Conflict and Courage

By Candy Rae

The Planet Wolf Series: Volume 2 - The colonists and their telepathic, wolf-like friends have survived their first battle. Those life-bonded have dedicated their lives to the defence of the free north. The southern armies are reeling from their defeat and Aoalvaldr, the disgraced enemy commander, has vowed revenge. What dangers lurk beyond the horizon? Another battle, another war?
2013 Edition.
PLANET WOLF
(1) Wolves and War - (2) Conflict and Courage - (3) Homage and Honour - (4) Dragons and Destiny - (5) Valour and Victory - (6) Ambition and Alavidha - (7) Paws and Planets - (8) Tales and Tails

DRAGON WULF
(1) Journey and Jeopardy - (2) Gossamer and Grass - (3) Flames and Freedom

FLYING COLOURS
(1) Rascals and Renegades - (2) Outlaws and Overlords - (3) Sparkles and Sphinxes (forthcoming)

T’QUEL MAGIC
(1) Ephemeral Boundary - (2) Enduring Barrier - (3) Eternal Bulwark

MULTIVERSE MUDDLE (forthcoming)
(1) Vampyre Crypt - (2) Faie Castle - (3) Shadow Cave - (4) Demon Citadel

SAMMY THE CAT
(1) Cat in Charge - (2) Cat at Christmas - (3) Dog not in Charge

KILL BY CURE

• Language: English
• Publisher: Candy Rae
• Release date: Aug 17, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452386966

Candy Rae

Candy Rae has been an avid reader since childhood, with fantasy and science fiction appearing on her bookshelf in her first year of university when a friend introduced her to talking dragons. All her life, she has wanted to write, but it wasn’t until Christmas Day in 2003 that she sat down and started planning the book that, after many revisions, became the first book in the Planet Wolf series: Wolves and War.As a former accountant, Candy was notorious among her family for elongating her commute home by parking in a safe space and starting to write, having got into the habit of carrying a notebook with her wherever she went, a habit she continues to this day. When she’s not writing, her hobbies include knitting, tapestry, and trying to figure out ‘whodunnit’ in murder mysteries.Candy lives in Ayrshire, Scotland, with her large black cat, Sammy, and her Labrador-Corgi cross, Alex. She writes her books in British English with a Scottish flavour.

Book preview

Prologue

Chapter 1 - Vadath

Chapter 2 - Rtathlians of the Lind

Chapter 3 - Vadath

Chapter 4 - Argyll

Chapter 5 - Rtathlians of the Lind

Chapter 6 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 7 - Vadath

Chapter 8 - Nadlians of the Larg

Chapter 9 - Vadath

Chapter 10 - Argyll

Chapter 11 - Vadath

Chapter 12 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 13 - Vadath

Chapter 14 - Rtathlians of the Lind

Chapter 15 - Vadath

Chapter 16 - Argyll

Chapter 17 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 18 - Argyll

Chapter 19 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 20 - Argyll

Chapter 21 - Vadath

Chapter 22 – Interregnum 1

Chapter 23 - Vadath

Chapter 24 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 25 - Nadlians of the Larg

Chapter 26 - Vadath

Chapter 27 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 28 - Vadath

Chapter 29 – Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 30 - Vadath

Chapter 31 - Argyll

Chapter 32 - Vadath

Chapter 33 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 34 - Vadath

Chapter 35 - Nadlians of the Larg

Chapter 36 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 37 - Vadath

Chapter 38 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 39 – Interregnum 2

Chapter 40 - Kingdom of Murdoch

Chapter 41 - Vadath

Chapter 42 - Rtathlians of the Larg

Character Lists and Glossaries

CONFLICT AND COURAGE

PROLOGUE

The story so far:

In the twenty-fourth century, a convoy of seven spherical deep-space vessels set out from the main space facility that sat in permanent orbit over a dying Earth. Six were directly bound for a colony world light years away.

The seventh ship was different. Although the World Coalition Prison Ship Electra would eventually head for Riga to drop off the much needed heavy machinery, tools and transport vehicles, it would first make a detour to another, less hospitable planet, where it would unload its animate cargo before rejoining its sister ships. The Electra’s animate ‘cargo’ was made up of some of the vilest criminal classes on the planet.

The journey of the seven ships should have taken twenty years. The living quarters on board were extensive. The colonists spent the time training for their new lives in the ship sections designed for that purpose and were looking to the future with a great deal of optimism.

Twelve years out from Earth, disaster struck.

The seven ships plunged one by one into a huge cosmic storm and only two survived. One was the World Coalition Colony Ship Argyll with some eight thousand colonists and crew on board, the other the WCPS Electra, carrying twenty thousand male convicts.

Independently of each other and against all odds, both ships endeavoured to find and safely land on a planet that could sustain human life.

Unknown to the humans, they were not the only sentient life forms inhabiting this strange new world.

Wolves and War, Volume One of Planet Wolf recounted what happened during the first year and a half after the cosmic storm.

Where the WCCS Argyll landed lived the Lind, a peace-loving species with a highly developed culture and oral tradition. These colourful inhabitants of the northern continent broadly resembled the wolves of Planet Earth but had the size and build of thoroughbred racehorses. They lived in family units within their packs and were ruled over by elders, the Lind called them Elda, defending their pack-mates and lands against the frequent southern incursions.

Where the WCPS Electra landed lived the tawny coloured Larg. They were heavier in build than the Lind, more like carthorses in stature. Theirs was a warrior-based society, based on the survival of the fittest.

The humans had stumbled into an eon’s long war between the Lind of the northern continent and the Larg of the southern continent.

On the eastern coastal plains of the northern continent and watched by the Lind, the colonial families built their homes and began to cultivate the land. Eventually the Lind decided to make contact with these visitors from outer space and twelve Lind secretly persuaded twelve children to run away with them so that they could find out more about the newcomers and to warn them about the Larg.

The twenty-four realised that they could communicate telepathically with each other and lifelong bonds were formed. These bonds, one human and one Lind, became known as pairs, vadeln, or vadeln-pairs.

The colonists sent out a search party to find the missing twelve and after a long chase the searchers reached the pack’s home and were reunited with the children.

There they learned of the existence on the planet of the convicts from the Electra, that their continent was in grave danger of invasion from the Larg of the south and that the Larg had allied with the convicts.

A delegation of human and Lind returned to the human settlement to warn the colonists. An alliance was formed between the colonists and the Lind to combat the danger. More humans and Lind became vadeln-paired.

Meanwhile, in the south, the crew and families of the prison ship Electra tried to escape the convicts, fortifying a natural hill, which they called Fort. In a violent and vicious attack the convicts overran them, slaughtered the men and took the women and children prisoners. Only a terrified trio managed to escape.

A few months later, thousands of convicts and Larg invaded the north.

The Lind army waited for the Larg on the wooded heights above the coastal plain where the WCCS Argyll had landed. The Larg attacked these heights, to be met by lines of Lind, aided by a regiment of human infantry and a small cavalry force made up of paired human and Lind called the Vada. The northern army was close to defeat but, with a supreme effort and many losses, they managed to force the Larg to flee.

The convict army attacked the human settlement and broke through the perimeter defences. Street-to-street fighting ensued. The superior numbers of convicts over colonists forced the latter back, but then word came that the Larg were retreating and the convict army was forced to flee with them, not being able to hold on without Larg support. They escaped back to the south, taking some female prisoners with them.

Despite the losses, the north rejoiced at their victory. The alliance between colonists and Lind was formalised, the continent being split into three, in the west the Lind, in the east the humans in the country now named Argyll after the spaceship that brought them to the planet and in the middle, the joint lands inhabited by both species.

But the southern threat continues to be an ever-present one; Aoalvaldr, the defeated Larg commander, has vowed undying revenge and retribution.

* * * * *

The Battle of the Alliance was over. The southern armies had fled.

The armies of the north dispersed, the Lindars returned to their rtathlians, as they called their pack-lands, jubilant that the largest Larg incursion within living memory had been fought off. No Larg kohorts were marauding through the continent, killing all in their path.

The Lind knew the reason for this unparalleled success, Susyc Ruza Jim Cranston and his Lind Larya. Commanding the northern armies, Jim had introduced revolutionary tactics and drawn the disparate Lindars into a cohesive force never seen before.

Before mankind had arrived on Rybak the Lindars of the individual packs had tended to fight in isolation, thus allowing the Larg kohorts to punch through gaps in their lines. The Larg had been unable to penetrate the tight ranks on the hill above the battle plain and when they had tried to outflank the Lindars, Jim had ordered the reserves to tackle them where they least expected it. Never before had the Lind had any reserves with which to surprise their enemy. The small cavalry force that had turned the tide of battle was to become a permanent fixture and would be called the Vada.

Jim Cranston was a tactical genius. He had outflanked the out-flankers.

Jim knew that although the battle was won, danger from the southern continent had not gone away. The north must prepare for the future, preparing for the day when the southerners, both convict and Larg, returned. Both he and the more thoughtful of the colonists realised that with the arrival of man, the entire coastline was now under threat. No longer would the Larg need to attack over the chain of islands that connected the two continents. Now that the Larg had made alliance with the convicts there were other methods which they could utilise to reach the northern continent, boats came to mind immediately and Jim had a very good idea of the type of people who would be aboard these boats.

Jim’s answer was simple, train everybody to defend themselves and also recruit more men and women to the infantry and the Vada.

Not all the colonists were happy about their children setting out to join an army which was training for the invasion Jim Cranston felt sure was coming.

* * * * *

CHAPTER 1 - VADATH

I don’t see why you’ve got to make up your mind immediately Brian, said an exasperated Janice Randall, your fourteenth birthday was only yesterday. There’s plenty of time to decide.

Brian looked down at her. His height had shot up over the last few months and Janice was built on a diminutive scale, unlike him and his elder brother Louis.

I have thought about it Mother, he said in a soothing voice, and I want to be a member of the Vada. Sofiya agrees. I spoke to Louis.

Did he encourage you? asked Janice sharply.

No he didn’t. He said that I was old enough to make up my own mind.

Janice sighed. Louis had returned from the Battle of the Alliance a most self-assured young man and although only sixteen years old, had matured beyond belief during the campaign, sobered forever by the sights, smells and deaths on the battlefield. He and his Lind vadeln Ustinya had chosen to remain with the Vada, a valued member of the surviving two hundred and twenty pairs who made up the cavalry arm of the northern army.

Louis was not present at the family’s daga, or home, hidden amongst the leafy trees that were pack Afanasei’s rtathlian, having departed some days previously with the Vada’s advance party, intent on building at least rudimentary cabins in the wooded area chosen by the them as their permanent base before the winter snows appeared.

Janice Randall had accepted her eldest son’s decision with a feeling of unease. The Vada were the shock troops of the northern army and would certainly be in the forefront of any battles of the future. She was most displeased that her youngest son had decided to follow in his older brother’s footsteps.

They will not attack again for a long time, years maybe. Francis McAllister says that we will be mostly training and patrolling the coasts. The Larg were well defeated and will think twice before trying again, but we have to be ready for them. I want to help defend you and the girls. Joining the Vada will let me do this. I tried to get Francis to take me last month but he said fourteen was the youngest he would train.

At least he has some sense, Janice muttered to herself.

Susa Francis McAllister and his Lind Asya commanded the Vada and had led the vadeln-pairs to bloody victory during the battle. The Larg had been close to victory until Francis and Asya had led the charge of the Lindars. It had not been without cost, a full third of the Vada had died.

Young Thomas Wylie and his Stasya, famous for being one of the original twelve youngsters who had paired with the Lind during the first months after landing, had died on the battlefield, although barely fifteen years old. That he had disobeyed strict orders to remain behind the front lines with the other teenagers was neither here nor there. He had died and his Lind Stasya had death-wished shortly afterwards, refusing the medical aid that might have saved her. She had not wanted to continue without her Thomas.

An only child, his parents had been devastated by his death, although Janice had heard that his mother was expecting another baby. The extended Wylie family had left domta Afanasei for the southern coast, there to set up the first fishing facility of the joint lands, the large expanse in the middle of the northern continent that was inhabited and ruled equally by human and Lind.

Absently stirring her cooking pot, she watched Brian walk over to the table and sit down beside his three little sisters and her adoptive daughter Tara, now thirteen years old. Janice frowned. Young Tara was another casualty of the war, but in a different way.

As usual, Tara sat picking at the food on her plate. She looked tired and drawn; she wasn’t sleeping well, the dark hollows beneath her eyes mute testimony to this. Janice made a mental note to ask Tara’s Lind, Kolyei about her. She wasn’t responding to any of her adoptive mother’s overtures at all.

Tara had been the youngest soldier of the northern army and had been forced to defend herself when a kranj of Larg had broken through the allied lines. A battlefield was not a place for children but it had been thought that she would be safe with the army’s communications unit.

Thinking of what the child must have gone through brought Janice’s thoughts back to the subject of Brian. His announcement that he would be leaving with Francis McAllister and the remaining Vada after the impending conference had shaken Janice to the core. For the life of her though, she couldn’t think of anything she could say to change her son’s mind. Children grew up fast here.

I can’t stop him going, he is of age.

Tara pushed her unfinished plate of zarova stew away and looked up at her adoptive mother. Mature for her thirteen years, she was wont to think much and Janice returned Tara’s sympathetic smile with one of her own. At least Tara would remain with the Randall family for a time. After what the girl had experienced in the last year, she did not think that she and Kolyei would choose the Vada as their future.

* * * * *

Francis McAllister, vadeln-paired with Asya and commander of the Vada belched as he sat back on the comfortable couch in Jim and Larya’s daga after their evening meal.

Conference tomorrow, he said, then the last of us can get off to the stronghold.

Doesn’t it have a name yet, this stronghold of yours? asked Jim with interest.

We haven’t even discussed it, truth be told. Some of the Lind are calling it Francis and others Asya.

You’re joking surely? laughed Jim.

Francis looked affronted. "It does have a certain logic to it. They do after all call their packs after the incumbent pack-leader. I suppose Asya and I are pack-leaders of a sort and they have some difficulties with the human need for permanent place names. As far as they are concerned, the place is who lives there and it is they who are important, not the place itself."

It will be interesting to listen to what they have to say about our proposition for a name for these joint lands of ours then. Larya chuckles to herself every time I mention it.

I don’t understand why. It seems a perfectly reasonable name to me.

Larya, who had been dozing in the corner with one ear open, whined in amusement.

I think, she started to say, a wicked gleam in her large blue eyes.

Don’t you dare, cried Jim in alarm.

"I do dare. It is big joke. Asya will find most amusing."

What? asked Asya, looking at her dam, her tail wagging nineteen to the dozen.

What I think is good name for where we and the humans to live.

Tell me, Asya ordered with a sly glance at Jim.

Francis too was enjoying Jim’s discomfiture.

Jim groaned aloud. He knew what was coming. Larya had been teasing him about it for weeks.

Jimsland, Larya announced with glee. It good human word.

Asya gruffawed, appreciating this astonishing proposal.

So that’s what she has been teasing you about, Francis said through his chuckles. What a joke! Here was I embarrassed about some Lind calling a town after me or Asya and here is your vadeln-pair calmly intending to call what is, in effect, a whole country after you!

I have said no loudly and often, laughed the embarrassed Jim. There is no way my name is going to be used and that’s final. The Lind were here long before we were, it will be a Lind name or nothing at all do you hear?

Okay, keep your hair on, answered Francis, but I can’t wait to tell Laura and Faddei about this.

You can tell these two but it goes no further. If word gets out I will be the butt of jokes for ages, Kolyei especially, you know what a tease he is.

"Kolyei isn’t laughing much these days Jim. He is too worried about Tara. He tells Asya that she is not recovering well from the trauma of the last year. I think we forget that she lost her entire family during the cosmic storm on the Argyll and then she was thrust into war without so much as a by-your-leave. Remember, she is only thirteen years old."

That girl has too vivid an imagination. Of course, that’s what makes her able to write and tell stories the way she does. I wish we hadn’t been forced to take them to the battle, but at the time, there wasn’t anyone else able enough to take charge of the communications’ pivot. However, that situation shouldn’t happen again and no child under fourteen will have to fight, they will be sixteen or even eighteen if I can manage it. Jim thumped his fist down on a nearby cushion to emphasise this last point.

You and I are of the same mind on that score, said Francis, even in the Vada, the under sixteens are to be designated inactive and will remain in the stronghold.

How are you going to manage that?

We’ve been discussing it. Laura, Faddei and Asya worked it out. Under sixteen will be junior cadets, sixteen upward seniors. Promotion to an active troop when they are ready and only when they reach eighteen.

The Lind agree?

The Lind consider their own young to be fully adult once they reach fourteen summers old and some find the human concept of adulthood at eighteen-years-old a difficult one to understand but even they agree that untrained, unprepared and young cavalry vadeln-pairs are more of a hindrance than a help. You know the Lind mindset – protection of the young and vulnerable. Even the most experienced of their warriors can’t fight the Larg and survive whilst keeping one eye on the youngsters. I think too that at last the Lind are beginning to understand that human youngsters develop differently to theirs. A child doesn’t have the strength and stamina needed for hours of close combat although I know that there will always be exceptions.

Are young Louis Randall and Ustinya a case in point? He is a well-grown specimen and his sword-work is excellent, admitted Jim.

True, answered Francis, but most of the youngsters, especially the girls, need time to learn the skills required. That’s one reason why we’ll be splitting the youngsters up by age. If they pair at fourteen or younger, they will have at least two years in the junior section before joining the senior. For a while though, we may have to use the seniors on patrol. I can only field three full troops at the moment, we are so under strength.

Talking about training, have you persuaded that genius with a sword to leave his farm to come to the Vada as Weaponsmaster yet? Last I heard Robert Lutterell was not at all keen to let him go. He was champion fencer on the ship for years. Strange how I always thought of it as an archaic sport, not much use in the real world.

He always said that it might come in useful one day. I took a few lessons from him but never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be fighting large vicious brutes of wolves for real.

None of us did.

I have hopes that he can be persuaded, added Francis, you know Jsei of pack Ratvei, he who paired with Geraldine Fitzpatrick during the battle?

Jim nodded.

Well, it seems that he has a sister, from the same litter and she wants to join the Vada. I’m sending her off to the Dahlstrom farm with Geraldine, Jsei, Louis and Ustinya. I have a gut feeling that if Mislya finds Wilhelm suitable, he might well find her persuasive powers difficult to resist.

So you have high hopes that he and his family will be joining you before winter?

Most definitely. Mislya is a most attractive female and as I’m reliably told, very determined.

Jsei has promised to tell me when, interrupted Asya.

When, not if? You seem sure of success, said Jim, turning towards her.

I know Mislya. She is a good fighter.

She fought with the Ratvei Lindar in the battle?

Yes. Mislya saw Wilhelm when he was fighting with the infantry but she could not find him when Larg fled. Now Mislya’s hurts are better and she goes to get him.

There was a distinct aura of satisfaction in Asya’s voice as she added, we need a human to teach you the best way to use sword. Vada need him. Mislya will explain and he will understand and come to Vada.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed, promised Jim.

Asya looked puzzled, a look echoed by Jim’s own Larya.

What you mean by keep fingers crossed? Why do you do this?

Jim sighed and proceeded to explain to the inquisitive Lind. They always wanted to know and enjoyed putting their human partners on the spot. Privately Jim thought that they understood such sayings well enough and only asked for the explanations out of a perverse sense of mischief.

Larya’s mental chuckle confirmed his suspicions.

* * * * *

So here I am, thought Jim as he sat down beside Larya the next morning, whoever would have thought two years ago that I would be sitting in conference on a planet light years away from my home system with an alien species that resemble horse-sized wolves?

The delegates were ensconced in a sheltered clearing in the centre of domta Afanasei. The humans present were seated on rough-hewn benches made from fallen trees. The Lind made themselves comfortable on the springy turf.

Delegates from the four Lind packs or rtath that lived in the lands jointly allocated to humans and Lind were present. Blue striped Afanasei, newly elected leader of his pack after the death of his predecessor Zanatei in the battle two months before, was present and beside him Tarmsei, the recently promoted Susa, commander of pack Afanasei’s Lindar, its fighting arm.

The leaders of packs Malkei, Ranetei and Velsei sat nearby, together with their own Susas. Interspersed with the pack representatives sat Francis McAllister, his Asya beside him, as Susas of the Vada and James Rybak and his vadeln-pair Rozya with her mate Matvei. To their left sat Winston Randall, the only human present with no Lind life-partner. All but Winston were fairly proficient in Lindish by this time and even he had enough command of the language to follow well enough. Making up the numbers was Kolyei, sitting close to the veterinary surgeon, on paw to provide a translation if needed. It had been decided that the conference should be held in Lindish rather than Standard, the human tongue.

Crtath, welcome, began Afanasei. As leader of the rtath hosting the meeting it was beholden on him to make the first announcement. I ask Susyc Jim to speak. He turned to Jim, inclining his hairy head in an invitation.

Jim stood up.

He looked at the interested faces gazing at him and prompted by Larya, began, it is my honour to report that the Larg and convict armies have been defeated. He paused for a moment.

: Keep going, you are doing fine : Larya ‘thought-sent’ the encouraging message.

We have hopes that they will not try again in the near future. I think they were surprised at the courage and determination we all showed. I am proud of all who fought. Available intelligence, scant though it is, suggests that the Larg are in disarray and that their commander, Aoalvaldr, is in disgrace. We do not think that the convicts in the south will attempt another invasion without Larg support.

Do you think they will try again? asked Winston, in Lindish with an atrocious accent.

Within our lifetimes, yes, I think they will. The convicts did not get what they came for. They fled only when the Larg lines broke. He surveyed the assembled and gave a half-bow in the direction of the Susas and Francis, and for that we have the Lindars and the Vada to thank. We well know the cost of our victory.

The Larg wish to rule all, said white Malkei, Elda of his green striped pack. We know this. They will be back, with or without these bad men.

Yes, agreed Jim, and it is the alliance between them that makes the situation so dangerous. Up until now you have known where and mostly when, the Larg will attack. This is true no longer. Recent reports state that the convicts now have boats. The entire coastline is under threat, winter and summer. We will have to set up a system of coastline patrols.

Jim paused, waiting for the reaction. It was not long in coming.

Lindar Jalkei protects in the east, protested Velsei.

They only patrol where islands are, was Malkei’s mild comment. He looked at Jim. What do you suggest?

"I do have a proposal."

Sixteen pairs of eyes focused on their Susyc.

Our four home packs and the Vada must patrol all along our southern coast, also the colonists in Argyll have begun to spread north up the east coast and have asked for protection.

Can they not defend themselves? asked Velsei.

The Vada have agreed that they have an obligation, Jim continued, ignoring the interruption, an obligation to defend all of the free peoples in the north, Lind and human and they shall do so, no matter what the cost. Their numbers are few, they can scarce field more than two hundred vadeln-paired and there is a lot of coast to protect. Rtath Ratvei has agreed to send half a Lindar into Argyll to the east coast and also rtath Vanya, but this can and will only be a temporary measure until the Vada has enough fighting pairs.

There were whines and murmurs of approbation.

Lind must protect all, said Matvei in agreement.

I have asked Robert Lutterell in Argyll and he has agreed that more Vada recruits can be searched out from amongst his people, added Jim, all packs have been requested to send unattached Lind to find their life-mates but it will take time to train them.

Many are eager to join Vada, said Velsei, the Ruza of the battle is the Vada.

Velsei turned to his own Susa who looked anxious. What do you think?

The white Susa commanding rtath Velsei’s Lindar thought for a moment before he spoke. There the snow land as well, he cautioned. Wral and gtran come down and hunt. We need protect rtatha. Who will protect the young and old if we are at coast?

He has a point, admitted Afanasei.

The Velsein Susa turned to Jim. Talei am I. Lindar Velsei lost many in battle with Larg. Like Vada we are short of experienced fighters.

We all are, answered Asya. Need time for ltsctas and human young to grow.

In normal circumstances, the Larg would be unlikely to return for at least two seasons after such an extensive defeat, but as Jim pointed out, these were not the normal, more traditional circumstances.

For good or ill, declared Jim, mankind is here. I could wish that the convicts on the Electra had seen fit to go elsewhere, the Larg would have been quite enough to deal with on their own.

That understatement, said Afanasei, we thought this ourselves.

Are we agreed then? asked Jim.

I speak for us all when I say we are, answered Afanasei after a rapid telepathic interchange with the other three pack-leaders.

They’ll not always be like this you know, reflected Jim.

Who? queried a confused Malkei who might be forgiven for not understanding who were the ‘they’.

The convicts. In a few generations they will have forgotten their beginnings here.

We can but hope, said Winston to no one in particular.

Kolyei turned to Asya. You and Asya leave for Vada domta soon, he said. We have agreed that the Vada must keep going. All rtaths will send unpaired to seek out human life-mates.

I need at least two hundred, warned Francis, more if you can manage it and the older the better. If both vadeln-pairs are adult or almost so, they will be ready to fight that much sooner.

Aren’t the fully adult the most unlikely to form life-bonds? asked Winston, also, many have families to support and might be unwilling to uproot and come east to us.

The hopeful will not be drawn to the unwilling, said Kolyei, pointing out the obvious.

Get them to us and we’ll train them. That’ll ease the load in the future, said Francis. We have begun to build the stronghold. Families are on their way to farm the land, few as yet, but numbers will grow.

There were no objections; all four home packs had a community of humans living within their pack borders although Afanasei’s was the largest. If some of these humans wished to farm in the lowlands to the south that was fine by them. The pack-leaders were confident that enough would remain within the rtathlians.

You will take responsibility to run Vada? asked Ranetei, to defend rtathlians?

I pledge this, vowed Francis.

We pledge this, amended Asya.

Winston Randall coughed and heads swivelled towards him. He looked diffident. As we appear to be talking about setting up settlements, I feel that it is time that I told you of the hopes of a small group of us, human and Lind.

Afanasei nodded, Winston had told him he would be bringing this up. Speak.

We in the group are all medically trained, Winston said slowly, with help from Kolyei. We wish to set up another domta here in the rtathlians to train others. Any healers can come there to learn how to heal. My greatest wish is that we will train enough humans and Lind who will travel throughout the entire continent giving medical succour for injury and illness. We humans have much to learn from our Lind counterparts and visa versa.

He looked at the faces watching him and recognised pleased surprise.

The Vada needs trained medics, agreed Francis, we will send our people for training with you. He was watching the others for their reactions.

Velsei will send Holad members to learn, announced Velsei.

Malkei.

Ranetei.

Winston Randall’s face broke into a smile.

We can do so much, he declared, we can save so many.

Human medics had saved hundreds of Lind lives on the battlefield, lives that would otherwise have been lost.

You have chosen place for this domta? asked Rozya.

Not far to the south of here. Good water, plenty of trees. Vadath Holad domta will be the one where everyone wants to train.

Vadath? enquired Matvei. What is Vadath?

Winston’s eyes ranged round. Have I spoken out of turn? he queried, not a whit abashed, Kolyei did say.

Jim and Larya looked sternly at the blue-striped Lind at Winston’s side and Kolyei had the grace to look embarrassed.

I not think it big secret, he said in defence but the twinkle in his eyes belied his words.

But what is this Vadath? persisted Matvei.

Why! It’s the name of our country, declared Jim. He most definitely did not want discussions on the matter. He did not know what else Kolyei had managed to pick up. Tara’s vadeln-pair was noted for his ability to ferret out information. What else could it possibly be called? We have the rtathlians in the west. We have the country of Argyll to our east. Vadath is the best name for us. ‘Vad’ for two and the ‘ath’ part derived from rtath, pack. Two disparate species coming together to form a huge pack in a wondrous and beautiful land. We humans here are not Lind, but neither are we of Argyll. We have chosen to live with you. We are of Vadath now.

Stunned silence!

It is agreed? cried Jim. Everybody and everylind nodded. It was obvious to the humans that the Lind couldn’t see why it had to have a name at all. To the Lind a place name was transitory, but none had any real objection, it merely supported the Lind in their belief that all humans were slightly mad.

Only Larya looked disappointed.

: I think Jimsland sound better : was her disgruntled comment.

: Never mind : ‘thought’ Jim back to her : I have no wish to go down in the histories as the name of a country :

Asya wagged her tail, her eyes twinkling merrily. Francis looked at Jim who returned his look, daring him to say anything.

Francis decided that discretion was the better part of valour and held his tongue.

The conference was adjourned because nobody could think of any good reason for it to continue. Their country had a name, plans were in motion for its protection and all were in agreement about Winston Randall’s medical domta that would benefit all, not merely those lucky rtathen who were domiciled in Vadath.

Francis and Asya would leave for the Vada stronghold some days later, taking with them Brian and Sofiya, the first new cadet duo to be entered in the Vada rolls that Francis would start as soon as they were settled and quarters built. As the weeks passed, a steady trickle of newly paired duos would arrive, helping out with the stronghold’s construction and waiting for their formal training to begin.

To the overstretched Vada’s relief, the coasts remained quiet. Francis and Asya began to relax, thankful for the breathing space but knowing full well that it would not last forever.

* * * * *

CHAPTER 2 - RTATHLIANS OF THE LIND

In their own part of the continent, the Lind were holding a conference of their own. Mariya, Chief Elda of the Gtratha, otherwise known as the Gtrathlin had decided to take steps to stop the rumblings of discontent.

The arrival of humans on their planet had led to many changes to the traditional way of life. Now they would have to adapt. Some rtaths were not as keen as others about the burgeoning relationship between the two species, although these were mostly from the western packs that had had little or no contact with the newcomers.

They were frightened of these life-bonds, these pairings, Lind and human, that went emotionally deeper than even those between mates. Previously if one of an eln died, whether in battle or from disease or old age, the other continued to live, but all reports from the battlefield indicated that with vadeln-pairings, the other partner, whether Lind or human died also. This was a great matter for concern.

Also, females traditionally did not fight in the Lindars until their young were fully-grown. For those paired and with the Vada, this would not be an option. Nursery cover would have to be provided and there was a very real possibility that mothers would be required to fight and might die in battle leaving their young as orphans.

It was the representative from pack Maletei who opened the proceedings.

What have humans done for us? he complained. If they not arrive Larg not have allies made of humans in the south.

If our humans had not arrived, Mariya countered, these men in the south might still be allied with Larg and we would be fighting them both on our own. It is a good thing we have much in common with our humans.

What if they want to come and live in our rtathlians? asked another.

That will not happen, answered Mariya in a tone that brooked no argument and before another worry had a chance to take hold. If they need more paw room they will travel to islands. They have maps. Are islands beyond count, some bigger even than rtathlians of largest rtath. Humans offer much in exchange for friendship.

Our dagas are now warm and dry, announced Larnei of pack Ratvei. Human forepaws are very useful and they do this without asking. In our rtathlian humans work hard to make dagas free of rain puddles. Ltsctas sleep warm and dry.

They will grow soft, growled one elderly Lind, shaking his head.

I think not, continued Larnei. When grow to adulthood, I think you find Lindars are better than ever and why not sleep warm and dry? My old bones feel the difference when last I visit and then there is their Holad.

Their Holad have offered themselves freely, said Mariya, anxious to press on. She sensed that some of the more antagonistic pack representatives were beginning to come round to her way of thinking.

Yes, admitted Saya, representative of a small pack that had not participated in the battle, we heard have many more survived their battle wounds than in times past.

And, added Mariya, becoming angry at the continuing signs of doubt, the birthings, almost none die, if human is there to help.

How? asked the doubters.

They do operation, answered Larnei, stumbling over the strange word. Cut open and take ltsctas out and bind the mother up again. Call it caesarsection".

All but one mother has survived this and she was very weak when reached help. Her young lived, added Mariya.

How do we meet with Holad humans? asked Saya, interested in spite of her misgivings.

Not all vadeln-pair are fighters, answered Larnei. Many train to heal. Will take time to train enough so that every rtath has humans to tend to our sickness, but it will happen. Susyc Jim and Larya have promised, also a human called Winston. He has set up Holad domta and it is open to all human and Lind who wish learn.

You can help, pressed Mariya, "send