The Asutra

by Jack Vance

Etzwane and half the cars descended the flank of the hill, dark cars invisible on the black moss. Korba waited five minutes, then proceeded down the slope, approaching the camp across the old training compound. Etzwane's group, with cars dragging and bumping across the moss, drove up to the back of the lumpy white structure which the Ka used as a barracks.

  The men lunged inside and swarmed upon the seven Ka they found in the single chamber. Astonished or perhaps apathetic, the Ka made only feeble resistance and were lashed immobile with thongs. The men, keyed up for a desperate battle and finding none, felt baffled and frustrated, and started to kick the Ka to death. Etzwane halted them in a fury. "What are you doing? They are victims like ourselves. Kill the asutra, but do no harm to the Ka! It is purposeless! "

  The men thereupon plucked the asutra off the Ka's necks and ground them underfoot, to the horrified moaning of the Ka.

  Etzwane went forth to find Korba, who had already sent his men into the garages, the commissary, and the communication chamber, where they had discovered a total of four Ka, three of which they clubbed to pulp, lacking Etzwane's moderating presence. The men encountered no other opposition; they were masters of the camp, almost without effort. Reacting to the tension, many of the men became nauseated. Sagging to their knees they gave themselves to an agonized, empty-stomached retching. Etzwane, himself hearing strange ringing sounds in his ears, ordered the women of the camp instantly to serve hot food and drink.

  The men ate, slowly, gratefully, marveling that the storming of the camp had gone with such facility. The situation was incredible.

  After eating, Etzwane felt an overpowering drowsiness, to which he must not allow himself to succumb. Old Kretzel stood nearby, and he called for her. "What has happened to the Ka? There were forty or fifty in the camp; now there are ten or less."

  Kretzel spoke in a dismal voice. "They departed in the ship. Only two days ago they went, in great excitement. Great events are in the offing, for better or worse."

  "When will another ship return?"

  "They did not trouble to explain this to me."

  "Let us question the Ka."

  They went to the barracks where the Ka lay bound. The ten men Etzwane had left on guard were all asleep and the Ka were furiously working to liberate themselves. Etzwane roused the sleeping men with kicks. "Is this the way you guard our safety? Every one of you: dead to the world! In another minute you might have been dead forever."

  Old Sul, one of the men who had been left on guard, gave a surly response, "You yourself described these men as victims; in all justice they should be grateful for their deliverance."

  "This is precisely the point I intend to make to them," said Etzwane. "Meanwhile we are only the wild men who attacked them and tied them with thongs."

  "Bah," muttered Sul. "I am unable to chop logic with you; you have the superior sleight with words."

  Etzwane said, "Make sure the thongs are secure. " He spoke to Kretzel. 'Tell the Ka that we mean them no harm, that we regard the asutra as our mutual enemy."

  Kretzel peered at Etzwane in perplexity, as if she found the remarks strange and foolish. "Why do you tell them that?"

  "So that they will help us, or at least do nothing to hinder."

  She shook her head. "I'll sing to them, but they will pay no great heed. You do not understand the Ka. " She took up her double-pipes and played phrases. The Ka listened without perceptible reaction. They made no reply, but after a brief silence made wavering, tremulous sounds, like the chuckling of baby owls.

  Etzwane looked at them doubtfully. "What do they say?"

  Kretzel shrugged. "They talk together in the 'Allusive' Style, which is beyond my capability. In any event, I don't think they understand you. " "Ask them when the ship will return."

  Kretzel laughed but obliged him. The Ka looked at her blankly. One warbled a brief phrase, then they were silent. Etzwane looked questioningly at Kretzel.

  'They sing from Canto 5633: the 'embarrassing farce.' It might translate as a jeer: "What interest can this matter have for you?' "

  "I see," said Etzwane. "They are not practical."

  They are practical enough," said Kretzel. 'The situation is beyond their understanding. Do you remember the ahulphs of Durdane?"

  T do indeed."

  'To the Ka, men are like ahulphs: unpredictable, half-intelligent, addicted to incomprehensible antics. They cannot take you seriously."

  Etzwane grunted. "Ask the question again. Tell them that when the ship arrives they will be freed."

  Kretzel played her flute. A terse answer returned. The ship will be back in a few days with a new corps of slaves."

  CHAPTER 10

  The mutinous slaves had gained themselves food, shelter, and a respite which all realized to be temporary. A certain Joro argued that the group should transport supplies to some secret place in the hills and hope to survive until they could dare another raid. "By this means we gain another several months, and who knows what might happen? The rescue ships from Earth might arrive."

  Etzwane gave a bitter laugh. "I know now what I should have known every moment of my life; that unless you help yourself, you die a slave. The fact is basic. No one is going to rescue us. If we remain here, the chances are good that we will shortly be killed. If we go out to hide upon the moors, we gain two months of wet clothes and misery, and then we will be killed anyway. If we pursue the original plan, at best we gain a great advantage and at worst we die in dignity, doing our enemies as much damage as possible."

  "The chances of 'best' are few and of 'worst' many," grumbled Sul. "I for one am fatigued with these visionary schemes."

  "You must do as you think best," said Etzwane politely. "By all means, go forth upon the moors. The way is open."

  Korba said curtly, "Those who want to go, let them go now. The rest of us have work to do, and time may be short."

  But neither Sul nor Joro chose to leave.

  During the day Rune the Willow Wand approached Etzwane. "Do you remember me? I am the Alula girl who once befriended you. I wonder if you think warmly of me now? But I am haggard and wrinkled, as if I were old. Is this not true?"

  Etzwane, preoccupied with a hundred anxieties, looked across the compound, trying to contrive a remark suitably noncommittal. He said, somewhat curtly, "On this world a pretty girl is a freak."

  "Ah! I wish then I were a freak! So long ago, when the men reached to tweak off my little cap, I was happy, even though I pretended displeasure. But now, if I were to dance naked in the compound, who would look at me?"

  "You would still attract attention," said Etzwane. "Especially if you danced well."

  "You mock me," said Rune sorrowfully. "Why cannot you offer me some consolation: a touch or a smiling glance? You make me feel squat and ugly."

  "I have no such intention," said Etzwane. "You may be assured of this. But please excuse me; I must see to our preparations."

  Two days went past, with tension increasing every hour. On the morning of the third day a disk-ship slid up the coast from the south and hovered over the camp. There was no need for alarms or exhortations; the men were already at their stations.

  The ship hovered, hanging on a humming web of vibration. Etzwane, in the garage, watched with clammy sweat on his body, wondering which of many circumstances would go wrong.

  From the ship came a mellow hooting, which after an interval reverberated back from the hill.

  The sound died, the ship hovered. Etzwane held his breath until his lungs ached.

  The ship moved, and slowly descended to the landing field. Etzwane exhaled and leaned forward. This now was the time of crisis.

  The ship touched the ground, which visibly subsided under the mass of the ship. A minute passed, two minutes. Etzwane wondered if those aboard had perceived an incorrectness, the absence of some formality… The port opened; a ramp slid to the soil. Down came two Ka, asutra riding their necks like small black jockeys. They halted at the base of the ramp, looked across the compound. Two
more Ka descended the ramp, and the four stood as if waiting.

  A pair of drays set out from the warehouse: the usual procedure when a ship landed. They swerved to pass close to the ramp. Etzwane and three men came forth from the garage, to walk with simulated purposelessness toward the ship. From other areas of the yard other small groups of men converged upon the ship.

  The first dray halted; four men stepped down and suddenly leapt upon the Ka. From the second dray four other men brought thongs; there would be only needful killing, lest they be left with a ship and no one to navigate. While the group struggled at the foot of the ramp, Etzwane and his men ran up the ramp and into the ship.

  The ship carried a crew of fourteen Ka and several dozens of asutra, some in trays like that which Etzwane and Ifness had found in the wreck under Thrie Orgai. Except for the scuffle at the foot of the ramp, neither Ka nor asutra offered resistance. The Ka had seemed paralyzed by surprise, or perhaps apathetic; there was no comprehending their emotions. The asutra were as opaque as flint. Again the rebel slaves felt the frustration of overexertion, of striking out with all force and encountering only air. They felt relieved but cheated, triumphant yet seething with unrelieved tension.

  The great central hold contained, almost four hundred men and women. These were of all ages and conditions, but in general seemed of poor quality, spiritless and defeated.

  Etzwane wasted no time upon the folk in the hold; he gathered the Ka and their asutra in the control dome and brought up Kretzel. "Tell them this," said Etzwane, "and make sure that they comprehend exactly. We want to return to Durdane. This is what we require of them: transportation to our home-world. We will tolerate nothing less. Tell them that when we arrive at our destination, then we will make no further demands upon them; they may have their lives and their ship. If they refuse to take us to Durdane, we will destroy them without mercy."

  Kretzel frowned and licked her lips, then brought forth her pipes and played Etzwane's message.

  The Ka stood unresponsive. Etzwane asked anxiously, "Do they understand?"

  "They understand," said Kretzel. "They have already decided what their answer will be. This is a ceremonial silence."

  One of the Ka addressed Kretzel in a set of careful First Style tones, delivered in a manner so offhand as to seem condescending or even derisive.

  Kretzel said to Etzwane, They will take you to Durdane. The ship departs at once."

  "Ask if sufficient food and drink are aboard."

  Kretzel obeyed and elicited a reply. "He says that provisions are naturally adequate for the journey."

  "Tell them one thing further. We have brought torpedoes aboard the ship. If they try to deceive us, we will all blow up together."

  Kretzel played her double-pipes; the Ka turned away without interest

  Etzwane had known many triumphs and joys during the course of his life, but never exhilaration such as now, on this journey back from the dark world Kahei. He felt tired but he could not sleep. He distrusted the Ka, he feared the asutra; he could not believe that his victory was final. Of the other men he felt confidence only in Korba, and he made certain that he and Korba never slept at the same time. To maintain a spirit of vigilance, he warned that the asutra were devious, that they did not readily accept defeat; privately he was sure that victory had been won. In his experience the asutra were impassive realists, unaffected by considerations of malice or revenge. When the Roguskhoi had been defeated in Shant, the asutra might easily have destroyed Garwiy and Brassei and Maschein with their energy bolts, but had not troubled to do so. Chances were good, thought Etzwane, that the impossible had been accomplished, and without the assistance of the ineffable Ifness, which added savor to the triumph.

  Etzwane spent considerable time in the control dome. Through the ports nothing could be seen but dead blackness and an occasional streaming filament of spume. A panel depicted the outside sky; the stars were black disks on a luminous green field. A target circle enclosed three black dots, which daily grew larger; Etzwane assumed these to be Etta, Sassetta, and Zael.

  Conditions in the hold were appalling. The cargo of men and women were ignorant of cleanliness, order, or sanitation; the hold stank like an abattoir. Etzwane learned that most of the folk had been born on Kahei and had known only the life of the slave camp. During the evolution of the Roguskhoi, macabre experiments had been part of their everyday routine; it had seemed the natural way of life. The asutra, whatever their virtues, displayed neither squeamishness nor pity, thought Etzwane, and perhaps these were emotions idiosyncratically human. Etzwane tried to feel compassion for the slave folk, but the stench and disorder in the hold made the task difficult. Once more on Durdane, these folk were destined for further misery. Some might wish themselves "back home " on the black world Kahei.

  The ship coasted through open space. Above danced the three suns; below spread the gray-violet face of Durdane. As the ship descended, familiar contours passed below: the Beljamar and the Fortunate Isles, Shant and Palasedra, then the vast world-continent Caraz.

  Etzwane identified the river Keba and Lake Nior. As the ship dropped lower, the Thrie Orgai and the river Vurush appeared. With Kretzel's assistance he directed the ship down to Shagfe. The ship landed on the slope south of the village. The ramps descended; the passengers tumbled, staggered, and crawled out upon the soil of their home-world, each clutching a parcel of food and as much good metal as he could carry: enough to assure a comfortable competence on metal-poor Durdane. Etzwane provided himself with thirty rods of glistening red alloy from the engine room: enough wealth, so he calculated, to bring him once again to Shant.

  Ever distrustful, Etzwane insisted that the Ka come forth from the ship and remain until the folk had dispersed. "You have brought us here to Durdane, and now we are finished with you and your ship, but are you finished with us? I don't want to be destroyed by a purple lightning bolt that you discharge as soon as you have the capability."

  Through Kretzel the Ka responded, "We don't care whether you live or die; leave the ship at once."

  Etzwane said, "Either come out on the plain with us or we will remove your asutra, which you seem to revere so much. We have not suffered and hoped and striven to take foolish chances at the last moment."

  Eight of the Ka at last went out on the plain. Etzwane, with a group of his men, led them a mile up the slope, then dismissed them. They trudged back to their ship while Etzwane and his companions sought shelter among the rocks. As soon as the eight were aboard, the ship lifted into the air. Etzwane watched it dwindle and vanish, then within himself the knowledge came: he had really returned to Durdane. His knees felt limp; he sat down upon a rock, weary as he had never been before in his life, and tears flowed from his eyes.

  CHAPTER 11

  In Shagfe the advent of so many persons laden with wealth had created dislocations. Some drank copiously of Baba's cellar brew, others gambled with the Kash Blue-worms, who still haunted the vicinity. Throughout the night sounds of altercation could be heard: yells and curses, drunken sobs and cries of pain; and in the morning a dozen corpses were discovered. As soon as light came to the sky, groups set forth for their ancestral lands, to north, east, south, and west. The Alula, uttering no words of farewell to Etzwane, departed for Lake Nior. Rune the Willow Wand turned a single glance over her shoulder. Etzwane, meeting the gaze, found it unreadable. He watched them recede into the morning haze, then he went to find Baba the innkeeper.

  "I have two matters to take up with you," said Etzwane. "First, where is Fabrache?"

  Baba replied in vague terms. "Who is to trace the course of that loose-footed man? The slave trade is ruined. Old markets are gone and Hozman Sore-throat has disappeared; poverty stalks the land. As for Fabrache, when he appears you will see him; he is not a man for predictability."

  I will not wait," said Etzwane, "which leads me to the second matter, my pacer. I desire that it be saddled and made ready for travel."

  Baba's eyes protruded in wonder. 'Tour pace
r? What prodigy of imagination is this? You own no pacer at my stables."

  "But indeed I do," said Etzwane in a sharp voice. "My friend Ifness and I both left our pacers in your care. I, at least, now intend to resume possession."

  Baba shook his head in wonder and raised his eyes piously to the sky. "In your own land odd customs may prevail, but here at Shagfe we are more practical. A gift once given may not be recalled."

  "Gift, you say? " Etzwane's tone was grim. "Have you heard the tales told by the folk who brought you metal for cellar brew last night? How by our strength and will we won our way home to Caraz? Do you think that I am the kind of man to tolerate petty thievery? Bring me my pacer, or prepare for a remarkable thrashing."

  Baba reached behind his bar and brought forth his cudgel. "A beating, is it? Listen to me, my cockscomb, I have not been Shagfe innkeeper without dealing a few beatings of my own, I assure you. Now leave these premises on the instant! "

  From his pouch Etzwane brought the little weapon Ifness had given him so long ago: the energy gun he had carried to Kahei and back and never used. He pointed the gun at Baba's strongbox and touched the button. A flare, an explosion, a scream of horror, as Baba stared at the devastation which only a moment before had held a fortune in metal. Etzwane reached out, took his cudgel, and hit him across the back. "My pacer, and in haste."

  Baba's fat face was lambent with fear and malice. "Already you have done me out of a lifetime's earnings! Do you wish the fruits of all my toil?"

  "Never try to cheat an honest man," said Etzwane. "Another thief might sympathize with your goals; as for me, I want only my property."

  In a voice nasal with rage Baba sent one of the yardboys to the stables. Etzwane went out into the inn-yard, where he found old Kretzel sitting on a bench. "What do you do here? " asked Etzwane. "I thought that you would be on your way to Elshuka Pond."

  "The way is long," said Kretzel, pulling the tattered cloak about her shoulders. "I have a few bits of metal, enough to keep food in my mouth for a period. When the metal is gone I shall start my journey south, though surely I will never arrive at the grass meadows above the pond. And if I did, who would remember the little girl who was stolen by Molsk?"