by T E Olivant
I looked at the others. So it was as easy as that. How shameful that the strangers had found us so easy to manipulate.
“Take him away,” Dubh said to the female Digger. She nodded and left without a word. “The Digger’s explosives were merely camouflage for the stranger’s more terrible weapon.” He turned to Lisanne. “What could do such a thing? What kind of weapon could destroy the Peak?”
“I’m not sure. Some kind of huge gun?” Lisanne shrugged. “I’m sorry, I have no idea what weapons my people have.”
The Chieftain gritted his teeth.
“Then we will just have to be ready for anything.” He turned to Scyre. “Take a few of the swiftest Seekers and Hunters and position them along the ridge to watch our borders. I want eyes everywhere. We may assume they are coming from the South, but let’s not get over-confident.”
“The men are armed,” the Chieftain said once Scyre had left. He seemed to be talking to himself. “The eagles have been sent. The scouts are watching…” He tailed off into silence.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“Now we wait.”
We didn’t have to wait long.
At first it was a streak of reflected sunlight like a blazing star that shimmered across the ice. It travelled faster than the deer, too fast for something that big. It was hard to judge size from this distance: on the White there were few landmarks to compare it to. But as it drew closer I realised it was large enough to hold fifty men. We were in trouble. Each of us climbed onto the ridge to watch it approach. No one tried to do anything. Whatever it was, it was bigger and stronger than anything I had ever fought.
It came closer, almost silent except for a low rumbling as it crunched along the snow. It was big, maybe three times as tall as I was, and it moved along on wheels covered by metal tracks. The shimmering reflective surface seemed to be metal plates fused together. The rumbling grew louder and louder.
“Is that a pipe on the front?” Lisanne said softly, her eyes straining to see what the rest of us had already noticed. “Could it be…” She shook her head, lost in thought. It was close enough to see the churned-up snow it left in its wake.
“Time to get into cover,” I said, pulling the girl along beside me. The others had had the same thought and were moving towards our planned positions.
“Tracks,” Lisanne whispered beside me, “armour plates, pipe… No, gun. Tracks over wheels. Why can’t I remember? I’ve seen it somewhere in the archive. Is it… a tank? It’s a tank.”
“We need to move, now!” But Lisanne was already in front of me, running like a wolf was at her heels. I risked a glance backwards.
“It’s stopped.” I had to call twice more before Lisanne came to a halt.
The thing had stopped a hundred feet outside the city. The heat from its mechanical body gave a shimmering quality to the air around it, already melting the top layer of snow. I stared at the metal monster for a few minutes, but nothing happened. They were waiting for something, and I wasn’t sure what.
“Over here,” the Chieftain called, and we hurried over. “All right girl, what are we looking at here?”
“It’s a tank,” Lisanne replied. She had wrapped her arms around her chest and I could see she was fighting to stay calm.
“What’s a tank?”
“Armies used to use them in wars, in the old days. They used them for killing people. Lots of people.”
“But what is it?”
She just shook her head. I heard Dubh’s snarl of frustration and moved in between them.
“Listen to me Lisanne,” I said, “I need to know what it is, because we need to work out how to stop it.”
She laughed a horrible, cold laugh.
“We can’t stop it. Don’t you see, this isn’t a wolf that you can cut with a knife. It’s a machine, with sides of metal and men inside, men that are happy to kill us all like animals.”
I didn’t say anything for a moment. Then I took a deep breath. “All right then. Metal sides, men inside. What else can you tell me about it? What powers it?”
“Solar power. It gets energy from the sun to make it move. There are probably some batteries too, but I don’t know how that works.”
“Okay.” I took another look at the dreadful thing and noticed the dark blue rectangles on the slanted roof. “What else. I need a weakness.”
“It’s big, so it’s not going to be good at manoeuvring. But then it doesn’t have to be, the White is empty. Nothing to manoeuvre round.”
“Maybe, but it’s something.” My brain searched for possibilities. I discarded one after another in seconds. One thing my hunter genes had given me was the ability to think quickly in a crisis. “Do you still have that map?”
She fumbled in her pack and finally drew out the paper and passed it over. I scanned it eagerly.
“Look,” I said, showing it to the Chieftain, “do you notice anything?”
He stared at it like it was from another world. Which I suppose it was.
“I don’t know what I’m meant to be looking at.”
“Don’t look at what’s there, think about what’s not there. See, this is the city, and the frozen river that leads up to it. There’s the underground city where Lisanne came from. And here we are, just to the East of our city. What’s missing?”
Dubh shook his head again, but then paused. He placed a claw on a space on the map to the other side of the city.
“They haven’t drawn the crevasse field.”
“Exactly!” Realisation dawned on the Chieftain’s face and I was rewarded with a grin.
“What are you talking about?” Lisanne asked.
“I think we might have found a way to stop them.”
Chapter 21: Lisanne
“Figures approaching from the West,” a voice called and Kyrk and the others ran along the ridge. I followed behind as quickly as I could. Had my people decided to attack from two different sides? I cursed my clumsy feet as I slipped across the ice.
“It’s all right, it’s just a Seeker.” Someone called out just as I caught up with Kyrk. Sure enough, the when she came close enough I recognised Swift, leading a huge deer.
“Seems like you convinced them without my help,” The Seeker said with his usual clever smile.
“Looks like it. Were you delayed?” He should have got to the city before us. Swift gave me a sly wink.
“Let’s just say I guessed that someone else might be heading for the city. Someone that might just have a better chance of persuading the Chieftain than me.”
“At least you got Slepnyr here safe and sound.” Felkyo walked over with a smile and embraced her father.
“Slepnyr?” I asked, confused.
“My mount.” She rubbed the nose of the massive creature with an almost tender expression.
Kyrk explained to Felkyo and Swift about the tank, and the crevasse field. “If we can get them onto the snow to the East then we might just lead them into one of the crevasses. What do you think?”
Swift looked at his daughter and something unsaid passed between them. He nodded. Felkyo sucked her teeth. “Well, it’s a terrible plan. But with my help you might just pull it off.”
I sat with Kyrk and the two Chiefs, Scyre and Ealsa, and watched the tank from where we lay half hidden by a mound of snow.
“Perhaps it will never move,” Ealsa said.
“It’ll come eventually. They probably still think they have the element of surprise. The evacuees all went to the north, so they won’t know the city’s empty. They think they’re the hunter, but we’ll show them they’re the prey.” Kyrk spoke with complete confidence.
“I hope you’re right, traitor,” Scyre said, but he softened his words with a shrug.
Finally, when the sun began to get low in the sky the tank moved forward.
“It’s time.” Kyrk said. “Send out the herd.”
The call went up and I watched, my hand to my heart, as a stream of dark figures flooded the ice heading not away f
rom, but towards the tank. The Chief of the Herders had been reluctant to risk his finest beasts, but he had had little choice when the order came through from the Chieftain himself. I just hoped that those in the tank didn’t realise that these weren’t wild creatures. If they realised, we were trying to divert them then we were finished.
The massive beasts surged across the snow. There were hundreds of them, hooves pounding as they gained speed. It was the greatest barrier we could have created. If I squinted I could almost see Felkyo, riding bareback on the lead deer, hunched down low so she couldn’t be spotted. Blocked from the direct route to the city the machine began to turn to the East.
“How will we know when they hit the crevasse field?” I asked, but the others were too busy staring down at the tank to answer me.
I looked over to the next ridge where the Chieftain stood, ready to command his army. If the tank kept going, then the men would charge down upon it with nothing more than brute strength. Then there really would be a massacre.
I flicked my eyes back to the tank. Nothing had changed. It’s not slowing down, I thought, and I could see the same fear on the faces of the others. The tank’s pace kept on unchanged as it raced towards the city. It would be on us in minutes. Then I saw the White shiver before it and in a matter of seconds the ground fell away. They had hit a crevasse. The tank was pulled over at an angle, one set of tracks whirring away in the air. I had hoped that it would get sucked into a ravine never to return, but at least it had stopped.
“You did it!” I grabbed Kyrk into an embrace. I broke away almost immediately when I realised what I had done, but I was rewarded by his wide grin.
“What do we do now, Kyrk?” Scyre said. To my surprise Kyrk turned and put his hand on my shoulder.
“Now Lisanne has to talk to them.”
“That’s good,” I said, after a moment. “I have plenty to say.”
Time seemed to speed up as we walked down the cliff towards the tank. The Chieftain walked in front of me and Kyrk was at my side, and I realised for the first time that I could match his pace, my legs now used to striding across the ice. I might have smiled at the thought had the gleaming metal vehicle down below not occupied all my thoughts.
“Will you let me do the talking?” I asked the Chieftain. I didn’t want to annoy him, but I knew that if he tried to speak to my people directly then there was little chance that the fight could be avoided. If I could only reason with them, I knew I had a shot.
“You have one chance,” Dubh said curtly, without even looking at me. I smiled. That was as good as I had hoped to get from him. Did he believe that I was on his side? At least now I had a chance to prove it.
“Do you think you’ll be able to reason with them,” Kyrk whispered into my ear and I flicked my eyes to his worries face.
“I think so, if they’ll just listen... Oh no.”
I had just seen the Physician.
His head and upper body poked out of an opening in the top of the tank. Within seconds he clambered out fully and sat just above the huge gun pipe, swinging his legs back and forth like an excited child. I could hear his high tremulous laughter above the hum of the tank’s engine. This was why they had chosen to attack now. The Physician must have told them that Kyrk had found me and so they knew of our existence. He must have fled back to the city to warn them. It was all my fault.
“Damn it Lisanne, we should have killed him when we had the chance!” I saw the truth of Kyrk’s words, even though I had never been happier than when he had spared that terrible man.
The Physician grinned and waved at me like a long lost friend, his face as manic as ever. I felt my stomach churn. He had clearly been welcomed back into the fold with open arms. And only one person would have let him in.
“Hello Lisanne,” The Physician called out, “how is your furry friend?”
“Hello Physician,” I replied, struggling to keep the disgust from my voice. “Can you ask the Leader to come out and speak to me? I know he’s in there.”
“I don’t think he wants to speak to you, sorry!”
“Tell him if he doesn’t then my friends will set the tank on fire with all of you inside.” I replied, keeping my tone perfectly calm.
“Tut tut, no need to get angry. I’ll see what I can do,” and with a final giggle he disappeared back into the body of the tank.
It took a few long minutes for another head to emerge from the tank. White hair and a drawn face that I could just see under the film of the suit. He looked so weak, so fragile out here on the White that for a moment I nearly laughed. Then I remembered that the Leader and his friends didn’t need physical strength when they had all the weapons my people could produce.
“You asked to see me.” The Leader’s voice was strong, confident, always the statesman.
“I am here on behalf of the clans of the White.” I said loudly, hoping that the others in the tank might be listening too. “I want to help you negotiate with their Chieftain so that you might have a peaceful surrender. You will have to answer for your crimes but I will ask for leniency on behalf of those innocents underground.” I spoke evenly but every muscle in my body tensed.
The Leader laughed and it echoed around the White.
“You really have gone native, haven’t you! I hope you remember your family, your friends when these savages overrun our city.”
“You don’t believe that any more than I do. These people are no threat to you.”
The Leader smiled.
“The thing is Lisanne,” he said, spreading his hands out in front of him. “You were right all along. We can’t live underground for ever. You’ve seen yourself how the supplies are running low.”
“But we can’t make it out here either. Unlike your furry friends, we are not adapted to the environment. What we need is a new home, but one up on the White, not underground. But without the time to build it there was only ever one option. We had to take it from someone else. It’s a pity you couldn’t have just let them destroy each other for us. This way will be so much… messier.”
“It’s over. Your tank is stuck, we have you surrounded. Give up and save our people.”
“Lisanne,” the leader snarled, “surely a ninety like you should have worked out that would have always had a backup plan.”
I never saw the man creep up behind us. He must have jumped out of the tank just after it crashed and hidden in a drift. Even as I cursed myself for not checking the area I was running towards him, but I was too late.
When he pointed the gun at the Chieftain there wasn’t even time for anyone to react and Dubh was dead before he hit the snow. A snarling Scyre brought the man down but it was too late.
A door opened in the side of the tank and men and women poured out, each holding a gun.
“Get down!” I screamed to the others beside me. I had led them out into the open and they were sitting ducks.
“This way,” Scyre shouted and ran towards some black rocks near the base of the cliff. His fur was red with the blood of the man that had killed the Chieftain.
Kyrk and the others beside me I ran for the rocks, just slipping behind them as the shots from the guns started to blast the snow around us.
“Thank god your people can’t aim,” Kyrk hissed as I collapsed with my back to the wall.
“They’ve probably never used the guns before,” I said between gasps of breath, “Most of us didn’t know they existed remember.”
“We’ve got to get back up the cliffs,” Ealsa said. “We need to get back to our men.”
“We need to think of a distraction,” Kyrk said, but I caught a movement to my right.
“I think we’ve already got one,” I said in wonder.
I risked peered around the black flint to watch what was happening. A thunderous noise of hooves and the great deer herd came into view. Somehow Felkyo had come back around to lead the herd right into the people with the guns. I was too far away to see their terrified expressions but I remembered how I felt when
I had first seen one of the beasts of the White up close. With the huge deer closing in on them it must have felt like their worst nightmares had come true.
And there was Felkyo herself, leading the beasts with a spear in her hand like a vengeful god. She screamed as she drew up to the tank and trampled as many as she could underfoot. Some of deer began to fall as the men regained their wits and started shooting. But they were big creatures and took many shots to go down.
“The clans are coming!” Scyre shouted and I turned to face back up the hill to see the outsider army running down toward us. Clearly they had decided to join the battle. As they passed us the others were swept along with the crowd, everyone baying for blood.
In seconds the White was a storm of people and shouts and violent movement. Someone pushed past me and I fell to the ground, too scared to get back up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw more people get out of the tank and start shooting the outsiders. Several furred figures fell. I staggered to my feet, but I couldn’t think what to do. I didn’t have the natural strength of any of the clans, but I didn’t have a gun either. I was worse than useless. And somehow I had lost track of Kyrk.
I heard Felkyo scream before I saw her fall. Her tall, lean body fell like a shard of ice, straight backwards from the top of the great deer. Her mount roared but in seconds it too was down. I stumbled forward across the ice, moving far too slowly. A hunched figure stood over the Seeker’s body. Even though his back was towards me I could sense the Physician’s wicked grin.
I started to move towards her, then I heard someone call my name. I turned to see my mother climb out of the tank.
“Lisanne! Help me!”
My heart stopped when I saw her. Stood on top of the stranded tank her tiny body looked incredibly vulnerable silhouetted against the sky. She reached her arms out towards me and I saw that she didn’t carry a gun. What could that mean? Then I looked back to the Physician cackling over Felkyo’s prone body and I knew I only had seconds to make my choice.