Telis hurried with Leslie to the watchtower and his horrified eyes
looked out over the surrounding desert. Fully five thousand Guski men
and women surrounded them, led by at least five hundred well-armed and
sith-mounted warriors. Telis recognized many of them as his former
comrades of the Maldia. And Prince Brand was there. Telis felt a hot
wave of hate for the man.
Thus far, they had made no move to attack, and that in itself showed
the characteristic mark of Brand's leadership. With a force of fifty
five hundred fighting men against an even two hundred poorly-armed men
and women, mostly elderly scientists, Brand still chose to proceed with
caution lest the unexpected defeat him....
Telis started. The unexpected!
He let his mind harken back to the stories the older Temple Priest
told of the mythical coming of the Water Goddess. And he thought of
the books he had read dealing with the forgotten science of weather on
Laurr....
Quickly he called a meeting of all the department heads. Leadership
fell on his shoulders like a cloak, for among all these learned men and
women he was the only warrior.
One woman suggested that all the personnel of the camp move into the
spaceship and that they lift the craft into the air, spraying the
attackers with the deadly radioactive exhaust gases. But the ship's
navigator vetoed that idea quickly. There was fuel enough only for the
return flight to Terra when next the two planets came into conjunction.
Moreover, such a move would destroy the camp and all its machinery,
negating the entire purpose of the expedition.
It was then that Telis stepped forward with his plan. The Tellurians
seemed doubtful that it would work, but Leslie who had been among the
Laurrians more than the rest of them, convinced them that they could
lose nothing by trying.
"Telis is of Laurr," she said to them, "and he knows the ways and
beliefs of his people. I, for one, think that his plan is our only
hope. Outnumbered as we are, and by savage fighting men and women, our
only chance is fear. It saved our lives before, and can again!"
When the technicians had left to modify the necessary equipment, Telis
summoned the non-essential able-bodied men. Arming them with the few
Tellurian powder-guns that were available and with whatever cutting
weapons came to hand, he made ready to lead them out to meet the
attackers. Time was needed. Telis and his respirator-masked, make-shift
company determined to gain that time.
He stationed his men near the main gate to the camp and walked slowly
out toward the masked attackers, tensely aware that at last Prince
Brand had him at a real disadvantage.
Knowing that to convince these caste-ridden fanatics and savage
cannibals that the attack should not be launched, would be next to
impossible, Telis evolved a stratagem that might save a few precious
moments. The warlike society of Laurr had developed a very strict code
duello. As it was among most warrior civilizations, "honor" or "face"
were of the utmost importance. He, himself, by disappearing on the eve
of the Maldia's planned attack had lost face. Now, he resolved to turn
this fact into a weapon against his attackers.
"Ho! Brand, there!" he hailed. "Come forward!"
Prince Brand squinted across the distance to see if he could recognize
the speaker. Slowly, recognition came, and with it a fulsome
satisfaction. This was better than he could have hoped for!
"So it is my Lord Telis returned from the realm of the Goddess to guide
our hand against the invaders!" he smirked. "Come! Join us, illustrious
phantom. We are about to complete the work you so nobly began the night
you decided not to risk yourself!"
* * * * *
For a moment there was a silence among the noblemen of the Maldia,
and then the laughter started. It was what Telis had expected. It was
ironic, bitter laughter for one who had failed the warrior's code. To
these men he was a coward. Even the naked savages laughed, though they
did not understand the reason for it.
Telis' fury rose under the goading mirth, but he knew with some
satisfaction that all the palaver was taking up precious minutes,
stalling the attack that he could hold at bay only with his wits.
"You, Brand," said Telis slowly and distinctly, "are a usurping
rogue. Your mother was a she-sith and your father a Guski slave of
questionable ancestry. You are a coward and a pandering lackey!"
A sudden quiet settled on the serried ranks and Telis continued with
his insulting monologue.
"I challenge you to fight me here and now--so that I can strip the
harness from your puffy carcass and throw it to the siths! Refuse, and
I will come and get you!"
A low moan of rage rose from the ranks of the nobles. Never had a
high-born prince been so grossly and deliberately insulted. According
to their code, there was only one possible answer, and they awaited it
with eagerness. Brand must fight.
But Prince Brand was no fool. He knew Telis for a swordsman, and he
strongly suspected some sort of trickery from the too-silent camp.
Still, he knew that Telis must be punished and before the troops or his
hold over them would fail. It could be done without placing himself in
jeopardy for the sake of a gallant gesture.