Chapter One.

The klaxons and fire alarms were blasting out their ear-splitting warnings. The exploration shuttle craft Oslo was being rocked from side to side by a multitude of nearby explosions. Access panels were swinging open haphazardly with the violent motion being experienced, wiring was breaking apart and short circuits were adding smoke and fumes to the atmosphere being breathed by the crew of ten as they struggled to maintain their balance and carry out their duties.

“Prepare to abandon ship!” barked out Ramon Suarez, the Oslo’s commanding officer.

Another explosion rattled the shuttle. The whole attack had come completely out of the blue. The Oslo had been part of a two-ship mission to survey one of three rocky planets orbiting a binary star system in the Struve constellation. For almost two weeks, everything had been routine, with nice, peaceful, mundane duty shifts, surveying and recording their findings. The crew well drilled in their various roles, but now, all was utter chaos.

The blasts were coming ever closer, as the missile assaults continued to slowly overwhelm the shuttles mainly automated self defence systems.

Karin looked across at her husband.

“Ramon, do you think we should at least send some of the crew to safety, the Bergen has reported that they are poised to recover our escape pods.”

At that moment a huge explosion hit the underside of the Oslo, the onboard systems reported a major hull breach to add to their problems.

Ramon glanced at the information monitors that were flashing their warnings. The proximity sensors were indicating an even larger wave of missiles on interception courses, even as he struggled to increase their orbit away from the surface of the planet they’d been observing. Decision made; he pushed the abandon ship activation button.

“Abandon ship, abandon ship” rang throughout the damaged shuttle, flashing amber beacons now added their strobe effect to the mass of sparks, smoke and warning lights illuminating the interior of the doomed vessel.

Just as they had rehearsed many times through incessant practice drills, never expecting to use the escape pods, the other eight crewmembers raced to the compartments that offered safety. Moving as best they could, they struggled to their assigned craft and within thirty seconds the shuttle reported all eight individuals had launched vertically away from the shuttle in two pods.

“That’s it Ramon, they are all safely away and the Bergen is actively tracking the pods.”

“Okay Karin, there’s nothing else we can do, let’s get out of here!”

Ramon grabbed his wife’s hand, and they made their way into the control cabins escape pod. As they both made it safely through the hatchway, Ramon smacked the large red button with his fist to start the launch process. With an audible hiss the hatch slid shut and both Karin and Ramon were rammed to the floor as the escape pod rocketed away from the doomed shuttle.

Ramon and Karin, still holding hands exchanged relieved glances. Then, as they began to relax a little, a huge blast hit the pod, throwing them around the interior, not that either of them knew that, as unconsciousness had claimed them both.

The Shuttle Bergen picked up the signal of the third pod to be launched by their sister spacecraft. Within seconds a huge explosion enveloped the nose of the Oslo, and the pod disappeared.

All had been so quiet, so peaceful, so mundane. Not so any longer!

Down on the surface of the planet being surveyed, military leaders watched with morbid glee, revelling in the devastation their missile and rocket attack had wreaked on the body that had been observed orbiting high above them.

Masonville was an increasingly industrialised nation, slowly trying to exert their greater power over their more rural and peaceful neighbours. The country had become a republic some one hundred and fifty annuals or so ago. The military had gradually increased their presence in the upper echelons of Government and had gradually imposed a martial approach to Masonville’s civilisation, constantly broadcasting speeches and propaganda extolling bigger efforts in the mines and factories, accompanied with stirring music to encourage the population to greater efforts.

So, the ruling elite considered the recovery of the debris from the orbiting object as of utmost importance to their development as the pre-eminent nation on Villiar. However, what they hadn’t factored into their calculations, were the huge explosions that destroyed the object and sent debris far from the expected point at which their forces could easily recover the ores that fell to the ground.

The leader of this nation, President Signi slammed his binoculars onto the guardrail of the palace balcony from which he planned to observe this latest coup. It was obvious that he was seething.

“General Brandr, fetch me the brains behind this fiasco, NOW, man, NOW!”

The general quickly muttered something to one of his aides, who scurried from the balcony. President Signi paced backwards and forwards across the balcony becoming more and more angry as each minute passed.

“Where are they General? What is keeping them?” the president snarled.

“I am not sure Mr. President; I am sure the people responsible will be here shortly!”

Almost on cue, a group of four people were shepherded into the president’s presence.

“Just what do you have to say for yourselves? What the hell happened?” the president bawled at the leader of the group, a tall thin man who was sweating profusely, having been dragged from his laboratory where he and his colleagues had been frantically scanning their monitors and instruments.

“I’m sorry Mr President . . .” he started to mutter.

You’re sorry, YOU’RE SORRY!” the president snapped, “I don’t want your apologies man, I want your explanations for this unmitigated disaster, AND I WANT IT NOW!” so saying he smashed his fist onto the balustrade.

The scientist’s leader pulled on his shirt collar, his large, pointed Adam’s apple frantically bobbing up and down on his neck as he sought to placate his irate leader.

“Right, erm! I’m sorry Mr President but . . .” the scientist’s leader started to say again.

“WRONG ANSWER!” hollered the president. “GET HIM OUT OF MY SIGHT! He continued to rant. This individual was grabbed by two guards and dragged protesting from the balcony.

“RIGHT YOU!” and he jabbed his finger at one of the three remaining scientists, “You want to tell me what just happened up there?” as he jabbed his arm in the air.

This time, a younger man stepped forward with his clipboard firmly gripped in his quaking fist.

“Well Mr President, we think the most likely explanation for the huge explosions must have been due to the object containing fuel or explosive substances within its core. This suggests it was likely hollow, possibly naturally hollow, or maybe, an artificial object, maybe containing life forms of some sort! As you know Mr President, we expected to be able to break the object up, topple it from its orbit and send the fragments to land within our nation!”

“Hollow, you say?” asked the president from under his darkly furrowed brows, his attitude calming somewhat as he rubbed his chin.
“We think so Mr President, but you must understand, we are still analysing our results, so these are purely our early conjectures!”

The president walked up and down tapping his lips, deep in thought, “What is your name?”

The spokesman looked decidedly off colour as he replied. “Hallr Mr President, Hallr!”

“Well Mr Hallr, I suggest you go back to your instruments, and you had better work out exactly WHAT went wrong, WHERE my debris is going to land, AND you have two hora to get back in front of me and give me the answers I NEED, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?”
Hallr nervously nodded his head.

“Yes Mr President, we’ll go right away, reassess the information we have, and I will report back to you within two hora!”

“Make sure you do Mr Hallr, make sure you do! Now, get out!

With that the three scientists beat a hasty retreat. The president stalked off the balcony himself and returned behind his desk, looking up at those still in his presence.

“General Brandr, I want you to mobilise your patrols to follow the likely trajectory of those fragments falling to the ground. I want every man under your command to be out there scouring the country for the ores or whatever it was that blew up, I particularly want the larger fragments, and I don’t care how far they have to travel to collect them, do you understand General?”

“Yes Mr President, although from what I could tell, it’s likely that some fragments may well land within Granaria, or even Vinaria!”

“General, I couldn’t care less WHERE they land, whether they land within OUR territories, OR, onto our near neighbours. I want those fragments! I don’t care who gets in the way of our troops! They are authorised to use all the tools at their disposal, and if anyone objects, ANYONE AT ALL, then eliminate them! In fact, general, make sure there are no witnesses left to relate what they see!”

The general snapped to attention, saluted the president and promptly marched from the office to issue his orders and to send off the recovery patrols that were all awaiting their orders.

Chapter Two.

Meanwhile, on the balcony of the palace in Willowton, the capital city of Granaria, Queen Adred;-

Granaria was a larger country in land area than Masonville, but was a mainly agrarian culture, particularly successful in producing grains, both for its own consumption but also for export. The country was run by a monarchy, with a predominantly female population. It seemed that the many wars of attrition they’d fought against Masonville had significantly affected the number of males born per one hundred births to around twenty percent, Granaria scientists also suspected the chemicals used to provide sufficient fertilisers to nourish their crops may be having an impact too, although the research was in its infancy. However, these issues were not currently uppermost in the Queen’s thoughts.

“Now, what are Masonville up to this time?” the Queen asked rhetorically.

“If only I knew mother, if only I knew!” Aryn responded as she shaded her eyes and continued to watch the falling spectacle taking place above their heads.

“Well, if I know one thing, Masonville are up to no good, and we’ll be feeling the brunt of their deviousness before too much more time has passed!” the Queen replied tersely.

Princess Aryn glanced at her mother.

“I think it best if we organise our forces to investigate any of the debris that seems to be heading our way, as well as preparing to disabuse any of Masonville’s population who may want to invade our territory and retrieve this material currently cascading towards both our nations!”

The Queen glanced up at the sky again.

“That’s a good idea Aryn, get the rapid response unit onto the road as quickly as possible. It looks as if most of the smaller fragments are heading towards the south of the capital but some of the larger fragments are coming down to the north, I want you, Aryn, to concentrate on the larger elements, as I expect those will be the ones of most interest to our friends across the border. Where is Caryn?”

“Here mother” answered the Queens younger daughter as she strode onto the balcony, casting her eyes upwards as she did so. “I was in the palace grounds checking the readiness of our units given the spectacle going on over our heads, I estimate they can be on the road within a quarter of an hora, once we decide where we are going!”

“Thank you Caryn, that’s good to know we can get underway so quickly, although I know it is what you have both trained your forces for!” replied the Queen.

“Now what is that?” pondered Princess Aryn as she quickly raised the binoculars back to her eyes. “That red object that has just emerged into view from within all that smoke looks a bit like a parachute to me!” She handed the binoculars onto her sister.

“I think you are right Aryn, if that fragment is worth fitting with a parachute, then the contents must be fragile and worth preserving. So, does that indicate life and/or delicate machinery?” pondered Caryn who passed the optical device across to her mother.

The Queen studied the sky above the palace intently.

“Whatever is in that fragment must be special as a second parachute has just been deployed which makes that object our main priority, I want you both to take the majority of your teams and get to the landing point of that fragment as quickly as possible. I want you to go prepared to face interference from Masonville! So, even if it delays you a little while I want you to go fully prepared, not only to recover what you can, but to also fend off incursions from our neighbours, and girls, be careful, very careful, I don’t want anyone hurt. You head off as quickly as possible and I’ll despatch some back-up forces in case of trouble, now, come and give your old mum a hug and then get going!”

All three women came together in a group cuddle and the Queen kissed each of her daughters’ foreheads and they then departed from their mother to grab their ready bags and go get their expedition on the road.

At the same time that the Princesses and their forces were speeding north, Prime Minister Pellinore joined her sister, the Queen on the palace balcony.

“Well Adred, what do you think is going on?”

The Queen glanced across at her younger sister.

“To be honest, I don’t really have a clue, although we’ve made some educated guesses, do you have any intelligence from your sources?”

Pellinore took the proffered binoculars and surveyed the skies above them.

“We don’t have anything concrete, although the level of radio traffic has increased dramatically within the Masonville military, especially traffic emanating from the headquarters to units close to our border. That can’t be good news for us, no matter what is going on!”

“That’s just brilliant Pellinore, any idea what they are saying specifically?” asked the Queen.

“They have introduced a new code which our experts are working on as we speak, the more internal messages which we have deciphered have given orders for every particle which lands, to be taken to their central headquarters as a matter of priority!” replied Pellinore.

“I don’t suppose the coded messages say much different, just that they are to be more vigorous in their efforts to retrieve these fragments!” mused the Queen.

“I expect you are correct Adred, I know the measures you have already taken, I spoke briefly to Aryn and Caryn as they were heading out, but sadly I think we need to mobilise all our forces, including the Civil Defence units to help where needed and to back-up the frontline units should Masonville become even more belligerent in the coming hora and days, at least until we know what we are dealing with!”

“Yes, Pellinore, I think we are in for some turbulent times in the immediate future, lets head down to the command post and see what the latest intelligence has for us!” and with that the two sisters headed into the palace’s interior.

“I’m hoping their skills will not be needed but I have despatched my two girls Ayne and Urna with the main convoy just in case specialised medical care is needed by anybody as a result of this mission.”

“Great idea Pellinore, let’s hope they have a wasted journey, but, somehow, I doubt it!” added the Queen as they both continued to the communication centre buried deep within the palace.

Chapter Three.

In the sky above the two, wary countries, the huge clouds of smoke and flame gradually dispersed as the high winds in the atmosphere rapidly blew the evidence away. Meanwhile the heavier objects started to rain down on the land mass known as Villiar to its inhabitants.

Roughly half the, albeit smaller debris landed on Masonville, but the object with the parachutes attached, drifted further and further westward into Granaria.

In the palace in Masonville, which was the name of both the country and its capital, President Signi paced to and fro, becoming increasingly agitated.

Following a knock on his office’s door General Brandr strode purposefully into the room followed by a very nervous Hallr and his two equally apprehensive colleagues.

“HALLR, you’re late man, LATE, you’ve kept me waiting an extra ten munt!

“Sorry Mr President Sir, but we received some last-minute information which we thought best to bring with us.” Replied Hallr.

“Well man, out with it, out with it!” barked President Signi.

“Well S,s,s, Sir” stuttered Hallr, “Our latest information seems to confirm.”

“Seems? SEEMS?” the President yelled, “What do you mean seems? Don’t you know for definite man? You are not inspiring me with confidence Hallr, perhaps you are not up to this role and I should replace you too!” snarled the President.

“No Sir, I know what happened, well, according to our latest information anyway” replied Hallr mopping the sweat from his brow, “Perhaps I could show you some photographs we have just received from one of our monitoring telescopes!”

As he said this, he spread a series of photographs across the President’s desk, the images showed a rectangular object being subjected to a series of close proximity explosions, before the next displayed the target starting to disintegrate. The final image displayed a sizeable chunk of the target breaking off as a huge mushroom cloud of flames obliterates the rest of the objects.

Hallr cleared his throat and started his explanation.

“As you will be aware Mr President, our intention was to shock what we assumed to be a solid object with close proximity explosions against its trailing edge, thereby causing it to start tumbling out of orbit and come to ground within the territory of Masonville!”

“You assumed it was solid, did you not check?” snarled the President.

“I’m sorry Sir, but we had no way to check whether it was solid or not, nor could we expect it to explode in the manner it did, causing the debris field to be much larger than predicted!” answered Hallr.

“So do you know where most of this object is expected to land?” demanded the ever-impatient President.

“Yes Sir, it err, um, er, it seems from the data we have managed to assemble that some will land within Masonville as intended, the larger chunks will likely land in Southern Granaria. But the section with parachutes attached is expected to land to the north of Granaria’s capital!”

The President’s face grew more and more red and his shirt collar seemed to be in danger of choking him.

“Parachutes? What parachutes? Why wasn’t I told anything about a section of this object coming to land by parachute?”

“I’m sorry sir, I thought you already knew about the parachutes!” mumbled a scared Hallr.

“Brandr, get this sorry excuse of a technical advisor out of my sight!” stormed President Signi, as he repeatedly prodded Hallr in the chest.

“Sir, Yes Sir!” responded General Brandr as he signalled two guards to begin to remove the quivering Hallr from the President’s office.

“Please, wait a moment Mr. President, let me explain fully!” exclaimed Hallr.

“I can’t stand incompetence!” grumbled President Signi “Right, YOU! What’s your name?” he demanded as he pointed at one of Hallr’s colleagues.

“I am Alfvin Sir!” replied the technician.

“Well Alfvin, do YOU know where this parachute section is going to land?”

“To be honest Sir, not exactly!” Alfvin could sense the dangerous ground he was on, “But as Hallr was about to explain, more data was coming in from our observatories all the time Sir, but we didn’t want to delay our meeting with you any further Sir, so I am sure we will have a better idea any moment now!” added Alfvin.

The President stared at his three technical advisors, as Hallr was being held at the doorway, the President glared at the men.

“You have one hora to gather better, more reliable information gentlemen and present it here in front of me, do you hear, ONE hora, not a munt longer, now, get out!”

Chapter Four.

Meanwhile. In Granaria several convoys were despatched to different areas of the country, with the largest and most modern actively pursuing the object that was being brought gently to the ground by its two parachutes.

Within fifteen munts the rescue mission left the palace barracks in a small convoy of fourteen vehicles and six motorbikes. Five four-wheel drive personnel vehicles each containing six individuals, also in the convoy was one of the latest radio vehicles, two ambulances, two winch equipped heavy rescue and two crane vehicles apiece, plus two flatbed lorries for returning any wreckage that could be gathered for further analysis, all the lorries were six axle all-wheel drive.

As the convoy raced down the road in pursuit of the canister suspended under the parachutes, the motorbike outriders did their best to clear the road of non-essential traffic. Local emergency vehicles tacked onto the end of the convoy as they were overtaken, before long the convoy in hot pursuit of the canister consisted of almost forty vehicles of various ages and capabilities. At the front of the procession, the modern palace vehicles set a fast and steady pace of almost thirty toils an hora which, for a convoy of that size, was impressive, especially given the relatively poor roads and the fact that the internal combustion engine had only been introduced from Masonville as little as sixty annuals earlier and was still a relatively new technology. Most of the population who tended to work the land, relied predominantly on draught animals of various types.

Princess Aryn, in the lead vehicle was busy watching the descending canister and trying to determine where it was likely to land. As it became ever lower in the sky, it appeared as if it was going to land up in the hills near the market town of Riventon. Aryn after consulting her maps of the area indicated that the convoy was to head east and begin the climb into the foothills of the mountain range that separated Granaria from their aggressive neighbours in Masonville.

As the quality of the local roads worsened and became ever steeper, the speed of the convoy steadily reduced. Meanwhile, the cannister, with its attached parachutes eventually disappeared behind the hills. After eventually cresting yet another ridge of one of the many valleys that ran north to south, the red and white parachutes indicated the landing point of the piece of debris to which they were attached. The problem being that the valley floor looked to be extremely boggy with bullrushes, marsh grasses and stagnant pools being evident everywhere.

Aryn brought the convoy to a halt and surveyed the ground to see how she was going to get across the terrain. To her eyes it seemed they were going to experience extreme difficulty just getting to the object on foot with little to no chance of gaining vehicular access.

As she was stood in the lead vehicle trying to decide her next action, Caryn walked up to her with one of her civil defence personnel at her side.

“How’s it looking Aryn?” asked Caryn.

“Literally sticky, very, very sticky, it looks to be a mass of mud, and who knows how liquid or how deep it’s going to be, but we have to get across somehow or try to get at the wreckage from the other side of the valley!” answered Aryn.

“Well, Aryn, I may have the answer to your problem here” said Caryn pointing to the young woman at her side. “This young lady is a member of the palace civil defence corps, her name is Lrna, she grew up around here and knows the land well, come on Lrna tell my sister what you told me!”

Lrna bobbed a sort of dainty half curtsy and a half formal salute to the Princess Aryn, Lrna was obviously a little nervous and somewhat overawed to be in such company.

“If it pleases your Highness, I may be able to help you get across the valley floor to that thing over there!” Lrna said pointing across the valley.

“If you can Lrna, that would be brilliant, what can you tell me, and how do you know a way across that mass of mud?” asked Aryn.
Lrna fiddled with the hem of her uniform jacket she looked up to Aryn who was still stood in the footwell of the vehicle

“If it pleases your Highness, my sister Ayleah and I grew up here and in the next valley as our parents tended the flocks of bleskins that were brought up here to feed on the summer grasses and vegetation, so we learned where was safe to walk and where not to, I am sure we can get you and all your people across to that object and back again safely.”

“That’s excellent to hear Lrna, but please, just refer to me as Princess, or Princess Aryn if you want to speak to me and my sister or cousins are standing nearby, no needed to be quite so formal! So, where do we need to go from here, do we walk, or do we have to travel further down the valley first?”

“I’m sorry!” stuttered Lrna, “If we travel about another toil down this track, we will be almost opposite where that thing appears to be sitting, and I can lead you across the valley. Then if it would help, my sister Ayleah can take the vehicles about another toil or so further down the track and get them across the valley from there! They should then be able to travel up the side of the stream to get up to that thing, assuming you would need some or all the vehicles over there as well! The only problem is, is that will be dark in ten to twenty munts, and it would be too risky to try and navigate our way across the valley floor in complete darkness, it may well be safer to await the dawn!”

An almost speechless Aryn looked down at a shy young woman who had knowledge that was to her, almost priceless.

“Where is your sister Lrna?” asked an astonished Aryn,

“My sister is driving one of the ambulances Princess!”

“So, she’s here, now?” asked a stunned Aryn, “Oh!! Listen to me asking stupid and pointless questions, if she’s driving one of the ambulances, of course she’s here!” she chuckled.

“Ok, Caryn, can you get the transport part of this mission organised and get Ayleah to get as many vehicles as possible, across there as soon as maybe, preferably the heavy vehicles first as I think they’ll be more important than the personnel vehicles!”

“I’ll get right on it Aryn” with that Caryn headed back down the convoy to find Ayleah.

“Now Lrna, climb aboard and let’s get further down the track as soon as we can!” With that Aryn reached down with her hand to assist Lrna onto the vehicle.

With that the convoy once again got under way and a short while later Lrna indicated they should stop and the element of the mission that was to proceed on foot should gather together, ready for Lrna to lead then across the morass in the morning.

“Princess, this is probably a good place for us to camp tonight before we work our way across the bogs in the morning!” advised Lrna. “If you will allow me to speak to everyone who is to follow me before we set off in the morning and I will explain how we are going to get across” asked a bashful Lrna.

“Of course, Lrna, you are the expert here, so you tell us all what to do and if you see any of us, and I do mean any of us going astray, you stop us and tell us off, you’re the boss here!” replied Aryn.

The vehicles that were to head further down the valley before being driven back up the far side of the mountain stream were marshalled into place at the front of the convoy.

Lrna was stood on the bonnet of the lead vehicle almost incandescent with embarrassment.

“Can you all hear me because this is important!” seeing nods or affirmations that she could be heard, Lrna continued with her speech. “This ground is very boggy, but we can get across without too much trouble if everyone concentrates on where they are walking. If you look at the grasses carefully you can see where some of it is shorter and a slightly paler colour. Just under that shorter grass is a layer of stones, and it’s those stones we will be walking on, so watch where I walk, I will try and flatten the grass as I go, so just walk in the footsteps of the person in front of you and walk in single file. Now, if you should trip and fall into the mud, do not struggle and try not to panic! Try and lie on your back and we will pull you out, do not attempt to stand up, because you will sink deeper into the mud and make it that much harder to rescue you. This is safe if you all pay attention!”

Aryn looked around at the twenty-five people standing in a semi-circle around Lrna and herself.

“Any questions?” Aryn looked at her guide, “Ok Lrna, thank you, let’s all get some sleep, I want to head off at first light, but I will have you repeat your little talk in the morning. But no fires tonight I am afraid, I am not sure that we are alone in these mountains, so be quiet too if you please!”

The convoy spent a quiet, cold, sleepless night and as soon as the brightening of the sky to the East heralded the onset of another day, the heavy vehicles being led by Caryn with Ayleah as her guide set off further down the valley. After a quick breakfast Lrna reiterated her instructions to the personnel who would be following her on foot across the marsh.

After her short speech Lrna hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders and proceeded to almost shuffle her way across the valley floor ensuring she trod down a track for the others to follow. After around fifteen munts they were approximately one third of the way across the valley, Lrna kept glancing back over her shoulder to see all was well, the whole procession seemed to be evenly strung out but with no apparent difficulties.

“So Lrna, how long did you live up here?” asked Aryn who was immediately behind her guide.

“Well princess, my mother says I was born up here, then I came up here every summer for the next sixteen annuals, sadly my father died the following winter and my mother didn’t want the same life for Ayleah and myself, so, when they were recruiting for the civil defence force my mother sent us both to the capital to apply and luckily because of our fitness and upbringing we were both fortunate enough to be chosen, and that was five annuals ago. Our mother sold most of our parents’ flocks although she kept a small number of animals and as far as I know she still spends most of her summers up here, I suppose old habits die hard and it gives her a purpose in life.”

“You mean you haven’t seen her recently?” asked an astonished Aryn.

“No princess, although myself and Ayleah know our letters we can read and write, my mother never learned and because my sister and I have been so busy we haven’t had chance to come back and visit, anyway, we could never be sure exactly where our Mum was going to be!”

“I had no idea people’s lives could be difficult even in this day and age!” For a short while silence descended on the procession, when Aryn happened to glance up and exclaimed.

“Wait a moment Lrna, who is (SPLASH).”

And that is the moment her highness, the Princess Aryn fell in the bog!

Chapter Five.

A spluttering Princess was unceremoniously dragged up by her backpack and dumped back on the track by the sheer strength of Lrna.
“Wow is that cold or what!” exclaimed a sodden Aryn once she got her breath back and had exhaled the water she’d inhaled. “Thank you so much Lrna, wow, I don’t want to go back in there again and serves me right for not paying attention to what I was doing!”

The Princess Urna who was the younger daughter of Prime Minister Pellinore and was deputy Chief Medical Officer to Granaria’s population had been six people behind Aryn, and she’d managed to squeeze past those in front of her to get to her cousin’s side.
“Well, that was stupid Aryn you daft beggar, are you all right?” she asked.

“I’m fine thanks Urna, although I could do without the compliments thank you very much” replied Aryn with a bit of a smirk at her cousins teasing. “Mind you, I am blooming cold and more than a bit wet to say the least!”

“Well, what do you expect after falling in, and Lrna warned you to pay attention to where you were going!” replied Urna, “So what caused you to lose track of the track, literally?” she added as she extricated a blanket from her pack to wrap around her cousin.

“Well, because I am taller than most, I could see over those tall rushes and realised someone was walking towards us, and I was halfway through asking Lrna who it could be, when someone took the firm ground from under my foot and then I was base over apex and getting up, close and personal to the bog, too close and too personal, it tastes worse than it smells!” answered Aryn snuggling into the blanket.

“Well, next time stop walking and ask your question!” said Urna slapping her cousins back handing her some fresh water to rinse her mouth out with. “Come on, ups a daisy, let’s get you on your feet and moving a bit to try and warm you up, but for crying out loud, STAY ON THE TRACK!”

Aryn looked at a scared looking Lrna,

“Don’t look so worried Lrna, it was entirely my own stupid fault, and I can’t say thank you enough for pulling me out before I even realised where I was, anyway, as I was asking before I was so rudely interrupted, someone is walking towards us, and I wondered who you thought it could be?”

“Well princess, the only person I can think of is my mother or another shepherd, but until I can see over these rushes, I can’t be sure” replied Lrna.

“Ok then Lrna, lead on but let’s be careful until we can be sure of who it is” Aryn spoke to Captain Rith Shearaj who was the leader of the militia detachment, who, along with a few of the individuals immediately behind her and the Princess came to an advanced level of alertness, “Let’s be ready for all eventualities and keep your firearms ready at hand!” commanded Aryn.

The procession carried on in Lrna’s footsteps with Aryn slowly regaining some of the warmth she had lost in her dunking.

“Hold up Lrna!” hissed Aryn who was close to her shoulder, “I just saw a grey-haired individual coming this way, let’s wait for them here, just step aside a touch if you can!”

“Yes Princess” answered Lrna. Behind Aryn the Captain and a couple of her military personnel moved forward readying their rifles as they closed up on their Princess’s back.

A munt or two later.

“Mum!” shrieked Lrna as she moved forward to embrace the woman approaching them along the track.

“Lrna, oh Lrna, come here girl!” called the woman, all that could be heard were muffled sobs as the two hugged and the older woman swung the younger around. As they parted slightly, the newcomer looked at her daughter closely.

“Well I must say sweetheart you do look well, but what are you doing all the way up here? I sent you and your sister away from the valleys to have a better life than I had, and yet here you are! But I am so glad to see you lass, tell me, how is your sister?” asked Lrna’s mum and as she looked over her daughter’s shoulder at the front of the procession.

“But first off Lrna, who are your friends, what are you doing here and is that the daft beggar who fell in the bog!”

“Oh shush mum, shush, that is the Princess Aryn, she caught sight of you and you distracted her!”

“Oh no!” exclaimed the mortified woman who quickly bowed low, “Forgive me Princess, I had no idea who you were, I meant no disrespect, I never dreamt to see a Princess all the way up here, let alone one who has fallen in the mire, I am so sorry for my insult!” spluttered a deeply embarrassed and somewhat frighted Lrna’s mum.

Aryn carefully trod forward and clasped the older woman’s hands in hers

“Do not worry Lrna’s mum, I think the description of me being a daft beggar is quite apt given the circumstances, you have a very special daughter here in Lrna, and hopefully in a short while you will be reunited with your other daughter, Ayleah?” said a smiling Aryn.

“She is, at this moment, bringing some of our vehicles up the valley to that object over there. I am so glad to be able to at least reunite your family, even if it is only for a short while! And you will be introduced to a further three Princesses, so you see, we don’t just live in isolation in the palace!”

Aryn then turned to Lrna, “Now, if you please young lady, will you be so kind as to introduce me formally to your mother, as I cannot keep calling her Lrna and Ayleah’s mum now, can I?” she smilingly asked.

Oh, forgive me Highness, please meet my mother Rusan, mother this is the Princess Aryn!” responded a mortified Lrna.

“I am very pleased to meet you Rusan.” said Aryn.

“I am honoured and thrilled to meet a real live, if somewhat cold and wet Princess!” said Rusan, “I hope my girls have been doing well in your service and have performed their duties to the best of their abilities!”

“Well Rusan, I can’t say I know either of your girls all that well, but I am so impressed with what I have learned of them so far, and for this young lady here, I owe her my life, and for them to be chosen as part of this expedition, tells me that they are both highly thought of. But, if you don’t mind, could we get moving and talk on firmer ground as I am beginning to freeze my cheeks off, and not necessarily the ones on my face either!” Aryn answered with a smile, whilst stamping her feet on the spot.

“Of course Highness, forgive an old woman’s excitement of unexpectedly meeting one of her daughters, if you follow Lrna, I will go ahead and get a fire going up close to that object on the hillside” and with that Rusan turned tail and quickly disappeared from sight.

“Lead on Lrna, let’s get moving so I can start my circulation going!” said Aryn with slightly chattering teeth.

“Yes Princess, we can make better time as we can now follow my mother’s trail” with that Lrna moved off at a much quicker pace.
Within another twenty munts the whole file was stood looking at the cylindrical and blackened object with the huge flimsy parachutes trailed up the hillside. Small fires were smouldering in the scrub that the object had landed on, and these were quickly extinguished by water from the stream and by individuals stamping on other, smaller, more distant fires.

While Aryn warmed herself by the larger fire Rusan had going, the rest of Aryn’s team were carefully investigating the cylinder.
“Aryn” called Princess Ayne who was Prime Minister Pellinore’s eldest daughter and the Chief Medical Officer for Granaria who’d been at the tail end of the procession across the marsh.

“It looks like there’s a door here on the side of the cylinder, or at least it looks like there is an impression in the metal of about the right size, there are some markings I can’t read, but there is what looks a lot like a window, although it is blackened, there is also what looks like a lever recessed into the side here, do you want us to try and see if we can open it or do you want to wait until the vehicles get here?”

“Well, we came all this way to see what has been going on, and there may be help we can provide, still, if you move out the way, I’ll come and open it or at least try!” answered Aryn walking towards the capsule.

“No you won’t!” stated Ayne with some vehemence, “You are too important to our nation, I will try and open it, it is part of my search and rescue training, I have a mask here, you don’t! So back away cousin, and everyone else too, leave this to me until I tell you otherwise!”
Ayne donned her protective facemask and after making sure everyone else had moved clear, attempted to move the handle. Despite her best efforts she could not get it to budge.

At that moment the first of the rescue vehicles arrived on scene with Ayleah standing on the nose of the lead vehicles indicating where it was safe to park. Following a short discussion, an iron tube was brought forward and placed over the lever and Ayne tried again to move it, but with the same result, nothing! As Ayne and a couple of the rescue crew were examining the cylinder again, one of them squinted down close to the apparent doorway,

“Excuse me, Princess Ayne, look, does this look like scorched writing, or symbols of some kind?” asked crew man Reafer.

Ayne looked closely to where he was indicating, and squinting and moving her head, she muttered “It certainly looks like it doesn’t it, have you a rag we can used to try and wash some of the soot off!” Ayne asked.

“Certainly Princess, here Yarg” Reafer said throwing a piece of cloth to his assistant, “Wet this in the stream if you please and throw it back up here”.

Yarg caught the cloth, dipped into the icy cold stream and she threw it back up to Reafer.

“Right let’s see if this gives us any clue as to how to open this door!” Reafer started to rub on the cylinder and, slowly at first, the definite outline of a red hand appeared from under the sooty exterior, but no further symbols or access panels could be discerned. At this point it was decided to wait until they could get the capsule back to the palace compound before any further determined efforts were taken to try and open it.

Meanwhile, examination of the wreckage in the area was being conducted. Chief Engineer Drows was clambering all over the hillside but was paying particular attention to the capsule. Aryn walked over to her, “How’s it going Chief?” she asked.

“Well Princess, other than the capsule and its parachutes there is not much in the way of other debris, I’ve got teams scouring the hillsides for any oddments that may have come down in the vicinity, and we’re organising a small pile here for us to load up later, I’ve also got a team doing their best to detach the parachutes from the capsule, then we’ll fold them up and get them secured ready to take back with us!”

“That’s great!” nodded Aryn, “Don’t open the canister, we don’t quite understand who or what we are dealing with at the moment, so the less speculation we start the better!” she added.

“I understand Princess!” replied the Chief.

While this discussion was taking place, Rusan approached Princess Aryn.

“Excuse me Highness, but it seems that most, if not all of you will be spending a second night here, as the sun will soon set, and it is not too easy to navigate the marshes during the horas of darkness, so, I was wondering if you would do me the honour of letting me celebrate being reunited with my daughters, along with meeting you, your sister, your cousins and the rest of your crew members by offering to cook one of my bleskins?” she asked. Rusan continued “I am not sure what, if any, rations you managed to bring with you, but I am sure some hot food will be more than welcome to you and your team!”

A bleskin was like a cross between a large sheep and a goat but with six legs, it was a very sure-footed creature both up in the mountains as well as out on the marsh and bogs and was farmed for its fleece as well as it milk and meat.

“Well Rusan, that is extremely kind of you to offer to feed us all, even though we have brought emergency supplies with us. Please let us at least, pay for the value of your beast!” replied Aryn.

“No highness, being unexpectedly reunited with my two girls is a priceless gift to me, I insist that you let me celebrate this reunion.” answered a very happy Rusan.

So it was that while the engineers determined a way to safely load the capsule onto one of the transport lorries, Rusan, her daughters, along with the units cook prepared a meal of roasted and boiled bleskin with a casserole of the vegetables the convoy had brought with them, flavoured with herbs from the immediate surroundings. Preparations and plans were made for loading the wreckage first thing the next morning and everyone gathered together to enjoy the first real hot meal many of them had had in two days.

After the meal people were sitting staring into the embers of the fire or talking quietly amongst themselves, At that moment a frantic scrambling descent was heard coming down the scree slope from above their sheltered position and a Captain Rith Shearaj ran into the camp.

“Good evening Rith, what can I do for you?” asked Aryn.

“Quickly highness, I need you to follow me to our forward observation point up on the Eastern ridge, I think we are going to have company sometime soon! It looks like may be an incursion patrol from Masonville heading our way, we’ve been observing faint lights pointing skywards from time to time, and they are definitely coming towards the next valley to us, or possibly even this one, it’s hard to tell for sure. I have ordered all lights extinguished and to maintain darkness for the rest of the night, or until we can be sure of what or who we are dealing with!”

“Ok Rith, lead on!” responded Aryn. “Hold just a moment, Caryn, can you get on the radio, speak with the Queen, and tell her we are probably going to need reinforcements as soon as she can get them here, I have an awful feeling our neighbours are about to incur her wrath, so if she can despatch at least two companies of the militia to us immediately it will be a good idea. Tell her where we are and for them to observe blackout conditions, especially the nearer they get to us! And make sure all lights are extinguished down here in the camp while you are at it!””

“I’ll get right on it Aryn!” replied Caryn as she ran off to the radio vehicle to make contact with the palace.

“Right, lead on Rith, let’s see what we are dealing with!” so saying she strode off across the stream and disappeared into the gathering gloom.

Meanwhile the camp extinguished all sources of illumination, including dousing the fire that had so recently provided them with a meal and a source of heat up in the chilly air of the mountains. All engines were also switched off, with the radio vehicle and both ambulances having extra batteries.

Chapter Six.

Aryn lay close to the top of the valley ridge carefully observing the faint lights slowly increasing in intensity from across the adjacent valley. Speaking very quietly to Captain Shearaj, Aryn whispered, “Do we know what is over there Rith?”

“Yes princess, the answer is not a lot really. There’s three valleys between us and the border with Masonville, we do have an observation post up there but, as far as I am aware, we have not had any advance notice of this incursion, if that is what we are indeed facing. There are a few narrow tracks that lead off into the mountains, there’s a handful of isolated shepherds huts that are in use during the summer, but most are probably deserted by now as we are at the tail end of that season. The first snows have already fallen and what small passes that there are up there into Masonville, must be close to being impassable. This seems like a major effort by our so-called friends and neighbours to get at whatever it is we have had literally drop in our lap!” whispered back the captain.

At that moment, the sound of straining engines could just be heard pulsing from the far side of the intervening valley. A sudden bright beam of light swept the sky before being quickly extinguished. As the Princess and the Captain continued to scan the horizon and the mountains beyond, they became aware of someone approaching them from the camp behind them.

“Captain, Captain Shearaj, are you here?” enquired a disembodied voice, “Over here Signalman Kenia!”

A scrambling across the scree was heard as the signalman approached the Princess and the Captain. “Captain Ma’am!” reported the signalman. “I think you are better reporting to the Princess first Kenia!” ordered the captain.

“Sorry princess!” apologised Kenia “I didn’t know you were this far forward; Princess Caryn sends her regards and reports that she has spoken with Queen Adred and her advisors. The Queen has already despatched two companies of militia to our position some horas ago and she reports that they should be near to our location just before dawn. Given Princess Caryn’s reports and the increased volume of military radio traffic from our border with Masonville, the Queen is going to despatch at least another two units in the next hora and as many more as can be mobilised within the next few horas!”

“That’s excellent news Signalman!” responded Aryn. “Go back to the camp and inform them that I want the camp to observe a total blackout, and silent operation. I want all militia to be sent up to us on the ridge.”

“Yes Princess” replied the Signalman as he turned to head back down to the camp. “Signalman, wait a moment!” hissed Aryn “When you get back to camp, send Chief Engineer Drows up to me if you would, tell her it’s urgent I speak with her!”

“Yes Princess!” the Signalman nodded as this time he headed back down the slope.

While they were waiting for the reinforcements from the camp to arrive, Aryn and Captain Shearaj observed the ridge across the valley. The moon Atos would soon rise, and being a full moon, it would help the observers determine if anything was happening opposite them. Within twenty munts all the available militia that Aryn had brought with her were spread across the near side of the valley ridge. Captain Shearaj had gone from outpost to outpost stressing the need for silence and lack of movement, with one lookout close to a rock outcrop or a boulder and keeping within its shadow, with their partner just below the ridge ready to transfer messages back and forth.

Atos broke the horizon behind the observers and climbed into the sky casting a dull red glow across the landscape. Aryn scanned the horizon with her binoculars, she was tired, stiff and her body was sore from where the rocks and pebbles dug into her flesh. Then, just as she was thinking of moving into a slightly more comfortable position, some four toils away her keen sight just happened to be focused on a section of ridge as a body, bent double, appeared. The individual stealthily broke the ridgeline and started a careful descent down into the valley opposite her position, moments later, another followed, then another.

Aryn whispered “Captain?” before she could say anything else Captain Shearaj replied.

“Yes Princess, I see them too!” she whispered to the messenger out of sight behind and below her “Mith, go from post to post and inform everyone that we have armed opposition heading our way, make sure everyone is alert, and Mith?”

“Yes Ma’am?” whispered back Mith, “Not a sound, not a pebble or twig to be broken, understand?” carried on Captain Shearaj.

“Yes Ma’am, I understand, not a sound!”

With that messenger Mith disappeared into the gloom. Aryn continued to scan the horizon, as far as she could tell there were three five-man patrols starting to head down the opposite valley side towards its floor. As far as she could tell, this valley was similar to the one they were in, steep sides, but with a wide boggy floor, with untold depths of mud and slime awaiting the unwary. There were no more vehicle noises or lights to be seen, just the occasional noise of falling rocks and scree as one of the oncoming individuals slipped down the slope.

Aryn felt a gentle tugging at her foot. She rolled deeper into the shadow cast by the boulder to her left and slowly looked down behind her. There crouched down was Chief Engineer Drows.

“Stay there Chief, I’ll come to you!” Aryn whispered. She slithered down the slope glad for the chance to get some movement into her stiff limbs, “Ahh, that’s better!” she whispered.

“What can I do for you Princess?” asked the engineer.

“Have you had a chance to examine that cylindrical object in any detail?” Aryn asked.

“Yes Princess I have” replied the Chief.

“Do you think we have any chance of loading it onto one of our lorries and taking it back to the palace with us?” asked Aryn.

“Yes Princess, although it is quite large, it seems relatively light. I think if we can dig out the bank a little just below where it has come to rest, we should be able to reverse two of the winch lorries up to either side of it, then if I can get a flat-bed lorry immediately below it, with a bit of luck we should be able to drag it directly onto the deck of the lorry. There are two possible snags, one, will we be able to dig out the bank below the cylinder? and two, will we have enough chains to hold it securely in place while we work our way down the riverbank and then across the bog.”

“Ok!” replied Aryn pulling on her lower lip. “Assuming everything goes to plan, what sort of timescale are we talking about to achieve all that and to get the cylinder across the valley and onto the track opposite?”

Engineer Drows stared off into the distance, “Well princess, it’s a very difficult question to answer! How long is a piece of string?”

“Yes Chief, I understand all that, but all I want is some idea of how long we may have to hold off our friends across the valley, who, I assume, want this object for their own needs!” At that moment a loud splash was heard, followed by whispered swearing of some sort. “Sounds like our friends have found the mud!” smirked Aryn, pleased that she hadn’t been the only one to have fallen into the mire.

“Well Princess, best guess scenario, say an hora and a half to dig out the bank, the same to load and secure the cylinder, it took us around a couple of horas to cross the valley and travel upstream, so say double that to go back with the load safely on the truck. We are talking a good day’s work at least, and that’s assuming we don’t hit any snags during the whole process!”

“That’s fine Chief, that gives me some idea how long we could be stuck up here with our backsides in the line of fire!” With that Aryn stared off into the distance for a short while. She then looked back at the Chief, “Here’s what I want you to do, go back and quietly get your equipment ready and if you can, as noiselessly as possible, start scraping away at the bank, then as soon as you have enough light to work safely by, set to and no matter what you hear from up here keep hard at it! I want that cylinder and everything else you can safely gather onto our lorries and heading back to the palace as soon as is possible, but, worst case scenario, do you have any explosives with you, and if you do, do you have enough to destroy that object, even if it is already on one of our vehicles?”

The Chief glanced at her Princess, “Yes Highness, I have some explosives, but who knows how much it would take to destroy it, but I can certainly make a mess of it if nothing else!”

“Well Chief, I hope it doesn’t come to that, but can you ensure if I give the command, you can indeed destroy some of it at least?” asked Aryn.

“Of course Princess!” answered the Chief, “We have gathered the parachutes, and some other odd bits of wreckage, so we should be able to leave here with some of what we came to rescue, even if we have to destroy the main item itself! I take it, we have company from Masonville heading our way?” she asked the princess.

“That’s correct Chief, that’s correct! So, the quicker you are away the happier all of us up here will be!” replied Aryn.

“Well, if you will excuse me Princess, I have work to see to!” replied the Chief as she quietly and quickly disappeared down the valley side.

Aryn worked her way back up to the side of the boulder at the valley lip and settled back in to keep watch alongside Captain Shearaj. “Anything new happened Rith?” asked Aryn.

“Not apart from one of the enemy patrol leaders falling face first into the marsh, no!”

“I heard him when I was talking to the Chief!” gently chuckled Aryn. “Nice to know someone else is cold, wet, and miserable!” she whispered.

“I thought that little snippet would cheer you up somewhat, what is even better news is that I think he was in the process of extending the aerial of a mobile radio set when he fell in, when they pulled him out, it didn’t look as if he had the unit with him, nor his rifle!” reported the captain. “They have sent someone to go back up the slope, presumably to report back to a senior officer, but I could be wrong, it’s hard to make out what is going on in this light! Whoever they sent back up the slope is making heavy going about it, he’s taking three steps up but sliding two back down, so I hope they aren’t in any rush for a report, as it’ll be daylight before he gets over the ridge at this rate!” she added with a smile evident in her voice.

With that comment, a loud crack rang out from across the valley and a large flare arced into the night sky, everything was thrown into stark relief, colours returned to the landscape, shadows became darker, blacker and more intense, before slowly, as it was caught in the gentle breeze, the flare descended under its parachute and drifted down the valley before falling into the all-encompassing mire and, with a loud hiss, the light was extinguished.

Moments later, the shot rang out, followed by a loud ricochet as the bullet bounced of a boulder further up the valley. “Hold your fire!” was the hissed command from Captain Shearaj passed from outpost to outpost. Moments later the loud bleating of a bleskin that had been rudely awakened was observed hurtling across the scree.

“At least we were able to see where their patrols had got to under the flares light, very decent of them to help us out like that was it not Captain?” mused Aryn.

“It certainly was Princess, I can only assume the report from the patrol leader was overdue, and some rear numbskull of an officer got nervous and wanted to know what was going on! Whatever the reason, we know we have fourteen men, at the marsh’s edge with no clue how to get across to this side of the valley, and, with a bit of luck, the rapidly escaping bleskin has convinced them that they are, at least for the moment, unobserved!” remarked the captain. And with that, both sides settled in for the night and the coming of the dawn.

The gradual lightening of the eastern sky signalled the start of another day. Across the valley the gloom suggested that the three patrols seemed to have amalgamated, and were slowly, inch by inch working their way across the valley floor towards their unseen observers. It was now clear from the camouflage patters on the uniforms on the personnel coming their way, that they were indeed from Masonville.
“Princess, look behind you!” hissed captain Shearaj. As Aryn turned and looked over her shoulder, she saw the welcome sight of reinforcements rapidly making their way along the track across the valley to her rear. What was equally pleasing was the two figures heading on their way across the marshes along the invisible paths only they seemed to know to meet with the reinforcements. Aryn determined them to be the shepherdess Rusan and her daughter Lrna.

At the same moment, engines roared into life, the sounds of activity rolled up the valley sides as the engineers got to work. The crane and winch trucks reversed into position to begin recovery of the capsule. The extraction of the object was under way in full earnestness.
Glancing back into the opposing valley, the fourteen-man patrol had disappeared from view as they must have dropped to their knees, although, judging by the splashing, more than one had fallen into the bog. Up on the opposing ridge, at least a handful of heads popped into view, obviously scanning for any sign of Granaria’s forces.

At that moment the crack of artillery broke out from the Masonville forces on their reverse ridge, although the shells seemed to be pretty aimless. What was even more surprising was the answering roar of heavier calibre field artillery from the next valley behind Aryn, the shells landing on and behind the ridges opposite.

It was a short length duel and slowly the Masonville artillery fell silent, and the approaching patrol had turned tail and was trying to get back across the bog as quickly as possible to begin the climb back up to their comrades. With the passage of time, only eleven individuals could be made out to be undertaking the climb up the opposite valley wall, this meant they had probably abandoned three more of their colleagues to their fate within the morass.

Aryn breathed out a huge sigh of relief. “Well Captain, I think we can relax a little as we have help at last, keep the troops hidden, no need to advertise our presence, I am going down to the camp to see how things are going and meet our relief column! I will send up people to relieve your folk as soon as they get here, but pass on my heartfelt thanks to all your soldiers, but I will speak to them later, after a decent rest and a hot drink!”

“I will do Princess, speak to you later!” with that Captain Shearaj headed off across the hillside whilst Aryn headed down to the camp.

Aryn had not descended too far before she was summoned back to the ridge edge. “What’s up Captain?” she puffed as she regained her breath.

“Look across the valley Princess, they are waving a flag of truce!”

Aryn carefully got her binoculars out and warily looked across the opposite valley. There, waving too and fro was the red and white checker flag signifying a truce and a desire to speak. Aryn slid down to the side of Captain Shearaj.

“Ok Captain, wave our flag to signify our willingness to speak, then as soon as some of their leaders make themselves known we shall go and see what our friends want, but I want your forces on full alert in case there is any skullduggery intended by the Masonville troops.
As Captain Shearaj went to arrange for their truce flag to be waved, the first of the reinforcements arrived at the top of the valley side.
“Good morning Princess, I hear you have had an interesting night?” remarked the leader of the fresh troops, Colonel Samth Wiams.
“Morning Colonel, your timely arrival is extremely welcome, as was that short barrage, it certainly gave our Masonville friends something to think about!” replied Aryn.

“You’re welcome, Princess, we had a spotter aircraft up very early this morning and they just happened to see where the barrage was launched from, so we had a reasonable idea of where they were set up!” replied Colonel Wiams.

At that moment Captain Shearaj returned to report that five individuals were starting to walk down the opposite valley side under the flag of truce, all appeared unarmed as was the accepted custom.

“Come ladies, let’s go see what Masonville thinks they are up to?” stated Princess Aryn.

“I don’t think so Princess, with all due respect, you should not go down to meet with them, it is far too risky, if your mother knew I had willingly allowed you to place yourself into such danger, she would have my guts for garters, and, she would be livid with you for taking unnecessary risks! Highness, do us both a favour and stay here! Leave these negotiations to Captain Shearaj and myself!” stated the Colonel with some firmness.

Before allowing Princess Aryn to dispute the Colonel’s assertions the Colonel looked around and barked out “Shearaj, keep a close eye on our friends, hold your positions and don’t fire unless you see a blatant act of aggression, Sergeant Murhy, Corporal Mith, Private Plike and Signalman Aiten, you are all with me, leave your sidearms here, but Aiten bring the radio, leave it tuned into our standard frequency with the set live so the Princess can listen in to what our friends have to say!”

“Yes Ma’am!” answered Aiten. “Right folks, follow me, keep your eyes open!” and with that the deputation rose above the ridge and descended to the valley floor.

Part Three by Iona Laing.

Chapter Seven.

Aboard the exploration fleet flagship The Vasco da Gama, Admiral Maurice Suarez was in a video monitor conference interview with the survivors of the shuttle Oslo. All of whom had returned to The Roald Amundsen via the shuttle Bergen. The eight survivors were all still stunned and shook up, not fully understanding exactly what had befallen their shuttle and particularly their two missing comrades.

“So, let me get this clear, you are sure this was a targeted attack by multiple missiles Ensign Richards?”

“Absolutely sir!” replied Julia Richards, “Your son and Karin were on monitoring duty when they observed multiple aircraft taking to the air, followed shortly by many land-based rockets being launched along with missiles or rockets being unleashed from the aircraft!”

“We have a recording of the events up to shortly before we were given the order to abandon the shuttle sir, we can relay the recording to you now if you wish to observe the attack being launched!” added Ensign Garrett.

“Please do Ensign,” responded the Admiral.

At which point he turned away from the monitor screen to observe a viewscreen on his flight desk. Several minutes later he looked up at the eight survivors.

“None of you observed any indication of such capabilities or evidence that the inhabitants of this planet were aware of your existence?”

“None of us observed this many aircraft airborne on our previous fly overs. There was always some activity which seemed to be training of some description,” added Ensign Richards.

“None of us have any idea as to how or why they targeted us sir!” added Crewman Peter Carter.

“None whatsoever sir,” added Crewman Ash Mistry.

“None of our logs recorded evidence of us being tracked, but obviously we were!” added Ensign Richards sadly.

“Thank you for your reports, now who can tell me what happened to the escape pod which should have contained my son and his wife?” asked the Admiral sadly.

“As we left the flight deck after Ramon gave the order to abandon the shuttle, we grabbed the evidence logs we had recorded to date and headed to our pod. Ramon and Karin were monitoring the self defence systems, but just as our hatch closed, I saw Karin dragging Ramon away from the flight deck to their escape pod and that’s as much as I know sir!” reported an emotional Kelly Garrett.

“Thank you for that information, Ensign!” whispered the Admiral, “Did anyone else see anything in addition to that report?” he asked the rest of the Oslo’s crew. A series of “No sirs!” was the sad response.

“Excuse me sir,” spoke out Captain Rowe of the base ship The Roald Amundsen, “Upon hearing the abandon shuttle order had been issued we managed to get a camera on the shuttle just as the attack was developing which will be available for you to view on your monitor, any moment now!”

The survivors turned to view the screens to their side as the attacks and subsequent explosions played out in front of the shocked faces. The Admiral watched the recording play, visibly wincing when the major secondary explosion enveloped the final escape pod to leave the shuttle. He stood there with a pale face, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked to his side and asked for Captain Brian Little to report to his ready room. He then looked up at the survivors.

“Thank you all for your reports, I know this must be distressing to you, go get some rest! You have all had an awful day, and as soon as we have some information on the whereabouts and condition of Ramon and Karin, we will let you all know!”

“Excuse me sir!” said Captain Rowe, “We have just been able to identify the deployment of a parachute from within the debris trail, and it seems highly likely it’s an escape pod parachute!” so saying he gave the order to play the recording. A happier group of survivors looked from one to the other, and a father looked to have a little more hope in his expression too.

“Thank you, Captain! That looks a little more promising, I will get back to you shortly as to our next action!”

“Yes sir, I shall await your further orders!” and the screens went dark.

There was a sharp knock on the door of Admiral Suarez’s ready room. “Enter!” he responded.

“Admiral, you sent for me?” asked Captain Little.

“Yes Brian, have a seat for a moment please!” The Admiral sat at his desk and leaning back he placed his feet on the desktop and wearily interlocked his fingers behind his head. “I assume you have seen the recordings?” Maurice Suarez asked his friend and second in command.

“Yes Maurice, I have just seen them up on the bridge, including the deployment of the parachute, which is a promising development!”

“That it is Brian, that it is!” responded the Admiral. “But I think we may have a major potential problem Brian, a problem with the shuttle craft.”

“I came to the same conclusion Maurice, whoever launched that attack, knew exactly where the Oslo was, and, as far as we can tell, none of the civilisations are supposed to be that technologically sophisticated and the shuttles are supposed to be invisible to those on the ground!”

“That’s what worries me Brian, I want you to issue a recall to all currently deployed shuttles, all missions are to be suspended immediately until we can get some idea of what went wrong today!”

“I’ll get right on it Maurice, I have already issued instructions to the engineers to go over those shuttles still on board, and we’ll inspect those others in our fleet as they return to their parent craft. We’ll get to the bottom of this as quickly as we can! Plus, we have some hope now that perhaps Ramon and Karin survived the attack, let’s hope they landed among friends!” he smiled at his longtime friend and commanding officer.

“I hope so Brian, I really hope!” replied the Admiral.

The next day Maurice was sitting at his desk repeatedly watching the deployment of the parachute from the mass of still exploding, burning debris. He was deep in thought, what had gone wrong? Where had this destructive capability come from? Were his son and the woman he had quickly come to consider his daughter still alive, and if so, were they safe. He was bracing himself to contact his wife to tell her he still had no further news of their family members. The memory of his prior call the previous day was still deeply etched in his mind. Being unable to comfort the love of his life as she dissolved into tears tore at his soul. Great wracking sobs affecting her ability to speak coherently as she asked him repeatedly why, and why wasn’t he down there on the planet actively looking for their family already and to hell with the order to limit contact with less advanced races and civilisations, she wanted her only child and his wife back safe in her arms.

As he reached across the desk about to punch up the communication system to speak with his wife a glowing shimmer appeared in front of his desk.

“Maurice, don’t call Ava just yet, I need to speak to you first!”

As he jumped to his feet he stuttered, “Err, Ma'am!” As he looked on at the light shimmer as it resolved to reveal a short, late middle-aged woman with an ageless smile on her face.

“We need to speak!” she said as she sat in front of his desk. Maurice slumped into his chair, and for the first time since he’d heard and seen the evidence of the attack, he had some hope growing in his heart.

Chapter Eight.

Up in the mountains above Riventon., The two opposing truce factions faced off across a narrow part of the valley floor. Colonel Wiams stepped forward, as far as the bog allowed her too anyway. She called across the valley.

“I am Colonel Samth Wiams, I represent Granaria’s rulers and our people, just who are you, what do you want and by what rights do you dare to invade the sovereign lands of Granaria?”

A chuckle wafted across the landscape, “Colonel Wiams is it, well, I am General Laffe, and I have the honour to represent our glorious leader, President Signi, and we are here to recover our rightful property."

“I’m sorry General, did I hear you say your property? I can assure you that there is none of your property over here, you must have erroneous information!” answered Colonel Wiams.

“Colonel, I really don’t have time to waste words with you, especially with you being a mere woman! The longer you delay us, the harder and longer our journey back to the glorious nation of Masonville will be, due to the accumulation of snow up in the passes, now, kindly step aside, go back to your kitchens and let us reclaim our rightful property,” answered a testy General.

“To be honest General I am less concerned about your travel difficulties than you getting yourself and your troops out of Granaria. So, turn around and go home. I repeat there is nothing of yours anywhere around here, so please General go home!”

“Colonel, I am losing patience with your attitude, whether you like it or not I have my orders, orders relayed to me personally from our glorious leader and I intend to fulfil those orders to the letter! And, neither you nor your pathetic forces will prevent me from performing my duty, now, get out of my way before you regret crossing me and my men. If you antagonise me much more Colonel, my men will have to consider taking you and all your friends back to Masonville with us and put you to more appropriate employment for persons of your gender, entertaining me and my men!” the General barked back in return to general laughter from those around him.

“Well, General, I don’t really care who gave you your orders, but I have mine, which means that I want you to turn around and go home, I repeat, there is nothing for you here nor do I appreciate your threats to my forces!” snarled the Colonel.

“Is that so Colonel, well, we shall have to see won’t we!” with that the General turned his back to the Colonel and whispered something to his Aide. Moments later a soldier started to wave a couple of small flags at someone back up on the ridge that the Masonville deputation had descended from. The General turned to face the Granaria deputation.

“Colonel, you have exceeded the limits of my patience, so Madam I suggest you return to your pitiful excuse of a Militia, return to your base then let your betters go about our business as authorised by our glorious leader!”

“Are you threatening me General, and while under a flag of truce? A truce you requested!” stormed the Colonel.

“It is more of a promise Colonel, get out of my way or suffer the consequences, I have asked you nicely, now I am ordering you to move!” sneered the General.

At that moment a file of around thirty troops crested the ridge from the Masonville camp and headed down towards the marsh dragging a bloodied civilian with them, all were heavily armed.

At the same time, the drone of several engines could be heard rapidly approaching.

Moments later two twin engine aircraft came into view from behind the Masonville forces and made a bee line for the Granaria deputation, sweeping down the valley with their forward-facing machine guns chattering away at the Colonel and her group, who promptly scattered.

As the aircraft flew ever closer, the sound of several heavy calibre machine guns was heard from the Granaria forces on their ridge. The front aircraft of the pair, seemed to dip and then began to rear up at an increasingly severe angle, its engines screaming, before stalling out and dropping to the ground to its right. Here it exploded in a huge searing ball of flame and debris right on top of the Masonville General and his deputation.

The second aircraft veered to the left to avoid the first and started to desperately gain height, before it too was raked by machine gun fire. Its port engine started to emit thick black smoke before bursting into flames. The heavily damaged aircraft started losing altitude as it turned for home and barely clearing the ridge and leaving a thick trail of oily smoke it disappeared from view. Moments later a distant rumble was heard, and it seemed likely that the second aircraft had crashed too, as a pall of smoke climbed into the sky.

The Granaria deputation slowly regained their feet as they regrouped.

“Anyone hurt?” asked the Colonel. On finding none of them had been injured, although the radio unit was smashed, the five of them looked across the valley to where the acrid smoke was drifting across the land. The pungent smell of burning materials could not mask the sickly aroma of burning flesh. The patrol that had started down the valley side prior to the aerial attack were seen to be desperately making their way back up the slope, but not before one of them was seen to shoot the civilian in their possession, who fell, unmoving, on the ground.

“Come on, I think that concludes the negotiations for the moment!” said a subdued Colonel Wiams, “Let’s get back to our forces as I need to change out of these wet smelly clothes, that bog is not a nice place to seek cover!” said a sodden Colonel as she led her deputation back up the slope.

The Granaria forces deployed on the ridge, maintained a close watch on events across the valley, where, once the Masonville forces disappeared from view, nothing more was seen, although several engines could be heard slowly receding into the distance. Apart from the continuing crackling from the burning aircraft and occasional bangs from exploding ordinance, peace and quiet gradually descended over the hills.

Back down in the camp a hive of activity had seen an access ramp dug out below the canister and one of the flat bed lorries had been reversed into position immediately below it. On either side of this vehicle, the two winch lorries had been positioned, with cables attached to the canister. This was gently pulled onto the lorry due to transport it back to the palace.

Once loaded, the cannister was secured by chains and the whole thing covered by a timber framework which was, in turn, covered by several tarpaulins. All this activity took most of the day and, with daylight failing, a council of war was held.

“Well Princess, I think it prudent to remain here for another night!” stated Colonel Wiams, “I think it will not be advisable to attempt to travel back down the valley to the crossing point established yesterday, especially with such a valuable cargo, but I also think we need to know for certain what our friends from Masonville are up to!”

“Sadly Colonel, I think you are correct, what do you think Chief?” Princess Aryn said asked as she turned to Chief Engineer Drows.

“Well Princess, I think from a logistical perspective, to try and manoeuvre our cargo down the valley will take longer than we have available daylight horas left. Although our load is securely attached to the transport vehicle, it is more than a little top heavy and to attempt such a precarious trip in the dark will probably end in disaster, either we’d tip over or break something vital on the lorry. At the same time, we really need to know what Masonville’s next move is going to be, as we are, potentially, quite exposed here, in more ways than one!”

All the other leaders of this mission, the Princesses Caryn, Ayne and Urna all agreed that to attempt to move their cargo was too risky given how little of the day was left, although none of them were particularly happy at the thought of yet another night isolated in the hills.
The Princess paced back and forth for a minute or two in deep thought, she stopped and looking at Captain Shearaj she said “Captain, can you get someone to find either Rusan, Lrna or Ayleah as I think we are going to need their specialist knowledge a great deal more than we already have!”

Captain Shearaj smiled at the Princess and answered, “No need to send for them, they’re heading our way as we speak.”

Princess turned and smiled at the approaching group of three women.

“Ladies, thanks for anticipating my request and presenting yourselves practically at the same time I realised I needed your expertise once again.”

All three women bowed to the Princess.

“It is our honour to offer our services to Your Highness, it was obvious you were holding a council of war and that you may have use of our specialist knowledge.,” stated Rusan.

“Yes ladies, you can once again really help us out. Ayleah, can you, with the Chief here go back over our route that we’ll have to take tomorrow with our vehicles, I want you both to check for hidden rocks or soft areas that could cause problems for our extra heavy loads. Lrna, I know the original foot track we established yesterday to get over here is well trodden and fairly obvious to those who will need to get back across the valley tomorrow, do you think you could find a second or even a third track for us, so if we need to get out of here in a rush we have more than one option, and is there any way to disguise the tracks across the bogs? Finally, Rusan, my request to you will be the most distasteful, and, it is a request not an order! Do you think you could get some of our troops across the adjacent valley, we need to check on what is going on with Masonville’s forces, there may well be scenes of carnage over there that you may find disturbing?”

Rusan looked at the Princess in the eye and replied “I thank you for your consideration, Princess, but you needn’t worry about my sensitivities, I have seen my share of death and destruction over the years, not necessarily in such a brutal manner but it is a hard existence at time’s up in these hills. I will be honoured to lead your forces across the valley. Whilst it won’t be really possible to remove evidence of our routes back across the bogs, it may be better for Lrna to lay some false trails that start across the valley floor but just end in deep pools, it won’t take long for nature to hide the trails anyway as the grasses and reeds will be dying off soon as winter sets in. When do you want me to go across the next valley? I can be ready in a matter of moments!”

“Captain, how soon do you want to head off?” asked the Princess.

“I expect I can have a patrol ready in five munts or so Princess.”

“Thank you, Captain.,” nodded the Princess. “Now Rusan, once you have got our troops across the valley, I don’t want you to go any further than the other side of the marsh, we don’t know what we are going to find, and I don’t want you placed in any further danger than necessary!” Rusan nodded acceptance.

“Captain, we need to know what our friends are doing, are they digging in, are they trying to outflank us or have they retreated?”

“Excuse me Princess, but I can not only guide your forces across the marsh over there, but I can show then some bleskin trackways that will enable them to approach that ridge from the side, rather than struggling up the loose scree slopes that predominate up there, it’ll be quicker and quieter, so safer for them all!” offered Rusan.

Aryn looked from Rusan to Captain Shearaj then back at Rusan with an arched eyebrow as she thought over Rusan’s offer.

“As much as I don’t like it Rusan, your proposition is sensible, I will take up your offer. Captain, I am charging you with Rusan’s safety, I want her exposed to as little danger as possible.” replied the Princess.

“Caryn, can you speak to the palace and let them know what has happened here today, and what our plans are, keep your reports short and make sure you use our most secure codes, Ayne, Urna, can you both check on everyone, see if any are especially fatigued or suffering from the cold more than others. See if we have a way of getting everyone at least a warm drink, perhaps from the forces in our rear, it will be easier for them to hide our fires from unfriendly eyes, but it will have to be another dark night I am afraid, no need to advertise our whereabouts. Come, everyone time marches on let’s get busy, you all know what we need to do!”

A small section of the engineers with Ayleah in their midst started to descend the valley looking to ease the journey for the next day whilst Lrna established a second and then a third route across the valley floor as well as laying a handful of false trails. Rusan, with Captain Shearaj and a patrol of ten militia, ascended to the ridge before disappearing from sight.

An hora had passed and the drone of an aircraft high in the sky warned everyone to what appeared to be a Masonville reconnaissance aircraft, before it quickly headed back to its base. Later, as dusk was settling in, a single shot was heard to echo around the hills, but no-one knew where it came from or what it meant.

It took several horas before all the tasks were completed, and it was totally dark before Rusan, Captain Shearaj and the patrol returned to the camp, all were ashen faced and angry beyond description. Both Princesses Aryn and Caryn waited for the patrol to make its report. Ayleah and Lrna went to console their mother Rusan who was now in tears and sobbing her heart out.

The captain wearily came to attention before the Princesses and Colonel Wiams. “It seems that Masonville’s forces have withdrawn back towards their own lands. They obviously left in a hurry as they have left a lot of equipment behind, specifically several vehicles and artillery pieces that our own artillery damaged or destroyed yesterday. We counted over twenty dead individuals, left where they fell. Unfortunately, they’d come across a family of three shepherds that were known to Rusan, a husband, his wife and their teenaged daughter. The husband was the hostage we saw shot earlier, the wife and the daughter were discovered by their tent. The wife was dead she’d been shot, but the girl was being raped by a lone Masonville soldier, when he saw us approach, he slit the girls throat and charged at us! Before any of us could react, Rusan’s knife whistled closely past my ear and embedded itself in this man’s throat! We think he, or others had also raped the wife, we found no trace of anyone else up there. We did what we could for the two females, but with your permission, we all want to go back tomorrow morning to fetch them, and the man, and take them down to Riventon with us for a decent funeral. We had a quick look at the crash site, and apart from fragmented bodies there was nothing to be found, although at least two soldiers were seen who likely drowned when they fell in the marsh yesterday.”

Rusan looked up at the Princesses, “They were a lovely family, Trnk, Srah and their daughter Jaz were heading home from their last season of Bleskin herding, Jaz had just been accepted into your Civil Defence Force, she’d wanted to follow in the footsteps of Lrna and Ayleah, it was all she’d spoken about for years, she had to wait until she was old enough and now, because of that animal she’ll never be able to live her dream! My knife was too quick an end for him! We have our unique ways of justice for certain criminals up here, and we would have made him suffer, sadly, it was not to be,” and sobbing she was led away by her equally distraught daughters.

“I’ve never seen such accuracy with a knife Highness, but Rusan is right, it was too good for that scum!” spat Captain Shearaj. “He was completely out of control, I don’t know if he was drunk and evil, brutalised and evil or just plain evil, whatever it was he is not going to attack anyone else, the strategic value such a prisoner and the information he may have held for us cannot be underestimated but sometimes natural justice trumps all! Two thirds of my patrol are female, and fine troops they make, I could not bear for them to suffer such a fate as befell those poor innocents!”

“We are all tired Captain, your militia have been under tremendous pressure for days now, if I had been there, I may well have killed him myself!” said a dejected Princess Aryn. “Let’s get you all some food and a place to sleep, we’ve a lot to achieve tomorrow, and it’ll be dawn before we know it!”

The camp settled down to a cold dark night in the hills. Sentries kept a watch for any signs of should Masonville’s forces, reappear but nothing was seen or heard from them, just the bleating of bleskins as they searched out some food whilst keeping an eye on all these humans who had so rudely disturbed their peace and quiet.

Chapter Nine.

It was another long, cold and dark night. The sentries patrolled the camp vicinity, and the lookout posts were replaced with fresh individuals on a regular basis so that everyone got a chance for some rest. An hora before dawn Captain Shearaj and Rusan led a second expedition to traverse the adjacent valley to recover the three bodies for repatriation to their family in Riventon.

As soon as it was light enough, the heavily loaded lorry with the winch vehicles in company started their tortuous journey down the mountain streambed and made their way carefully across the marsh by the route that had been used on the original journey to the crash site.

It took the best part of the day to make it onto the mountain road that led down to Riventon and eventually to the capital of Willowton. The ambulances awaited the return of the recovery patrol so they could transport the three bodies back to their home. It was late in the day when the recovery personnel were seen cresting the ridge, they were carrying the three stretchers with their sad loads. What really surprised those awaiting their return was the sight of a soldier being dragged along with his arms bound behind his back, dressed in the uniform of Masonville. As the dead shepherds were respectfully loaded onto an ambulance, the vehicle headed downstream to follow the canister that had caused so much trouble in the first place.

Captain Shearaj approached Princess Aryn and came to attention.

“Princess, as you have seen we have brought those poor unfortunate shepherds down off the mountain. As we were making our way back across the marsh, Rusan heard what she originally thought was a young bleskin mired in the muck bleating for its mother. What she actually found was this Masonville soldier, stuck up to his chest in the mud, quietly sobbing. It took us quite an effort to rescue him although several of my force were quite prepared to leave him there, especially in light of what our primary mission was today! However, we pulled him out and brought him down to await his fate at your pleasure.”

Aryn looked at the muddied, smelly and bedraggled specimen in front of her. His head hung down and he was visibly shivering. He was a small individual, barely five foot tall and probably no more than one hundred and twenty pounds wringing wet, which he was.

“What’s your name soldier?” snapped Aryn, he offered no response.

“I asked you what your name is soldier, I won’t ask you again!”

“Strin” came the muffled reply.

“Look at me when you speak to me soldier! Do they not teach you respect in Masonville? For the last time, what is your name?”

He looked up at the imposing figure of Princess Aryn, bright green eyes looked at her although one eye was almost closed with a purple bruise on his cheek, his dirty yellow hair plastered to his forehead, and he bore a haunted, scared expression.

“Strin your highness, A,a,a Art Strin” he spoke barely above a whisper before dropping his head once again, his teeth chattering. He looked to be no more than sixteen at the most, certainly nothing like the tall well-built Masonville troops most of the onlookers were more used to seeing.

“Well Art Strin, what shall we do with you? I have a good mind to execute you for the crime of invading my country, the murder of that innocent family and the rape of the females, it’ll save me an awful lot of trouble, get him out of my sight!” snarled Aryn.

A loud wail escaped the lips of Strin and he fell to his knees. “Please Highness, p . . ,p . . ,please d . ,d . ,don’t hurt me, I . . , I . . ,I didn’t want to come here, I . . , I . . , didn’t hurt those people and I certainly didn’t rape the women, I couldn’t, I . , I . . , wouldn’t, I’ll tell you everything I know, I . . ,I . . ,I . . . promise Highness, I’ll tell you the truth, honest I will, but please, don’t hurt me, I ask for . . , for . . , sanc . . , err, sanc . . , sanctuary and protection from Masonville’s leaders, p . . . ,p . . ,please Highness,.” and he continued to wail and cry.

The assembled group exchanged glances as they looked at this example of their enemy, an enemy who seemed so different to that expected. Something was seriously wrong here.

Aryn sighed. “Stand up Strin, no one here will hurt you, now, come on, stand up!”

Strin struggled to regain his feet and eventually two of the patrol members grabbed an arm each and hauled him upright. He glanced furtively at those around him, especially at Princess Aryn who was obviously in charge and more so at Rusan who was slowly approaching the group. He started to shuffle backwards, his bare feet scraping on the rough tussocky grass. Blood evident in amongst the mud and filth covering his feet and legs. His obviously too large uniform tunic hung from his frame, with no sign of any trousers.

“You must be cold Strin, let’s get you something dry to wear, are you hungry or thirsty Art.” asked Aryn.

“Y . . y . . yes Highness, I am c . . c . . cold so very cold and hungry and thirsty, are, are you going to p . . ,p . . poison me?” he asked fearfully.

Aryn gave a subdued sigh, “No Strin, we are not going to poison you, we are not that evil no matter what you have been told or how your countrymen have provoked us with their behaviour! Right Captain, take our friend here and strip him of that filthy uniform, get him cleaned up as best as you can and get him something warm and dry to wear. Ayne, once he’s clean can you see about dressing the wounds on his feet, I doubt all that mud and filth is doing him any good! Then we can get him a snack and a drink!”

“Noooo!!!!” wailed Art, “It’s fine Highness, I can change my own clothes and wash myself if you will just loose my arms, I promise not to cause you any problems, honest, I’ll, I’ll be a good g . . ,g . . , I’ll be a good soldier, p . ., p . . ,p . . ,please, honest, Highness!!” and even more tears fought to follow the tracks of others down his cheeks.

Before anyone else could respond Rusan stood in front of Strin and put a hand on each of his shoulders.

“Shhh Art, now shush, shush Art, it’s okay, no one here will hurt you! If I ask you an important question, do you promise to tell me the truth? Look at me Art, I want the truth, it’ll be best to tell us the honest truth now, rather than you be discovered in a lie later, do you understand Art, the truth, . . Right?”

Art looked intently into Rusan’s eye’s; his eyes darting from one to the other as he stared intently into her face after chewing on his lower lip, he nodded to Rusan he whispered,

“Yes, the honest truth, I will tell you the truth I promise!”

Rusan looked around at all these important people she’d suddenly found herself amongst, they were far more important than herself she knew, but she had more life experience than most of them. They were mainly youngsters, plus, she was a Mum. They were all studying her intently wondering what had driven this simple shepherdess to place herself at the centre of this discussion.

“Right Art, you can tell me, the truth mind!” Rusan said levelly, “Ready? Are you a girl, Art?”

Gasps escaped more than one of the group surrounding this vignette. Fresh sobs and tears escaped from Art who had screwed his eyes tightly shut. Without saying a word, Art nodded his head.

“Y . . y. . ,yes, I am a girl, please, please don’t hurt me, please, I’ll be a g . ., g . . good girl, I promise I will, I will!!” the rest was lost in a loud gut-wrenching wail as she threw her head backwards tears streaming down the sides of her head, leaving fresh tracks through the mud that coated her head, the tears pooling in her ears.

“Oh sweetheart, shush, it’s okay, come here!” said Rusan as she stepped forward, her arms open wide as Art collapsed into this simple woman’s embrace. As Rusan rocked this girl from side to side, someone cut the bonds that had bound her arms behind her back. Art held onto Rusan as if her life depended on this woman’s embrace. Someone else wrapped the pair of them in a blanket. As slowly the wails and sobs subsided, Rusan held this girl away from her slightly.

“Shush sweetheart, you are safe here, now, what is your real name?”

Barely able to control her breathing enough to speak clearly, the girl looked up into Rusan’s kind eyes, “M, m, m, my n,. n, name is Jena, Jena Kryty, H, h,h, . honest!”

“That’s all right Jena, such a pretty name.” said Rusan who looked at Aryn for unasked permission to care for this distraught and fragile young girl. Aryn nodded her ascent. “Right Jena, will you come with me and let us get you clean, dry, something to eat and drink and your wounds treated and then you can rest. After that, when you are ready you can tell me your story, will that be fine with you sweetheart!”

Jena nodded her head, so tired, so shattered, her body heaving with silent sobs.

With that Rusan, Jena along with Ayne and Urna went to the stream to begin the process of caring for this young individual who had caused so much consternation in such a short space of time.