Today was the third day since the mapping patrol's departure. Their first leg was down the river to the crossing point. They had crossed the river and now traveled directly away from it.
Drachcirn had looked up the communicator's broadcast power. From that and the specifications for the lander's radio, he estimated whoever sent the faint message must have been between four and five days away.
The Senior Navigator instructed the men to move straight to visible landmarks. He emphasized choosing landmarks that stood out and were easily spotted. Where possible, they used their range-finders. Patrol members recorded each segment's angles and travel time in a log.
At each campsite, they recorded the angle to the polar star and sent a message to their settlement. The lander's radio had clearly received the transmissions from their communicators.
The patrol carried two of the powerful, scoped-range weapons. They were not planning to attack anyone. But seeing smoke from an abandoned camp made everyone cautious. Ecurben's instructions were to use the weapons only if they were in grave danger.
The men noticed the hills had more trees and steeper ravines. Moving from landmark to landmark produced a zig-zag route. The valleys made the travel time longer than the straight point-to-point distance.
One of the patrol members carried a communicator tuned to the frequency of the fragmented message heard on their lander's radio. But so far, it had received nothing.
“That hill looks like a high point and a good place to camp,” Nerolnin said, spotting a rocky hilltop.
The jagged crest topped a long slope up from a broad valley with a creek meandering through it. Lower down in the valley, more of the massive animals with humped backs grazed.
The six men neared the hilltop late in the afternoon. From there, they could look down into another broad valley. Off to one side, near the bottom, they spotted a pattern of stones protruding from the earth. The faint, rectangular outline on two sides set it apart from other outcroppings.
On the far side was another stream and a long slope rising to even higher ground. The ground was a prairie with deep grass and occasional bushes. Higher up, dense forests bordered the meandering, grassy slope.
“If that mystery message came from up there, the signal would miss all the hills we’ve crossed,” one of Nelronin’smen observed.
“That's an impressive view,” another added.
“Let's camp below this side of the hilltop where no one across the valley can see our campfire. From up top, we have clear views all around,” Nerolnin ordered.
The man assigned to monitor communicator transmissions from the first colony perched on the top. He didn’t expect to hear anything and passed the time, peering into the lush valley. The evening faded into night. The moon gave the landscape an eerie quality.
Then the communicator made a crackling sound, and in the static came the words, “Man down.” At first, the patrol member thought he was dreaming. Then the static came again and mixed in, he heard. “ …out two.”
Scrambling down to the campsite, he shouted, “Nerolnin! Just got a communicator signal. Sounds like there is fighting.”
After checking what his man heard, Nerolnin ordered, “Go back and keep listening.” He sent two others up to search the far side, looking for any activity or light from a campfire. Then, he called back on his communicator to report the contact. He knew they must be close to the first settlement.
The order Nerolnin received was, “Observe! Stay in place.”
After that, there was only silence. The moon had moved low in the sky, and darkness made further observation impossible. Only the faint glow of dying coals revealed the patrol's campsite below the hill's crest.
Nerolnin wondered what the words might mean. But unfortunately, he could interpret them in several ways. He decided it was best to wait and listen.
Near the First Settlement
Nireem and his small band had returned cautiously the way they had come. He didn’t think Salguodir's men would be out searching for them. Instead, they most likely were hidden near the trails through the wooded ravine closest to the settlement. He knew he was Salguodir's target.
After retracing their steps for two days, the patrol approached the area Elykin had described. Finding him would be challenging. He must be hiding in the dense woods ahead.
Crossing an open field through shoulder-high grass, they stopped. Nireem whispered Enida's name into his communicator.
“Cough if you can hear me.”
He heard a coughing sound. “Cough when you see us.”
Then they moved slowly forward, one man at a time, on a diagonal course up and across the open prairie. They crouched in the tall grass. For several minutes, Nireem heard nothing. They pressed on.
Clearing a rise onto flatter ground, he heard a cough, a pause, and another cough. They were not taking chances. The weapons used by the guards had powerful scopes that could resolve small details far away. Even with the intervening woods, gaps between the trees in some places left an unblocked view.
Nireem whispered, “Cough if we should go further up the slope.” He heard nothing.
After a long pause, he softly said into his communicator, “Say OK if we should head straight to the woods.”
“OK,” was the response.
As they drew closer, they saw trees filling a ravine. Then, slipping between the brush and trees, a patrol member spotted Elykin.
Nireem had already decided to move down the slope further away from the settlement, where it would be easier to talk openly. A hand signal got everyone picking their way down the deep ravine. The sloping sides hide them from scopes searching for them.
After several hours, Nireem's men stopped in a small clearing surrounded by large trees. It was far enough to be safe from Salguodir's henchmen.
“Elykin, thanks for taking the risk and telling me what happened. I didn’t want our communication to disclose your identity,” Nireem said.
“I appreciated the caution. How can I help?”
“We need to learn what we are up against.”
“I don’t know a lot. I left the day after the coup and mixed with Amilikut preparing a meal. I had to sneak through the woods to avoid the guards. There are at least three on this side of the settlement.”
“Tonight, we will send out scouts. We’ll rest here,” the Commander explained.
Nightfall came. Unfortunately, there was a full moon and clear skies. The patrol leader selected three men. One was to head lower down the hillside. That's where he would cross the strip of prairie between them and the wooded ravine that bordered this side of the settlement. The second would make the crossing straight across. The third scout would make his way up the slope and cross the open land well above the commonly used trails.
“Move slowly. Stay low. Just observe. Not a sound. We’ll watch from cover here,” Nireem ordered.
The men had been hunters and stalked game on Tridon. They had night vision glasses and carried side arms.
Kneeling near the edge of the woods, Nireem and Eteppon could see the wide strip of grassland winding back and forth down the long slope. A gentle breeze caused the tall grass to sway. They were far enough behind the trees to be hidden by dark shadows. The patrol leader was further down the sloping strip of woods, where he could watch the first scout. The only sounds came from rustling leaves and an occasional bird.
Progress was tortoise-like. For the three watching from cover, losing track of the men inching through the grass was easy. Periodic binocular scans of the opposite woodland revealed nothing. The three creeping through the grass had flashlights for signaling back to their comrades.
Finally, Nireem's communicator vibrated. Looking down, he saw it was the patrol leader. The first scout had flashed a signal indicating he was across and had seen nothing so far. It wasn’t much longer when Nireem saw the same light code from the second man. These two were now in the real danger zone. It was a dicey game of who spotted the other first, and Salguodir's guys had serious kill weapons.
Finally, Eteppon whispered he had seen the signal from the third man. All three were in the wooded strip that separated them from the settlement. Nireem didn’t have much respect for Salguodir's guards. He doubted they had the skill and discipline of his three Amilikut scouts.
The Commander's communicator vibrated, alerting him to a call from the patrol leader. He was relieved when he heard, “Lower guard spotted.”
He knew their scout would observe the guards’ behavior and watch for replacements during the night. Nireem was also interested in whether they stayed at a fixed spot or patrolled an area.
Nireem and Eteppon waited most of the night – but saw and heard nothing. Even though the sky was starting to show the first signs of dawn, darkness still enveloped everything.
Then Nireem's communicator vibrated a third time and told him the first scout was returning. Not long after, Eteppon saw the signal indicating the third scout was also returning.
Suddenly, the Commander saw a brilliant flash light up the woods directly across from him. That intense pulse could only mean it was a ranged weapon from the lander. Even a glancing hit was lethal. A near miss could knock a man down. He wished it was just a guard relieving boredom, but deep down, he knew better. Smoke from where the second scout had last signaled left no doubt.
Over his communicator, he whispered, “Man down.” Then, after a pause, he added,” Scout two,” so the patrol leader would know who. But, just as bad, Salguodir's men knew they were near.
Morning came. The Commander's small band sat in the wooded ravine. Out of caution, they hadn’t made a fire. Most had barely slept, and the ground was cold. Losing one of their team a few hours earlier had stunned everyone.
Nireem was the only one there who had lost men under his command. Yet, while he felt the loss, his experience had toughened him to confront danger.
He knew Salguodir's men outnumbered them and was sure they would be bragging about killing one of his men. He had to get even.
The two returning scouts both believed Salguodir's guards hadn’t seen them. One scout had a guard in view when the flash came through the woods. However, that guard was never alerted.
After hearing the details of what the scouts observed, Nireem decided on a plan.
“The guards are not well trained. Your observations make that clear. We have to even the odds. Our next move will be very targeted. We will take out the lower guard and get his weapon. We will send two riflemen on this mission.”
“What good does that do? Salguodir will just replace him,” someone asked.
“That's a good thing. The lowest guard is the most vulnerable. Our goal is to take out Salguodir's men as safely as possible. Watch to see if they send out people to gather food during the day. It would help if we could get word to some of our friends.”
The men took turns standing watch while the others rested.
At Nerolnin's Camp
Nerolnin's men were up preparing a meal. He wasn’t happy with last night's order to remain on the hill and observe. So, he called back and asked for permission to advance closer. He argued they needed to find out what was happening.
This time, the response was OK, but be cautious.
Smiling, he stood before his men and announced, “We can move closer. Put the communicators on vibrate. We leave in 15!”
As before, they traveled from landmark to landmark, recording the angles and distances. It took all morning to reach the valley floor. The patrol waded across the shallow river. They could see up ahead heavily wooded ravines separated by winding stripes of grassland.
After advancing nearly halfway to the ravines, Nerolnin had them sit in the dense grass at the foot of a steep section, which partially hid them from anyone farther up the hillside. However, being out in the open with only the cover of prairie grass made them feel exposed.
“Let's wait and watch for activity,” Nerolnin ordered. His men stretched across the slope, watching with their binoculars. Then, a communicator vibrated.
Nerolnin heard, “Saw movement far down the slope.”
Looking down, he saw the communicator channel was the one that brought the Settlement One message.
“OK, keep watching,” came a reply.
Nerolnin had no doubt. The person responding was the Commander. The transmission was clear. And it was also obvious the Commander was watching for something. Nerolnin's mind was considering the options. Should he make contact? He assumed others were listening. He decided to stay in place and wait.
More time passed, and then his communicator vibrated again.
“Armed man, edge of woods, left side,” a patrol member reported.
“Stay under cover,” Nerolnin ordered.
Dusk was setting in, and Nerolnin's men stayed in the deep grass. The first stars were visible when Nerolnin felt another vibration. It was the Settlement One channel.
“Two starting across,” said an unfamiliar voice.
“Two starting. Keep me advised.”
Nerolnin knew the second voice was The Commander. He quietly had his men pass along word of the crossing. They would soon learn the Commander's location.
The two men sent by the Commander were being extra careful. The previous night's loss had made clear they were playing a high-stakes game. The two had separated, each taking a different path. One was inching down the slope to approach their target from below. The other traversed the open ground slightly above the previous night's route.
“Movement in the grass on the right,” reported another patrol member, and the Patrol Leader knew the wooded gully on his right concealed the Commander.
Reports from Nerolnin's men were coming in every few minutes.
“A second armed guard has joined the one spotted a few minutes ago.”
Whoever controlled the settlement anticipated the Commander would attempt to move closer. The situation was now clear. Someone had taken over the colony, a coup while the Commander was away.
“One of the guards just crawled into the deep grass,” another reported.
This flanking move surprised Nerolnin. The prairie grass obscured normal vision, but night vision optics could pick up the infrared from sweating men crawling on the ground. Who would be spotted first was a toss-up. With powerful weapons, it was a risky move -- unless they knew the Commander's men didn’t have the long-range weapons. Suddenly, he understood. It was a trap. The down-hill guard would lie quietly and wait.
Nerolnin wasn’t sure what to do. His reading of the situation spelled doom for the Commander's plan. His orders explicitly forbid taking any overt aggressive action, but the Commander needed his help. He had to do something. But what?
Nelrolnin's mind jumped from one possibility to another – a distraction, a warning, or do nothing? He didn’t want anyone connected with the coup to know Ecurben's men had found them. Quietly, he conferred with two of his patrol.
“Let's create a distraction. Something the guard's night vision optics see. And if he shoots at it, it will warn the Commander's men,” one suggested.
“How do we do that,” pressed Nerolnin.
“We all carry laser lights for signaling. One mode uses infrared. So, a laser light will be the source,” explained the man with the idea.
“But, whoever flashes infrared at the guard in the grass becomes the target.”
“We rig the light in the right location and put a glove over the lens. When we turn on the infrared, the glove blocks it. Then, we tie a string to the glove and carefully creep back a safe distance. And when we pull the string, the glove will fall off, exposing the infrared beam.”
“Very clever. Good thinking, but practice the setup here first. Out there, it has to be done quickly without attracting any attention.”
“One more detail, Nerolnin. Our signal lights have several flashing modes. One choice flashes at random intervals with varying brightness. If we use that mode, it will appear more like infrared from a moving body.”
“Good plan. Make sure the guy in the grass will not hit any of us if he shoots. We don’t want to be collateral damage.”
Two members of the patrol rehearsed their plan. Meanwhile, Nerolnin checked on the position of the guard, waiting to ambush anyone approaching. Then, after deciding where to put the decoy, his men silently planted it. Finally, the two men inched their way back and smoothly pulled the string.
It didn’t take long. One member of the patrol noticed some movement on the hillside. Then, an instant later, a deafening blast from the guard's weapon set the grass around the decoy in flames.
Nerolnin turned and gave a thumbs-up to his men. Their plan worked perfectly, and now The Commander's men knew where the guard in the grass was hiding.