Beyond the Silver Veil

Author: Kirk Straughen

Synopsis: Whilst participating in an experiment Ulysses Jaynes is unexpectedly marooned on an alien planet of savage and primitive beings. Here he must survive and find a place for himself in the weird cultures of this unknown world. Will he succeed or fall victim to slavering monsters and sadistic foes that lurk at every turn?

Edit history: Minor changes were made to this story on 28 July 2021.

Chapter 1: Strange Doorway

Ulysses Jaynes stood before the huge machine that occupied three quarters of Professor Brown’s laboratory. The young man of twenty was a student of the savant who taught physics at the local university, and also experimented in the new field of dimensional mathematics, which some considered a fringe science best suited to irascible crackpots.

Needless to say the professor, who didn’t have much of a sense of humor at the best of times, wasn’t at all amused by the subtle remarks of his colleagues that implied he fitted this category. The indirect appellations, most of which Jaynes felt were nothing more than good natured ribbing only aggravated Brown’s natural disposition to tetchiness. Indeed, he was a difficult fellow to work for, and if Jaynes had had a choice he wouldn’t have taken the job as his assistant but he, like most students, needed money, meager though Brown’s payments were.

Jaynes caught a glimpse of his reflection in the huge polished disc he stood before. A tall well built and clean shaven man of blended ethnicity stared back at him. His skin was rather dark – the heritage of his African American father. His features, though, leaned more towards the European as his mother was from Goa, a state on the southwestern coast of India and one time colony of Portugal.

He was dressed in kaki and he smiled in wry humor as he gazed at himself. He looked as if he was going on safari, as if he’d stepped right out of a 1930’s Tarzan movie. There was nothing ludicrous, though, about the bush knife and 45 automatic at his hip.

Again, he wondered what this was all about. He’d been working for Professor Brown for little over a month, the savant’s previous assistant having left on bad terms, unable to stand his employer’s abrasive temperament. Brown was a secretive man who didn’t encourage questions, and Jaynes could only guess that the machine he’d helped finish about two weeks ago had something to do with the professor’s research in dimensional mathematics, but more than that was beyond his ability to deduce.

Still, as he reminded himself, he needed the money so he decided to humor the oddball experimenter by donning the explorer’s outfit, even though he felt a little silly, theatrically so. But he knew better than to ask questions. No doubt explanations would be forthcoming in due time.

A sudden hum came from the mechanism before him and the ten foot diameter silver disc began to glow, its face wavering like heat haze. Jaynes, caught by surprise at the unanticipated phenomenon, jumped involuntarily.

“Nervous, Jaynes? Go through with this and I’ll give you a bonus - a thousand dollars. No more, and nothing if you refuse. You understand me?”

Jaynes turned. Professor Brown had pulled the master switch on the control panel. He was a tall spare man of middle age, completely bald, and the young man suspected that the wild beard he grew was in some way compensation for his hairless pate. He glared challengingly at Jaynes with ice blue eyes overarched by bushy eyebrows, daring him to engage in a dispute.

“What am I getting myself into?” the young man replied evenly. “I need the money, true, but fools rush in where angels fear to tread as the saying goes.”

“Look at the disc and you’ll soon see,” replied the savant cryptically.

Puzzled and a little annoyed Jaynes turned his attention back to the mirror-like instrument. In the intervening period of their conversation the disc had become a circular film of shimmering silvery light reminiscent of a veil rippled by gentle breezes. Splotches of color began to appear. Tantalizing shapes could be glimpsed, like an abstract painting that hinted at the real world.

The image changed as he gazed upon it. It became more distinct. Jaynes watched, intrigued despite his annoyance at Brown’s coyness. The view clarified and he gasped. A scene stood before him with such realistic three-dimensional lucidity that it seemed as if he stood before an open door leading to some fantastic realm.

It was a forest, but none like those of Earth. The trees were similar to palms, but their trunks were warty and reddish brown in color. These trunks, unlike that of a true palm, ramified to branches at the crown from which palmate fronds sprang in dense masses. The fronds were a tone of bluish grey that matched the coloration of the undergrowth, which consisted of man-tall, elongated blade-shaped plants.

Shafts of slanting sunlight pierced the forest canopy, and in the glowing beams danced jewel-like invertebrates on shimmering wings. Thick snaky vines dripped from trees and wound about their trunks, their large crimson bell shaped flowers scenting the air with a subtle fragrance difficult to describe.

Jaynes stood staring at the incredible scene. At first he’d thought it was a three dimensional projection – that the professor had invented a new form of television. But the image was too real to be a mere hologram – he felt the breeze wafting in from the alien forest, and smelt the scents of strange life that it carried. He slowly turned and stared at Professor Brown. Jaynes was astounded, and his amazed expression was more eloquent than words could ever be.

The savant soberly nodded. “Yes, it’s real. You stand before a doorway to another dimension. Are you ready to emulate Armstrong and set foot upon an alien world?” He pointed to the camcorder on its tripod. “Everything is being filmed. All you have to do is collect specimens. Those samples and the recording should be enough to silence the fools who ridiculed me.”

“I,” stammered Jaynes … “This is all so sudden, so unexpected.”

Professor Brown rolled his eyes and sighed as if he was dealing with a blockhead. “Of course it’s a surprise. Do you think I would have gotten funding for my research if the university had known my true intent of building an inter-dimensional portal? They already think I’m a crackpot.

“Buckle on your courage. There is always the danger of the unknown, true, but you’re well equipped and won’t be there for more than ten minutes. You must keep the portal in sight at all times. Each time I’ve energized the transition disc - yes, this isn’t the first instance I’ve tested it - I’ve seen a different panorama, which indicates this is a world that rotates like our Earth. I’d come too, but must say at the controls to keep the portal in proximity. Here are some specimen jars. Now off you go.”

In somewhat of a daze Jaynes accepted the containers the savant thrust into his hands. He felt he was being swept along by events. He thought of Neil Armstrong. To emulate the man would be a great achievement. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and if he didn’t seize it someone else would surely grab the amazing chance.

“Do I just step through?” he asked despite his misgivings, which were based on prudence not cowardice.

“I’ve tested it with laboratory rats in a cage attached to a long pole. It’s no more dangerous that stepping through a doorway, which it is in a very real sense.”

Jaynes nodded. Silently he turned and stepped towards the portal. He paused for a moment at the threshold and then, gathering his courage to meet the unknown, stepped through. There was a slight tingling throughout his entire body, but apart from that no other effects were noticeable. Within seconds he stood on an alien world, and it wasn’t the lifeless satellite of Earth.

The full implications of the achievement were too numerous to contemplate at the moment so Jaynes concentrated on the task of quickly gathering as many specimens as he could, keeping a constant eye on the portal to ensure it was in sight at all times. He had moved in a straight line for about a hundred feet when he heard Professor Brown’s frantic cry of alarm.

Jaynes turned and gasped. Through the portal he saw that things were horribly amiss. The mechanisms were arcing deadly current. Copious sparks flew like fireworks. The glare silhouetted the professor as he stumbled back both arms thrown protectively across his face.

The young man swore. Dropping the samples he dashed madly for the aperture to aid the savant, put on a desperate burst of speed as he saw it flicker alarmingly. The professor turned, yelled something else, but his words were now as distorted as his wavering image. Perhaps the young man would have made it, but fate had other plans. He tripped on a rock, crashed to earth, and so violent was the fall that the breath was driven from his lungs in an instant.

No sooner had he hit the ground than the blast of a terrific explosion smote his ears. Flames roared above him in a narrow miss. Heat singed him. He screamed in pain and terror. Then all was silence – a silence that came so suddenly it was as if the noise had been severed by a falling guillotine.

Jaynes lay stunned, and it was only after the passing of considerable time that he found the strength to raise his head. Breathless, eyes wide with dismay, he saw that the portal had completely vanished. Weak from shock and the fall it was several more minutes before he managed to struggle up and lean heavily against a tree.

With an effort Jaynes tried to order his scattered wits. All he had to do was keep calm and wait for Professor Brown to fix the inter-dimensional portal and he’d be fine. But then he thought about the explosion. The blast had been terrific – like the detonation of a barrel full of dynamite. Had the professor survived the thunderous disaster? Brown was a secretive man. If he was dead then knowledge of the portal had died with him, and if this was so then Jaynes knew he was indeed in serious trouble.

The young man took a deep calming breath and forced the thought from his mind. No, Brown must be alive. He had to be alive! To think otherwise was too awful to contemplate. Jaynes sat down and composed himself to wait for rescue.

**********

Afternoon came, and then darkened gradually towards night. Jaynes was utterly alone, and the horrible conclusion that Brown was most likely dead and that he was completely marooned on an alien world was forced upon him, and although he lamented the professor’s demise he was understandably worried about his own survival.

Hunger and thirst assailed the Earthman adding to his troubles. Food and water hadn’t been included with his equipment as the professor hadn’t planned a lengthy excursion. For a moment he felt like cursing the savant, but then realized that to lay all the blame on Brown wasn’t entirely fair. No one had forced him to step across the threshold of the portal. The allure of fame and possibly fortune had overruled his caution. His greatest concern, though, was for his family and friends who would be frantic when they were told of his inexplicable disappearance.

Jaynes's only consolation was that those he loved were safe, and so he turned his mind to his present situation. He knew he could survive without food for some time, but not water. Earlier he’d heard what sounded like the rush of a stream or river. It was getting darker. Night was coming swiftly and he decided he’d best drink now. In view of everything there was no point in remaining rooted to this spot any longer. He stood and moved off in the direction of the watery noise.

Pushing through the undergrowth of blade-like plants he eventually came to a steep declivity as night’s curtain descended fully upon the world. Below him, disclosed by starlight and the glow of three moons, was a broad river whose swiftly flowing water gleamed invitingly. Jaynes stepped closer to the steep edge for a better look, but in the dim light he misjudged his step and a portion of the riverbank gave way beneath his incautious tread.

With a cry of fright and arms flailing he tumbled over in a wild plunge. Jaynes struck the water ten feet below. Choking chilly liquid closed over him. It was like falling into a vat of black ink. Disoriented, he couldn’t tell the bottom from the surface. Which way was up and which was down? He didn’t know and the hasty breath he’d taken before he sank was quickly running out.

Chapter 2: The Tailed People

Jaynes sank further into blackness, weighed down by his accoutrement. With an effort he mastered his panic. Now thinking clearly he knew which way was down and swam in the opposite direction. Weak from the chilly water, lack of air and his frantic exertions he barely made the surface. Head bursting through Jaynes gasped air into his heaving lungs. He’d been swept into mid-stream. The bank was far away; dimly visible in the faint light of moons and stars, and by the swiftness with which the scene swept past he knew he was caught in quite a current.

He set out for the bank, swimming slowly but steadily in an effort to conserve his vigor. The weight of his weapons and sodden clothes made the task more difficult, but he was unwilling to abandon them in the face of the unknown and no doubt hostile wilderness. It took an agonizing half hour, but at last he gained the shore and with the dregs of his strength crawled from the clinging water to the muddy riverbank. He collapsed utterly exhausted and almost immediately fell asleep.

**********

Mid morning sunlight thrust glowing fingers beneath Jaynes’ eyelids and levered them open. He sat up with a groan. His body ached from his exertions and his belly from hunger. His thirst however had been quenched by the water he’d inadvertently swallowed. Looking about he saw a dozen creatures crawling from the river some yards away. His skin prickled at the sight. He’d been lying here all night, completely helpless. If those things were carnivorous then he’d had a very lucky escape.

He reached for his 45 automatic and muttered an oath – the holster was empty, the weapon having slipped out in the river. Fortunately, the bush knife was still secure in its sheath and the comforting presence of the blade eased his worry somewhat and prompted him to action.

A piece of driftwood lay within reach. Jaynes picked up the stout branch and used it as a staff to help him stand. He gazed at the creatures speculatively. Their oval bodies were about a foot in length and seven inches in width at the widest point. Each was protected by a bluish carapace reminiscent of a turtle’s shell. They moved about upon many legs that resembled those of a centipede. At the rear were two siphons that enabled the animals, who were clearly amphibious, to propel themselves with jets of water when submerged.

Jaynes cautiously walked towards the creatures and saw they were grazing on mats of bluish moss-like vegetation that grew at the margins of the water. He flicked one animal out of the group using his staff. It landed on its back several yards away, its many legs kicking the air futilely.

Drawing his bush knife the Earthman approached the creature and with a single stroke cut it in twain. He grimaced as orange blood-like fluid oozed from the quivering white flesh. Jaynes knew that the meat might be poisonous to a human, but he had to risk it. Besides, if it was toxic then it would probably kill him a lot quicker than slow starvation.

He sliced off a small piece and, steeling himself, bit into it. The flavor of the meat, which wasn’t as revolting as its appearance suggested, was unlike anything he had ever tasted before – not surprising when one considered this was an alien world. Jaynes waited half an hour, but no ill effects manifested and so he consumed the remainder with relish, and as he ate was reminded of the saying that even simple fare tastes sweet to a hungry man.

Engrossed as he was in sating his appetite, he failed to perceive the beings stealthy approaching from behind. The first sign of danger was the ensnaring net that quickly fell upon him. Jaynes swore, jerked erect in wild alarm. He tore madly at the mesh, and almost freed himself. But then hard bodies slammed violently against him and bore him swiftly and helplessly to the ground.

The Earthman struggled frantically, but it was hopeless. Something struck his head violently. He collapsed, stunned, helpless. Jaynes was untangled from the net and his hands were swiftly bound behind his back with brutal efficiency. He was left lying face down in the dirt. He lay there slowly recovering as all about him strange voices jabbered in an unknown tongue.

Wits returning, he managed to roll on his side and then gazed anxiously at the three beings that had captured him. They were man-like in appearance. Their skin was of an ivory hue. Their heads were covered in a growth whose resemblance was closer to tawny down than hair or fur. All were completely nude, and thus the most significant divergence from Earthly humans could be clearly seen. Each being possessed a short tail whose tip flared out to form a pear-shaped scaly cup that curved between the legs to protect the genitals.

The beings’ eyes were pure sapphire in color, their faces angular; their bodies slim and athletic, and possessed of wiry strength. Their only adornment consisted of necklaces, wristbands and anklets of amethyst beadwork. Each had a large red eye tattooed in the middle of his forehead. They were armed with pronged fishing spears whose tines were carved bone and heavier javelins whose points were of razor sharp obsidian. Paddle-shaped hardwood clubs hung from red tasseled belts about their waists as well as carefully shaped stone daggers.

Seeing Jaynes had recovered from the blow the beings ceased examining his bush knife, grabbed him roughly and hauled him to his feet. He didn’t resist, realizing that to do so would merely result in a more severe beating. The only thing he could do was to remain placid and conserve his strength. Hopefully, they were more curious than hostile. Perhaps they planned to display him as an exotic specimen in the local equivalent of a zoo. He didn’t like the idea, but it was better than being dead. So long as he was alive there was the hope of escape, but escape to where?

His ruminations were interrupted. The leader of the beings who had appropriated his bush knife, said something and pushed him violently. The Earthman muttered an oath and managed to recover his balance. His captors had decided to abandon their fishing excursion for guroo – the type of creature Jaynes had eaten - and take their strange catch home instead. They prodded him ahead of them, and thus he was roughly thrust through the undergrowth for a dozen yards until he stumbled onto a well worn trail.

Here, his captors turned him to the right and within about an hour of traversing the path they emerged from the forest, the trail debouching onto a broad savannah that stretched to the horizon. In the distance, perhaps two miles away, was a city built by a broad tributary of the river into which he’d fallen, its details obscured by the plain’s expanse. Towards this habitation they turned their feet.

As they marched Jaynes observed his surroundings. The initial shock of his capture had subsided, and despite the danger he couldn’t help but feel enthralled by the sights of an alien world and the discovery of intelligent extraterrestrials.

The predominant plant life of the savannah consisted of clumping feathery growths, bluish gray in color, which rose to his thighs; their forms reminded him of giant ostrich plumes. Coppices of weird snaky trees were also in evidence, and in the distance he glimpsed huge herds of unknown creatures, no doubt herbivorous.

The sight of these numerous beasts reminded him that where there was an abundance of prey then predators would surely be about. He glanced at his captors and saw they had exchanged fishing spears for javelins; the latter now clutched right handed in readiness. All looked acutely alert.

Suddenly, the leader of the party halted, hand upraised. He sniffed the air like a bloodhound. His companions followed suit, weapons poised for instant action. Jaynes could smell nothing, could see nothing, but the mood of his captors was infectious and he, too, tensed in wary expectation of unknown danger.

The beast exploded from cover in a roaring charge. The ape-like body was twice the size of a gorilla. The head though was more feline in appearance and crested with spines, and the thing’s tough hairless skin, bluish gray in color, was patterned in the manner of a leopard. All this Jaynes saw in an instant, and then it was among his captors.

One being screamed as he fell beneath rending talons of frightful size; the others lunged, desperately thrusting their javelins. Their points stabbed deep. The beast roared. Though badly wounded it was still a dangerous foe. A backhand blow sent the second being flying. He crashed to earth - a broken dying wreck.

The roaring creature spun about, mad with pain. It spotted Jaynes. The brute came at him, foaming jaws horrendously agape. Jaynes leap aside, barely avoiding a sweeping hand, monstrously clawed. The brute’s charge carried it past him. The Earthman spotted his bush knife. Flung from the dead being it had plunged point first into the soil. He dashed towards it, pressed the rope that bound his wrists to the blade. The keen edge cut through the cord as the raging beast came about.

Jaynes tore the knife from the soil. The monster pounced. The Earthman dodged, swung his blade in a savage stroke. Hard steel bit deep into the creature’s neck. Orange blood gushed from severed arteries. The thing howled, staggered. It clutched its throat to staunch the spurting gore as it spun about to face the frightened Earthman.

Again it came at him, one clawed hand slashing viciously. The wild sweep of its fearsome talons struck Jaynes’s weapon. The blade was sent spinning. The terrified Earthman stumbled from the frightful power of the blow.

He fell. The monster, huge and terrible, loomed over Jaynes – a roaring titan of brute muscle and bestial rage streaked in rivulets of its own gore. Its hideous talons swept down in a savage disemboweling stroke. Weaponless, helpless, Jaynes braced himself for the horror of the end.

Chapter 3: City of Idols

But as the raging beast reached for him it staggered. The monster stumbled sideways, blood gushing from its neck-wound. It collapsed, struggled to rise then fell again. It twitched a final time and then lay still in death’s eternal embrace.

Heart thudding wildly, Jaynes struggled tremblingly to his feet. He’d escaped from a hideous death by the narrowest of margins. The Earthman gazed at the carcass of the orag as it was called. These roamed the plains in small family groups and were the principle predators of the savannah. Their prey was normally the herds of wild upaka Jaynes had seen in the distance – ebon creatures resembling a rhinoceros in general body plan and size, but with backs and flanks scaled like a crocodile and heads and horns similar to those of a wild ram.

Turning his eyes from the body of the orag he suspiciously regarded the surviving being who returned his stare with equal wariness, his javelin poised defensively. The Earthman considered his situation. He felt he stood a good chance of overpowering his remaining captor, but where would he flee – a single lightly armed man marooned in a dangerous wilderness whose full perils he was completely ignorant of.

Jaynes dropped the bush knife and stood placidly. He decided to take a chance that his captors were less dangerous than the other denizens of the plains - that they were not as savage as they appeared.

The surviving being’s next actions, though, seemed to end this faint hope. Seeing that the Earthman posed no immediate threat his captor drew the obsidian dagger at his waist and commenced to sever the genitals of his dead companions. Jaynes watched in horror and revulsion as the being wrapped the bloody organs in leaves and thrust the gory package through his belt.

Jaynes was shocked to say the least. He felt sick. He wanted to be sick. Later, he learned the death-rites of these people consisted of cremating the genitals, mixing the resultant ash with clay and shaping it into a figurine representing the deceased man or woman. This object, called a kebnosh, was then used as a magical link between the living and the dead in the rituals of ancestor veneration. But even after he’d discovered this fact, and the act of mutilation was no longer inexplicable, it didn’t make him feel much better about what he thought a hideous custom.

Fortunately, Jaynes was able to control his revulsion, and was capable of continuing the march when his captor, after appropriating his bush knife, indicated with gestures that they must go on. The Earthman did his best to console himself with the fact he was still alive, and that his hands were no longer bound behind his back.

With the passing of another hour he and his captor had passed through the city’s agricultural district, the fields of which were protected by tall and extremely thorny hedgerows called axoc. Moving on they reached the wide gateway of the strange metropolis. The portal was flanked by huge statues of beings with six arms that were carved from black stone. These sculptures stood out dramatically from the pale blue rock of the conurbation’s encircling defensive wall, which towered over him impressively.

Jaynes gazed upon the giant idols with unease. Their heads were bestial in appearance, each possessing three glaring eyes and three fanged mouths from which protruded forked tongues and tusks. Horns sprouted from their ugly heads, and each clawed hand grasped a miscellany of primitive weapons – oval shields, stone maces, wicked spears and daggers. It was an intimidating sight, and if the people were as fearsome as the divinities they worshipped the Earthman suspected he was indeed in serious trouble.

But it was too late to flee. People were streaming through the gaping portal, many bearing produce from the surrounding agricultural districts – huge wicker baskets they amazingly balanced on their heads; baskets that were filled with guzu, the staple crop of the region. These were hard walled lobed and fibrous pods containing thirty grape size seeds or more. The seeds, whose flavor was reminiscent of peanuts, were were milled to flour used to make a kind of unleavened bread. The guzu tree was a squat growth with a spreading habit. Its thick limbs were capable of bearing up to three hundred pods, which could be stored for many years before spoiling, and thus provided excellent food security for the city’s inhabitance.

Their burdens carried balanced on their heads left the people’s hands free to wield spear, club or dagger, for every adult man and woman was equipped with some kind of dangerous armament, and each had a large eye tattooed in the middle of their forehead – some red like that of his captor while others bore the symbol in black.

The crowd parted before Jaynes as his captor prodded him through the arching gate. The Earthman was the focus of hundreds of staring eyes. The silence of the throng was unsettling in its absoluteness. It was inhumanly quite, and this brought home to Jaynes very forcefully that he was a captive of an alien people whose attitudes and values would probably be radically different from his own in ways he couldn’t even begin to guess.

Jaynes emerged onto a broad avenue, one of two that ran north-south and east-west, dividing the city into quarters. On either side were the single story residences of the population – circular houses of stone, flat roofed and built around a colonnaded central courtyard, all ornamented with friezes of spirits, demons and mythical beasts delineated in a wildly energetic style.

The Earthman wondered how such precise and intricate carving could be achieved for he had seen no evidence of metal implements. Indeed, the stone weapons of the aliens indicated these people were not far removed from the Neolithic. The answer came as they progressed along the crowded avenue, for up ahead were masons working on a house, and as Jaynes drew abreast of them he saw their tools and gasped in unbridled astonishment.

One type of tool consisted of a fist size cube of greenish stone affixed to a wooden rod about a foot in length. A many faceted mineral of purplish hue, held by some strange force akin to magnetism, floated an inch away from the cube’s face that was in line with the rod, and from the tip of this two inch conical gemstone emanated a violet aura of sparkling incandescence.

Jaynes slowed as one craftsman touched the aura of his strange tool, called a renjib, to the masonry block he was shaping. The Earthman gasped as stone powdered under the influence of the weird gem’s light - hard rock was being sanded away by the abrasive radiance as the man methodically moved his tool across the block’s surface. Another mason switched tools by plucking the gem from the cube of his implement and replacing it with a differently shaped crystal for a finer finish.

The thunderstruck Earthman expected to see flesh disintegrate as readily as stone, but no harm was done to the workman’s naked hand. Apparently, the strange radiation only affected inorganic matter. Nearby, a carpenter was shaping heavy beams with a different tool called an ardis. It was a rod of black stone with a golden prism-shaped gem clinging to its tip, and from this jewel sprang an aureate luminescence, blade-like in form, with which the craftsman sliced away the wood.

Jaynes's speculations on the nature of the strange gems were cut short by a prod in the back. His captor, annoyed by the open mouthed astonishment of his prisoner at the commonplace, pushed the Earthman onward.

The passing of another fifteen minutes brought them to the expansive central circular plaza of the city about whose circumference were arrayed colorful stalls selling everything from incense and household idols to foodstuffs raw and cooked. Though the plaza was large it was overshadowed by two enormous temples of silvery stone that faced each other from opposite sides of the crowded circle. Each building took the form of a stepped truncated cone consisting of three levels reached by external stairways.

On each level, which was in fact a broad terrace, was a multitude of shrines and idols whose forms presented a dazzling array of diversity to the Earthman – many limbed and headed spirits that were a blend of humanoid, animal and even plant confronted him, their weirdly poised bodies painted in a palette of vibrant hues. For the moment the only noticeable feature that differentiated the two temples was the dome-shaped structure, the sanctum sanctorum at the apex of each building – the western one was of black stone while the eastern was of scarlet.

Jaynes's senses were assaulted by it all – the colors, the bizarre smells of food, spice and incense; the press of the crowd and the sheer strangeness of everything. He felt giddy and stumbled, but managed to recover his balance. His captor pushed him onward through the silent throng towards the temple with the crimson sanctum sanctorum at its apex.

Shortly, they were mounting the staircase of the temple leading to the first level of the structure, and Jaynes observed that the way was bereft of worshippers. He was to later learn, much to his consternation, that it was far different on those days which were considered sacred to these people when processions of wild throngs packed the levels day and night as they partook in orgiastic ceremonies of bacchanalian abandon.

Some hint of the nature of this worship came to Jaynes as he progressed around the terrace and up another flight of steps – many of the ugly idols were explicitly depicted copulating with their mortal devotees in an amazing variety of positions and displaying all manner of sexual preferences. To the Earthman it seemed more pornographic than religious, and Jaynes had to remind himself that this was an alien culture, and that his own values probably couldn’t be applied to it. But though in Rome, so to speak, he wasn’t at all sure if he was prepared to do as the Roman’s did.

His musings were interrupted by their arrival at the gated stairway of the second level that led to the apex of the temple where the holy of holies was located. Here, by the portcullis- like barrier were four huge guards – two without and two within - who eyed him dangerously. There ensued a heated discussion between his captor and these warriors, and for a moment the worried Earthman thought things would come to blows, but then the argument ceased as quickly as it had begun. A guard behind the grill-like barrier pulled a hardwood lever and the heavy gate slid sideways into the wall.

Jaynes was ushered across the threshold. From here he and his captor passed down a short narrow passage and then up another flight of steps, soon emerging onto the walled flat space at the apex of the temple. Here a strange garden had been planted in raised beds along the inner circumference of the parapet, and in these beds grew many exotic plants bearing weird flowers that the intrigued Earthman would have liked to get a closer look at. But his captor moved him onwards toward the crimson dome in the centre of the enclosure. This structure was adorned with bands of bas reliefs depicting a multitude of hideous spirit divinities, and from it's open doorway came the sound of weird chanting. They stepped through the unguarded entrance, and Jaynes’ jaw dropped in shock at what he saw.

In the centre of the chamber was a golden idol of sheer hideousness. The thing had three bestial heads of distinctly reptilian appearance. A single eye in the form of a crimson gem smoldered like a glowing coal in the middle of each beetling brow above which was a spiky crest. Serrated tongues lolled obscenely from gaping crocodilian jaws. Six arms radiated fanwise from the body, each clawed hand gripping a phallic-like ritual object. The thing’s bloated body squatted on an ornately carved cylindrical stool of glossy black stone, and from between its open thighs sprung an enormous phallus encrusted with glittering cabochon gems of opalescent appearance.

But it was not the horrid nature of the icon that tore a gasp of shock from the stunned Earthman. A woman bestrode the vile statue, its bejeweled organ thrust deep within her as she rode it with all the passion of a human lover. Around her danced six priestesses, their nude bodies undulating with sinuous erotic grace as they sang an unnerving paean to their monstrous deity.

Jaynes could feel himself reddening with extreme embarrassment. He didn’t know where to look let alone what to think. He glanced at his captor who stood beside him. The fellow regarded the scene before him with such calm indifference that one would have thought he was merely observing a woman brushing her hair. The Earthman by contrast couldn’t remain so imperturbable. Jaynes’ parents were staunch Catholics, and although he was agnostic some degree of their prudishness had rubbed off on him.

The chanting of the priestesses rose. Their dancing became frenzied, wildly abandoned. The strange ritual reached its dramatic crescendo. The woman screamed, slumped upon the statue as her priestesses flung themselves on the floor. The only sound was the heavy breathing of the women.

After a time the worshippers arose and helped Ayatun, their high priestess dismount the weird idol. The woman became aware of Jaynes and his guard. For a moment she stared at the Earthman, uncertain as to what he was. He seemed like a man, but his skin was strangely colored and mostly covered by some outlandish substance the likes of which she’d never seen before.

Ayatun curved her tail between her legs and approached the Earthman unafraid, but with sensible caution as an explorer might approach a strange animal. The woman circled him slowly, thoughtfully, her large expressive eyes absorbing every detail of his person. Jaynes returned her frank gaze; saw her attractive face alive with surprise and curiosity, her slim figure moving with sinuous grace. He also noticed the third well formed nipple and aureole – a congenital birth defect – upon her right breast.

He smiled at her, wishing to appear friendly, but she did not return his silent greeting. Her scrutinizing manner was imperious, and somewhat condescending – as if she was investigating a specimen rather than a man. Jaynes forced himself to maintain a pleasant demeanor as she touched him in a curious and intrusive examination of his anatomy and raiment.

Satisfied that he was indeed a man of some sort, and that his clothes were not a part of his strange body, she stepped back and spoke to him in her tonal language, melodious but completely unintelligible. Seeing his look of utter incomprehension Ayatun turned to his captor and they entered into a lengthy discourse, at the end of which she dismissed the man, allowing him the keep Jaynes’s bush knife as a reward, and then summoned one of her priestesses.

“Hefnim,” she said, addressing the woman she had called. “I desire to know the nature and origins of this strange being, but he knows not our language. I command you to take charge of him and instruct him in our tongue. He seems harmless enough, but do not hesitate to use violence if you must. Now, set about your task with swift alacrity.”

The priestess silently bowed, grasped Jaynes’ hand firmly and tugged him towards the door. The Earthman didn’t resist - partly because he was still unbalanced by what he’d witnessed, but mostly because at the moment his life didn’t appear to be in danger. Cooperation seemed the best course of action for the present.

They exited the sanctum sanctorum and his guide led him around the structure to a smaller dome behind it. They entered its archway and descended a flight of spiral stairs to the living quarters of the temple. The stone stairs debouched into a spacious circular communal area with doorways around its circumference, one leading to a communal bathroom and the others to the priestesses’ private sleeping chambers.

The rooms were illuminated by many high windows and skylights of pierced stonework that were as intricate as lace, the apertures sealed with carefully shaped rock crystal. Additional illumination was provided by wooden tripods surmounted by timber bowls in which burnt strange green flames. The Earthman peered within one as they passed it, and was amazed to see a mix of cobalt hued and citrine colored stones – the blue called thoron and the yellow named omphis - whose intermingling radiations set alight other ordinary rocks like coal, and yet did not harm the wood. He was to learn that the earth-fire, as it was called, would consume only inorganic matter. Jaynes was also to discover that servants occupied the lowest level of the temple, and food and other necessities were brought up through an internal stairway.

Hefnim again tugged his hand and took Jaynes to her room, which was furnished with a sleeping mat and a single stool. Niches in one wall contained her few possessions. It was all rather Spartan to the Earthman’s eyes. He’d assumed that the priestesses, who appeared to be the ruling elite in this culture, would be living in gilded luxury.

His speculations as to why this was not the case were interrupted by Hefnim who bade him squat upon the floor by way of gesture. The woman then drew up the stool and sat upon it. She touched her breast, said her name then pointed questioningly at him, and Jaynes’s instruction in the language of her people thus commenced.

Chapter 4: Lurkers in the Dark

Four Earth months had passed and Jaynes was now fluent in Payon - the language and collective name of these people. Evening found him lounging on a wicker bench in the temple garden. He was now clad in a simple leather loincloth and sandals of his own fabrication, for his Earth clothes were no longer fit for wearing. Jaynes was waiting for the priestesses to finish their twilight ablutions before he commenced his own, and as he sat he reflected on all he had learnt so far.

This planet was called Meru Ni, which translated as “The World.” The shape of the world, however, was not viewed as being spherical but as erroneously flat. The land was in the centre of a vast disc, which in turn was surrounded by the sea. At the circumference of the disc was a girdle of high mountains that prevented the oceans from spilling over the edge. These mighty world girdling peaks also supported the solid dome of the sky to which the sun, moons and stars were affixed. Beyond the dome was the Spirit Realm – a place of mystery and brooding darkness.

Socially, the Payonese lived in widely scattered largely self sufficient city-states, Unim being the metropolis he now resided in. Each city was ruled by a female theocracy with two high priestesses jointly governing. Both met daily in a separate building devoted to the secular administration of the city.

A complex trade network bound the city-states, though war often divided them. Albeit these conflicts were mostly ritualistic in nature, and more in the way of a dual than warfare as the Earthman knew it. The culture of the region had a common religion which involved the worship of Du’uta Spirit of Life and Atu’udu Spirit of Death, with the multitudinous sub-spirits that were an admixture of man, animal and plant representing the many ways divinity could manifest. Deceased ancestors were also venerated, and could also be used as intermediaries with the supernatural realm in conjunction with direct supplication to the spirits.

Life and death were seen as simply different sides of the same coin, and worship of both was an acknowledgement of the unity of creation and the balancing forces that maintained it, for death makes room for new life and in turn life makes death possible. The religion was essentially an animistic fertility cult and therefore the emphasis on sex in the rituals of Du’uta and Atu’udu, for even with death, at a deeper level, sexuality is intimately linked with mortality.

The population of Unim, or Unimmi as they called themselves, was divided into two camps – those with the crimson eye tattooed on their foreheads worshipped Du’uta, and those with the black were devotees of Atu’udu. Which spirit one worshipped was not a choice, the decision being imposed at birth in a ritual where the newborn was taken to a special shrine where strange auguries where performed to determine cult membership.

Once a year a sacred city-wide ceremony was performed which celebrated life and death, creation and destruction - the two fundamental forces of existence in which Du’uta does eternal battle with Atu’ud, and through their strivings engender the creation. This rite, Zoim Unu as it was called, was several days away and the city was currently in a fever of preparatory activity.

Jaynes brought his mind to the present. His formal interview with Ayatun had been delayed by the necessity of preparations for the festival, although he was sure Hefnim, who continued to instruct him, had conveyed to the high priestess much of what she had learnt from Jaynes through casual conversation.

The Earthman knew that Ayatun was curious about his origins, and that this had been the reason why he had been taught Payon. For the moment he had told Hefnim he was from a far country, which was accurate to a degree, but he wondered how he was going to fully explain his arrival on this world using the largely inadequate concepts of a pre-scientific society.

A sudden clatter interrupted Jaynes’ musings. He started, turned his head. The moons shone dully through heavy and expansive storm clouds, and in the low light what looked like a wooden grappling hook had been cast over the garden’s parapet. Quickly, he moved behind a shrub to await developments. Clearly, something untoward was happening and he wanted to know more before acting.

Distant lightning flashed. Jaynes stifled a gasp. By the light of the brief flare glimpsed a shadowy head peer cautiously over the wall and look warily about. Darkness snapped back and the soot smeared figure, now almost invisible in the gloom, quickly hauled itself across the barrier and dropped lightly to the terrace.

The intruder was swiftly followed by two others. Jaynes tensed. Another flicker of lightning had disclosed all were armed with clubs and obsidian daggers. The skulking trio moved with sinister purpose towards the entryway to the temple’s living quarters. The sleepy guards without had been bypassed. The priestesses, absorbed in their ablutions were vulnerable and the assassins would invade the building before the warriors could be alerted.

Jaynes vacillated. Should he become embroiled in the situation? He stepped forward for a better look and as he did his heel trod upon a fallen twig. The intruders spun about at the sound of its snapping. They stiffened in alarm for a second. Then their keen and glittering eyes fixed upon the alarmed Earthman and in an instant they were charging at him in wild but silent rush.

The Earthman bit back a curse. Leaping forward he grabbed the wicker bench and swiftly charged the rushing trio for a quick offence seemed the best defense. For a moment the intruders started at this display of sheer bravado. They faltered in their charge. They sprang apart. The Earthman swerved, slammed the bench into one, felling his victim in an instant. The man’s head cracked on hard stone. Then the others were at him, clubs swinging in wild vengeful blows.

Now the Earthman used his bench as a shield. Savage strokes rained down upon him. He staggered under their brutal impact. Jaynes barely regained his balance, lashed out with a wild kick. A foeman screamed, fell, his knee shattered by the fierceness of the blow. Jaynes finished him by stomping on his throat.

The remaining attacker – a woman to his surprise - flung herself upon the Earthman, gripped his makeshift shield. They struggled wildly, lurching one way then the other in a frenetic parody of a waltz. Jaynes’s opponent was taller by a head, stronger. She tore the bench from the Earthman’s grasp. Jaynes stumbled. His foe crashed against him like a living battering ram, drove him to the terrace flagstones.

In an instant the woman had one hand about Jaynes throat, the other held high a club in preparation to bash the Earthman’s skull to gory ruin. The club flashed down. The desperate Earthman flung up an arm, deflected the rushing weapon. It crashed against stone inches from his head. The woman’s grip tightened mercilessly about his throat. Jaynes’ vision darkened. He gasped for breath. The end was upon him.

The sound of rushing feet came to his fading consciousness. Dimly, he sensed a struggle as men grappled fiercely with his wild assailant. The woman was hauled off and he could breathe again, but only just. He lay weak and gasping as the guards, who had been alerted by the sounds of the fray, dragged their madly struggling captive towards the entrance to the temple’s living quarters, unconcernedly leaving the panting Earthman to recover on his own.

It was some time before Jaynes was able to get to his feet. He winced as he gingerly touched his bruised throat, and silently cursed the callousness of the guards who hadn’t stopped for a moment to see if he’d been badly injured. Still, what did he expect – this was a primitive society. There was no democracy, no human rights. Life was short, brutish and cheap.

With a muttered oath he walked a little unsteadily towards the entryway and descended the steps, determined to find out what the hell was going on. An agonized cry battered his ears as he stepped from the lowest tread. He moved swiftly towards the source as another scream echoed through the room.

Jaynes crossed the threshold of a storage chamber, pushing through the crowding priestesses at its entrance, and immediately beheld a confronting sight that stopped him in his tracks. The captive’s body had been rubbed free of soot in places by the rough handling of the guards, and he now saw she had azure skin beneath her dusky camouflage. But it was not her strange coloration that shocked the alarmed Earthman. The prisoner had been hung spread-eagled between two columns, ropes biting cruelly into wrists and ankles. Orange blood dripped from the large areolas of her heavy breasts. On either side were the two guards, and before the moaning captive Ayatun stood, bone needle poised to cruelly thrust again.

The alarmed Earthman quickly broke the hold shock had upon him. He rushed forward and swiftly grasped Ayatun’s wrist before she could again drive the needle home. The guards leapt, seized him violently. The High Priestess turned upon him with equal savagery and struck him a stinging blow across the face.

“You dare to interfere?” she hotly cried.

“You wish to know about me, about my world?” he countered, quickly recovering. “Well, consider this your first lesson – where I come from we don’t torture people!”

Ayatun raised her eyebrow. “An intriguing weakness,” she replied coolly. “But here things are different.” And to emphasize the point she thrust the needle slow and deep, the prisoner’s wailing agonized cry bringing a cruel and satisfied smile to her lips.

For a moment Jaynes thought it would have been better if he’d run away and let the assassins do their work. It was with an extreme effort that he controlled his fury at the savagery he was witnessing. The blue-skinned woman had tried to kill him, true. However, brutal sadistic torture was equally wrong, perhaps more so than simple murder. But he was helpless to intervene, and further violent outbursts wouldn’t get him anywhere. In desperation he tried a different tack.

“My people gave up torture because it didn’t work. Has the prisoner told you anything?”

“No,” replied Ayatun waspishly. “And she’ll probably die before I can force the truth from her. You see her shrunken pupils?” She continued, prizing open the fainting woman’s eyelids. “That’s a sign of shotu poisoning - a slow acting toxin extracted from tree bark. This creature is a slave. Her master undoubtedly forced the poison down her throat, no doubt with the promise of providing her the antidote upon the completion of her assassination of me. The other would-be murderers you killed were probably similarly coerced.”

“Then she isn’t to blame,” he argued passionately. “Give her the antidote, treat her with kindness and win her gratitude. Then, she will reveal all. There is no need for this brutality.”

“There is no antidote,” replied Ayatun bluntly. “Besides, I have a good idea of the plotters identity- the rulers of Lathnor – a rival city state and our hereditary enemies. It would be nice to have this wretch confirm my suspicions, but I don’t consider it vital. Let her die.”

Jaynes stifled a curse at the High Priestess’s callousness. Things looked bleak, but he wasn’t about to give up. This world, with all its faults, was now his home. Here he would die, but before he did he would try and sow the seeds of change, to leave some kind of legacy through good example so his life would not be wasted.

“How does the poison kill?” he grimly asked.

“It paralyses the breath,” replied Ayatun unconcernedly as she pointed to the unconscious woman. “See, the slave gasps for air. Soon, she will be dead.”

“Then give her to me,” he said, an idea quickly forming in his mind. “I was the one who saved you. If I hadn’t attacked the intruders and thus alerted your guards you may have been killed. I think you owe me this much.”

“What is it to me if you wish to be the owner of a corpse,” she said as she jerked the needle from the captive’s breast and tossed it carelessly into a corner of the room. Then, turning to the stony guards she continued: “Release this man, cut the prisoner down and let him have the wretch to do with as he pleases.”

Jaynes caught the gasping woman as the ropes were severed. Her skin was cold and pale, her breath growing more labored by the second. The worried Earthman slung her limp form over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and hastily exited the room, pushing through the crowding puzzled priestesses without uttering another word.

Behind him he heard Ayatun say to no one in particular: “Perhaps he likes his women dead.”

Ignoring the high priestess’s imputation of necrophilia, he quickly entered his own apartment and carefully laid the woman on his sleeping mat. Immediately Jaynes saw she’d stopped breathing. Mastering his panic he commenced CPR forthwith. The Earthman reasoned that if he could keep the woman alive with artificial respiration her body’s antitoxins, given time, would eventually neutralize the poison.

Steadily, he breathed the breath of life into her lungs. Once … twice … three times. The woman regained consciousness, began to struggle feebly. Quickly Jaynes explained what he was doing.

“Don’t fight me,” he concluded in admonishment.

The frightened woman settled. The Earthman pressed his lips to hers. Minutes dragged into hours. Jaynes’ back ached. He could feel himself tiring. Occasionally, a curious priestess looked in. None interfered and he pressed on doggedly. Midnight came. Jaynes was sweat covered from his long ordeal. He felt dizzy, faint, near to collapse. He thrust aside his pain. The helpless woman depended on him. To fail would bring death to her. But mortal flesh has its limits. Another five minutes passed. Jaynes swayed. He desperately tried to draw on reserves of strength, but the tank was empty. His vision blurred. He tumbled sideways and struck the floor.

Jaynes tried to rise, spurred to effort by the gasping woman. But the final exertion proved too much and he sagged unconscious to the stones. Death gathered like a bleak vulture in the shadows of the room.

Chapter 5: Revel of Madness

Jaynes awoke. For a moment he lay in a drowsy state. Then, remembering the woman he gasped in violent worry and thrust himself from the floor. She lay next to him. In a moment of panic he thought her dead, but then settled when he saw she was breathing steadily of her own accord. He exhaled a heartfelt sigh of relief. He’d been right - her body’s antitoxins, given time, had neutralized the poison. Death had been defeated.

The Earthman looked with curiosity at the still sleeping woman. Her body was naturally hairless except for white eyebrows and eyelashes. Her features were broad and strong, but full lips and delicate eyebrows saved her face from a masculine appearance. Her body was heavily muscled; solidly built, almost mannish but for full breasts and broad hips. She, too, possessed a genital protecting tail. She was beautiful in an alien way, but for the moment Jaynes’ earthly standards stopped him from seeing that.

He hadn’t realized that there was another race of beings upon this world. A slave-race? His lips compressed in anger at the thought. He hadn’t been given the freedom of the city. There might be many more of her people here unbeknown to him.

Jaynes’s speculations were ended by Minuza opening her amber hued eyes. The slave-woman turned her head and regarded him with a bold stare one wouldn’t have expected to find in an abused chattel. Her face was passive, but inwardly her mind was filled with questions. Who was this strange creature? Why had he saved her? There was something in his odd demeanor that spoke to her of kindness. However, should this be verisimilitude and he a brute then she’d kill him at the soonest opportunity.

“I am Minuza. Are you my master now?” she bluntly asked. There was no hint of being grateful to Jaynes for having saved her life.

The Earthman hesitated for a moment. Ayatun had let him have her only because she thought Minuza was as good a dead. He succinctly explained this to the woman, and concluded thus: “If I am your master will that protect you from the vengeance of the high priestess?”

“If she has given me to you, then you are now my master. You can object to some degree, but Ayatun’s word is law,” Minuza answered bitterly. “But why would you protect me?” she asked, clearly puzzled. “I tried to kill you.”

“I have put aside my anger,” he truthfully responded. “You were coerced by being given poison with the false promise of a nonexistent antidote. I do not believe in torture or slavery. I thought I could save you and so I had to try. I am from a far country where such cruelty has been outlawed. Will you tell me about the plot? Doing so might mollify Ayatun when I pass the information on.”

“That you are from a far country is clearly obvious,” she said dryly. “I have no loyalty to my former owner, especially now I realize there isn’t an antidote. I will tell you what I know and how I became involved, though there is little of significance I can divulge.

“Unim, this city, lies adjacent to Zayii, my country. We are a forest dwelling people – the target of Unimmi slavers. About six months ago we suffered one of their periodic incursions. I killed four men in that attack,” she said proudly as she sat up straight and flexed her arms to display biceps that most men would have envied.

“But my strength availed me not,” Minuza continued bitterly. “I was captured, sold at the local slave market as if I was nothing but a pot. Who bought me I do not know. I was blindfolded immediately, taken to a secluded place surrounded by high walls. I never knew where I was with certainty, but I suspect it was outside the city for tall trees could be seen rising above the battlements.

There I was trained for my mission with two others of my people, no doubt chosen for their size and strength as was I. Everyone wore masks. I never saw who my captors were. The rest you know.”

“But when the time for the assassination came, and you were led from that place did you see anything that might identify its location?” queried Jaynes.

“Again, we were blindfolded, loaded into a covered cart and released after a long journey in an alleyway by the temple, where our masked escort promised they would wait and give us the antidote upon completion of the mission. We never saw where we’d come from or the faces of our captors at any stage. But I am fairly certain of this – those who instigated the plot must be members of the priesthood, for only they would have the power to do such things. Not wishing to risk their lives they forced hapless slaves to do their evil bidding.”

Minuza fell silent, and Jaynes pondered what she’d told him. It seemed to the Earthman unlikely that a fifth column from Lathnor could have been behind the plot. Resnu was high priestess of Atu’udu, God of Death and was also Ayatun’s sister. More likely this was the opening move by Resnu of a coup d’état.

Jaynes had no idea how things were going to play out in the long run. The only certainty was that it would be very bad, and that he and Minuza were caught in the middle of it. The anxious Earthman had a sinking feeling the dire situation was inexorably moving towards its dreadful conclusion.

**********

The sacred festival of Zoim Unu, now in full swing, was soon to reach its strange climax. Day and night processions of wild throngs, their faces masked with spirit images, streamed up and down the levels of the temples. Here, they partook in orgiastic ceremonies of bacchanalian abandon before the multitude of idols. Men and women, in pairs and groups, partook in intimate congress before each other in diverse and astounding ways without the slightest sense of shame or inhibition.

Jaynes, in utter disbelief, stared down upon the wild scene from the topmost level of the temple. The Earthman shook his head and looked away. Jaynes didn’t consider himself a prude, but what he saw was all too much for him. Although not aroused by the orgiastic display (it was simply too overwhelming to his senses), it did engender a despairing feeling of utter loneliness. He was the alien, the stranger, and always would be. His attitudes and values were of another world lost forever to him. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be fully able to adapt.

The sight of the ritual, the sheer strangeness of this world now assailed him more than ever. He desperately sought something familiar to anchor himself. He thought of his parents, of family life. Yes, that was it. These people, no matter how strange, had families – the primary unit of society and thereby were not much different to humans in this regard. The thought brought him some badly needed comfort – despite the bizarreness of their culture he could at least connect with them at this fundamental level.

The Earthman turned his mind to other matters. Ayatun had allowed him to keep Minuza, had been mollified by the information she’d revealed. Jaynes wasn’t comfortable owning a slave, but in this primitive society the security of a humane master was the only protection he could offer. He had discussed things with Minuza, and both agreed to keep quiet about their suspicion that Resnu was behind the assassination attempt. To accuse such a powerful figure without overwhelming proof would be suicidal.

There was of course an ongoing investigation. The city guard was scouring the metropolis, and several Lathnorri merchants had been taken in for questioning, but as Resnu was in charge of the operation there was little danger of her being exposed. No doubt the hapless traders would be tortured into giving false confessions.

Turning his mind from this disturbing possibility Jaynes reflected on his formal interview with the high priestess a day ago. He had explained his origins and the culture of his society, especially human rights and the idea of democracy. Surprisingly, Ayatun had accepted the explanation of his origins without the slightest hint of incredulity. But as for democracy and human rights – she’d dismissed them as in her own words: “the pathetic ideas of feeble minded weaklings.”

Jaynes hadn’t pushed the argument. It was dangerous to contradict Ayatun. She was the head of the ruling elite, and with unbridled power came arrogance, and with that arrogance cruelty. She had never been in a position of weakness, of powerlessness, and therefore set no value on mercy or the rights of anyone other than herself. The Earthman was well aware of the precariousness of his position. At the moment the high priestess found him interesting, perhaps even amusing – a diversion from the mundane. But he knew that could change in an instant. Trying to bring about reforms in this society without getting killed for rocking the boat was going to be challenging to say the least.

The Earthman’s thoughts were diverted by the sound of swift footsteps. He turned and saw that Minuza was approaching. “Come,” said Minuza, “Ayatun is ready to depart. She desires you to accompany her. I, as your slave, will also follow.”

“Very well,” replied Jaynes, moodily. “Lead me to the high priestess.”

The Earthman followed Minuza. He had a fair idea of their destination, but not the way to it. The festival of Zoim Unu was reaching its end, and the final rite would be performed in the Divine Arena where a ritual battle between Du’uta and Atu’udu would be enacted with both priestesses playing the role of the supreme spirits - the two fundamental forces of existence whose striving engendered all Creation.

They descended the stairs to the inner temple and found Ayatun waiting for them in the communal living area. Her priestesses had gone ahead to finalize preparations for the rite, but she wasn’t alone. Six burly guards stood by her side – security had been increased since the assassination attempt.

“My sister Resnu, co-ruler of Unim, has expressed interest in meeting you,” she said, addressing the Earthman. “I will introduce you to her after the performance of the rite, now follow me.”

“More likely you wish to show me off like an exotic pet,” thought Jaynes, cynically. But he wisely kept his opinions to himself.

They descended the temple’s inner stairway, which was strangely illuminated by lamsi - phosphorescent gemstones set in the ceiling, which cast a wan yellowish light upon the stones. Deeper they went; passing beyond the servant’s living quarters to a subterranean depth greater than the Earthman had been before during his limited explorations of the building.

The stairway ended, and at its foot was a blank wall of seemingly solid stone with a huge stylized eye carved in the middle. Ayatun pressed her crystal ring to the image’s pupil. There was a brief flash of light from the jewel and the central section of the wall began to slowly sink into the floor, its movement accompanied by the rumble of hidden machinery consisting of wooden pulleys and heavy counterweights. A wide passageway was soon disclosed, dimly lit by glowing lamsi gemstones.

“Through this route we can avoid the pressing crowds,” explained Ayatun as she bid three warriors go before her.

Ayatun stepped across the threshold. Jaynes and Minuza followed suit with the remaining guards bringing up the rear. They had proceeded for about ten minutes when the passageway ended in a wall upon which was another eye motif. The way was opened as before, and the party ascended a flight of steps that debouched into a circular high vaulted chamber where Ayatun’s priestesses awaited her arrival.

“Is all in readiness?” she asked Hefnim.

“Yes,” replied the woman.

“Then let us strike the drums so all will know the culmination of Zoim Unu begins.”

The party passed from the small chamber via an arched doorway and emerged onto a raised square platform. It was of black stone, about five feet in height and at least forty feet across. Jaynes looked around, intrigued, and saw the podium, which he had only glimpsed before, was the one in the centre of the plaza. At the further end of the stage was another domed building identical to the one they’d exited, the only difference being the image of the spirit above its doorway. And before this portal a figure could be seen with an entourage similar to their own - Resnu, high priestess of Atu’udu, God of Death, and her attendant female ecclesiastics and thuggish bodyguards.

A huge barrel-shaped drum, mounted on a stand, was positioned by each of the buildings’ doorways. And by each drum a priestess stood - eager, expectant, percussion mallets raised to strike with wild vigor. Ayatun raised her arm. Rusnu swiftly followed suit. The priestesses struck. The drums quivered like living things and in an instant a savage beat thundered out across the vastness of the square.

At this signal the wild throng slowly ceased its frenzied copulating. Devotees, drawn by the crashing beat, began streaming down both temples’ stairways. Soon, they ringed the podium in a packed sea of fluid streaked bodies that glistened in the sunlight. Jaynes looked about and shuddered. Inhuman masks stared back at him – things of wild horror. Sweat flew from the bodies of the pounding drummers. The pulsing beat became a savage paean of dark emotions. An electric tension mounted in the tensely waiting crowd.

Jaynes glanced at Ayatun. Fear laid its chill hand upon him. The woman’s face was imbued with unmitigated savagery. Her eyes were feral; her body quivered in sympathy to the wild beat that utterly possessed her – a mirror to the dark emotions of her expectant sister.

A priestess stepped forward, fastened a mask upon her – the horrid image of Du’uta. She was transformed, became the supernatural being. Across the podium Resnu, too, became the Death-Spirit’s vile avatar. She snatched the mace presented to her – a light cane-like rod whose fist size head consisted of a leather sphere stuffed with soft wadding.

Ayatun grabbed a similar instrument and with a wild ululating cry charged towards her sister. Resun leapt to meet her rival sibling with a shout of equal fury. Both women collided like striving bulls, struck each other with all the savagery they possessed. Although the weapons were not designed to kill and the battle supposedly an act, in mere seconds each had raised ugly welts upon the other.

The crowd went wild. An ugly roar of battle lust exploded form a thousand throats. Hands jerked padded maces from belts, and in an instant the opposing devotees of the spirits set upon each other in savage emulation of their high priestesses.

Jaynes looked about in absolute disbelief. It seemed that everyone had gone utterly insane. The drums thundered. The feral throng echoed the strident cry with yells of uninhibited bloodlust. Barbaric figures leapt, twisted, fell. Padded maces slammed against flesh in a savage counterpoint to the wild music of the throbbing drums.

Resnu sensed the crowd had reached fever pitch. All inhibitions had sloughed away. She leapt clear of Ayatun and signaled to her drummer who swiftly changed the beat. It rose above the bedlam of the throng – a sign to the savage Death Spirit’s riotous devotees.

In an instant many men and woman of the black tattoo tore the padded ball from their rods. Jaynes saw, gasped. Glinting blades of sharp obsidian heretofore concealed by the globes were now revealed. This clearly wasn’t part of the ritual. The conspirators, with cries of uninhibited brutality even wilder than before leapt upon their rivals with swift and murderous intent.

Orange blood spurted, shrieks of agony and terror filled the air. The feral chaos became even madder. Jaynes looked on in horror. He saw that Resnu, too, had exposed her hidden point. The two women wrestled madly, desperately. Resnu caught Ayatun’s mace. With a wild cry of triumph she tore it from her grasp and plunged the glittering blade towards her shocked and hapless sister’s unprotected breast.

Chapter 6: Strange Bedfellows

Ayatun caught her sister’s wrist and stopped the plunging point within inches of her flesh. Resnu cried for her guards. They raced to aid her. Ayatun’s warriors leapt to intercept them.

Jaynes looked at the seething chaos on all sides. There was no escape. The subterranean door had closed behind them and Ayatun had the only means of opening it.

“Come on,” he yelled to Minuza, “we have to join the fight.”

The slave woman scowled, but nonetheless followed the Earthman at a run knowing he was right. She cursed the fact she’d have to save her torturer.

Jaynes and Minuza fell upon Ayatun’s assailants with a fury. The slave woman was unarmed, but her size and strength was a weapon in itself. She grasped an enemy, picked him up and flung the hapless man among the rioters as if he was a doll.

Jaynes ducked a swinging club. He punched the wielder in his gut, and as his foe folded like a deck chair tore the weapon from his grasp. Now armed the Earthman laid about in wild abandon sending bleeding men crashing to the stones.

He glimpsed the high priestesses through the surging brawlers. Jaynes thrust through the knot of fighters. He dodged a flashing club. It brushed his hair. The Earthman swung his weapon, smashed his attacker in the face. The warrior screamed, collapsed clutching his ruined features. Minuza followed on Jaynes’ heels, fists striking brutally like heavy mallets.

Warriors reeled away. The pair broke through the enemy as Resnu tripped her sister and felled her to the stones. Jaynes leapt on the woman as she tried to stab Ayatun. He clasped her tightly in a bear hug.

Resnu writhed like a serpent. She screamed, cursed, kicked madly. Jaynes hung on grimly. Minuza, now armed with a captured club, swung wildly, driving off the crazed woman’s warriors. Resnu managed to grab a clay sphere hanging from her belt. She tore it free, cast it to the stones.

The globe shattered. A cloud of pungent odor enveloped Jaynes. He felt his senses reel. He staggered in a panic. All about him on the stage others were swiftly and similarly affected. Resnu broke free, leapt away. Desperately, senses fading, Jaynes grabbed for her, toppled. He crashed to earth unconscious. Minuza slumped beside him; the other warriors, friend and foe alike, tumbled to the stage.

Resnu watched on, unaffected by the soporific vapors, and behind the charcoal filter hidden by her mask she smiled her wicked smile.

**********

Jaynes slowly woke. He opened his eyes. His drug befuddled mind gradually cleared and he comprehended his surroundings. The Earthman was in a small rectangular room of granite construction. Rays of late afternoon sunlight spilt through stone gratings set high in the back wall, illuminating his still unconscious companions.

He staggered up, stumbled and leaned heavily against a wall, observing Minuza and Ayatun as he waited for the dizzy spell to pass. To his relief he saw that the slave woman was breathing normally as was the high priestess. Apart from bruises and ugly welts like his own, neither appeared badly injured.

Jaynes decided to let them sleep for the moment. The Earthman grimaced. They were at the mercy of a dangerous and wily adversary. His suspicions had been correct. It was obvious Resnu was a cunning woman who always had more than one card up her sleeve. He cursed himself for not having taken a chance and revealed his suspicions to Ayatun. They were alive for the moment, true, but that didn’t mean they would remain so for long.

The bleak thought spurred him to action. Jaynes felt steadier now. He walked carefully to the cell’s timber door and examined it. In construction it was similar to a portcullis, but apparently slid sideways into the wall like a pocket door. He peered through the thick grillwork. The dim corridor stretched empty before him. There was no sign of guards or the mechanism that opened the barrier. Resnu must have felt so confident that they were securely imprisoned that she considered guards unnecessary. Either that or she feared they could be bribed or coerced by Ayatun into freeing her.

A muttered oath made Jaynes turn around. Minuza was awake and gazing darkly Ayatun who still slept. He didn’t have to be psychic to know what was going through the slave woman’s mind. Quickly, he moved to Minuza’s side and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him sharply.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” he quoted. “We’re in this together facing a common foe. It won’t advantage us if we fight among ourselves.” Then, to distract her: “Have a look through the window. See if you can recognize where we are.”

Minuza grunted, but apart from that said nothing as she moved to the window. The slave woman hooked her powerful fingers through the grating and effortlessly hauled herself up, and as she peered through the stone grillwork Jaynes patted Ayatun’s cheek in an effort to rouse her.

“Come on Ayatun. Wake up. We need you.”

The high priestess moaned. Her eyes fluttered open as Minuza spoke: “I think I know where we are. I’m looking out onto a forest of tall trees. They look very much like the ones I saw from the compound where I was trained to be an assassin.”

“You are correct,” said a voice.

All heads turned. Resnu stood before the cell door, gazing upon her prisoners with a sardonic expression, and an air of complete satisfaction.

Ayatun struggled up and gazed upon her sister. Expressions of shock anger and fear passed across her face in swift succession.

“What is the meaning of this outrage,” she cried, her voice trembling with the force of her emotions. “Why did you try and murder me? Why have you profaned our most sacred ceremony? You broke the ordinances of the ritual. You dare risk angering the spirits, bringing their fury upon us. Have you gone mad?”

Resnu laughed, but there was no warmth in her mirth. She quickly sobered and a strange and frightening expression transformed her face into something dark and terrible. It sent a chill through Jaynes for he saw it for what it was - a look of utter fanaticism bordering on madness.

“What would you know of the spirits?” Resnu sneered contemptuously. “Death speaks to me. Atu’udu speaks to me, inspires me. Only death is real, only death is eternal. Life is a transitory illusion. This is the Great Truth. I shall proclaim it - first in this city; then throughout all the others. The false religion shall be swept away in holy conquest. You and your followers will become dust. The world will not remember you, but it will remember me, for I shall remake it in the image of my vision.”

Ayatun gasped in shock. “I’ve always known you were a little strange. But now I see that you are seriously unwell. This is madness Resnu. Truly it is. Turn your feet away from this false path. Embrace the way of our ancestors. Our people will not stand for this blasphemy of yours.”

“The people will do as I say,” snapped Resnu. “I have planned for this day long and well. My followers are now in control of the city. The threat of death by torture will make the unbelievers compliant. I’ve decided to keep you alive until tonight when you and your heathen companions will be the first of the sacrifices to Death, and a warning to all heretics.”

Resnu laughed cruelly, turned upon her heel and departed, leaving the shocked prisoners to stare in stunned silence at each other as she vanished from their sight.

Ayatun sank to the stones and leaned heavily against the wall, clearly shaken to the core. For the first time in her life she knew what it felt like to be utterly powerless, completely helpless. She remembered how contemptuous she had been of Jaynes’s exposition on human rights. Now that she was as vulnerable as a slave she could more readily appreciate his arguments. She thought of her sister. She had known Resnu all her life and yet hadn’t really known her at all. What had happened to the young girl that she’d played with in childhood’s innocence?

“I thought Resnu’s strangeness was a harmless thing,” she murmured to herself. “Little did I realize that it was a dark harbinger of the madness to come … How could I have been so ignorant?”

“You can contemplate that later,” said Jaynes brusquely as he swiftly moved towards the door and grasped it, thinking that adversity made strange bedfellows. “Minuza, Ayatun; give me your aid. It’s time to put aside our differences and work together. Perhaps with our combined strength we can break free.”

“It is unlikely,” replied the slave woman. “The door has been carved from a single slab of batak – extremely tough wood as hard as stone. But yet there might be away to escape this prison,” she continued as she lowered her tail, slipped her fingers within her vagina and felt about.

Ayatun raised her eyebrows at the sight. “Time is short,” she observed, “so I suppose one must find what pleasure one can. But what has that to do with escape?”

Minuza shot her a sharp look as she removed the concealed object and held it up for her companions’ inspection. The slave woman was no fool and felt insulted that Ayatun thought her so.

After a moment of shock Jaynes recognized the thing. It was a smaller version of the tool he’d seen the masons using. Specifically the cutting head – a cube of greenish stone and a many faceted mineral of purplish hue, held to but not touching its companion.

“A slave is always thinking of escape,” explained Minuza to the Earthman, pointedly ignoring Ayatun. “I found this renjib whilst on an errand for you, and thought it might prove useful.”

“I … see,” said Jaynes as he struggled to get his thoughts in order for the uninhibited nature of these people still disturbed him. “We can’t break down the door, but we can cut through the stone of the back wall and escape into the forest. Come on, let’s get to work…”

Sluggish time dripped through the hours. Dusk’s shadows gathered darkly within the cell as the cutting tool sliced through thick stone with agonizing slowness.

Jaynes muttered an oath as he moved the implement in a circle. “This tool isn’t the right one for the task at hand,” he grumbled. “It’s for delicate work, not hacking rock. We need a larger more powerful version.”

“You’re nearly through,” said Minuza, offering encouragement.

“Yes, and night is almost upon us,” observed Ayatun, worriedly. “The hour of sacrifice draws dangerously near; in the name of all the spirits, hurry.”

Thirty more painful minutes passed. Night’s darkness now filled the cell to overflowing, and cloaked its anxious occupants in shrouding gloom. The silence was broken only by the sibilant hiss of the cutting tool; its soft light casting the Earthman’s tense sweating face into an anxious study in light and shadow.

A sound came to Jaynes. His head jerked up. His whole body went rigid with fear. His companions also heard the noise and similarly reacted.

“Footsteps,” gasped Ayatun. “Resnu and her guards approach.”

The Earthman bitterly cursed. Perhaps another five minutes and freedom would have been firmly in their grasp, but now doom instead had come upon them all.

The footsteps grew louder, nearer. Jaynes refused to give up. He leaned back, braced himself with palms on floor and slammed both feet against the wall. The stony disc he’d cut didn’t budge an inch.

Minuza joined him. Together they kicked the weakened barrier. The sound of the approaching warriors grew ever closer. Again, they slammed their feet against the stone. Rock cracked. In the quite the noise was like a gunshot. The approaching footsteps briefly paused; then the pounding rush of many feet could be heard.

Ayatun cursed. “They heard,” she gasped. “They know something’s amiss.

The racing footfalls were a spur to Jaynes’ and Minuza’s wild desperation. Both hurled all their strength against obdurate rock. Feet crashed like living battering rams. More rock cracked, this time even louder and solid stone gave beneath the strength of hammering blows.

Ayatun turned, went cold. Warriors were crowding by the portal. Fierce and brutal faces returned her frightened gaze. Their eyes were alive with bloodlust; heavy clubs gripped in brawny hands. Flickering torches limned them in hellish light. Behind them Resnu screeched wild commands, her clamorous voice echoing shrilly in the gloom. The cell door was hurled sideways with a crash. Men spilt in and rushed towards the frightened trio , the racing guards screaming strident wrathful cries imbued with wild murder.

Chapter 7: Jungle Ordeal

As the screaming warriors burst within the cell the stone disc toppled under driving blows and crashed upon dark soil.

“Come on,” urged Jaynes, “move!”

Minuza dived through the opening. Ayatun swiftly followed, but as Jaynes scrambled through a calloused hand gripped him fiercely by the ankle. With a wild curse he kicked savagely. Someone screamed, let go. But other hands grasped his feet, hauled. The struggling Earthman began sliding back within the cell. Minuza quickly clasped his wrists, pulled with all her strength, dragging him and his assailant out.

The warrior’s arms and head appeared. Ayatun swiftly stomped on his neck, snapping it like matchwood. Jaynes kicked free. Minuza grabbed the heavy stone disc and slammed it down upon the corpse, jamming the body in the hole to stymie pursuit.

“That will briefly delay them,” she panted. “Let’s away.”

And with these words the escapees swiftly fled into the night enshrouded jungle.

**********

Early morning light thrust through the dense canopy of the forest in angled shafts, illuminating Jaynes and his still sleeping companions. The Earthman had taken the last watch of the night. All of them had been utterly exhausted from their struggle through the hindering undergrowth which became denser the further they penetrated into the jungle. Fortunately, nothing untoward had occurred during the night. There had been no signs of pursuit, but from what Ayatun had said it was unlikely that Resnu would give up so easily. With the rising sun search parties would be out looking for them.

Their next move had been discussed, but not without heated dissent. Minuza was all for returning to Zayii, her nation, and as Jaynes had nowhere else to go he sided with her. Ayatun on the other hand demanded that they turn their feet towards Katuna, another Payonese city state about five day’s journey from her own municipality of Unim. Here her cousin Danu lived – the administrator of the city, appointed by its priestesses, whose aid she would enlist to defeat Resnu.

Minuza had refused this plan, saying that after gaining her freedom she had no intention of risking being enslaved again. Ayatun had raised similar objections – that she, too, would be in peril of enslavement if she journeyed to Zayii. The situation remained unresolved, and what the former high priestess would do was unknown. Jaynes considered his situation. He had agreed to Minuza’s proposal, but realized it wasn’t without hazard, either. He could easily become a chattel. There was no guarantee the people of Zayii would be grateful to him for aiding one of their citizens. On this world the enslavement of people, especially outsiders, was an accepted practice.

He gazed at both women who lay in relaxed slumber, envying their untroubled restfulness. Jaynes traced their forms with his eyes, unconstrained by any returning glance as one might peer through the keyhole of a lady’s boudoir. His earthly prejudices concerning feminine allure were slowly being transformed through association, and now he could fully see their beauty – each different yet equally desirable, and this made him realize how terribly lonely he was, bereft of all affection’s warmth.

Yearning came upon him in a sudden overwhelming rush. Their loveliness drew his trembling hands towards the roundness of breast, the smoothness of thigh as a magnet draws the helpless needle of a compass, and it was only with the utmost self control that he held his questing fingers in tight restraint. The trembling Earthman groaned. He clasped his hands together like a vice and turned away from the rousing sight feminine beauty that lay displayed in innocence before him.

Jaynes could have wept with frustration, but then a distant sound broke through his mad desire. He gasped, alarmed. Again the disquieting noise burst upon his ears – a screeching yowl that sent a shudder through his entire frame and raised the hairs upon his nape with its untamed cacophony. To the startled Earthman it was as if a sack full of parrots and cats was being savagely beaten, their vociferous cries blending into one monstrous, horrid noise that caused him to look about in utter consternation.

A hard curse jerked Jaynes’ head around. Ayatun was now awake, her slumber broken by the discordant noise. Her body was tense, her countenance grim with worry.

“Surpura,” she gasped. They have released the dark slayers to track us! Damn my evil sister.”

The high priestess scrambled to her feet and no doubt would have bolted like a wild stallion if Jaynes hadn’t grasped her firmly by the wrist.

“Surpura,” he said worriedly, for her fear was obvious. “What are they, an animal of some kind?”

“Beasts, she snapped, “Horrible beasts who track by scent. Monstrous implacable killers who will tear us limb from limb. We must swiftly flee for unarmed we cannot stand against them. Let me go, you fool,” she hissed as she struggled wildly in the Earthman’s grip, “every moment of delay brings death that much closer to us.”

Minuza, who had been awakened by the commotion, swore when she saw what was going on. Quickly the woman leapt to her feet and aided Jaynes in restraining the former high priestess.

“Enough, gasped Jaynes as Minuza got the struggling woman in an immobilizing bear hug. “We need to think, not panic.

The Earthman backed away and pulled his thoughts together. Their bestial pursuers were no doubt fleet of foot, probably far swifter than he or his companions. Simply running wouldn’t be enough, but what to do to escape the horrors hot upon their scent? He looked swiftly about desperately seeking inspiration.

Dense jungle was all around them – thick almost impenetrable undergrowth and overarching trees from which dripped lianas and convolvuli that formed a webby network of flowering vines, many as thick as a strongman’s wrist. Inspiration struck him at the sight. It was impossible to make swift progress through the dense and riotous verdure, but another way could indeed be found.

He turned to Ayatun who had quieted somewhat, the breath having been squeezed out of her by Minuza’s powerful grip.

“Can the surpura climb?”

“No,” was all she could manage to gasp as she glared wildly at him.

“But we can,” he explained, addressing both women. “We will climb this tree and move from one growth to another using the vines as ropes. Our pursuers will track us to this spot, so we must move back towards them, but at an angle away from them, for they will be searching the trees ahead for signs of us. Do you understand Ayatun? We cannot flee the surpura by merely running. Only by taking to the trees can we break the trail of scent we would otherwise leave.”

The woman nodded her assent. Ayatun wasn’t happy about the turn of events. It was clear she had no choice but to fall in with Jaynes’s plans, and forego her goal of reaching Katuna, but it was better than death. Minuza wasn’t happy either. The forest’s trees were sacred to her people and climbing them was considered sacrilege. The only type of tree one could ascend was the Mu’ute whose timber was used for construction, and even then elaborate rituals had to be performed beforehand. She told Jaynes as much.

“Better to commit a sin now and ask for forgiveness later,” was the Earthman’s quick reply. “Either that or be torn asunder by raging animals.”

Fortunately, Minuza saw his point, and so without any further objections the trio began their desperate climb, spurred on by the nearing sounds of their merciless and implacable pursuers.

Jaynes took the lead, hauling himself up one of the huge convolvuli as swiftly as he could. The crown of the towering growth from which the giant vine depended rose to a height of at least a hundred feet. The climb was arduous, and by the time the Earthman gained the precarious perch of the uppermost branches he was drenched with sweat. Gasping, he clung for dear life as Ayatun and Minuza crawled shakily out beside him.

Here the trio paused to catch their breath, but there was no true rest for them – the discordant and alarming cries of the vicious surpura were closing in and drove the escapees onwards.

Jaynes grasped a thick liana that snaked between two trees and began to swing himself hand over hand across the awful drop. Both women followed suit. On and on it went, moving precariously from one towering growth to another – an interminable agony of taxing effort. The Earthman’s muscles burnt with agony. His limbs trembled with fatigue and his breath came in ragged gasps. His strength was swiftly giving out.

A cry made him turn. His breath caught in his throat. Behind him Ayatun hung by a single hand from the vine, her arm shaking with the strain. The panting Earthman swung towards the panicking woman, snared her waist with his legs just as she lost her grip. Jaynes gasped as he took the full weight of the former high priestess. He cried again as the frightened woman’s nails dug into his flesh in a grip of utter terror.

Minuza swiftly swung towards him, but there was little she could do. Jaynes inched towards the limb of the tree some ten feet away – a small distance, but seemingly infinity to the wheezing fatigued man. He drew on the dregs of strength, gained the branch, but his vitality was exhausted and all he could do was barely cling to the limb in a state of shaking exhaustion, weighed down by his clinging companion. He was seconds away from losing his hold when Minuza swung onto the branch and with her great strength hauled both of them to safety.

All three crawled shakily to the tree’s trefoil crotch and slumped into various postures of utter collapse. The noise of pursuit was now dangerously near. Continuing on was impossible due to exhaustion and the danger of being spotted. All that could be done was to lie still and hope that the chase would pass them by - that Jaynes had managed to outfox the hunters.

The anxious Earthman kept careful watch, and within about ten minutes their enemies came into view as they pushed through the undergrowth some distance away – a dozen warriors armed with spears, clubs and oval shields of hide painted in ochre geometrical designs. But it was not the men that held Jaynes’ attention.

Ahead of the warriors loped three surpura, their massive bodies bulldozing a way through the dense undergrowth and it was these beasts that had caught the Earthman’s eye. The creatures’ body shape was similar to that of a tiger. Their feet, however, were closer in resemblance to an ostrich that a feline. Their bodies were hairless, the skin being scaly and mottled in black and bluish gray. Their bony heads were broad and brutal as were their toothy jaws. The dark eyes were deep set beneath a jutting armored brow. Each creature stood at least five feet at the shoulder. They were vicious ugly looking things, and at the sight of them Jaynes felt terror and revulsion come strongly upon him.

The trio lay absolutely still as the party swiftly passed them by and vanished into the crowding undergrowth, leaving a broad trail of trampled greenery behind them. Jaynes relaxed and realized he’d been unconsciously holding his breath, frozen in a state of utter tenseness. His decision to take to the trees had been a wise one. The monsters burst through the tangled undergrowth like living battering rams. The fugitives would have been run to ground in an instant.

“We’ll rest here,” said Jaynes to his companions. “We need to recover our strength before going on. Minuza, can you find food up here? That would do much to help.”

Minuza looked about and smiled as her eyes alighted on a plant above them. It was a large epiphytic growth hanging from a limb – an array of a dozen six foot translucent thorny tendrils with small serrated oval leaves, turquoise in color, which depended like the prisms of a chandelier. What had caught the woman’s attention were the glistening grape-like clusters of ruby fruit that hung from shorter ropy stems free of leaves and thorns that were interspaced among their spiky counterparts.

“I recognize the fruit,” explained Minuza, “though I’ve never seen the mother plant before as it is arboreal and for some reason does not grow on the Mu’ute trees we can lawfully climb. Sometimes my people find the fallen clusters on the ground, especially after windy storms. To us the vinutu, as it is called, is a rare delicacy.

Minuza stood and without another word eagerly began her climb to the higher branch. Jaynes and Ayatun watched her ascent, the Earthman admiring and somewhat envious of her strength and the swiftness of her recovery from their exhausting ordeal.

The woman rapidly gained the high limb and shinned along its thick length to quickly seize the prize, but as she reached down and clasped the tempting fruit in preparation to pluck it a shocking and unexpected thing swiftly occurred. The thorny tendrils whipped about Minuza like the arms of a monster squid and pinned her to the branch.

Jaynes gasped in shock at the unexpected. Minuza cried in pain as six inch needle spines pierced her flesh. She struggled to free herself, but the slightest movement brought further agony against which her great strength was of no avail. Sick terror came upon the frightened woman – the translucent needles became infused with orange blood. The thing was like a leech and sought to drain her life away.

The Earthman swore as he, too, perceived the hideous danger. Fear for his companion propelled him to his feet. Adrenalin surged and sent him swiftly climbing to aid the feebly struggling woman. Ayatun looked on worriedly, too weak to rise. Jaynes would have to face the monster plant alone.

Quickly, the Earthman gained the branch, crawled out upon the limb; his worry mounting for Minuza’s struggles grew ever feebler from loss of blood. In mere seconds he was by her side. Fear came upon him like a pouncing lion. Minuza was unconscious. He grasped a tendril between its thorns and desperately pulled the thing away. But the vegetable vampire was far from passive and objected vigorously to his interference. The ropy limb writhed like a serpent. It lashed in the manner of a whip and struck the man across the face.

Jaynes gasped in agony and Ayatun cried in fright as he tumbled from the branch.

Chapter 8: River of Peril

Jaynes would have fallen to his death had his legs not been locked around the limb. But as it was his position was nonetheless extremely precarious. Now he hung upside down, arms thrown across his face in a desperate attempt to protect himself from the lashing of the spiny vine that scourged his bleeding flesh.

Grimly, he hung on despite the agony of his ordeal which seemed an age of unending torment. Within half a minute the horrid plant had settled, but the weakening Earthman was in no position to relax. Weaponless, how was he to free Minuza from the monster?

A needle-like thorn had broken off and was embedded in Jaynes’s arm. Inspiration came upon him at the sight. The Earthman jerked it free. Gazing intently at the monstrous organism he saw what appeared to be a vital spot in its anatomy. Jaynes plunged his makeshift dagger deep within the bulb-like structure rooted to the branch’s underside. The thing’s thorny limbs wildly convulsed, jerked about striking blindly in all directions for a second.

Jaynes swore as he was hit several times and nearly lost his hold upon the tree. Then the vampire vegetable shuddered. Its vines went flaccid, hung limply in death. But the danger wasn’t over. Now free from its embrace Minuza began to slide from the branch. The Earthman righted himself with a mighty effort, caught her just in time, and with grunts and curses hauled her back upon the limb. He never knew how he did it, but somehow Jaynes managed to get himself and the unconscious woman to safety.

Ayatun was waiting for him. She grasped Minuza about the waist as Jaynes lowered her, eased the woman to the tree’s crotch, and commenced a careful examination of her life threatening injuries, for the horrid needles had deeply pierced her flesh in many places.

“Can you do anything for her?” gasped Jaynes anxiously as he clambered down the trunk. “Never mind my own hurts,” he continued as he saw the former high priestess glance at his wounds. “Minuza is more in need of help than I. Can you save her? ”

Ayatun hesitated. Her association with the woman who had tried to murder her was one of forced involvement – a situation for which she had no liking. But on the other hand Minuza had helped save her life on more than one occasion - when her sister had been about to slay her, and more recently when she’d lost her grip upon the vine and was so weakened that she couldn’t save herself. Ayatun could be spiteful and arrogant at times, but she also had a better side that wasn’t absolutely heartless.

“Minuza is dying, but there is a chance I can save her,” she replied as she grasped the large ring of carved bone that she wore. The former high priestess pulled out its opaque tightly fitting cabochon gemstone. Golden light burst forth from the hollow concealed beneath it with, to the startled Earthman, unexpected and astounding intensity.

“Within this ring,” she explained, “is a crystal infused with the energy of life. It is called a thayon. They are extremely rare, and can be used but once after which the vital force is entirely depleted.”

Jaynes watched in fascination as Ayatun parted Minuza’s lips and dropped the glowing pea size cubic crystal within her open mouth. In but moments the unconscious woman’s entire body began to glow as her circulating blood was charged with the golden light of the dissolving gem. To Jaynes’ amazement her body grew translucent, became ghostly in form as the aureate radiation shone through it. He could see within her body. Her bones, her organs; every detail including injuries was delineated by the light of the healing luminescence.

The strange effect lasted for about five minutes, and then the light began to fade. Minuza’s body became opaque, her appearance completely normal, and there was not a mark upon her skin as evidence of any wound to the astonishment of the amazed Earthman.

Minuza’s eyes opened and for a moment she stared at Jaynes in dazed incomprehension. Then memory came flooding back and she sat up with a frightened panicked cry of utter terror.

Jaynes embraced her trembling body comfortingly. She clung to him as he soothed her with calming words.

“Your safe now,” he reassured her. “I killed the horror and Ayatun healed your mortal injuries with thayon. If we work together, if we help each other we can survive all manner of ordeals.”

Minuza relaxed into his embrace. It felt good to be held comfortingly. It had been a long time since someone had held her so; since she was a child in fact. Although Minuza was attractive her size and strength put men off, for in her culture women were expected to be placid submissive things, not strong willed Amazons with muscles the envy of a bodybuilder.

“Thank you,” she murmured drowsily. “Thank you both.”

Jaynes eased her down and saw that she was now asleep, her slumber the aftereffects of the healing.

The Earthman stroked the sleeping woman’s face. Something of Minuza’s need had come to him as he’d held her. Desire again rose within Jaynes, but this time he managed to subsume it to nobler affection. This was not lost on Ayatun who felt strangely envious at the sight.

The Earthman’s actions, his example, were like a prompt to the thoughtful woman: “I … I’m sorry I called you a fool, earlier. You saved my life ... our lives …” Her words petered out, for she was unused to apologizing, and she wondered at this outlandish man’s effect on her that would engender such unaccustomed contrition.

“It’s all right,” he replied with understanding. “Very few of us are at our best when under stress. Now let us rest as well,” he quietly added, interrupting her musings. “For who knows what dangers lie ahead that will tax our minds and bodies to the utmost.”

**********

Six days had passed – six harrowing days of hard jungle travel in which the trio barely managed to elude their implacable pursuers as they fought their way through tangled growth that would have choked an army and climbed tall trees that seemed to touch the sky. It was now mid morning. Jaynes had just emerged from the undergrowth. Both women were behind him, sweat streaked and disheveled. A truce had been declared between them and surprisingly seemed to be growing to one of friendship.

It seemed incredible to the Earthman that such camaraderie could arise considering what had gone before, but adversity had given Ayatun much to think about, had made her appreciate the need for mercy, for compassion and cooperation. Her saving of Minuza’s life had also changed the attitude of the Zayiini woman who saw there was good in the former high priestess – virtues that could override her faults.

On the women’s part – both were intrigued by Jaynes, and the longer they were with him the more intrigued they became. He was different from all the men they were familiar with. But it was more than mere physical differences – it was his character, the way he treated them as equals and with consideration. In Ayatun’s culture men respected her, feared her because of the power she wielded, whereas Jaynes respected her as a person regardless of status. In Minuza’s society women were expected to be subservient to men – an attitude entirely absent in the Earthman.

Jaynes, somewhat oblivious to their growing feelings, halted. He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked across the mile wide river whose far side marked the border of Zayiini territory – the homeland of Minuza’s people. In the distance he could see Zende, her hometown, recognizing it from her detailed description. Minuza’s uncle Nasura was chief, and an eminently reasonable man she reassured her companions, who would give them shelter in gratitude for having saved his favorite niece.

Zende was one of fifty large settlements each a few miles apart, all of which were linked by a network of broad straight roads of compressed earth, their average width being thirty feet. The houses’ roofs were of thatch. The buildings were T-shaped in plan and raised high above the ground on ornately carved posts with the arm of the T being windowless bedrooms with walls of woven fronds. These were pierced by twelve inch diamond shaped apertures along the bottom and top to provide light and ventilation.

The living area – the equivalent of the lounge room in a Western style home – was the roofed but open walled stem of the T designed to catch cooling breezes in the hot and humid jungle. The kitchen was at the far end of the stem and consisted of a simple clay lined fire pit with earthenware cooking pots and wooden utensils. The latrine was a primitive pit toilet separate from the home and located at the rear. Bathing was done in the river.

There were five hundred and forty eight residences in all with five guest houses for visiting dignitaries and their entourages. The entire habitation was enclosed by a defensive ditch twenty feet deep and equally wide whose bottom was studded with sharpened stakes. The excavated soil had been mounded to form a surrounding rampart with more stakes projecting from its outer face, and access to the settlement was by a narrow drawbridge constructed from a strong but lightweight plant resembling bamboo.

The jungle around the village had been cleared using the slash-and-char method to a considerable extent, and here the fields of its territory had been planted out. The primary crop was kori – an herbaceous perennial plant whose knobby crimson tubers were the staple of the Zayiini. The plant itself resembled a sunflower in growth habit, but with fan shaped leaves and multiple flowers more closely resembling those of passion fruit than the helianthus.

Jaynes’s contemplation of the scene and his musings on what awaited him were rudely sundered by a familiar wild yowl of unnerving quality, nearness and ferocity. Minuza swore. He quickly turned and immediately beheld the objects of her curse – the three supura racing through the undergrowth with whooping warriors bringing up the rear.

Their pursuers hadn’t given up, had tracked them down by body scent carried on the betraying breeze. They were now fifty yards away and closing fast. Jaynes looked desperately about. His frantic gaze fell upon a beached dugout some distance down the strand – one left by a hunting expedition.

“This way,” he cried.

The trio raced towards the large canoe, the howling supura hot upon their heels. The powerful beasts barreled through the verdure, drool dripping from their bony jaws, feral eyes glittering with savage appetites.

Jaynes and his companions gained the dugout. The loping supura burst upon the strand as the escapees desperately thrust against the heavy craft. The Earthman threw a glance behind him. The howling beasts were closing fast, their flashing feet kicking up sprays of sand. Behind them raced the eager warriors, no less dangerous foes.

The frightening sight was a stabbing spur. All three flung their strength against the prow. The weighty vessel moved a little. Muscles bunched, strained mightily. Feet dug in, legs thrust. The craft surrendered to their might and slid within the river. In an instant the frightened trio leapt aboard, seized the paddles and bent their straining backs to swift and frenzied rowing.

Water flew as the charging supura leapt within the river. The racing warriors now in range flung both curse and javelin. Missiles fell around the escapees striking craft and water as the swimming supura rapidly closed upon them.

The panting Earthman knew they’d escaped the raging warriors, but their awful beasts were another thing entirely – they were nearly as swift in water as upon the land, and it was soon apparent Jaynes and his companions couldn’t outdistance them.

Jaynes shipped his paddle and snatched a javelin, one of several that had plunged within their craft. He stood, weapon poised as the horrid creatures homed in upon him. The leading monster gained the craft. He shouted to the panting women:

“We can’t escape. Stop rowing and defend yourselves.”

The monster’s claws latched upon the gunnels like grappling hooks. The dugout tilted alarmingly with the sudden weight. The bony jaws snapped viciously at Jaynes. Barely retaining his balance he thrust desperately at a glittering eye. The thing screamed as the frantic Earthman plunged his point deep within its brain.

But then the others were swiftly upon him. They lunged from the water, hurled their heavy bodies across the gunnels, vicious claws hooking upon the wood. The craft tilted. It rolled under the combined weight of the mighty beasts. Jaynes and his companions were flung screaming into the river. The water churned with thrashing bodies, darkened with blood. From the shore the warriors looked on, their faces alive with vengeful satisfaction.

Chapter 9: Trial by Combat

As Jaynes plunged within the river he managed to retain his weapon. Another monster lunged at him, crushing jaws horribly agape. He thrust the javelin down its fetid maw. The thing gagged, jerked its head and tore the weapon from his grasp. It writhed, orange blood gushing from its jaws. The remaining beast, excited by the scent of so much gore, set upon its wounded brother in a wild feeding frenzy.

Water madly churned with writhing bodies. Jaynes kicked clear of the bloody tumult and quickly looked about with stabbing worry. Minuza and Ayatun were some yards away having just surfaced from their headlong plunge. Relief came upon him at the sight. Swiftly, he swam to the gasping pair and spoke with rapid urgency.

“The surviving supura is feeding on the others. We must escape whilst it is thus distracted. To the farther shore with all haste,” he quickly urged.

Neither woman needed prompting. All three set out at once, their bodies cleaving water as glistening youthful limbs propelled them swiftly through the river. The far shore drew steadily nearer as they swam with the slow flowing current. Mid point was reached, passed. Relief came upon Jaynes – he and his companions were tiring, but the muddy beach was less than fifty yards away.

Then some sixth sense made the Earthman look behind him. The supura, having gnawed on the dead, was once again in swift pursuit. Jaynes cursed, warned the women of the nearing danger. Now, the race for life was truly on in earnest. Water flew from flashing limbs. Bodies clove the river like living knives as all three pushed themselves to the limits of endurance.

The shore loomed closer, but the pursuing beast was nearer still and gaining upon the desperate swimmers with increasing rapidity. Ayatun began to falter. Her strokes grew weaker. She began to flounder, to sink beneath the river. Jaynes clasped her waist. Minuza grabbed her hand. Both hauled the gasping woman after them as they swam with frantic haste.

Jaynes's strength was giving out. He cast a glance behind him. Wild fear latched upon him. The monster was right on top of them. Its jaws were gaping. Its nightmare teeth glinted hugely, ominously. The terrified Earthman knew they’d never make the shore as it arrowed at them like a living engine of destruction.

It loomed huge. It surged – a raging terror of savage bloodlust, mighty jaws lunging to rend in feral fury. Ayatun screamed in wild fear. From the riverbank came another cry. Spears flew. Three struck the horrid beast. The thing writhed in agony. Orange gore spurted. Its jaws snapped shut, missing Jaynes’s foot by an inch. Then the monster rolled and sank beneath the bloodstained water, descending to oblivion.

The gasping trio, utterly spent, barely gained the muddy shore and collapsed in complete exhaustion upon the strand, too weak to crawl fully from the water. Jaynes, panting like a spent greyhound, was as helpless as a babe as strong hands hauled him and his companions from the river.

**********

A day had elapsed since Jaynes and his companions had narrowly escaped the jaws of the supura. But no sooner had one danger passed than it had swiftly been replaced by another. The Earthman now stood at the edge of the fight circle tensely awaiting the arrival of his opponent and reflecting on the perilous situation into which he’d been so dramatically precipitated.

The Zayiini warriors who had slain the supura had been overjoyed to see Minuza, but Ayatun and the Earthman had received nothing but hard stares of extreme hostility. It had been a very tense situation – the ring of menacing spears, the angry shouting warriors, their hate distorted features. Minuza had flung herself upon the pair, shielding their bodies with her own.

She had been shocked at their reaction as her people weren’t ones to slay forthwith under normal circumstances, but changes had occurred in her absence as her compatriots explained – her uncle Nasura had passed away and now her father Vren, his younger brother, was ruler of the tribe. Minuza was shaken by the news for well she knew her father’s brutal cruelty. The orders to slay on sight all strangers had clearly come from him.

It had taken all of Minuza’s persuasive skill to prevent her countrymen from killing her companions then and there, demanding that they be taken unharmed to the chief. She had put on a bold front, but behind her mask of confidence she had been very worried at the unexpected turn of events, for she knew the meeting with her father would be far from cordial.

From the river they had been taken to the chief’s residence and all the way the wary eyes of the populace gazed upon them with open suspicion as they walked along the flower lined pathways. Shortly, they were climbing the stairs to the building which, unlike the other dwellings was set apart by its cruciform plan. A runner had gone ahead to announce their coming, and so the chief was waiting for them in the open walled arm of the cross that served as a reception area.

He was a tall middle aged man, heavily muscled and scarred from a multitude of duals and battles. His face was stern and craggy. A gash of a mouth hinted at cruelty as did his hooked nose that reminded the worried Earthman of a raptor’s beak. Eyes, cold and bleak as an arctic winter gazed upon Jaynes and Ayatun as they were violently shoved to their knees before his imposing presence. Munuza knelt voluntarily, her arms outstretched before her in salute.

“Greetings Vren, my father and chief. Long life and health be yours,” she formally commenced in her own tongue, Duku, a derivative of Payon and therefore mostly intelligible to her companions. “I am overjoyed to once again kneel in your presence, but can only do so because of the invaluable aid given me by my companions. I ask you extend your kindness to them as you would a guest.”

Vren turned his gaze upon Ayatun and the Earthman, his expression no less suspicious and hostile than before.

“What you say may be true,” he harshly said, his voice a rumbling bass. “But it does not change the fact that one is a Unimmi – a known enemy, and the other a stranger whose people may prove to be the same. I will not tolerate potential spies in our midst. Guards,” he cried. “Slay the prisoners forthwith.”

“Stop,” shouted Minuza as she sprang to her feet in outrage. “Father,” she hotly cried as the warriors halted their spear thrusts. “This is unjust, she continued, knowing full well the risk she was taking, but feeling compelled to defend her friends. “My companions are not spies. They are …”

“What is this?” gasped Vren in shock as he vehemently interjected. “My own daughter defies me!”

“When you are wrong, yes,” firmly replied Minuza, knowing she was treading on very dangerous ground, but nonetheless determined to speak her mind. “My time in captivity has taught me many things – chiefly that not all strangers are enemies.” Then turning rapidly to Jaynes: “Claim trial by combat. The Spirit of the Forest will grant you victory because you are innocent. It is your only hope.”

Outraged that his own flesh and blood should side with strangers Vren, a violent man at the best of times, leapt forward and with a clenched fist struck his daughter a mighty blow upon the nape that felled her unconscious to the floor.

Jaynes shouted in rage, tried to rise, but the press of deadly spears forced him to the ground.

“I claim trial by combat,” he yelled wildly. “Do you hear me Vren? I claim trial by combat.”

“I hear,” spat Vren. “Whether you die by one means or another matters little to me.” Then to the waiting warriors: “Take the prisoners, including my treacherous daughter, to the House of Justice. Confine them there to await the trial, now go.”

Jaynes and Ayatun were roughly hauled to their feet. The Earthman was ordered to carry the still unconscious Minuza, and so he slung her over his shoulder and with considerable struggle, for he was still fagged from his swim, descended the stairs. With Ayatun grim faced and close at his side they were marched along a series of pathways that led to the House of Justice – a building of thick logs and slit windows - where they were imprisoned under heavy guard.

Jaynes brought his mind to the present. He looked about the circle of sand at whose edge he stood. The whole village had gathered to witness the dual. He was surrounded by a wall of hostile faces. His eyes rested for a moment on Ayatun. Her hands were bound behind her back. Minuza stood beside her similarly restrained. Both women looked upon him with a mixture of fear for his safety and longing. Intimacy had wrought a considerable change in Minuza, had softened the harsh look she often wore. Ayatun, too, was different – their lovemaking had forged a strong emotional bond which had completed the changes that had been slowly transforming both.

It had come about as follows: The Earthman had awoken in the night to the sound of Minuza’s weeping. Concerned, he had gone to her, comforted her within the circle of his arms. Ayatun, who had also been roused by the noise, came to see what was amiss. There followed an outpouring of emotion as Minuza told both of her cruel father, her loveless existence, of how her people saw her size and strength as freakish, of how she regretted bringing them into peril. Jaynes’ kind words, his gentle touch settled the troubled woman as all three lay together arms about each other for mutual comfort in the face of danger. Breast to chest, thigh to thigh; passion slowly stirred – first a spark, then a flame, then a raging inferno of sweet desire.

That the result had been a ménage à trios hadn’t been intentional on anyone’s part. It had arisen naturally as a consequence of circumstances and his companions’ personality and beliefs. There was no concept of sin being associated with sex in either Ayatun or Minuza’s culture – the fact that both women had touched each other with uninhibited intimacy showed that this was so. Jaynes, however, wasn’t sure how he felt about what had happened. The wild heat of passion had swept through him in a cataract of unstoppable desire, and now that it had passed he was suffering from a case of post-coition guilt.

How did he truly feel about both women? The incident had unlocked powerful emotions within him, but was it love or merely lust he was experiencing? Could a man love two women simultaneously and equally? Could there be a future for him with either one considering both were from an alien culture so different from his own? He wasn’t sure. It was too early to tell. His sense of guilt stemmed from the fact that he felt would have to choose between them and one would be hurt by his decision.

Fidelity and monogamy had been ingrained in him by his upbringing. Although he was prone to moments of mortal weakness as all humans are, at heart he really wasn’t the kind of man who would simply use a woman to satisfy his sexual appetites and then discard her as if she was an object of inconsequence.

Out of the entire confusion one thing was clear though. Now Jaynes had something to fight for more than his mere survival, for his companion’s fate would be determined by the outcome of this ordeal. The sound of a drum made the Earthman turn. His smile for Minuza and Ayatun became a grim thinning of his lips as he saw Vren approach and step within the sandy circle.

The chieftain, like Jaynes, was armed with a short thrusting spear that had a wooden hook just below the head, and for defense both men possessed an oval wicker shield. The Earthman hadn’t expected Vren to be his opponent. This complicated things considerably. Was he going to have to kill the father of the woman he felt he was falling in love with?

Perhaps Vren knew of their intimacy. Minuza proved to be quite passionate, and the sound of their lovemaking may well have been overheard. From what Minuza had told him of her father he wouldn’t put it past the man to punish his daughter by killing her lover before her eyes. He looked at Minuza and saw her glaring furiously at her father. She turned towards the worried Earthman and mouthed the words “kill him.”

Jaynes nodded, relieved that Minuza was in agreement, but perturbed that he would have to shed her father’s blood. By killing him he felt he was killing part of Minuza. But this was a dual to the death. If he was to save his companions he must show no mercy, something he didn’t like at all, but knew was necessary. If he was slain his guilt would be proved and Minuza and Ayatun would share his fate through association.

The throbbing drum reached its crescendo, stopped. After its thunder the sudden silence was absolute, eerie. Jaynes stepped over the stone boarder of the fight circle and walked between the high posts about its circumference. The tall posts supported a lattice disk above the sand, and hanging from the timber grid were many stone spheres each the size of a basketball. Each sphere was suspended by a rope of different thickness and each rope was slowly being burnt through by the flame of a clay oil lamp recently lit by attendants using torches fastened to long poles.

Jaynes glanced up nervously. The heavy spheres would fall, but when and in what sequence was unknown. This distraction almost proved the Earthman’s undoing. Vren uttered a wild bloodcurdling cry. He sprang at Jaynes, spear thrusting, his painted face twisted in feral fury.

The crowd cheered viciously in expectation of savage bloodletting. Jaynes leapt aside. The obsidian point grazed his ribs. The Earthman lunged. Vren turned aside the thrust with a deft twist of his shield. A rope snapped. A sphere plunged. It struck the earth within a foot of Jaynes, spraying him with sand.

Vren laughed cruelly as the Earthman started. The chief rammed his shield against that of his opponent, driving Jaynes backwards. Jaynes barely recovered his balance, raised his shield. The razor spearhead slammed into wickerwork with jarring force. The Earthman staggered, stumbled sideways. Vren hooked Jaynes’ shield with his spear, tore it from his grasp and disarmed him in a similar manner.

Minuza gasped sickly. The savage crowd roared its sanguine approval as the Earthman’s spear fell upon the ground. Jaynes ducked a brutal thrust. He launched himself at Vren, grabbed his opponent’s legs behind the knees and heaved with all his might. Vren went down, fell jarringly. Desperately, Jaynes flung himself on the man as Vren fumbled for his fallen weapon. They grappled furiously, rolled. Another rope snapped and a plunging weight crashed to earth where but moments ago both had lain.

Jaynes strived furiously, desperately, but Vren proved to be the more ruthless of the two. He sunk his teeth into the Earthman’s ear, bit savagely. Jaynes howled in agony. Vren broke his hold, got on top of him and clasped Jaynes’ throat in a grip that rivaled that of a constrictor. The frightened Earthman couldn’t breathe. He clawed frantically at the mighty hands of his leering opponent, but it was like clawing at the hands of a bronze statue – a completely futile exercise.

The world eddied toward darkness and the terrified Earthman knew that he was going to die.

Chapter 10: The Drums of War

The terror of death leant Jaynes strength. He thrust his fingers into his opponent’s eyes. Vren howled, tumbled sideways, hands clutching his face. Gasping air, the desperate Earthman struggled to his feet. He lunged for his opponent’s weapon. A sphere plunged to earth, struck the spear snapping it in half and nearly crushing his hand.

Jaynes stumbled back cursing in fear and consternation. Vren was on his feet roaring oaths, his eyes blurred by streaming tears. Dimly, he saw the Earthman, lunged at him, fists swinging wildly. Jaynes fell back before his opponent’s bull-like rush, leapt aside and tripped the hurtling man.

Vren crashed to earth. A sphere plunged. Minuza cried a shrill warning. Jaynes barely dodged the falling mass of granite. He glimpsed Vren raise his arm in signal, saw a guard struck the woman savagely. The burly fellow then brutally clamped his hand over her mouth to still all further cries of warning.

Jaynes cursed the thuggish fellow, took a step towards the evilly grinning warrior. Vren, now on his feet flung himself on the distracted man. Both went down in a tangle of writhing limbs. The Earthman knew he was no match for his stronger opponent when it came to wrestling. He slammed his fist hammer-like into the chief’s temple stunning him, kicked free and staggered to his feet.

Vren shook off the blow, came at him arms swinging like the blades of a madly whirling propeller. Jaynes danced away as more spheres fell about him in narrow misses. He glimpsed the guard who held Minuza. The brute’s free hand was between her thighs, prizing away her genital shielding tail. In a flash of sickening insight Jaynes suddenly realized this was Vren’s evil work – a ruthless attempt to distract him, for no man would dare lay violating hands on the chief’s daughter without his permission.

The Earthman lashed out in burning rage. His foot slammed into Vren’s gut. The man grunted but came on, unstoppable. Jaynes knew he couldn’t keep this up forever. He’d either be smashed by the whirl of his opponent’s ham-like fists or crushed by a plunging sphere. An idea leapt into his mind. He glanced up, saw what he’d hoped to find.

It was a brief look, but it was nearly his undoing. He barely dodged the chieftain’s flying fists. Jaynes circled. Vren followed. The sweating Earthman quickly glanced up. He stepped back a pace, held his ground. Vren came in fists swinging wildly. Jaynes raised his arms, covered. The blows slammed into his biceps, his forearms, threatened to smash down his guard. The Earthman gritted his teeth against the pain.

Agony sapped his strength. A savage blow slipped through. He reeled under its impact, fell. Vren grinned brutally down at him. . Minuza struggled wildly as her father raised his foot to stomp on the helpless man’s head.

A rope snapped before he could land the blow. The sphere fell, smashed Vren’s skull. Blood and brains went flying. Jaynes managed to roll aside. Corpse and gory globe crashed to earth, both barely missing him.

Jaynes slowly stood and faced the silent throng. They were clearly shocked that he had won and he knew he must act quickly and with boldness while he had the advantage.

“My victory declares my innocence,” he shouted with feigned confidence. “Vren lies dead at my feet and since he fought me I claim his chieftainship. This is the will of the Spirit of the Forest, and if any dispute my right then let him step forward now so I can spill his blood and prove how wrong he is.”

The crowd began to murmur. Minuza, taking advantage of her molester’s distraction stomped upon his foot. The brute howled, let go of her. Quickly turning she kneed him in the stomach. He collapsed upon the ground in agony, and Minuza killed him by stomping on his neck. Then, breathing hard with rage, she turned upon the crowd and raked them with her wild and venomous gaze.

“On your knees before your new chief,” she hotly cried.”

Minuza knelt. Ayatun swiftly followed. The sight of the kneeling women was like a catalyst. The throng, though with some reluctance, followed their example and in but moments the entire tribe lay prostrate before the grim faced Earthman.

Jaynes glanced at Vren’s bloody corpse and although he’d won he took little pleasure in his victory.

**********

A week had passed. Jaynes, now with the authority of chieftainship upon him, albeit shaky, stood before the timber idol of the Spirit of the Forest. The carving – twice the height of a man - stood upon a stone plinth in the centre of the Sacred Glade some distance from the village.

The body of the deity was elongated and angular, and decorated with a scaly pattern of stylized leaves. The genitals were outsized and hermaphrodite in character – the clitoris having been distended to an erect phallus that rose to its four breasts. The head was cylindrical. The ovoid ears, carved in floral fretwork rose high above the crown. The eyes were large, the nose prominent and the wide moth curved into a benign smile.

Before the idol and on its plinth was a large stone bowl in which a fire blazed. Jaynes cast more silvery pomuii flowers into the flames, their burning filling the air with scented smoke as he chanted the ritual prayer for his people’s prosperity under the admiring gaze of Minuza and Ayatun, and the reserved look of other important members of the village.

The Earthman wasn’t a religious man. Indeed, he thought much of it, except for aspects of morality, was outmoded superstition. But the role of chief required him to be both political and spiritual leader of his people, and out of respect for the customs of the land and to bolster his insecure position, he suppressed his inherent skepticism and performed the rite with alacrity.

Fortunately, the religion of Zende and the other forest settlements was relatively harmless: there were no human or animal sacrifices – something that he would never have tolerated. The Spirit of the Forest was simply nature personified – a vital force that permeated all things, that actuated all things. All life flowed from it and at death all life returned to it. It was a simple religion free of the contrived dogmas that are often indicative of the insecurity of other more complex faiths.

The ceremony, which was approaching its conclusion, was suddenly interrupted by a gasping man pushing through the crowd. Jaynes turned at the commotion and his face took on a grim cast as his eyes fell upon the runner - bent over, hands on knees, panting to catch his breath. The fellow was one member of a relay of sentinels the Earthman had sent to keep an eye on the city of Unim, for he had been certain Resnu would not abandon her pursuit of them.

“The Unimmi come,” gasped the runner. “A thousand strong at the very least…They’ve crossed the river where it broadens out upon the plain… They’ll be upon us when the sun is at its zenith.”

Cries of consternation erupted from the crowd. Jaynes raised his hand and stilled the throng with his commanding voice.

“There is no need for panic,” he firmly said. “As you know I have planned for this eventuality.” Then, turning to Minuza: “Prepare for battle. Sound the drums of war.”

**********

Jaynes looked down the narrow canyon from the high vantage point of one of its precarious rocky ledges. His watchful eyes scanned the floor of the gorge, but he could see no sign of his warriors lying in the dry and scraggy brush beyond the narrow point of his position. He breathed a sigh of relief. Their bodies, camouflaged with soot and ash from the village cooking fires, blended into the earth successfully. The only sound was the rushing of the stream at the bottom of the gorge. The Earthman glanced at the alien sun. It was midway to the zenith. They had barely made it to their current position. The enemy would soon be upon them.

The Earthman reviewed his plans, anxious that he had overlooked some small detail that would make the difference between victory and defeat. Warfare upon this world was very different to that of Earth. There was no real concept of military strategy. Both sides simply confronted each other in a line. The warriors of each team strutted about, hurled insults at the opposition as they worked themselves up into battle frenzy until one would break ranks and charge the foe. At this signal the two sides would rush each other in a mad screaming charge. The result was a wild melee of individual duals for personal glory aimed at enhancing the machismo of the victor before his peers. According to Ayatun and Minuza the true objective of the conflict was often lost in the passion of the fray.

But to employ this method now would be suicidal – the warriors of Unim outnumbered those of Zende two to one. It had taken long, exhausting and often heated debate to convince his men of the need for a different style of fighting – an argument which he had had the foresight to begin within a day of becoming chief. In advance of the anticipated attack he had also sent runners to the other settlements seeking military aid, but each chieftain was fiercely independent and refused to lend support. As far as they were concerned it was his problem and if he wasn’t man enough to deal with it on his own then he wasn’t fit to be chief.

Jaynes’s unconventional ideas had caused considerable grumblings among the tribe. Tradition was the law and as chief he was expected to uphold it rather than introduce new fangled concepts. For now the Zendenni grudgingly submitted to his authority. But it was only a matter of time before some young buck challenged his rule; most likely after this crisis had passed. It was only natural that these people wanted to be governed by one of their own rather than an outsider and an alien to boot.

The Earthman glanced sideways at Minuza and Ayatun who squatted behind a bolder to his right, their bodies smeared with camouflaging ash as was his own. The presence of the women added to his worries. Each had insisted they be part of the battle and share the risk he was taking. He’d been unable to dissuade them from their commitment.

Ayatun, who was peering over the top of the bolder, broke his train of thought with her soft cry: “They come, she said, pointing.

Jaynes looked and saw that she was right. The advancing Unimmi warriors had come into view. A thousand strong they moved up the narrow canyon in a loose formation on either side of the stream that bisected the gorge. Their painted bodies glistened in the sun, and a strong breeze tousled their colorful headdresses. Their armament consisted of spears, clubs and oval shields of hide painted in ochre geometrical designs.

In the rear was a palanquin born aloft by six burly warriors and surrounded by a dozen guards. Ayatun’s eyes narrowed at the sight of it – Resnu was in command of her forces. Ayatun gripped her spear fiercely in expectation of the reckoning with her treacherous, murderous sister.

The body of warriors continued their advance up the gorge, which was the only break in the rugged cliffs – the barrier that marked the boundary between open savannah and riotous jungle - through which a large fighting force could move with ease. The wild fecund jungle was too great a hindrance that would slow and army's swift advance.

Jaynes tensed as the painted hoard approached the narrow point where the ambush would be sprung. The enemy drew nearer, closer still. The nervous Earthman gripped the rope that would pull away the supports and dump piled rocks upon the foe. The sound of the crashing boulders would also be the signal for his warriors to rise up and charge the disorganized enemy. Hopefully, many of their opponents would be killed in the landslide thus evening the odds.

The Earthman was feeling confident of his tactic, but then disaster struck. A group of Jaynes’s own warriors, rebelling at what they thought a cowardly plan, leapt from concealing bushes by the stream. Madly howling strident battle cries they charged the foe in a glory seeking rush. Their crazed whooping was like a catalyst, and in an instant every Zendenni was on his feet in clamorous and exuberant emulation.

The enemy halted in surprise as all the Earthman’s screaming warriors charged. Jaynes cursed with vehement and indignant passion. The Unimmi were not yet within the choke point of the gorge where massed boulders could be tumbled on them. The Earthman’s well laid plan was now in utter disarray.

Chapter 11: Fire and Blood

The two sides came together in a clash of thrusting spears and whirling clubs. Men fell, screamed; died. Jaynes cursed effusively.

“The bloody fools,” he cried. “They’ve leapt within the jaws of death and thrown away all hope of victory.”

Ayatun, who immediately perceived the disaster, was swift to formulate a plan.

“The wind blows towards us,” she quickly said, “and the scrub of the valley floor is tinder dry, for this is the season of No-Rain. I can get behind the foe and start a fire. The wind will drive the fire towards our enemies, and the fire will drive our enemies towards our ambush. It is our only hope.”

“Our men may be caught in the rockslide as well,” he warned.

“It is a risk we’ll have to take,” said Minuza lending her support. “This is no mere slave raid. Those men are Resnu’s fanatical followers. If they aren’t defeated they will rape and slaughter without restraint for in their eyes my people are unbelieving savages. They must be stopped regardless of all considerations.”

“Very well,” replied Jaynes, grimly. “I’ll set about the task.”

“No,” objected Minuza, “Speed is vital. I’m more familiar with the cliff trails. You stay here and pull the rope.”

“I’ll go with her and guard her back,” added Ayatun in response to Jaynes’ worried look.

Both woman grabbed their weapons and departed swiftly. The anxious Earthman bit his tongue. He didn’t like them going into danger but knew there wasn’t time to argue.

The troubled Earthman turned his attention to the chaotic scene of battle. Both sides were now fully immersed in the wild fray. Painted yelling figures danced about, their stamping feet kicking up clouds of dust as they thrust and stabbed with bloodthirsty abandon.

Jaynes’ apprehension grew as the minutes passed. His men, outnumbered, were getting the worst of it. But even so they refused to give ground before the screaming foe. He didn’t know whether to admire their bravery or deplore their recklessness.

“Come on,” he muttered. “Light the fire, light the bloody fire.”

As if on cue his fretful gaze discerned a plume of smoke; then another and another rose like ethereal serpents coiling darkly against the sky. With frightful rapidity the tinder dry scrub had caught blazingly alight. The fires spread, merged, and in but moments became a roaring unstoppable conflagration.

The stench of smoke and the ominous sound of wind fanned flames impinged upon the brawlers. The battle paused. All eyes turned and looked in shock and disbelief upon the wall of leaping flame that raced towards them. Men paled in fear, others screamed in terror. This was a foe against which spear and club could not prevail.

All enmity was forgotten in the face of common danger. Brave warriors on both sides cast aside club and shield. As one they fled before the roaring blaze. Up the canyon raced the terrified mob, Jaynes’ men mostly in the lead. The Earthman’s knuckles whitened on the rope as the fleeing throng approached the choke point. The way narrowed. Frightened men sprinted through, others piled up behind them – a tearing cursing mass fighting to get through.

Most of Jaynes’s men had gotten clear. But the bulk of the foe was now within the way and, driven by the flames, were close upon their heels. The Earthman knew he couldn’t wait a moment longer. With a mighty heave he pulled upon the rope.

Supports were jerked free. Rocks tumbled, struck unstable boulders which fell in turn. The rumble of crashing stone added its violent discord to the fire’s roar. Men screamed as they were crushed by bounding rocks. Skulls were shattered, limbs broken like matchwood. Orange blood spurted gorily from sundered bodies. Then an entire section of cliff unexpectedly gave way and crashed to earth in thunderous reverberation.

Jaynes leap clear as he felt a section of the ledge beneath his feet collapse. His clawing hands grasped stone desperately as he fell. His feet swung above empty air and he gazed in terror at the ground far below. Several boulders tumbled passed in narrow misses as he desperately hauled himself to safety.

He paused, gasping breathlessly on what was left of the ledge. Looking down Jaynes saw that the floor of the gorge was obscured by choking dust from the landslide and swirling smoke from the fire. He heard men screaming in fear and agony. The survivors were trapped between the barrier of fallen rock and the swiftly racing flames.

Some tried to scale the landslip, but the piles boulders were still unstable and the terrified scrambling men loosened stones that gave beneath them. The warriors plunged back into the burning embrace of the roaring flames that swept up to the very foot of the barrier. They died in unimaginable agony.

Jaynes turned away, sickened to the core by what he’d had to do. He thought of Minuza and Ayatun and began to worry. There was nothing he could do here. Most of the enemy had perished. Those few who had made it through could be dealt with by his surviving warriors who were now numerically superior despite their losses.

Picking up his weapons he began to make his way warily along the ledge, conscious of the unstable earth. Soon he was clear of the swirling smoke. The ledge became a rocky trail that gradually descended to the blackened soil. The scrub-fire had been intense, but had burnt out fairly quickly.

It was a desolate landscape he set foot upon. The smoking skeletal remains of trees littered the ground, and tongues for fire could be seen here and there as they hungrily consumed what little wood remained. There was no cover, no screening bushes to hide behind, and with the unobstructed view he saw battling figures in the distance.

Jaynes raced towards the scene of conflict. The figures struggled in the middle of the stream and by the smoking riverbank lay the burnt remains of Resnu’s palanquin. The Earthman’s racing feet took him nearer, and with closing distance his anxiety rapidly increased. He saw Minuza and Ayatun battling desperately against Resnu’s three surviving bodyguards who had taken shelter from the fire beneath the water.

Sweat flew from the women’s’ bodies as they parried and dodged the deadly thrusts of their wild opponents. Resnu had circled behind Ayatun. An obsidian dagger glinted in her hand. She raised her arm in preparation to strike; her twisted face a study of livid rage. Heart in mouth, Jaynes cried a desperate warning. Ayatun leapt aside and the downward sweeping blade missed her by the narrowest of margins. Then the hurtling Earthman was among the foe, his spear darting like a striking cobra.

One guard screamed, fell, Jaynes’s spear wedged between his ribs. Resnu leapt at him before he could wrench the weapon free. He caught her knife hand, twisted brutally and forced her to drop the blade. They wrestled desperately, the Earthman using all his brawn to combat her frenetic strength. Swiftly, she broke his hold and with a shoulder throw tossed him to the riverbed. Jaynes gasped as he crashed against a rock.

Resnu was on him in an instant. Her steely fingers sank into his throat. She shoved his head under water. The frantic Earthman clawed her eyes. Resnu screamed, fell back. Jaynes kicked free, struggled up gasping air. He saw Minuza trip upon a corpse. She fell. Her snarling opponent was above her, spear poised to give the fatal thrust.

The gasping Earthman tore a stone from the river, hurled it with all his strength. It struck the warrior in the head. Bone fractured. He collapsed like a house of cards as Ayatun sidestepped her opponent and kicked him in the knee. The man went down and she stabbed him through the throat.

Jaynes struggled to his feet and stumbled to Minuza’s side as she rose. “Are you hurt?” he asked anxiously.

“Not badly,” replied Minuza. “Beware though, for danger still remains,” she continued, pointing.”

All three turned. Resnu had recovered her obsidian dagger. She stood in the stream glaring defiance and rage at her enemies, her breasts heaving with feral emotion. Ayatun looked upon her soot smeared and bedraggled sister and in her eyes Resnu became a pathetic figure of fallen greatness – fatally flawed rather than a monster. Thoughts of vengeance fled away and were replaced by feelings of compassion. Her army had been all but wiped out. She would return beaten, humiliated, her authority weakened in the eyes of the population. Rebellion would soon follow, and she would lose what little she had left.

“You have been defeated,” said Ayatun, her voice free from gloating triumph. “The spirits do not favor you for your ways are not their will. I will be merciful. Surrender and you will not be harmed.”

Resnu spat at her sister with all the venom of a serpent. “Your mercy is humiliation to me,” she said with fury. “I’ll not endure it, or the jeers of those who hate me. You have won for now, but I will return in another age and in a different body. The world has not seen the last of me!”

Then, before anyone could stop her Resnu, in a last act of bitter defiance, plunged her dagger within her own heart and fell lifeless in the stream before the shocked onlookers could intervene.

Aghast, Ayatun ran to her sister and turned the body over. “She’s dead,” she cried as she knelt before the corpse and began to weep bitter tears of grief. Jaynes and Minuza knelt beside the grieving woman and comforted her as best they could.

Epilogue

The Grove of Love was located on a slight rise and from this vantage point Jaynes, standing in the shadowed colonnade of its rotunda, looked across the city of Katuna which in many ways was similar to Unim. The municipality was another Payonese city state about five day’s journey from Unim, and was governed by Ayatun’s cousin, Danu. This was the destination that Ayatun had originally argued they should flee to, and the Earthman reflected on the twists and turns of fate that had eventually brought him and his companions here.

Eleven days had passed since they had buried Resnu by the banks of the river. It had been a bleak moment – as desolate as the burnt earth in which they had interred her lifeless body after the funerary rites had been observed. There had been no going back to Zende. Jaynes had snatched victory from defeat, but the cost in lives had been very high. The people were already discontent with his rule because many of his ideas were contrary to tradition, and the heavy loss of life would only add to this disgruntlement. That the Zendenni had disobeyed orders and brought about disaster was true, but Minuza warned they’d blame him rather than themselves, for his presence among them had brought their enemies upon the tribe.

A return to Unim was also out of the question. Resnu and many of the fanatics who had comprised her fighting force were dead, but there were enough left alive in Unim who would certainly seek revenge when they learned of their leader’s death. And so it was that they had come to Katuna, for after the experiences they had been through together all three trusted each other implicitly, and Ayatun’s assurances that they would be well received were earnestly believed.

Danu had indeed greeted them affably. He had been very worried about Ayatun, for rumors had come to him of the goings on in Unim, and he had been on the verge of sending an expeditionary force to see if they were true. He was greatly relieved to see her well and unharmed, though deeply distressed to learn of Resnu’s treachery and death. Naturally, he and the priestesses of Katuna had readily agreed to lend military aid to oust the fanatics who had seized power.

This, however, had proved unnecessary. A few days after the trio’s arrival refugees from Unim appeared at Katuna’s gates bearing accounts of the brutality of the fanatics, and several days later more exiles arrived and reported that there had been an uprising against the extremists.

A disillusioned handful of Resnu’s surviving warriors had returned to the city, and rumors of her death (they had found the cairn that marked her resting place) quickly spread throughout the metropolis. Surreptitiously, people gathered in groups. A spirit of rebellion was soon in the air now that the head of the serpent had been cut off. Dark looks were cast at the fanatics, first furtively, then more boldly with each passing day. The extremists soon lost their cocky strutting. They began to grow more nervous, to see plots and schemes, both real and imagined at every turn. In their desperation they became even more oppressive and violent.

Cruelty and brutality were unleashed. People were dragged from their homes on the slightest suspicion, slaughtered in the street. The barbaric torture of an innocent suspect’s children in an effort to make her confess was the final act that fanned the spark of rebellion to the raging inferno of revolution.

Within an hour wild mobs filled the streets. Pitched battles erupted between opposing sides. All restraint was cast away. Men and women became like beasts, fought like beasts. Many of the fanatics were torn apart by the savage masses. The survivors retreated to the temple of Atu’udu, Spirit of Death. The screaming throng pursued, drunk on blood and hate. They surged up the temple stairs. Extremists died screaming. The temple became a charnel house of mutilated bodies.

The remaining fanatics, seeing the end, sought revenge. Escaping through a secret passage they set alight the city using earth-fire. Green flames roared, consumed hard stone like tinder. Buildings collapsed. Falling masonry crushed fanatic and rebel with indiscriminate finality. The city was ablaze with the sibilant hiss of preternatural fire. By sunset the once proud metropolis was a ruin of utter desolation – a tragic fact confirmed by Danu’s scouting party. Unim was wrecked beyond recovery.

Ayatun had been overwhelmed by the news. This tragedy, coming so close upon the heels of her sister’s death, proved too much. She had wept for almost an entire day and was beyond consolation. Fortunately, her inner strength slowly came to the fore, and by evening she had begun to make plans with Danu to help resettle the surviving Unimmi in Katuna, and other nearby cities such as Tazazur and Rutusa where many had friends and relatives.

Jaynes turned his mind away from the ugly past and to the present. The priestesses ruled here as they had in Unim, but with a slight variation in that they delegated most of their authority to Danu whose title was that of kon - akin to the mayor of an Earthly city. Jaynes had approached Danu about the construction of watermills - a subject which the Earthman had considerable knowledge of thanks to his interest in the history of medieval engineering.

The Earthman wasn’t one to remain idle. He wanted to make a contribution to the people who had given him shelter. Danu had expressed great interest in the sketches Jaynes had shown him. The kon was an open faced young man with a keen mind, not a stodgy greybeard set in his ways. He quickly grasped the benefits of such technology, and had set aside funds for the construction of a prototype mill under the Jaynes’s supervision. The Earthman hoped that this technology would obviate the need for chattels as machines took up the manual labor of the slaves. Jaynes was now confident he could succeed in making a place for himself in this society as well as improving it, particularly when both women volunteered to assist him with the project.

Thinking of Minuza and Ayatun he turned around and looked within the shadowed mystery of the temple. Both women had entered about fifteen minutes ago bidding him wait outside. The Temple of Love was where couples came to marry. Within, as described by Ayatun, was a large gilded statue of Aparu, the spirit of wedlock and all things associated with Eros, fertility and childbirth. Before the statue and arranged in a crescent were many broad platforms, bed-like in form, upon which couples made love, and thus consummated their union in the presence of the divinity in a simple albeit explicit ceremony.

The two women had gone in to consult the resident priestess, though both had been coy about the exact nature of the meeting. Now that they were safe and no longer under the almost constant stress of battling for their lives both women were relaxed, and the playfully teasing nature of their personalities had come to the fore, especially that of Ayatun now that she was free of the burdensome duties and restrictions of a high priestess.

But even so Jaynes began to grow nervous. His earlier reflections on events had been a means of distracting himself from what he suspected was looming. Things were coming to a head. Both Minuza and Ayatun had powerful feelings for him – feelings deeper than mere erotic desire; feelings which he returned. Clearly, neither was prepared for commitment to be delayed any longer.

But how could he choose between them? Someone was going to get hurt no matter what his decision, and the knowledge was extremely upsetting. Jaynes bit his lip in consternation as he anxiously paced the length of the temple’s colonnade in restless agitation. The frustration of erotic desire also added to his bleak mood. With the constant worry, threats and the pressure of dealing with it all there had been no time for intimacy beyond that interlude of wild passion in the House of Justice, and even if there had he felt constrained by old fashioned probity. It had been ingrained in him that sex outside the sanctity of marriage was wrong, and although he had given way to desire he had not yet completely thrown off the constraints of puritanical morality, for they were his last link to the mother world of Earth, or so he felt.

There seemed no way out of the dilemma. He realized he should have discussed the situation with both women much earlier, but the press of events had gotten in the way of things; this and his reluctance to confront a showdown had resulted in him unwisely putting off the matter.

He turned around and saw that Ayatun and Minuza had emerged from the temple and sensed that they expected him to make a decision. Jaynes found his palms were sweating as they approached. Of all the situations he’d faced this was the most nerve-wracking. A tearful woman was a force to be reckoned with.

“All things are in readiness for the marriage rite,” said Ayatun. “Are you ready to leave your single life behind you?”

Jaynes swallowed. A steel band seemed to have snapped about his throat and his heart raced nervously. The directness of the question didn’t help either – when it came to relationships these people were most unsubtle. The moment he’d been dreading was upon him.

“How,” he gasped; then blurted out “How can I possibly choose between you? I love you both. Surely you must know that.”

Both women looked at each other and then burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” snapped Jaynes. “This is a very serious matter.”

“What makes you think you have to choose between us?” asked Minuza with a smile. “In Katuna a woman can have two husbands and a man two wives. Are things so different where you’re from?”

It took a moment for the words to sink in and a moment more before Jaynes could close his mouth, which had been open like that of a stunned fish. So ingrained were his ideas on marriage that he had, in an attempt to find familiarity in an alien world, taken for granted that monogamy would apply in this culture as it did in Western society. It was such a fundamental basis of family life and so seemingly natural to him that he had never enquired as to local customs.

“You pair of devils,” he blurted out in sudden realization. “Both of you have known what was worrying me for some time, haven’t you. Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“Because,” replied Ayatun playfully, the expression on your face was worth the wait.”

Jaynes opened his mouth to utter a hot reply, but then the humor of it came upon him, and he too joined in their contagious mirth. He realized he’d been a fool. This was his home now. Here he would live and die, and this society offered the flexibility his own did not. Both women loved him as he loved them. This wasn’t Earth, so why should Earthly conventions stand in the way of happiness?

And so it was that the last vestiges of outmoded and restrictive morality fell away. Hand in hand all three entered the Temple to begin their lives together, and put the evils of the past well behind them.

THE END