The Reluctant Warrior (10 page)

Jed followed him cautiously through the door; stepping over the dead bodies of the two guards he stopped just long enough to note that Jurgens had used a knife in a very expert manner on them. He must have used all his years of experience to creep up on them and take them out, as they would have been on full alert, Montrose having impressed upon them the importance of Jed not escaping.

“This way,” Jurgens moved stealthily down a long corridor, his pistol drawn just in case. Stopping at the exit he peered cautiously out into the compound. “If we skirt around the building opposite us we’ll be screened from the guards,” he explained. “I’ve got a ladder next to the wall.” Motioning to Jed to follow he made a break for the shadows of the next building.

Jed followed, so far, so good. Jurgens had really planned this out. His understanding of where the guards would be at any given time was really coming into play.

“Right,” Jurgens said, when Jed had joined him, “a guard should be passing by on the wall right about now.”

Jed’s eyes were glued to the top of the wall. Right on cue a guard strolled nonchalantly by, rifle in hand and whistling softly to himself.

“The next one is due in exactly two minutes,” Jurgens informed him. “I know it’s asking a lot of you in the knocked up state you’re in, but are you up to scaling that ladder and getting down the other side that quick?”

“Could do it in my sleep,” Jed said confidently.

Jurgens made a dash for the wall with Jed hot on his heels, together they propped the ladder against the obstacle and like two frightened squirrels scurried frantically to the top, then dragging the ladder up and flipping it to the other side they were down in double quick time.

Jurgens lay the ladder on the ground hard up against the wall. “Quick,” he said, grabbing Jed and pushing him against the wall seconds before a guard passed overhead. “That was close. Come on let’s put some distance between us and them before they realize you’re gone.”

The two jogged out into the prairie, Jed leading the way. Face throbbing or not he couldn’t help feeling euphoric at the fact he had escaped and that Montrose would be furious. After about a mile and a half Jed slowed down to a brisk walk. “Sorry,” he apologized, “I didn’t think I could keep that pace up for much longer.”

“Give yourself a chance to recover,” Jurgens suggested, “then we’ll pick up the pace again. We must get as far away as quickly as possible.”

“So what made Montrose a renegade,” Jed asked, between breaths.

“The absence of all authority I suppose. Without any of his superiors here it dawned on him he could set up his own state governed by his own set of rules. That would be enough motive for most men of rank I guess.”

“Could have done it without all the killing and rape,” Jed pointed out. “A benevolent leader will get more out of the people than a despot ever does.”

Jurgens shrugged his shoulders. “Not Montrose’s style I guess. How much further is it to your village?”

“Quite a journey yet I’m afraid.”

“How many warriors are there in the village?”

“Over five hundred would be a conservative estimate.”

“Plus the division you came in with.”

“No, that was just a ruse I used to put Montrose off his guard,” Jed explained. “I figured if he believed I had a whole division of trained soldiers with me he might be reluctant to attack.”

Jurgens closed his eyes and chuckled. “It’s not often that wily old fox is fooled. He won’t like it when he finds out he has been.”

“Hopefully he won’t.”

As soon as Jed had recovered they took to jogging again, this time Jed managing to keep it up until they had reached the river several miles on.

“We have to cross the river and enter the forest at that point between those two towering rocks,” Jed explained, pointing out a spot half a mile distant.

“How far is it from there?”

“A couple of miles into the forest, it’ll take us three hours or so, the forest is pretty dense in places.”

“Let’s stop for a drink first then,” Jurgens suggested. “I don’t fancy going that long without one.” He unbuckled his holster and sitting it on a rock knelt down to quench his thirst.

Something about the gun suddenly disturbed Jed. What was a mere private doing with an officer’s pistol? He quietly drew it from its holster and turned it over in his hands as he thought about it some more. What was that etched on the butt? Lieutenant Thomas Jackson. The name rang a bell…of course; back at the destroyed base he had stuffed a list of Montrose’s men into his backpack along with the maps, and then later on when he had got it out to look at it during a moment of boredom what name should jump out at him? None other than Lieutenant Thomas Jackson who just happened to be Montrose’s second in command.

It was all falling into place now. Jed had thought it was foolish for Montrose to only have two guards in the building where he was held captive. The colonel was experienced; he wouldn’t make a mistake like that. Nor would the compound be as lightly guarded as it was. It became all too clear to him; this fellow was Montrose’s plant. The plan obviously being that once he had helped Jed to escape Jackson would be led straight to the Noragin village. Silently berating himself for his gullibility he stretched out his arm and pointed the pistol at Jackson. “Lieutenant…Thomas…Jackson,” he said coldly.

Jackson’s water-filled hand froze halfway to his mouth, and then straightening up he slowly turned to face Jed.

“It would be just like Montrose to sacrifice two of his own men for the greater good of his evil plan,” Jed said.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Jackson answered calmly.

“Those guards didn’t see anything out of the ordinary when their superior officer came to see the prisoner did they, Jackson.” Jed kept the gun trained on the lieutenant’s chest. “But you had to kill them to convince me it was a legitimate escape.”

“You’ve got this all wrong.”

“Have I? How did you know I was a major? When you came in through that cell door you addressed me as Major Rand. I wasn’t in uniform, and Montrose wouldn’t have told you if you were a mere private would he?” Jed could see Jackson was searching for an answer but he wasn’t about to let him off the hook. “That escape was too easy, Jackson. It was a set-up between you and Montrose.”

“Look,” Jackson said, taking a step forward.

“Just stay where you are,” Jed ordered.

“You don’t understand the situation. This is a world in chaos. It needs some order.”

“You got that right,” Jed responded angrily. “And it’s Charles Montrose who created that chaos.”

“Charles could do with a man like you,” Jackson persuaded. “Between the three of us we could rule this entire world. No person in the history of this entire planet has ever achieved such a feat.”

“I want nothing to do with your sick plan, Jackson. And do you honestly think Montrose is going to keep you around once he’s achieved his goal?”

“Just put the gun away and we can discuss this,” Jackson said, with frustration creeping into his voice.

“There’s nothing to discuss,” Jed said adamantly. “You and Montrose are both traitors to the United States of America and need to be stopped.”

“So what do you plan to do with me?” Jackson asked nervously.

“I can’t take you to the village they would think I had turned on them if I brought their enemy into their midst. They would kill us both.”

“Let me go then, you’re safe now, you can return to your village a hero.”

“I can’t do that…you know too much. You know where my people are now.”

In that moment Jackson knew his fate was sealed so made a desperate lunge for the gun. Jed hesitated only a split second before he pulled the trigger. He didn’t need to fire again; he knew that Lieutenant Thomas Jackson was dead before he hit the ground.

If he hadn’t experienced super hero status before he was certainly experiencing it now. Like Daniel surviving the lion’s den he was being feted not only in his own village but throughout the many Noragin and Skraeling villages in the forest and mountain strongholds. But he had one up on the prophet Daniel, he had not only escaped from the clutches of Montrose but he had managed to take out the evil lieutenant Jackson in the process.

Amora was more in love with him than ever, as was nearly every other woman in the village it seemed. He wasn’t used to this level of adulation; Cassie had always kept his head well and truly out of the clouds. But here, it was different. Here he was elevated to the status of legendary warrior.

He had given some thought to some questions he had been confused about since being back in the village. Questions concerning Montrose’s 1947 base, why Jackson thought he could just waltz into the village without being recognized, and why Montrose had been suddenly so desperate to discover the whereabouts of all the Noragin and Skraeling villages.

The answer to the first question was easy; Montrose had staged the destruction of his original base himself. It hadn’t been attacked by the Noragin at all. In fact, Jed had no doubt that the Noragin arrowheads they had seen scattered all over the place had been deliberately planted there by Montrose. Why would he want it to look like he had been attacked? Jed knew the answer lay in the fact that Montrose had very early on made the decision to take over this world. To do that he had to sever all ties to those who had the power to stop him. The problem was, once he had cut those ties the powers that be might send an expedition in to find out why. Finding a burnt out base and primitive weapons scattered everywhere would convince them that Montrose and all his men were dead. Hopefully, they would leave, probably never to return to a land they considered to be inhabited by nothing but primitive savages. That would leave the colonel free to carry out his diabolical plan.

The answer to the second question was a little trickier. What really had been Jackson’s plan? Had he intended to walk into the village and pass himself off as a deserter now on the side of the Noragin? Would it have been possible for him to pull it off? Jed didn’t think so. Montrose and the Noragin had been in close contact in the early years of the colonel’s arrival. Jackson would have been well known to the Noragin, so there would have been no way they would have accepted Montrose’s second in command as one of their own after the atrocities he had committed against their people.

So what had he been thinking? Jed was convinced Jackson had planned to kill him as soon as he had led him close enough to the village for him to know for sure where it was. Then Montrose would have attacked it, taken it, and tortured some of the children until they told him where the other villages lay.

Why was Montrose so desperate to destroy the villages so quickly? Jed wasn’t positive but he suspected it had something to do with the lie he had sold to Montrose under interrogation. If Montrose believed a superior strike force was about to be launched against him his only hope would be to destroy not only Jed and his phantom division but also anyone else who might tell of what he had been up to. Then, when the U.S. forces landed he could tell them he had never heard of Major Jed Rand, and had in fact been living here peacefully all these years wondering why the outside world had cut all contact with him. Ten days was all the time he believed he had to accomplish the complete annihilation of the Noragin and their allies, but to a fanatic like Montrose that would be enough time to persuade him to at least try.

Although the death of Thomas Jackson would be a major blow to Montrose’s plans Jed knew the man wouldn’t give up that easily. He would launch an immediate and extensive search for the villages when Jackson didn’t return, using all the manpower available to him. He needed to find just one village to discover the whereabouts of all the others. Then they would fall like dominoes.

The news came through by runner two days later. Montrose had discovered a Noragin village in the high mountains to the south and was besieging the palisade walls. It wouldn’t be long before he broke through.

Jed gathered all the men together in the longhouse and stood atop a bench to address them. “My friends,” he began, “today we have been given the task of breaking the yoke of the Sky-Gods from our necks. Yes, we are outnumbered, and they have many thunder sticks while we have few. But we are all Noragin warriors with wives and children, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters we would die for before we would see them murdered or enslaved by Montrose and his men.” He paused long enough for his words to take effect. “We must fight like we have never fought before. And remember; show no mercy for none will be shown to you.”

Amora came to see him before he left. “It seems we are destined never to spend time together,” she said sadly. “I had hoped I would have you to myself for a while when you came back.”

“I had hoped the same thing,” he said tenderly, “but Montrose won’t give us any rest. Maybe when this day’s events are over we’ll spend some time together.”

She nodded, but he knew she didn’t believe it was going to happen, and so drawing her into his arms he kissed her. It was neither a passionate nor a brotherly kiss, its intention being to let her know he considered her to be his. “When I come back,” he promised, placing his cheek against hers.

The six hour trek to the besieged village in the mountains gave Jed plenty of time to mull over what he was going to do when he arrived there. He had five hundred men with him whereas Montrose would probably have several thousand. What could he do? He didn’t have time to rally the other villages, and if Montrose took this one he would soon have the information he needed to find all the villages. Jed mentally tallied up his arsenal. Ten rifles, plus the mounted machine gun he had salvaged from the chopper before burning it. There were a couple of hundred rounds of ammo with that. But what good would that be against several thousand men?

What else did he have? One hundred bowmen and about fifty who could toss an accurate spear.

They were going to need a small miracle to pull this one off. By the time they had arrived at the ridge overlooking the village Jed had all but given up hope, however what he saw when he looked down on the fortified village changed his mind. Montrose had made a glaring mistake, and Jed could scarcely believe it. He had split his force in two, his Yakros allies he had deployed in a frontal assault on the village wall while his own men he had sent to the rear of the village to attack where they would be least expected.

The plan may have been a good one if it weren’t for the fact that Jed had turned up. Why Montrose hadn’t posted a scout on the ridge to keep an eye out for possible attack in that direction puzzled him. It left the Yakros completely exposed to enemy fire. Jed thought it over. Was it really a mistake on Montrose’s part or just a clever ruse? “What do you make of it?” he asked Jonathon.

“It seems too good to be true to me.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“On the other hand, he’s used to being fairly unopposed and so it could just be an oversight.”

“A mighty big oversight,” Jed pointed out. “But we’ve no choice; we must attack even if it is a set up.”

Montrose’s men were advancing only very slowly over the rocky terrain towards the rear of the village even though the frontal assault was in full swing, so if he could just wreak a little havoc amongst them he may be able to panic the Yakros enough to make them withdrew.

“Mount that machine gun here,” Jed ordered, “and I need bowmen to take up their positions beside me.” He turned his attention back to the scene below. The Yakros were attempting to erect scaling ladders against the palisades despite stiff opposition from the guns but the bowmen also. If he were to rain down a couple of volleys first before opening up with the guns the carnage would be even greater. The Yakros wouldn’t even hear the arrows coming.

On Jed’s signal the air came alive with its deadly cargo, the bowmen sending a second volley within seconds of the first. “Now,” he shouted, giving his riflemen the order to fire. Pointing the machine gun at the swarming bodies he pumped the rounds into them as fast as the weapon could suck the ammo through.

The effect was as he had hoped. Hammered by the onslaught from an unexpected quarter the Yakros broke ranks and fled. A quick glance at Montrose’s men revealed they had halted their advance, obviously at pains to figure out where the gunfire was coming from. With the Yakros gone Jed must get down to the village immediately, it was imperative to evacuate the village before Montrose brought in fresh troops for another attack. His heart was racing; this was definitely seat of your pants warfare. So far every skirmish had gone Jed’s way, and he silently prayed as he set out for the village that this time would be no exception.

As he descended the slope Jed kept an eye on Montrose’s position. He appeared unsure of what to do, if his inactivity was anything to judge by. Maybe he was trying to figure out what Jed was trying to do before he acted. Whatever his reason, it was his second mistake, for if Montrose had set out immediately he would have been able to cut him off and then with his superior fire power it would have soon been all over. But Montrose did nothing; he let Jed reach the safety of the walls.

“Organize everyone to move out as soon as possible,” Jed told Erik. “We’ll take everyone back to our village.”

Jed climbed the wall to check on Montrose. He had resumed his advance. Why? Jed couldn’t understand it. The Yakros were gone and the element of surprise had gone with them. Montrose knew that his attack was going to meet with very strong resistance.

Jed mounted the gun on the wall and waited. He had fifty rounds left for the big gun and about one hundred for the rifles, so they would have to make every shot count. He let them get to within forty yards of the wall before he opened fire, felling at least fifty of Montrose’s men in the opening salvo and many more in their hasty retreat. The attempt had been completely futile and Montrose’s abilities as a commander highly over rated. He had made basic errors that even a novice would not have made.

He sent thirty men out with Jonathon to collect the rifles and ammunition belts from the slain.

They would give Jed much more fire power, and they were going to need it. Jed and Erik had the village assembled at the gate when Jonathon came back. “Those dead men out there,” he said, taking Jed aside, “are in army uniforms but they’re not Montrose’s men, they’re Yakros.”

Jed’s heart skipped a beat. That was why they had been so easy to defeat. Montrose hadn’t made any mistakes at all; he had displayed the brilliance of a Napoleon.

“What does it mean, Jed?”

Jed placed his hands on his head as the awful truth sank in. “It means he’s attacked our village,” he said shakily.

Jonathon’s confusion turned to fear. “But we’ve got all the warriors here there’s no one there to defend the village.”

Jed watched the captured rifles being distributed amongst the Noragin. So this attack had been a ruse after all. Montrose must have been keeping an eye on the forest and knowing word would reach them of the attack on this village waited until he saw Jed march out to help it. It wouldn’t take him more than half a day to find the village, and with only old men and women for defense it would be easy pickings. He would torture one of the children to tell him where all the Noragin and Skraeling villages were, and by dressing the Yakros in army uniforms he had bought himself precious time to carry out his campaign. He knew that if Jed had breached that ridge and seen only Yakros below he would have turned tail and scampered straight back, maybe even arriving in time to defend the village. This way Montrose had suffered no casualties amongst his trained men.

“We need to get back there right now,” Jonathon said with determination.

Jed shook his head. “It’s too late. Montrose will already have taken the village.”

“We can’t just stay here and do nothing,” Jonathon said desperately. “My Anna is back there. So are Rex, Amora, and Frida.”

“We are going to do something, Jonathon,” Jed said firmly. “Just not back at the village.”

“What then?”

“Montrose will be expecting us to head straight back to the village. By the time we get there he’ll be well on his way back to the fortress.”

“So we go after him?”

“No, we get ahead of him. It’s the last thing he’ll be expecting. If we can find a good spot we can ambush him.”

“What if he’s already killed everyone?”

“He may have killed the old men and women, but he’ll want the boys for future warriors, and the young women and girls for his men.”

“What about Rex?”

“I think he’ll be all right for now. Montrose will want to interrogate him about the claims I made. He won’t have time to do that until he’s reached the safety of the fortress.”

Jed called Erik over. “Is there somewhere safe we can take these people? I think Montrose has taken our village.” He saw fear engulf the big man. “Don’t worry,” he said gently, “Amora will be all right for now, and I promise you I will bring her back safely.”

Erik relaxed only slightly. “There are the caves far up above the village. They are very large and there is water in them.”

“Good. Can I get you to take these people there and wait for me? I will join you before the sun darkens.”