The Stones of Nomuru

IX – THE CARAVAN

A few stars lingered in the paling sky as Kara Sheffield pedaled down the lane to di Pasquale's farmhouse. Four of Kukulcan's moons hung like paper lanterns above the horizon; but they little resembled Earth's Luna. The largest, Tlaloc, unveiled a small visible disk to the naked eye, while the others appeared little more than luminous dots.

In the courtyard, heavy-laden kyuumeis stamped and pawed while their Kookish teamsters, with muskets slung across their backs, adjusted loads and lashings. Chensoö strolled about, croaking orders; Keith Salazar, holding the lead rope of his juten, stood with Kono, Uwangi, and their mounts.

As Kara braked her vehicle, di Pasquale led a saddled juten from his barn. "Ah, Miss Sheffield!" said the stout, fierce-mustached farmer. "Always a pleasure!"

"Hello, Vittorio," said Kara.

Di Pasquale laid a finger along his nose. "Keith must be mad to take a beautiful, delicate woman out into the wild back country."

Kara laughed lightly. "I've survived worse hazards."

Dawn saw Salazar and Kara jogging along the road to Neruu, followed by the rest of the caravan. Kara said: "What happened at the party? Cabot acted evasive when I called to thank him for taking me home."

Salazar told the tale, ending with his escape from Penny's amorous clutches. With anyone else he might have withdrawn into his shell; but confiding in Kara was a habit that he had never broken.

"Poor thing!" laughed Kara, "or I should say, poor both of you! Penny must have been red-hot, and you—I don't see how you withstood her. You exaggerated the—all—"

"If I'd given in, would it have made you jealous?"

"No."

"Not one teeny bit?"

"Not one bit. I'd assume it was good for you. You were virile enough when we—when I knew you before."

"A compensation of maturity is that one learns to restrain one's passion in consideration of future consequences."

"But you're still young!" exclaimed Kara. "It's only a couple of years since we—"

Salazar cut her off. "As La Rochefoucauld said, when a man controls his passions, the reason is not that he is strong but that they are weak. I don't know which applies in my case. If a certain other had acted as Penny did, I'd have leaped to it—"

It was Kara's turn to interrupt. "Wouldn't it be safer to go by the western road to the ford? It's roundabout, but we avoid Conrad's people. Besides, the Sappari bridge will never hold all these pack animals at once!"

"I've thought of that," said Salazar. "You and the rest will go by the west road; I shall catch up with you."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just a quick recon to see what they're doing to the site."

Kara said, "If you run into Conrad, promise me you won't shoot him!"

"Why not? After all that's happened, shooting him sounds like the best idea since shredded wheat. He's one who never would be missed."

"I know; he's a scoundrel and a beast. But I couldn't bear it! A woman like me has enough problems without being the cause of a murder."

"I'll try not to do anything foolish; that's all I promise. Here we are!"

Kara would have continued her protests; but at this point the road divided. Chensoö stolidly led the kyuumeis along the right or main fork. Salazar vanished down the lesser trail with his mount at a run.

Two hours later, with the sun high, Salazar rejoined the caravan. He told Kara: "I went to our former camp, tied up Daffodil, and wriggled through the brush until I could see the site. Bergen was yelling orders, with Charley Ma translating, while his Kooks hitched up kyuumeis to a dragline scraper. I resisted the temptation to take a shot."

"Thank goodness for that!" she said.

"Oh, I don't know. I suspect I should have potted Bergen while I had the chance, after all he's done. But I held off, because I hadn't figured out all the angles—how it would affect the Museum and such. Then Bergen drove off in his steam car. That's the trouble with us damned academics; all thought and no action." He did not add that he had restrained himself partly to please her.

"Did any of them see you?" she asked.

"No. I passed a couple of Kooks on the trail, but they just looked at me and went about their business."

"Where are we stopping tonight? Neruu?"

"No. It's full of Bergen's people. At the rate these critters move, we shall have to camp out in the pup tent."

Having, like many leaders of field expeditions, a reliable internal clock, Salazar awoke at dawn. He unzipped his bag and reached out to tease the tent flap open a a crack. By the augmented light he saw that Kara was awake. He gazed at her with tender memories.

"No, Keith!" said Kara sharply.

"Huh? I haven't said a word—"

"You didn't have to. I know you too well."

With an angry grunt, Salazar hauled himself out of his bag and started pulling on his outer clothing. He told himself: Keith Adams Salazar, can't you do anything right? You were the world's prize ass to leave her two years ago, and now you're a bigger fool for bringing her along on this jaunt. You must enjoy self-torture.

The second night they camped, Salazar saw that Kara was comfortably settled in her sleeping bag. Then he laid his own bag on the ground outside the tent.

"Keith!" she called. "What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep," he said grumpily. "But why out there?"

"Try to guess." Controlling his vexation, more at himself than at her, he added: "Good-night, Kara."

Sending the caravan on ahead, Salazar and Kara stopped in Shongaro long enough to speak with Chief Sambyaku, who warned them: "Beware, honorable Sarasara, of soldiers on the roads. The air is thick with rumors of trouble with the Choshas, and the High Chief has ordered some of his men to the eastern border."

"I tried to tell Miyage—" began Salazar, but Sambyaku cut in:

"Aye, so you did. But the High Chief has had experience with Terrans. The only Terran whom he trusts is this developer, Bergen."

"With whom he will become disillusioned. But why should I fear Miyage's soldiers?"

"Many are not well-disciplined. One never knows what such persons might do if surprised."

Salazar and Kara remounted and rode off. Less than a kilometer outside Shongaro, they caught up with their caravan. The kyuumeis were munching vegetation along the roadside, while the teamsters, muskets in hand, clustered behind Chensoö. The caravan leader was in furious argument with a Kook, a soldier from his body paint and an officer from the fact that he bore a sword instead of a musket. Observing the sixteen soldiers of the detachment, it seemed to Salazar from the movement of their neck bristles that they were spoiling for a fight.

"What is this?" Salazar called out as his juten reached the scene of the dispute.

"These," said Chensoö, "are High Chief Miyage's men. They wish to know about the crates."

"Tell them the crates contain agricultural implements," said Salazar.

"I have so said, but the officer wishes to pry one open to confirm this fact. I have told him that we may not permit the Empress's seals to be broken, but he is not convinced."

Salazar dismounted. Confronting the officer, he said: "I am on a mission for the Empress, and I do not think that your High Chief wishes to antagonize her."

"I have my orders—" began the officer.

"We are on our way to Machura by way of Biitso. If you have questions about our cargo, accompany us to Biitso and lay the matter before High Chief Miyage himself."

The officer's tongue flicked. "We cannot! Our orders are to proceed eastward forthwith, to take up a position near Neruu. This matter must be settled here and now—"

Salazar was standing beside one of the spare kyuumeis. It was a big animal, as tall at the shoulder hump as Salazar, and its dark-gray scales bore the butter-yellow symbols of the Empire of Feënzun. As the officer spoke, a thunderous boom made everyone start. With an earth-shaking impact, the kyuumei beside Salazar fell over on its side, its legs pawing the air before its eyes glazed in death. The grazing animals snorted and danced in alarm. Some were barely restrained from bolting.

"Uwangi!" yelled Salazar. "The rifle! Get down, Kara!" He added in Shongo: "Take cover, all of you!"

Uwangi dashed up with Salazar's gun, whereupon the archaeologist sprawled on the ground behind the dead beast, with his rifle barrel resting across the carcass. The soldiers, with apparently no concept of taking cover, formed a ragged line behind Salazar, facing the forest with cocked muskets.

Salazar, sure that he recognized the sound of Bergen's big-game rifle, swept the foliage with searching eyes. On the road behind, a flicker of motion caught his attention. For less than a second he glimpsed a juten and a rider, pounding away to eastward. Before he could bring his rifle to bear, the target was out of sight. So brief had been his glimpse that he could not even be sure whether the rider was a Kook or a Terran.

Salazar set his straw hat, Pokrovskii's gift, on the muzzle of his rifle. When this failed to draw fire, he said: "I believe our attacker has gone; but I suggest, Captain Tuskei, that you send some of your men to search the woods."

"Aye, sir; that I shall do. But about these crates—"

"Just a moment, Captain. Kara, I think Bergen shot at us; but I don't see how he could still have his fourteen-millimeter gun. Kampai would have kept it, along with the other Terran firearms, when he let Bergen go. And you carried off the ammunition for that rifle."

Kara thought for a moment. "Didn't Conrad and Pokrovskii stop at your camp on their way to Henderson? Maybe one of your people noticed."

"Good idea!" said Salazar. He buttoned Galina Bartch on his poignette, told of their situation, and asked: "When Bergen and the others came by our camp after the Choshas released them, do you remember whether Bergen was carrying a heavy rifle?"

After a thoughtful pause, Galina said: "Yes, he was. I remember because, at dinner, he boasted of how he got it. He asked Kampai for it on the grounds that it would be useless to the Choshas. To prove his point, he let one of Kampai's sub-chiefs shoot at a target. The recoil knocked the Kook flat and injured his arm, since they are not so solidly built as we. Then Kampai let Bergen take the gun but not the cartridges."

"Thanks, Galina." Salazar chuckled. "That explains the mystery. Not being used to repeating firearms, Kampai didn't think to make Bergen unload the magazine. I told you I should have killed the bastitch when I had him in my sights. Now, how to prove to Miyage that Bergen is not to be trusted?"

He frowned in thought. "I have it! Chensoö, I want to recover the bullet from the dead kyuumei. You will butcher the animal for meat; so tell your men that I will pay one sovran, in Henderson gold, for that bullet." Salazar held up the coin between thumb and forefinger, setting it ablaze in the sunshine.

The next hour saw the bloody spectacle of the drovers hacking at the carcass with hatchets and bush knives. While they were so engaged, Chief Sambyaku appeared from Shongaro with his escort, saying:

"Sarasara, I heard a shot. One of our townsfolk told me that he had passed your party with these soldiers standing by a dead kyuumei as if expecting attack. I have come to investigate."

Salazar explained the contretemps over the crates. Sambyaku replied: "I shall go to see my High Chief at Biitso. Proceed on your way, Sarasara; I shall return to Shongaro for mounts and overtake you. Continue to your destination, Captain; I will be responsible for the Terrans. May your life be tranquil ..."

After the departure of Chief Sambyaku and the soldiers, one of the drovers cried: "Honorable Sarasara, here it is!" He straightened up with a bloody cylindro-conical bullet in his claws.

Salazar took the object, wiped it on a paper handkerchief, and held it up. "Sure looks like fourteen millimeters!" He handed over the reward and pocketed the find.

When the caravan arrived at Miyage's palace in Biitso and Sambyaku sent in a message, High Chief Miyage himself appeared, exclaiming: "By our ancestral spirits, what is this? You, Sambyaku, all these beasts, and that tricky Terran Sarasara! What do you here?"

Sambyaku began an explanation, but the High Chief raised an admonitory claw. "Let us go inside for details. Not you, evil alien; we do not wish converse with you; nor shall you fill our house with your Terran stench."

"But, Your Highness!" expostulated Sambyaku. "The alien has evidence of dire events, which do affect the welfare of Shongosi. Besides, I have known him for a year and more and find him honest and truthful for a Terran."

Salazar hid a smile at the memory of the whopping lies he had lately been compelled to tell. The High Chief nodded skeptically, as if but half-convinced, saying: "Very well, but the proof must needs be as solid as Mount Nezumi to change our mind about this Terran. We never trust monsters from outer space."

"Your Highness," said Sambyaku, "I do assure you that this monster is not really very Terran. It is as if he had the mind of a civilized human being, like you and me, in his alien body."

Miyage grunted. "This we shall see." His forked tongue lashed the air.

In his chamber of office, Miyage squatted on a cushion with his visitors kneeling before him. "Now, tell your tale," he said. "Silence, Sarasara! We do not wish to speak with you; you would forget the honorifics proper to a being of our rank. You may instead speak to Sambyaku, who will relay the message." He used the inflections employed in speaking to a person of the lowest caste.

Salazar told briefly of the shipment of agricultural implements to the Empress and the attempt on his life. When he named Bergen as his assailant, Miyage burst out: "There you go again, trying in your perfidious Terran way to stir up trouble between us and our staunchest ally! Utter no more of these fabrications, unless you wish to lose that hideous Terran head!"

Salazar exchanged glances with Sambyaku. Miyage, he knew, was quite capable of having him dragged out and slain, despite the risk of hostilities with the Terrans of Henderson.

Wordlessly, Salazar dug into a pocket and retrieved the bullet carved from the dead kyuumei. Wordlessly he held it up between thumb and forefinger.

"What is that?" snapped Miyage, flicking his tongue.

Salazar remained silent until Sambyaku spoke: "Your Highness threatened Sarasara with death if he spoke. Do you withdraw that command?"

"Oh, very well," grumped Miyage. "You may speak to us directly, Sarasara; we cannot wait for Sambyaku to pass on every word."

Salazar explained where the bullet had come from. Then he asked: "Will Your Highness have the goodness to repeat Bergen's story of his escape from the Choshas?"

"He said that he dug a burrow under the bars of the cage wherein you were confined. During the night, he and his companions wriggled through and fled. You and the female Sheffira followed but were recaptured."

"Miss Sheffield and I tell quite a different story, Your Highness, But tell me, did Bergen say anything of being armed during his flight?"

"Not specifically. He did speak of beating off an attack by a fyunga with a club made from a fallen tree branch."

"And he would hardly have defended himself in that manner if he had possessed a gun, would he?"

"We suppose not. But what does all this signify, Sarasara?"

With a smile, Salazar tossed up and caught the bullet. "The gun for this bullet is the only firearm of its kind on this world; Bergen imported it from Terra. The guns that Terrans make here, like that which your guards took from me when we entered your palace, shoot smaller bullets. This did not come from one of the muskets your people make, as you can see from its shape; your guns fire only spherical shot. So, obviously, Bergen still possesses his heavy rifle despite his tale of fleeing unarmed."

Flick, flick, flick went the forked tongue. At last Miyage said: "How do you know that Bergen did not order another gun of this kind from Terra as soon as he reached Henderson?"

"Because, Your Highness, it takes eleven or twelve years for a space ship to travel to Terra, and an equal length of time to return."

After another silence, Miyage persisted: "But how know you that Bergen did not own a pair of these guns, and that this bullet came from his second weapon?"

"He repeatedly assured us, Your Highness, that his heavy rifle was unique on this planet."

"If he lost all his ammunition to the Choshas, how could he shoot that kyuumei? Another of you Terrans may have a firearm of this kind."

"Bergen doubtless had a reserve supply of cartridges at his home, and to make more of this kind is not beyond the ability of our machine shops."

Sambyaku broke the following silence: "Your Highness, there must be more to this tale than meets the eye. Since the conflict between Bergen and Sarasara is mainly over the ruins of ancient Nomuru, were it not wise to stop all actions at that place until we have sifted this matter and discovered the exact truth?"

Miyage gave a long, serpentine hiss. "We fear you are right, Sambyaku; albeit we are sure, when we solve this problem, that Bergen will be proved the more honest of the two aliens. May our ancestral spirits curse these Terrans! Would to the Universal Law that they had never come to our world; they give us nought but trouble. Common courtesy is wasted on them.

"We shall send soldiers with orders to guard the ruins of Nomuru and allow no Terran activity there. May you lead tranquil lives ..."

When the caravan left Biitso, nothing more had been said about the sealed crates. The chieftains had evidently forgotten the matter, and Salazar had better sense than to remind them.

"Don't Kooks have such a thing as an inn or hotel?" asked Kara as Salazar, with the help of Kono and Uwangi, set up the tent.

"Guess not," he said. "If one goes traveling, either he stays with someone connected with him by their complicated rules of caste and kinship, or he squats down wherever he can find a wall to rest his back against. The idea of bothering about physical discomfort is foreign to them. Even if they had inns, their caste rules about eating and sleeping would present innkeepers with an impossible problem."

On the second night after leaving Biitso, thunder rumbled and rain began to fall. Kara said: "Don't be silly, Keith! Drag that bag in here and spend a dry night."

"Are you sure—"

"I can't have you getting sick on me." As Salazar, grumbling under his breath, brought in his sleeping bag, she added: "Now, repeat after me—"

"Eh? What's this?"

"Never mind. Just repeat after me, loud and clear: I will not ..."

"I will not ..."

"Make a pass at ..."

"Make a pass at ..."

"Or make love to ..."

"Or make love to ..."

"My platonic friend Kara Sheffield."

"My platonic friend Kara Sheffield. Say, what is this? Some sort of magical incantation?"

"In a way. I know you pretty well, Keith. In most matters you're punctilious, literal-minded, and—with one unfortunate lapse—a man of your word. So if you promise, right out loud, not to try any intimacies, I'm pretty sure you'll keep your word."

Salazar gave a snort of laughter: "But what if you make advances to me? What am I supposed—"

"Mount Nezumi will dance a pachanga before that happens!"

After a long pause, Salazar spoke:

"Keith! Go to sleep!"

At Machura, the Empress, surrounded by musketeers and spearmen, said: "Hail, honorable Sarasara! Is your health good?"

"Hail, Your Imperial Majesty!" said Salazar, down on both knees. Beside him Kara knelt likewise. "My health, thank the Universal Law, has been excellent. Has Your Majesty's health ..."

After completion of the long exchange, the Empress said: "Are these the promised Terran guns?"

"They are, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Come inside, with your companion. Arrangements will be as before."

Hours later, bathed, groomed, and rested, Salazar and Kara found themselves alone in the audience room with the Empress. Gariko said in English: "I am pleased with your success, Sarasara. Is this loan of Terran weapons known to any other Terrans?"

"Only two others in Henderson, whose discretion I can vouch for. What has Your Majesty done with the guns?"

"The crates are stacked in the armory. But I must tell you that your plan has met objections from some of my ministers."

"What objections, Your Majesty?"

"My Minister of War—or you could call him General Shta—opposes any sort of dependency on Terrans. He has read a history of Terran civilization and avers that to give them the slightest grasp upon us will result in our being conquered and reduced to servitude. He cites many instances."

Salazar said: "Your Majesty, the events that Minister Shta refers to occurred centuries ago. On my world, we have learned to be more scrupulous in observing the rights of other peoples."

"Ah, but here you Terrans are not on your world; nor has your species evolved appreciably since the earlier days of which you speak. You are at bottom the same excitable, impulsive, aggressive creatures that you were back then. And now you are in the position regarding us that the people of Yura—Yero—"

"Europe," Salazar prompted.

"The people of Europe were when they invaded the other continents of your world. Having technical advantages—well, we shall discuss this further. The final decision shall be mine.

"Meanwhile I must know more of your plan for putting the Terran guns to use. My spies tell me that the Choshas will soon invade Shongosi. How shall we transmit news of this invasion to our forces in time to enable them to meet the Choshas before the latter have overrun Shongosi and perhaps entered Feënzun as well?"

Salazar thought before replying. "Your Majesty's people have no electrical communications. Lacking these, what method swifter than a rider on a fast juten would serve? On Terra, men once set up lines of signal towers, by which they sent messages from one tower to the next by means of a device with arms that could be set to symbolize the characters of our system of writing."

"That is not feasible here, Sarasara. It would take much too long to build the towers and train the signalers. Secondly, while your system of writing, I understand, makes do with a mere thirty or forty symbols, ours employs hundreds. These could not easily be conveyed by wagging the arms of your device. What else?"

"Your Majesty, on Terra we have many species of small, flying creatures called 'birds,' somewhat like your zutas. A few of these have been trained to bear messages."

"None of us has, to my knowledge, ever sought to employ zutas thus. It is a possibility, but for the future. Is there aught else?"

Salazar pondered. "As Your Majesty knows, we Terrans communicate afar by electrical devices. I know your people believe that such devices distress your ancestral spirits; but if, of myself and Miss Sheffield, one were in Shongosi and the other at your army headquarters, the invasion could be reported instantly."

After a silence, Gariko said: "It is too late to call a special meeting of ministers today; but perhaps I can arrange one for tomorrow afternoon. You shall be informed, and your presence is expected."

"May my companion, Miss Sheffield, attend also?"

"Surely. Do you require anything for your comfort?"

Salazar said: "We should be grateful for a few more cushions, Your Majesty. Your floors are of an admirable hardness."

Gariko could not smile; but the rippling of her cervical spines implied that she might have done so if furnished with human lips instead of a turtle's beak. She murmured: "It amazes me that creatures, so soft-skinned and sensitive to the slightest discomfort, should ever have conquered the vast distances between your world and ours. But cushions you shall have. May you be in good health ..."

Salazar strolled the streets of Machura with Kara, taking in the limited sights of the town. Kara said: "I find the monotony oppressive. All the houses look alike, as if they had come out of the same cookie cutter."

Salazar shrugged. "An infinite number of apartment blocks on Earth are just as uniform."

"And the people don't seem in the least interested in us."

"Kooks decide what they intend to do and concentrate on that goal. It takes more than a mere pair of monsters from outer space, like us, to distract them ..."

A young Kook planted itself before them, saying in Feënzuo: "May your health be good! You are Terrans, are you not?"

"Yes," said Salazar.

"And you are a male, and the smaller one a female?"

"You are right, young fellow."

"Have you twain traveled hither together?"

"Yes." Aside, he added to Kara: "Here's an exception to my rule, I do believe. He actually has curiosity."

The Kook continued: "My parents have told me that Terrans have no sexual morals. Whenever a male and female of your species are alone together, they go to it at once, like other lower animals. Tell me, then, how often do you copulate?"

A sputter of suppressed laughter told Salazar that Kara had caught the drift of the conversation. He said: "That must forever be a secret among Terrans. If I told you, I should shrivel up and blow away. May you be in good health!"