The Radiant War

Chapter 2b

      Malone decided to try sounding him out. He didn't strike him as quite as zealous as the others. Maybe, with a little gentle urging, he could be made to see sense. “It's because the guards aren’t chasing the criminals anymore,” he said. “These days, they spend all their time looking for us.” He eyed the other man carefully from the edge of his vision to see what effect his words had. “Hunting criminals is supposed to be their job,” he replied. “They're not doing it. They've been told not to do it. It's almost as if the Powers That Be want the country to go to hell.”

     “The toffs ain't scared of highwaymen,” said Lewis. “Anytime they go out on the road, they can take a whole private army with ‘em. They ain’t scared of burglars either, their palaces are like fortresses. I know, I saw one once. They ain’t scared of muggers, bandits, cutpurses, pickpockets. What they’re scared of is us. And they control the guards. They tell the guards to get the people they’re scared of, and that's us. That's why the roads ain’t safe anymore. Cos of the toffs telling the guards to get us.”

     Malone nodded. What Lewis said was right, so far as it went, but there was more. A lot more. “They're scared of us and so they’re out to get us, and we're scared of them and so we’re out to get them, and all that fear is tearing the Empire apart.”

     “So what do we do? The guards’ll do anyone who even looks at ‘em funny. Not just us, anyone! If my mum and dad don't show ‘em the respect they think they’re due, they'll do them just the same as us. Same with my brother, the people who live next door to us, anyone. If people knew they had nothing to fear from the guards so long as they kept the law, that'd be something, but they'll do anyone, for no reason, just because they’re in a bad mood or something.”

     “Because they’re recruiting thugs into the guard. Putting uniforms on criminals. Moving all the good guards with ties to the community to some far off province on the pretext of promoting them, which makes the common people even angrier. Makes more of us want to join the movement, to fight back. And the toffs know it. If the toffs really want to wipe us out, why are they doing everything they can to piss us off, to make more of us take up arms against them? Doesn't it seem, sometimes, that maybe what the toffs really want is to tear the Empire apart?”

     “Why would they want that? They've got it good! They've got money, big houses, servants... Why would they want to end all that?”

     “I'm just saying that's what it looks like, that's all. If they really wanted to protect the Empire, they could end the movement by bringing the guards into line. Make sure they only went after proper criminals, not decent people, like they used to. I mean, none of us wants to kill people, We’re being driven to it by the guards. If the toffs got the guards under control, we could all just get back to our ordinary lives and the toffs would be safe. Their money would be safe, their houses and servants, they'd all be safe. Instead, they're doing the exact opposite, as if they want to put an end to their own cosy lives.”

     “It's because they’re stupid. They think we don't have the guts to fight back. They think they can keep pushing us and we'll just keep on taking it, but we won't. We're tougher than they think we are. They think that if they keep knocking us down, sooner or later we'll stay down, learn to toe the line, but we won't. They can knock us down as many times as they like and we'll get back up every time. We'll never stop fighting, not until they learn they can't treat us like this!”

     Malone nodded. He wasn't going to have any luck with this man, he realised with disappointment. He wouldn't even have tried with Porto and Sykes, he had a suspicion they'd had run-ins with the law even before the current troubles, but he'd had hopes for Lewis. He’d struck Malone as being a little more level headed. A little more amenable to reason. Maybe he'd been involved with the popular uprising for so long that the message had sunk in and properly taken root. Any further attempt would only make him suspicious, he realised. He'd have to let it go.