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The Grog Express: The Gray Baron&039;s rail line describes the chord of his defensive arc running from the Mississippi River to the Missouri south of Omaha
It is an unusual railroad, in that it connects no cities, Kurian Zones, or resources Much of it did not exist before 2022; it&039;s purely an invention of military necessity The Gray Baron wanted a fast way to link his vast operational area and defend it with a comparatively small force The ansas mobility
The Iowa Guard believed it couldn&039;t be done-a rail line largely built and worked by Grogs The Gray Baron, with a few hired engineering guns and a lot of backbreaking labor, proved the laden flatbeds in the es on a nineteenth-century canal
The Grog Express runs two kinds of trains Fast diesel loconed to shift artillery fro and hu supply trains shift his coworms, and the wounded and injured and supplies for other forh two supporting lines One runs up into Iowa, the other to the Mississippi River, where it ends near the riverside wharf of a little town called-nowadays-Grog Point
David Valentine watched the progress in the rail yard with so like satisfaction
The day proriddle of blue steel flat as the prairie beneath
The Baron&039;s Stronghold had a s with his personal line and running back up to Iowa The first order of business was to send Chieftain and a few Golden Ones a dozen miles up the line and tear up track, to prevent a surprise attack
Unlike their Gray cousins, who had a Byzantine tribal network, Golden One faanization of the flight somewhat easier Postpubescent males and females each formed a "circle" as Ahn-Kha translated it, then newlyunable to survive without their parents help, then fa, then those who had lost one or the other mate, then senior males and females, and finally the truly elderly who needed the care of a younger generation Each such "circle" had leaders and adjudicators who found help and settled disputes and spoke for their circle, more or less The circles called on other circles for help, ancient "links"-such as s and ers naturally supervising the un help fro after the elderly
Little of it was codified; it seemed to be a tradition with the Golden Ones
"What happens if a newly pubescentsure one of the toothless elderly&039;s food is properly mashed?" Valentine asked
Ahn-Kha&039;s ears went back "Very little, as long as there isn&039;t thievery or brutality of any sort Just talk But if such a link breaker should ever need assistance the it outside blood relations"
Graf Stockard had eant major in the confusion He asseuard of a couple of armored cars and Valentine made the usual offers to take volunteers The others would be locked up, packed into the old forced-labor holds and secure warehouses to be turned over to whichever of the Baron&039;s forces or Iowa Guard reclaih to do without a few hundred extra prisoners to take care of It wasn&039;t quite lawful, but it would have to do
So thethe Golden One circles Valentine and his tea questions, often in milish They wanted to know about weapons, about the trains, about canned heat and water purification, about tentage and cordage
The scattering of huether as a teaether in the outdoors to start an alliance
They were such gentle giants, too They reminded Valentine of horses, very careful of how they placed their feet and shy to the touch As he explained coupling and uncoupling railcars and the attendant safety chains, a pair of juveniles, easily the size of a smallish man, held a plate of ive arificially-flavored-and-sweeetened refreshment
Whatever last doubts Valentine had buried in the recesses of his s&039; ability to adapt to Kentucky were dispelled The Kentuckians like those in the Gunslinger Clan would welcohbors Well, probably
It occurred to Valentine that it would have been a good deal easier to siion to Northern Missouri than move the Golden One population to theEvansville and the Army of Kentucky
He wondered if the saued his father at the birth of the Ozark Free Territory
They were able to organize two trains, plus a siant handcart The first was full of warriors and had the fastest engine Valentine and Ahn-Kha briefly considered attaching the arht would slow the train They elected to have it looktroop train, with the warriors cra with ed flatbed was pushed by the engine
Only one of the Baron&039;s patrols ca the process, and they were taken prisoner by ares to the fortress Thanks to the Warmoon Festival, there had been only a few patrols out Every Gray One wanted to take his part in the rites to enhance his chances in the coht it best if the experienced Golden One fighters stayed with their people and the "Express" was stuffed with Gray One warriors The Golden Ones would be at ease with their families and the familiar command structure of their elders around
The Golden Ones&039; commander-in-chief was a meaty, shrapnelscarred veteran named Wu-Dkho-no huht of him as "Napoleon" He was a little shorter than most of the Golden Ones, and he wore a heavy, pocket-lined coat with his chin tucked into his chest in ahe&039;d seen of Napoleon retreating from Moscow Ahn-Kha explained that his stance was a little intie wasready to head-butt
Valentine made contact with Cottonmouth and told them Buffalo would be on the move He hoped to cover the forty air ht, and have the rest of the Golden Ones to Muddy Landing in three days
"Muddy Landing," Captain Coalfield&039;s voice crackled back Valentine couldn&039;t tell if there was relief in his voice "Seventy-two hours"
"Froht," Valentine said
They held a finalin the co of the eastern spur of the Grog Express was filled with the latest information about the expected schedule and the distribution of the population and soldiers between the trains
On a sideboard, the Gray Baron&039;s expensive array of ports and whiskeys had been cleared away and replaced with heartroot, nuts, and strawberries, plus the inevitable instant leanization Valentine had ever visited
Old sweat clung inside his unifore and a basin would have to do, and even that could wait until the Express was
Duvalier stood in front of the chalkboard, looking like a s the time-tables with her arms crossed
"Fortyit," she said "We&039;ll be crawling at foot pace"
Frat was there, along with a huineer anted out at Saint Louis, Ahn-Kha and a er Golden One, Duvalier, Stockard, and Pellwell, the last because she and her ratbits were already designated to ride in the command car
"Who cares if we&039;re slower than shit," Frat said "With those big bastards properly ar to mess with us, at least nobody who can concentrate in time"
"We&039;llfull-time, we&039;ll stop every three hours to let a few hundred rest"
"A drop in the bucket when you&039;re talking about ten thousand-," Duvalier said
"Nine thousand two hundred and seven, though we h water it can be done Water is the key"
Which led to a technical discussion about the conversion of a pair of ten-thousand-gallon diesel tank cars to carry water
Pregnant females, mothers of infants would ride in some comfort in the barracks cars
"One problem remains," Valentine said "Already, there are probably phones ringing in various Iowa headquarters about the silence frohold If we could keep up some radio chatter, the usual business traffic between here and IowaI wouldn&039;t want to be in the co patrol comes in, under the Baron&039;s officers"
"I&039;ll do it, sir," Stockard said "I&039;ve been trained on coht you wanted to come with us, Captain? Get back to your son?"
"Yes Verythe radio will increase your chances that much more They know my voice in Iowa I&039;ve pulledas you don&039;t flip back to the Iowa side," Duvalier said "A guy could win a brass ring, letting them knohat happened and where we&039;re headed Once a Quisling-"
"Enough of that," Valentine said
"You&039;re too quick to judge," Frat said, glaring
"I&039;ve been h," Duvalier said "I don&039;t trust That&039;s why I&039;," Ahn-Kha said "Perhaps we can bicker once we are on the waters of the Mississippi"
Valentine was tempted to ask Duvalier if she&039;d stay Of all of them, she could be relied on to press, but not extend her luck She knew Missouri well, and could either et to Saint Louis, or take the short route back to the Wolves in the hills to the south and then make her way back to Kentucky at leisure
Provided her health held up She&039;d been li ain, she didn&039;t know radio procedure, and there were feomen in the Gray Baron&039;s command Best to leave it to an experienced hand But Valentine still wanted to give Stockard an out
Valentine reached for a handful of nuts His stoo down on paper about the circu Southern Command, Graf," he said "On the report you&039;ll be just another prisoner of the Grogs as brought out with the Golden Ones"
"My son thinks his father&039;s a hero," Stockard said "If Iable to call myself that as well I&039;ll stay Leave me a bicycle?"
"Frat, scare him up some transport and fuel Double- and triple-check it"
"No, a bike&039;s fine," Stockard said "I was in the bike troops in the Guard, back in the day I still do it for exercise Motors get noticed by our Gray friends on both sides of the Missouri River"
Ahn-Kha leaned over and whispered so in Stockard&039;s ear His homely face took on a shy smile
"I&039;ll stay as well Two can travelvarious field jackets of the Baron&039;s troops "I took a good look at your prisoner and heard a feords fro up in person, I should be able to confuse the issue for those wandering into camp" He pulled a slouch hat on low and stared into Valentine&039;s eyes For just a second, he shimmered and Valentine saw the Baron&039;s eyes and Pancho Villa mustache
"Neat trick," Valentine said "Teach et back"
"I would, if I only kne I did it," Frat said
By nightfall they were loading the trains with the riders Supplies, weapons, and a the cars
Valentine put the Baron in the first train There were several gri captives Only one showed any sign of recent use, the rest were badly rusted The Kurians were all too used to shuttling bodies around on rails in their aura-based economy, where humans served as currency
It looked biblical, like soanized their march so all the herders were on the outskirts, the craftspeople and food nant, and very young on the train with their doctors and attendants, and the youths expending their energy running s
Valentine wondered if Moses organized the Exodus with a headache and a mild case of cramps
He suspected he picked up a nasty amoeba in the food or water Both the Golden Ones and Gray Ones had good toilet habits-they dug shallow pits and buried, like cats-but their hand washing left much to be desired and the tufts of thicker hair at the knee and ankle joints would get befouled
Had he been feeling better, he would have taken the scout glider up and tried the Missouri air There was a fresh spring breeze the wide, nearly weightless wings could ride
It was a fascinating device occupying its own flatbed on the colider could be launched into the wind at the end of a tether, rather like a kite, and rise and rise in altitude where a tiny ultra-lightweight electric motor could be turned on or off for extra power The sailplane could easily scout for an hour or two then return to the train for recovery
Valentine had done a goodCircus in the Southwest, where gliders were towed to an appropriate altitude by a larger plane so new pilots could be trained without risking a precious aircraft
Well, it would be dangerous to fly at night, or, ht
At last the Express pulled out, with Valentine giving hirateful for the built-in toilet
The co Clan, whined for action like hounds waiting to be shipped Valentine did not know if they enjoyed fighting or were eager to prove themselves to their new master, but as the Express pulled out they hooted and yowled out their eagerness for action
Bee, always eager to be of use, ululated her exciteht later," Valentine told them as the train lurched intodepended on seizing control of the two strongpoints between the Baron&039;s point at the ters and the Iowa Guard
The strategic plan reminded Valentine, far too closely for comfort, of an allied disaster from the Second World War
Valentine had studied the Market Garden-called by sohway"-operation at the War College The plan, unfortunately, rese control of the rail line and seizing the strongpoints, rather than bridges, along the line
The Allied Forces had ht for the second, and never hty percent of their forces by the time their withdraas completed