prospect, the cliffs that rose to meet the lower slopes of
ridges, and the mountain spur whose eastern extremity
was Waonwir. Chel had heard a variety of rumours
about the temple site from arriving Uvovo: the
Brolturans were going to use it as a prison for dissi
dents, or they were going to demolish it, or they were
going to build a fortress on it. Whatever the truth, they
were definitely doing something up there - last night
one of the forest scholars had been up in one of the
other beholders and had seen a harsh white glow ema-
nating from the top of the promontory. Now, as he
peered at that distant, dark grey mass, there was no sign
of such illumination but he could see a small dark speck
take off and race towards Hammergard.
He recalled the prescient words of the spectral
Pathmaster - the Hegemony will shortly control
Umara . . . soon they will be walking in this very cham-
ber . . . The words had been shocking but he could never
have guessed that they would come true so soon. Such a
possibility had not occurred to him when he stole
aboard the zeplin that transported Greg down to the
city, and now the fate of Listener Weynl and the others,
both Uvovo and Human, was a mystery. The same was
true of other Listeners like Faldri, Eshlo Shikellik and
Murnil, and until now Chel had not realised how much
they had come to rely on the Humans' communication
devices to knit their far-flung communities together.
The temptation to wait here in Glenkrylov for further
news was strong, yet he knew that he and the forest
scholars must lay plans for a swift retreat. He was sure
that if Greg had spilled all that he knew, then the
Hegemony envoy Kuros must now suspect something of
the Uvovo connection with the temple and the well
chamber, not to mention the ancient covenant with
Segrana that went back to the oldest times. As well as
the tales of detentions and beatings, Chel had heard an
unconfirmed rumour that Buchanskog, the daughter-
forest east of Hammergard, had been invaded by
Brolturan troops who destroyed the meditation retreats,
the vodrun and the scholar abodes before carrying off
every Uvovo they could seize. If the offworlders were
ready to raid one of the daughter-forests so soon, it was
only a matter of time before they moved against the
others.
With one last glance at Waonwir, now growing dark
as the sun dipped towards the horizon, Chel began the
descent, keen to check on Greg's progress but also impa-
tient to plan for the worst outcome. At least that way
anything less dire would feel like a reprieve, or even an
opportunity!
50
THEO
It was early evening by the time they reached
Akessonhold, a rambling farmhouse west of Landfall
and their third safe house in the last twenty-four hours.
Theo, Donny and Solvjeg were ushered into the hallway.
a wood-panelled, L-shaped room with several passages
leading off, some up a few stairs, others down a few.
Arne Akesson himself was there to greet them, a bald,
broad-chested man with a wrestler's build that had
earned him the nickname 'the Bull', but among the
Diehards he had a reputation for foxy cunning.
'Theo, Donny, and Solvjeg,' he said, shaking hands
and giving a courteous bow to Theo's sister while his
attendants took care of the newcomers' hats and coats.
'Dearest Solvjeg, it is good to see that you are safe - I
heard how these two heroes plucked you from perilous
captivity. Please be welcome in my house; these are evil
times and friends must stand by each other.'
'Thank you so much, Arne,' said Solvjeg, smiling
tiredly. 'It has been a trying day.'
Theo nodded. 'And a hungry one.'
Akesson grinned. 'Ah, I know I am playing host to a
famous trencherman so have no worries on that score. I
have set aside the small parlour which is just up those
stairs and on the right, and will have some provender
sent there straight away.'
'So shall we go on up now?' said Theo.
'Let Solvjeg and Donny go,' Akesson said. 'There is
someone through in the back room who needs to speak
with you, Theo.'
Theo smiled - Arne's back room was an adjoining
hut at the rear where he kept his radio equipment.
'I'll be back in a few minutes,' he told Donny and his
sister, then followed Akesson out of the hallway.
A narrow passageway lit by oil lamps ran back for
several yards, down some steps into a newer wing of the
farmhouse then through a large kitchen where pots gave
off steamy vapours, stew, baking bread, and something
cooking in wine. From the main store at the rear a cur-
tained archway led into another narrow, undecorated
wooden corridor and finally a creaky door opened into
the hut.
A skinny youth got up as they entered and handed
Akesson the headset.
'He's still'there, sir.'
'Thank you, Gennadiy. Is the signal encrypted?'
'It is, sir.'
Nodding, Akesson sat down at the radio, an obsolete
DVC model whose wooden casing was scored and bat-
tered, despite a recent dark blue paint job. The transmitter
next to it was a nondescript grubby green unit with what
looked like a leather suitcase handle bolted to the side.
'Hello?' Akesson said into the headset's stalk micro-
phone. 'Yes, he's here.' He passed the headset to Theo,
who put it on.
'This is Karlsson.'
'Great tae hear yer voice, Major.'
'Rory!' Hope and trepidation leaped in him. 'How's
Greg? Last I heard, they handed him over to Kuros.'
'Oh aye, but we busted him outa there with some
help from that Uvovo, Chel, and a road digger that Mad
Davey got his mitts on. Greg was kind of wounded but
not badly - we spoke tae him before we left and he's
doing fine.'
Theo grinned. 'Well done, Rory - you've earned your
pay for the week. Where are you now?'
'In Rullinge, at Kruger's.'
Rullinge was a boatyard town a few miles down the
coast from High Lochiel, and Kruger's was an alehouse
of the 'dive' variety.
'And have you been keeping an eye on the news,
Rory?'
'Ye could say that, as well as helping it along, like!'
'Well, it looks as if we have just become the official
resistance ...'
'Suits me fine, sir!'
'... but until we hear from Pyatkov,' Theo went on,
'we won't know if there are any others that we need to
link up with, like former DVC or disgruntled police ...'
Akesson leaned closer. 'Pyatkov is coming here - he's
due in about half an hour.'
Theo nodded. 'Okay, Rory, it seems that Pyatkov will
be with us in thirty minutes or so, then we'll know
where we stand. But I'd like you and the others to head
south and meet us at Membrance Vale.
There's a picnic
and observation point overlooking the Hyperion — that
will be the rendezvous, but I want you to keep to cover.
We don't know if the Brolturans have the colony under
satellite coverage, but we'd best be wary.'
'Right ye are, Major.'
'Good. By the way, what's the mood like in Rullinge?'
'Eh, they're no happy, sir. Kinda goes from the sim-
mering angry types to the full-on, carpet-chewing
berserkers. Some of them want to barricade all the roads
in and out, some others want to load up the trucks with
guns 'n' molotovs and head out to find some
Sendrukans tae fight, while the rest are busy getting
hammered.'
'They might be a good source of recruits later on.
For now, be as low-key as you can when you leave. Be
cautious on the roads and watch out for roadblocks - go
cross-country if you have to.'
'Got it, Major - we're on our way.'
Theo took off the headset and laid it on the table.
'You look tired, my friend,' said Akesson.
He shrugged. 'This time yesterday we were upstairs
in Chyornilov's, that restaurant in west Hammergard,
when it was raided by armed police - we got out
through a passageway that led through the attics of the
next two buildings. We found a garage, hired a rattling
old hillcar and got to the Martensson fish farm by about
midnight
'I think I know it - coast road, a few miles south of
Tort Gagarin...'
'That's right. Well, we snatched a few hours' sleep in
an empty worker cottage before being woken at five by
our main contact - turned out that two military intelli-
gence officers and six Brolturan soldiers had arrived and
were questioning everyone. The main gate was blocked
so we had to head across a boggy field to the road, car-
rying bikes that our contact had dug out of the farm
stores for us. After that we kept to the farm roads and
hill paths and eventually got here in one piece.'
Theo remembered again the desperate and fearful
escape under a troubled night sky with an icy breeze
buffeting them as shower squalls flew in from the sea.
'Your sister was arrested and questioned, yes? But
she seems to have come through it.'
Theo gave a sad smile. '/<3, she was always the tough
one - never lets any situation get the better of her, or
anyone. Although she has been very worried about her
boys, Greg especially.' He stood. 'We should return so I
can tell her that he is safe.'
Akesson nodded and led the way, pausing in the
kitchen to make sure that the food and drink had been
sent to the small parlour. Donny and Solvjeg were sit-
ting in armchairs either side of a table crowded with
plates of cold meat, cheese, butter, small savoury pas
tries, and a jug of mulled wine that gave off a heady
vapour. A good-sized wood fire blazed in the hearth
while generations of Akessons gazed down from the
walls. Solvjeg looked up as they entered and when he
passed on the news about Greg she put her hand to he''
mouth and closed her eyes.
'Thank God,' she whispered, then lowered her hand,
which she clenched, and nodded at Theo. 'They are all
safe, Theo.' During the stopover at Martensson's, word
had reached them that Ian and Ned had made it to
Invergault and were heading south into the Hrothgar
Mountains, thinking to hide out in one of the trapper
camps.
Theo and Akesson dragged a couple of wicker chairs
closer, poured out mugs of hot wine, then the four of
them pooled their knowledge to try and gain a fuller pic-
ture of the situation. First, it was now certain that
Sundstrom and his cabinet were dead, killed outright
by the missile attack. A government of national unity
had been formed in the Assembly within hours,
although the tiny Foundationist and Redemptionist par-
ties refused to take part, the latter being Viktor Ingram's
old party and comprising five Legators. Together with
the Foundationists, they represented an official opposi-
tion totalling eight Legators, as opposed to the Unity
government's 104.
This new Assembly swiftly passed a batch of dracon-
ian laws, including several emergency powers which
handed huge discretionary powers to the executive, and
in charge of that executive was Dugald Kirkland, leader
of the Consolidation Alliance and now president pro
tem of Darien. And all of it had been conducted with
almost no reportage or comment, since many journalists
had also been killed in the attack on the Assembly build-
ing; in addition, the police were ordered to shut down
all newspapers, all vee stations (except Starstream), and
all radio stations (except the government information
service, which gave out no useful information).
There was just one fly in the greasy ointment of this
ruthless stealth coup - Alexandr Vashutkin, Sundstrom's
transport minister, was still alive. Having broken a leg
while visiting Trond on official business, he had sent his
deputy to attend the cabinet's crisis meeting on the dis-
appearance of Ambassador Horst. A decade and a half
ago, Vashutkin and Sundstrom had become close friends
in the Progressive Dispersalists, but several years back
policy differences had come between them, causing
Vashutkin to resign from the PD and join the Union for
Land Party. Which later became part of Sundstrom's
Civic Coalition, thus forcing the two former friends to
work together once again.
And Vashutkin was using Trond as his base, from
where he made live radio speeches denouncing the
Hegemony and its envoy Kuros as tyrants and aggres-
sors and describing the Unity government as spineless
collaborators. He reserved his choicest vitriol for
Kirkland himself, saying that his motto should be 'No
Boot Left Unlicked', and that he lived in fear of his own
intestines which, out of shame, might one day reach up
through his throat and throttle him to death.
Vashutkin's tirades, combined with the formal re
establishment of the Northern Towns League, had
already made Trond a focus for dissent, protest against
and mockery of the assembly in Hammergard. The new
laws were being ignored and Hammergard officials bear
ing enforcement orders had this evening been politely
but firmly shown the door. Twenty-four hours since the
missile attack the colony was split down the middle;
Hegemony advisers seemed to be present at every level of
government and Brolturan ground and air patrols main-
tained a high profile in Hammergard and the major
towns, apart from those in the north. From Nivyesta,
there was no news.
'What about Earth?' Theo said, draining the last of
his wine then reaching for some bread and cheese. 'Have
they made any comment?'
Akesson smiled sourly. 'They have not even
&n
bsp; appointed a new ambassador. That captain of the
Heracles, Velazquez, was interviewed on Starstream just
after Kirkland was confirmed as president, saying how it
was a new start for Darien and how we should support
the new government, and how grateful we all were that
the Brolturans and the Hegemony were helping to sta-
bilise the situation.'
'Aye,' Donny said bitterly. 'Stabilising it with a boot on
our necks.'
'He didn't manage a smile once during the interview,'
Akesson said. 'He really looked like a man who was
carrying out orders that he loathed.'
Donny snorted. 'But he still carried them out. He's
still got his men patrolling with the Brolturans.'
'What about Horst?' Akesson said. 'What's happened
to him? Did you really kidnap the man?'
Theo shook his head. He had already told Donny
and Solvjeg a truncated version of the story, shorn of the
Uvovo chamber disappearance, on the principle that
what they didn't know couldn't hurt them
'No, no, I saved him from a Brolturan interrogation,'
he said. 'I knew he had nothing to do with the bombings
so I got him away to Giant's Shoulder, then left him with
friends there when I had to go and free my sister. Since
when .. .' He shrugged. 'I don't know if he's hiding
somewhere or if they caught him. The former, I hope ...'
'The Brolturans are doing something up on Giant's
Shoulder,' Akesson said. 'Machinery working round the
clock, big floodlamps lighting it up at night.'
'I heard that they were building a prison or a fortress,
or both,' Theo said, then fell silent when one of the
attendants came in and murmured to Akesson. The big
man nodded and as the attendant left he turned to the
others.
'Pyatkov will be here in about ten minutes - he just
left the wayhouse on the Midgard Road. And he's not
alone, apparently.'
'That'll be the Enhanced, then,' Donny said, matter-
of-factly.
They all stared at him. Enjoying the attention, he
refilled his mug and chewed on a savoury pastry.
'Ye know about them, eh?' he went on. 'The kids
that they
'Yes, we know who they are, Donny,' Theo said.
'Why don't you just tell us what Pyatkov's up to, since
you seem to know more than we do.'
'Och, I don't know that much,' Donny said, sipping
Michael Cobley - Humanity's Fire book 1 Page 48
