[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
attitude, and Mykel wasn t particularly happy being in a position where the
only practical solution was greater firepower. He looked at the empty road
ahead, then shook his head.
In less than a quarter glass, Fifteenth Company was again moving northward,
with orders to ride silently. Within another quarter glass, Mykel had dropped
the wagons behind, close enough to be reached quickly, if necessary, with a
four-man guard, two of whom had been stung by night-wasps the evening before.
Finally, Fifteenth Company reached the back of the casaran orchards to the
east of the bluecoat encampment. Ahead, there was the slightest slope up
through the orchards.
Mykel blinked. For a moment, he thought he d sensed something like a road
beneath the dirt, a faint black trail running along the barely perceptible
high point of the gentle rise that split the orchard. He looked again, but saw
nothing.
Now, he ordered quietly. Forward. He urged the chestnut into a fast trot
down the lane between the nut trees.
As he rode past the last of the casaran trees and turned right, toward the
north end of the bluecoat encampment, Mykel took in the bluecoats he saw.
Several had started to run. Only one had a rifle immediately at hand, and he
seemed frozen.
After a moment, a single cry rang out. Cadmians! Cadmians!
Mykel and first squad reined up in a firing line at the north end of the
encampment, taking the highest ground, even if it was but a yard or so higher
than that to the east.
First squad! Rifles ready! Fire!
Five or six of the closest bluecoats were down within the first two volleys.
Second squad! Fire!
Bluecoats began to scramble toward the sheds, toward any form of shelter.
Abruptly, two older-looking bluecoats appeared, and one took dead aim at the
Cadmian captain. The other turned as well.
Mykel had one shot left. With all his thought, desire, everything, he willed
the bullet home.
The first bluecoat dropped, but the second brought his rifle to bear, taking
his time, as if to indicate that he might die, but that Mykel would as well.
All Mykel could do was duck, urge the chestnut forward, and will that the
bullets not strike him. Time around him seemed to slow, and he could sense the
bullets moving to-rard him. Somehow, some way, he twisted his body out of lie
line of fire as the chestnut carried him forward.
Still in that slow movement, he watched the bluecoat s nouth open. For a
moment, the man froze, and then Mykel ind the chestnut were upon him. Mykel
knew that he could lot have covered that distance so quickly, but he had.
With-)ut cartridges in the magazine, he did the only thing that he ;ould,
reversing the rifle and slamming the butt across the jluecoat s temple. The
man dropped. Mykel felt a sudden smptiness, a feeling that he had come to
recognize as death.
He wheeled the chestnut back to the firing line, but the return seemed far
slower. The area closest to him was empty of able rebels. He reloaded quickly,
then slipped the rifle into its saddle case. First squad! Sabres! On me! He
stood in the stirrups. Second squad! Hold!
Very few of the rebels had lifted rifles in the face of the attack. Even so,
Mykel thought he had lost some of his men, or that some had been wounded. He
urged the chestnut toward the handful of fleeing men. First squad, forward!
The next glass was a confused mixture of pursuit, slashing sabres, moments of
silence, intermittent rifle shots& and slaughter.
Mykel finally led first squad back to the villa, where they re-formed.
Led by Bhoral, the other squads rejoined them.
Fifteenth Company stands ready, sir.
Page 232
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Thank you. What were our casualties? Mykel asked the senior squad leader.
One dead, three wounded, not badly.
It could have been much worse, Mykel thought, glancing back toward the ruined
tents, then toward the apparently silent villa.
What now, sir? asked Bhoral.
We ll take a half score of the best mounts, and whatever good supplies will
fit in the wagons. Mykel gestured to-ward the villa. Burn it. Not the
outbuildings or the stables. Just the villa.
Sending a message to the seltyrs, sir?
And to their retainers and the others. I hope they ll get it. Mykel had his
doubts, but it was worth a try.
As Bhoral conveyed his orders to four rankers in first squad, Mykel surveyed
the devastation around the villa. It had been a slaughter. Over a hundred
bluecoats lay dead, left where they had fallen, in the fields, in ditches,
beside the stables, on the dirt lanes of the estate.
Slowly, he took a rag from his saddlebags and cleaned his sabre and sheathed
it. Then he checked his rifle, making sure that the magazine was full.
They hadn t taken prisoners. That bothered him, because the rebel troopers
weren t really to blame, but he didn t have any choices. If he let the
troopers escape, he d have to fight them again later. Every prisoner taken
meant Cadmi-ans who had to guard them, and Fifteenth Company was already
understrength and needed every man. Finally, there was no reciprocity the
seltyrs didn t take prisoners& and wouldn t, and they seemed to regard such
mercy as weakness.
He took a deep breath. There were other bluecoats left to find and deal with
as best he could.
88
Despite his tiredness and the effects of flying two long days, Dainyl did not
sleep well. Images swirled through his dreaming thoughts, images of pteridons
and their fliers vanishing into dark tubes, of hundreds of landers and
indigens cutting each other down with bright
1
shimmering rifles, of an ancient soarer in midair above a peak pointing a tiny
finger at him and telling him, Change or perish.
He woke covered in sweat on Octdi morning, for all that the officer s chamber
was more than pleasantly cool. It was a relief to get up. He washed and
dressed, and made his way to the mess, where he ate hurriedly, washing the
rations down with ale, as a single sleepy-eyed Cadmian watched.
Then he began a thorough walking inspection of the compound, starting at the
east gate, and going through each building. Several were locked. Most of the
locks he could open with his Talent. One, which had a heavy hasp lock, he
severe&with the light-cutter sidearm. He could find nothing amiss, nothing
that should not have been there.
In the armory, he noted through his Talent that there were traces of where [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
attitude, and Mykel wasn t particularly happy being in a position where the
only practical solution was greater firepower. He looked at the empty road
ahead, then shook his head.
In less than a quarter glass, Fifteenth Company was again moving northward,
with orders to ride silently. Within another quarter glass, Mykel had dropped
the wagons behind, close enough to be reached quickly, if necessary, with a
four-man guard, two of whom had been stung by night-wasps the evening before.
Finally, Fifteenth Company reached the back of the casaran orchards to the
east of the bluecoat encampment. Ahead, there was the slightest slope up
through the orchards.
Mykel blinked. For a moment, he thought he d sensed something like a road
beneath the dirt, a faint black trail running along the barely perceptible
high point of the gentle rise that split the orchard. He looked again, but saw
nothing.
Now, he ordered quietly. Forward. He urged the chestnut into a fast trot
down the lane between the nut trees.
As he rode past the last of the casaran trees and turned right, toward the
north end of the bluecoat encampment, Mykel took in the bluecoats he saw.
Several had started to run. Only one had a rifle immediately at hand, and he
seemed frozen.
After a moment, a single cry rang out. Cadmians! Cadmians!
Mykel and first squad reined up in a firing line at the north end of the
encampment, taking the highest ground, even if it was but a yard or so higher
than that to the east.
First squad! Rifles ready! Fire!
Five or six of the closest bluecoats were down within the first two volleys.
Second squad! Fire!
Bluecoats began to scramble toward the sheds, toward any form of shelter.
Abruptly, two older-looking bluecoats appeared, and one took dead aim at the
Cadmian captain. The other turned as well.
Mykel had one shot left. With all his thought, desire, everything, he willed
the bullet home.
The first bluecoat dropped, but the second brought his rifle to bear, taking
his time, as if to indicate that he might die, but that Mykel would as well.
All Mykel could do was duck, urge the chestnut forward, and will that the
bullets not strike him. Time around him seemed to slow, and he could sense the
bullets moving to-rard him. Somehow, some way, he twisted his body out of lie
line of fire as the chestnut carried him forward.
Still in that slow movement, he watched the bluecoat s nouth open. For a
moment, the man froze, and then Mykel ind the chestnut were upon him. Mykel
knew that he could lot have covered that distance so quickly, but he had.
With-)ut cartridges in the magazine, he did the only thing that he ;ould,
reversing the rifle and slamming the butt across the jluecoat s temple. The
man dropped. Mykel felt a sudden smptiness, a feeling that he had come to
recognize as death.
He wheeled the chestnut back to the firing line, but the return seemed far
slower. The area closest to him was empty of able rebels. He reloaded quickly,
then slipped the rifle into its saddle case. First squad! Sabres! On me! He
stood in the stirrups. Second squad! Hold!
Very few of the rebels had lifted rifles in the face of the attack. Even so,
Mykel thought he had lost some of his men, or that some had been wounded. He
urged the chestnut toward the handful of fleeing men. First squad, forward!
The next glass was a confused mixture of pursuit, slashing sabres, moments of
silence, intermittent rifle shots& and slaughter.
Mykel finally led first squad back to the villa, where they re-formed.
Led by Bhoral, the other squads rejoined them.
Fifteenth Company stands ready, sir.
Page 232
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Thank you. What were our casualties? Mykel asked the senior squad leader.
One dead, three wounded, not badly.
It could have been much worse, Mykel thought, glancing back toward the ruined
tents, then toward the apparently silent villa.
What now, sir? asked Bhoral.
We ll take a half score of the best mounts, and whatever good supplies will
fit in the wagons. Mykel gestured to-ward the villa. Burn it. Not the
outbuildings or the stables. Just the villa.
Sending a message to the seltyrs, sir?
And to their retainers and the others. I hope they ll get it. Mykel had his
doubts, but it was worth a try.
As Bhoral conveyed his orders to four rankers in first squad, Mykel surveyed
the devastation around the villa. It had been a slaughter. Over a hundred
bluecoats lay dead, left where they had fallen, in the fields, in ditches,
beside the stables, on the dirt lanes of the estate.
Slowly, he took a rag from his saddlebags and cleaned his sabre and sheathed
it. Then he checked his rifle, making sure that the magazine was full.
They hadn t taken prisoners. That bothered him, because the rebel troopers
weren t really to blame, but he didn t have any choices. If he let the
troopers escape, he d have to fight them again later. Every prisoner taken
meant Cadmi-ans who had to guard them, and Fifteenth Company was already
understrength and needed every man. Finally, there was no reciprocity the
seltyrs didn t take prisoners& and wouldn t, and they seemed to regard such
mercy as weakness.
He took a deep breath. There were other bluecoats left to find and deal with
as best he could.
88
Despite his tiredness and the effects of flying two long days, Dainyl did not
sleep well. Images swirled through his dreaming thoughts, images of pteridons
and their fliers vanishing into dark tubes, of hundreds of landers and
indigens cutting each other down with bright
1
shimmering rifles, of an ancient soarer in midair above a peak pointing a tiny
finger at him and telling him, Change or perish.
He woke covered in sweat on Octdi morning, for all that the officer s chamber
was more than pleasantly cool. It was a relief to get up. He washed and
dressed, and made his way to the mess, where he ate hurriedly, washing the
rations down with ale, as a single sleepy-eyed Cadmian watched.
Then he began a thorough walking inspection of the compound, starting at the
east gate, and going through each building. Several were locked. Most of the
locks he could open with his Talent. One, which had a heavy hasp lock, he
severe&with the light-cutter sidearm. He could find nothing amiss, nothing
that should not have been there.
In the armory, he noted through his Talent that there were traces of where [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]