The two had a rapid discussion with much waving of arms, before the old man barked out some orders. The circle around Ahana widened to fifty feet as the warriors pulled back, the old man going with them. The old woman remained and she mimicked Ahana’s gesture, raising her empty hands above her shoulders.
With no other option, Ahana unsealed her suit and exited.
If she was surprised to see a woman, an Asian woman at that, come out of the sui~ the old woman showed no surprise. She smiled and pointed at herself.
“Shakan.”
Ahana imitated the gesture. “Ahana.”
The woman indicated she should follow. Ahana tethered her suit and the case attached to its back. She followed Shakan out of the valley, the warriors parting in front of them with many curious glances.
Ahana had no idea where she was. Although between the warriors and the terrain she suspected somewhere in southern Africa. Given the weaponry the warriors bad, she also guessed she was sometime in the past.
They came up out of the valley and Ahana could see they were now on a large east-west escarpment. There was a rocky hill to the right several miles away on which she could see the glow of campfires. There also seemed to be some activity, as torches ran to and fro. Shakan led her to the left, toward a conical hill.
As they moved across the plain toward the hill, Ahana noticed that the eastern s~ was beginning to lighten, bringing a new day.
With Chelmsford gone, the camp at Isandlwana was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Pulleine. If things had been bad under Chelmsford, they were worse now as Pulleine had never seen combat. He also had the problem of guarding a camp that was much larger than the force that remained in it, as he still had the tents for the men who had marched off with Chelmsford.
The camp sprawled over nine hundred yards long, along the front face of Isandlwana. Besides the tents, Pulleine was also saddled with over one hundred wagons and the animals that pulled them. He had five companies of the Twenty-fourth Infantry and nine companies of the Native Natal Contingent along with assorted other elements left to him.
Pulleine wasn’t completely incompetent. He put out a screen of mounted troops to the north and east, along with a closer line of infantry pickets. As the sun rose, he spread his remaining troops along the line he had to hold. One of his company commanders pointed out that the line was spread too thin to offer an effective defense using volley fire — the forte of the British Army — but Pulleine pointed out that he had no other choice, short of leaving part of the camp uncovered.
Shortly before 8:00 A.M., one of the mounted soldiers rode in from the· northeast reporting a large Zulu force moving across the Nqutu Plateau. Pulleine immediately sent a runner after Chelmsford and pulled in his infantry pickets, leaving the mounted men still out. He ordered stand to.
Then came confusion as Colonel Durnsford finally arrived from Rorke’s Drift with his column. Given that Durnsford outranked Pulleine, there was some issue over who was in command. Worse, while Chelmsford had ordered Pulleine to hold his position, Durnsford did not feel those orders applied to him. Given that Durnsford not only · outranked him but was a more experienced officer, Pulleine was more than willing to hand over command to Durnsford. Durnsford dogged the issue by telling Pulleine that he and his command would not be staying in the camp. All could see small scattered parties of Zulu on the plains · to the east, and Dumsford was determined to ride out and clear the ground of the enemy.
A more experienced and aggressive officer would have pointed out to Dumsford!hat he had been ordered forward to Isandlwana by Chelmsford, and the orders from the commander for the force at Isandlwana was to hold the defensive, but Pulleine said nothing. The two sat down for lunch, indicating that they did not take any threat very seriously at the moment.
Even when a patrol came in with two Zulus they had captured, and the two said that the entire Zulu army was close by the camp and preparing to attack, the two British officers were not alarmed. Pulleine sent another messenger after Chelmsford while Durnsford got his command ready to move. He asked Pulleine for two companies of infantry for support. Already stretched thin, Pulleine initially demurred but finally gave in, further depleting his force. However, Pulleine’s adjutant protested so forcefully that Pulleine reversed his decision just before Durnsford left.
At noon, Durnsford rode off to pursue the Zulus on the plain even though he had just been told by the prisoners that the Zulus were coming to the British.
Pulleine ordered his mounted pickets to be more vigilant and move farther out. Thus putting in action a series of events trying to protect his command that would lead to its destruction.
Standing on the top of the conical hill, Ahana could see the movement of every player in the game except the massive army she had left in the darkness, which was still bidden in the valley to the north.
Using hand signals, Shakan indicated to Ahana that battle would not be joined until the sun had set and risen once more — the next day, which did little to calm Ahana. She could see parties of Zulus moving here and there, along with various British columns. She had a good idea of when and where she was, although she did not know if this were her own timeline or another one. She had vague recollections that a major battle had been fought by the British against the Zulu nation but she could not recall the outcome. Shakan was little help as they did not speak a common tongue and the Zulu woman could not predict the future, although she did · know a great battle was coming.
Ahana wasn’t certain what all this had to do with finding a back door into the Shadow’s timeline. While Shakan watched, she opened the pack of equipment she had brought and began trying to determine if there was anything out of the norm in the area that she could pick up with her sensors, particularly focusing on scanning for muons, the telltale of a gate and Shadow activity.
She immediately picked up muonic trace activity to the west in the vicinity of Isandlwana. Not enough to indicate a gate, but enough to indicate the Shadow was either coming or had left. Ahana had no doubt it was the former.
Cetewayo had agreed with Shakan that the attack be on the following day, but it did not sit well with his impatient warriors. Keeping twenty thousand men crammed into the narrow valley was proving to be a chore. He was forced to send small foraging parties out to gather water and food for the main force. One of those parties, driving some cattie before them, were spotted by a mounted patrol from Isandlwana, which gave chase.
Cetewayo was almost grateful when the mounted patrol came chasing the foraging party over the edge of the ravine and saw the valley crammed with Zulu warriors. It · was hard to say who was more surprised.
Cetewayo did not hesitate though as he gave the order to attack. He knew he had lost the element of surprise and waiting would only allow the various British columns to consolidate.
Twenty thousand Zulu warriors surged out of the ravine toward the south. As they moved, the force separated into three columns, the two horns taking form on the flanks and the massive center-moving straight toward Isandlwana five miles away. As they moved, they were engaged by the mounted patrols to their front, which were forced to pull back against the overwhelming force bearing down on them. The front of the center force of the Zulu army was over a mile wide as it advanced toward Isandlwana.
Pulleine did not greet the reports of the incoming Zulu army with particular alarm although he was concerned. He felt confident that his British regulars would bear up well against force from the savages that came against it. The twenty-fourth Infantry were veteran soldiers, tough and well disciplined. They came from rough backgrounds and made a home in the army. They were part of an army that was world renowned for being able to stand fast on the battlefield and fire precise. Controlled volleys into enemy lines, blowing huge gaps in them. They were · armed with breech loading Martini-Henry rifles, which · gave them a fivefold increase in rate of fire over their predecessors who’d had muzzleloaders.