The Pool of Fire (The Tripods) by John Christopher Page A

end. André, the Commander of the castle, addressed the meeting first. He said, “Our best plan always was to attack the Cities from within. The question was: how? We can get a certain number inside, but nowhere near enough to fight the Masters, on their own ground especially. We could wreck some of their machines, perhaps, but that would not amount to destroying the City as such. They could almost certainly repair them, and we would be worse off than before—because now they would be warned, and ready for any second attack we tried to launch. The same applies to any attempt to damage the Wall. Even if we were able to cut through, which is doubtful, we could not do it on a large enough scale—either from outside or within—to prevent the Masters making good the damage, and hitting back.
    “What has been needed was a way of striking at theMasters themselves, all of them and at the same time. One suggestion was to poison their air. It might be possible, but I don’t see a chance of our developing anything in the time available. Water offered a better opportunity. They use water a lot, for drinking as well as bathing. After allowing for the fact that they are twice the height and four times the weight, they have a fluid intake four to six times that of the average man. If we could get something into their water supplies, it might do the trick.
    “Unfortunately, as we have established with the prisoner, they are sensitive to adulterants. This one simply refused anything which might harm him. Until, by a lucky chance, some schnapps was poured into his food. He consumed the food without hesitation, and was paralyzed in less than a minute.”
    Julius asked, “How long did it take him to recover from the paralysis?”
    “He began to show signs of consciousness after about six hours. He was fully conscious after twelve, but still lacking in coordination and fairly obviously confused. Within twenty-four hours, recovery was complete.”
    “And since then?”
    “Apparently normal,” André said. “Mark you, he’s still worried, and alarmed, by what happened. Not quite so confident as he was about the hopelessness of our efforts, I think.”
    Julius asked, “How do you account for it? The paralysis?”
    André shrugged. “We know that with men alcoholinterferes with that part of the mind that controls the working of the body. A drunken man cannot walk straight or use his hands properly. He may even fall over. If he has taken enough, then he becomes paralyzed, as Ruki did. It seems that, in this respect, they are more sensitive and more vulnerable than we are. Equally important, the discrimination against harmful substances doesn’t work in this case. The amount of alcohol apparently can be quite small. There were only the dregs of a glass in this case. It gives us a chance, I think.”
    “Alcohol in their drinking water,” Julius said. “Not from outside, presumably. We know that they have a purifying and treatment machine inside the Wall. From inside, then. If we can get a team in. But how about the alcohol? Even though the amount needed is small per individual, it amounts to a very large quantity altogether. You could not get that inside.”
    “Our men could produce it there,” André said. “There are sugars in the City: they use them in making both their own foods and the food of the slaves. All that is needed is to set up distillation equipment. Then, when there is enough, introduce it to the drinking water.”
    André’s eyes were on Julius. He said, “It would have to be done in all three Cities simultaneously. They know that they have some opposition—our destroying the Tripod and making off with one of their number will have told them that. But the latest reports tell us they are still taking human slaves into the City, which means they still trust those they have Capped. Oncethey find we can pose as Capped, things will be very different.”
    Julius nodded slowly. “We must strike while they are