by PJ McDermott
Nolanski pointed into the distance. "There's a cobbled road up ahead that leads out of the forest. From there, it's mainly dirt track all the way to the coast—about twenty miles." He nodded to a watchman as they left the clearing, then turned to his passengers and grinned. "It's going to be a bumpy ride. This cart is genuine Prosperine—strong, but they haven't quite got the hang of passenger comfort yet. You might think the Agency would provide something better for us, but you know about the embargo on technology. The IA try to minimize the impact of our presence here, although despite their best efforts some low-tech equipment does make it through."
"Smugglers?" said Hickory, thinking as she took another jolt of how sore she would be by journey's end.
Nolanski nodded. "The main culprits are a group calling themselves the Dark Suns. We've been trying to catch them for months, but they're slippery. They do a roaring trade, mainly in soft goods and small luxury items, for which they extract a king's ransom in precious gems and metals. Talking of soft goods, there are some cushions in the trunk at the back that you might appreciate."
Hickory gratefully accepted the cushion passed to her by Jess. "We were briefed about crynidium being found in some parts of the planet. My understanding is this information is classified, though."
"There are few secrets on Prosperine where money and power are involved," said Nolanski, flicking the reins.
They continued their journey in silence, except for the rumble of the cart and the thudding of Brutus's feet as he plodded along. The arrivals center had been built at the top of the highest peak on the island, and it was a downhill journey all the way to the sea. Hickory, now that she had something soft to sit on, found the swaying of the cart and the dappled light in the forest hypnotic and she closed her eyes.
The trumpeting of the yarrak several hours later awakened her. A dragonfly the size of a sparrow hovered a few inches from her face and she flapped at it, startled. She heard Nolanski snigger.
The forest thinned out, giving way to scrub and tall grasses. In the distance, she could see dots of animals grazing on hills.
The humidity was lower out of the forest and the temperature was kept down by a strong breeze that blew constantly into their faces. By the time Nolanski pulled over beside a stream, they were ready for a break and keen to get out of the wagon and stretch their legs. They sat on a bank beneath the spreading branches of a squat tree and ate from the ration packs they’d been given at the terminal.
Gareth pointed to the herd of herbivores. “There’s a lot of those grazing types around—yarraks, are they?”
“Wild yarrak. There are few predators on this island big enough to worry them, and, of course, the Avanauri are pretty much vegetarian,” said Nolanski.
“Vegetarian or vegan?” asked Jess.
“In between, I suppose,” said Nolanski, considering. “But not because of any moral or religious beliefs. Their digestive system simply isn’t designed to process much except vegetable matter plus some other naturally occurring foods like nuts, honey and milk. Red meat is toxic to them—or rather the myoglobin in meat corrodes the lining of their stomachs and if regularly consumed would actually lead to starvation.
“They eat crustaceans and there’s one particular mollusk they go mad over. Marine fish they won’t eat, except for several types of soft sea stars that are bloodless and not strictly fish anyway. There’s a big fishing industry hereabouts, though.” He swallowed a mouthful of water.
Hickory raised her eyebrows inquisitively.
“They dry and crush them for fertilizer. With such a small arable farming area, they plow in a lot of manure which helps them harvest three or four crops a year. If it weren’t for the abundance of fish and kelp, it wouldn’t be possible.”
Their guide explained that the soil on the island was too poor to support much except the native goldengrass, a drought-resistant reedy plant essential to the Avanauri culture. “The grasses produce a cellulose-based fiber that’s spun into yarn—”
Abruptly, Hickory leapt to her feet and drew her sword.
“What is it?” whispered Gareth. He glanced about quickly, searching for the danger.
Jess and Nolanski took up position on either side of the commander.
“Not certain,” said Hickory. “Something big—hiding—there.” She pointed her sword at a thicket of trees and brush about forty yards away.
“You sure it’s not a pig?” said Nolanski. “Some of those mothers are pretty big.”
“I’m sure—” she began, then stopped, transfixed. A chittering sound grew in intensity then rattled into silence.
“What the heck was that?” said Jess.
“I don’t think we should wait around to find out,” said Gareth, drawing two long knives from his belt.
“Too late!” cried Hickory. “Close up. Stand your ground.”
There was a swish of grass, and two monstrous heads emerged from the thicket.
“Violators.” Nolanski’s breath came unevenly. “Bad luck bumping into them.”
Half as tall as Hickory and black as soot, they inched towards the group, muscles rippling and shoulders hunched like panthers stalking their prey. The two carnivores stopped twenty yards away, raised their heads, opened huge maws and screeched. Yellow eyes on opposite sides of their heads swiveled to assess the humans. They snuffled at the strange scent through a single nostril located high on their snouts.
“Lucky there’s only two of them, eh?” said Gareth as he crouched to face them.
Nolanski cringed. “Not for long, I suspect. They normally hunt in packs.”
The leading animal made a decision. It pared back its lips to display viciously curved teeth. Saliva dripped from its mouth as it snarled and snapped at them. Its partner stalked purposefully towards the band of people.
Built for speed in attack, thought Hickory. The creature raised its head and let out a howling screech, then charged.
Instinctively, Hickory sprang forward to meet the leading predator. The longsword felt powerful in her hand as she heaved it overhead, poised to strike.
Jess ran straight at the second creature, aiming to stick her blade through its chest.
Startled by the sudden attack from these unknown foes, the animals reared and twisted aside.
Hickory swept downwards, narrowly missing the beast. The momentum of her attack caused her to stumble and she fell heavily to the ground.
The point of Jess’s sword pricked the second creature as it veered away, barely scratching its flank.
Hickory hardly had time to register how incredibly agile the beast was before it charged her again. She leapt to her feet and spun away from an outstretched claw then slashed upwards with her sword, opening a cut in the beast’s side.
Looping her weapon overhead in both hands, she swung it downwards in an arc that half-severed the creature’s head from its body. Blood gushed from the wound and the Violator collapsed, kicking its hind legs in a death spasm.
The second creature leapt at Jess before she could rally, and fastened its huge jaws on her arm. She fell backwards from the force of the attack. The beast crunched and ripped at her arm, tearing away chunks of Jess’s protective clothing. Frantically, she smashed it on the nose with the pommel of her sword. The beast released her arm only to lunge at her neck. Jess did the only thing she could think of. Pushing her hand into its mouth, she grabbed hold of its tongue and wrenched.
Two more of the creatures crashed through the bush towards the group. Gareth screamed a warning, “Jess, look out!” and raced to meet them. The first brute leapt at him and he swung both his knives in to meet the sides of the animal’s head. His aim was true and the blades pierced its eyes. Instantly dead, the weight of the creature forced Gareth to the ground, but he pushed the animal to one side and struggled to his feet.
He dashed towards Jess and was bowled over by the remaining Violator. The massive jaws of the animal had him by the back of his head, forcing him into the dust. Saliva drooled over his face
and putrid breath stank in his nose.
He felt a stabbing pain as the Violator’s teeth pierced the skin on his skull, and then the pressure vanished.
“Up, Junior. Quickly!” Hickory heaved the carcass from his body and pulled him to his feet.
“I owe you one, boss. I thought for a terrible moment I was being eaten,” he said.
Hickory had already left and was running to Jess’s aid. Jess sat on the ground, cradling her injured arm. She was saturated in the blood of the injured animal, which was jerking in agony by her side. She gasped with relief as Hickory rammed her blade through the Violator’s head.
“You ripped its tongue out?” Hickory stared at the gory object still in Jess’s hand. She realized Jess was in pain. “Never mind. You can tell me the story another time.” She bent over her friend and gently took her arm, feeling for shattered bone. “I think you’re lucky. You’ll have some painful bruising but nothing seems to be broken. Do you think you can stand? We need to wash those wounds and get some treatment for your arm.”
Nolanski leaned down to help Jess up, but she shrugged his hands away. “What the hell! Why didn’t you help me when I needed it? That thing would have killed me.” Her legs were trembling as she staggered to a rock and sat.
“You okay, Mother?” asked Gareth. “I tried to get to you, but the big doggie wanted to play with me.”
“Boyo, you are an idiot!” she said, and then she laughed with relief.
Hickory glanced around the area. “We need to get moving. No telling how many more of those things are around here,” she said, staring at Nolanski.
“I didn’t know,” he said. “I mean, I knew about them. I just didn’t realize they’d be in this part of the island. And Jess, I’m sorry I didn’t come to your aid, but I’m a diplomat, not a fighter.”
“More like a coward,” mumbled Gareth under his breath.
Hickory gave him a warning look. “Zip it, Gareth.”
Nolanski turned away and hitched up the wagon. “We’re still twelve miles from Llandabra. We need to get going. More Violators will be here soon—they usually live in packs of ten or more.”
An hour later, they came upon a settlement: not more than a dozen irregular-shaped dwellings made from wood, grass and mud, clustered together and enclosed by a waist-high earthen wall. “We should be safe now. Violators tend to keep away from the villages.” Nolanski nodded to a few naurs standing in the shadow of the gate. All wore gray rough-spun clothing, with hats pulled low over eyes that swiveled to follow them. Nolanski continued to smile but didn’t slow down.
Gareth swung round in his seat. “Hey, wait a sec! Can’t we stop for a few minutes? I’d like to take a closer look at a Prosperine village if I could.”
Nolanski shook his head. “Number one, it wouldn’t be polite to enter the village without an invitation, and number two, disguised the way we are they’re more than likely to think we’re demons. I doubt they see many dark skinned Castalie. Don’t worry, son. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet the locals when we reach more populated areas. The folks in these island villages are the Prosperine equivalent of the Amish. They like to keep to themselves, and they have little experience of dealing with foreigners.”
“They’re some sort of religious sect?” Hickory asked.
Nolanski shrugged. “Could be, but I don’t think so. That sort of dress isn’t unusual for farmers in the more remote areas. They’ll all belong to the same family group and for some reason—might be religion or politics—they’ve chosen to live in isolation.”
“It must be a hard life,” said Hickory, frowning.
“Very tough. The Avanauri society is based on a clan system. Sometimes you get four generations all living in the same camp.”
“Don’t they have problems with inbreeding?”
“Some,” said Nolanski, nodding. “Each clan revitalizes the gene pool by intermarrying with nearby groups, and on islands like this one they enforce strict mores on births inside the clan. Females—the nauris—move in with the naurs’ families. The occasional aberration is dealt with ruthlessly.”
“No wonder there’s so few of them,” muttered Jess.
Hickory sensed malevolence from the primitives. It was an unfocused anger, full of resentment and hopelessness. An image of a group of naurs swallowing lumps of flesh came to her. The folks here were starving, forced into eating meat and it was driving them mad. She probed a little deeper but could find no angst towards her or her party. She wondered whether food shortage was widespread amongst the Avanauri community; it would explain the restlessness reported on the streets.
When they reached Llandabra, her question was at least partially answered. This was a thriving town, the largest on the island, with a native population of several thousand that swelled to nearly double, depending on how many ships were in dock. The number of strangers visiting the seaport had multiplied over time, resulting in many of the local traditions being relaxed, and the perimeter wall had fallen into disrepair.
“At one time, every city, town and village in Avanaux would have been surrounded by a wall to keep out intruders, but with the number of people passing through this place in recent years it became a barrier to trade,” said Nolanski.
They passed through the gates and the road changed from dirt to crushed rock. Nolanski pointed out the rainwater harvesting system that captured precious water from landscaped areas and rooftops.
“The rainwater passes through a filtration unit into storage tanks built underground, away from light and heat. Some of their engineering works are really quite sophisticated.”
Many of the standalone buildings were the traditional oval shape they’d seen on the ship’s vids, but on each side of the road modern two and three-story white stucco houses were common. All had high windows facing the sun to the east, and either a vegetable or a fruit garden had been planted on the roof of each building. “They’ve become very skillful at intensive farming and make use of every available hectare. They grow enough in nine months to see them through the rest of the year when the weather makes it impossible to work the soil. Those large buildings over to the side are silos for storing grain and nut crops. Fruit, legumes and vegetables are dried and held in vaults located underground.”
Brutus trumpeted as they passed an open-air enclosure with stalls where some yarraks were being cleaned, watered and fed. Those not scheduled to leave that day could be seen wallowing in a huge mud puddle.
They arrived at the dock area and dismounted. Boats were moored alongside a wooden jetty, and Nolanski pointed to a ketch bearing twin masts raked sharply forward, with long yards carrying furled sails. “The Seabird. That’s our transport. It should be leaving for Ezekan in a few hours.”
A lively crowd had gathered around the owner of a smaller fishing boat selling baskets of crab, small flying fish and assorted seaweed. They glanced casually at the travelers passing by, but otherwise didn’t pay them any attention. Gareth grinned with delight when a young naur waved to them. “The Avanauri don’t look all that different from homo sapiens,” he said.
Hickory couldn’t agree, but kept her thoughts to herself. While their faces were humanoid, and they each had two arms and two legs, that’s as far as the similarities went. Many of the people here wore loose clothing that revealed short necks and sloping shoulders, but it was the absence of any waistline, forcing them to bend from the tops of their long legs, that made them so alien to her eyes.
They passed some young adults with children clinging to them, tails wrapped around their parents’ waists. Their briefings had taught them to differentiate the nauri by the color flashes starting at their eyes and extending to the back of their heads. The dark-purple color signified the females were younger and more attractive to the naur. As they grew older, the markings turned orange and then brown when past childbearing age.
Jess remarked that she found it difficult to tell one Avanauri from another. “Apart from the colors, they’re all pretty much hairl
ess, and they’re almost identical in size and shape. There’s no excessively fat or particularly skinny ones that I can see anyway—and their eyes are all that bright blue color.”
Gareth raised his eyes heavenward. “So, they all look the same to you? Bit of a stereotype isn’t it?”
Nolanski glanced round. “Actually, it’s a matter of getting used to it. Once you’ve been on Prosperine a while, you’ll be able to recognize individuals. There are plenty with different body size and mass, but there is less variation here than there is amongst humans.”
“That’s what I’m saying!” said Jess. She stuck her tongue out at Gareth, which caused some of the onlookers to become agitated.
“I’d be careful with the tongue, Jess. Mating ritual!” said Nolanski, sniggering.
Jess’s face glowed, which caused even more excitement.
“We’d better get you on the boat before you start a riot,” said Gareth.
Ezekan
Lying more than a mile to the north of the harbor, Ezekan sparkled as they approached it from the sea. The city was perched on top of a solitary volcanic plug jutting vertically from an embankment of soil. This rocky peak, the mountains in the background, and the walls of the city were all made of the same white stone.
Nolanski passed his spyglass to Hickory. She followed a broad track that snaked up the steep embankment and led to the city gates. Close up, the walls resolved into massive blocks with glittering black flecks reflecting the sun’s light. Banners and flags fluttered atop towers and steeples, visible above the outer wall.
“Impressive. Is the plateau a natural feature?” she said.
“It’s a lava neck. Left over from an extinct volcano when the planet’s ice age scraped away the surface. The whole of the mainland seems to be made out of carbonatite. Extremely rare on Earth.”
Half a dozen sailors scrambled aloft to furl the sails. The ship slipped neatly alongside a jetty and was made fast to a bollard.
