Savages of Gor (9 page)

"Surely so elaborate a hoax would not have been necessary if our destruction had been their only end in view," I said.

"Perhaps," said Samos.

"They might have attacked us almost immediately in the tarn complex, and presumably have made good their escape," I said.

"True," said Samos. It was unlikely that we could have adequately defended ourselves against a sudden onslaught of such foes at that short a distance.

I saw a man outside on the walk, a few yards away, mending a net. Ovoid, painted floats lay beside him. On my knees, rolled, was the hide, which had been displayed to us by Kog and Sardak in the tarn complex. We had retrieved it from the burning complex. Too, at our feet, dented, but still operational, as we had determined, was the boxlike translator. We had left the burning complex behind us in the marshes, its smoke ascending in the gray light of the morning. The huge shield and spear we had discarded in the marshes. The less evidence of such things about the better, we speculated, for men.

"Do you think you should have gone with them?" asked Samos.

"No," I said.

"It could, of course," said Samos, "have been a portion of their plan that if Zarendargar had been successfully destroyed, they might then turn on you."

"Yes," I said, "or I on them."

"That possibility would not be unlikely to occur to such creatures," said Samos.

"No," I said.

"You do not feel you should have gone with them," said Samos.

"No," I said.

"What do you think they will do now?" asked Samos.

"They will go to the Barrens," I said.

"They will hunt Zarendargar," said Samos.

"Of course," I said.

"Do you think they will attempt to enlist the aid of men?" asked Samos.

"Doubtless," I said.

"It is easy for me to understand why they came first to us," said Samos.

"Of course," I said. "Our aid might prove invaluable. Too, they would expect us to be as eager, as zealous, as they, to bring about the destruction of Zarendargar. The venture, presumably, would be one which would be in our common interest, one in which we could find a mutual profit."

"It would also be easier for them, to approach us than many men," said Samos, "for, from our wars, such as they, and their nature and intelligence, are not unknown to us."

"That is true," I said.

"They will have difficulty recruiting efficient aid," said Samos, "for few white men are allowed to tread the Barrens, and those who are permitted to, encroach upon their fringes are normally permitted to do so only for purposes of trade."

"I think it is fair to assume," I said, "that they do not have an agent in the Barrens. If they had had such an agent then it is unlikely they would have approached us in the first place. Similarly the Barrens would seem to be an unlikely, desolate and profitless place in which to have placed an agent."

"They must obtain new recruits," said Samos.

"That seems likely," I said.

"We have their translator," said Samos.

"That is unimportant," I said. "Doubtless they have another among their stores."

"What of the red savages themselves?" asked Samos.

"Few red savages live outside of the Barrens," I said, "and those who do would presumably be as unfamiliar with them as would be anyone else in their circumstances."

"What of the red savages of the Barrens?" asked Samos.

"Such would have to be approached at their own risk," I said. "From the hide we saw that the mounted hunters were apparently preparing to charge Zarendargar when they were interrupted by the man's attack."

"But the translator," said Samos.

"A bewildering complexity of tribal languages is spoken in the Barrens," I said," most of them unintelligible to native speakers of the others. I find it hard to believe that their translators would be prepared to deal with any one of those languages, let along several of them."

"Zarendargar is then perhaps safe," said Samos.

"Not at all," I said. "Kurii are tenacious. With or without human aid we may be sure that they will not rest until they have found their quarry."

"Zarendargar, then, is doomed," said Samos.

"Perhaps," I said.

I glanced again outside the barge, through the now-opened slats of the small window.

On a gently inclined slope of cement leading down to the canal, the water lapping at her knees, there knelt a slave girl doing laundry. She wore her steel collar. Her tunic came high on her thighs. It is thought desirable for a female slave to work long hours at menial tasks. I smiled to myself. It is pleasant to own a woman, absolutely, in the Gorean fashion.

"It is your belief, then," said Samos, "that the skin is genuine."

"Yes," I said, "and from what I know of the red savages, I would conjecture that this skin is from the very beast whose image is portrayed upon it."

"Ai," said Samos. "Perhaps!"

"I think it is more than likely," I said.

"I pity Zarendargar," said Samos.

"He would not appreciate the sentiment," I said.

I moved on the low wooden bench, one of several aligned perpendicularly to the interior port wall of the enclosed barge. There was a similar set of benches aligned identically against the starboard wall.

"These benches are uncomfortable," I said to Samos. My legs were cramped.

"They are designed for women," said Samos.

There was room for five women on each bench. With my heel I kicked some light, siriklike slave chains back under the bench. Such chains are too light for a man, but they are fully adequate for a woman. The primary holding arrangements for women on the benches, however, are not chains. Each place on the bench is fitted with ankle and wrist stocks, and for each bench there is a plank collar, a plank which opens horizontally, each half of which contains five matching, semicircular openings, which, when it is set on pinions, closed, and chained in place, provides thusly five sturdy, wooden inserts for the small, lovely throats of women. The plank is thick and thus the girls' chins are held high. The plank is further reinforced between each girl with a narrowly curved iron band, the open ends of which are pierced; this is slid tight in its slots, in its metal retainers, about the boards, and secured in place with a four-inch metal pin, which may or may not be locked in place. Each girl is held well in her place, thusly, not only by the ankle and wrist stocks, which hold her ankles back and her wrists beside her, but by the plank collar as well.

"We are passing a market," said Samos. "You had better close the window slats."

I glanced outside. The smell of fruit and vegetables, and verr milk, was strong. I also heard the chatter of women. Dozens of women were spreading their blankets, and their wares, on the cement. There are many such markets in Port Kar. Men and women come to them in small boats. Also, of course, sometimes the vendors, too, will merely tie up their boats near the side of the canal, particularly when the space on the cement is crowded. The markets, thus, tend to extend into the canal itself. The only fully floating market authorized by the Council of Captains occurs in a lakelike area near the arsenal. It is called the Place of the Twenty-Fifth of Se'Kara, because of the monument there, rising from the water. On the twenty-fifth of Se'Kara in Year One of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains, the year 10,120 C.A. Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar, a sea battle took place in which the fleet of Port Kar defeated the fleets of Cos and Tyros. The monument, of course, commemorates this victory. The market forms itself about the monument. That year, incidentally is also regarded as significant in the history of Port Kar, because it was in that year that, as it is said, a Home Stone consented to reside within the city.

"Please," said Samos.

I looked at the benches. Most of them were smooth, and, on many, the dark varnish was all but worn off. Slave girls are normally transported nude.

"Please," said Samos.

"I'm sorry," I said. I closed the window slats by moving one of the slats. They can be most easily closed, of course, by moving the narrow, vertically mounted, central wooden lever, but this lever, as would be expected, is on the outside. The window is designed to be opened and shut from the outside. Too, it can be locked shut, and normally is, from the outside, when cargo is within. As I have earlier indicated the slave girl is normally transported in total ignorance of her destination. Keeping a girl in ignorance is commonly thought useful in her control and management. Too, it helps her keep clearly in mind that she is a slave. Curiosity is not becoming in a Kajira is a common Gorean saying. The girl learns quickly that it is not her business to meddle in the affairs of her master but, rather, to be beautiful, and serve him, abjectly and totally.

"I do not wish too many to know of our early morning journey," said Samos.

I nodded. We were well known in Port Kar. There was little point in provoking the populace to idle speculations.

"We are passing another market," I said.

"Verr milk, Masters!'' I heard called. "Verr milk, Masters!"

I opened the slats a tiny crack. I wished to see if she were pretty. She was, in her tunic and collar, kneeling on a white blanket, spread on the cement, with the brass container of verr milk, with its strap, near her, and the tiny brass cups. She was extremely lightly complexioned and had very red hair.

"Verr milk, Masters," she called. Slaves may buy and sell in the name of their masters, but they cannot, of course, buy and sell for themselves because they are only animals. It is rather for them to be themselves bought and sold, as the masters might please.

"Will you make a report of this morning's business to the Sardar?" I asked.

"A routine report of all such contacts is to be made," said Samos.

"Do you expect the Sardar to take action?" I asked.

"No," said Samos.

"That, too, is my speculation," I said.

It is their custom in most such matters to let matters take their course.

"True," I said.

"Are you interested?" asked Samos.

"I was curious to hear your view," I said. "It coincides with mine, as I had thought it would."

"Why do you ask?" asked Samos.

"I was curious," I said.

"Oh," said Samos.

We rode together for a time in silence, toward my holding, through the canals.

"I met Zarendargar, in the north," I said.

"That is known to me," said Samos.

"He impressed me as a fine commander, and a good soldier," I said.

"He is a terrifying and dangerous enemy," said Samos. "Men and Priest-Kings would be well rid of him. Let us hope that the beasts we met this morning will be successful in their quest."

I looked again through the tiny crack in the slats. It was near the sixth Ahn. Small boats now moved about on the canal. Most were propelled by the swaying movement of a steering oar. Some, larger boats and light galleys, such as might be used in the Tamber Gulf or, abroad, on Thassa, were being rowed from thwarts. These vessels were singly or doubly ruddered. In negotiating the canals their long, sloping yards were lowered, being then fully or partially inboard, in either case being aligned with the keel. This was in accord with an ordnance of Port Kar.

"The Council of Captains must meet in two days," said Samos. "It is proposed that the Sa-Tarna quay in the south harbor be extended. What division of this will be borne by public expense remains moot. Too, if this license be granted, an exploitable precedent may be set. Already there is talk among the merchants in rep-cloth and the lumber and stone merchants."

We were now passing an open slave market. The merchant was chaining his girls on the broad, tiered, cement display shelves. One girl lay on her stomach, on her elbows, her head down, the heavy iron collar on her neck visible beneath her hair; a short, weighty chain of thick dark links connected this collar, by its collar ring, to a wide, stout ring, anchored deeply in the cement, almost beneath her chin; the chain was no more than six inches long; I gathered that she was being disciplined; another girl, a blonde, sat on her shelf with her knees drawn up, her ankles crossed, her arms about her knees; I saw her chain descend from her collar, disappear behind her right leg, and then reemerge from behind her right thigh, thence running to the ring to which she was attached; another girl, a long-haired brunet, on all fours, faced me, with glazed eyes, seemingly uncomprehendingly regarding the enclosed barge as it passed by in the canal; she had just been chained; it is common to put a woman on all fours for neck chaining; the slaver stepped away from her; neck chaining, incidentally, is common in a market for female slaves, as it is for she-sleen; several girls, standing, awaited their chaining, in turn, on the tiers; I could see the small, incisive brand marks on their left thighs, high, just below their left hips, they were in ankle coffle, their left ankles chained together; more than one of them shaded her eyes against the morning sun; it would be a long day for most of them, chained in the sun, on the hard, granular surfaces of the hot cement shelves.