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Shield of the Sun, Part 21 |
Copyright © Fred Watson 2007
A serialisation
part 21
After successfully defeating the Desert Hawks led by Nebarmun the renegade Nomarch. The young officers, Tuti, Hann and Abba, under the watchful eye of commander Ayi, marched the brigands back to Akhmim, handed them over to the authorities and spent that evening being entertained at the judge’s house.
The following morning, they set of once more on the desert route that would take them to the fort at Kharga. This time Hann made sure that his section was at the front marching right behind the commander. Tuti’s section was behind his and Abba and his men played catch up at the rear. Let him eat the dust for a while, thought Hann.
After the excitement of the run in with the desert Hawks, the march was dull, boring and monotonous, nothing but sand, rock and the odd scrubby tree or bush. The occasional vulture or two rode the thermals high in the sky and now and again, Hann glimpsed a lizard before it disappeared from view. It was a desolate, unforgiving landscape that was lacking in colour and he couldn’t wait to exchange it for the lush green of the oasis.
He was given his wish a week later when they topped a rise and saw a thin green line in the distance that denoted the oasis. The fort build from local stone stood apart from one end of the oasis and blended well with the desert surrounding it. In fact it blended in so well that if it hadn’t been for the herds of animals and the tents and shops of the traders that lined the road either side of the gates, they might well have missed seeing it until they grew near.
The road into the fort was crowded with off duty soldiers and the merchants they haggled with. But as the troop approached the crowd moved aside to let them through, all bar one man, a giant Nubian who stood his ground and with a fierce scowl dared anyone to come near. All of the men edged over as they passed him except Abba who deliberately bumped him and then spun around, when the man lashed out, to deliver a punch to the man’s chin that would have felled an ox.
The Nubian took a step back, shook his head as if to rid himself of a fly and let loose with a punch that rocked Abba back on his heels. With a roar Abba retaliated and a crowd formed around them as they went at it hammer and tongs. A pair of giants – if it wasn’t for his skin colour Abba could have been the Nubians twin – that stood toe to toe and traded blows that would have had any other man on his knees. So well matched were they that the fight could have gone on for hours and would have, if Commander Ayi hadn’t arrived and ordered the arrest of both. It took ten men to subdue Nubian, four of whom ended up in the medical room at the fort. It took fewer men to subdue Abba, but that was only because Tuti intervened and managed to calm him down.
The Commander gave the order for the brawlers to be bound and put under guard until they reached the fort. As Abba was being bound he turned as if to say something to the commander, but after a short pause shrugged his shoulders and allowed himself to be led away. To Hann it looked as if Abba had been about to pull rank and claim royal privilege. But had changed his mind after realising that it wouldn’t work, not with commander Ayi in charge.
Khety the commander of the fort was waiting on the parade ground to greet the new arrivals. Commander Ayi at the head of his men, marched to the centre of the parade ground, brought the troops to a halt, gave the order to stand ready for inspection and moved forward to meet the forts commander. ‘Commander Ayi of the royal bodyguard at your service, Commander?’
‘Khety, I command here at Kharga and may I ask why the illustrious commander of the royal bodyguard is delivering my replacement troops? I take it that these men are my replacements?’
‘They are, all bar the three officers, who are under my direct command.’
‘Three? I only see two.’
‘The other is under guard along with a Nubian that I believe belongs to you.’
‘Ah, you talk of Ibhet, a trouble maker that one,’ said Khety.
Commander Ayi raised an eyebrow in query, and Khety continued. ‘I saw the brawl from the battlements above the gate. What do you want done with them?’
‘Lock them up for the night, that will cool them down.’
‘I will do as you ask, though I am afraid nothing will calm down Ibhet, he has a fiery temper that one.’
‘I have a suggestion to make that may sort him out for you. But first, if you have them locked up, we can inspect your new recruits.’
While Abba and Ibhet were led away, Commander Khety took a look at the new men. ‘Not a bad looking bunch, but I take it that like most of the peace time recruits I am sent, they will never have seen any action.’
‘Oh, they’ve seen action, and given a good account of themselves too; we had a run in with the Desert Hawks on our way here.’
‘The Hawks have been a thorn in my side for the past two years and although we have captured and tortured several of them we never been able to find their leader or their base of operations.’
‘Well, they won’t be bothering you again. We have destroyed them and captured their leader the Nomarch Nebarmun.’
‘Nebarmun, no wonder I could never find their leader. You must think me inept at my job, but this fort was under his jurisdiction and as Nomarch he was beyond suspicion.’
‘Don’t worry I can see the problem you had. Beside we only managed to find him by accident, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.’
'That is very magnanimous of you Commander Ayi. Why don't we dismiss the men, get your officers settled in and then you can tell me all about it.'
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| Shield of the Sun | This serial has been reformatted into shorter sections and parts 1 through to 32 can now be read on the stories for dads page. |
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