The Temporal Knights (59 page)

In all, eleven of the trucks they’d be taking on the expedition would be fully loaded with gas; they had to be sure there would be enough fuel to reach their destination, fight a long battle, and then return. They would also be taking all fourteen hummers, but they would be leaving two trucks for the men at Rovescester to use in case of a dire emergency. With only one Humvee left in Athelney, they would be heading to war at nearly full strength. They were also taking along both Bots, which were flown down to Rochester by Gardner and Goode. It was the General’s hope that the group in Athelney would soon have much speedier transport, once the alien ship was online, but it was a hope he was beginning to question. The ship stubbornly remained offline for no apparent reason, leaving the repair crews frustrated to the point of tears.

Every soldier was now wired and in full battle gear. The construction of the communications towers would allow the General and his men to be in constant contact with Rovescester and Altheney. If the King gave his permission, Peebles would erect an additional tower at Winchester, which would enable them to communicate throughout lower England. 

When all was ready they were off. Three Toes Erdwine, who was over his initial shock, but struggled through another one every other minute or so, was in the lead vehicle and would guide the
way. Riding with him was General Peebles, Sadao, who drove, plus Sir Oldalf and Sergeant Moore, who manned the M60 in the rear. Lemay followed in the next vehicle Sir Ceorl, the only local in his group. Sir Elid, their soldier in training, was relegated to the back of a truck, just like the rest of the common infantry, but he happily joined the men. Both Bots were up and scouting ahead and everyone, even the locals were linked through the GBF.

“Methinks this much easier than the way ye came, wot?” Sir Oldalf spouted with a laugh and slugged Three Toes in the right thigh. Erdwine winced then nodded, wide-eyed as he fought not to be sick. He was thankful for the knight’s presence because everyone else was hidden behind the metallic face shields.

‘I’m in league with the ogres,’
Three Toes thought with a wry smile then held on for dear life. They moved quickly, thanks to the presence of an entire network of well preserved stone roads. They were all surprised, however, when they past a narrow white stone which looked surprisingly like a mile marker.

Peebles commented on this, and Rice, who was still back at Rovescester, answered through their headsets.

“Probably Roman. The Romans had a large presence here and only retreated from the islands a few centuries ago.” General Peebles blessed the Romans many times along the first few miles of the trip, as the conditions of the roads grew better. His gratitude increased when they crossed several well-built stone bridges. Sergeant Moore inspected each bridge closely before declaring them fit for crossing, but even so they unloaded the men and crossed slowly one truck at a time. The bridges saved enormous amounts of time especially when they happened across some of the larger tributaries. They had a long way to go since it was nearly one hundred and fifty miles to Shaftesbury, and even farther if they were to go down the large peninsula lovingly called the Lizard by the locals. But they were able to travel at a good clip through the early part of the journey and averaged nearly forty-five miles an hour. The only stop they planned to make was at Winchester to pay their respects to the Queen, the Lady Ealhswith, who Sir Oldalf and Sir Ceorl maintained was the second most powerful person in all the land.

They made good time, and neither Gardner nor Goode overhead in the planes spotted anything that could be considered even remotely dangerous. There were people about, wagons and pedestrians on the roads and in some nearby fields, but everyone ran either from the Bots flying overhead or from the imposing convoy roaring down the otherwise quiet lane. Near the small village of Seven Oaks they came across an abandoned wagon clogging up the narrow road. It was in a bad spot were the road ran along a high rock face on one side and a steep gorge on the other and there was little room to swing around it. The ancient vehicle had a broken axle and after a moment of indecision Peebles ordered it to be pushed off the road and into the gorge. The General did not make such a decision lightly; he now realized just how much sweat and time it took to build such a thing in this era. But whoever owned the damned thing was long gone and they were very pressed for time.

“When we drop you off, I’d like you to return and find out who owned that wagon so we can make it up to them,” Peebles said to Three Toes, who found such an attitude odd, but he still nodded in agreement. Whatever this magic man wanted, he would try to give.

Shocked to his core by the speed these roaring metal monsters were able to maintain mile after mile, Three Toes was in awe of the General and had a healthy and growing respect for all the strangers. Even through his fear, he was beginning to actually enjoy the ride back through the countryside. He waved
to many of the frightened peasants who were either too panicked or did not have the time to flee. Erdwine grinned through the open window like a fool at them all, and even called out a name or two of those he recognized. Each time he spotted someone he knew, Three Toes would roar with laughter at their fearful expressions. Even Sir Oldalf and General Peebles laughed on occasion when some local took to stumbling away in fear.

‘One thing was for sure,’
Erdwine thought,
‘travelin’ like this was much easier on the backside than riding a horse.’

They’d been on the road for just over an hour, and were nearing the outskirts of the large village of Epsom, when Lieutenant Goode came over the GBF.

“General, you may have a small problem,” he reported.

Peebles frowned and glanced over at Sadao, before swiveling back to study Three Toes. Whatever his name, the man seemed to be adjusting nicely to all the chatter taking place in his helmet. At first the rider was sure the voices were from the heavens or mayhap hell, but after a time he realized that they were coming from the men around him. He found it no less magical though, as if the very angels were talking to him.

“Details,” the General replied.

“There’s a carriage heading your way, escorted by eight men on horseback. I’m afraid I’ve spooked them, so they’re closing fast.

“Range?”

“Two klicks, but they’re really moving.”

“Slow to ten miles an hour,” Peebles ordered, then looked around the open countryside for any additional threats. They’d just emerged from a heavily forested area, which continued on to the south but at present they were in relatively open region of grasslands. There was a large hill directly in their path, rising up gradually and blocking the view beyond.

“Lieutenant Goode, will we beat them to the top of the hill directly ahead?”

“Yes, but I’d speed it up a bit.”

Peebles did not even have to utter a word before Sadao increased his speed. The rest of the convoy followed suit and they raced to the top of the hill.

“Come to a stop at the top, and we’ll wait for them. Colonel, I’d like two squads of men down on either side of the road just in case.”

“Yes, Sir.”

They topped the hill within a minute and pulled to a stop. The carriage and its escort were not in sight, but the General immediately spotted a Bot banking in the distance. At the very bottom of the hill, perhaps a quarter of a mile away was a small cluster of trees. The General focused his attention there and less than a minute later two sets of horsemen flashed into view. The group rushed up the road at a full gallop, followed closely by a carriage, and then four more horsemen in the rear. They charged up the steep hill, clearly in a panic, and even at this distance the General could tell that the Bot was garnering most of their attention. They were obviously much more concerned about the plane than what might be waiting for them on the road ahead.

  Closer and closer they came until finally one of the lead horsemen spotted the American convoy directly ahead. At first he did not slow down, but then his companion noticed the strange vehicles and pulled up. They did not stop entirely, panicked by the Bot as they were, and continued to move slowly forward, glancing up and back every few seconds. They even picked up the pace a little as a second winged monster appeared over the horizon. Thankfully however, both dragons kept their distance. 

As they neared the General’s position, the horsemen from the rear moved forward and joined their comrades in front of the carriage. They rode on slowly, each man studying the strange wagon like contraptions blocking the road in front of them. As they drew nearer they finally heard the rumbling engines, like a contented purr of a great beast. The horsemen paused for a moment then tried to push forward again but their horses shied from the noise and smell. The party finally came to a stop not fifty yards from the top of the hill, still keeping a close eye on the circling planes behind them.

“I know ‘em,” Erdwine said immediately.
“Tis Brocklin of the King’s guard.”

“Yo Brock!”
He yelled, sticking his head out the window. There was no immediate answer, so Erdwine stepped out and moved to the front of the hummer.

“Yo Brock!” he yelled again and held up a hand.
“Tis me Three Toes!”

“Who’s in the carriage?” Peebles asked still in his seat. Erdwine, who was wearing a headset turned at the question and shrugged at the General.

“I canna say,” Erdwine finally answered and turned back to the guard he knew.

“That
be ye Three Toes?”

“Aye,” Erdwine replied and walked forward.

“Who goes with ye?” Brocklin asked, clearly nervous despite the distance of the rumbling beasts. Plus, the strange large dragons that continued to circle in the distance did nothing to calm his jumpy nerves. They were an ill omen, and made him very uneasy.

“These
be the Ammericaans, the strange and wonderful men of Somerset. Surely ye have heard of them. They be on their way to fight aside our own good King.”

A man briefly stuck his head out of the carriage and said something to Brocklin, who nodded and turned back to Erdwine.

“Off the road with ye. Make way for the King’s Royal Magistrate,” he ordered forcefully, hoping to be obeyed, then with a deep breath he signaled his men forward. 

“Colonel,” Peebles said making a snap decision. The ground on either side of the road looked to be firm enough, with few rocks, and nothing of any danger to the rugged vehicles.
“Let’s move off the road.” Immediately all the vehicles dropped into gear and pulled out into the grass and mud. The men that were spread out in the fields in full camouflaged gear, stood and moved out of the way, further startling the magistrate’s escort. They’d been so intent on the strange wagons and the dragons in the sky that the soldiers surrounding them had gone completely unnoticed. At first, the sounds of the revving engines spooked the already startled horses of the guardsmen, and for a moment they could not be coaxed any closer, but it was the faceless apparitions that now held the attention of the royal guard. Brocklin was not altogether sure that these figures were truly men and not some demon come to claim them, and he wondered briefly if he would live to see the sunrise. But once the noisy beasts were well off the road, the horses came to their senses on their own. They started gingerly forward on their own accord, anxious to be passed these strange, smelly creatures. The group rode right through the center of the strange growling beasts, and as they trotted by nearly all of the guards gave the sign to ward off evil. Brocklin glanced briefly at Three Toes as he rode past, his face full of pity. They caught no glimpse of the Royal Magistrate. He stayed well hidden behind the curtains of the carriage as it rolled by and down the far side of the hill.

“The road ahead is clear,” Gardner reported.

Peebles sighed and ordered the men back to their trucks. “Let’s move out,” he said. “Should we rethink the decision to stop at Winchester?”

“I’d say so,” Lemay answered almost at once. “We’d waste valuable time just trying to calm the locals down, and I find it very unlikely that we would even be allowed near the Queen.”

“Yah tis to Kingston ye need to go and join up with the Lady of Mercia,” Erdwine commented.

“The Lady of Mercia is as brave as any man,” Sir Ceorl added, confirming his thoughts, but Sir Oldalf only snorted and said nothing.

“Ethelflayed is in Kingston?” Peebles asked and Ceorl cringed at the pronunciation.

Three Toes nodded. “Alfred na
want to be moving down the Lizard with Eadwulf all alone at his back. His sister was ordered to guard against any treachery.”

Peebles silently considered this new tack for a moment.

“It’s a healthy detour to the north,” Lemay responded.

“We need a tower in Winchester if nothing else,” Sergeant Moore added.

“Me dottir is with the Queen, she will be talkin’ well of ye forsooth,” Sir Oldalf chimed in.

“From the histories it’s said Ealhswith was very influential and has the ear of her husband,” Rice added from back at Rochester. All the men left behind in the fortress were following the events very closely by radio. Sir Ordmere nodded his agreement from his bed, still not over the wonder of being able to talk to those men that were already so far away.
Twas indeed a wonder.

“All right, we’ll continue on to Winchester, but let’s get there and get out,” Peebles finally decided as they roared through the frightened town of Epsom.