streaming in through the slats of the shutters covering the single unglazed
window.
He arose and opened the shutters. The morning was beautiful, the sky
was a vibrant blue, the air brisk and clear.
Ashe must have been watching for this sign, for he came to the cabin a
few minutes later carrying with him both food and water for washing.
Murdock was not long in readying himself. He sat down to eat at the
all-purpose desk table while his partner gave him an account of affairs in
the camp, a surprisingly detailed one considering the fact that he, too, had
only returned to it the previous afternoon. He had put the time Ross had
spent with the Ton to good use.
The other man eyed his rapidly emptied plate with satisfaction, then
turned his attention to Ross himself. "I'm glad to find you looking
somewhat less like a casualty this morning."
"I feel less like one." He looked a bit sheepish. "I'm afraid I tried to snap
the head off you last night."
Gordon smilea. "There aren't many people at whom a commander in a
situation like ours can afford to snarl. He also can't afford to take on the
man-of-iron pose. That goes down poorly with mere mortals."
Ross nodded ruefully. "I've been getting good practice walking the
middle line on this job." Personally, he had long since come to the
conclusion that being the junior partner in such a venture had its
advantages.
His eyes darkened. "I worry sometimes, Gordon. You should be the one
in charge. I'm fine in the field, but when it comes to planning the war,
even just Sapphirehold's part in it, and planning what has to come
afterward so these people can rebuild…"
"You're doing fine," the archeologist responded quietly. "As a learned
scholar and one by now intimately involved in the domain's affairs, I
probably will be drawn into some of the reconstruction discussions, but I
can't see that I'll have to do more than back up your decisions and I
Loran's. Sapphirehold's present and future affairs are in very competent
hands."
Murdock smiled his thanks. "I hope you're right, my friend. It seems a
lot to be hanging on the judgment of a former minor hood."
He shrugged then. "Is Eveleen up yet?"
"Yes, hard as it is to roust her out of her bed the day after a raid. I saw
her just as I was bringing breakfast to you."
"I'd best go find her," Ross said more to himself than to the other.
"We've got a lot to discuss."
"She should still be eating. There's no panic orr for once."
Ross stood in the doorway until he spotted Eveleen sitting by herself on
a grassy knoll near the first line of trees. The weapons expert liked to take
her breakfast outside whenever the weather permitted, especially when
things were quiet and no urgent duty pressed her.
He walked over to her, moving with a brisk, determined step that belied
the general air of peace resting on the camp.
Murdock noted that her hair was up once more, but it was softly styled,
like the Dominionite women used to wear theirs before war had driven
them from their homes. Doubtless, she had her net near to hand, ready to
snap into place should danger threaten or a sudden order to ride be given.
All Sapphirehold's female warriors had adopted the finely woven metal
mesh caps that were part of every woman fighter's gear to secure their
hair lest it should loosen and serve some enemy as a handhold in battle.
She had changed from a linen to a wool shirt in deference to the
autumn chill. The garment was an old one and pulled somewhat where it
was fastened over her breasts. Its color was the green commonly used by
the partisans because of its camouflage value.
Eveleen liked green anyway, he thought irrelevantly. She had been
wearing very nearly this same shade when he had first seen her that day
three years ago she had sat her future students on their rears on the pistol
range.
He was close to her now, and his pace quickened. She seemed
withdrawn and pensive beyond her usual wont, so much so that she did
not become aware of his approach until he softly spoke her name.
Riordan looked up quickly, in surprise. She recovered herself as swiftly,
He settled himself near her. "You're gloomy this morning," he observed.
She nodded. They had proven sensitive to one another's moods almost
from the time they had begun the active phase of their mission, perhaps
because they had to work so closely together, all the while preserving the
secret of their origins. He had caught her properly, and it was rather too
late to cover herself now. "The Ton-heir fought off a wardwolf threatening
the does the night before last."
He looked at her in surprise. "That's no mean feat for a boy barely nine
years old."
Her great eyes sought his. "Ross, Conroc's a child, a child who's not
permitted to be young. I don't mind so much for us or for most of our
comrades, either, but I hate the thought of those babies having to become
men and women before they ever have a chance to know what it's like to
be children at all… I sound like a total idiot, I suppose?"
"No. I didn't have such a hot time as a kid myself and know…" Ross
frowned and fell silent a moment before going on. "They deserve a better
break. At least, we can start hoping they might get it fairly soon."
The man waited until his companion had finished eating before
broaching the subject of their war in earnest. When she set her plate
down, however, he straightened in the manner she recognized to mean
that he would speak to her as commander to his chief officer. "Did you
give any further thought last night to what we'd been discussing?"
"No," she admitted contritely. "A bed's like an opiate after several
nights on the ground, and I jumped into mine almost immediately. I did
mull it over a little this morning, though."
"That's more than I can claim," he confessed. "With what result?"
"Nothing significant. There are no real problems that I can see, just the
detail of scheduling. We might as well put it all to the others and let them
help with that."
He laughed softly. "An excellent suggestion, Lieutenant. I've no great
desire to take it entirely on myself, either."
The council was quickly convened and included both the higher officers
and their lesser aides, all those who commanded raids, even the smallest
forays.
The latter people were most important now. It was their commander's
intention to keep a number of teams within the lowlands at all times,
small groups that would be able to conceal their presence even under
greatly increased patrol activity and yet be large enough both to maintain
contact with potential targets and to release couriers at regular intervals
to keep their officers apprised of their position and other pertinent
developments.
In order to meet the challenge of these reports, at least one of the five
units into which the partisans had long been divided would have to be
ready to ride at an instant's notice, and each
of the others was to be
prepared to move with little more warning, leaving a sufficient force
behind to serve as a home guard and to form a large strike force with any
of the others should a situation warrant massed effort.
Many of those present groaned aloud when they heard those orders.
The volume of work evolving on each of the Sapphireholders and
particularly on these, their leaders, would be greatly increased even if
there were little or no comparable growth in enemy activity in the
lowlands. That was not likely. All of them shared Murdock's belief that
Zanthor would have to act more aggressively if his hopes were to survive
the coming winter by very many weeks.
Their hearts were light despite that and despite the additional danger
they knew they would have to face. Ross had succeeded in communicating
his certainty that victory in the foreseeable future was just about
inevitable. Hope in the return to the long-neglected working of their
domain fired their hearts like good wine. They were prepared to face
whatever must be endured to secure that infinitely desired goal.
12
THE WEEKS THAT followed proved even more demanding on the
partisans than they had imagined when they had embarked on their
commander's intensified campaign, but they were also many times more
rewarding.
Murdock had not misread the course his enemy would take, had to
take. The Ton of Condor Hall strove desperately to strengthen his
hard-pressed army against the ever-more-virulent assaults of the
Confederates and against the steadily approaching winter. He used every
tactic available to him. Large convoys; small, rapidly moving units;
crushingly heavy guards; independent, frequent patrols; decoys; and,
above all, frequency of shipment—all played their part in his massive
effort.
Some, much, did get through. An astonishing amount did not. The
invaders assuredly would not be weaponless before their foes or reduced to
fighting as infantry, nor would they freeze or starve in the snows, but both
men and springdeer should be well chilled and very lean by the time
spring came to relieve them, enough so to reduce their energy and
capacity for battle and to leave them with but scant love for the man who
had hired their swords and had then failed to provide adequately for their
needs.
So the Time Agent was thinking to his satisfaction when a courier tore
into the camp.
He and his officers were beside her even before she slid from her
steaming wardeer. "What news?" he demanded.
"Columns, Captain, two of them. The first is a deer herd, maybe two
hundred head, and is probably meant to draw us. It is moving carefully
and swiftly but lowers its caution every now and then, as if it wants to be
seen. Also, it is rather lightly guarded. There are no more than thirty
riders with it in all, including the herdsmen."
"The second?"
" A convoy. Twenty-five wagons. Two hundred guards plus drivers. This
one travels very secretly indeed for all its size, and it is only by chance that
we discovered it."
"Their locations?"
The woman bent to study the map of Sapphirehold's lowlands which
Ashe had brought out upon her arrival and which he now spread on the
ground before them. "In the same general quarter, but they are well
apart."
She pointed to an area of softly rolling hills, the gentlest part of the
embattled domain and once Luroc's prize pasture land. "The herd is
coming through here. It is making very good time, and if we want to strike
it, we shall have to do so quickly."
"Naturally it is making good time," Allran growled, a scowl marring his
features. "That was always perfect country for spring-deer."
"A trap?" Murdock asked. "You say they appear to be trying to lure us."
"Away from the convoy, I believe. The terrain is too open for a second
party to be riding secretly near enough to it to provide aid in the event of
one of our sudden assaults. We have scouted all the area around it and
have found nothing."
"They could be depending on speed to get them through should they
escape trouble in their role as decoys," Eveleen interjected. "A herd like
that, unencumbered by baggage or wagons, can move very rapidly."
"That's probably precisely their intent and hope," Murdock agreed.
He turned once more to the scout. "The convoy?"
"Here." She indicated a location within, as she had said, the same
sector of the domain but which might have been on a different continent
for all the similarity the two regions bore. The route it followed was
through a broad range of heavily wooded hills so steeply pitched and
rugged as to be almost miniature mountains.
Ross's brows came together. "That's not easy ground for wagons to
negotiate."
"No, but neither would they logically be expected to attempt it, and the
trees do help muffle the sounds of their passing. Then, too, their escort is a
large one and appears to be giving a good part of its effort to aiding the
train's progress."
"Outriders?"
"We have not seen any, but I can give no assurance that there are none.
The countryside offers too good concealment, and I was sent to you very
soon after our discovery of it. The others may have found something since
my leaving them."
The partisan commander studied the map intently for several minutes.
He raised his head. "Eveleeni, Allran, summon your divisions. Gordon,
order mine to saddle up. We ride in force."
"After which one?" the Dominionite officer asked curiously.
"Both."
Ross smiled at their expressions. "If we start now and travel fast,
breaking our journey only long enough to keep ourselves and our mounts
fit to fight, we should meet with the herd here by dawn tomorrow."
He touched the map with the point of his sword. "That will put it about
parallel to the convoy's route and as close to it as we can expect them to
come if they both hold to their projected courses.
"We'll sweep down on the deer from these two points, completely
encircling the herd and its guardians before we actually force battle.
"Our greatest danger is that they may be able to break through with a
stampede charge, but by closing the net quickly and moving into range at
once, we should be able to depend on surprise and on our own numbers to
give us possession of the animals without too much difficulty."
"The guarding and delivery of so many springdeer will drain us rather
heavily," Eveleen noted. "Will we have sufficient warriors left to go after
the convoy?"
He glanced at her. "Good point. You got me on that one. We'll bring
enough riders from Korvin's division to fill that need."
Murdock turned back to the map. "After they're safely off, we move
east. Four hours' hard riding should bring us to this place. It's right on our
second target's present line of march but well in front of them. Once there,
we should have time enough to catch our breaths before we confront
them."
He looked up. "I ca
n't be certain of all of this, and we'll have to see the
lay of the place and the train itself before we finalize our plans against
that. Maybe we'll only be able to take part of the convoy or maybe we'll
miss it entirely, but only time and closer contact will tell us that. For now,
Comrades, let's ride!"
13
THE SUN HAD just lifted over the peaks of the ever-present mountains
when the Sapphirehold force reached the site where their commander had
chosen to await their enemies' appearance.
They were weary after their long ride, but warriors and mounts alike
were well used to the demands of the life they led; their ability in the
coming battle, the coming battles, would not be lessened by so little.
Ross had so positioned his troops that neither those with him nor with
Eveleen on the slope opposite them had to contend directly with the sun's
bright glare as they watched the northeast for sign of their target.
Minutes passed. Perhaps the herd had gone by already or had altered
its course and would avoid this place altogether.
The partisans stiffened. There it was, cresting the tall rise capping the
valley to the north and spilling down its gentler southern slope.
Gordon looked once upon his partner. Even after some of the other
coups they had pulled off since taking to this life, he still felt something
akin to awe in this moment. Murdock's calculations had not varied from
the reality of their foes' arrival by more than three minutes. "Sometimes, I
think you're more Hawaikan Foanna than Terran Time Agent," he said
softly.
The other's eyes danced. That was high praise coming from Ashe, who
had not viewed the strange trio's extrasensory abilities with the same
suspicion and discomfort as had his younger partner. "I'll thank you not to
call those ladies down on us, my Friend. The thought of them spooks me
worse than Zanthor I Yoroc and all his mercenaries."
His words, light in tone as they were, had been spoken in a voice
pitched scarcely above a whisper, and he said no more after that.
All speech faded, and the partisan ranks fell into total silence. The
invaders were still too distant for even normal conversation to betray the
ambush had they been traveling quite soundlessly themselves, which they
patently were not. The noise generated by their own movements would be
sufficient to deaden the invaders' senses to considerable carelessness on