In fact, El Tigre had. At that moment Teressa was climbing the ladder, followed by Karina and Runa. Around the base of the tower stood a circle of felinas facing outwards, while groups of True Humans hovered in doorways of the houses opposite, muttering but unable to take any positive action. The thrust had come too quickly, straight up the hill, hidden by the long grass on the far side of the sailway track.
Teressa kicked open the cabin door.
This time, however, there was no opposition from the little signalmen. They sat on tiny seats which jutted from the walls, their hands folded and their heads bowed in attitudes of defeat.
«Send a signal to Torres for relaying right down the coast,” said Teressa. «Tell them the felinos have risen against True Human rule. Tell them the days of slavery are over, and that half of Rangua is in felino hands. Tell them to rise up themselves. Tell them El Tigre has spoken.»
One little man looked up, the ghost of a smile on his hatchet face. «Tell the sun to come out.»
«Well, by the Genes of Mordecai, you’re supposed to be the experts!»
«We borrow from the sun, but we can’t command it.» The signalman quoted an old Guild saying. Outside, the rain drizzled down. Above the box, little puddles of water had gathered in the blind, upturned eyes of the hemitrexes.
«We’re wasting our time with these fools, Tess,” said Runa.
Karina, staring out over the town in the hope of catching sight of fierce fighting, said, «Look!»
The Palhoa car, sails furled, was rolling gently down the grade towards the station.
«Send the signal just as soon as you have enough sun, signalmen!» commanded Teressa. «We have other things to do. But we’ll send some felinas up here to make sure you do as you’re told.»
The El Tigre grupo hurried towards the station. They passed several grupos on the way; members of Iolande’s army holding their positions having eliminated the True Human outposts, but unwilling to cross the street to attack the heavily-fortified houses.
They met Iolande at the station. «We’re waiting until dark,” she said. «We’ll wipe them out, then.»
«Where are the prisoners?» asked Karina. She’d always mistrusted the tall woman and, for a moment, doubted whether Iolande had encountered any opposition at all.
Iolande merely smiled, however, not deigning to reply. She lifted a hand and, with a sliver of wood, began ostentatiously to clean her fingernails of reddish-brown residue.
The sailcar rumbled into the platform and braked to a halt. Karina swung herself to the deck and descended to the open nose.
«You know Captain Tonio?» she asked the captain.
«Of course.»
«Did you take him up to Palhoa this morning?»
«Well.…» The man hesitated, made nervous by the oppressive combination of sexuality and violence which this cat-girl brought to his cabin. «There were a lot of people leaving Rangua — there were rumors of trouble, you see. The car was full. I didn’t pay too much attention.…»
«I think you’re lying,” said Karina frankly.
«No! I can assure you.…» There was dried blood on the girl — and what was happening outside? There were felinas on the platform, and along the track!
«Yes,” said Karina, following his gaze. «Things have been moving around here since you left. You’re in occupied territory, captain. In fact you’re my prisoner, and so are your crew. You’re our only prisoners, because I suspect the others are all dead. Somehow, our grupos don’t seem to understand the concept of prisoners. But then, what do you expect from ignorant animals?»
The captain said, surprisingly, «I don’t think you’re an ignorant animal. I think you’re a beautiful woman.»
«Well, thanks.» Karina was taken completely off-guard. «All the same, I —”
«My name’s Guantelete,” said the man. «If I tell you what you want to know, will you guarantee the safety of my crew?»
Somehow the initiative seemed to be slipping away from Karina. She said, recovering, «I’m not guaranteeing anything!»
«Then I’m not telling anything.»
«Oh. Well, all right, then. I’ll make sure nobody harms you.»
Guantelete regarded her sadly. Why did it have to be like this? The girl was a vision of loveliness and he was a sentimental middle-aged man who had been relegated to the Palhoa backwater because of his failing ability to cope with the rigors of the coastal run. He would have liked to be friends but now, apparently, there was war between them. And worse, he had to betray Tonio because it was the lesser of two evils.
«Tonio was on the morning car,” he said.
«And his wife and son?»
«Yes.»
«All right. You’d better come with me. I’ll have to find somewhere to lock you up.»
«There’s something else. My wife, she lives in the town. I wonder, could you.…»
«I’ll make sure she’s all right.»
«Bring her to me. You see, you’re going to need me and my crew to take you up to Palhoa on the morning breeze. Then, I think we’ll stay there for a while until things blow over down here.»
Karina bristled. «Blow over? Nothing’s going to blow over. This is the revolution! Nothing will ever be the same again!»
«Of course it won’t,” said Captain Guantelete pacifically, and gave her instructions where his wife could be found. «I’m sure you’ll have captured the whole town by morning,” he said.
«You’re not very loyal to your people.»
«Just practical.»
As Karina led Captain Guantelete and his crew along the platform, she noticed an odd thing. The Canton Lord’s private car was still there, and the guards were shaking out the sails ready to depart. But nobody was making any attempt to stop them. Iolande was talking to her grupo, and although her gaze rested on the huge figures a couple of times, she made no move. It was as though the revolution flowed around the guards; as though their awesome power rendered them automatically neutral.
Yet she knew — and her father had said many times — that the main objective of the revolution would be to overthrow the Canton Lord.
How could they do that, if they were afraid to capture just two of his guards?
Shortly afterwards El Tigre brought the main force up the hill and they set up camp for the night in the south-west corner of the town, around the base of the signal tower. They hung skins from the sailway guiderails to form tents for the bachelors, the children and the mothers, and any others who did not care to join in the fighting. Nobody was forced to fight. El Tigre had enough willing warriors with the grupos.
As darkness fell, the reports started coming in.
Dozo had accomplished his mission. By mid-afternoon he’d held a meeting of tumpiers and put the situation to them. Following this, he’s entered the Womens’ Village in the company of the Madre and addressed the Women. It seemed to him that both audiences were somewhat unenthusiastic — he’d been used to felino meetings, with their roars of acclamation — and this was something of an anti‑climax.
«They don’t seem to care,” he said to his henchman.
This was probably fair comment. The tumpiers were philosophical people and used to regarding life in the long-term. Rulers would come and rulers would go, but the span of tumpier existence was dependent on the tumps themselves.
Tamaril sent word back that she was holding her position inside the eastern borders of the town, that she’d joined up with the errant grupos, and that she would attack around midnight over the rooftops, coming down behind the barricades. All was well and the grupos in good spirits. There had been little loss of felina life.…
Iolande’s front had now joined the main body so that the felinos were in command of the entire western side of the town, from the station to the signalbox, including the sailway and a few buildings. The town was thus cut off from the Palace further west.