Tavin felt his inner equilibrium start to waver and held on to the edge of his chair for support.
“You want me and Whufflya to go with them and look after the firearms?”
“I spoke to Jill Ross yesterday requesting her to ask her two best artificers if they would be prepared to volunteer. The two best she said were called Maximilian Doigsson and Tavin Karovitz. She promised to ask Maximilian last night if he would be prepared to go. The answer came this morning. It was a yes.”
Tavin nodded slowly. He would have expected nothing less from Max.
“I could order you and Whufflya to go,” continued Malkum. “As a member of the Vada, however junior, I am entitled to order it but I would prefer it if you and Whufflya volunteered. I am aware that you are at the start of your cadetship and even in the dire days of the dim and distant past first year cadets were never sent into the front lines of a battle but your skill set is such that …”
“What does Whufflya say?” Tavin interrupted. “I saw Freya approach her when I came in.”
“She says that she is prepared to go if you agree too. She’s been keeping out of your mind because she doesn’t want to influence your decision.”
“I don’t really have much of a choice.”
“There is always choice Tavin. Even not to make a choice is a choice. I’m over twice your age and if I’ve learned nothing else it is that. What do you say?”
“I accept.”
“Freya and I thank you both. Now, Maximilian and the supplies are on their way here. I suggest you meet him. They have a Vada escort so Whufflya will know when. Until then? I suggest you go and find Assistant Weaponsmaster Artem. He has been gathering together the extra uniforms, supplies and equipment you will need. He will also brief you further about what the expedition will require of you. You are relieved from all cadet classes and duties until further notice. One last thing - please do not tell anyone or anylind about this until I make the announcement.”
He stood up.
“Thank you Tavin and good luck.”
Tavin left the Susa’s quarters in a daze.
He was going off world on a potentially dangerous mission!
Then he stopped.
Mikey!
It was all arranged. He was arriving today! He would have left Township by now so there was no way the visit could be postponed and his cousin would probably never forgive him if he did.
He would have to try to find an opportunity to at least try to explain.
At least, he thought as he joined Whufflya and gave courteous recognition to Susa Malkum’s Freya, Mikey will get a holiday and be out of Aunt’s hair for a tenday. Looking after Mikey during holiday-time was always a full time, stressful job.
* * * * *
It was Ryzcka Vandiel through his Lind Zandya who made the call, ordering all vadeln-pairs who made up his Ryzck to report wearing full campaign uniform and carrying expedition equipment.
: The Fifteenth Ryzck will muster. This is not a practice : Zandya telepathed.
The muster call!
: Thalia! Muster! :
: Josei! :
: I come :
The moment had arrived, the one she had been unconsciously been waiting for. After a moment or two of shock and a further couple of stunned amazement Thalia began to gather her weapons and equipment together on top of the bed. She opened her cupboard door where her campaign uniform and other clothing were stored.
Josei wasn’t with her. He and some friends had gone hunting kura at first light but the distance between him and his life-partner hadn’t stopped him passing the orders on to Thalia immediately. Josei was, as he told her, putting his best paw forward and was hurrying back to Stronghold as quickly as he could. Thalia expected him to burst through the swing door of their daga at any moment.
Expedition uniform and equipment had not changed overmuch since the early days of the Vada. The cloth used to make the fighting uniform was less fine (some said less ostentatious) than the uniform worn day to day, it was thicker, made for long campaigns and designed to cope with all weathers. On top of an under-vest sat a maroon over-vest and on top of that sat a long, thick waterproof coat. On top of this leather armour was fitted, held together with leather straps - back and chest plates - arm and leg greaves - a leather helm - fighting gloves. The Lind too wore armour, fitted into the fighting harness, which was also made of leather and designed to protect their most vulnerable parts.
All vadelns carried their sword, an assortment of knives and some carried bow and arrows too. Thalia looked at her quiver of arrows sitting on their bracket, shook her head and abandoned any idea she might have entertained about taking it. The firearm was far more effective at long range than the obsolete bow. She had never been more than averagely proficient with a bow and as a junior cadet had been the despair of her tutors.
Travel pouches filled with food and eating utensils, emergency medical supplies, changes of clothes and any other number of pieces of kit, she mentally recited the list as she gathered them in an untidy bundle beside Josei’s harness.
As Thalia hurriedly began to fasten her forearm greaves, her fingers shaking slightly - the call to muster had been so unexpected, she stopped.
Had it been unexpected?
No. It had not.
She realised that she had been waiting for Vandiel and Zandya’s call. Why else had they all been trained in the use of the firearms if they weren’t going to need them? So where was the danger? Thalia decided that the danger could not possibly be happening here on Tak. So where?
Off world, it has to be.
She had got this far in her musings when she heard the tickety-tac of Josei’s paws and the door swung open.
: Harness : he demanded.
: Hang on a moment : Thalia replied as she stuffed toothbrush and paste into the last bag.
: It is almost time Thalia, we must hurry : he countered.
Thalia got to her feet. It didn’t take her long to put the harness on Josei. She had been taking it off and putting it on for years. He stood very patiently until she had fastened all the buckles, waited a little less patiently until she had attached the last packs then simply rushed back out through the swing doors. Thalia hurried after him calling out. “Wait for me!”
* * * * *
The muster area was located in the salle. Thalia and Josei realised when they entered that it wasn’t only the Fifteenth Ryzck who were gathering.
Weaponsmaster Alkin was present and standing beside him was Artem in his campaign uniform. The fact that Artem and Larya were to be a part of the expedition made Thalia feel a lot better. He caught her eye and winked.
She was also more than happy when she saw Katie and Kenlei although slightly ruffled about the fact Katie hadn’t told her about her and Kenlei’s inclusion.
: Perhaps they only found out when we did : was Josei’s reasonable suggestion and Thalia found out later that this was, in fact, the case.
There were another two vadeln-pairs in campaign kit. Jim and Avdrya she knew and was pleased to see them.
Anne and Danavdr she knew also, although only slightly. They were Holad and had only returned to Stronghold the previous month from the university where Anne had completed her medical training. She looked nervous, was biting her lip and was holding on to her giant Lind/Larg cross like grim death.
The Larg Jvldr was standing to one side with Slei and Rsya. All three were wearing harness and to the left of them stood two people, both male. They were the artificers and to Thalia’s surprise she saw that one of them, he had his back to her, was wearing cadet uniform, the white piping standing out like a beacon on a dark day. The other artificer was wearing a leather jerkin with burn spots on it. She didn’t recognise him. Behind them sat Whufflya - in full harness.
Tavin, by all that’s peculiar! Why a cadet and a first year at that? She remembered then. Tavin was an artificer. Susa Malkum must have decided that an artificer from within our ranks will be useful. She glanced down a
t her firearm. Tavin, she noticed, was wearing a sword as well as his firearm. She hoped he knew how to use it.
On the raised platform at the end of the salle were four individuals, Larku the Brai, Maru the Lai and Susa Malkum with his Freya.
“Gather round,” commanded Malkum.
They did so, shuffling forward until they were all standing in a tight arc round the dais. Nobody wanted to miss anything.
Susa Malkum began his explanation about why they had been summoned.
* * * * *
Mikey arrived at the town surrounding Stronghold, riding on a supply wagon driven by an elderly retainer of the Hallam family and a man therefore, who could be trusted to take the overly excited boy to his destination in safety.
Mikey had been put on his honour to behave and as he had waved goodbye to his mother and his elder brother Charles, he had fully intended to be, as promised, ‘as good as gold’.
The family who had agreed to take him in for his tenday holiday lived in a steading on the eastern fringe of the town. They farmed cereal in a small way and also raised kura and zarova for meat.
The old woman, known as Granny by the family, welcomed Mikey as if he was a long lost son, fed him some sparkling red fruit juice accompanied by sweet berry cookies and introduced him to her grandchildren. He was soon playing happily in the farmyard with the children, safe in the promise that Granny’s eldest son would take him to see Tavin the following afternoon. For a wonder, he didn’t even argue when Granny called them all in for supper, bath and bed.
Tired out by all the travelling and excitement he fell asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow and slept deeply. It was no doubt because he had gone to bed extra early that he began to rouse well before dawn.
His eyes blinked open and he concentrated very hard on the window blind, or at least where he thought the window blind should be in an attempt to see if he could catch a chink of dawn light. Mikey was not a ‘stay in bed while you are awake’ boy. His mother dreaded those times when he was unwell and had to stay inside. He liked to be out and about.
If he hadn’t been holding his breath and concentrating he might not have heard it - a low rumbling noise - it sounded as if it was far away yet close by at the same time.
Which was impossible.
Mikey sat up. He had been given a tiny slip of a room at the back of the house and he wasn’t sharing it with anyone else.
He had to find out what was making the noise.
Mikey’s eyes had become accustomed to the dark so he was able to make out where the window was. He heard another rumble, quieter than the first and the outside dog began to bark. Throwing back his bedcovers he padded over, drew the blind and looked out. The dog saw the movement and wagged his tail. He stopped barking immediately. The job he was trained to do was to warn the family about anything untoward and knew that his duty was complete once one of his people was awake. As Mikey was living in his people’s house he was therefore, according to his doggie logic, one of his people. With another wag of his tail and a yap denoting a job well done, he trotted back to his kennel.
Mikey opened the window and listened hard. Nothing - but there had definitely been something.
He desperately wanted to know what the noise was. He got dressed as quickly as he could and then contemplated what he should do next. Should he try to make his way through the unfamiliar house and go out the front door? The window was handy; there was no large drop on the outside and it was big enough for him to squeeze through. He got dressed, cramming his feet into his boots. Later, when his feet began to hurt he would realise he had put his right foot into his left boot and visa versa and would have to stop and sort it out.
He stood up. Without considering what his hosts would think when they found him missing in the morning he slid open the window and scrambled through it. It only took him a few moments to reach the fence that separated the kitchen garden from the forest beyond.
It must be admitted that he paused for a moment’s reflection before he climbed the fence, the forest was dark and looked a scary place but then he heard a low bang - like metal hitting something hard and climbed over the fence as fast as he could (and before he could change his mind).
Once amongst the trees he began walking in the general direction of where he thought the bang had come from and not surprisingly it wasn’t long before he found himself floundering in and out of the trees, totally and absolutely lost.
He had been a fool to slip away, he realised that now, but it was too late. He knew he wouldn’t be able to find his way back. He became, in that instant a very scared, eleven-year-old boy.
He tried to remember what his teachers had said about the flying predators that lived in the forest but couldn’t. He didn’t think there were any who lived this close to Stronghold but the problem was that he wasn’t sure. He berated himself for not paying more attention. After stumbling around for what felt like a lifetime he reached an oddly shaped rock, a rock he realised he had seen before. He was going round in circles!
He started to cry. Great sobbing tears were streaming down his cheeks and he wiped them away with his sleeve as he came to a halt and tried to decide what to do next.
The solution hit him. He would climb up the tallest tree he could find and get his bearings. Even if he didn’t manage that, he would at least be high up and safe.
He climbed the first suitable tree he came across, one with low lying branches that made the start of the climb easier. He shimmied up and began to feel a bit calmer. His tears stopped. At last he reached the point where he couldn’t climb up any higher. Wedging his body in between some branches he peered through the leaves.
He caught a glimpse of what he thought had to be a clear patch amidst the trees. It was, he guessed, about twenty kellrans away. He noticed it immediately because it was a brightly lit spot right in the middle of the forest darkness.
There must be people there!
People meant safety so he decided to wait until dawn and then to make for it. Most boys would have waited for dawn then tried to make for home but not Mikey. He had forgotten how scared he had been. All he wanted to do now was to go and find out why there was a brightly lit place right in the middle of the trees and discover who was living there.
This was becoming the adventure to make any adventure that had happened before pale into insignificance. He curbed his impatience and waited for the moment when he could go and find out.
By the time Zandya called for the muster, Mikey was approaching the clearing.
* * * * *
“The space ship is called the Aikko,” explained Gtrathlin Larku. “It is a transport carrier, a racoven, designed to travel with the verustas, the specialist defence ships and to replenish them when it is needed. It is also a Brai ship. Unlike the verustas, the Aikko is able to land on planets. It can also defend itself, if necessary, in case the verustas it services are not around when danger threatens.”
“Is it as fast as the verustas?” queried Artem.
“Not quite as fast but it will keep up, never fear.”
“Where is it?” asked Ryzcka Vandiel.
“It has landed in a cleared area deep within the forest. We decided on that place because it is not our wish to alarm anyone.”
“Your mission, if not clandestine,” Susa Malkum explained, “is to be kept a secret as far as possible, at least for the time being. Many of the Vada know of it, they have been instrumental in getting the supplies you will need gathered and taken to the Aikko. They will keep silent.”
“How long will the journey take?” asked Thalia.
“We do not know,” answered Larku. “Raknu, who is the Susa of the Aikko, is in possession of the latest intelligence received from the Vlon as are the Susas of the three verustas. We have the position of the last known sighting of the strange space ships and their direction can be deduced from their ibon trail.”
“It will take as long as it takes,” said Maru the Lai, entering the
briefing conversation for the first time. “The Aikko and the verustas are much faster than the transports that brought us here but ...”
“… but not as fast as these strangers,” finished Artem.
* * * * *
Before they left the salle they were all issued with an additional piece of kit. It came in two types. The first was designed to fit people and the second designed to fit the Lind and the Larg.
“Your leather armour is made to protect you from sword strikes and the like; and to a lesser extent arrows and crossbow bolts,” Artem explained. “We’ve called these extra pieces of kit fragment vests. They fit round your upper body and will help protect your vital organs from rounds from enemy firearms. They are effective except at extremely close range. (Artem was not aware of the phrase ‘point-blank’). They have been impregnated with a fire retardant as well.”
“We don’t know if the strangers will be friendly or not,” explained Maru. “These will at least give you a modicum of protection. It was my idea.” He tried, and failed, to look modest.
“The Lind and Larg equivalent is, like yours, bulky. It will take some getting used to but will also help protect vital organs. It does restrict movement however,” continued Artem, “but we can spend some of the time we’ll be travelling modifying them to suit.”
He looked brightly at them, quite as if he was offering them all a great, big treat.
Thalia looked sourly at him and she was not the only one. Picking up her vest she looked at it with disfavour. It smelt like kura dung and her nose wrinkled with disgust.
“I hope you have packed a few dozen bottles of perfume,” she commented in an acidulated voice.
Artem winced.
* * * * *
Their first sight of the Aikko didn’t bring on cries of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’. It was a much smaller ship than the Limokko. She was a more business-like looking vessel than the ponderous transport and looked from the outside as if she would be less comfortable inside.