Days of Future Past - Part 2: Present Tense

by John Van Stry

  I nodded and took his hand, and swung up onto the horse behind him. Atsida was one of the village's blacksmiths, and was more than strong enough to pull me up.

  "Re-join the rear guard," he told the others, "Atsa, come along."

  I watched at Tsosie muttered something else under his breath, but I couldn't hear it as Atsida was already riding up the road towards wherever Riggs was.

  "I must say that I am surprised to see you here," Atsida confided in me as we rode.

  "Who do you think killed that dragon?"

  "That was you?"

  "Yes, it was all part of Riggs' plan, obviously."

  "What about what happened back at our town? What he did to you? All of that?"

  I laughed out loud, in for a penny, in for a pound. I was going to stick to the fiction that I told Riggs to spread. He was the 'Chosen one' after all, plus I didn't feel like getting shot again.

  "After the way he kicked the enemies' ass back there you're surprised? Yeah he's a hard man to work for, and no, I don't like him. But he knew he'd be followed and he needed someone there to lay an ambush."

  "But why did he treat you so harshly then?"

  "Because who would have expected me to do it?"

  Atsida nodded slowly, "I see your point. Still, I am happy that I am not you!" He laughed.

  I just sighed and nodded silently agreeing to that. The hardest part for me now was going to be sucking it up and not provoking Riggs. Which wasn't going to be easy as I really still detested him, but I was smart enough to know that this wasn't about me, and the last thing I wanted was to hear a lecture from Coyote about that as well.

  Especially after getting shot again.

  "What about the others in the bunkhouse? Did you kill them?"

  "No," I lowered my voice to only he would hear me, "the chief's son poisoned them. And I would keep that to yourself. I believe he is very jealous of his position."

  Atsida gave a nod, "Yes, we have all noticed that about him. Even the Chosen seems to keep a wary eye on him these days."

  We didn't talk anymore after that, as we rode past what must have been the rear guard of the army. Ten or so minutes later we caught up with the main body, riding past more of Riggs' warriors, then the baggage train, which was all horses, and no carts. Which made sense of course when I thought about how fast Riggs was moving across the terrain.

  Looking at the number of packhorses Riggs had, it was obvious that he had cleaned the place out. All of his warriors were sporting the new gauss assault rifles, and a few were also carrying anti-tank rocket launchers.

  Riggs was riding up near the front of the column.

  When we rode up near him, Atsa rode ahead to talk to him, then pointed back to the two of us. Riggs looked back and gave a start when he saw me, and I decided not to be an ass and wave at him. I just shrugged instead.

  He signaled for Atsida to ride off to the side of the road, and he rode over there himself, with a couple of his men in attendance. Once he got there, he dismounted, and handed his horse off to one of the men with him, the others doing the same, and then he came over to where I was now standing, as I had dismounted as well.

  "Lieutenant," Riggs said walking up to me.

  I saluted him, "Major."

  "Oh, now you salute me," he growled.

  I shrugged and tried not to smile, "I may not like you, Major, but I saw what you did to the enemy back there. As much as it may pain me to say it, I was impressed. Apparently the gods picked the right man."

  "Of course they did. Now quit trying to butter me up, Lieutenant. Why are you following my army?"

  "Because I need to get out of the LA basin, and following you was the safest choice. Not that I intend to follow you for much longer."

  "That's not what I meant, and you know it!" Riggs growled again. "I did an inventory on the items in the last room. One of those containers was empty!"

  I looked at the men around him, and then I looked back at him.

  "Can we talk about this privately?" I said in a low voice.

  "That's not going to save you, Lieutenant," he said, still glaring.

  "Nothing is going to save me, John," I said glaring back at him, but still keeping my voice down. "I would have thought you'd have figured that out already."

  Riggs opened his mouth to retort, but then stopped suddenly. Grabbing my arm he dragged me off away from the others.

  "Wait here," he told them.

  They all nodded and didn't say a word as he dragged me a good hundred feet away from the others.

  "Okay, Paul. Just what the hell is going on, and why are you following my people with a tac-nuke?"

  "I was told to take it north."

  "That's all? North?"

  "Wellll," I hesitated, "I was told where to take it. But not why. At least not yet."

  "Where?"

  I looked at him, "I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you that. Opsec and all of that," I said, and I wasn't pulling his leg. I had no idea if Coyote wanted him to know what I was doing, especially as I didn't know what I was doing.

  "I gave you an order Lieutenant, and I expect an answer. I can not afford to have you gallivanting around with a nuclear weapon, especially one that might be used against me!"

  I sighed, "Sutter Butte."

  "What the hell is Sutter Butte?"

  "It's a large rock formation, north of Sacramento. An extinct volcano. I suspect it's probably an isolated island now at the northern end of the inland sea."

  Riggs thought about that a moment and then his eyes narrowed slightly. I got the sudden impression that he might know something. "And just what are you supposed to do, once you get there?"

  I shrugged, "I don't know, I haven't been told yet."

  "You haven't been told yet," Riggs said looking at me in disbelief.

  "Hey, the gods may explain themselves to you, me? Me they just order around and make some rather dire threats if I don't do as I'm told, okay?"

  Riggs actually chuckled at that.

  "Look, the whole reason I was sent to the armory before you was to get that warhead. That was the real reason. The rest of it was just a smokescreen. Only you and I know what I got there, no one else."

  "So," Riggs said shaking his head, but he was actually smiling, not that it was a smile that made me very comfortable, mind you, "you have no idea why you're being sent there, or what you're supposed to do when you get there? Or even what's there?"

  "Exactly," I said and looked down at my feet, "but I'm not an idiot. I have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen. Do you think you could do me a favor?"

  "Oh? Asking for favors now, are we?" Riggs said a little sarcastically.

  "When you get back, could you at least say something nice to my folks? Not tell them I was about to be thrown out?"

  Riggs sighed rather explosively, "What the hell am I going to do with you?"

  "Let me go, obviously."

  "I can't do that!"

  "Of course you can, you're the Chosen one! You make plans inside of plans; you're the best military mind on the planet. Hell, I bet you even know what's at Sutter Butts and probably even why I'm being sent there!"

  I saw him smirk when I mentioned it.

  "You're right on that, but if they wouldn't tell you, well I sure won't either."

  "Well, then obviously you also know that I have to go there and that it's probably to help you as well."

  Riggs stopped and rubbed his chin, "They'll want to know why you're here."

  "You needed to give me my orders, and it's a secret, opsec, all that crap," I said waving my hands about.

  "The chief's son isn't going to want to let you go. I've been keeping an eye on him, and I think I found somebody who hates you more than I do."

  "Well then, take him down a peg."

  "He's the chief's son, I can't do that."

  "I can."

  "I think I like that idea," Riggs said smiling rather nastily. I started to hope that just maybe there was somebody here that h
e hated more than he hated me!

  "So, what did you tell them? The ones that brought you here? What did you say?"

  "What do you think I said? I gave them the story I told you before. This was all your plan, your idea. I was following your orders! Hell, after the way you chewed up that enemy army the other day, do you think they're going to doubt it? Even I was impressed! And I can't stand you!

  "I was tasked by one of the gods to help you, and trust me; they haven't given me a choice in the matter and have made it clear just what they'll do to me if I don't. I even got in trouble for getting shot! I was told I deserved it for provoking you!"

  Riggs started and looked at me; I think he was starting to believe what I was telling him, which was good, even if some of it was just bald-faced lying on my part. I guess some of Coyote's truth bending abilities were starting to wear off on me.

  "Wait here," he told me and stalked back over to his advisors or whatever they were and talked with them a minute. A few comments were made back and forth while I looked around. I suppose I could make a run for it, if I wanted to die rather quickly. The army was moving by at a good pace, and two of the men with Riggs had their rifles out and were watching me rather closely.

  He waved me over to join them after a minute.

  "Tse," Riggs began and nodded to the chief's son, who I recognized from my time with the tribe, "has claimed that you must be returned to his father, and disputes my claim."

  I noticed Tse frown and several of the others were watching with curious expressions.

  "We do not have time to argue this here on the road. This matter will be taken up again once we have made camp. For now, you are Tse's problem."

  I nodded, "Yes Sir, Major."

  "He is the Chosen one! And you will refer to him as such!" Tse scolded me as I walked over to him, smacking me on the side of the head.

  "Stick your arms out!"

  I did as he ordered, and he grabbed a rope off of his horse and quickly bound my wrists tightly together, then mounting his horse he tied the rope to the pommel, giving me maybe six feet of length, forcing me to stand close to his horse.

  Which then tried to kick me of course, forcing me to move forward, which made his horse shy away. It would have been funny, watching him regain control of his horse, if it wasn't for the fact it was trying to plant a hind hoof in my body.

  Eventually he got his horse under control, and then smacked me in the head again.

  "Stop that!" he commanded.

  "I'm tied to the horse, I can't!" I said back to him.

  That earned me a kick to the ribs from where he was sitting in the saddle.

  I swore to myself, but I kept my mouth shut. The last thing I wanted was to be dragged to my death by this asshole.

  Tse grunted, and then turned his horse and rode off after the others, with me running besides him to keep up.

  I stumbled and almost fell a couple of times, but I quickly learned to grab the rope in my hands and let it pull me along. This meant that his horse kept wanting to step towards the left, and he was constantly having to correct it with curses and hard yanks on the reins.

  When he caught up with the others, he slowed his horse down to a walk, thankfully, as I was gasping for breath and doing what I could just to keep to on my feet by then.

  The next several hours were complete misery. The first time we stopped, he watered his horse, but kicked me when I tried to get a drink.

  The next time we stopped, one of the others remarked that the chief would be angry with him, if he killed his slave through neglect.

  I got to get a nice long drink then, but I still got kicked twice.

  When we started the down the last hill and out of the pass, things had gotten a lot easier. The road was clearer here, so I didn't have to constantly watch my step, and between the brief rest and the water, most of my wits had returned.

  That was when I noticed that the other's in the group were whispering to each other and looking at me. I was worried about this at first, until I saw that after looking at me, they were giving Tse looks that were not very friendly.

  About a mile out onto the flatlands after we'd left the pass the column stopped. I looked around, trying to figure out what was happening.

  As I watched feeling sore and tired, everyone dismounted and it looked like we were making camp here.

  "What is going on?" Tse asked one of the others.

  "You heard the Chosen; he said we are making camp here."

  "Why? I thought we were going to meet up with the rest of our army?"

  The other man shrugged and walked away.

  Tse yanked on my lead and untying it he dismounted and walked over to where Riggs and the other leaders were discussing something, dragging me along behind him.

  "Why are we stopping?" Tse demanded.

  "The men have been marching or fighting nonstop for the last week," Riggs said looking over at Tse. "Now that we're out of danger I'm giving them a rest."

  "But you said we would join with the rest of the army today!" Tse demanded.

  ""Which makes this break all that much more of a reward."

  "But we could be there tonight!"

  "You're more than welcome to continue on," Riggs offered.

  "Then I will gather my men and do so," Tse declared and started to head back for his horse. I could see the men that had been riding with Tse all heave their shoulders rather dejectedly and start putting their things back on their horses.

  "No," Riggs said loudly. "You are welcome to continue on, alone. Your men answer to me first, and they are going to stay here with the rest of us!"

  Tse's men all stopped putting their gear back on their horses, and were looking rather hopefully now at Riggs.

  Tse couldn't help but notice and turned around and glared at Riggs, then angrily yanked on my lead again as he couldn't challenge Riggs' orders. I looked at him and smiled as he stood their glaring. Even as tired as I was, I knew that if I got him out there by himself, just the two of us, I'd have a pretty good chance to turn the tables on him.

  "Afraid to go on alone?" I asked him.

  "Silence, slave!" he yelled and swung at me.

  I ducked under the punch, widening my stance and bending my knees for balance.

  "Don't worry, I'll protect you," I snickered, "or is it really me that you're afraid of?"

  "I'm not afraid of a dog like you!" he growled.

  "But you are afraid, aren't you?" I said, taunting him.

  "Are you calling me a coward!" he almost screamed it at me. I noticed that we had attracted a lot of attention now.

  "I thought that was obvious," I held up my bound hands, "after you tied me up and abused me, even though I presented no threat."

  Tse screamed at me and pulling out his belt knife he lunged at me.

  I dodged to his left and yanked hard on the rope, which he was still holding in his left hand, causing him to lose his balance, which I helped along by hooking his ankle with a foot and tripping him.

  He let go of the rope then as he fell and I yanked it away from him, squatting bending over I grabbed it about six feet from the end.

  "I'll kill you!" he screamed as he got to his feet.

  I whipped the rope at him, and pulling pack at the last minute I snapped it across his right arm like you would with a whip or a wet towel, and he swore in pain as he dropped the knife.

  "You sure about that?" I said and started to whip the rope around me, keeping the space clear.

  His face got rather ugly then and he grabbed at the pistol in the holster on his hip and yanked it out.

  I brought the rope around as he drew, I had figured this would be his next move; actually I was surprised it hadn't been his first. Spinning around I first extended my arms, lengthening the reach of the rope, then just as it hit him, I pulled my arms in. The rope had started to curl around him when I pulled and the effect was to pull him off balance, towards me as he fired. The shot hitting the dirt at my feet as he stumbled and I took two qui
ck adrenaline fueled steps towards him and kicked him in the arm, sending the gun flying.

  "Lieutenant!" I heard Riggs shout, so rather than follow up with a kick to the head as Tse scrambled in the dirt I stepped back.

  "Yes, Major?" I called.

  "You're out of order. Knock it off!"

  I swallowed and looked at Tse who was scrambling for the gun, as I stood still.

  "Yes, Sir."

  "Tse, you pick that up, and I will shoot you for cowardice!" Riggs yelled next.

  Tse looked up at Riggs, so I took my eyes off of him and looked at Riggs as well. Riggs was pointing a pistol at Tse.

  "But he challenged my honor!" Tse yelled angrily.

  "Then you can fight him for it, fairly," Riggs said. "In front of everyone, like a true warrior. Understand?"

  Tse turned and looked at me; I could tell I was swaying a little. I was tired, I was sore, I was thirsty, I was hungry, and the adrenaline had worn off about as quickly as it had come on.

  "I will kill him!" Tse growled, standing up straight.

  "Sure you will," Riggs said. "But not until we've got the camp set up and a spot marked off to fight."

  Riggs turned to me, "Come here, Paul."

  "Yessir," I said and stumbled over to where he was. Riggs pulled out a knife and cut my bonds.

  "Thank you," I said and then winced as the blood started to flow back into my hands, it hurt.

  "Where'd you learn that trick with the rope?"

  "Jackie Chan movie," I grunted and was surprised when Riggs laughed. "It figures. Go rest and I'll have someone bring you some food and water."

  "Thank you, Sir." I said and looked around for a place to sit where I wouldn't get stepped on.

  "Don't kill him," Riggs warned me in a low voice.

  "I wasn't planning on it," I told him as I spied a rather large rock and went over to park my butt on the ground next to it, and pass out for a while.

  - 3 -

  "Wake up, Paul."

  I jolted awake and saw Atsida was standing there, with a canteen of water and some food.

  "Atsida," I said and nodded, grabbing the canteen of water first and taking a long drink. "Thank you."

  "You are most welcome, Paul," he replied with a smile and squatting down he handed me a plate with some food on it.