Conflict and Courage (20 page)

Mislya sent the
mental command to Jsei and Lililya and the front rank of cadets,
made up of seniors, began to run forward, slower than that of the
Second Ryzck, but their lines kept formation perfectly as they
approached the straw dummies. The two rear ranks edged forward at
the walk. The front rank speeded up and then hit the dummies, their
wooden swords hitting them and the posts underneath in a single
thunk. Then the first rank was through and the second speeded up to
copy them. When the ‘enemy’ again moved forward, the cadets did not
break formation, they wheeled round to meet them, running straight
through their opponents, who prudently lay down on the grass and
let them pass over. The cadets wheeled round then came to a
simultaneous halt.

The watching
members of the Second Ryzck were silent. Wilhelm could see
realisation dawning on their faces.

He contented
himself with the one question. “In a battle situation, who would be
the most effective, them or you?”

After this the
embarrassed commander of the Second Ryzck ordered her troops to
practice.

So back to
basics was the order of the day and, as time went on, even the most
resistant to the changes had to agree that what Wilhelm was asking
of them made sense.

Then, and only
then, Francis decided that the time was right to announce the
alterations to the Vada structure and called his Weaponsmaster in
to tell him to proceed.

The senior
cadets were jubilant after what was being called ‘Wilhelm’s Lesson’
and celebrated long and hard. A week later, at the arms practice,
which the adult and senior cadets took together, they came down to
the ground with a bang.

Wilhelm looked
at the faces smiling at him.

“You all have
done well,” he said, “but before you get too cocky, remember that
most of the active Ryzcks can run rings round you when it comes to
fighting in actual combat.”

He cleared his
throat. “I know you are not ready, but as you know, we are short of
active vadeln-pairs. Because of this and against my better
judgement in come cases, the following cadet vadeln-pairs are now
promoted to full active vadeln-pair status.” He read out a list of
names. Those riders, whose names were called, looked at him with
mouths open.

“New Ryzcks are
to be formed,” he continued. “The list stating which Ryzck you will
be assigned to will be posted on the cadet notice board later this
week. Until your allocated Ryzck returns from patrol, you will
continue with your training as usual, although you will be issued
your new uniforms soon.”

One of the
older cadets asked the question that was on everybody’s tongues.
“Weaponsmaster … you said new Ryzcks? Can you tell us what exactly
that means?”

“It means extra
commanders are to be appointed. That’s all you need to know for
now.”

Speculation was
rife and vocal.

Wilhelm left
them, leaving Ross, Lililya, Geraldine and Jsei in charge.

“Are you taking
a command Weaponsecond?” asked Brenda, one of the senior cadets.
She and Inei were one of the original twelve vadeln-pairs who had
bonded during their first months on Rybak. During the early days
the colonists had christened these twelve the Children of the
Wolves. To their endless embarrassment the name had stuck. Eight of
them remained, the other four having been killed during the Battle
of the Alliance.

“Not me, but
one of your instructors is; I don’t think I need tell you who, it
is
pretty obvious.”

The cadets
looked confused, but Geraldine began to blush, her face soon a deep
rosy red. Jsei tried to look nonchalant about his new status but
didn’t manage too well either. By nightfall, the entire stronghold
knew that Geraldine and Jsei had been given command of the soon to
be formed Fourth Ryzck.

“Have you
decided on your Ryzck badge yet?” was the interested question from
Ross to Geraldine that evening.

“Not yet,”
admitted Geraldine, “give me time man. It has to be simple I know
but I want something striking, easily identifiable.”

“First Ryzck
has the allst tree, after the battle woods at Settlement, second
have taken our sword as their emblem and the third the Lind head.
What about a tiny map of Vadath?”

“You’re not
serious! I wouldn’t like to be the one who tells Mairie.”

“You have a
point there,” Ross answered with a smile. The Vada seamstress was a
wizened old woman with a tongue that could curdle kura milk. She
liked the Ryzck designs to be kept simple and therefore easy to
sew.

“I’ll think
I’ll wait a while.”

“Don’t wait too
long or all the good ideas will be gone.”

“At least we’ll
get decent leave periods with the reorganisation,” added Geraldine
thankfully as the two training Ryzckas arrived to join them, “and,”
she added, “I’ll not be permanently based here at the
stronghold.”

“Don’t you
enjoy it?” asked the older of the two, Nell, who was to remain in
charge of the very youngest of the cadets.

“Yes I do, but
not all the time. I think we should all spend some time on active
duty. How can you train the kids when you’ve got no experience of
what they are likely to be facing out there?”

“Apart from
these vicious beasts in the mountains, not very much at the
moment,” was Nell’s comment. She was in her late fifties, the
oldest human so far paired with a Lind partner and felt very sure
that she wouldn’t be required to take command of an active Ryzck.
She was the best possible choice for junior cadet commander and was
excellent at coping with the often disorientated and scared young
teenagers arriving at the stronghold.

“But how can
you be sure that will continue?” teased Mickel, the newly appointed
Senior Cadet Ryzcka. “All the Susas of the Lindars warn that the
Larg will return and Jim constantly harps on about it. The fact
that nothing major has happened doesn’t mean that it won’t but at
least the patrols are serving a function, people feel safer knowing
we are out there.”

The
conversation moved on and shortly afterwards the trainers
dispersed. Classes in the Vada began not long after first light and
early bed was the norm.

A few days
later, after the reallocation lists had been posted on to the
notice board, Geraldine hunted out Ross and Lililya again.

She burst in on
him as he sat in the small, shed-like room used to store the
practice armour, where he was mending some that had been damaged.
It was not a favourite occupation of his but a necessary one.

“Did you see
who Jsei and I have got foisted on us from the cadets?” she
exploded.

Ross looked
up.

“Three adults
and two ex-seniors I believe,” was his mild comment.

“But one of
them is Richard and Dahlya! Jsei here is saying nothing but
...”

“But what?”

“You know.”
Geraldine blushed.

Ross rocked
back in his chair in surprise. “You think Jsei is keen on
Dahlya?”

Geraldine
looked embarrassed, “I don’t know, he closes up on me whenever I
think about the two of them.”

“He switches
his affections about a bit, doesn’t he? Makes them more like us I
suppose. I thought he had taken a fancy to Louis’s Ustinya a while
back.”

“I think he
sensed that I could never feel that way about Louis. The lad is too
young for one thing.”

“You think Jsei
has been looking around for a suitable female he likes with a
vadeln-pair of suitable age?” Ross sounded disbelieving, “you could
see this Richard in that light, after all he has done?”

“He is rather
good looking,” protested Geraldine.

“He is an
ex-convict,” said Ross, “he was part of the army that attacked us
not a year ago. He helped kill our friends.”

“Dahlya
wouldn’t have bonded with him if his remorse wasn’t real. Not all
the convicts are murderers and rapists. He has done well in
training and unlike some hasn’t got into any trouble. He’s good
with a sword too.”

“And this makes
him a good person?” Ross protested. “I don’t think so! I’ve nothing
personally against the man. I appreciate that he has done well in
training and remember, he’s not trusted by everyone, despite his
bond with Dahlya.”

“Jsei likes
him,” said Geraldine as if that answered the question.

“Is that why
you came to me,” asked Ross with interest, “to get my approval for
your attraction to this man?” To his amusement, Geraldine was
becoming biased towards the ex-convict as she got deeper into the
conversation.

Geraldine fled.
Ross bent to his repairs once more.

There was a
cough from behind him as Wilhelm entered.

“Geraldine has
found out who she’s got in her Ryzck then? I wondered how she would
react.”

“You knew about
Richard and Dahlya?”

“It was me and
Mislya who spoke to Francis and Asya about them. I asked that they
be assigned to Geraldine. Richard himself feels he will be given a
fairer chance with Geraldine rather than with some of the other
commanders. At least she has known him as a cadet and has seen how
hard he has worked. Ryzcka Julie of the Second specifically said
that she did not want him with her and there have been murmurs from
the others. They probably feel that Richard will infect the others
with the disease of convictdom! Francis and Asya agreed that he
would be treated fairly by Geraldine. Problems?”

“If anyone
would understand, it would be Francis,” said Ross, “on the ship he
spent more hours in the brig than at his duty station. A more
argumentative and troublesome rating couldn’t be found
anywhere.”

Wilhelm
realised at this point that Ross must have been a crewman on the
Argyll
and not a settler. He, himself, had been one of the
latter and had had little to do with the crew or anyone in any of
the other colony sections apart from his own. It was strange how
one rarely mentioned one’s life before landing.

“I think,”
continued Ross, “that our Susa sees much of himself in
Richard.”

“That’s as may
be,” replied Wilhelm, “what I am concerned about, is the smooth
changeover of the vadeln-pairs and how we are going to adjust the
practice timetable. With ten Ryzckas and not three, it will be
difficult.”

“Difficult, but
not impossible,” answered Ross, taking the timetable from
Wilhelm.

Wilhelm sighed
in relief. He was not good at these administrative tasks and
appreciated Ross taking them off his hands. He left to take his
next class with Ryzcka Julie and her remaining vadeln-pairs. The
Ryzck had, just that very morning, returned from a short stint in
the patrol sector immediately south of the stronghold and she had
searched him out the moment she had arrived and ‘requested’ further
training. Julie informed him that, although she understood the
necessity and was to retain a portion of her Ryzck intact, she had
lost all but one of her Vadryzkas, some to command their own Ryzcks
and others transferred out at their existing rank into the seven
new Ryzcks.

This had
necessitated the promotion of others from within, an act welcomed
by many who now had a command opportunity, as, instead of nine
sub-commanders or Vadryzas, there were now thirty. Other
opportunities were springing up. Francis, after consultation with
Jim, Larya and others, had decided to set up re-provisioning and
supply stations for the Vada throughout Vadath and Argyll. Robert
Lutterell was happy to agree, he had been worrying about the
problem of feeding the Lind who patrolled the coast. These stations
would also be a suitable duty post for those vadeln-pairs who were
getting too old and stiff to fight but wanted an occupation, they
being whole in mind and spirit if not in body.

* * * * *

Other damaged
vadeln-pairs were thinking about their future.

“A business
opportunity presents itself,” said Piers Rowbottom one morning
shortly after the reorganisation of the Ryzcks.

His Lind cocked
an ear at him in inquiry.

Piers looked at
her with affection. “I have been thinking.”

: What?
:
was the impatient mental nudge.

“About what we
are to do once I am recovered.”

The second
mental nudge was more forceful.

“A courier
service,” he answered in triumph, “I’m not much use in the Vada
now.” He looked down at his empty sleeve. The medics had been
unable to save his arm, so mangled had it been after his
death-defying tussle with a Larg warrior during the Battle of the
Alliance. The wound was healing well and the medics were proposing
to attach a false one soon. The false arm would not be as good as
it would have been when the medics had access to the technology
aboard the Argyll, but it would at least make him appear whole.

“You could do
light duties within the Vada or come back with me to the
rtathlian?” suggested Vlandiya.

“Yes, but this
idea is much better. Argyll needs some sort of messaging
service.”

“I do not
understand the problem,” she said, “we talk through me with who we
want.”

“But not
everyone is partnered with Lind, especially not in Argyll. The
communications’ devices are failing. We could provide a much needed
service – letters and packages delivered to your door for a
fee.”

“What is this
thing called fee?”

“The humans
will pay us to deliver.”

Once Piers had
explained the concept of paying to Vlandiya, she warmed to the
idea. “Kolyei, he will like this. He and Tara will join us?”

“A good
occupation for us or those retired,” Piers said, “not, I think, for
Tara and Kolyei, at least not yet. I recall something I read as a
lad, a story called The Pony Express, that’s it, that’s what we’ll
call it, except it would be The Lind Express now.”