by Jay Aspen
Jac grinned. ‘You mean I’m her ‘pet’ instead of the other way around?’
‘More like servant if you want to be brutally honest! But do a good job as servant and she’ll toss a few dinners your way.’
Jac watched the peregrine take off again, shielding her eyes against the bright northern sun and glittering snow. ‘Everything feels so different here from life in the city. Tough conditions, but such a joy not to be looking over your shoulder for enforcers. Does it seem strange to be cut off from everyone outside the Ice Islands?’
He nodded thoughtfully. ‘It did at first. But people come here because they need to stay hidden. We have to break with everything we knew before.’
‘Wolf wants us to leave soon.’ Jac’s gaze drifted south. ‘We’ll soon be in that other world beyond the jetstream.’
The osprey returned with a salmon gripped in its talons.
Fox supported Jac’s arm as she held out her gloved fist for the great bird to land on.
‘Jac, I’m thinking more of Seahawk. I know you said our route south goes past the freshwater lakes and then down the coast. What about after that? Have you seen any place that might work for the ospreys?’
Jac recalled what she’d seen of the area and tried to link it to her memories of the maps. ‘The Warren doesn’t have any open water. There’s the east marshes but our intel team keeps laying false-trails on that side so it might not be safe.’
They returned to Icehall to find Kit and Bel with Wolf, marking in details on the wall screen map.
Kit looked up. ‘How did the flying go?’
Jac smiled but made sure she made eye contact with Bel instead of Kit. ‘Fox wants to know about lakes on our way south. For Seahawk.’
If Kit noticed he made no comment, instead tracing their route on the prepared map. ‘The route to the Warren should be fine. After that, it’s as unknown as safe places to start farming.’
Wolf pointed to the map icons ranged across the ridge of hills that marked the southern end of the islanders’ territory.
‘Our scouts came back reporting that only a fraction of the patrols are left on the pass now, so forty people will leave here tomorrow. They’ll travel to the Warren with you, learn everything they can from the rangers’ experience, then start looking for land. The rest of us will wait seven weeks. Then we have to leave whether we’ve heard from you or not.’
Jac checked her handset. No signal. ‘How can we report back from south of the barrier if there’s no cable here to link with your short-range transmissions?’
Wolf indicated the plump birds being carefully packed into carrying baskets. ‘Homing pigeons. We even use them between the halls in winter if the solar gets low.’
Fox laughed. ‘We had to establish a protocol not to fly hawks on Sunday. One clear day each week when pigeons can get through without getting eaten, although they don’t always get past the wild hawks that haven’t heard of the arrangement.’
He beckoned them over to the side of the hall to eat dinner. It was not so different from food at the Warren, mainly venison and rabbit with a few glass-grown vegetables.
Bel was following up the afternoon’s conversation that Jac had missed. ‘Wolf, you said you had to leave the campus eight years ago. That was before I registered there. What were you teaching your students that was a threat to the regime?’
Wolf seemed happy enough to revisit the subject of his lost career. ‘Engineering. Officially. But you can’t repair wrecked infrastructure when the infrastructure you need to do it with is also wrecked! So I focused on the process itself, using systems and complexity theory to research new methods.’
Bel shrugged apologetically. ‘You’ll have to explain. I was trying to get a degree in chemistry. Till I had to disappear.’
Wolf became more animated, pleased at her interest. He probably didn’t get much opportunity to discuss scientific theories during hunting expeditions.
‘Protocols to imitate natural processes. Complex systems are unpredictable but have patterns if we learn to see them.’
‘Oh. I remember. A student debate that got a bit off-topic onto things like the butterfly effect. It flaps its wings and causes a storm on the other side of the world? I always wondered how that was meant to work.’
Bel hadn’t mentioned her gestalt abilities to anyone here and Jac noticed that Wolf was impressed by the speed with which she’d made the link.
He launched straight into the heart of his pet project.
‘I designed cooperative working methods that are more powerful than competition, and some self-organizing networks that are far more creative and adaptable than rigid command-structures.’
Bel raised an eyebrow. ‘That definitely wouldn’t go down well with Avarit. The only way they stay in power is by using fear and armed control.’ She gave him a wry smile. ‘So the hopes of the Resistance are actually backed by science?’
Wolf shrugged. ‘Now you know why I had to disappear in a hurry.’
35
Icehall was a scene of chaotic activity the following morning. After two hours of milling around the islanders still hadn’t finished packing their gear and food. Jac was trying to work out why it was so different from the smooth and efficient way things happened at the Warren.
‘Bel? Any idea? I wasn’t at the Warren very long, but it didn’t feel scrambled the way this does.’
Bel was watching closely. ‘Yeah, I’m trying to figure why they can’t coordinate. It’s going to make the journey south a lot more dangerous if I can’t find a way to sort it. Raine has this particular skill of maintaining discipline without it feeling oppressive. It can still get a bit tedious sometimes––but it makes any call to action run a deal more smoothly than the shambles playing out over there.’
Jac pulled on her heavy furs. ‘I’m going to find Fox. He promised to show me how to get the peregrine ready to travel. Apparently if you don’t do it properly the birds can get restless and hurt themselves.’
Bel reached for her gear. ‘I’ll come with you. I think the only way to work with the islanders is to learn more about the way they live. Giving them orders is just going to make things worse.’
Fox was at the mews, repairing the damaged tail feathers of a young osprey. He looked worried. ‘I was going to release Priann before we leave, but I think she sensed something was up with all the different activity this morning. She must have got really restless. I’ve patched her up as best I can but I don’t think I can let her go today. Looks like I’ll be taking both birds with me.’
Bel was gazing into the osprey’s deep golden eyes. ‘She’s so beautiful. May I––’
‘Whoa! Wait a minute.’ Fox grabbed her outstretched hand, slipped the leather glove onto it and pushed a piece of fresh salmon into the other.
The hawk swallowed the fish, then gave Bel’s finger a sharp peck, drawing blood. Fox looked at her approvingly.
‘Hey. She likes you.’
Bel sucked the damaged finger. ‘What does she do to people she doesn’t like?’
‘Total indifference. Here, try another offering.’
But Bel was already reaching for another fish scrap. ‘If she has to come south with us, can I help you look after her?’ She was stroking Priann’s neck feathers now, with no further danger to her fingers.
Fox smiled as he passed Bel the osprey’s transponder. ‘I think she worked that out before you did.’
Jac watched as Bel walked slowly back to the main building, sensing the connection she was forming with the wild creature perched on her arm.
‘You know, Fox, I think something good happened there. Maybe Priann will help Bel get through something she’s dealing with.’ She followed Fox back to the courtyard outside Icehall, Sybina’s talons gripping the thick leather gauntlet on her wrist.
There was still a chaotic crowd of islanders milling around outside Icehall although some of the group had already set off. Wolf was waiting with Bel. When Jac arrived he turned onto the south track.
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‘I’ve sent a couple of pigeons back to the Warren. They may not get through but if they do at least Raine will have some warning that it could get a bit crowded for a few days.’
Jac ran a calculating glance down the line of islanders. ‘Space isn’t the issue at the Warren. The risk is the need to disappear quickly if a military attack force shows up again. Did you send a message to the Tarn as well?’
‘We can’t send anything yet. We’ve no pigeons from there. Not till Cass sends some with the next pilot. No refugees have arrived since the Warren was raided. We didn’t even know Raine had taken a few rangers back there till you told us.’
Wolf stayed with them the following day until they were within sight of the main road over the moors. It would have been the easiest route south but the hawks circled a few times and relayed pictures of the last few military vehicles still staking out the shattered road at the crest of the pass.
Wolf gave orders to make camp under cover of the pine forest, advising the newcomers to lay brushes of twigs on the ground for extra warmth. The night was cold and they were too close to the road to risk lighting fires.
Jac half-heartedly built her brushwood nest at the edge of the group, trying not to watch Kit follow Bel a few paces into the trees, hating herself for the feelings of jealousy that erupted every time she saw them together. The more she tried to recapture the feeling of settled happiness she’d found with Raine, the more she felt restless, longing to be with Kit. No matter how much she avoided him, the awareness was always there, making her feel she was somehow betraying Raine, proving herself to be fickle and untrustworthy.
In the frosted light of early morning Wolf and six islanders collected the furs the pioneers would no longer need and bundled them up to take back to the outpost ready for the next group of refugees to arrive, as they nearly always did, without adequate clothing.
Fox studied the hawks’ transponder images. ‘There’s no sign of any patrols very far from the main road so we don’t have to go as far west as the route you took to get here. We can use an easier pass between that ridge and the road.’
Jac followed the others silently, glad they wouldn’t have to revisit the ridge. She knew that if she did she’d be looking for bloodstains, no matter how hard she tried not to.
At the foot of the last hill she stood with Wolf and Bel at the edge of the trees, watching the line of figures slowly making their way up the valley towards the ridge that marked the edge of the islanders’ territory, a place that was no longer a safe haven to raise their families.
Wolf pushed back his hood and sniffed the air. ‘You’ll have an easy day of it today. The barrier’s high and steady so the wind won’t be too severe as you cross.’
He hesitated, then decided to share his thoughts. ‘If you get back to the city, try to find the network of free-society educators. It’s a secret group of teachers, lecturers, trainers. People who are aware of what’s being kept out of the Avarit-controlled education programmes. They’re trying to quietly get them back in. It can be a lonely business, but I think things are starting to converge, from unexpected directions.’
Bel raised an eyebrow. ‘Complex systems being unpredictable?’
He laughed, for the first time since they’d met him. ‘You learn quickly. Hope backed by science. Find Zulia Valentin. She’s part of that group. She knows your friend Lizzie.’
‘I think everyone knows Lizzie.’ Bel glanced up the valley. ‘We’d better go. Fox and Kit are at the front with the hawks checking it’s all clear, but if it isn’t they’ll need me to help get them out of trouble.’
Wolf stepped back to let them pass.
‘May your God protect you.’
‘As yours protects you.’
When Jac reached the top and looked back Wolf and the returning islanders had already vanished, their camouflaged furs blending softly into the grey-white patterns of rocks and snow.
*
The morning sun filtered through bright forest leaves to the open space in front of the Warren farmhouse, reflecting tiny rainbows on grass and wild flowers almost covering the scars left by military jeeps and trucks.
Thirty people sat in a circle on the ground, listening as Raine outlined their situation.
‘The last time we sat in council was at the Tarn, and I asked you to decide whether or not you wanted to return here with me. We needed better communication links for Cass and her team and we needed more space for the people and animals remaining up there. We’ve done that and it’s working well. But I warned you the risk here is higher. We’re nearer the city and the Warren has already been raided once.’
He looked around the attentive faces, giving them a moment to take this in, wondering how they’d take the next part of his message. ‘Now the risk has increased. Parry has been given millions to step up the hunt for us. If you want to leave, do it soon.’
As usual, it was Karim who asked the first question. ‘Where would you expect us to go?’
Raine was candid rather than comforting. ‘A few places in the far north near the barrier are still wild enough to set up an unregistered holding and go self-sufficient. If you post lookouts. If you’re ready to get out at short notice.’
No one spoke for a few moments. Finally Evie looked round at the silent faces, then voiced her feelings. ‘I don’t know about anyone else but I signed up to see this thing through, not just hang around while it was all training and patrols and having quite a nice time in between.’
She looked to Luc and Karim for reassurance. ‘When I took the pledge to join the rangers, for me that meant a commitment to everyone here, not running out soon as things get a bit rough.’
There was a rustle of movement in the circle, somehow more powerful than words. It seemed Evie had expressed what everyone felt. Karim asked the obvious question.
‘Assuming we all stay together, what do we do next?’
Raine kept it practical. ‘Think about your skills and experience so that when the situation becomes clearer we can form the strongest team possible. Meanwhile, we have fewer rangers to cover the same area of forest and more refugees than ever to find and take north.’
There was silence under the trees for a breath, and then people went quietly back to their posts.
Raine watched them leave, hoping against the odds their trust and loyalty would not lead them into disaster. That he would not lead them into disaster.
Shortest council ever. Perhaps they’ll come up with some brilliant ideas.
He walked down to the training ground to see if anyone needed extra coaching. From the edge of the clearing he could see Luc’s unruly dark hair and agile movements in the shadows near the ruined hut. His bandaged left arm was still in a sling but he was skilfully handling the training gun single-handed with his right.
Someone was running in the dim green light under the trees, moving fast, dodging and weaving a fraction ahead of the laser beam. Raine edged closer to see who it was, just as the figure emerged from the shadows and caught the beam full-on only a fraction from where Luc was standing. It was Karim. They both burst out laughing.
‘Best one yet!’ Luc flipped the gun into reverse to clear the red stain that had spread across Karim’s chest.
The tech expert looked up and noticed Raine watching them. He leaned against the crumbling hut wall, breathing heavily, his face flushed with exertion.
‘I hate to admit it,’ he gasped, wiping sweat from his face, ‘but I’m actually enjoying getting fit now I’ve got past the stage where I ache all over.’
Raine smiled. ‘Impressive, after such a short time training. How’s the first aid going?’
‘Look!’ Karim unwrapped the bandage from Luc’s arm. The synthetic skin was perfectly in place and remained clear enough to show the part-healed burn underneath. ‘Evie let me take over and practice on Luc when it was her turn to go out rounding up city refugees. It took me three goes to get the synth-skin sticking properly without trapping infection underneath but I think
it’s set now. The bandage just stops it getting whacked in training.’
They both looked so pleased with themselves Raine felt like laughing with them. ‘When do you think you’ll be ready to become forest rangers again?’
‘Already done it! Unofficial swap when Evie got her hand squashed building the new charcoal-pyroliser for the kitchen. We did her patrol till she could use her fingers again.’ Luc was watching Raine as he spoke, fidgeting and rather obviously waiting for the right time to say what was really on his mind.
‘Go on.’ Raine made an effort to keep a straight face. ‘I can see there’s something else coming. If it’s a confession about another of your dreadful practical jokes you might just get away without sanctions.’
Luc was a picture of injured innocence. ‘Raine, you may find this hard to believe, but we’ve been too busy to get into any mischief at all.’
‘And too tired,’ put in Karim ruefully. He pushed damp hair out of his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘But the thing is... I’ve been working on my project to get control of Avarit’s financial sefet-system and I think if I could access one of the central terminals, I could do it.’
Luc piled in before Raine could object. ‘So what we’re trying to say is, we want your permission to get back to the city and give it a go. That’s what we’re practicing for.’
Images of their previous near-disaster flashed into Raine’s mind. ‘Karim, you’ve still so little experience away from a desk. I nearly lost both of you last time.’
‘But Luc’s brilliant at all that physical stuff––’
‘His arm needs to finish healing.’ Raine kept his memories to himself. He had been only nine years old when his father and a lot of good people had died going in there to get the original system-access. It was the one thing that kept the Resistance ahead of most of the military raids in the city––but it didn’t give them total access to the regime’s coms system and they still lost people as a result.