Savages of Gor

1 Kog and Sardak; The Parley in the Delta

"How many are there?" I asked Samos.

"Two." he said.

"Are they alive?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

At the second Ahn, long before dawn, the herald of Samos had come to the lakelike courtyard of my holding in many-canalled Port Kar, that place of manyships, scourge of Thassa, that dark jewel in her gleaming green waters. Twicehas he struck the bars of the sea gate, each time with the Ka-la-na shaft of hisspear, not with the side of its broad tapering bronze point. The signet ring, ofSamos of Port Kar, first captain of the council of captains, was displayed. Iwould be roused. The morning, in early Spring, was chilly.

"Does Tyros move?" I asked blond-haired Thurnock, that giant of a man, he ofpeasants, who had come to rouse me.

"I think not, Captain," said he.

The girl beside me pulled the furs up about her throat, frightened.

"Have ships of Cos been sighted?" I asked.

"I do not think so, Captain," said he.

There was a sound of chain beside me. The chain had moved against the collarring of the girl beside me. Beneath the furs she was naked. The chain ran fromthe slave ring at the foot of my couch, a heavy chain, to the, thick metalcollar fastened on her neck.

"It is not, then, on the business of Port Kar that he comes?" I had asked.

"I think perhaps not, Captain," said Thurnock. "I think that the matters have todo with business other than that of Port Kar."

The small tharlarion-oil lamp he held illuminated his bearded face as he stoodnear the door.

"It has been quiet," I said, "for too long."

"Captain?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"It is early," whispered the girl next to me.

"You were not given permission to speak," I told her.

"Forgive me, Master," she said.

I threw back the heavy furs on the great stone couch. Quickly the girl pulled upher legs and turned on her side. I, sitting up, looked down at her, trying tocover herself from the sight of Thurnock. I pulled her then beneath me. "Ohh," she breathed.

"You will grant him, then, an audience?" asked Thurnock.

"Yes," I said.

"Oh," said the girl. "Ohh!"

Now, as she lay, the small, fine brand high on her left thigh, just below thehip, could be seen. I had put it there myself, at my leisure, once in Ar.

"Master, may I speak?" she begged.

"Yes," I said.

"One is present," she said. "Another is present!"

"Be silent," I told her.

"Yes, my Master," she said.

"You will be there shortly?" asked Thurnock.

"Yes," I told him. "Shortly."

The girl looked wildly over my shoulder, toward Thurnock. Then she clutched me,her eyes closed, shuddering, and yielded. When again she looked to Thurnock shedid so as a yielded slave girl, pinned in my arms.

"I shall inform the emissary of Samos that you will be with him in moments," said Thurnock.

"Yes," I told him.

He then left the room, putting the tharlarion-oil lamp on a shelf near the door.

I looked down into the eyes of the girl, held helplessly in my arms.

"What a slave you made me," she said.

"You are a slave," I told her.

"Yes, my Master," she said.

"You must grow accustomed to your slavery, in all its facets," I told her.

"Yes, my Master," she said.

I withdrew from her then, and sat on the edge of the couch, the furs about me.

"A girl is grateful that she was touched by her Master," she said.

I did not respond. A slave's gratitude is nothing, as are slaves.

"It is early," she whispered.

"Yes," I said.

"It is very cold," she said.

"Yes," I said. The coals in the brazier to the left of the great stone couch hadburned out during the night. The room was damp, and cold, from the night air,and from the chin from the courtyard and canals. The walls, of heavy stone, too,saturated with the chilled, humid air, would be cold and damp, and the defensivebars set in the narrow windows, behind the buckled leather hangings. On my feetI could feel the dampness and moisture on the tiles. I did not give herpermission to draw back under the covers, nor was she so bold or foolish as torequest that permission. I had been lenient with her this night. I had not slepther naked on the tiles beside the couch, with only a sheet for warmth, nor nakedat the foot of the couch, with only a chain for comfort.

I rose from the couch and went to a bronze basin of cold water at the side ofthe room. I squatted beside it and splashed the chilled water over my face andbody.

"What does it mean, my Master," asked the girl, "that one from the house ofSamos, first captain in Port Kar, comes so early, so secretly, to the house ofmy Master?"

"I do not know," I said. I toweled myself dry, and turned to look upon her. Shelay on her left elbow, on the couch, the chain running from her collar to thesurface of the couch, and thence to the slave ring fixed deeply in its base.

Seeing my eyes upon her she then knelt on the surface of the couch, kneelingback an her heels, spreading her knees, straightening her back, lifting herhead, and putting her hands on her thighs. It is a common kneeling position fora female slave.

"If you knew, you would not tell me, would you?" she asked.

"No," I said.

"I am a slave," she said.

"Yes," I said.

"You had me well," she said, "and as a slave."

"It is fitting," I said.

"Yes, Master," she said.

I then returned to the couch, and sat upon its edge. She then left the couch,that she might kneel on the tiles before me. I looked down at her. How beautifulare enslaved women.

"Perhaps," I said, "you might speculate on what business brings the emissary ofSamos of Port Kar to my house this morning?"

"I, Master?" she asked, frightened.

"Yes," I said. "You once served Kurii, the Others, the foes of Priest-Kings."

"I told all that I knew," she exclaimed. "I told all in the dungeons of Samos! Iwas terrified! I held back nothing! I was emptied of information!"

"You were then valueless," I said.

"Except, perhaps, as I might please a man as a slave," she said.

"Yes," I smiled.

Samos himself had issued the order of enslavement on her. In Ar I had presentedthe document to her and shortly thereafter, as it pleased me, implemented itsprovisions. She had once been Miss Elicia Nevins, of Earth, an agent of Kurii onGor. Then, in Ar, a city from which once I had been banished, I had caught andenslaved her. In those compartments which had been her own in Ar she had becomemy capture, and had been stripped and placed in my bonds. In her owncompartments, then, at my leisure, I had branded her and locked on her fairthroat the gleaming, inflexible circlet of bondage. Before the fall of darkness,and my escape, I had had time, too, to pierce her ears, that the full degree ofher degradation and slavery, in the Gorean way of thinking, be made most clear.

To Gorean eyes the piercing of the ears, this visible set of wounds, inflictedto facilitate the mounting of sensual and barbaric ornamentations, iscustomarily regarded as being tantamount, for most practical purposes, to asentence of irrevocable bondage. Normally ear- piercing is done only to thelowest and most sensuous of slaves. It is regarded, by most Goreans, as beingfar more humiliating and degrading to a woman than the piercing of a girl'sseptum and the consequent fastening on her of a nose ring. Indeed, such anaperture does not even show. Some slave girls, of course, are fixed for both.

Their masters, thus, have the option of ornamenting their lovely properties asthey please. It might be mentioned that nose rings are favored in some areasmore than in others, and by some peoples more than others. On behalf of the nosering, too, it should be mentioned that among the Wagon Peoples, even free womenwear such rings. This, however, is unusual on Gor. The nose ring, most often, isworn by a slave.

These rings, incidentally, those for the ears and for the nose, do not servesimply to bedeck the female. They also have a role to play in her arousal. Thebrushing of the sides of the girl's neck by the dangling ornament is, in itself,a delicate stimulation of a sensitive area of her body, the sides of her neckbeneath the ears; this area is quite sensitive to light touches; if the earringis of more than one piece, the tiny sounds made by it, too, can also bestimulatory; accordingly, the earring's feel and movement, and caress, andsometimes sound, persistent, subtle and sensual, functioning on both a consciousand subliminate level, can often bring a female to, and often keep herindefinitely in, a state of incipient sexual readiness. It is easy to see whyfree women on Gor do not wear them, and why they are, commonly, only put on lowslaves. Similar remarks hold, too, of course, for the nose ring, which touches,lightly, the very sensitive area of a girl's upper lip. The nose ring, too, ofcourse, makes clear to the girl that she is a domestic animal. Many domesticanimals on Gor wear them.

The girl kneeling before me, once Elicia Nevins, once the lofty, beautiful andproud agent of Kurii, now only my lovely slave, reached for my sandals. Shepressed them to her lips, kissing them, and then, head down, began to tie themon my feet. She was quite beautiful, kneeling before me, performing this lowlytask, the heavy iron collar and chain on her neck.

I wondered what the emissary of Samos might wish.

"Your sandals are tied, Master," said the girl, lifting her, head, kneelingback.

I regarded her. It is pleasant to own a woman.

"Of what are you thinking, Master?" she asked.

"I was thinking," I said, "of the first time that I put you to my pleasure. Doyou recall it?"

"Yes, Master," she said. "I have never forgotten. And it was not only the firsttime that you put me to your pleasure. It was the first time that any man hadput me to his pleasure."

"As I recall," I said, "you yielded well, for a new slave."

"Thank you, Master," she said. "And while you were waiting for darkness, toescape the city, whiling away the time, you made me yield again and again."

"Yes," I said. I had then, after the fall of darkness, deeming it thenreasonably safe, bound her naked, belly up, over the saddle of my tarn and,eluding patrols, escaped from the city. I had brought her back to Port Kar,where I had thrown her, a bound slave, to the feet of Samos. He had had her putin one of his girl dungeons, where we had interrogated her. We had learned much.

After she had been emptied of information she might then be bound naked andthrown to the urts in the canals, or, perhaps, if we wished, kept as a slave.

She was comely. I had had her hooded and brought to my house. When she wasunhooded she found herself at my feet.

"Are you grateful that you were spared?" I asked.

"Yes, Master," she said, "and particularly that you have seen fit to keep me, ifonly for a time, as your own slave."

Nothing so fulfills a woman as her own slavery.

After I had used her, I had put her with my other women. Most of these areavailable to my men, as well as to myself.

"A girl is grateful," she said, "that this night you had her chained to yourslave ring."

"Who is grateful?" I asked.

"Elicia is grateful," she said.

"Who is Elicia?" I asked.

"I am Elicia," she said. "That is the name my Master has seen fit to give me."

I smiled. Slaves, no more than other animals, do not have names in their ownright. They are named by the Master. She wore her former name, but now only as aslave name, and by my decision.

I stood up, and drew about me one of the furs from the couch. I went to the sideof the room and, with a belt, belted the fur about me. Also, from the wall, fromits peg, I took down the scabbard with its sheathed short sword. I removed theblade from the scabbard and wiped it on the fur I had belted about me. I thenreinserted the blade in the scabbard. The blade is wiped to remove moisture fromit. Most Gorean scabbards are not moisture proof, as this would entail eithertoo close a fit for the blade or an impeding flap. I slung the scabbard strapover my left shoulder, in the Gorean fashion. In this way the scabbard, theblade once drawn, may be discarded, with its strap, which accouterments,otherwise, might constitute an encumbrance in combat. On marches, incidentallyand in certain other contexts, the strap, which is adjustable, is usually putover the right shoulder. This minimizes slippage in common and recurrent motion.

In both cases, of course, for a right-handed individual, the scabbard is at theleft hip, facilitating the convenient and swift across-the-body draw.

I then went again to the side of the fur-strewn, great stone couch, at the sideof which, on the, tiles, chained by the neck, knelt the beautiful slave.

I stood before her.

She lowered herself to her belly and, holding my ankles gently with her hands,covered my feet with kisses. Her lips, and her tongue, were warm and wet.

"I love you, my Master," she said, "and I am yours."

I stepped back from her. "Go to the foot of the couch," I told her, "and curlthere."

"Yes, Master," she said. She then, on her hands and knees, crawled to the footof the couch and, drawing up her legs, curled there on the cold tiles.

When I went to the door, I stopped and looked back, once, at her. She, curledthere on the cold, damp tiles, at the foot of the couch, the chain on her neck,regarded me.

The only light in the room was from the tiny tharlarion-oil lamp which, earlier,Thurnock had placed on the shelf near the door.

"I love you, my Master," she said, "and I am yours."

I then turned about and left the room. In a few Ahn, near dawn, men would cometo the room and free her, and then, later, put her to work with the other women.

"How many are there?" I asked Samos.

"Two," he said.

"Are they alive?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"This seems an unpropitious place for a meeting," I said. We were in the remainsof a half-fallen, ruined tarn complex, built on a wide platform, at the edge ofthe rence marshes, some four pasangs from the northeast delta gate of Port Kar.

In climbing to the platform, and in traversing it, the guards with us, who hadnow remained outside, had, with the butts of their spears, prodded more than onesinuous tharlarion from the boards, the creature then plunging angrily, hissing,into the marsh. The complex consisted of a tarn cot, now muchly open to the sky,with an anterior building to house supplies and tam keepers. It had beenabandoned for years. We were now within the anterior building. Through theruined roof, between unshielded beams, I could see patches of the night sky ofGor, and one of her three moons. Ahead, where a wall had mostly fallen, I couldsee the remains of the large tarn cot. At one time it had been a huge, convex,cage like lacing of mighty branches, lashed together, a high dome of fastened,interwoven wood, but now, after years of disrepair, and the pelting of rains andthe tearings of winds, little remained of this once impressive and intricatestructure but the skeletal, arched remnants of its lower portions.

"I do not care for this place," I said.

"It suits them," said Samos.

"It is too dark," I said, "and the opportunities for surprise and ambush are tooabundant."

"It suits them," said Samos.

"Doubtless," I said.

"I think we are in little danger," he said. "Too, guards are about."

"Could we not have met in your holding?" I asked.

"Surely you could not expect such things to move easily about among men?" askedSamos.

"No," I granted him.

"I wonder if they know we are here," said Samos.

"If they are alive," I said, "they will know."

"Perhaps," said Samos.

"What is the purpose of this parley?" I asked.

"I do not know," said Samos.

"Surely it is unusual for such things to confer with men," I said.

"True," granted Samos. He looked about himself, at the dilapidated, ramshacklebuilding. He, too, did not care overly much for his surroundings.

"What can they want?" I wondered.

"I do not know," said Samos.

"They must, for some reason, want the help of men," I speculated.

"That seems incredible," said Samos.

"True," I said.

"Could it be," asked Samos, "that they have come to sue for peace?"

"No," I said.

"How can you know that?" asked Samos.

"They are too much like men," I said.

"I shall light the lantern," said Samos. He crouched down and extracted a tinyfire-maker from his pouch, a small device containing a tiny reservoir oftharlarion oil, with a tharlarion-oil-impregnated wick, to be ignited by aspark, this generated from the contact of a small, ratcheted steel wheel, spunby a looped thumb handle, with a flint splinter.

"Need this meeting have been so secret?" I asked.

"Yes," said Samos.

We had come to this place, through the northeast delta gate, in a squarish,enclosed barge. It was only through slatted windows that I had been able tofollow our passage. Any outside the barge, on the walkways along the canals, forexample, could not have viewed its occupants. Such barges, though with the slatslocked shut, are sometimes used in the transportation of female slaves, thatthey may not know where in the city they are, or where they are being taken. Asimilar result is obtained, usually, more simply, in an open boat, the girlsbeing hooded and bound hand and foot, and then being thrown between the feet ofthe rowers.

I heard the tiny wheel scratch at the flint. I did not take my eyes from thethings at the far end of the room, on the floor, half hidden by a large table,the area open behind them leading to the ruined tarn cot. It is not wise to lookaway from such things, if they are in the vicinity, or to turn one's back uponthem. I did not know if they were asleep or not. I guessed that they were not.

My hand rested on the hilt of my sword. Such things, I had reason to know, couldmove with surprising speed.

The wick of the fire-maker was now aflame. Samos, carefully, held the tiny flameto the wick of the now-unshuttered dark lantern. It, too, burned tharlarion oil.

I was confident now, in the additional light, that the things were not asleep.

When the light had been struck, with the tiny noise, from the steel and flint,which would have been quite obvious to them, given the unusual degree of theirauditory acuity, there had been only the slightest of muscular contractions. Hadthey been startled out of sleep, the reaction, I was confident, would have beenfar more noticeable. I had little doubt they were, and had been, from the first,clearly and exactly aware of our presence.

"The fewer who know of the warrings of worlds, the better," said Samos. "Littleis to be served by alarming an unready populace. Even the guards outside do notunderstand, clearly, on what business we have come here. Besides, if one had notseen such things, who would believe stories as to their existence? They would beregarded as mythical or stories of wondrous animals, such as the horse, the dogand griffin."

I smiled. Horses and dogs did not exist on Gor. Goreans, on the whole, knew themonly from legends, which, I had little doubt, owed their origins to forgottentimes, to memories brought long ago to Gor from another world. Such stories, forthey were very old on Gor, probably go back thousands of years, dating from thetimes of very early Voyages of Acquisition, undertaken by venturesome,inquisitive creatures of an alien species, one known to most Goreans only as thePriest-Kings. To be sure, few Priest-Kings, now, entertained such a curiositynor such an enthusiastic penchant for exploration and adventure. Now, thePriest-Kings had be- come old. I think that perhaps one is old only when one haslost the desire to know. Not until one has lost ones curiosity, and concern, canone be said to be truly old.

I had two friends, in particular, who were Priest-Kings, Misk, and Kusk. I didnot think that they, in this sense, could ever grow old. But they were only two,two of a handful of survivors of a once mighty race, that of the lofty andgolden Priest-Kings. To be sure, I had managed, long ago, to return the lastfemale egg of Priest-Kings to the Nest. Too, among the survivors, protected fromassassination by the preceding generation, there had been a young male. But Ihad never learned what had occurred in the Nest after the return of the egg. Idid not know if it had been viable, or if the male had been suitable. I did notknow if it had hatched or not. I did not know if, in the Nest, a new Mother nowreigned or not. If this were the case I did not know the fate of the oldergeneration, nor the nature of the new. Would the new generation be as aware ofthe dangers in which it stood, as had been the last? Would the new generationunderstand, as well as had the last, the kind of things that, gigantic, shaggyand dark, intertwined, lay a few feet before me now? "I think you are right,Samos," I said.

He lifted the lantern now, its shutters open.

We viewed the things before us.

"They will move slowly," I said, "that they may not startle us. I think that we,too, should do the same."

"Agreed," said Samos.

"There are tarns in the tarn cot," I said. I had just seen one move, and theglint of moonlight off a long, scimitar like beak. I then saw it lift its wings,opening and shutting them twice. I had not detected them earlier in the shadows.

"Two," said Samos. "They are their mounts."

"Shall we approach the table?" I asked.

"Yes," said Samos.

"Slowly," I said.

"Yes," said Samos.

We then, very slowly, approached the table. Then we stood before it. I could seenow, in the light of the lantern, that the fur of one of the creatures was adarkish brown, and the fur of the other was almost black. The most common colorin such things is dark brown. They were large. As they lay, together, the crestof that heap, that living mound, marked by the backbone of one of them, was afew inches higher than the surface of the table. I could not see the heads. Thefeet and hands, too, were hidden. I could not, if I had wished, because of thetable, have easily drawn the blade and struck at them. I suspected that theposition they had taken was not an accident. Too, of course, from my point ofview, I was not displeased to have the heavy table where it was. I would nothave minded, in fact, had it been even wider. One tends to be most comfortablewith such things, generally, when they are in close chains, with inch-thicklinks, or behind close-set bars, some three inches in diameter.

Samos set the lantern down on the table. We then stood there, not moving.

"What is to be done?" asked Samos.

"I do not know," I said. I was sweating. I could sense my heart beating. Myright hand, across my body, was on the hilt of my sword. My left hand steadiedthe sheath.

"Perhaps they are sleeping," whispered Samos.

"No," I said.

"They do not signal their recognition of our presence," said Samos.

"They are aware we are here," I said.

"What shall we do?" asked Samos. "Shall I touch one?"

"Do not," I whispered, tensely. "An unexpected touch can trigger the attackreflex."

Samos drew back his hand.

"Too," I said, "Such things are proud, vain creatures. They seldom welcome thetouch of a human. The enraged and bloody dismemberment of the offender oftenfollows upon even an inadvertent slight in this particular."

"Pleasant fellows," said Samos.

"They, too," I said, "Like all rational creatures have their sense of proprietyand etiquette."

"How can you regard them as rational?" asked Samos.

"Obviously their intelligence, and their cunning, qualifies them as rational," Isaid. "It might interest you to know that, from their point of view, theycommonly regard humans as sub rational, as an inferior species, and, indeed, onethey commonly think of in terms little other than of food."

"Why, then," asked Samos, "would they wish this parley?"

"I do not know," I said. "That is, to me, a very fascinating aspect of thismorning's dark business."

"They do not greet us," said Samos, irritably. He was, after all, an agent ofPriest-Kings, and, indeed, the first captain of the council of captains, thatbody sovereign in the affairs of Port Kar.

"No," I said.

"What shall we do?" he asked.

"Wait," I suggested.

We heard, outside, the screaming of a predatory ul, a gigantic, toothed, wingedlizard, soaring over the marshes.

"How was this rendezvous arranged?" I asked.

"My original contact was made by a pointed, weighted message cylinder, foundupright two days ago in the dirt of my men's exercise yard," said Samos.

"Doubtless it was dropped there at night, by someone on tarnback."

"By one of them?" I asked.

"That seems unlikely," said Samos, "over the city."

"Yes," I said.

"They have their human confederates," he said.

"Yes," I said. I had, in my adventures on Gor, met several of the confederatesof such creatures, both male and female. The females, invariably, had been quitebeautiful. I had little doubt that they had been selected, ultimately, with thecollar in mind, that they might, when they had served their purposes, be reducedto bondage. Doubtless this projected aspect of their utility was not made clearto them in their recruitment. She who had once been Miss Elicia Nevins, now theslave Elicia in my holding, chained now nude by the neck to my slave ring, hadbeen such a girl. Now, however, instead of finding herself the slave of one ofher allies, or being simply disposed of in a slave market, she found herself theslave of one of her former enemies. That, I thought, particularly on Gor, wouldgive her slavery a peculiarly intimate and terrifying flavor. It was an Ahn orso until dawn now. Soon, doubtless, she would be released from the ring. Shewould be supervised in relieving and washing herself. Then she would be put withmy other women. She then, like the others, after having been issued her slavegruel, and after having finished it, and washed the wooden bowl, would beassigned her chores for the day.

We heard, again, the screaming of the ul outside the building. The tarns in thetarn cot moved about. The ul will not attack a tarn. The tarn could tear it topieces.

"We have been foolish," I said to Samos.

"How so?" asked Samos.

"Surely the protocols in such a matter, from the point of view of our friends,must be reasonably clear."

"I do not understand," said Samos.

"Put yourself in their place," I said. "They are larger and stronger than we,and quite possibly more ferocious and vicious. Too, they regard themselves asmore intelligent than ourselves, and as being a dominant species."

"So?" asked Samos.

"So," said I, "naturally they expect not to address us first, but to be firstaddressed."

"I," asked Samos, "first speak to such as they, I, who am first captain in thehigh city of Port Kar, jewel of gleaming Thassa?"

"Correct," I said.

"Never," said he.

"Do you wish me to do so?" I asked.

"No," said Samos.

"Then speak first," I said.

"We shall withdraw," said Samos, angrily.

"If I were you," I said, "I do not think I would risk displeasing them."

"Do you think they would be angry?" he asked.

"I expect so," I said. "I do not imagine they would care to have beenfruitlessly inconvenienced by human beings."

"Perhaps I should speak first," said Samos.

"I would recommend it," I said.

"They it is, after all," said he, "who have called this meeting."

"True," I encouraged him. "Also, it would be deplorable, would it not, to betorn to pieces without even having discovered what was on their minds?"

"Doubtless," said Samos, grimly.

"I can be persuasive," I admitted.

"Yes," agreed Samos.

Samos cleared his throat. He was not much pleased to speak first, but he woulddo it. Like many slavers and pirates, Samos was, basically, a good fellow.

"Tal," said Samos, clearly, obviously addressing this greeting to our shaggyconfreres. "Tal, large friends."

We saw the fur move, gigantic muscles slowly, evenly, beginning to stir beneathit. As they had lain it would have been difficult to detect, or strike, a vitalarea. Sinuously, slowly, the two creatures separated and then, slowly, seemed torise and grow before us. Samos and I stepped back. Their heads and arms were nowvisible. The light reflected back, suddenly, eccentrically, from the two largeeyes of one of them. For an instant they blazed, like red-hot copper disks, likethose of a wolf or coyote at the perimeter of a fire lit camp.

I could now, the angle of the lighting being different, see them, blinking, asthe large, deep orbs they were. I could see the pupils contracting. Suchcreatures are primarily nocturnal. Their night vision is far superior to that ofthe human. Their accommodation to shifting light conditions is also much morerapid than is that of the human. These things have been selected for in theirbloody species. When the eyes of the creature had reflected back the light, thelight, too, had suddenly reflected back from its fangs, and I had seen, too, thelong, dark tongue move about on the lips, and then draw back into the mouth.

The creatures seemed to continue to grow before us. Then they stood erect beforeus. Their hind legs, some eight to ten inches in width, are proportionatelyshorter than their arms, which tend to be some eight inches in width at thebiceps and some five inches, or so, in width at the wrist. Standing as theywere, upright, the larger of the two creatures was some nine feet tall, and thesmaller some eight and a half feet tall. I conjecture the larger weighed aboutnine hundred pounds and the smaller about eight hundred and fifty pounds. Theseare approximately average heights and weights for this type of creature. Theirhands and feet are six digited, tentacle like and multiply jointed. The nails,or claws, on the hands, are usually filed, presumably to facilitate themanipulation of tools and instrumentation. The claws, retractable, on the feetare commonly left unfiled. A common killing method for the creature is to seizethe victim about the head or shoulders, usually with the teeth, and, raking, todisembowel it with the tearing of the clawed hind feet. Other common methods areto hold the victim and tear away the throat from between the head and body, orto bite away the head itself.

"Tal," repeated Samos, uneasily.

I looked across the table at the creatures. I saw intelligence in their eyes.

"Tal," repeated Samos.

Their heads were better than a foot in width. Their snouts were two-nostriled,fattish and leathery. Their ears were large, wide and pointed. They were nowerected and oriented towards us. This pleased me, as it indicated they had noimmediate intention of attacking. When such a creature attacks the ears flattenagainst the sides of the head, this having the apparent function of reducingtheir susceptibility to injury. This is a common feature of predatorycarnivores.

"They do not respond," said Samos.

I did not take my eyes from the creatures. I shrugged. "Let us wait," I said. Iwas uncertain as to what alien protocols the creatures might expect us toobserve.

The creatures stood upright now but they could function as well on all fours,using the hind legs and the knuckles of the hands. The upright carriageincreases scanning range, and has probably contributed to the development andrefinement of binocular vision. The horizontal carriage permits great speed, andhas probably contributed, via natural selections, to the development ofolfactory and auditory acuity. In running, such creatures almost invariably,like the baboon, have recourse to all fours. They will normally drop to allfours in charging, as well, the increased speed increasing the impact of theirstrike.

"One is a Blood," I said.

"What is that?" asked Samos.

"In their military organizations," I said, "six such beasts constitute a Hand,and its leader is called an Eye. Two hands and two eyes constitute a largerunit, called a "Kur" or "Beast," which is commanded by a leader, or Blood.

Twelve such units constitute a Band, commanded again by a Blood, though ofhigher rank. Twelve bands, again commanded by a Blood, of yet higher rank,constitute a March. Twelve Marches is said to constitute a People. Thesedivisors and multiples have to do with, it seems, a base-twelve mathematics,itself perhaps indexed historically to the six digits of one of the creature'sprehensile appendages."

"Why is the leader spoken of as a Blood? asked Samos.

"It seems to have been an ancient belief among such creatures," I said, "thatthought was a function of the blood, rather than of the brain, a terminologywhich has apparently lingered in their common speech. Similar anachronisms occurin many languages, including Gorean."

"Who commands a People?" asked Samos.

"One who is said to be a "Blood' of the People, as I understand it," I said.

"How do you know that one of these is a "Blood," asked Samos.

"The left wrist of the larger animal bears two rings, rings of reddish alloy," Isaid. "They are welded on the wrist. No Gorean file can cut them."

"He is then of high rank?" asked Samos.

"Of lower rank than if he wore one," I said. "Two such rings designate theleader of a Band. He would have a ranking, thusly, of the sort normally accordedto one who commanded one hundred and eighty of his fellows."

"He is analogous to a captain," said Samos.

"Yes," I said.

"But not a high captain," said Samos.

"No," I said.

"If he is a Blood, then he is almost certainly of the steel ships," said Samos.

"Yes," I said.

"The other," said Samos, "wears two golden rings in its ears.

"It is a vain beast," I said. "Such rings serve only as ornaments. It ispossible he is a diplomat."

"The larger beast seems clearly dominant," said Samos.

"It is a Blood," I said.

There was a broad leather strap, too, running from the right shoulder to theleft hip of the smaller of the two creatures. I could not see what accoutermentit bore.

"We have greeted them," said Samos. "Why do they not speak?"

"Obviously we must not yet have greeted them properly," I said.

"How long do you think they will remain tolerant of our ignorance?" asked Samos.

"I do not know," I said. "Such creatures are not noted for their patience."

"Do you think they will try to kill us?" asked Samos.

"They have already had ample opportunity to attempt to do so, if that were theirintention," I said.

"I do not know what to do," said Samos.

"The occasion is formal, and we are dealing with a Blood," I said, "Onedoubtless from the steel ships themselves. I think I have it."

"What do you recommended?" asked Samos.

"How many times have you proffered greetings to them?" I asked.

Samos thought, briefly. "Four," he said. "Tal' was said to them four times."

"Yes," I said. "Now, if one of these beasts were to touch the hand, or paw, ofanother, the hand, or paw, of each being open, indicating that weapons were notheld, that the touch was in peace, at how many points would contact be made?"

"At six," said Samos.

"Such creatures do not care, usually, to be touched by humans," I said. "Thehuman analogy to such a greeting then might be six similar vocal signals. At anyrate, be that as it may, I think the number six is of importance in thismatter."

Samos then held up his left hand. Slowly, not speaking, he pointed in successionto four fingers. He then held the small finger of his left hand in his righthand. "Tal," he said. Then he held up the index finger of his right hand. "Tal," he said again.

Then, slowly, the smaller of the two creatures began to move. I felt goosepimples. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

It turned about and bent down, and picked up a large shield, of a sort adequatefor such a creature. It lifted this before us, displaying it, horizontally,convex side down. We could see that the shield straps were in order. It thenplaced the shield on the floor, to the side of the table, to their left. It thenwent back and again bent down. This time it brought forth a mighty spear, sometwelve feet in length, with a long, tapering bronze head. This, with two hands,holding it horizontally, across its body, it also displayed, lifting itceremoniously upwards and towards us, and then drawing it back. It then put thespear down, laying it on the floor, to their left. The shaft of the spear wassome three inches in diameter. The bronze head might have weighed some twentypounds.

"They honor us," said Samos.

"As we did them," I said.

The symbolism of the creatures action, the lifting of weapons, and then thesetting aside of them, was clear. This action also, of course, was in accordwith the common Gorean convention in proposing a truce. That the creatures hadseen fit to utilize this convention, one of humans, was clear. I found this awelcome accommodation on their part. They seemed concerned to be congenial. Iwondered what they wanted. To be sure, however, it was only the lighter colored,and smaller, of the two creatures, that with rings in its ears, which hadperformed these actions. It might, indeed, be, for most practical purposes, adiplomat. The larger creature, the Blood, had stood by, unmoving. Yet clearlythese actions had been performed in its presence. This, then, was sufficientevidence of their acceptance on its part. I noted, the sort of thing a warriornotes, that the spear had been placed to their left, and that its head, too, wasoriented to their left. It was thus placed, and oriented, in such a way that theBlood, which stood on the left, from their point of view, if it favored theright hand, or paw, as most such creatures do, rather like humans, could easilybend down and seize it up.

"I see they have not come to surrender," said Samos.

"No," I said. The shield straps, which had been displayed to us with the shield,the shield held convex side down, bad not been torn away or cut, which wouldhave rendered the shield useless. Similarly the shaft of the spear had not beenbroken. They had not come to surrender.

The lips of the smaller of the two creatures drew back, exposing the fangs.

Samos stepped back. His hand went to the hilt of his sword.

"No," I said to him, quietly. "It is trying to imitate a human smile."

The creature then detached, from the broad strap, which hung diagonally aboutits body, from its right shoulder to the left hip, an instrumented, metallic,oblong, boxlike device, which it placed on the table.

"It is a translator," I said to Samos. I had seen one in a complex; some yearsearlier, in the north.

"I do not trust such creatures," said Samos.

"Some of them specially trained," I said, "can understand Gorean."

"Oh," said Samos.

The smaller of the two creatures turned to the larger. It said something to him.

The speech of such creatures resembles a succession of snarls, growls, rasps andthroaty vibrations. The noises emitted are clearly animal noises, and, indeed,such as might naturally be associated with a large and powerful, predatorycarnivore; yet, on the other hand, there is a liquidity, and a precision andsubtlety about them which is unmistakable; one realizes, often uneasily, thatwhat one is listening to is a language.

The larger one inclined its huge, shaggy head, and then lifted it. The tips oftwo long, curved fangs, in the position of the upper canines, protruded slightlyfrom its closed mouth. It watched us.

The smaller of the two creatures then busied itself with the device on thetable.

Lowering the head is an almost universal assent gesture, in dictating submissionto, or agreement with, the other. The dissent gesture, on the other hand, showsmuch greater variety. Shaking the head sideways, among rational creatures, maybe taken as a negation of assent. Other forms of the nonassent gesture can beturning the head away from the other, sometimes with a gesture of the lips,indicating distaste, or even of ejecting an unwanted. Substance from the mouth,backing away, or lifting the head and extending the neck, sometimes baring thefangs and tensing the body, as in a variation on the bristling response.

"To be sure," I said, "it is extremely difficult for them to speak Gorean, oranother human language." It was difficult for them, of course, given the natureof their oral cavity, throat, tongue, lips and teeth, to produce human phonemes.

They can, however, sometimes in a horrifying way, approximate them. I shuddered.

I had, once or twice, heard such creatures speaking Gorean. It had beendisconcerting to hear human speech, or something resembling human speech,emanating from such a source. I was just as pleased that we had a translator atour disposal.

"Look," said Samos.

"I see," I said.

A small, conical, red light began to glow on the top of the machine.

The slighter of the two monsters then drew itself up. It began to speak.

We understood, initially, of course, nothing of what it said. We listened to it,not moving, in the dim, pale-yellowish, flickering light of the unshuttered darklantern, amidst the dark, dancing shadows in that abandoned tam complex.

I remember noting the glinting of the golden rings in its ears, and themoistness of saliva about its dark lips and on its fangs.

"I am Kog," came from the translator. "I am below the rings. With me is Sardak,who is within the rings. I speak on behalf of the Peoples, and the chieftains ofthe Peoples, those who stand above the rings. I bring you greetings from theDominants, and from the Conceivers and Carriers. No greetings do I bring youfrom those unworthy of the rings, from the discounted ones, the unnamed andcraven ones. Similarly no greetings do I bring you from our domestic animals,those who are human and otherwise. In short, honor do I do unto you, bringingyou greetings from those who are entitled to extend greetings, and bringing youno greetings from those unworthy to give greetings. Thus, then, do I bring yougreetings on behalf of the Peoples, on behalf of the ships, and the SteelWorlds. Thus, then, do I bring you greetings on behalf of the cliffs of thethousand tribes." These words, and word groups, came forth from the translator,following intervals between the creature's inputs. They are produced in a flat,mechanical fashion. The intonation contours, as well as meaningful tonalqualities, pitches and stresses, from which one can gather so much in livingspeech, unfortunately, tend to be absent or only randomly correlated in such aformal, desiccated output. Similarly the translation, it seems, is oftenimperfect, or, at least, awkward and choppy. Indeed, it takes a few momentsbefore one can begin to follow the productions of such a machine coherently but,once this adjustment is made, there is little difficulty in comprehending thegist of what is being conveyed. In my presentation of the machine's output Ihave, here and there, taken certain liberties. In particular I have liberalizedcertain phrasings and smoothed out various grammatical irregularities. On theother hand, given the fact that I am conveying this material in English, at tworemoves from the original, I think that the above translation and what follows,is not only reasonably adequate in a literal sense, but also conveys something,at least, of the flavor of the original. On the other hand, I do not claim tounderstand all aspects of the translation. For example, I am unclear on the ringstructure and on the significance of the references to tribal cliffs.

"I think, Samos," I said, "You are expected to respond."

"I am Samos," said Samos, "and I thank you for your cordial and welcomesalutations."

Fascinated, Samos and I listened to what was, with one exception, a successionof rumbling, throaty utterances emanating from the machine. The machineapparently accepted and registered Gorean phonemes, and then scanned thephonemic input for those phoneme combinations, which expressed Gorean cognitiveunits, or morphemes. In this way, morphemes, per se, or linguistic cognitiveunits, at least as comprehended units, do not occur in the machine. With a humantranslator sound is processed, and understood morphemically, which understandingis then reprocessed into the new phonemic structures. With the machine thecorrelation is simply between sound structures, simpliciter, and it is theauditor who supplies the understanding. To be sure, a linguistic talent of nomean degree is required to design and program such a device. We did hear oneGorean word in the translation. That was the name "Samos'. When the machineencounters a phoneme or phonemic combination, which is not correlated with aphoneme or phoneme combination in the new language it presents the originalinput as a portion of the new output. For example, if one were to utter nonsensesyllables into the device the same nonsense syllables, unless an accident or acoincidence occurred, would be played back.

The creatures, then, heard the name of Samos. Whether they could pronounce it ornot, or how close they could come to pronounce it, would depend on the sound andon the capacity of their own vocal apparatus. This is different; it should benoted, with the names of the two creatures, "Kog' and "Sardak'. These names weregiven in Gorean phonemes, not in the phonemes of the creatures' own language. Inthis case, of course, this made it clear that these two names, at least, hadbeen programmed into the machine. The machine, doubtless, had been altered to beof aid to two particular individuals in some particular mission. PresumablySamos and I could not have pronounced the actual names of the creatures. "Kog' and "Sardak', however, doubtless correlated in some fashion, given some type ofphonemic transcription found acceptable by the creatures, with their actualnames. There was probably, at least, a syllabial correlation.

"I bring you greetings," said Samos, "from the Council of Captains, of Port Kar,Jewel of Gleaming Thassa."

I saw the lips of the two creatures draw back. 1, too, smiled. Samos wascautious, indeed. What would the Council of Captains know of such creatures, orof the warrings among worlds? He had not identified himself as being among theparty of those forces arrayed against the ravaging, concupiscent imperialism ofour savage colleagues. I myself, whereas I had served Priest-Kings, did notregard myself as being of their party. My lance, in such matters, so to speak,was free. I would choose my own wars, my own ventures.

"I bring you greetings, too," said Samos, "from the free men of Port Kar. I donot bring you greetings, of course, from those who are unworthy to greet you,for example, from our slaves, who are nothing, and who labor for us, and whom weuse for our sport and pleasure."

Kog briefly inclined his head. I thought Samos had done rather well. Slaves onGor are domestic animals, of course. A trained sleen in a sleen market willusually bring a higher price than even a beautiful girl sold naked in a slavemarket. This is doubtless a function of supply and demand. Beautiful femaleslaves are generally cheap on Gor, largely as a result of captures andbreedings. It is not unusual, in most cities, for a prize tarsk to bring ahigher price than a girl. The girls understand this, clearly, and it helps themto understand their place in the society.

"I speak on behalf of the Peoples, on behalf of the Steel Worlds," said Kog.

"Do you speak on behalf of all the Peoples, on behalf of all the Steel Worlds?" asked Samos.

"Yes," said Kog.

"Do you speak on behalf of all of those of the Peoples, of all of those of theSteel Worlds?" asked Samos. This, I thought, was an interesting question. Itwas, of course, subtly different from the preceding question. We knew thatdivisions as to tactics, if not ultimate objectives, existed among parties ofsuch creatures. We had learned this in the Tahari.

"Yes," said Kog, unhesitantly.

When Kog had made his response to the question I was, by intent, watching nothim but the other of the two creatures. Yet I saw no flicker of doubt oruneasiness in his eyes, nor any incipient lifting of the broad ears. It did,however, draw its lips back slightly, observing my attention. It had apparentlyfound my attempt to read its behavioral cues amusing.

"Do you speak on behalf of Priest-Kings?" asked Kog.

"I cannot," said Samos.

"That is interesting," said Kog.

"If you would speak with Priest-Kings," said Samos, "you must go to the Sardar."

"What are Priest-Kings?" asked Kog.

"I do not know," said Samos.

Such creatures, I gathered, had no clear idea of the nature of Priest- Kings.

They had not directly experienced Priest-Kings, only the power of Priest-Kings.

Like burned animals they were wary of them. Priest- Kings, wisely, did notchoose to directly confront such creatures. Not a little of the hesitancy andtentativeness of the militaristic incursions of such creatures was, I suspected,a function of their ignorance of, and fear of, the true nature and power of theremote and mysterious denizens of the Sardar. If such creatures should come toclearly understand the nature of the Priest-Kings, and the current restrictionson their power, in virtue of the catastrophic Nest War, I had little doubt butwhat the attack signals would be almost immediately transmitted to the steelworlds. In weeks the silver ships would beach on the shores of Gor.

"We know the nature of Priest-Kings," said Kog. "They are much like ourselves."

"I do not know," said Samos.

"They must be," said Kog, "or they could not be a dominant life form."

"Perhaps," said Samos. "I do not know."

The larger of the two creatures, during this exchange, was watching me. I smiledat him. Its ears twitched with annoyance. Then again it was as it had been,regal, savage, distant, unmoving and alert.

"Can you speak on behalf of the men of the two worlds?" asked Kog. This was areference, doubtless, to the Earth and, Gor.

"No," said Samos.

"But you are a man," said Kog.

"I am only one man," said Samos.

"Their race has not yet achieved species unification," said the larger of thetwo creatures, to his fellow. His remark, of course, was picked up by thetranslator and processed, as though it had been addressed to us.

"That is true," said Kog. I wondered, hearing this, beasts, either, had achievedspecies unification. I was inclined to doubt it. Such creatures, beingterritorial, individualistic and aggressive, much like men, would not be likelyto find the bland idealisms of more vegetative organisms interesting, attractiveor practical, Logical, and terrible, they would not be likely to find thefallacy of the single virtue, the hypothesis of social reductivism, alluring.

All creatures are not the same, nor is it necessary that they should be. Junglesmay be as appealing to nature as gardens. Leopards and wolves are aslegitimately ingredient in the order of nature as spaniels and potatoes. Speciesunification, I suspected, would prove not to be a blessing, but a trap and abane, a pathology and curse, a societal sanitarium in which the great and strongwould be reduced to, or must pretend to be reduced to, the level of theblinking, the cringing, the creeping and the tiny. To be sure, values areinvolved here, and one must make decisions. It is natural that the small andweak will make one decision, and the large and strong another. There is nosingle humanity, no single shirt, no correct pair of shoes, no uniform, even agray one that will fit all men. There are a thousand humanities possible. He whodenies this sees only his own horizons. He who disagrees is the denier ofdifference, and the murderer of the better futures.

"It is unfortunate," said Sardak, speaking to Kog, "that they have not achievedspecies unification. Else, once the Priest-Kings are disposed of, it would beeasier to herd them to our cattle pens."

"That is true," said Kog.

What Sardak said seemed to me, too, likely to be true. Highly centralizedstructures are the most easily undermined and subverted. Cutting one strand ofsuch a web can unravel a world. One hundred and eighty-three men once conqueredan empire.

"Can you speak on behalf of the Council of Captains, of Port Kar?" asked Kog.

"Only on matters having to do with Port Kar, and then after a decision of thecouncil, taken after consultation," said Samos. This was not exactly correct,but it was substantially correct. It seemed to me a suitable answer, under thecircumstances. The creatures, of course, would not be familiar with councilprocedures.

"You do, however, have certain executive powers, do you not?" inquired Kog. Iadmired the creatures. Clearly they had researched their mission.

"Yes," said Samos, guardedly, "but they are not likely to be involved in mattersof the sort with which we are here likely to be concerned."

"I understand," said Kog. "On behalf of whom, then, do you speak?"

"I speak," said Samos, rather boldly I thought, "on behalf of Samos, of PortKar, on behalf of myself."

Kog snapped off the translator and turned to Sardak. They conversed for a momentin their own tongue. Kog then snapped the translator back on. This time, almostinstantly, the small, conical red light began to glow.

"It is sufficient," said Kog.

Samos stepped back a bit.

Kog turned away, then, to a leather tube and, with his large, furred, tentaclelike digits, with their blunted claws, removed the cap from this tube.

I suspected that the two creatures did not believe Samos when he protested tothem that he could speak only on behalf of himself. At the least they would becertain that he would be significantly involved in the affairs of Priest-Kings.

They would seem to have little alternative, then, to dealing with him.

From the long, leather tube, Kog removed what appeared to be a large piece ofclosely rolled, soft-tanned hide. It was very light in color, almost white, andtied with string. There was a slight smell of smoke about it, probably from thesmoke of the turl bush. Such hides may be waterproofed by suspending them from,and wrapping them about, a small tripod of sticks, this set over a small fire onwhich, to produce the desiderated smoke, the leaves and branches of the turlbush are heavily strewn.

Kog placed the roll of hide on the table. It was not rawhide, but soft-tannedhide, as I have suggested. In preparing rawhide the skin, suitably fleshed, ispegged down and dried in the wind and sun. The hide may then, without furtherado, be worked and cut. This product, crude and tough, may be used for suchthings as shields, cases and ropes. Softening a hide, on the other hand, is amuch more arduous task. In soft tanning, the fleshed hide must be saturated withfats, and with oils and grease, usually from the brains of animals. These arerubbed into the hide, and worked into it, usually with a soft flat stone. Thehide is then sprinkled with warm water and tightly rolled, after which it is putaside, away from the sun and heat, for a few days. This gives the time necessaryfor the softening ingredients, such as the fats and oils, to fully penetrate theleather. The skin is then unrolled and by rubbing, kneading and stretching,hand-softened over a period of hours. The resulting product ranges from tan tocreamy white, and may be worked and cut as easily as cloth.

"You are familiar, are you not," asked Kog, with one known as Zarendargar?"

"Who is Zarendargar?" asked Samos.

"Let us not waste one another's time, said Kog.

Samos turned white.

I was pleased that, outside, on the platform of this anterior building of thetarn complex, there were several guards. They were armed with crossbows. Theiron bolts of these devices, weighing about a pound apiece, were capable ofsinking some four inches into solid wood at a range of some twenty yards. To besure, by the time the guards might be summoned into the building Samos and Imight be half eaten.

Kog looked closely at Samos.

"Zarendargar," said Samos, "is a well-known commander of the steel worlds, a wargeneral. He perished in the destruction of a supply complex in the arctic."

"Zarendargar is alive," said Kog.

I was startled by this pronouncement. This seemed to me impossible. Thedestruction of the complex had been complete. I had witnessed this from pasangsacross the ice in the arctic night. The complex would have been transformed intoa radioactive inferno. Even the icy seas about it, in moments, had churned andboiled.

"Zarendargar cannot be alive," I said. It was the first time I had spoken to thebeasts. Perhaps I should not have but I had been in the vicinity of the event inquestion. I had seen the explosion. I had, even from afar, been half blinded bythe light, and, moments later, half staggered by the sound, the blast and heat.

The shape, height and awesomeness of that towering, expanding cloud was notsomething I would ever forget. "Nothing could have lived in that blast," I said.

"Nor in the seas about it."

Kog looked at me.

"I was there," I said.

"We know," said Kog.

"Zarendargar is dead," I said.

Kog then unrolled the hide on the table. He arranged it so that Samos and Icould easily see it. The hair rose up on the back of my neck.

"Are you familiar with this sort of thing?" asked Kog of Samos.

"No," said Samos.

"I have seen things like it," I said, "but only far away, on another world. Ihave seen things like it in places called museums. Such things are no longerdone."

"Does the skin seem to you old," asked Kog, "faded, brittle, cracked, worn,thin, fragile?"

"No," I said.

"Consider the colors," said Kog. "Do they seem old to you? Do they seem faded toyou?"

"No," I said. "They are bright, and fresh."

"Analysis, in virtue of desiccation index and molecular: disarrangement,suggests that this material, and its applied I pigments, are less than two yearsold. This hypothesis is corroborated by correlation data, in which this skin wascompared to samples whose dating is known and independent historical evidence,the nature of which should be readily apparent."

"Yes," I said. I knew that such beasts, on the steel worlds, possessed anadvanced technology. I had little doubt but what their physical and chemicaltechniques were quite adequate to supply the dating in question to the skin andits paints. Too, of course, the nature of their historical evidence would bequite clear. To be sure, it would be historical data at their disposal, and notmine. I had no way of knowing the pertinent facts. That such beasts, on thisworld, carried primitive weapons was a tribute to their fear of Priest-Kings.

Carrying such weapons they might be mistaken for beasts of their race who now,for all practical purposes, were native to Gor, beasts descended fromindividuals perhaps long ago marooned or stranded on the planet. Priest- Kings,on the, whole, tend to ignore such beasts. They are permitted to live, as theywill, where they may, on Gor, following even their ancient laws and customs,providing these do not violate the Weapons Laws and Technology Restrictions. Tobe sure, such beasts usually, once separated from the discipline of the ships,in a generation or two, lapsed into barbarism. On the: whole they tended tooccupy portions of Gor not inhabited by human beings. The Priest-Kings care fortheir world, but their primary interest is in its subsurface, not its surface.

For most practical purposes life goes on on Gor much as though they did notexist. To be sure, they are concerned to maintain the natural ecosystems of theplanet. They are wise, but even they hesitate to tamper with precise and subtlesystems, which have taken over four billion years to develop. Who knows whatcourse a dislodged molecule may take in a thousand years?

I looked at Kog and Sardak. Such creatures, perhaps thousands of years ago, had,it seemed, destroyed their own world. They now wanted another. The Priest-Kings,lofty and golden, remote, inoffensive and tolerant, were all, for most practicalpurposes, that stood between the Kogs and Sardaks, and the Earth and Gor.

"This is," said Kog, to Samos, "a story skin."

"I understand," said Samos.

"It is an artifact of the red savages," said Kog, "from one of the tribes in theBarrens."

"Yes," said Samos.

The Red Savages, as they are commonly called on Gor, are racially and culturallydistinct from the Red Hunters of the north. They tend to be a more slender,longer-limbed people; their daughters menstruate earlier; and their babies arenot born with a blue spot at the base of the spine, as in the case with most ofthe red hunters. Their culture tends to be nomadic, and is based on theherbivorous, lofty kaiila, substantially the same animal as is found in theTahari, save for the wider footpads of the Tahari beast, suitable fornegotiating deep sand, and the lumbering, gregarious, short-tempered,trident-homed kailiauk. To be sure, some tribes do not have the kaiila, neverhaving mastered it, and certain tribes have mastered the tam, which tribes arethe most dangerous of all.

Although there are numerous physical and cultural differences among these peoplethey are usually collectively referred to as the red savages. This is presumablya function of so little being known about them, as a whole, and the cunning,ruthlessness and ferocity of so many of the tribes. They seem to live forhunting and internecine warfare, which seems to serve almost as a sport and areligion for them. Interestingly enough most of these tribes seem to be unitedonly by a hatred of whites, which hatred, invariably, in a time of emergency orcrisis, takes precedence over all customary con- and rivalries. To attackwhites, intruding into their lands, once the war lance has been lifted, evenlong-term blood enemies will ride side by side. The gathering of tribes, friendsand foes alike, for such a battle is said to be a splendid sight. These thingsare in virtue of what, among these peoples, is called the Memory.

"The story begins here," said Kog, indicating the center of the skin. From thispoint there was initiated, in a slow spiral, to be followed by turning the skin,a series of drawings and pictographs. As the skin is turned each marking on itis at the center of attention, first, of course, of the artist, and, later, hefollows the trail, of the viewer. The story, then, unanticipated, each event asreal as any other, unfolds as it was lived.

"In many respects," said Kog, "this story is not untypical. These signs indicatea tribal camp. Because of the small number of lodges, this is a winter camp. Wecan also tell this from these dots, which represent snow."

I looked at the drawings. They were exactly, and colorfully done. They were, onthe whole, small, and precise and delicate, like miniatures. The man who hadapplied the pigment to that hide canvas had been both patient and skillful. Too,he had been very careful. This care is often a feature of such works. To speakthe truth is very important to the red savages.

"This jagged line," said Kog, "indicates that there is hung in the camp, thesawing feeling in the stomach. This man, whom we take to be the artist, and whomwe shall call Two Feathers, because of the two feathers drawn near him, puts onsnowshoes and leaves the camp. He takes with him a bow and arrows."

I watched Kog slowly turn the skin. The drawings are first traced on the skinwith a sharp stick. Many of them are then outlined in black. The interior areas,thusly blocked out, may then be colored in. The primary pigments used wereyellows, reds, browns and blacks. These are primarily obtained from powderedearths, clays and boiled roots. Blues can be obtained from blue mud, gantdroppings and boiled rotten wood. Greens can be obtained from a variety ofsources, in- earths, boiled rotten wood, copper ores and pond algae. Thepigments, commonly mixed with hot water or glue, are usually applied by a chewedstick or a small brush, or pen, of porous bone, usually cut from the edge of thekailliauk's shoulder blade or the end of its hip bone. Both of these bonescontain honeycombed structures useful in the smooth application of paint.

"This man travels for two days," said Kog, pointing to two yellow suns in thesky of the hide. "On the third day he finds the track of a kailiauk. He followsthis. He drinks melted snow, held in his mouth until it is warm. He eats driedmeat. On the third day be builds no fire. We may gather from this he is now inthe country of enemies. Toward the evening of the fourth day be sees moretracks. There are other hunters, mounted on kaiila, who, too, are following thekailiauk. It is difficult to determine their number, for they ride single file,that the prints of one beast may obscure and obliterate those of another. Hisheart is now heavy. Should he turn back? He does not know what to do. He mustdream on the matter."

"Surely," said Samos, "it could be only a coincidence."

"I do not think so," said Kog.

"This hide," said Samos, "could be nothing but the product of the crazedimagination of an ignorant savage. It might, too, be nothing more than theaccount of a strange dream."

"The organization and clarity of the account suggests rationality," said Kog.

"It is only the story of a dream," said Samos.

"Perhaps," said Kog.

"Such people do not distinguish clearly between dreams and reality," said Samos.

"They distinguish clearly between them," said Kog. "It is only that they regardboth as real."

"Please, continue," I said.

"Here, in the dream," said Kog, indicating a series of pictographs whichfollowed a small spiral line, "we see that the kailiauk invites the man to afeast. This is presumably a favorable sign. At the feast, however, in the lodgeof the kailliauk there is a dark guest. His lineaments are obscure, as you cansee. The man is afraid. He senses great power in this dark guest. The kailiauk,however, tells the man not to be afraid. The man takes meat from the hands ofthe dark guest. It will be his ally and protector, the kailiauk tells him. Hemay take it for his medicine. The man awakens. He is very frightened. He isafraid of this strange medicine. The dream is strong, however, and he knows itcannot be repudiated. Henceforth he knows his medicine helper is the mysteriousdark guest."

"From where," asked Samos, "does this man think he obtained this medicinehelper?"

"Surely the man will think he obtained it from the medicine world," said Kog.

"It seems an interesting anticipatory dream," I said.

"Surely the dream is ambiguous," said Samos. "See? The lineaments of the darkguest are unclear."

"True," I said. "Yet something of its size, and of its awesomeness, and force,particularly within a lodge, as evident."

"You will also notice," said Kog, "that it sits behind fire. That is the placeof honor."

"It could all be a coincidence," said Samos.

"That is quite true," I said. "Yet the matter is of interest.

"The man may once have seen such things, or heard of them, and forgotten them."

"That seems to me quite likely," I said.

"But why, in the dream, in this dream," asked Samos, "should the dark guestappear?"

"Possibly," I said, "because of the man's plight and need. In such a situation apowerful helper might be desired. The dream, accordingly, might have producedone."

"Of course," said Samos.

"Considering the events of the next day," said Kog "I think certain alternativeexplanations might be more likely. This is not, of course, to rule out that theman, in his quandary, and desperate straits, might not have welcomed a powerfulally."

"What do you suggest?" I asked.

"That be, earlier, during the day, saw sign of the medicine helper, but only inthe dream interpreted it."

"I see," I said.

"Even more plausibly, and interestingly," said Kog, "I suspect that the darkguest, in that moonlit snow, actually appeared to the man. The man, hungry,exhausted, striving for the dream, betwixt sleeping and waking, not being fullyaware of what was transpiring, saw it. He then incorporated, it into his dream,comprehending it within his own conceptual framework."

"That is an interesting idea," I said.

"But it is surely improbable that the paths of the man and the helper shouldcross in the vast, trackless wastes of the snowbound Barrens," said Samos.

"Not if both were following the kailiauk," said Kog.

"Why would the helper not have eaten the man?" I asked.

"Perhaps," said Kog, "because it was bunting the kailiauk, not the man. Perhapsbecause if it killed a man, it was apprehensive that other men would follow it,to kill it in turn."

"I see," I said.

"Also," said Kog, "kailiauk is better than man I know. I have eaten both."

"I see," I said.

"If the helper had visited the man," said Samos, "Would there not have beenprints in the snow?"

"Doubtless," said Kog.

"Were there prints?" asked Samos.

"No," said Kog.

"Then it was all a dream," said Samos.

"Me absence of prints would be taken by the man as evidence that the helper camefrom the medicine world," said Kog.

"Naturally," said Samos.

"Accordingly the man would not look for them," said Kog.

"It is your hypothesis, however," conjectured Samos, "that such prints existed."

"Of course," said Kog, "which then, in the vicinity of the camp, were dustedaway."

"From the point of view of the man, then," said Samos, "the dark guest wouldhave come and gone with all the silence and mystery of a guest from the medicineworld."

"Yes," said Kog.

"Interesting," said Samos.

"What is perfectly clear," said Kog, "is how the man viewed the situation,whether he was correct or not. Similarly clear, and undeniably so, are theevents of the next day. These are unmistakably and unambiguously delineated."

Kog then, with his dexterous, six- jointed, long digits, rotated the skin aquarter of a turn, continuing the story.

"In the morning," said Kog, "the man, inspired by his dream, resumed his hunt. Asnow began to fall." I noted the dots between the flat plane of the earth andthe semicircle of the sky. "The tracks, with the snow, and the wind, becameobscured. Still the man pressed on, knowing the direction of the kailiauk andfollowing the natural geodesics of the land, such as might be followed by aslow-moving beast, pawing under the snow for roots or grass. He did not fear tolose the trail. Because of his dream he was undaunted. On snowshoes, of course,he could move faster through drifted snow than the kailiauk. Indeed, over longdistances, in such snow, he could match the speed of the wading kaiila. Too, asyou know, the kailiauk seldom moves at night."

The kailiauk in question, incidentally, is the kailiauk of the Barrens. It is agigantic, dangerous beast, often standing from twenty to twenty- five hands atthe shoulder and weighing as much as four thousand pounds. It is almost neverhunted on foot except in deep snow, in which it is almost helpless. Fromkaiilaback, riding beside the stampeded animal, however, the skilled hunter cankill one with a- single arrow. He rides close to the animal, not a yard from itsside, just outside the hooking range of the trident, to supplement the strikingpower of his small bow. At this range the arrow can sink in to the feathers.

Ideally it strikes into the intestinal cavity behind the last rib, producinglarge-scale internal hemorrhaging he closely behind the left shoulder blade,thence piercing the eight-valved heart.

The hunting arrow, incidentally, has a long, tapering point, and this point isfirmly fastened to the shaft. This makes it easier to withdraw the arrow fromits target. The war arrow, on the other hand, uses an arrowhead whose base, iseither angled backwards, forming barbs, or cut straight across, the result inboth cases being to make the arrow difficult to extract from a wound. The headof the war arrow, too, is fastened less securely to the shaft than is that ofthe hunting arrow. The point thus, by intent, if the shaft is pulled out islikely to linger in the wound. Sometimes it is possible to thrust the arrowthrough the body, break off the point and then withdraw the shaft backwards. Atother times if the point becomes dislodged in the body, it is common to seek itwith a bone or greenwood probe, and then, when one has found it, attempt to workit free with a knife. There are cases where men have survived this. Muchdepends, of course, on the location of the point.

The heads of certain war arrows and hunting arrows differ, too, at least in thecase of certain warriors, in an interesting way, with respect to the orientationof the plane of the point to the plane of the nock. In these war arrows, thePlane of the point is perpendicular to the plane of the nock. In level shooting,then, the plane of the point is roughly parallel to the ground. In these huntingarrows, on the other hand, the plane of the point is parallel to the plane ofthe nock. In level shooting, then, the plane of the point is roughlyperpendicular to the ground. The reason for these different orientations isparticularly telling at close range, before the arrow begins to turn in the air.

The ribs of the kailiauk are vertical to the ground; the ribs of the human arehorizontal to the ground.

The differing orientations may be done, of course, as much for reasons of feltpropriety, or for medicine purposes, as for reasons of improving the efficiencyof the missile. They may have some effect, of course, as I have suggested, atextremely close range. In this respect, however, it should be noted that mostwarriors use the parallel orientation with respect to both their war and huntingpoints. It is felt that this orientation improves sighting. This seems to me,too, to be the case. The parallel orientation, of course, would be moreeffective with kailiauk, which are usually shot at extremely close range,indeed, from so close that one might almost reach out and touch the beast. Also,of course, in close combat with humans, if one wishes, the perpendicularalignment may be simply produced; one need only turn the small bow.

"Toward noon," said Kog, slowly turning the hide, "we see that the weather hascleared. The wind has died down. The snow has stopped falling. The sun hasemerged from Clouds. We may conjecture that the day is bright. A rise intemperature has apparently occurred as well. We see that the man has opened hiswidely sleeved hunting coat and removed his cap of fur."

"I had not hitherto, before seeing this skin," said Samos "realized that thesavages wore such things.

"They do," said Kog. "The winters in the Barrens are severe, and one does nothunt in a robe."

"Here," said Samos, "the man is lying down."

"He is surmounting a rise," said Kog. "Surmounting it with care."

I nodded. It is seldom wise to silhouette oneself against the sky. A movement insuch a plane is not difficult to detect. Similarly, before entering a terrain,it is sensible to subject it to some scrutiny. This work, whether done fortribal migrations or, war parties, is usually done by a scout or scouts. When aman travels alone, of course, he must be his own scout. Similarly it is commonfor lone travelers or small parties to avoid open spaces without cover, wherethis is possible, and where it is not possible, to cross them expeditiously. Anoccasional ruse used in crossing an open terrain, incidentally, is to throw akailiauk robe over oneself and bend down over the back of one's kaiila. From adistance then, particularly if one holds in one's kaiila, one and one's mountmay be mistaken for a single beast, a lone kailiauk.

Scouts are sometimes called sleen by the red savages. The sleen is Gor's mostefficient and tenacious tracker. They are often used to hunt slaves. Too, thescout, often, in most tribes, wears the pelt of a sleen. This pelt, like agarment, which is at one time both cowl and cape, covers both the head and back.

It is perhaps felt that something of the sleen's acuity and tenacity is thusimparted to the scout. Some scouts believe that they become, when donning thispelt, a sleen. This has to do with their beliefs as to the mysteriousrelationships which are thought to obtain between the world of reality and themedicine world, that, at times, these two worlds impinge on one another, andbecome one. To be sure, from a practical point of view, the pelt makes anexcellent camouflage. It is easy, for example, to mistake a scout, on all fours,spying over a rise, for a wild sleen. Such animals are not uncommon in theBarrens. Their most common prey is tabuk.

"And this, you see," said Kog, turning the hide, "is what he saw on that brightand thawing morning."

"It is what he said he saw," said Samos.

In the declivity below the rise there lay a slain kailiauk, dark in the snow.

There could be no mistaking what, alert, huge, catlike, like a larl, crouchedbehind the kailiauk.

"You see?" asked Kog.

"The dark guest," said Samos.

"Clearly delineated," said Samos.

"Yes," said Kog, "seen clearly now, in its own form."

I could not speak.

"Surely this is only the product of the imagination of the artist," said Samos.

"Too, there are five riders of the kaiila, with kaiila lances, between thekailiauk and the dark guest, and the man."

"These are the other hunters, those whose tracks were found, those who had alsobeen following the kailiauk," said Samos.

"Yes," said Kog.

The kaiila lance is used in hunting kailiauk as well as in mounted warfare. Itis called the kaiila lance because it is designed to be used from kaiilaback. Itis to be distinguished in particular from the longer, heavier tharlarion lance,designed for use from tharlarionback, and often used with a lance rest, and thesmaller, thicker stabbing lances used by certain groups of pedestrian nomads.

The kaiila lance takes, on the whole, two forms, the hunting lance and the warlance. Hunting lances are commonly longer, heavier and thicker than war lances.

Too, they are often undecorated, save perhaps for a knot of the feathers of theyellow, long-winged, sharp-billed prairie fleer, or, as it is sometimes called,the maize bird, or corn bird, considered by the red savages to be generally thefirst bird to find food.

The point of the hunting lance is usually longer and narrower than that of thewar lance, a function of the depth into which one must strike in order to findthe heart of the kailliauk. The shafts of the kaiila lances are black, suppleand strong; they are made of tem wood, a wood much favored on Gor for this typeof purpose. Staves for the lances are cut in the late winter, when the sap isdown. Such wood, in the long process of smoking and drying over the lodge fire,which consumes several weeks, seasoning the wood and killing any insects whichmight remain in it, seldom splits or cracks. Similarly, old- growth wood, orsecond-growth wood, which is tougher, is preferred over the fresher, less densefirst-growth, or new-growth, wood.

After drying the shafts are rubbed with grease and straightened over the beat ofa fire. Detailed trimming and shaping is accomplished with a small knife. Arubbing with sandstone supplies a smooth finish. The head, of metal, or of boneor stone, with sinew or rawhide, and also sometimes with metal trade rivets, isthen mounted on the lance. Lastly, grips, and loops, and decorations, ifdesired, are added. The sinew and rawhide, before being bound on the lance, aresoaked with hot water. The heated water releases a natural the water itself, ofcourse, produces a natural shrinking and contraction in drying. The mounting,thus, is extremely solid and secure. The tarn lance, it might be mentioned, asis used by the red savages who have mastered the tarn, is, in size and shape,very similar to the kaiila lance. It differs primarily in being longer and moreslender. These lances are used in a great variety of ways, but the most commonmethod is to thrust one's wrist through the wrist loop, grasp the lance with theright hand, and anchor it beneath the right arm. This maximizes balance, controland impact. With the weight of a hurtling kaiila behind the thrust such a lancecan be thrust through the body of a kailiauk. To be sure, the skillful hunterwill strike no more deeply than is necessary, and his trained kaiila will slowits pace sufficiently to permit the kailiauk to draw its own body from thelance. This permits the lance to be used again and again in the same hunt.

"Notice the manner in which the lances are held by the mounted hunters," saidKog.

"The first one," said Samos, "has his lance in the attack position."

"He, then, will be the first to die," I said.

"Of course," said Kog.

One of the other mounted hunters held his lance in his right hand, its buttresting on his thigh. From this position he could rapidly bring the lance to theattack position. He was, accordingly, the second fellow with whom the man mustdeal. A third mounted hunter held the lance across his body, it resting in thecrook of his left arm. He was the third fellow to reckon with. The other twomounted hunters still wore their lances in their shoulder loops, slung acrosstheir back. They might be saved to last.

"The man removes his bow from the fringed, beaded bow case," said Kog. "Hestrings the bow." The bow, of course, is left unstrung until it is ready to beused. This conserves the resilience of the wood and the tightness and strengthof the sinew string. "From his quiver," said Kog, "he extracts six arrows. Threehe holds, with the bow, in his left hand. One he fits to the string. Two heholds in his mouth."

"The first mounted hunter is prepared to attack," said Samos.

"The man, on his snowshoes, descends the slope between himself and his enemies," said Kog, "his arrow to the string."

The range and striking power of the small bow, while not negligible, do notcompare with that of the peasant bow, or long bow. The red savage, accordingly,whenever possible, attempts to maximize the possibilities of an effective hit bydecreasing the distance between himself and the target. This fits in,incidentally, with his glorification of close combat.

The most highly regarded battle exploit among most tribes, for which the highesthonors are accorded, is not to kill an armed enemy but to touch or strike onewith the open hand. The more danger and risk that is involved in a deed, on theWhole, the greater is the concomitant glory of accomplishing it. Killing theenemy, thus, in the heraldry of the red savages, ranks far beneath the bestingof the enemy, and in a way that supposedly demonstrates one's greater prowessand courage. It is thus understandable that touching an armed enemy with theopen hand counts among most tribes as a first coup. The second and third man toaccomplish such a deed would then receive second coup and third coup. Killing anenemy with a bow and arrow from ambush, on the other hand, might be counted asonly a fifth or seventh coup.

Needless to say, the counting of coup, which is reflected in the feathers andadornments to which one is entitled, is a matter of great importance to the redsavages. Indeed, there are also, in many tribes, practical considerations, whichalso become involved in these matters. For example, it is unlikely that one canadvance within a tribe, or become a leader or chieftain, unless one hasfrequently counted coup. Too, in many tribes many tribes, a man who has notcounted coup is not permitted to mate. In other tribes, such a man, if he isover twenty-five, is permitted to mate, but he is not allowed to paint hismate's face. Thus will her shame before the other women be made clear.

The institution of counting, or tallying, coup has several obvious effects onthe structure and nature of the society of the red savages. In particular, ittends, on the whole, to arrange social hierarchies in such a way that thesociety is oriented toward aggressiveness and warfare, features, which tend toprotect and preserve, in an almost natural harmony and balance, delicaterelationships between food supplies, territories and populations. Viewed in thismanner tribal warfare may be seen as an example of intraspecific aggression,with its attendant consequences in decentralizing and refining diversepopulations. Too, if one regards these things as of any interest, the countingof coup and intertribal warfare lends color, excitement and zest to the lives ofthe red savages. They live in a world in which danger is not unknown. Surelythey could live otherwise, but they have not chosen to do so. They live with thestars and the, winds, and the kaiila and kailiauk. They have not chosen torevere the fat-bellied, beer-drinking gods of more sedentary peoples. Too, ofcourse, it should he noted that the counting of coup tends, statistically, toensure that it is the stronger and healthier, the more alert, the moreintelligent and sharper-sensed who will repro- duce themselves. This is inmarked contrast to certain societies where it is the healthiest and finest whoare sent off to war while the inferior and defective remain behind in safety,making money and multiplying themselves.

In most tribes, incidentally, a man who refuses to go on the warpath is put inwomen's clothes and given a woman's name. He must then live as a woman.

Henceforth he is referred to in the female gender. Needless to say, she is neverpermitted to mate. Sometimes she must even serve the members of a warriorsociety, as a captive female.

Interestingly enough, whites stand outside the coup structure. This is somethingthat few of them will object to. It seems they are simply not regarded, on thewhole, as being suitable foes, or foes worthy enough to stand within the coupstructure. It is not that the red savages object to killing them. It is onlythat they do not take pride, commonly, in doing so.

Similarly a man of the high cities would not expect to be publicly rewarded forhaving speared a tarsk or slain an urt, Accordingly the red savage will seldomgo out of his way to slay a white person; he commonly sees little profit indoing so; in killing such a person, he is not entitled to count coup.

"The man, now," said Kog, "is not fifty feet from the mounted hunters. In thesoft snow he has descended the slope silently."

"Surely the dark guest, as we may call him, that crouching behind the kailiauk,has seen him."

"Of course," said Kog, "but he has given no sign."

"No sign," I said, "which was read by the mounted hunters.

"Yes," said Kog. His lips drew back, over his fangs. There are always signs. Itis only a question of their delectability. They are as small, sometimes, as thedilation of a pupil.

"The bow is drawn," said Kog.

The small bow has many advantages. High among these is the rapidity with whichit may be drawn and fired. A skilled warrior, in the Gorean gravity, can fireten arrows into the air, the last leaving the bow before the first has returnedto the earth. No Gorean weapon can match it in its rate of fire. At close rangeit can be devastating. Two further advantages of the small bow that might bementioned are its maneuverability and its capacity to be concealed, say beneatha robe. It can be easily swept from one side of the kaiila to the other. In thistype of combat, incidentally, it is not unusual for the warrior to shieldhimself behind the body of his racing kaiila, and, circling the enemy, rise up,suddenly, to fire over the animal's back or, sometimes, from beneath its neck: Aheel over the animal's back and a fist in its silken neck hair, or an arm thrustthrough a leather throat loop, provide the leverage needed for these feats.

To be sure, these folk are superb riders. A child is often put on kaiilaback,its tiny bands clutching the silken neck, before it can walk. Sometimes a strapdangles back for a few feet from the throat loop. This is to be seized by thewarrior who may have been struck from his mount, either to recapture the beastor, using the strap, being pulled along, with the momentum of the racing steed,to vault again to its back. This strap, incidentally, is used more often inhunting than in warfare. It could be too easily grasped by an enemy on foot,with the result of perhaps impeding the movement of the kaiila or even causingit to twist and fall. Needless to say, it is extremely dangerous to fall fromone's kaiila in hunting kailiauk, because one is often closely involved withnumerous stampeding beasts, or the given beast one is pursuing may suddenly turnon one.

In hunting kailiauk the hunters usually scatter about, each selecting his ownanimals. Accordingly, one's fellows are seldom close at hand to rescue one. Thisis quite different from mounted warfare, where one's fellows are usually quiteclose and ready, in an instant, to sweep one up or help one to regain one'smount. The red savage does not take an industrial or arithmetical approach towarfare. He would rather rescue one comrade than slay ten of the enemy. This hasto do with the fact that they are members of the same tribe and, usually, of thesame warrior society. They will have known one another almost all of theirlives; as children and boys they have played together and watched the kaiilaherds in the summer camps together; they may even have shared in their firstkailliauk hunt; now, as men, they have taken the warpath together; they arecomrades, and friends; each is more precious to the other than even a thousandcoups.

This explains some of the eccentricities of tribal warfare; first actual warparties, though common, are formed less often than parties for stealing kaiila;in this sport the object is to obtain as many kaiila as possible without, ifpossible, engaging the enemy at all; it is a splendid coup, for example, to cuta kaiila tether strap which is tied to the wrist of a sleeping enemy and makeoff with the animal before he awakens; killing a sleeping enemy is only a minorcoup; besides, if he has been killed, how can he understand how cleverly he hasbeen bested; imagine his anger and chagrin when he awakens; is that not moreprecious to the thief than his scalp; in actual warfare itself large-scaleconflicts almost never occur. The typical act of war is the raid, conductedusually by a small group of men, some ten to fifteen in number, which entersenemy country, strikes, usually at dawn, and makes away, almost at soon as itcame, with scalps and loot, sometimes, too, a woman or two of the enemy istaken; men of most tribes are fond of owning a woman of the enemy; maleprisoners are seldom taken; because of their camaraderie and the sporting aspectof their warfare a group of red savages will usually refuse to follow even asingle enemy into rock or brush cover; it is simply too dangerous to do so;similarly the red savages will almost never engage in a standing fight if theyare outnumbered; often, too, they will turn their backs on even an obviousvictory if the costs of grasping it seem too high; sometimes, too, a largenumber of red savages will retreat before an unexpected attack of a small numberof enemies; they prefer to fight on their own terms and at times of their ownchoosing; too, they may not have had time to make their war medicine.

"Even with the small bow," said Samos, "surely he cannot expect to best fivemen."

"It does not seem likely," I admitted.

"He conceives himself to be in the presence of the medicine helper," said Kog.

"He is undaunted."

"Turn the hide," I said.

The creature rotated the hide on the heavy table, in the light of theunshuttered dark lantern.

"The first of the mounted hunters is dead," said Kog, "he who had had the lancein the attack position. The kailla of the others, however, have bolted."

I nodded. I had feared this. The lofty, silken kaiila is an extremely alert,high-strung beast.

"The second mounted hunter, he who had held the lance ready, is thrown from thekaiila to the snow. The man must, thus, in the instant, change his aim to thethird mounted rider, he who held the lance across his body. He fells him. Thedark guest acts. He leaps across the body of the slain kailiauk. He seizes theman who had fallen to the snow."

I did not care to look at that picture.

"We may conjecture that the hunter in the snow has screamed," said Kog. "The twoother hunters, with their lances across their backs, bolt away. In the distancethey turn to regard the kailiauk, the dark guest, the man. The dark guest leapsto the carcass of the kailiauk, its blood red in the snow. Nearby, in the snow,lies he who had been the second mounted hunter. His lance is broken. His bodyhas been half bitten through. The dark guest throws back his head, scratches athis chest, lifts his clawed hands, challenges the other two mounted hunters. Theblood of the second hunter is red about his jaws and on the matted fur of hischest. The other two hunters take their leave. Now the dark guest and the manare alone, with the kailiauk, with three riderless kaiila. The dark guest againcrouches behind the kailiauk. The man puts away his bow and arrows. The darkguest invites him to the feast."

"The story is an interesting invention," said Samos.

"Turn the hide," I said to Kog.

"The dark guest has left," said Kog. "The man cuts meat from the kailiauk."

Kog again turned the hide.

"The man returns to his camp," said Kog. "He returns with three kaiila, on oneof which he rides. The other two are burdened with meat from the kailiauk. Nowthere will not be hunger in his camp. He returns, too, with the hide of thekailiauk rolled before him, and three scalps. He will make a shield."

Again Kog turned the hide.

"This is the shield that he will make," said Kog, indicating the last picture onthe hide. This last picture was much larger than the other pictures. It was someseven or eight inches in diameter.

"I see," I said.

Me shield bears, clearly delineated, the visage of the dark guest, the medicinehelper."

"Yes," I said. "Do you recognize the pictures?" asked Kog.

"Yes," I said, "it is Zarendargar, Half-Ear."

"You cannot be sure," said Samos.

"We, too, believe it to be Zarendargar, whom some humans call Half- Ear," saidKog.

"He is, then, alive," I said.

"It would seem so," said Kog.

"Why have you shown us the pictures?" I asked.

"We wish your help, " said Kog.

"To rescue him from the Barrens?" I asked.

"No," said Kog, "to kill him."

"This is preposterous," said Samos. "This entire story is naught but the fantasyof a savage."

"You will note," said Kog, "that the story is unfolded on this hide."

"So?" asked Samos.

It is kailiauk hide," said Kog.

"So?" asked Samos.

"The red savages depend for their very lives on the kailiauk said Kog.

"He is the major source of their food and life. His meat and hide, his bones andsinew, sustain them. From him they derive not only food, but clothing andshelter, tools and weapons."

"I know," said Samos. "I know."

"In their stories they revere, him. His images and relics figure in theirmedicine."

"I know," said Samos.

"Further, they believe that if they are unworthy of the kailiauk, be will goaway. And they believe that this once happened, long ago."

"So?" asked Samos.

"So" said Kog, "they do not lie on the hide of the kailiauk. It would be thelast place in the world that they would choose to lie. On the hide of thekailiauk one may paint only truth."

Samos was silent.

"Beyond this," said Kog, "note that the image of the dark guest appears on theshield."

"I see," said Samos.

"It is a belief of the red savages that if they are unworthy, or do not speakthe truth, that their shield will not protect them, it will move aside or willnot turn the arrows and lances of enemies. Many warriors claim to have seen thishappen. The shields, too, are made of the hide of the kailiauk from the thickhide of the back of the neck, where the skin and musculature are thick, tosupport the weight of the trident and turn the blows of other tridents,especially in the spring buffetings, attendant upon which follows mateselection.

"I shall accept," said Samos, "that the artist is sincere, that he believeshimself to be telling the truth."

"That much is undeniable," said Kog.

"But the whole thing may be only the faithful report of a vision or dream."

"The portion of the skin pertinent to the dream, or vision," said Kog, "isclearly distinguished from the portion of the skin which purports to beconcerned with real events. Further, we find little reason to believe that theartist could have been, or would have been, mistaken about the nature of thoseevents, at least in their broad outlines."

"The dark guest may not be Zarendargar," said Samos. "The resemblance may beonly a coincidence."

"We do not find that a likely possibility," said Kog. "The distances and thetimes, and the dating of this skin, the details of the representation, all thesethings, suggest that it is Zarendargar. Similarly fellows of our species, ortheir descendants, lapsed into barbarism, seldom roam the Barrens. There is toolittle cover and the heat in the summer is too severe."

"The story on the hide takes place in the winter," said Samos.

"That is true," said Kog, "but game, in the Barrens, is scarce in the winter.

Too, the land is too open, and tracks are difficult to conceal. Our peopleprefer wintering in forested or mountainous areas."

"They will normally seek out such areas," I said.

"Yes," said Kog.

"It is your assumption, then," I said, "that Zarendargar is in hiding."

"Yes," said Kog, "in the unlikely and dangerous terrain of the Barrens."

"He knows that he will be sought?" I asked.

"Yes," said Kog. "He knows that he has failed."

I recalled the destruction of the vast supply complex in the Gorean arctic.

"I met Zarendargar," I said. "It does not seem to me likely that he would behiding."

"How then would you explain his presence in the Barrens?" inquired Kog.

"I cannot," I said.

"We have searched for him for two years," said Kog. "This hide is our firstclue."

"How did you come by this hide?" I asked.

"It was received in trade," said Kog. "It came, eventually, to the attention ofone of our agents. Thence it was transported to the steel worlds."

"It does not seem the sort of thing with which the artist would willingly part,"

I said.

"Quite possibly not," said Kog.

I shuddered. The artist, doubtless, had been slain, his body left stripped andmutilated in the customary manner of the red savages. The object, then, throughtrade channels, would have come, I supposed, to one of the high cities, perhapsThentis, the nearest of the large cities to the Barrens.

"We seek Zarendargar," said Kog. "We are his appointed executioners."

Yet there was something puzzling to me in these matters. I could not fullyunderstand what it was. For one thing, I doubted that Zarendargar was in hiding.

Yet, otherwise, I could not explain his presence in the Barrens. Too, I was notfully confident that the artist was dead. He impressed me as a competent andresourceful warrior. The skin, on the other hand, had apparently been traded. Iwas troubled by these things. I did not understand them.

"His crime was failure?" I asked.

"It is not tolerated on the steel worlds," said Kog, "not in one who is abovethe rings."

"Doubtless he received a fair trial," I said.

"Judgment was pronounced in accord with the statutes of the steel worlds," saidKog, "by the high council, composed of seventy-two members elected from amongthe representatives of the thousand cliffs."

"The same council was both judge and jury?" I asked.

"Yes," said Kog, "as is the case in many of your own cities."

"Zarendargar was not present at this trial," I said.

"If the presence of the criminal were required," said Kog, "it would make itimpossible, in many cases, to pass judgment."

"That is true," I said.

"A limitation on judicial proceedings of such a sort would be intolerable," saidKog.

"I see," I said.

"Was evidence submitted in support of Zarendargar?" I asked.

"In a case of this sort, evidence against the court is inadmissible," said Kog.

"I see," I said. "Who, then," I asked, "spoke on behalf of Zarendargar?"

"It is wrong to speak on behalf of a criminal, ' said Kog.

"I understand," I said.

"Due process of law, as you may see," said Kog, "was strictly observed."

"Thank you," I said, "my mind is now satisfactorily relieved on the matter."

Kog's lips drew back over his fangs.

"Even so," I asked, "was the vote unanimous?"

"Unanimity constitutes an impediment to the pursuit of expeditious and efficientjustice," said Kog.

"Was the vote unanimous?" I asked.

"No," said Kog.

"Was the vote close?" I asked.

"Why do you ask?" asked Kog.

"I am curious," I said.

"Yes," said Kog, "interestingly, it was."

"Thank you," I said. I knew there were factions among these creatures. I hadlearned this, clearly, in the Tahari. Too, I suspected some of the council, evenif they were not of the party of Zarendargar, would have recognized his value tothe steel worlds. He was doubtless one of the finest of their generals.

"There is no division here," I said, "between the political and the judicial."

"All law exists to serve the interests of the dominant powers," said Kog. "Ourinstitutions secure this arrangement, facilitate it and, not unimportantly,acknowledge it. Our institutions are, thus, less dishonest and hypocritical thanthose of groups which pretend to deny the fundamental nature of social order.

Law which is not a weapon and a wall is madness."

"How do we know that you are truly appointed to fulfill the edict of thecouncil?" I asked.

"Do you doubt the word of one who is of the Peoples?" asked Kog.

"Not really," I said. "I was just curious about your credentials."

"You could not read them if we displayed them," said Kog.

"That is true," I said. I was truly amazed at the patience, which the creaturesexhibited. I knew they were short-tempered, even with their own kind. Yet Samosand I had not been attacked. They must need something desperately.

"I swear to you on the rings of Sardak," said Kog, putting his paw on the tworings of reddish alloy on the left wrist Of Sardak.

"That is good enough for me," I said, magnanimously. I had not the least idea,of course, of the significance of this gesture on the part of Kog, but Igathered, under the circumstances, that its import must be rather weighty.

Sardak was, I was sure, Kog's Blood, or leader. If Kog swore falsely I gatheredthat it would then be up to Sardak to kill him. Sardak, however, did not move.

"You are doubtless who you say you are," I admitted.

"Even if we were not," said Kog, "we could still do business."

"Business?" I asked.

"Surely," said Kog. "We are met here in the interest of our mutual profit."

"I do not understand," I said.

"Zarendargar is a dangerous enemy to human beings," said Kog.

"He is a proven foe of Priest-Kings. He is your enemy. How fortunate, then, thatwe may conjoin our efforts in this matter. What a rare, welcome and felicitouscoincidence do we here encounter. It is in your interest to have Zarendargarkilled, and it is our business to kill him. Let us, thus, pool our forces inthis common enterprise."

"Why do you wish our help in this matter?" I asked.

"Zarendargar is in the Barrens," said Kog. "This is a large and perilouscountry. It teems with red savages. To enter such a country and find him itseems to us useful to enlist the help of human beings, creatures of a sort whichthe red savages will understand to be of their own kind, creatures with whomthey might be expected, for a price, to be cooperative. They are superbtrackers, you must understand, and may find the search stimulating. Too, theymay wish to rid their country of something as dangerous as Zarendargar."

"They would hunt him down like an animal, and slay him?" I asked.

"Presumably," said Kog. "And, humans, you see, would be useful in dealing withthem."

"I see," I said.

"What is your answer?" said Kog.

"No," I said.

"Is that your final decision?" asked Kog.

"Yes," I said.

Kog and Sardak suddenly howled. The table between us flung upwards. Samos and I,buffeted, stumbled back. The dark lantern, scattering flaming oil, struck a wallto the side of the room. "Beware, Samos!" I cried. I stood ready with the swordin the guard position. Kog hesitated, tearing at the boards with his clawedfeet.

"Guards!" cried Samos. "Guards!" Burning oil was adhering to the rained wall toour right. I saw the eyes of the two creatures glinting like fiery copperplates. Sardak reached down and seized up the huge spear, which Kog had earlierplaced to the side. "Beware, Samos!" I cried.

Guards, with crossbows, rushed into the room, behind us. With a cry of rageSardak hurled the great spear. It missed Samos and shattered half through thewall some forty feet behind us. Kog hurled the shield towards us and, like agreat, shallow, concave bowl, it skimmed through the air, between us, and brokeboards loose near the roof behind us. "Fire," cried Samos to his men. "Fire!"

With the titanic beating of wings the two tarns, the creatures mounted on them,took flight from the ruins of the tarn cot. I staggered back in the wind fromthe wings. I half shut my eyes against the dust and debris, which struck,against my face. The flames from the burning oil on the wall to my right leapedalmost horizontally backwards, torn and lashed by the wind. Then they burnedagain, as they had a moment before. I saw the creatures mounted on the tarns,silhouetted against one of Gor's three moons, fleeing over the marshes. "Theyhave escaped," said Samos.

"Yes," I said. They had restrained themselves as long as they had been able to.

What a titanic effort of will must have been necessary for them, creatures soferocious and savage, to have control themselves as long as they had. They haddone particularly well considering the numerous provocations to which,deliberately, I had subjected them to test the depth of their commitment totheir mission and the depth of their need of human help.

"Look at this," said one of Samos' men, working loose the great spear from thewall.

"And this," said another, lifting up the huge shield.

Samos' men examined the spear and shield.

"Forget what you have seen here this night," said Samos.

"What were they?" asked one of Samos' men, standing beside me.

"We call them Kurii, Beasts," I said.