Ben Bova - Test of Fire

“Whatever you want to call them, then,” Alec said. “Get back to them and move them up here. As soon as the ground’s dry enough to maneuver, we attack.”

“And when you get back to the settlement,”

Kobol spat, “I’ll have you executed. I’ll make your mother sign your death warrant!”

Alec smiled at him. “That’s assuming that you make it back to the settlement, Martin.”

The rain was steady, heavy, and driven by a numbingly cold wind. The ground beneath the horse’s hooves was unending mud that made obscene sucking noises with each laborious step. The horse was big, powerful, uncomplaining, but it could not go much farther without rest, Alec knew.

Still he pressed on, urging the horse forward with his boots. He was heavily muffled inside a leather coat and hood but the wetness had seeped into him until he felt that icewater was trickling through his veins.

Squinting through the rain and mist, Alec saw that the little stream he had reached had turned into a churning, brown foaming channel that carried tree branches and other debris madly onward.

Won’t be able to ford that, he knew.

“Ho-ho!” a familiar voice called. “There you are.”

Turning slightly in the rain-slicked saddle, Alec saw Will Russo’s bulky form pacing slowly out of the mist, leading a droopy-headed horse step by sloshing step through the mud.

“How did you cross the stream?” Alec blurted.

“Oh, further up. It’s not so bad up there.”

Alec slid off his horse and walked, with an effort, toward the advancing man. “Is your wound all healed up?” he asked.

Will nodded and a thatch of red hair, glistening with dampness, flopped down from under his hood. “Oh sure, been fine for months now. I got back to Utica and, by golly, the rest of the whisky was still there. You?”

“I’m okay.”

Will grinned at him. “For a fish. Look, there’s a little cave a bit further upstream. Let’s get out of this weather.”

They led the horses through the mud and rain for a few minutes and found the cave. It was more of a purposely dug shelter in the hillside than a natural cleft. The inner walls were smooth and even, Alec noticed, as he made a mental note of its location and size.

“I was glad to get the message your scout gave our scout,” Will said once they had pulled the horses inside the narrow shelter. “I was worried about you, you know.”

Alec was unbuttoning his coat. “Nothing in here for a fire…”

“That’s okay.” Will rummaged through the pockets of his voluminous coat. “Brought a little… aha! Here it is.” He produced a small dark green bottle. “Saved you some of the whisky.”

They both took long pulls from the bottle. Alec could feel the liquor burning out the dampness inside him.

“Well,” Will said, as pleasantly as if they were lounging together on the Moon, “what did you want to talk about? Not the weather, I suppose?”

Alec laughed. “No, not that.” Then, more seriously, “You know what’s going to happen when the ground hardens, don’t you?”

Will tried to erase the smile on his face, but he was only partially successful. “Yep. Kobol’s bringing a whole raft of raiders and swamp-runners up here to attack us. It’s been tried before.”

“You don’t have to look so damned cheerful about it!” Alec snapped.

“Should I run away and hide? Look, we’ve been through this kind of thing before. Why, the first winter Douglas and I…”

“You’ve never seen an army this big,” Alec interrupted. “And they’ll be better armed than any gang that’s been put together since the sky burned.”

“H’mm. Well. Is that what you came to tell me?”

“I want you to get out before the fighting starts. Take Angela with you. I don’t want either of you hurt.”

“Leave Douglas? She’d never do that. Neither would I.”

“You’ve got to!” Alec insisted. “There’s no way for you to help him now. He’s the reason for the fighting, he’s the one they’re going to be after. If we can get him without risking your lives…”

But Will was shaking his head. “You don’t understand, Alec. I can’t leave Douglas. I’d sooner chop off my arm. My drinking arm! We’re friends, closer than brothers, really.”

Alec said nothing.

“It’s really Angela you’re worried about, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“She’s worried about you, too. She was damned sore when you left without even telling her you were going. I think she would have gone with you, I really do.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell her,” Alec said.

“Well, all that’s in the past. She surely won’t go anywhere now. She’d never leave Douglas, not with all this trouble brewing up…” A thought seemed to strike him. “Unless…”

“Unless what?”

Will grinned as he answered, “Well, maybe if you were there at the base, helping us to fight off these riff-raff of Kobol’s, then if things got really bad you could get her out and get to someplace safe.”

Alec stared at him. He’s not putting me on He really believes what he just said.

“Will,” Alec said softly, “don’t you realize that I can’t fight on Douglas’s side?”

“Oh, I don’t know. There are a lot of things you don’t realize, even yet. He tried damned hard for a lot of years to get them to listen to reason back at the settlement. He didn’t just decide to go off and make a kingdom for himself here on Earth. He was pushed. By Kobol and the others.”

“The others?”

“Other members of the Council. Douglas was pushed out of power by those he trusted most. Those he loved most, too.”

“Meaning my mother.”

Completely serious now, Will nodded. “Alec, you probably won’t believe me, and you may end up hating me for even saying it, but… well, by golly, your mother helped to push Douglas into doing what he did. She knew he had no choice. She gave him nothing to return to, and they both knew it when he left for Earth. She didn’t want him back.”

The coldness congealed over Alec again. “You’re right,” he said, deadly soft. “I don’t believe you.”

The big redhead made a helpless gesture with his hands. “It’s the truth.”

“I’m sure it’s what he told you. But it’s not the truth. I’ll never believe it. Never.”

“That’s a… shame.”

“There’s something you ought to know, Will,”

Alec said. “I’m not just joining with Kobol’s forces. I’m leading them. I’m in command.”

“I was afraid of that.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re going to have to try to kill each other. And we’re friends.”

“That’s why I want you to get away. And take her with you.”

“No, I can’t do that. He’s my friend too. And your father.”

“I’m coming after him. Don’t stand in my way. Don’t try to protect him.”

Sadly, in a voice so low that Alec barely heard it, Will said, “Don’t make me choose between you and him, Alec. You’ll lose.”

“We’ve already made our choices,” Alec said.

“They were made twenty years ago.”

Even though they assembled as quickly as possible it still took weeks for Kobol’s army to straggle all its various units together in a valley on the edge of Douglas’s territory.

Alec had never seen so many human beings before. He stood on the crest of the highest hill in the area, under a maple tree that was just breaking out in young fresh leaves and watched the awesome sprawl of trucks, jeeps, horses, wagons, and men.

Ron Jameson stood beside him. “That ought to be enough men to conquer the whole world,” he said.

“I don’t like having them all bunched together like this,” Alec said. “If Douglas’s people spot them, and if he’s got nuclear weapons or airplanes…”