miles, almost into the heart of the city.’
Susan looked at the endless rows of the wagons parked on the lines before her. A diesel engine rumbled past, pulling a line of green tankers. She could hear the petrol sloshing around inside them. Only half full. Had the humans taken the rest?
‘Where’s the Marshalling Office?’
‘Down there.’
Spoole pointed south, to the focus of the yard, the place where all of the lines converged through a series of points and crossovers, the place where the hundreds of tracks joined together in ones and twos to leave just sixteen, running from Artemis City and into the continent of Shull. A gantry stretched across those sixteen tracks, a haphazard array of galvanized steel buildings erected upon it.
‘Every train that leaves the city this way passes beneath the Marshalling Office,’ said Spoole. ‘Every train, every item of freight, is recorded there. If Nettie has been taken, they’ll know it. Come on.’
They set off, jumping across the tracks, dodging between the trains that slowly rumbled past.
They found themselves keeping pace with a rake of open wagons, infantryrobots standing idly on board, watching the world go by.
‘Where are you heading?’ called Spoole.
‘Stark!’ one of them called back. ‘They say Kavan is out there!’ He took a closer look, and saw through the borrowed infantry-robot body. ‘Hey, you’re Spoole, aren’t you!’
‘I am!’
‘Spoole!’ Susan tugged at his arm. ‘What are you doing?’
The infantryrobots all turned in his direction, pressing forward to the edge of the wagon.
‘Spoole, what’s going on?’ they called. ‘They say you’re a traitor! Are you?’
‘What do you think?’ asked Spoole.
‘I don’t know. Why are you fighting Kavan?’
‘I’m not sure I’m fighting Kavan. Are you?’
The train was speeding up. One infantryrobot began running back along the train, trying to keep level with Spoole. Jumping from wagon to wagon, pushing other robots out of the way. Spoole and Susan jogged forward to keep up with him.
‘Would Kavan trade with the animals?’ called the robot.
‘You know the answer to that,’ called Spoole.
‘But…’ The robot tripped on another.
‘Hey!’
The train was accelerating now. Spoole watched as the infantry-robot receded.
‘Spoole!’ it called.
‘It’s going too fast,’ said Susan, slowing to a halt. Spoole did the same. ‘You took a risk there.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Spoole. ‘Look.’ They both watched as an infantryrobot jumped from the train. Two more followed its example.
‘Come on!’
They ran forwards, the end of the train passing them as they did so. More robots were jumping to the tracks ahead of them. Some of them lost arms and legs as they did so. Others helped put them back together.
Susan and Spoole arrived at the group.
‘Spoole, I’m Copland. Do you remember me? Years ago, in Bethe?’
‘Spoole, we can’t believe you’re a traitor.’
‘I’m not. Treachery would be following the animals.’
Copland looked at the other robots.
‘Listen, Spoole. There are others in the city who think the same as you. Hundreds of them. Thousands. All they need is a leader.’
Susan gazed balefully at Spoole.
‘You’re going to leave me, aren’t you?’ she said. ‘You promised to help me!’
‘I didn’t, Susan. You are thinking like a Turing Citizen. An Artemisian follows Nyro. There are no other promises.’
Susan glared at him, hatred singing within her.
‘However,’ said Spoole, ‘I bear you no ill will, and I will help you as best I can. Go to the Marshalling Office. Ask to see the freight records, under my authority.’
‘Your authority? It means nothing to me. Nor to anyone else!’
‘Apparently this is no longer the case,’ said Spoole. Behind him, the other infantryrobots were finishing the repairs to each other and they were lining up in formation. ‘Anger will get you nowhere, Susan.’
‘Anger? After what your state did to mine? I can’t believe I trusted you.’
‘That trust is part of the reason why your city failed, Susan. Listen to me though, I’m trying to help you. Once you have access to the freight records, look for Nettie, find out where she was taken. The office staff will help you, they should see nothing unusual in your request. Such things happen all the time. Once you have found where Nettie was taken, note the service number of the train. After that, go to the timetable office and find when that service next runs. Get yourself on that train.’
Susan felt as if her gyros would break out of her at any moment.
‘I hate you. I hate you and your rusting, badly twisted state.’
‘That’s the difference between us,’ replied Spoole. ‘I bear you nothing but gratitude, Susan. Which of us has the better mindset?’
At that he turned and began to march north towards the centre of Artemis City, the infantryrobots following him. Susan couldn’t bear to watch him go. She couldn’t bear to follow his advice.
She stood in the middle of the tracks for eighty minutes. Immobile, undecided as to which way to go. Trains rumbled by her this way and that.
In the end she did the only sensible thing. She headed towards the Marshalling Office.
Karel
The human craft flew down from the mountains.
Karel looked out of the window in awe. Though he had travelled up and down this continent he had never seen it from this perspective before. On his previous journeys he had been aware of a constantly expanding border, of Artemis pushing back its boundaries. Up here, though, sitting in the oddly soft human seat, he saw nothing but one land. Snow giving way to brightly coloured rocky cliffs, cliffs sloping down to fields of boulders, boulders shrinking to pebbles before giving way to the gravel plain beyond. More though, he was aware of the change in the colours of the rock, the way the bright profusion of ores faded to the grey of the Artemisian plain.
The helicopter swooped towards it, and Karel wanted to tell someone about what he was feeling, but he held back. He didn’t want to speak to Melt. At least, not yet. More than ever he was convinced that the other robot was hiding something. The heavy lead man just sat there, gazing at nothing.
Karel looked at the human who sat in the back of the craft with the pair of them. It was looking at Karel with interest, examining his body, looking at the fingers on his hand.
‘Hello,’ he said, holding out his hand as he had seen the other humans do. ‘My name is Karel.’
The animal smiled and took it, moved it up and down, then pointed apologetically at his head. He wasn’t wearing one of the devices that would let him understand their words. Odd, thought Karel, that there would be different ways of speaking. He thought about what Ruth had said, how robots weren’t very curious, and he wondered, should he be more curious? The Story of Eric and the Mountain… That was meant to be important. Melt said he knew that story. Maybe when they landed he would get Melt to tell it to him.
The craft dropped lower. Karel saw railway lines in the distance; he saw a train shooting along at incredible speed. A human device. He leaned forward, twisting his head around the window, trying to follow its course. What was making it move so fast?
A voice crackled into life.
‘This is the pilot. I’m afraid this is about as far south as I can go. Head a little to the east and you’ll come across a railway line. Follow that to Artemis City.’
‘Thank you,’ said Karel.
The hum of the engine increased and the craft touched down in a cloud of dust. The human slid the door
