will be no way we can fight our way out of it. It’ll be a suicide mission.’
‘There’s no other way,’ said Vanka quietly. ‘To give the three million people trapped in the Ghetto a chance to escape, three hundred fighters must sacrifice themselves.’
‘You’re very generous with my fighters’ lives, Colonel.’
‘Oh, I’ll be with them, Miss Dashwood, keeping an eye on young Ella here.’
Dabrowski drained his glass of Solution. ‘You’re right, of course, Colonel Maykov, but to venture into the Great Beyond is still a huge risk. Despite what Miss Thomas says, no one knows what dangers might be waiting there. It might be as inhospitable as Terror Incognita. And it will need careful planning. The settlers who go must take seeds and livestock with them, they must take tools and enough food to last them until their first harvests are in. There are a thousand and one things which must be thought of.’ Dabrowski trailed off as though cowed by the enormity of the decision he was being asked to make. He gave his head a mournful shake. ‘No… it’s not a decision I am willing to take.’
‘Then let the people choose,’ prompted Ella. ‘Ask them to vote as to whether they stay or go. That’s the democratic way.’
‘Democracy, eh?’ chortled Trixie. ‘Your friend Miss Norma Williams – the other Daemon – spoke of that. It’s nonsense. It has no place in the Demi-Monde.’
‘And what is this “democracy” of yours, Miss Thomas?’ asked Delegate Trotsky.
‘It’s a system of government where all the adults in a society vote to elect a leader or a government… or, as in this case, vote on something which radically changes their way of life.’
‘It is a ridiculous system,’ Trixie Dashwood sneered. ‘All your democracy is, is a fancy name for mob rule. How can common people know who the best leader is? How can common people know how a nation should be governed? The people must be told what to do. Your democracy is a recipe for indecision, muddle and anarchy.’
Dabrowski had no such doubts. ‘No, Miss Thomas is right. The people must be told the risks and the dangers they will be facing if they journey into the Great Beyond and the risks and dangers they face if they stay here in the Ghetto. And then they must choose themselves. It is they who must decide whether they stay or go. Yes, it is for the people to decide, not me.’
Trixie stared at him with a mixture of astonishment and contempt. ‘Colonel, I beg you, don’t do this. You cannot ask the people, you must command the people. A strong leader does not debate, he orders.’
‘Enough,’ announced Dabrowski. ‘We will put the facts before the people of Warsaw and they will decide. If they choose to journey into the Great Beyond it will be their decision, not mine.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘But the more immediate problem I have is to find a commander mad enough to take and to hold the Blood Bank.’
‘That, Colonel, is an honour I claim,’ said Trixie. ‘But know this, Shade, if you fail again and condemn three hundred of my fighters to an unnecessary death, I swear by the Spirits that my last act in this life will be to kill you with my bare hands.’
And looking at her, Ella knew she meant every word of the threat.
Even Dabrowski, who seemed to Ella to be increasingly losing touch with reality, recognised it was impractical to have all of the one and a half million adults in Warsaw gather together to hear what was needed to be said. So, following the advice of Delegate Trotsky, the word was passed around the Ghetto that every one thousand citizens over the age of sixteen should elect a Representative, and these Representatives would in turn attend a meeting where they would be advised of Ella’s proposal and have an opportunity to debate it. After this they would return to their electors to explain what they had heard. In this way, Trotsky hoped, the citizens of Warsaw could make their own informed decision as whether they would stay or leave.
With fifteen hundred Representatives to accommodate, it was decided that the meeting would be held in one of the now empty warehouses in the Industrial Zone. And it was here the next afternoon that Dabrowski took the stage before the massed ranks of the Representatives. ‘My friends and fellow citizens,’ he began, his voice so weak and tremulous that it barely reached those standing at the back of the warehouse. ‘I have called you here today in order that we may decide upon our future. I will be brutally frank with you: we have lost control of the Blood Bank and our attempts to secure deliveries of blood from outside the Ghetto have failed. We have a little under two weeks’ supply of blood left.’
That statement shocked the audience into silence: death was staring them in the face.
‘Until yesterday I thought I would be standing before you to tell you that it was time for us to surrender and to throw ourselves on the mercy of Reinhard Heydrich. But now there is a new hope, which promises an uncertain – even a dangerous – future. And being dangerous, it is a future which each and every one of you, individually, must decide to accept or to reject. We believe we have a chance to breach the Boundary Layer.’
For a moment the crowd in the warehouse was silent and then it exploded in a storm of questions. Only by slamming a wooden mallet hard onto the table he was using as a lectern was Dabrowski able to restore order.
‘I repeat: we have the possibility – and I stress that it is only a possibility, not a certainty – of opening the Boundary Layer and passing through to the Great Beyond.’
‘Is the Great Beyond safe?’ someone shouted.
‘We believe it to be habitable. We see animals roaming there, we see trees growing there, we see grass flourishing there and, most importantly, we see Blood Banks standing there. Our own legends tell us that our ancestors once inhabited the Great Beyond. So the answer, as best we can judge, is yes, the Great Beyond is safe. But we will only be able to keep the Boundary open for one hour and then it will close for ever. Once you have moved into the Beyond there will be no coming back.’ Dabrowski was silent for a moment. ‘But, of course, this will also mean that never again will you have to worry about the lunatic ambitions Heydrich has of destroying our people. It will be a new beginning.’
‘When must we make this decision?’ This question was yelled from the back of the warehouse.
‘Our intention is to try to open the Boundary Layer in two days. And I remind you, there will be no returning to the Demi-Monde: everything you will need to start a new life in the Beyond must be taken with you. Once in the Beyond there will be no recourse to the Industrial Zone. Life in the Beyond will be hard.’ Dabrowski leant against the table as though drained of energy and for a moment Ella, standing at the very back of the warehouse, thought he was going to faint. Then he gathered himself. ‘I would ask you Representatives to provide me with the names of all those wishing to travel to the Beyond within the next twenty-four hours.’
Another question was yelled from the opposite side of the room: ‘And those who choose not to go?’
‘The army will fight on. The people of Warsaw will fight on.’
‘Good old Trixie,’ someone shouted and there was a round of cheering. But most of the crowd stayed silent: they had obviously decided that certain death was not for them.
32
The Demi-Monde: 85th Day of Winter, 1004
I am moved to protest the alarmingly dilatory progress the SS has made in subjugating the Warsaw Ghetto. As you will be aware, the Case Red aspect of Operation Barbarossa may not be commenced until Case White has been completed, Warsaw pacified and our rear is secured. As Case Red necessitates the manoeuvring of the ForthRight army through the Hub the attack MUST be initiated not later than the 1st day of Spring if the army’s advance is to be completed before ThawsDay, the 60th day of Spring. After ThawsDay the Hub nanoBites wake from hibernation and anything penetrating more than six inches below the surface of the HubLand will be immediately devoured. This, of course, makes it impossible for men and materiel to advance or manoeuvre in the Hub. Be in no doubt, Comrade Colonel, that the inability of your SS to subdue the Ghetto could lead to the failure of Operation Barbarossa.
– letter written by General Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev to SS Colonel Archie Clement, dated 80th day of Winter 1004
They emerged from the manhole at the edge of the square just as the sun was setting. Once she was certain that the coast was clear, Trixie Dashwood hustled her troops into position, the soldiers hunkering down behind the walls of a burnt-out building whilst she surveyed the Bank through her battered telescope.
Ella kept as far away from the girl as was physically possible. She had seen the way the girl looked at her and
