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Sinagua Skies, part 13 The Rangar members met inside the temple, telling their findings to the High One. “It was all we could do to chase after them. Their beasts are too swift. We had to be content to follow the strange tracks.” “Did you discover what they were doing when you found them?” The priest shook his head. “We watched but we didn’t understand much of what they were doing. They waved sticks above the soil while their eyes stared at small boxes. Another man collected stones and dirt. Perhaps they were seeking blessings for a future settlement,” he ventured. Parren spoke up next. “Many of their words meant nothing to me,” she told him, avoiding mention of the stone that he had given her. “They seem nervous about being here but I don’t think it is our people they fear.” “Maybe they fear angering the Gods.” “I doubt that. They don’t seem very devout to me,” she told her friends. “If I have to give you my first impression of them then I say they are hiding something. I suggest no one from the village travels in the direction of the metal beast. If they must hunt or gather wild foods let it be in the opposite direction. I’d rather be careful until we discover their true motives." The elderly priest kept his gaze on the dirt floor as he thought over her words. “I agree. “We will tell everyone tonight before evening prayers. I also suggest we keep more men on guard at night. Kopna, in the morning I wish for you to organize work parties to gather as much extra food and water as you can. I would rather be careful than find our people cut off without anything to feed them.” He looked at the Master Traders. “Tonight I want the Traders and their apprentices to do a little spying on the dark metal mountain. I am sure you know how to get close without alerting the strangers.” The high priest knew of the experiences of the men on their return journey. Hanpa could transport the four of them close and Parren could listen to the words if they got close enough. The Traders nodded. They were all dismissed and the Master Traders told their apprentices to get some sleep before dark. Parren returned to her mother’s home and sought out her mate. Perhaps Hyenta would be willing to nap. The Emissary wasn’t in the mood for blanket play since she was so jittery over the strangers. But jittery or not she wanted a little time with her mate before leaving for the night. “You just let the three of them walk out of here? Did it ever occur to you that they might come back with friends and attack us? We could be seen as trespassers or invaders,” the first mate grumbled at Fernando. “They seemed friendly enough,” the Spaniard mumbled back. Frank snorted. “And that bare-tittied gal pointing a knife at me was just being friendly?” “Well, you were staring at her chest and leering. I would have been offended too.” “Then she shouldn’t be going around showing them off.” Frank winked at Johnson. “They might have been small but they sure were nice to look at.” “You are such a cerdo, Frank,” Fernando told him, a look of revulsion on his face. “The señorita couldn’t have been older than your own muchachita.” “Never mind, Fernando. Frank isn’t going to do anything to upset the natives. Isn’t that right?” Johnson said pointedly at Frank. “Sure, whatever you say,” Frank said, rolling his eyes. He didn’t care what that holier-than-thou fucker said. He planned on getting a little native pussy before they left. It was a long trip back to terra firma. “The door is closed. Do you wish to return or wait, Hanpa?” Jopa asked of his mentor. The older man sighed. Those men held great power in their hands yet feared the darkness. That in itself was a small clue to their souls but Jopa was correct. Remaining would be futile. “Let’s go back. We’ll return at first light.” Parren slipped under the covers and snuggled up to her sleeping wife. Hyenta stirred but settled down as Parren wrapped her arms around her and reset the covers over them. The Emissary burrowed her face into her mate’s thick hair and let out a sigh of pleasure, her eyes closing. Parren woke when a cool touch on her arm urged her into wakefulness. She looked up and saw Jopa kneeling there, lit only by the light of a small oil lamp. She slipped out from under the covers and retrieved her clothing. She dressed silently and together they left her mother’s home. She didn’t bother grabbing anything from the kitchen since she knew the others would have a light meal prepared for them at the temple. She and her friend thanked the priest as they joined the others as he handed them bowls of warmed grains and pieces of cured meat. Hot tea was also served. They ate silently in the predawn light. Only the sound of an occasional bird chirping in the distance could be heard. Parren could feel and smell the morning dew in the air and shivered slightly. In spite of the chill she wouldn’t bother with a shirt because she knew it would be quite warm later in the morning. They rinsed their bowls and put them aside. As a group the Traders stood and left the temple. The first rays of pink and orange colored the sky just as they stepped foot onto the narrow ledge and headed for the ladders leading to the valley floor. The wooden ladders, smooth with constant use, felt damp in the morning air. The four Traders traveled at a steady pace until they reached the metal tower. The door was still closed. Thrana looked up at the morning sky. “They are slothful. They waste the day Obansa has given them,” he mumbled with an irritated tone. The others agreed and they settled down and waited. Sister sun was on her brother’s shoulder when the great door opened and movement from within was seen. One of the smaller metal beasts traveled down the incline and headed southwest, towards the mountain’s foothills. Once it was gone they studied the door that remained open. “I feel them waiting,” Hanpa whispered. “I don’t like this at all. Parren pulled her blade from her sheathe. “I don’t either and wouldn’t hesitate to remove the eyes of that one who dared to look at me as he did,” she hissed, still outraged. “Don’t allow your anger to blot out your reasoning, young Parren. Once blood is drawn there is little chance of learning the truth. I suggest we take a stroll down to the sky beast and see what happens.” “And if they mean us harm?” Jopa asked of the Master Trader. “We’ll hunt that animal when we cross its trail. Come, let’s go see what they are doing.” The four Traders took the steep trail down the side of the cliff until they reached the huge opening. Thrana peered inside first but saw no one. He stepped onto the ramp and took a step inside. He waited patiently, sensing eyes on him although no person could be seen. After many heartbeats the sound of hissing could be heard and a small door opened. Thrana gave a signal to Parren who placed the crystal into her ear. Two men entered the room, each carrying a long metal stick casually in their hands. The sticks had no points, merely a carved grip on the end in the men’s hands. Thrana glanced at the men’s faces, trying to determine their thoughts while assuming a mild and friendly expression on his own features. Turk Johnson studied the older man carefully. His clothing wasn’t ornate so he doubted he was of any true importance in the tribe. He could be an elder sent to deal with the intruders or the sacrificial lamb in case the mysterious aliens were violent. Turk grunted in amusement at his own thoughts as he studied the old man’s face. He didn’t seem afraid at least, looking at him calmly. “Well, old boy, I wonder why you’re here?” the first officer muttered. Pete shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe the kids told him about us and he wanted to check us out himself,” he suggested. “Yeah, that could be it. He doesn’t talk much. Let’s see what happens if I get closer.” “Be careful Johnson. The Captain would be ticked at me if you got hurt.” “Then hold your stun wand ready if you’re so worried about this old man,” John taunted. He took a few steps closer to the visitor. Once he was close enough he held out his hand in greeting. Thrana looked at the empty palm and grunted. Offering one’s palm to show you are unarmed means little when you have a rod in the other. Thrana held out both his empty hands, showing the stranger how to greet someone properly. “Guess they ain’t into shaking hands, huh?” he chuckled. The door hissed once more and Frank joined his buddies. “What, where’s that pretty piece of fluff that was here yesterday? She’s a lot better looking than this old man.” “Better watch it, Frank, this might be her old man for all we know,” Pete warned. Frank ignored the warning, slowly walking in a circle around the quiet visitor. He didn’t see Parren hiding around the corner, tightly gripping her knife handle and imagining the man sporting a few strategic cuts. “Cut the crap, Frank. Pete, let’s crank up the translator and start teaching pops here a few words so it has something to start with.” Johnson turned to Thrana and placed his hand on his own chest. “Turk,” he told the older man. The trader touched his forefinger to his chin. “Thrana.” “Now we’re getting somewhere.” Johnson motioned to the old man to follow him outside so they could point to different features outside. The three people hiding quickly ducked under the ramp so they couldn’t be seen. Johnson waited until Pete joined them with the handheld translator and began naming objects in Anglish. Thrana named items in Sinaguan. Once the few outdoor things such as ‘sun’, ‘sky’, and ‘dirt’ were named Johnson tried to convey other simple concepts while the translator hummed patiently. The first officer was tired of thinking of new words and told Pete to take over while he manned the device. Pete wasn’t used to a teaching role but managed to exchange enough words that the translator beeped, indicating it had a nominal language base. Not much more than baby talk actually. It would need more for anything more detailed. They kept up the language lessons until Bob and Hank returned in the ATV. “Hey, who’s the old guy?” Hank asked as he shut the vehicle door. “This is Thrana,” Johnson told the geologist. He made introductions before asking about the test results to the survey. “Oh man, pure grade 4 and 5 ore. We’re gonna be rich,” Hank boasted. “If we don’t die from the rock fall,” Bob added. “The entire area is nothing but old bedrock that’s full of air pockets and loose gravel. Chances are that we’ll have to dig out our machinery all the time when the mine walls cave in. We don’t have the raw materials to shore them up properly.” “Can’t we just fly this bucket of bolts to a forest and cut down some timber?” Pete suggested. “You wanna play lumberjack? I sure don’t. How about asking pops here to lend us some men to help out?” Frank told Johnson. “Oh yeah, not only are we guilty of mining on a restricted planet you want to risk being convicted of mishandling the native population?” He didn’t need to mention that the second offense meant a life sentence rather than a ten-year prison term. “Who said anything about ‘mishandling’ them? Offer them wages and as long as they’re willing to work they can’t charge us with impressing them into labor.” “That’s just a technicality and you know it, Frank. Just forget it.” Johnson turned around to escort Thrana away from the argument but the old man had disappeared. “Shit, just what I needed,” Turk mumbled and went back inside. Sinagua Skies, part 14 Once the Traders were far from the ship Thrana asked Parren if she understood what the strangers had spoken of. “They found something they want, something that will make them wealthy. From what little I understood I think it needs to be dug up but the man said it would be dangerous. The other man suggested using our people to do the work. I say refuse his request. There is nothing they could offer worth risking the lives of our people.” “I agree. I will pass on your warning to the High One. In the meantime, why don’t you both go home. I will send for you if I need either of you.” Parren and her friend agreed, tired and eager to relax. They bid the two older men good-bye. Jopa was winked at Parren and headed for Shalen’s home. The Emissary climbed up to her mother’s home and found the women of the household preparing for the evening meal. Hyenta smiled at Parren and invited her to join her on the woven rug. The Achaian was shelling najanta pods while Parren’s sisters were grinding flour. Sopan greeted her daughter but didn’t question her about her duties, learning many years ago that her daughter would only speak if she wished to share her knowledge. Parren leaned over and placed a kiss on her mate’s cheek, amused at the slight flush that rose to color her face. “Need any help?” Parren offered. “Not with those dirty hands. Clean up then help me shell these pods. If we have enough time afterwards perhaps we can take a short nap,” she grinned. Hyenta knew that would get the work done quickly. Sopan watched her daughter nearly fly down the ladder into the house and grunted. “Hmm, she never offered to help me do chores that eagerly,” she said petulantly, sending a wink to her daughters. The young women giggled and reminded their mother that some forms of bribery worked better than others did. Hyenta blushed a deeper red but grinned, pleased at the acceptance she got from her new family. Parren returned to the roof, a silly grin on her freshly scrubbed face. Yes, acceptance was very, very good. Fernando lowered his field glasses and wiped the sweat from his brow. He had circled for hours around the ship for nearly an hour before he found the faint tracks of the natives. He rested for a minute, taking a drink from his canteen as he looked up at the dwellings built into the cliffs. His thoughts ran to the fanciful as his imagination played with the fact that the natives looked very human and the adobe and limestone homes built into the cliff looked like the ancient cliff dwellings of North America. He shook his head at his own imagination. The mechanist shifted his pack and continued up the steep incline. He had hoped to meet with the natives before dark. But Fernando hadn’t known how far away their village actually was. The Captain said to find them and make nice. Pete reluctantly got up. “Shit, I’m exhausted. Why couldn’t they build their damned village at ground level?” “They hardly had visitors in mind when they built their village. Can you think of a safer home than one high in the air? Animals can’t bother you and it’s easily defendable,” Fernando lectured. “I’m gonna be pissed if they yank in the welcome mat and refuse to let us in,” the man grumbled. The Spaniard laughed. “If they knew why we were here they’d drop boulders on us and kill us off one by one.” “Don’t remind me that they’d happily slit our throats in the middle of the night. Frank’s little jail bait looked like she’d do it for the fun of it with him at the head of the line.” “She looked friendly enough to me. As long as we behave ourselves and try not to break any social taboos we might find them very helpful.” ”Yeah, I know, keep our eyes off their boobs.” “You got it, Pete. Now, let’s see if the welcome mat is out.” Fernando stopped about thirty feet from the base of the cliff and pulled out the translator. “Hello!” he shouted up the rock face wall. Heads popped out and dark eyes looked down at them. Fernando had expected grown men to inspect them but saw the faces of children. He waved in a friendly manner and the faces disappeared. “Think they’ll let us in?” Fernando shrugged, “Tal vez, maybe.” Suddenly a long rope ladder was tossed over the side of the cliff. It snapped loudly as it uncoiled, making both men jump back in surprise. The Spaniard cleared his throat. “I think that means ‘come on in’.” Pete looked up the cliff and swallowed. “You first,” he suggested. Fernando huffed in annoyance and grabbed the rough twine rope and began climbing the unsteady ladder. He was about twenty feet up when he felt Pete get hold of the rope and climb onto it too. At the top of the ladder he felt hands grasp his arms and help him onto the ledge. Fernando didn’t know that they had watched him climb the rope awkwardly and thought him clumsy. “Muchas gracias,” he told them, forgetting for a moment they didn’t speak Spanish--or English for that matter. He straightened and noted that a group of men armed with spears and clubs stood back, watching their movements. This assignment would be harder than he thought. The natives were already wary of them. He pulled out the translator from his pack and turned it on, hoping it had a large enough language base to make them understood. He held it up and began speaking slowly and carefully. "Hello, my name is Fernando," he began, placing his free hand on his chest. He then pointed at Pete, introducing him. "May we speak to your leaders?" Fernando inwardly grimaced. He sounded like one of those terrible sci-fi movies from the 1950's. The two men were led to a limestone building nearby. The setting sun made it appear brighter than the surrounding dwellings that were much higher. A quick glance told the visitors that at least a hundred families lived within the cliffs. The Spaniard entered the building, noticing that it was much cooler inside. Torches lit the interior to a warm glow. Their escort of guards pointed to a stone bench so the men sat down and waited. Kopna entered the room a few minutes later after donning his ceremonial robes. He wanted the strangers to have no doubts of his influence over his people. Walking behind him was Parren who had the communication stone tucked into her ear. She would attempt to aid the high priest to speak with the strangers. Once she saw who was in the atrium, she whispered to Kopna. "The darker one, he is the nicer of the men. The other strikes me as somewhat weak willed. He does as he is told and no more." The priest nodded slightly and faced the men. "Why have you come here?" The translator still needed more input and only gave the possible wording as, "Here? Why?" Fernando cleared his throat after bowing politely. He once again introduced himself and Pete. The later then pulled out a small chest from his pack and handed it to his co-worker. Fernando took a few slow steps closer to the priest and opened the box. "We are here to learn about your people. We want to become friends. This is our small gift to you," he explained. One of the guards stepped forward and inspected the box before taking it to Kopna. The priest looked inside but the items were so strange that he had no clue to their function. He took one shiny object from the box, a flattish item that was smooth. He brought it to his nose to sniff it and detected something sweet. He glanced at the men who mimed eating. He almost took a bite when Pete stopped him and said to remove the paper, what ever that was. It must be a wrapping of some sort. he noticed a overlap in the outside covering and tugged it, tearing a hole into it. Inside was something dark. He broke off the corner and carefully nibbled at it. Sweetness and something unknown saturated his senses. At first he was unsure he liked it but another tiny bite made him change his mind. He nodded and placed the remainder into the chest. Parren was watching the men intently, straining her ears to listen to whatever they whispered between them. She saw their eyes glance towards her and knew they spoke of her. Kopna decided to watch these men and invited them to spend the night within their walls. The men accepted and suggested to Parren that she take the men to her mother's dwelling since she had extra room and many males in her household. The Two-Spirit woman nodded and motioned to the men to follow her. She knew Kopna really wanted her to try and spy on the men for him. The strangers would no doubt choose when and where they used their box that spoke words. Parren led them up the series of ladders to Sopan's home. Her family was located on the roof, eating their evening meal. Sopan stood up when she saw the strangers with her daughter and questioned her rapidly. The older woman listened then excused herself to prepare the spare room for the guests. She told her daughter, Konen, to serve a meal to the men in her absence. Parren pointed to one of the benches and the men sat down, unsure what to expect. They kept an eye on the bare-breasted female, sensing she had more importance than they first believed. She sat down next to a lovely woman and took her hand. Bowls were handed to them and the men ate without comment, feeling the eyes of the people on them as they chewed. Topa studied Fernando with slitted eyes. She leaned towards her Rangar sister. "He is quite handsome, is he not?" she whispered. Even though Fernando's features were different from their own, he was still dark-haired and tanned from the sun. He wasn't like the pale one next to him who resembled a dead fish in color. "Have you yet thrown your husband's belongings from mother's home?" "Not yet but if this stranger proves warm-blooded, I may have a need for a new mate soon," she said with a leer. "I wouldn't risk my heart on any of these strangers. I don't trust them," Parren warned. "He has kind eyes," Topa murmured, not allowing herself to become discouraged. Parren ate her own meal, her eyes focused on the men. Once they finished eating she put her bowl aside and escorted the men to the village's latrines. Large narrow ditches were carved into the limestone where people did their business. They were sprinkled with ashes several times a day and once full, would be emptied and disposed of away from the village. The men quickly urinated, realizing they'd never find the location again in the dark. Parren then led them back to Sopan's home and to the spare room that was next to her own sleeping place. Her mother had set out padded cushions on the floor and woven blankets to keep them warm. An oil lamp had been lit and a crock of water was set to one side. She left the men to their privacy and joined Hyenta in their sleep space. ******* Pete couldn't sleep. Fernando was softly snoring next to him but the lack of the accustomed ship noises kept him awake. He was trying to find a comfortable position when sounds of passion from the next room caught his attention. He strained his ears and realized that it was the sound of two women going at it hot and heavy. His imagination kicked in and his body reacted, leaving him in a painful state. Unable to resist, he carefully got up, doing his best not to make any sounds. He slipped through the curtain and tiptoed to the next room. The sounds of their activities increased in volume. Pete did his best to control his own panting and slowly parted the curtain so he could peek inside. The girl who had brought them here was upon the one she had sat next to early. Their bodies rocked against one another as their mouths and hands were kept busy. He watched Parren in the dim lighting as she buried her face into her lover's neck and emitted a muffled scream as she reached her climax. The woman under her writhed a few more times then joined her. As both women panted in the aftermath, Pete realized he needed to leave before they heard him. He quietly hurried back to the room and crawled back onto his pallet, cursing his own condition that would leave him aching for a long time. Next Page |