The Trek: Darwin's World, Book II (The Darwin's World Series 2) (15 page)

If his plan worked, the pursuers would run headlong into a trap.

But if the ambush didn’t happen before he got close to Riverbend Camp, it might mean that Laz hadn’t got through.

Lee could then start to reduce their numbers, bleed them as much as possible, maybe force the remaining ones to turn back before they got to the camp. Such was his backup plan.

Lee was a skilled archer; with luck, he might even wipe out their entire party. But he was responsible for protecting the others in the tribe, so he preferred not to gamble.

Did he carry enough arrows to kill all of them? A mistake on Lee’s part could be fatal. And if that happened, the tribe might not be warned. Some could be captives before anyone even knew the slavers had found Riverbend Camp.

No, taking on the party behind him was something Lee would do only if he had no other choice. Better to lead the slavers into the ambush, let Matt and company kill them.

But if the raiders decided to quit the chase early, the situation would change. Lee could then go back to Riverbend Camp for help, or follow the retreating slavers and kill as many as possible by himself.

Could he salvage arrows along the way? Some inevitably became damaged in use and the slavers might break others. No, he could only count on the ones in his quiver, one shot for each shaft. Lee had a dozen arrows, barely adequate to take on the tracking party, but not enough if they’d been joined by others. He would shoot only when he was certain of a hit, then, and not miss.

Lee knew where the fleeing raiders would be going, so he could travel faster. And there were numerous places along the trail where he could hide and wait. He wouldn’t chase the slavers if they gave up and headed for their village, he would circle around them while they watched their back trail. Ambush them from somewhere ahead, launch one or two arrows, slip away.

He could do that until he ran out of arrows. Or targets.

If any of the slavers did manage to get back to their village, they’d be completely demoralized. Instead of chasing the tribe, they might be more inclined to run from them!

#

Lee would wait a little longer. If the slavers didn’t appear soon....

What if they’d decided not to follow?

The tribe would then be left with two options, neither of them good: abandon Riverbend Camp and continue west, possibly while being pursued, or attack the slavers first.

Of course, the slavers might decide to simply ignore the escape of two captives and the death of three of their number. That seemed unlikely; they survived by conquest and held their prisoners through fear. As soon as the other captives realized that Shani and Bella had escaped, they would try it too. The slavers might claim they’d killed the escapees, but sooner or later the other captives would find out the truth.

Some would die trying to escape, others would have to be crippled by cutting the Achilles tendon. This would reduce the value of the crippled ones, and some might actually succeed in escaping. They would spread word of what the slavers were doing. Raiding would become more difficult.

No. The slavers would have to follow Shani and Bella. They would have no choice.

But for the tribe to attack a camp of sixty warriors, do it with only twenty bowmen? Say, a dozen shafts per bowman, two hundred forty arrows against sixty targets?

And some of the bowmen lacked the skills that Matt and Lee had.

Suppose the raiders had used slave labor to build a wall around their village? What if there were traps along the trails, something to discourage captives from escaping?

No, attacking the raiders’ village was something to do only if they had no other choice.

Fleeing, hoping to remain ahead of the raiders, was dangerous too. Extra guards would be needed and that would take manpower away from other tasks. Still, moving seemed less risky than attacking the village.

The raiders wouldn’t want to leave. They had established markets, other villages that bought captives and traded things the slavers couldn’t make for themselves. The raiders had developed a system, they wouldn’t want to abandon it.

But suppose the slavers decided to raid the tribe, either at Riverbend or after they got back on the trail?

Some would remain behind to guard the captives they already held. Perhaps half the number the two girls had mentioned, say thirty of them, were available for a raid.

Thirty raiders, that was a threat the tribe could handle, and it wouldn’t last forever. After two weeks or so traveling with their new carts, they’d be too far away for this group to pursue.

People who moved every day; finding a place to attack them was not the same as raiding a fixed camp.

The raiding party had mobility; they could choose when and where to strike a village. They could surprise the residents, hit them when they were least ready. Defensive walls made a difference, but Lee had seen none. Building fortifications took time, materials, and labor, none of which were available to people barely managing to feed themselves. Their primary need would be food, followed by shelter from weather and animals. So raiding such small unprotected villages was a simple matter.

But when the raid’s objective was moving every day, especially when that objective was a well-armed tribe, things changed. The travelers would be alert if for no other reason than because they were traveling into the unknown; surprise was unlikely. So a direct assault wouldn’t succeed.

How long could the raiders follow? Two weeks travel by the tribe meant twice that long for the slavers. The tribe would now be moving faster and with less effort. Hauling supplies by cart instead of backpacking or dragging them on a travois made a huge difference. As for the raiders, they would have to travel light in order to be more mobile than the tribe. The shortage of supplies would force the raiders to attack before they ran out of food.

Launch a quick frontal attack on people armed with bows? Suicide. The raiders’ only chance would be to get far ahead and pick a spot to ambush the tribe.

Already a warrior, Lee was learning to think like a leader. He would discuss his ideas with Matt when he got back to camp.

What if the tribe changed course every few hours? The raiders might lose the trail entirely. It wouldn’t have to be a large change, just enough to evade any attempt at setting up an ambush.

It seemed that the mathematics of a chase favored the tribe, not the raiders.

The tribe had food enough on their carts to keep moving. The raiders had no way of knowing that, but it would complicate their tactical problem when the tribe kept moving every day and the pursuers began to run low on food.

Even in a world that hadn’t developed military science, logistics ruled. And when it became obvious that a raid was too risky, the slavers would have to turn back.

Lee thought while he watched the trail. Finally, he ate some of his dried meat and decided he’d waited long enough.

Regretfully, he slipped away and went to find Matt.

#

Lee arrived late in the afternoon.

“I don’t think they’re coming, Matt, at least not today.”

“I agree. I’ll leave Laz and Sandra to watch the trail. Everyone else can go back to camp.

“Lee, you and I can take over after midnight. It’s always possible the slavers got smart and waited. We’ve based our plans on what we
thought
they’d do, but we’ve got to consider what they’re capable of.

“If one of their scouts got past us, they’ll know about Riverbend Camp. It would take time to ready their people for a full-scale raid, so they may be intending to attack tomorrow. Attacks usually happen at dawn, so if you and I are the ones watching, we’ll know about it before it happens.

“I’ll keep Piotr with me when we relieve Laz and Sandra. The two of us will watch this side of camp until daybreak, you take Marc with you and watch the other side. I’ll talk to Robert; he can wake everyone else up at dawn and get them moving. We’ll keep watch behind the tribe for a while and catch up after they’re on the trail. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good, Matt. You feel sure of Piotr? I know you had concerns earlier.”

“He’s been steady. No way to tell for sure until he actually has to shoot someone, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.”

Lee nodded. He waited with Matt as the rest of the ambush party left their cover and assembled.

“Looks like we wasted our time, people. Laz, you and Sandra find a place closer to camp where you can watch the trail. We’ll relieve you at midnight. If you spot anything, I’m depending on you to get back and warn us. Questions?”

The two glanced at each other and shook their heads. “I understand, Matt,” Laz said.

“Good enough. The rest of you, back to camp. Get some food, catch a little sleep, be ready to leave at dawn.”

The group began to straggle as Matt led them toward camp. “Keep together, people. We don’t know for certain that the slavers didn’t slip past us. Stay alert. We know we’ve got enemies, we just don’t know where they are.”

The party closed up and they arrived as the sun slipped below the tree line. The weary party of would-be ambushers found little left to do; others had already done much of the work. They ate a cold supper and soon sought sleep.

Matt discussed his plans with Robert, then sought his own bed.

#

Lilia woke him at midnight and he got Lee and Marc up.

All four had food, saved from the evening meal, and Lee and Marc ate as they moved out to watch the camp’s northeast side. Matt woke Piotr and the two ate breakfast as they slipped away to the southwest in the darkness.

Laz and Sandra were nearly exhausted when Matt relieved them and sent them back to the camp.

#

The night passed slowly, then first light brightened the eastern sky. Matt decided to wait a few more minutes before heading back to camp.

He had just joined Piotr when Lee approached.

“Matt, we’ve got movement. I can’t tell how many yet, but they’re not really skilled at moving in the dark. They’re coming from the east and making more noise than we would. They might be following the drag marks.”

“You left Marc watching them?”

Lee nodded.

“OK, I’ll leave Piotr here and I’ll go join Marc. Lee, you slip into camp and wake up Robert. Try not to make any noise. We need everyone up, armed, and ready.

“If the raiders don’t realize they’ve been discovered, we can surprise them. How far out are they?”

Lee thought for a moment. “Half a mile at most. We were about five hundred yards out from camp when we heard them moving. I didn’t think anyone could cross the stream without us hearing so we’ve been concentrating on the land approaches. I really didn’t expect anyone would try an attack from there. Good thing we kept watching!”

“Yeah. I don’t know if the people you saw are the mine guards…it sounds like them, coming from the east, but I didn’t expect them this soon. But if it’s the slavers, they circled around and found our drag marks. Now they’re following them.

“I guess it doesn’t matter. Whoever it is, we’re going to fight. Friends don’t sneak up on a camp in the dark.”

Lee nodded. “Any instructions for me?”

“Collect the people you know, the ones who were scouts before we got here. They’re tired, but they’ll just have to keep going. Keep them quiet, move out to the north and head east for maybe five hundred yards. I’d like you to be about a hundred yards north of the trail and five hundred yards east of camp.

“I’ll take charge of the rest of the tribe and we’ll set up a defensive line east of the camp. If this is the guards, they’ll have Pavel with them, Gregor and Vlad too. They’ll know about how many we are, but they might not expect the three deserters we picked up.

“Anyway, the new guys can stay on the line with me.

“Something to consider, the raiders won’t know how the camp is laid out and they won’t expect us to be ready and waiting behind cover. But if Pavel’s with them, he has that rifle. Hiding behind a bush won’t be good enough, bullets will just go through it. You’ll need to take cover behind large trees, something at least eighteen inches thick. Bigger is better.

“Have your people ready to hit them from the side. As soon as we start shooting, you attack from the flank. I doubt they’ll stand. The survivors will pull back as soon as the others start falling. But we don’t want to scare them off, we want to kill as many as possible before they run.

“One rifle is dangerous but not that bad if you’re careful. If you get a clean shot at Pavel, take it. I doubt anyone else knows how to use the rifle, he wouldn’t have let them even touch it. But in any case, kill as many as you can but don’t worry about the ones who are down and can’t fight. We’ll deal with them later.

“If they turn on you, try to counterattack you I mean, we’ll move out from where we’re hiding. Either way, we’ll have them between two forces.

“Pass the word to your people. Kill them all.”

Lee nodded, grim faced. “We’ll do it. Be careful, Matt.”

“You too, Lee. Good luck.”

Matt caught up with Robert where he was waking the camp.

“Send people out as soon as they’re ready, Robert. I’ll set up the defense line over there, to the east. We’ll meet the raiders just past the edge of camp. Tell people to be quiet when they move and bring all the arrows and spears they’ve got. Tell them to find me when they get there and I’ll guide them into position. I’ll keep Carlo and the other new guys with me. If this is Pavel and the guardsmen, I plan to teach them a permanent lesson.”

Robert nodded and moved silently away.

Matt reached into his belt pouch and unwrapped a slab of the dried meat. He would eat it now; he might not have time later. He waited, and chewed.

#

Tribespeople soon began arriving, most of them nervous. Matt pointed out places where he wanted them to wait. They moved silently into position, all of them tense and some clearly fearful. But fearful or not, they would fight.

Matt took up his own position near the center, spear on the ground by his right foot, quiver ready, arrow on the string.

Once again, Darwin’s World presented them with a stark choice.