[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
thousand rebel casualties. The Third Cadmian Battalion had a particularly
effective captain. When I have a moment, I ll be recommending him for
promotion to majer and command of the battalion. You may have to follow
through on that. Now& what have you to report?
You knew about the pteridon lost near Scien?
Didn t that happen before I returned to Dramur? Dainyl frowned. Or did we
lose another one?
Yes, sir. In that same area. The marshal has ordered all flyers to avoid it
until further notice.
Have we lost any more pteridons anywhere else besides Dramur? asked Dainyl
dryly.
Ah& yes, sir. One flying out of Dereka over the Barrier Range on a message
run to Indyor, and one near Aelta. Fifth Company found the burned rock in the
Barrier Range, but no one has found any sign of the pteridon that was flying
north of Aelta.
What were they doing up there?
I ve put in an inquiry to Captain Fhentyl, sir, but we don t have a
response.
Dainyl managed to take a long and slow deep breath. In less than a season, six
pteridons had been lost six out of slightly less than two hundred, and none
could be replaced. According to the records, not one pteridon had been lost in
the past three hundred years. Why had the ancients decided to attack pteridons
now, after so many years of being invis-ible? It had to be their work. What
else? What about Coren, Catyr, and Hyalt.
Page 274
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Hyalt s calm, and all of First Company s second squad has returned except the
one Myrmidon lost, of course. We ve been able to stop overflights of Coren,
and the marshal ordered the return of the squad covering Catyr yesterday. They
haven t returned yet.
Any more skylances missing in Dereka?
No, sir.
What else should I know?
I understand that the Duarch is not pleased with events, sir. That s what the
marshal said on Octdi, anyway.
Thank you.
Yes, sir.
Dainyl nodded, and the colonel slipped away. From what he could tell,
Lystrana s analysis of Dhenyr was accurate. He tried hard, and he was
conscientious, and he had even less Talent than people had thought that Dainyl
had and far less insight. Dainyl wasn t sure whether to be more worried about
Dhenyr or about the lost pteridons. Clearly, the marshal and the Highest did
not want any higher-ranking officers in headquarters with both insight and
Talent. Dhenyr had neither. They d accepted Dainyl for the moment because,
while he had insight, they did not know that he had more Talent than was
obvious.
Submarshal! Welcome back! Shastylt stood in the doorway.
Dainyl rose, not quite so easily as he had before and would again.
You were injured, I see.
Broken arm and broken leg. They re mostly healed. It happened when we lost
Quelyt and Falyna and their pteridons.
Shastylt nodded slowly. I feared something like that.
I have a report here, sir. Would you like me to tell you, or would you prefer
to read it, then discuss what happened?
Why don t I read it? It won t be long. That s the first thing we need to deal
with. I assume that you resolved everything in Dramur?
Yes, sir.
Good. A twisted smile appeared on the marshal s face. The Duarches would
like some good news. If you have that report&
Dainyl lifted the thick envelope off the desk and handed it across to
Shastylt. It may be longer than you need. As you requested, that is the only
copy.
Good. I ll be back to you shortly.
After Shastylt departed, Dainyl settled down with the re-.ports. He d only
made his way though five when the marshal reappeared, stepping inside the
study, and closing the door.
The marshal settled into the chair across from Dainyl, looking solidly at the
submarshal. While Dainyl was well aware of the Talent-probing of the marshal,
he left his shields in place, with the same apparent unaware stolidity that
Lystrana had helped him develop years before.
I ve read your report, Dainyl. It s most remarkable. Or rather, I should say
that your actions were most remarkable. You seem to have prevented a runaway
rebellion with a minimum of casualties, that is, given the feelings of all
those involved.
Dainyl had his doubts about the minimum of casualties. To him, nearly half
of the Third Cadmian Battalion, more than a thousand dead rebels, and two
Myrmidons and their pteridons were far greater than minimum casualties. He d
managed to salvage the situation, but his actions were anything but
remarkable. The only thing remarkable was the fact that he hadn t seen what
was happening earlier. In hindsight, it had all been so obvious. There hadn t
been a rebellion, until the combination of Majer Herryf s arrogance and
stubbornness and Majer Vaclyn s stupidity had collided and created one. But
then, that was clearly what the marshal and the Highest had intended. Things
would have been worse if it hadn t been for Captain Mykel.
There was one aspect of all this that troubles me, Marshal, Dainyl said,
trying to inject puzzlement into his voice. As we discussed much earlier,
Page 275
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
there could not have been a rebellion without large numbers of Cadmian rifles
present in Dramur. Has anyone been able to determine how such unmarked weapons
got there?
Shastylt laughed. Coins. Golds. All the steers of Acorus are obsessed with
accumulating what they perceive as wealth. The landowners on Dramur tend to be
fearful of both the prisoners and each other. They have more wealth than many.
The smugglers knew that, and they bribed one of the assistant weapons
engineers in Faitel to produce extra rifles. Over time, he reported a number
of production runs as spoiled, requiring extra production. The runs were not
spoiled, but were slipped out of the manufactory as scrap to be reused, then
were diverted. The engineer in question has been discovered and punished.
Before he died, he revealed what happened. The marshal smiled coldly.
I see. Thank you. Dainyl returned the smile, hoping he could keep to
himself, behind his shields, the knowledge that the marshal was not telling
the entire truth.
The more important aspect of your efforts in Dramur was the discovery that
the ancients are still alive and active, if in a reduced capacity. Things
could have been much worse, reflected the marshal, but, in many ways,
matters turned out better than they might have.
Better, sir?
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
