than the Confederate leaders anticipated. His allies would have to be
apprised of their actual strength, and he pressed his party to discover the
full extent of it.
The Sapphirehold unit worked its way down the length of the Funnel
almost to the mouth of the Corridor itself before Murdock at last learned
all he could of what he wished to know and gave the order to turn for
home.
That was a command all of them rejoiced to hear. Although the
countryside still provided some cover, it was becoming ever more like that
of the Corridor, ever less able to shield them against the eyes of their
enemies should any be present to trouble them.
All of them hoped their luck would hold in that respect and no patrols
would come upon them. With important information in their possession,
it would not be well to enter into any conflict now.
Ross kept his unit moving at a fast pace during the remainder of that
day. He always hated missions calling himself or any of his soldiers into
this place where they were denied ready access to the mountains and was
never sorry to come out of it. Now, the responsibility of the intelligence he
carried weighed on him along with the ever-present fear of being trapped
here.
The Sapphireholders rode steadily until nightfall. They broke their
journey once full dark fell and resumed it again with dawn's first pale
light.
They had been riding for some four hours when the partisans spotted a
flicker of movement well to the north.
They took cover, vanishing as if they had never been, and waited.
Fifteen minutes passed before the stillness of the scene was disrupted
again. This time, there was no doubt. Deermen. They were heading south,
riding swiftly without taxing their mounts. The party was small, only six
men, and nervous. For all their apparent haste, they were making good use
of the cover provided by the broken terrain.
The commander watched them for several minutes as they twisted and
swerved in their course so as to keep themselves under the best protection
available to them.
They were veterans of this war then. Mercenaries fairly recently come
into Condor Hall's service did not move this well. Chance alone had
revealed them, and were they only a few miles farther north where they
would have enjoyed better cover, they should have escaped detection
entirely.
Ross signaled to Allran and three others. "Check them out."
That small party made a tempting target, maybe too tempting. Such
had been set to trap him before, albeit never this far south. He would not
care to sweep down on them only to find himself surprised by a second,
larger force that had been traveling better concealed as a shadow to this
first.
The four scouts were gone some time before returning at last with the
news that the invaders were indeed alone.
The Terran pondered a moment. His first inclination was to let them
go, but Zanthor frequently sent couriers in such small, highly mobile
companies, and he could not chance that these carried no directive of
interest to him or to his allies.
"Allran, Gordon, take half our number and get behind them. Eveleeni
and I'll go with the rest. We should be able to sweep around them if we
move swiftly enough."
The partisans flowed like the waters of a gentle tide through the broken
countryside until they reached the place where their enemies rode.
Ross counted the seconds until he was certain his people were all in
place, then gave the command to advance.
The sight of the Sapphireholders appearing seemingly out of the very
ground with arms drawn and ready to slay was sufficient to cow their
outnumbered foes, and the Condor Hall mercenaries surrendered without
attempting to draw blade.
The war captain ordered them to cast their weapons aside and then to
dismount. They complied at once. The partisans left their saddles as well,
and Murdock turned to question the Sergeant who appeared to be the
leader of the captives.
A curse, sharp and bitter!
His head snapped about as Allran went for one of the prisoners, sword
in hand and poised to strike.
Ross threw himself forward, slamming into his Lieutenant and bearing
him to the ground.
There was no struggle. Ashe and one of the others separated the two
men and disarmed Allran while their comrades closed in around the
captives lest they think to take advantage of the confusion of the moment
and break for their freedom.
The Time Agent was on his feet again. His fury was open and unbridled
as he faced the Dominionite officer so that even their companions
trembled in their hearts to see it. "How dare you?" he whispered slowly,
carefully articulating each word. "How dare you draw against a man who's
surrendered to us?"
"That one cut my sire down!"
Murdock forced a rein on his anger. "Your father was a soldier by
profession, the commander of Sapphirehold's garrison, and he met his
death in open war."
Allran's face flushed with rage. "You mercenaries like to imagine you
can civilize war! You cannot, nor have you claim to any cloak of
righteousness! We domain people may hire you once in the generation or
in several generations when war-need shadows our normally peaceful
lifeway, but you yourselves are vampires, ghouls, ever feeding on
fresh-spurting blood and dead men's flesh…"
Eveleen struck him hard across the mouth. "Shut up, you fool!"
The man stiffened but then bowed his head. "Your pardon, Captain. I
was grossly insubordinate and accept as merited whatever penalty you lay
on me."
"Your anger was better released in shooting off your mouth than in
some manner deadly to our honor or our lives. Cool down and then resume
your duties."
Ross turned on his heel and walked back toward the Sergeant he had
been about to interrogate.
All the captives were staring at him in dazed awe. This man was a
legend to them, and they felt in this moment that he was more than any
tale or dread could make him. The speed of his response, the strength of
his will, his defense of what he held to be justice might momentarily stun
them, but all this was only to be expected n the face of what they knew
about him. The control he had shown was something different. They had
not met with its like before, though these were no recruits having had but
little experience with either domain or mercenary officers. They feared
him because of it, but they admired him also and held nothing back of
their recent history when he put his questions, first to their leader, then to
the remainder of them. They had no information that would render such
openness a violation of their oaths or a danger to comrades still active in
the war.
Murdock came away from the interview disappointed. The Condor Hall
men had no news of real interest to him, nor were they couriers, but only
the survivors of a larger unit that had been attacked and overcome by
partisans farther north.
These six had escaped, and since they had already
crossed more than half the distance to the front, they had decided that
attempting to reach their lines was their wisest course. They had
continued southward, hoping that caution and the small size of their party
would shield them from further trouble. A careful search had confirmed
that they carried no papers or other material useful to the Confederate
leaders.
He regretted the delay taking them had cost him. Six warriors, none of
them bearing any great rank, made a poor prize. However, they could
hardly be released at this point, and Gurnion's people would probably
want to examine them more closely in case one or more of them should be
carrying secret verbal orders, although that was extremely unlikely. He
would not have entrusted any of these with such an errand and did not
imagine Zanthor I Yoroc was a poorer judge of men than himself.
Ross was growing uncomfortable about lingering so long and ordered
his unit to mount. The prisoners were bound to their springdeer, arms
fastened to their sides, and then blindfolded. Soon now, the wild foothills
guarding the mountains would be open to them, and they would begin
moving south along paths no one not part of Firehand's small army was
permitted to see.
They rode hard for some two hours, then halted.
Murdock ordered all eight of his warriors to go with the prisoners,
keeping only his three leaders beside him. He and those remaining with
him would be at a serious disadvantage if they met with any more of their
enemies, but they were near their highlands and were well able to keep
themselves concealed until they did reach safety.
The eight soldiers were in less than an excellent situation themselves.
They had a goodly distance to go before reaching the Confederate camp,
and it would be no delight traveling it in company with prisoners nearly
equal in number with themselves.
The Terran would not keep his party intact despite all his awareness of
the difficulties separation would and could bring to both units. Luroc, too,
must have report of what they had learned in the Funnel. Besides,
Murdock never trusted in only one courier or one party to carry news of
any importance to their allies. Once he reached his base, more riders
would be sent to the Confederate Ton either to confirm the details of his
message or to deliver it if these first emissaries had failed to reach him.
22
THE COMMANDER AND his three companions kept moving steadily
all that day, trying to regain some of the time they had lost. They were
silent for the most part, each busy with his own thoughts, and little was
said even when they finally made camp for the night.
Eveleen held the second watch, that following her husband's. She was in
no good humor and was glad none of the others was present to see the
frown marring her features.
She was furious with Allran. Her fellow Lieutenant was a professional
soldier and had honestly acknowledged his fault in addressing his superior
as he had, but none of the anger against Murdock which had fired his
outburst had faded. He reined it tightly now, but she knew him well
enough after their months of service together to be aware of it, and she
was certain Ross sensed it as well.
Her expression darkened still further. This was not the first time she
had observed discontent or anger on him, either. What was the matter
with the man? Ross did not need this with everything else he had to bear
besides.
When she was finally relieved, the woman went to where Murdock was
lying. Each of the partisans slept apart from his companions, visually
separated from them so that some, at least, might escape if their camp
were discovered and overrun. She was glad of that now, for it would give
them the opportunity for private conversation if her chief were still awake.
Eveleen found Ross lying on his back, his arms pillowing his head. He
appeared to be staring into the branches forming the dark roof above him
but sat up as soon as she approached.
The Lieutenant gave the signal that all was well and seated herself
beside him. "My watch is over," she chided gently. "You should've been
asleep ages ago."
"I wanted to do some thinking." He smiled. "You wouldn't have come to
me if you didn't expect to find me awake."
"I was afraid you would be," the weapons expert admitted.
"You've got to be played out, too. What's your excuse for staying up?"
Her head lowered and raised again. "The same as yours. I was thinking
about what happened today, what Allran said to you."
"He was mad, and he knew I was right."
"Angry words can still wound. He used some pretty strong terms." Her
eyes caught his. "Ross, no one, including Allran A Aldar, thinks of you like
that."
"Not these people, no. Not now," he said dully, "but all Dominion will
soon. You said they shifted into pacifism pretty early. People in our
supposed profession wouldn't stay popular in that atmosphere." His eyes
fixed on his hands. "I was a misfit in our own time until the Project found
me, and I was a misfit in Hawaika's past. Now it's happening again…"
"Hardly," she informed him. "The conversion did not happen overnight.
Besides, the locals didn't become idiots because they turned away from
warfare on a yearly basis. They fought the Baldies, remember, and they
to drop it into the back of some file and forget it."
A slow smile just touched his lips before fading again. "I suppose I am
getting myself worked up over nothing."
His expression darkened again. "I'd have to be stone blind not to see
that Allran resents me, though. If he weren't such a professional, there
would be serious friction between us even now."
His companion nodded. "It's gotten worse recently. I can't understand
what's the matter with him."
"I imagine it's a problem mercenary commanders must occasionally
encounter on long-term commissions," Ross said thoughtfully. "Most of
these domain leaders are sound warriors and good officers, but their skills
are usually confined to training and parading their troops, relieved,
perhaps, by bandit control now and then in wilder areas or, in extremely
rare instances, by a show of force against some troublesome neighbor.
"When real danger develops, mercenary companies are almost
inevitably hired, always with the stipulation that their own officers will
have precedence in all war-related activities, save only with respect to the
Ton himself."
He sighed. "It's only natural, I suppose, that some of the local men
should resent being thus superseded, particularly where rank and birth
are interconnected. Such officers simply don't want to yield place to hired
swords. I can't say that I blame them."
Ross looked into the distance. "Allran's fathers have commanded
Sapphirehold's garrison for five generations. How pleased can I expect
him to be to see a mercenary raised over him? Luroc's naming me his son
can't have helped, either. It's got to have raised the nasty suspicion that I
might stay here and make the current situation permanent. That would be
a disaster as far as he was concerned."
The Terran man fell silent a moment, then recalled himself again. "I'll
have to do what I can to make peace between us."
"You're not the one at fault!"
"All the same, it's my business to banish this tension before it grows
still worse, which it's bound to do if I try to ignore it. We can't afford
quarreling in our ranks. That would serve Zanthor so well that it might
significantly delay his defeat."
"What more can you do?" Eveleen asked him. "Another man would've
decked Allran or worse for what he said to you today."
"I wasn't far from it," her husband confessed.
He shrugged. "All I can do is talk to him. I don't want the place he
desires. I should be able to convince him that mercenaries don't stick
around once their work's done and life goes back to normal again."
"Will he believe that?"
"He should if I don't hold off so long before speaking to him that his
feelings grow permanently irrational. That would be an enormous
disservice to an extremely fine officer, and I've delayed nearly too long
already."
Ross smiled at her. "That must wait until we're back in base. For now,
Lieutenant, I suggest that we both get some sleep. As it is, we won't be
happy when it's time to hit the saddle again."
23
THE FOLLOWING DAY dawned pleasantly enough, but the weather
turned early in the morning, and soon a sharp, damp wind snapped at
them.
Rain joined with it just before noon, a nasty, steady drizzle that kept all
four morosely hunched in their cloaks. They were tired in spirit and body
after their long mission, they were cold, and even the fact that they were
well into the mountains and should reach their base the next day did little
to cheer them. None of them felt inclined for speech, although the need for
caution was long since past.
All knew camp would be a most unpleasant affair that night, and
Murdock weighed continuing on until they reached home.
In the end he decided to break their journey. There was still a goodly
distance to go, and he disliked pressing a needless forced march on his
companions. He tried never to overtax any of his soldiers without strong