Into the line of attacking Spackle–

There’s so many–

And Angharrad is whinnying beneath me in pain and fright–

I’m sorry, girl, I’m sorry–

But there’s no time–

There ain’t no time for nothing in war except war–

“Here!” the Mayor says, shoving another gun in my hand–

And we’re at the front of a small rush of men–

Racing towards a bigger rush of Spackle–

And I’m pointing the gun–

And I’m pulling the trigger–

BANG!

I close my eyes at the pop and I don’t see where I shot cuz there’s too much smoke already in the air and there’s Spackle falling and men calling out on either side and Angharrad screaming and pressing forward anyway and the Spackle armour cracking and bursting under repeated fire and more arrows and white sticks and I’m so terrified I can’t even breathe and I’m just firing my gun and firing my gun, not even seeing where the bullets are going–

And the Spackle keep coming, climbing over the bodies of soldiers, and their Noises are wide open and so are the Noises of every soldier and it’s like a thousand wars at once, not just the one I’m seeing but ones happening over and over again in the Noise of the men and the Spackle round me till the air and the sky and my brain and my soul are filled with war and I’m bleeding it outta my ears and spitting it outta my mouth and it’s like it’s the only thing I ever knew, the only thing I can ever remember, the only thing that’s ever gonna happen to me–

And there’s a fizzing sound and a burning feeling in my arm and I instinctively lean away from it but I see a Spackle with one of those white sticks pointed at me and I see the cloth from my uniform burning away in a foul-smelling steam and the skin under it feeling like it’s been slapped and I realize if I’d been two centimetres over I’d have probably just lost my arm and–

BANG!

A rifle shot beside me and the Mayor’s there and he’s shot the Spackle, shot him to the ground, saying, “That’s twice now, Todd.”

And he plunges back into battle.

{VIOLA}

Bradley starts to answer Mistress Coyle but Simone speaks first, “Yes, we can.”

“Simone!” Bradley snaps.

“But fire them where?” Simone continues. “Into which army?”

“Into the Spackle!” Mistress Coyle shouts.

“A moment ago you wanted our help to stop this President’s army!” Bradley says. “And Viola told us you tried to kill her to suit your own ends. Why exactly should we trust your opinion?”

“You shouldn’t,” I say.

“Not even when I’m right, my girl!?” Mistress Coyle says, pointing at the projection. “The battle is being lost!” We can see a break in the darker line of men and a pulse like a river bursting its banks as the Spackle pour through.

Todd, I think. Get out of there.

“We could send a point-to-point at the base of the hill,” Simone says.

Bradley turns to her, shocked. “And have our first action here be killing hundreds of the local species, the local intelligent species that, in case you’re forgetting, we’re going to have to live with for the rest of our lives?”

“The rest of your very short lives if you don’t hurry up and do something!” Mistress Coyle practically screams.

“We could just show them our fire-power,” Simone says to Bradley. “Get them to back off and then try and negotiate–”

Mistress Coyle makes a hard clucking sound. “You can’t negotiate with them!”

“You did,” Bradley says and turns back to Simone. “Look, we jump into the middle of a war? Without even knowing which side to trust? We just blow something up and hope the consequences aren’t too terrible?”

“People are dying!” Mistress Coyle yells.

“People you were just asking us to KILL!” Bradley shouts back. “If the President committed genocide, maybe they’re just after him and us attacking will only cause an even bigger mess!”

“That’s enough!” Simone snaps, suddenly like the Mission Commander. Bradley and Mistress Coyle stop. Then Simone says, “Viola?”

They all look at me.

“You’re the one who’s been here,” Simone says. “What do you think we should do?”

[TODD]

We’re losing–

There ain’t no two ways about it–

Me knocking down the Spackle on the horned creacher only made things better for a second–

The men keep pushing forward and firing their guns and Spackle are falling and dying everywhere–

But they keep coming down the hill–

And there’s so many more of ’em than there are of us–

The only thing that’s saved us so far is that they ain’t been able to get another one of those fire things down to the bottom of the hill yet–

But there’re more coming–

And when they get here–

I AM THE CIRCLE AND THE CIRCLE IS ME.

Thumping thru my head as the Mayor’s horse bumps into Angharrad, so exhausted now she’s barely lifting her nose–

“Keep in the moment!” he shouts, firing his gun past me. “Or all is lost!”

“All is lost!” I shout back. “We can’t win this!”

“It’s always darkest before the dawn, Todd.”

I look at him, baffled. “No, it ain’t! What kinda stupid saying is that? It’s always lightest before the dawn!”

DOWN! he puts in my head and I duck before I even think about it and an arrow flies right thru the space where my head just was.

“That’s three times,” the Mayor says.

And then there’s another blast of the Spackle horn, so loud you can almost see the sound, bending the air, twisting it, and there’s a new note to it–

A note of victory–

We spin round–

The line of soldiers has broken–

Mr Morgan has fallen under the feet of a horned creacher–

Spackle are pouring down the hill now–

Pouring onto the battlefield from all direkshuns–

Cutting thru the men who still fight–

Pouring like a wave straight at me and the Mayor–

“Ready yourself!” shouts the Mayor–

“We have to retreat!” I shout back. “We have to get outta here!”

And I try to turn Angharrad’s reins–

But I look behind us–

The Spackle have come round the back of the men–

We’re surrounded–

“Ready!” the Mayor shouts into the Noise of the soldiers around him–

Viola, I think–

There’s too many of ’em, I think–

Oh, help, I think–

“FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN!” screams the Mayor.

{VIOLA}

“Her?!” Mistress Coyle says. “She’s just a girl–”

“A girl we trust,” Simone says. “A girl trained to be a settler just as much as her parents were.”

My face flushes a little at this but only partly out of embarrassment. Because it’s true. I did train for this. And I’ve been through more than enough in this place for my opinion to count–

I look back at the projection, back at the battle, which seems to be getting even worse, and I try to think. It looks awful as anything down there, but the Spackle aren’t attacking for no reason. And their target could just be the Mayor and we did beat him before but–

“Your Todd’s down there,” Mistress Coyle says. “He’s going to be killed if you don’t do something.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” I say. Because that’s the thing, the thing that overrides everything. I turn to Bradley and Simone. “I’m sorry, but we have to save him. We have to. Me and him were this close to saving the whole planet until they screwed it all up–”

“But would saving him be at the cost of something greater?” Bradley says, kindly, but very serious, trying to make me see. “Think hard now. What you do first anywhere is remembered for ever. It sets the whole future.”

“I’m not inclined to trust this woman, Viola,” says Simone and Mistress Coyle glowers. “But that doesn’t mean she’s not right about this. If you say it’s right, Viola, we’ll intervene.”