Cadmians Choice (24 page)

He slowed the mount
as he neared the inner ring. When he looked at the center of Southgate, with
morning sun reflecting off the brilliant white walls surrounding the huge
central villas—also brilliant white—Mykel had to squint, so intense was the
light.

He crossed the inner
ring at a measured walk and continued to ride southwest along the paved road
that led between the walls that surrounded two of the villas. The road narrowed
to a width of ten yards. The space from the edge of the road to the base of the
walls measured perhaps fifteen yards and was covered in white gravel. Not a
single bit of vegetation appeared to mar the whiteness. The sides of the
crenelations on the top of the walls showed no interior stone, just a white
surface.

As he neared the end
of the walls of the two villas, he could see a second granite boulevard, one
that curved around a central park in the center of which was some sort of white
stone plaza. The street he traversed ended at the boulevard, and he eased to
his right and onto the boulevard. The park to his left was edged with a low
granite wall, no more than a yard and a half high. Beyond the wall was an
expanse of grass, broken by curving stone walks, and hedges no higher than the
enclosing wall. The park—if it were such—was empty.

Mykel kept riding.
Shortly, on his right, he passed one of the gates to the enclosed villas. The
gates were of iron, but had been painted white with so many coats of paint that
they shimmered. Behind the closed gates he could only see a stone drive leading
to a covered portico.

Ahead, he saw another
street entering from the right, again running in the open space between the
walls of two villas. This street continued into the park. Mykel turned his
mount down it, toward the center of the parklike area. Once more, the park was
separated from the street by the same low granite wall.

The street ended in
yet another boulevard, if it could be called that, which circled what appeared
to be a raised circular platform of brilliant white granite a hundred yards or
so across. Directly in front of Mykel was a stele of white stone set ten yards
out into the gray granite of the innermost circular boulevard.

Mykel reined up and
surveyed the area. Four streets ran through the park, each radiating out from
the white stone—or the stelae set at the four cardinal points of the compass.
There were no decorations or statutes rising from the circle of whiteness—just
the circle itself.

After a moment, Mykel
urged his mount the few yards toward the stele before him so that he could make
out what had been carved upon it.

When he was less than
a yard from the stele, he eased his mount to a halt and began to study the
series of scenes sculpted into the stone. The bottom row depicted men at
work—raising a wall, constructing a ship, plowing a field, presumably set
outside Southgate. The three images above that showed men riding, hunting, and
fighting another force. There was a single wider image above those—it showed
thirteen men seated at a table, each holding a scepter. Mykel looked more
closely. Standing directly in the center, back of the seated men, was a
sculpted figure of an alector—although the stone did not convey the purple eyes
or the jet black hair. The alector stood behind the center seltyr, the only one
who sat on something resembling a throne. The alector was not threatening, not
carrying a weapon, just there.

Mykel frowned. Except
for the images on the stele, there was no sign of alectors in the construction
of Southgate, even in the high roads. He flicked the reins, riding around the
innermost boulevard, so that he could see the three other stelae, but all
carried the same images.

Slowly, he rode out
of the park—or memorial... or ceremonial plaza—turning his mount back toward
the Cadmian compound. As he rode around the boulevard that circumscribed the
central plaza, he noted that all the gates to the villas opened onto that
boulevard and each gate was set directly in the middle of the wall facing the
plaza.

As he guided his
mount back up the street between two sets of walls, he realized something else.
He’d sensed nothing living in the plaza, except the stunted grass and short
hedge.

The next week passed
slowly, and Dainyl finally caught up on the back reports. He also received a polite
note from Alcyna the following Septi, a good ten days after he had toured
Dereka, expressing appreciation for the unexpected objectiveness in his report.
He had pushed aside his irritation and showed the note to Shastylt.

“Better and better.”
That had been the marshal’s only real comment—without elucidation.

While Dainyl felt he
should have been pleased that matters were going so well, the quiet worried him
as much as adverse reports from across Acorus would have. Quiet or not, worries
or not, he and Lystrana had enjoyed the warmth of the late spring end-days.

On Londi, he had made
an informal inspection of First Company after the morning muster. He had
returned to his study and reviewed the latest entries in the master accounting
ledgers, but found nothing that suggested irregularities. He had not expected
he would.

There was a cough,
and Dainyl looked up. Colonel Dhenyr stood in the open doorway, and Dainyl
nodded for him to come in.

“Sir, here are the
latest reports from the Cadmians.” The colonel handed over a sheaf of papers.

“Anything interesting
there?”

“Their Fourth
Battalion ... you should probably read it yourself, sir.”

Dainyl always read
the reports in the entirety— sometimes quickly, but he read them—and Dhenyrs
implication that he did not generated more irritation. Even though he told
himself he had asked the colonel, he found he was still irritated. “Thank you.
I will.”

Rather than
immediately seek out the Fourth Battalion section, Dainyl lifted the thick
report, looking at the first page of summary regimental report from the Cadmian
headquarters in Elcien, which began with Second Battalion. So far as Dainyl had
been able to discern, there had never been a First Battalion, and the lowest
denominated Cadmian company was Eighth Company in Second Battalion. In a way,
that might have made sense, if the lowest numbered company had been ninth
company, since there were eight Myrmidon companies. He pushed away that minor
puzzle and began to read the summary from Colonel Herolt.

... Second Battalion,
Overcaptain Wekeryt, commanding [acting], is undergoing rebuilding and
retraining after returning in midspring after a year and a half deployment to
Ongelya. Second Battalion was successful in destroying the loose confederation
of grassland nomad brigands, but fatalities and permanently disabling
casualties exceeded thirty percent. Second Battalion will be ready for
deployment in early harvest...

Dealing with the
grassland nomads had been a Myrmidon duty. Sending a battalion of mounted
rifles was asking for high casualties. The fact that the numbers had not been
higher suggested a fair degree of competence by whoever had been commanding the
battalion or poorer tactics by the nomads, or some combination of both.

Dainyl kept reading.

... Third Battalion,
Majer Mykel commanding, is currently deployed to the Southgate Cadmian
compound. Third Battalion is engaged in training two

companies, composed
largely of recruits raised in the southwest area surrounding Southgate...
scheduled to ride to Hyalt, conducting additional training on route, to
establish a replacement compound and to complete pacification of the Hyalt
area, as per the orders of the Marshal of Myrmidons. No discrepancies or
casualties reported to date on this deployment.

Dainyl couldn’t help
but wonder how Majer Mykel would fare in Hyalt. Then he frowned. The casualty
levels for Third Battalion in Dramur had been far greater than the thirty
percent listed for Second Battalion, yet Third Battalion had been sent out only
a month after returning to Elcien. Then, who else could have been sent?

... Fourth Battalion,
Majer Hersiod, commanding, is currently deployed to Iron Stem, based out of the
Cadmian compound. The battalion is providing support to the local Cadmian
forces in maintaining order at the iron and coal mines, and the iron works.
Battalion patrols are also providing security against large local predators.
Casualties reported to date are moderate...

Fifth Battalion,
Majer Druvyr, commanding, remains deployed to Northport, with companies
rotating duties along the northwest high road, with garrisons in Klamat and
Eastice ... engaged in maintaining order between longtime settlers and Reillies
recently relocated north of the high road ... Casualties light, no recent
fatalities ...

Sixth Battalion,
Majer Juasyn, commanding, returned from a year’s deployment in the Vedra
triangle north of Tempre the second week of spring ... patrol actions against
Squawt brigands and settlements established in violation of the Code were
successful, as detailed in the commander’s report. The surviving Squawts,
primarily women, children, and elderly men, were relocated to the Semal area...
No new casualties reported ...

Dainyl turned to the
detailed reports of the battalion commanders, making his way through them as
well. When he had finished the last of them, he walked to the doorway of the
marshal’s study. . “Ah ... Dainyl... what can I do for you?” Unlike so many
times in recent weeks, the marshal was cheerful and smiling.

Dainyl stepped into
the study. “I must have missed something, sir. I was reading the reports from
Cadmian headquarters, and I came across the report from their Second Battalion
...”

“Oh ... yes. That.
What about it?”

“In the past, from
what I recall, it was judged more effective to use Myrmidons against the
nomads.”

“ ‘Effective’ is the
key word, Dainyl. Myrmidons are indeed more effective. Unfortunately, it
requires days and days of overflights, and heavy use of skylances, which, in
turn, result in grassfires. The grasslands are suffering a severe drought at
present...”

Dainyl understood all
too well. “The lifeforce loss?”

“I’m gratified that
you grasped that so quickly. Your predecessor never did understand, poor
alector.”

“I knew there had to
be a reason, but since the deployment decision was made before I became
submarshal...” Dainyl paused. “There was one other thing. The majer in charge
of the Fourth Battalion reported rather large wolves of what appeared to be a
new breed. Is that something we should inquire about with Asulet or someone in
Lyterna?”

“I’d heard something
about that. How big are they?”

“They’re reported to
be close to three yards in length, not counting the tail, and it takes several
rifle shots to bring one down. They also have large crystal fangs.” Dainyl
almost missed the slight stiffening of the marshal at his last words. “The
fangs seemed unusual.”

“I’d appreciate it if
you’d send an inquiry to Lyterna. Regular dispatch should suffice. It may just
be a species that the life-form masters thought had died out, and, for some
reason, has found a predatory niche, but it wouldn’t do to overlook it. Asulet
will want to know, one way or the other.”

“I’ll take care of
that. I’m sorry to have bothered you about the shift in tactics with the
nomads, but I appreciate the clarification.”

“What were their
casualties?” Shastylt’s tone was close to indifferent.

Dainyl could sense
the buried concern.

“Over thirty percent.”

“It could have been
far worse.” Shastylt nodded. “That’s better than I feared. Thank you.”

Dainyl nodded and
stepped back.

“Close the door, if
you would.”

After leaving the
marshal’s study, Dainyl returned to his own desk, closing his own door as well.
He needed to write the dispatch to Asulet, and to have Dhenyr draft a short
letter acknowledging receipt of the reports.

Was the lifeforce
issue that critical? Basically, the marshal—and the Duarches—were sacrificing
landers and indigens to conserve the world’s lifeforce, and they were counting
on the higher birth rates and the greater promiscuity of the indigens to
compensate for the troopers lost dealing with problems handled previously by
Myrmidons. In turn, that implied an almost desperate need for more lifeforce,
more quickly than originally planned.

In addition, despite
his apparent indifference, Shastylt had been worried by the “new” predator. The
crystal fangs suggested at least a partial reliance on lifeforce for
sustenance. To Dainyl, that translated not into a new predator, but an old one,
perhaps one dating back to the time of the ancients. Were the predators making
a comeback because Acorus was returning to a wanner climate? Or was something
else at work?

Slowly, he took out
several sheets of paper. He’d need to be careful—very careful—in the way he
phrased the notification to Asulet because it was also clear that Shastylt had
not wanted to be the one telling the elder alector.

Beware of the
alector, or especially of the steer, who declares that, because ethical
standards, or values, or morals are expressed and codified by the Archon, they
are merely the product of our society and, furthermore, that each region of a
world, if left to itself, would have expressed its own standards and values,
and such values and standards would have validity equal to those set forth in
the Code. This argument contains within it two assumptions. One is correct, but
the second is false.

The first underlying
assumption is that the environment in which individuals are raised affects
their beliefs and values. This is true, and that truth forms the rationale and
necessity for a uniform system of education and understanding for all alectors
so that regional influences can be recognized and balanced.