Discussions went on, but it soon became obvious that Valhalla could not defeat the General alone.
"We must meet with Our fellow kings," Rajo said with a grimace. "But I fear it will take time to assemble them."
At Tonio's suggestion, King Rajo had ornate, flowery invitations prepared, inviting each of the kings to meet with him immediately to discuss "matters of state." The invitations were given to a gaudily-dressed herald, along with a white flag. Another white flag now graced the flitter.
The herald was obviously terrified as he climbed into the flitter, but by the time they reached their first destination, the only settlement in Jesh worthy of being called a 'city', he was grinning with excitement. Cale grounded the flitter just outside the walls of king Berto of Jesh.
The herald got nervously out of the flitter, white flag in hand. He stood alongside the flitter, and waited. Within a few minutes, a dino rider approached, leading another with an empty saddle. Cale had darkened the flitter's canopy, so he couldn't be seen. He had a lot to do, and didn't have time to be sidetracked into a round of diplomacy at every stop.
The herald mounted and the two rode off, the herald's white flag waving gaily. It was over an hour before the herald returned, this time escorted by half a dozen guardsmen. The herald dismounted and slipped rapidly into the flitter when Cale raised the canopy.
"What took so long?" Cale asked.
"I'm sorry, my lord," the man replied. "King Berto is very conscious of the fact that his is the smallest domain, and he is very punctilious. I was required to wait while his Majesty carefully scrutinized the invitation, though I had read it aloud, and then he could not merely send a verbal reply, he must summon a scribe with vellum so that he might send a written reply. And, of course, we must wait while he considered whether the scribe's work was 'suitable' for a great king." The man smiled sourly. "The king cannot read, of course, but he makes a great show of carefully examining any document. Much ado to simply say he will be ready early on the morrow."
One by one, they visited the other two kingdoms. Though the flitter aroused much curiosity among the populace, the kings themselves were apparently more cautious. The herald reported that Gralen of Whitan was delighted by the invitation, but Jorg of Terjo surrounded the vessel with armed guardsmen. Cale was unsure whether their presence was for crowd control or threat, but he hoped they would respect the white flag it bore.
"Yes," King Rajo said when they returned. "Berto is very status conscious. But this won't do," he complained. "If each of them insists on pomp and ceremony, we'll never get to the issues we need to discuss. And you are correct, Lord Cale; time is not our friend."
Rajo finally decided that when Cale returned to fetch the kings the next day, he would be accompanied by Hiraf. The wizard had a lifetime of experience in dealing with royalty, and they hoped he would be able to speed things. King Rajo hoped to have the kings meeting begin at noon, and the flitter would have to make individual flights to pick up each king.
Cale suspected that the next morning would be wearing, and he was right. Twenty minutes after the flitter's arrival, a large procession, heralded by horns emerged from Berto of Jesh's castle and proceeded at a slow walk the twenty yards to the flitter, horns blaring and drums rolling. A furious, frustrated Hiraf followed the king, and then hurried past him to usher him into the flitter. Berto, a corpulent middle-aged man, ignored Cale completely, though he was clearly frightened when the flitter lifted. Cale proceeded back to Valhalla at top speed, while Hiraf tried to distract the nervous king.
They were greeted upon arrival by one of king Rajo's counselors. King Berto apparently recognized the man, as he launched into a litany of complaints about the lack of respect with which he was being treated.
After Berto, King Jorg of Terjo was almost a pleasure. Hiraf escorted the king and another, younger man to the flitter with no ceremony. The king remained silent, but the young man spent the entire return trip peppering Cale with endless questions. Surprisingly good questions, though.
"His son and heir," Hiraf told Cale as they headed south to pick up their last passenger. "A bright lad, and well-prepared to assume the throne. Strange, really. His father seems to pride himself on his boorishness and lack of polish."
"What a marvelous vehicle!" King Gralen gushed. "So smooth! And so comfortable!" He turned to Hiraf. "Rather stark, though, wouldn't you say, Great Wizard? I mean, one would think that such an amazing vehicle could have more style, don't you agree?" The king continued in this vein until they reached Valhalla.
Since Gralen was the last of the kings, Hiraf was to be his escort. Cale shook his head in sympathy for the Great Wizard.
Chapter 12
The kings assembled in King Rajo's conference room. Berto of Jesh complained that it was unseemly for a commoner (Cale) to be present at the deliberations of kings.
"Without what he has to show us," King Rajo replied mildly, "we would have little to deliberate about. If your Majesty objects that strongly, We will be happy to arrange refreshments in the apartment We have provided you while we continue."
"Of course," Berto replied hastily, "he is a star man. I'm sure he will have much vital information for Our consideration. He may stay."
King Rajo merely nodded, while the others suppressed grins.
When Cale projected the map on the wall, it provoked a great deal of excitement. He had forgotten that Valhalla had not been particularly generous in sharing technological information. At least two of the kings had to have the concept of a map as a picture from above explained to them. Gralen decided it wasn't very pretty, and his artists did better work. Finally, Cale projected one of the survey images, and enlarged the portion showing Whitan. Gralen was jolted when he finally recognized his castle.
With the concept of maps finally grasped, Cale continued with his presentation, showing the lands conquered by the General with a red tint: first the colony and Cursed Lands. Then all of Nirvana, and finally, Gorby.
Even the flighty Gralen could not ignore the image of his kingdom, surrounded on two sides by red and on a third by the nomads.
"But none of you are safe, Majesties," Cale continued. "All of you share a border with land seized by Ochoa-Mariden. I suspect the only reason he has not attacked Whitan is because he is concerned about us. He doesn't know what arms, equipment or forces we have. He is even now trying to infiltrate spies into Valhalla to find out. This is why his Majesty was in such a hurry for this meeting.
"We have few people, and none are soldiers," he continued. "Instead, we have brought weapons to counter the star weapons his people have. He has less than three hundred people, but each of them is a highly trained killer."
The map faded, to be replaced by the images of the wrecked flitters. "These are two of the fire-spitting flyers of which you have heard. These vessels were sent by Ochoa-Mariden to kill his Majesty. Four were sent, two were able to limp home. Please remember," he added, "that these were coming in over nomad territory, so his majesty would receive no warning. They could as easily have been headed for Whitan, or Jesh, or could have been coming in over the mountains to Terjo. These people have no honor. They attack without warning, and they kill. They rarely take prisoners and will not accept an honorable surrender, unless it is total submission."
Jorg of Terjo looked skeptical. "Then how were these found and destroyed? Valhalla magic?"
Cale shook his head. "There is a station in space, high above Jumbo. This is how the General knew every time someone tried to organize resistance to him. He had people aboard that station, and more aboard an armed space ship.
"We have captured these vessels, and now we are the ones who can see what the General is doing. If he assembles a large force, we will know about it. If that force moves, we will know about it. Knowledge is a weapon, too. In this case, we were not yet prepared. The only vessels available to fight them were space ships, which are not designed for such. That is why two of the attackers managed to limp home."
"Now," King
Rajo said, "We have arranged a rather interesting demonstration for your Majesties." Twenty guardsmen formed an honor guard for the four kings. They didn't know it, but Tess and Zant were also on the job. If this group were attacked and killed, Ochoa-Mariden would have won. No matter how well-equipped, a leaderless rabble could not prevail over the General's forces.
They were led to the same practice area they had used before. Tonio awaited them. He noted the big, two handed sword at Jorg's side, and the smaller, ornate blade at Gralen's, and smiled.
This time, the targets wore Santiagan body armor. Again, King Rajo's strongest archer shot at the target, and again, the arrow failed to penetrate the armor. A typical crossbow's result was the same.
"Your Majesty," Tonio said to King Jorg, "I can tell from the appearance of your sword that it has seen hard use, and you are very skilled with it. Will you honor us with a demonstration of your prowess by attacking the armored portion of the target?"
With a grim smile, the burly Jorg pulled the long, heavy sword. He whirled it around in the air twice, and then launched a mighty swing at the target. The blow knocked the target off its stand, but the grin on Jorg's face faded abruptly as Tonio showed that the blow had not penetrated the armor. He demanded another chance, and was furious when it also failed to penetrate the armor. Jorg glowered at the armor as though it were a real enemy.
"Ha!" cried Gralen. "The old ways of brute force fail again. Allow me to demonstrate more effective tactics!" He drew the long, straight, single-handed sword he carried.
"King Gralen is considered the finest swordsman in the modern manner on Jumbo," Hiraf whispered to Cale.
The smiling king pranced about for a moment, whirling the sword in complicated moulinets before throwing his whole body's weight and a shouted "Ha!" into a thrust. He recovered, and preened a bit before sheathing his blade.
But his self-satisfied smile faded abruptly when Tonio showed that his mighty thrust had not penetrated to the body within the armor.
"This is the armor that is worn by all of the General's troops. As you have seen, there is not a weapon on Jumbo that can penetrate it. In fairness, I should mention that King Jorg's mighty blow would have knocked his enemy from his feet, and King Gralen's mighty thrust might have knocked the wind from his body."
King Jorg grimaced. "If we cannot penetrate their armor, we are lost."
But Tonio shook his head. "Not at all, your Majesty. For one thing, the armor protects only the breast and back. Arms and legs are unprotected, and heads are also vulnerable, though they do wear protective helmets."
He smiled. "There is also the fact that we can provide weapons that can penetrate the body armor." He waved, and an archer and crossbowman stepped forward. The compound bow impressed Berto of Jesh, who fancied himself an archer, but Jorg, whose guard was short of skilled archers, was excited about the pneumatic crossbows. Surprisingly, Gralen seemed most impressed by the breechloading sniper rifles, complete with telescopic sights. Berto, and even Rajo, dismissed them immediately. "A coward's weapon," Rajo said. "We have muskets, but a man must stand up in plain sight like a man to use one!" Berto agreed, but Cale noticed that Gralen's interest was displayed by an avaricious expression, despite his silence.
They returned to the conference room. "They have other weapons," said King Rajo, "but most are more specialized." He shrugged. "We have the weapons, but not the men to use them. We want at least 200 men from each kingdom."
"What!" "Impossible!"
King Rajo waited calmly until quiet again settled over the room. "The enemy has nearly 300, all equipped with star weapons and that armor. Do you think we can defeat them with a few guardsmen?"
"I have less than 50 guardsmen!" Berto protested.
"And I have only 30," Gralen added glumly.
Cale noticed that Jorg didn't reply, and wondered how many he had, and why he thought he needed them.
King Rajo shook his head. "We did not ask for guardsmen. We said only 'men'. Volunteers. Conscripts. Those who are archers can be equipped with the compound bows and exploding arrows. The unskilled can be trained to use a crossbow in a few days, and a battle axe in a few hours. But the star men tell Us that they have thousands of weapons available, and sire Cale tells me they will not demand their return after the war. Tell the men of your kingdoms that they will receive fine new weapons; I doubt you will have trouble finding 200.
King Jorg shook his head. "We do not want men running around Our kingdom with such weapons. They might turn them on Us."
King Rajo shrugged. "Then take them away again. It is your domain. Unless the star men take it from you."
Cale signaled for attention, and King Rajo nodded. Cale stood. "We have another urgent need. I mentioned earlier that I suspect Ochoa-Mariden is already sending spies, and maybe even small parties of soldiers The General knows that Valhalla will be the center of any resistance.
"If I were the General, I would already have soldiers on the move from Gorby. Soldiers are a common sight there now, and would attract no attention. I would send them through the foothills of the mountains in small groups, all the way to Valhalla City. Then I would have them meet up to make a full-sized invasion force."
Jorg jumped to his feet. "You accuse Terjo?" he demanded, hand on his sword hilt.
"We heard no accusation," King Rajo said, "Only an educated guess. This 'General' will have detailed maps. He will be able to plan routes through the foothills." He looked thoughtful. "Perhaps We will send some guardsmen to monitor the foothills." He looked at Jorg. "And perhaps you should consider doing so as well."
Cale stood. "Your Majesties, please. I meant no disrepect, and made no accusation. My remarks were preliminary. What I was trying to lead up to is that we have several thousand portable ultracoms. These are small devices that let people talk to other people far away. I was proposing that we establish a network of people throughout your domains equipped with the ultracoms, so they could report anything suspicious, like small groups of uniformed soldiers moving through the foothills, or a stranger with an odd accent.
"These people live in these areas. They will notice nearly anything different, but unless someone asks, they would have no reason to mention them. Give them an ultracom, and tell them that they will receive a copper for every report of unusual activity. Have a supervisor, say, every mile, to take the report and investigate it. If the report is good, the supervisor reports it to the castle, the reporter gets a copper, and the supervisor gets two. No reward for a false or nonsense report, of course."
"The idea is to get warning. The General's people are good, but they're not good enough avoid being noticed by people who are used to hunting small animals, or chasing down wandering livestock, and are in their home area.
"Of course, we must emphasize that these people are not to try to talk to the people they see, or try to follow them. Just report and get their copper."
"And where are all these coppers to come from?" asked Berto sourly.
Rajo shrugged. "If your kingdom is not worth a few coppers, you might as well just give it to the General. He might even give you a few steel ounces for it.
"As for Us," he continued, ignoring Berto's angry flush, "We like it. Give the peasants that live along your borders a shiny new toy, and the promise of coppers, and they will watch like gyrhawks. Give these 'supervisors' a title and a little authority, and an actual contact at the palace, and they become a part of your government, at very little cost. They'll strut around like displaybirds, and be loyal to the king that gave them the toy and the authority."
He grinned. "I even have a man in mind to be in charge. How soon can we start? As you said, these people may already be on their way here."
Cale frowned. "I must consult others, your Majesty, but surely within a few days."
Suddenly all the others were clamoring for the ultracoms as well, even Berto.
The discussions went on for hours, but finally, King Rajo summed it up. "We are agreed, then. Each of us will contribute
200 men, to be armed by the star men. They will come here to receive their weapons and a week of training. Each king is responsible for making sure each of his people has supplies for a week. They will be formed into companies, and each king is responsible for providing at least three sergeants or captains."
He paused. "If anyone can provide at least one Great Captain, it would be a boon. We will have 800 men, and few leaders.
"To continue," he went on, "For some reason We do not understand, sire Cale has asked that we send him any especially skillful hunters we have, or poachers or livestock killers in our dungeons. For some reason, he seems especially interested in hunters and poachers.
"You may start sending your people at once. We have decided to use the old river port to house and train the men, and We can transport them there by rail. We are informed that the owner will lease it to the crown for a very attractive price.
"And now, We invite our fellow kings to join us for an all-too-rare mutual royal dinner"
The kings filed out. Cale flagged down King Rajo. "Your Majesty, a moment?"
The king paused. "Of course, sire Cale. What is it?"
Cale bowed. "My apologies, your Majesty. When I said it would be a few days before we could deliver, I did not know your Majesty had warehouse space available. We can deliver within hours of your Majesty's orders."
"Okay, Zant," Cale said. "It's time to get your feet down off that desk, and come down here and get to work."
"I beg your pardon!" Zant protested, "We have been working our fingers and viewscreens to the bone keeping track of the General's nefarious activities! You wouldn't believe the boring, useless information we've gathered." He grinned.
"Have you seen anything interesting?" Cale asked.
Zant sobered. "Well, the colony itself is boringly normal. Fields being plowed and planted, houses being built, all that stuff. King's Town looks pretty normal, too.
"We have been noticing more traffic than normal between King's Town and Gorby Town. Oh, no convoys or anything, but a higher-than normal rate of wagon and even hovertruck traffic."
The Privateer 2: AN HONEST LIVING Page 24