Helward liked working to the north of the city. This would soon be his territory, for it was up here, beyond the optimum, that the Future guild did its work. He often saw Future guildsmen riding north, away into the distant territory where one day the city would have to travel. Once or twice he had seen his father, and they had spoken briefly. Helward had hoped that with his experience as an apprentice, the unease which dogged their relationship would vanish, but his father was apparently as uncomfortable as ever in his company. Helward suspected that there was no deep and subtle reason for this, because Collings had once been talking about the Future guild, and had mentioned his father. “A difficult man to talk to,” Collings had said. “Pleasant when you get to know him, but he keeps to himself.”
After half an hour Helward remounted the horse, and walked her back along their previous path. Some time later he came across Collings, who was resting in the shade of a large boulder. Helward joined him, and they shared some of the food. As a gesture of goodwill, the leader of the settlement had given them a large slab of fresh cheese, and they ate some of it, relishing the break from their more normal diet of processed, synthesized food.
“If they eat this,” Helward said, “I can’t see that they would have much use for our slop.”
“Don’t think they eat this all the time. This was the only one they had. It was probably stolen from somewhere else. I saw no cattle.”
“So why did they give it to us?”
“They need us.”
Some time later they continued on their way towards the city. Both men walked, leading the horse. Helward was both looking forward to returning to the city, and regretting that this period of his apprenticeship had ended. Realizing that this was probably the last time he would have with Collings, he felt the stirrings of an old and long buried intention to talk to him about something that still caused him to fret from time to time, and of all the men he had met outside the city Collings was the only one with whom he could discuss it. Even so, he turned over the problem in his mind for some time before finally deciding to raise it.
“You’re unnaturally quiet,” said Collings suddenly.
“I know… sorry. I’m thinking about becoming a guildsman. I’m not sure I’m ready.”
“Why?”
“It’s not easy to say. It’s a vague doubt.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Yes. That is… can I?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Well… some of the guildsmen won’t,” said Helward. “I was very confused when I first came outside the city, and I learnt then not to ask too many questions.”
“It depends what the questions are,” said Collings.
Helward decided to abandon trying to justify himself.
“It’s two things,” he said. “The optimum and the oath. I’m not sure about either of them.”
“That’s not surprising. I’ve worked with dozens of apprentices over the miles, and they all worry about those.”
“Can you tell me what I want to know?”
Collings shook his head. “Not about the optimum. That’s for you to discover for yourself.”
“But all I know about it is that it moves northwards. Is it an arbitrary thing?”
“It’s not arbitrary… but I can’t talk about it. I promise you that you’ll find out what you want to know very soon. But what’s the problem with the oath?”
Helward was silent for a moment.
Then he said: “If you knew I’d broken it — if you knew at this moment — you’d kill me. Is that right?”
“In theory, yes.”
“And in practice?”
“I’d worry about it for days, then probably talk to one of the other guildsmen and see what he advised. But you haven’t broken it, have you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You’d better tell me about it.”
“All right.”
Helward started to talk about the questions Victoria had asked him at the very beginning, and tried to confine his account to vague generalities. As Collings stayed silent, Helward began to go into more and more detail. Soon he found himself recounting, almost word for word, everything he had told her.
When he had finished, Collings said: “I don’t think you’ve anything to worry about”
Helward experienced a feeling of relief, but the nagging problem could not be dispelled as quickly as that.
“Why not?”
“No harm has come of your saying anything to your wife.”
The city had come into view as they walked, and they could see the customary signs of activity around the tracks.
“But it can’t be as simple as that,” said Helward. “The oath is very firm in the way it is worded, and the penalty is hardly a light one.”
“True… but the guildsmen who are alive today inherited it. The oath was passed to us, and we pass it on. So will you in your turn. This isn’t to say the guilds agree with it, but no one has yet come up with an alternative.”
“So the guilds would like to dispense with it if possible?” said Helward.
Collings grinned at him. “That’s not what I said. The history of the city goes back a long way. The founder was a man named Francis Destaine, and it is generally believed that he introduced the oath. From what we can understand of the records of the time such a regimen of secrecy was probably desirable. But today… well, things are a little more lax.”
“But the oath continues.”
“Yes, and I think it still has a function. There are a large number of people in the city who may never know what goes on out here, and will never need to know. These are the people who are mainly concerned with the running of the city’s services. They come into contact with the people from outside the city — the transferred women, for example — and if they were to speak too freely, perhaps the true nature of the city would become common knowledge with the people outside. We already have trouble with the locals, the tooks as the militia calls them. You see, the city’s existence is a precarious one, and has to be guarded at all costs.”
“Are we in danger?”
“Not at the moment. But if there were any sabotage, the danger would be immediate and great. We’re unpopular as things stand… there’s no profit in allowing that unpopularity to be compounded with a local awareness of our vulnerability.”
“So I can be more open with Victoria?”
“Use your judgement. She’s Lerouex’s daughter, isn’t she? Sensible girl. So long as she keeps to herself whatever you tell her, I can’t see any harm. But don’t go talking to too many people.”
“I won’t,” said Helward.
“And don’t go talking about the optimum moving. It doesn’t.”
Helward looked at him in surprise. “I was told it moved.”
“You were misinformed. The optimum is stationary.”
“Then why does the city never reach it?”
“It does, from time to time,” said Collings. “But it can never stay there for long. The ground moves away southwards from it.”
2
The tracks extended about one mile to the north of the city. As Helward and Collings approached they saw one of the winch-cables being hauled out towards the stay-emplacements. Within a day or two the city would move forward again.
They led the horse over the tracks, and walked down towards the city. Here on the north side was the entrance to the dark tunnel that ran beneath the city, and which gave the only official access to the interior.
Helward walked with Collings as far as the stables.
“Goodbye, Helward.”
Helward took the proffered hand, and they shook warmly.
“You make that sound very final,” said Helward.
Collings shrugged in an off-hand way. “I shan’t be seeing you for some time. Good luck, son.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m not going anywhere. But you are. Just take care, and make of it what you can.”