And All the Stars Shall Fall Page 12

  There had been five of them who, Blanchfleur figured, had been part of a larger conspiracy to hand the city over to the Federation, who had promised to implement a few simple changes that would bring Aahimsa in line with the other Federation cities. But once the raiders arrived and the defenses were breached, the attackers had turned on the “traitors” and executed more than half of them. These five visitors were part of a group who had barely escaped. One of the older sisters had met them outside the convent in full habit and had refused to speak to them as she was taking a solitary stroll under her vow of silence.

  However, the frightened women told the silent, strolling sister of their plight, at first simply asking for help but then proceeding to threaten her, going as far as threatening to inform the Federation of the sister’s presence here, an unauthorized person outside of city walls, and suggest to the Federation the possibility that there may be others of her kind living close by.

  “Where are they now?” asked Blanchfleur, convinced she knew who at least one of these visitors would turn out to be. Few citizens of Aahimsa were ruthless enough to do what they had done to their sisters in their city. She knew who most of the leaders of her opposition were and she guessed they were capable of doing very stupid and short-sighted things. “Did the sister who met them catch any of their names?”

  “I don’t know. But I’ll ask,” said Sister Thomas. “I’m only glad we didn’t let any of them inside. That would have been the end of everything we’ve accomplished here. There was something about them that alarmed the sister who encountered them outside. Once they began to threaten her she quickly gave them the slip.”

  “We’ll have to be very careful about how we approach them, if, indeed, we ever do,” said Blanchfleur.

  Nora stood. She had plenty of questions, not least of which were the reasons behind the boisterous reception by the sisters, this large group of unauthorized outsiders. Why were they so glad to see Blanchfleur and her entourage? Still, Nora was pleased to discover these generous women. Their very existence warmed Nora’s heart as it stirred so many memories of the old ones and the valley where she and Adam and Mabon spent so many happy years. But she had to know why they were so pleased to welcome all of them here.

  “What’s going on here? Do the sisters want something from us?” she asked the mayor when she got close enough to whisper without being heard. Blanchfleur had had a few short meetings to which Nora wasn’t invited.

  “Can I try to answer your question in the morning after breakfast?” she said. “I’ve been meeting with sisters Thomas and John and trying to get a clear picture of the situation while hearing their suggestions for our possible next steps. I’d hoped we could stay here for a bit, but if Gloria and her crowd of traitors are around here, the same ones who brought tragedy to Aahimsa — the sisters think they’re in town here somewhere — there could be big trouble. I’ll meet with the sisters again tonight. They can decide if they are willing to take the risk, and we can put all our cards on the table and let them know of all the risks involved, over breakfast. I promise you: no more secrets. Let’s try and operate from a position of complete trust.” She looked at Nora, realizing that Adam’s mother had serious reservations about how ready she was to completely trust her former enemy. Blanchfleur hoped that what they all would hear from her in the morning would change all of that. But she knew that nothing she said to them was ever guaranteed to satisfy.

  Chapter 23:

  No More Secrets

  Their meeting was held in the cafeteria around two wooden tables that had been reserved for their use by the sisters. They had awoken and were dressed in time to arrive at eight, thinking they would be getting there in the midst of breakfast for the sisters. They were surprised to find the dining halls completely empty of people but filled with an abundance of food and drinks.

  A chalkboard on an easel held a message in yellow chalk that welcomed them and informed them the nuns had finished morning prayers and were now at work. The note also advised them to help themselves to the food and then clean up. It became clear that the sisters did not eat meat of any kind but all were quite hungry and delighted to discover plenty of cereal and breads, cheeses, fried potatoes, delicious eggs in every possible style, and butter and baked goods galore, along with a good variety of fruit and vegetables.

  Everyone ate happily from the delicious and bountiful larder. But greater than their hunger for food was their hunger for information, so they ate quickly and hurried to clean up in thoughtful silence. Then they gathered around their meeting tables and waited.

  “Well?” Nora began, looking toward Blanchfleur, who rose.

  “Before I begin,” Blanchfleur said, “I would like to make one thing perfectly clear.” She paused and looked at everyone in turn. “I am no longer the person in charge here. I would like you to consider who you would choose to be running the show when we eventually leave here.”

  “We were hoping you were about to tell us what is happening here in Queenstown. We were all under the impression that no one lived outside of the Federation cities,” said Nora. There was a general murmur of agreement around the table.

  “That sort of information will come in a moment. But first, it seems to me that Nora would make a fine leader, or perhaps she and Mabon with whoever agrees to help them. Before I tell you what you want to know, I need reassurance that all of us are together and that we will do our best to trust one another. After what has just happened to Aahimsa and finding out now that those who betrayed us may be close at hand, I’m a bit nervous about revealing what I know. Many more precious lives depend on our being loyal to one another. Can I trust all of you that you’ll do nothing to harm those I am about to expose to your trustworthiness? I want to hear from each of you. Can I trust you? Answer yes or no.” She pointed to everyone around the table. Each in turn, with a small bit of hesitation, answered yes.

  “If the Federation discovers the existence of this convent, all the sisters, young and old, will probably die. Everyone they are protecting, including us, will likely not survive either. Do you all understand?”

  “So how did this place survive outside the walls of Aahimsa?” asked Alice. “I understood that only those inside the cities and their workers were legally permitted to live after the great change.”

  “It’s a long story that goes back initially before my time. This original convent did not survive. The religious sisters refused to come inside the walls. They were isolated until the oldest died and no others were permitted by law to join them. The convent lay empty for a long time afterwards.”

  “So where did these sisters come from?” asked Tish.

  “Quite a few years ago, before I was mayor, my mother, who was the mayor back then, was informed by someone at the Federation that a covert group existed inside Aahimsa that was meeting regularly to discuss the possibilities of bringing back the old ways. They found the new ways difficult to accept. They wanted the right to give birth to sons as well as daughters and to bring them up to be non-violent.

  “My mother was instructed by the World Council to turn them out of the city to face destruction by the Rangers or animals in the wild. She had to act on their orders or be removed as mayor. My mother knew if she were removed from office, her replacement would destroy everything she was in the process of accomplishing. Her mother had grown up in a small city called Kingston, which was near a large summer resort at that time popular with those of wealth in the city and which neighboured on the remains of an old monastery.

  “Mother publicly turned those women out of the city, and, on the pretext of going on holiday, personally guided the group from a pre-arranged spot to safety in Kingston. Years later the mapmakers changed the name to Queenstown. The women were taken to the monastery and settled in. They were bored and began to read the books and papers of the nuns, and later they began to wear the clothes the long-departed sisters had worn. A number of years afterwards,
when I had been elected mayor, I had my own rebellious group, a few young insiders who wanted to leave the city. I couldn’t let them go unless I found somewhere to send them.

  “I visited the old convent and to my surprise discovered that the new sisters were thriving and contented. They agreed to take the women in. In fact they were delighted to have possible new recruits. Since then I’ve sent many others. They have built wonderful lives for themselves. But if the Federation learns of this place, you can be sure all will be destroyed.

  “There’s more, and when you learn this you will be party to information you may not wish to have. You may leave now if you wish to avoid becoming criminals in the eyes of the Federation. Once you hear this you will have no chance of turning back. You will also be carrying a heavy responsibility that could easily cost you your freedom and your life. So choose.”

  No one moved and Blanchfleur continued, “Several of those young insiders were with child when they left Aahimsa and came here.”

  “I heard them,” said Adam, recalling the voices he thought he had heard on entering the convent. “I heard children when we were coming in here.” There were gasps among the crowd.

  “You may have indeed, Adam. There are a small number of children living among the sisters.”

  “Are any of them boys?” asked Tish, her voice nervous. There were more brief rumblings of conversation.

  “There are some boys, although there are more girls. There are also a number of younger sisters who would leave here with their children if there were some place to go. They are hoping to get away before they are reported or discovered. And there is the matter of the traitor women from the city, who may yet be close by.”

  “It sounds like we have plans and choices to make,” said Nora. “I think we should first deal with the traitors, as you call them. Do you think they’re still around here? And are they a danger to us and the sisters even after what has happened?”

  “Who can know for sure?” said Blanchfleur.

  “Do you think they would risk contacting the Federation? After all, the feds turned on them.”

  “That is an argument for doing nothing. But they might remain a threat and a danger to the sisters and the children,” said Blanchfleur.

  “And to us,” said Alice. “What can we do about them?”

  “No more killing,” said Nora. “Not unless we absolutely have to.”

  “What if we went somewhere and took anyone who wants to go along with us?” said Adam.

  “There’s nowhere else, is there?” asked Alice. “Nowhere as safe as here.”

  “There are many other places,” said Blanchfleur. “It’s a big country.”

  “Not as safe as here,” answered Alice. “And where are these places?”

  “Maybe not. Who knows how safe we are here?” said Blanchfleur. “There are many others, you know. The Federation wants you to think there is no one outside the cities, but that’s not really true when you get to remote areas. The Federation seeks out any major or successful outbreaks of illicit populations and deals with them. But the earth is too large. Small gatherings of outlaw populations and rogue communities escaped to many of the mountains and the forests.

  “There is a community made up of mostly First Nations not far from here, according to Sister Thomas. They have been helpful to the convent and the convent to them. She says if we go to them, she will give us a letter of introduction and they will help us to disappear into the wild. They’ve done this more than once before. Their chief is named Silent Owl. She is young and sensible and very kind.”

  “Where will we find her?” asked Ueland.

  “On the islands at the river’s mouth. Her people live on the Island of the Metal Giants,” said Blanchfleur.

  “Metal Giants?” asked Mabon, who had been considered a giant by the old ones in the valley.

  “There were once wind farms all across the island that generated electricity. They no longer function, but they still stand with their giant arms rusting,” said Blanchfleur.

  “Are there girls in the forest?” asked Tish.

  “Yes, and many boys, too,” answered her grandmother. “They may be hard to find as they stay under the cover of the trees and inside their hill houses in daylight. Sister Thomas will tell us how to meet with them. There are designated places to leave signs that are known to both of us and are checked regularly and often.”

  All of this information came as a shock to Tish and the others. Tish had lived her short life thinking first that Aahimsa and its domain comprised the whole world. Then she had learned that the earth was dotted with hundreds of feminine city-states and that Aahimsa was the last to contain outsider males for reproduction and as cheap labour. She knew that her grandmother had fought to keep the Manuhome functioning for its manufacturing and agricultural production. Now she suspected it was more than that, but she didn’t completely get it yet. Blanchfleur had allowed the deaths of the old ones, but that was to save the Manuhome and the city. And now this information on small gatherings of “outlaw populations.” She shook her head to clear it, but it didn’t help.

  Nora stood up. “Let’s call the sisters in and try to come to some agreement. I propose that each of us consider what we will do. The choice as I understand it will be to leave here and head for this Island of the Giants with anyone who wants to go — adults, children, males, females, anyone. Those who wish to stay here will be welcomed, I’m sure. Sister Thomas tells me they have alternate housing that they can move to until they are sure there is no threat from the Federation. Mabon and I will be going outside tonight to look for signs of the traitor women. After we return, we will be leaving this lovely place along with Adam and the young sisters and their children, perhaps as early as tomorrow.”

  Chapter 24:

  Traitors

  Mabon and Nora had no idea where to look for the renegade insiders who had betrayed Blanchfleur and the City of Aahimsa to the attackers from the Federation. But they were startled to discover the carelessness of their new enemies. Before coming outside they agreed that there was to be no violence and, if possible, they would merely try to locate them and determine their numbers and then leave them in peace if possible.

  However, both Mabon and Nora remained keenly aware of how potentially dangerous these women could be to the sisters in the convent. And equally dangerous to all of those the sisters protected, including their own party, and to the children. Killing the traitors was the only certain way to protect everyone, but they had decided that if the world was going to ever change, the killing had to stop.

  The two had grown friendly with the darkness during their years in Happy Valley with the old ones. In spite of their danger, they were enjoying the quiet time they had alone together as they climbed up to the top of the highest of the wrecked structures in the city, the bell tower of a huge stone church building on the highest hill amid the ruins of what had once been a beautiful lakeside city. More than half the church building lay in shattered wreckage. But the section housing the bell tower remained. Once Mabon had cleared away the rocks and debris from the belfry door, they found the interior with its stairs and ladders clear and intact. Standing up next to the huge bells they had a clear view of all four sides of the destroyed city and could see far out on the lake below, where it glistened here and there, reflecting the clean light of a quarter moon as far off as what they recognized as the Island of the Giants.

  They moved around the belfry carefully, surveying the scenery below, watching for any movement or sign of life. They finished their first cycle without any indication of human activity catching their eye. Halfway around the second time Nora touched Mabon’s right arm and pointed off to a small open area to the right.

  “Is that smoke?” she said, her arm extended toward a small section of what must have been a city square. From a roofed bandstand built of grey stone, wisps of fog or perhaps smoke appeared to be r
ising. Soon afterward they could smell the distinct odour of burnt wood. They watched the area for what felt like a long time before they finally saw the movement they were hoping for, first one person and then another. Behind them the smoke was no longer rising.

  Mabon took the stub of a pencil and a bit of paper out of his shirt pocket and began to make a rough drawing of the streets around them leading to the gazebo and from there to the convent so they could navigate their way back to the gazebo once they climbed down to street level.

  “Should we get over there before they disappear?” asked Nora.

  They made their way down to the main lobby of the broken church, and, as they closed the door to the belfry tower, they heard the roar of highly revved approaching engines. Nora turned to Mabon, her face showing alarm and uncertainty.

  “Helicopters,” he said.

  “Let’s go back to the convent quickly,” Nora said and headed for the door.

  “Wait,” said Mabon. “It’s not safe. Let’s get back into the tower and lock the door from the inside. We’re safer here and we don’t want to risk being seen and giving the others away.”

  The racket from the motors and the whirring blades of the helicopters was deafening and there suddenly came a series of explosions from outside, blasts powerful enough that the damaged church shook violently and they feared it might completely collapse on them. Dirt, loose chunks of plaster, and bits of rotted wood rained down on them. Several times a helicopter approached and hovered close by and then moved away. Every now and then there were explosions and bursts of rapid gunfire. Mabon wanted to climb up and look, but Nora held him back, clinging to him. She wanted them close together no matter what happened.

  They clung to one another for what seemed like hours while one of the helicopters and then another landed not far away. Above the wop-wop-wop of the idling choppers they heard shots and the screams of injured and terrified victims and then silence. After another long and painful lull in the attack, the helicopters lifted once again and flew away and still they waited, unsure of their safety.