IV	TAWALA'S LAST REDOUBT  
  
The cruel Emperor Tawala has been forced from his throne on the world of 
Galactica and has fled for his life to the planet of Farside, where he and a 
small bank of adherents prepare to make their last stand. Extreme solar 
conditions have isolated Farside from the rest of the galaxy, and so it 
remains to Benthi, leader of the local insurrectionists, to press the final 
assault on Tawala and his minions.  
  
TAWALA'S LAST REDOUBT puts you in the position of rebel leader. You must 
intercept and decipher Tawala's secret messages to his supporters, form 
alliances with local chiefs, detect Tawala's spies in your midst, separate 
hard intelligence from enemy disinformation, avoid Tawala's military forays 
against you and, finally, lead the assault against the Prince's stronghold.  
  
Minimum Configuration:  
  
APPLE Disk, 48K with APPLESOFT, Boots directly on either 13 or 16 sector  
systems.  
  
  
The Story  
  
This is the fourth tale of the Galactic Saga. The first three episodes  
traced the early life of Julian du Buque of Sparta, starting with his  
appointment as commander of the armed forces of Tawala Mundo,  
Emperor of the small world of Galactica.  
  
GALACTIC EMPIRE followed du Buque's efforts to conquer the 20  
inhabited worlds of the Central Galactic System and join them all into  
a single empire under the rule of Prince Tawala.  
  
Upon successfully completing this assignment, du Buque was  
cashiered (for reasons which were never fully revealed), and in  
GALACTIC TRADER we participated in du Buque's effort to use his  
substantial planning and logistical skills in the world of trade.  
  
Prince Tawala had not been blessed with any such skills and so was  
hard put to keep together the empire which du Buque had gained  
him. GALACTIC REVOLUTION is the story of Tawala's overthrow in  
a revolt sparked by the discontented merchant class and ultimately  
led by Julian du Buque.  
  
Upon his defeat by du Buque's forces, Tawala fled Galactica and for  
a time disappeared from view. It is at this point that the fourth  
episode begins.  
  
She is known to most historians as Lorato, which means love. Her  
name is inextricably entwined with that of Julian du Buque, and in-  
deed their partnership is a fixture in any tapestry of the history of our  
people. But few know that this name was not the one given her. She  
took it for herself when she left Farside with du Buque.  
  
Before then she was Benthi, earth woman, fire and steel, the rebel  
leader who led her small band against the still-powerful forces of  
Prince Tawala on the remote planet of Farside. Her origins are  
known, for she wrote of them herself in a diary which she always  
referred to as "my confessions." Indeed, there is little in the life she  
led as Benthi which we would wish upon our own daughters - even  
the small excerpt from her diary which is appended hereto may not  
be suitable reading for the young. Benthi was by all accounts the  
coldest woman imaginable, except in the heat of battle. Although  
not one of them, she led her band of blue-eyed aborigines with a  
ferocity that seemed to elicit from them a loyalty based half on fear  
and half on respect. It would not seem that this was her battle to  
fight. Yet none doubts the depth of her animosity towards Tawala  
and his cohorts.  
  
She came to Farside with her young husband, Thloka, intending to  
become farmers. Farside was a newly opened planet, and land was  
cheap and plentiful. The aborigines, a lightskinned, blue-eyed  
people, were indentured to the farmers and performed the hardest  
tasks, essentially as slaves. Even the poorest outworlders had five or  
ten of the aborigines to serve them - this peculiar state of affairs  
often existed for a time on newly colonized worlds.  
  
Their foreman was a huge native called Rick. He fled the farm after  
committing a capital offense and joined a small band of guerrillas in  
the hills, who hoped to free their countrymen from the yoke of these  
star-flung oppressors by raids upon the farms and weaker outposts.  
  
When Benthi left her farm and attempted to join the rebels, she  
found Rick in charge. Although suspected at first, she was finally  
accepted into the cadre and when Rick was killed in an ambush, she  
took command of the group. The story is told that she taunted her  
nearest rival into a suicidally dangerous raid, but this seems out of  
character. And no one denies that she was an unparalleled leader, a  
brilliant tactician and an utterly ruthless opponent.  
  
She beat Tawala in the end of course, joined by the bandit Vyl-  
ourmani in the final battle of Mallard Pass, where Tawala was  
cornered and killed. It was only after the Redoubt had been seized  
that du Buque managed to break the barrier of isolation which  
Tawala had cast around Farside and to land his forces on the planet.  
  
Farside brought these three together, two fighting men and a  
fighting woman. And from Farside too came the discovery that broke  
them apart, taking one on a quest across the universe for a gift  
sought through all ages, and the other two on a journey into  
themselves, a journey taken by countless others for as long as man  
has loved. But these are other stories, to be told another time. This  
one has been too long in the telling as it is.  
  
  
The Game  
  
Place the program disk in your disk drive and turn the computer  
on. After a short pause the program name will appear and,  
underneath it, the question, "HOW QUICKLY DO YOU WISH TIME  
TO PASS ON TAWALA'S LAST REDOUBT? Your answer to this  
question will set the speed of the clock which controls all the  
activities of the game (although you can recalibrate the clock from  
within the game quite easily). The speed scale runs from 1 (very  
slow) to 9 (very fast). Three is suggested as a good starting speed  
for most games, although you may set it slower if you are just begin-  
ning.  
  
Once you have selected game speed, press = RETURN =, You will  
now see:  
  
1)	NEW GAME  
2)	RESTORE PREVIOUS GAME  
  
1	2  
  
Pressing = 1 = will continue immediately to game setup. If you have  
played previously and want to continue the same game from the  
point at which it was last saved, press =2 =. You will then see:  
  
ENTER NUMBER OF GAME (OR PRESS  
<RETURN> FOR NEW GAME):  
  
R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  
  
Press = R = if you had intended to ask for a new game and made a  
mistake. Otherwise choose the number under which you saved your  
game previously, press that number and then = RETURN =. As you  
may imagine, the program can save up to nine games simultaneous-  
ly. After loading the first game module, the computer will prompt  
you to insert your data disk. When finished, it will ask you to replace  
the program disk.  
  
Now settle down for a fairly long wait. The disk will whir and clack  
for a while, stop to do some start up computations (and play you a  
little ditty, just so you know it hasn't gone to sleep), and then finally  
load up the game. If this is a new game, you will find yourself located  
at Benthi's Camp, with the mountains in the background and her tent  
off to the right. Your location (Camp) is displayed in the upper left-  
hand corner of the screen. The time and date appears in the upper  
right-hand corner, and three controls appear in the lower right part.  
These are M)essenger, I)ntelligence, and O)rders. The right paren-  
thesis indicates that each of these functions can be called by typing  
only the first letter of the word. This list of three functions is called  
the "Master Menu" from now on.  
  
Before settling into a discussion of the control functions, there are a  
few things you should know about the program. First, there are lots  
of things going on that you don't control. The fiendish usurper, also  
known as Prince Tawala, will soon start sending out raiding parties  
from his stronghold. If you leave the computer at this point and go  
have dinner, you are likely to find the game over by the time you  
return, your forces ambushed and decimated, with nothing left on  
the screen but a lone saluting sentinel standing under the stars. If  
this does happen to you, press any key on the computer and the  
words "PLAY AGAIN?" will appear on the screen. Pressing Y)es will  
restart the program from the beginning and save you the trouble of  
rebooting.  
  
Second, you can alter the speed of the clock on the screen. In real  
life, you are stuck with whatever time sense your metabolism gives  
you, and you may find that most events consist of nine parts  
unremitting boredom to one part terror, pleasure, or hope. The com-  
puter allows you to step outside these real life constraints. Typing  
any number while the Master Menu is on the screen will change the  
clock speed. For example, if you are very anxious to witness your  
own demise, press =9 = and sit back. The hours will whirl away and  
in no time at all, Benthi will become a footnote in Farside history  
books.  
  
There aren't many sound effects in the game, but some people  
prefer to suppress the clock ticks, especially in the games played at  
high speeds. Pressing the CONTROL button and then the = Q = key  
(referred to hereafter as =CNTRL Q=) will suppress them, at least  
for a time. =CNTRL S= will bring them back.  
  
If you would like to save the game configuration you have been  
given before you start play (or at any point during the game), press  
=Q=, for Q)uit. You will then be asked to choose a number from 1  
to 9, and the game will be saved under that number. If you want to  
quit, but don't want to save your game, just turn the computer off.  
Works every time.  
  
Now we are ready to take you through a tour of the control keys.  
Rather than taking them in the order in which then appear on the  
screen, we will treat them in the order you might expect to use them  
in a game. The last page of this booklet has an outline of all the con-  
trol keys for quick reference.  
  
  
The Master-Menu: I)ntelligence  
  
You have little information at the beginning of the game, other than  
your location and the time of day. It would be a good idea to get  
oriented. The only place to start is with your intelligence officer,  
Chief Paoli. Press = I =. This invaluable man keeps on his person or  
in his head all sorts of vital information. He has the only map of the  
area. He has dossiers on every person and everything under the sun.  
And he even has a couple of assistants who can run out and get  
more information if what he has isn't enough!  
  
Let's start by taking a look at the map. Press = M =. Benthi's Camp  
is located at the bottom part of the screen. Underneath the word  
CAMP you should see three green symbols followed by numbers.  
The top symbol represents a rifle, the middle one a coin and the bot-  
tom one a soldier. As you can see, Benthi has one hundred troops at  
her disposal but only one hundred Credits and only enough weapons  
for fifteen of her men. Tawala is located in the upper left corner of  
the screen. If you had an agent in the Redoubt, Tawala's strength  
there would also be shown on the map. Tawala's assets are  
displayed with red symbols. Red and green are impossible to  
distinguish on most black and white television sets. However, when  
Tawala's resources are shown, the world AGENT will also appear  
next to the same location, indicating the presence of one of  
Chief Paoli's spies. (Incidentally, this map will not automatically up-  
date itself while you are watching it - it only reflects dispositions in  
effect at the moment it is called to the screen.)  
  
To get a feeling for distances on this map, press = C = for Camp and  
then = H = for Hollywood. Small arrows should appear next to both  
names and the words "7 hours" should appear in the lower left  
corner of the map, framed by a box. This is the amount of time it  
would take a messenger to run from Camp to Hollywood (it would  
take an armed force twice as long to cover the same distance). Try  
other combinations of letters. When you are satisfied that you have  
seen enough of the map for the time being, press = R = or  
=RETURN= to return to the list of Chief Paoli's functions. Use  
either of these two keys whenever you want to back out of a routine  
or to return to the previous menu of controls. For example, if you  
press = R = one more time, you will dismiss Chief Paoli and find  
yourself staring at the Master Menu once again. (If you actually did  
this, press = I = to get back to Chief Paoli. We aren't done with him  
yet.)  
  
One of the first things we need to do is to send Paoli's two agents  
where they can observe the movements of Tawala's troops and  
report these movements back to us. If we like, we can even try to in-  
filtrate an agent into the Redoubt to report to us on Tawala's overall  
strength. There are two drawbacks to this: one, the risk of exposure  
and capture is far greater inside the Redoubt itself; and two, there is  
no way to recall an agent who has been sent all the way into the  
lion's den. Sooner or later, he is bound to be exposed. We must  
weigh the value of his information against the certainty of his future  
loss.  
  
However, in our first game it would be advantageous to know  
Tawala's exact strength, even at the cost of one of Paoli's two  
agents. So press = S = for S)end agent. Paoli will then ask you  
where to send his spy. Press =T= for Tawala's Redoubt. Paoli will  
send the agent off immediately and with luck he should start re-  
porting back in about 16 hours (the length of time it takes to run be-  
tween Camp and the Redoubt). It would also be advisable to station  
an agent at Janus, the interior crossroads city through which all of  
Tawala's forces must march on their way to other destinations.  
  
Next we must concern ourselves with building up the strength of  
Benthi's tiny force. Obviously the first concern is to secure arms for  
the unarmed men in the cadre, then to increase the overall strength  
of the force. There are several ways to do this. Tawala is rumored to  
have buried an arms cache for use by his men if they should ever be  
cut off from the Redoubt. We will have to rely upon Chief Paoli's  
agent to uncover the location of this cache and the code word that  
unlocks it. Also, the brigand Vyl-ourmani has a substantial band of  
armed men. If he can be located and the password for entry into his  
camp discovered, he might be persuaded to join in the fight against  
Tawala, for whom he has no love. Again, we can do little until we  
receive additional intelligence from Paoli's spies.  
  
What we can do immediately is look for support among Farside's  
village chiefs. Four chiefs control the villages in this part of Farside:  
Anson, Beonj, Covoi, and Dumas. Paoli has a dossier on each one,  
and any approach should take into consideration the personal  
characteristics of the Chief whose favor is sought. Press = D = for  
D)ossiers and, when the word FILE appears, press the first letter of  
the name of the person whose dossier we want. Pressing any key  
will `page' through the dossier until it is finished and the Intelligence  
Menu reappears. If we desire specific information about any of the  
towns, pressing = G = and then the first letter of any of the village  
names will reveal current information on the local population and  
economy, as well as the identity of the village Chief.  
  
It is not the purpose of these rules to instruct the reader how to  
evaluate the information presented, nor to reveal the `correct'  
approach to be made in every case. Therefore, the following  
examples are intentionally vague. It is your responsibility to deter-  
mine the tactics which led Benthi to ultimate success.  
  
  
The Master Menu: M)essenger  
  
Press = R = or = RETURN = until you are returned to the Master  
Menu. Then press = M =. On the right side of the screen four names  
will appear. These are your four messengers. Press the letter = L =.  
The messenger Lanai will cross to the tent, salute, and prepare to  
receive your orders. First of all, you must tell him for whom the  
message is intended. Messengers may be sent with offers to the four  
village Chiefs. They also may be used to convey instructions to  
Benthi's forces stationed in various villages (for example, to tell one  
of Paoli's spies to return to Camp). Let's assume for the present that  
you wish to convey an offer to Chief Dumas. Press the letter = D =  
The following should then appear on the screen:  
  
  
Options:  
N)othing  
M)oney  
Offer him...  
  
If you press = N =, Lanai will carry no money to Dumas. If you press  
= M =, the bottom line will change to read:  
  
Offer him money, specifically:  
  
You will then be expected to enter a sum of money, less than the  
sum on hand (you may recall from viewing the map that you started  
with 100 CR), which sum Lanai will take with him for transfer to  
Chief Dumas. This sum can be viewed as payment for the goods you  
will request or as a bribe. There is little likelihood of the money being  
returned if your request is refused. In deciding whether or not to  
offer the Chief money in return for his assistance, please examine  
Dumas' personality profile carefully! One note about entering sums:  
type the numbers in slowly Ä there is a good deal of processing go-  
ing on during keyboard entry, and if you type too fast, some of the  
numerals can be lost. If you make a mistake, you can use the left  
arrow to backspace. When you are finished entering the number,  
press = RETURN  
  
At this point the following screen should appear:  
  
Options:  
A)rms  
M)oney  
T)roops  
Tell him we  
require...  
  
You must select the type of goods you wish to have delivered. (Do  
not try to buy money. Your messengers have very deep-seated  
notions of propriety.) You must then enter the quantity of goods you  
would like. All three commodities have intrinsic values which do not  
change: rifles are worth 5 Credits each, soldiers 3 Credits, and  
Credits (not surprisingly) 1 Credit exactly. This information may or  
may not be of any value.  
  
You must then tell the messenger where to return with the goods,  
provided he is able to acquire them. If you plan on moving your base  
of operations to one of the villages, you might prefer to have the  
goods sent directly there. Or if one of your bases is understaffed, it  
might save time to reinforce it directly.  
  
Finally, you must instruct your messenger as to whether or not your  
offer should be accompanied by a threat of reprisals against the  
Chief if he should refuse to deal with you. There are several factors  
which you should take into the balance before making this instruc-  
tion: the strength and personality of the Chief, the proximity of his  
domicile to your nearest troops, and the size of his militia, to name a  
few. The size of the local militia varies from one half percent to one  
and a half percent of the village population, dependent largely upon  
the calibre of the Chief's leadership.  
  
If Benthi's messenger threatens reprisals and the Chief repulses the  
offer nevertheless, failure to take action within four or five days will  
cause a diminution in respect among all of the Chiefs. Yet, however  
desirable it might be, it is very hard to create a reliable supply source  
based entirely upon good will.  
  
After Benthi has told Lanai whether or not to threaten reprisals, Lanai  
will salute and leave on his mission. The screen will clear and then  
return to the Master Menu. If, instead of sending a message to Chief  
Dumas, we had wished to recall our spy in Janus, we would have  
proceeded a little differently. After selecting Lanai, we would have  
instructed him to take a message to our people (by pressing =0=)  
in the town of ____ (by pressing the first letter of the town name).  
Messengers don't get union wages, however, and if there aren't any  
friendlies in the village you direct him to go to, you are going to find  
him somewhat recalcitrant about leaving.  
  
  
The Master Menu: O)rders  
  
The final control on the Master Menu is O)rders. Press =0= and the  
Master Menu will be replaced by:  
  
T)roop movement  
B)reak camp  
  
Press =T=. A soldier will appear and ask, "Where shall we go,  
Benthi?" Respond by indicating the name of the village to which you  
want to send troops. The soldier will then ask, "How many men will  
you send?" Enter the number of armed men you want to move. You  
cannot send out unarmed men. The screen will then clear and the  
following appear:  
  
Options:  
S)ecure town  
L)oot & pillage  
What are our orders?  
  
If you press =S=, your troops will go to the indicated town and  
fight only if the town is occupied by Tawala's forces. If you press  
Ä L =, the troops will attack the local militia, sack the town, and take  
as much booty as possible.  
  
S)tay on station  
R)eturn to base  
M)ove to...  
And when finished?  
  
Again, choose the option you wish. If you press = M =, you will be  
asked to designate the cadre's final destination. The screen will then  
clear and return to Master Menu.  
  
The second option under O)rders was B)reak camp. Press =0=  
again, and this time press =B= next. "Where to?" will appear and  
as soon as you respond, your troops (and you) will set off. Unless,  
that is, you answer anything but L)em or H)ollywood, the only two  
towns connected directly to Camp by roads. If you answer with any  
other town, your subordinate will ask the name of the first town you  
will pass through on your way to your ultimate destination.  
  
There is one other option in the O)rders menu, but it appears only  
when Benthi's headquarters have been relocated to Janus. The third  
option is A)ttack redoubt. This command will cause the final, all-or-  
nothing battle to begin, from which there is no retreat, no second  
chance. All of your efforts in the game culminate in this, your final  
command, with which you order your legions to follow you to the  
very gates of Tawala's close, there to do final battle.  
  
It is perhaps ironic that in this, the final battle, you are essentially a  
bystander. You can watch, from a vantage point high above the  
defile in which the battle takes place, but once the fray has begun,  
you cannot alter or in any way further affect the outcome. For true  
leadership rests not upon the moment of conflict but in the hours and  
toils leading up to the crucial moment.  
  
There is no score at the end of Tawala's Last Redoubt. The situation  
permits of no partial victories, no salvaged defeats. Either Tawala is  
destroyed or Benthi. There is no middle ground.  
  
  
The Messages  
  
From time to time during the progress of the game, messages will  
scroll across the bottom of the screen. These messages include all  
reports based on the activities of your messengers, spies and troops  
while away from headquarters. If you find the messages hard to read  
while they are scrolling, you may stop their motion by pressing any  
key. A second keypress will start them up again. Occasionally, you  
may attempt to enter a command just as a message begins to scroll.  
If the keyboard does not seem responsive, check the lower right  
corner to see if a message has begun to scroll across the screen.  
  
Paoli's secret agents report to Benthi by one-way wireless, so they  
can often provide sufficient advance warning of Tawala's troop  
movements to allow Benthi to avoid unwanted confrontations or to  
reinforce beleaguered outposts. They also sometimes intercept  
coded messages between Tawala and his minions.  
  
Breaking Tawala's ciphers can greatly benefit the rebel cause, for  
these messages often contain valuable information. Sometimes they  
reveal Tawala's immediate plans. Sometimes they expose the loca-  
tion of hidden arms caches or of Vyl-ourmani's men. And sometimes  
they provide the code words that must be keyed in from the Master  
Menu in order to unlock hidden doors. Each new game will use a dif-  
ferent cipher, but all messages within a game will be coded using the  
same cipher.  
  
The coded messages are often quite long and use of the wireless is  
very dangerous, so it is imperative that these messages be copied  
down with the greatest possible speed. It is possible to break the  
wireless connection at any time by pressing any key during com-  
munication (and thus lowering the risk of exposing Benthi's agent),  
but the agent will also break the connection in an unreasonably short  
period of time, so be forewarned.  
  
Winning this game is not easy, especially if you make minimal use of  
the very slow pacing speeds. But then any effort to simplify the pro-  
cess by which Benthi overcame Tawala might cheapen her  
accomplishment, and that would never do.  
  
  
Appendix A: The Diary  
  
The following excerpt from the diary of Benthi covers a period of  
time substantially before Tawala's final defeat. Although it is not  
necessary to understand the source of the rebel leader's astounding  
power in order to replicate her actions on the battlefield, such com-  
prehension may help one to understand her choice of tactics and the  
fierce intensity of her will.  
  
Monothr 1  
  
Three seasons ago this month they took away my baby. I see it all so  
fresh still in my mind, the picture sharp as desert moonlight. It had  
been hot and dry. The summer rains had not yet come, and Margit  
was sleeping badly. I called her Margit. Thloka never called her  
anything, never admitted that she even existed. It is just as well, I  
imagine. He could never have pretended to love her.  
  
I wish I could train my mind not to drift like this. It always ends up  
floating back to those barren days and sends shivers of remem-  
brance up my spine. Even now, when there is so much danger, if I  
shudder Rick knows that it is not fear that chills me, but memories.  
That is why he changed my name.  
  
Bambi Knoch I was once - the forest fawn wed to a stolid Teuton.  
Benthi, Rick renamed me, full woman, and commanded me to put  
aside my past. Oh how I wished upon him such a power to remake  
me!  
  
But when the air grows hot and dusty this time of year, those old  
images swell up before my eyes, so hard and stark I cannot shut  
them out. I remember. Margit, my child, pale skin, dark eyes, her hair  
just a fuzz of brown. And Thloka. The man I once loved more than I  
had ever loved, whom I followed to a world I never dreamed of,  
where he left me.  
  
Five years we had together, years of poverty, hope and sharing. I  
bore him no son, a terrible failing, and yet he never gave me reason  
to know it. He was good to be with, a strong man with a happy, rip-  
pling laugh. When he spoke of this new land and its promise, with  
opportunities for all with strong backs and strong wills, it sounded  
like the heaven of our dreams. On Farside, he said, we could  
homestead, start our own farm, build our own clan. No longer would  
he have to watch me age so young from menial labor in others'  
homes. Oh how he cared for my welfare and happiness!!  
  
Perhaps the dream was dying even then, but I failed to see it. The  
great clan he was to head was slow to spring from my reluctant  
womb and surely meant more to him than he ever allowed. Of his  
own large family, only his sister Lorato and he had survived the war,  
the two youngest. And then Lorato's death one April night - Thloka  
and I had been married only two months. We took the trader for Far-  
side on the next pass. Too many memories, too many failures on  
Zoe, Thloka had said, and I had agreed.  
  
I fight for freedom now. Once I scorned freedom, hated it and feared  
it, with a fear that would tighten about my heart like a kingsnake  
wrapped around a desert squirrel. I was too much a part of others  
then, too little a part of myself. I was the smallest knot in a web that  
crossed eons and worlds, that bound me to a duty and did not even  
acknowledge my existence in return.  
  
We take up arms for countless causes and against innumerable  
oppressions, but our struggle is at heart the same - for self-respect.  
This weapon in my hand is not a license. No, I am responsible for my  
own actions now. I hold myself strictly accountable.  
  
Four years ago one night I stopped by the kraal to speak with Rick.  
He was our foreman then, a man of immense energy and natural  
authority. I used to watch him drive the others, told Thloka that they  
worked harder under my eye. (Rick said - much later - that my  
fascination was not with his efficiency.) How it happened I cannot  
say even today, although I do not deny responsibility. He took me,  
there on the dusty sands, whether by force or otherwise does not  
matter any more.  
  
I told not a soul of that night, and Rick did not come to work the next  
day or thereafter. We had a hard time of it for a while, for Rick had  
virtually run the farm, but when Thloka noted my increase he bent  
his back to the task with extra vigor and a lightness of step that  
belied his pretended indifference to coming fatherhood.  
  
Margit broke his heart, a beautiful, shy earth-toned baby with  
nothing of Thloka about her. He continued as before, acting as  
though he lived only for his work, but Margit shamed him, and when  
one day the authorities came to take her away, Thloka would not  
meet my eye, and I knew that he had betrayed me.  
  
Rick came down from the mountains one night shortly thereafter and  
took the rest of our workers away. From the window in my bedroom,  
I watched them as they drifted silently westward under the brilliant  
moons, wraiths scudding before the cleansing broom. I too was  
seized with the urge to flee our desolate homestead, and gathering  
together a few things, I set out after them.  
  
(We fight together now, a single well-honed unit, but I know that  
each among us carries a personal pain we hope in some way to ex-  
tinguish. That our liberation is but a matter of time I have no doubt,  
but sometimes I wonder in my heart what will fill the emptiness  
within me when our struggle is over.)  
  
I am stationed on a butte overlooking the wastes of Char-al-Nee,  
standing watch for the column which Tawala must send to rescue  
his beleaguered outpost in the Kraal foothills. It is beneath my  
position perhaps, this tour of sentry duty, but it breeds respect  
among the cadre, and besides, I need the time alone.  
  
How strange to think of such considerations! When first I caught up  
with Rick, he ignored me and his people rebuffed me. Two weeks I  
followed the column, sleeping apart from the rest (but always with  
an eye open to see that they did not slip off), eating alone such  
nourishment as I was able to secure from the land and my rapidly  
depleting provisions, content (if they had known it!) merely to be in  
journey, each day's progress removing me one step from a life which  
had abandoned me.  
  
I would not have survived without Ketumetse's help. She brought  
me scraps of food from the camp to supplement the thin diet I was  
able to provide myself. A slight wisp of a girl, no more than fourteen I  
imagine, she had been our housegirl at the farm and didn't seem to  
fit in well with the others. Perhaps that was why she sympathized  
with my isolation. The others doubtless saw what she was doing but  
made no effort to interfere. The terrain was hard enough to occupy  
most of our attentions.  
  
The Karalan escarpment forms an austere wall marking the edge of  
the high savanna and the most fertile areas where the farms have  
sprung up. Beyond the escarpment the earth becomes grey dust, a  
fine soot that enters every pore and chokes the unmuffled throat.  
This is the Char-al-Nez, a hundred kis wide, a desolation inhabited  
only by the wind. It is said that men once lived there and that grass  
grew deep over that sterile land, but I do not believe it.  
  
Beyond the wastelands lie the foothills and then the snow-white  
peaks of the Maziwa Range. Streams still chuckle there, disappear-  
ing into the ground at the edge of the Char. Few people venture into  
these hills, as the terrain is difficult and not suited to farming. That  
may have been one of the reasons Rick chose them for his base.  
  
Early on the morning of the fifteenth day of our journey we reached  
the far edge of the Char and entered a narrow wadi leading into the  
highlands. Here the company stopped to enjoy the smells and  
sounds of living soil and to drink fresh water scooped from holes dug  
in the sand in low parts of the wadi. But no sooner had most laid  
down their packs than a band of marauders fell upon them from the  
high banks on each side. Many of Rick's people fell immediately,  
while the rest fled helter-skelter. I could hear Rick's bellow as he  
tried to pull his panicked flock together.  
  
I had trailed behind the main body half a ki or so, for even after a  
hardy farm life I was no match for the field hands in endurance. As a  
result I was not involved in the fray, although I saw it clearly from the  
edge of the wadi, which I climbed to avoid the raiders.  
  
Once the great part of Rick's people had been driven off, their  
assailants swooped down on the fallen and started to strip them of  
their possessions, killing the wounded as they came upon them. I  
watched as if at a film, frozen with the shock and horror of it all (how  
time changes one!). Then the nearest of the victims shifted so I could  
see her face. It was Ketumetse, her face distorted by pain and fear.  
She appeared unable to walk but tried instead to crawl away from  
the melee. One of the raiders saw her and ran over to stop her  
escape. And suddenly I saw before me the image of my own lost  
daughter, grown up in a strange and forbidding world without my  
protection, and in my mind Ketumetse and she became one. From  
some hidden wellspring within me then gushed such a fount of rage  
that I lost all sense of time or place.  
  
I have no recollection of what followed. Rick said that he saw me  
sweep down the side of the wadi and impale the bandit with my own  
small hunting knife, then turn on the remainder with so implacable an  
expression upon my face that they hesitated for a moment in indeci-  
sion. Rick seized that moment, with some few of the hands whom he  
had collected, to attack the raiders from the other side, and they,  
having largely gained their objective, withdrew.  
  
From that day my isolation was ended and if Ketumetse was still my  
most loyal supporter, my acceptance by the others did not appear  
grudging. It was as if, having decided now to trust me, they denied  
that they had ever failed to. It was not Rick's doing, of that I am cer-  
tain. If his people had not accepted me, he would have kept his  
distance. He could lead his cadre - he explained it so plainly to me  
- only if they were absolutely certain that he always placed their  
interests before his own. If they did not trust me, neither could he.  
  
I shared his tent for the rest of that long trek, until at last we reached  
his first redoubt, a small box-shaped valley backed up against  
Ghasialima, most northly of the Maziwa Range, where a full five  
hundred battle-proven men and women were already encamped. He  
was drawn away then by the responsibilities he must assume, but  
our small group must have spoken for me, for I was treated with  
courtesy by the entire camp. The cadre's position was in many ways  
less unsettling than Rick's. I was at least allowed to be one with  
them, if not one of them. I still did not know what Rick wanted of  
me.  
  
During the months of training which followed I stayed with the same  
group, until I could no longer see in any of them the faces of my  
former "hands." We all grew together during this time, for Rick  
blended us skillfully into a single unit. And when the time came for  
our first battle testing, Rick led us personally.  
  
We raided a farm, not unlike the one from which we had all originally  
come. We had been expertly prepared and thoroughly rehearsed in  
each phase of the operation. Some among us were designated to  
approach the farmhands and recruit as many as possible to our  
cause. Others were to lead the meat animals away. Still others were  
to secure communications, disarm the owner and his family and  
search for weapons. We were ready for our test, and yet we failed,  
for we were expected. Tawala's men were waiting for us and took  
us by surprise. Fully half the cadre was killed or left behind, and I  
would certainly have numbered among the casualties had not  
Ketumetse pulled me aside from the main body because of some dif-  
ficulty with her pack, so that we were at the very rear when the trap  
was sprung.  
  
Rick was wounded very slightly in the arm, but on the return trek he  
angrily refused my offer to bind it up. I was the more hurt then when  
he allowed Ketumetse to stanch the bleeding. And my hurt grew  
greater when he avoided me utterly on the return journey, as if my  
presence had somehow been the cause of our failure.  
  
I had not shared Rick's tent after we first reached Ghasialima, but he  
would frequently appear at mine late into the night and often not  
leave my arms until the morning light drove us into wakefulness. But  
after the raid these visits ceased. It was evident that Rick felt that I  
had failed him in some way, but I was unable to ask him directly. If I  
had needed any final proof of my fall from favor, however, I received  
it presently, when I woke one day to find most of the camp gone on  
another raid of which I had not even been aware.  
  
They were gone three days. As the sun was disappearing over the  
western rim of the valley, the remnants of the raiding party straggled  
into camp, no more than two thirds the size of the original band, and  
many of them wounded. I joined those easing the pain of the injured  
and was changing dressings when Rick sent for me.  
  
He apologized immediately. I had not been informed of this last raid,  
he told me, in order to clear me of certain charges which he had en-  
countered running with foul energy through the camp - that I had  
somehow communicated warning of the previous raid to the  
authorities and was therefore responsible for the ambush which had  
caught us by surprise, with such devastating consequences. Since I  
had not known of this second raid and since it too had been am-  
bushed, if there were a spy in the camp, as seemed likely, I was  
really the only person now above suspicion.  
  
I still can recall the crushing impact of this revelation. No, I was not  
overjoyed to learn of my own innocence. I had not realized that it  
was in question. But to have been suspected without cause before  
any others - that was cruel. And even worse, to have been ab-  
solved through being denied a piece of information all the camp  
knew...  
  
How could he know that no one in the entire camp had told me of  
this second raid, I challenged him. What kind of proof was that? I  
might indeed be his spy. What gave him such assurance that I could  
be kept ignorant of a secret shared even with the children! His bland  
certainty humiliated me more than I could tell.  
  
How did he know that Ketumetse, my devoted follower, had not  
revealed the raid to me? Because it was she who had suspected me  
in the first raid, Rick had answered. It was she who told him how I  
had dropped out of the advancing column so that I wasn't in my  
proper position when the trap which caught us was sprung. It was  
Ketumetse who pointed out that when we were attacked after  
leaving Thloka's farm, I stepped into the open and yet was not  
harmed. She is grateful that you saved her life, he said, but she is not  
a fool.  
  
No, not such a fool as men can be! His tone as he spoke told me what  
I had not known, and then the pieces began. to fit together at last. I  
understood then why I had seen so little of Ketumetse over the past  
two months, why Rick had come less often to my tent, even before  
the first raid, why the women in camp deferred to a wisp of a girl a  
fraction of their age.  
  
How can I separate the turmoil of my feelings at that time? - yet I do  
not believe that jealousy or spite colored what I then did. I have  
always had a facility for cutting off my emotions when they interfere  
with what must be done. It was as Rick himself said. The interest of  
the cadre must come first - and if our leader's judgment was im-  
paired by his male foolishness, then it was my responsibility to take  
steps to protect us.  
  
I am not hasty. I did not waste my knowledge on unyielding ears. In-  
stead I begged Rick to allow me to lead the next raid, to erase any  
lingering suspicions over my loyalty to the cadre. A little to my sur-  
prise, he agreed. He too realized that it was necessary. My skin  
tainted me yet.  
  
We studied the maps together and ultimately selected a brazen  
target, the huge Mani-kor estate, on the third night before the next  
conjunction of the moons. I occupied him until past the evening meal  
and the sun had already set when finally I left his tent. But I did not  
return to my own.  
  
There is a nook in the boulders nearby. I squatted there until I saw a  
lithe form slip through the tent folds. Then I wandered in the  
darkness for a time, for their private pleasures were no concern of  
mine. I returned only when I felt that Rick would be sleeping - he  
was not a great talker and slept quickly and deep. In the chill of the  
night I waited. Of what was to come I had no doubt.  
  
The dawn greyed about me presently. I was sore and cramped from  
the vigil. I rose and began to move about as if upon some little  
errands, so that my purpose would not be evident to the early camp  
risers. But Ketumetse did not emerge until the sun was full upon the  
tent and with such radiance in her face that I was at last pierced by  
doubt. Could this frail creature be our betrayer? Could anyone shine  
so with life and send her comrades to their deaths?  
  
She spied me then and greeted me with warmth, and had I not re-  
called her words denouncing me, I should have put my suspicions  
behind me. It is well that I did not.  
  
(I see a great stirring of dust on the far horizon. Tawala's  
unimaginative commander has reacted as anticipated. We shall  
prepare the ambush. but there is time yet. The column cannot march  
in the full heat of the day and will not reach the place where we shall  
destroy it before evening.)  
  
Three days I watched her, even as I put the cadre through final drill in  
preparation for the raid. Three nights I lay sleepless in the rocks by  
Rick's tent. And just as dawn began to lighten the valley tops on the  
fourth day, I was rewarded.  
  
She slipped out the back of the tent so silently I would surely have  
missed her had my attention not been attracted by a burst of song  
from a nightthrush. She climbed with sure feet toward the canyon  
headwall. I followed her with my eyes, and only when she dipped  
behind the short rhiolan growth did I rise to follow her.  
  
She was crouching behind the bushes in the middle of the path,  
speaking softly as if to herself, and in my haste I tripped over her.  
She would have scrambled away, but I held her by the ankle until I  
could pinion her to the ground with my body. She was strong but  
very light and no match for me in strength.  
  
I could hear her breath coming in quick little gasps beneath me. Why,  
I asked? Why do you do this, Ketumetse? presently she started to  
weep. She said nothing but sobbed as if her heart were torn asunder.  
After a time, I lifted her and carried her back to the camp. She lay  
limp as rags in my arms, not resisting, already a stranger to this  
world.  
  
At morning call, I showed my prize. They jeered me. Blinded by nar-  
row thoughts, they applauded my loudest skeptics. Ketumetse did  
not speak. Carefully, I laid the evidence before them, one point at a  
time. None would hear me out, particularly not Rick, who made as if  
to stop me. Then a rage took me, and I denounced them all for what  
they made me do.  
  
With my knife I cut open her throat to reveal the device I knew was  
there. The glint of wire and metal from within the bloody wound  
silenced them then. But anger and sorrow took my voice away, and  
it was left to Rick to come and inspect the body of the woman he had  
known, to separate the transmike from the shards of surrounding  
tissue and display it for all to view. He had the decency to weep for  
her, which is the reason I forgave him for being such a fool.  
  
Outline of Control Functions  
= M = Messenger  
=H= Haka =J= Juma =K= Keetse =L= Lanai  
1)	... take this message to .  
Ä0= our people  
...in ... (one of the villages)  
...Tell them to move to ... (village name)  
=A=, =B=, =C= OR =D= (one of the four chiefs)  
  
2)	Offer him...  
Ä N = Nothing  
=M= Money  
...	specifically ... (enter sum)  
  
3)	Tell him we require...  
=A= Arms  
=M= Money  
=T= Troops  
  
4)	... specifically ... (enter sum)  
5)	To be sent to: (one of the villages)  
6)	Should I threaten reprisals for failure to comply?  
  
= I = Intelligence  
=M= Map  
= D = Dossiers  
= G = Geographical  
= S = Send Agent  
  
=0= Orders  
= T = Troop Movement  
1)	Where shall we go? (one of the villages)  
2)	How many men will you send? (enter sum)  
3)	What are our orders?  
= S = Secure town  
	=L= Loot & pillage  
4)	And when finished?  
	= S = Stay on station  
	=R= Return to base  
	= M = Move to... (one of the villages)  
=B= Break camp  
1)	where to? (one of the villages)  
  
Non-listed controls:  
	Q	Quit game  
=CNTRL Q= Turn sound off  
=CNTRL S= Turn sound on  
1 = to = 9 = Change tempo of game  
  
The names of the villages:  
=A= Anaxis	=D= Delphi	=J= Janus  
=B= BahI	=F= Ffahr	=K= Koku  
=C= Camp	=H= Hollywood	=L= Lem  
and sometimes: =T= Tawala's Last Redoubt  
  
The names of the Chiefs:  
=A= Anson =B= Beonj =C= Covoi =D= Dumas  
  
The names of the messengers:  
=H= Haka =J= Juma =K= Keetse =1= Lanai  
  
Originally (c) 1981 Broderbund Software  
Converted by Textbridge Pro
