Ruined Terra by Terry Mixon

Author:Terry Mixon [Mixon, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yowling Cat Press
Published: 2019-11-06T05:00:00+00:00

Talbot had to admit that the attackers had hidden themselves well. If he hadn’t had access to drones with infrared and ultraviolet capability, he would’ve missed their hiding places in the grass.

It seemed that they’d dug shallow holes and then dragged mats of woven grass across themselves. The cover perfectly matched the grass around them, which impressed him a great deal.

However they’d gotten themselves into position, they’d done so without disturbing the living grass enough for him to notice. In fact, he’d wager that they’d done well enough to fool even Captain Beauchamp and her people.

“So how do we go about this?” Adrian Scala asked from where he lay beside Talbot. The two of them were a short distance in advance of the column, peering through the tall grass at the crest of the hill they were on. The smell of the earth and grass felt like it was helping conceal them, too.

“I think the best way to get this started is to drive them out of hiding before we engage,” Talbot said in a low voice. “We have a pretty decent idea of how many people we’re looking at, based on the infrared signature, but I’d rather see them running around so I can be sure. Besides, we won’t be able to see what kind of weaponry they have unless they’re out and about. I wonder what they did with their horses?”

There were no horses anywhere within the tactical drones’ range. If he had to guess, Talbot would wager that the horde had brought extra people to lead the horses away. Off to the right of their hiding place, set way back from where the column could see it from the ground, there was evidence that a large number of horses had recently been there, so the ambushers must’ve ridden in from off to the side of the known path, allowed the riders to dismount, and then had the horses led away.

No doubt the people with the spare horses were waiting somewhere in the distance, likely ready to come in once the ambush was sprung. Just one more thing for him to keep an eye on, but one with a potential upside. They could always use more horses, either for trade or for their own use. They still had fifteen hundred kilometers or so to travel, and extra horses would make that journey easier.

“So how do you want to spring the ambush?” Scala asked.

Talbot grinned. “We use our technology to our advantage. We have the drones start buzzing their position, out of reach of their hand-to-hand weaponry, and see if that gets them to come out and do something ill-considered.

“The drones will be inside bow range, and potentially even a thrown spear, but I’d wager the odds of a hit are low. The drones will be moving quickly and using at least a little bit of jinking to keep from being an easy target, so we won’t get very many hits.”

Scala nodded. “Okay, let’s say that works, we spring the trap, and everyone comes running out.

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