by Jen Cole
Chapter 3
“No!” His wife’s cry froze him and remembering, Martin looked at their guide. “May we?”
The Keggan bared sharp teeth, which Martin hoped was the equivalent of a human smile, and said, “I have offered the tea, which carries permission for you to pick up the cups.”
The three sat on the steps, sipping the fragrant brew as they gazed out over the landscape. Martin became aware that like the tea at the hotel, this one was living up to its reputation. The twinges and fatigue of the hot walk disappeared and he found himself revitalized.
Eileen, no doubt feeling the same, was now twisting to examine the high walls behind the pillars. Set into them were enormous framed images of four humans – three men and a woman.
“Who are those people?” she asked.
“Our past governors,” the guide replied.
Martin frowned. “But they’re all human.”
“Before humans arrived on Keggar we had no Palace of Governance. No Keggan willingly tells another what to do, so our situation was similar to what you see today. One of the astronauts, Saunders, asked if we would allow him to help.” Tik-a-ka pointed to the farthest image on the left. A handsome young man in a spacesuit smiled down.
Eileen spoke in astonishment. “And you said yes?”
“Of course,” said Tik-a-ka. “We are not happy when crowded conditions impede our movements. Acquiring fresh food and water becomes difficult and diseases begin to ravish our families. We proclaimed Saunders our Governor.”
Martin gingerly returned the teacup. “What did he do?”
“He brought men and equipment from Earth through the matter transfer station to build roads and clean up our waterways. Then he made laws about where Keggans could live.”
“I thought that was a no-no,” said Martin.
“We did not like it but Saunders used armored human marshals to prevent anyone settling on public land, and our society was better off for it. After he left, Keggans gradually reverted to their old ways and within six years we were as we had been.”
Eileen wrinkled her brow. “Why didn’t you continue to enforce the laws?”
“No Keggan will tell another what to do. In the past we waited for a plague to clear the area and renew our cycle. Now when our situation becomes dire we hope that humans may help.”
“So those other three on the walls…”
“Are the Governors we’ve had over the last thirty years. We proclaim a new Governor about every six years if we can find a human who will volunteer for the position. Our Governors reign for a year, cleaning up our society and enabling a new cycle to begin.”
Shaking her head, Eileen asked, “May I look inside?”
“Yes, though you will find the rooms empty. It is one place Keggans do not care to enter unless there is a Governor in residence.”
As his wife stepped into the building, Martin turned to Tik-a-ka.
“I don’t understand why you can’t govern yourselves.”
The creature let out a very human sigh. “We evolved to aggressively defend our territory. Keggans have no predators, so our ancestors bred profusely and were always searching for space and then fighting to keep it. It is in our blood to respond swiftly and with force if we feel our territory threatened.”
“In your blood?”
“A chemical is released in response to an uninvited touch or a request to move. We become sharka. The nearest thing you humans have to this is adrenaline, but our change is far more extreme. In sharka our rage is uncontrollable and doesn’t dissipate until the perpetrator is dead or escapes.”
“You guys must live with a lot of tension,” said Martin.
“A tea we drink helps. It works better in females, so guides are always female. If protocol breeches are small, we can usually control ourselves.”
She bared her teeth and Martin found with surprise he’d been thinking of Tik-a-ka as a male.
“Can you control yourselves in the case of accidents – say a Keggan tripping and bumping another?”
“No Keggan would be so clumsy.”
“What if a tourist stumbled, and say, pushed another tourist against a Keggan?”
“The result would be a bloodbath for both humans.”
Martin scratched his head. “Then how can anyone govern your people?”
“Humans are ingenious,” she said. “Each Governor has found ways to safely achieve organization – at least for a time.”
“For a time?”
Tik-a-ka began packing away the cups. “If you wish to see the inside of the palace, you should do so while there’s still light. Sunset approaches.”
Unable to get more from her, Martin snapped photos of the Governors and wandered into the palace. The rooms were spacious and well proportioned, though all could have done with a good dusting. Still they were remarkably well preserved for not having been used in five years. He found his wife standing in the middle of a conservatory, her face lifted to the rays of afternoon sunlight streaming through the tall windows. She turned at his step.
“Martin, this place is beautiful. Can’t you just see it cleaned up and furnished?”
“Sounds like you’ve fallen in love with it,” he said. “Maybe you should stand for Governor.”
She laughed. “I couldn’t govern my way out of a paper bag.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, my love. You’re on the boards of charities and you’ve overseen the setting up of summer camps and soup kitchens. What’s governing if not ascertaining needs and organizing ways to meet them? You’d be a natural.”
Eileen smiled. “Nice of you to say so, Darling, but as you pointed out, I have more than enough on my plate without taking on a whole planet.”
At dinner that night, accompanied by a tea designed to facilitate digestion, Eileen declared her intention of asking Tik-a-ka to take them to visit some families the next day. “If I can’t go to schools, I want to at least meet some children. I shudder to think of the patchy education they’re getting, with each family doing its own thing.” She yawned widely.
Martin smiled. “You’ve had a big day, what with your market experience this morning and the long walk this afternoon. Why don’t you turn in early? I haven’t been nearly so active. I think I’ll swim a few laps of the pool.”
With Eileen safely snoring, Martin went to the hotel’s reading room. Settling down with a fine brandy, he utilized the electronics in the transfer booth to access Earth databases for information on the pictures he’d taken of the Governors. He found plenty of data related to their Earth years, but from the point they arrived on Keggar, the information dried up quickly. Saunders was given some kudos for helping the locals construct a road network, and the other three were described as having been active in Keggan politics, but there was no mention of any of them becoming Governors. Had the Keggans not seen fit to pass on this news or had Earth authorities suppressed it, afraid of being accused of Colonialism?
Around a year after settling on Keggar, each of the four had met with accidental deaths of which no details were given, but because these deaths had been spread over a twenty-four year period, no one seemed to have made any connections. It was clear to Martin, however. Humans who became Governors of Keggar survived no longer than a year. If he could persuade Eileen to take on the Governorship, the Keggans would do the rest. Smiling, he finished his brandy and headed to bed.
Martin’s one concern – how he would persuade Eileen to become Governor, turned out to be nothing. The Keggans made it easy for him. The state of the families Tik-a-ka took them to visit the next day made even him blanch. Packed housing set the Keggans in prisons of their own making. Adults spent hours acquiring permissions to pass through the maze to get to work, and the same coming home again. The children lounged around, thin and lethargic, short on food, education and exercise. There was no proper sewage system and in many places the water supply had become contaminated and needed to be boiled. It was only a matter of time before disease swept thr
ough the population, wiping out huge swathes.
“Something has to be done,” Eileen whispered in horror.
