IronStar (37 page)

And now for the ‘easy’ part
…

“Kirrah Warmaster greets the Wrth Elders.
You have fought bravely today. I hope you have received my words about the
Kruss, they are for the ears of all humans, yours equally with the O’dai’s.
What do you think of the small creature who most enjoys this war?”

“Kirrah’s words are new,” Peetha
translated back. “This creature is not part of the treaty we made with the
O’dai. We now offer to cease this war, keeping only the lands already taken.”
At these words, the two O’dai under-captains looked stricken and angry.

“I too would cease, and here,
today, we shall find the means. However, Wrth have won no land from the
Talamae. That must be understood. Raiding peaceful farming villages does not
win land from us, it wins retribution not yet delivered, against the Wrth
heartland.” Kirrah paused to allow Peetha’s translation to catch up. Now it was
the Wrths’ turn to exchange opaque glances. She continued:

“The Wrth and I have met twice now
in battle - outside the walls of Talameths’cha, and today, farther down the
river. The Wrth fought well both times, yet because of my superior weapons,
each time I have lost one or two hands of soldiers and the Wrth have lost a
thousand warriors. These are not the victories that would gain Wrth any Talamae
lands.

“Tell them: my Wrth warriors and I
have judged that their war has been poorly led, so today I reached out across
the river for the life of their war-leader. I can do this to any of them. Say
we have begun preparations and make new, stronger weapons, to take this war
into the Wrth heartland.” Grim, proud faces looked back at her across the table
at the translation. “Peetha, help me allow them to stop the war. What is
missing?”

“Warmaster, it is dishonor to spill
warrior’s blood and return without a war-prize. And they still need grazing
lands, food is scarcer every winter.”
Ah yes, time for what Angela calls the
‘gesture’
.
Would have called…

“Tell them this. Kirrah Warmaster
offers them treaty. They may graze their animals on Talamae lands, where
Talamae have no farms, near the village of Malame’thsha.”
I knew that
landgrant would come in handy…
“In exchange, they will pay to the
landowners one animal from each five
hands
in the herd, every year. When
others of my nation arrive, we will help them find other grazing lands, with no
payment and no opposition. Tell them all Wrth must agree to peace, no more
raiding. And they must return any prisoners.” As the translation proceeded, the
Wrth across the table became slightly less grim, and their eyes narrowed in a
more calculating way.

Kirrah continued: “This war was begun
by the Wrth, unprovoked. As a result, much blood has been spilt on both sides.
If it stops now, there will be no war-prize for either side, but there will be
a new thing, a peace-prize: if the Wrth become allies with me, their children
may train as
Regnum
warriors. My weapons they have felt so far are as
pebbles tossed by an old woman, compared to what their children may wield. The
Regnum
has need for brave fighters like the Wrth.” Peetha translated this, and the
two Wrth spoke again.

Instead of translating directly,
Peetha asked: “Warmaster, they ask me why I abandoned the Wrth gods and people
to serve you. What shall I tell them?”

“Tell them your truth, Peetha. Tell
them whom you serve, and why.” Peetha swallowed, seemed to straighten a little,
and spoke for some minutes to the Wrth Elders. More words were exchanged, and
finally she turned back and said:

“Warmaster, they ask for a grazing
tax of one animal in
eight
hands, and no tax for a herd of less than
eight, that is, forty animals.” Kirrah took a deep breath.
Whew, now we’re
down to haggling commercial contracts, I guess the war is over.
Irshe
signaled and bent his head to her ear, whispered. She nodded and said:

“Peetha, tell them one for every
six
hands, but if the herd is smaller, then the landowner shall receive all the
wool from the first
sha’pluuth
of every four animals.”

Haggling continued for another half
hour. In the end, it was settled as the twentieth animal out of every
thirty-three, plus shearing rights on the fourth out of every nine. Kirrah
tried to imagine the Wrth herders carefully apportioning their flock sizes to
multiples of nine or thirty-three, minus one, to minimize the grazing tax.
Sharp trading was a lot easier to deal with than raiding.

Which left the issue of the two hundred
or so O’dai sailors stranded on the north shore of the river. Kirrah was sorely
tempted to let them starve or walk home. However as a show of good faith she
agreed to supply food for the sailors at a rendezvous point twenty kilometers
up-river, to be delivered in four days and to be billed to the O’dai Navy at
current rates for food in Talameths’cha. The Talamae would also provide
transport back to O’dakai, in about twenty-five days, for those not wanting a
four or five hundred kilometer overland hike across the plains of
not-grass
.
Fleet-Captain Schmado would return with the Talamae to supervise the purchasing
and loading of the supplies onto cargo boats.

Their conclave finished, the other
four returned by dinghy to the north shore. Those of Kirrah’s injured soldiers
who could not ride were loaded onto the four remaining Talamae boats to begin
the upstream journey. Kirrah dispatched a pair of scouts to Talameths’cha with
news of their victory and requesting preparation of a suitable holding cell for
their off-world prisoner. Her main force - about sixty mounted soldiers and a
handful of casualties who could ride, set about packing their supplies for the
long overland journey back to the capital. With them would travel the crew from
the riverboat sunk downriver; the O’dai Schmado and the bound and still
unconscious Kruss. By mid-afternoon a long column of Wrth could be seen winding
north away from the river, and the Talamae party mounted and set off up the
south shore, Kirrah on her familiar horse ‘Whoopsie’.

That evening, they pitched camp and
prepared field rations. Which seemed better than the Regnum Navy’s emergency
rations, or the even-worse Royal Marines’ fare Kirrah had once sampled. She
took her bowl and spoon with a nod of thanks to the cook. The sun was set, the
sky gone deep lemon-yellow in the west, a few orange-edged clouds still
floating. To the east, the sky was a deep blue, shading toward a black horizon,
and in between a delicate shade of cyan fading to yellow-green overhead. Two of
the moons were visible, the large one just rising, smoky red, and the small
fast moon a jewel moving visibly among the first stars. A light breeze picked
up at dusk, blowing wild scents from the west. Kirrah joined the circle around
the nearest campfire.

“How is your arm, Rash’koi?”

“It will be stiff for a few days,
Warmaster. I think it will heal cleanly. We might want to ask our armorers for
sleeves on these chain mail vests. And leggings, several of our casualties took
a quarrel in a leg.”

“Please take care of that for us
when we return.” The Lieutenant nodded. They ate in companionable silence for a
few minutes, and she added: “Did you notice, Rash’koi, on the journey
down-river, we were two forces - ‘Kirrah’s Wrth’ and ‘the Warmaster’s Talamae
soldiers’ - and on the ride back this afternoon, we were
one
force?”

“I did, Warmaster. No one can say
your Wrth warriors are less than brave and loyal. Not in the presence of any of
the soldiers they served with today. I believe on board that last O’dai ship,
the enemy was injured as much by their haste to escape Peetha’s sword, as by
any of our weapons. Although it was appreciated when you and Irshe arrived with
a few more arrows. But I am amazed by the energy and endurance of all these
loyal Wrth, as well as their skills.” The young woman’s eyes across the
campfire were restless, as though unused to receiving praise.

“I also remember the part Peetha
played in negotiating with the Wrth,” Kirrah added. “I sensed they wanted to
cease their war, that they felt betrayed by their O’dai allies and forced into
a position they did not want. I also suspect they were disturbed by the sight
of the Kruss. Yet, Peetha, your advice was critical in letting them stop with
honor. What they call honor. Somehow, after you spoke, it became merchants
haggling price instead of war-leaders debating territory. What did you say to
them, to cause this shift?” Peetha paused, spoon halfway lifted, and thought a
moment.

“Warmaster, they were amazed to see
us fighting under your blade, they thought us all dead behind the walls of
Talameths’cha. They asked me why I abandoned the Wrth gods and the ways of my
youth, to serve you. Actually, they said ‘to serve the foreign war-demon’. I
believe they are in awe of you, my Warmaster.” Another thoughtful pause. “I
told them you had demanded our lives and our service, and promised better
weapons and glorious combat. I told them you engaged the entire force of
iron-clad
in our defense, and defeated them with words alone. I told them your words
were true, that your judgements were wise and …there is no word, in Talamae, it
means ‘lucky’, but more than that… ‘correct’. There is no better quality in a
leader.”

“And this convinced them?” asked
Irshe.

“Almost. Almost, Irshe-
ro’tachk
.
When they first asked me why I served Kirrah Warmaster, I asked her what to
tell them. Do you recall what she said?”

At Irshe’s thoughtful look, Kirrah
supplied: “I told you to tell them your truth. And…?”

“I translated those words exactly.
Then, I think, they understood. They had already seen me leading your Wrth and
your Talamae in battle. But then, they saw that even at the very heart of the
negotiation, with the outcome still undecided, you trusted me. This is what
convinced them, I believe, that
they
could trust you.” The group fell
silent for a few moments, eating and considering. Finally Captain Og’drai
spoke:

“There will be great celebration
when we return, Warmaster. This is your second major victory, as remarkable as
the first and as low in cost. To devastate an O’dai war fleet - apologies,
Fleet-Captain Schmado, but even you declared as much.” The O’dai waved
‘continue’ from his place across the fire. The small Captain wiped a bit of
grease from his lips and continued:

“The soldiers will follow you
anywhere, Warmaster. You are becoming a legend. I heard some of the men on the
ride this afternoon, retelling how, when the treacherous Captain Durkalo was
about to fill you with crossbow bolts, your namesake the
kae’rruckh
cried out from above and distracted him at a critical moment. The soldiers
think you are protected by heaven.”

“The soldiers need to be more
realistic, Og’drai. I am one woman. I have knowledge that people on this world
do not, but nine tenths of that knowledge is useless to me. We lack the tools
to make the tools to make the devices. My
Regnum
comrades will come, but
not for …some time,” Kirrah caught herself before saying ‘one hundred thirty
days or more’ in front of their O’dai guest. “Meanwhile, we may face more
fighting. I simply cannot guarantee this kind of victory every time.”

“Even so, Warmaster, but soldiers
are often superstitious, and confidence is…” Og’drai broke off at a commotion
rising nearby.

“Warmaster!” a soldier called. “The
Kruss is stirring!” They all stepped hastily to the man’s side, and Kirrah knelt
next to the small bound figure. A thin line of heavy mucous drooled from a
corner of its mouth, and its eyes were fluttering open and closed. A soft
hissing murmur issued from between its lips. Kirrah set her wristcomp to
translate Kruss speech and heard:

« water, Lssghagk begs water »

Kirrah nodded, and someone brought
her a mug. She poured a few drops onto the being’s lips, and spoke into her
wristcomp:

“Is your name Liss-ghack?” The
translator AI would hopefully render the unpronounceable proper name correctly.
Hisses and gurgling issued from the device’s speaker to the Kruss.

« more water »

“First, your name. You are in
danger here. Do nothing until you have heard me. Your name, then water.” The
elongated head lolled on the neck, the eyes closed.

« Lssghagk. Name Lssghagk. Need
water » Kirrah administered another few drops, kept them dripping.

“Your suit is damaged. Your …weapon
is damaged.” For the first time, Kirrah realized she was talking to her
wristcomp in Talamae, not Standard. She switched to Standard for the technical
vocabulary, noticing how strange it felt on her tongue. “Your communicator is
damaged. Your beamer is destroyed. There is a knife behind your head, if your
helmet attempts to close, it will likely kill you. Do you understand? I do not
want you injured further.”

« I understand. I comply. Without
water I die. Three, four liters at least. » Kirrah had several of the men raise
the creature to an upright position and allowed it two mugs, about a liter of
water, which it lapped up using a narrow dark-gray tongue. As it drank, she
could see its eyes roving over the camp, probing and analyzing.

“You have been unconscious many
hours. Why? What is the problem?”

« tassa#kkraa » The translator
passed the unfamiliar word, including the hard rattle sound (#), without
modification.

« This one ran from pursuers, until
felled by tassa#kkraa. Human would say ‘metabolic crash’. No energy remains,
very dangerous. Water required. More water. »

“You purchase water with
information. How long have you been on-planet?” More lolling head, more
eye-blinking, in that weird way of sphinctering shut and open, not quite
together.

« Two years, local. Water needed. »