John Carr - Siege of Tarr-Hostigos

"Let's join the men, before they gamble away all their money wagering which one of us was on top!"

The moonlit clearing was empty of everything but spring flowers and two frisky rabbits. Tortha Karf brushed the sleep out of his eyes and leaned back on the trunk of a sycamore that was as wide as he was tall. He'd been awakened from a sound sleep by the vibration in his dagger. After putting the handle next to his ear, he was given a set of coded instructions to leave the bivouac and walk a half-mile to the northeast where he would meet a vehicle.

It had taken him almost five minutes to explain to the guards picketing the camp that he was searching for mushrooms for his breakfast omelet. There was a long wait while the sentry sent for his captain, who sleepily vouched for Tortha, having seen him in the King's company. While Tortha mentally lauded Kalvan for his tight security, he also cursed him for making him have to wait out in the wet night air for the captain of the guard. Of course, had the captain not identified him he might have been forced to spend the night in a makeshift cell in protective custody-so things could be a lot worse.

Who and where is my contact? I'm getting too old for this cloak and dagger stuff, Tortha thought.

A few minutes later there was a gentle whoosh and an anti-gravity lifter dropped soundlessly into the clearing.

Out of the cab stepped the familiar form of Verkan Vall, wearing a back-and-breast and his uniform.

"Vall! I didn't expect to see you. Last I heard you were shot dead."

"I took one point-blank in the chest; it was bad. Another couple of hours-" He thumped the chestplate opposite his heart "But I'm not that easy to kill."

"Don't I know it, after all we've been through together. Still, if you ever needed a good excuse to take care of business back on First Level; a sucking chest wound qualifies as about the best excuse you can get here-and-now!

Verkan winced. "It was the worst experience I've had since I joined the force. I wanted to talk with you first hand and let you know I was all right."

In actuality, the reports of Verkan's death had upset Tortha more than he liked to admit, but he certainly wouldn't let Vall know-he'd think he was turning into a silly old woman. "Thanks, I was wondering…"

Now that the unpleasantness was over Verkan brightened up. "Tell me, Tortha, how are our friends Kalvan and Rylla taking all this?"

"Rylla's not doing so well. Her father's back at Tarr-Hostigos on a suicide mission and she knows it. She also knows he's unwell, but that isn't helping. Ptosphes has always been both mother and father to Rylla and she is having a difficult time coming to terms with his impending death."

"You mean she's blaming Kalvan."

"To a degree, probably less than if they hadn't just patched things up after the Phaxos Incident. We had a talk yesterday-no it was her idea, Vall!"

"I believe you. I'm just glad you're here for her, with Xentos in Agrys City and her father back in Hostigos, she really doesn't have anyone but Chartiphon."

"Chartiphon's a mess. He thinks his place is at Prince Ptosphes' side and he's acting as though it's his fault he's not there. Kalvan's really hoping he'll snap out of it, because with Harmakros gone he's short staff generals for that army of his."

"How is Kalvan taking the defeat?"

"Kalvan's like a cat, always lands with feet firmly on the ground-no matter what! He sees his biggest problem as the refugees that have followed the army into exile. A quarter of Beshta, likewise for Sashta, a third of Nostor, half of Sask, two-thirds of Hostigos: I'd estimate a quarter to half a million refugees stretched between Tarr-Hostigos and the Saltless Seas. The army of Hos-Hostigos is in better shape than Styphon's House realizes; otherwise they wouldn't let that butcher in the bedsheets stop the Great Host in its tracks to take Tarr-Hostigos. Kalvan still has about half of his original force-a more than respectable number of men. Enough that he should be able to topple any of the local despots in what he calls the 'Great Lakes' area."

Verkan shook his head. "Not unless he wants a war with Grefftscharr. Theovacar is no more anxious to have Kalvan in his neighborhood than Kalvan would have liked Theovacar to set up shop in Hos-Harphax!"

"Isn't Theovacar hamstrung by his nobles?"

"In most cases, but a so-called invasion by Kalvan could tip the scale and have Theovacar's nobles and merchant princes offering their support in a bid to stop Kalvan before he establishes a staging ground. Kalvan will have to be very careful before he commits himself."

"Enough of Kalvan's problems. I understand we have a big one of our own. One of Kalvan's scouts reported the massacre at the Foundry-did we lose any of the Study Team?"

Verkan filled him in on all the details of arriving to find the Foundry a burnt-out hulk with bodies littering the courtyard. "We lost the whole Team except for those missing in action."

Tortha whistled. "What about Kirv?" Skordran Kirv was one of the top Paratime Police Inspectors as well as one of Verkan's right hand men. He'd liked him a lot and even had him over for half a ten-day at his villa on Fifth Level.

"Kirv was killed, along with five good patrol officers and four undercover operatives." Verkan shook his head. "I'm losing friends faster than I can replace them. He could have left-should have bugged out, as Kalvan would put it. But the Study Team refused to budge. He was afraid if he left it would discredit the force-I've got it all on a recording. Kirv recorded everything, Praise Dralm!"

"What do you mean? The Commissioner isn't blaming you, is he? If he is, it's time I got back to First Level and kicked some-"

"No, the Commissioner backed me all the way. It was the University Director-"

"Old Zyldor himself-I'm not surprised."

"The Commissioner suggested that Director Zyldor and his team meet with me and listen to Kirv's recordings before they did anything stupid."

Tortha laughed. "Zyldor must have loved that!"

"No, he came in looking for a fight and left like a paratemporally displaced outtimer. Especially after he listened to half an hour of Varnath Lala's ravings about negotiating with the heathen Styphoni, who would need good brass-casters to ensure that Kalvan never returned to Hos-Hostigos. Talgan Dreth actually flat out refused evacuation when Kirv pressed him on leaving. He'd been made to look the fool in Dhergabar after the last evacuation, and he wasn't going to travel that road twice- regardless of what Kirv said. No, if those recordings were to surface, it'd be the University that would take a black eye, not the Paratime Police.

"The missing Study Team members are another problem-one that's not going away. Three of them: Aranth Sain, Danar Sirna and Gorath Tran. Our agents haven't been able to find a trace of Aranth or of Danar, who's striking enough to leave a trail. It's like they've fallen off the face of the earth."

"What about Roxthar's Investigation?"

"I don't think so. We have a Paracop that's infiltrated Roxthar's gang- there are so many Investigators now not even Roxthar knows them all! I suspect more than a few are former highpriests who are using the white robe of the lower priesthood as camouflage. Anyway, our imposter hasn't found any trace of Aranth or Danar, but he has found Gorath Tran. He ended up in one of Roxthar's slave pens, telling tales of transtemporal conveyers and Paratime Police-to Investigator Roxthar, of all people! Fortunately, Roxthar put his own spin on it; now he's convinced that Kalvan is leading an invasion of demons from Regwarn into the Five Kingdoms! He's keeping Gorath the Demon as his personal pet."

"That's the Paratemporal Secret he's running off at the mouth about! What if Kalvan gets word of this?"