第15节

tain of our soul'.

Regardless of our physical or material circumstances, whether we are

fated to be showered with good fortune or dealt the cruellest blows (or

a mixture of both) we have the power within us to make the conscious

decision to retain our humanity, the ability to love, and our sense of

what is right and just, and true.

When Jodi had gone back down the hardway to pick up the trail bags from

Steve's Skyrider, she had used her newly acquired knowledge of the

nav-systems to get a fix on their present position. The undamaged

cockpit contained an inertial plotting device which automatically

monitored speed and direction throughout the flight.

Since it had logged the coordinates of Long Point, it was able to work

out where it was now. When the latitude and longitude readout was

applied to the map, she was able to tell Steve they had landed a few

miles to the east of navref point Merriville, Indiana.

Their flight had taken them into the next time zone.

The on-board digital display had adjusted itself automatically, leaving

their wristwatches running an hour fast - something she failed to

notice. Not that it mattered; they had other more pressing concerns.

But for the record, it was now 1416 hours Central Standard Time and it

snowed steadily for the rest of the day.

Nine hundred miles to the southwest, the clocks aboard The Lady from

Louisiana were still set to Mountain Standard Time. Colonel Marie

Anderssen had signalled her safe arrival at Santa Fe and would soon

board the inbound afternoon shuttle for Houston/GC. So far, The Lady

had made good headway, maintaining an average speed of 18 miles per

hour. She had succeeded in crossing the Arkansas River west of an old

reservoir without having to decouple the wagons, and was now heading

towards Lamar, the last navref point before the Colorado/Kansas state

line.

The next morning, when Izo Wantanabe emerged from his quarters on the

wheelboat, the skies had cleared.

Climbing up the newly-swept steps to the bridge, Izo scanned the

surrounding landscape. A deep covering of snow - heaped in places into

mountainous drifts stretched away to the north, east and south as far

as he could see.

Because of the weather, Izo had been unable to send the message he had

prepared the previous day and it was now probably a waste of time to do

so. If the bird-men had managed to outrun the snow cloud and return to

their roost the answer to his query would be largely academic. On the

other hand, the receipt of his message and its contents would be duly

noted in the log. If examined by his superiors it would provide proof

of his alertness. But even if the agent at Ludington had nothing to

report it did not significantly alter the overall situation. The iron

snake, which carried the cloud-warriors in her belly and killed all

those who came too close with its white-hot breath, might still be

lurking on the west bank of the Miz-Hippy River.

Offensive actions during the winter months were unprecedented but they

could not be ruled out. The cloud-warriors could have seen the

wheelboat. If their masters concluded that its presence signified a

strengthening of the links between the Iron Masters and the Plainfolk

they might return to attack it with the much-feared fire-blossoms.

From now on, he and his staff must remain vigilant. Summoning them on

deck, he told them what he had seen the previous day and explained its

importance. Starting immediately, the entire crew, working in pairs on

two-hour shifts, were to maintain a sky-watch from dawn to dusk until

further notice.

After adding a hasty postscript to his original message, Izo ordered

the pigeon-keeper to prepare the fastest bird they held from the

Ludington coop. While the message, in its tiny capsule, was being

attached to the bird's leg, a cartier-pigeon arrived from Di-taroya,

the first outland station, on the straights of Hui-niso. Reports

passed on by 'friendly' Mute clans, whose turf lay to the northwest,

spoke of two 'arrowheads' that had flown 'out of the east."