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Checnecaiel shrugged. "It's hard to say for sure. We've been picking up a lot of traffic, all of it in Shamari. There seems to be more movement by the Shamari Republican Guard in this direction. Also, their air force has become very active."
"Oh, so those were Shamari jets we saw this morning." I suspected as much. I couldn't help but notice the image of a snake surrounded by petals, the national emblem of Shamajar, emblazoned on the underside of those planes' wings. Nevertheless, I needed his version. "What do you think is happening?"
"Frankly, Mr. Drake we are----how do you say---as much in the dark about this as you are."
"What does Zarmarian National Radio have to say?"
"Nothing unusual. Much music." Giles and I glanced at each other. "There was a little about us, news of the current whereabouts of your Starduster. And other talk as well..."
He was getting closer to the real thing. His voice had become very careful. I said nothing but waited, out-silencing him. He went on at last: "There was other news out of Shamajar. The new airfield at Sutovo was opened today, with a ceremony."
I gaped at him. "But their government told us it wasn't going to be ready for another two months at least. Whose bright idea was that?"
"The Shamaris' Air Chief Marshall."
My first irrelevant thought was that I'd guessed his true title right after all. Then I said, "Couombelrai."
"Yes, sir."
Giles said, "I know who you chaps are talking about. I heard he went to Bangkok during our departure from Dunin. Your government invited him to the ceremony and the bugger rudely refused to attend."
"Yes," I said grimly. "And what's more, he's supposed to be in China right now. He left two days ago with his family. I saw him at the airport when I left for Tarsaz. He was in civvies to boot. Are you sure, Checnecaiel?"
"Yes, sir." His eyes were sad now. "He made a speech."
"What's so special about this Couombelrai, besides the fact that he's a horse's ass?" asked Spalding.
"He's the Shamaris' Air Force boss and right now he's probably the most important man in Shamajar. Isn't he, Checnecaiel?"
I was pushing him, and he hated it. "Why would you ask a Zarmarian that, sir?"
"Because you're not stupid, Checnecaiel, and remember, I'm not either. I know the score as well as you or anyone else in your army. Listen, you two; I'm going to have to make this short and sharp. Zarmaria and Shamajar are on the verge of a new border war, and if you didn't guess that it's only because you're new here and you've had your hands full with this god-forsaken piece of real estate we're in. The Shamaris are sore losers---they're pissed off because the Russian-brokered cease fire gave you Mochi-Jojeji, and they want a rematch. Both sides need their air forces to give them a victory and up to now Couombelrai has been successful lobbying his government for a new war. How am I doing so far, Checnecaiel."
"I am not a politician," he said.
I smiled. "Just a simple soldier, eh? That's an old chestnut, my friend. Now Couombelrai has been in China, probably buying planes and missiles. He comes back and decides he needs a vacation: a funny time to choose but he's his own boss. Well, he flies out openly with his wife and kids, but he's back the next day. He probably had a plane on standby in Beijing. My guess is that Ugurnaszirev gave him what he wanted: a green light to start a fresh war, so he gets his family out of the way. Now he's bulldozed through the opening of Sutovo airfield, which means that it's squarely in his hands instead of being run by the civil aviation authority. The only question that needs answering is, how far will he go to win?"
Spalding and Giles were listening carefully. Spalding said, "I'll be double damned! Usually, I just hear about this stuff on the BBC News Hour."
Giles asked, "Just how much does it matter to us who really wins this pissing contest? Both sides will still want the capsule launch to go forward."
"Don't be naive. Yes, they will, but that doesn't mean we can go trundling through this country with a shield of invincibility around us. This is going to be a shooting war."
Checnecaiel nodded. "Quite so, Mr. Drake. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee your safety."
He meant that his country's forces might end up being overwhelmed by whatever high-tech firepower Couombelrai might have bought off the Chinese.
I said, "If there's a war, whichever side wins will want us. But they've got to win first. Meantime we're going to be up to our necks in it, and accidents happen all the time. If the Shamaris achieve air dominance, they might bomb the hell out of Starduster, to embarrass the Dunin government, if nothing else. And what the hell could we do about it?"
"But you're talking about a border war!" Giles said.
"What else? Captain Checnecaiel, can I count on you to give it your all to protect us?"
He looked aghast. "I can try, yes. But I am only a captain in my country's army. It will all depend on what Major General Checnecaiel orders us to do."
"And if you can't get any orders? Confucius say, 'man who walks down middle of road gets run over.' You'll have to make your own decisions eventually. Now that Colonel Kurdaicirrel---can he be trusted, or could he sell out to the Shamaris?"
"He is a loyal citizen."
"Where's he heading for, and why?"
Checnecaiel showed a flash of irritation. "He didn't tell me. Colonels do not tell captains their orders."
Giles asked. "What did he tell you concerning us?"
"To stay with you. To protect you. To watch out for sabotage."
"Can we count on you to do that---even if you're overmatched and outgunned?"
He didn't answer and I couldn't blame him. For the moment my mind had ground to a halt, and I felt that without a great deal more data to work on I couldn't begin to make any decisions regarding our mission. Then to my surprise and my considerable relief the matter was taken firmly out of my hands. Cliff Giles had become inattentive during the last few exchanges and was drawing patterns in the dust with his toe. I was starting to think that he was in the grip of the same uncertainty as held me, when he suddenly straightened up and spoke with decision.
"We've got work to do. I think we're wasting time, Sam. Starduster needs to get under way at once. We can discuss things as we go."
"Go where?" I asked.
"To Sutovo. While you've been jabbering, I've been thinking. The war hasn't started yet and we don't know that it ever will. All this is speculation thus far. If there's no war we're still in business. But if there is, I would like to be a good deal closer to Sutovo than we are now. Checnecaiel has told us that the new airfield is open, so there's one escape route for us at least. Here there's nothing---we're like sitting ducks. And we can't go back. If there's a war the two main towns will be worst hit and the train station a shambles."
His words made sense and his voice was firm.
Nick Spalding was almost jubilant. "Right, let's get on with it. We've got pretty good power reserves, drinking water too. We were supposed to be restocked with food but we're not short yet." HIs mind had shifted into high gear, sorting out the priorities and he was clearly glad to have something positive to do.
Giles went on: "Captain Checnecaiel thinks there may be gunfire. We've got to talk this over with the crew. Giles, call them all together for me, please. I still wish to God Andy was with us. He's better at this kind of thing."
"You're doing fine," I said. "Better than me. I agree that we can't just sit here, and there's another good reason for moving on." My mind was working again.
"What's that?"
"I'll tell you in a moment. You go on ahead; I want another word with the Captain first." I stared hard at him, and as before, he picked up my cue and said at once, "Right. See you soon." He went off, taking Nick with him. I turned to Checnecaiel.
"This is a hell of a mess, Captain. I'm glad you plan on sticking with us. I've been admiring your foresight. The gun emplacements, for example."
He expanded. "You noticed that? I was told to be prepared for possible danger."
"What do you think is really going on?"
He took off his cap and scratched his head, and the smart soldier became an ordinary, slightly baffled man. "Colonel Kurdaicirrel is going to meet the 7th Army, which is stationed at Angharzeb. Then they will all come south. Back here, unfortunately."
"Should we be worried about any fighting at Sutovo?"
"No one will attack Sutovo and risk destroying the radio telescope complex there. Both sides want it too badly. But here at Kauchmaunliw...."
He took out a map. Kauchmaunliw was about thirty miles north of us, us, sprawled across the great road, and the only sizeable town in the vicinity. We had reckoned on using it as a major restocking depot.
"From Kauchmauliw a road also goes east and west," Checnecaiel was saying, "so it is a crossroad. We cannot afford to let it fall into Shamari hands. It is therefore the duty of the 7th Army to come down here to defend it, to hold this bridge as well. Kurdaicirrel will meet them somewhere north of Kauchmauliw."
"God almighty! That puts us right in the thick of it."
"To add insult to injury, there is an air force base located just outside Kauchmauliw. It will be impossible to defend the town if the Shamaris launch an air strike against it. That is why Checnecaiel will not stop there."
"And do you think the base is really going to be bombed?"
He shrugged. "It's very hard to say, Mr. Drake, but I personally think....."
"Yes, so do I." We were silent for a moment, and then I went on. "I thank you for your frankness. It's very necessary that we keep each other aware of all that we know, Captain. I think I must go and join Mr. Giles now."
I had a hundred questions, still. For one thing, I would very much like to have asked his personal convictions. As a Christian he would surely be against Shamari rule in Mochi-Jojeji. Or would he? Maybe he was an ethnic Shamari himself. Or a secret Moslem convert. What about his superior, the colonel? Whose side was he really on? As an infant state, Zarmaria was, and no doubt would continue to be, coup prone. Could Zarmaria's army actually betray its native country, side with the Shamaris in an attempted coup against the present government?
There was a limit to what I could ask him, and for the moment I had to rely on the fact that Starduster might be felt worthy of protection by both sides, so that if the Zarmarians turned out to be pitiful soldiers (Checnecaiel included) we could always ask the Shamaris for help. But it was one hell of a nasty situation.
I joined Giles just as his meeting broke up. There was much talk as the crew went about its business, and Giles turned to me with relief. He told me they were a bit shocked, as expected, but they were willing to push on.
"There's been some talk of danger pay, unfortunately," said Giles.
"Good God! There's not a shot fired yet--and may never be."
"It's just one man. A trade union smart-ass."
"You damn well better remind him he's in the former Soviet Union, not home in dear old England. When the shit hits the fan and the bullets start flying, these folks won't ask him if he believes in a brotherhood of man or take a look at his union card. Who is this wise guy, anyway?"
"Look, he hasn't..."
"Cliff, I gotta know everything! Now who is he? I won't say or do anything, but I sure as hell will keep my eyes open."
"His name's "His name's Byrd, Lonnie Byrd. He's a damned hard worker and a good crewman. For God's sake, promise me you won't throw any stones."
"Okay, I promise. But if he starts any bullshit, I expect you to tell me right away. Now, I want to fill you in." I quickly told him of my conversation with Checnecaiel and some of my own speculations.
He said, "You wanted to tell me something else, presumably out of Checnecaiel's hearing."
"Yes, I think the less Checnecaiel hears of our plans or discussions the better. You've got a map of Mochi-Jojeji? Let's have it."
We bent over the map. From Kauchmauliw our road continued in a more or less westerly fashion, through increasingly sparse scrubland and into the semi-desert regions where, across the border in Shamajar, Sutovo's new radio telescope array was pointing skyward towards the International Space Station. The river we had just crossed, like two others before it and one more to come, were all fairly major tributaries of the huge Sayaiel, which ran up from Tarsaz to form the boundary with Esnijan, Zarmaria's neighboring state, another former Soviet republic now independent. And from Tarsaz another road, not as massive as the one we were travelling on, ran right across the country from the east to the western boundary, towards the Sayaiel river. Here there was no bridge, but a ferry carried goods and people over the river from one country to the other, doing desultory trade and forming a second route to Sutovo.
I pointed to this road. "How about this route? Know anything about it?"
"Not much. I saw it, of course, when I did the survey. But I didn't go and look at it. There was a fair amount of small traffic using it. Why?"
"If we get to Tarsaz and this damn war has started, you're right in saying that we can't turn back to Dunin. But I'm not happy about going on to Shamajar, either Sutovo be damned. There's nothing up there that isn't brought in: no food supplies, no water..."
"No water," he repeated with a wry smile. "Which means no fuel, in a way."
"Damn right. The desert is no place to be stranded in. And if the Shamjaris take the airfield, they aren't just going to let us fly out. They'll arrest all personnel and hold them as P.O.Ws. I don't think we want to go there, do we?"
He looked at me in horror. All his careful plans were being upset, and now here I was about to suggest the whackiest scheme imaginable.
"You want me to take Starduster and her three-hundred-ton cargo over an unsurveyed route into the depths of a country that's barely out of the womb? What for, for God's sake?" he asked.
"Look at the road going west. It goes back towards the woods. There are several villages, lots of chances to find food and water. And, of course, we need the water for the batteries, so that makes them makeshift re-fueling depots. It might not be a good road, but it exists. At the Sayaiel it follows the water course down to Tarsaz. I saw the beginning of the road beyond Tarsaz and it wasn't too bad. We would meet the river here---at Lake Mavkhod." It wasn't really a lake but a considerable widening of the river. "There's even a moderately sized town there, Toaraumoan, as big as Kauchmaunliw apparently."
"Yes, I see all that. I take your point about the food, and water, and possibly fuel. But there's something else, isn't there?"
"Yes, there is. Esnijan."
"The Republic of Esnijan? But we can't get there by crossing the river with Starduster. There's no bridge. And it's neither Zarmaria nor Shamajar, Sam. We don't have the proper papers to enter. We've got no business with Esnijan."
I felt a wave of exasperation. "Cliff, use your head! If necessary, we abandon Starduster. Yes, I said abandon it. I know it's valuable, but the crew matters more. We can get them across the river, and they're safe in a neutral country. And as refugees, and Westerners at that, we'll get plenty of help and plenty of publicity. I bet nobody would dare touch Starduster with a ten-foot pole; it'd be a valuable asset for negotiations to either side."
Actually, I didn't believe this myself. I thought that without our expertise to handle it, Starduster, abandoned in the woods, would be so much junk and treated as such by all parties. But I had to convince Giles to see things my way. I knew what the priorities were, and they didn't include taking a team of men into the desert to become prisoners of either army in a shooting war. Or food for the crows and buzzards, either.
"Let me think.'
"Sure. There's a lot we need to know. But keep it in mind. Nothing will happen until we get to Kauchmaunliw, and we're not there yet. And by then the whole picture might have changed."
"Righto. Can we get back to here and now, please? Are you staying with us?"
"Hell yes. I'd hate to try and make my way back to Dunin without knowing what's going on there. When do you plan to get started?"235Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgIupc4vP1
"Right away. We should reach Kauchmaunliw tomorrow morning. I won't stop too close to the town, though, not in these circumstances. Will you ride with me in the Land Rover? We can plan as we go. I'll get someone else to bring your car."
A little later we were on the move once again. Rumbling along in the dust, Starduster and its attendants were left behind as we set off to find out what was happening in Kauchmaunliw. Yesterday Giles had been expected to be buying fresh fruit and vegetables in the marketplace; today his expectations were entirely different.
