13 Day War (39 page)

Colonel Rotti slowly dragged the general’s body to the root cluster and leaned him against the roots to keep his head up and away from the surface of the water. He then positioned himself next to the general and began to think of how the wild ride was going to end. The river was now much wider than it had been the previous fall and there were steep banks on both sides. Leaving their raft and swimming to the riverbank was not an option, and not just because of the general’s fear of water. Swimming in the river right now was a dangerous gambit. The hundreds of floating bodies nearby attested to that. The current was far too strong, and the flow was littered with trees and other deadly debris. He wondered if he could in some way maneuver the tree as if it were a raft. It was fairly steady in the water, not pitching or rolling as it might have. The colonel turned and stared at the roots, looking for something he would use as an oar or tiller, but the roots were thick and massive. With just a knife, he was not going to be able to cut through any of them. He sighed and returned his gaze forward.

“We are alive,” General Somma said with a sense of wonder.

“So far,” Colonel Rotti said with a grin. Despite the precarious situation that they were in, he was thrilled to hear the general’s voice. “The next trick will be getting back to dry land.”

“How did you know that the dam would burst?”

“I saw the oxen pulling it apart,” answered the colonel.

“I don’t understand,” frowned the general. “The Alceans destroyed their own dam just to flood us?”

“It is worse than that, General,” sighed Colonel Rotti. “The Alceans built that dam just to destroy us. That is why it was built so crudely. It was never meant to last. I should have suspected the truth when I first saw that chain attached to it.”

For several moments, neither of the soldiers spoke, then the general looked the colonel in the eye with shock on his face.

“That means that the Alceans knew that we were coming this way.”

Colonel Rotti nodded. “And they have known for a long time. Even such a crude dam would take a long time to build. They must have started that dam just after Kerk and I passed through here last fall.”

The dead tree shuddered and screams rang out nearby. The colonel stuck his head up to see what was going on, but he could not see the front end of their raft. Moments later, fresh-killed bodies floated by on both sides in swirls of blood, and Rotti understood the screams. Some soldiers had been unfortunate enough to get in the path of the racing dead tree. The incident caused the colonel to ponder about the stability of the tree. When he had run the rope around it before the dam burst, he had noticed a large branch on the opposite side, and he assumed that the branch was now acting like a keel, giving the raft some sense of stability, but what would happen when men tried to scramble aboard, especially if they all chose to climb up the same side? The colonel decided to prepare for such an event. He gathered the slack coil of rope between the general and himself and pulled his knife again.

“What are you doing?” the general asked fearfully.

“We needed a lot of rope before so that we could wrap it around this big tree,” explained the colonel, “but we don’t need quite so much now. I still want to keep you tied to me just in case one of us gets thrown in the water, but we have far more rope than we need. I am going to cut out a large portion of it and use it to help other survivors get aboard our raft. If I don’t, they might capsize us in their haste to get on.”

The general merely nodded as Rotti cut the rope and retied himself to the general. The colonel then tied one of the ends of the long rope to a thick root in the center of the root structure. He neatly coiled the rest of rope and placed it in front of him where it would be handy to throw to a survivor. Moments later, the tree shuddered again, and another chorus of screams rose from in front of them. Colonel Rotti grimaced thinking of the poor men struck by the giant tree. He stared carefully at the water on his side of the tree, hoping to spot a survivor that he could throw the rope to, but he saw none. Only bodies floated by.

Unexpectedly, the tree suddenly rolled to the right. Colonel Rotti instinctively reached and grabbed the general before he slid off into the water. The colonel frowned as he saw a pair of hands pulling on the roots on the other side of the general. It was someone trying to climb aboard, and their method would surely spin the tree and dump everyone into the water.

“Wait!” shouted the colonel. “I have a rope I can throw you. Do not try to climb up the side, you will toss us into the water. Get behind us, and I will throw you the rope.”

The man paid no attention to the colonel’s words. He frantically clawed at the roots, trying to scramble up them. Colonel Rotti took the coil of rope and tossed it high into the air, letting the wind carry it over the root structure so that it was now trailing behind the tree.

“There is a rope trailing behind us,” shouted Colonel Rotti. “Grab onto it, and I will pull you aboard.”

“Stop playing around, Rotti, and throw me the rope. That is an order.”

The colonel’s eyes grew wide as he recognized the voice of General Franz. General Somma immediately reached for the knife on Rotti’s belt, but the colonel stayed his hand.

“This is my duty, General,” Rotti said softly, ignoring the continued angry shouts of General Franz.

“No, Colonel,” Somma said with determination as he pushed away the colonel’s hand and took the knife from its sheath. “If this is the last thing I do with my life, it is something that I must do. I will not allow him to survive this and live to torment other soldiers under him. He must be removed from command, and I am the person to do it.”

The colonel frowned as General Somma moved to cut the rope tying the two of them together. “What are you doing?”

“I will not drag you to your death after all you have done for me,” answered Somma. “You are as fine a man as I have ever known, Rotti. Farewell.”

Colonel Rotti gasped. He finally understood what the Spinoan general had in mind. Somma was going to throw himself into the water so that he could get close enough to kill Franz. Somma would, of course, die in the process. Rotti reached out and seized the general’s wrist before he could sever the rope. General Somma stared at the colonel with confusion. The colonel smiled thinly.

“If you have the guts to throw yourself into the water,” stated the colonel, “I have the guts to hang onto one of these roots and haul you back up. Leave us tied together.”

The Spinoan general hesitated only a moment before nodding in agreement. Rotti rose, helped the general to his feet, and then wrapped his arms around the biggest root he could reach.

“You are in command,” Rotti said softly.

General Somma nodded and walked forward as far as the rope allowed. When he could go no further, he turned to the right and walked until he slipped off the tree and into the water. The tree immediately lurched to the right as the weight of both generals pulled it over. Colonel Rotti hung onto the root, his arms aching from the effort. After a moment, the tree pitched back a bit. He bit his lips anxiously as he waited for some sign of the outcome.

“Pull me up if you can,” said the voice of General Somma.

Rotti pulled the general onto the tree, and they both sat down exhausted. Neither of them spoke. A moment later a voice spoke to them.

“Hail soldiers of the Federation. Those of you who have survived the flood will be given a chance to surrender. There are chains stretched across the river up ahead. If you wish to surrender, drop your weapons in the river and use the chains to get to the left bank. You will not be harmed. Should you choose to stay in the river, or try to flee via the right bank, you will be killed.”

The two Federation officers looked at each other with questioning expressions. They could not tell where the voice was coming from.

Finally, Somma shouted and pointed up. “There! It is a tiny creature!”

Rotti looked up and saw a tiny, winged woman with blue skin. She started repeating the same message. The colonel also heard echoes of the message coming from every direction. “What are you?” he shouted.

The tiny woman gazed down at him and said, “There is no time to talk now. Make your choice quickly. The first of the chains is coming up.”

The tiny woman flew overhead and disappeared. Rotti turned to look for her, but the sight of the roots distracted him. He frowned deeply. If there was a chain across the river, it would either be too high for them to reach or it would be low enough for the tree to get stuck. Either way, they would not be able to simply reach up and grab the chain as they passed under it.

“The Alceans are serious,” gasped General Somma. “Look at the right bank. There are archers there ready to kill anyone coming that way. This trap is well planned.”

Colonel Rotti glanced at the right bank and saw the archers. He frowned and began pulling in the trailing rope. When he had it all coiled up, he cut the rope binding him to the general. He moved forward and frantically worked the hook out of the tree and carried it back to his place near the roots as fast as he could. He tied the free end of the rope to the hook and then untied the other end from the roots.

“What are you planning?” asked the general.

“I am not sure yet,” answered the colonel. “The little woman said the first of the chains is coming up. That means there is more than one chain across the river. I am thinking of using the grappling hook to snare one of the chains off to the left side of our raft. If I can do that, I will pass the end of the rope to you so that you can climb it to safety.”

“What about you?” asked the general.

“I will think up something else for myself,” answered the colonel. “I will figure out a way to snare the second chain.”

“You had better hurry then,” the general replied with a sense of urgency as he pointed forward.

Rotti turned toward the front of the raft and saw the chain ahead of them. Strands of chain hung down from the main chain at intervals to enable men in the water to grab onto, but the main chain was so low that the tree would not be able to pass under it.

“Get ready to ram that chain,” shouted Rotti as he grabbed the nearest root and clung to it. “We are going to stop rather abruptly.”

Both men braced for the collision, but nothing happened. The colonel frowned in confusion and looked forward. His eyes widened as he saw the chain high in the air. Just above it was a tiny green man. He looked up at the creature as the tree sailed under the chain.

“They are using magic,” remarked the general. “That little man is raising the chain without touching it. Unbelievable!”

Rotti agreed, but he was more concerned with getting to land. He shouted up at the little green man. “How are we to get to shore if you raise the chain out of reach?”

“Get off the tree,” replied the tiny creature. “I cannot let the chain be snagged. There is another chain coming up soon.”

“We can’t get off the tree,” Rotti shouted back. “The general cannot swim.”

The chain passed overhead and then it was magically lowered. Rotti shook his head in frustration. The creature had not bothered to answer him. A moment later, the little green man darted down from the sky and hovered before the colonel.

“Did you say general?” asked the green man. “Is he General Franz or General Somma?”

“I am General Somma,” stated the Spinoan general. The disappointment showed on the little creature’s face. “General Franz is dead.”

“He is dead?” brightened the little creature. “Then you are in charge?”

General Somma raised an eyebrow. He had not actually thought about it, but he was indeed in charge now. He nodded.

“If you are willing to surrender,” the little man said excitedly, “I will take you to shore.”

“I am willing to surrender,” replied the general, “but I am not leaving without Colonel Rotti. You will take us both to shore.”

The creature frowned. “I can only do one at a time. I will have to come back for the colonel.”

“I can get off by myself, General,” stated Rotti. “If this creature can get you to shore without drowning you, take him up on his offer.”

“The general will not drown,” promised the little man. “I will levitate him to shore. I will come back for you, but If you wish to meet with him on shore, you must grab the third chain. I am not sure if I can return that quickly.”

Colonel Rotti nodded. “Take the general to shore, and do not mistreat him. I will get the third chain.”

The little man nodded enthusiastically and darted directly over the general. As the colonel watched, General Somma rose off the dead tree and floated towards the left bank. Before he was out of sight, another green man appeared in front of the colonel.

“I was told to bring you to shore,” stated the little man. “Are you surrendering?”

“I am,” answered the colonel. “Please take me to shore.”

Colonel Rotti felt his feet lift off the tree, and he shook his head in wonder.

“What kind of creature are you?” he asked the little green man. “If you cannot talk and carry me at the same time, no answer is required. I have had enough time in the water for one day.”

The little man laughed. “I am a fairy. I am called Drobny and carrying you is no great chore. You weigh nothing compared to the chain.”

“Are there many of your kind in Alcea?” asked the colonel.

Drobny frowned. “You are the enemy. I should not talk of such things. You will have to ask Rut-ki if you have any more questions.”

“Rut-ki?” the colonel asked with a raised eyebrow. “Is that a common name in Lanoir?”

“I do not think so,” answered the fairy. “I only know of one Rut-ki. There she is now.”

Colonel Rotti looked down at the riverbank. There were thousands of Lanoirian soldiers and hundreds of wagons, but he recognized Rut-ki instantly. Drobny set him down next to General Somma who was already talking to Rut-ki.

“The fairies can project an image of you to your soldiers,” Rut-ki said. “The message will be delivered in your own voice, with your exact words. I hope that you agree to send such a message. We do not want to kill any more of your men than we have to.”