The Military Advisors: Adventures of a Jump Space Accountant Book 6 by Andrew Moriarty

Author:Andrew Moriarty [Moriarty, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-15T16:00:00+00:00

***

“But you want them to see the weapons,” Jake said to Sheriff Tran. “We need everybody to have a sword belt with a sword and a revolver on it.”

“Not everybody has a revolver,” Tran said.

“Make a group of the best armed troops,” Jake said.

He stood beside the road, hanging onto his horse. He could get off by himself, but it was more of a controlled slide than an actual dismount. And he needed to hold on to the horse’s mane to keep from falling. “Your top fifty that have revolvers, shotguns, and swords. Put them together in a group. Then a second group, with just revolvers and swords, then the ones with just swords.”

“We don’t group that way. The different posses come with what they can. Some have swords, some don’t. One or two have shotguns, but most don’t. Some just have batons.”

“We need to group like together,” Jake said.

“That would mix up the posse,” Tran said.

“Yes,” Jake said. And waited. “Yes, we should mix them up.”

“We’ve never done that before.”

“No, you haven’t. But if you want to get some respect and be part of governing this colony, you need to look like an army. Put the most heavily armed troops in the front.”

“Not very efficient. They’re not used to working together.”

“When we get to the city, we want to look organized, like we know what we’re doing. If the city people see two hundred riders in a row, and the first fifty have shotguns, swords, and revolvers, they’ll think they all have them. They’ll assume that everybody is armed the same, has the same weapons.”

“But everybody doesn’t,” Tran said.

“I won’t tell them if you don’t. They’ll be worried and impressed by the organization.”

Tam and Ket rode up, with Kivi behind them. “How are your legs, Jake?” Tam asked.

“Miserable,” Jake said. “I hate horses.”

“Shssssh,” Kivi said. “They’ll hear you, and it upsets them.”

“They’re horses,” Jake said. “They can’t talk. They don’t understand standard.”

“There, there,” Kivi said, patting his horse’s mane. “Don’t let the nasty man bother you, Nova. We love you.”

“Nova?”

“I named her Nova, like the sun, you know, because—”

“Kivi, I know what a Nova is. Why did you name her? Didn’t she have a name?”

“That was her farming name. This is her warrior name,” Kivi said.

“Warrior name? With all that’s going on, you wanted to...” Jake closed his eyes, his lips moving as he counted to ten. “Outstanding. Great idea.” Jake looked at the plodding draft horse he hung onto. “Giving the horses warrior names. The first Imperial Cavalry.”

“Should be a legion, right, Admiral Stewart?,” Tran said. “Since you’re the Emperor’s personal representative. Legion Magyar something.”

“Legio XXI, Magyar,” Tam said. “We’ve already named it. We’re getting it embroidered on the sashes you had us make. The yellow-and-black ones.”

“The surcoats. The colors are important,” Jake said.

“And the symbols,” Ket said. “Polaris. For the Empire.”

“We don’t have time for embroidery,” Jake said. “Just the colors is enough. We need to move along, not wait for some sewing. Anything is fine as long as it’s yellow and black.

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