forces that man the wall, In total, at any one time, there are 55,000 troops stationed along the wall. These areall taken from the workforce of Angel. h person must do at k years service on the wall, most retum- ing totheir original jobsafterthattime but some staying on, preferring the millitary life to that of worker. At present, 2500 of the serving 55,000 are permanently tioned in the wall. ‘These make up the core of the command structureforthe forces. This number also incorporates the personal guard of the wall com- mander. At present, this elite unit consists of 200 troops. The com- ‘manderof the wall, one General Trest Cullen, is answerable only to one other on Artery-the director, General GA. Romaens, MA. Dr. Romaens is the controller of all of Amtery’s pro- duction plants, overseeing all bio- ‘genetic production from his offices in the centre of the original Angel com- plex. In the wall there are a set of heavily fortified gates, which are the only way in oroutunlesstravelling by airorrai. Even then, inthe tunnels of the gauss rail system there are huge blast doorsin every tunnel thatcanbe sealed at a moment's notice. Once inside the perimeter wall the scene changes toan alarming vista, looking more like hell erupting out of the arth, rather than the lestial vision me would suggest. Kilometres of pipeline, from the diameter of beer ean to that of huge oil drums, flow, twistand weave their way along the ground like lengths of intestines, pumping all manner of foul fluids to and from the various industrial sites. The factory buildings are deep rusty brown in colour and their exte~ rors have very little structural differ- nces; flat, huge slabsof concrete slot together to form the walls and roofs. of the factories. The only visible sign. of life in these expressionless con- structions comes from the windows near the top —long, thin lines of light whichencirclethe buildings, emitting a faint yellow glow, The doors to these work stations are tall and broad with roller shutters that occasionally rattle open, flooding the otherwise dim outside world witha brief stream. of light. The panorama inside one of these industrial strongholds seems like a huge labyrinthine mass of endless walkways which weave round huge vats of chemicals. Hissing spurts of gaseous clouds spume from hairline cracks in pipes above you, which gives you the pression that you are gazing down a foggy alleyway into a hideous night- club of chaotic design. Figures mill about the walkways like ants, of them unmist Stormers slowly going about their pre-programmed tasks. The others, Karma technicians, Low Wave hand- lers and the occasional Shiver for security, move with greater speed and more purpose. Beyond these buildings that crowd the inner perimeter isa technophobic nightmare, as the pipelines from the work stations flow togetherinasea of steel snakes towards the stacks of refining plants. These giant process- ing stationsstand 20 storeys high, and some say just as deep. The ‘Angel's Claws’, asthese structures have come to be known because of their tall slender construction, house gigantic filtration plants. Nearly all ofthe inte- rior of these buildings is taken up with bulky filter beds that run from the top of the structure to the second level. The ground and first level con- tain operating and pumping equip: iment that regulate the flow of 9,000, 000 litres of chemicals a second through the filter towers "I was there in "74 when one of these mothers cracked. Billions of litres spewing out onlevel 17 intower seven, what a nightmare, Hell on earth, Well, it was once the lightning, struck and set the whole tower ablaze. For six days it burnt. 2000 people died. My two boys were killed fighting the fire, That's why I'm here walking the wall. " Joe Sancher, Wall Guard, Artery 888 SD. Beyond the Angel's Claws are the oldest regions of Angel. The build- ings here have stood for more than 400 years, and still bear the Neo Gothic architectural feel of that time. ‘Once these would have housed the staff of Angel, but as the complex ‘grew these frighteningly enchanting constructions were taken over, re- conditioned and restructured to suit the new needs of the ever expanding Angel organisation. Now these build ings house the administrative nerve centre of the whole of Amery, keeping tight financial and logistical control of every aspect of life from wages for employees to interstellar transportation to and from Artery. ‘The buildings themselves look frag- cach of the ten enormous SLA bu: reaucratic churches is capable of withstanding a direct fusion blast of a 10kt magnitude, Such was the fore- sight, or rather apprehension, of the