She wanted to respond, but they were both stopped from their dance by Ginger, who had a very serious look on his face. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said very solemnly. Sajani was worried that perhaps there was bad news. She looked around and found Sergeant Tess watching them with a huge smile on her face. “But Sergeant Tess insists that I cut in.” He took her by the hands and began dancing.
Sajani could not stop laughing, and she could tell that neither could Tess and the ambassador. By the time the evening was done, she’d danced with Tess, Doc Cutter, Ginger, and just about every member of the platoon, as well as, it felt like, about half the city. She had no trouble going to sleep that night.
Chapter Four:
The Refugees
The first of the refugees reached Xahusha two days later. Sajani had meant to meet them sooner, but transportation was still a bit of an issue. Ginger had been working on the transports and had developed an alternate method to fuel them, once the fuel they had was gone, but they wouldn’t move even half of their number.
It was a former Vharkylia Army private named Chass who brought the news to them. For now, she still thought of them by their old ranks, since it helped break them down into smaller groups. He was a huge wolf, towering a good foot above her and with shoulders that were broad, even for his size. His fur was gray and white. The glasses he wore made his eyes seem tiny and out of place. “Lady Sajani,” he said quickly as he poked in through the doorway. “Refugees are trying to enter the city’s north gate. Rhidayar troops are blocking them.”
“Blocking them?” Tess said, obviously confused.
“Did you happen to hear why?” Sajani asked.
“Something about a plague, maybe,” he answered.
Sajani turned to Tess and said, “Have Doc Cutter meet me at the gate.” She grabbed Chass by the arm and pulled him along with her. “Let’s go.” As she was leaving she called over her shoulder, “And make sure Ambassador Ghenis knows about this.”
It was fairly early in the morning as they walked out of the inn and the city was still waking up. She had to dodge a few delivery vans and ignore the street vendors who tried to accost them. It didn’t take them long to get to the gate. Getting through the gate, however would be an issue. Xahusha was not a walled city exactly. Its outermost buildings mostly faced inward and modern roads only accessed the interior through specific areas. So the city’s six gates, or main entries, were not usually areas where people could congregate, at least not normally.
Today the area was flooded with people and soldiers. It was a good thing that she’d brought Chass with her. “Step aside!” he roared to the people massed before them. “Official business!” No one questioned him, even though they obviously weren’t natives. One man turned to face them with an irate look on his face, but his eyes only came to the center of the wolf’s chest. He looked like he was about to say something, but thought better of it.
To her astonishment, Chass apologized to him. “Sorry sir,” he said politely, “But Lady Sajani is trying to get to the refugees.”
The man stepped aside and she could hear him whisper her name as she passed. The name was able to travel faster than they were and soon people were tripping over each other trying to catch a glimpse of her as she passed. At first it slowed their progress, but soon the current of bodies shifted and they found a path had opened for them all the way to where she could see soldiers standing guard.
They walked up to the nearest one, a woman in a brown and red uniform, and Sajani asked her politely, “May I pass?”
The soldier was still elevating her gaze to look up at Chass. “I..I..” she began, “I’m sorry, ma’am, but none are allowed through.”
“I understand,” Sajani said fairly. “Are there vykati among the refugees?”
“A few ma’am,” the soldier said a little more firmly. She was apparently relieved that Chass was not there to challenge her directly.
“What’s this about a plague?”
“Not sure about that, ma’am,” she responded, “I haven’t heard anything about a plague.”
“May I speak to your duty officer?” Sajani asked politely, “I’m here from the Vharkylia embassy.” That was a truth of sorts at least.
“I can’t leave my post ma’am, but I’ll pass the message along.” She motioned to a man who was standing about 20 meters away. Sajani recognized the large stripes on his sleeve. He was a buck sergeant.
He looked somewhat distracted and bored as he started to approach. When he caught sight of Chass he slowed a bit and looked quite a bit more interested. Once he was closer still he saw Sajani for the first time. He stopped for a moment and rubbed his thin mustaches twice. Apparently satisfied that it was who he thought it was, he picked up his pace and then some, bowing deeply once he was before them. “Lady General Sajani,” he said in a courtly voice. “I hope Private Ladaher isn’t giving you any trouble.”
“Not at all,” Sajani said offhandedly. “She’s holding her post very professionally. I was just asking to meet with your duty officer.”
“That would be Lieutenant Darlay, ma’am,” he said rising from his bow, “but if you’re looking to pass the line, you’ll be wanting to talk to Major Fagen. She’s the one in charge of this action.”
“Can you take us to see her?”
“Of course, my Lady.”
The major wasn’t far away. They were taken to a nearby command tent. The sergeant entered first followed by Chass and then Sajani. “Lady General Sajani, former Minister of War of the sovereign realm of Vharkylia to see you, major,” the sergeant announced. He and Chass stepped to either side of the tent’s entrance.
Most of the world’s armies had a commission structure that started based on a purchase amount. Sajani’s commission was granted because of her mother. She hadn’t paid a monetary amount. Major Fagen was a rather obvious example of the shortcomings of a purchased commission structure. A short dark skinned woman with black hair, she looked delicate enough to be knocked over if Chass decided to exhale within five feet of where she was standing—fifteen feet if he was trying. Even the way she wore her uniform, crisp and almost too well pressed, seemed to speak of her fragileness.
The expression she wore also spoke volumes to Sajani. Sajani never felt that she had to prove her courage, mental fortitude, or intelligence to anyone. In some ways, she had it a little easier, since even those who might have had room to question her, dared not out of respect for her mother. There’d been a few who felt like she was just riding on her mother’s fame, but that usually abated quickly once they worked with her.
Major Fagen, however, looked like one who felt the need to prove herself constantly. At a guess, Sajani would say that she’d commissioned in as a major and would probably retire as a major. There was a story to be told in this timid and frightened officer who tried so hard to keep up a tough appearance, but there would not be time, she was sure, to plumb the depths.
“I told you not to disturb me!” She shouted at the sergeant.
“Major, if you don’t want to speak to Lady General Sajani, that’s on you, ma’am.” The sergeant said in a mostly respectful tone. “But I thought it prudent to pass on the message.”
“I suppose I can speak to her now that you’ve brought her here,” the major said testily. “I’ll have words with you later about this sergeant.”
The sergeant looked nonplussed and left the tent.
“What gives you the right to come traipsing in here?” she shouted at Sajani. “This is a Rhidayar military action. You have no business here, wolf.” The last word was obviously intended as an insult, although even the most hot-blooded vykati didn’t think twice of the moniker. The tone it was said in, however, was a pelt of a different color. All except those with the patience of Benayle in dealing with other races would have called that a “fighting word.” Sajani wasn’t as patient as Benayle, but she could imitate it in a pinch.
She caught the look Chass gave her. She had the impression that she could have
said, “Sic her!” about then and he’d have gone for her throat like a well-trained Quillain hound. Instead, she smiled at the major, mostly for Chass’s sake.
“I’m here on behalf of the Vharkylia embassy,” she began.
“Which has no jurisdiction here,” the major interrupted. “This is an internal matter. Guard!”
Chass turned to face the guard who had just entered. The guard stopped before passing entirely into the tent and looked up at him.
“Escort these mangy curs from my tent,” the major ordered.
“Ma’am?” the guard said quizzically. The poor soldier obviously didn’t want any trouble.
A slow snarl came across Chass’s face. Wolf might not be a derogatory term, but ‘cur’ certainly was pushing things and it looked like ‘mangy cur’ was definitely far past that.
“Chass…” Sajani started to say, but it was too late.
He grabbed the guard by both arms, forcing him to drop his weapon, and lifted him up, staring him in the eyes the whole time. The terrified human said nothing. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Chass said sincerely. The soldier didn’t look convinced. “So I’m going to hit you once hard on the head and you’re going to go unconscious for a bit. Do you understand?” The guard nodded once quickly. Chass slapped the poor man once upside the head and he fell, supposedly unconscious to the ground.
In the meantime, Major Fagen had reached for a musket that was sitting on her desk. Sajani had been about to try and persuade Chass that this was not at all in her best interest, when she caught sight of the major raising the weapon at Chass. She caught the major’s outstretched hand just in time. “I don’t want to have to do this,” she said in her best imitation of Benayle calm, “but I’m allergic to lead and so is Chass.” Sidestepping and simultaneously grabbing under the elbow and thrusting out, she forced the major onto her back, then dropped a knee on her chest to make sure she didn’t go anywhere.
The major didn’t move, but she did shout. “Guards! Help!”
The elven command tent didn’t need lights. The equipment that ran inside of the plastic enclosure gave off enough glow to see and the two heavy flaps that made up the entrance made sure none of that light escaped. They’d been camped at this position for three days and his soldiers were getting nervous. They knew the basics of this war’s plan and it meant constantly moving. Standing still was not part of that plan, even if it did get them regular sleep and meals.
It made General Sestus nervous too, although he didn’t show it. He studied the screen in front of him and carefully issued his orders with his usual calm precision. The soldier nodded to him that everything was complete. Perhaps it was time to sleep. It had been more than a day for him and while lack of sleep didn’t really make him irritable, it could muddle his thinking if he went too long without it.
“Sir,” the operations duty officer interrupted his thoughts, “Central is on the line. They want to know why we haven’t changed our position. They’re worried…”
“How comforting, isn’t it, captain?” General Sestus interrupted. “Ah, they do care about us, their little model chess pieces out on the lonely and dangerous board. Doesn’t it just warm your heart? Make you feel loved?”
The sarcasm was lost on the poor man. Sestus was sure that it wasn’t that the captain failed to appreciate it or recognize it, it was that he was too terrified of the general to acknowledge it: he was afraid that it was a verbal trap waiting for him to walk into. That was a pity, General Sestus thought to himself. It’s not much fun to play a game if no one knows the rules.
“Tell them we’re still waiting on that squad of scouts we sent to the Rhidayar border. Their last known position was heading towards Xahusha, but they are still maintaining radio silence.” Aspects only know why, General Sestus thought to himself. It wasn’t like these primitives would overhear, but protocol was protocol and best to maintain in the face of doubt. “Wait,” he said slowly and ponderingly to the duty officer. He placed a hand on the shoulder of the communications soldier next to him. “Try their frequency one more time. It won’t hurt to have up-to-date information.”
“Yes sir,” the soldier responded. After a moment, she told him, “They do seem to be online now.” An image appeared on her screen. It was of a ragged brown wolf man. His face was right up to the screen.
“Oh, hello there,” the wolf said cheerfully in the grating language of its world, “I was wondering what that did. You must be the people who made this wonderful machine.”
The soldier working the station translated for him. The general just stared unbelieving at the screen for a moment and then said to the communications soldier, “Tell it that we did not make it.” He wasn’t sure why he said to say that, but it gave him time to think. The communications soldier dutifully replied.
“Ah, that’s a pity,” the wolf replied. “I was really hoping I could ask some questions. It’s a marvelous machine.”
“Ask it how it obtained our vehicles.” The message was relayed.
“Well, I don’t mind telling you,” the wolf said cheerfully, “they aren’t your vehicles anymore. Sajani, the Lady of Rust now claims them as her own. She says she’ll use them to take the battle to you. Isn’t that exciting? She’d probably love to talk to you too, come to think of it, but she’s off at the gate right now.”
This one seemed fairly willing to talk at least. “Ask it again.” The question was repeated.
“Sajani captured them. They tried to shoot her down, but she managed to take out all ten of your soldiers. Sir Simon started to tell me about it once, but she interrupted. Now that’s a story I wish she was more willing to tell.”
“No doubt,” General Sestus said with sarcasm. The communications worker dutifully relayed that message sans the dark tone.
“I know! It was just her and Sir Simon and he had a broken arm. She only had three arrows and a flare gun!”
“Terminate the connection.” The general said. Anger was beginning to well up in him and he did not like the lack of self-control that could mean. “At least one of these wolves isn’t the stupid dog we thought she’d be.”
Sajani picked up the dropped musket and used her thumb claw to remove the cap. Then she carefully picked up the major by the tunic, which was surprisingly easy to do, and set her gently on her feet again. It was about this time that two new guards entered the tent. They saw Sajani rough handling their commander and started to respond, but Chass stepped up carefully from behind and startled them by placing a hand on each of their shoulders. They looked up at him.
“That nice vykati lady in front of you is none other than the Copper Wolf herself,” he said in a very piqued tone. “There was a minor disagreement with your commander that we’ve now managed to settle, but we were just about to sit down and discuss things like civilized people, maybe have some tea.”
“Take him!” the major shouted.
Sajani rolled her eyes, but still let go of the irate officer’s shirt.
Chass placed a little more weight on the soldiers’ shoulders and added, “We wouldn’t be wanting any kind of diplomatic row, now would we?”
“No, sir.” One of them replied.
Chass laughed. “I’m not familiar with your military structure, but I doubt…”
“Idiots!” the major screamed. “Arrest them!”
“I don’t suppose you’d come quietly if we did?” one of the soldiers asked Chass hopefully.
“Let me think on that a moment.” Chass said politely. “Lady Sajani?”
At that moment Major Fagen decided to rush at Sajani and attempt to knock her down. The wolf weighed about ten stone more than the major and was three quarters of a meter taller, so it was a futile attempt at disabling her opponent. It was very effective however for breaking the tension in the room. She kept her hold on Sajani and began thrashing back and forth trying to move the larger woman. Sajani wasn’t sure what to do, since she didn’t want to hurt the major or appear to be attacking her in the face of her only
slightly subdued guards. There was a snort of laughter from the one guard who was supposed to be unconscious.
“Now don’t you be waking up on me now,” Chass commented to him. The laughter stopped. Sajani threw a look the other wolf’s way that she hoped conveyed the confused chagrin she was feeling at the moment. He turned to the guards before him. “I think I’d better save your major from the Lady. Excuse me a moment.”
“No problem,” one of them responded.
Chass walked up to the major and carefully grabbed her by the back of her collar and began lifting with one hand while forcing her hands apart from Sajani’s waist with the other. Once the grip was loosened he pulled her away at arm’s length and facing away from him. The major continued to swing wildly, but only managed to connect once solidly with Sajani’s face as she was leaving.
“My, my,” came the voice of Ambassador Ghenis. A female Rhidayar soldier who Sajani recognized as a lieutenant colonel was beside him.
Chass turned his head and looked at the new arrivals. “Should I put her down now, my Lady?” he asked.
Major Fagen, still facing away from the entrance, was swinging wildly, but stopped suddenly when the lieutenant colonel said in a very shocked tone, “Major Fagen! What was that?” She turned to the Ambassador and quickly began apologizing. “I hope you understand that her actions in no way reflect…”
Ambassador Ghenis silenced her with a motion. He was smiling and winked at Sajani as he said, “I’m sure this will be an interesting story. I’m wondering what one of our own is doing holding your major up by the collar.”
Chass’s jaw dropped slightly and he turned to face them all fully, a now listless major hanging before him with a very shamed looked on her face. Sajani thought it would be humorous if the major’s collar had torn off just then, but realized the fabric was probably too tough and the major too light for that to happen. “Should I put her down now, my Lady?” he repeated politely. It didn’t look like it was taking much effort to hold her.
Wolf's Pawn (Sajani Tails Book 1) Page 8