Conflict and Courage Read online

  Ross disengaged and came to face the Second Ryzck’s Ryzcka and her Vadryzas.

  Geraldine was the first to make comment and it was, as usual, direct and to the point. “I would rather lead a Ryzck of cadets into combat than them.”

  “Now do you see what I am getting at?” said Wilhelm with some heat, “in a battle situation you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “We managed last time,” protested one of the Vadryzas, a grey-eyed woman with a claw scar down her left cheek.

  “The Larg were taken by surprise,” said Wilhelm in a flat voice, “they will not be again. I am not saying that what you are doing at present is entirely wrong,” Wilhelm took pains to point this out; he did not want to antagonise them, “you have done wonderfully so far. What I am going to do is show you how to do it better, cut the casualty rates, become a more effective and cohesive force. We can learn from the Lindars, they fight in ranks, protect each other. You shall do the same.”

  He gestured to Ross, who nodded. The Second Ryzck moved to the edge of the field beside the hedge.

  “Now,” continued Wilhelm, “I want you to watch this.”

  He beckoned to Nell who had been watching the scene from behind the high-backed fence at the other side of the field. She waved an acknowledgement as her head disappeared from view then, through the end gates a few minutes later, a large group of mounted cadets entered the practice field.

  The cadet vadeln-pairs lined up in four rows in a competent and most professional manner.

  Ross and Lililya took up position at the left of the front ryz whilst Geraldine and Jsei took the right position.

  “The cadets have been practising this for the past week,” Wilhelm said to the Ryzcka and her subordinates, “some of them may not be as proficient as you at riding and some may still be finding sword-work difficult but watch how they perform the manoeuvre.”

  Mislya sent the mental command to Jsei and Lililya and the front rank of cadets, made up of seniors, began to run forward, slower than that of the Second Ryzck, but their lines kept formation perfectly as they approached the straw dummies. The two rear ranks edged forward at the walk. The front rank speeded up and then hit the dummies, their wooden swords hitting them and the posts underneath in a single thunk. Then the first rank was through and the second speeded up to copy them. When the ‘enemy’ again moved forward, the cadets did not break formation, they wheeled round to meet them, running straight through their opponents, who prudently lay down on the grass and let them pass over. The cadets wheeled round then came to a simultaneous halt.

  The watching members of the Second Ryzck were silent. Wilhelm could see realisation dawning on their faces.

  He contented himself with the one question. “In a battle situation, who would be the most effective, them or you?”

  After this the embarrassed commander of the Second Ryzck ordered her troops to practice.

  So back to basics was the order of the day and, as time went on, even the most resistant to the changes had to agree that what Wilhelm was asking of them made sense.

  Then, and only then, Francis decided that the time was right to announce the alterations to the Vada structure and called his Weaponsmaster in to tell him to proceed.

  The senior cadets were jubilant after what was being called ‘Wilhelm’s Lesson’ and celebrated long and hard. A week later, at the arms practice, which the adult and senior cadets took together, they came down to the ground with a bang.

  Wilhelm looked at the faces smiling at him.

  “You all have done well,” he said, “but before you get too cocky, remember that most of the active Ryzcks can run rings round you when it comes to fighting in actual combat.”

  He cleared his throat. “I know you are not ready, but as you know, we are short of active vadeln-pairs. Because of this and against my better judgement in come cases, the following cadet vadeln-pairs are now promoted to full active vadeln-pair status.” He read out a list of names. Those riders, whose names were called, looked at him with mouths open.

  “New Ryzcks are to be formed,” he continued. “The list stating which Ryzck you will be assigned to will be posted on the cadet notice board later this week. Until your allocated Ryzck returns from patrol, you will continue with your training as usual, although you will be issued your new uniforms soon.”

  One of the older cadets asked the question that was on everybody’s tongues. “Weaponsmaster … you said new Ryzcks? Can you tell us what exactly that means?”

  “It means extra commanders are to be appointed. That’s all you need to know for now.”

  Speculation was rife and vocal.

  Wilhelm left them, leaving Ross, Lililya, Geraldine and Jsei in charge.

  “Are you taking a command Weaponsecond?” asked Brenda, one of the senior cadets. She and Inei were one of the original twelve vadeln-pairs who had bonded during their first months on Rybak. During the early days the colonists had christened these twelve the Children of the Wolves. To their endless embarrassment the name had stuck. Eight of them remained, the other four having been killed during the Battle of the Alliance.

  “Not me, but one of your instructors is; I don’t think I need tell you who, it is pretty obvious.”

  The cadets looked confused, but Geraldine began to blush, her face soon a deep rosy red. Jsei tried to look nonchalant about his new status but didn’t manage too well either. By nightfall, the entire stronghold knew that Geraldine and Jsei had been given command of the soon to be formed Fourth Ryzck.

  “Have you decided on your Ryzck badge yet?” was the interested question from Ross to Geraldine that evening.

  “Not yet,” admitted Geraldine, “give me time man. It has to be simple I know but I want something striking, easily identifiable.”

  “First Ryzck has the allst tree, after the battle woods at Settlement, second have taken our sword as their emblem and the third the Lind head. What about a tiny map of Vadath?”

  “You’re not serious! I wouldn’t like to be the one who tells Mairie.”

  “You have a point there,” Ross answered with a smile. The Vada seamstress was a wizened old woman with a tongue that could curdle kura milk. She liked the Ryzck designs to be kept simple and therefore easy to sew.

  “I’ll think I’ll wait a while.”

  “Don’t wait too long or all the good ideas will be gone.”

  “At least we’ll get decent leave periods with the reorganisation,” added Geraldine thankfully as the two training Ryzckas arrived to join them, “and,” she added, “I’ll not be permanently based here at the stronghold.”

  “Don’t you enjoy it?” asked the older of the two, Nell, who was to remain in charge of the very youngest of the cadets.

  “Yes I do, but not all the time. I think we should all spend some time on active duty. How can you train the kids when you’ve got no experience of what they are likely to be facing out there?”

  “Apart from these vicious beasts in the mountains, not very much at the moment,” was Nell’s comment. She was in her late fifties, the oldest human so far paired with a Lind partner and felt very sure that she wouldn’t be required to take command of an active Ryzck. She was the best possible choice for junior cadet commander and was excellent at coping with the often disorientated and scared young teenagers arriving at the stronghold.

  “But how can you be sure that will continue?” teased Mickel, the newly appointed Senior Cadet Ryzcka. “All the Susas of the Lindars warn that the Larg will return and Jim constantly harps on about it. The fact that nothing major has happened doesn’t mean that it won’t but at least the patrols are serving a function, people feel safer knowing we are out there.”

  The conversation moved on and shortly afterwards the trainers dispersed. Classes in the Vada began not long after first light and early bed was the norm.

  A few days later, after the reallocation lists had been posted on to the notice board, Geraldine hunted out Ross and Lililya again.

  She burst in on hi
m as he sat in the small, shed-like room used to store the practice armour, where he was mending some that had been damaged. It was not a favourite occupation of his but a necessary one.

  “Did you see who Jsei and I have got foisted on us from the cadets?” she exploded.

  Ross looked up.

  “Three adults and two ex-seniors I believe,” was his mild comment.

  “But one of them is Richard and Dahlya! Jsei here is saying nothing but ...”

  “But what?”

  “You know.” Geraldine blushed.

  Ross rocked back in his chair in surprise. “You think Jsei is keen on Dahlya?”

  Geraldine looked embarrassed, “I don’t know, he closes up on me whenever I think about the two of them.”

  “He switches his affections about a bit, doesn’t he? Makes them more like us I suppose. I thought he had taken a fancy to Louis’s Ustinya a while back.”

  “I think he sensed that I could never feel that way about Louis. The lad is too young for one thing.”

  “You think Jsei has been looking around for a suitable female he likes with a vadeln-pair of suitable age?” Ross sounded disbelieving, “you could see this Richard in that light, after all he has done?”

  “He is rather good looking,” protested Geraldine.

  “He is an ex-convict,” said Ross, “he was part of the army that attacked us not a year ago. He helped kill our friends.”

  “Dahlya wouldn’t have bonded with him if his remorse wasn’t real. Not all the convicts are murderers and rapists. He has done well in training and unlike some hasn’t got into any trouble. He’s good with a sword too.”

  “And this makes him a good person?” Ross protested. “I don’t think so! I’ve nothing personally against the man. I appreciate that he has done well in training and remember, he’s not trusted by everyone, despite his bond with Dahlya.”

  “Jsei likes him,” said Geraldine as if that answered the question.

  “Is that why you came to me,” asked Ross with interest, “to get my approval for your attraction to this man?” To his amusement, Geraldine was becoming biased towards the ex-convict as she got deeper into the conversation.

  Geraldine fled. Ross bent to his repairs once more.

  There was a cough from behind him as Wilhelm entered.

  “Geraldine has found out who she’s got in her Ryzck then? I wondered how she would react.”

  “You knew about Richard and Dahlya?”

  “It was me and Mislya who spoke to Francis and Asya about them. I asked that they be assigned to Geraldine. Richard himself feels he will be given a fairer chance with Geraldine rather than with some of the other commanders. At least she has known him as a cadet and has seen how hard he has worked. Ryzcka Julie of the Second specifically said that she did not want him with her and there have been murmurs from the others. They probably feel that Richard will infect the others with the disease of convictdom! Francis and Asya agreed that he would be treated fairly by Geraldine. Problems?”

  “If anyone would understand, it would be Francis,” said Ross, “on the ship he spent more hours in the brig than at his duty station. A more argumentative and troublesome rating couldn’t be found anywhere.”

  Wilhelm realised at this point that Ross must have been a crewman on the Argyll and not a settler. He, himself, had been one of the latter and had had little to do with the crew or anyone in any of the other colony sections apart from his own. It was strange how one rarely mentioned one’s life before landing.

  “I think,” continued Ross, “that our Susa sees much of himself in Richard.”

  “That’s as may be,” replied Wilhelm, “what I am concerned about, is the smooth changeover of the vadeln-pairs and how we are going to adjust the practice timetable. With ten Ryzckas and not three, it will be difficult.”

  “Difficult, but not impossible,” answered Ross, taking the timetable from Wilhelm.

  Wilhelm sighed in relief. He was not good at these administrative tasks and appreciated Ross taking them off his hands. He left to take his next class with Ryzcka Julie and her remaining vadeln-pairs. The Ryzck had, just that very morning, returned from a short stint in the patrol sector immediately south of the stronghold and she had searched him out the moment she had arrived and ‘requested’ further training. Julie informed him that, although she understood the necessity and was to retain a portion of her Ryzck intact, she had lost all but one of her Vadryzkas, some to command their own Ryzcks and others transferred out at their existing rank into the seven new Ryzcks.

  This had necessitated the promotion of others from within, an act welcomed by many who now had a command opportunity, as, instead of nine sub-commanders or Vadryzas, there were now thirty. Other opportunities were springing up. Francis, after consultation with Jim, Larya and others, had decided to set up re-provisioning and supply stations for the Vada throughout Vadath and Argyll. Robert Lutterell was happy to agree, he had been worrying about the problem of feeding the Lind who patrolled the coast. These stations would also be a suitable duty post for those vadeln-pairs who were getting too old and stiff to fight but wanted an occupation, they being whole in mind and spirit if not in body.

  * * * * *

  Other damaged vadeln-pairs were thinking about their future.

  “A business opportunity presents itself,” said Piers Rowbottom one morning shortly after the reorganisation of the Ryzcks.

  His Lind cocked an ear at him in inquiry.

  Piers looked at her with affection. “I have been thinking.”

  : What? : was the impatient mental nudge.

  “About what we are to do once I am recovered.”

  The second mental nudge was more forceful.

  “A courier service,” he answered in triumph, “I’m not much use in the Vada now.” He looked down at his empty sleeve. The medics had been unable to save his arm, so mangled had it been after his death-defying tussle with a Larg warrior during the Battle of the Alliance. The wound was healing well and the medics were proposing to attach a false one soon. The false arm would not be as good as it would have been when the medics had access to the technology aboard the Argyll, but it would at least make him appear whole.

  “You could do light duties within the Vada or come back with me to the rtathlian?” suggested Vlandiya.

  “Yes, but this idea is much better. Argyll needs some sort of messaging service.”

  “I do not understand the problem,” she said, “we talk through me with who we want.”

  “But not everyone is partnered with Lind, especially not in Argyll. The communications’ devices are failing. We could provide a much needed service – letters and packages delivered to your door for a fee.”

  “What is this thing called fee?”

  “The humans will pay us to deliver.”

  Once Piers had explained the concept of paying to Vlandiya, she warmed to the idea. “Kolyei, he will like this. He and Tara will join us?”

  “A good occupation for us or those retired,” Piers said, “not, I think, for Tara and Kolyei, at least not yet. I recall something I read as a lad, a story called The Pony Express, that’s it, that’s what we’ll call it, except it would be The Lind Express now.”

  “Name it Express and be done with it,” Vlandiya advised.

  “You think it a good idea?”

  “Yes. We can no longer fight together and I will not fight on own now.”

  Piers was warming to his brainwave more and more, “fast and efficient, that’ll be our byword,” he declared. “I think I’ll go and see Francis and Asya right now, before someone else gets the same idea and he went on his way with care; his wound still pained him when he tried to exert himself.

  Vlandiya settled down, shaking her head at his enthusiasm, really, these humans; they did come up with some fantastic ideas. It might not be too bad, she thought as she laid her head down between her paws, in fact, such a life might be quite exciting.

  To cut a long story short, in Argyll the p
lan was welcomed with alacrity, Robert Lutterell demanding to knew when Piers and Vlandiya would be available and he was most disappointed to learn that the service could not be set up for another few months. Although Piers no longer inhabited the medical facility, he was still under strict orders from the medics who had prohibited any wild jaunts throughout the countryside for some time to come.

  At least planning his new enterprise gave Piers plenty to do during his recuperation. He learned to write with his left hand and then painstakingly mapped out routes, based on the latest information Robert Lutterell sent him concerning the location of the settlers. Not just Piers was surprised to learn how far away from the original settlement some groups had gone, some as far north as the mountains. No wonder, thought Piers, the Councillors were eager to avail themselves of his services, especially in the interior, which was not patrolled regularly by either Vada or Lindar.

  Some notes against the crosses on the map said such things as ‘planned destination of the family Mackinnon’ and the like.

  “Councillor Lutterell doesn’t have any idea if the family is alive or not,” Piers said to Vlandiya when he showed her the map and explained, with some difficulty, how it was that a piece of parchment was a two-dimensional scale model of the entire eastern section of the northern continent. “That will be our first task, to make contact with all these groups, give them an update on what is happening and bring back a report.”

  Piers realised early on that he and Vlandiya couldn’t do it all by themselves and asked other disabled vadeln-pairs to join them. As long as the Lind could run, could carry their rider and both were capable of sustaining long hours travelling, he would consider them. Soon he had four pairs, three of which would be able to cope with the work. The other duo, James Oping and Maya, who insisted on joining, could not cope because, although James had survived the battle unscathed, Maya had lost her off-forepaw. Piers appointed them as central co-ordinators for the enterprise; Maya was delighted to be useful again and hobbled around the stronghold, her tail wagging for the first time since the battle.