Disclaimer: See Chapter Two
Notes to Reviewers: This note is going to end up being longer than the chapter! ;)
Again thanks to those who reviewed. Ellfine and Pink Panther, your thoughts are always appreciated.
Reptile Lover: I agree with you about the Orcish weapons and will address that in the following chapter. I did at one stage consider the idea of Gary and Co pilfering the dead orcs' packs and taking anything that might have been useful food-wise. However, I then realised that the whole point of the two groups being trapped together in one place by the veil that Eru placed over Nan Tathren was that they were suffering similar problems. Each was harassing the other, each group was just as trapped as the other and they were both running out of resources, especially food. The Orcs because they had lingered so long in 2005 that they became trapped until they found their way through the thinning of the fabric of the dimensions and Gary and Co because they simply didn't set out equipped for a journey of any kind.
As to the dynamics of British Army military base society, the civilians and the soldiers most certainly do meet each other. Many of the army wives work in a civvy capacity on camp. Most of the married soldiers, officers, senior and junior ranks, live on the Married Quarters, commonly called 'The Patch'. They socialise together in the respective Messes, which is where single officers and senior ranks live. The single soldiers usually live in barracks, although I should point out that because of the rigid rank structure and hierarchy of the military this means that although everyone knows everyone else, the divisions between officers, sergeants and men is no less rigidly enforced.
The Officers' Wives would know that Kim was just a Sergeant, just as the NCOs' and Soldiers' wives would know that she had stepped out of her 'class' in order to date an officer. Neither party would make it easy for her. She would not be accepted by the Officers' wives, who would think she was a common upstart and she would be scoffed at and ignored by the NCO's and Soldiers' wives and indeed many of her fellow Mess members for getting 'above herself'. The Regimental Sergeant Major would invite her for 'an interview without coffee' and she would be told to clean her act up, meaning end the relationship or take the consequences. The Commanding Officer wouldn't be so direct with Gary. He would take him aside on some social occasion in the Mess, casually but pointedly ask him what was going on and then gently warn him that his career is at stake if he doesn't clean his act up.
Add to this that fraternisation is punished and you have the situation that Chief is concerned about. Believe me, I have seen it happen many, many times and seldom is there a happy ending unless one of the couple leaves the military altogether. Even then, the Records Department would still post the one who remains in service to another unit and the one who was now the civilian would have to follow them.
The general theory is that there is no class system any more, but there is an unspoken class system still in place in England and it's very much alive and well in the British Military.
Cliff-hangers can be a useful tool if you want to encourage people to read on!
Chapter 19 – You, you & you...panic, the rest come with me"If you see a bomb disposal technician running,
try to keep up with him"
US Army Ordnance manual.
"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never
encountered automatic weapons."
-General Douglas MacArthur
If the forest had been relatively silent before, now one could have heard a pin drop. Kim could feel a trickle of sweat snaking its way down the middle of her back and she surreptitiously changed her sweaty grip on the disgusting sword that Gary had given her when he doled out the available weaponry that they had picked up from the dead creatures.
Granted he had cleaned the black blood and other gross looking substances off it and Melannen had shown her how to sharpen it on one of the rocks, but as a whetstone the rock left a lot to be desired. Kim could hardly lift the heavy sword and very much doubted whether she could do more than poke someone gently in the ribs with it. There was no way the stupid thing would slice through flesh without some great force behind the thrust. A force she didn't think she possessed.
Jim Moore looked less like a policeman and more like a disreputable pirate as the days wore on. He had ripped up part of his shirt and tied it like a bandanna around his head, now all he needed was an eye patch and his hair and beard to get longer and he would resemble Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp on a bad day it had to be noted, but being dark haired and dark eyed, he definitely resembled the actor in his Pirates of the Caribbean role to some degree, especially since he now wielded a rather wicked looking curved sword that looked like a scimitar of sorts.
Strangely enough the Chief wasn't wearing too badly. His uniform was reasonably intact and he hadn't cannibalised any of his clothing, but what had been a light stubble three days ago was now a soft light brown beard liberally streaked with grey. He looked like one of those American GI types who had been on patrol for a couple of weeks, tough and uncompromising. She could well imagine him as a Royal Marine commando.
Kim's elastic for her hair had snapped and fallen off. Despite frantically scrabbling around in the grass for it, the elastic stubbornly refused to be found and after patiently waiting for her to find it Gary had finally snapped.
"For god's sake Sergeant, just leave it. We all look a bloody sight and wouldn't pass muster on parade. Leave your hair down. I promise none of us will tell on you. It looks better down anyway." He added as an aside.
As she lay there in the undergrowth with the long feathery grass tickling her cheek and an exposed tree root digging in her left upper thigh it suddenly occurred to Kim that out of all of them, Gary looked the least dishevelled. Even in a few days his hair had grown a ton and was resting on his collar. She noticed that it was rather a nice sort of golden brown colour and took the opportunity of admiring it while his attention was occupied with staring through the weapon sight at the so far non-existent enemy force.
The thing that Jim and the Chief had that Gary didn't have was a beard. The handsome Major didn't even have a tiny bit of stubble. His skin was as smooth and golden as it had been since the first day she met him. He also looked clean. Kim gazed enviously at him and Melannen who, despite everything he'd been through, also looked almost pristine. Right at that moment, considering she could smell her own bodily odours wafting up at her and her hair was stuck to her head with two days' worth of grease and sweat, she hated both Gary and the Elf with a passion. There was simply no justice in the world
She sighed. What she would give to feel clean and if they didn't hit any kind of civilisation soon she was going to have a whole other problem to worry about, a slight twinge of cramp in her lower abdomen and back heralded the very thing she had spent the last couple of days hoping would go away, or at least be late.
What on earth were they waiting for? It had been at least twenty minutes and there wasn't sign of anyone coming down the path towards them. She manoeuvred onto her side and opened her mouth to suggest that perhaps Melannen had been mistaken.
As if they all had eyes in the back of their heads, Gary, the Chief and Melannen all turned around with one accord, their fingers against their lips in the age old gesture meaning 'shut the fuck up, before you say anything'
Kim scowled ferociously and sank back down. She ignored Jim's expression of sympathy.
Okay, OKAY I get the message. She thought to herself, but also blushed with embarrassment at being reprimanded yet again, this time also by the Chief and Melannen. She hunched resentfully further down in the grass and stared ahead with a mutinous expression on her face.
I've never pretended to be a real soldier. She thought angrily. I'm a clerk for god's sake, a shiny bum. Shiny bums don't go and do roughie toughie soldier things. They dress in skirts and black court shoes. They wander around unit HQ looking decorative, cool, calm and collected. They type, file and make tea.
Once a year she had to do the regimental training stuff just like all the rest of the clerks, drivers and cooks, along with the sick, lame and lazy who were on remedial training. Like everyone else she had to complete an Annual Personal Weapons Test and do her BFT. (1) Once that was over with, the rest of the year she did unit PT on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and pranced around doing Pilates in her spare time. That was the sum total of her involvement with staying fit to fight.
Now here she was, armed to the teeth with a huge fuck-off sword that took both hands to lift, filthy, smelly, pissed off and angry with her companions for being snooty, up their own arseholes and right all the time.
Life sucked.
She hunched down even further and swore that if she got out of this alive, she would never speak to that arrogant, know it all bastard Matthews again as long as she lived.
A fly buzzed in her ear but she didn't dare lift a hand to swat it away in case they all frowned at her again. The trickle of sweat became a rivulet and the twinge of cramp became a stab of pain down the front of her thighs accompanied by a tell tale feeling of dampness in between her legs.
Oh god no. A sensation of panic almost overcame her. Not now. PLEASE not now. She pleaded. But it was in vain. Her treacherous body had betrayed her and her period had come early.
At the same time as this horrid realisation hit Kim, a noise of heavy clumping and shuffling could be heard gradually getting closer to their position.
Gary shifted his aim very slightly. Once again it was a case of making every shot count. He only hoped he could do as well as the Chief had a few hours earlier. He heard Kim's slight indrawn hiss of breath as a party of at least two dozen of those hideous creatures that Melannen called 'orch' came through the trees but didn't have either the time or the heart to tell her to be quiet. All he could do was hope to protect her for as long as he could or at least reach her in time to cut her throat before those creatures did.
This was no stealthy organised group, they weren't even as disciplined as Thadak's motley crew. There was no point man and no 'tail end Charlie', the average four man patrol in Northern Ireland could have taught this bunch of disfigured misfits a thing or two. His nose wrinkled in disgust at the spectacle these things displayed. They were all shapes and sizes, but all had one thing in common beside their leprous and scaly grey skin and sparse matted hair; they all had an animal-like cunning in their eyes that indicated some form of intelligence at least.
There didn't appear to be a leader among them, instead they all milled around aimlessly, scuffling up the dirt and mud from the riverbank, snapping and growling at one another and squabbling amongst themselves. Two of them were especially aggressive and it was only the action of another of the group smacking both of them over the back of the head in turn with the flat of his iron sword that stopped them from killing each other.
At first it appeared that none of the group were aware they were being watched, until the orc that had smacked the other two abruptly held up his hand and gave a peremptory growl in that unintelligible speech of theirs. They all stopped dead and the self-appointed leader sniffed the air cautiously. The first sign of caution any of them had shown since their appearance through the trees.
His gaze swept around the area and finally rested on the bushes and trees where Gary, Melannen and the others were concealed.
He grinned in triumph. "I smell man-flesh! We will eat well tonight." He roared and pointed in the direction of the bushes with his sword. With howls and ululating cries of enthusiasm they advanced en masse towards their prey.
Kim gulped, clutched her sword and prepared to jump to her feet. Beside her she could see Jim preparing to do the same. Melannen was already in a crouching position, his fair face now held a grim and terrible expression and he held his sword in a professional manner that simply screamed 'expert swordsman'. Beside him the Chief was crouched in a similar way, weapon held loosely but confidently.
Gary was the only one who remained in a prone position on the ground. After coming to the conclusion that the horde would be upon them in seconds rather than minutes, he finally gave up on the idea of picking them off like Chief had before. Instead he prepared to stand up and let loose a volley of shots. Desperate situations called for desperate measures and even if it meant using up the precious ammo, he knew that if he didn't cut down the bulk of the attacking group the game would be up.
As the Orcs thundered towards them screaming, howling and brandishing their swords, axes and spears, he suddenly stood up in the long grass and fired a burst at the main body.
The burst of rapid fire from the automatic weapon crackled through the still air and startled the horses carrying Cirdan, Erestor, Rion and Noruthalion along with a further twenty warriors from Ereinion's main battle group.
Cirdan cursed as his horse spooked and side-stepped, threatening to unseat him. Erestor and the others were having similar difficulties. Elven horses were usually very tractable and amiable, a few gentle words could calm them, but being intelligent animals they could certainly tell when a noise was out of place.
And there was no doubt at all that the rattling of gunfire was not a sound that had any place or business being in Middle-earth in the First Age.
"What in the name of Eru was that?" Rion's face had gone quite pale. Noruthalion managed to get his horse under control and grabbed for the bridle of Rion's horse to help settle it down.
Celebrimbor urged his horse forward until he was beside Cirdan who was scowling at his horse's neck. Like all Elves Cirdan loved animals and was no stranger to horses, but was far more at home on the deck of a ship or stripped to the waist building a ship in the dry dock than he was on horseback. He looked up at Celebrimbor and noted with dry amusement that the Feanorian's face was alight with a fire reminiscent of his infamous grandfather.
"That was one of the strange weapons." Celebrimbor announced. "I am convinced of it. The mortals must be under attack. We should go and help them."
Cirdan gave him a measured glance. "Do you have the other weapon with you or did you leave it behind with the High King?"
Celebrimbor flushed guiltily. He fumbled in his saddlebag and pulled out Kim's assault rifle. "I have it here." He said apologetically. "Gil-galad never said to leave it with him. But it is useless without the projectiles and some method of propelling them." His voice trailed off lamely.
Cirdan shook his head and expelled an exasperated sigh. "Never mind. It is too late to take it back now. Put it back in the bag. I agree we must help but given what you have said the weapon's capabilities are, and if that sound was one of them being fired, do we really want to risk just riding in there without knowing what we are riding into? Whoever is using the weapon, it was fired to both to protect and kill, who knows whether we would be the next target if we just go thundering in there without knowledge. Erestor?"
The slim dark-haired Noldo looked at him and smiled. "Lord Cirdan?"
"I can think of no one better qualified to sneak around and obtain some intelligence than you, my friend. Go and do your stuff."
Erestor gave a snort of laughter. "Sneak? Do my stuff? What are you inferring Lord Cirdan?" He arched an eloquent eyebrow in mocking enquiry but only met Cirdan's implacable pale blue gaze, so he slid off his horse and removed his cloak which he folded and placed in his pack. Underneath the dark folds of cloth he was dressed simply in green and grey. A sword hung in a simple leather scabbard on his left side and a long carved bone handled knife rested in a leather sheath under his right arm.
Within moments he had blended into the trees like a wisp of insubstantial smoke.
"What now?" Celebrimbor asked testily. He was itching to get a glimpse of one of these enticing weapons in action.
Cirdan relaxed and patted the horse's neck. "Now we wait."
Celebrimbor sighed despondently and slumped in the saddle.
By the time Erestor had made his way through the trees to the riverbank, firing had stopped and hand-to-hand combat was in full swing. His sharp eyes swept around the scene in front of him and his drew his sword from the scabbard. There was no time to go back and fetch Cirdan and the others to help, he just had to hope that when he didn't come back, they would realise and ride up.
About a half a dozen dead Orcs were strewn across the path, cut down in the hail of bullets from the rifle, but Gary had now slung it on his back and had picked up the Orc battleaxe he had selected for himself when the first screaming Orc reached him. With one powerful swing he decapitated the Orc and clove the head of the next one, then he pivoted around and buried it in the chest of the Orc who had rushed up behind him hoping to catch him off guard.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the Chief making a very good account of himself with his sword, he was hacking, thrusting and slashing as if he been using the weapon all of his life.
If there had been time or a lull in the fighting Gary would have stood and watched the elegant dance that Melannen was doing as he efficiently and gracefully dispatched his opponents. There was a fierce light in the bright eyes and his hair swung like a golden banner in the dappled sunlight piercing the leaves. As it was Gary could only mentally salute and admire the apparent ease with which the Elf fought.
Then he remembered Kim and her vulnerability and the blow that he struck a thin faced, particularly vicious-looking Orc faltered and glanced off the metal and leather armour rather than slicing through it. The Orc screeched in triumph and thrust his sword towards Gary's midriff. Melannen saw it happen and let out a gasp of dismay, but he simply wasn't close enough to help out.
What happened next was witnessed by not only the Chief and Melannen, but also Erestor who had stepped out from behind the trees and was preparing to join the fray. Gary seemed to grow in height and the glow from his skin became almost too bright to look at. Almost swifter than the speed of light, too swift for a mere human, a powerful arm reached out, grabbed the Orc by his skinny throat and shook him like a terrier shaking a rat. Dark blue eyes blazed with a radiant light and the mouth that could smile so beautifully twisted with cold anger.
The creature gazed into that terrible visage and knew that his last moments in Middle-earth had arrived. The sword dropped from his numb fingers, but did not fall to the ground. Gary caught it before it landed and thrust it deep into its owner's innards.
Melannen laughed with joy. His suspicions regarding Gary were confirmed as far as he was concerned. This was indeed Eonwe, even if his memories were damaged somehow. Only two races had that kind of speed of movement and sheer physical strength, Elves or the Maiar. He gave Gary a brief salute with his sword and then sprang back into the battle.
The Chief didn't have time to stop and watch the spectacle, but he was suddenly struck with the absurd notion that Gary had metamorphosed into an ancient, magical warrior in front of his very eyes. Sweat dribbled down his face and his vision blurred slightly. Through the blur he saw one of the Orcs bearing down on him, axed raised and in that moment thought his time was finally up. He flung the battered shield he was carrying up in front of his face and braced himself for the blow. After what felt like an eternity, the threatened blow still hadn't fallen and instead he found himself being steadied on his feet by a slim, but immensely strong hand.
His startled gaze met dark, jewel-like eyes. Long lustrous dark hair braided back in the same fashion as Melannen's framed a slender face of such delicate beauty that it literally socked all the breath out of him. The Elf smiled and spoke to him. Chief managed a tremulous smile back and gestured that he didn't understand. Erestor raised an eyebrow and nodded in brief understanding. He placed a hand briefly on the Chief's arm as though acknowledging a fellow warrior and the next instant they were fighting side by side as if they had been comrades forever.
Kim and Jim Moore had their own problems. He had stuck by her side fighting off whoever came near them single-handedly, knowing that her upper arm strength was limited, far more limited than a man's. She had almost frozen to the spot with terror when one of the Orcs spotted her and made a beeline for her. Jim cut him down with a killing blow from the scimitar and surprised himself with his efficiency. As the Orc crumpled in a heap at his feet, Jim lifted the weapon and looked at it with surprise on his face, as though it had done the killing all on its own without his help.
The hesitation nearly cost him his life. He saw Kim's eyes widen with fright and half turned in time to see another Orc only feet away aiming a thick spear at him. He ducked to one side dragging Kim with him and they fell to the ground as the spear whistled past uncomfortably close to them. Jim fell heavily to the ground on his side and was momentarily winded, Kim fell to her knees and managed to scramble to her feet as the spear wielding Orc drew his sword and thundered up to them intent on skewering the dazed Jim into the ground.
A haze of anger passed across Kim. "NO!" She screamed and hefted the huge sword in both hands. The orc ignored her and started to bring down the sword in a wide arc that would virtually cut Jim in two. Iron met iron with a dulling clanging sound as Kim managed to parry the powerful blow more by good luck and desperation than good management. The reverberation from the impact thrummed painfully through her arms and into her shoulders but she was so angry that she took no notice of it. With a defiant scream she took a step back and the blades disengaged, but before the surprised Orc could recover and lunge at her, she thrust her sword with a hiss of fury directly into his gut and turned it with all the strength she had in her arms.
As the dying Orc fell forwards, the weight of his body pushed the sword all the way through until the tip appeared through the cracked leather of his armour at the back. A massive gout of thick black blood sprayed out. Kim gasped and let go of the sword hilt then jumped back just as the Orc's heavy body threatened to bear her down to the ground with it.
Gary, Erestor and Melannen saw it happen, but none of them were close enough to aid her. Gary's feeling of utter desperation and horror when he saw Jim on the ground and Kim on her knees reached depths thus far unplumbed. He despatched the two creatures he was fighting and leapt towards Kim, even as Erestor and Melannen did the same. The Chief killed the remaining Orc, but not before he had been slashed down his left forearm with a sharp knife that rent clean through his thick combat jacket and left raw bleeding flesh exposed almost down to the bone. He flung his sword down, dropped to his knees and grasped his arm. His face was a mask of pain.
By the time Gary and the others reached Kim, she was standing still, staring blindly down at her victim's body, which had the sword still firmly stuck through it.
Melannen gently grasped Kim by her arm and turned her to him. Gary bent down to Jim and spoke to him, trying to make sure that he was in one piece while Erestor stood by quietly with a look of puzzlement in his eyes.
Kim's eyes were blank. She stared up at him dully. "I killed him." She said in a toneless voice.
Gary helped Jim to his feet and stared at Erestor. Finally he nodded. "Le hannon." He said quietly. Erestor inclined his head and smiled, but said nothing further; instead his bright, bird-like gaze flickered from one person to the other in fascination.
"I killed him." Kim repeated and a concerned look passed across Melannen's face. He didn't understand what she was saying, but he knew enough to realise that she was just saying the same thing. He looked over at Gary helplessly.
"Are you okay?" Gary asked Jim who nodded.
"Yeah. I'll live. I was just winded." He jerked his head towards Kim. "Go and see to her Gary, she's in shock."
Gary stepped over to Kim's side, gently cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face so that she was looking directly at him. The blank look had left her eyes; but they were now awash with tears and her bottom lip was wobbling.
"I killed him." She repeated.
"Yes you did Sergeant, and that was very well done of you." He said softly, brushing her sticky hair away from her forehead and tucking it behind her ear.
A faint smile replaced the worried expression on Melannen's face and he left Kim in Gary's capable hands while he went to speak to Erestor who had gone over to examine the Chief who was sitting on the ground nursing his blood soaked arm.
"I killed him." Kim didn't seem to be able to stop saying it in that tiny hopeless voice and Gary's heart split in two. He would have given anything to protect her from all of this, but when the chips were down she had come through and shown her quality.
"It's okay Kim. It's okay to feel bad." He kept his voice low and reassuring. "The first is always the worst."
She burst into tears, bent double and promptly threw up all over his boots.