7

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: