But if six hunting parties went out, and only five returned, there would be no reaction. It also seemed that for almost half an hour before dark and after sunrise, the surveillance was spotty. Heavy overcast helped hide groups smaller than ten. And they could at least hope that the star men would be concentrating on the main body of the Free People, moving slowly east.
Ironically, it seemed that quite a few of the infiltrators had been able to cross the bridge near Treaty to enter Whitan. While it was certain the star men were watching the land east of the river, they were apparently not watching the land west of it. So a hundred of the warriors were working their way across the plains east of the river, while three hundred more had crossed, and were working their way south through Whitan and Nirvana.
On the evening before the appointed day, the warriors from the east would rush to gather just before dark. Then they would attack at almost the moment of the next dawn. When the defenders were drawn to the eastern boundary, the men on foot would overwhelm the bridge guards, and nearly three hundred dinos would thunder across the wide, smooth bridge the star men had so thoughtfully provided and into the star men's belly. It was even possible a few of the Free People would survive, to make their way back to the camps and tell the people of their victory!
Tran had met a few of the warriors since crossing the river. They were travelling mostly in groups of four or less, avoiding towns and villages. But one lucky group had encountered a line of four traders' carts moving south. After hiding the bodies of the traders, a full twenty warriors had been able to pose as traders and their guardsmen while moving south to Nirvana.
He composed himself for sleep. Perhaps he would dream of slaughtering star men!
********
"No," King Karel said. "We have not tried to rescind the grant of the Cursed Lands to the star men."
"Why not?" King Rajo's tone was curious.
King Karel shrugged. "In the history of Jumbo there are many stories of Great Captains seizing kingdoms, or trying to do so. Isn't that how Gralen's grandfather gained Whitan? This 'General' had star weapons and many strong warriors at his call. But sire Cale, here, and the Lady Dee brought sire Zant and sire Tonio, and many more, and even enlisted your own aid to defeat the renegade. Truly, the star men have kept faith with Us. Have they been dishonest with your Majesty?"
King Rajo shook his head. "No, but I am concerned that this General still occupies a position of authority in their Colony Council. And that's another thing: Where is their King? How can they govern without a leader?"
King Karel smiled. "Sire Belen tried to explain it to me, but I confess I do not fully understand it. They have a leader, but they call him Colony Administrator. With the death of sire Belen and the defeat of the General, sire Perez has been made Colony Administrator. Apparently, this council of nobles, this 'Colony Council', appointed him, and the Colony Council is selected by the voice of the people somehow. At any rate, he speaks for the colony. Is that not so, sire Cale?"
"Yes, your Majesty," Cale replied. "But the Colony Administrator does not have all the powers of a king. He cannot conclude treaties, for instance, without the approval of the Council."
King Rajo frowned. "Yes. Our advisors tell Us that the details of our treaty with the star men have been worked out for days. Yet sire Perez says he cannot sign it yet. We are becoming impatient to return to Our own domain, particularly since the attack the star men feared did not occur."
"I confess to being confused myself at the fact that there has been no attack," Cale replied. "Zant's trying to figure it out. As for the treaty, the Council hopes to conclude similar treaties with the minor kingdoms, and they hope to use the treaty with Valhalla as a model, so they worry over every comma and period."
King Rajo was still frowning. "Yes. The minor kingdoms are becoming fearful. Ever since We agreed that Gorby should become part of Nirvana, they fear that We are plotting with Nirvana to seize all their kingdoms. We are counting on the star men's treaties to ease their minds."
"We have noticed the absence of the formidable sire Zant," King Karel said. "He still believes there will be an attack, then?"
Cale nodded. "Yes, as do I, and the Council, and even the General. That, your Majesty, is why the General is still in charge of defense. We suspect the nomads are up to something, but we're having trouble figuring out what. Zant's aboard the space station, analyzing the surveillance data. None of our people are experienced at surveillance, and Zant's worried that they've missed something." He paused. "At least it gave us a chance to organize a militia for King Karel. Two hundred men isn't a lot, but with the nomads gone, they can all be pretty much part-timers."
"Yes," King Karel said in a nettled tone. "We appreciate your efforts, of course. But it is becoming expensive to keep them at Ham's Town. And We are receiving complaints from the residents."
"I know, your Majesty, and I'm sorry. The trouble is, Zant as much as told them that we're watching from above, and we think they're taking precautions. If they're going to do something, I wish they'd do it! You can't keep people on alert for a month at a time."
It was shortly after nightfall that the General called Cale. "Something's up," he said. "Just before dark, we started getting a lot of capacitance and thermal alarms on the north perimeter. I've sent scouts with night vision to check them out, but from the thermal images, I'd estimate about a hundred men with dinos."
Cale frowned. "That's not enough. The chiefs would sit on a hundred. There must be more. We expected three or four times that number."
Cale called Zant and briefed him. "I've been thinking," he said, "If they could infiltrate a hundred mounted men east of the river, they could have infiltrated a lot more on the west side. King Karel is loaning me a dino. I'm planning to take Explorer and make a pass over the west bank to see what I can see on thermals."
Zant shook his head. "No. Let me send a Din-class. Its thermal sensors won't be as good, but if there are nomads there, the Din-class can land at Ham's Town and take a bunch of militia aboard. And a high pass won't spook the nomads. A battle is one thing, but King Karel wouldn't like a couple hundred nomad bandits roaming around killing."
Cale nodded. "Seems like a plan. Get on it. If their infiltrators have bunched up like that, the attack must be scheduled for dawn tomorrow."
It was nearly midnight before the Din-class could make its pass east of the river. Zant called Cale. "It's getting pretty crowded around the bridge. I'd say several hundred with dinos. I've called Tonio at Ham's Town to start waking up the militia, but I doubt we'll make it by dawn."
Cale called the General and gave him the news. "This looks like their main body."
The General nodded. "Yes. I'd say the ones to the north will attack at first light. They're obviously hoping to draw our forces away from the main attack." He smiled thinly. "For nomads, this is very sophisticated tactics. We'll be ready for them, but I only have a hundred and sixty men plus the colony militia, make that another hundred."
Cale nodded. "Zant's loading King Karel's militia at Ham's Town. That's another two hundred, with bows and crossbows. But they won't get there before dawn. They're militia; it's not like marching trained troops aboard."
The General nodded. "I understand. We'll hold them. But I hope your militia has more than crossbows and bows. By the time they get here, we might be hand-to-hand."
Cale shrugged. "Mostly knives, swords, tomahawks, and those spear things. They love the tomahawks, now that they've learned they're weapons and not camp tools. Some of them want to carry two or three of them."
"Good," the General replied. "Tell Jenfu to land them on the west bank and have his men take them in the rear. The bridge is wider than I'd like, but it's a choke point. If I remember correctly, the nomads don't like hand-to-hand. They have those assegais, or javelins, those light six-foot spears."