The Prince by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling

I went to my room and let Hartz hang equipment onto my uniform. It was time to move out, and I was glad of something, anything, to do.

XVII

The valley was filled with a thick white mist. The fog boiled out of the river and flowed across the valley floor. In the two hours since dawn, the 501st had covered nine kilometers. The battalion was strung out in a long column of men and mules and wagons on muddy tracks that had once been roads and now had turned into sloppy gunk. The men strained at ropes to pull the guns and ammunition wagons along, and when we found oxen or mules in the fields, we hitched them up as well. The rainstorm that had soaked us two days before at Beersheba had passed across the Allan Valley, and the fields were squishy marshlands.

Out in the distance we could hear the sound of guns: Ardwain’s column, the Allansport garrison trying to get through Louis’s position—or someone else a world away. In the fog we couldn’t know. The sound had no direction, and out here there was no battle, only mud.

There were no enemies here in the valley. There weren’t any friends, either. There were only refugees, pathetic families with possessions piled on their mules and oxen, or carried in their arms. They didn’t know where they were going, and I had no place to send them. Sometimes we passed farms, and we could see women and children staring at us from the partly open doors or from behind shuttered windows. Their eyes had no expression in them. The sound of the guns over the horizon, and the curses of the men as they fought to move our equipment through the mud; more curses as men whipped oxen we’d found and hitched to the wagons; shrill cries from farmers protesting the loss of their stock; everything dripping wet in white swirling fog, all blended together into a long nightmare of outraged feelings and senselessness. I felt completely alone, alien to all this. Where were the people we’d come to set free?

We reached the map point Falkenberg had designated, and the troops rested in place while the rest of the column caught up with us. The guns were just moving in when Falkenberg’s command caravan roared up. The ground-effects machine could move across the muddy fields with no problems, while we had to sweat through them.

He sent for Deane Knowles and had us both come into the caravan. Then he sent out all the NCOs and enlisted men. The three of us were alone with the map table.

“I’ve held off explaining what I’ve been doing until the last minute,” he said. “As it is, this is for your ears only. If something happens, I want someone to know I haven’t lost my mind.”

“Yes, sir,” I said. Deane and I looked at each other.

“Some background,” Falkenberg said. “There’s been something peculiar about the Allan Valley situation for years. The convict groups have been too well armed, for a beginning. Governor Swale was too eager to recognize them as a legitimate local government. I think both of you have remarked on that before.”

Deane and I looked at each other again.

“This morning’s satellite pictures,” Falkenberg said. “There’s too much mist to show any great details, but there are some clear patches. This strip was taken in the area south of Mr. Bonneyman. I invite your comments.”

He handed us the photos. Most were of patches of mist, with the ground below completely invisible. Others showed patches where the mist was thin, or there wasn’t any. “Nothing at all,” Deane said.

“Precisely,” Falkenberg said. “Yet we have reports of troop movements in that area. It is as if the hostiles knew when the satellite would be overhead, and avoided clear patches.”

“As well they might,” Deane said. “It shouldn’t be hard to work out the ephemeris of the spy-eye.”

“Correct. Now look at the high resolution enlargements of those clear areas.”

We looked again. “The roads are chewed up,” I said. “Mud and ruts. A lot of people and wagons have passed over them.”

“And recently, I’d say.” Falkenberg nodded in satisfaction. If this had been a test, we’d passed. “Now another datum. I have had Sergeant Jaski’s people monitoring all transmissions from Allansport. It may or may not be significant that shortly after every communication between 501st headquarters and outlying commands, there has been a transmission from the Governor to the palace at Harmony—and, within half an hour, a reply. Not an immediate reply, gentlemen, but a reply within half an hour. And shortly after that, there is traffic on the frequencies the Association forces use.”

There wasn’t anything to say to that. The only explanation made no sense.

“Now, let’s see what the hostiles have in mind,” Falkenberg said. “They besiege the Governor in Allansport. Our initial orders are to send a force to relieve him. We don’t know what they would have done, but instead we devised a complex plan to trap them. We take the initial steps, and what happens? The hostiles invite us to continue. They do nothing. Later we learn that a considerable force, possibly the major part of their strength, is marching northward. Their evident objective is Mr. Bonneyman’s mixed group of Marines and ranchers. I point out that the elimination of those ranchers would be significant to the Association. They would not only be rid of potential opposition to their rule, but I think it would in future be impossible to persuade any significant group of ranchers to rise against them. The Association would be the only possible government in the Allan Valley.”

“Yes, sir, but why?” Deane said. “What could be . . . why would Governor Swale cooperate with them?”

“We’ll leave that for the moment, Mr. Knowles. One thing at a time. Now for the present situation. Centurion Ardwain has done an excellent job of simulating a large force cautiously advancing into Allansport from the north. Governor Swale seems convinced that we’ve committed at least half our strength there. I have further informed him that we will now bring the balance of the 501st from its present position directly east to the riverbank, where we will once again divide out troops, half going south to aid Mr. Bonneyman, the other half moving into the town. The Governor thought that a splendid plan. Have you an opinion, Mr. Slater?”

“It’s the dumbest thing I ever heard of,” I said. “Especially if he thinks you’ve already divided the force! If you do that, you’ll be inviting defeat in detail.”

“Precisely,” Falkenberg said. “Of course Governor Swale has no military background.”

“He doesn’t need one to know that plan’s a bust,” I said. “Lousy traitor—”

“No accusations,” Falkenberg said. “We’ve no proof of anything. In any event, I am making the assumption that the Association is getting decoded copies of all my transmissions. I don’t need to know how they get them. You’ll remember that whenever you use radio signals that might be overheard.”

“Yes, sir.” Deane looked thoughtful. “That limits our communications somewhat.”

“Yes. I hope that won’t matter. Next problem. Under my assumption, the hostiles expect me to send a force eastward toward the river. That expectation must be met. I need Mr. Knowles to handle the artillery. It leaves you, Mr. Slater. I want you to take a platoon and simulate two companies with it. You’ll send back a stream of reports, as if you’re the main body of the battalion reporting to me at a headquarters left safely out of the combat zone.” Falkenberg grinned slightly. “To the best of my knowledge, Irina’s opinion of me is shared by her father. He won’t find it at all hard to believe that I’m avoiding a combat area.”

“But what if I really have a message?” I asked.

“You’re familiar with O’Grady drill?” Falkenberg asked.

“Yes, sir.” O’Grady drill is a form of torture devised by drill sergeants. You’re supposed to obey only the commands that begin with “O’Grady says:.” Then the sergeant snaps out a string of orders.

“We’ll play that little game,” Falkenberg said. “Now your mission is to get to the river, make a short demonstration, as if you’re about to attack the southern edge of Allansport. and then move directly south, away from the town, until you link up with Mr. Bonneyman. You will then aid in his defense until you are relieved.”

“But—Captain, you’re assuming they know your orders.”

He nodded. “Of course they’ll put out an ambush. In this fog it will be a natural thing for them to do. Since they’ll assume you have a much larger force with you, they’ll probably use all the force that left Allansport this morning. I can’t think they’re stupid enough to try it with less.”

“And we’re to walk into it,” I said.

“Yes. With your eyes open, but walk into it. You’re bait, Mr. Slater. Get out there and wiggle.”