The United States of Atlantis by Harry Turtledove

Author:Harry Turtledove
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Fiction - Science Fiction, Alternative Histories (Fiction), American Science Fiction And Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Atlantis (Legendary Place), Alternative History, General, Science Fiction, Great Britain, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯), Fantasy Fiction, Geographical myths, Fiction, Colonies, Science Fiction - Alternative History
ISBN: 9780451462589
Publisher: Roc
Published: 2008-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Habakkuk Biddiscombe not only went over to General Cornwallis and King George, he reveled in his treason. To him, of course, it seemed anything but. What man ever acted for any save the highest motives? None: not if you asked the actor himself.

A scout brought back a broadsheet from a village still under the redcoats' control. It was called "The True Relation of Colonel Habakkuk Biddiscombe, Formerly of the Rebel Cavalry."

"Huh," Blaise said when he saw that. "He won himself a pro-motion for running off, he did."

"Thirty pieces of silver," Victor said bitterly. "I wonder if he would have stayed had I granted him higher rank." He sighed. "We'll never know now."

Biddiscombe—or, more likely, some pro-English hack pur-porting to be Biddiscombe—characterized the Atlantean Assem-bly as "a witches' Sabbat of betrayal." He called the army that fought on behalf of the Assembly "a pack of starveling hounds, re-markable alike for savagery and cowardice," And he described Victor Radcliff as "the blackest traitor since Judas" (a man likely to be mentioned when anyone turned his coat) and "an oaf mas-querading as a general: a leader utterly incapable of recognizing and acknowledging a clever stratagem." Remembering the cavalryofficer's scheme he'd turned down, Victor suspected that, at least, came straight from Biddiscombe.

"What do you aim to do about this—this arsewipe, General?" the scout inquired. Victor felt of the paper. "I think I'd sooner use a handful of leaves," he said. The scout and Blaise both laughed. Victor went on, "What can I do about it? If the famous Colonel Biddiscombe should dare lead enemy horse against us, we shall try to shoot him out of the saddle Of that I have no doubt—he betrayed the sol-diers he formerly commanded more foully than any others here, for he enjoyed more of their trust. Other than killing him first chance we find, I know not what course to take."

"Me, I'd sooner catch him alive," Blaise said. "Then I could roast him over a slow fire and turn him on a spit so he got done on all sides." He grinned evilly. "Easy enough to tell with a white man, eh? And that would give the dirty scut plenty of time to think on his mistakes before he gave up the ghost."

"Devil take me if I don't fancy the sound of that myself," the scout exclaimed.

"So long as we kill him, that will suffice," Victor said. Blaise was born a savage, of course. But men who favored the Atlantean Assembly and those who remained loyal to King George were roasting each other over slow fires: oh, not where the main armies marched and countermarched, but in the countless little ambushes and affrays that would never make the history books or change the war's result by one iota but went on nonetheless. And those men on both sides gleefully played the savage without Blaise's excuse.

"We'll go on," Victor said, as he had so many times. "If we can winkle them out of Hanover, that will be a great triumph for us and a great disaster to them.

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