David Weber - The Road to Hell

A foot crunched, breaking through last night’s fresh snow to the crusty layer of ice beneath it, and he turned his head to look over his shoulder.

“Why do I think you have another message from Corps-Captain chan Rowlan, Lisar?” he asked with a slightly skewed smile as Company-Captain chan Korthal came to attention and saluted.

“Perhaps because of my cheerful expression, Sir,” his staff Voice replied.

“Oh, come now!” chan Geraith chided. “The Corps-Captain isn’t that bad!”

“It’s not so much the Corps-Captain. Or not as directly him as it is Platoon-Captain chan Valdyn, anyway,” chan Korthal said. “He’s a very good Voice, you know, Sir, but he does like to add his personal commentary on how the Corps-Captain’ s day is going. I think the phrase he used this time was ‘snowbear with a sore tooth,’” he added with a grin which might have been just a bit devoid of sympathy for his fellow Voice.

Chan Geraith shook his head reprovingly, but his heart wasn’t in it. Chan Korthal and Zendar chan Valdyn, Corps-Captain Fairlain chan Rowlan’s Voice, were very close friends. Unlike the dark-haired, dark-complected chan Korthal, who’d been born within sight of the Fist of Bolakin in southern Narhath and thought a day below fifty degrees was a foretaste of the Farnalian demon Gynarshu’s frozen hell, the red-haired, very fair-skinned chan Valdyn had been born and reared in the northern reaches of the Republic of Hanyl in New Ternath. He probably would have found their present surroundings downright balmy…which, of course, was why he was still stuck at Fort Salby, where Corps-Captain chan Rowlan had established his current forward headquarters.

It was difficult to imagine two people who looked less like one another, but the Voices were very much alike under the skin. In particular, both of them shared the same…respectfully irreverent outlook, and chan Geraith was very much afraid that chan Valdyn’s chosen simile was probably well taken. Of course, chan Rowlan wasn’t exactly a towering giant-not for a Ternathian, at any rate; he was only a few inches taller than chan Geraith himself-but his growing impatience at being stuck so far behind his corps’ lead elements probably made him seem quite a bit larger. In fact, on a bad day, he probably did remind chan Valdyn of the enormous white bears of his homeland.

“I think it would be wise of you and the Platoon-Captain to refrain from exchanging observations about the irascibility of your superior officers,” he said now, as severely as he could.

“Yes, Sir. Of course, Sir!”

The earnest sincerity of chan Korthal’s response was undermined by the twinkle in his eye, and chan Geraith sighed. He hadn’t expected anything else, nor did he truly want it. The Imperial Ternathian Army was less invested in excruciating military courtesy and protocol than many militaries-the Imperial Uromathian Army and (for that matter) the Imperial Ternathian Navy came rather forcefully to mind. It understood discipline and the consequences of insubordination, but as a rule, it preferred its people got on with the job rather than salute one another at the drop of a hat, and both he and chan Rowlan were even less concerned with taut punctilio than was the Ternathian norm.

There were times when that bit both of them on the arse, but it also produced enthusiastic, engaged subordinates. All things considered, that was well worth any…minor quirks in those subordinates’ gallop.

“So how, aside from his irascibility quotient, is the Corps-Captain this fine morning?” he asked. “I assume your good friend chan Valdyn didn’t contact you just to describe the state of the Corps-Captain’s dental work, you understand.”

“Actually, Sir,” chan Korthal said much more seriously, “Tymar’s transcribing the latest dispatches right now. He should have the morning’s traffic in the next half hour or so.”

Chan Geraith nodded. Chan Korthal was fully capable of reproducing every Voice message he’d received verbatim, or even relaying them mentally to anyone who (unlike Arlos chan Geraith, who lacked even a trace of Talent) could Hear them directly. Normally, however, unless the message was truly urgent, he delivered it initially not to its addressee but to Javelin Tymar chan Forsam, chan Geraith’s staff Scribe. Scribes were capable of producing flawless transcriptions of anything they’d seen or heard, which was essential for message distribution and record purposes. What made chan Forsam especially valuable was that, unlike all too many Scribes, he also had a minor Talent for Mind Speaking. That meant he could take “dictation” directly from a Voice, and he was a highly skilled typist, capable of over a hundred and fifty words a minute. In fact, that typing speed and his Mind Speaking Talent were the primary reason he’d been assigned to the unTalented chan Geraith. The division-captain couldn’t Hear chan Korthal directly, but between them, the Voice and the Scribe could get him written copies of any critical dispatch very quickly indeed.

Of course, the current message traffic was enough to keep even the two of them busy for several hours a day, chan Geraith reflected.

“Just give me the highlights for now, then.”

“Yes, Sir. I don’t think there’s anything really critical at the moment. Tymar will have the complete movement report for Regiment-Captain chan Isail and Regiment-Captain chan Kymo shortly, but Brigade-Captain chan Bykahlar’s brigade should be detraining at the Resym railhead by sometime tomorrow afternoon, our time. Everything else is pretty much where it was with last night’s situation report.”

Chan Geraith nodded. No surprises there, thank the gods! In fact, chan Bykahlar was a bit ahead of where he’d expected him to be, based on the 3rd Infantry Brigade’s last reports. He and his people were still a long slog behind 3rd Dragoons’ spearhead, but they’d made up time. Whether or not they’d keep on making it up once they reached the end of the rails would be another matter, of course.

“That’s good to know,” he said after a moment. “And what have we heard this morning from Battalion-Captain chan Yahndar?”

“Company-Captain chan Mahsdyr’s lead platoon’s reached Tesmahn, Sir.” The Voice looked around at the icy snowscape, his expression a bit sour. “According to Company-Captain chan Mahsdyr, it’s unseasonably warm. He says it’s a good thing they’re having thunderstorms to cool things off a bit.”

Chan Geraith hid a smile behind his mustache. A certain irreverence was required for a successful dragoon officer, and young chan Mahsdyr had it in ample quantities. The division-captain never doubted that he’d included that weather report-and commentary-with malice aforethought.

“Well, maybe the thunderstorms will help keep the dragon problem down, as well,” he observed, the temptation to smile fading.

“The Company-Captain says they haven’t seen any sign of Arcanans on the ground yet, Sir. And his Plotters and Distance Viewers haven’t spotted any in the air, either.”

Chan Geraith pursed his lips thoughtfully at that.

He was glad chan Mahsdyr hadn’t seen any evidence of an Arcanan ground presence, but he hadn’t really been too worried about that in the first place. Given the way Gold Company’s Distance Viewers and Plotters had been reinforced, they were almost bound to detect any ground threat well before it came into visual range. According to the prisoner interrogation reports being passed down-chain in a steady stream, the Arcanans had spells which were considerably superior to binoculars, but they had no equivalent of Plotters or of the Distance Viewers’ ability (depending on the strength of their Talent) to See far beyond normal visual range. Unfortunately, he didn’t know what “visual range” might be for someone mounted on a dragon and several thousand feet in the air. He suspected it was probably greater than any but the most powerful of Distance Viewers could match, and on the broad, level plains between Tesmahn and the Nairsom-Thermyn portal, his advancing patrol would stand out like bugs crawling across a tabletop if happened to fly over them. So the fact that chan Mahsdyr hadn’t spotted any Arcanans yet didn’t guarantee the Arcanans hadn’t spotted him .