Part 4.
He woke up early in the morning only briefly wondering where he was. His sleep had not been easy, with the oppressive heat and he had missed Talyn's gentle movements.
Janek had left him some garments which were more suited to this weather although Janek had explained to him that the clothes he would be wearing were considered quite light for this time of the year by the people of Zelnick. Crais was grateful he wasn't stranded on this planet forever.
He washed and changed quickly in his new clothes. It felt strange to wear civilian clothes after a lifetime of wearing uniforms. The clothes were lighter in texture and bright in colour, they reminded him of the clothes he had worn as a young boy.
He folded his uniform neatly and was securing his hidden weapons under his new garments. His combat-knife fitted easily in the belt at the back and was concealed by the folds of his shirt. His two throwing knives were concealed in the belt at the front. The throwing stars he secured to the strap on his left forearm and the spring-knife to his right forearm, the long loose sleeves hid them adequately from sight.
He was going to practice with them first, to make sure they wouldn't get stuck in the loose folds before trusting them in combat.
The short, thin sword fitted in his normal holder in his boot. He would not wear the soft low shoes worn by the inhabitants. He had tucked his trouser legs inside the boots to have easy access to his sword if necessity warranted it. He tucked his pulse gun inside his shirt. He didn't want to be without it but he didn't want to show it openly either.
To hide his transponder he wore a brightly coloured scarf around his neck. To help conceal it further he had taken his hair out of the queue and had bound it with a single cord at the back. A wild mane of curly hair was now draped over his shoulders.
He focused on a point on the wall and tried out the effectiveness of the weapons on his arms. The first two tries were failures but after that he got the flow of flicking his sleeve up and then flexing his muscles quickly to activate the mechanisms, which would release the weapons.
He then contacted Talyn to assure him that he was all right and to check on the youngster. Talyn was worried being left on his own but Crais managed to calm him down and promised to contact him during the day. He then did his morning ritual of stretching his muscles and getting acquainted to the new clothes at the same time.
When Janek came to his room he found that Crais was up and waiting. The clothes had transformed Crais completely. No longer did he resemble a Peacekeeper, more like a sea-captain or a pirate even, though it was obvious that Crais wasn't used to such clothes. Janek was surprised to see the abundance of curly, loose hair falling over his shoulders. He still looked very commanding and in charge, not someone to mess with!
"You look… different," said Janek.
Crais sneered, "Not like a Peacekeeper anymore!"
"It's not that. You seemed to look even more in command in this outfit."
Crais snorted, "The clothes are more… comfortable for this weather but it is not me. Let's get started," he said, "The more we can do before the sun reaches its zenith the better."
On Crais' insistence the evening before, Janek had prepared a packed breakfast and had filled another flask with the elixir, which should keep Crais' tolerance to the heat in check.
When they left the house Crais was aware of the stares people gave him when he passed them but this time it was not in fear, awe or disgust with his Peacekeeper's uniform. The women seemed to regard him with disguised admiration and the men with ill-disguised jealousy. He smiled, he could live with that, it made a nice change.
Although Zelnick was a Commerce planet, which catered for spacefaring species they were themselves not inclined that way. As a matter of fact, in technology they were quite backwards and for a mode of transportation Janek had secured two handoks. They were big beasts, four legged, slim with big manes of hair on the ridge of their long necks. Crais had ridden on similar animals on other planets and had enjoyed them. He ran his fingers over the flanks and legs of the animals, feeling their raw power underneath his fingertips. They would be fast.
"Have you ridden on these before," asked Janek.
"On beasts quite similar, yes," answered Crais with a rare smile.
They rode their handoks out of the North gate and once on the road Crais spurred his handok in a canter. Had the situation not been so grave he would enjoy the ride more. To the west of the city he could see high, steep slopes and asked Janek about them.
"It goes on for nearly half a day's ride. The slope to the west of the city is quite steep and is about an arn's ride away."
Crais nodded, "What lies to the west?" He thought he had seen the shimmer of water when he landed the pod.
"Its' a small river. One can cross it by handok but around this time of year it is not advisable, the undercurrent is quite strong."
"Good," answered Crais and spurred his handok into a gallop. He wanted to see where the slope and the river met and if there was much distance between them. After about two arns he stopped at a slight bend in the road. The width between the river and the steep slope was about a hundred paces and then seemed to run parallel from that point onwards.
Crais stood in his stirrups and surveyed the countryside. The last half arn or so the corridor between the river and the slopes had been narrowing down to come to this point. If what Janek and the others had said was right the marauders had to bring the machine up to about 500 paces from the city to be effective and the slope near the city had been further away than that and too steep. Crais was sure they wouldn't come that way.
He was also sure that they wouldn't come by water. The river was too shallow and too wild to risk the machine by going that way.
The corridor was the most obvious choice. He was also sure that they would come from this way trusting to the fear their machine had instilled in the other two cities.
He turned to Janek, "If we can get the men together we should be able to defend our position here."
"Here?" asked Janek disbelievingly.
"Yes. You have a natural defence here. They wouldn't come by river; the machine would be too vulnerable to do so. The slopes are to steep. The corridor is narrow and I think they are counting on finding no resistance. If we can get enough men together, we can dig trenches here to stop the machine from passing and a defence a bit further back, before the road bends, for all who march up to the city. Do you have guns or rifles or long range fire-power?"
"No, we never had need of them."
"Archers?"
"Yes, it is not a big contingent but we do have them."
"It will have to do. We can place them on top of the slopes to deter some of the movement forward. Tell me, what kind of weapons are at your disposal in the city?"
Janek thought aloud, "Well, apart form the archers, we have swords, knives, pikes."
"Great," thought Crais, "we are going back to basics here. And in this heat!" He took a swig from the bottle as he had been doing on a regular basis, surprising Janek that he had been able to do so at full gallop.
After he stoppered the flask Crais turned to Janek, "We have to return to the city immediately and get the men together. We have to move fast if the defences are to be effective at all."
They turned their handoks and went back.
He woke up early in the morning only briefly wondering where he was. His sleep had not been easy, with the oppressive heat and he had missed Talyn's gentle movements.
Janek had left him some garments which were more suited to this weather although Janek had explained to him that the clothes he would be wearing were considered quite light for this time of the year by the people of Zelnick. Crais was grateful he wasn't stranded on this planet forever.
He washed and changed quickly in his new clothes. It felt strange to wear civilian clothes after a lifetime of wearing uniforms. The clothes were lighter in texture and bright in colour, they reminded him of the clothes he had worn as a young boy.
He folded his uniform neatly and was securing his hidden weapons under his new garments. His combat-knife fitted easily in the belt at the back and was concealed by the folds of his shirt. His two throwing knives were concealed in the belt at the front. The throwing stars he secured to the strap on his left forearm and the spring-knife to his right forearm, the long loose sleeves hid them adequately from sight.
He was going to practice with them first, to make sure they wouldn't get stuck in the loose folds before trusting them in combat.
The short, thin sword fitted in his normal holder in his boot. He would not wear the soft low shoes worn by the inhabitants. He had tucked his trouser legs inside the boots to have easy access to his sword if necessity warranted it. He tucked his pulse gun inside his shirt. He didn't want to be without it but he didn't want to show it openly either.
To hide his transponder he wore a brightly coloured scarf around his neck. To help conceal it further he had taken his hair out of the queue and had bound it with a single cord at the back. A wild mane of curly hair was now draped over his shoulders.
He focused on a point on the wall and tried out the effectiveness of the weapons on his arms. The first two tries were failures but after that he got the flow of flicking his sleeve up and then flexing his muscles quickly to activate the mechanisms, which would release the weapons.
He then contacted Talyn to assure him that he was all right and to check on the youngster. Talyn was worried being left on his own but Crais managed to calm him down and promised to contact him during the day. He then did his morning ritual of stretching his muscles and getting acquainted to the new clothes at the same time.
When Janek came to his room he found that Crais was up and waiting. The clothes had transformed Crais completely. No longer did he resemble a Peacekeeper, more like a sea-captain or a pirate even, though it was obvious that Crais wasn't used to such clothes. Janek was surprised to see the abundance of curly, loose hair falling over his shoulders. He still looked very commanding and in charge, not someone to mess with!
"You look… different," said Janek.
Crais sneered, "Not like a Peacekeeper anymore!"
"It's not that. You seemed to look even more in command in this outfit."
Crais snorted, "The clothes are more… comfortable for this weather but it is not me. Let's get started," he said, "The more we can do before the sun reaches its zenith the better."
On Crais' insistence the evening before, Janek had prepared a packed breakfast and had filled another flask with the elixir, which should keep Crais' tolerance to the heat in check.
When they left the house Crais was aware of the stares people gave him when he passed them but this time it was not in fear, awe or disgust with his Peacekeeper's uniform. The women seemed to regard him with disguised admiration and the men with ill-disguised jealousy. He smiled, he could live with that, it made a nice change.
Although Zelnick was a Commerce planet, which catered for spacefaring species they were themselves not inclined that way. As a matter of fact, in technology they were quite backwards and for a mode of transportation Janek had secured two handoks. They were big beasts, four legged, slim with big manes of hair on the ridge of their long necks. Crais had ridden on similar animals on other planets and had enjoyed them. He ran his fingers over the flanks and legs of the animals, feeling their raw power underneath his fingertips. They would be fast.
"Have you ridden on these before," asked Janek.
"On beasts quite similar, yes," answered Crais with a rare smile.
They rode their handoks out of the North gate and once on the road Crais spurred his handok in a canter. Had the situation not been so grave he would enjoy the ride more. To the west of the city he could see high, steep slopes and asked Janek about them.
"It goes on for nearly half a day's ride. The slope to the west of the city is quite steep and is about an arn's ride away."
Crais nodded, "What lies to the west?" He thought he had seen the shimmer of water when he landed the pod.
"Its' a small river. One can cross it by handok but around this time of year it is not advisable, the undercurrent is quite strong."
"Good," answered Crais and spurred his handok into a gallop. He wanted to see where the slope and the river met and if there was much distance between them. After about two arns he stopped at a slight bend in the road. The width between the river and the steep slope was about a hundred paces and then seemed to run parallel from that point onwards.
Crais stood in his stirrups and surveyed the countryside. The last half arn or so the corridor between the river and the slopes had been narrowing down to come to this point. If what Janek and the others had said was right the marauders had to bring the machine up to about 500 paces from the city to be effective and the slope near the city had been further away than that and too steep. Crais was sure they wouldn't come that way.
He was also sure that they wouldn't come by water. The river was too shallow and too wild to risk the machine by going that way.
The corridor was the most obvious choice. He was also sure that they would come from this way trusting to the fear their machine had instilled in the other two cities.
He turned to Janek, "If we can get the men together we should be able to defend our position here."
"Here?" asked Janek disbelievingly.
"Yes. You have a natural defence here. They wouldn't come by river; the machine would be too vulnerable to do so. The slopes are to steep. The corridor is narrow and I think they are counting on finding no resistance. If we can get enough men together, we can dig trenches here to stop the machine from passing and a defence a bit further back, before the road bends, for all who march up to the city. Do you have guns or rifles or long range fire-power?"
"No, we never had need of them."
"Archers?"
"Yes, it is not a big contingent but we do have them."
"It will have to do. We can place them on top of the slopes to deter some of the movement forward. Tell me, what kind of weapons are at your disposal in the city?"
Janek thought aloud, "Well, apart form the archers, we have swords, knives, pikes."
"Great," thought Crais, "we are going back to basics here. And in this heat!" He took a swig from the bottle as he had been doing on a regular basis, surprising Janek that he had been able to do so at full gallop.
After he stoppered the flask Crais turned to Janek, "We have to return to the city immediately and get the men together. We have to move fast if the defences are to be effective at all."
They turned their handoks and went back.