War in the City Chapter 14

IN THE FIFTH YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
The sound of the door slamming shut thundered through the tunnel, and as soon as it was gone Judas flew into action. “You broke the code,” he said sternly.
“As did you,” Grechal responded.
“You left me no choice. I broke the code to preserve it.”
Grechal looked strangely at Judas. “You either break the code or you preserve it. You can not do both.”
“You broke the code. You led others down here.”
“As did you.” The words were accompanied by a voice that was annoyed at having to repeat itself.
“You led other Watchers down here,” Judas shot back. “Of that I am not guilty. Do you realize what will happen if we are found out?”
“Do you realize what will happen if Marram takes over the city?”
“Marram has taken over the city. You just witnessed the surrender.”
“A surrender you helped create.” Grechal put as much contempt into the words as he could.
“A surrender I created,” Judas answered proudly.
Grechal shook his head, amazed at how proud of himself Judas was. “Why?”
“With Marram as my right arm, I will conduct such sweeping changes that the city has never seen the like of before. Necessary changes.”
“You fancy yourself another Jistap?”
Judas walked over to where Grechal was still kneeling and took hold of Grechal’s chin, lifting Grechal’s head up so that the two were looking into each other’s eyes. “I’m not another Jistap.” Each word was said firmly, but not loud. Judas threw Grechal’s head to the side and turned away. “You can get up now,” he said.
Grechal remained where he was, although he did let his hands fall from his head so that they remained by his side. He looked at the ground for a moment, htne back up at Judas. “You aren’t going to control Marram. Marram is going to control you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Judas responded confidently. “Right now we have other matters to attend to. Your sins are grievous. Not only did you lead other Watchers down here, you even explained the origins of this place. I heard you Grechal, don’t deny it.”
“I didn’t tell them anything else.”
“You told them it was shielded from the computers. You even went so far as to hint about some of the secrets we have here. No doubt Qual’s curiosity has been irrevocably aroused.”
“So what happens to Qual? Are you planning to kill him as well?”
“I wish we could, but we need him.”
“You need him as a puppet leader for Azom. You think the people will trust him.”
“Exactly. He carries the trust of The Watchers. What better figure head could we have?”
Grechal stood up. “Are you planning to kill me?”
“That is the penalty for breaking the code, is it not?”
“It’s never been carried out before.”
“It’s never needed to be carried out before. Grechal, if I had wanted you dead I wouldn’t have spared you earlier. I’m a man of peace, not violence.”
Grechal’s jaw dropped. “You are a man of peace? You just engineered the execution of your own President.”
Judas ignored the comment. “I don’t want to have to kill you Grechal. Can I have your insurance that you will not violate the code again?”
“You got it.”
Judas was not pleased with the quickness of the answer. Something so easily gained could not be trust worthy. “In the name of all sacred Grechal, do you promise not to violate the code again?”
“I do.” Grechal did his best to look serious and to pronounce the words solemnly, trying to convince Judas of his sincerity.
The second reply was much more satisfactory, but Judas was still not completely convinced. “If you break even one letter of the code in the future, Grechal, I will not hesitate to have you killed. By all rights you should have been killed in that massacre.”
“Some things are more important than then code,” Grechal answered.
“Nothing is more important than the code,” Judas thundered back. “Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!” The last three words were said as one.
Grechal didn’t respond. Judas turned around and left. “Go in peace, Grechal,” he called out as he walked away. “If we meet again may it be under better circumstances.”
Grechal remained where he was for quite some time, surrounded by the dead bodies, and lost in a world of dead morals.


Pompey stepped down from the platform amid applause. He talked briefly with Varro, but no one could hear what he said over the noise. Pompey walked through the middle of the group, tapping Peter briefly on the shoulder as a signal to follow. As Peter and Pompey walked away, Varro ascended the platform.
“We will meet here in two days time,” Varro announced. “Bring with you any who are sympathetic to our cause, but make sure they can be trusted.”


When Judas got out of the tunnels, he found Azom and his soldiers, with the hapless Qual, waiting for him. “Jonz iz not here,” Azom said, slightly annoyed that someone of his importance was forced to wait for someone as meaningless as Judas.
Judas nodded. “My apologies. I forgot Jonz was elsewhere. I will take you to the city square myself. From thee you can make the appropriate announcement.”
Judas started walking, and Azom and company followed him. Azom’s soldiers dragged Ducas’ body along, having taken it out of the tunnels with them. “Listen very carefully,” Judas said to Azom. “You must never speak of the tunnels again, never mention them again to anybody, not even to me. Pretend we never went into them.”
“Underztood,” Azom answered.
“The soldiers who accompanied us into the tunnels must also be under the same order of silence. Furthermore, they must also be returned to the outside world immediately, and replaced by new soldiers. If you hear anyone, Watcher or Marramiane, mention the tunnels again, they must be killed immediately no matter who they are.”
“Underztood.”


Jonz met Azom, Judas, and the others at the city square. They went into one of the back rooms in the town hall, a room which was filled with electronics.
Qual was shoved in front of one of the monitors. Jonz focused a laser gun on Qual’s head. “Teacher, what is the status of Ducas?” Judas asked.
“Ducas has been found dead,” the teacher answered.
“Who is President then?” Judas asked in a mockingly sweet voice, smiling at Qual.
“The Vice-President, Qual, is now the acting President.”
“You will transfer power to Azom,” Judas said to Qual. Jonz touched the back of Qual’s head with the laser gun as extra motivation.
Qual cleared his throat. Like all Watchers, he knew by heart which words to say, as they were said each time one President transferred power to the next. “I, Qual, servant of the city, do hereby entrust the City and its people to Azom, the new Servant.” The word Servant had been used to describe the office of President in the earliest days of the democracy. Although it had long since faded out of usage, it was still used in the ceremony.
Qual was roughly pulled back by the Marramiane soldiers. Azom stepped forward and, being prompted by Judas, said his part of the ceremony. “I Azom, the new Zervant of the people, do hereby accept the Cityas entrusted to me by Qual, Zervant of the people.”
Now it was the Teacher’s turn. “The Teacher hereby recognizes Azom as the new Servant of the people,” the electronic voice replied.
“You’ve got it,” Judas said smiling. “The power is yours.”
“What zort of power?” Azom eagerly asked.
“Not a lot of power,” Judas admitted. “You have the power to broadcast a message on every monitor on the city whenever you like. That is about the extent of it. You’ll need the backing of the people to do anything else with the computers.”
“That can be arranged,” Azom said, patting his laser gun. “Do I need a vice-Prezident?”
“It’s not in our constitution,” Judas explained. “Some Presidents chose to have them anyway. Of course, you probably don’t care about our constitution anyway.”
“Az long az it doezn’t interfere with the computerz,” Azom agreed. “Are we ready?”
“I think so. Jonz can show you how to work the computers. I’ll get him ready,” Judas inclined his head toward Qual.
“Get me ready for what?” Qual asked as Judas came over to him.
Judas handed Qual a piece of paper with some words written on it. “Memorize this, and then say it in front of the monitor as if they were your own words. You must say them sincerely and convincingly.”
“I imagine there will be a laser gun pointed at my head off the view of the monitor,” Qual said bitterly.
“If we need to, we won’t hesitate to add that incentive,” Judas responded.
“You’re not fooling anybody you know. Anyone who wants can simply keep track of my movements before I had to give the speech, and see that they are your words, not mine.”
“Qual, you have to convince people to stop fighting, because as long as they keep fighting, we’ll keep killing them. You don’t want the blood to continue, do you?”
“I’m ready,” Azom called out by the computers.
“Do you?”
“I suppose not.”
“Then come on.” Qual was jerked in front of the monitor, where he tried to memorize the sentences as fast as he could.
Azom looked at Jonz. “Anytime,” Jonz said.
Azom pressed the sequence of buttons Jonz had outlined to him. Qual shoved the piece of paper into his pocket. His face was now showing on every monitor in the city. “Fellow Watchers,” he said, doing his best to appear sincere, “lay down your arms.”


Pompey and Peter had been sitting at a table talking in Pompey’s house. When Qual’s face came on the monitor, and Qual began to speak, Peter leapt to his feet. “It’s not over already?”
“I’m afraid it is,” Pompey responded. Pompey had seen the surrender coming as soon as Varro had reported that WIN had joined Marram. “That doesn’t mean we’re licked yet, though.”


“Ducas was killed defending the city. I was made President.”
Jonz kept his laser gun focused on Qual’s head, but Judas reached out his hand to grab hold of Jonz’s wrist, gently lowering Jonz’ arm. “Let there be no dispute about Qual’s motivation for the surrender,” he said.
“I in turn surrendered the city to Azom, who was made President. Watchers I implore you, give up the fight. We have lost, do note make things worse. Lay down your arms.”