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."What happened? Did we win?""Yes, Your Highness," the valet said, propping him up and handing him a cup ofdeliciously cool water."Welcome back."An image flashed suddenly across Roger's memory."Despreaux?" he said sharply."Sergeant Despreaux?" the valet asked with a puzzled expression."She's fine.Why do you ask?"Roger thought about explaining the memory of an upraised ax, but decidedagainst it.He might also have to explain the strange, unsettled feeling thatthe image caused him."Never mind.What's the situation?""We won, as you surmised," the valet told him."But things are complicated atthe moment."Roger looked around the fetid keep and blanched."How many?" he asked, gazing at the rows of wounded."Thirty-eight," Dobrescu replied, coming by checking monitors."That aren'twalking wounded.Twelve KIA.including Lieutenant Gulyas, I'm afraid.""Oh, God." Roger's eyes returned to the burn patient next to him.So many ofthe wounded seemed to have terrible burns."What happened?" he repeated."Plasma fire," Dobrescu said simply."Things got.a little tight.""We need to get them out of here," the prince said, waving a hand around inthe stinking dimness."This is no place to put a hospital.""They're working on it, Your Highness," the medic told him."We'll have themout of here by nightfall.In the meantime, it's the only roof we've got.""Okay." Roger levered himself up with help from the valet."Make sure of it."The prince stumbled across the floor to the open doorway and stopped at theview that greeted him.The interior of the citadel was a scene from some demented vision of Hell.The eastern bastion, Second Platoon's redoubt, was a blackened ruin.Thecurtain wall on that side was still covered in Mardukan dead, and the doorsand spear slits were blasted, blackened, and broken.The gatehouse was nothing but rubble, and half-fused, still-smoking rubble, atthat.And the bailey was covered in Mardukan dead, piled five and six deep.where the piles weren't even deeper.Since the gate had been the only drainfor the torrential Mardukan rains, the courtyard had started to fill withwater.The line of natives who were working to clear the area already wadedankle deep in the noisome mess as they bent over the dead, and it was gettingdeeper.Roger peered at the natives picking up bodies and bits of bodies in thegruesome, deepening soup."Are those who I think they are?""Kranolta," Kostas confirmed."They have weapons," Roger pointed out in a croak.He took another sip ofwater and shook his head."What happened?" he asked for the third time."We won," the valet repeated."Sort of.Forces from the other city-statesshowed up right at the end.Page 209ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThey hit the Kranolta from the rear, and drove them back over the wall, wherethey finally took the eastern bastion.By then, Captain Pahner had evacuatedit anyway, and it was the only cover they could find.Between the pressure ofthe new forces and having them pinned down, the Marines more or lesswiped them out."But quite a few of them had withdrawn to their encampment before thecity-state forces arrived.Only a handful of their original army, but enough that they could still havecaused lots of problems, soPahner arranged a cease-fire.The Kranolta that are left don't have anyinterest in facing Marines or the'New Voitan' forces, but they'll fight if forced to.So the Captain and ournew.allies agreed to let them keep their weapons and bury their dead.""What a disaster," Roger whispered, looking over his shoulder back into thekeep."It could have been worse, Sir.""How?" Roger demanded bitterly."Well," the valet said as the rain began again, "we could have lost."CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR"If you hadn't come, we would have lost."Roger took a sip of wine.The vintage was excellent, but then, all of thetent's appointments were excellent, from the finely tooled leather of itswalls, to its hammered brass tables.The cushions on the floor were covered ina cloth the humans had never seen before, silky and utterly unlike the morecommon rough and wool-like material found in Q'Nkok.Obviously, T'Kal Vlantraveled in style."Perhaps so." The last ruler of T'an K'tass picked up a candied slice of katefruit and nibbled it."Yet even so, you would have destroyed the Kranolta.That's surely worth something even in the eyes of gods of the most distantland!"Captain Pahner shook his head."I'm sorry, Your Highness, but it isn't.We come from an empire so vast thatthe Kranolta and all the valley of the Hurtan are an unnoticeable speck.I'mglad that you're glad, but the losses we took might mean the prince won't makeit home." He grinned at the Mardukans."And that would really disappoint hismother.""Ah!" Roger exclaimed."Not that! Not Mother angry! God forbid!""A formidable woman, eh?" T'Kal Vlan grunted a laugh."Rather," Roger told him with a shrug."He has a point, though.I'm sure thatif I died, Mother would visit me beyond the grave to chastise me for it.""So, you see," Pahner continued, "I'm afraid I have to count this one as astraight loss.""Not really, Captain," the prince said, swirling his wine gently."We'vecleared the way.One way or another, we had to get to the other side of thisrange of hills, and none of the choices were particularly good.There's noreason to second-guess this one.If we'd gone south, we would've been walkingthrough a war, and we would undoubtedly have second-guessed ourselves then andsaid 'I bet thoseKranolta pussies wouldn't have been this much trouble.'""Well, I for one thank you for clearing out most of those 'Kranolta pussies,'" T'Leen Targ said, with his own grunt of laughter."Already, the ironworkerswe brought with us are building the furnaces.We have gathered all thesurviving masters of the art and their apprentices.Soon the lifeblood ofVoitan will flow once more.""Aye," T'Kal Vlan agreed."And the sooner the better.My own treasury isPage 210ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlflowing away like blood.""You need to capitalize," O'Casey said.The chief of staff had been quietlysipping her wine and listening to the warriors' testosterone grunting withamusement.This, however, was her specialty."Agreed," Vlan said."But the family has already liquidated most of itsholdings to fund the expedition.Short of borrowing, at extortionate rates, I'm not sure how to raise morecapital.""Sell shares," O'Casey suggested."Offer a partial ownership of the mines.Each share has a vote on management, and each gains equity and shares in theprofits, if any.It would be a long-term investment, but not a particularlyrisky one if you're sufficiently capitalized.""I didn't understand all the words you just used," Vlan said, cocking hishead."What is this 'equity'?""Oh, my." O'Casey grinned widely."We really must have a long conversation.""Don't worry," Pahner told her with a shrug."We're not going anywhere for awhile."* * *Roger sat up in his tent, damp with sweat and panting and looked around him.All clear.Tent walls faintly billowing in the wind that had come up.Campgear.Eyes."You should be resting, Your Highness," said Cord faintly."So should you, old snake," Roger said."You don't heal as fast as we do." Hesat up on the camp cot and took a deep breath."It just, you know, comesback.""Yes, it does," the Mardukan agreed."I wonder how." The prince stopped and shook his head."How?" the shaman queried, lifting himself up with a grimace."You should be flat on your back, Cord," Roger said with another headshake."I grow weary of lying about like a worm," the Mardukan countered."How,what?""Not one to be distracted, are you?" Roger smiled."I was wondering how theMarines handle it.How they handle the fear and the death.Not just ours, God knows I got enoughMarines killed here.But the Kranolta [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]