Icefall

by Hallowes, Guy

  A small, fascinated group saw the caravan arrive in The Amazons' village at midday on the fifth day of their journey. 'We brought a lot of equipment and stuff with us,' explained Stephanie, having made all the introductions, 'delaying us by almost a day.'

  'We weren't sure when you were coming back,' said a girl called Lola. Stephanie recognised her as one of the potential escapees from the previous visit. 'Irene is out on the property at the moment, so you'll have to camp under the trees as before. You can see that we've started to build another house in anticipation of you coming back to help us. We didn't expect nine of you though,' she said breathlessly.

  'I will only be here for a few days,' answered Tanya. 'But camping is fine, we're quite used to it.'

  Once the horses had been seen to and the camp established, the girls carefully stored all the equipment in a nearby shed with the help of a few Amazons.

  'If most people are out on the property,' said Tanya, 'we'll just look around.'

  'We can't offer you much for lunch,' Lola explained. 'You caught us on the hop a bit. But I'm sure Irene would want you to have dinner with us every night.'

  'Don't worry. We've got food with us, but dinner would be great,' said Stephanie. While the others were busy, she took Lola aside and asked quietly, 'Did you get back here without being missed?'

  'Yes, we've been thanking our lucky stars for your advice. Someone had overheard something about a plan and Irene and others had raced off after you, so there was almost no one about.'

  'They caught up with us and Kim gave them a flea in their ears. They would've been a very subdued crew when they returned.'

  'They were late, so we didn't see them. The next day there was some discussion about unserviceable weapons, although no mention was made of bumping into you.'

  Stephanie nodded, thinking she would talk to Tanya about the sensitivity of the confrontation on their way home three weeks earlier. 'We've brought you some better weapons, which we'll teach you to use and look after properly.'

  Lola changed the subject, pointing happily to her stomach. 'Pregnant, I think. Me and one or two of the others are often sick now, particularly in the morning.'

  'Don't count your chickens just yet. If you can hang on to it for three months you should be safe,' replied Stephanie to a now concerned Lola.

  Stephanie spent time getting to know The Amazons and within a few days had a dozen volunteers for the security training detail. Irene insisted that none of the potential new mothers were included. 'It looks as if most of them are carrying,' she said to Tanya confidentially.

  'Irene really does just view the new mothers like heifers producing new calves for this place,' Tanya said to Stephanie later.

  Within two days, Susan had successfully installed a solar-powered unit in Irene's cottage, providing light and hot water, much to Irene's delight. She found plenty of usable panels suitable for installing lights in all the buildings. 'But there are only enough hot water tanks for the main building,' she told Tanya. 'I need another two dozen tanks to have solar hot water in all the cottages.' She'd also had a look at all the vehicles and tractors. 'Most of them are in good condition, but we need all sorts of equipment to convert any of them to solar.'

  'Maybe you could make a list and we'll see what we can do,' responded Tanya.

  Susan handed her a list with a smile. 'I thought you might ask that.' She looked at Tanya wondering what her reaction would be to her next request. 'The girls should be able to finish the job of installing lighting in all the houses within about three months, and they don't really need me. So I'd like to come home with you. I've been away from Barry too much recently and I'd like to make it up to him. I can come back any time if I'm needed.'

  Tanya looked slightly surprised. 'That's fine with me, but I'd like to talk to the girls to make sure they're happy about that. It's good to know we have such competent people.'

  'I'm sure they'll be fine with it,' said Susan. 'I've already mentioned it to them.'

  While Stephanie and her group were focussed on instilling some discipline into new recruits with early morning runs, basic drills, and weapons training, Tanya met with Irene to discuss formal arrangements surrounding the relationship between The Settlement and The Amazons.

  'I was relieved to see you respected our philosophy that this is a haven for women, by only including women in your contingent,' said Irene, opening what she intended to be a very serious discussion.

  Tanya was not surprised, but could see a very shrewd brain working overtime, trying to maintain her control. Not responding directly, Tanya said, 'I think it would be useful if some of your people were sent over to The Settlement for a period, for training. For example, Susan said it would take six months to train two of your people on many of the aspects of installing and maintaining solar power in your vehicles and water pumps, providing hot water and lighting, rather than people coming over from our place.'

  'Six months? That seems like a long time,' responded Irene. 'Everyone here has a role. We would miss them.'

  'Yes, I've thought of that,' said Tanya. 'It would be much more productive and efficient if some of your people were included in our military academy rather than trying to do it all here.'

  'The same issue applies,' said Irene. 'We can hardly spare anyone at the moment. How long would that be for?'

  'Twelve months probably,' said Tanya. 'It could be less or more; each trainee is regularly assessed and then completes a graduation process. When they have done that they'd return here.'

  'Twelve months!' Irene was genuinely taken aback.

  'Stephanie is an almost qualified vet,' Tanya continued. 'She can stay here for as long as you need her. Two of Susan's people will need about three months to complete the solar lighting installation, they could help out whenever needed, and our four Academy people will be available for general duties. They'll still have security responsibilities, and will continue with some training, but at a lower intensity. Your trained people will be able to take over when they return. The arrangements I've suggested will, in time, increase skill levels and productivity here immeasurably. Part of Stephanie's brief is to assess how else we can help, so if you agree this will add to the level of cooperation.'

  'What happens if women training at your place are brainwashed into wanting to remain there?' asked Irene anxiously.

  Tanya laughed in a relaxed manner. 'You must pay us a visit; brainwashing is not part of the curriculum. The women came here voluntarily and must value your raison d'être and so I presume they'd want to return,' said Tanya encouragingly.

  Irene looked at her suspiciously.

  'I think a more formal agreement between New Settlement and this place would be appropriate. What do you want to be called?'

  'Well your people are referring to us as The Amazons,' Irene smiled at Tanya's mildly embarrassed expression, 'and we are quite happy with that, so you can call us "Amazonia".'

  Over several days, Tanya found she was faced with a shrewd, tough negotiator in Irene, but was able to negotiate an arrangement where New Settlement Pty Ltd acquired all of Amazonia and its assets from the owner, Irene, in return for a five percent stake in New Settlement Pty Ltd and a seat on the board. Irene had to agree that all the residents, current and future, had a one hundred year right of occupation. She also agreed to eliminate some of the more onerous clauses in the present agreement with residents, such as having to get permission to leave Amazonia even for a day. The final agreement was much the same as the one that Tanya had made with Banksia.

  Irene was eventually persuaded to agree to the new laws The Settlement had implemented. 'We've only had to impose corporal punishment once and nobody has been expelled since the flood. I hope that we'll never have to use the death penalty,' Tanya had said during the discussions.

  'There is no chance of any of our women murdering children and such like,' Irene had observed as she tried to convince herself and others in Amazonia to accept the draconian laws.

  During her downtime from
the negotiations, Tanya chatted with Stephanie. She quickly began to appreciate how bright Stephanie was. At almost six foot, and slim with brown hair, she was pretty if not beautiful.

  'What are you trying to do with all these new relationships with Banksia and now Amazonia, and then possibly the religious people? Won't they just become parasites; a drag on our own community?' Stephanie asked during one of their little chats.

  'I hope not. If we just ignore them, especially a place like Banksia, they'll probably fall under the influence of groups like The Vikings and that'll spell trouble for them and us in the longer term.' This was just the sort of discussion she had wanted with Mark. She was very surprised that Stephanie had such strategic understanding.

  'If we wanted to expand, we could just go to some of the areas that were abandoned after the flood and not worry about the philosophical differences that exist with people that have already settled in certain areas,' Stephanie countered.

  'Those people are already there and we'll have to deal with them sooner or later. The smaller ones we can absorb. The Vikings are another matter. We need to understand them better and somehow create alliances with them so they don't actively oppose us. The objective is to unite as an Australian nation again. What we are doing is to secure a patch of the country which will eventually form one of the groups that hopefully come together. We also need places where some of our people can move to. The Settlement needs to maintain a population of less than three hundred and fifty. It is better that our people move into those other societies, firstly to help with their security, but to also help development. Our technology will transform smaller places, like here in Amazonia, very quickly. I'm hoping, in time, the places we absorb will have the same outlook and values we do.'

  'The religious people may need a little convincing.'

  'What about this place?' asked Tanya.

  'Given a bit of time, they'll become more and more comfortable with our values. They may want to hang onto the women-only thing for a while, but I don't doubt they will become a very strong part of our wider organisation in time. I can already see non-threatening things I can do to move that along.'

  'How do you think we should deal with The Vikings?' asked Tanya.

  'Thor is likely to be a problem. Whatever you do, he will try to undermine you. And if you show any signs of weakness, he will take immediate advantage of that. Even if you form some sort of alliance with him, if he sees that he can diminish your power he will do just that, with no regard for the consequences. Thor seems to have no capacity to think very far ahead. Maybe a marriage alliance would help. I could see Hercules had his tongue hanging out over Kim, not that I think she would want anything to do with him. While he is alive he will be a problem, mark my words.'

  Tanya was amazed at Stephanie's insights and wondered how she could further engage her in this type of conversation with Stephanie now living at Amazonia.

  Ten days after their arrival, Tanya, Susan, Irene, plus four women destined for The Academy for twelve months and two women undergoing training with Joe and his technical team for six months, left Amazonia. Irene was scheduled to visit for a week. There was a great send off from the people remaining, and a great sense of anticipation.

  'This changes everything,' Lola observed during the first evening meal after the group had left. 'Some of us could probably move to The Settlement if we wanted.'

  'Maybe, but you should consider the women-only arrangements here. That situation doesn't apply outside Amazonia,' was Stephanie's diplomatic reply.

  'Many of us feel that restriction has served its purpose,' said one of the other women.

  A furious argument then erupted, with some women defending the current arrangements and others saying it was now redundant. Stephanie said nothing, but tried to assess who was on which side. She had attended many of the discussions between Tanya and Irene, saying little but learning all she could. Tanya had consistently consulted her and took her advice where it was appropriate. Irene consulted few others, relying almost solely on her own judgement.

  'I thought it would take months if not years to achieve all that,' observed Stephanie to Tanya when the ink was dry on all the agreements. 'Irene has effectively agreed to water down the women-only mantra in Amazonia.'

  'Maybe,' said Tanya. 'We'll see.'

  Tanya's expedition spent a day on the way home with David and Caroline at The Bandstand.

  'I have come to an agreement with the God Botherers,' David mentioned to Tanya, over a private dinner which included Caroline.

  'You can't keep calling them that,' laughed Tanya.

  'No, they want to be called "St. Andrews", which is fine by me,' was David's answer. 'Donald has been quite helpful and I think that he'll be part of a contingent of Christian settlers moving there from The Settlement. They have a one percent share of New Settlement Pty Ltd.'

  'I'm not really comfortable having a wholly Christian enclave in our midst. We have integrated a multitude of different beliefs into our community. If we can, we should extend that to all the satellites.'

  'That will take time,' said David. 'You seem to have made progress with breaking down the women-only restriction with Amazonia, with Irene agreeing to allow all those people to spend time with you in the Blue Mountains.'

  'I expect that restriction to break down within twelve months,' said Tanya, 'as long as we can find a way of making Irene feel she's still in control.'

  'Donald seems to have come around from his original bigoted stance. I'm getting on better with him now,' offered David.

  'He gives me the fucking creeps,' answered Tanya.

  'Tanya!' remonstrated David, amid laughter from both himself and Caroline.

  'With him out of the way, their joint worship facility will function more smoothly. The Imam has a much better attitude than Donald and I expect it'll go from strength to strength,' Tanya added.

  After her return to The Settlement, Tanya spent a few weeks making sure everything in the community was functioning well and that visitors from Amazonia and Banksia were fully integrated. Venus had settled down under Kim's tutelage and showed no sign of wanting to return to her father's domains.

  Irene spent two full weeks at The Settlement absorbing all that she was able. She had frequent contact with the people involved in the various operations and kept her suspicious eyes and ears open for any signs of "brainwashing" as she thought of it. Irene, Isaac from St. Andrews, as well as Joseph from Banksia were formally inducted to the board during Irene's visit.

  A motley crew, thought Tanya, after their first meeting.

  Isaac tried to insist that Christian prayer was instituted into the proceedings.

  'No,' said Tanya firmly. 'This is a secular organisation representing a multitude of beliefs. There is no reason you can't pray on your own before any meeting.'

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Newcastle

  2032 and beyond

  Tanya was consolidating lists of things needed from various sources, including most of the satellite settlements. 'All this valuable equipment is sitting rotting in various warehouses in and around Sydney and will never be used,' she said to Roger, 'unless we use it. Find out from everybody where we might find some of it and bring anything light enough back in the helicopter. Jonathan seems to be working on finding us a much larger machine, which would make it all so much easier.'

  Roger looked at her curiously. 'What are you going to use a larger machine for?'

  'I'll tell you when I've thought it all through, but we are certainly going to need some heavy lifting ability.'

  Roger, now aged thirty-four, had spent most of his life at The Settlement. At five foot ten, and slightly built with brown hair, he was quiet and thoughtful. He rarely pushed himself forward, but had shown leadership ability when it was needed, acting as Mark's second in command at The Academy and within the security operation generally. He had recently married an Amazon who'd been training with The Academy and they were expecting a child.

  He kn
ew Tanya would tell him what she had in mind when she was ready. With help from Graham, Joe, Susan, and many others, Roger made trips once or twice a week to various parts of Sydney looking for useful items. He collected solar panels and hot water tanks which he dropped off at Amazonia; spare solar tractor engines, one at a time due to the weight; and a plough and a harrow. Over several trips he replaced two complete milking machines as well as all the computers at The Settlement, and he provided Amazonia and Banksia with two laptops each. St. Andrews wouldn't participate because they regarded the computers as ungodly, and argued that just taking things without the owners' permission was theft.

  Roger told Tanya later, 'All the main roads out of Sydney are still blocked with cars from all those years ago. We managed to land in an area next to the M4 at Penrith and had a look. Most vehicles had several bodies in or around them and we found notes in some of them. Here.' He handed over some scrappy pieces of paper. 'We are still seeing no signs of human life at all.'

  When David mentioned the people of St. Andrews' concerns regarding the re-supply operations, Tanya said unsympathetically, 'Common sense is as rare as rocking horse shit in that community. Send some of them to us and I'm sure we'll change their minds. We're now breaking down the women-only ethic within Amazonia. Irene went ballistic when Roger told her he was to marry one of her people, but I persuaded her that if she were to accept some families, we would be able to send her at least a dozen hard-working people. She has now found that nobody is questioning her control, even with a few married men around, so her resistance is crumbling I'm happy to say.'