Logan Ryvenbark's Saga Box Set

Table of contents-5

I slowly shook my head. “No. Not theEarth of two hundred and fifty years ago.”

“Our mistake will unleash theSoltarians into a galaxy totally unprepared for them.”

“As the British might say, this is abloody mess,” I said. “OK, one more thing. In one of the caverns,a reptilian creature appeared, in the same manner you did. Do youknow where he’s from?”

Tarum shook his head. “No, we foughtthe Soltarians. Any other creature is a complete surprise tome.”

Then where did the lizard come from?

Chapter10

I wasn’t quite sure I understood allthe ramifications from what Tarum was telling me. To be more blunt,Iknew I didn’t understand all the complications. So I buzzed Cajunand said I needed her. A few minutes later she knocked and walkedin,smiling the beautiful French-Asian smile. I hated to have to changethat smile into a frown…

“Know anything about time?” Iasked.

“I know it’s creeping up on me, asit is on all of us.”

I had Tarum repeat his story. Cajun, bythe millimetric lifting of her eyebrows and the slight twitch ofherlips, appeared more fascinated by his story than annoyed. I wasmoreannoyed.

“Tarum, before this happened, didyour race go through time? Have members of your race gone into thepast before your planet was invaded?” Cajun asked.

“Yes, a selected few. Historians,scientists, a few writers. No one without a legitimate reason fortraveling to the past was allowed to do so. We knew the danger. Wehad no official police on the planet. We didn’t need any. But wecreated a special security service to make sure the timeline wouldnot be disrupted. They proved efficient and effective.”

“Tarum, when you left the past toreturn here, what was the status of your race and the status of theSoltarians?”

“Good question. I should have askedthat,” I said.

“What is left of my race is scatteredon the planet. There are a few pockets of Cappnids on the southernhemisphere. The Soltarians seemed content to leave us there. Astheypopulate the planet it’s only a matter of time for us. Right nowthey’re engaged in more important matters than hunting down thelast of my race.”

“But if they had taken over theplanet and launched into space, our time would be different.Everything would change, which it hasn’t, at least for now.”

“A time paradox that, at the present,I cannot explain. It may be because we have manipulated time weourselves are, for a while, standing outside the time stream. But Idoubt that will last long. We must act quickly.”

Cajun still looked fascinated, but Igrew more annoyed. “That ‘we’ is not all-inclusive, Tarum. Youmean Ryvenbark’s Raiders must act quickly.”

He nodded. “If you do not want yourrace and the galaxy as you knew it destroyed, you must return withmeto the past and annihilate our enemies. Only then will the past andthe future be safe.”

A long silence followed.

It was broken by Cajun.

“I think he’s right, Logan. We needto go back in time and defeat the Soltarians before the timelinecanbe altered. We don’t know how much time we have, but I’d guessthe sooner we go, the better.”

“And how do we return to our time?”

“I can help you with that,” Tarumsaid. “I can devise a time belt that each of you will wear. I willshow you how to work it. It will bring you back to the presenttime.”

“Come to think of it, we don’t haveto go. Couldn’t we just send a vial of the toxin back? Release itin the atmosphere and our problem is solved.”

“Unfortunately, that is not possible.Our scientists released our complete supply of the toxin. There isnomore.”

“Well, shucks,” I said.

“You’re saying that a lot lately,major,” Cajun said.

She gave me a playful slap on theshoulder. “You do have a way with words. I couldn’t have said itbetter myself.”

“Yea.”

She looked at me. “Seriously, major,I suggest we begin packing. We have a long way to go.”

Chapter 11

Cajun, Tarum and I stood around acomputer table. The screen flashed a picture of Sandeling threehundred years ago. Unlike the current frosty mess, the land lookedlike Kansas. The wheat on Sandeling – or what looked like wheat –stood only about three feet tall, yellow and waving in the wind.Tarum told me it used to grow over most of the planet. Like Kansas,the region we were interested in was mostly flat with one smallmountain range.

The only thing with an attitude at allon the flat, yellow land was what might be described as theSandelingequivalent of a black medieval castle. Three hundred years ago, theCappnids had a thing for castles. Tarum pointed to it.

“We were always a rural people withno need of large buildings. This structure is the largest for fivehundred miles, which is one reason the Soltarians are using it foraheadquarters. Their soldiers, to the best of my knowledge, haveonlyguns, but nothing larger. Some have pistols and others have whatyoucall rifles, but they shoot bolts of fire.”

“Lasers,” I said. “How manysoldiers are there?”

“My best guess is close to twothousand.”

“I have fifty men. That means theodds are forty to one.”

“But we’re Ryvenbark’s Raiders.We can take forty to one odds,” Cajun said.

“Yes, but the Soltarians have adefensive position. The odds are always with a defensive army in asituation like this. We have no cover. They have a wall in front ofthem. Which means a frontal assault when they have forty times ournumber would be foolish and deadly.”

“I see no other way,” Tarum said.

“There is another way. When Gen.Burnside attacked the dug-in Confederates at Fredericksburg theremight have been no other way, but there is now.”

“They have scientific and militaryequipment in the castle. Underneath is one of our portals to ourtimemachine.”

“So it’s the Grand Central Stationof the past. Any nearby troops?”

“No. Their closest outpost is abouttwo hundred miles. They have no transportation. If they go anywherethey have to walk. They could not bring any of their vehiclesthroughthe time gate.”

“Good. By the time reinforcementscome we should be on our way back to the present,” I said. I tappedthe map. “Is there any cover around this…? Let’s call it acastle. Any forests, any woods, anything like that?”

Tarum placed his finger off to thewest, beyond the map. “About eight miles from the castle there is aforest with dense trees but paths through it. But for eight milesafterward there is open ground.”

“You thinking of an air attack?”Cajun asked.

“I sure am. We have about two dozendrones. We could fill them with explosives and send them in first.Blow the walls of the castle and kill a lot of the enemy.Hopefully,we can decimate their forces and then fly in and pick off the rest.Destroy any equipment or weapons they have and get back to thepresent before reinforcements can arrive.”

I turned to Tarum. “This is the placewhere they have stored all their weapons and all theircomputers?”

“Yes. This is one of the fewbuildings, at least one of the few buildings in the northernhemisphere that they could use for that purpose. We are ruralpeople.We have houses and some areas that you might call small towns, butnothing of a military nature. In this building they rigged up theirpower generators so they could use their computers and otherequipment. But they knew they needed more than one such place.OtherSoltarians are building other castles across the hemisphere.”

“I don’t think we would have tokill them all. They might die off in fifty some years. They wouldhave shelter but no food. We might risk leaving the othersettlementsalone.”

“Our winter is severe. I have readabout your world. In terms of winter, think northern Canada. Ourwinter will come in one month. The temperature does not bother us,because we can regulate our body temperature. We are secure nomatterwhat the outside temperature is. But the Soltarians, with nosuppliesor provisions, would probably die during our winter. Even if theydon’t, without the technology they have stored in the castle, theywould be of no danger.”

“They destroyed the atmosphere in thepresent. A bit ironic the weather will kill them in the past. Wehaveto make sure the drones hit their target. That’s vital,” Isaid.

One of General Robert E. Lee’sbiggest mistakes was the Gettysburg disaster when he sent Pickett’smen on a charge against the Union flank. The Union troops behinddefensive positions cut Pickett’s valiant infantrymen to pieces.Lee’s army of Northern Virginia never recovered from the loss. ButLee was a brilliant general. He took chances — such as splittinghis army at Chancellorsville — but they were never recklesschances. His victory at Chancellorsville is still admired today bymilitary leaders. The plan at Gettysburg looked good on paper. Hehadhis artillery pound the Union position before the attack. His ideawas to decimate the enemy force and leave them fatally weakenedbefore the unfortunate charge. It was a sound idea, but it wasn’tcarried out effectively. Somehow the Confederate gunners estimatedwrongly. Most of their fire fell beyond the Union lines hurting noone and certainly not crippling the Union army. When Pickettchargedup the hill, the Union forces were at full strength and ready.

So if the drones missed the castle, wewould have two thousand enemy soldiers cutting us to pieces. We’dhave our jets on as we swooped down. Men and women whizzing by viajets are not easy to shoot. They’re moving too fast. But it’s notall that easy to aim when you’re jetting toward the enemy either. Ineeded the enemy to be crippled before we started our attack orwe’ddie on an alien planet and three hundred years from home.

Fortunately I had a better officer thanGeneral Lee did.

“Mr. Tyson?”

The reply was immediate. “Yes, sir.”

“I need to see you. Would you joinus, please?”

“Be right there, major.”

I buzzed Rab and told him to get thesquad ready for action. He said “Good, the guys and girls are tiredof sitting around and want some action.”

In two hours, the squad would gettheir wish.

I saluted Tyson when he walked in. Thecomputer compressed the three hundred-years-old scene. On the westcorner of the screen, a green and brown forest stood. I tapped thecastle with my finger.

“This is your target. I don’t knowwhat it’s built of or much about the defenses. I want your dronesto destroy it or do as much damage as possible before we move in,”I said.

Tyson nodded. He looked incrediblyyoung. Twenty-one maybe. Fresh face. I doubted he even shaved.Blondcrew cut. Bright green eyes. Dazzling smile full of confidence. Hegave his full attention to the map for about ten seconds, thenlookedat me.

“No problem, major. No matter whatit’s built of. Drones can carry a lot of explosives in a very smallspace. We should be able to shatter the walls and the mainstructure.If the enemy has soldiers on the ground, we can wipe out themtoo.”

“What if the enemy has about twothousand soldiers on the ground?”

He waved his hand as if shooing away afly. “We drop a cluster bomb and a fire bomb. The fire will spreadfrom one wall to another. It will be one great barbecue. Or drop aneutron bomb. The castle is standing, but dead bodies will be allaround. Neutron bomb is less nasty. The enemy simply dropsdead.”

“Very good, Mr. Tyson.”

I buzzed Rab again.

“Tell the squad we leave in twohours. In two hours and thirty minutes we rain death on ourtarget.”

Chapter 12

The squad was dressed smart in theirdark blue uniforms. Every soldier snapped to attention and saluted.They all held their silver laser rifle. All had shiny computersbandson their wrists. Goggles atop of their silver helmets. The twodozensecurity people from the ship wore burgundy uniforms. We providedthem with our extra laser rifles. I wasn’t sure how good they wouldbe on the battlefield. No doubt they were brave, but many wereinexperienced in the type of battle the Raiders were used to. Butonce we bounced into the past, we would split into smaller squads,with at least one Raider in each. I didn’t want security peopleleft alone to make mistakes. I stepped up on the smallplatform.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, Idon’t give long speeches.”

“And we appreciate that, sir.”

“I’m sure you want to keep yourrecord intact, sir.”

I frowned. I was possibly the onlycommander in the Federation who had to put up with sarcasm.

“Yes, I do Ms. Aguiline. So put yourmind at ease. This won’t take long.”

Raven Aquiline was six-two, withblack, silken hair, blazing blue eyes and great wit. There were nosecond-rate soldiers in the squad but, even so, she was one of thebest. One of the quickest too. Fast as a gazelle. Could turn on adime.

“If all goes well, we will shortlybe beamed three hundred years into the past. We will rendezvous,sendour drones to what looks like a medieval castle full of bad guys.Hopefully, the drones will dispatch all, or almost all of them andall we have to do is a quick mop-up operation. Our enemies havealmost annihilated the Cappnids. So this trip is all or nothing. Wedo not take prisoners. Due to necessity we need to kill anySoltarians we see. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!” they said in unison.

“You all have your time belts on?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then we shall proceed to one of thecaverns. Rab, lead the troop out.”

Rab saluted, turned to the squad andsaid, “Let’s go and look sharp.”

With Astrid and Tarum beside me, Ifollowed the squad. When we got to the designated cavern, Tarumsplayed his fingers on a section of the wall and played piano. Thewalls dissipated and the cavern turned into a high-tech facility.Inthe center there was a green circle. Tarum pointed to it.