by Bowring, S D
Keller thanked the man. Jay looked over at Keller as he took a drink. “So, this is all about you, young man?” Keller looked over at Bula momentarily. He realised Bula had probably needed to tell them about his background to convince them as to why such events were taking place, and why they needed help. He nodded at Jay. “Not of my making, though,” he said with a tired smile.
Jay appeared mildly amused. Bula looked at Keller. He nodded and said “It’s true, though. Keller is something of a pawn in all this. We are so grateful for your help, all of you. It’s been terrifying. The renegades used lethal force on us and that shows what sort of people we are dealing with.”
“We did see a mediheli about the time you indicated. Hopefully, it was for your colleague.”
The Foresters
On his arrival alone at the settlement, Bula had walked up to a group of people talking outside one of the domed homes. He explained his predicament. They had taken him straight to Jay and Carla who seemed to be a respected pair. He wasn’t sure of their role, but presumed they were village elders. They seemed concerned for him, so Bula had then made a judgement that he would have to explain all and did so. The villagers were unaware of events in Macau B, Plymouth Rock and elsewhere. His hosts were shocked and readily offered their assistance.
Jay had explained that the settlement traded directly with Plymouth Rock supplying them with resin and tubenuts. The latter being used for vitamin extraction and oil for oil-based creams. They themselves traded for necessities, including medicine, tools and certain foods. They generally shunned the city life, in much the same way that the Outsiders did, however they certainly appreciated that they were all interdependent on Rayleigh and that Rayleigh itself was dependent on the other worlds.
Jay asked Bula to bring his colleagues in for shelter. It was at this point in their discussions that Bula had then gone with them to signal to Tane and Keller. He knew he was fortunate to find such people and he instinctively trusted them.
Jay now asked Bula and Keller what they could do to help, apart from providing shelter and food during the longnight. Bula explained that they needed to get out of the settlement and onwards toward a safe place for pick-up. Jay aired the view that it may be possible to call in a heli to the settlement. They didn’t have the technology but Bula was welcome to try this approach himself. Bula agreed it might work, but he was also wary of the arrival of a heli putting the villagers at risk of some form of retaliation from the renegades after their departure.
Keller looked around at their new friends and he felt at home. They were in a large open room with a fire in the middle and he could see that they slept and lived in a similar manner to the teepees in Suffolk Road. One difference seemed to be that they had doors on one side that led to a basic washroom – a luxury for an Outsider.
Carla came back with a much cleaner and fresher looking Tane, now wearing clothes similar to her host. Jay then asked a man called Kimber if he and his wife could take both Keller’s and Tane’s shoes and return with replacements more suitable for walking. Carla suggested that Kimber also bring some walking stockings to protect their feet further. Tane thanked them both for their generosity.
“Young man, come with me and I will show you the washroom.”
Keller followed her through the door down a short corridor and into a tiny room. It had a similar plas basin to the one in his cell at Fourtrees Prison, but the water was drawn by pulling a lever up and down until the basin was full. He presumed they must have a spring nearby or a well, perhaps. In the Suffolk Road Zone, some of the Outsiders who had permanent fields had made use of wells. These foresters, though, would not have to test theirs regularly for any contamination from radiation. This world had not endured any wars.
Carla offered Keller some soap and a cloth to dry himself. She stopped him from undressing and suggested she might leave him to it and backed out of the door. He then undressed and looked down at his feet. They were in a bad way. Carla had left him a bowl with an iodine solution which she advised him to use on his feet to disinfect the wounds. Rayleigh had a rich supply of iodine salts that occurred naturally and these were one of its export ‘treasures’. Firstly, Keller washed and dried himself. He felt a lot better just doing that. He then applied the iodine to his feet.
There was a knock at the door. Keller opened the door to Jay who had some new clothes for him. They were foresters’ clothes. “You might need to blend in,” he said.
When Keller returned, Bula looked him up and down saying, “It suits you Keller, and you have the right build for a forester.”
Whilst Bula was in the washroom, the foresters took the opportunity to talk to Keller. In particular, they asked various questions about Earth. The foresters said that they still regarded Earth as the mother world and probably always would. Most of their children’s stories, nursery rhymes and much of the history taught in the small school made frequent references to Earth, or came from Earth originally.
When Bula returned, he was similarly dressed. Some of the foresters left to go to their own beds but others were too interested in the arrivals. They would happily stay awake the whole longnight, they said, just to speak with Keller in particular. Some of them ate the food provided by Carla, once the visitors had stopped eating.
During their discussions, Keller mentioned in passing that he was a foundling. This seemed to spark further interest and he noticed how some of the women quietened and looked at him with a mixture of sadness and concern after this. “It was a long time ago,” Keller said. He was slightly embarrassed about this sort of attention, since his family back on Earth were used to this fact and, therefore, it was a matter of little interest, just like a member of the family having a birthmark.
Eventually, and reluctantly, the rest of the foresters left as they could see how tired their guests were. Carla and Jay provided some matting for them to sleep on. Jay and Bula agreed that, at the moment, they were as safe here as anywhere. At dawn they would think about a way out.
Keller slept right through the night, as did Tane. Bula slept fitfully and told Tane after they were woken that he felt responsible for Ash and just wished he could find out if he was safe and well. Jay and Carla provided some more food in the morning.
They were eating some simple, but wholesome, local breadcake and juice when Kimber returned with the shoes and stockings looking worried. “Sorry to disturb your meal, Jay,” he said. “However, there are three uniformed men down at the track. They have been asking if any strangers have come by and they have stun guns with them.”
Bula looked up sharply. “We’d best get our shoes and stockings on. Thank you, Kimber.” Tane and Keller got up. “Jay, if they were friends, they would have just walked into the village and asked for us by name.”
“I think you are right,” said Carla who had been sat talking to Tane. “Where are these three now, Kimber?”
“They are down by Jackson’s house – one of them is working a slate.” This confirmed to them that they weren’t working alone.
Tane then spoke. “If there are only three of them, then it is possible that there are a number of small groups looking for us at other nearby settlements. They can’t know for sure that we are here, otherwise there would be more of them. They are likely to detect us if we leave the village and they are in a position to heat scan us if they are that close. We are right out in the open - unless of course we leave the same way the foresters do. We need to start keeping our voices low too.”
They put their stockings and boots on, whilst Jay and Carla kept an eye out.
Jay came back to Bula, speaking quietly and looking worried. “I can’t see that you can go, Bula, but if you stay they may search our homes. We would happily restrain these three men but it will reveal that you are probably in this area to any others who are searching for you.”
“Listen,” said Keller quietly. They all turned to look at him.
“I have done this before. We had to do this in my own field.” Noticing their bl
ank looks, he explained. “Outsiders call their village’s fields.”
“Go on,” said Jay.
He explained the technique that Cormic and his friends had arranged, whereby many of the Outsiders left the field in pairs all travelling in different directions to allow Keller and his uncle to avoid early detection. “We could do this again, if your family and friends are willing to do this.”
Jay thought about this. “To thwart a man who might take this world to conflict for the first time, and indeed who, by all accounts is on the verge of doing this already? We would do it. We are bound by a moral code to avoid conflict. This may help you escape and may help us avoid conflict on Rayleigh.”
“Of course, we will,” said Carla.
“Yes,” added Kimber. “Our way of life is nothing if there is conflict around us that we didn’t try to stop.”
Keller was moved to tears almost. They had barely met these foresters and yet they were willing to help and, possibly, to put themselves in harm’s way. They reminded him of his own people and he felt that they had the same approach to life. Their willingness was very unselfish.
Jay said to Bula, “We need to act fast.” Bula and Tane discussed a preferred escape route and talked it through with Jay who suggested a different route through an easier part of the forest. It would take them further away, more quickly, and he convinced the pair of this slight change. Jay said that he could arrange for the foresters to take their own workpacks with rations in threes in various different directions. “We can get at least 15 groups of threes moving like this”.
Jay told them that the foresters would gather in 10 or 20 minutes before they left together to harvest the resin, and others to collect the tubenuts. “We will explain what they need to do. You will need to join the group so that you can all set off together until you get to the east of the village - then we shall get them all to break off in different directions.” Jay suggested they ask the forester workmen and women to gather outside their house. This would avoid any risk of Bula, Tane and Keller being picked out before they reached the larger group. Carla and Kimber then left to go and pass the message on.
About twenty-five minutes later, a crowd of foresters had gathered outside Jay’s home. They were chatting away just as they might before departing for a day of labour. Carla had returned. Jay and Carla took a bag each and decided to join the three - leading them out of the house into the group. They had been coached to avoid showing any surprise. The group then headed to the east of the settlement.
They passed a number of domed houses and wide paths with other homes dotted around. Tane pointed out the small school which had half a dozen children standing outside - waiting for the start of school.
They reached the edge of the settlement. So far they hadn’t seen any sign of the uniformed men.
Keller was incredibly humbled by what happened next. Trios of foresters started peeling off in various directions. They would be walking until shortnight, according to the plan and would then rest up for two hours before returning. They would miss a day’s work. In the scheme of things this wasn’t the greatest sacrifice but it meant a lot. The greatest sacrifice would be if there were repercussions for them - he sincerely hoped that there wouldn’t be. Jay nudged Bula and told him he needed to move off shortly. Carla said goodbye to Tane as Jay nodded to Bula and Keller. “I wish you well, my friends. One of you will need to come back one day and let us know how you fared.”
“I will Jay,” said Bula solemnly, “thank you for everything - and please thank your friends and family.” The three then took their turn to leave the diminished group. The remaining five groups of three stayed for a while and gradually set off in different directions.
The trio were soon under cover of the trees and they came across a path that cut through part of the forest as Jay had advised. They were then able to make good progress. Tane and Keller were walking easier with the forester’s shoes - the stockings they’d been given were protecting the sorer parts of their feet.
At one point, they were a little alarmed see three people ahead on a different path that cut across their own. The three people, however, transpired to be foresters who waved at them and carried on their way.
After an hour, they stopped for a while to rest. Tane had been monitoring his slate and had already ‘fired off’ the six musical notes indicating that the trio were still safe and well.
Tane was suddenly quiet and look up. “Helis,” she said. “Can you hear them?”
“More than one?” said Bula.
Keller looked at them both. He could hear something but he wasn’t so attuned to the sound and couldn’t tell if it was one or two helis.
Tane and Bula both thought they could hear the sound in the distance.
“It’s coming from the settlement.” The three looked at each other.
“We can’t just ignore this. We need to see what’s going on,” said Keller.
Bula looked at him with concern. “Let’s retrace our steps and see if we can see what’s going on.”
They headed back towards the settlement at a brisk pace. By the time they had been walking for thirty minutes they thought they could hear at least three or four helis. Bula was beginning to get concerned. “I hope these aren’t back at the settlement. Unless they are government helis?”
They heard some noise ahead of them and they took cover in a ditch formed by a fallen tree. Three of the foresters hurried by.
“Hey!” called Bula. The three foresters started to speed up, then the one at the back, a teenage girl stopped and looked, calling the others back.
“What’s happening back at the settlement?” asked Tane, as the girl approached. She was followed by a man and a woman.
“There are men in uniform. They have about half a dozen helis in the area, men are arriving…” she gasped, breathless from running.
“What colour uniform?” Keller asked.
“Grey. They..they are using fire. Uncle Jay’s house is on fire! James and Lewis next door, are hurt badly.”
“What are they doing there?” asked Tane, realising straight away that the girl probably wouldn’t have a clue.
“They are looking for you. All of them have weapons that are worse than stun pistols,” said the man catching up with the girl. Tane realised from the likeness that he was probably her father.
“They arrived about 30 minutes after you left and set fire to several homes. The other foresters are returning. We went back but we saw three others being beaten badly,” he paused for breath and should his head in dismay “who are these people? They were hitting an elderly man with a gun. It was Jethro. He’s just lying still in the square. We climbed out of our rear window. We saw Kimber running back with his wife towards the forest but there was a loud bang and they both fell down. I saw Kimber moving but his wife was still.”
Keller was outraged and he could see Bula getting angry, too. “Let’s take a look. This is because of us.”
Bula looked at Keller. “I am going back. I don’t mind if you and Tane make a run for it - but this is wrong, totally wrong. I am not going run from these people!”
Tane said nothing. She asked the foresters how many men were down there. The teenager’s father seemed to think that he had seen about fifty. Some of the helis were taking off and landing further afield, clearly searching for people.
Bula repeated that he was going back. The father of the young girl told her to go on ahead with her mother. He was willing to go back to see if they could do anything.
The four of them rushed back down the path. They stopped beside a large woodpile near a river behind the settlement. Bula, Tane and Keller removed their backpacks and stored them under some wood. Each of them took a smaller pack out and filled these with some essentials, including night gear, in case they had to lay low near the settlement. Bula told Tane and Keller to take their stun pistols with them.
The forester with them was called Shaw. He kept watch towards the settlement. The others lightened their l
oad in preparation for getting a closer look at the scenario playing out down in the village.
They were about to set off when Shaw motioned them to keep still. He was about twenty yards ahead of them ducking behind a woodpile. Tane, Bula and Keller kept down out of sight, wondering what was concerning Shaw.
They suddenly heard a heli in front of them. It rose terrifyingly over the brow of the hill. There was a whoosh and the heli fired something towards them hitting Shaw’s woodpile. Shaw ran out temporarily blinded, by the dust created. He ran away from the other three and stood bewildered, holding his eyes. The wind caused by the heli, blew part of the cloud of dust away and he saw himself almost face to face with the oncoming heli. He ran back towards the same pile of wood and there was another whoosh and the pile collapsed partly on him. He wasn’t moving.
“Don’t move, we can’t help him yet,” said Bula.
They realised the heli was landing. Two men jumped out of the heli and walked over to Shaw. They kicked his inert frame but there was no movement. One of them crouched down and felt his pulse.
“Can you fly that heli, Bula?” said Keller.
“Of course,” said Bula and then realised what Keller was thinking. “The pilot is still in the heli. Have you two still got your stun pistols?”
Keller and Tane nodded. “Well, get them ready.”
Bula told them he would go around the woodpile to the heli that was out of sight. He planned to restrain the pilot. In the meantime, the two uniformed men took an arm each and tried to drag Shaw out from under the wood.
“Let’s go! Be strong Keller”. He seemed to have no doubt about Tane.
As a thirteen year old, Keller had once found an older boy teasing Merna beside the stream that separated two fields. In a fit of rage, he had run at the older boy and hit him on the side of the face. His punch had little effect. The older boy knocked him down easily and left him with a bloody mouth. Worse still, the older boy pushed Merna into the stream and strutted away laughing whilst Merna sat in the water in tears. The older boy was from a neighbouring field. The event caused a mini sensation among his immediate family. Somehow, the older boy was dealt with by Merna’s father. There was no more talk about this, except a few days later Cormic took Keller aside and demonstrated various techniques to bring a bigger person down. Then he told him not to get into any fights unless he really had to, “You never know,” he smiled, “I might have taught them as well.”
