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advantage he could. Given their recent turn-about, he could not take

them into his confidence and it was not necessary. They would serve

his purpose better by remaining independent witnesses.

They would be able to testify that the fighting at the trading post

broke out between the rival Mute bloodlines and it was only when the

conflict appeared to be getting out of hand that the Yama-Shita family

felt obliged to intervene in order to separate the warring factions and

protect the Iron Masters trapped on shore. And if, in the course of

establishing a cease-fire, one faction suffered heavier casualties than

the other then that would be regrettable but unavoidable.

This had been Lord Hirohito's plan, and it was a good one. In making

it, he had not been inspired by any particular animosity towards the

She-Kargo. On the contrary. Their pre-eminence was something to be

admired. He had simply decided to back the D'Troit and the C'Natti

because their burning desire to become the paramount bloodlines of the

Plainfolk would tempt them into an alliance with the YamaShita.

But with his death at the hands of the white witch, the subjugation of

the She-Kargo was no longer just the initial phase in the economic

development of the Western Plains. It had become an act of

vengeance.

And the first tribute to be exacted by the new vassal states on behalf

of their master would be the heads of the Clan m'call.

The M'Calls were also at the top of the hit-list drawn up by the

leaders of the Amtrak Federation. The narrow escape of the wagon-train

known as The Lady from Louisiana in the Battle of the Now and Then

River in June 2989, and the subsequent disastrous attack which

destroyed a third of its wagons and crew in the November snows of 2990

had badly dented the Federation's image of invincibility.

It was a challenge that could not be ignored. Such spirited resistance

by sub-human savages could not go unpunished. The Clan m'call, the

group responsible for this outrage, had to be crushed. Ground into

dust as an example of what happened to those who resisted the might of

the Federation.

The decision to annihilate the clan had been the easy part. The

difficulties lay in its implementation. The M'Calls were led by an

individual called Mr Snow said to be one of the most powerful summoners

ever born into the Plainfolk.

The ability to summon invisible forces present in the earth and sky

dynamic energy which flowed through their bodies and was shaped and

directed by their minds - was one of three attributes possessed by

certain 'gifted Mutes'. Their rarity was something to be thankful for;

the ability to summon hurricane-force winds, 'sky-fire' and

'earth-thunder', and to levitate rocks weighing up to half-a-ton was

the most spectacular and dangerous form of what had come to be known as

'Mute magic'.

Summoners, seers - those gifted with the power to read the past and

foretell the future with the aid of seeing-stones - and wordsmiths

those born with prodigious memories - displayed mental abilities that

belied their primitive appearance and life-style. They were highly

intelligent, and the powers they possessed - or could call upon defied

all rational explanation.

In due course an answer would be found through the rigorous application

of the recognized laws of physics, but in the meantime, faced with

something they could not master or understand, the First Family had

officially decreed that there was no such thing as Mute magic.

Any public utterance to the contrary was a Code One offence punishable

by death, and any overground unit that found itself on the receiving

end of Mute magic could not use it as an excuse for failing to achieve

its operational objectives.

Draconian measures which had been ruthlessly enforced.

And with good reason. Maintaining a high degree of motivation among

units exposed to a hostile environment for months at a time in distant

work-camps and way-stations was no easy task. And that included t