The Sword and the Plough (16 page)

Lars started. “Sir Henry Tudor?” The penny at
last dropped. “Father?” He glanced quickly at Caroline. “Then
you’re…”

“The Lady Caroline,” Major Waterman finished
for him, “first cousin to Her Majesty the Queen.”

“My late mother was twin sister to the
queen,” Caroline explained quietly. “Born just a few minutes
later.”

“After the sad death of her mother, Lady
Caroline became next in line to the throne,” the intelligence
officer added.

Sir Henry shook his head at Lars’s
questioning look and smiled.

“No, I’m not a royal, if that’s what you’re
thinking, Lars. I just had the very good fortune to marry one.”

“Does the sergeant know who you all are?”
Lars asked quietly, his look a little grim.

“Yes, I’m afraid he does,” the major replied.
“There’s not much they don’t know, it seems. The commander of the
Megran forces, General York, appears to be very well informed.
Without a doubt they will be listening to us right now.” He
shrugged. “But we have little in the way of secrets left to
tell.”

Caroline answered his question too, her voice
harsh and rancorous, such as Lars had not heard it before.

“You may have guessed, Lars,” she said,
gesturing at the other members in the cell. “There is one key
person missing from our group.”

Lars nodded. “I remember… Something rotten
going on, you said. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes Lars,” the governor confirmed. “We were
caught with our proverbial pants down, I’m afraid.”

“Father’s deputy has gone over to the other
side,” Caroline continued, her expression dark. “He’s been one step
ahead of us all the way. Thanks to him, the enemy knows everything
there is to know.”

“The transmitter complex?” Lars queried.

The young woman dipped her head in
acknowledgement.

“And the m..m..missile attack upon the
garrison,” the captain exclaimed suddenly.

He had risen from his bunk and was standing
unsteadily in their midst. His dark eyes were gaping wildly. A
fierce fury contorted his face and he was breathing heavily.

“
My b..b..best men – all gone.” His voice
was cracked and uneven. “The first missiles were right on target –
took out the recreation centre and the barracks, killing more than
half my force. The next run incinerated the mess hall and the
armoury.

“More than two thirds of my men were gone
before they even knew they were at war.”

The cell was hushed. The captain was
staring at the other prisoners, but he did not see them. Instead,
he saw the shadowy images, the ghosts created by his own mind and
the nightmare of their deaths replayed in his memory.

“
Then the Megran troopers came at us. We
only had a few sidearms left to fight with. They stayed out of
range and blasted us with their light-bolt cannons.” He hesitated –
swallowed. “Everything around us…was burning. We choked on the
black smoke. The flash of incoming light-bolts was all we could
see. And the noise was terrible. So much noise…”

His words slowed – then faltered. The
tears welled up and over flowed down the grey of his cheeks, and
his hands took on a life of their own, clutching and pulling at his
clothes.

After a moment, he began again. “We didn’t
stand a chance… Some of my men threw stones. They had nothing – no
weapons to fight with. And those Megran dogs laughed – laughed out
loud as they burned my men down. And there was so much dying… The
whole air was screaming…”

“
Captain!” The governor’s voice was firm –
full of authority – the voice of a commanding officer.

The vision of the dead and dying faded, and
the captain came back from his hell. Startled, he glanced round at
his fellow prisoners and read their anxious faces.

“I knew all my men,” he murmured softly.
“Every one of them a top soldier. They never stood a chance. It was
just plain murder.”

“
Captain.” The governor said quietly. “All
your men fought bravely and well, and those who caused their deaths
will be made to answer for it, I promise you.”

The officer looked up, his eyes shiny with
tears.

“I’m sorry, Sir Henry,” he said. “Please… I…”
His voice wavered. He could not make the words fit into place.

For a moment, no one spoke, and silence
reigned as a requiem for the dead.

The captain slumped wearily back down on his
bunk, staring down at his clenched hands with unseeing eyes.

The major caught the young man’s sinking head
and eased it down onto the crude pillow. He swept the black booted
feet from the floor and swung them up gently onto the bunk. Then
the blackness came, bestowing a fleeting relief from the pain for
the young officer...

* * *

The prisoners sat down at the bare wood table
in the centre of the cell to give the sleeping man as much space as
they could.

Caroline continued her story in a low voice.
“As soon as the aerial bombardment eased, Major Waterman gave me
instructions on how to enter the Communication Complex. He and
father needed someone to go. They were busy organising what was
left of the fight in us, and destroying what secret documents they
could.

Then suddenly Megran uniforms were
everywhere, pouring like vermin into the governor’s residence. I
managed to slip away just before the major and father were taken
prisoner.

The governor took up the story. “As she was
leaving, Caroline spotted my deputy talking with a Megran captain
and guessed the worst.” He was smiling proudly at his daughter.
“But just like her mother, she put her head down and carried on.”
He winked at Lars. “She always was a stubborn child, especially
when she thought she was in the right, which, I might add, she is,
more often than not.”

The young woman pulled a face at her father.
“I guessed the deputy might be plotting against us,” she resumed,
“and that they would soon he on my trail, but I hoped they wouldn’t
be able to find me once I reached the complex.” She shook her head.
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let you help me, Lars. But they knew
where to look.” She smiled. “Fortunately, they didn’t realise you
were there as well,” she added.

“Then the deputy must be the one who
sabotaged the secret complex,” Lars said.

“Sabotaged!” The intelligence officer
exclaimed, his voice echoing sharply in the stillness. “The complex
sabotaged?” He scowled deeply for a moment and then shrugged. “I
should have guessed as much. It would be the logical thing to do.
The deputy governor was my immediate superior. He knew as much
about the complex as I did. We tend to make assumptions about
loyalty at that level. I never thought to suspect…” He shook his
head unhappily. “How much damage was there, Lars?”

Lars explained how the power cables had been
cut through and sections of them removed.

The major frowned. “Hmm, yes, very
efficient – enough to throw a spanner in the works for as long as
needed. However, I’ve little doubt the complex is operative again
by now, but working for the other side.” He turned to the governor.
“Sir Henry, I think you had better fire me, when we get out of
this.”

Henry Tudor gave a terse, humourless
laugh. “And I was going to ask you to fire
me
,” he responded. “No,
Rupert, we could never have anticipated such treachery. There is a
limit to our responsibility – even if there is no such limit to our
feelings of guilt.”

“
Are there many prisoners here?” Lars
asked, changing the subject.

Major Waterman answered him. “Well, going
by what we witnessed before they locked us away, and from what
we’ve managed to learn since, “ he paused and smiled, “through the
– ah – captain’s water-pipe – ah – intercom, it seems they’ve
imprisoned a cross-section of the town’s population, women as well
as men, but especially young people in their teens. And, of course,
there are the few surviving troopers and us.”

“The VIPs,” Lars murmured.

“
Who? Oh us – VIPs. Yes, I suppose so,” the
major acknowledged with a dry smile. “Like chopping of the
serpent’s head, eh Lars?” But at once his expression grew serious
again. “However, it’s the main group of prisoners that interests me
most. This deliberate selection of townsfolk, with its emphasis on
the young, is clearly designed as a threat. Do as you’re told or
your young people suffer sort of thing.”

“Hostages!” Lars muttered quietly.

“Exactly! That much is clear. However, I am
not sure to whom the threat is directed. We’re no danger to them in
here, and there’s nothing left of our fighting force out
there.”

He laced his fingers together and pondered
the weave of knuckles briefly before he continued.

“There are some areas of relative certainty,
though,” he began again. “The raid is too well organized and on too
large a scale for a rogue Megran or pirate force, even assuming any
such group would be so foolish. To mount a successful attack
against a garrison the size of Vegar takes a lot of money and
resources.”

He paused, and when he resumed, his voice had
become sharp edged and bitter.

“And I do not imagine our deputy governor
came cheap. Traitors at his level have expensive price tags.” Lars
saw the governor nod gloomily in agreement.

“
But it’s more than just Vegar,” the major
went on. “We have fifteen other town garrisons scattered over the
planet, smaller than us it is true, most round fifty to sixty men
and women, but, under normal circumstances, they would have
monitored the attack and been here by now if they could. One can
only assume that they have all suffered a similar loss of
communications, and possibly an attack on or about the same time as
us.

“
Then there are the two royal cruisers
assigned to Trion – the
Intrepid
and
Royal Sovereign.
They’re in orbit at present, with skeleton
crews only, but their instruments would have registered the attack
on the surface and put out a call for help automatically. However,
since no such assistance has eventuated, we can only assume that
they too, must have been either captured or destroyed.”

“Or betrayed!” Caroline added bluntly.

“Or betrayed!” the major echoed in
agreement.

“Then the whole of Trion is the target,” Lars
commented.

“Yes, I’m afraid it would seem so,” the major
affirmed. “And I would imagine that the planet is already
theirs.”

“Yes Rupert,” the governor said with a
dispirited shrug. “I can certainly follow your logic and agree with
you that the whole of Trion has been taken by the enemy. Clearly,
that indeed is what has transpired.

“
But the main question I want an answer to,
Rupert, is why? Why Trion? Our world has no mineral or other
obvious wealth. We are an agricultural planet. Oh granted, we are
rich in a sense, but I can’t see those bullies out there being paid
off in chickens and eggs, can you?”

The major gave a bleak laugh. “Yes, a good
point, governor,” he answered. “And I think you are right. Whatever
the reason for the attack, it is not for any sort of wealth Trion
has to offer.”

“Then, is it the planet itself?” Lars
enquired. “I mean, is the planet of strategic importance in some
way?”

“
I’ll deal with that as two separate
questions if I may, Lars.” The major’s visage took on a
contemplative look. “Yes, I think control of the planet, is what
the invader wants.” He nodded to himself. “Hmm, yes, I have no
doubt of that. But as to strategic importance,” the intelligence
officer shook his head, “I really have no idea. We are of no
military significance, insofar as I am aware. We are on the
outskirts of nowhere – literally. Thus it follows, there are no
pointers, militarily speaking, to indicate with any positivity who
our enemy might be.”

The governor’s dark brows rose in a puzzled
arch. “Are you saying then, Rupert, that we don’t know who our
enemy is?”

“Not quite, Sir Henry,” the major replied
carefully. “What I am saying is that we must be careful not to jump
to conclusions based on insufficient or possibly misleading
evidence.”

“Hmm, yes,” the governor acknowledged, his
brow crinkling into a frown. “I think I see what you mean.”

“But what about the Megran troopers?” Lars
queried. “I saw their camp. There are hundreds of them.”

“Ah!” the major responded. “The uniform could
be simply to mislead us, or it could be that some rebel units are
acting without the knowledge or consent of the Megran governor. We
must be careful not to attribute blame too quickly to the queen’s
second cousin.”

Lars shook his head in bafflement. “So,
there’s nothing at all we can be certain of?”

“
But
I am
certain,” Caroline put in suddenly. There was a
fierce glint in her glare. “You admit, major, that it is much more
than a minor skirmish, such as a pirate raid.”

The major gave an affirmative nod.

“
Good!” The young woman shot him a
triumphant look. “Then it has to be Ferdinand, governor of Megran,
who is our enemy, as I have thought all along. Ferdinand is the
only ruler in the Commonwealth, apart from the queen herself, who
has the resources and nerve to mount such an attack. And he has
the
motive.
”

“Motive?” her father queried.

“Yes motive!” the young woman declared. “That
man is as ruthless as he is ambitious. In his arrogance, he has
twice pressed the queen for her hand in marriage, even knowing she
has taken a vow of celibacy. And twice she has spurned him and
informed him his attentions are unwelcome.”

“I never knew that,” the governor
muttered.