○O○
Dave and Le'ha returned to the large room in the cave where a good-sized fire was now burning and various animal carcasses, dressed and treated with wild herbs, were being readied for cooking. The room was starting to fill with the many members of the community.
Dave and Le'ha sat in their original places. Quickly, over his COMde, Dave explained what he'd seen to Zolna and instantly provided him his visual recordings by grasping his left hand and transferring the data through their sensor pads. "Remember this; file it away, because when we get back we have to reveal this to the general."
"Do you really think we're going to get back, sir?"
"Yes, I do. I think these people are looking for allies, they saw us recon our own kind and witnessed us save the life of one of their children. And they wouldn't be showing us all this to just kill us."
Just then, a native ran up to Le'ha and spoke rapidly to her. She nodded and he departed. Le'ha then turned to speak to Dave and Zolna. "Your friends were attacked as they drew near to your metal city. Their battle was very loud, but did not last long. They dug holes and buried three hands and two."
"Three hands and two?" Zolna asked.
"Thirty-two." Dave responded softly. He looked at Le'ha and asked, "Who attacked them?"
"Other Ukse. These all wore the face covers."
"Bios," Dave said to Zolna.
"How many of my type were buried?"
"This our eyes did not see."
"Was there a blond-haired woman with blue eyes and—"
"Dave," Le'ha replied, "we did not see the battle, our people heard it and saw the actions of the Ukse afterward."
"Le'ha, this is important, who was leading whom as they departed."
"Our eyes did not see. We only know that all who lived returned to the metal city beyond the great wall."
Dave sat back against the rock wall. "Damn."
Le'ha allowed some time to pass then reached forward and touched Dave's knee. "It is unfortunate you do not eat," she whispered. "We are preparing the last of today's meals, and today we have plenty, thanks to your Zolna killing the T'Pu Iya. I would invite you to eat among us, but as you do not eat, you cannot stay in this chamber. Those who do eat will be insulted."
"Is there some place else you would have us guarded?" Dave asked.
"Guarded? You are not captives. If you wish to leave us now, you may go. However, it grows dark and the Tum matap ayat, the night hunters, will be seeking easy kills."
"Sir," Zolna spoke up, "I'm happy to spend the night right here."
"Okay, Private," Dave turned again to Le'ah. "If I may, I'd like to go back to the entrance till you are done eating."
"Follow that trail; it will take you to the mouth of Eya'Etee Ki Kee."
Dave and Zolna followed the trail back through the cave. By the time they reached the cave entrance, the usually dark blue sky had grown much darker with the setting of the red sun. The sky was as filled with stars as was the inky sky on Earth's Moon. Here, however, the sky not only overflowed with stars. This planet also possessed two small rocks that passed for moons. The slower moving of the two was full and just rising over the eastern horizon.
The other star of the binary system, Elpis 229 B, whose magnitude was near twice that of the Earth’s full Moon, brought an eerie glow to the planet's surface.
Outside the entrance, a few of the Indigs were still going about their duties, but otherwise it was quiet…as quiet as this forest ever gets at night…for out of the darkness the howls and shrieks and screams were a continuous symphony of life and death. The vast array of insect life added to the concerto with their own noises, some of which resembled their Earthly counterparts, but others were very alien to Dave's ears. The planet was teeming with life, and like life everywhere, existence was a matter of survival. For one creature to live, another must die.
Dave stood alone leaning against the stone mouth of the cave with his arms folded across his chest looking out into the forest, and considered the situation. These people obviously believed that the Ukse were forcing their people into the clinic. And obviously, those that came out at all came out ill and dying.
Dave considered it likely, however, that the disease was not manifest yet in those who were 'gathered', or perhaps the illness was affecting them genetically and that the result of the treatment made them visibly ill, much like chemotherapy.
Why was the IIEA so secretive about the treatment being provided the Indigs? To Dave, the answer was obvious. The treatment wasn't working; worse, it was killing the patients and leaving the survivors deathly ill.
Perhaps what was really going on inside the clinic was experimentation. Perhaps they were using these people as guinea pigs in a desperate bid to cure them and make this embarrassing problem go away.
It wouldn't be the first time that humanity had compounded a problem with lies and a cover up.
Whatever was going on, Dave felt sure it was not good. He knew he was going to end up at odds with someone, but who? The lab coats, the IIEA, perhaps even the military. The military? Had not the IIEA bought and paid for all the military here? With whom did their allegiance lie? The CDF was made up of many different nationalities. Where were their loyalties?
Dave contemplated these issues for some time until he just decided to disengage his mind and rest his brain, away from these disturbing thoughts. He climbed a narrow path up the side of the cliff face until he reached a ledge near the top.
He sat with his feet dangling over the edge looking out over the forest; the light from the other star in this binary system was softly illuminating the scene before him. The dimly lit trees and foliage crowned by the myriad of stars appeared to be the epitome of peace and serenity. Yet, he knew that under the forest's canopy a merciless struggle for survival raged.
The faster of the two moons appeared now from over the distant hills and arched through the night sky.
A gentle breeze caressed Dave's face and all his worries seemed to leave him. Then below him the trees shook violently and some creature screamed out its death rattle. This horrible noise had not faded when the roar of some monstrous beast ripped the air as the thing proclaimed ownership over its kill. The law of the jungle was in full application even way out here.
After a couple of hours, Dave slowly made his way down the cliff face to find Zolna and Le'ha waiting for him.
"Talme Zolna says to me you do not sleep?" Le'ha asked.
"That's right," Dave replied. Looking up at her, he asked, "Le'ha, just what do you plan to do with us?"
"Dave, if tomorrow you were returned to your people, what would you do there?"
Dave looked into Le'ha's eyes. This could be a trick question. Honesty was always Dave's default position. "Le'ha, I know now that something is wrong here. My friends would not have been attacked otherwise. If tomorrow I am back in the metal city, I will go to those I trust and tell them what you've shown me. We will ask questions and demand the truth. The people I trust will do whatever is necessary to make things right. But first, we must learn all the truth."
Le'ha quickly grabbed Dave's right wrist and grabbed him by the throat. This sudden movement startled him, but she was not hurting him. She bent low and turned him so the light from a fire fell across his face and she looked again into his eyes. The iris of her eyes opened until he was looking into the black reflective seas beyond. A heartbeat passed, then two. Le'ha released him and rose up to her full height. "I feel not the throbbing in your arm or throat."
"Pulse, you were checking my pulse. Checking to see if I am lying. Le'ha, I have no heart."
"If that is true, when you get back to the metal city you will tell the Ukse where to find us. If you have a heart, you will seek the truth and find it in our hearts."
○O○
Kathy took her wounded PW's to the military dispensary. She stayed off Ismay and headed for the general's office. She was aware that Indra was watching, and had no doubt already reported her return to Wilmington.
>
Kathy made her report to the general and his XO in the secure conference briefing room.
"So," the general leaned forward over the table, "the IIEA are rounding up the Indigs, forcing them into a concentration camp and doing…what, exactly?"
"That we don't know, sir; we'll have to get inside to figure that out."
"And on your return, forty of Wilmington's ExCom ambushed you."
"Yes, sir, I've downloaded a copy of my memory of the attack as well as that of Sergeant First Class Webster's onto this drive if you care to review it," she handed the tiny device to the general.
"Thanks, Colonel," the general replied. "We might need this at our trial."
"Sir, I want to leave immediately to go rescue the two men I told you about."
"Colonel, I am sending you on another mission. You said the Indigs did not kill your two men, but lead them away. That is a very positive turn of events. The Umarraw seldom take prisoners. This may be an opportunity for us. I want you to go out there and find the band that took your people, make peaceful contact with them and see if you can open a dialog. If you happen to get your two men back, all the better. But keep in mind that the Indigs don't have a history of talking with us, and they appear to be close to open warfare against us. Our primary mission is to stop that war, and you, Lieutenant Colonel Kathy Selina, are on point."
Kathy nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Don't take a large force," LTC Fisher added. "You don't want to look threatening."
"I'll only take four."
"Colonel, you don't want to be easy pickings, either," the general reminded her.
"No, sir, we'll be fine. Once I leave here, we'll be out of contact as there are no coms with you outside the city."
"I understand," the general said, then added softly, "you be careful Colonel; you and the XO are the only two people I can trust."
○O○
Dave, Zolna, and Le'ha passed the remainder of the night sitting on the ledge above the entrance of the cave. They watched the stars move through the sky and saw the swifter of the moons complete two orbits of the planet.
Le'ha pointed out various geographical locations to Dave and spoke of their significance. "We sit in the cupped hands of Lu'aya. It is said that here, when the world was a burning ember, Lu'aya caused a moon to fall into the world, and on this moon Lu'aya had placed the spirits of all that lives, and so did everything come to Eya'Etee Ki Kee. Palotu Ayanya, the good, and Rayqua Coy, the evil."
"Who is Lu'aya?" Dave asked the question but knew it had to be the name of their deity.
"Lu'aya means the maker—the maker of all that is. We do not know what name to give Lu'aya. Lu'aya has made all that is or will be. Lu'aya made Eya'Etee Ki Kee."
As Le'ha spoke Dave was looking at the map in his memory. He zoomed out several hundred kilometers until he could see it. Shrouded in the foliage was all that remained of a once great impact crater. Measuring it he determined it was 1,107 kilometers in diameter. It was heavily eroded, leaving the rim resembling sharp and jagged animal teeth that made up the circular mountain range Le'ha called the mountains of Eya'Etee Ki Kee Reenot. This crater is what she must have meant when she said they sat in the cupped hands of Lu'aya.
"Le'ha," Dave said, "you talked of our return to the metal city. Do you mean to let us go?"
"I have said to you that you are not prisoners here. You see no walls before you, and no fences."
"You don't need them. You have the forest."
She looked at Dave, smiled just a little and replied, "Affirmative."
"What did you say?"
"Affirmative. It means yes, or correct, does it not?"
"Le'ha, where did you learn to speak English?"
"From the old Ukse Doctor Milnor."
"Who?"
"Did you not know Doctor Milnor? All the others said he was quite famous on your Earth. Before his death, he taught many of us to speak your languages."
"No, I never heard of him. How did he die?"
"He died from what we call raakip uwa, the pain of love. You Ukse say he died of a broken heart. But Seadan kos Vaught would never have hurt him."
"What happened?"
"Doctor Milnor became in love with Seadan, and she with him. But from inside the fish, he could not touch her. And he told her that being different…spe shees, they would have to chase their love. He became a very sad Ukse and stopped eating."
Zolna looked at Dave. "Sir, did you understand any of that?"
"I'm afraid I did. The fish thing has me thrown, but it appears that the doctor, unable to be with her because of the atmosphere, and knowing they were a different species, realized that their love would have to remain chaste, not chase. The doctor died for the want of the woman's love."
Le'ha went on, "Seadan made much eye water and pulled her hair. She begged Lu'aya to forgive him and asked that they be joined in the distant woods beyond the sea of life. And so Seadan's ceelo joined her Ukse in the forest of great joy."
"That's very sad," Zolna murmured.
"You know sadness?" Le'ha asked.
"I've known some," Zolna whispered, "I was fifteen when my mother died. And when I was seventeen I was driving the night…my girlfriend died in the…ah…I have known sadness, yes."
"Have you known happiness, known joy?" Le'ha pressed Zolna.
"Oh, sure. The day I knew I loved Lucy, my girlfriend, that was before…of course. The day I realized that I was alive as a SUB instead of dead as I thought I was in Oceania. It took some getting used to but…well, it's hard to explain."
"So, you have known sadness and joy. And you, Dave, have you also?"
"Some, sure. Never been in love, but I had a good friend who died for his love. That was a sad day. Lost friends in the war in Oceania, lost some more when the Moon was attacked."
"What of joy?"
"I did meet a woman, but…well, we each have our fish. I was happy to meet you and your people, and find you're not the man-eating monsters I was told you were."
"Hmm—" Le'ha spoke softly, "you have seen little of joy."
Dave looked down, then up into the stars. "Le'ah, I have journeyed farther than I could possibly have imagined. I have lived on the Moon, and come millions and millions of kilometers to meet you. There is an awful lot of joy in that. And…I visited Florida once. That was a lot of fun."
Le'ah placed her long-fingered hand atop Dave's head. "A people who know sadness and joy are a people who have a heart. Perhaps, golden leaf, your heart is in your mind."
She removed her hand and all sat in silence for several minutes.
"Where did you meet this Doctor Milnor?" Dave asked.
"He lived at the first camp of the Ukse." She paused a moment. "When they could no longer live there, we took them to the fish."
"Fish?"
"The sky fish that flies no more."
Dave realized that she was trying to describe things for which she did not have words. She was looking quite sad and they sat quietly.
"Le'ah," Dave broke the silence again, "do you trust me?"
She looked down at him. "Show me again where you opened your arm."
Dave rolled up his sleeve and presented to her his right forearm. Her fingertips gently slid over the bloodless wound. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"No."
She pulled the skin apart and looked inside again. Dave watched her large eyes. He could see her widened pupils allowing in more light. After a moment, they returned to a more normal size. She kept a grip on his arm but reached behind her and pulled a leaf off a vine. It was black on the top and the bottom was blue and covered with dozens of small red nodules. She rolled the leaf into a tube and placed it on her thigh then violently rolled it back and forth. The nodules broke and coated the leaf in a thick yellow puss. She then laid the leaf over Dave's wound and tied it in place with a piece of the vine she split in half using her teeth. "This will make the cut better and it will be gone in a few days," she said.
Dave rolled his sle
eve back down and thanked Le'ha. No need to ruin an act of kindness with useless facts about synthetic skin.
After he got his sleeve back down, he looked up again at Le'ha. She reached out with a long thin finger and traced around his eyes with the tip and said, "Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes…I trust you."
Dave remained quiet a moment. "Le'ha, we know your people are planning to attack the metal city."
Le'ha looked back toward the woods.
"Le'ah. As soon as the leader of the metal city learns this, he will have the place where they are meeting attacked with our aircraft. Few, if any, of your people will survive. Do you understand this?"
"How do you know this thing?"
"My people have placed…ah, seeing moons in the sky. Those moons, we call them satellites, see everything. The large group of your people that is assembling west of the metal city around your old stone temple near the three big stones cannot go undetected. I beg you to stop them before they are all killed."
"Dave Mitch-hail…will you stop the Ukse at the Blood City?"
"I will try, with all my might, I will try."
"You live today, Dave, because you saved the boy, Poy eka Hondar. I hoped you would become our messenger to the metal city where you would tell the Ukse to stop drinking our blood or see the blood of both our people mingle and soak into Eya'Etee Ki Kee.
"In the council of the Paha Vadeat I am well trusted. The war will wait on you. But we will not go peacefully to another bloodletting."
Below, from inside the cave came singing. A chant, slow and low, the voices seemingly in awe of something.
"What's that?" Dave asked.
"The great star, Ourinco, rises. We greet him with song to please him, and hope his passing this day will bring food to our bellies, love to our hearts, and laughter to our children."
The red star cracked the horizon and the chanting erupted into a song of joy and hope.
Chapter 11
Toward the Valley of Shadow
Kathy made no attempt at stealth this time. She, Mitch, Cassie, and SFC Webster exited New Roanoke through the same airlock and departed the compound through the same door in the southern wall.
The Vampires of Antyllus Page 15
