Watho: A Novel of Gal ... by Bob Nelson - Episode 22
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"You will command the operation, of course, Master Fochen," said Captain Crain.
If he had said, "You will fly the rest of the way to Sheth!" I would not have been more dumbfounded. "Bur Sir! ... I know nothing at all about operations on land. I wouldn't what orders to give..."
He just looked at me.
Sartine needed no orders from anyone concerning his role, once the operation was under way... but a sailor would have to command the cutting out.
"Yes, Sir," I said
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Our charts showed the name of this village to be "Kotra", but I suspected that the "ko" was more likely just a glottal stop. Shum didn't know how to read, so he could not assuage my curiosity. It didn't really matter.
Our charts showed this to be a natural harbor. The ocean had scoured its path two leagues inland, meandering between steep-sloped hills all the way. The two enemy ships might be anywhere along that distance, if they were there at all. Well... no... There had to be some point at which, at low tide, the waterway was too shallow for ocean-going ships. But our charts were nowhere near accurate enough to tell us where.
Sergeant Shearan led a scouting party. The long boat put them ashore early in the moon-lit night, and picked them up again the next night.
"There's two ports, Sirs," Shearan reported to Lieutenant Sartine and myself. "The fishin' boats goes way up... to where there's a widenin' – a big open space o' water layin' down surrounded by hills... but the bigger ships don't go so far. They stops half-way.
"There's a road runs from the village more 'n half-way to the deep-water moorin'. Not far as the crow flies, but near a league, snakin' 'round the hills. Then the road just stops, cause the next hill comes down really steep to the water. So they's built a wooden 'shelf' from th' end o' the road, for maybe three hundred rods to the deep-water site. Long downhill struts 'n short uphill struts, n' the shelf is level 'n wide 'nough for light wagons. I don't s'pose the roads in and out o' the village takes anything heavier than light wagons anyways.
"At th' end, the shelf widens out to a pretty big platform – the downhill struts is in the water, see. From the platform, there's a pier, 'n the two ships is tied up, one on either side. Gotta be a lot o' swirlin' water when the tide comes 'n goes in that narrow a channel, so's they's safer tied up than floatin' loose."
"How is security?" asked Lieutenant Sartine.
The Sergeant grimaced. "Looks pretty good, Sir. We saw pickets a half-league out... so I'm thinkin' 'at they's just th' outer ring. Gonna be a second line closer in.
"Can you get through without making a fuss, do you think?"
The Sergeant shook his head. "We can try, Sir... 'n maybe we'll do it... but I can't say for sure. The men on th' outer ring weren't sleepin'!"
"Can the ships' pipe-organs bear on the pier?"
Sergeant Shearan considered. "Ain't the field, Sir," he answered, and I hoped I was right in thinking he meant "field of fire". " 'At wou'n't be no problem for 'em... but with the tides, 'ey's not at the right height, most o' the time. If we time it real good, 'n don't stop for nothin'... no, Sir, the pipes can't hurt us."
Sartine breathed deeply. He looked at me. "That's a shitload of 'ifs', friend Garid!" He counted off on his fingers: "IF we get ashore unnoticed... IF we get into position without being noticed... IF we take out at least the outer sentries without being noticed... THEN we can be on time to board without being shot at by the ships' pipes..."
He was looking at me with a particularly grim expression.
"How many troops do you think there will be?" I asked him.
"Probably a hundred and fifty... each!"
"And we might be able to land... eighty?" I asked, with the attendant skepticism.
He nodded. I'm pretty sure that my face mirrored his bleak expression.
"Sirs...?" interjected Sergeant Shearan. " 'Ey ain't aboard, I don' think..."
"What??" we both cried, together.
"We watched most o' the day," answered the Sergeant, "'n ain't never seen nobody aboard. I think ever'body's ashore, in the village, maybe... Ain't but a watch crew aboard, I think, n' not a big 'n."
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A short episode. No good break-points in the next portion.