The Gravitational Leap. Darrell Lee

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СКАЧАТЬ so they ventured farther east. They had known about the clan with the Tower behind the wall for generations, and they feared both the Tower and wall. Usually, they would make quick hit-and-run attacks, to steal cattle and horses from the villagers who lived outside the wall, then they would quickly return west for the winter. They had seen the floodlights during the night when they dared to approach too close. The soldiers feared it; surely the clan inside must possess magic and superior weapons.

      Along the walls of the tent, well-armed soldiers from each clan stared at each other. The eldest leader of the Denock clan, Tristan, had long, salt and pepper hair and a full beard. His shoulders were broad and thick, not muscular but not fat. He sat next to Sjund, fifteen years younger than Tristan, thin but athletic. Sjund wore the same thing as the Denock elders, a brown leather parka and pants, each lined with bison fur.

      “Your man is late,” Tristan said to his Asus counterpart, named Taavi.

      The orange light of a lantern on the table reflected off Taavi’s white hair and beard. It cast shadows along the black creases in his face and reflected off his eyes, which were dingy yellow around the irises. “If the information provided is good, he will succeed,” Taavi replied. “Tomorrow night all the High Council members will be dead. We will begin our attack. By morning, if Sjund’s bomb works as you claim, and can make a hole as big as you say, we’ll be eating breakfast in the Tower.”

      All the elders ate in silence. A radio, like the one the assassin took with him, sat in the middle of the table. They waited for the transmission that would inform them he had slipped inside the wall. Sjund had drawn a map of the location of a crevasse in the wall, just wide enough for a man to squeeze through and crawl his way inside. Once through the wall he would emerge in a small alleyway behind the horse stables. The stable house roof blocked the view into the alley from atop the wall. The assassin’s plan was to hide in the stable, in the rafters or an unoccupied stall, change into civilian clothes, conceal his dark face and hands, and wait until he received radio contact informing him that the initial assault platoons were in place and undetected. After nightfall he would kill the elders in the Tower and radio his commander that the leaders were dead, and the attack would begin. From the stables the Tower stood less than three hundred meters away, and the entry to the secret tunnel that led to it was one hundred meters away.

      “Were you not impressed with the small demonstration we gave you?” Sjund asked.

      “Blowing an old tree stump out of the ground is one thing—that wall is different,” Taavi said.

      “The bomb I’m going to make will be many times greater in size than the one I showed you. If it doesn’t outright collapse the wall, it will blow a hole big enough for your men to enter five abreast. But your men must keep the forces along that section of the wall occupied long enough for me to make the bomb at the base of the wall,” Sjund said.

      Taavi looked at Sjund warily. “What’s the name of this material you say possesses enough power to do this?”

      “Nitroglycerin.”

      “How did you learn to make such a weapon?”

      “In the Tower, there’s a room—the historical room, with many books, very, very old books. I found it in one of them.”

      “If it’s so powerful why doesn’t the clan behind the wall have it?” Taavi asked.

      “The ingredients are difficult to produce and somewhat unstable. It fits our purpose nicely, but it’s not good for military use. The formula is so old, I doubt anybody knew it existed, and I have the only copy of the book that explains how it’s done.”

      Taavi chewed on the piece of meat a bit longer. Then he spoke again.

      “Since the rest of our soldiers have made it through the mountain pass from our home territory, and you have seen the new weapons—the machine guns—we have acquired, along with all the ammunition needed, and the new radios, we have demonstrated our commitment to this alliance.

      “I have thought some more about our arrangement. If the bomb doesn’t work, we’ll have to retreat. My men will be the most at risk. I think we should be paid one head of cattle for every three soldiers killed, not four.”

      “If we fail to breech the wall you’ll get your payment, as we agreed—” Tristan began.

      “I have something I would like to show you,” Sjund said and placed his hand on Tristan’s shoulder. “If you and the other elders would follow me to the blacksmith’s tent?”

      Taavi looked at the other elders on his side of the table. They all nodded. Sjund removed a lantern from the table in front of him. Taavi got the walkie-talkie.

      “If a lantern is near you, bring it,” Sjund announced.

      Sjund led all the elders from each clan outside; their guards followed each clan. A slight glow to the east gave an indication of the approaching dawn. Through the blowing snow, the group moved between the orderly rows of tents in the Denock camp. They entered a tent twice the size of the long house. A large earthen furnace occupied the center, its smokestack protruding through the roof. The metal workers were gone, but red coals still burned inside. Sjund stopped by the bare frame of a wagon. The wooden beams were thick and interlocked with metal brackets; the large wood-spoked wheels were half Sjund’s height. In the center of the frame, mounted to metal rails, stood a metal cone. The diameter and depth of the hollow cone were as big as Sjund was tall. At the apex of the cone was a five-centimeter hole.

      “This is the war wagon,” Sjund announced loudly so the whole group could hear. Sjund pointed to a stack of metal plates by the wagon. “These plates will be attached to the outside and top of the frame, creating an enclosure for protection. My assistants and I will drive it to the appropriate place against the exterior of the wall. Once the nitroglycerin is made and poured into canteens, the canteens will be attached to the inside of the cone and a stick of dynamite, placed in the hole, will be used to detonate them. We will slide the opening of the cone flush against the wall and then detach the back half of the wagon, and while the fuse burns we’ll retreat to a safe distance. The cone will focus the energy of the explosion. I know a spot where the wall is weak. We will breach it there.”

      Sjund stood in front of Taavi. “You are correct; you are taking the brunt of the initial assault. I am sure we can agree to your proposed adjustment. Rest assured, my bomb will work.”

      Taavi nodded. “And if we’re successful, and occupy the Tower, then the elders of our clan get first pick of the women captured, three for each elder—”

      “And half the cattle and horses from the village, as agreed.” Tristan finished the alliance agreement for him. “But first, your man must make it inside the wall. Since he should’ve reported hours ago, I’ve sent other scouts to see if they could find any of your man’s tracks in the snow crossing the riverbed. I expect their report at any time.”

      Taavi nodded again. He looked at Sjund. “You are from the clan with the Tower. You don’t care that your father and the other elders, perhaps even their wives and children, will be killed?”

      “If I could, I’d do it myself.”

      “Why do you hate them so?”

      “That clan is run by twisted old men that believe in ancient fables and laws. They care nothing of the people, only of their secret power source. All laws are contrived with its preservation at their core.

      “I was in line to lead the clan. I didn’t believe СКАЧАТЬ