"Mickey Zucker Reichert - Flanking Maneuver" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reichert Mickey Zucker)

"Umbert!" the commander's voice drew Umbert to instant attention, and he whirled to face the man
who now stood nearly on top of him. "I want you to stay and guard the prisoners." He handed Umbert an
iron-tipped spear.
Shocked, Umbert accepted his first weapon, stammering, "Y-y-yes, sir." He could not keep himself
from blurting, "Wouldn't someone with more experience do a better job?"
The commander's head lowered, snakelike. He was clearly unused to being challenged.
Umbert swallowed hard, anticipating a lecture on obedience.
But the commander's features turned as fatherly as Oslan's. "Umbert, I need every experienced
spearman to handle the threat behind us. You're safest here. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Umbert believed he did. The commander had given him the most secure assignment to
keep him alive longer, a gesture of mercy not mistrust. "Thank you, sir." Only then, he thought to wonder
if the choice had more to do with the other men's safety, relieving them of their youngest, least competent
member.
"Good luck." The commander stormed off, shouting orders to the other men. Within moments, he
had them all massed and marching, including the injured, leaving Umbert and the women alone.
Umbert stared after the retreating soldiers, scarcely daring to believe they could mobilize so quickly.
Dragged into an unwelcome apprenticeship, he found himself alone in enemy territory with absolutely no
clue as to how to handle the situation. His mind felt numb, blank. A chill spiraled through him, followed
by episodic shaking that made his teeth chatter and his hands tremble in wild, uncontrollable arcs. He
fought for control. Just wait and hide until they come for me. The whole thing seemed madness, one
day celebrating his birthday and savoring the beginning of his last year of childish freedom, the next swept
into a nonsensical war. Alone. Untrained. Apparently, surrounded. Weak-kneed, he slid down the shaft
of the spear to huddle in a heap on the ground.
A sound at Umbert's back mobilized him. He sprang to his feet, whirling, and the spear collapsed to
the forest's leafy floor. He found himself suddenly confronted by the frightened faces of twenty women.
Helplessly bound to one another in a chain that stretched from one sturdy oak to another, they watched
his every move in silence. Most reminded him of the women who had raised him and the other children:
dark, silky-haired, doe-eyed women with broad hips and pendulous breasts. Though merely one of the
group, his mother had quietly and proudly claimed him, though she could not pick out his father for
certain. His gaze went naturally to the youngest and remained there, spellbound.
The woman looked bravely back at him. "Are you going to rape me?"
Her question shattered the silence, and Umbert back-stepped in surprise. "Wh-what?" he
stammered, though he had heard her words clearly enough.
Another spat at him. "You heard her, white dog! What do you plan to do with us?"
Umbert continued to stare. He could imagine the Hurrdu children crying for their mothers and
sisters, the men separated from their wives, mothers, and daughters. "I'm going," he said softly, "to
release you."
The loathing and terror disappeared from their faces. The youngest woman smiled at Umbert.
Despite her age, she clearly spoke for all of them. "Release us? Why?"
"Because." Umbert summoned courage from a depth he never knew he had. "Because I don't
understand this war or why we're fighting it. Because you call me a white dog, though I'm as dark as you.
BecauseтАж I'm too youngтАж too inexperienced, perhaps too stupid to understand any reason to keep
you from your loved ones when I miss my own so terribly." Umbert raised his knife.
Most of the women flinched, rearing backward, though the one he addressed did not. She watched
in fascination as the blade hacked at the restraining ropes again and again. Each attack parted a few
strands and sent the knife bouncing back toward Umbert. He settled for a slower sawing motion, and the
rope parted, dividing the women into two lines.
Several still stared at Umbert with dark suspicion. Others set to trying to fully free themselves from
the bindings, while Umbert chopped them into smaller groups until, finally, they all stood as individuals,
some bound and some free. Most took off running toward their tribal grounds, even with frayed ropes