Chapter Two

Traps

She took everything personally. She knew that her chances

of coming home alive were remote and each new obstacle she came

across only made them seem that much more uncertain, risky. She

would have to climb one of the trees.

Her main problem was, that like the giants of old, the trees

were unnaturally still. Even the incisive wind of the plains did

not seem to penetrate beyond the invisible barrier. Any attempt

to climb would be noticed immediatly by the guards.

The problem seemed to be insuperable. That was when she had

her second inspiration. Carefully she moved along the line of

the fence, lying down and squirming like a slow-worm when she had

no other choice. The process was a long one, nerve-wracking when

she caught sight of, or heard the guards.

How could she concentrate the watchers on one spot? She had

a 'feel' for what to do. Instinctively she knew that the

creatures she had seen earlier would live in holes in the soil.

She found one of their entries at last and waited. Time meant

nothing to her. She would take an hour, perhaps several. She did

not care, what was such a short period of time compared with a

hundreds of years of thralldom?

The creature came out at last, gazing around with large,

liquid eyes. Kari was like a shadow. Her solid body seemed to

have melted like a cloud. The sight of the fat rabbit made her

lick her lips, but she knew it would have to be used for a

serious purpose and was therefore inviolate as food.

Still, it looked good just the same. She toyed briefly with

the thought that one day, when the People owned this bright area

she would be able to consume firm flesh such as this and wear

that pelt on her back.

Now she was keyed for action. The beast was nervous. It sat

on its hind legs and sniffed the air timidly through a maze of

whiskers. Appeased, it rested the neat forepaws on the fibrous floor

of the forest and began to hop in Karis direction. It came

closer, and finally it was so near her that she could look into

the large nervous eyes, which looked strangely sad.

It was over in a second. Kari darted out her hand and

applied the nerve pinch she had learned from her elders. A limp

white body rested in her hands. The beast had sharp teeth and

had managed to nip her before lapsing into unconsciousness. She

was annoyed but understood the reaction.

She found the plants she needed only a few moments later.

Tough and shiny, they would hold the creature long enough for her

purpose. At the edge of the Fence - already she was thinking of

it in the same way as the Wall - she put the down and fixed the

temporary sling to a sapling. The rabbit would feel the

constriction on its legs when it awoke. And, like any animal in

the same situation, it would bound forward to what looked like

freedom.

Silently Kari made her way to a favourable spot for her purpose.

The tree she selected had low branches, thick and easily able to

bare her sparse weight, while those higher up projected to a spot

well over the fence.

Mentally Kari tried to work out the distance she had to

drop. The height was at least as great as her grandfathers

house, perhaps higher. Yet there was more foliage below, and she

had to make her way inside.

There was to be no hesitating here, she told herself,

again thinking of a maxim of her father. The second she heard

the crackle of the fence being collided with she began to climb

the tree, knowing that any watchers would be attracted to the

fence further along.

Two guards came along. The first she had already seen. The

second resembled him in most respects. They were big, grim men,

dressed in dark uniforms. At their side they carried y-shaped

projectile weapons of some kind, made of shiny metal.

Kari swung herself across the branches, and allowed herself

to drop on the other side, landing on all fours, got to her feet

and ran towards the base of the tower, where there was more

foliage. To her astonished eyes it had seemed as if the men had

come from nowhere, but from her high vantage point she had

briefly glimpsed the answer to her problem - observation pits dug

in the deep soil just beyond the Wall. The pits, she had noticed

were lined with a hard white substance and contained a free

standing seat. Something else too. Each observation post

contained a flickering screen, which as if by magic showed the

outside world. Another manifestation of the occult arts. The

Black Tower was well guarded indeed.

She rested in the bushes at the edge of the Tower, her heart

pounding in her ears, taking in great gulps of oxygen. She was

sure she had been seen or heard, but the guards, as desired, had

been so distracted by the commotion at the fence that her

relatively minor movements had gone unnoticed.

There, set in the ground a few yards away, was a square

metal trapdoor. She had to take the chance it was not being

observed - because nobody would be expected to get this far.

Quickly she scuttled over and tugged at the twin 'd' shaped

metal handles and the hatch opened before her. She could hear

the guards still arguing about the second dead animal. Good,

they were totally distracted. She went into the vertical tunnel

before her and swiftly closed the hatches. Again she waited for

a few seconds. The fence was so close she could still hear the

men speaking to each other as they began to move back to their

observation posts.

"The Keeper must be out of his mind," said one, fearlessly

expressing an opinion which he would not have dared to voice in

public.

"I agree. Imagine sending us out here to wait and watch out

for an invasion of them." He spoke sarcastically. "They're

nothing more than animals. A load of cattle, no minds of their

own."

"I know, it makes me sick to see our priests going out and

giving them the advice they need to renovate the land."

"And what do they do? After a few weeks or months they

become discouraged and let our seeds and our plants go to waste.

I think we should abandon them altogether."

"They think we have a better life than they do," he gave a

bitter laugh. "They just don't know the hardships we go through.

Why, only yesterday I heard the hydroponics plant is producing

less potatoes than last year." The footsteps resumed and faded

away. Kari caught her breath and stared at the blank metal with

venomous fury.

"Swine," she said in a low, intense voice, "bloody swine."

She could hear no other noise. The sloping tunnel was lit

by phosphorescent lights placed at intervals above her, and as

she went downwards the tunnel began to widen outwards and the

light grew stronger. She wasn't sure if she was doing the wise

thing. After all, she could hardly predict what was going to

happen down here, deep in the earth.

Every sound she had seemed to echo and re-echo. She was

covered in perspiration. She was sure that every sound was like

the scream of a lost soul, but as she listened, her ears pricked,

ready to move at the slightest sound, she could hear nothing.

The tunnel ended, and as her eyes grew accustomed to the

semi-darkness she saw that she was in a wide, square corridor.

She looked at the lights above, wondering what it was that

powered them. She had heard a legend that the Keeper had magic

lanterns which could stay alight without flame for days and weeks

on end, now she saw it was true. Maybe she could steal some of

these and take them back.

Kari moved along, using the shadows of wall supports for

concealment, moving from one to another like a hunted animal.

Kari liked the material of the interior, for it was so smooth.

She pictured the fine house she would have when the People gained

control of the Black Tower and all the power within. Her house

would be made of this material, much finer than any her tribe

could muster.

She could see doorways let into what had been blankness.

All lay to the left. They were much wider than needed for a man,

so she surmised some kind of goods had to be moved. Instead of

doors, ribbons of some flexible material covered each entrance.

She took the risk - why not after coming this far? - and went

through the nearest.

The place was in almost total darkness. She could hear odd

noises, but did not know what was going on. Putting out her

hands she came up against a metal trough. Then there was a

click, the humming of electricity, and the lights came on. It

was as if the devil himself had cast his net to catch the

intruder.

Kari found herself under rows and rows of white, tubelike

lights. She was bedazzled by them at first, and stood there,

rooted to the spot in fear and surprise. The lamps above did not

flicker, their light was ceaseless. And they were hot.

Kari did the only thing she could, and ran. At first she

was in too much terror to wonder at the glory of what she could

see above, but, as she ducked behind the metal trough the thought

did occur that just one of these lights would illuminate the huge

meeting place of the People. She knew little of their power,

except that if it was anything to do with the Keeper it must be

evil.

Crouching as she was, Kari was able to take in the general

layout. She was in a huge room which contained a great many of

the boxlike metal objects. Innumerable pipes, also made up of

metal came from below and spread into each tank like the creepers

of a vine, feeding through a constant trickle of water. Yet it

was what the tanks contained that was the real suprise - plants

and vegetables in great, green profusion, all growing without

soil. Kari gazed along the endless rows in enchantment. Out

where her people lived, in the sparse plains, the soil was poor,

and produced inferior crops. These were luscious by comparison.

Kari felt as if she had been transported into heaven. She could

not resist the tempation, but reached into the nearest tank and

pulled out, of all things, a large juicy carrot, so succulant it

was as filling as a normal meal.

She sat on the cool ground and ate the carrot. For the

first time in her life her stomach was full and she had found

true contentment. This was only part of what her people were

fighting for.

Even the lights terrified her less than before. She had the

sense to see that she could do very little while they were on,

but Kari was far from stupid and knew that plants needed a cycle

of light and dark to prosper. Another maxim of her father,

about all things coming to those who wait passed through her

mind. She was a peasent, living close to the land day in and day

out and had the endless patience, already, of the peasent who has

seen man, weather and creatures deplete what her people have

worked for.

If she was caught then that was it. Her time would have

come and there was nothing she could do about it. She would not

bemoan her predicament, but would at least die fighting rather

than let herself be put into bondage.

She looked around. Clearly the area was self-regulating,

but she was cautious just the same. Several tanks stood at the

back of the main area, creating a natural hiding space between

themselves and the grey wall. Not enough to conceal a full-grown

adult, but plenty for someone of her stature.

She crawled in and lay there, listening to the gurgle of the

flowing nutrients. The sound was a curiously peaceful one, and

soon she slept. She slumbered peacefully, the burden on her

young shoulders eliminated by the abyss of sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

David Ward ran back with Han towards his end terraced home.

"Monster," he said as they came to the gate of his house.

He wagged a finger at Han, who leapt at him and gave an

ingratiating grin, displaying twin rows of ultra-sharp teeth

which would, in a human, have won widespread admiration from the

dental fraternity.

"You daft thing," David petted his dog roughly, thumping

his hairy side with the palm of his hand. Han liked this

seemingly rough treatment and showed his appreciaition by rolling

over on his back and showing his hairy tummy while wagging his

stumpy tail vigourously. David was forced to laugh.

"Come on you brute. Get up. You've made me late for

school. I'd love to take you, but if we marched in together my

teacher would murder me. Get in the house and don't follow me

again."

Han, knowing when he was beaten rose to his feet and trotted

along the garden path, his little legs twinkling with the speed

at which he moved. He looked on his master as a provider of

food, warmth and play. In fact to Han David was a sort of god.

"Let me in mum!" yelled David. "Hannibal got out again.

It's nearly nine o' clock. If I don't hurry I'll be late and they

won't let me take part in sports."

Mrs Ward took Han back in, without a word, and slammed the

door. It was she who had let Han out to do his 'business' that

morning, but she wasn't about to admit that fact to her son. She

led Han into the kitchen, where his basket was situated and went

to curl her hair. It was only after she had spent some ten

minutes on this pleasent occupation that she remembered she had

left the kitchen door ajar to get rid of cooking smells. Well,

the back garden was enclosed, Han would still be there when she

went down.

David would have been well on his way to school by that time

if it had not been for the fact that the gods who decide such

things had decreed that he would be late. He tripped over a

loose paving stone in his eagerness to catch the next bus,

dropping his rucsac at the same time. As if tripping and brusing

his knee wasn't enough all his jotters, books, pencils, geometry

set, and sports equipment came flying out of his open rucsac.

Giving one last, despairing look at his watch, knowing that

he would no longer be able to get his football, David began to

gather his materials, jamming them back in any old way. The

optimist in him urged him to hurry and get the next bus.

As if to cap everything, just as he was about to set off

again a familiar form came trotting around the corner. Han knew

the route his master took by heart. David ducked into the

nearest cul-de-sac in an effort to shake the dog off, knowing Han

would just go home if he couldn't find his master.

But Han was not so easily fooled, and followed the scent of

his master jumping up on him with joyful abandon.

"You mutt, you little - come on. Home boy!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kari woke in the pasty darkness, illuminated by the familiar

phosphorant lights. They were so pale she had to wait until her

eyes once more became accustomed to semi-darkness.

She found her way back to the main corridor, making her way

in the opposite direction from the shaft and the trapdoor by

which she had entered. It was strange, she thought, how she had

not yet met any of the insiders who dwelt here. Of course she had

arrived when it was dark down here, so perhaps she had missed

them. She came to the end of the hydroponics section and saw a

black sign which said 'Level -5 this way.' Beside this was a

metal door as wide as the entrance to the tanks, and another,

narrower doorway which led to a flight of stairs. Kari elected