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On the truck in front of Ray and Colonel Michaels, Lieutenant Charles Bragg and Jean were trying to keep warm by huddling up against the bodies of Iliad and his people.
“I will be glad if I never see this frozen planet again.” Jean complained. “Never was there so much of me frozen for so long a length of time.”
Charles smiled at her. “It is a little cool isn`t it Jean.”
“Cool is not the word for it Charles.”
“It will soon warm up as soon as we reach the mountains and the fortress.” Charles Bragg said, but this fact hardly comforted Jean, except for the fact that then they could begin to make plans for freeing her brother. Iliad moved over to join them, for he wanted to tell them of a decision he and his people had come too.
“We have decided my friends that whatever your people decide, we will fight to free our people and their children, but it would be easier if we had some help and direction.”
“You are making the right decision Iliad, it is better to die fighting for your freedom than to live as a slave and to see your children born into slavery. One piece of advice that my Colonel came up with, don`t make it too obvious that all the trouble is coming from one small section of people. You must combine your attacks with others made by other groups of slaves away from your area, it would certainly be safer for your family, and if you can lay the blame on the space marines of Earth then it would be better still. Have your people yell ‘space marines back to the ship’ or ‘space marines attack’, phrases such as these in English will work wonders on the locals. Also make your attacks on property rather than people and if people then only those of high rank, not the ordinary man who you will want on your side at some later time.” Charles Bragg answered.
Something inside Charles Bragg begged him to stay and help these brave people in their fight for freedom, but the Colonel had convinced him that this was not just about one small group of slaves in the Carpathian Mountains; it was about all of the slaves on Lyre. Events elsewhere though were moving at such a speed that would make any plans made at the present, out of date.
Jean was exhausted after translating such a long sentence with such an important meaning to Iliad, who took time to grasp it all as his Lyren was not perfect.
“We will practice these English words until we all know them off by heart my friend, but as for getting assistance from other groups of slaves, that could be dangerous, unless the people are from our own land and are already known to us. We will however follow your advice as to who to attack and who to leave alone.” Iliad said.
“I think that you would be wise to follow the advice from my Colonel. In addition, you might consider committing such acts as far away from your families as is practically possible so as not to bring the wrath of the Lyren state police down upon your families alone, make those evil sons of bitches work harder to get their enjoyment. Charles Bragg had also added some slightly more colourful words to get his meaning across to his new comrades.
Their third day of travel finished with the landscape ahead of them dominated by the Carpathian Mountains. In summer, they would have been at the Wallachia fortress already but with the roads covered in snow, and the danger of hitting a patch of ice always there, their speed had been necessarily that much slower. Ahead of them there were signs of a temporary thaw, with the snow melting into slush. They would arrive near the fortress by lunchtime tomorrow; today they were cold, hungry and impatient to get a reply from Jonas to their message. They got it soon after they made their final stop of the day at one of the longhouses; this one was in a worse condition than the ones that they had previously stopped at, probably because they were that much further away from the more populated areas of Lyre.
The message was in a code used by Jonas and Strauss alone, this ensured that it was difficult for anyone else to read. It came in the form of a rambling letter but Strauss was only interested in the first words at the beginning of each paragraph. Each paragraph answered a point in Strauss`s message to Jonas.
Point one was where Strauss had said he was angry with the premature disclosure of the four Earth people to the slaves, Jonas wrote ‘I am too’ this was followed by a lengthy paragraph as was every other answer to Strauss`s points.
Point two was how Tom Parkinson would react, Jonas wrote ‘Our friend is also annoyed but agrees to help’
Point three was would Tom Parkinson supply further weapons and gold, Jonas wrote ‘We have a full agreement.’
Point four was regarding the supply of contraband to cover the shipments and the reply was ‘Yes they will help us.’
Point five covered the sending of the soldiers of Christ to train and lead the enslaved peoples on Lyre in co-ordinated attacks with the Lyre freedom movement, and the answer was ‘They are very interested in this suggestion but will consider it fully before committing themselves.’
“Strauss why all the cloak and dagger when communicating with Jonas and why did you encode your letter while Jonas didn`t bother to?” Ray Connors asked.
“Yes Strauss you said that the state police don`t suspect the existence of a freedom movement?” Colonel Michaels said.
“While they do not suspect that such a movement exists, they are very interested in imprisoning any person suspected of being a subversive. This is why we were troubled by your Lieutenants disclosures, because they are almost paranoid about this subject. They have many eyes and ears all around the planet that are happily paid if they can point out such a person. Any of the slaves who have lived for any length of time on Lyre will already know this, for they will have seen it happen. In answer to your question Lieutenant Adler, the reason that I encoded my message was because of all that I had to communicate to Jonas, while he in return only had to say yes or no. and we use the encoding program as little as possible so as not to make it easier to break.” Lieutenant Adler was of course Ray Connors nom de plume.
Lieutenant Charles Bragg was told that he could inform Iliad and his people of the decision to incorporate members of the enslaved people on Lyre into the Lyre freedom movement. They would be taught how to use modern weapons as soon as Earth made them available, and as soon as the freedom movement had identified suitable warriors from amongst the slaves. This might take time, as they did not know whom they could safely approach. There was always the danger of the slave revealing their plans to the authorities, if they attempted to recruit a spy who was already in the pay of the state police. There would also be a delay in providing men to lead the new recruits, and in some cases existing members, as the Church of the Universe had still to agree to supply the Soldiers of Christ to fill these posts. Jonas and Strauss were both eager for the Church to become involved in this fight for freedom of all the people within the Lyre Federation, for then they could call on the Soldiers of Christ to lead the fight against the demons of hell.
Their first sight of the Wallachia fortress was one of surprise, for although they knew that their target was a fortress none of them expected to see an eighteenth century fortress perched upon a high hill on the planet of Lyre. Why would someone go to all the trouble and expense to build a fortress in the wilderness of a planet that had no enemies anywhere upon it? The answer to the riddle was that it was built by a multi billionaire with a liking for ancient fortresses, and he used it as a corral, an expensive corral, to keep his farm animals safely away from the many predators that still roamed about the highlands of Lyre. Later it was appropriated by the authorities because a farsighted politician foresaw that they might one day have a problem with their slaves, and the fortress represented a secure stronghold in the north of the planet. Within the fortress, they would be able to reach out and suppress any sort of rebellion, providing the attacker only possessed hand weapons. This had seemed likely to be the case, although with Earth now on the side of the slaves it might mean that the slaves might be given weapons that are a little more sophisticated. Inside of its walls there was a small landing port for terrestrial shuttles, repair facilities
for armoured vehicles, barracks had been added for at least two hundred soldiers when the situation required, and a prison for any special troublemakers who came their way. The solid walls of the fortress would provide safety for the forces of law and order in this northern region of Lyre, if the need ever arose.
Iliad and his people were delivered to a Lyren farmer who led them away to their new homes, built recently by the slaves who were already working on the farm. The men started work in a wooded area clearing it of its trees and undergrowth so that large fields of wheat could be planted there. The women were to go up to the fortress to get it ready for occupation by a regiment of Lyren soldiers. They were to train for deployment to the planet where Iliad and his people came from. More slaves were to be brought from its colder regions, so more soldiers were being trained in the sort of country in which they would be deployed. Normally the fortress held just a skeleton staff to keep it secure against any who might want to use it for illegal purposes, and of course to maintain it. Unbeknown to the owner of the slaves Jean was to be billeted with the family of Iliad for safety, while the three men were staying in a small nearby inn, Charles Bragg as their servant, while the other two were supposed to be taking the chance to see some of the winter beauty of Lyre.
Colonel Michaels looked up at the fortress that sat along a ridge of the foothills that rose up towards the Carpathian Mountains behind them. The foothills were covered in trees bereft of their snowy covering for the moment, as a spell of warmer weather spread over the district, but the mountains above still held on to their thick covering of snow. When Colonel Michaels heard about the first job that the female slaves were ordered to do, he had told Jean to go up to the fortress with them so that she could make a plan of it. It might even be possible to find out where her brother was being held. Jean had jumped at the chance to do some real work for a change, instead of leaving it all to the men.
At the beginning of the fifth day of the mission Strauss and Anderson had taken the truck back to the capital city of Lyre, leaving behind the staff car and also a computer so that the earthmen could keep in touch with them, Lieutenant Bragg was to act the part of driver when required. Colonel Michaels pulse had begun to beat at a slightly faster rate now that they were going to attempt the rescue, after a reconnaissance mission had been made and a suitable plan conceived. This part would be down to their own efforts, success or failure. Colonel Michaels and Ray Connors planned to reconnoitre the area around the fortress in the early morning, and when Jean returned in the evening he hoped to be able to start working on a plan to rescue Peter Summers.
Galaxy Spies Page 20