by Candy Rae
When the first beacon was lit, warning that the enemy were mustering at the island chain, they were as ready as they could be.
“Lindars have been warned,” announced Afanasei after he had sent out his telepathic announcement to all of the Susas.
“Beacons are lit,” added Zanatei in an abnormally loud voice.
“Right,” said Jim. “Time to go.” : Where are Francis and his Vada? :
: Vada dispersing to eat: answered Larya after a moment of concentration as she communicated with Asya.
The Vada would leave within the hour. The riders’ personal belongings had been ready for days.
“Has the settlement been warned?”
“They will see the beacons. Matvei with tell those who have not.”
Jim grunted his approval. He and Stuart had drawn up the evacuation plans for the farmsteads. With Lind help, those still outside the settlement walls would be inside by nightfall. It was estimated that it would take the invaders over nine days to reach the north in any great numbers but it was better to take no chances. In the past Larg advance parties had arrived well before their main army. They would have been waiting on one of the islands for this moment and even ten Larg could do a lot of damage, as the settlers knew to their cost.
Ideally, Jim would have preferred to attack the Larg as they landed, when they were more vulnerable. It was just not possible, though if he had been facing just the ten thousand humans Jim would have tried to hold them to the beach. The Larg however, would quite likely make mincemeat of any force out in the openness that was the flat, low-lying coastal area. Jim therefore agreed with the Lind that such a move would be as folly born of madness. Their only chance was to remain behind the fortified walls of the settlement and wait for the attack.
“Can you hear Matvei?” Jim asked.
“Yes,” replied Larya, “he has very strong thoughts. Human domta gets ready now.”
Tara was sitting quietly in the Randall family’s daga when the word arrived. She looked at Janice.
“It’s time,” she said in a scared voice. The three little girls and Brian looked at her, their faces as white and strained as hers.
Brian was ashamed of the fact that Tara, who was younger than him by some months, was going to the war whilst he was to stay behind. He put an awkward arm round her shoulders. Janice was too busy comforting Violet, Lucy and Juliet to be of much help.
“Kolyei will keep you safe,” he said. “Never fear. And you are not going to the front lines. You won’t see much from the communications unit. Dad told me that you are to be in an area near him and the other medics and that’s some way to the rear.”
Tara nodded but was not much comforted. Kolyei had deemed it wise to warn Tara about what to expect and had recounted tales of his own battle experiences. They had not been pleasant hearing.
Not for the first time Tara wished that there was someone else competent enough to command the communications pivot, anyone else, just so long as it wasn’t her and Kolyei.
She opened her mouth to speak to Janice but at that moment Louis and Ustinya popped their heads through the doorway.
“Mum,” he called out, “the Vada is on notice to depart. Any chance of something before we go? We’ve been training all morning and are absolutely starving.”
Ustinya nodded in confirmation. A large violet-brown and beautiful female, she towered over everyone in the daga, even Kolyei. A native of pack Vanya she adored her Louis and consequently fitted into the extended Randall family with ease.
Radya was, it has to be admitted, jealous of the fact that Ustinya was now linked with the Randalls, and Kolyei. Tara’s Kolyei was attracted to Ustinya and it showed. Radya and Peter had been frequent visitors to the daga as a result. The humans had watched with interest the Lind plays of affection and courting. It was yet to be seen whether Radya would succeed in her mission to oust the Vanyan Lind in Kolyei’s affections. He had been rather nonplussed by Radya’s reaction and he and Tara had recently spent a lot of time away from the daga. He was, in fact, off visiting his pack-friends at the moment but Tara had decided to help Janice with lunch.
Louis had altered during the time since he and Ustinya had been vadeln-paired. He had become far more weather-beaten and his muscles had developed in response to the demands of weapons training. The training had also toughened him up. He was a young man now, confident and assured. Janice wondered sometimes what had happened to her boy.
She bustled around preparing the meal: her thoughts in a tangle. She had hoped that this day would never come, that the Larg would have second thoughts about coming north and that she would not have to watch her husband, eldest son and new-found daughter going off to the war.
She did manage to serve the meal and didn’t spill more than a little. Her hands shook as she spooned the vegetables on to the plates. Louis and Tara busied themselves preparing the raw meat set aside in the cool room for the family Lind.
When Winston and Kolyei arrived, the family ate their last meal together. They were all quiet, even the three youngest. The daga was normally filled with laughter and good-natured banter.
Winston had spent the morning in meeting with the war leaders. He had a lot to think about.
Intelligence supported Jim Cranston’s assumption that Murdoch and the Larg did not possess the same telepathic skills and communication abilities, as did those in the north. None of Murdoch’s men had actually bonded with any of the Larg like he and the other vadeln-pairs. There were reported language difficulties. It was an alliance, not a partnership. They were using each other; of that much the returning spies were certain. Murdoch thought of the Larg as allies only to help him overcome the settlement. The Larg were using the convicts to negate the settlers’ effect on the power balance in the north, but, as Winston spooned the last of his wife’s delicately flavoured stew into his mouth, he could not help but wonder and worry.
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