Chapter 3

The trip to the dueling ground was quite educational. There was a rectangular plot of ground covered with sand approximately 50 yards long by 30 yards wide. There was a circle of white chalk in the center of the sandy area that was about 10 feet in radius. At the long ends of the field were two lines spaced 30 yards apart.

There were grandstands along the long sides of the dueling field and a small covered enclosure at the top of the grandstands on both sides. These enclosures were centered on the chalk circle and were where the judges sat to watch the duel and where the visionbox cameras were located. There were three flags over each enclosure, one red, one green, and one black. The red flag indicated a fatal wound and/or the end of the duel. The green flag indicated a fair, but non-fatal hit, and the black flag indicated some sort of a violation of rules.

I walked around on the fighting area and found that the sand covered some sort of very hard subsurface. The combination resulted in a very good fighting surface. One could easily swing any sort of fighting weapon, such as a sword or a knife, without feeling any tendency for one's feet to slip. That was true whether one wore the common slippers or used his bare feet.

All in all, I felt that this was the fairest fighting surface that one could construct, considering the nature of the weapons. Okay, it now behooved me to obtain a copy of the rules for dueling and to study them carefully to try my best to find loopholes. This type of dueling had been practiced for over 200 years, so most of the loopholes must have already been found, but I did not want to take a chance.

Our trip back to the Hipselburn Manor was very pleasant. The vehicle we were using was one of the platforms that I had at first thought of as a flying carpet, but this one had a steel plate for the platform and a separate driver's compartment. We passengers sat in overstuffed chairs and sipped coffee or tea as our journey progressed. There was a carpet on the floor, but it did not hang over the edge.

I had my Winchester along with me for no special reason except that it seemed like a good idea to take it along on such a trip of nearly 300 miles in each direction. Sir Jorst approved of my idea, so that was the end of the discussion. Anslee felt that this was men's business, and she stayed out of it, though she did smile when she saw me pick it up that morning. To me, that was an indication of approval, and I thought no more about it.

We were about half-way home when the trouble started. The driver was shot, but the flying machine did not crash. Instead, it settled to the ground, but it was not going anywhere until someone took over the job of driving. I was not a good choice because I had not yet taken the time to learn how to operate the machine. All I knew was that the driver had to wear the circlet in order to issue commands to the flying machine.

Bullets poured in at us at a fast clip, indicating that there had to be many people shooting. That was because all of the weapons were single-shot, and there was a time interval during which each weapon had to be reloaded before it could be fired again. That was the big advantage of my repeating weapons, and I was determined to make that advantage work for us on this day.

The weapons of this planet also operated on gunpowder, so it was easy to tell where to find a gun that had just fired. My first thought was "thank God these were not Comanches or Chiricahuas, but were amateurs." Anslee and Sir Jorst were firing their weapons with more effect that were our attackers, probably because they had more time and money to spend on practice. Well, for whatever the reason, I was glad to have them on my side.

I spotted a shooter who was too stupid to duck behind a rock or other protection when he was reloading, so I had no problem putting a bullet into him from my Winchester. Likewise, I managed to hit the next two shooters just after they had fired their lone bullet. Meanwhile, Sir Jorst had knocked one attacker from the fight and Anslee had done that for two attackers. We were in good shape if we could keep this up.

I was absolutely astounded at the poor organization of the attackers. I managed to knock off four more with my next five shots. At this point, the attackers got much more careful than they had been, and we were presented with fewer targets than previously.

Sir Jorst had used his personal radio to call for reinforcements as soon as we were attacked, and he expected them to arrive within 15 minutes. We had to be sure to remain with the flying machine because the reinforcements would be arriving in military grade vehicles, and they would strafe the area before landing. In contrast to what was normally used for personal protection, these guns were automatic and were of the Gatling style of construction. Thus, they were much too large for personal use, but worked very nicely on vehicles.

Right on schedule, three flying machines arrived and proceeded to strafe the area. They did not seem concerned about who they might hit, they were just clearing the area of potential hostiles. They crisscrossed the area for a few minutes, and I doubt that anything continued to live within the area they covered.

These were regular military men and not household guards. They were part of the contingent assigned through the King to protect Sir Jorst. All I can say about them is that they knew their business and were well prepared to follow through on their assigned duty. I was definitely impressed!

A man was assigned to take the deceased driver's place, and he had us home in only a few minutes. He didn't bounce us around, but he did make sure that we arrived at the Manor without any fooling around. The rest of the military unit followed us to make sure that we did not encounter any more trouble. Sir Jorst thanked the lieutenant for his exemplary service and saw them off to return to their base.

We went inside, and I was surprised at how blasé Sir Jorst and Anslee were about the attack. It was as if this sort of thing happened all of the time. They explained to me that the the King had numerous relatives by blood and by marriage, and he also had numerous enemies. As part of the generally belligerent attitude taken by all of the residents of Horurie, it was common for one House to attack peripheral members of another House. There was nothing personal in the attacks, that was just the way society ran around here.

They emphasized that I could expect similar attacks once I was officially a member of the King's extended family. The King was working to break this chain of senseless killings, but the practice was so deeply embedded in the psyche of the people that it would take generations to clear it out. Sir Jorst said that he had once, as a very young man, mounted similar raids against other Houses, and had only stopped at the request of the King after he had become a member of the King's extended family.

This constant raiding was why even women wore weapons and studied fighting, but it was normally only for the purpose of self defense. A woman alone was fair game for any man of another House, be it for rape or for murder. That was the reason Anslee never left her father's estate alone and why she was armed as I had seen her when we first met. Dammit, this stupidity had to stop, and I was fully behind the King in his campaign against it. I knew now that Democrat or not, I was fully a King's man.

We did not leave the estate after that until it was time to journey to Horurie City for the duel. I had received permission to retain my LeMat and use it in the duel, but I wondered if that was a good psychological maneuver. I thought that I could gain more if I killed Sir Infart with my sword. The trick was to keep him from killing me with his only shot.

There was no requirement that I shoot before using my sword, that was just the usual way that duels were fought. Therefore, I discussed with Sir Jorst and Anslee the possibility of saving my gun for later on in the battle if I needed it. I was probably too cocky for my own good, but I was convinced that I could win with my blade if I could force such an encounter.