Helen swallowed nervously and, in a thin voice, said, “The Sky Lords are kept aloft, as you know, by gases which are lighter than air. There are two such gases—hydrogen and helium. Once the Sky Lords were filled entirely with helium because it is safest. It is an inert gas whereas hydrogen is flammable. Over the years the Sky Lords have lost much of their helium, through natural leakage, accidents and so on, and haven’t been able to replace it. They’ve been forced to use hydrogen as a substitute in many of their gas cells. Hydrogen, unlike helium, can be manufactured relatively easily by means of a process called ‘electrolysis’ which is—”
Melissa cut her short with a wave of her hand. “Never mind the details,” she said. “What we want to know is whether the Sky Lords contain a great deal of the dangerous gas.”
Helen’s face went bright red. “Uh, yes, Headwoman Melissa, I would say that all the Sky Lords now contain much more hydrogen than helium.”
“Which makes them very vulnerable to fire?”
“Very vulnerable.”
“So our rockets with their fire bombs in their tips will inflict serious damage?”
Helen cleared her throat and said, loudly, “I believe we stand a very good chance of destroying the Lord Pangloth completely.”
An excited murmur spread through the chamber. But it stopped when Anna interjected with, “Can you be sure they haven’t found a way of making the safer gas? The helium? If they can make the other gas why can’t they do the same with the helium. Or maybe they have invented an entirely new gas?”
“No,” said Helen firmly with a shake of her head. “That’s impossible. Scientifically impossible. If you’d let me explain—”
This time Avedon herself interrupted her. “Enough talk of Man’s science in this chamber. We will take your word for it. Sit down, Sister Helen.”
She sat down hurriedly, her face redder than ever. Anna took advantage of the moment to declare loudly, “Man’s science … that is our problem here. Melissa’s plan is tainted with it. Rockets!” She spat out the word contemptuously. “Such weapons are not only against the constitution but are blasphemous. The Mother God will turn her face from us if we use Man’s weapons!”
“The same thing was said when we started using the flame throwers but there is no sign we have affronted the Mother God,” said Melissa.
“Really? If that it so how is it that our crop-lands have been overrun by the blight? What good did those weapons do us?” asked Anna.
“If we hadn’t used them the fungus would be growing all over the town by now. The flame throwers are the only effective weapon against the spores. Not to mention against many of the larger beasts that threaten our perimeter in increasing numbers.”
“Yet still Minerva is faced with destruction,” persisted Anna.
Melissa sighed. “If we can defeat the Sky Lord we will have enough grain to see us through the winter. Perhaps by then we will have managed to reclaim some of our land from the blight. But if we succumb to the Sky Lord our fate is sealed.”
“We could try talking to the Sky Lord. We could explain our situation. It will, after all, be, obvious to him from the air!” cried Anna. “We offer him, say, only a third of the expected tribute and promise to make it up to him later. We throw ourselves on his mercy.”
Melissa gave a bitter laugh. “When has a Sky Lord ever shown mercy? You know how they regard us land dwellers. Literally as the scum of the earth. We are less than human to them. Just a part of the blight left by the Gene Wars. Better to ask mercy from one of the giant lizards. No, our only chance is to burn the Lord Pangloth out of the sky. It is time that we, the sisters of Minerva, freed ourselves from the reign of Men!”
That did it. Jan could physically feel the tide of emotion in the chamber turn irrevocably in Melissa’s favour. She had won. And, a short time later, the vote confirmed it. A count of hands gave her a majority of twenty-three. Jan relaxed. She was not going to die. Not yet, anyway. She had at least another two weeks.
The two weeks went by with frightening speed. Jan had wanted to savour them but there had been no time. Melissa had kept her, and everyone else, working to exhaustion on the final preparations. Jan had been put in charge of one of the many three-woman groups that would fire the rockets. They practised the firing routine endlessly, positioning the rockets in their stands, removing the camouflaged netting that concealed the launchers and pretending to light the fuses before taking cover behind a makeshift barrier.
The rockets were, according to Helen, fairly simple devices. They were propelled by gunpowder and were capable, as the series of test firings had proved, of reaching a height of about a thousand feet. When they hit something a plunger was depressed, which activated a chemical fuse. This set off a charge that ignited the alcohol in the nose cone and spread it over a wide area. No one asked, publically anyway, how Helen came to possess the knowledge to make gunpowder, a substance that was high on the proscribed list. Jan suspected that Helen had probably invented the stuff from scratch.
Even though Melissa was now theoretically in charge of Minerva Anna kept up her campaign of opposition almost to the very end. The most significant confrontation between them occurred at the start of the second week. Anna, her daughter Tasma, Headwoman Jean and Adam, spokesman for the men, appeared that evening at Melissa’s house. Melissa admitted them with ill grace and told Jan to fetch drinks. Anna said not to bother as this was far from being a social call, so Jan remained in the hallway.
“Is it true,” Anna asked Melissa accusingly, “that you told Avedon you want the men armed?”
“It is true,” said Melissa, and waited.
“Is there no limit to your blasphemy?” cried Anna. “For a man to carry a weapon within the borders of Minerva is against everything we hold sacred. The founding sisters of Minerva must be crying with shame in heaven!”
“The founding sisters of Minerva were realists,” replied Melissa. “And so am I. We’re going to need everyone available to defend Minerva next Monday. Even if we set the Lord Pangloth on fire there may still be time for units of Sky Warriors to descend upon us.”
“Better that than to offend the Mother God in this fashion!” cried Anna. She turned to Adam, who was trying to keep behind Jean and Tasma. “Tell Headwoman Melissa that you, as the spokesman for all the men, refuse to bear arms.”
Reluctantly, Adam emerged from between Jean and Tasma. He regarded Melissa worriedly. “It’s not so much that we refuse, Headwoman Melissa, it’s that arming us would be a waste of time. The men of Minerva, as you well know, are not fighters. The Mother God saw to that. What good would we be in a battle with Sky Warriors?”
“You’re going to find out,” Melissa told him brusquely. “When a Sky Warrior comes at you with the intention of splitting open your skull with an axe or skewering you on a sword you will have the choice of trying to stop him with a weapon of your own or letting him do what he wants to you. Don’t expect the sisters to protect you. We will be too busy defending ourselves so it’s up to you. The choice is yours.”
Adam had gone pale. “But … but all our lives we have had it instilled in us that it is absolutely forbidden to touch a weapon or to use a tool in a threatening way. You can’t suddenly expect us to overcome such training.”
“He’s right,” said Anna. The other two women nodded.
Melissa shrugged. “All I know is that I have the authority in these circumstances, according to the constitution, to take whatever extraordinary measures I see fit to ensure the survival of Minerva and that I am ordering the distribution of weapons to every male over the age of twelve. Whether they use them or not is up to the individual himself. And that is that.”