The Temporal Knights (50 page)

Rice made a quick assessment of the situation. “He may live. He may not. I’ll need my supplies, which are in the hummer, if I’m to truly treat the wounds,” he said and then moved to Sergeant Moore, who took the inspection and the cleansing of his own wound stoically.

“You’ll need a few stitches,” the doctor announced, and then made a primitive sling out of his own undershirt to brace the Sergeant’s arm. “I know your arm doesn’t truly need this, but I want you to use it as little as possible. You pull the wound every time you do,” he explained.

Sir Ordmere groaned and came around once more. This time he moved only his head and that very gingerly. He looked around and seeing Peebles mistakenly assumed he was back in his cell. “I’m afraid I’ve ruined the nice shirt ye gave me,” he said weakly to the General, and even managed a smile before dropping his head the full inch he’d managed to raise it.

“We have more,” Peebles answered with his own smile, then took Rice off to the side. “Is he in immediate danger?”

Rice shook his head. “No, I don’t think so, but he shouldn’t be moved, not at least until we can make some sort of stretcher for him. I can stop, or at least slow down the bleeding with what I have here. Frankly, I’m surprised he’s not in shock. He must be in agony.”

“I want this man to live,” the General answered and there was no mistaking his tone. “If you think he’s in immediate danger we will wait here for a few hours before we attempt our escape...”

“Escape...” Rice whispered. “If we move this man it could kill him.”

“And staying here with Sir Eadwulf won’t?”

Rice nodded and looked around disgustedly. “If we don’t get to my medical supplies within a day or so infection is sure to set in. This place is filthy, and I’m fairly positive no one around here went to any great lengths to keep the whip or anything else clean.”

“Moore?”

Rice frowned. “He’s in danger too...in fact; we all are every time we injure ourselves. We must make every effort to keep our wounds as clean as possible. Men often times died of infection from nothing more than a scratch in these times and I have a limited supply of antibiotics.”

The General nodded, not really listening with his full attention. “Look after them,” he ordered and went to discuss his plans with the other men.

§

To Colonel Lemay, any operation of war was analogous to a math problem; a math problem with variables. Of course a problem with just a few variables was relatively easy to solve, but those with many variables were much harder. The operation before them now contained a great number of variables, making it a very sticky problem, one that Colonel Lemay did not care for at all. But variables or not, this problem had to be solved quickly or the variables would likely grow. This operation was going to be a very, very risky proposition but at precisely 0430 his men began to move out. Everyone was a bit antsy because they were just a bit behind schedule.

The plan called for the force to be split first into two and then three parts. Initially the bulk of the men would move on the town itself and take Lisette’s, which was situated on the southeast side of Rochester. At the same time, a smaller group would move through the hills west of the town and capture the tallest ridge, where they could keep an eye on the enemy forces camped on the west side of the castle. This smaller group contained most of the heavy firepower, including a half dozen portable M60’s and a like number of mortars. The hummers with their heavy weapons would be left behind in the grove until the operation was well underway, since the engine noises would undoubtedly alert Eadwulf’s men. Once the enemy was engaged the vehicles would move up through the town to support the attack on the fortress.

Colonel Lemay, despite his high rank, led the two hundred and thirty-five man force into the outskirts of Rochester. The night was dark, very dark. There were no streetlights and the moon was just a sliver. In fact, they could not detect a single light anywhere in the town save for a flickering torch, placed outside the steps of Lisette’s, which was their first objective. Of course, the dark did not bother the soldiers; the dark was their friend, and they moved comfortably through it. In full battle gear with their TVD’s down, night became day. But for all the comfort the dark provided, they really did not need it because absolutely no one was up and about. They had not even happened across a stray dog, which surprised the Colonel greatly. The town dogs worried him the most. They could easily spot the group with their keen senses then unwittingly raise the alarm against the intruders. Corporal Garraty, who remained back in camp operating the UAV, flew it above the assault force in a wide circle, and kept a special lookout for the four-legged citizens. Colonel Lemay had given the order to kill any dogs on sight, not something he wanted to do, but something he deemed very necessary. Luckily, the dogs of the town were either horrible watchdogs or exceedingly intelligent, because they stayed hidden and raised no alarm.

The main force entered Rochester and split up without additional orders and soon sealed off the main roads. They slinked through the dark until they’d silently covered all the intersections and alleyways. The town was secured without the inhabitants becoming aware that they were under attack.

“All clear...no movement of any kind,” Garraty announced over the GBF just as Lemay stopped outside the front door of Lisette’s. He sent a small force around back to cover that exit then with a deep breath he ordered his main group forward. With silent grace the men began the dance of taking the building, moving smoothly from one room to another. They all had their weapons loaded and ready but thankfully they did not have to use them against the sleepy patrons. The ground floor was empty except for an old man and a boy who slept near the warmth of the fireplace.

“Wassa…” the old man exclaimed but then fell silent, terrified by the dark, faceless men surrounding him. He clutched at the boy but the soldiers could not tell if it was to protect the lad or just out of fear. A group of six soldiers padded quietly upstairs and quickly gained control of a handful of scared, superstitious, and confused prisoners, including the infamous Madam Lisette herself, who remained stoic and quiet with the others.

“Many pardons Ma’am, but we have need of your establishment,” the Colonel said and then led a group of officers directly to the roof of the building. Madame Lisette wisely made no protest. Even though Lisette’s was the tallest building in town, they were still well below the level of the outer walls of Rovescester, but under high magnification several sentries were visible.

Sir Ceorl, Sir Oldalf and Sir Elid followed Corporal Hernandez to the roof, where the soldier sat them down in the corner. Each nobleman was wearing a set of night vision goggles, still shocked of their ability to see in utter darkness.

“Stay here out of the way and enjoy the show,” Hernandez told them and immediately crouched down next to them and began to adjust the sight of his rifle. “Perhaps I can bag a few for you,” he added with a wink.

“Ye
be in for something special,” Sir Oldalf told Sir Ceorl with a grin. He remembered well the taking of the stronghold at Countisbury Hill.

The group at Lisette’s had to wait several minutes before the other forces were in position, but Corporal Waldfogel reported in only a few minutes behind schedule.

“We’re in position Sir,” he said of his mortar crews.

Sergeant Isom,” Lemay asked over the GBF, “are the M60’s in position?”

“Yes Sir, we’ll keep a close eye on the tent encampment and the north side of town. You won’t have any surprises from that direction.”

Colonel Lemay nodded to the rest of his strike team, which included the ten men that would initially be moving against Rovescester itself. They were briefly joined by Captain Gardner and his team which would assault the extreme west side of the fortress.

“Keep you men tight and under control,” Lemay instructed, knowing the warning was unnecessary, but gave it anyway out of habit.

“Yes Sir,” Gardner answered and veered away with his men out over the dark countryside.

Lemay edged his group to within about fifty yards of the main gate of the fortress. There was no moat, but a drawbridge spanned a shallow ditch. The gate itself was closed tight, though the iron portcullis, which provided additional protection, was still raised. Not that it mattered; they’d enter by scaling the walls, not by walking through the front door. There were no sentries visible from ground level.

“Corporal Hernandez, have your team acquire all visible targets,” Lemay ordered.

“Yes Sir, three targets acquired,” the Corporal replied back almost immediately.

“Corporal Garraty, give me one more fly over.”

“Yes Sir,” the Sergeant answered as Lemay and his men switched over to watch the view of the castle from above. They quickly spotted their own position and that of Captain Gardner, whose team was exactly where they were supposed to be. There were no immediate bogeys above them, and then the bug was whispering over the fortress walls. The UAV was gazing down at the Earth in microwaves, which could easily pick up the signatures of humans and in fact, could recognize mammals down to the size of a rat with relative ease. They readily identified the five guards high on the wooden walls; two were patrolling leisurely, while the third stood near the northwest corner not moving. There were also two guards directly above the main gate, though they appeared to be sitting, possibly sleeping. After a moment they spotted another pair walking along in the courtyard directly in front of the stone keep.

Lemay cursed softly. “Corporal Hernandez I see five, repeat five targets near the forward section of the castle. How many targets have you acquired?”

“Three, plus the two that are sleeping are out of our line of sight,” Hernandez reported back.

“They’re sitting, Corporal. There’s no guarantee that they’re sleeping,” Lemay corrected. He was concerned but realized that this was probably the best situation they were likely to get.

“Sergeant swing the UAV over the encampment and transmit the coordinates to Corporal Waldfogel...Corporal prepare to receive.”

“Aye Sir.”

“Sergeant Isom, how’s the town look?”

“All clear.”

Likewise the tent encampment was quiet, no sentries in sight.

Lemay took a deep breath and shook his arms quickly to relax. “Corporal Hernandez, you may fire; take out all visible sentries,” he said. Everyone tensed. They all realized that this was a crucial part of the mission; any miss would undoubtedly result in the alarm being sounded, which could spell disaster for the mission. Lemay knew that if they were to find the General safe and sound they needed surprise on their side. In less time than Colonel could fully form this thought the targets went down.

“Target one down....three down...target two down.”

“All targets down,” Hernandez reported and Lemay sighed.

“Confirmed,” Garraty reported intently studying the view from the “bug.”

“Garraty keep a close eye on the final two forward targets...Gardner move out,” Lemay said and the two teams immediately sprang into action. Sir Ceorl, who’d had the misfortune of be involved in two sieges in his young life, watched the proceedings with wonder. The fact that these soldiers could talk with one another at any time, from any place was incredible, as was the fact that they could see in the dark, they could see over high walls, and they could kill quietly from very great distances. It was truly stunning, and he instantly realized that he was in the presence of the greatest fighting force the Anglish land had ever seen. The Lady Æthelf
læ
d had been wise to send him with the Colonel, as she was wise to trust the confused ramblings of her youngest son. But despite her gender, the lady F
læ
d was always farsighted. He shook his head to clear these thoughts, and then glanced at Sir Oldalf who was smiling blissfully and staring at the goings on through his magic glasses. Sir Ceorl pulled the binoculars back to his eyes and cursed softly as he watched these highly trained, efficient soldiers scale the walls of one of the Land’s most secure fortresses. Even from a distance the knight was amazed. The soldiers somehow shot ropes up twenty feet to the parapets and then pulled themselves up very quickly using pure muscle.

“Hernandez, heads up, boogey approaching from the rear,” Garraty called as one of the targets on the southern wall moved onto the east wall closing on Gardner’s force. The guard was
walking leisurely towards Private Dosland’s position as he climbed quickly up the wall along the west facade of Rovescester.

“I’ve got him from your view, but he’s still out of my line of sight,” Hernandez answered. “Miller, Wells, do you have him?” he asked the other sharpshooters under his command.

“Negative.”

“Dosland, I suggest you accelerate your climb,” Garraty said, and the private did just that, completely amazing the two watching noblemen with the speed of his accent. Captain Gardner and the rest of his team also increased their pace, as did the bulk of Lemay’s force. The only two to remain slow and stealthy were Colonel Lemay and Private Killian, who climbed to his immediate right. They were closing on the positions of the sitting targets directly behind the main gate.

On the eastern wall, Private Dosland reached the top, but kept his body suspended outside the fortress walls. He gingerly poked his head over the wall, pistol ready and in hand. In the semi-darkness of the sporadic torchlight, the private knew he would be nearly invisible even from a few feet away. However, the approaching sentry was still over forty feet away, but sauntering closer, without a care. Dosland could see only the guard’s head and shoulders above the inner wall of the parapet, which was a good five feet across, much wider than he’d imagined. He pulled himself quietly over and ducked behind the inner wall, then quickly looked back toward the main gate where the other two targets were located, even from this distance he could tell they were indeed sleeping, slumped and relaxed. He smiled and then moved toward the small gatehouse which intersected the eastern wall of the castle, effectively cutting it in half. It was only about twenty feet away, and the Private originally planned to take the approaching guard inside in order to muffle the sound of his inevitable death, but after only two steps Dosland realized that there was a torch within the gatehouse, placed at the top of the stairs that led to the courtyard below.