CHAPTER 16
Two days march out from Sacramento I encountered a straggling group of Saam's warrior band. Despite giving all evidence of a defeated and retreating army the Guard Captain assured me that they had been victorious. He told me that Saam had tasked him with returning the most critical of the wounded to Sacramento. He also said that three days earlier the largest of the four settlements had surrendered unconditionally to Saam and his warriors. The Guard Captain said that Saam had stayed in the settlement to maintain control until the council sent a fresh warrior contingent to replace him and his warriors.
I advised the Guard Captain to continue on to Sacramento and that my warriors and I would relieve Saam until a replacement commander was sent by the council.
When I arrived at the settlement I reported to Saam's head quarters. I was shocked by what I found. Saam had taken a bad wound to his shoulder from a javelin. He was fevered and it appeared that his wound was healing poorly. The healer that Saam had brought from Sacramento on campaign told me that if Saam survived he doubted that his arm would ever be one hundred percent. It looked as though Saams warrior days were in his past. Of more concern to Saam than his wound or his future was the concern that Saam had to Cain's reaction. "I feel that I failed and let him down. I got a career ending wound the first time I had a command of my own." said Saam.
"No, Saam what happened to you could have happened to any warrior. One lucky arrow or javelin could take out the best warrior. So unless you were out front running back and forth daring them to shoot you, it's just the luck of the draw Cain would be disappointed if you fell to a farmers hoe or needlessly got warriors in your command killed through poor tactics or negligence. But not because of a lucky throw by an enemy warrior. Cain knows that is one of the dangers of our occupation. Besides even a healer can be wrong about a thing like that. You won't know how much your arm is hampered until you are fully healed." I told him.
Saam was returned to Sacramento with the wounded several days after my arrival. The settlements slaves were given their freedom and were allowed to return to their various communities. In order to prevent their taking vengeance on the compounds unarmed warriors I placed guards and allowed them to lodge their protests and complaints against any warrior they could identify.
Byron arrived before I had been in control of the compound six weeks. Accompanying him were an additional two hundred warriors. They were led by Jon Meeks the Warrior Saam had selected to assume leadership of the assault on the remaining compounds.
"Are we prepared to move on the other compounds?" Byron asked.
"Jon and I will discuss the situation and I will try and have an answer for you this evening. After our dinner meal we can meet in the command room and we can talk about where and when we should move against them. We have already been approached by three diplomatic groups trying to reach a peaceful solution in order to halt our forcible take over of the area." I told Byron.
At the meeting Byron agreed to negotiate with the settlements that were seeking a peaceful solution. Two of the remaining settlements worked an alliance treaty with Byron.
With the combined warrior force available to me, Jon and I marched on the hold out settlement. Between the warriors Jon and I had, combined with those from the main settlement and the two surrendered settlements, we had a force of over six hundred warriors.
Jon and I marched warriors up to the main gate of the sole remaining hold out settlement. Byron then showed us what he had been working on during the week we had been organizing our combined warrior force. Byron had a Trebuchet pulled into place several hundred paces from the front gates. He then fired several huge stones against the walls of the settlement. As the stones impacted the wall, it crumbled and fell. Facing a battering from Byron's catapult as well, a force of six hundred warriors brought the settlement leaders to the gate waving flags of truce.
As punishment for refusing to negotiate, the leaders of the settlement were forced to surrender unconditionally. I appointed Jon as the new settlement leader until the committee could meet and appoint a permanent governor.
That evening as Byron and I sat eating our dinner, Byron unrolled a map and said that the area to the east of these settlements was at one time some of the finest agricultural land available. He said that five or six hundred years ago three different crops were obtained from farms in that area per year.
Byron explained that although we would have to irrigate it, the addition of those lands would allow us to produce a quantity and a variety of crops that would effectively give us almost complete control of the food supply. Byron said that controlling the food would give us control of the economy and that controlling the economy meant control of the settlements peacefully.
Pointing to an area much father to the east, Byron said that the area he was indicating on the map had at one time been considered the bread basket of the country. He also indicated an area south of this that was excellent for grazing and that the probability was that wild cattle roamed the thousands of miles of continental interior.
A week later Cain joined Byron and I. Cain advised us that Saam was in much better health than when he had returned to Sacramento. Cain said that the Surgeons in Sacramento had operated on his shoulder and he was given what they called physical therapy. Cain said Saam's shoulder was near 100 percent again.
The next morning Byron said that he and Cain planned to spend a few months exploring that area to the southeast.
A week after Byron and Cain left on their wander into the area Byron had called the bread basket.
I appointed Jon the acting Governor of the Old City settlements and returned to Sacramento. I think my days of leading assaults on armies and settlements may well be in my past. I don't think I'm ready to spend my days sitting in the sunshine and evenings sitting by the fire yet, but I do plan to spend more time with Sari and our children. I'll leave the battles and conquest to Young Cain and his generation from now on.
It was two years before Cain and Byron returned to Sacramento. As it turned out that was Byron and Cain's last extended wander as well.
Byron who Cain and I thought was old when we first met him, died from the flu the winter following his return from his wander into the area he called Texas.
Cain, Sari and I find the council governing requirements to keep our expanding empire operating consuming the majority of our time. The exploration and expansion duties have been handed off to the next generation.
THE END?
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Jeff Ping is a retired RF Engineer living in Northern California.
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