CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

GETTING THE BONE FOR IT

 

 

ZOO PACK HAD lost five Aux, including two during the time that the secret war band was away from the fiefdom: one moments after they had emerged outside at Deutsche Oper and one two hours before their return.

Two sentries had not returned from their duties. No bodies were found. There was blood and one broken blade, but no other evidence that they had ever existed.

Robert Browning had little trouble gathering a large number of his fellow lieutenants together. He was a popular Aux, reliable in the scrapping, strong and true. They did not know why he would call a meeting. It was the exclusive right of the Alpha dog to summon them together, but something was wrong and they were ready to talk.

“Me, I have been to Warschauer,” began Robert Browning.

One or two of the lieutenants looked at one another, bewildered.

“No,” said one of them hesitantly. “Me, I was there.”

“Me, I took a small war band, just three others. Us, we went without being sent,” said Browning. “Me, I took Evelyn War.”

“The useless omega bitch,” said the Aux who had spoken.

“Her not so useless, Oscar so Wild,” answered Browning. Then, “Warschauer Pack all dead. Deader and dead.”

There was a single gasp from one of the gathered lieutenants, but several of them started or shook their heads in horror.

“Us, we will be next if we don’t listen, if we don’t change,” said Robert Browning.

“Us, we listen,” said Oscar so Wild. “Us, we listen to Ezra Pound.”

A cheer went up from about half of the lieutenants, but it soon died away.

“The Warschauer, them all dead. Our sentries, three of them are gone, deader and dead,” said Browning.

“Five,” said a voice from the crowd. “Robert Browning, you speak true. You were gone two nights. Those two nights, two more sentries, them gone, deader and dead.”

“Us, we must listen to Evelyn War. Us, we must listen to Edward Leer. Us, we must listen to the Warschauer Pack Hearer. Him knows the truth,” said Browning.

“Robert Browning, you killed Oberon War, the Zoo Pack Hearer, deader and dead,” said Oscar so Wild. “You killed him because Ezra Pound, him ordered it. Now you speak of a new Hearer, an outsider.”

“I was wrong to kill Oberon War. Ezra Pound, him was wrong,” said Robert Browning. “The Warschauer Pack Hearer, him knew the Pack was in peril. Him survived, tougher and tough. Zoo Pack, we must hear him. Zoo Pack, we must listen to him.”

“Us, we must listen to Ezra Pound,” said Oscar so Wild. “Ezra Pound, him Alpha dog.”

Another half-hearted cheer, from Oscar so Wild’s cronies. He held great sway with many of them, was the most senior, the strongest of them, second only to Ezra Pound, and the most likely to succeed him. He had not yet got the bone to challenge the Alpha dog, but one day he would.

Oscar so Wild stepped out of the crowd and took two long, determined strides towards Robert Browning.

“Robert Browning, you got the bone to challenge Ezra Pound. You look for allies among the lieutenants. You dare to stand against the Alpha dog,” said Oscar so Wild. The big Aux’s torso and shoulders tensed, and he snarled at Robert Browning. “You got the bone to challenge me.”

Robert Browning blocked the huge fist that Oscar so Wild drove at his chest and threw a punch of his own, which landed, but seemed to have no effect on the big lieutenant.

The punches came faster after that.

Oscar so Wild landed a good swing on Robert Browning’s jaw, and Robert’s head jerked with the impact. He struck back with a solid jab to Wild’s throat, which should have winded the Aux, but he didn’t stop punching. He sank half a dozen blows into Browning’s gut, as the smaller Aux began to snake his arms around his attacker’s neck.

The scrapping was brutal and inelegant, but not serious. There was no deadly intent in the wrestling match. It was a show, for Aux of equal rank: that there was a pecking order, and it must be maintained.

Robert Browning jerked his legs and twisted his body as Oscar so Wild pinned him to the floor, grappling to sink his teeth into the back of his neck.

Browning would not be bitten. He forced the senior lieutenant off his chest and rolled him, claiming the advantage himself.

With the big Aux pinned on his side, Robert Browning kneed him hard in the back, yanking down on the wrist he was holding in both of his hands. Wild snarled and bucked, and then rolled onto his belly and was back on his feet.

More punching followed, and the two Aux were soon back in a clinch. Robert Browning’s teeth made contact with Oscar so Wild’s bicep, drawing blood. He got a heavy cuff around the ear in payment.

The blows were hard and heavy, and bruises were already beginning to show. Oscar so Wild had a cut above his brow ridge to the left, and his ears were ringing from repeated blows to his head. Robert Browning’s jaw was bruised and swollen, and Wild had cracked at least one of his ribs.

Robert Browning backed away and swung again, an uppercut that took Oscar so Wild by surprise. The bigger Aux’s hands dropped and his head snapped back.

Robert Browning dropped his shoulder and lunged for Wild’s sternum, winding him and sending him crashing to the floor. Oscar so Wild’s head hit hard and bounced. His mouth slackened for a moment, and he was out cold for just a second before he lifted his head and shook it. His mouth drooped and his pupils were dilated.

Robert Browning was standing over him.

“Me, I haven’t got the bone to challenge Oscar so Wild, nor Ezra Pound,” said Robert Browning. He leaned in and offered the big Aux his hand. Oscar so Wild took it and allowed Browning to help him to his feet. Dignity was satisfied.

“Me, I’ve got the bone for it, to scrap whatever them’s out there, to fight whatever them’s killing Aux, deader and dead,” said Robert Browning.

Someone in the crowd started to clap. Another pair of hands joined in with the applause, and then another.

Oscar so Wild’s cronies kept quiet.

“Ezra Pound, him Alpha dog,” said Oscar so Wild. “Him will do the right thing. Him will lead the right way. You, don’t tell us. You tell him. You tell Ezra Pound.”

“Me, I will tell Ezra Pound,” said Robert Browning. “Me, I wanted you to hear it first. Us, we must stand together. Us, we must be ready for what is to come.”

“Us, we are Aux,” said Oscar so Wild. “Us, we are Zoo Pack. Us, we are always ready. When Ezra Pound, him orders it, us, we will all get whet.”

When the cheer went up in the room, all the Aux lieutenants joined in. No one was in any doubt that they were in peril, no one was in any doubt that Robert Browning had spoken the truth. They were scrappers – they were Aux warriors – and the fear of the whispers they had shared about their dead sentries was gone, because someone had finally spoken.