On Patrol

The air smelled clean with the warmth of wet earth and the acidic tang of yellow cedar. The ground between the massive tree trunks was soft and red from the remains of last year's fall of leaves, with coils of lemon vine bursting through wherever the sun's light pierced the canopy. The only sound other than the chattering of birds and the rush of the nearby river was the dull thump of the horses' hooves.

The land rolled in gentle folds, cut with streams. On the left it fell away more sharply toward the river. The four Rangers rode in single file through the forest. Tanya was in front, leading half of the patrol. The remaining members were farther up the hillside with Gerry Baptiste.

After the trek across the wilderness, the patrol had reached the region twelve days before. Now they were on their circuit, watching for signs of Guards invading the wilderness and checking the secret rendezvous sites for heretics who had fled the Homelands and needed an escort to the safety of Westernfort.

Patrolling the wilderness was what Tanya loved about being a Ranger, and she felt at peace with the world, or as much at peace as she could be with Rikako Sadiq riding two places behind her.

Tanya's mouth pulled down at the corners. She would like to forget about the disruptive private and enjoy the bright spring morning, but Rikako was hard to ignore. Even her smile was irritating, although fortunately there had been no more direct confrontations between them since leaving Westernfort.

"Wait. Stop your horses." As if in answer to Tanya's thoughts, Rikako broke the silence.

One of the other Rangers spoke up. "What's—"

"Hush." Rikako held up her hand assertively while looking down toward the river.

Tanya felt a flicker of anger even as she reined in her horse. She was the corporal. A private should not be the one issuing orders. Against this, the previous month had shown that Rikako had a seemingly supernatural ability to read the Wildlands. She would have been a great asset to the patrol if she were not such a pain in the ass. Regardless, it would be stupid to ignore what she said. Tanya waited patiently until Private Sadiq would consent to share with them whatever it was that she had noticed.

Rikako turned to face her. "Something's upsetting the skirrales on the other side of the river. That's the third troop to sound off."

Skirrales were active, tree-living nut eaters, about thirty centimeters in length and black in color except for the distinctive white stripe down their backs. They lived in large family troops. Their high-pitched yips were a common sound throughout both Wildlands and Homelands.

"Could it be a tree rat?"

Rikako shook her head. "Nope. Whatever's upsetting them isn't keeping pace with us, but still moving at a fair rate. When I heard the first troop, they were a short way ahead, and we've just overtaken them. A tree rat won't travel that fast for more than fifty meters."

"So what do you think it is?"

"Something with enough sense of purpose to travel in a straight line for two kilometers."

Tanya frowned. Only one candidate met that criterion, leaving just the question "friend or foe?" She raised her fingers to her mouth and gave the birdsong code signal meaning Halt investigating to the other half of the patrol.

Down the hillside, water glinted between the tree trunks some way off, but nothing of the other bank could be seen. Tanya slipped from her saddle and stole cautiously down to the river. Soon, the ground became squelchy underfoot. Heavy reed beds lined the bank, obscuring her vision. The barrier was too wide for parting it to be possible, quite aside from the risk that such an action would be visible on the other bank.

Tanya looked up. The trees growing here were smaller and lighter than those farther up the hillside. She grabbed a branch just above head height and pulled herself up. From that position she was high enough to have a clear view across the river.

The opposite bank was identical to the one she was on. Nothing was moving. Then suddenly a flash of red between the trees caught Tanya's eye, a bright brilliant red that belonged to no animal or plant. Tanya recognized it immediately. It was the color of a Guard's uniform. She concentrated on the spot where she had caught the brief sighting.

Just to the right was a break in the trees. A second later, women dressed in red and gold appeared there on horseback. Tanya caught a glimpse before the rider disappeared again, but behind came a line of her comrades. Two abreast, the Guards rode through the forest. The column had to contain at least fifty of the pious warriors.

Tanya remained motionless until the last had passed, grateful that her own green and gray uniform would not be so conspicuous—not that the Guards were showing any sign of being on the lookout for danger—then she dropped to the ground and trotted back to where the other Rangers were waiting.

Tanya hopped up into her saddle and looked at the expectant faces. "We've got company."

 

Both moons were in the sky. Their cool blue radiance contrasted with the red flickering of the campfire. Tanya sat beside the burning logs, grateful for the warmth against the night chill. Four other members of the patrol were with her, sitting around in a circle. The remaining three were on sentry and scouting duties. Some way off, the horses were grazing.

The camp was set amid the rocky upland. The poor soil would not support the towering yellow cedars. Consequently, long grass and ferns covered the open ground, and brushwood filled the hollows. The Rangers' camp was in a clear spot at the bottom of one such dip. The upland location had three advantages over the forest. There was grazing for the horses, the lookouts had good visibility to spot danger, and the bushes shielded the campfire that would otherwise have shone out like a beacon.

A whistled signal from one of the lookouts announced the scout's return. Tanya turned toward the sound. At the edge of the firelight, the line of bushes was silent and motionless, except for a slight wavering in the breeze. And then Rikako stepped through them into the open.

Tanya shook her head, with more than a touch of admiration. As a Ranger, Tanya thought she had pretty good wilderness skills, but she had not heard Rikako's approach nor seen anything that would have alerted her. Rikako might have dropped from the sky for all the disturbance she had made passing through the dense brushwood—which was why Gerry Baptiste had picked her to be the scout, regardless of what doubts might be held about Rikako's general fitness as a Ranger.

Rikako joined the group around the fire.

"Are they settled?" Gerry asked.

"Yup. They're not going anywhere."

"Any sign they'll be sending out patrols?"

"No, they've got a ring of sentries, but that's it."

Gerry nodded and signaled for the two lookouts to join them for the briefing. Once everyone was together, she gestured to Rikako. "Okay. What's the score?"

"There's sixty-two of them. Looks like a major in command, though I couldn't get close enough to check her badge. They have ten packhorses, so unless they've worked out what plants they can eat out here, they won't have enough supplies for more than another twenty days, especially seeing as how two horses were carrying just the major's tent. Added to some bits of conversation I overheard, I think it's a routine training hike."

"What did you hear?"

"Nothing of note. Two of them were going for a piss. They exchanged confidences that it was their first time in the wilderness. One said she wasn't afraid because Celaeno would look after them. The other agreed and said if the impious could live here without aid from the Goddess, then it would be a piece of cake for them." Rikako grinned. "I'm paraphrasing a bit there."

Gerry frowned. "You must have been inside their sentry cordon to hear that."

"Oh yes. If you can call it a cordon. They seem to think sentry duty means standing so still that they're always staring at the same spot. They don't even move their eyeballs."

"I told you not to take unnecessary risks."

Rikako shrugged. "No risk. You'd have to dance naked through the camp to alert their sentries."

Tanya bit her lip to conceal her smile. Rikako clearly had been taking unnecessary risks, but Tanya could not help being impressed, despite herself.

Gerry's frown grew, but she apparently decided to let it go. Her expression became thoughtful. "I agree, a wilderness training expedition would be the most likely reason for them being here. They don't have the numbers or supplies to cause any trouble. We'll keep a loose tail on them. If others show up, or they join with a baggage train, we'll send word to the captain. And if a small group go off on their own, maybe we'll get the chance to see how much protection the Goddess really gives to her faithful. We don't want them to start thinking they can wander through our territory at will."

The sergeant's eyes ran around the ring of faces. "We need them under constant surveillance. We'll run the patrol in shifts, half on duty, half off. Two Rangers on foot will keep within sight of the Guards. With the speed they move, that shouldn't be a problem. Two more will hang back about a kilometer. Close enough to exchange signals. They'll have the horses and will provide rotation support and messengers, if needed. The half of the patrol that's off duty will keep well away. If it's training, they most likely won't be going in a straight line."

"With the Guards' sense of direction, they couldn't if they wanted to," someone interjected.

"Maybe. But it'll mean there won't be much catching up to do at shift changeover. At night we can go down to a pair of lookouts." Gerry looked across to Tanya. "Do you want to take first or second shift?"

"Either."

"Right. Second shift. You'll have Loke, Sasha, and Rikako with you. My half will do the first overnight watch. You're on at dawn."

The Rangers dispersed; those designated to watch the Guards headed off, while the rest went to their bedrolls. As she lay down, Tanya's attention was caught briefly by Rikako on the other side of the campfire, also getting ready to sleep. The woman had unquestionable talents that could be so useful to the patrol. She could also be a liability, taking risks for the fun of it. She was undisciplined, unfriendly, and overconfident.

Tanya rolled over and closed her eyes. As she did so, the thought came to her that maybe the charge of overconfidence was unfair. She could not deny that Rikako Sadiq was very good at what she did.

 

Five days later, the weather had turned and rain clouds replaced the sunshine. Riki took satisfaction from knowing that the Guards were enjoying it far less than she was. Quite apart from their inexperience in living out of doors, their uniforms had been designed to look impressive when standing duty in the temples, rather than for survival in the wilds. Presumably someone had decided that the Goddess would be offended if they changed to anything more practical.

Judging by the increasing desperation of the shouted commands, the major was just as unhappy as her troops and would probably call the entire exercise to an early halt. Riki hoped so, and not just because the excitement of tracking the Guards had worn off. When she was on duty, Riki found that she was spending far more time than she liked paired with Loke Stevenson.

In the late afternoon they were working together again, keeping the column of Guards in sight. They were close enough to hear when the order to stop was called for the third time since lunch.

"Do you reckon the major wants a break to wring out her cloak again?" Riki asked.

Loke did no more than grunt in reply. She raised her hand to her mouth and sent the birdsong whistle for Halt to Tanya and Sasha, who were providing backup a kilometer to the rear.

Riki looked at her companion. Of all the patrol, Loke was the most consistently hostile. Even Tanya acted in a coolly professional manner. Loke, though, refused to make any sort of concession in the interests of patrol unity. However, Riki had noticed the way she watched Tanya, and suspected it was because Leading Ranger Stevenson was interested in a rather non-military form of unity with the corporal. Maybe Loke was hoping that a conspicuous display of ignoring anyone who had slighted Tanya would win some reciprocal attention.

The Guards had been following a river along the bottom of a valley. Riki and Loke's path had shadowed them farther up the hillside. Without horses, the trees presented no obstacle, and the firm ground meant they had not even needed to jog to keep up. They found a good vantage point and settled down to watch what the Guards would do next.

The drizzle had finally stopped, although the wind knocked drips off the branches overhead. The Guards dismounted and formed up in an open space in the loop of the river. Riki sneered. The Guards spent a quite astounding amount of time standing in straight lines. The major addressed them for a short while before they dispersed and began pulling packs off their horses.

"Looks like they're stopping for the day," Loke said.

Riki considered the gray sky. Even with the sun obscured she could make a fair guess of the time. "It's a bit early, even for them."

"The major must be really pissed off." Loke's tone implied that she was too.

After a few minutes, a dozen Guards left the camp in a group and started to climb the hillside on foot.

"I wonder where they're off to," Riki said.

"Don't know. I'll follow them and see."

"Wouldn't it be better if I did that?"

Loke gave Riki a surly look and said, "No. You stay here and watch the main group."

"But—"

"No. I'm the leading ranger. I've got the experience. You stay here."

Without more debate, Loke slipped off through the forest. Riki watched her go. Leading ranger outranked private, but not by much. On past experience, neither the sergeant nor the corporal would have pretended that their rank made them better suited to tracking and scouting. Both had shown trust in Riki's abilities.

The thought struck Riki that the real benefit of having Loke Stevenson in the patrol was she made Tanya Coppelli look good.

 

"It's not too slippery here."

"Do we need to bear left more?"

"This gully's going in the right direction."

Loke could not restrain her expression of contempt. As if the Guards were not making enough noise by their passage, they were giving a running commentary as they went. A blind idiot could have tailed them. Yet Rikako-fucking-Sadiq acted like she was the only woman in the patrol who could follow a track.

The lower reaches of the valley were largely free of undergrowth, and the bright Guards' uniforms made them easy to spot between the huge trunks of the yellow cedars. Loke kept well to the side of the flashes of red and gold. She did not want to risk running into the backs of stragglers.

As they got higher, the character of the trees changed and hagwood firs started to appear. The undergrowth also thickened, which caused the Guards yet more trouble. Loke moved in a little closer.

"We're blocked in here."

"I think there's a way through on the left."

The Guards were moving away from her. Loke followed after, keeping ducked beneath the height of the bushes. Suddenly she realized that the voices were getting nearer again. The Guards were doubling back. Furthermore, a couple had looped around downhill, trapping her. A knotted mass of border weed formed a solid hedge at her back, cutting off any quick escape route. Loke dropped to the ground and rolled underneath it, wrapping her green cloak around her. Her clothes acquired a fair coating of mud and dead leaves—unpleasant, even though it would aid her camouflage.

Through the web of stems she saw the red and gold uniforms get closer. The Guards stopped fifteen meters from where she lay.

"Over here," the major called out, summoning the scattered members of her band.

Loke studied the assembled Guards. Their uniforms held so much gold braid and emblems that it had to be the expedition's entire officers cadre.

"There's no route up, ma'am," one of them said.

"You've got swords. Hack your way through."

Judging by the expressions, this was a novel idea to the officers. Hesitantly at first, they put the plan into action. Within five minutes they had cleared a path through the border weed and were continuing up the hillside. Not one had glanced in Loke's direction.

Once their voices were fading, Loke rolled from her hiding spot, grinning partly with relief and partly from amusement at the Guards. There was no need to cut a route through border weed—the springy lacework of stems was so soft you could simply roll over it. Only the noise it created had stopped her doing it when they cornered her. Loke followed the Guards' trail, but now keeping well back.

The vegetation continued to get lower and denser. Eventually the trees thinned out and ended in a ragged fringe. The top of the hill was covered in waist-high brushwood, mainly honey bramble and dover fern. Only a few isolated hagwood firs broke through this matting, their trunks knotted and twisted from exposure to the wind. A hundred meters away, an outcrop of rocks crested the top of the ridge. The fist of gray granite stood some five meters high. The Guards were huddled in conversation by its base.

Loke studied them from the cover of a tall patch of honey bramble. Why had all the officers come to such a remote location to talk? What were they saying that they did not want their subordinates to overhear? Rikako had bragged about getting close enough to eavesdrop on some Guards. Loke's lips twisted in a sneer. If the arrogant little shit could do it, so could she. Loke dropped to a low crouch and started working her way closer.

She was just getting within earshot when the Guards broke from their debate. Loke grimaced in frustration. What had they been talking about? However, rather than return down the hill, the Guards' attention turned to the rocks. After a few seconds of shuffling around, one of them began to climb. The obvious explanation was to use the rocks as a viewpoint.

Loke shrank under the deepest cover she could find. Even so, from up high, her position might be visible. To her relief, though, once the Guard reached the top of the rocks, it became clear that her interest was purely to the east, on the other side of the hill.

"Can you see it?" the major called out.

"Um…um. Yes, ma'am. Yes, I can." The Guard's voice went from uncertainty to elation.

"How far?"

"A day, maybe."

"The Goddess be praised. Do we need to cross this hill?"

The Guard turned north. "No, ma'am. If we follow the route we're on, we'll join up with another valley that will lead us there."

"Well done. You can come down."

The Guard scrambled from the rocks and re-joined her comrades. The group had barged their way through the dover fern, tramping the fronds into the mud. They now returned by the same route, traveling in single file and passing within a dozen meters of Loke. As they went by, she heard the major say, "We'll make an early camp and set off at first light tomorrow. Our food will last till we get there."

"It's been tight going."

"The Goddess would not desert us."

"The women will be happy to come off half rations."

Their voices faded away. Loke chewed her lip, thoughtfully. The Guards were almost out of food—so much for Rikako's estimate that they had enough for twenty days. Although, on second thought, Loke considered that nobody knew how long the Guards had been in the wilderness before they were spotted.

She looked at the granite outcrop. What had the Guards been trying to find? And why had so many officers come to look for it? From what she had overheard, it sounded like a supply dump, or maybe a rendezvous point with a better provisioned detachment—the very things Gerry Baptiste said to watch out for. Loke had to learn more before she reported back. Maybe if it was an unmanned supply dump, the Rangers would be able to raid it before the Guards arrived.

Loke waited until the Guards were well gone before approaching the rocks. Quickly, she scrambled up to where the observer had stood. The trees on the eastern side of the hill grew taller and closer to the summit, obscuring the view. Was this why the observer had needed to climb up? The mist and low cloud also made for poor visibility.

The eastern horizon was filled with a line of high hills that Loke recognized as the Longstop Range, the last barrier before reaching the Homelands. Between the Longstops and where Loke stood was a flat region, about twenty kilometers wide, containing trees and absolutely nothing else.

Loke shook her head in confusion. Apart from the absence of a flag or other marker, the observer had given the distance as a day's travel, which made no sense. Even if you counted that the Guards would only cover thirty kilometers a day, and allowing for the long route around the top of the valley, this would put them at the pass over the Longstops, and out of view from the rock. What had the Guard been looking for? And what had she seen?

Loke turned to look back at where she had been hiding in the undergrowth, trying to assess the observer's exact line of sight, when a flash of red at the edge of the woods alerted her. The Guards were returning.

Loke dropped flat so she would not be skylined. If they came all the way back, surely the Guards would still not want to climb the rocks again. But if they did, where would she hide? The bare granite offered no cover. Carefully Loke slid to the edge, on the side away from the Guards. She looked down. On this side, the drop was over six meters, and the ground was littered with loose boulders. She did not want to jump, but did she have the time to climb down? Did she need to?

The Guards were now close enough to hear their voices. The major's was the loudest, clearly angry. "Patel, you go up and check this time. Take Rivelle with you. We can't afford to wander around out here any longer. Once we're over the range we've three days' ride before we get back to civilization. Make sure you are absolutely certain this time. The pass is between a ridge rising in three steps on one side, and a higher hill with a sheer face on the north."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I thought that was what I saw before."

"For the love of the Goddess. Thought is not good enough."

Loke looked around frantically. They were going to climb up again and she was trapped. She slipped over the edge and began to feel her way down. The rock face was more difficult on this side, with an awkward overhang, and already Loke could hear the sounds of climbing on the other side. She would have liked to get to the ground and find cover quickly, but she was out of time. The guards were standing on top, and all Loke could do was hug herself tight to the rocks where she was, praying that the Guards would not come close to the edge— praying that they would not look down.

The two Guards spoke together quietly. "That's the pass, sure enough."

"I don't know why the major wanted to come back. Burstein said she saw it."

"Kaur's rattled. So far the women have accepted the story that half rations are part of wilderness training. They won't believe it if they start dropping from starvation. And it wouldn't look good on her record."

"And if they knew that Major Kaur has lost the map..."

The other gave a soft laugh and then raised her voice. "Yes, ma'am. It's the pass that'll take us home."

Loke rested her forehead on the rocks in disbelief, which changed to mockery aimed partly at herself. Of course. The Guards were lost and simply looking for the way home. Only the officers had come up the hill, because only they could be trusted with the knowledge that the major needed both hands to find her own ass in the dark.

Loke looked up. The Guards had not gotten close to the edge, and now they were going down. She drew an easier breath.

"Hey. What—"

"Ma'am, it's a—"

Sudden loud shouts made Loke jerk her head right. A group of three Guards had wandered around the rocks and spotted her. Loke had to act quickly. She kicked away from the granite, hoping that she would land safely. Unluckily, her foot hit on a boulder at an oblique angle, which threw her sideways and wrenched her ankle. Loke crashed to the ground.

For a moment, she lay dazed, but the sounds of the Guards were close, and getting closer. Fear surged through her, giving her the impetus to shove herself to her feet and start running. The pain in her ankle was forgotten. If only she could get to the cover of the trees, surely she would be able to lose the incompetent Guards. More sounds told of others joining the pursuit, but she did not look back. Her attention was on the line of trees, downhill.

Loke charged through a patch of soft ferns. Her foot snagged on a dead branch, and she stumbled into a patch of honey bramble. The scratches she hardly noticed, but the thorns latched onto her clothes. Desperately she fought to tear herself loose. To the sound of ripping material, she pulled free and continued running.

The footsteps behind were nearing, and then a heavy weight landed on her back, throwing her to the ground again, and driving the breath from her body. Her face was pressed into the mud. Hands grabbed her shoulders, and a voice called out, "Ma'am, I've got her."

Loke struggled, but more Guards were arriving. Her arms were caught and pulled behind her, and then she was hauled to her knees. The point of a blade touched her throat. Loke looked at the ring of Guards surrounding her. More arrived. Someone tied her hands and removed her sword and trail knife. Excited half sentences leaped from Guard to Guard.

"She was just hanging there listening..."

"How long do you think..."

"How many more..."

The circle parted and the major arrived—Major Kaur, the Guards had called her. The voices fell silent. The major stared at Loke for several seconds and then turned to her subordinates. "This is what I've been telling you. We probably picked them up ages ago. You never know they're there until they attack, which is why you can't afford to take chances. That's why you never go wandering around on your own. Always make sure there are at least ten of you in any group." Kaur's eyes returned to Loke. "It's all too easy to underestimate these heretics. They're at home in the Wildlands like savages."

"Um...ma'am." One of the other Guards spoke up. "Maybe she could guide us back. Since they know the region so well."

Major Kaur gave a dismissive snort. "She'd lie and send us chasing in circles. You couldn't believe a word she said. When we get her to Landfall, the Intelligence Corps will wring the truth out of her, if she knows anything worth hearing."

A raw panic gripped Loke. Death she could have faced, but not being taken alive to the Intelligence Corps prison in Landfall. The remnants of her courage shattered. Everyone knew about the interrogation techniques they used. Her thoughts jumped wildly, desperate, barely rational.

"Please. Let me go. I'll make a trade." Loke hardly knew what she was saying.

"Guards do not trade with those who defy the Goddess. She has delivered you into our hands. We will not disregard her gift."

"But I can give you—"

"You can give me nothing. Everything you know will be extracted by the Intelligence Corps. There's nothing of value in your pitiful existence, apart from a few clues that might speed our task of cleansing the world of your heresy."

"I...I..." Loke's mind was drowning in panic. One idea drifted past, a straw to cling to. "The captain's daughter. Our captain. Captain Coppelli. Her daughter is in our patrol. If I help you to catch her, let me go. She's a corporal, she knows more than me. And she'll have overheard her mother speaking. She'll know more to tell you. Please. Let me go."

"You'd sell out one of you own comrades?"

"Yes...please," Loke begged. The walls of the Corps dungeon seemed to solidify around her. She could feel tears in her eyes as she stared up at Kaur.

At first there was little of comfort, but then a more thoughtful look settled on the major's face. She fixed a critical gaze on Loke. "And just how would you propose doing that?"