Parno's Peril by N C Reed

Author:N C Reed [Reed, N C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creative Texts Publishers, LLC
Published: 2018-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

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Therron was almost beside himself. The young lieutenant in charge of his escort seemed to be in no real hurry to reach their destination. Each night they halted in designated areas complete with small huts and even a caretaker! While Therron could appreciate the comfort, the time lost was killing his soul and possibly his chance at the throne. Three days of travel had seen them cover less than fifty miles.

“Lieutenant... Stanley wasn't it?” Therron tried tact. “There are at least two hours of good light left for us to travel by. Surely, we should take advantage of that, no?”

“Protocol says we stop here overnight, sir,” Stanley was adamant. “So, we stop here. There's no real good place to make a cold camp further along and we'd never reach the next station before full dark. So, we stop here. We won't risk the horses or my men along these trails after dark, sir.”

“Look here, Lieutenant,” Therron tried sterner tactics. “I am Crown Prince Therron McLeod of Soulan! It is urgent that I reach your governor as soon as possible, and I can't do that stopping every fifteen miles to make camp! Now I insist that we press on!”

“Protocol says we stop here, sir,” Stanley would not be swayed. “So, we stop here.”

Almost apoplectic at this point, Therron realized he was getting nowhere and gave up. This man, Stanley, clearly had no initiative of his own whatsoever.

While he would spend the night in relative comfort, Therron would pass it in misery.

-

“So, gentlemen, what do you think?” Wilson asked, having laid out the situation before his six commanders.

“What happened to wait them out, sir?” Darrell Thomas, commander of 3rd Corps asked.

“Nothing at all,” Wilson replied. “This has nothing to do with the general war effort but rather what to do about this situation to the west of our position. There is something out there, a force powerful enough to completely wipe out two Imperial infantry divisions. Now, either the enemy is making a move, or else there is something else out there they don't want us to see. I am asking for your suggestions on just what we should do about it?”

“Isn't Stone back yet?” Joel Vanhoose, commander of 2nd Corps asked. “Why not send him out there? Be much quicker than having infantry do it.”

“I hope to get at least part of his command back in the next few days, but... Stone's raid into the central high country was of limited success. While he and his men did sack and burn much of the Southern Capital, his force has suffered almost fifty percent casualties. Many of those are from eating bad beef and they will in time recover and hopefully return to duty, but in the meanwhile his forces, what remains able to take the field, may not be sufficient.” That information was met with several seconds of stunned silence.

“Could we wait and see how much of his force we can use before making a move?” Abe Springfield, Commander of 5th Corps was the first to speak.

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