Chapter 15
John had rigged up one of the fuel cells to the light during the night as Carmel slept. When he woke her at around three in the morning, he quietly suggested they should leave their place under the old stone bridge and make as much ground as they could before the light of the day came upon the scene. Frieda towed their small wooden cart along as they walked beside her, so as to make it easy going for her through the snow. He kept the light down low so she could see a little way ahead, and to avoid showing too much of their presence in the forest in case the Agent was already about. The old map he had studied, showed the trail meandering through the forest, and then joining up again with the trail the main group were following, after about five miles.
John told Carmel they should continue on as the walking trail would provide cover as it traversed a cliff face, before venturing up through a gap in the edifice, and then winding on to meet the others. “We need to go as fast as we can to make the Agent guess at where we could be,” he said, responding to her questioning look.
“John, I do like the light you have made. It gives me a sense of comfort when there is very little. And it makes me feel warm. It is so cold now.”
“We should warm up a bit as we walk Carmel.”
As the hours rolled by and the sun appeared illuminating the whiteness all around, they made progress without any sign of the Agent. The forest was still and quiet, with the crunching of their footsteps and the sound of Frieda drawing the cart, the only sound to be heard.
“I have a scanner in the cart, but we cannot use it, as the Agent would detect it,” John said as they stood resting for a while at the junction of the walking trail and the larger trail the remainder of the group had taken. Their path was very evident as they had managed to re-start the truck and had cleared the way ahead.
“He will find this track won’t he John?”
“Yes. We can be sure of that. But if the others have made good ground, they will be waiting at a section up ahead where the trail splits as it goes deep into the forest. If we can get there before he appears and if we can all keep some cover, he might not find us all that fast.”
Two miles ahead, they met up with the others, but they had bad news. The truck had run into some mechanical trouble and could proceed no further. If it could be repaired, it was going to take some valuable time, and it might expose the group to the Agent.
“I’ll have a look at it,” John said. After a few minutes, he turned to them all who were eagerly watching and waiting for good news, but he could not give them any. “The engine has seized. That oil we use just cannot cope with such cold conditions.”
One of the women in the group became very worried calling out, “What will we do? He’ll get us in no time.”
Carmel walked over to her to reassure her and help to calm her down, “Don’t worry so much dear, or you will help the Agent to find you. He thrives on the negativity people can project. I know this sounds silly to you, but he will find us much more easily if we project negativity.”
“Well, what can we do then? This snow is so deep and now we don’t have a plough to clear our way.”
“We can always find a solution. Ask John. Look, you can see he is trying to think of one now.”
The entire group turned to look at John in expectation of something they could do. “Um, we will have to go on as best we can. It is not so bad. Up until now, the plough has made our path very obvious to him, but without a cleared path to follow, it might make him guess a bit. I suggest we split up and take different paths from this intersection. Here, look on this map. We could agree to split up and make our way to the town of Bishop on the eastern side of the mountains. At the lower altitudes, there will be much less snow, if any as we head into the town.” Everyone gathered around as near as they could to see where John was indicating on the old map.
“We should meet there in five days. There is bound to be other people about the town and that will give us some cover. Anyway…” he paused and looked at Carmel. “I really think the Agent now has a specific target amongst us in mind. It is best we split now and head for Bishop. If we are not all there within five days, then those who have made it should then take this route up to Tonopah and then head north-east from there.”
Everyone agreed that John’s plan was their best option and so without delay, they all said goodbyes and good luck, and then split into three smaller groups who each took one of the four trails leading away from the intersection. John and Carmel were left behind with only Frieda and their cart.
The Agent was in the sky above where he had burned the forest, as soon as daylight allowed him to see the ground below. He could see nothing of interest, except for the wisps of smoke winding their way skyward as trees still smouldered. He liked the way the smoke snaked its way, carrying the remnants of what once was with it to be lost to the sky. It made him feel good in his own way; as if he had destroyed something and that the something was no longer there lost to oblivion. But soon enough, the sensation was lost to him, and he recommenced his search to find his former superior.
After many low sweeps of the surrounding area, he grew tired of achieving nothing, and so decided to look further to the east. Within minutes, he found the plough trail and his senses picked up again, knowing he would soon once again, close in on his prey. As he followed the trail, his anger then arose once again, upon seeing it disappear at an intersection. He saw the abandoned truck below and so blasted it a few times until it erupted into an explosive fireball. “Where have you gone bitch?” he said aloud.
Without enough room to land the craft, he was forced to hover and try to see where the group had gone, only to be dismayed at seeing four separate paths with footprints and cartwheel tracks leading away. He chose one. He followed it until he saw a person on a horse below for a fleeting moment between the tree branches. Without any thought, he immediately turned to his holographic weapons array and blasted them until they were no more than a stain on the snow below him. “I’ll kill all of you!” he shouted.
But he was wrong. In fact, he killed no others that day, instead flying his space ship over the forest frantically looking for them, and finding nobody. Not even his scanners brought him success, for as soon as he received advice on human activity below, it would disappear amongst the thickly wooded forest. He had no time to randomly burn forests that day as he was after his former superior, and so by the time dusk came, he had left the scene and had made his way back to Oakland to devise a plan on capturing them. Even if he had killed his former superior, he would still go after the others and teach them a lesson on what it was like to make him have to chase them through the forest.
Carmel and John had seen the Agent fly overhead so they had left the trail to hide amongst the trees. He flew past three times in total before the light began to fade and he left the area. Night was now their ally, and so they continued on in the still coldness, under the stars they could see now and then between the trees. Once again, John had rigged the light for Frieda to see ahead, and they walked beside her, often giving her a pat and words of comfort. She was as much to them as they were to each other since they had first found her, and she had her own affection for their company. Fortunately, the snow was not as deep as it had been higher up in the mountains, and so there was less struggle for Frieda, with only a few inches of snow covering the most of the trail, until they would arrive at a deep drift and John would clear some of the way through.
Similar to their first time in the forest, an Owl suddenly loomed into their low sphere of light startling them. Again, Carmel took to seeing the bird as an indication, as if its presence was a talisman of magical power accompanying them during their journey. She felt confident regardless, in part as her natural way, but also for having John and Frieda as company, and so the Owl added to this for her.
John could feel her. He could sense her presence whenever she was near, and so thought of her as one of the most unique people he had ever met. Despite the trials of their recent exp
eriences, she held her senses and composure in a way he could not describe, though he had tried working on a description to himself quite a few times now. She was an apparition to him – the way she looked, the way she spoke, and the underlying sense of resolute calmness she nearly always seemed to carry, was becoming a growing effect upon him. He was able to see why his friend Tim, known as The Fixture, had fallen in love with her. It was as if she cast a spell on those around her, on those to whom she spoke directly, and against those like the Agent, who opposed her. Yet, he knew this too was a danger, for the Agent could be drawn to her now he had seen them in the mountains, and her alluring aura was one so very special, the Agent would not be able to help his macabre sense of intrigue, should he ever detain her.
Amongst the walls of timber, with their sole light falling upon the white snow just in front and a little beyond them to the sides, they continued well past midnight and onwards towards dawn. The day would soon break when whilst they rested, where John asked Carmel what her thoughts were on what they should do. They were still amongst the tall timber without any clearing, and so they felt safe about stopping for a time and resting.
“John, you know I hold the deepest trust in you and I can feel you have the same for me. It is with such grace, how you speak with me and never to me. It is with such flow how our words carry back and forth upon the air to each other, with intentions so aligned with the elemental connection of love in our hearts. And it is with such reverence, that I place dear to my heart, to be in your presence during our journey, for I know that you feel the same towards me and that is something we can both cherish and give outward…even to Frieda.” She giggled a little then. It was almost a childish giggle, but in being so, was a sound of innocence and of purity, and of love.
‘She is a blessing,’ he thought. ‘Here we are being pursued by the Agent, and yet she can give such grace and feeling…’
“Well. What do you think? I am thinking we should stay here and rest until it is late in the day. The hours of light are not so long during these winter days, and Frieda could surely use some rest. So I say, what you think is what I have expressed in response to your intention…you’re asking me about what I think.”
“Then you have answered for us Carmel.”
Frieda was slowing turning over some straw in her mouth John had given her when the Agent was seen for a brief moment overhead. It was then obvious to them both that he was getting angry at not being able to find them, as they heard some explosions a few hundred yards away when he had taken to obliterating some trees out of frustration. He was not aware of how close they were, but he could see there was a trail of some type below him. This trail along with others all heading roughly in an easterly direction, were his targets, but he had made no sightings of John and Carmel, or of any of the others who were making their way towards the township of Bishop.
Frieda barely lifted her head in response to the sounds as she continued to chew the straw, as she had experienced this type of action before this day. She too felt comfortable, not at all troubled by the snow and with the woollen blanket Carmel had draped over her, she was insulated against the cold.
The Agent took to a few more flights over the area, before again, being forced to retire for the day. The forest was on their side, not his. His instruments only gave him ideas of life forms now and then, and the vastness of the forest meant that to indiscriminately fire at all the readout locations, he would need to methodically plot out the area and cover it with laser fire all day long. The Agent was a megalomaniac and methodically plotting was not his strong point. He had his ways and they could be so very devastating, but the patience required to work through the forest this day, was not something he could draw upon. He left the scene without success and took to those who were awaiting his return to Oakland. He barked commands and with a sense mostly unknown to him, he actually took some type of pity on them in asking a few to help him devise a plan to find his former superior officer.
When the light of day once again receded, John and Carmel took Frieda on a night trek through the forest and through a decreasing snow pack. At times, the trail would be entirely clear of snow, so they took to covering these sections as fast as possible to make good time. As morning neared, they decided to take one more rest stop within the forest, before they left it behind to cover the open ground they had seen just a mile away now. The snow was still all about, but there were much larger areas of the trail clear of snow, and the distant view had revealed only a few drifts were clinging to the walls of the valley below.
“Carmel, I am going to take these looking glasses to see if anyone is in the valley. I suggest you stay here with Frieda whilst I go back up to the ridge point so I can get a good view.” The day was a few hours old by this time, and there had been no sign of the Agent.
“I think so John. I can trust the wisdom of your decisions. Take the time you require. We are sure in remaining together here, Frieda and I.”
“I’ll be back in about half an hour.”
When he did return, he had some news. John had seen a few of the group travelling along the path beneath the transit way a few miles to the east. The journey to Bishop was then about another twenty miles south, and so he was sure the people he had seen on horseback, were from the group they had travelled with. “Surprise though…no sign of the Agent. I thought he would have worked out we are travelling east and we would end up on the fringes of the forest, to then make for the transit way. There was no vehicular traffic, just those on horseback I saw.”
“He does know this John. He wants me much more than those others, and despite his absence, we can be sure he will be upon us again. I would say he is planning his next move. He will want to make a fast decisive action John. He is not one for patience and methodical thinking. He is devious and he has his own methods, and they are never that well thought out, but they can still work. We must be careful John.”
“We will rest for all of today and then head off after dark. Lucky there is no moonlight, but he will have his scanners and they will be effective in the open countryside beyond here.”
“Then I know you will come up with a means to buy us time. A means to distract him John.”
“Hmm, you do know me don’t you.”
“Of course.”
They slept the remainder of day, even Frieda. She was content to lie upon the bed of pine needles that were free of snow, close by to the others who were asleep underneath the wagon. Nothing disturbed them the entire time, and so when they awoke an hour before sunset, they all felt refreshed and alert. Carmel took the lead as she harnessed Frieda to the cart. For a moment she looked at her little steam engine stowed at the rear and longed for a time when she could run it again and let off a few whistles. John was going through some plans in his head, so she chose to leave him to his planning as they made their way towards the edge of the forest.
“I’m going to turn the scanner on for a while,” he told her as they paused just a few yards from the last trees. “We will benefit from anything it shows us as we head out into the open country. Its’ range extends to around five miles, so it will give us a warning if he is approaching.”
“He will be able to detect it though won’t he?”
“Yes, that is the downside. Whilst it gives us five miles of detecting range, it also will give the same to his scanners, so if he sees it, he will come straight for us.”
“What if we try it in small bursts every now and then?”
“Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? You truly are marvellous Carmel.”
The transit way was just a mile ahead when John tried the scanner for the first time. He left it on for the next hundred yards before switching it off again after seeing nothing showing on its holographic readout. By the time they reached the transit way, they had encountered nothing and so they paused for a while by a supporting stanchion underneath. The transit was high above them, but was still low enough to keep them mostly from sight should the Agent fly over at a few hund
red feet.
“We will follow this until we get to Bishop. If we travel fast, we could be there by dawn.”
“Well, let’s go then John. Frieda is keen.”
It would have been around three in the morning when John briefly saw the Agent show on the readout a second before he switched the device off.
“Can we go faster girl?” he said to Frieda as he tugged on the reins. Without hesitation, she increased her pace and they continue on almost at a gallop.
“She is such a fine horse John.”
“She is.”
“The Agent will track us John. He saw us on his display and I think he would be going into one of usual states by now. He always becomes a maniac more so when he gets close to his targets.”
“Yes I know, but I have another plan. There is one other device I have in my bag we can use. It will mean leaving it behind but it is worth it.”
“So you are going to set up a decoy.”
“Precisely. It is a smaller hand-held scanner I found back at the farm. It only works now and then as it is a bit faulty, but I hope it is enough to distract him. We just need to stop at the next cable node we come across and set it up. There, we can make a little cover so it will require to him to land and get out of his ship to investigate.”
“That will buy us some time.”
“Hopefully enough to at least almost get to Bishop. I think we have at least another hour to go at this pace.”
“Then prepare. I will guide Frieda. Do what you need to do.”
Höllenbadt: Book two of the Torus Saga Page 12