Free The Heretic by David Drake, Tony Daniel Page A

Blaskoye meet them with a ragged volley. The Scouts are close. It is difficult to miss, although most of the shots do. Four do not, and the Scouts are literally cut to half their numbers. And before the still-mounted Scouts can meet the line—the space of a breath, a gasp, but long enough, long enough—the reload is done and another volley of lead scythes into the Scouts.
    This one leaves no survivors.
    Except for the two sharpshooters, who are attempting to escape into a desert that their pursuers know too well.
    And Abel, who rushes forward, nearly trips over a fallen, screaming dont, drops his rifle in trying to regain his balance, pulls up short to find—
    Thirty Redlander faces staring at him.
    The leader begins to laugh. He rides toward Abel.
    Abel fumbles, lifts his rifle up.
    The hammer is down, the charge spent.
    The gun had fired when he dropped it.
    He begins to reload. He tries to stay calm. He pulls out a cartridge, bites the papyrus end off. Pours powder into the muzzle. Like the Scouts have taught him. Carefully. Agonizingly carefully. Now take out the ramrod, tamp it down, tamp it—
    He jerks the musket up to cock it, take aim.
    He’s left the old percussion cap in.
    Flick it out. Get another.
    Abel is fumbling in his cartridge box for a cap when the Redlander leader arrives and, with the butt of a musket, strikes Abel to the ground.
    * * *
    Abel awakens with a pounding headache. It is night. Two moons have risen, while Churchill, the largest of the Land’s three moons, is on the horizon.
    He moves to put a hand to rub his aching forehead.
    He cannot move.
    It is then he notices that he cannot even see his hand.
    The moons are bright enough, he reasons. He ought to be able.
    Beside him, he does see a human head, its blank eyes staring at him.
    With a start, he realizes it is Himmel.
    Just a head.
    Then Himmel’s eyes open. He takes one look at Abel, and the disembodied head begins to laugh. It is a dry laugh that soon turns to coughing, then choking, then gasping for air.
    “Himmel,” Abel says, “what happened? What are you?”
    Again Himmel rolls his eyes toward Abel. “And what are you, boy, what are you?”
    He spits in Abel’s eyes. Why? How?
    Abel attempts to wipe the saliva away, and realization dawns.
    Sand around him. Sand above his chin, to his lower lip.
    He’s buried, with only his head above ground.
    He struggles.
    His arms will not move.
    “They’ve bound and weighted us,” Himmel coughs out. “No use.”
    And then on the other side of Abel, a plaintive wail. Abel just has the ability to turn his head to see. Facing in the opposite direction, looking toward a back that Abel can never turn toward again, it’s Kruso.
    “Alaha Zentrum, nish thet me over!” cries Kruso.
    Oh great God, not over me!
    What was Kruso seeing? What was going to happen?
    “Nish thet me over.” Kruso’s voice had become a whimper now.
    There was no way to turn his head. There was only waiting.
    On the horizon in front of Abel, Churchill rose fully above the horizon.
    And then something came down from above and blocked the view. Blocked the moon. Blocked the stars.
    From the smell of it, Abel knew immediately. One of the transport urns. An earthenware pot that had lately contained liquor, now emptied. Someone had, perhaps, been celebrating a victory and drained the wine.
    True night descended forever.
    * * *
    Ninety-four percent probability, given known Redlander torture methodology, with a nine percent chance that arrows will be set through hands and feet in lieu of binding with weighted rocks, Center intoned. More unfortunate—
    More unfortunate! How?
    More unfortunate is the cascade of consequences. Your father will blame himself. There is a significant chance he will take his own life. In any case, Treville governance degrades inexorably. The Scouts will only desultorily be rebuilt, and a moment for Redlander containment will be lost. Zentrum will accommodate and incorporate the invasion, as he has