‘Tell us how it came to the crunch for you,’ Karr said.
‘One bad order too many, sir. It was as plain as that. I had to disobey it, and that’s something you don’t do in the militia. So I deserted. My father would have been
scandalised
by that. But I reckoned I’d serve the people best by siding with the Resistance rather than the empires and their puppets.’
Karr clasped the young man’s hand. ‘Your integrity does you credit.’
As they turned from him, a woman approached. Her careworn face and sorrowful eyes spoke of some tragedy that had aged her. She was evidently someone else Karr knew. Once they’d greeted each other, he asked her the same question he’d asked the deserter.
‘Why am I here?’ She seemed genuinely perplexed. ‘Where else could I be after what happened?’
‘What was that, ma’am?’ Kutch inquired, his tone courteous and soft.
The woman stared, as though seeing him for the first time. After a beat, she said, ‘Lost two boys. One not that much above your age, the gods bless you.’
‘How did they…?’
‘War did for the eldest. One of those pointless wars against people we’ve no quarrel with. State killed the youngest.’
‘Executed for cowardice,’ Karr elaborated. ‘I knew him. If he was a coward I’ll walk naked into a barbcats’ den.’
‘Speaking his mind was his only crime,’ the woman judged, ‘and they took his life for it. That’s why I’m here, bringing what I can to the cause.’
Karr thanked her and she reclaimed her place on a patch of floor.
Nearby, he found another woman he recognised. Life had wearied her too, though her youthful looks remained more or less intact.
The patrician related her story himself. ‘You lost your home in a forced clearance, so a palace could be built for a Gath Tampoorian overseer. Isn’t that right?’
She nodded. ‘But that wasn’t the worst of it. When the people in our quarter united to object to the plan there was a bloodbath. My husband and my brother were… butchered.’
‘They sent paladins in,’ Karr supplied.
‘Bastards,’
the woman hissed. She noticed Caldason’s sympathetic expression, and studied him with shrewd eyes. ‘You’re a Qalochian?’ she asked.
He confirmed it with a slight bob of the head.
‘Then you know all about suffering at their hands. For my money, anyone who goes against those clan swine deserves a medal. I say more power to their sword arm, and good luck to them.’ Her smile had little warmth but a great deal of canniness in it.
The remark was pointed enough to make them pretty sure she’d guessed who Caldason was. They left it hanging and moved on.
‘See him?’ Karr indicated a bearded, stocky individual, perched on a barrel. He wore a wool cap and was dressed in a heavy, dark blue long-coat. ‘Another defector. Navy, in his case. Second in command on a slave galley, would you believe. Hated the brutality and came over to our side.’
Every step seemed to elicit a tale. Karr pointed out more volunteers.
‘That pair standing by the door – reformed bandits. Some very useful skills they’ve brought us. Him. See? A priest. Broke his vows over a matter of conscience. The couple over there – a merchant and his wife. They -’
‘I think we get the point,’ Caldason interrupted. ‘You have a groundswell of support.’
‘Yes, the Resistance is drawing from a wider pool than ever before.’
‘So all these people will be going to your island paradise?’
Karr gave a small laugh. ‘It’ll hardly be that. But perhaps some of them will. We’ll see.’
Caldason scanned the room. ‘It’s a motley crew.’
‘I think diverse is a better way of putting it. They have a range of expertise we need. More important, they’ve got something not easily measured. Passion. You can move mountains with that.’
‘Moving the empires might prove tougher.’
Karr bristled. ‘Why do you always have to -’
‘Ssshhh!’
Kutch had a finger to his lips.
Goyter was standing on a crate. Now she called for order. Two men went to the conjunction of cogwheels in the middle of the room. They grasped a massive lever. Muscles working, they wrestled it down. The wheels slowed, their clinking grew lazy, then they squeaked to a halt. A final shudder released falls of fine white powder from somewhere above.
With the machinery and chattering stopped, the silence felt strange. Everyone was standing by this time, and looking Goyter’s way. Karr, Reeth and Kutch found themselves at the back of the crowd, which suited them.
‘You all know why we’re here,’ Goyter boomed, ‘so I don’t intend making this any longer than it should be. You’ve taken a decision that’s going to alter your lives. And that’s maybe going to alter the way we live, for the better. It’s a decision you can’t go back on after tonight, so be sure. Are there any here who don’t want to go further?’
Not a hand went up, and nobody moved.
‘No one’s backed out yet,’ Karr confided in a whisper. ‘I’m not sure what we’d do if anyone did at this stage. Have them killed, I suppose.’
Reeth and Kutch exchanged a glance, almost entirely sure he was joking.
‘Good,’ Goyter continued, her strong, clear voice filling the room. ‘For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing the right thing.’ She looked from face to face. ‘This is an uncommon moment, and one you won’t forget. Savour it.’ Following a reflective moment, she added, ‘It’s time to take the oath. Raise your right hand and repeat after me.’ Needing no written reminder of the pledge, she began reciting it from memory. ‘Of my own volition and free of duress…’
She paused every so often to let them repeat the words. Caldason took in the chanting crowd – young, old, middle-aged. Even a few children, too young to understand, with their hands raised and wearing solemn expressions.
‘…I hereby swear allegiance to…’
Some looked earnest, or ardent, excited, apprehensive, jubilant, glassy-eyed. A few were tearful. One or two seemed bored.
‘…oppose those who subjugate us and cause us…’
He glanced at Karr and saw that he was silently mouthing the oath, gazing unwaveringly at Goyter.
‘…vow my mind, my body and my spirit to the…’
Kutch was transfixed too, fascinated by the flow of lofty ideals and noble phrases.
‘…to protect the weak, fight for the downtrodden, speak out for the voiceless…’
Had the emotions in that room been uniform, had sentimentality and pious conviction been the crowd’s only mood, Caldason could have dismissed it all.
‘…the inalienable right of all…’
But it seemed to him there were as many reactions as there were different types of people present. That somehow gave a power to what was happening. Not a power he was unfamiliar with, but one he hadn’t felt for a very long time.
‘…nor rest until freedom…’
Widely different people -
diverse
, Karr had called them – yet sharing a connection, an affinity of common purpose. The feeling it gave him dredged something from the pit of his memory. It rekindled the trace of a dream.
‘…This I do swear and affirm.’
The end of the oath brought a hubbub. Clapping, subdued cheers, the resumption of chatter. Caldason refocused on the here and now.
‘Quieten down!’ Goyter shouted, dampening the new conscripts’ noise. ‘Those of you making your way back to your homes and families will be leaving here in small numbers and not all at once. The guards at the door will take care of that. Those who aren’t going back, just stay where you are and your group leaders will come to you. Let’s do this quietly and sensibly, shall we, folks?’
She got a smattering of applause.
‘Aren’t going back?’ Kutch echoed.
‘Some have been selected to work clandestinely,’ Karr explained. ‘They’ll give up the lives they’ve known and be swallowed by the underground. New identities, new objectives. Others serve best by staying in the roles they occupy.’
‘It all sounds very organised.’
‘We’re still learning. It’s taken us years to build the movement’s structure. But now this new alliance means we have access to an even greater network.’