Page 6 (1/2)
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, fall of the forty-first year of the Kurian Order: At the beginnings of the fertile, flat corner of southeastern Arkansas, the crossroads town of Pine Bluff thrives Strategically located on the chord of an inhabited arc covering the borderlands in that quarter, a periment of Guards frequently offers its hospitality to Wolf patrols into Louisiana and Mississippi
Independent farmers from as far away as DrewCounty come to barter with the Southern Coht churches, a high school, blackshts, teamsters and tailors The Guards stable their horses at the old Livestock Showgrounds, and no less than a full regiest and arguably the best munitions plant in the FreeTerritory The Old Arsenal produces everything from bullets to bombs, protected by the heaviest concentration of pre-Overthrow uns in Southern Command In town, the Molever Industrial Wood Products plant has switched froes, and numerous craftsmen exhibit their wares each weekend at the Sixth Avenue Street Market On evenings each weekend, the Saenger Theater Players sing, dance, and act out faed theater&039;s cool limestone and Florentine decor make an opulent break from the meanness of everyday life Shakespeare makes an occasional appearance on the billboard, but more often a tear-streaked heroine shakes her fist at the sky against a fiery red backdrop, vowing never to be hungry again, or a pair of lovers affire behind billowing sheets meant to represent an icy sea
There is a sense of stability, order, and permanence to the place that the settlements on the other borders lack The tracts of relatively empty Louisiana and Mississippi wetlands protect it fro river-borne incursions Their clothes are a little better, the food is a little more varied, and the buckchits are ions of the FreeTerritory There is a regular newspaper and ular mail, and even a social stratification of sorts has taken hold, for better or worse The complacency here is a true achievement, one paid for in blood on the other borders
David Valentine received orders to join Zulu Co his report to the officers at New Arkansas Post With the gift of an aged horse froeant, and a parting bag of apples from Eveready, he rode west up the scenic, if broken-doestern highway Once known as US Highway 65, now called the Arkansas River Trail, it is one of the better all-weather pikes of the FreeTerritory Making easy stages out of respect for his slow-stepping mount, Valentine reached the shores of LakePine Bluff
Valentine smelled the sentries before he saw them The tobacco and wood-smoke odor meant there werecould be seen in the gloos A pair of horses stood side to side swishing flies in thethe broken road Valentine sniffed again and suspected halfhearted enforcement of latrine discipline in what, to the Guards anyway,and ears forward, his horse quickened its walk The roan gelding was old and wise and knew the sure in a charcoal-gray unifor boots off, appeared froentle nudge of his er," said the youth, teal blue kepi and neckerchief proclaiiment "What&039;s your business up in town?"
Valentine brought up his forear Not quite a salute, but friendly enough
"Good an at the first pink of dawn, it seemed a little late for the salutation "I&039;m three days out of New Arkansas Post with orders to report to the Co Wolf Whereabouts can I find Captain LeHavre?"
"I need to see your orders," the sentry said, holding out his hand
"They&039;re verbal The Wolves don&039;t use much paper, Bluff"
"Then I can&039;t let you through We can send a et one of your Wolves in for escort, but I don&039;t have authority to let you through"
More like too ood empiricist, he decided to test the theory "Is that so? What&039;s up the road that a ht take out, anyway?"
The soldier patted his rifle stock
"Maybe you&039;re a spy, coun posts,to set fire to a barge full of black powder and blow up everything on the dock-"
"Enough of that, Johnson," a stern female voice called from the bunker "If he is a spy, he can turn around now You just told hied, uniformed woman came out of the bunker and approached the road in the measured, confident stride of NCOs the world over "We heard a Wolf was coured you&039;d be on foot by now; any horse old Gregory would part with has got to be on its last trip Is there news?"
"Not that I&039; about the horse, he&039;s a nice ride, long as you don&039;t ask , too, since I&039;m bareback," Valentine said
"You&039;ll find LeHavre up the road a few miles, just into town proper The Wolves always caht at the north bend in the river There&039;s a brick entrance off the road, says it was a golf course Still is, actually, on the sheep ame myself You&039;ll see your little tepees around the old clubhouse Tell Captain LeHavre that Brit Manning says hi We were at Webber&039;s Falls together"
"You were a Wolf?" asked Valentine, not even knowing in what state to look for Webber&039;s Falls on ato your caste, ere ready for them when they tried to push into Fort So May We bushwhacked the across So s ended up in the river, they say the Arkansas ran red It didn&039;t really, but it was still pretty hot there for a while Two co side of the river, and his Wolves saved our auras You ht say I thanked him personally after-wards," she re her weathered features
"I&039;m sure he&039;ll remember"
"You want some coffee, son? Just chicory, but it&039;s hot I&039;d offer you some lemonade, but my four boys here drank it all first two days ere here, and the rinds haven&039;t soaked long enough to eant Manning At my horse&039;s pace, I&039;ll be lucky to make the town by dinner" Valentine offered a true salute, crisply returned "Thank you for the directions"
Captain LeHavre&039;s steady green eyes evaluated Valentine froh h The company commander wore the look of a busy man who accepted only efficiency
The captain and Valentine both stood in the sole leak-free roo hinted at a previous existence as either an office or a small library Two comfortable armchairs and a table, piled above and beloith a honeycomb of plastic milk crates, alraphs, h fraood looks and heavy mustache of a romance novel pirate or ruthless western outlaw His athletic build, spoiled slightly by the hint of a paunch, set off his forest green buckskins, so dark they looked alht of the less office
Offering Valentine a warm handshake in the worse-for-weather main entrance to the clubhouse, LeHavre invited his new Wolf to the "records room" Both men sank into the armchairs with the appreciation of the rarity of such coht call this our cave," LeHavre explained with a casual wave toward the laden table "These papers are the closest thing we have to a headquarters Theeasier The rest I leave to the clerk Coffee, tea, beer?"
"A beer would be very welcoratefully "It&039;s been a long su his ar two cool ones from the basement," he said
Valentine looked around at the pictures, wondering about a man ould treat a wet-behind-the-ears recruit like an honored guest In less than a ht years of rubber-band energy and frizzy hair, bounced into the room with a clasp-stoppered bottle LeHavre followed the little dynamo "Meet David, Jill David hails all the way from the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes Which state is that, tadpole?"
"Minnesota," she said, showing a proud smile as she handed over the bottled beer "Hi, David Did you swim in those lakes?"
"Er, so?"
"Does she like swi!" LeHavre interjected "I check her feet whenever I can toflippers Don&039;t I, tadpole"
"Uncle Adam!" she squealed
"David came on a horse Can you take hi"
"Can do!" Jill said "Nice to have made your act-tense, David"
"Acquaintance," LeHavre corrected
"Likewise, I&039; her hand
"Acquaintance," the girl repeated, a furrow crossing her brow She solemnly returned the handshake and stepped backwards out the door
"That&039;s Jill Poole Her father was a lieutenant of o I look in on her mom whenever we&039;re in the area She runs a nice little boarding-house right by the river Fine woman; she keeps a fire, but I think of Jill as hter She&039;s fearless around the e her She lovesbeadwork Most of the Wolves in Zulu Co of hers"
LeHavre opened his bottle "To the people we&039;re fighting for," he toasted
"Prosit," Valentine responded, i a memory of his father The cool froth flushed the dry road away
"My apologies, Valentine I&039;m sure you want to know about the outfit you&039;ve been ordered to join Zulu Coiade There&039;s only three thousand or so Wolves in all of Southern Co Aspirants and reserves, and we&039;re the most numerous of the Hunters We&039;re in reserve now But don&039;t expect to spend a lot of tii in the Ouachitas We don&039;t often fight shoulder-to-shoulder; the last ti incursion out of St Louis That&039;s when Poole bought it
"Zulu Company has four platoons of about thirty men each, as of this month Fifteen support personnel,fifty miles a day anymore, seven wives and two husbands who can keep up with the ca me responsible for a little over one hundred fifty lives I have twelve senior NCOs, but I&039;m short a lieutenant out of the three I should have You want the job?"
Valentine sed his rapefruit descending his throat "Me, an officer? Sir, I&039;m not even twenty yet"
"Napoleon was a lieutenant of artillery at sixteen, David"
"And Alexander the Great was a king breaking up rebellions at twenty, sir," Valentine interjected "But I&039;m not either I&039;ve never read a book about tactics"
The captain set down his beer and crossed the rooot a folder here In it is e call your &039;Q file" Don&039;t ask ot your reports, about what happened on that barge, and it&039;s going to contain your report on the Mississippi crossing, once the copy works its way here There are some words from Wolves like Pankow and Paul Saer than you are now in those days, and I&039;d give ht nut to be half the man he was I heard he was murdered when you were still a boy"
LeHavre returned to the chair "David, I know frouts You also take responsibility; most people try to hide fro after the ene a fight, too Which takes a certain kind of courage"
Valentine listened to LeHavre&039;s summation of his record as a Wolf But LeHavre didn&039;t know about the fear and horror inside the Harpy barge that had unh Or the stupid theatrics with a gun (a valuable pistol now sub to hang on to it in the water) to get a cramped recruit on her feet Or the luck of a clear sunrise that saved them on the shores of the Mississippi
"And one , David Our very own Wizard, A; he reads people like a book Don&039;t h tackle You drink last, eat last, sleep last, and usually die first No one notices your good decisions, and you have to bury your bad ones and then write home to so out your orders Getting theht is the least of your worries; the Wolves know their business But getting the them back safely takes a special kind of person"
"Why did you becohed and pulled down the last of his beer "Long story, David I wasn&039;t even a sergeant, just a vet in charge of four kids younger than you Our platoon went into the wrong town Quislings had a hell of a fine ambush set up They&039;d killed just about everyone in what had been a friendly stop and filled it up with their people So everything seery, so we dispersed for dinner and sleep That&039;s when they hit us The lieutenant and sergeants got it first-it see froot sos at our heels and Reapers screa from the hills I&039;ve never been so scared before or since- been pretty dah-but we made it back I carried a wounded Wolf the whole way, but she didn&039;t weighto do for a guy who spent three solid days running froood nued from a backwater cluster of hard-luck farms to a real patch of civilization The Kurians haven&039;t had any luck storoups out east, even I understand there&039;s a band of Hunters ranging the Green Mountains of New England up to Canada and down through the Smokies about twice the size of us, and the freehold in the Pacific Northwest has more square uerrilla army; they don&039;t have a spot to really call hoh confederation out there A couple of the stronghts A few even think the Hunters and the Lifeweavers are part of the same disease as the Kurians You&039;d think the days of s are over, but I&039;m sad to say it just isn&039;t so"
The captain shook his head, eyes downcast "Curse of Babel, I guess We just won&039;t work on the same team sometimes But back to the here and now Can I count on you, Valentine?"
Has anyone ever counted on irl, Jill, and her unknown mother Can they count on edlifeless husks of theirl&039;s response to LeHavre&039;s request Maybe LeHavre liked to be answered that way
"Can do, sir," Valentine said, hoping the enthusiasm did not sound too forced
The captain walked him out into the pleasant afternoon The worst of the su on and thickening overhead Five-pole tepees filled as probably once a lawn and putting green
"Zulu Co time in reserve, Valentine," LeHavre repeated "Your last winter you stayed in true winter caet to do that, another four are in reserve, leaving just two companies to stay in the Outlands
They&039;ll be spread thin, patrolling and relying on the Cats for notice of anything ood opportunity to hurt the Hoods coo out of reserve But that doesn&039;ton our rears As of today, you&039;re Acting-Lieutenant Valentine on my authority The colonel will confirets done We&039;re not the Guards, the civilian governive its rubber stah you&039;ll get your bars right away But back to your duties You&039;re going to be in charge of the support staff, transport tea that, you&039;ll be running back and forth froe, which holds classes at the old UA Pine Bluff Campus on the west side of the lake If you want my advice, you&039;ll ns of the Apaches and Comanches, and some Civil War histories of Bedford Forrest and Stonewall Jackson Just read enough about the rest to pass your tests You&039;ll learn a lot about how to fight when you&039;re outnu about the Chiricahua, try not to re side It&039;ll be a hell of a schedule for you, but be grateful for it We&039;ve got officers all over the place who are just juht they&039;re hell on wheels with theleads to proble to start, sir?"
"It started the minute you accepted your coe is always ot some kind of preht, was it a lucky guess, or did you really catch wind of soht for a"I can&039;t account for it, sir It wasn&039;t based on anything I actually sensed,ofwicked this way co Reaperswe have to a center for study of the Kurians, by us hue here in Pine Bluff They&039;ll be interested in your story There&039;s a half-dozen people researching the New Order; they like to come out and talk to us after we&039;ve seen them up close They alant to knohich Kurian sent which Reapers-as if we can tell Let&039;s get you quartered, and you can go meet them tomorrohen you enroll yourself at the OTC"
The following day, after a delicious cool night in a cot in the warmth of the junior officers&039; tepee, which he had to hi patrol, Valentine rode through the bustling little town to the college ca collection of solid little 1950s buildings dominated by a curious stunted tower: a clock that some tinkerer had restored to its function decorated it Unifor revealed the location of the War College As he had business there, Valentine decided tofriendly nods with the lounging Guards outside, he followed an old black-and-white plastic sign with a red arrow A chalkboard outside the open office door read:
this week: maj jonas brattleboro-medicine in the field
(tues, wed, pm 114)