The Amtrak Wars: Blood River

by Patrick Tilley

  This, concluded Cadillac, was why they and their companions were feared and pursued by the sand-burrowers just as, in time, the dead-faces would seek to avenge their wounded pride.

  This last remark of Cadillac’s was totally off-the-cuff; mere verbal embroidery. Had he been drawing images of the future from a seeing-stone with their meaning spelled out in letters of fire, he could not have made a more accurate prediction. But he was not destined to discover the chilling truth that lay behind his boastful words until the danger burst upon him like a sudden rockslide sweeping down upon travellers in a narrow mountain pass.

  Carnegie-Hall, a dark, sinister-looking lump-head with a bushy black beard – who Cadillac judged to be half the age of Mr Snow – was quick to pick up on the unexpected news that Clearwater was a summoner. If she had aided Mr Snow to defeat the attack on the M’Calls could she not – as a simple gesture of thanks for the protection and hospitality which the Clan Kojak was honoured to offer them – drive these cloud-warriors from the skies and force the unseen iron snake to return to its burrow?

  The question left Cadillac open-mouthed but he had gone so far over the top there was only one thing he could say: ‘If it is the will of Talisman, this thing shall be done.’ Then, feeling that his reply needed more of a flourish, he added: ‘And in its doing the Plainfolk shall witness the power of The Chosen, and the Clan Kojak shall be justly rewarded for being the first to receive them.’

  How true, my young friend, thought Carnegie-Hall. How true. But the rewards he had in mind were of an entirely different order.

  As soon as they had a moment to themselves, Clearwater treated Cadillac to a withering look. ‘Well done. This time you’ve excelled yourself.’ Her eyes blazed as her anger mounted. ‘How dare you speak of the secret gifts that are mine alone to reveal!?’

  ‘I got carried away,’ said Cadillac. He spread his hands apologetically.

  ‘You idiot!’ Clearwater vented her fury by drumming her fists on his chest. ‘I sat there wishing your tongue would drop out! How can we do what you have promised!?’

  Cadillac fended her off gently. ‘Calm down! I didn’t promise we’d do anything. I said it would be done if it was the will of Talisman!’ He stepped back, drew himself up and said loftily: ‘It’s time you understood that I don’t just say things. These words are given to me. You or I may not understand their meaning when they spring from my lips but in time, Talisman’s purpose will be made plain to us. Learn to be patient, for all will be well.’

  ‘Bravo,’ replied Clearwater. ‘I hope you’re right.’ He was beginning to sound more and more like the gifted young man she had grown up with and whose life had been entrusted to her care. Stubborn, complicated, tormented, petulant but also brave, loyal, imaginative and likeable. A true friend. The Cadillac to whom she had given her body and soul until the fateful day that the Sky Voices had spoken of when the golden-haired cloud-warrior had fallen from the skies.

  Changing the course of all their lives …

  Cadillac abandoned his contemplation of the cosmic mysteries and patted her shoulders reassuringly. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got a good feeling about this.’

  As darkness shrouded the snow-covered wastes to the east of navref Joliet, Illinois, Steve sat with his knees drawn up to his chin, contemplating the glowing embers of the fire they had lit within the small circle of trees. On the other side of the pool of orange light, Jodi was feeding Kelso some soup she had made from a foil sachet of beef-flavoured concentrate and melted snow.

  During the day, Steve had built a waist-high circular wall of snow around the campsite with four exits that could be blocked by branches. A layer of more slender branches covered the floor. Besides concealing the brightest part of the fire at night, the wall gave shelter against the icy wind, and once inside, they were able to keep themselves reasonably warm and snug.

  When Kelso could not be coaxed into eating any more Jodi came over and offered Steve what was left.

  ‘No thanks, you have it.’ Steve watched her gulp it down then scrape out the can. ‘Is he still awake?’

  ‘Mmmmm …’ She sucked the spoon clean then licked her lips.

  ‘Good.’ Steve dropped his voice. ‘It’s time he and I cleared the air.’

  ‘Can I sit in?’

  ‘No. The less you know the better.’ He saw her bristle. ‘Look. I know you find it difficult to trust me but try – just this once. Have you said anything to Kelso about, uhh …?’

  She shook her head. ‘There didn’t seem to be any point.’

  ‘You’re right. Well done. I’ll tell him it was me who caught him in the act. That way you’re in the clear. You’ve got enough problems without getting mixed up in whatever Kelso’s mixed up in.’

  Jodi shrugged. ‘I know about you.’

  ‘Yeah. And even that’s too much.’

  ‘So what if someone starts asking questions?’

  ‘Just tell ’em what you did, and that you did it because I told you I was acting on behalf of the Federation and … you believe I still am.’

  ‘Got it.’ Jodi smiled. ‘You really know how to put over the old sincerity routine. I remember you tryin’ to buffalo me when we first met at Fort Worth. Your eyes actually glow. D’you know that?’

  ‘For chrissakes, Jodi! I’m not trying to put one over on you! This is for your own good!’

  ‘Just kidding. That’s the trouble with guys like you.’

  ‘What d’you mean – “guys like me”?’

  ‘Over-achievers. They got no sense of humour. But seriously – these people who may question me … do I tell ’em I know about Side-Winder and the tie-up with the nips?’

  ‘Only if they ask you first. Stick to the golden rule. Don’t hide anything but don’t volunteer any information. Above all, don’t attempt to justify your actions. Let me take the heat. You did what you did because I asked you to. Okay?’

  ‘Okay …’ Jodi got to her feet.

  Steve followed her up. ‘Do my eyes really glow?’

  Jodi laughed. ‘You tryin’ to tell me you never practised in front of a mirror?’ She stepped outside the snow circle and looked up through the outer branches. ‘Christo! Take a look at this …’

  Steve joined her. A hard white moon rode high in a blue-black satin sky, edging a majestic procession of dense black clouds with a fleeting glow of silver. The light, which was strong enough to cast shadows on the snow, turned the night frost at their feet into a carpet of pearls. The landscape beyond, harsh and blinding in the winter sun, had been coloured in with mysterious, washed-out shades of blue. At moments like this, it was easy to understand why Mutes thought such beauty was the inspired handiwork of some all-powerful being. Like Mo-Town, the Great Sky-Mother …

  Jodi surveyed the scene then said: ‘This is one of the things I’m gonna miss.’

  ‘Yeah. Not bad, is it?’ Compared to this, the vistas offered by the John Wayne Plaza paled into insignificance.

  She fisted his shoulder. ‘Think I’ll stroll around for a bit while you guys swap secrets. Have fun …’

  Steve laid a few more branches on the fire then settled down beside Kelso. ‘You and I need to talk.’

  ‘S’posing I don’t feel like it?’

  ‘S’posing it means living instead of dying?’

  ‘You mean I got a choice?’

  ‘Wanna know something? Adversity really brings out the best side of your nature.’

  ‘Move it along, Brickman. Otherwise I may fall asleep on you.’

  Steve outlined Jodi’s plan to get them both aboard The Lady, and the reason why she thought she’d get a friendly reception.

  ‘Because of her connections …’

  ‘Yes. I think it’s a runner, don’t you?’

  Kelso greeted this with a husky sneer. You could see by his face it hurt even to breathe. ‘She might get away with it but what about me? When they feed my serial to that bug-eyed monster back in Houston, they’ll know I’ve been on the run for over three years. T
hose guys on that wagon-train’ll dump me over the side without even bothering to change the bandages!’

  ‘It’s true they rarely take renegades back alive, but in your case I think they’ll make an exception.’

  ‘Oh, yeah? You must know somethin’ I don’t.’ Kelso tried to keep his voice and expression neutral but the way his lips froze up around the words gave him away.

  ‘Wrong. I heard something I wasn’t meant to.’ Steve’s eyes fastened on the left side of Kelso’s head. ‘Hold still. You got a bug crawling up your neck.’ He reached over and flicked away the imaginary insect then slid his forefinger upwards under Kelso’s ear and located the pea-sized transceiver lying beneath the skin just below the edge of the skull.

  Kelso tried to move his head away but Steve’s own transceiver had already picked up the signal and fed it into his eardrum as a mosquito-like whine. Jodi was right. David Kelso was a mexican – as Steve had once suspected back at the Heron Pool when he’d encountered the irascible red-headed breaker humming ‘Down Mexico Way’.

  ‘Just testing. Let me guess your call-sign – RT-CR …?’

  With only one free hand and the rest of him tied to the hatch, Kelso knew he was at Steve’s mercy. ‘How long have you known?’

  ‘It was just before we took off from Long Point. I heard this character called Rat-Catcher asking Sky-Bucket Three to pass a message to Mother.’ Steve fed him an edited version of Jodi’s story.

  ‘What can I say?’

  ‘Plenty. That evening back at the Heron Pool – when I met you in the alleyway and –’

  ‘I was humming our signature tune –’

  ‘Yeah. When I responded with my call-sign – why didn’t you answer back?’

  Kelso shrugged his good shoulder. ‘I was checking you out. Jodi’d told me what you had in mind. I just wanted to make sure you really were one of us.’

  ‘Are you telling me that, on top of everything else, there are guys who pretend to be mexicans?’

  ‘There are some strange people out here, Brickman – grinding some very peculiar axes.’

  ‘And you thought I might be one of them …’

  ‘The question did crop up. Jodi wasn’t one hundred per cent sure of you either. You’re a hard man to pin down.’

  ‘Look who’s talking. What about your change of heart on the way to Long Point?’

  ‘Simple. It was Jodi who suddenly got cold feet. I pretended to go along with her to see which way you would jump.’ He saw the doubt creep into Steve’s eyes. ‘C’mon, Brickman, you know the way Mother likes to run things. If we’re not sent in as a team, individual agents do not link up without prior instructions. It’s SOP.’

  ‘Except in an emergency.’

  ‘Right. But response to a May-Day is not mandatory if it risks jeopardizing your own operation. The same applies to the situation where you came on to me. If it’s not in the script, then it’s up to each individual agent to react as he thinks fit. Depends on the circumstances. He may not want to blow a deep cover that’s taken years to acquire. Okay, that may mean there are times when the right hand may not know what the left hand is doin’, but it’s the only way AMEXICO and its operations can remain watertight.’

  ‘Yeah, I suppose so …’ A sudden thought struck Steve. ‘Did we run into each other by accident in Nebraska, or did –’

  ‘By accident, of course! Jeez! What a question! If I’d known I was gonna get captured by those fuggin lump-heads you wouldn’t have seen me for dust!’ Kelso was lying, but now that Brickman thought he knew all the answers, it was easier to slip one past him.

  Besides, it was half-true. They had been alerted to Brickman’s arrival. As a brand new member of AMEXICO, he had been ‘posted’ to test the limits of his physical and mental endurance – and had passed with flying colours. Kelso and Medicine-Hat had been detailed to go back to cut him loose before he suffered serious injury and, by a happy coincidence, Jodi’s genuine concern had provided a convenient cover. The bit which hadn’t been planned was their unexpected encounter with the clan M’Call.

  ‘So what were you doing out there?’ Steve knew it was a waste of time asking but his curiosity got the better of him.

  Kelso replied with a croaking laugh. ‘You never cease to amaze me, Brickman.’

  ‘How about Malone? He seemed to know a great deal about under-cover Feds.’

  ‘That’s a question you’ll have to ask him.’ Kelso yawned. ‘Is there much more of this? I’m findin’ it hard to keep my eyes open.’

  ‘I want you to give a message to Mother.’

  Kelso yawned again. ‘Hope it’s not a long one …’

  ‘No. But listen carefully. I was sent out to capture three smart Mutes. Cadillac, Clearwater and their teacher – an old guy called Mr Snow.’

  ‘Well, two out of three ain’t bad. Especially on your first assignment.’

  ‘Will you listen to me!?’ demanded Steve angrily. ‘This is important! Those two are piddle-shit compared with Mr Snow. You saw what Clearwater did at the Heron Pool? Yeah? Well, Mr Snow can unleash ten times more power than that!’

  ‘So just how d’you propose to bring him in?’

  ‘The only way I can get to him is through his pupils. They have been raised to take his place when he dies and they’re his only weak spot.’

  ‘Go on …’

  ‘Knocking out Side-Winder and the two MX pilots was necessary to give me the deep cover I need. Cadillac and Clearwater have to believe I’m totally committed to the Plainfolk. That’s why I promised Mr Snow I’d do my best to rescue them from Ne-Issan. If I can get them back safely to their clan in Wyoming, I’ll be the local hero and –’

  ‘That’s when we snatch all three.’

  ‘Exactly.’ Steve grinned. ‘Y’see, the thing is, I don’t really give a damn about saving your ugly hide. I just need someone I can trust to explain what’s happening. Someone with the right connections. The first thing you must do when you get aboard The Lady is contact Mother, relay what I’ve just told you, and ask him to arrange for Hartmann to get his marching orders. I want that wagon-train out of here ASAP and I don’t want to see another one north of the Kansas state line until I send word.’

  ‘Some chance. They may pull out The Lady but I can’t see ’em holding up the whole fuggin’ war while you get your act together.’

  ‘Just pass on the message, okay?’

  ‘Okay. But I think I ought to warn you. If someone offers me a quick rebuild under a general anaesthetic, your message may have to wait until I come round.’

  ‘Bad, huh?’

  ‘I’ve known better days.’ Kelso fought down a wave of pain and clutched at Steve’s arm. ‘Listen. I appreciate you sticking by me. Thanks for fixing me up with a ride home.’

  ‘You’re not there yet, amigo.’

  ‘All bar the shouting. I owe you one – okay?’

  ‘If you get that message through, we’re even. But if you feel like doing me a favour, just make sure Jodi comes out of this in one piece. She’s putting her neck on the line to save yours. Remember that.’

  ‘I will …’

  ‘Good. Here’s the bottom line. Apart from Mother, if anyone wants to know, you two are the only survivors. You didn’t see anything. It’s Jodi who’s got the full story. Got that?’

  ‘Yeah …’

  Jodi came over to give Kelso his nightly jab of pain-killer then stroked his forehead. ‘Okay, get some sleep, champ. We want you in good shape for the big event.’

  ‘When’s, uhh … tomorrow …?’ Kelso’s eyes started to close.

  ‘Soon,’ said Steve. It would have to be. There were only two more shots of morphine left in the locker.

  For the return journey to the campsite, the Kojak elders provided Cadillac and Clearwater with an escort of two hands instead of the original five. Although this appeared to devalue their worth it was, in fact, intended as a compliment. Having listened to Cadillac’s extravagant claims, the elders had come to the conclusion t
hat even if only half of it were true the ‘Chosen Ones’ would be more than capable of protecting themselves and their escort.

  The decision was not unanimous, but taking their lead from Carnegie-Hall, the dissenters did not declare themselves. Having netted this prize catch, the wordsmith was reluctant to jeopardize their safety but questions of etiquette were involved. To have provided their honoured guests with the same, or an even larger escort would have implied that Cadillac’s testimony regarding their status and Clearwater’s powers had not been taken seriously.

  Time-honoured tradition required wordsmiths to speak openly to one another. They might not declare all they knew but everything they declared had to be true. For one member of this select band to imply by word or deed that a brother-in-spirit had used his gifts to weave a tissue of lies would have been a serious affront with unpredictable consequences.

  The elders had another more practical reason for reducing the size of the escort; the warriors were needed elsewhere. The appearance of the iron snake had disturbed the winter slumbers of the Mute clans whose turf lay close to the Mississippi. Had they been capable of submerging their individual interests they might have put up a concerted and vigorous defence but the day when the Plainfolk clans exchanged their implacable hostility towards one another for a sense of nationhood was still a long way off.

  Instead of standing their ground, they had begun to withdraw in a northeasterly direction. That very morning, a posse of Kojak braves had encountered an advance party of C’Natti Mutes from an unidentified clan who were in the process of planting marker poles on land already claimed by the M’Waukee.

  The C’Natti – the fawning jackals to the wolf-packs of the D’Troit – had been driven off without a fight but they threatened to return in greater numbers and this had given the Kojak elders cause for concern. With some nine hundred braves of both sexes, the Kojak did not fear an attack by a rival clan but they could not withstand simultaneous invasions of their turf by several adversaries – as was bound to happen if the iron snake continued its advance.

  A damaging conflict could only be avoided if the threat from this fearsome beast was eliminated. Since Cadillac M’Call had claimed its arrival on the scene was directly linked to the appearance of the Chosen Ones, it was only reasonable to expect these gifted individuals to use their combined powers to remove it. Carnegie was given the task of explaining to Cadillac before he left that defeat of the iron-snake was no longer regarded as an optional, goodwill gesture: it was now essential to prevent the clan being overwhelmed by the pressure from its displaced neighbours.