three or four extra horses a hard day's ride apart would give us better communications ability than relying on a magic scroll that can only be activated every half-moon. I'll need to work out the numbers but I may need to hire some people in the Caravanserai. I don't think I'll have enough cavalry troopers. We won't need them for combat because the Lancers are already on the road ahead of them."

The King smiled at Morgan. "That's exactly why I want you in command. Now, get moving."

"As you command, your Grace." Morgan bowed respectfully from the waist and left.

Talia, Urgah and another man dismounted from exhausted horses. Urgah said to the man, "End of the line on horseback. We'll camp here tonight and Talia and I will continue on foot in the morning."

Talia and Urgah arose early in the morning from under Urgah's bearskin. They woke the man accompanying them and Urgah said, "We're leaving now. I suggest you rest the horses for a couple of days before heading back, but they're yours now."

"You're going the rest of the way on foot?"

"Yeah. We'll get there sooner, trust me."

"If you say so. Urgah, Talia, may the Goddess be with you."

"And also with you. Farewell."

A huntsman came loping into the main house. "Zoltan, there's a big bunch of armed men coming on foot."

"How many?"

"At least twenty that I could see. They're on the trail from the Caravanserai and I could only see the first part. They're leading a bunch of horses and they have some women with their hands tied up. I think I saw a wizard, too."

"Sound the alarm and send runners out to the farms. I hope that those guys don't mean trouble but we can't take chances with a bunch that big.

Urgah and Talia were slogging along together on foot, on their way from Freedom to Zoltan's village. Talia wore her helmet and leather armor and carried her shield slung on her back. The buckles of her armor were loose. Talia said, "Urgah, I think I've gotten soft on the caravan trail, riding on horseback or in the wagons."

"Yeah, me too. Cheer up, Zoltan's place is just around the next bend."

Morgan was slogging along about a third of the way back in the column of infantry. They were equipped very much like Talia (helmet, shield, leather armor) while he was wearing his Morgan- the-Black outfit: black leather sleeveless jerkin over short- sleeved mail shirt and black trousers. He didn't have his cape. He said to the infantry commander slogging along with him,"I'm afraid I'm getting soft, living in the city."

"Yeah, you probably are. Well, anything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

"I'm not absolutely sure this isn't gonna kill me."

The Princess was slogging along in the middle of the line of raiders. Her hands were tied in front of her and she was being led by a raider on foot. She wore the tattered remnants of what were once an elegant green jacket and trousers and had a worn, dusty pair of surprisingly functional boots on her feet.

Zoltan came out to welcome Urgah and Talia as they arrived. "Welcome! I'm glad you're here. There's a bunch of armed people coming toward us down the trail from the east. They have some women captives with them."

Urgah drank deeply from a bucket of water and poured the rest over his head. "That's why we're here. They're a bunch of raiders that stole some temple scrolls and kidnaped a princess and a couple of other women in Morgan's kingdom. Morgan's chasing them with some troops. We came from Freedom to help. Will you help us?"

"Of course. We owe the two of you and Morgan too much."

Talia said, "Wait just a bit." She drank from another bucket, took off her helmet and poured some water over her head and the rest down inside the front of her armor. She tightened the buckles, put on her helmet and said, "Okay, let's go." She and Urgah led Zoltan and his irregular band of men and women out of town to meet the raiders.

Word was passed down the column to Morgan and the commander "Enemy in sight. They don't see us yet."

The commander passed the word toward both the front and rear of the column, "Forward at the double, close up, keep quiet." The entire column started to jog once the word reached the troops in the lead. The formation changed from a loose assembly to a closely-packed four-across column jogging in step. Morgan stepped out of the column and started to jog beside it but couldn't quite keep up.

Someone at the rear of the raiders noticed Morgan's infantry chasing them. They stopped and formed a loose gaggle and readied their weapons. The infantry column slowed as it formed into a three-deep line, brought their shields in front of them and then charged forward at a run. The infantry troops slammed their shields into the raiders, knocking the first batch flat and running over them. The rear ranks killed the raiders at their feet as they stepped over them with all the drama of people spiking wastepaper in a park. After the first impact the lines of infantry slowed down but still continued to advance, pushing living raiders in front of them and leaving a litter of bodies behind.