Doom's Break (7 page)

"So we will attack only one tower. Do you see?"

Polluk remained silent, irresolute, fearful of some trickery on the part of the admiral. He remembered Dashun, who'd been hanged after the loss of his fort. "I'm not sure," he finally replied.

"Well, it stands to reason, if we capture one of these towers, the enemy will reinforce the other one."

"Yes?" Polluk was still full of questions.

"So then we will kill more of them when we attack that tower with all our force."

The creases on Polluk's brow vanished.

"Oh, I see," he said. The admiral had a plan! In that case, Polluk would be happy to abandon his own. He preferred executing someone else's orders. Let someone else take the blame if things didn't go right.

"If his numbers are as low as you think, then we may be able to rub out his entire force."

"Yes, yes, an excellent plan!" Polluk nodded his head vigorously in agreement, another trait that had helped his rise through the ranks. "And it is less risky than mine. Because only half our force will be used in the initial attack."

Heuze nodded heavily. The generals were all obsessed with conserving their forces. After the casualties they'd suffered since they'd first arrived, such conservative thinking was inevitable.

"Yes, of course, caution is quite understandable. But when a first-class opportunity comes our way, we must seize it."

Polluk had a question. "What if the enemy is more numerous than we believe at this moment?"

"Then he will have to reveal his strength and we will still destroy one of those damned towers. After that they will have to reinforce the other one more strongly, and that will risk increased losses."

"Yes, yes," said Polluk with enthusiasm.

Heuze took another gulp of the ale. "There is another matter. We aren't going to burn the tower when we capture it."

"Not burn?" Polluk looked so dumbfounded that Heuze had to struggle not to burst out laughing.

"Yes. We're going to dismantle it and take the materials. The monkeys are very good at finishing off beams and planks. Haven't you noticed? Well-sawn planks they make, with even sides and smooth finishes. We can use that sort of quality material on the island."

"Oh, uh, yes, Admiral. Of course."

Heuze sighed inwardly. Really, the general staff was made of poor stuff. That had been very plain on this accursed expedition.

Heuze wondered where his old confidant, Filek Biswas, was at that moment. Filek had gone back to Shasht, with his daughter Simona and that eerie message she'd brought from the monkeys. Filek was in the big city now, at the center of things, completing his research projects. Heuze envied Filek and wished he still had him to hand. It had made for more interesting conversation.

"So we don't burn, we take. Let the monkeys labor for our benefit, eh?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now, I plan to stay ashore tonight. I want to oversee the battle tomorrow and then be back to the ship by tomorrow night. A tight schedule, Polluk. Think you can keep to it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. When is dinner?"

The following morning, Admiral Heuze awoke from a sound night's sleep feeling refreshed and unusually clear-headed. Indeed, he was a little surprised that he had slept so well. Usually he slept badly the first few nights on land, missing the familiar motions of his ship. He was, however, itching in a few places. The dugouts were home to a lively population of fleas.

He groped through the underground gloom of the dugout and found the steps up into the light. Outside, dense mist was rising from the river gorge. The sun burned pale and watery beyond the vapors.

A few men were moving about. The cook shack was serving up early breakfasts.

Something in his gut told Heuze that this was the time to attack. Not in two hours, not at noon, as they'd discussed the night before over mugs of ale. If they sallied forth soon enough, they would catch the fornicating monkeys napping, and annihilate them!

Roaring for Polluk, he turned back into the underground complex. Ensign Combliss tumbled out of his bunk and hurried to Heuze's side.

The general was drinking some hot soup when Heuze found him.

"Polluk! Get the men out now! Give them some bread and get them on their feet and ready to fight. We're going to charge now, right now!"

Polluk goggled, eyes big and round. Before bed, the admiral had been very cautious. They were not to attack until the sun had burned off the treacherous fogs of this coast. They would wait until noon if they had to.

But Polluk had learned not to question the admiral when he was enthused like this. "Yes, Admiral, of course." He gulped down the soup and tore a chunk of bread on his way out the door.

Within a minute, the men were tumbling out of their dugouts, lining up for bread.

Heuze, with Combliss behind him, was ready and waiting as the men began to form up. Of the twelve hundred men in the fort, a thousand were scheduled to take part in the assault on the siege tower.

"Come on, hurry it up!" snapped Heuze at every opportunity. The men, from generals down to the rankers, did their best to look lively. Within half an hour, the assault force was ready.

From the walls they could see little sign of the enemy, other than the tops of the two siege towers projecting among the trees in the near distance.

Heuze waved aside all objections. Polluk gave the orders. The gate swung open, and the ramp was lowered over the ditch. Out marched the assault force, with no drums or trumpets. On the open ground they deployed into a column ten files wide. Immediately they increased their pace to a trot, while a few scouts hurried ahead, bows at the ready.

The mists grew thicker as the trees came closer. Scouts reappeared. All was quiet in the enemy lines, from what little they had seen.

On went the assault formation, eyes fixed on the prize looming in the misty woods.

For a while, they marched inside a bank of thick fog, with nothing but the dim mass of the trees ahead. Each man could see only his immediate neighbors. Admiral Heuze was bringing up the rear, with a party of four guards and Combliss. Polluk had gone forward with his own staff, since he had to keep in direct contact with the force.

The admiral's confidence was high, and he worked hard to keep up a good walking stride. He could not trot with the peg leg, but he could walk, even though the stump would get sore after a while. But he wanted to stay in touch with the assault force just in case.

The mists were exceedingly thick, muffling sound, trapping each man in a bubble five feet across. Heuze was thankful that the ground was pretty level, covered in grasses and moss.

Suddenly the first loud cries from the enemy lines went up. Spotted!

Scouts came hurrying back to report to Polluk. Arrows started flashing out of the white mists as the enemy archers took ranging shots.

Polluk waited no longer. "Cha-aa-arge!" he bellowed, stepping out in front and waving his sword into the mist.

The men couldn't see him, but they could hear him, and they knew which way to go. They gathered themselves and rushed at the monkey lines. Along the edge of the forest, they found the trenches, just as had been observed from the walls. But what surprised them was the absence of defenders.

A handful of monkeys discharged arrows and then took to their heels, running into the woods.

Polluk dropped back personally to inform Heuze about this.

"Hardly anyone there."

"Must all be working on the siege tower. Press on," said Heuze.

Polluk nodded vigorously and hurried forward. Heuze walked on, ignoring the slight soreness in his stump. Aboard ship he didn't walk that much anymore. The stump wasn't used to this kind of exercise.

Heuze was growing a little anxious. There should have been at least some resistance. Was it some kind of trap? But how could the monkeys have anticipated his attack? He hadn't even decided to attack so early until this very morning. No, he dismissed the idea. It had to be a genuine stroke of luck. He'd caught the fornicating monkeys napping! It wasn't easy to do that.

The men pressed on under the trees. Ahead lay the siege tower. Surely, they would meet some resistance there.

Under the trees, Heuze found the going considerably more difficult since the ground was uneven and tangles of tree roots spread above the soil. He fell at one point and was struggling to get up again when Combliss and a guard helped him up with strong young hands.

An angry flush filled Heuze's cheeks, but he bit his tongue. He dug his crutch into the bank and hauled himself over the next bunch of roots.

Suddenly they came up on General Polluk and his immediate staff, with a banner raised above them.

"What's happening? What is going on?" Heuze demanded.

"We've made contact—" Polluk began.

There came a roar of noise up ahead.

"Told you, didn't I, Polluk?"

"Yes, sir, you were right."

The noise intensified, and now there was that familiar ringing sound that spoke of steel striking steel. Heuze felt that old flutter in his belly. There was nothing like the fog of war to make one as nervous as a young tomcat.

"How many?" he kept muttering. Polluk, who wanted to know the same thing, had no answer.

They waited there, torn by the tension while the fighting intensified.

At last messages started to come in from the frontline commanders.

"We caught them by surprise. There are only a few hundred of them. It's just like I told you, Admiral."

"Yes. We've got them, for once. Press on. Take the tower!"

The noise ahead continued unabated, but slowly it changed. More of the noise was coming from the left side of the field, as if the axis of the battle had shifted ninety degrees.

They were brought the news that the siege tower had been taken. Heuze exulted with a roar and thrust a fist into the air. Orders were sent forward for men to start tearing down the tower. They were going to carry the wood back into the fort.

Heuze himself went forward. He had to witness this triumph.

Fifty yards brought him to the line where the original battle had been fought. There was a scattering of dead men and mots. As before, Heuze found the sight of the enemy a little unnerving. They were so much like men, except for the grey fur. But past this line he saw few bodies. Out of the fog loomed the tower, with men all over it, tearing it apart.

Beams were cut loose and dropped to the ground. Parties of men then stacked them so they were ready to be carried back to the fort.

Heuze stumped about the tower, encouraging the men and enjoying the triumph. He was still there when General Polluk came up looking very concerned.

"What is it, General?"

"Very strange report, sir. On our new front, the men report seeing some enormous animal in the woods ahead of them."

"What?"

"Yes, sir. It's green and brown and very big. That's what they're telling me."

"Have you seen this thing?"

"No, not yet, but I'm going up to the front now."

"I'm coming with you."

Heuze was determined to see this "animal," or whatever it was, himself.

Was this why there were so few monkeys around? Were they being devoured by some monstrous beast?

The terrain was hard for Heuze here, very broken up with rocks, roots, and hollows. At one point they had to cross a deep gulley with steep walls, and Heuze had to accept a little help from Combliss, but he was well past complaints about that. His stump was sore and his back hurt from the unaccustomed exercise.

They emerged out of the mist into a meadow that was almost completely clear. Men were lined up here by companies. Their officers were gathered in a group, arguing.

Polluk, with Heuze just behind, hurried up to this group.

"Where is this 'animal'?" snapped Polluk.

"Over there, sir." Several lieutenants raised their arms together.

Polluk and Heuze studied the far side of the clearing. There was nothing to be seen but trees.

"You're sure it's over there?" asked Heuze suspiciously. He half suspected the men of malingering. The fog was spooky, and these forests terrified the men. They had fought two campaigns on this land and lost them both. A lot of former comrades were buried in this alien ground.

"We all saw something, sir," said one captain. "We just don't know what we saw."

"It's a beast, I tell you," said another captain. "Lieutenant Grees and I both saw it at the same time. Must be thirty feet long, with the tail. Huge eyes."

"Then where is it?"

They stared across at the wall of trees some fifty yards distant. No "beast" was showing itself right then.

"I see no beast," said Heuze.

"We did see it, sir. Everyone saw something."

"Well, are there monkeys over there?" grumbled Heuze. "Why don't we press on and see what they're getting up to? It's best if we keep the initiative."

The officers hemmed and hawed for a moment or two and then dispersed to their companies. Orders were given for the advance to be continued. Drums beat, and they stepped out into the clearing.

Suddenly, in the trees at the far side, they all saw the huge head poke out from between two massive trees. Behind it slithered a neck ten feet long. The eyes of the monster were the size of dinner plates. It opened a mouth that could easily take a man in a single bite.

The companies ground to a halt.

Heuze stared, muttered an oath, and took a step back. "What in the name of the Great God is that?"

It disappeared again. The woods ahead loomed dark and ominous. Polluk's eyes had grown huge. "A snake? A huge snake?"

Heuze knew there were some gigantic serpents, mostly on the tropical isles, but he'd never heard of anything that large.

"I'd have sworn it was a dragon, but those are strictly creatures of legend."

"So I've always believed, sir." Polluk's voice shook a little.

Heuze realized how ridiculous it looked. A thousand men standing irresolute in the meadow between the trees.

"Goddamn it! Attack! I don't care what it is—if it's alive, we can kill it. Archers! Prepare to take it down if it shows itself again."