All Weapons, the former Master of the empire; perhaps the knowledge that that man lived made Tyl excited.
'Now-?' Tyl inquired. 'Now we also have guns.' 'The empire-'
'Will expand. Perhaps under Sol, as before. After this conquest of the mountain.'
'But these-guns-are not circle weapons,' Tyl protested. Var could see how eager he was.
'This is not a circle matter. It is war.'
Var was shocked. He knew what war was. The Master had told him many times. War was the cause of the Blast.
The Master glanced at him, fathoming his disturbance.
'I have told you war is evil, that it must never come to our society. It very nearly destroyed the world, once. But we are faced here with a problem that cannot be allowed to stand. The mountain must be reduced. This is the war to end wars.'
What the Master said seemed reasonable, but Var knew that something was wrong. There was evil in this project, and not the evil of war itself. For the first time be questioned the wisdom of the Weaponless. But he could not decide what it was that bothered him, so he said nothing,
Tyl did not look comfortable either, but he did not argue. 'How are we to accomplish this?'
The Master brought out a sketch he must have made during the months of his encampment here. 'This is what the crazies call a contour map. I have made sightings of the mountain from all sides, and the land about It. See- here is our present camp, well beyond its defensive perimeter. Here is the hostel where the suicides stop before making the ascent. Here is the subway tunnel Var explored.'
'Subway?' Evidently the word was as new to Tyl as it was to Var.
'The Ancients used it for travelling, Metal vehicles something like crazy tractors, except - that they roiled on tracks and moved much faster. The ones on the ground were called 'trains' and the ones below, 'subways.' Var tells me he discovered an actual train down there, too.'
Var had told him no such thing, He had only reported on what he found-tunnels, platforms, rails, a plug, a cave-in, radiation, a monster. He had seen nothing like a crazy tractor. Why should the Master lie?
'I had hoped to use such a route to make a surprise foray. But the underworld knows of it now-knows that we know-that the radiation is down. So they will have it booby-trapped. We must make an overland attack.'
Tyl looked relieved. 'My tribe will take it for you.'
The Master smiled. 'I do not question the competence of your tribe. But your men are warriors of the circle.
What would they do against guns? Guns fired from cover, from a distance, without warning. And flamethrowers?'
'Flamethrowers?'
'Jets of fire that consume a man in moments.'
Tyl nodded, but Var could see that he did not believe such a thing was possible, despite the other wonders they had learned about. Var didn't either. If fire were shot out in a jet, the wind would put it out.
'Do you remember when someone told you about white moths whose sting was deadly? About tiny creatures who could overrun armed warriors? Fire that would float on water?'
'I remember,' Tyl said, and was sober.
Var did not see what relevance such - rhetorical questions had to the problem, since everyone knew about the moths and the swarming shrews of the badlands. Floating fire was ridiculous. But now Tyl seemed to believe in flamethrowers.
'This will be ugly fighting,' the Weaponless said. 'Men will die outside the circle, never seeing the men who kill them. We are like the shrews-we must swamp a prepared camp, and we shall die in multitudes. But if we persevere, we shall take the mountain despite all the horrors there.
