Conflict and Courage (9 page)

The barrack was
a long low building set near the centre of the stronghold and Brian
described it to his family as ‘rudimentary and basic but it keeps
out the weather’ which had the predictable effect of making his
mother Janice even more worried than before about her younger son’s
wellbeing.

The building
was split into two wings with a communal area in the middle. It was
Laura Merriman who had insisted on a separate wing for boy and girl
cadets.

“They’ll be of
an age when the opposite sex is of more than a passing interest.
Lets try to keep their explorations down to a minimum,” was her wry
comment. Francis had agreed. Asya and Faddei didn’t understand why
Laura was so insistent. Courtship and play was an integral part of
the way the Lind lived although sexual intimacy was not encouraged
until they were at least sixteen summers old.

Each wing had a
central corridor with partitioned cubicles down each side. If Brian
stood on his tiptoes he could just about look into his neighbour’s
space. Within each partition sat a narrow bed for the human element
of the partnership and a large low divan-like structure for the
Lind.

When Sofiya saw
hers for the first time she whined in approval. Brian had laboured
long and hard weaving the dried river reeds that made the divan
most luxurious.

“Why should I,”
Sofiya said as she watched him arrange them, “lie on hard wood with
bits of twigs and bits of jaggy greens for a bed when these reeds
are so handy?” Then she had tried it out, “soft too,” she added,
nestling in. “I be most comfortable.”

Brian laughed
and, bed arranged to her satisfaction, dumped his kitbag on the
wide shelf designed for that purpose. A small rough table and a
chair completed the furnishings.

“Not exactly
palatial,” he said, “but I suppose we’re in the army now. We’ve got
time to add some rugs and other amenities if we can before most of
the others arrive. The call hasn’t gone out yet. I’ll go to the
commissary tomorrow and try to scrounge some.”

Sofiya merely
watched from her bed, laid her head down and prepared to fall
asleep. “Ilyei here soon,” she agreed with a certain amount of
satisfaction as her eyes closed.

* * * * *

“Hiya Emily,”
greeted Brian when she and the said Ilyei entered the stronghold
the following morning. She rode in beside Jim and Larya; Jim had a
soft spot for the gentle girl. Larya and Jim had wished to see with
their own eyes how the Vada base was progressing. “What kept you?
You’ve missed all the fun.”

“What fun?”
Emily asked as she veered towards him, dismounted and began to
release the straps of Ilyei’s harness. Jim and Larya had led them
south with all speed, only stopping once to hunt; Ilyei had
expressed his need to do so again in no uncertain terms that very
morning by demanding ‘good fresh meat,’ with the emphasis on the
second word.

: I go now
:
he announced, shook himself and began to move away
: I
find you later Emily :

He loped away,
eager to avail himself of the nearby zarova herds. Emily watched
him go, marvelling anew at the grace and inherent strength of her
life-partner. She was convinced that he was the most handsome Lind
of all; a sentiment shared by all human partners for their
Lind.

“Why, the
arrival of the Weaponsmaster of course!” answered Brian. “He and
Mislya arrived yesterday with Geraldine, Jsei and my brother Louis
and Ustinya. There have been other new vadeln-pairs arriving as
well, cadets like us.”

“Help me with
my packs,” said Emily as she bent down and picked up the one on the
top. “I can’t manage them and harness both.”

“You
do
have a lot,” Brian agreed, reaching to help her.

“Most of it is
medical supplies for Laura from your father.”

“I’ll help you
over with it once you’ve got your own things into the barracks,”
Brian promised. He pointed with his free hand towards an almost
finished building. “The Holad section is over there. Laura will
probably still be on her rounds at the moment, showing the new
doctor where everything is and introducing him to everyone.”

“What new
doctor?”

“He arrived the
other day. Francis persuaded one from the ship that he was needed
here, how he managed it I can only guess.”

“Isn’t he
bonded with a Lind?”

“No, at least
not yet. Seems to be a decent sort of chap though.”

“And the
Weaponsmaster?”

“I’ve not met
him yet,” Brian admitted, “he’s been closeted with Francis.”

“Does he have
family?”

“On their way,
some vadeln-pairs have gone to fetch them.”

The two reached
the cadet quarters and Brian stopped.

“This is the
cadet barracks. Girls one side, boys the other.” He gestured to
each with a wave of an arm.

“Human or
Lind?” asked Emily with dry humour.

“Human of
course, nitwit. Does it matter? Most of the grown-ups have their
own dagas outside in the woods although some do have permanent
quarters here.”

Emily nodded.
She and Ilyei had noticed evidence of this on their way in.
“There’s not really room for everybody within the walls,” she
agreed.

“Not every
vadeln-pair wants to live inside either,” answered Brian, “you’ll
soon find it’s not exactly private.”

When Emily
entered the dim passageway inside the cadet barracks on the girl’s
side she could only agree. As she claimed an unoccupied cubicle she
wondered how she and Ilyei would manage living in such close
proximity to the other cadets after so many months of the privacy
of their own daga at Afanasei.

As Brian helped
her put her things away he continued to chatter. “It’s good that
you have come now,” he said, “with the numbers that are expected,
the back barn has been fitted out with temporary accommodation and,
if you think these are cramped …”

“This is not?”
asked Emily.

“Compared with
the barn my friend, these cubicles are five-star!”

Emily’s
eyebrows rose.

“Your harness
goes there,” Brian said, pointing to the hooks on the wall. “I’ve
managed to scrounge extra chairs and put up some more shelves. I’ll
do the same for you if you like.”

“Yes please,”
answered Emily with a smile of thanks. “It’s so very …”

“Spartan?”

“Exactly.”

He stopped and
a distant expression came over his face.

“Sofiya says
two more new people are on their way in,” he told her with a
resigned grin. “I’ll go get them and bring them here. Then we can
all have some lunch.” He sped off.

Emily picked up
the two remaining packs. “I’d better take these over to Laura,” she
called after his departing heels. “I can manage, you’ve been great
looking after me like this.”

“What are
friends for? Come back here when you’ve finished and I’ll show you
round some more, the cookhouse bell will be ringing soon.”

Making her way
to the Holad cabins, Emily hoped Laura wouldn’t keep her long; it
was not only Ilyei who was very hungry.

* * * * *

“Do we know the
approximate ages of all the cadets?” Wilhelm Dahlstrom asked
Francis as he, Jim and the Susa ate their own luncheon in the
office complex. The three human commanders of the cadet troops were
also present.

Francis handed
him the roster.

The
Weaponsmaster took one look at it. “I must admit that I did not
expect so many,” was his dry comment.

“One hundred
and eleven all told with more coming in,” said Francis.

“We never said
that it would be easy,” interposed Jim Cranston. “Have you come to
any decision about how you’re going to split them up?”

“Geraldine and
I discussed it on our way in, young Louis Randall too when he and
Ustinya joined us, three classes, the under sixteens, sixteen to
eighteen and then the adults. If we do that and jiggle the
timetable a bit, I think we can accommodate them all.”

“You’ve still
to fit in the active vadeln-pairs, hone their skills.”

“I won’t
forget.”

“Don’t forget
the smaller ones either,” added Nell who had the very youngest in
her charge, “they can’t be expected to have the same strengths as
the bigger ones. It might be better if they are kept completely
separate.”

Jim pulled the
timetable towards him. “Pretty comprehensive, they won’t get much
free time will they?”

“I’ve got to
get as many ready for active duty as fast as possible,” answered
Francis.

“Are you still
going to accept the under eighteens for active duty if Wilhelm here
says they are ready?” asked Jim.

“I have
to.”

“I don’t like
it.”

“Neither do I
but I don’t have a choice.”

Francis turned
to Geraldine, “and are you sure that you and Jsei can manage all
the riding classes on top of your other duties?”

“I think so,”
she answered, “so long as Ross and Lililya can manage the younger
ones on alternate mornings.”

They then moved
on to a more detailed discussion about the best way to allocate the
available instructors to the classes.

* * * * *

The morning
after Emily and Ilyei’s arrival, the Weaponsmaster met two of his
future pupils.

Brian and Emily
were on their way to the cookhouse for breakfast and saw him
standing indecisively outside his new quarters.

Emily poked
Brian in the ribs.

“It’s the
Weaponsmaster,” she whispered sotto voce. “He looks a bit lost. Do
you think we should offer to help?”

But Wilhelm had
spotted them. “You there,” he called, “are you on your way to the
cookhouse?”

“Yes
Weaponsmaster,” answered Brian. “We are going for breakfast.”

“If you would
care to join us?” invited Emily shyly.

He most
certainly did, supper with Jim Cranston had been a long time ago
and this seemed to be a good opportunity to see what sort of
youngsters he would be dealing with.

They walked for
a few moments in silence. Emily and Brian didn’t quite know what to
say and Wilhelm was in a deep study.

“What age are
you boy?” asked Wilhelm with a suddenness that they would learn was
natural to him.

“Fourteen,
Weaponsmaster,” answered Brian.

“Ever held a
sword?”

Brian shook his
head and Wilhelm turned to Emily.

“You girl?”

Emily reddened.
“I’m fifteen Weaponsmaster and I have used a sword. Ilyei and I
were part of the communications pivot during the battle together
with Tara and Kolyei. We nearly died there when the Larg broke
through. My friend Thomas did die and his Lind Stasya death-wished
afterwards.”

She spoke
matter-of-factly about her loss. The doubts Wilhelm still
entertained about his coming to the Vada began to recede.

Emily proceeded
to go into further details of her and Tara’s experiences.

“Sounds as if
you really need me here,” he murmured to himself as they reached
the cookhouse. For the first time he said it with something like
conviction in his voice.

: At last
:
said Mislya.

His private
meeting with Francis McAllister later that morning (after Brian had
taken him for a guided tour of the complex) was encouraging.

“I’ll need
assistants and I myself will have to learn how to fight from
Mislya’s back,” Wilhelm informed the Susa. “I can start training
dismounted immediately.”

“I was rather
hoping you would say that,” said Francis, “and I’ll train you
myself until you’re happy alindback and ready to take the mounted
lessons, Geraldine and I will do the riding classes. Nell too,
she’s rather good. Are you going to use Ross to help teach the
sword-work?”

“Ross?”

“Yes, tall man
with greying brown hair. You met him yesterday.”

“I’ll try him
out tomorrow,” said Wilhelm, “first though, I’ve got to complete
the alterations to my quarters. Mislya has most definite ideas
about what is right and proper for a Lind of her station. I think
I’ll abscond with these two cadets I met a while ago to help.”
Francis looked blank.

When Mislya and
he had been escorted to his quarters on their arrival she had been
quick to pass comment.

“I have spent
many a season sleeping in airy daga with wind in my fur and air
fresh to breathe. I not wish to live inside.”

“It’ll be much
warmer inside,” Wilhelm coaxed.

“It will make
me soft,” she retorted. “I have the position as vadeln to
Weaponsmaster of Vada to uphold.” She stretched up to her full
height and with understandable pride.

She pointed at
the west side of the cabin with one elegant paw. “Build our daga
there,” she ordered, “and appreciate if there are no leaks. I not
like to sleep wet. Human forepaws are good at making dry dagas.”
She looked at Wilhelm with a most winsome expression on her face
and all his arguments melted away. He promised the daga would be
complete if not by nightfall then by the following day.

Brian and Emily
helped him willingly enough until eventually even Mislya announced
herself satisfied.

“It will be
good to start training,” said Brian as he helped Wilhelm sweep the
daga clean of wood fragments prior to bringing in the fresh rush
matting for Mislya’s bed.

“You will be
training for battle,” said Wilhelm. “Practice and then more
practice until you are ready.” He nodded and stepped away; he had
an appointment with Ross. He wished to discuss the possibility of
Ross being appointed his second if he came up to his exacting
standards.

Wilhelm had
watched Ross in training the previous evening when some of the Vada
had given their Weaponsmaster a short demonstration of how they had
fought up until now. Wilhelm had said little but had decided that
of them all, Ross showed the most promise. The meeting was to try
out his paces fighting dismounted.