Swords and Saddles Read Online Free PDF Page B

“What’s up?”
    “They’re listening,” Singh commented as the last chuckles died away. “You could tell they were listening to us laugh, and watching us. Do the Izkop understand human laughter?” he asked Ariana.
    “Yes,” she said, hurrying to look out the window beside the sergeant. “They have a capacity for mirth that seems similar to our own though I don’t understand any of their jokes. I can’t tell from here how they’re reacting to your laughter. Their facial muscles don’t show emotions in the same ways ours do, so it wouldn’t be easy even if we were closer.” Ariana sat back, her eyes now on the soldiers. “That display. It’s meant to impress. To frighten enemies. But you all laughed .”
    “Is that going to make them mad?” Adowa asked sarcastically.
    “There’s an Izkop phrase that I think translates as ‘greeting death with smiles.’ They use it in their legends, to describe heroes.” Ariana took another cautious look outside. “See those Izkop gathered together, the ones with the tattoos and decorations? Those are leaders. They’re talking, and I’m sure it’s about you laughing when they expected you to be overawed.”
    “Let’s give them something else to talk about,” Nassar suggested, hefting the buzz-saw. “Hey!” he called. “Whenever you’re ready! Come and get it!”
    “Quiet,” Singh ordered. “Ma’am, do you know them well enough to see if they’ll talk to you? Maybe arrange a truce or something?”
    Ariana hesitated. “I don’t know if they’ll – What did they do at Amity? To…everyone else? Did they just kill them or…?”
    Singh pressed his lips together before answering. “The dead we saw were lying face up, cut open from chest to groin, their guts spread out around them. We saw the Izkop doing the same thing to dead soldiers on other parts of the field while we were shooting our way out.”
    Ariana looked ill, her body shaking. “Why…? Sergeant, I…I…”
    “That’s okay. If you can’t stand dealing with them now –“
    She held up one hand, palm out, her voice steadying even though she seemed to fighting off nausea. “I have to. For everyone’s sake. If they’ll listen. But I don’t know why they - I’ll call to them from here.” Ariana visibly braced herself, then stood up, looking out the window, and called out some words in another language, her voice straining over glottal stops and other sounds.
    The Izkop leaders ignored her, continuing their conference, then abruptly gesturing and calling out commands. With eerie synchronization the entire force of Izkop began stepping back, slowly retreating with their faces to the humans. They kept going until at least a kilometer distant, then the formations broke and the Izkop seemed to melt into the landscape.
    “What the hell happened?” Goldera asked. “Not that I’m complaining, but why didn’t they kill us just then?”
    Singh rubbed his chin, then looked at Ariana. “Because we laughed at them?”
    “Yes, but they stayed in threat posture,” she responded. “And they ignored my attempts to talk to them. I’m not…oh…’the peace of the warrior before death.’ That’s what it means.”
    “So they’ll hit us later?”
    “Yes.” Ariana sagged, her face in her hands. “It’s a mark of respect, not a reprieve. There’s no set period for the peace that I could determine.”
    The sergeant nodded calmly. “At least it’s obvious they know we’re here. Two on watch at all times,” he ordered the soldiers, “the rest get to work fortifying and blockading all the windows and doors as best we can. Don’t worry any more about keeping the barricading concealed from the outside. If the Izkop haven’t hit us by the time we’re done with that, those off-watch will rest so we’ll be ready to keep two sentries on at a time all night.”
    “What about us?” Ariana asked.
    “Look after those kids and keep them quiet, ma’am. It’d be a big help if you all also