Ambition and Alavidha (4 page)

A
time-traveller from AL 608 would instantly recognise that the
country in AL 807 is almost identical. The Vada is still pledged to
protect. Unlike in Argyll, Murdoch and in the islands where a
population explosion has occurred, the population of Vadath has
remained static.

Murdoch

Murdoch is
still a militaristic autocracy. It is divided into Dukedoms,
originally eight, by the end of the first century, nine and by AL
807, twelve. Each Duke owes fealty to the King. Much of the land is
scrub and desert, especially in the far west and in the south.
Arable land is at a premium and the lords are ever jealous of the
fertile northern continents.

The currency of
the Kingdom is gold circles and half-circles, silver circles and
half-circles and copper bits, half-bits and quarter-bits.

Like Argyll,
Murdoch hasn’t changed much in the two centuries since the war
against the Dglai, although, at least ‘deep down’ there have been
what politicians might call ‘surface changes’. Slavery was
abolished by King Elliot the Twelfth and his wife Queen Zilla of
Argyll in AL 615 and other reform laws were promulgated but
Elliot’s immediate descendants and heirs were not strong and the
powerful Dukes asserted themselves and their traditional rights on
his death.

In some duchies
the institution of serfdom has taken the place of slavery which is,
when all is said and done, just slavery under another name.

There remains a
divide between the northerly and southerly duchies both in attitude
and wealth. Rival dukes are often at each other’s throats although
this animosity has not yet led to another civil war.

* * * * *

-5-

AL 807

NORTH-EAST
ARGYLL - THE PATROL SECTOR OF THE FIFTEENTH RYZCK

: Thalia? :

: Yes, what is
it? :

: I would like
to hunt. May I ask Vadryzka Cera and Xei if we can be detached?
:

: What? Now?
:

: Now :
Josei answered in a firm and no-nonsense tone
: there is a lian
over there and thus a nice juicy vuz or two to be caught :
Josei’s mind-tone had become wistful.

Here, in this
area of Argyll there were no wild kura or zarova, the preferred
meal of the Lind. The countryside was well (some said over)
populated and the meat-herds all domesticated. Actually,
domesticated was probably the wrong term, the zarova especially
being most intractable but they all, without exception, belonged to
some farmer or other. Of course, the Fifteenth’s base, the enclave
of cabins which was home to the duty Ryzck kept a herd of meat
animals for Lind consumption but from time to time the Lind had the
urge to actually hunt out their prey before they killed and ate
it.

Thalia sensed
Josei’s need. The farmers wouldn’t mind. The creatures known as vuz
were numerous and hungry this time of year and all farmers knew
them for the pests they were. They ate young shoots and crops.

: Ask :
Thalia told him
: and while you hunt I’ll do a spot of reading.
There’s still enough light :

She sighed.
There were never enough bells in the day to read during a duty
tour.

: What is
wrong? :
asked a now cheerful Josei; he had become very happy
at the thought of a bell or two of fun chasing vuz in the
woods.

: I’m
feeling a mite tired :
Thalia admitted.

It was no
wonder Thalia was feeling tired. Not only were they coming to the
middle of their three month long duty but she and Josei had had
guard duty last night; four bells awake when she might otherwise
have been sleeping. It was enough to make anyone tired, even
anylind.

: I’d like
to finish my book :
added Thalia.

: I’ll ask
Xei now :
he promised and did.

Permission was
granted and peeling away from the other seven vadeln-pairs in their
Vadryz Thalia and Josei made a beeline for the woods.

Ensconced, her
back leaning against a handy tree trunk, Thalia settled herself
down and opened her book. However, she couldn’t seem to summon up
enough energy to begin to read it.

No
wonder
, she thought crossly to herself,
I was up half the
night and we set out on shore patrol immediately after brekker. I
wish something would happen, all we seem to do this duty stint is
to run up and down the shore, looking out to the sea.

: Be careful
what you wish for :
Josei’s comment arrived unbidden in her
mind
: it might just happen :

It was an old
Vada saying.

But Thalia
didn’t respond. Her eyelids closed and her book fell from her
hands. Thalia was asleep.

* * * * *

The Fifteenth
Ryzck was stationed in the second-most northerly of the wards on
the eastern seaboard. The Eighteenth Ryzck was responsible for the
ward to the north, where the mountains began but the area where the
Fifteenth were stationed was an important one.

Lying between
the two wards was the River Missouri, no-one could remember why the
river had this name but it had been so since the first decade of
colonisation. The Missouri was wide and tidal, deep in the central
channel and therefore navigable upriver as far as the town of
Cranston some fifteen miles inland. The inhabitants of Cranston
depended on trade from river traffic for their prosperity and the
town was thriving.

The people who
lived in the ward, unlike many Argyll people in the interior and to
the south were glad of the protection of the Ryzcks and paid their
tithe willingly, for this was an area beset by peril. In the
mountainous north prowled the gtran and the wral, large and vicious
predators who preyed on the unwary. Also inhabiting these mountains
were bandits, who also preyed on those who did not protect
themselves, their families and the smaller villages and townships
which dotted the landscape.

Added to these
perils were the sea-pirates who continued, despite the navy’s best
efforts to raid the coastal areas. Ryzcks serving in this area
expected at least one violent incident during each tour of duty.
The pirates appeared to have an innate ability of knowing just
where to attack and the more experienced vadeln suspected that
there were men and women of Argyll in league with them and who were
tipping them off.

In recent years
this problem the smuggling and the violence had been getting
worse.

The attacks
would usually ‘come out of the blue’ with no warning so it was a
surprise to Susa Vandiel and his Lind Zandya who commanded the
Fifteenth Ryzck when the message arrived from the Susa of the
Eighteenth Ryzck to the north informing them that they had received
intelligence that a pirate fleet of three large galleys were
expected to land in a place upriver from the coast in two days.

Frantic
telepathic conversations ensued between Zandya and Susa Brent’s
Rozya. A message to the nearest Garda garrison was sent by Brent
but he knew that the horse cavalry stationed at the fort would be
unlikely to reach the ambush location in time unless they were
mounted on fast horses. Only the Lind would be able to run fast
enough.

Susa Vandiel
explained this to his three Vadryzkas; that the Ryzck would be
leaving immediately and what he knew about who they would be facing
when they got there.

“Full battle
armour,” he ordered, “and only food and water for three days. We
will be running fast.”

“Will it be
only the sea-pirates we will be ambushing?” asked Vadryzka Cera,
who was Thalia’s immediate superior.

A Ryzck was
split into three Vadryz of eight vadeln-pairs each and led by a
Vadryzka. The other three duos who made up a Ryzck were the Ryzcka
pair, a Holad (medical) pair and the pair responsible for
communications. The Lind of this latter partnership was always one
of strong telepathic abilities.

“We are not
sure as yet Cera,” Vandiel answered. “Brent says that he suspects
collusion between the pirates and the bandits. I think he’s had
word from some Avuzdel operatives. As you know, we have been
suspecting this for some time.”

“We most
definitely
don’t
want them working together,” Cera agreed,
“they’re bad enough on their own.” Cera, in her mid-forties now,
had had a lot of experience dealing with both types of renegades.
She also originated from this area and always took it as a personal
affront if either type of parasite managed to steal from, maim or
kill any civilians in the ward.

“Definitely,”
said Vandiel, “but with two Ryzcks and the Light Cavalry from
Cranston we shall certainly put a spoke in their wheels. There’s a
contingent of militia coming from Cranston too, they’ll be marching
with the Garda infantry.”

The commanding
officers of the Fifteenth Ryzck had a lot to think about as they
dispersed to prepare. A fight was not unexpected, what was, was the
confirmation that the land bandits and sea pirates were working in
tandem. As Vandiel returned to his cabin to get out his battle
armour he pondered. It was a worrying development. What was causing
these one-time enemies to unite? Who was behind it?

* * * * *

Josei had just
swallowed his second vuz when the summons arrived, in fact, he was
licking his lips and wondering whether he should go after a
third.

It was too
good to last
, he thought with regret, this complete
un-event-ful-ness (he had but recently learnt the word) of the last
month and a half and unlike Thalia, he wasn’t a great seeker of
adventure. He blamed the books she read. Adventures had a tendency
to turn into violence and like most others of his kind he was of
the opinion that prevention was far better than a fighting cure.
The Lind fought when they had to; to protect, but that didn’t mean
they liked it. Oh well, perhaps it was nothing but Xei’s telepathic
voice-tone hadn’t indicated that this was a mundane recall; in
fact. Josei had sensed quite the opposite.

He took a last
regretful look at the vuz burrow and trotted back to the tree where
he had left Thalia.

It took longer
to wake her up than it did for her to put his harness back on. She
mounted and they ran back to the domta as fast as Josei’s paws
could take them.

* * * * *

Contained
purpose was how Thalia later described the scene that met them.

Sliding off
Josei’s back Thalia waved to Cera and hurried to her and Josei’s
daga to get ready. She and Josei had been wearing what was called
half-armour during their recent patrol along the shore, a
compromise between protection, ease of movement and speed.

Now Thalia
dragged out their thick battle armour from the press; hard zarova
leather front and back plates, impregnated with chain, full leg
greaves and hand and arm protectors. Finally she removed her helmet
from the shelf.

She stripped
off her patrol attire, right down to her undergarments and donned
the body-hugging quilted tunic, wrinkling her nose at its unique
smell, comprising of saddle oil and sweat. The rest took only as
long as it took Josei to nab another quick snack from the
meat-store and slurp a drink of water. Clipping her thigh greaves
in place, Thalia paused
: Josei? :

: Here :
and Josei’s large hairy face peeped round the door.

Thalia grinned,
a tight grin and picked up the armour that belonged to Josei.

“We’ll put it
on outside,” she decided after a look round. Cripes, she’d almost
forgotten her knives! One never knew when an extra knife or two
might come in handy during a fight. Her sword she was already
wearing and the light shield the Vada carried when going into
battle was outside.

She picked up
the knives and hurried out of the door. As she attached Josei’s
battle armour to his harness he was telepathing a running
commentary about where they were going and why.

Thalia listened
as she worked, pausing only for an instant to thank the kitchen boy
when he thrust a food package and a large water bottle into her
arms. She shoved them into the saddle-pack and continued buckling
on the armour.

“Does it feel
okay?”

Josei shifted
and stretched, making sure it wasn’t impeding movement.

“Perfect,” he
replied then burped. He had after all rushed his food rather. “Xei
says we leave in a quarter bell. We are to report to him and Cera
for inspection.”

Thalia nodded,
slipping the extra knives into the sockets of her boots. Inspection
was normal just in case someone or somelind forgot something.

Another boy
came into view. She opened her hands and a standard medical pack
was tossed into them and the boy sped away.

Josei nudged
Thalia with his snout.

: We are ready,
we are together :

The words were
said in such a matter of fact tone that Thalia smiled. She did not
laugh, no-one was laughing. Fighting was not a laughing matter no
matter what the adventure books she was always reading said. People
and their Lind got killed in even small battles and three
galley-loads of pirates would be formidable opponents.

The two of them
passed inspection with flying colours. They noticed however that a
few pairs were being sent back to their dagas to pick up whatever
they had forgotten. Vadeln Jenna had even forgotten her sword! When
she returned (she was in Thalia’s Vadryz) Thalia noted that she was
red-faced with embarrassment yet excited too.

Was it only two
years since Thalia had herself graduated and joined the Ryzck? Was
it only a year and eight months since she had, like Jenna, been
mortified with embarrassment when she had been sent back to fetch
of all things, her helmet?