Wolves and War Page 5

The colonists had no idea about the interest they were generating and on the solid ground some half a mile from where the WCCS Argyll lay, they were working hard to build temporary shelters before nightfall. Everybody had disembarked, it being the considered opinion of the officers and the other specialists that the ship was in far too precarious a position for anyone to remain on board. Her tonnage was forcing her down into the boggy ground that had been their saviour on landing, but which was now inexorably swallowing her up. The one geologist on board was of the opinion that even the ship’s upper entranceways would be submerged within a few days.

  The evacuation and landing plan was working well, with only one potentially fatal mishap.

  In a rash moment, a group of pre-teens decided to explore the immediate vicinity on their own, while the adults were too busy to be aware of any mischief they were up to. They evaded those who were supposed to be looking after them and ventured some distance north of the ship. Poking around with sticks of wood they found lying on top of the marshy ground, two of them managed to fall into a deep and muddy pool of stagnant water. They were only saved from drowning by the prompt action of their fellow miscreants and with a great deal of effort on the part of the adults frantically summoned to their rescue.

  All participants in the escapade got a severe fright and the perpetrators received a sound telling-off by no less a personage than the Commander himself. Stuart MacIntosh did not mince his words. It was five very chastened boys who later joined their compatriots for their evening chores. The marshy ground and everywhere else outside the marked perimeter was placed out of bounds for all those aged under fourteen and the five became very unpopular.

  Guards were detailed to protect the perimeter. Adults were erecting shelters; others were preparing meals from the pre-packed foods. Temporary nurseries had been set up, staffed in the main by youngsters and older adults deemed too frail for heavy labour.

  The land was strange to their eyes, ears and noses. There were alien smells and even stranger noises. The air had a spicy tang to it, resonant of lemons and nutmeg and it smelled wonderful to those accustomed to the recycled air of the ship. Scouting parties investigated the immediate vicinity and did not find anything of a threatening nature, but it was still an unknown land, fraught with unknown perils.

  When dusk fell, the colonists from the WCCS Argyll settled into an exhausted and uneasy sleep as the Lind continued their vigil.

  “Can you sense thoughts from them?” murmured Tarmsei after a while.

  “Too many,” answered Kolyei, “some strong, others not.”

  They stored up this piece of information to add to their report.

  When night came again, the two Lind flitted away quietly from the noise and disruption that was the colonists and sped off to report their findings to the rest of their Lindar, the warrior section of their rtath, their pack.

  At pack Zanatei Lindar’s dom, a half-sun’s hard running away, all was in turmoil.

  Heated discussions were in progress when the two scouts arrived. The atmosphere was tense.

  At the edge of the circle Tarmsei and Kolyei waited to be asked by the Susa to speak, listening hard, both with their ears and minds, to what their fellow Lind were saying. They sensed acute agitation and in some cases intense anger that the rtathlians were being disturbed in this way. A bloodthirsty minority was in favour of rushing down on the encampment and slaughtering all they found there.

  The two looked at each other in consternation.

  : This will be very tricky : said Tarmsei in a tight beam of telepathic speech to Kolyei.

  : Yes : answered his friend. Kolyei was a master of the understatement, even for a Lind. : We must be most careful of our thoughts and words :

  The large white Lind in the middle of the circle motioned for them to approach. His name was Afanasei and he was the Leader, or Susa of the Lindar. Kolyei and Tarmsei bowed their heads in respect before taking their places.

  “Tell us of your findings,” ordered Lindar Susa Afanasei. “Permit that Tarmsei and Kolyei speak. Be silent.” The last two words were barked out as a command and with an accompanying growl.

  It was obeyed at once. Afanasei did not raise his voice often but when, on rare occasions he did, every Lind paid heed.

  Kolyei and Tarmsei had planned in detail what they would say during their journey back to the dom but they were not sure of how their rtathen, or pack-mates, would react. Theirs was a warrior rtath. They were defenders of the rtathlians, the lands of their fellow Lind. This Lindar would be difficult to convince, used as they were to meeting all incursions with chela and tooth.

  “The strange creatures are not Larg,” Kolyei began. “There is no cause to kill.”

  There were low growls of disapproval of such a sentiment from some of those sitting in the circle.

  Kolyei continued, in no way intimidated. “We of the Lind battle only our enemy the Larg who destroy and kill.”

  Tarmsei butted in, his snout raised belligerently. “I have watched them for two sun-downs. This is not an army sent to kill in our rtathlians. There are ltsctas with them.”

  There were some mutterings from the back of the circle where the unmated females sat. The Lind were very protective of their own youngsters. The females would find an affinity with a species that loved and cared for their young. They would oppose an attack for that very reason.

  Tarmsei continued, “it is not our way to kill for killing’s sake. You must need good reason for attack. They give us none as yet. Different than us, yes, the two-legs are, but in some ways the same. We must watch, then decide.”

  There were more growls of dissent. Both Kolyei and Tarmsei could ‘feel’ the heaviness in the air.

  “We must watch and wait,” advised Kolyei.

  Afanasei was listening. Kolyei and Tarmsei received a sense of approbation from his direction. He spoke up now, quelling incipient barkings, shoutings and bayings with a severe look and a stare. One or two of the assembled hung their heads.

  “Shame. Judgement without knowledge is a bad thing,” Afanasei pronounced. “Do you not remember the teachings? We will send a message to Elda Zanatei. The two-legs do things we cannot. We know the Larg come in the next hot season and our spies tell us in great numbers.”

  “I should like to know more.” This came from the slight young female nearest to Kolyei. “Their young they care for?” Kolyei noticed that the blue stripe pattern on her face and around her withers was most attractive. He nodded.

  “Then to attack, volat it would be. The young of any must be protected.”

  There was more growling and whining. Volat was the Lind term for the wanton and needless slaying of any creature. Their enemies, the Larg of the southern continent, committed volat. The Lind did not, being taught from their earliest years that to perform an act of volat was the worst crime any Lind could commit. The Lind killed to eat, not for fun.

  “We shall not attack.” It was her final comment and she sat back down on her haunches and looked placidly around the circle. The females behind her whined in agreement.

  Kolyei eyed her with much interest.

  The Elda caught the eyes of two young Lind at the edge of the circle. They approached, tails swishing and eyes alight with anticipation.

  “We are to watch two-legs?” they asked eagerly of white Afanasei.

  “No you shall report. Tell Zanatei all we have seen and said. Run fast.”

  Afanasei did have the mental telepathic strength to send his own report to his pack leader but such an undertaking would sap him of much of his energy. He had enough on his paws to keep control of the Lindar and, he reasoned, the two-legs were not an immediate threat to the packs. Also, he trusted Tarmsei and Kolyei.

  The two looked and felt disappointed but ingrained obedience to the Susa won and they turned and sped away.

  As for Kolyei and Tarmsei, Afanasei sent them back to watch the colonists after they had eaten their fill from a plump young kura caught by the hunters earlier in the da
y.

  Many suns passed before word came back from the leaders, or Elda of the Lind. Kolyei, Tarmsei and others shared the watches and learned much.

  These two legs could control fire! This was an amazing thing to the Lind, accustomed as they were to the fear of fire. In the forest glades of the Lind large firestorms often broke out in the hot season and many lives could be lost. They were also thunderstruck when they looked at what else the creatures could do. They held and used the ‘things’ they held in their forepaws and these ‘things’ were completely unknown to the Lind. The possibilities were enormous if they could but learn to communicate and then to work with, and perhaps share wood-space with these newcomers.

  From their well-concealed dugout (it had to be well concealed – when the strangers had started exploring the countryside the watchers had had to move their hide further away – deep inside a large prickly dugo bush on a nearby hillock) they saw that the two-legs were taking insufficient precautions against hostile attack. The perimeter fence of their domta was only half the height of an adult Lind and wouldn’t hold back the hordes of Larg for long, however valiantly it was defended.

  “We must warn them,” growled Kolyei.

  Tarmsei urged caution.

  “Can we not go closer?”

  “You are incorrigible, Kolyei my friend.”

  Kolyei cocked a pointed ear in inquiry.

  “You are the most incorrigible Lind I have ever known.”

  Kolyei’s plea had been full of wistful longing. He was renowned amongst the members of his pack for his eagerness to explore the unknown and the new, which was why, if Tarmsei thought about it, Kolyei was one of their Lindar’s best scouts.

  “Have you forgotten all training?” Tarmsei asked with a lopsided grin.

  Kolyei looked shamefaced as Tarmsei continued. “You shall not move one single paw closer to these strangers than where you are now. I have lost too many of my friends and family in battle to lose any more.”

  Kolyei sighed in frustration but did follow his friend’s advice.

  The watches continued. Regular updates were relayed west to the Elda of Lind.

  During this time of watching and waiting the young female that had spoken that first night in the circle approached Kolyei. “I wish to see the ltsctas of the two-legs,” she requested.

  Kolyei was happy to comply, taking her with him on his next watch. Tarmsei was only too glad of the respite from the often boring watches. He was not as interested in the situation as Kolyei who felt a strong compulsion to get closer to the newcomers. Once at the dugo bush she hunkered down beside him and with great daring, lifted her head up to survey the scene below. She gasped in surprise and her head came back down at once.

  “Radya,” said Kolyei with concern. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes,” she replied and raised her head for a longer look. They spent the rest of their watch in silence and after this Radya often accompanied Kolyei on his watch-shifts.

  At long last the Gtratha, or High Council of Eldas came to a decision. Orders went forth to all the packs.

  The newcomers were not to be attacked. They were to be watched and as much learnt about them as possible. More watchers were detailed to keep a close eye on the settlement, now sitting proud on a substantial area of dry ground and surrounded by a low palisade.

  Other Lind were detailed to keep an eye on the hunting and exploration parties and to report back on how these creatures dealt with the land and wildlife. It came as a great surprise to the Lind when they heard of the rounding up of numbers of kura and other animals. After much discussion it was decided that this was not a dangerous thing. After all, the two-legs were slow, very slow compared with the Lind. They could not hunt the Lind way. It was sensible of the slow running two-legs to keep their meat nearby.

  The reports continued to be favourable. The newcomers did not kill for killing’s sake. They cared about their surroundings and for their younglings. It was decreed that closer ties were to be formed. The Larg would come in the summer bringing with them the killings and the maimings. The Lind would warn the newcomers of the Larg. In return the two-legs would join with the Lind to defend the land. Both species would benefit. Both species would survive.

  Kolyei’s report that he could sense some of the two-legs’ thoughts was heeded. Some watching Lind were also being drawn to others among the newcomers in much the same way as when a Lind was drawn to one of their own as a potential mate. It was all very strange.

  Kolyei himself found his thoughts straying in one particular direction. He sensed strong emotions emanating from a young female. Using these emotions as a focus he had little trouble singling her out from the other youngsters gathering fruit at the edge of the lian. Radya, who accompanied him often now, was just as attracted to a young male youngling slightly smaller than the female.

  From his hiding place in the dugo thicket, Kolyei tried insinuating some simple thoughts into the young female’s mind and to his surprise, found it to be extremely receptive, much like the mind of a young Lind. One day he became aware that a rainstorm was in the offing, common enough in this season. He sent a tentative warning straight to the youngster and, to his great satisfaction saw her look at the sky then dash back to the settlement as fast as she could go. He didn’t think she even got slightly damp.

  One further ruling from the Gtratha pleased the adventurous Kolyei greatly. It had been decided that contact must be made. Wary of a negative and potentially lethal reaction if a large Lind appeared outside their domta (the Lind had by now seen bow and arrow in action) it was decided that a group of twelve should be detailed to send thoughts to those two-legs receptive to them, preferably the young who would be able to adapt, it was hoped, more easily to contact with an alien species.

  The plan was that the twelve should ‘persuade’ their chosen two-legs to come with them deep into the rtathlians of Lind. There were to be no confrontations. The younglings were to be spirited away secretly. It was a tall order, but the twelve chosen, chosen because they had already established some form of mental contact with one of the young two-legs, started work on their more detailed plan at once.

  When the time was right, they would put this plan into action.

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