“Babi!” the two men began to shout and raised fists in the air. They were soon followed by a chorus of hundreds of the natives who pounded their shields into the stone and joined in the chant. “Babi! Babi! Babi! Babi! Babi!”
Einar returned to his feet. He faced Eerika and they read each other’s thoughts wondering what Babi meant and why the natives were chanting it. Both noticed the likeness of the horned creatures hanging from the neck of the robed native. Were the creatures worshiped as gods? It was certain that there was a significance to their being. Judging by the reaction of the natives, the creatures were revered. If that were the case, they were involved in the mass slaughter of the beasts. Despite being an act of self-defense would not matter. The giant birds were responsible for most of the carnage, but perhaps the death of the ones buy the plasma rounds would be enough to warrant a penalty by the natives. It was becoming apparent that they were going to get the blame for what had happened.
As if on cue, the chanting stopped, and the mountainside became hauntingly quiet for a few seconds. The sounds of sandals on loose stone drew their attention to the two robed men who walked back toward them. One yelled something in the native tongue and walked past them toward the base of the lower section of the mountain and in the direction of the city. Einar and Eerika were shoved in the lower back into the same direction given the command to follow.
There was a clearly visible path a hundred feet below their initial location. From the elevated position, Einar attempted to make certain he understood the layout of the city in the event of an escape. He had no intention of living in servitude or as a prisoner of the strange tribe of ‘little people’ as he began to refer to them in his mind. He continued to regret laying down his weapon and not firing down on the villagers as they approached. It was a risk, but perhaps they would have killed enough to cause a retreat and allow for their getaway. Maybe they would have fought until every last one of them were dead? Could he and Eerika have fended them off? Advanced weaponry was certainly on their side. But they had no idea of the skills, heart, or the mindset of the local civilization. Regardless, Einar regretted lying down his weapon and wondered what they would do to Eerika.
“There’s safety in numbers,” he said aloud to Eerika. “Our people will come,” he noted optimistically that the beacon would reach Econ and help would be dispatched.
Einar was convinced that he would only need minimal backup to take out the little people’s military. He was instantly met with a stick to the side of his head. The broken end nearly flew into Eerika’s face and passed just out of contact with her nose. Einar barely flinched and turned his now bleeding head simply staring at the little man who had hit him. That was the third time and through the pain of the binding that was eating away at his wrists, the shots to the abdomen and head, he vowed to kill him. He had never truly wanted to kill anyone before. It was not normally in his nature. He was a man who upheld the law across the universe everywhere he went. This was different. It was now a survival situation and the rules were different. If Einar was able to get his hands free, he would take the stick and beat the little man to death with it. He stared coldly at the native as blood ran around his eye and dripped onto the shoulder. The blood accented the red-green eye making Einar appear to be possessed by an evil spirit. The native seemed to get the unspoken message but displayed no concern. Einar turned his attention back to the city more determined than ever to get loose.
It was without reservation that the classes were separated and the poorest seemed to be positioned on the outskirts of the city near the mountain where the greatest threat from natural predators more likely occurred. A road of an odd, golden colored sand cut through the predominately beige desert separating the slave class from what was obviously the middle class and the military. Like a bull’s eye in the center of a target, the moderate houses encircled the area of what was no doubt the ruling class. Several species of lush date palms had been densely planted providing a rich canopy over the mid-city area. The waving fronds suggested that there was a breeze, although Einar could not feel it. It was hot and seemed to offset any relief the wind could have offered. In the center of the city, large temples and statues reached above the trees and had turned into silhouettes as the setting star continued to fall behind the horizon.
Within minutes they had reached the mountain base and were in the village of what appeared to be the section of the poorest of the citizenry. Countless small mud huts with thatch roofing crowded the area and were nearly built up against each other. A foul smell of human waste and rotting food assaulted their sinuses causing both of them to recoil in disgust. After walking a hundred feet and getting no relief, Einar wanted to climb back up the mountain and snort some of the bird acid so that his sinuses would be destroyed and he would no longer have to endure the smell. It was nauseating and awful.
To their right, women and children lined the edge of the river bathing paying no attention to the commotion on the golden road. Children splashed in the water, laughed, and seemed to be happy. Perhaps, somehow, the reality of their situation, their place in the world, was yet unknown. They were still innocent despite all that surrounded them. If the situation were different, he would have taken pleasure in listening to the laughter. To Einar, the most perfect and wonderful sound in all the universe was the laughter of a happy child.
The women, with no concern for their nakedness, stood and turned to watch the two strangers as they passed. All the women seemed to be thin. No one was overweight, which suggested that they worked very hard and were fed little. The gathering crowd grew larger and within less than a minute, they were surrounded by a crowd of twenty to thirty natives deep. Most of the natives were not clothed and only a few were covered at the waist by a thin loincloth. Some wore sandals on their feet, but most were barefoot. Their skin was dark and tanned due to a lifetime of exposure to the elements from working the fields and serving the ranking members of society.
After a long, hot walk meandering around the mud huts, they reached a large concentration of over a thousand date palm trees with huge crowns of arching fronds waving subtly in the evening breeze. In the surrounding area, on both sides of the river, he could see countless more. Huge stalks of ripened golden dates in the thousands hung down waiting to be harvested. Hanging on some of the trees were leather or clay pots strapped to one side with severed flower stalks pointing downward draining the palm sap to be consumed as wine or cooked down for syrup. Eerika marveled at the abundance of the dates and wondered why, if the people were hungry, it had not been harvested as it appeared to be very nearly overripe.
Down the mountain and through the city, they came upon a structure that Eerika initially thought to be a temple from a distance. It was difficult to discern the identity of the two carved figures that sat atop two pinkish, smooth and glossy round stone columns that rose twenty feet. One was perched on each side of the entry of the massive structure which demanded notoriety and symbolized significance. It wasn’t until they were a hundred yards away that she recognized the idols in the likeness of the baboon creature or “Babi” as they seemed to call them while on the mountain. The reaction of the locals during their captivity gave her a sense of the native’s reverence for the horned beasts but not the degree of divinity that they received. They had killed dozens of them. Eerika became increasingly concerned about where they were being taken and how they would be received.
On the walls of the buildings that funneled them to what appeared to be a great hall, carvings in the stone drew her attention. The first was the body of a man with the head of a falcon pointing to the sky. In his left hand hung a hooped cross. The second was the same falcon-headed being with its arms crossed. He too possessed the same hooped cross but held one in each hand. Side by side different images of the man performing various poses were etched on both sides of the path to the structure. The hooped cross stood out to her. She had seen it before but couldn’t recall its significance. The symbol seemed to be carved everywhere. Then, li
ke a bursting dam, the revelation fell upon her. The realization was both interesting and confusing. Ankh, she nearly blurted out. The symbol is an ankh! These people are without a doubt, Egyptians…from Earth. Why are they here? How are they here? she asked herself. This is a long way from Earth.
Eerika recalled from her studies that the Egyptians were one of the cultures most affected by the great slave trade in the beginning. So many had been taken that it nearly obliterated the Egyptians and their culture reducing them into a mere relic of history known only by the ruins left behind. After the intervention of the members of the Universal Council, the nation was saved but had taken hundreds of years to recover their numbers. The irony in their situation is that they too had enslaved millions and ruled over them harshly with an iron fist. They were a brutal people themselves. She recalled the name of one such group as the Hebrews and how a series of supernatural events had led to their freedom from the Egyptian stronghold. Was the enslavement of the Egyptians a consequence of what they had done themselves?
She looked back up at the palm trees, the structures, and recalled seeing several one-humped camels. The people had too many comforts of home and were too advanced in their architecture to have simply been plucked up from Earth and dropped here. Whoever had taken them must have brought their tools, animals, weapons, technology, and architecture with them. Why? she wondered. Are they being farmed? Did they pluck these people out, put them here so that they could harvest them when they wanted? If so, how many planets hid slave farms, or how many other primitive people were on this planet? This would pose a great problem for the Universal Council…if anyone was left alive that still supported it anyway.
The people of Earth were so much more advanced compared to these people, with exception to the various tribes across the planet who rejected technology for the sake of retaining their culture. It was obvious that these people were very primitive in comparison even to modern day Egypt. It seemed that their captors had invested time and effort into limiting their advancements making them easier to control.
She turned to Einar and wanted to tell him. On the left side of his head was a cut by the eye and the coagulating blood ran down the side of his face. She had only been with him for a short time but could distinguish the anger and frustration on his face. It was doubtful that he would take any more abuse from the Egyptians watching over him. He was tough and proud and looked like he was ready to try something. His hands opened and closed, and on both hands, the fingers moved in conjunction with whatever he was planning in his mind. It was certain that he would have no concern for what she had figured out unless it provided them a means to get out without ending up in a prison cell or dead. She was willing to bet that as soon as Einar saw the opportunity, to his detriment, he would retaliate. Which, without their weapons, could mean their certain death. He needed to stay calm until he knew for certain what was to happen to them.
As they approached the columns, Einar almost mockingly yelled out, “Babi, Babi, Babi,” but didn’t feel like suffering another blow to his head. Surely if the little man struck him again, he would get his hands free, or at least around his neck and use the rope to kill him. He imagined it would take less than a second to be rid of the little man. He sized up everyone in front of them searching for a weakness or a way to get a weapon. Thousands or not, he would not simply give up and let them do to him as they wished. He had no respect for these irritating little people. They were lucky he was unable to get the bindings off his wrists.
They passed between the columns and into a large rectangular opening that was twice as wide as it was long. Einar had to duck his head before passing through. They were in a hallway with four doors on the left and right. Between the doors, something burned and made a brilliant white light. It wasn’t a torch or candle but looked like elongated pieces of stone that hung in a metal ring attached to the wall. Behind the burning stone, a concave mirror dispersed the light more evenly throughout the hallway. The oddest thing about the burning stone was that it put off virtually no smoke or odor.
Someone peaked out from the second door on their left and Eerika noticed that the openings were not sealed with doors but were blocked by beaks from the krytyr that were strung together. The hollow sound of the clanking lifeless sections of beaks rang out as the native released the curtain and fell back out of sight as if disinterested in the visitors. A hand to the center of her back guided her into the third door on the left while Einar was shoved into the room across the hallway.
The room was very large and surprisingly well lit. In the far corner was a round stone pool filled with water. Next to the pool was a door the was not blocked by hanging beaks but opened into a dark room. She could not see where it went or what was behind it.
Two men stood in the entry while Eerika’s hands were cut free by two women who wore only a loincloth around the waist and had long braided hair. They were cleaner and seemed healthier than the others they observed while walking through the city. The women pulled small knives from their waists and grabbed her sleeve in order to cut off her clothes. She pulled back, raised her hand and conceded that there was no need to ruin her uniform. She looked back at the two men by the door and turned her back toward them. Eerika took off the now dirty gray outfit and dropped it on the floor. One of the women scooped it up and disappeared through the dark door. The other directed her to remove her undergarments. Eerika hesitated and looked once again at the men at the door who seemed to face forward like statues, but she could feel their eyes on her. When she hesitated, the woman reached out with the knife and slice off the upper strap and jerked her top off. It happened so fast that she pulled back, which got the attention of the men at the door. Realizing the inevitable, she complied with the request. She felt violated standing naked in a room while others stared at her. The woman who had left, returned with water, oil and a sponge. They wiped her down with the wet sponge then rubbed a scented oil all over her body. The smell was pleasant but strong.
As soon as Einar was shoved past the door, he felt the knife run down his backside cutting through his clothing. The two men ripped his garments off and tossed them into a pile on the ground. Afterward, the two fell back and stood on each side of the door motionless. Two native women wrapped only in a thin cloth around the waist, entered the room with a pail of water and a rag and began to bathe him. Einar’s hands were bound behind his back and he had no way to cover himself. He was not one to get embarrassed, but when one of the women bathed him, it was more than a little awkward. It took a few minutes and a second pail of water to remove the blood from his head, face, and shoulder. The initial pain made him forget about the embarrassment. But when they rubbed his body with the scented oil, the situation became awkward on another level.
The two women wrapped him in a thin linen loincloth, that really didn’t cover anything and wasn’t much more than being naked. I’m unarmed, barefoot, exposed, and wearing a woman’s garment. He thought to himself but took some degree of thankful consideration to the fact that they hadn’t simply lopped off his head or bashed it in. He half expected to be drug into a courtyard somewhere beaten or tied to a post, but he was in a room with two half-naked beautiful native women who were rubbing his body down with rags and scented oil. At no point during their time in the room, did either of the women make direct eye contact with him. When they were done, one of the natives grabbed his clothing, while the other the pale of water, and clay container the oil was in. They left by the dark door in the back of the room.
His hands were still bound and the oil worked its way under the grass rope where the skin was rubbed raw intensifying the burn. It was just him and the two guards. If he could get his hands loose, he could take them both down, find Eerika and try to get out of the strange place. He thought of her and wondered what she was going through? He listened, but did not hear any screams and wondered if, for the sake of survival, she had simply given in. He didn’t know what the standard was for beauty in the strange place, but she was certainly b
eautiful and had far exceeded his standards. He could only wonder what the men of the city would think of her. What kind of prize would she be for a man of nobility?
From the dark hallway, a figure emerged. She was slightly taller than the other women and equaled that of the men. The native woman looked intently at him as she approached. She wore a thin linen robe about her body that did little to hide her nakedness beneath. Dark makeup encircled her eyes, and a pinkish color was used to accent her lips. The woman’s hair was separated into a series of long black braids that hung nearly to the waist and were capped with colored beads at the ends. She wore sandals that laced around her ankle and wrapped her calf like two slithering serpents.
“Does everyone here run around naked?” he asked somewhat rhetorically.
“We are in the desert, not high in the mountains where it is cool. Clothes only make the heat worse. Looking upon me makes you uncomfortable?”
He felt a slight bit of embarrassment and guilt about his inability to not look upon her body, “No, you are quite lovely…a very beautiful female of your tribe. But that is not the point. In my culture there is a time for such…exposure,” he noted.
“I am glad that your culture isn’t acknowledged here,” she said as she circled him. The body is very beautiful.”
“You speak my language?”
“Yes, we have dealings with those who speak as you do. We were taught the language,” she said as she moved in close to him.
Universal Code Page 34
