The Khyber Connection (TimeWars 6)

“You keep shut,” Learoyd said. “Mulvaney, take him. He’s a big one, but he won’t break away from you. Get on, you.”

They pushed him out into the corridor. It was filled with heavily armed tribesmen.

“Blast!”’ Learoyd said.

“Now aren’t you glad you didn’t kill me?” D

rakov said, smiling.

“Tell them to back away!”

“You tell them. You speak the language well enough.”

“I want it comin’ from you.” Learoyd jabbed him with the knife. “Now.”

Drakov called out to the tribesmen to back away. They did so, slowly, keeping their weapons ready.

“Now ask them where they’ve got the prisoners.”

Drakov called out to the tribesmen again. There was a brief silence, then one of the men answered.

“There are no prisoners, Your Holiness. There are only those with you. The others have escaped.”

“Escaped?” said Ortheris.

“They’re lyin’,” said Mulvaney. “We never saw ‘em come out.”

“Why don’t you search the other chambers then?” said Drakov. “I’m in no great hurry to go anywhere. I’ll wait.”

“I don’t like this,” Ortheris said. “This chap’s actin’ too cocksure of ‘imself.”

“I have nothing to lose,” said Drakov. “You don’t dare risk harming me. And as for getting me to Peshawar, you’re dreaming. If you think about it, you’ll see how hopeless your position is.”

“We’ll see about that,” Learoyd said. “Come on.”

They proceeded farther down the hall to check the other chambers. Mulvaney kept a firm grip on Drakov while Learoyd and Ortheris quickly checked the rooms. Each one they came to was empty. There was no sign of Finn and Andre. The tribesmen followed, keeping their distance, alert for any opportunity to attack and rescue their holy man. Among them, his khakis hidden by a long white robe, was Gunga Din.

Chapter 11

The British camp was below them, on the plain before the Bedmanai Pass. It was Mohmand territory, the land of the savage tribesmen of the Mamund Valley. After the relief of Chakdarra, Blood had pressed on to put down the revolt of the Mohmands, who though they had been deserted by Sadullah, nevertheless had no shortage of holy men to spur them on in their jehad. The entire frontier situation was unstable, from Chitral to the Khyber Pass. The fever of jehad had spread like a disease, infecting all those tribes except those already pacified by force of arms.

General Blood knew he could not fail to put down the rebellion. It was not enough to defeat Sadullah at the Malakand Pass, nor was it enough to rescue the garrison at Chakdarra. He needed to put down each and every tribe, thwart each and every holy man who incited the mountain people to revolt. Those tribes that had been defeated by him, those khans who had been forced to make peace along his line of march, would remain subjugated only so long as he did not fail. One defeat, one withdrawal, one serious setback, or one recalcitrant tribe not met on its own ground would be interpreted as a sign of weakness, and those khans who had so humbly and respectfully agreed to terms would immediately rise up again,, like the embers of a campfire not properly doused would soon erupt in flame.

Finn and Andre stood upon a rise overlooking the British camp. They knew from history that this was one of the most difficult moments in Blood’s campaign. Before him was the Bedmanai Pass, held by the Ghazi followers of Hadda Mullah. Behind him was ground broken by ravines and nullahs, across which retreat would be extremely difficult. He had only one brigade with him. The 2nd Brigade, which had been meant to rendezvous here with him, was still engaged in fighting in the Mamund Valley, twelve miles away. The 1st Brigade was stuck with transport problems on the Panjkora River. A relief division was still miles away, struggling to get through difficult and hostile country. Blood was squarely in the middle at Nawagai.

Heliograph communications under such conditions were difficult, as was the local khan, who was loyal to the British only while Blood remained encamped upon his doorstep. If he went to reinforce the 2nd Brigade, the khan of Nawagai would turn against him and the Hadda Mullah’s Ghazis would pour down out of the Bedmanai Pass to harass his rear. The entire region would be out of control. Blood’s brigade was the only thing between the Hadda Mullah’s Ghazis and the tribesmen in the Mamund. If they were to unite, his situation, and that of the British in the northern sector of the frontier, would almost certainly be hopeless.

“He’s down there somewhere,” Finn said, “a young cavalry officer on leave from his regiment and having a high old time. Can you beat that? Most soldiers go on leave so they can see their loved ones or have a party somewhere. This one goes so he can see a war. It’s not enough he’s faced with thousands of berserkers with knives and swords and rifles, now he’s got a hit squad from a parallel future on his tail. ‘How was your leave, soldier?’ ‘Oh, not so bad, sir. Bit of a dustup with several thousand savages; some difficulty crossing rugged terrain while being harassed by snipers night and day; a few assassins from an alternate universe gave us a rough time for a while, but otherwise, routine, sir. Just routine.’ What was that line about mad dogs and Englishmen?”

“You’re tense,” said Andre. “You always babble incoherently when you get tense.”

Delaney snorted. “You’re feeling relaxed and mellow, I suppose?”

“Sure. I’m fine now. When this is over, I’m going to have a nervous breakdown. I hope to hell you’ve read the situation right.”

“I hope to hell I have too,“ said Finn. “If I was going to do what they’re planning, this would be the perfect opportunity. This was a turning point in Blood’s campaign. If he failed here, the whole northern frontier would have gone up, and the Tirah Expeditionary Force would have been nowhere near enough to pacify the region. With Blood putting down the uprisings in the north, all Lockhart had to worry about were the tribes in the southern sector. This scenario would give them the perfect chance to kill two birds with one stone. Assassinate Churchill and sabotage, Blood’s drive against the Bedmanai Pass. Add that to the strike against the Tirah force in the Khyber and you’ve got a massive temporal disruption on several counts, with at least one timestream split, guaranteed.”

“How do you think they’ll go about it?” Andre said.