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Ah& that s on the first level, sir, halfway down the west end. They ll serve for another glass. Thank you. Yes, sir. There was a brief conversation behind him, but so low that Alucius could not pick it up without obviously stopping and eavesdropping. Finding the officers mess was easy. Alucius just followed two young captains, if discreetly, and Page 203 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html stepped up to the long table behind which stood several orderlies. He listened, then, when the others had taken their ale and platters, stepped up and ordered, I d like egg toast, with the ham and biscuits. And the ale. The nearest orderly looked at Alucius s uniform. Ah& Overcaptain? That s right, Northern Guard. Here on orders. Just a moment, sir. As he had with the captains, the trooper filled the platter and handed it to Alucius with a beaker of ale. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html Thank you. As Alucius stepped away with the platter of egg toast, ham strips, and some sort of biscuits and gravy, he could hear the conversation behind him. Don t know if he& What does it matter? Sides, if he s the one, you want to tell him no? With a faint smile, Alucius looked over the officers, then picked a graying overcaptain sitting by himself. Would you mind if I joined you? The overcaptain appeared startled, then grinned. No, I d be most pleased. I didn t think any of us would get to talk with you. You are the one who took on the nomads in Deforya? Alucius that s me. He slipped into the chair across from the older officer. Paerkl, that s me. I m here temporarily to provide information to the mapping engineers. Mapping engineers? They rotate companies to do recon in places where we don t have good maps. See if we can find anything left from the Cataclysm roads, artifacts and then we bring back information. So I ve got a week to go over all my drawings and maps, and then it s back to Hyalt. Alucius nodded, his mouth full of egg toast. Is all that true about the nomads having more than a hundred companies and pteridons? Don t know about everything people are saying. They had over a hundred companies and pteridons. There were maybe twenty-five companies of Deforyan Lancers, and we had five companies. One Southern Guard, four Northern Guard, and Majer Draspyr Southern Guard was in command. Draspyr? Was he the one who disobeyed Submarshal Frynkel and broke the mercs at Southgate? I d never met the majer before, and he didn t talk about what he d done before. Alucius tried to recall Draspyr s appearance. Fairly tall, blond, scar across one cheek. That s Draspyr. Or was. He didn t make it, did he? We lost more than half the troopers, half the officers. He was one of those they got. We came back with less than two companies out of five. Alucius took a swallow of ale. And you were the senior officer left? Alucius nodded again. Paerkl shook his head. Pteridons, you said? You have any idea where they got those? If anyone knew, they never told me. The Deforyans didn t believe that the nomads had them not until they flamed a couple of squads. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html That must have been something. Not something I d like to do again. Alucius paused, then said, We rode here from Dekhron, through Borlan and Krost. Seemed like all the posts were understrength. Is that Page 204 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html because of the Southgate campaign? Mostly. It s over three hundred vingts from our old border with Madrien to Southgate. Built up the fort at Zalt, but to hold the high road takes fifteen companies. Minimum. Doesn t count the push they re making toward Fola. Paerkl frowned, momentarily. You stopped at Krost, at the post there? We did. Was Captain-Colonel Jesopyr there? He was. He s the post commander, is he not? For the moment. He s got enough time for a stipend. Imagine he ll be honored at the arms-commander s next awards dinner in Tempre. Good man. Liked serving with him. Old style. Appreciates a talented enemy more than an inept friend. He s also not one who tells you what you want to hear, then slips a knife into your gut while hugging you. There are always those kinds. We had some in the militia before we became the Northern Guard. More worried about a half-silver than a trooper s life. Paerkl shook his head, then took a last sip from his beaker of ale. The fewer the better. Did you ever run across a Majer Ebuin? Paerkl s slight stiffening told Alucius more than the overcaptain s words. He s the number two at Borlan. Under Captain-Colonel Yermyn. They think alike, I m told. Don t know either personally. Even after he said something, Alucius offered, I couldn t be sure what he meant. But he was most courteous. Courteous. Good word. Paerkl eased back his chair. Glad to see you, and hope everything goes well. Lord-Protector ought to give you some sort of reward. Good to see that a fighting officer gets recognized. Doesn t happen enough. Then, with a smile, Overcaptain Paerkl was gone. No one joined Alucius as he finished his breakfast. Nor did anyone approach him as he walked back up to his quarters. He debated going exploring, but he had no idea where to look for what or even what he might need to find. He also suspected that, before long, someone would be looking for him. About that, he was right. A young captain Alucius did not recognize was pacing back and forth in the corridor outside Alucius s quarters. Overcaptain Alucius? Yes? I m Captain Deen. Majer Keiryn detailed me to be your aide while you re here in Tempre. The Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html captain offered an embarrassed smile, and the expression matched his inner chagrin. But I didn t get the orders until this morning. It s not a problem. I was hungry and went and found the officers mess. Ah& which one? The one on the first level. I followed some captains. Ah& we ll need to show you the one for senior officers. That s where they expect you. It s on the other side of the first level. When you weren t here& I checked with them, but they hadn t seen you. I had a solid breakfast, Alucius said. That s good. You ll likely have a busy few days here in Tempre. Alucius raised his eyebrows. Captain-Colonel Omaryk he s the head of the planning staff he has requested that you brief him on the nomads, and on the abilities of the Landarch s forces, as well as on the high road through the Upper Spine Mountains. Then, Captain-Colonel Dytryl he s mapping has you scheduled for two glasses this afternoon. And, of course, you re the guest at the senior [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |