The swarthy bitek constructs remained unnervingly motionless as they stood in a loosely circular formation. Every new platoon
which arrived immediately discarded their backpacks and joined their fellows in stationary contemplation of their predicament.
As far as Stephanie could tell, they were the only humans among them. The newly arrived serjeants had all given the remnants
of Ketton a wide berth. Yet she could sense a stir of minds amid the ruined town. As first puzzled why not one of them had
ventured out to talk to the serjeants, she’d now assigned a certain resignation to the fact.
“We should go over and talk to the others,” she said. “Having this kind of division is ridiculous in these circumstances.
If we’re going to survive, we have to cooperate and work together.”
McPhee sighed, and wriggled his large frame comfortably over the sleeping bag he was lying on. “Oh lass, you only see good
in everyone. Open your eyes. Remember what yon bastards did to us, and let them stew.”
“I’d like to open my eyes,” Moyo said harshly. “Stephanie’s right. We should at least make an attempt. Setting up different
camps is stupid.”
“I didn’t mean to offend. I’m just pointing out that they’ve made no attempt to talk to us or the serjeants.”
“They’re probably too nervous of the serjeants,” Stephanie said. “It’s only been half a day, after all. I doubt they even
know how much trouble we’re in. They’re not as disciplined as the Edenists.”
“They’ll find out eventually,” Rana said. “Let them come to us when they’re ready. They won’t be so dangerous then.”
“They’re not dangerous now. And we’re in a perfect position to make the first move.”
“Whoa there, sister,” Cochrane said. He struggled up into a sitting position, which sent a lot of bourbon slopping out of
his tumbler. “Not dangerous? Like funky! What about the Ekelund chick? She put up some mighty fine barricades last time we
waved goodbye.”
“That situation hardly applies anymore. You heard Sinon. We’re going to die if we don’t find a way out of here. Now I don’t
know if their help will make any difference, but it certainly won’t reduce our chances.”
“Urrgh. I like hate it when you’re reasonable, it’s the ultimate bad trip. I know it’s bigtime wrong, and I can never escape.”
“Good. You’ll come with us, then.”
“Oww shit.”
“I’ll stay here with Tina,” Rana said quietly, and gave her friend’s hand a small squeeze. “Someone has to keep her comfortable.”
Tina smiled with hollow defiance. “I’m such a nuisance.” There was a chorus of indignant reassuring no’s from the group. They
all hurriedly smiled at her or made encouraging gestures. Moyo’s face wore a forlorn expression as he fumbled round for Stephanie’s
guiding hand.
“We won’t be long,” she told the pair of them positively. “Sinon?” She tapped the serjeant lightly on its shoulder. “Would
you like to come with us?”
The serjeant stirred. “I will. Making contact is a good idea. Choma will accompany us, also.”
Stephanie couldn’t quite sort out the reason she was doing this. There was none of the automatic protectiveness which had
driven her to help the children back on Mortonridge. Not even the sense of paternalism which had kept them all together in
the weeks before the Liberation. She supposed it could have been simple self-preservation. She wanted the two sides working
together to salvage this situation. Anything other than their wholehearted effort might not be enough.
The ground outside Ketton had suffered few changes following the quake. There was the shallowest of curves across the width
of the island, betraying the original shape of the valley from which it had been snatched. Long hummocks bordered the slowly
drying mires, rambling gently across the slope like the sand-ripples of a tidal estuary. All that remained of the forests
which had smothered the foothills were denuded black branches poking resolutely skywards. There was no sign of the roads which
had survived the deluge; the quake had swept them away. Twice they found craggy sheets of carbon concrete jutting up from
the mud, leaning over at acute angles. Neither of them corresponded to their memory of where the road had been.
With the loam all churned up again, Stephanie found her feet sinking a couple of inches at every step. It wasn’t as bad as
when they’d raced to keep ahead of the jeeps, but walking was an effort. And they still hadn’t fully regained their strength.
Half a mile from the outskirts of the town, she stopped for a rest, disappointed at how hard she was breathing. Each inhalation
made her feel guilty at the way she was poisoning the air.
From a distance, Ketton was at least different to the surrounding land. Individual, tightly-packed zones of colour supported
the theory that although most of the buildings were damaged, they at least remained loosely intact. Now she could see what
a fallacy that was. She should have been warned by the complete absence of trees.
Cochrane prodded his narrow purple sunglasses up to his forehead, and peered ahead. “Man oh man, what were you cats thinking
of? I mean, this is like
wasted
, with the world’s biggest capital W.”
“The harpoon assault against Ketton was intended to deprive the occupying possessed of any tactical cover,” Sinon said. “We
have suffered considerable attrition due to your booby traps and ambushes. As you were determined to make a stand here, General
Hiltch was equally resolved to deny you any advantage the town itself could offer. I believe the quake was also supposed to
be a psychological blow as well.”
“Yeah?” the hippie scoffed. “Well that backfired on you, didn’t it? Look where scaring us shitless got you.”
“You consider yourself better off here?” McPhee laughed snidely at Cochrane’s chagrin.
“Is it bad?” Moyo asked.
“There’s nothing left,” Stephanie told him. “Nothing at all.” Up close the patches of colour were actually just dull variations
of grime, low mounds of rubble that fused into the mud. Even with their energistic power almost undimmed, the possessed had
made no attempt to resurrect the buildings. Instead, people were picking their way among the ruins, a constant swarm of movement.
As they drew closer, she realized there was nothing aimless and disorientated in the actions of the survivors. They were methodically
excavating the mounds, scooping out quantities of bricks and shattered concrete with a combination of physical and energistic
force. It was all very purposeful and efficient. In other words, organized.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” she said in a low voice as they reached the outer knolls of rubble. “I think Ekelund
might still be in charge here.”
“In charge of what?” Cochrane asked. “This is like a municipal landfill site. And they’ve only got ten days to live.”
A team of two women and one man, barely out of his teens, were working away on one of the piles, shifting large metal frames
as if they were made of plastic. They’d already dug several short tunnels into the pile. Battered composite boxes of sachets
had been stacked neatly just above the mud. The three of them stopped what they were doing as Stephanie and Sinon walked over.
Stephanie’s spirits fell even further when she saw they were wearing army fatigues.
“We thought we ought to see if there was anything we could do to help,” she said. “If there’s somebody trapped in the wreckage,
or anything.”
The young man scowled, looking between her and her companions. “Nobody trapped. What you doing with those Kingdom monster
things? You some kind of spy?”
“No, I’m not a spy,” she said carefully. “There is nothing for anyone to spy on here. We’re on this island together. Nobody
has anything to hide any more. There’s nothing to fight for, not amongst ourselves.”
“Oh yeah? How much food have you got? Not much, I’ll bet. Is that why you’re here?” His anxious glance slipped to the small
stack of boxes they’d uncovered.
“The serjeants have enough food to last us, thank you. Who’s actually in charge here?”
The man was opening his mouth to answer when an incredible stab of hot pain punctured Stephanie’s hip. It was so intense she
couldn’t even cry out in shock. She was flung back by the force of the impact, the world spinning madly about her. Landing
on her back, she saw her limbs splayed out in the air. Gore and blood splattered onto the mud around her as she went limp.
I’ve been shot!
Everyone was shouting wildly. Dashing about in total confusion. The air hazed over with bright scintillations, thickening
protectively around her. Stephanie raised her head, looking along her body with numb interest. Her trousers and blouse were
glistening crimson with blood. There was a long rent in the fabric over her hip, showing the torn flesh and splinters of bone
underneath. Shock gave her vision a perfect clarity. Then her head suddenly became very warm, and the hideous pain returned.
She screamed, her vision turning grey as her muscles relaxed, dropping her head down into the mud again.
“Stephanie! Fuck, oh fuck, what’s happened?”
That was Moyo, his anguish and fright making her frown.
“Ho-lee shit! Those dudes shot her. Yo, Stephanie, babe, you hear me? You hang on. It’s like a scratch. It’s nothing. We’ll
fix it for you.”
A dark demon was kneeling beside her, its carapace alive with wriggling sparks.
“I’m applying pressure. It should stop the bleeding. Focus your thoughts on repairing the bone first.”
Stephanie was receding from them, only vaguely aware of a dry liquid spilling all across her torso. It was deepest over her
hips, exerting a cool weight. A beautiful opalescent cloud twinkled languidly in front of her eyes. Soothing to watch. She
could feel her yammering heart slowing to a more pedestrian rhythm. Which brought her frantic gasps back under control. That
was good. She still harboured a lot of guilt about using all that air.
“It’s sealing up.”
“God, the blood.”
“She’s all right. She’s alive.”
“Stephanie, can you hear me?”
Long shivers were rippling up and down her body. Her skin had turned to ice. But she could blink her eyes into focus. The
faces of her dear friends were staring down, paralysed with grief.
Her lips flicked into a tiny smile. “That hurt,” she whispered.
“Just take it easy,” Franklin grunted. “You’re in shock.”
“Certainly am.” Moyo’s hand was clutching her upper arm so tightly it was painful. She tried to reach for him, offer some
reassurance.
“The wound has been repaired,” Sinon said. “You have lost a considerable amount of blood, however. We’ll need to take you
back to our camp, and get some plasma into you.”
Something familiar was creeping into her sphere of consciousness. Familiar and unwelcome. Cold, hard thoughts, reeking of
callous satisfaction.
“I told you so, Stephanie Ash. I told you not to come back here.”
“You piece of fascist shit!” McPhee bellowed. “We’re no’ armed.”
Stephanie struggled to lift her head. Annette Ekelund was standing at the head of some thirty or so soldiers. She was wearing
an immaculately pressed pale khaki field commander’s uniform, complete with forage cap. Three stars glinted unnaturally on
her epaulettes. A powerful hunting rifle was cradled casually in her hands. Holding Stephanie’s gaze, she worked the bolt
slowly and deliberately. A spent cartridge case was ejected.
Stephanie groaned, her shoulders sagging with dismay. “You’re insane.”
“You bring the enemy into our camp, and you expect to go unpunished. Come come, Stephanie, that’s not how it works.”
“What enemy? We came to see if you needed help. Don’t you understand?” She wanted to retreat back into the numb oblivion of
pain and shock. It was preferable to this.
“Nothing has changed simply because we’ve won. They are still the enemy. And you and your loony bin refugee friends are traitors.”
“Excuse me,” Sinon said. “But you have not won. This island has no food. The air will run out in ten days’ time. All of us
have to find a way back before then.”
“What do you mean the air’s running out?” Delvan asked.
Sinon’s voice became louder. “There is no fresh air in this realm, only what we brought with us. At the current rate, our
breathing will exhaust it in ten days, a fortnight at the most.”
Several soldiers in the ranks behind Ekelund exchanged solicitous glances with each other.
“Simple disinformation,” Annette said dismissively. “It sounds very plausible. If we were back in our old universe I’d even
believe it myself. But we’re not. We’re in the place of our choosing. And we chose an existence that would carry us safely
down through eternity. This is as close to classical heaven as the human race will ever get.”
“You specified the boundary qualifications,” Sinon said. “A realm where you were cut off from the beyond, and night is a null
concept. But that’s all you did. This realm isn’t going to safeguard you from folly. It’s not some actively benign environment
that will happily provide every need. You are responsible for what you bring here, and all you brought was a lump of lifeless
rock with a thin smear of air on top. Tell me, I’m interested, how do you think this island is going to sustain you for tens
of thousands of years?”
“You are a machine. A machine designed with one purpose, to kill. That is all you understand. Yo u have no soul. If you had,
you would feel at one with this place. You would know its glory. This is where we longed to be. Where we are safe, and at
peace. You have lost, machine.”
“Yo there.” Cochrane had raised his hand. He smiled broadly, radiating enthusiasm like an eager schoolboy. “Um, lady, I’m
normally like
organic
I’m so in touch with the music of the land. And I gotta tell you, I don’t feel shit for this lump of mud. There’s no karmic
vibes here, babe. Believe me.”
“Believe a seditious junkie? I think not.”
“What do you want?” Stephanie asked. She could see Cochrane losing his cool if he kept on arguing with Ekelund. That would
turn out bad for everybody. Ekelund needed very little justification to exterminate all of them. In fact, Stephanie was wondering
what was holding her back. Probably just enjoying her gloat.