‘Is that of human construction?’ asked Wa-Ka-Mo-Do.
‘I think so. It’s what they were using to carry the petrol.’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do turned back to the captive.
‘More dishonour! Where did you steal that from?’
‘Honoured Commander! I swear we did not! It was waiting for us at the edge of the fields, as we were told it would be.’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do took hold of the can and felt the metal with his hand. It reminded him a little of the chain Rachael had worn: good quality metal but poorly constructed.
‘Who told you it would be there?’
‘We never got to see our intermediary.’
‘No, you wouldn’t.’ Wa-Ka-Mo-Do was silent. He looked down at the woman before him. She had mentioned a husband and children. ‘You realize the penalty for your crime is death?’
The woman said nothing. She looked so pathetic, kneeling there, her arms removed, her tin body filled with dust and dirt.
‘Though it gives me no pleasure to carry out the execution, I have nothing but sympathy for you.’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do was merciful indeed. His sword had struck as he spoke these last words. The saboteur was dead before she was even aware of it. Wa-Ka-Mo-Do gazed down at her.
‘Bring the metal back to the city,’ he said.
‘What about the petrol canister, Honoured Commander?’
‘Bring that too. But conceal it.’
He looked at it again, puzzled.
‘Someone is using these people. There is more to this than a few upset farmers, I am sure. Who is behind all this?’
‘Commander?’
‘Nothing.’
They waited at the edge of the fields for the rest of the soldiers to rejoin them.
‘All this way for a few peasants,’ said Wa-Ka-Mo-Do as the captain took his place at his side.
‘It could have been serious had they caused any damage, Honoured Commander.’
‘Perhaps. I can’t help thinking that was not the primary reason I was brought here.’
He looked northwards, back to Sangrel. It looked so beautiful, a copper sculpture beneath the silver stars.
‘Why am I here?’
‘Commander?’
‘All that is happening in Sangrel at the moment. In Yukawa… What’s that?’
It took a moment longer for the captain and the rest of the army to hear it: a thrumming, drumming noise.
‘It sounds like an army attacking the sky with their swords,’ said Wa-Ka-Mo-Do.
A low droning sounded, and then a pattern of lights awoke in the night.
‘Human machines,’ said the captain. ‘I’ve seen them before, in the distance.’
The noise grew louder, Wa-Ka-Mo-Do’s body reverberated to it.
‘They’re coming towards us.’
‘Not us,’ said Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. ‘They’re heading for Sangrel.’
Now he could make out dark shapes against the bright stars. Lumpy objects that hung sullenly in the sky, bristling with spikes.
‘They’re carrying guns,’ he realized. ‘Have these craft ever been seen around Sangrel before?’
‘No,’ said the captain.
‘You know,’ mused Wa-Ka-Mo-Do out loud. ‘All is harmony in the Empire…’ He knew it was a lie, but he wanted to follow this thought to the end. ‘But there are other lands on Penrose. Primitive, backward lands. Each inhabited by their own race of robots.’
‘Yes, Honoured Commander?’
They watched as the craft droned slowly past. The cockpits were illuminated by faint light, and they could just make out the shape of the animals sitting in there.
‘Even in the Empire there are those robots who dissent,’ continued Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. ‘Look at the events this night. The humans arrived here and we naturally assumed they are all of one tribe. But why should they be any different to us?’
He almost had it. The answer was almost there. The thought of Ell sprang into his mind, of the train taken over by the Silent Wind. What did the Emperor know that he wasn’t telling? It was obvious now.
‘What if there are several tribes of humans here?’
As he spoke, five flares lit themselves at the same time, five streaks of flame leaped from the flying craft, streaking forward towards the illuminated city on the mound to the north.
‘What are they?’ asked the captain. But they both knew the answer. Five explosions rumbled in the distance.
‘They’re attacking Sangrel,’ said Wa-Ka-Mo-Do.
Artemis City sat in the middle of the wide plain of Artemis. The city was visible from miles away, its great bulk a brooding presence in the distance, a constant reminder of the ultimate power on the continent of Shull.
There was no avoiding the fact of its existence. By day, the sunlight reflected on the windows of the Centre City, black streamers of smoke pumped from the chimneys of the forges trailed across the sky. By night the lights of its streets sparkled like a diadem around the red and gold flames of the fires that burned hot in the brick foundries.
Artemis City, the biggest concentration of power and metal and force on the entire continent.