The World Through Rifle Sights by Anonymous

Author:Anonymous [Anonymous]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: alternate history
Published: 2010-10-03T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

And that, I shall have to assume, is all that Aranth will tell me. He knows interrogation techniques as well as I do, so I can’t hope to trick him into any more answers. I could have him thrown in the dungeon. No, I can’t do that, unless I can claim he violated his parole. Nor do I want to mistreat my only contact with HTL. If I ever want to return to HTL...

“IF”??

Suppress that thought, Sirna. Of course you don’t want to leave Kalvan’s Subsector with unfinished business, like a war that you’re fighting, but you do want to get back to the University of Dhergabar. If only to get back at the Talgran Dreths and Varnath Lalas, whose field experience added together no longer matches yours. And of course to outshine Danthor Dras on the lecture circuit. That would be worth leaving Phidestros for.

All right, so you will miss Phidestros and Kyblannos and even Geblon for all his sarcasm. Not now, but later, talk it over with Aranth. Right now you have a war to win, and let’s see if Aranth will tell you something useful.

“Aranth, we discussed my being forced to the limits of the Paratime Code to survive. Don’t you have any worries about Paratemporal contamination, particularly considering that you seem to have been in charge of planning this war?”

“Where did you get that idea?”

“From interrogating a few prisoners.” She named them. “This Strothos character appears to have been everywhere and talked to everyone except me.”

“Yes, I was rather omnipresent,” Aranth said. “As cover for chief of planning, I was appointed Inspector-General of Training for the Balkroni Army, and believe me their training needed a lot of inspecting.

“The idea of having a planning staff is something that Vices picked up from his brief association with the Grand Host. Word came out over the mercenary grapevine that Kalvan had officers working full time at making maps, figuring out marching routes, and drawing up supply schedules. Phidestros immediately realized the usefulness of such an unromantic and unglamorous activity, and with help from Soton (the Zarthani Knights had some idea of what proper staff work should be) set up a reasonable General Staff of his own. Vices told me to set up such a staff, say about a dozen officers.

“So I chose a dozen, selecting only those who had a reputation for innovation or imagination, and who had either served under or fought against Kalvan, so that they would know a good deal of the new ideas Kalvan introduced. Then I would sit back and let my staff come up with the ideas to be used. My role would be to keep from having an important role.

“It worked better than I expected. For example, by now you have probably noticed that the Balkroni infantry has no spearmen, just musketeers. This is due to Operan, who was one of my original staff. At one of the first staff meetings the subject got around to pikemen, and Operan start yelling about how useless pikemen were.

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