Going Postal

start fighting again.”
    “Fighting? What about?”
    “They drive each other up the wall! Feel this rope? Can you feel it? Right. You can move fast, we scouted out a trail and strung the rope…”
    They hurried through the trees. You had to be really close to the tower to see the glow coming through the ruined doorway at the base. Undecided Adrian had fixed some of his little cold lights up the inner wall, and stones moved under Moist’s feet as he scrambled to the top. He paid them no attention, but ran up the spiral stair so fast that when he reached the top he spun.
    Mad Al caught him by the shoulders. “No rush,” he said cheerfully, “we’ve got ten minutes to go.”
    “We’d have been ready twenty minutes ago if somebody hadn’t lost the hammer,” muttered Sane Alex, tightening a wire.
    “What? I put it in the tool box, didn’t I?” said Mad Al.
    “In the spanner drawer!”
    “So?”
    “Who in their right mind would look for a hammer in the spanner drawer?”
    Down below, the owls started up again.
    “Look,” said Moist quickly, “that’s not important, is it? Right now?”
    “This man,” said Sane Alex, pointing an accusing wrench, “this man is mad!”
    “Not as mad as someone who keeps his screws neatly by size in jam jars,” said Mad Al.
    “That counts as sane!” said Alex hotly.
    “But everyone knows rummaging is half the fun! Besides—”
    “It’s done,” said Undecided Adrian.
    Moist looked up. The Gnu’s clacks machine rose up into the night, just as it had done on the Post Office roof. Behind it, in the direction of the city, an H-shaped structure climbed even further. It looked a little like a ship’s mast, an effect maybe caused by the wires that steadied it. They rattled in the faint breeze.
    “You must have upset someone,” Adrian went on, while the other two settled down a bit. “A message was sent through twenty minutes ago, from Gilt himself. He said the big one will go through duplex, great care must be taken not to change it in any way, there is to be no other traffic at all until there’s a restart message from Gilt, and he’ll personally sack the entire staff of any tower that does not strictly follow those instructions.”
    “It just goes to show, the Grand Trunk is a people company,” said Moist.
    Undecided Adrian and Mad Alex walked over to the big frame and began to unwind some ropes from their cleats.
    Oh well , thought Moist, now for it…
    “There’s just one alteration to the plan,” he said, and took a breath. “We’re not sending the Woodpecker.”
    “What do you mean?” said Adrian, dropping his rope. “That was the plan!”
    “It’ll destroy the Trunk,” said Moist.
    “Yes, that was the plan, sure enough,” said Al. “Gilt’s as good as painted ‘kick me’ on his pants! Look, it’s falling down of its own accord anyway, okay? It was an experiment in the first place! We can rebuild it faster and better!”
    “How?” said Moist. “Where will the money come from? I know a way to destroy the company but leave the towers standing! They were stolen from the Dearhearts and their partners! I can give them back! But the only way to build a better line of towers is to leave the old ones standing. The Trunk’s got to earn!”
    “That’s the sort of thing Gilt would say!” snapped Al.
    “And it’s true,” said Moist. “Alex, you’re sane, tell the man! Keep the Trunk operating, replace one tower at a time, never dropping any code!” He waved a hand toward the darkness. “The people out on the towers, they want to be proud of what they do, yes? It’s tough work and they don’t get paid enough, but they live to shift code, right? The company’s running them into the ground but they still shift code!”
    Adrian tugged at his rope. “Hey, the canvas is stuck,” he announced to the tower in general. “It must have been caught up when we furled it…”
    “Oh, I’m sure the Woodpecker will work,” said Moist, plunging on. “It might even damage enough towers for long enough. But Gilt will twist his way out of it. Do you understand? He’ll shout about sabotage!”
    “So what?” said Mad Al. “We’ll have this lot back on the cart in an hour and no one will know we were ever here!”
    “I’ll climb up and free it, shall I?” said Undecided Adrian, shaking the canvas.
    “I said it won’t work ,” said Moist, waving him away. “Look, Mr. Al, this isn’t going to be settled by fire. It’s going to be