Posted by AlOmega on January 20, 2000 at 18:42:47:
ARENA
Chapter 1
Near the Rift
by
AlOmega
Interesting how Life treats us. And we’re always at its mercy - that is if Life has mercy. I don’t often write
which is what makes this harder on me. But certain events have happened which bother me a good deal and
using this form - well a form which tends to take time - to let me think - may enable me to understand. At
least Counselor seems to think so.
It’s been several days at least. Standard days for us onboard Betea, our self-named U-Ship. I’m Lou-San.
Not often that something strikes me as bothersome. There is Honor or not. Everything in my life is clear
cut. Either it is Honorable or it isn’t. But why then... ? This is difficult to tell.
Again several days ago we were near the Orly Constant. Space is a little wanklie here as is time. Though
the Constant is not large - less than a thousand parsecs across - it is irregular and fluctuates. We avoid the
place if possible. Betea found the darn thing when we were exploring for Librarian. Even for a Monitor,
Librarian is odd.....
Snitt!! I’m dancing around the situation - the problem.... I don’t know how to talk about it. But perhaps if I
started at the beginning.....
Clandar
It was dank on Clandar. Breathing was labored and the oxygen content too high. Lovely planet with
blue-green trees but little undergrowth. I hated it from the first. I should trust my instincts more so Plard
tells me. There were four of us this trip, the Twins, Slion and Slito, Toupia, and myself. Toupia told me
right off that this was a horrid planet for flyers. No air currents to soar on. The Twins on the other hand
loved the stinking place. Lots of ‘Wateries’ they said. Well their planet is almost all swamp and damp so
that might account for their taste.
Betea was in SO (Standard Orbit). But one of the Children, Tangue, was nearby. According to surveys and
Betea’s probes, the locals were nothing to fear. Technology was maybe Bronze or Iron age. And we did
have weapons to combat that.
Because of the humidity, we all wore the briefest of costumes that matched local garb. Only our thin Claret
swords and daggers would have been considered out-of-place. It does make one pause to see a pink blade
thrust in one’s face. Figured the Locals hadn’t seen the Liquid Metal either. Aside from those we wore kilts
and a form of crisscrossed bra or sashes called a Tartle. Mine was rather wide so as to hide my
underdeveloped second set of nipples as well as my marks of Rank. Males wore something similar but only
from the right shoulder. A utilitarian belt and sandals laced to the knees were the only other attire the
average citizen wore. Warriors wore a bit more. Small helmet to cover the top of the head. Precious little
else. Again the heat and humidity.
Though I should have changed to my full Humax height, I decided that a little under six feet would be more
than adequate. And a light skin color with auburn hair would do for now as well. But its difficult to hide
my long fingernails. Even for a Humax they are long. The Twins were their normal dark brown with white
hair. It would be hard for even the most casual observer to believe they were not brother and sister. Toupia
could not change his copper coloring. But he was obliged to keep his head covering on. Wouldn’t do for
the locals to see someone with feathery hair. I smiled remembering some pointed-eared people we had
encountered long ago. Plard was the one who had to wrap something around his head then so as to hide his
rounded ears. Vulcans I think they called themselves.
How I missed him.
We had been sent to investigate a space-time co-ordinal rift which, if left untended could cause a minor Rip
in True Space. It was uncertain but a larger version may have been the cause of the original Orly Constant.
We were to study the local version and make some minor repairs to close the rift. But even if it remained
unattended there would be little harm done. The locals might notice something - like their world crumbling
to nothing as the rift fed. But when local matter content dropped to a negligible amount, the thing would
disappear. We figured the original Orly Constant was caused by the absorption of a massive amount of
matter - possibly even a neutron star. But that was still under study....
Again I find myself writing stupid stuff.
So okay, we had been on-planet a bare fifteen minutes when a small party of warriors challenged us. Frankly
I was not in the mode for fighting. They were so few - about seven or eight - and I was only interested in
getting to the site, collect data, make repairs, and get the quaft off of this sweat-inducing planet of
odious scoria. But when Toupia sent a thought my way that indeed these people knew the location of the
rift and could lead us there, I figured that would shorten our stay - especially since we had no instruments
capable of tracking the rift. Betea’s insect probes hadn’t narrowed the location more precisely than a spot
covering some hundred square kilometers in size.
I listened a few minutes to the locals as they talked among themselves. This is the quickest way to learn a
language. Well we do use surface mind probes which help identify what the words mean. Parse or
Parsing we call it. Syntax takes a bit longer but that comes as we talk. In a few moments I had a
working knowledge of the language and could venture a question or two.
I had not noticed before but the group was composed of five women and two men. All were armed with
iron broad swords. Excellent for slashing which told me more about their fighting styles than any of their
primitive instructors could have taught me in ten years. They didn’t think too much of us figuring they were
better armed. Besides Toupia looks to be about ten and the Twins look a frail fifteen. From their surface
thoughts I ascertained that a group of six were in the woods to our left while another group of eleven were
on our right. I smiled and sent a message to the rest. It would not do to engage these in close order if it
came to that but we could easily stand them off. I waited as they approached. Finally a tall, dark-haired
woman addressed me.
“Who are you and what do you want here?” The accent was crisp and clean as if she was use to command.
Her lack of a strong smell threw me off for a split second. I assumed they would have a strong odor since
I’d certainly smelled the local flora and fauna right enough. To cover my reaction, I shrugged. Wouldn’t do
to get off on the wrong foot. But I had to establish the parameters if we were to get anyplace.
“I’m called Lou-San and these are my friends. We require passage and perhaps directions to a place which
one or more of you might know.”
“Explain.”
“Is there a place where the ground is gold colored and the air ripples in purple and blue with flashes of red
sometimes? Or a pond or stream or lake which is golden and the air is afire with sparkles of green and red?”
“Petra,” whispered one of the men. “She’s talking about...”
The one called ‘Petra’ backhanded the smaller male like one would an insect. Turning back to me, “And if I
knew of such a place, what is it to you?”
Hard to parse these humans, I thought. But Slion (who was male this time) caught the referent and
passed it to me. Indeed such a place existed - a Holy Place to these humans - but the precise whereabouts
was still vague. And Slito sent her message also. These humans who thought the Team barely above notice,
were likely to see us in a better light if we issued a challenge. I was about to issue such a challenge when
Toupia with hardly a sound tumbled one of the women to the ground.....
................................................
The Human woman was stunned for a moment unable to believe that I could disarm and humiliate her at the
same time. But she rose quickly, picked up her sword, and advanced. Only to feel the prick of Lou-San’s
sword at her neck.
Petra nodded to the woman and then to Lou-San.
“A challenge? The proprieties have been met. But we do not fight children - especially males - no matter
how brave.”
“Children? Child?? I’ll show ...”, I quickly spouted off. Human woman was stupid woman.
Lou-San stopped me short. I knew she was ‘in charge’ but I wanted my fun also. I’d teach this Human a
lesson - in blood. But Lou-San’s stare incorporated a twinkling smile. My nod showed her I understood.
She turned once again to Petra. “You accept the challenge?”
“Yes,” Petra responded as others of her party smiled. “She who is called Vicky of the Second Cohort will
accept the challenge?” So that was the Human’s name.
“Not you?” Lou-San queried attempting again to parse the thoughts of the tall woman before her.
“Indeed not. As I said, we do not fight children. But we will take these from you and incorporate them into
our Catlongue (city-state, I read before sending the thought to Lou-San) if you lose. We are better
than the Nazile. We do not kill the males nor cast female young into the Pits for sport.”
Oh, those Humans were stupid. I wanted to fight her also. Calling me, Toupia, a ‘child’ as if I could be a
Human’s child.
Lou-San returned the challenge, “Oh but you did Accept. And I would not lower myself to fight with one of
lesser rank. Honor is at stake here, however. Crass Honor in my opinion but Honor nonetheless. The
‘child’ can take care of himself. The only reason I say ‘Honor’ at all is that you were already set on causing
this incident when you sighted us. And if Toupia had not ‘Challenged’ your companion, you would have
found an excuse to have one of your other companions force a Challenge on one of us - to get at me, I
suspect.’
I could see the Petra-leader was angry that her shallow deception was revealed but it didn’t matter in the
short run. It was easy enough to parse her. Whether Lou-San or I died was immaterial to her. We
had trespassed. We had inquired about the Place that Was Sacred - The Place of the Heavenly Light.
Snitt!! Almost had the location that time.
But I could see that the Vicky-Human was not pleased at the prospects of fighting what she considered a
‘boy-child’. I could see that females dominated this society but I couldn’t have cared less. So she had her
own honor to defend. Ah, the term ‘Blood Debt’. Now that had a meaning. She glanced at me. I realized I
couldn’t cope with this humidity and heat and fight, too. Had to do something.
“Wait”, Lou-San cried, her voice ringing through the glen. “They fight only to First Blood.”
“Agreed.”
I popped a Dram pill. It would increase my oxygen absorption rate. That was when I heard the restriction.
“Not fair, Lou-San,” I cried out. “Not fair. She wants blood. I’m gonna give her blood. Lots of blood!
Hers!!”
“Take care, Sweetie. Don’t hurt her too much. You know why.” She smiled once again. Yesss!!! I knew
what she wanted me to do. I didn’t need turn away to see Lou-San’s expression.
And it was a good thing I hadn’t. Without warning, Vicky attacked. I heard Lou-San’s, “Remember the
Code of the Small Blade” before Vicky reached me.
And found nothing.
Oh this was fun. I slapped her butt. “Looking for me, Lady?” I tried putting as much contempt into my
words as I could muster. It was my way of having fun. And it made this Vicky-Human mad. Real mad.
Mad enough to do some really foolish things.
I watched as Vicky twirled her sword. She was doing the ‘flashies’ as Monitor Kan-D’An would say.
Meant she was up to something. Confuse and strike I suspected. So I wasn’t surprised to see her swing in
low in an impetuous attempt to remove my legs. She was lucky I didn’t dance on her blade. Problem was
she was so darn slow. When she realized that the blow was too low, Vicky recovered quickly. But not only
had I leaped above her blade, I had swatted her on the buttocks once again.. Vulnerable? Yup. But I
wouldn’t take that advantage. Noooo. Not now. A child? I’d show her ‘child’ things. I would at least
have some fun even if it killed me.
She was good. I’ll give her that. But this world slowed one down. The air was thick with water. And the
gasses were heavier. The oxygen count was lower than I liked but it was the humidity that was restricting
movement. I just wished that I had paid attention to Tandom’s readouts.
Now contrary to Lou-San’s thinking, I was not ‘teasing’ her!. Though the Dram was working and I wasn’t
breathing hard, I knew that wouldn’t last long. The Vicky-Human saw this also as she took another
desperate swing. The passing of sword through thick air was slower. The cumbersome thing was getting
heavier. I wasn’t sure of the meaning but I knew the words she was muttering under her heavy breathing had
to be curses.. I was hardly breathing at all! And I had yet to draw my blade. I glanced at Lou-San and
decided to get the thing over with. Besides if I didn’t, I could get into trouble as the Dram wore off. As
Vicky made another pass, I twisted, turned, and make a quick thrust. My index finger broke through her
breast bone and I felt the pulse of her heart. Vicky knew something was wrong but not what. She stumbled
losing her sword for a moment.
Turning as she tumbled she saw that I now had her useless, heavy sword and was offering it to her. She
reached to grasp it and stuttered forward. The pain in her chest was too much. Had I gone too far? I asked
Slion and Slito. Whenever in doubt, ask the Twins. She tumbled to the sands of the road. Slion and Slito
knelt by the heavy breathing Vicky. Applying pressure to the wound seemed to bring relief. I could see that
she thought she was dying. Fat chance of that with the Twins around.
The others had seen my index finger penetrate Vicky’s chest and seen the blood that appeared when I
withdrew it. More than one shuddered as I licked my fingers. Not pleasant but necessary I thought.
Lou-San frowned at me misinterpreting my thought. But I figured, let her - frown that is. I’d done what
was necessary. ...
................................................
“She’s not dead,” I answered Petra’s silent question. “Though Toupia could have easily killed her with what
we call ‘The Code of the Small Blade’. We do not seek to kill but will if necessary. And we must have
compensation for the Challenge Unanswered.“
Petra hardly heard me as she saw a glow arise from Slion’s fingers which covered Vicky’s bloody wound.
When he removed his fingers, the wound was no longer there. Slito stroked Vicky’s hair.
“She sleeps for a time, Dear Lou-San. Within a Tand she will waken. She had a ....”
“Not now, Slito.”
“Petra, our question. Do you have an answer? Or must we place you all under Challenge? And I mean the
others to either side as well.” Lou-San stood defiantly.
“You would not be so bold. Your techniques are not know to us but we outnumber...”
“Immaterial. We are as different from you as you are from the Nazile. Even more so for we are from far
away. Wait. Let me show you. Toupia, catch.”
I picked up three rocks. The onlookers had seen jugglers before. But none like Toupia. He caught them
before they reached his head. Juggling is not difficult when one figures how to coordinate hand and eye.
But catching and juggling without hands.... The Human Petra quickly took all that in right enough.
“We are as different as are our techniques,” I continued. “But we prefer to negotiate rather than fight - not
that I’m opposed to fighting for a cause. But this isn’t it. Not this time.
“Now, shall we negotiate and live? Or make war and die! The choice is yours.”
“But you asked ...?”
“And you think the place is Holy. But others have had doubts as to its Holiness?”
“Y-yes. I for one. It goes against the Precepts of Aton and Amon. But there have been miracles...”
The arguments of the foregone agreement went on for twenty minutes before Petra and her original force
ventured to lead the us to the Holy Site. Actually we only agreed to speak with Petra’s co-lieutenant
Sultana but that would have to do. The Holy One of Nacro Tot who was formerly Karlasteel was too far
away at the moment otherwise she would have been the one to consult. I only wanted to get the whole
thing over with.