Olan Thorensen - Cast Under an Alien Sun

Carnigan moved without waiting for confirmation. He knew his immediate task and set out within seconds of the fourth peal. He was to assist the armorer in opening the block building that served as the area’s armory. The armorer had a key to the building, as did Denes Vegga. By chance, the armorer was one of the men called to respond to the request for assistance from the Gwillamese under raid threat and hadn’t given Carnigan the key before leaving. Vegga wasn’t at the abbey at the moment. Carnigan solved the problem his usual way—he grabbed a ball-peen hammer as he ran to the armory. He took one second to smash the lock on the door. Gonna need new locks , he thought inanely, as he flung open the door. Men would bring their own weapons, and the armory served as a reserve. Racks of muskets, crossbows, and spears of various lengths and blade shapes, along with a mélange of swords, axes, and knives, made up the accumulated stockpile of weapons discarded, inherited extras, and only God knew from what other sources. Carnigan didn’t know who would use what weapon. That was Vegga’s problem—his was to move the arms to the courtyard for distribution.

Halla Bower still rested from carrying the toddler to and from Manwyn’s school when the peals began. Her breath caught, and her heart seemed to stop as the peals continued. What was she supposed to do? She and her husband had spoken of it only briefly, since neither believed it would happen. Her husband would be on his way to the abbey and the gathering of his third group of Abersford’s fighting men. Manwyn would be watched after by the teachers at the village school. She couldn’t remember whether the students would flee inland or go to the abbey. There was nothing she could do for Manwyn, and she’d have to trust the teachers. She was supposed to take their other child to the abbey as the safest place. She grabbed the protesting toddler, who had just found a favorite ball under the table, and ran out of their house toward the road to the abbey, all tiredness from their previous trip forgotten.

Yozef was partway to Abersford when the peals started. He walked another fifty yards before his brain woke up, with the help of people running or riding toward the abbey. He remembered the talk of the possibility of Narthani or other raiders attacking the village, but it had seemed a theoretical discussion . Whatever it was, the answers lay at the abbey, now a third of a mile away. He joined the flow of runners.

Musfar Adalan was not happy. The two-hundred-yard clearance reported by the Narthani for anchoring offshore turned out to be more than three hundred yards. Warrior’s Pride narrowly missed ramming onto barely submerged rocks, and Musfar ordered anchoring short of their goal. The three Narthani officers were impervious to his glares, and Buldorian curses leveled at the Narthani fell on uncomprehending ears.

Adel Adalan was even less happy. He was the one going ashore to command the raid. Not only were they farther off the beach, but several lines became snarled as they attempted to lower the longboats. They had carried out this maneuver a hundred times in raids and training, but it didn’t help this day. They’d be a good fifteen minutes later ashore than his plan called for.

Denes and Yozef arrived at the abbey within seconds of each other, with Denes’s horse coming within inches of knocking Yozef down as they both hit the main gate. That’s where the two men’s actions differed. Denes knew exactly what he must do—create order out of the chaos and prepare to defend the abbey. Yozef had no idea what he was supposed to do. In fact, now that he was there, his immediate thought was that he wanted to be somewhere else. Anyplace else. What good was he going to be? Lacking a task or any idea of what to do, he instinctively followed Denes.

The available armed men gathered in the center of the courtyard, surrounding Denes and the abbot. Yozef edged closer through the group to better hear.

“How bad is it?” asked a grim abbot.

“Bad. Very bad,” replied an even grimmer Denes. “At full fighting men strength, we could hold off a raiding party of this size. That was what the defense plan was designed for. Unfortunately, we are not at full strength. One Third is away on a scheduled patrol in northern Keelan. Even with them gone, we should have been able to hold, but now a second Third is away to Gwillamer.”

“What does that mean for us now?”

Denes shook his head. “We can’t hold with fifty men. This is a nightmare. If we’d known we’d have so few men, it would’ve been better for all of the people to run or ride as far inland as fast as they could. Most would’ve gotten out of reach of the raiders. We told them to come here because this was the safest place. Instead, it’s turning into a trap,” Denes ended bitterly.

“We have the walls,” protested the desperate abbot.

“The walls are not tall enough!” Denes snarled. “I’ve told you and the district boyerman that several times! They’ll come right at them. If I was them, I’d fake at the main gate to force us to defend it and then attack the walls in at least two places. With the few men we have, the raiders will take casualties and then be over the wall, and it’ll be the end for us.”

Yozef elbowed his way near the two men in time to hear the last exchanges. They couldn’t defend the walls with the number of men available? Denes was saying the raiders would overwhelm the defenders on the wall?

Oh, shit! What am I doing here?

He’d come all this way from Earth and made a life here, and now to die during a pirate raid?!

How about a fucking break now and then!!

Yozef cast around over the heads of the gathered men, looking for a way out. They were in the courtyard between the main gate and the cathedral. The hospital building and one of the residence buildings flanked the courtyard, with the main gate and wall forming the fourth side. Then … he had an idea, and without thought, he said in normal voice, “Don’t fight them on the walls.”

No one paid any attention. He stepped closer to Denes and Sistian and yelled, “Don’t fight them on the walls!”

The two men stopped facing each other and turned to Yozef. Sistian’s expression was blank, because he didn’t understand what Yozef had said.

Denes snapped, “What did you say?”

Yozef swallowed and tucked his shaking hands under his armpits. “If you can’t hold them off at the walls and they’ll come over, let them in the courtyard.”

“Quiet, Yozef,” Sistian admonished. “Let Denes—”

“Shut up!” Denes growled at the abbot, who jerked his head back, not used to being so ordered.

Denes swiveled his head from the front gate at the courtyard to Yozef, to the courtyard. He licked his lips. “It’s risky. There isn’t much time to get ready, but it may be our only chance.”

“What are you talking about?” asked the bewildered abbot.

Denes grabbed the abbot’s arm and leaned closer to him. “If we can’t keep them outside the walls, our one chance might be to make the courtyard a trap. Turn the trap for us into a trap for them. We lure them here, so they’re clustered together while we surround them . Then we can fight them from all sides, while they can’t use all of their weapons at the same time. It’ll help balance their number advantage.”

“Let them in the gate!” Sistian shrieked. “That’s insane! How can we not hold them at the walls, then let them inside the complex?!”

“Not inside the complex, inside our trap.”

“But—”

“I’m in charge, Abbot. We have to do something, and it’s my decision.” With that, Denes quit paying attention to the abbot, who stood white-faced and confused when Denes turned again to Yozef.