Princess Rescue Inc (90 page)

He
shook his head. “Not all. I have no idea how many,” he shrugged. “And it's a
fluke to have life, let alone intelligent life...and to have our species on two
worlds...” He shook his head again. “We have an equation that predicts things,
but we haven't a clue if it is valid or not. It's called the Drake equation.”

“Is
it that hard to believe?” she asked, lips curving in a smile.

“It's
hard to quantify, but to accept...” He chuckled a little. “That I've done.” He
waved to the stars again. “But not all life is like ours. Some is so different,
truly weird and amazing, or even monstrous.”

“You
want to explore more?” she asked, suddenly upset. He looked at her as she
released his hand.

“No.
I want to set up the infrastructure for
others
to explore. I know my
limits. This?” he waved. “This was pure chance. Pure chance and a...oh hell...
I don't know how to say it. We're here. That's all that matters,” he said
awkwardly, catching her hand again. He pulled it up and kissed her hand gently
then smiled as she looked away. He sighed and looked up at the stars once more.
Eventually she relaxed and hugged herself to him. They walked like that back to
their tent.

<==={}------------>

They
made it to the edge of the battlefield and settled in at nightfall two days later.
It was fortunate that the weather had held so nicely. Hot of course with the
summer heat but the thunderstorms had held off.

Ryans
watched men and women scrubbing at their armor and weapons in the firelight.
Even with the addition of chromium and other alloys the iron rusted in this
humid weather with alarming speed. He made a mental note to check on their own
equipment later.

“Some
of this is nervous energy getting burned off,” Deidra observed nodding. He
nodded as well.

“I
wonder how many will actually get any sleep tonight?” he murmured. He was
fairly certain Duluth now knew they were here. The Silent Knights were out on
patrol, watching for any midnight raids.

“Not
many,” she sighed. She got up and brushed his shoulder with her hand then
walked off to lean over and talk with the nearest troops. He rumbled a sigh
getting up as well.

Perry
and Ryans met up in the command hummer after dinner. They pulled up an
electronic board and went over it again and again until Perry finally decided
it was time to get some rest. “Long day tomorrow, we're going to need all the
rest we can get,” he sighed as he stretched. Ryans nodded. “Not tired?” Perry
asked amused. Ryans shrugged. “It's normal. Opening night jitters. You need to
sleep though. A lot of them will be up too.” He waved to the camp.

“Think
they know we're here?” Ryans asked after a moment.

Perry
nodded. “We didn't exactly hide our coming,” he smiled. “I'm going to go check
the forward observation posts then turn in,” Perry said.

“I'll
join you,” Ryans nodded.

Perry
and Ryans checked in with Sergeant Waters at his forward observation post. They
used NVGs to see the battlefield. Ryans was amused to see the wrecked and burnt
siege engines off to one side. He scanned the field and then paused. “I don't
see any bodies,” he murmured.

Perry
snorted. “Over to your left. Your other left,” he said patiently. “Beyond that
low rise.”

“What
am I looking for?” Ryans asked scanning the indicated area. He noted the
reptilian mounts. Their eyes glittered and shone in the darkness.

“Watch,”
was all Perry said. Someone came out dragging something, and carrying something
else over his shoulder. He tossed the body into the pen, then picked up and
tossed the other into another pen. The animals start ripping at the body parts.

Ryans
grimaced. “Well, that's one way to clean up a battlefield,” he sighed. To tell
the truth it was remarkably clean. No bodies and even the discarded weapons
usually seen were gone. Most likely either scavenged by the Duluth army for supplies
or picked up by their followers.

 “Yeah,”
Perry grunted. “I don't ...ah, yeah, there they are. Their bowmen are off to
the right, behind the footmen. They've got the long wicker shields and
bucklers,” Perry murmured.

“Got
it,” the Sarge said. Ryans looked down to see the Sarge and nodded. It was one
thing to see it on video, to see it from above, quite another to see it
firsthand. It was difficult getting his bearings he thought.

“The
logistics is beyond the hill, camped out of range of the castle near a small
river. They've got a small group of guards and a lot of the remaining
dogzards
there too,” the Sergeant said softly. “We could sneak in, toss a couple
grenades and set fire to it...” he suggested.

Perry
grunted and shook his head. “No. Most of the groups that followed armies in the
past were made up of women and children. The dependents of the soldiers,” Perry
replied. He gave the Sergeant a look. “I'd like to keep them off our target
list if at all possible.”

“Agreed,”
the Sergeant said, sobered.

“Do
you think they know we're here?” Ryans asked.

The
Sergeant snorted in amusement. “Oh hell yeah, we made enough of a racket
getting here.”

“Definitely.
The vanguard reported Duluth scouts on the road. They ran when they were
sighted so Art'ur knows we're coming. How he'll react though is anyone's
guess,” Perry said.

“Yeah,”
Ryans sighed. “We better keep a sharp eye out. You’re going to double the
guard?”

“Exactly.
And we're going to use the NVGs to keep an eye on things as well. The last
thing we need is for Duluth to get smart and sneak off in the night.”

“What,
leave the fires and sneak his men out and attack from an unprepared flank?” the
Sergeant asked.

“Exactly.
It'd be what I would do,” Perry said shrugging. “Hit hard and fast from an
unexpected direction before your enemy gets dug in. I'm surprised he's not
trying it now.”

“It
might be the chivalry code,” Ryans murmured.

“Or
he doesn't want to try to bumble along in the night. Do you want to play with
angry war beasts at night?” the Sergeant asked.

“Yeaaah...
about that. I think it'd be a good idea to keep Edsfield or a spotter or two
with the Barretts keeping an eye out in case that happens. I'd hate to let the
bastard loose those tiger or war pig thingies at us.”

“Cat
among the pigeons?” Perry asked. He grimaced. “Yup,” Perry said, answering his
own question. “Yeah, that would be a problem. I'll take care of it.”

“Right,
I'll check the guards,” the Sergeant said moving off into the darkness.

“And
I'd better get some sleep... if I can,” Ryans sighed. He knew it was going to
be impossible. Then again with Deidra around he could put his nervous energy to
work for them both... He grinned and got up.

<==={}------------>

Art’ur
paced in his tent, nervous and now unsure. He'd thought the Imperium hadn't the
strength to mobilize, he'd thought they'd send a forlorn hope of a legion or
two but now... if the numbers were right they had nearly the same number of men
as he did. Of course his men were blooded in battle but theirs were fresh with
plenty of supplies.

“They
said nothing,” he growled again, pacing and then turning.

“The
spies my lord? None knew the date of the march my lord so most likely they
couldn't get the word out in time,” Dominus Wedst said again. Art’ur's lip curled
in a silent snarl. “At least the scouts found them.”

“But
not in time to mount a spoiler attack,” Dominus Fargut said in disgust. He
looked over to General Uuôden who shrugged.

“By
the time they brought us word, the imperials had stopped and started to form
their camp. Had we had time to mobilize we might have been able to mount an
attack.”

“I
doubt it,” Art’ur said, still pacing. His hands were behind his back. The last
three night attacks on the castle had gone horribly wrong. The first had done
well, or seemingly well, the warriors had managed to get to the base of the
wall in the dark and even put up the scaling ladder they had brought. But a
guard had stumbled upon them and warned others. The attack had been repulsed.
The men who had been on the wall had made the error of retreating, all were cut
down in the dark as they ran and forded the moat.

Things
hadn't worked out the way he had planned. Illness had begun to spread amongst
his men, a tenth were sick to their stomachs and had fevers. A few had died
already. He knew it was not good to stay in one place for so long. An army was
at it's best when it moved periodically but this siege had tied them down too
long... He'd considered leaving, considered returning to Duluth, that itch was
there, troubling him. He needed to do something despite Uuôden's counseling for
patience. “Can we let loose the animals?” he asked.

“In
the night they may turn on our own forces or just leave the area my lord,”
Uuôden warned. “They may even be expecting it. I would be,” he rumbled.

Fargut
glanced at the old warrior and then nodded slightly. Wedst did as well. Art’ur
growled in irritation, running a hand through his hair. “Fine then. Prepare
tonight. We fight at dawn.”

“Lewis
dropped the note and orders to Duke what's-his-name... Emroy sir?” the Master
Sergeant asked the next morning. It was before dawn, around four am. The
Terrans had insisted on standing to before dawn in case of an early attack.
Many of the soldiers grumbled, but those that didn't sleep a wink were all too
happy to do something constructive.

“Of
course,” Perry answered. “I spotted her on her return flight. She called in a
success.”

“Good.
Wish we had managed to make more rifles with brass instead of the damn muskets
and powder cartridges,” the Sarge growled.

Perry
shrugged. “Yeah well, I'll take what we can get. I'm surprised they're still
here though,” Ryans murmured. “I'd think their cohesion would have dissolved
and men would have hit the sticks for better pastures,” he murmured.

The
Sarge grunted. “Check the camp perimeter again. Near the tree line,” he said.
Ryans looked. The Sarge pointed. He pulled out his binoculars and looked
carefully.

Off
in the distance he could see a few bodies swaying as they hung from tree
branches or gallows arms. He shivered. “Deserters. They hang there till they
get ripe then are cut down and fed to the beasts to make room for more,” the
Sarge growled. “Nasty but it's a deterrent. Doesn't seem to work entirely
though,” he growled.

“What
do you mean?” Perry asked surprised. “I'd think a couple would be enough.” He
waved to indicate the swaying bodies.

“Not
when they're on quarter rations and the entire countryside has been picked
clean. I bet none of them have been paid either, so they probably have a morale
and discipline problem,” the Sergeant answered. “The common folks get their pay
from loot and plunder. Without anything to pick over, they probably aren't too
happy.”

“Not
to mention dysentery and other diseases that come from poor hygiene,” Ryans
said quietly. “Any camped unit has that problem after a week or so. It gets
worse the longer they're in one place,” he reminded them. Perry and the
Sergeant nodded.

As
dawn broke in glorious reds and yellows the next morning they moved out of
camp. Noncoms among the units urged the soldiers to drink the beer or boiled
water and then pee. They had them refill their canteens and checked their gear
once more, more to get rid of the jitters than for any other reason. Keeping
the men busy was important. Other noncoms followed suit. Deidra caught up to
Ryans and grimaced as she noted a man peeing in a bush. “Do they have to be so
crude about it?” she asked disdainfully wrinkling her nose as the soldier
adjusted his clothing and returned to his unit.

Ryans
snorted, thinking about the rule of soldiers. Lewd, crude... “There's a bit of
a line to the latrines dear,” he said. He pointed to the latrine trenches and
the long lines. “Not everyone has their own personal one.”

“He's
emptying his bladder so it won’t affect him in the battle. Won’t help much
though, one look at what we're up against and he'll need to pee again,” Perry
said smiling. “It happens even to us vets. We're going to need to keep the men
hydrated. Women and animals too. Going to be a hot one,” he sighed looking
toward the first rising sun. The second was just on the edge of the horizon.

Already
the morning fog was burning off as the sun began to warm the sky and grounds.
Dew sparkled on the leaves and grass. Animals brayed, cawed, or snorted in
anticipation as they were harnessed and chivvied into position.

“We
don't feed them?” Ryans asked indicating the predators. “They would be easier
to control,” he said. He winced and noted as a stable hand dodged a not so playful
nip from a beast. The beast thrummed as the man rapped it on the nose. The
muzzles were on for the time being but would come off just before the battle.

“Yeah,
but hungry they're downright terrifying,” Perry snorted quoting the general.
“They don't feed them the night before a battle to make them want to attack...
I heard that trick used before but with animals like these...”