Uprising Ch. 6
Zetta dipped the cloth in the warmed water , wrung it out and gently wiped the pale face of the dark haired man. The camp was beginning to stir and everyone had to get ready to travel quickly. No one would be excluded. Come now, wake up. They are gone for now. You must wake. A small moan greeted his work, the man was waking up. Good.
There was something familiar about the unconscious man. It was not just because he was a zipperhead either. His tribe had "detained" several of them in his short life, but this one struck a memory. Yes! That was it! This particular zipperhead had been captured by his tribe months earlier, maybe even a year ago. But what was so special about this one?
His thoughts flew as a passing Longcoat kicked his leg and demanded, "Get that bastid up. We got a long walk in front of us" And left, snickering at the thougth of Glitch limping the trail ahead. The man's eyes opened and Zetta stared into the brown eyes, beautiful despite the pain written in them. Memory flooded Zetta; "You were the one! The one who saved my cousin, Tourson!" "Huh? What are you talking about?" Glitch sat up and looked around. "What cousin? Where are we? Where is Cain and D…" "Shhhh. Do not talk about your friends. You need time for your wounds to mend. If the longcoats think you know something important, like companions trailing us, they will hurt you more." Glitch glanced around and grimaced. That was something he did not want again. Once was more than enough. "I promise to stay quiet."
Standing up was the hard part. Zetta had bandaged his feet and put moccasin style shoes on his feet but the pain still doubled Glitch over. "Can the bastid walk? Or do we do him the favor now?" The guard shot a round into the barrel of his rifle. "With my help, this man will walk" Zetta grabbed Glitch's arm and supported some of the weight. Together the duo started walked to the line. "Never mind putting that one on the tree, he screwed things up enough already." The overseer declared. "Let the two lovebirds stay together. See if either of them can keep up. We have the solution if they can't."
"Why are you… helping me?" Glitch asked, his breath coming in gasps. "Why are you… risking this for me?" "You do not remember?" "No; Zipperhead….remember?" "You pulled my cousin from a trap. He might have died but you helped him escape. Then my people put you in the cage. I am sorry, you had a right to your rage." Glitch looked down at the munchkin, searching his half brain for the memory. But nothing, he couldn't remember. Things were slipping away faster than ever. "Why are you …helping me…" "You do not remember?"
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The queen looked out over the gathering troops. "Will the longcoats fall for our story of weapons to Finaqua? If they find out that's not true, will they realize we plan an attack on them directly?" "Mother, we have done everything we can to make this strengthening of our troops look like part of the weapon
transfer and I believe Cain has been successful." DG sighed. "But you know as well as I do that if the spy has found out, then it can all fall apart." "IF the spy has found out. Or Glitch tells them." The queen turned to DG. "I know you are worried about your friend. But I am beginning to think we should scrap the pretense of weapons to Finaqua and REALLY send them there. Not just set a trap. And NOT send a force into the OZ looking for one lost soul." DG stared at her mother. "One lost soul? Is that how you think of your former advisor? The man who sacrificed his brain for you? One lost soul? Because, Mother, if that's how you think, then you have lost your own soul." DG spun on her heels and strode out of the throne room, fuming and looking for Cain.
She found him in the stables with Raw. Flinging the doors hard enough to make them bounce back she started picking up buckets and tools, flinging them here and there. "Whoa, wait a minute there Princess! You're scaring the horses." "Don't you 'Princess' me, Cain." DG growled, picking up a stick and advancing on him. " Do you know what my mother just said? She said she thinks we should not send anyone to look for Glitch! She said it was not worth risking the army for 'one lost soul'." "She said that? What about the false information about Finaqua? What does she want to do with the army?" "Oh, she thinks we should send the entire army to Finaqua just like we are pretending to do. She's afraid the spy knows the truth or, or, or…" DG caught her breath. "She thinks Glitch might have told them!"
Cain sat down. This changed things. "We probably should send a larger force with the pretend weapons, it would look too transparent if we sent a small force with a weapon delivery. But…" He held up his hand at DG's unvoiced retort. "But, we don't have to send everyone. Just a large enough force to convince them that we are for real. The rest of us can look elsewhere. With the weapons. If the spy has not caught on, then our larger force will be able to capture the longcoats with little threat to our weapons."
"But that's almost exactly the original plan, Cain. Why does my mother want to change them?" "I think your mother is starting to think defensively instead of offensively. Not unexpected with someone with a lot to lose. We need to move soon though. Come on, we'll talk with her."
Cain and DG closed the door of the war room. It was difficult but they had managed to convince the queen to keep most of the original plan. She gave no reason for her earlier change of heart, but admitted that they had to act as if the ruse was going to work. More of the army was going to accompany the empty weapons trucks than Cain liked, but at least his force was close to being strong enough. The weapons would go with Cain's force.
"When do we start?" DG asked. Cain's reply pleased her. "We leave at first light."
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One foot, next foot. One foot, next foot. It had worked once and it worked again. "Company halt! Fall out and set camp." Glitch collapsed where he stopped, exhausted by the long, pain filled trek. But he had made it. Zetta crouched beside him; "We are finished today. I will get us some food. Stay out of the way." But Glitch was already asleep. Zetta walked away looking for a scrap of food to steal. Stepping close to the woods at one point, he noticed a small moccasined shaped footprint. He had not been that way yet. Trying to suppress the wild hope that sprang into his eyes, he looked deeper into the trees. YES.
A shadowy figure shifted position just out of clear sight. His people were tracking them and wanted him know. "Hey, you. Small fry. Get over here and bring this to the boss." Tossing a packet his way, a guard whistled as if to a dog and laughed at his joke. "Make sure you get it right, stupid. This is a bit more than a little camp now."
Zetta looked around and realized something he should have noticed before. They were at a permanent camp. Roughly built, but still durably constructed log cabins were placed along a path that could pass as a road. Men were drilling in a open area and messengers ran from one direction to the other. There had to be several hundred men in sight. Who knew how many others might be out on patrol or in the cabin barracks. The chances of rescue from his peoplehad just gotten slimmer. He picked the nicest of the cabins and trotted towards it, hefting the packet over his shoulder.
"Packet for the boss." Zetta announced and was rewarded with a kick. "I'll give it to him. Give it over to me." Zetta ducked the slap added for good measure and ran down the steps. On a hunch, he ran behind the cabin and pushed his ear against a crack between the logs. Yes, he could hear what was said.
"Boss, messenger just brought this in from patrol. It's from Captain Mullray's patrol what checked out the land around the Papay." "Ah, yes, I have been waiting for that report." The soft voice made Zetta's hair on his arms rise. "Our contact was to have sent me something important through them. Go." Papers rattled and a long pause that made Zetta nervous. His hiding place wasn't all that secure. Finally boots walked across the room and the soft voice called out. "Get me Capt. Mullray." Torn between the need to run away to safety and the need to learn more about the camp, Zetta crouched even lower and covered himself with loose leaves until only his hair showed.
It didn't take long for Capt. Mullray to show up. "Reporting as ordered, Sir." "Good, Capt. Your patrol did well. We have the information we need. The queen is sending weapons to Finaqua in an attempt to protect it. A large force will accompany it, but small enough for us to handle." Metal clinked and Zetta could hear liquid being poured into a cup. "Care for some whiskey, Captain? And tell me about the zipperhead you captured." "Thank you sir, drink does go down well after a long patrol. The zipperhead sir? He is just like all the others. Can't even hardly remember to walk right! Why, is he important?" Zetta stiffened. Why was the zipperhead important? "I have had a report that a certain zipperhead familiar to the queen is listed as missing. I want to find him. Go get the one you have."
Zetta sped through the camp, leaves flying from him, trying to remember just where he had left Glitch. Several false turns slowed him enough that as he finally swerved into the turn of the path where he had left Glitch, the longcoats were already grabbing him up from the ground. "C'mon, Mental case, the boss wants to see you. Can't see why though. You are one sorry looking excuse." A few kicks and Glitch was swaying on his feet, frantically glancing around looking for some kind of help. "Whwhat!? Whwhy does the boss want me?" "Didn't I just tell you, headcase? I don't know why. But when the boss tells us to get you, then we come get you." A final shove sent Glitch staggering down the path to the headquarter cabin.
Glitch blinked as he stumbled into the cabin. The change for bright light to darkness blinded him for a moment and he missed the man as he turned around to face him. As his vision cleared he could see blue eyes boring into his. Ice cold blue eyes. Eyes that recognized him. He gasped. Zero!