By the Feet of Men Page 13

  They set off for Orion. Their boots sank into the mud and the rain clung to their eyelashes and wet their mouths. Whip-thin branches slapped together in wet applause. At the rear doors, Ghazi pointed at a cluster of boot prints and the barely visible flicker of a tripwire. Cassady indicated for him to go around to the left. Under the plastic cape, he held his machete tight against his body. The wind screamed at him. He patted the blood-red body and swallowed hard. Keep calm, he told himself. It didn’t make sense to lose it. It never did. At the front of the vehicle, he crouched down to check the steps leading up to the cab doors. Another tripwire had been strung across them. He turned at the sound of a low whistle. Ghazi stood a few paces further along the road.

  ‘Look,’ he said, pointing. ‘Over there.’

  Something was visible behind the curtain of rain. They pushed on until the apparition became a boxy pantech with a silver symbol painted on its side. Cassady unsheathed his machete and rapped the hilt against the Silkworm’s rear hatch. It swung open with a rasping sound, and the business end of Hearst’s crossbow greeted him. A tangle of blonde hair and Victor’s grinning face followed.

  ‘You look like your engine’s flooded, boss.’

  Cassady growled and climbed into the vehicle. Ghazi pulled the hatch shut behind them. Even with the crates of medicine laid out in the centre of the bed and six people inside, the pillbox felt spacious. Hearst sat closest to the rear hatch, the crossbow across her chest. Leaning against one of the crates was Katarina, a smile on her lips and a tin mug of something clutched between calm hands. Tagawa perched on a small fold-down seat next to a periscope that could be raised through the roof to check the surroundings. Victor ducked his head and retreated to the far end of the bed, where he rested against the back of the driver’s seat. He took a sip from a canteen before throwing it across the length of the box to Cassady. He caught it before it hit the floor.

  ‘The road is blocked,’ said Tagawa without emotion. He crossed one leg over the other and studied the new arrivals. ‘By a tree. One of the GM strains. Slid down the slope and hit the road. We thought it wise to wait for you. See if you had an idea on how to proceed.’

  ‘You need kindling, in other words,’ said Ghazi.

  The Japanese chuckled. ‘Right.’

  Before speaking, Cassady tried the liquid in the canteen. Pulque. The back of his throat burned. Not wise, but welcome. He took another mouthful and hurled the canteen back to Victor.

  ‘How does it look?’ he asked the boy.

  ‘It ain’t good, that’s for sure. There’s gotta be enough timber out on that road to build a house. The end with the roots is still sitting pretty on the slope, but the gap ain’t high enough to squeeze through. If we use explosives, I guarantee we’re gonna trigger a landslide. So it’s your call, chief.’ He grinned, clearly enjoying himself.

  ‘The tree which moves some to tears of joy is, in the eyes of others, only a green thing that stands in the way,’ said Ghazi.

  Victor’s brow wrinkled. ‘What are you gabbing about?’

  ‘Something I read. It’s a useful one for making sense of things.’ He glanced at the others, but nobody spoke. ‘In a way, it’s saying we sacrifice the old for the new. Always chasing after the future, always convinced we can push on and think our way out of a jam. When we butt our heads against the trunk of the tree to knock it down, we blunt our ability to understand what the tree actually means.’

  Tagawa rested a hand on the periscope. ‘Enlightening indeed.’

  ‘Sounds like a load of bull,’ said Victor.

  Katarina cleared her throat. ‘Couldn’t you say we’re doing the same in service of the machine?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ replied Ghazi. ‘We took on this run – or at least I did – because we want something more to hold on to. Not because of the material rewards.’

  ‘That’s where you got me wrong,’ interjected the boy. ‘When we get there, they’re gonna fix us up with all kinds of pretty gizmos for the Silkworm. You heard what that old fella with the cane promised.’

  ‘We shall see.’

  Cassady listened to the drumming on the roof and felt the overwhelming urge to close his eyes, lie down on the cargo bed and sleep the sleep of the dead. His limbs were heavy from the pulque. He wanted another mouthful. He shook his head and forced himself to think.

  ‘We can’t go back,’ he said.

  ‘Could,’ countered Hearst.

  ‘Even if you managed to reverse the rig all the way back down the mountain without killing yourself, you wouldn’t avoid Telamonian. Try convincing Brandt to turn around. And if you do somehow manage that, we’ll still lose a day or two.’

  Katarina stirred. ‘We could wait for the rain to stop.’

  He shook his head. ‘This storm might not blow itself out for hours yet.’ He nodded at Ghazi and Victor. ‘We can’t sit around here until then listening to the two of them talk philosophy.’

  The boy scowled. ‘You actually got a plan in mind or are you just happy to knock other people down?’

  He didn’t have one. But he thought fast. ‘The tree’s on an incline, right? Warspite has a winch. So does the Silkworm. We could tie the cables around some of the branches at the end closest to the drop and drag the trunk towards us. Then we just roll it off the edge and we’re free to go.’

  Victor exchanged glances with Tagawa, who nodded once. ‘I guess it could work. If the engines can take it. That’s a big son of a bitch out there.’

  ‘We’ll soon find out.’

  ‘How are we gonna tell if we’re both yanking the chain at the right time?’

  ‘Ghazi will stand next to your rig and direct us with hand movements. Kaja, I want you to climb one of the trees close to ground zero. Take a piece of fabric with you. White. Wave it if the root end of the trunk starts to slip down onto the road. Ghazi will see it, I think.’

  ‘What if the engines overheat before we shift the thing?’ asked Victor.

  Cassady raised an eyebrow. ‘Then we’re out of luck. Or do you have another suggestion?’

  The boy shook his head.

  ‘Then let’s do it.’

  ‘Now?’

  ‘Want me to write you an invitation?’

  ‘Fine.’ Victor stood and pushed through the gap between the front seats into the Silkworm’s cab.

  Cassady turned to Hearst. ‘I need you to move your rig as far over to the tree line as you can so I can get by in Warspite. After that, stay clear.’

  Katarina touched his arm. ‘Be careful, Edward.’

  ‘And all of you stay out of the way of the cables,’ he warned. ‘I don’t want anybody getting decapitated if they fail.’

  While Ghazi ran back to Warspite to unwind the cable from the spool, Cassady went to take a look at the tree. It was unnaturally large, with purple and white roots as thick as his arm exploding from its base. The ridged bark was a suit of armour. Trees like that populated quick-grow GM forests, the product of a desperate idea clutched at by governments willing to try anything to save the planet. Katarina had once told him about the measures her mother had worked on with other scientists to try to slow the Change. Controlled volcanic eruptions, reflective crops, cirrus cloud dilution. And these forests. The problem was the formula hadn’t been perfected before it had been rushed into production. Within months of being planted, the GM trees had multiplied out of control and destroyed even more of the continent’s already-fragile ecosystems. The napalm fires that were supposed to check their advance simply cleared the way for them to eat up more land. Other measures were taken with negligible results. Finally, after all the resource wars had fizzled out and the population had shrunk beyond even the most extreme estimates, the trees had been left in peace to thrive as the forerunners of the new world.

  Footsteps sounded behind him. Ghazi struggled through the puddles and potholes with Warspite’s steel cable, which was looped at the end and tied off with a metal binder. As the rain streamed off them, they passed the cable arou
nd several branches near the lip of the road, lowered the looped end over the bough and tightened the binder until it cut deep into the flesh of the tree. Tagawa appeared noiselessly.

  ‘Taking your time, I see.’ He deftly tied off the Silkworm’s cable further down the trunk. When they had made certain both cables were secure, they retreated. Cassady climbed up to the Silkworm’s cab and rapped on the glass. Victor rolled down the window.

  ‘Take it slow and steady, okay?’ he called over the wind. ‘Don’t gun it unless you see Ghazi raise his fist. We need to be in sync if we’re going to get her to move.’

  ‘No problem.’

  ‘If you feel her sliding away from you, detach the cable immediately.’

  ‘I can’t just cut it, Cassady. I ain’t got anything fancy down there.’

  That was a problem. He suppressed the urge to shout at the boy for not telling him earlier. ‘Then get ready to jump clear.’

  ‘Yeah, right. Hideki will take care of it.’

  He jumped down and ran over to Warspite, cursing the rain as he slipped and nearly fell on his face. Hearst had moved her pantech as far over to the left as she could and Ghazi had brought the Old Lady up until she was sitting just behind the Silkworm. In the driver’s seat, he knocked his sodden cap to the floor and wiped his eyes. He pumped the starter button and dragged the stick into reverse. Ghazi, pelted by the rain, stood to one side of the Silkworm with his arms above his head. With a sweeping motion, he signalled for them to start pulling. The cable lying in the puddles lifted off the ground and became taut. The transmission whined and Warspite juddered as it engaged with the tree. Both vehicles inched backwards. Cassady pressed his foot down, feeling the weight of the trunk in the pedal and the steering wheel. Ghazi held out a hand and he eased off. His partner disappeared behind the curtain of rain and then appeared again, a hand making a scooping motion above his head. He dipped the pedal once more. The tyres spluttered as they tried to find some purchase in the slick mud, and he prayed he wouldn’t become stuck. The Silkworm’s taillights burned. Warspite trembled, the chassis groaning with the effort of dragging the great load, and the dials behind the wheel tick-tocked. Cassady muttered an apology. He wanted to stop torturing her, but he couldn’t. Ghazi raised his hand above his head and made a circling motion. He pressed the pedal to the floor and the engine whirred in double time. Warspite rolled back and the cable remained rigid. Thin-lipped determination played across his face. It was working. They were moving the tree.

  A jolt shook the cab and the rig slithered forwards. Through the windshield, he could see the cable swaying up and down, but Ghazi had disappeared again. Something was pulling Warspite forward through the muck. He pumped the brakes, but the locked wheels were dragged along anyway. His dread mounted. He held the accelerator to the floor and the hood dipped with the effort. Ghazi came into view once more, now racing towards him with his hands cupped around his mouth. He kept a hand on the wheel and frantically wound down the window. But the wind snatched the words away and he heard nothing until Ghazi had reached the hood.

  ‘Cut the line!’ he shouted before diving to the ground.

  Without hesitation, Cassady yanked the lever below the wheel to his right. At the front of the rig, a pair of powerful cutters swung together to slice into the cable. Butchered metal strands fanned out in front of the grille, but the cable held. He lifted the lever again and pulled it down. On the third try, there was a whipping sound as the cable flew free. Warspite stopped dead. Before Ghazi had even picked himself off the floor, Cassady had dived out of the cab and was running in the direction of the Silkworm, which was being dragged towards the chasm at speed.

  ‘Get out!’ he screamed, skidding to a halt near the bulky rear of the vehicle. The edge of the cliff had crumbled, and the tree slid slowly over the edge. Its roots were a mass of intestines that glistened in the rain. The passenger door flew open and Tagawa dived out and hacked at the cable with a machete, but it held firm. Victor’s door remained shut. The pillbox squealed and bucked as it tried vainly to stay on the road. Tagawa brought the machete down on the cable over and over again. Time became warped and the seconds slowed until it was possible to see individual drops of rain strike the ground.

  He had to get Victor out of there. He took two steps towards the cab of the black truck when a force yanked him back. He spun around and found himself looking into a pair of dull black eyes that showed no emotion. A long scar trickled from temple to jaw.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’ he shouted, trying to shake his wrist free from Hearst’s pincer grip. ‘We’ve got to help them.’

  ‘You’ll die too.’

  His hand clenched into a fist. He was about to swing for her when a metallic death rattle made his mind go blank. He turned in time to see the winch being ripped free from the front of the Silkworm. With inhuman reflexes, Tagawa dropped flat on the ground. The winch cleared his head by millimetres and disappeared into the abyss. The Silkworm leapt backwards across the road and came to a halt just before it ploughed into the slope of the mountain. The engine murmured for a few seconds and then died. Behind the glass, Victor slumped in his seat, head on the wheel, body shaking with adrenaline. Tagawa lay in the mud with his eyes open to the twisted sky and breathed.

  Hearst let go of Cassady’s wrist. He raced over to the Silkworm. The vehicle was hurt. The grille, bumper and winch were gone. Part of the engine compartment was visible. He climbed the steps and yanked the driver’s door open. Victor was still hunched over the wheel, his skin as pale as his hair.

  ‘You okay?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Victor muttered. Then he sat bolt upright as though emerging from a trance. ‘Where’s Hideki?’

  ‘He’s okay. Never seen anybody move as fast as that before.’ He looked at the boy and struggled to find the right words. ‘You’re a brave man.’

  The muscles in his face remained slack. ‘Sure.’

  ‘She’s a little banged up, but it’s nothing that can’t be repaired.’

  The younger man leaned against the headrest. ‘I thought we were all done.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Guess I’d better take a look at her.’

  ‘Easy. Rest first.’

  Without thinking about it, Cassady placed a hand on his shoulder. Now Victor broke into a weak grin. ‘Feeling paternal?’

  He withdrew it immediately. ‘I’m going to check the road.’

  ‘Should be clear now,’ Victor managed to say, before dissolving into laughter. Cassady stared at him for a moment and then jumped to the ground. Ghazi was helping Tagawa to his feet.

  ‘Is he okay?’ he called. Ghazi gave a short salute. Tagawa set about brushing the worst of the mud from his dark uniform as though nothing had happened.

  Cassady’s hands trembled. Too close again. He tried to calm his breathing, but it was no good. He slipped a stick of root into his mouth. The rainclouds continued to slug it out overhead, battered and bruised but still burly enough to keep going. As he made his way over to where the great tree had lain in the road, his foot connected with the side of a submerged hole and he clattered to the ground. The root fell out of his mouth. Water and mud splashed his face.

  ‘Goddamn it,’ he shouted, pushing himself out of the muck. He wanted to hit somebody. He wiped his eyes and picked his way through the gloom.

  Hearst and Katarina were standing where the tree had been. The path was clear.

  ‘Are they okay?’ asked Katarina. Her clothes were smeared with moss and bits of bark from where she’d climbed the tree. The rain had plastered a lock of white hair to her scalp.

  ‘They’ll live,’ said Cassady. ‘The pantech’s taken a bit of a beating.’

  ‘That was too close.’

  He grunted.

  ‘Are you okay, Edward?’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Do you want to wait for Jürgen? Or should we go on?’

  ‘It doesn’t make sense to wait. Push on to the rendezvous. You lead. We’ll check the
damage on the Silkworm and then follow.’

  ‘Give them the time they need. They’ll be more shaken than they make out.’

  ‘I know that,’ he snapped. Hearst growled at him in warning. He held out his hands. ‘I’m sorry, Kaja. Adrenaline’s still calling the shots. I was sure they were going over the edge.’

  Her eyes roved over the lines on his face. ‘Maybe you should let Ghazi handle Warspite for a while, Edward. You look like you could use a rest, too.’

  ‘It’s this damn rain, that’s all.’ He plucked at the plastic sheet that covered his body. ‘I’ll be okay.’

  ‘Don’t overdo it. There’s a long way to go yet.’

  ‘I know.’ Her expression didn’t change. ‘I do.’

  She touched his arm before heading back along the waterlogged road. He stood alone with Hearst. Raindrops cut through the geometric patterns on her head. ‘Hearst.’ She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. ‘If you grab me like that again, it’ll be the last thing you do.’ He paused. ‘But thanks for stopping me.’

  The trace of a smirk was unmistakable as she walked away.

  Once they had finished helping Victor and Tagawa patch up the Silkworm, Cassady and Ghazi returned, thoroughly wet, to the comparative comfort of Warspite. Ghazi pumped the starter and guided the Old Lady onto the road. He flashed the headlights as they slid past the pillbox. Cassady sank into the co-seat and rubbed his palms together. His boots were heavy and his skin was ashen and ugly. He checked the clock. Mid-afternoon. Still no sign of Telamonian.

  Towards evening, the half-submerged road sloped downwards. Warspite’s headlights struggled to pick out the route as the grey sky became deader. A serrated band of lightning lit up the world. Beyond the valley, to the east, a clutch of cinderblock towers without roofs cowered in the crevice of another mountain, unreadable banners and humanoid forms hanging limply from the exteriors. A small fire burned inside one of the towers, turning the window frame orange. When the road curved away from the valley, the buildings were swallowed up. Little by little, they left the drowned mountainside behind.