Inverted World (25 page)

Later:

Decided to create a guild system. Pleasant archaism that everyone approves. A way of structuring the organization without drastically changing the way the place is run, but I think it might impose a form to the establishment that will survive us all.

Caterpillar-track stripping proceeding well. Has caused a long delay.

Hope we can catch up.

Natasha gave birth today: boy.

Doctor S. gave me some more pills. Says I’m working too hard, and have to rest. Later, maybe.

Towards the end of the Directive, a more didactic tone emerged: What I have written here shall be privy only to those who venture outside; no need for those inside the establishment to be reminded of our dreadful prospects. We are organized enough: we have sufficient mechanical power and human initiative to maintain us safely in this world for ever more.

Those who follow must learn the hard way of what will happen if we fail to exploit either our power or our initiative, and this knowledge will suffice to keep both working to the maximum.

Someone from Earth must find us one day, God willing. Until then our maxim is survival, at any cost.

From now, it has been agreed and is hereby directed: That the ultimate responsibility lies in the hands of the Council. These men shall navigate the establishment, and be known as Navigators. Their number, which shall at no time fall below twelve, shall be elected from the senior members of the following guilds:

Track Guild: who shall be responsible for the maintenance of the rail-way along which the establishment runs; Traction Guild: who shall be responsible for the maintenance of the motive power of the establishment;

Future Guild: who shall be responsible for surveying the lands that lie in future time of our establishment;

Bridge-Builders Guild: who shall be responsible for safe conduit over physical obstacles, should no other way be available.

Further, should it be necessary to create other guilds in the future, no guild might be created except by unanimous vote of the Council.

(signed)

Francis Destaine

The major bulk of the Directive consisted of short entries, dated in a sequence that ran from 23 February 1987 to 19 August 2023. The final signed statement was dated 24 August 2023.

There were two further sheets. One was a codicil, marking the formation of the Barter Guild and the Militia Guild. These were undated. The other sheet was a graph drawn by hand. It showed the hyperbola produced by the equation y=1/x and beneath it were some mathematical signs which I could not understand.

Such was Destaine’s Directive.

Outside the city, work on the tracks was proceeding well.

When I joined the track-crews, most of the rail now behind the city had been taken up, and already more crews were relaying them from the head of the pass down the long shallow valley towards the woodland at the bottom. The atmosphere had improved; helped, I think, by the successful and undisturbed winching of the city away from the river. Additionally, the gradient for the next section was in our favour. The cables and stays would have to be used, because the gradient was not sufficiently steep to overcome the effects of the centrifugal force that could be felt even here.

It was a strange sensation to stand on the ground by the city, and see it stretching out in each direction in an overall horizontal way. I knew now that this apparent levelness was no such thing; at optimum, which on the vast scale of this world was not substantially distant, the ground was actually tilted at a full forty-five degree gradient towards north. Was this, though, any different from living on the surface of a spherical world like Earth planet? I remembered a book I had read in the crèche, a book written in and about a place called England. The book was written for young children, and described the life of a family who were planning to emigrate to a place called Australia. The children in the book had believed that where they were going they would be upside-down, and the author had gone to some pains to describe how all points on a sphere appeared to be upright because of gravitational effects. So it was on this world. I had been both north and south of optimum, and always the ground appeared to be level.

I enjoyed the labours on the tracks. It was good once more to be using my body, and not give myself time to think about the other distractions.

One loose end remained stubbornly untied: Victoria.

I needed to see her, however distasteful such an interview might be, and I wanted to settle the situation soon. Until I had spoken to her, whatever the outcome, I would not feel at ease in the city.

I was now settled in my acceptance of the physical environment of the city. Very few questions remained to be answered. I understood how and why the city was moved, I was aware of the many subtle dangers that lay in wait should the city ever cease its northwards journey. I knew that the city was vulnerable and, at this very time, in imminent danger from renewed attacks, but that I felt would be resolved soon.

But none of these could settle the personal crisis of becoming alienated from a girl I had loved in the space of what seemed to me to be a few days.

As a guildsman I discovered I was allowed to attend meetings of the Council of Navigators. I could not take an active part, but no aspect of the session was closed to me as a spectator.

I was told that a meeting was to be held, and decided to attend it.

The Navigators met in a small hall set just behind the main Navigation quarters. It was disarmingly informal; I had anticipated much ceremony and air of occasion, but the fact was that the meetings were crucial to the efficient operation of the whole city, and there was a businesslike air as the Navigators came into the chamber and took their seats round a table.

Two Navigators I knew by name, Olsson and McMahon, were present, and thirteen others.

The first matter to be discussed was the military situation outside. One of the Navigators stood up, introduced himself as Navigator Thorens, and gave a succinct report of the current situation.

The Militia had established that there were still at least a hundred men in the neighbourhood of the city, and most of them were armed. According to military intelligence, their morale was low as many losses had been suffered; this contrasted sharply, the Navigator said, with the morale of our troops, who felt they could contain any further development. They were now in possession of twenty-one rifles captured from the tooks, and although there was not much ammunition, some had been captured and the Traction guild had devised a method of manufacturing small quantities.

A second Navigator confirmed that this was so.

The next report was on the condition of the city’s structure.

There was considerable discussion about how much re-building should be carried out, and how soon. It was stated that there was considerable pressure on the domestic administrators, and sleeping-accommodation was at a premium.

The Navigators agreed that a new dormitory block should be given priority.

This discussion led naturally into wider issues, and these were of great interest to me.

As far as I could tell, the opinions of the Navigators present were divided. There was one school of thought of the opinion that the previous “closed city” policy should be re-introduced as soon as possible. The others thought that this had outlived its purpose, and should be permanently abandoned.

It seemed to me that this was a crucial issue, one which could radically alter the social structure of the city … and indeed, this was the undercurrent of the discussion. If the “closed” system were abandoned, it would mean that anyone growing up in the city would learn gradually the truth of the situation in which the city existed. It would mean a new way of education, and it would bring subtle changes in the powers of the guilds themselves.

In the end, after many calls for votes, and several amendments, there was a show of hands. By a majority of one it was decided not to re-introduce the “closed city” system for the time being.

More revelations followed. It transpired from the next item that there were seventeen transferred women inside the city, who had been there since before the first attack by the tooks. There was some discussion about what should be done with them. The meeting was informed that the women had said they wished to stay inside the city; it was immediately clear that it was possible that the attacks had been made in an attempt to free the women.

Another vote: the women should be allowed to stay within the city for as long as they wished.

It was also decided not to re-introduce the down past initiative test for apprentices. I understood that this has been suspended after the first attack, and several Navigators were in favour of now bringing it back. The meeting was told that twelve apprentices were known to have been killed down past, and a further five were still unaccounted for. The suspension remained for the time being.

I was fascinated by what I heard. I hadn’t realized before the extent to which the Navigators were in touch with the practicalities of the system.

Nothing specific had been said, but there was a general feeling amongst some of the guildsmen that the Navigators were a group of ageing fuddy-duddies out of touch with reality. Advanced in years some of them certainly were, but their perceptions had not faded. Looking round at the mostly empty guild seats, I reflected that perhaps more guildsmen should attend the Navigators’ meetings.

There was more business to deal with. The report that Denton and I had made of the terrain to the north was presented by Navigator McMahon, with the added information that two further five-degree surveys were presently being conducted and that the results would be known within a day or two.

The meeting agreed that the city should follow the provisional route marked by Denton and myself until any better route was devised.

Finally, the subject of the city’s traction was raised by Navigator Lucan. He said that the Traction guild had come up with a scheme for moving the city slightly faster. Re-gaining ground on optimum would be a major step towards returning the city to a normal situation, he argued, and there was agreement to this.

The proposal, he said, was for the city to be put on to a continuous traction schedule. This would involve a greater liaison with the Track guild, and perhaps a greater risk of cables breaking. But he argued that as we were now short of much valuable rail stock after the burning of the bridge, the city would have to make shorter hauls. The Traction guild’s suggestion was to maintain a shorter length of track actually laid to the north of the city, and to keep the winches running permanently. They would be phased out for periodic overhaul, and as the gradients of future territory were largely in our favour we could keep the city running at a speed sufficient to bring us back to optimum within twenty or twenty-five miles of elapsed time: There were few objections to this scheme, although the chairman called for a detailed report. When the vote was cast the result was nine in favour, six against. When the report was produced, the city would transfer to continuous running as soon as could be managed.

I was due to leave the city for a survey mission to the north. In the morning I had been called away from my work on the tracks, and Clausewitz had given me my briefing. I would leave the city the next day, and travel twenty-five miles to the north of optimum, reporting back on the nature of the terrain and the positions of various settlements. I was given the choice of working alone or with another Future guildsman. Recalling the new and welcome acquaintanceship with Blayne, I requested that he and I work together, and this was granted.

I was eager to leave. I felt no obligation to remain on the manual work of the tracks. Men who had never been outside the city were working well as teams, and more progress was made than at any time we had employed local labour.

The last attack by the tooks now seemed a long way behind us, and morale was good. We had made it to the pass in safety, ahead was the long slope down through the valley. The weather was fine, and hopes were high.

In the evening I returned to the inside of the city. I had decided to talk over the survey mission with Blayne, and spend the night in the Futures’ quarters. We would be ready to leave at first light.

Walking through the corridors, I saw Victoria.

She was working alone in a tiny office, checking through a large batch of papers. I went inside, and closed the door.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said.

“You don’t mind?”

“I’m very busy.”

“So am I.”

“Then leave me alone, and get on with whatever it is.”

“No,” I said. “I want to talk to you.”

“Some other time.”

“You can’t avoid me for ever.”

“I don’t have to talk to you now,” she said.

I grabbed at her pen, knocking it from her hand. Papers fell on the floor, and she gasped.

“What happened, Victoria? Why didn’t you wait for me?”

She stared down at the scattered papers, and made no answer.

“Come on … answer me.”

“It’s a long time ago. Does it still matter to you?”

“Yes.”

She was looking at me now, and I stared back at her. She had changed a lot, seemed older. She was more assured, more her own woman … but I could recognize the familiar way she held her head, the way her hands were clenched: half a fist, two fingers erect and interfolded.

“Helward, I’m sorry if you were hurt, but I’ve been through a lot too.

Will that do?”

“You know it won’t. What about all the things we talked about?”

“Such as?”

“The private things, the intimacies.”

“Your oath is safe … you needn’t worry about that.”

“I wasn’t even thinking of it,” I said. “What about the other things, about you and me?”

“The whispered exchanges in bed?”

I winced. “Yes.”

“They were a long time ago.” Perhaps my reaction showed, for suddenly her manner softened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be callous.”