The second morning after Ralph Hiltch made his dash to the relative safety of the Ekwan , the twenty-eight paddleboats remaining in the frightened citys circular harbours set off in convoy downriver. Price of a ticket was one thousand fuseodollars per person (including a child). No destination was named: some talked about crossing the ocean to Sarell; Amarisks northern extremity was mooted. It didnt matter, leaving Durringham was the driving factor.
Given the exorbitant price the captains insisted on, and the planets relative poverty, it was surprising just how many people turned up wanting passage. More than could be accommodated. Tempers and desperation rose with the brutal sun. Several ugly scenes flared as the gangplanks were hurriedly drawn up.
Frustrated in their last chance to escape, the crowd surged towards the colonists barricaded in the transients dormitories at the other end of the port. Stones were flung first, then Molotovs.
Candace Elford dispatched a squad of sheriffs and newly recruited deputies, armed with cortical jammers and laser rifles, to quell this latest in a long line of disturbances. But they ran into a gang ransacking a retail district. The tactical street battle which followed left eight dead, and two dozen injured. They never got to the port.
That was when Candace finally had to call up Colin Rexrew and admit that Durringham was out of control. Most urban districts are forming their own defence committees, she datavised. Theyve seen how little effect the sheriffs have against any large-scale trouble. All the riots weve had these last few weeks have shown that often enough, and everyones heard about the Swithland posse. They dont trust you and me to defend them, so theyre going to do it for themselves. Theres been a lot of food stockpiled over the last couple of weeks. They all think theyre self-sufficient, and theyre not letting anyone over their districts boundary. Thats going to cause trouble, because Im getting reports of people in the outlying villages to the east abandoning their land and coming in looking for a refuge. Our residents arent letting them through. Its a siege mentality out there. People are waiting for Terrance Smith to come back with a conquering army, and hoping they can hold out in the meantime.
How far away are the invaders?
Im not sure. Were judging their progress by the way our communications with the villages fail. Its not constant, but Id say their main force is no more than ten or fifteen kilometres from Durringhams eastern districts. The majority are on foot, which should give us two or three days breathing space. Of course, you and I know there are nests of them inside the city as well. Ive had some pretty weird stories about bogeymen and poltergeists coming in for days now.
What do you want to do? Colin asked.
Revert to guarding our strategic centres; the spaceport, this sector, possibly both hospitals. Id like to say the port as well, but I dont think Ive got the manpower. There have been several desertions this week, mostly among the new deputies. Besides, nearly all of the boats have left now; theres been a steady exodus of fishing craft and even some barges since the paddle-boat convoy cast off this morning, so I cant see a lot of point.
OK, Colin said with his head in his hands. Do it. He glanced out of the office window at the sun-lashed rooftops. There was no sign of any of the usual fires that had marked the citys torment over the last weeks. Can we hang on until Terrance returns?
I dont know. At the moment were so busy fighting each other that I couldnt tell you what sort of resistance we can offer to the invaders.
Yeah. That sounds like Lalonde through and through.
Candace sat behind her big desk, watching the situation reports paint unwelcome graphics across the console displays, and issuing orders through her staff. There were times when she wondered if anyone out there was even receiving them, let alone obeying them.
Half of her sheriffs were deployed around the spaceport, spending the afternoon digging in, and positioning some large maser cannons to cover the road. The rest took up position around the administration district in the city, covering the governors dumper, the sheriffs headquarters, various civic buildings, and the Confederation Navy office. Five combined teams of LDC engineers and sheriffs went round all the remaining dumpers they could reach, powering down the fusion generators. If the invaders wanted Durringhams industrial base, such as it was, Rexrew was determined to thwart them. The He3 and deuterium fuel was collected and put into storage at the spaceport. By midafternoon the city was operating on electron-matrix power reserves alone.
That more than anything else brought home the reality of the situation to the majority. Fights and squabbles between gangs and districts ended, those barricades which had been erected were strengthened, sentry details were finalized. Everyone headed home, the roads fell silent. The rain which had held off all day began to slash down. Beneath its shroud of miserable low cloud, Durringham held its breath.
Stewart Danielsson watched the rain pounding away on the office windows as the conditioner hummed away efficiently, sucking the humidity from the air. He had made the office his home over the last week; Ward Molecular had seen a busy time of it. Everybody in town was keen to have the ancillary circuits on their electron-matrix cells serviced, especially the smaller units which could double as rifle power magazines at a pinch. Hed sold a lot of interface cables as well.
The business was doing fine. Darcy and Lori would be pleased when they got back. They hadnt actually said he could sleep over when they left him in charge, but with the way things were it was only right. Twice hed scared off would-be burglars.
His sleeping-bag with the inflatable mattress was comfy, and the office fridge was better than the one in his lodgings; hed brought the microwave cooker over from the cabin out back of the warehouse. So now he had all the creature comforts. It was turning into a nice little sojourn. Gaven Hough stayed late most nights, keeping him company. Neither of them had seen Cole Este since the night after the first anti-Ivet riot. Stewart wasnt much bothered by that.
Gaven opened the door in the glass partition wall and stuck his head round. Doesnt look like Mr. Crowther is coming to pick up his unit now, its gone four.
Stewart stretched himself, and turned the processor block off. Hed been trying to keep their work records and payments up to date. It had always seemed so easy when Darcy was handling it. OK, well get closed up.
Well be the last in the city. Theres been no traffic outside for the last two hours. Everyone else has gone home, scared of these invaders.
Arent you?
No, not really. I havent got anything an army would want.
You can stay here tonight. I dont think itll be safe walking home through this town now, not with the way people are on edge. Theres enough food.
Thanks. Ill go and shut the doors.
Stewart watched the younger man through the glass partition as he made his way past the workbenches to the warehouses big doors. I ought to be worried, he thought, some of the rumours flying around town are blatantly unreal, but something is happening upriver. He gave the warehouse a more thoughtful glance. With its mayope walls it was strong enough to withstand any casual attempt at damage. But there were a lot of valuable tools and equipment inside, and everybody knew that. Maybe we should be boarding the windows up. There was no such thing as an insurance industry on Lalonde, if the warehouse went so did their jobs.
He turned back to the office windows, giving them a more objective appraisal; the frames were heavy enough to nail planks across.