Valour and Victory (23 page)

The man
laughed. “It is us who could do the harm, if we had a mind to.
Passing through to where? There is nothing out here but rock and
sand.”

“We’re
searching for something,” Danal replied, thinking he could say that
much.

“Something very
important,” added Tala and Danal shot her a disapproving look.

“Ah, a woman,”
the man said, his eyes narrowing. “Where are you from?”

Tala dug Philip
in the ribs, warning him to say nothing and so give away the fact
that he was from Murdoch and continued, “we are from the northern
continent, sent on a mission of utmost importance. My friend is
right, we mean you no harm.”

“You have Lind
with you. Are you from Vadath?”

“Yes, we are,”
Danal answered. “I am Vadeln Danal of the Avuzdel.”

Only when Danal
said that last word did the man begin to relax. He led his jezdic
closer.

“I am Padrig,”
he announced, “in command of our group. Forgive me my suspicions
Vadeln Danal but much in the desert is not as it first appears and
I have learned to be cautious of strangers.”

Now that he was
closer, Danal could see that he was not a large man underneath his
voluminous desert garb after all. He could also see the outline of
a sword hilt beneath the robes.

“So,” Padrig
began again, “a mission of importance?” He frowned, “are you on
your own then, the six of you?”

“We were eight
but we had an encounter with a Larg scout and two were killed,”
Tala answered.

Padrig’s
nostrils flared, much as his mounts were doing. “Just the one?” he
demanded.

“As far as we
are aware he was on his own.”

“Was?”

“The Larg scout
is dead,” said Danal in a flat voice. He was no stranger to sudden
death but the demises of Derek and Denei had hit him hard. He had
come to like the young man very much.

Padrig stayed
silent and Danal assumed, quite correctly, that the nomad was
assessing the situation much as any good commander would.

“Have your Lind
sensed any others on your trail?” Padrig asked at last. “We thought
they were Larg themselves at first.”

The three Lind
raised astonished and affronted faces in Padrig’s direction and he
raised his hand in denial and apology. “No offence meant I’m sure,
but we have heard of the Larg and their Altuinq although we have
never come across any.”

“It is best to
be cautious,” agreed Danal.

“If there were
Larg there we would have sensed them,” interrupted Inalei. “We are
Avuzdel and trained in seeking without being sensed ourselves.”

“You did not
sense us though did you?” asked Padrig.

“We were not
looking for you,” Inalei answered, surprised. “We did sense your
presence but thought you were a herd of jezdic if truth be
told.”

“It’s best to
be truthful,” agreed Padrig with a short laugh, “and we have
learned to keep any thoughts tight within us when we are out here.
It is not merely you Lind who can sense emotions - as we know to
our cost.” He grimaced.

Tala wondered
who Padrig had known who had been caught by the Larg.

“Now,”
continued Padrig, “since there does not appear to be any immediate
danger around us may I propose something?”

“Propose away,”
said Danal with a slight grin.

“It is little
to worry about Danal of the Avuzdel. Like you we were about to make
camp and rest. I propose that we join you. I’ll admit I have an
ulterior motive, my group are all tired, we have been travelling
hard and we all need to rest and to sleep before we set out again.
With your Lind here I can assign the numbers guarding us to a
minimum.”

: We can
watch and listen for them too :
offered Asya to Danal
: the
man is right and we were working watch shifts anyway. Tell him yes
:

“I have no
objection,” said Danal.

Padrig smiled,
“then I will call in my people. We can also provide food if you are
hungry.”

“Cold trail
rations?” asked Tala.

“Certainly not!
Cold, yes, we dare not risk a fire so near to where the Larg are
moving but trail rations no. What would you say if I was to offer
you bread, still quite fresh, cold meat and cheeses?”

“I would say a
most definite yes,” declared Tala, “and with heartfelt thanks.”

Padrig bestowed
on her a tight smile and began issuing orders.

“Come sit
down,” he said at last, “and we will talk.”

He settled
himself on the sand.

A short while
later, the promised food arrived and Danal, Tala and Philip tucked
in.

“Aline, come
over here,” ordered Padrig as they were finishing their meal.

Philip lifted
his head and watched as a young woman detached herself from the
group of nomads and began to walk towards them.

“Aline,” he
called out in disbelief, “not Aline from the Island of Hallam?”

“Who wants to
know?” growled Padrig.

“Aline, sister
of Robain?”

The young woman
nodded, wide-eyed.

Philip grinned
at her. “I know him.”

“Robain? Robain
is dead.”

“I can assure
you that he is very much alive. I saw him only last month. We all
did.”

“You
know
Robain?”

“I do and I
know about his brothers Liam and Ansell. He often speaks of
them.”

“Robain, Liam
and Ansell are alive?” Aline looked as if she couldn’t believe what
her ears were telling her. “Where is Robain?”

“We’re not
sure, somewhere to the south of here I should think by now,” Danal
said. “He was in Duchesne with Prince Elliot.”

Aline laughed.
“A prince! Robain is keeping company with a prince? Pull the other
why don’t you?”

“Robain is a
Captain in the Garda,” continued Danal, ignoring her outburst. “He
and Elliot came south with us, on the same ship.”

“So why are you
here and not with them?” asked Padrig with suspicion. “What’s going
on here? I warn you, I want the whole truth and none of you are
going anywhere until I get it.”

“We have two
different tasks to perform,” began Danal, choosing his words with
care and making himself comfortable. “It’s a long story.”

“I’m in no
hurry,” Padrig informed them.

* * * * *

“Where are
these papers, this map?” asked Padrig when Danal’s tale had drawn
to a close.

“In my
pack.”

“Show me.”

Danal got
slowly and stiffly to his feet and went over to where Asya sat
guarding his bags. From the saddle pack he drew out the notes taken
by Niaill from Peter Howard’s journal and the map.

Padrig took
them and gave them a cursory once over, though his eyes lingered on
the map. “Grainne?” he shouted and looked up at Danal. “Fantastic
as it seems, I’m almost inclined to believe you. I can’t read this
but Grainne can. We are escaped slaves as you will have guessed,
even her, but she was a clever one and was taught.” He looked at
Philip, “you got slaves?”

Padrig knew by
now that Philip was a noble of Murdoch.

Philip shook
his head. “My grandfather freed them before I was born and most of
our land is held off the Dukes of Duchesne and Brentwood. My
grandfather disliked the practice. I’ve never owned any
slaves.”

“I’m glad you
answered as you did,” said Padrig. “Slave-owners are not welcome
here.”

Grainne ran up,
a thin faced urchin of indefinable sex and eager, bright eyes.

“Go take this
away and read it,” Padrig ordered. “Come back and tell me what it
says.” He handed papers and map to Grainne.

As they were
waiting more food and water was brought to Danal and the others.
The nomads watched them eat.

Grainne came
back, clutching Danal’s precious papers.

“They tell
truth,” she announced in clarion tones. She bent down to where
Padrig sat and spoke into his ear. Strain as he might, Danal
couldn’t hear more than a snatched word here and there.

“What Grainne
tells me is strange. Why are you looking for this power-core?”

“We are on a
mission to find it. It is probably the most important artefact ever
to be hidden during the history of the world or on any other world.
The entire planet is in danger and might well be destroyed if we
fail,” said Philip.

“That’s a bit
steep.”

“It is true
nevertheless.”
Where to begin?
“The kohorts are moving.”

“We know that
already. We may only be runaway slaves but we
do
possess a
modicum of intelligence,” said a sarcastic Padrig. “So the Larg are
moving?” Padrig shrugged. “It has happened before. They will not
bother us.”

“They will this
time,” said Philip. “This time they are not alone. They have
allies, creatures who are travelling on a spaceship to our planet.
A few are here already. They have persuaded the Larg that if they
help them conquer the planet when they leave the Larg will be left
as our lord and masters, over the entire planet, north and south.
That is why we must find the artefact, the power-core. With it we
can destroy these creatures. Without it we are doomed.”

“That’s it in a
nutshell,” agreed Danal.

“Why should I
believe you?” asked Padrig.

“Because you
must.”

“You hunt for
the
Electra
,” said Padrig after a long moment, deciding what
he should do. “We will help you. We can take you there.”

“It is where we
live,” offered Grainne.

“It is both our
home and resource,” added Padrig. “We charge a great deal for the
pieces of metal that we can extract from it.”

“Where is it?”
asked an eager Danal.

“Not far.
Perhaps too we can do more. We know the desert. We even know where
the crumbling metal object that must be the ‘ore-driller’ Grainne
speaks of is. I might even have an idea of the likely location of
this power-core, about half a days walk from it. I found traces of
a very old campsite once, a couple of tent pegs and some strange
rubbish, also large metal swirly objects with holes in the middle,
all broken.”

“They were in a
hurry,” Tala observed. “They wouldn’t have bothered tidying up. The
sand would cover it over soon enough.”

“What the sand
covers one day the wind blows away the next,” Padrig observed with
a slight grin. “Now, we’ll take you to the
Electra
and then
on to the ‘ore-driller’. But we want something in return.”

“Name it,” said
Danal.

“A place to
live in freedom,” answered Padrig.

Philip nodded,
“you have my word.”

“And mine,”
said Danal.

“Yours I will
accept, Danal of Vadath,” said Padrig. “I know that those of the
Vada do not lie. Also, Baron Ross stays behind with us in the
Electra
when my people take you into the desert.”

“As a
hostage?”

“If you like,”
answered Padrig. “I’ve learnt not to trust. I’ve realised that I’m
likely to live longer that way. He stays with us and so does that
Lind he rides.”

* * * * *

Tala and
Danal

“We’re almost
there,” announced Padrig.

“Thank the lai
for that,” whispered Tala in an aside to Danal, “I’m parched.”

“Plenty of
water in the
Electra,
” Padrig called over. “There’s an
underground river close by and our predecessors diverted it a bit
so that it now runs under the ship.”

“You’re not the
first to make your home here then?” Danal enquired as Asya moved up
to take position beside Padrig’s jedzic. The beast flicked ears and
tail at her but Asya took no notice.

: It is strange
that the jezdic are not frightened of us is it not? :

“People,
runaway slaves mostly, have been using it as a haven for
centuries,” Padrig informed them.

“And the Larg
leave you alone?”

“We lose a few
each year, that’s why we move around in large groups, they usually
don’t attack large groups.”

“Usually has a
scent of repetitiveness about it,” observed Tala to Philip.

“Of course,
we’ve a few Larg with us,” said Padrig with pride. “They are our
friends.”

: That is
why :
said Asya.

“Just the four.
Two are blind and were chased out of their packs when they were
little more than cubs. The other two are deformed in some way.”

“You took them
in?”

“Aye, we did
and we have never regretted it. Remember too, that place to live I
mentioned…”

“Demanded.”

Padrig laughed,
“they come with us. They’re part of the group.”

“Understood,”
said Danal. “So why out here?”

“Better out
here, even with the dangers thrown in than back in the
slave-pens.”

“That bad?

“You cannot
imagine. It’s not a life, merely an existence to be endured until
an early death. Here I’m free.”

“Do all the
slaves work in the mines, even the children?” asked Danal.

“Everyone who
can. Women, well, if they’re not pregnant into the mines they go.
Perpetual pregnancy or being worked to death, what would you
choose?”

“These days may
be coming to an end,” said Danal.

“Ah, you have
hopes that the young prince you mentioned will see fit to free the
slaves? Don’t take a wager on it friend Danal, he won’t. The mines
of Sahara produce thousands of gold circles worth of ore and jewels
each year, he can’t afford to free them.”

“I believe he
just might,” interrupted Philip. “This young prince is different.
He’s seen free workers, seen how an economy can work with not a
slave in sight. He’s also got Robain whispering in his ear about
the iniquities of slavery.”

“Aline’s
brother?”

“Yes. I think
Prince Elliot liked what he saw in Argyll. If not for the war he
would have found an excuse to stay longer. Emancipation will come
Padrig, perhaps sooner than you think.”