Season Three, Chapter Seven
Shades of Grey - Part Four
Back on the roof, Nathan hastily replaced the panel they accessed the shaft through before the two of them, discarding the last two screws and then they were up, running zigzagged at a crouch back to the edge where the funicular cars left the smelting plant. As soon as the next empty wagon cleared the concrete lip, they jumped, the entire thing rocking so unsteadily as they landed it felt like it was about to part company with the cable. They ducked down beneath its riveted sides, trying to remain unseen, for there was no sign that their presence had been detected and they were anxious it should remain so.
“U 22/23 !”, Carolynn chanced a quick note of the stage number and crouched back into the wagon, They got on at 16, for he remembered the strange configuration of spars beneath the bridge from which the number hung and where this escapade had begun. He was as confident as he could be that those same spars would be accessible for a jump clear on the way back up and so would need to be ready by U 16/23 then. What was less certain was whether they could do so unseen by anyone, especially the PDF, for there was no way if they were caught in the wagon even Carolynn could talk his way out ! Sorry officer, my mate slipped and fell and I was helping him out just wouldn’t cut it,
“U 20/23 ! ”, Carolynn patted his holster to ensure the snap was shut, just heightened anxiety given what they had found and at the prospect of what they now needed to do, even without this jump. It was also the first time he had seen Nathan like that. His solid friend, never phased by the shite happening around them, calm, logical ! Kell, he’d almost been in bits, not good. It would be like losing his right arm in the field, and as friends went he didn’t even want to contemplate it
“They’re quite gentle really, unless you do something like threaten their calves, but I learnt how to behave around them from Nathan right since I was little and Carolynn has shown me stuff too. He can sort of talk to them somehow, I know that sounds daft, but some of the low herders, the ones that work in with them can move so as to calm them if they get spooked and they know these songs that can even stop them from stampeding !” Jed was telling Hannah about life with the herd, with those of the Lead Lands, and she was fascinated. Her father had locked up a while back, things out in the streets were deteriorating still further and a couple of buildings were burning. The night air was full of smoke, mixing to a soup with the smog, punctuated now and then by the scream of sirens as a second tender, flanked by several PDF vehicles arrived. The first had foolishly come unaccompanied and been driven off, its crew injured by home-made promethium bombs, rocks and a couple of slugs from black market firearms. The PDF responded with baton rounds at first, then live firing from their “Marksmen” on roof-tops or custom built VTOL’s with sponson mounted “sniper seats” ! Shops had shut, windows were being boarded-up and most of the good folk of down town Grey imposed their own voluntary curfew, so it was all too easy to see why the pastoral life of a Herder might seem so attractive, yet Hannah seemed genuinely captivated. Jed told her the tales from his part of the World Spines, of High Valley, of Bright River Falls and as she found it so entrancing, he had to tell her the tale of the Shadowfin’s twice !
“You will be able to swim with them ?” she questioned in awe.
“Well I will have to see, but that’s what the fishing-folk hope will happen now the river is cleaner. They say they used to help them by herding the fish into the shallows, right into their nets.”
“It’s hard here to remember even clean air !” she sighed, everything is so filthy and polluted and they have cleared the woods and forests for miles around to burn in the mines and for furl for the smelting ovens where they cast the lead into blocks to sell”
“Can I get you another drink Sir.. I’m sorry, another drink Jed, and Hannah, how about you ?”
“Sure !” said Jed, “Thanks, I will be back in a moment, I’d just like to go to the roof for a moment if that’s OK, see if I can catch sight of my friends as they should be done with the sight-seeing by now.”
"I’ll take you,” said Hannah, come on it‘s this way.”
“U 17/23 ! You ready Nate ? We‘ve got to go at 15/23!”
“As I’ll ever be,” said Nate, “You could count us down my friend, lessen the shock !” he joked.
“Remember it’s a jump and grab, the bridge has several spars across the track, all only about one and a half meters above us, so don’t jump to hard or you’ll hit one and the closer we can get to the back of the bridge, the less chance we’ll be seen !” The wagon clunked over the next set of rails that had not been laid that evenly. “Probably hard to find anyone with experience in such archaic transport this day and age.” thought Nathan to himself. It was certainly the first one he had ever seen in all his years in the mountains !
“U 16/23“, whispered Carolynn, “time to get ready for that jump!”
The funicular ground an creaked its way up at what now seemed a maddeningly slow pace, gears grinding as cogs’ so worn they should have been replaced struggled to gain traction on one another, when slowly the outline of the bridge began to materialise. Carolynn could not see anyone from where he stood, but then the bridge blocked most of their line of sight and even if they did spot someone, it was not as if there was much they could do about it anyhow, for they had no choice but to take the jump.
“U 15/23, let‘s go !”
Carolynn and Nathan launched themselves into the air, arms outstretched, hands grasping for the cast iron spars beneath the bridge, praying that it shielded them from prying eyes on the road above. Carolynn’s hands grabbed a section of cold iron work and closed around it, clinging on for dear life. Swinging his legs sideways, he was able to pull himself up until he sat cleanly upon the cross-member, immediately turning to see that much to his relief, Nathan was completing a similar manoeuvre. Climbing up through the spars, Carolynn was eventually in a position to swing out and steal a glance at the road, which by the luck of Kell, appeared to be empty both ways. Not wanting to pass-up this chance, he signalled to Nathan the way seemed clear and they both scrambled the last few feet up the bridges wrought iron scroll work and dropped down as nonchalantly as possible onto the road.
Carolynn had just straightened up and as Nathan, was about to walk off in the direction of the inn when a voice challenged them from in the smog at the far end of the bridge.
“Freeze you two !”
Carolynn did not quite halt but slowed to an almost imperceptible pace, gently attempting to turn, as he heard the gun chamber a round and stopped. “Stay where you are and don’t move !”
There was the sound of the same hard-soled boots on tarmac as Nathan had heard on the roof of the smelting plant down below and he guessed they were uniform, standard issue, making this one PDF too. Standard Autogun too then, capable of a burst tight enough to fell them both even if the person on the other end wasn’t particularly good, so not much “wiggle-room” then, great !
“PDF shut this bridge and the road back to the Centre, why are you here ?” exclaimed a rough voice. “
That was good “ thought Carolynn, “for if he was asking that, he’d not seen them climb up from below.”
“We’re not from Grey” he answered, his Herder accent almost imperceptible at times now thick and rural “My friend and I were trying to find the inn where we were staying and seem to have got ourselves lost !”
“You maybe lost, but you aint deaf and there are patrol’s both ends turning people back from here, how’d you miss them ?”
The footsteps behind Nathan were getting closer as the Trooper crossed to their side of the bridge,
“You must have passed one of them, why did they let you through then eh ? I don’t think you could have passed them, in which case what have you been up to ?“
“I think there was some trouble, that’s why we left. Maybe they were dealing with those causing the disturbance, we saw…”
“Bollocks ! There was any agro down the East End they would have alerted me, told me to stop any that as tried to make a run for it, which is a more likely reason for you being here !”
Nathan could sense the Trooper just to his rear right, smell the alcohol on his breath and the sweat and smoke of his clothes, hear the slight breathlessness of someone not it the peak of fitness and the faint slur to his speech.
“Better and better“, thought Nathan, probably unfit, maybe carrying a few extra pounds and he‘s had a few glasses of Sallowclh to boot.*
*Sallowclh - pronounced sal - ok. An ancient and traditional strong spirit drink, brewed from fermented Snowberries, Morac milk and a secret plant extract that allows the successful blending of the two. Without this extract, you get a really, really bad alcoholic drink that is actually poisonous in large quantities, known as Sank.
“Kneel down arsehole !” he bellowed at Nathan, who felt the spray of spittle against his neck just before the Trooper kicked him savagely in the back of his right knee so he dropped to the floor hard.
“And stay down. You ! You come here.” he yelled at Carolynn. “And quick about it, I aint got all dark !” Carolynn did as he was told and turned and hurried over to where Nathan knelt in front of the Trooper, who was looking a little unsteady now, his gun shaking ever so slightly in his hands as he waved it about precariously.
“Oh that’s great,” though Carolynn, “Get through all that only to be shot accidentally by some pissed PDF bully boy,” for in the 12 paces it took him to get there, Carolynn arrived at a similar conclusion as to the state of their new friend as Nathan had. “Over the limit and over weight, that’s handy.” he thought to himself, making sure he presented himself as awkwardly as possible to the man as he reached him..
“You, on your knees too ! The Trooper yelled, showering Carolynn this time
“Yes Sir !” he toadied, dropping smartly to his knees, pretending to almost unbalance as he did so, which made the Trooper scoff at his clumsiness, and as he reached eye level with Nathan, for a moment he could have sworn he saw his friend wink ?
“Now you two sacks of shite, I wanna know when you came here, where you’re staying and exactly what you think you are doing littering the streets of my City ! And if I think, just for one moment, you are not being straight with me, if I think you‘re jerking me around, you are gonna find your sorry arses in a whole world of hurt, capiche !”
“ Yes Sir !” Carolynn and Nathan responded, and sensing he had these two out-of-towners beat, the trooper went for the cuffs on his belt. He dropped his eyes for just a moment, but that’s all it took Carolynn to grab the end of his Autogun and rotate it 180° until the muzzle contacted the Trooper’s midriff and his finger having located the trigger, fire it twice. With two muffled ”chumph” sounds the rounds blasted two fist sized holes in the Troopers middle, collapsing him across Carolynn as he stood into the Trooper’s fall, barrelling him sideways in a rugby tackle toward the side rail of the bridge. The wrought iron fret-work scroll’s slowed him briefly, but then the Trooper was gone, spiralling away into the dark, his tumbling form swallowed by the smog long before it’s inevitable convergence with the roof of the smelting hall far below !
“Phew.“ Carolynn gasped from the adrenaline spike rather than the exertion of the whole thing.
“Come on Nate, time to make ourselves very scarce I think !” and the two turned for the Centre, Carolynn briefly inspecting the front of his cape for any signs of the altercation with the Trooper, though in the dark, smog draped street he could see no obvious marks nor traces of blood. They needed to get as far from here as possible and off the streets though, to avoid getting drawn into this any further by the Authorities for there would be some trace. He had worked with death enough to know that no kill is ever clean, there is always a little tell tale evidence passed on. They walked as brusquely as they dare, for to run, here at this time of the dark would be little short of a confession to some deviancy, unless you were being pursued by someone. By now he guessed they were little more than 2 or 3 levels over from the “Gallery”, the name he now remembered, of Joseph’s father’s inn. His thoughts strayed to Jed, what would they tell the lad ? Knowing things was about to become a liability and he was not a practiced liar.
“Time enough with us two,” he mused, “and that’ll all change !” He afforded himself a quick glance at Nathan and straight way slowed them down, for if he too looked that purposeful then guilty was not a that much of a long shot for anyone else who cared to take note of the two outsiders who “Went that way officer.” The buildings about them reared up and the alley’s narrowed, too far up-hill, those about the central plaza were more evenly spaced, so they hung left, Nathan then noticing one of the self-aggrandising bas relief’s that stood several meters high and a as a tribute to ready money. It had probably looked grander in its day, for the chemical soup that passed for air here had begun to dissolve the layers at a rate that in a few more cycles would have the carving look like a map of the lower World Spine Mountains and the seemingly random peaks and troughs of nature.
“This way”, Nathan took them sharply left, then into a street that rose at a silly angle to the right and they were then in front of two substantial corrugated iron clad gates that were beginning to swing open.
“Guys, guy’s, sorry about the gates, but its been mad here tonight ! There were riots down the street and then scores of …” the Eldest daughter moved the babbling Jed aside.
“Let me get your friends something to freshen them, enough of the questioning for now !” Hannah prised the two of them from the attentions of a relieved Jed and sat them down at one of the courtyard tables, whilst Jed turned his attention to helping Martin close-up again, rolling the massive gates back and dropping their wood block latches firmly in place. Hannah handed them each a glass of the same clear drink as they had upon their arrival and it was just as cleansing and equally appreciated.
“Some Sallowclh !” proposed Nathan, which took Carolynn by surprise, but remembering Jed’s enthusiastic curiosity at such times and the need now more than usual for “normality“, he saw where he was going with this, so added, “Bring the bottle, it is after all our 1st night in Grey !”
Martin disappeared for a moment, hurriedly reappearing with a slightly dusty bottle and was soon charging glasses. “Don’t forget yourself Martin“, Nathan added, “And for your eldest ?” the later a polite question as ever with him.
“To our new friend’s, said Carolynn, raising his glass to Martin, “and your family for saving us in this City !”, which made Joseph blush and hurry away to do ‘something’, whilst waiting for his excitement to subside.
Soon in an atmosphere so relaxed it was hard to connect the goings on at the smelting hall and the dead Trooper with the same dark for Carolynn. Joseph and his younger sister had retired and the rest were sat in a group, discussing Martins business opportunities or the lack thereof in a very animated way, having put more than a dent in a second bottle of Sallowclh. Carolynn had laid of the liquor as he felt to tense and appreciated and had the whole train of today’s events on permanent loop in his head, looking for any mistakes, which he appreciated was not helping himself or anyone. So, as he did at times like this, he slipped away, taking the stairs two at a time until he was on the roof with it’s panoramic views of Grey.
What were they going to do, go to Lord Samuel ? And what would he do, send in the PDF ? Hardly a plan, the Inquisition ? It was not until after, until he’d had a chance to reflect upon it all that he realised just what that could mean to the people of Grey, Kell the people of Zalthar, because there was no telling where the Inquisition would stop, or even if the Inquisition would stop. They were not renowned for their moderation and as this would be the 2nd time they would have been called here, they would not go easy on folk. Their displeasure would be made only too clear.
Looking to the East, it seemed that the PDF still had the area of the bridge and the levels leading to and through the district locked down, with Heavy Weapon Remotes and their crew’s deployed at all the major intersections Carolynn could see. They were formidable pieces of kit these remotely operated vehicles, they were tracked with heavily armoured chassis and often had a twin chain gun or heavy bolter load out. Whilst they would be sitting ducks in an open war, they excelled in urban pacification, their bulk and soulless cybernetic menace, often enhanced by painted-on teeth and eyes was usually enough to deter all but the most fool hardy rioters. Here in Grey they sat dominating the junctions of roads and levels, stabiliser’s deployed to support their armoured bulk with the ferocious recoil of their weaponry, whilst their crews sat in the comparative safety of an adjacent building directing their every move.
Then it suddenly struck Carolynn what was happening, shapes began to form across the cityscape, linking what at first had appeared to be random locations. There was a ring, all though he could not determine all the positions along its length it was big and as he looked he could make out more and more elements, way more than just security measures for the Trades ! In some places, whole gangs of labourers were out in force along with a lot of Heavy Plant, diggers and dozers, even one or two anti-grav lifters hauling plasti-crete could be seen in the little “diorama’s” formed by the Arc lights. Illuminated industrious “bubbles” in the dark ! Seemed though the Baron’s were aware of their unpopularity after all, for down town Grey was becoming “Fortress-Grey“ at an alarming rate. In some places, whole swathes of shanty‘s had been raised, to create twenty, some thirty yard wide “dead-zones“ for free fire, dotted with steel spikes strung with razor wire! They were probably soon to be mined with hundreds of those little anti-personnel spring mines,* if they had not done so already on the QT.
*Spring Mines - Often small, spring launched air-blast anti-personnel weapons. Cheap and effective, they have left horrendous legacies of indiscriminate carnage and mutilation on millions of Planets for thousands of Years, often long after hostilities had ceased.
The Baron’s were clearly preparing to hold on to what they’d got, no matter what the cost. A fortified Palace, deals with the Dark-Gods, as Carolynn could see it, the only thing they were short were Soldiers. Sure there were these “PDF” types about, but from what Nathan and he had seen so far they were not Lord Samuel’s PDF, they fell well short of that bar, these were just hired Goon’s in PDF uniforms and would not be much use against an enemy that fired back. They were fine for shake-downs and as pseudo-police at times of civil unrest, but against an organised revolt, or intervention from the Governor and the “Real PDF” or the Guard Unit’s of the Inquisition, even with Fortress-Grey and it’s minefields, their Heavy Weapon Remotes and Sniper VTOL’s, they would be as much use as a chocolate fire-guard ! What was clear, packed like sardines in their flimsy shanty‘s, the civilian population of Grey would be massacred, caught like “Human shields” between the Baron’s Feudal Levy and whomever was sent to bring them back in-line, they would stand little chance. Getting out would not be an option either, for the Baron’s would not willingly let folk go and forsake their protection and even if they did, where would they go to? Many were dispossessed, having little beyond what they had invested in Grey itself, and with the snows soon to wrap the World Spines in their icy grasp, just wandering off and trusting in providence was not an option. In the valley’s the temperature often dipped to - 10° C or lower, up here in the Mountains it sometimes got to - 30° C which with no cover would be lethal. No, the people of Grey were not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
What Carolynn could not understand, was that if he and Nathan had found these Cultists so relatively easily, all be it with a little bit of luck, and spotted the growing defensive perimeter, how come the Imperial Authorities seemed so blissfully unawares ? They were infamous for poking their noses in everywhere, a finger in every pie. The Inquisition would not have deemed Zalthar free from Chaos, then packed up shop and left, that much was certain. They would leave an Agent or ten, ticked away, waiting for someone somewhere to screw-up and they’d be right back, righteous indignation glowing, torches and pitchforks ready to hand out to the mob so they could go and hunt them a heretic ! So where were they then ? Why was Grey not crawling with Imperial Spies or disciples of the Officio Assassinorum ready to pop a cap in the first Baron that forgot to praise the Emperor after a particularly satisfying dump ?
Something was either very wrong, or he was missing something desperately obvious and he did not find either appealing. What to do, what to do ?
“Come on oh smart mind, come on, if your so smart, you figure things out, its what you do, have always done so don’t fail me now !” He was walking in tight little circles, oblivious to his surroundings, when…..
“Penny for them ?” Carolynn sun at the sound of Nathan’s voice.
“You are letting down our hosts my friend. What is it up here that has you so totally captivated that light is almost upon us and yet you stand alone, as if all the troubles of the world were yours and yours alone ?”
“I, I am sorry. Look !” Carolynn took Nathans arm and turned him towards the site of the construction of the nearest redoubt. “They are preparing for War, a long and bloody one from what we have seen. What should we do Nathan ? Who do we tell of what we have seen, do we tell our friend’s first. Do we tell Martin and his Family ?”
End of Part Four
Mk
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