Wine of the Gods 4: Explorers Page 18

  One of the linguists tapped a spot on the map. "Lefty says there's a road clear across the continent, that crosses the Rip—that's what they call the spreading ridge—right here, and crosses these mountains into settled territory."

  "They were a lot more forthcoming with you." Ivan grumped.

  "They started getting a bit cool, as we talked about Earth's relationships with various other worlds. They weren't best pleased that our principles of innate human rights doesn't stop us from aggressive warfare. Dydit told us we were hypocrites, stealing other people's potential future assets, simply because they'd never before had a need to consider 'ownership' of a planet before."

  Hastings scowled at her. "We prefer to not introduce that concept to natives. It makes negotiations very difficult."

  Lon eyed them. "You mean it makes cheap exploitation of the mineral wealth, and lousy treatment of the Native workers difficult."

  Ivan scowled. "We were warned that you had liberal views toward Indigees, Doctor Hackathorn. I suggest you get them under control."

  "Oh, they are under control. So long as you refrain from causing starvation. Refrain from murder. Refrain from turning this world into a source for slaves-in-everything-but-name."

  Jerold was blinking in disbelief. "That's not what we'd expected from an experienced commercial exploitation manager."

  "No doubt. But Dallas has the license here, and with no natives in this hemisphere, there's no need to scrape the bottom of the barrel for profits. If the Department of Native Affairs decides we need an agreement with the local resource owner, then we'll negotiate a deal, not a revolution, not a famine."

  "You can't negotiate a deal without us."

  "It's certainly more difficult. But not impossible." Lon tapped his finger on the table. "Go, in three days, by all means. Study the culture, the governments, the nations. But do not commit a single murder, a single kidnapping, a single rape." Lon leaned forward. "Because I can make sure that any army that might come rescue you doesn't get the word until it's too late."

  They stood up, stiff with indignation and walked out.

  Rae choked faintly. "Lon! Did you just threaten them?"

  "You'd better believe it. The only time I've ever been fired was during the Tournay famines, when those bastards were sinking grain ships and fucking corpses. Do not turn your backs on them. Do not trust them." He eyed 'his' people and they shuffled awkwardly and left worriedly.

  "Is it scary, being the Bad Guy?"

  Lon looked around the conference room he'd thought was empty. Rustle had tucked herself in a corner, and apparently heard the whole series of discussions. "Very scary. When you're in a group of people who are sure they have a right to do whatever they want, and you are the only one who sees that they are all doing bad things . . . Yes. I'm trying to be a nice neighbor, but nobody else thinks that's a good idea."

  "You look like you have an upset tummy."

  "I do. Rustle, when you and Havi go back home—it would probably be a good idea if you stayed there until things settle down a bit. A lot of Earthers can be pretty violent, and a lot of them don't like kids."

  She cocked her head, then nodded. "I'll wait and see Earth later."

  Lon ushered her out, then closed himself in his office to read the rest of his mail.

  His new orders from Dallas Headquarters came as a shock.

  Jackson Jefferson had found the mountainous location of the gate anchor unacceptable, and had attempted to move it with the equipment on hand. It was now at the bottom of a deep gully, and appeared to be working to specifications, despite the awkwardness of the angle and the four meter approach-way. The Board of Directors as a whole wanted Lon to come and translate Jefferson's excuses into something useful. McCamey wanted Lon to come and fix the problem, and had changed the gate schedule around to facilitate his quick return. Meese apparently wanted Lon to strangle Jefferson.

  The Gate Authority wanted him to arrest all the natives available and bring them to Earth for questioning.

  Jim informed him that he'd so far been served with papers requiring him to give all information to DONA, the Gate Authority and Army Intelligence. Everybody wants your natives.

  ***

  ". . . then he went and got drunk." Dydit shook his head. "That was a side of our Lon I hadn't ever suspected existed." He had an arm around Rustle, who was quite smug over her information.

  Never looked thoughtful. "The only person I talked to from Tournay was a former milk maid. She was out in the country during the famine. She heard about it, but it didn't touch her, personally. She didn't say anything about the Earthers causing the famine."

  "Of course. Hard to be the savior, if they know about it. I wonder what Lon did, personally, to get fired." Lefty shrugged. "In any case, it sounds like we'd better be prepared for the worst, with this lot."

  "Maybe we can leave without them. Melt the ramp up to the canyon behind us, and yell for Harry or the Auld Wulf from the first hotspring." Question looked at Never's stack. "The gods are going to be really interested in those books."

  Lefty smiled, not nicely. "I really want to bring some of these people back to speak to the King and Council. It will be hard to describe the certainty of superiority they all have. I wonder if we can get one of this lot to give us a ride to the wagon? Then we could kidnap him."

  "Did I mention that I'd stolen a gyp?" Question asked.

  Never snickered. "It followed me home, can I keep it?"

  Question glared at her. "Good thing I did, or you'd never have made it back to the gate on time."

  "True, but I still think we should take the high road and be as honest as this lot will allow. I think you should leave it here."

  Dydit nodded. "Nelson always wants to go look at something, and always takes a gyp. We'll hitch a ride with him."

  ***

  In the morning Lon was red eyed and calm. He started with the natives. "Lefty, grab your people and run like hell. Right now. I'll arrange a ride at least part way, if the DONA people aren't ready to move now." Not waiting for a reply, he left the native lieutenant with a biscuit halfway to his mouth.

  "Roxy, would you like to take my gyp and the fuel tank and drive anyone who wants to visit this City of Lefty's? Good. Rae? Doctors Prescott, Meyers, Jenkins and Farnsworth? Pack and get ready as quickly as possible. Noon at the latest."

  The DONA people were last on his list. "Everyone is headed out for the Native City. I'm sending one gyp with a fuel tank, perhaps you could pull a trailer to carry food and personal effects if you're going? Excellent. I'll have George get everything ready, so you can leave by noon."

  George and Ray had been following his progress around the room, and not looking happy. George had already started packing food.

  Ray eyed Lon. "What shit just hit the fan?"

  "Jackson Jefferson. The Board wants me to clean up after him, and I'll bet I end up on Twelve-seventeen. Now, which one of you wants to be in charge here? The other option is Nelson."

  They both winced. Eyed each other. George nodded to Ray. "Go with him, straighten out the mess and get back here. Hopefully it is something you can take care of before they get back from this Karista place. And if those DONA idiots touch a hair on either of those kids heads, I'll remember the three esses."

  "Right." Lon nodded. "Gate time in two days, Ray. Any questions?"

  "What are the three esses?"

  George looked down. "Hello Rustle, didn't see you there. Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up."

  The girl nodded. "Don't worry about us, Dr. Hackathorne. We'll go right away." She hopped up from the corner where she'd been sitting and trotted out the door.

  "Should you have told her that?"

  "Why not. Those cute kids are smarter than hell. So are Levty and Dudit. They've been checking us out at the same time we've been checking them. It's been an interesting two weeks, and isn't showing signs of slowing down yet." George eyed him. "Why are you in a rush to get them out of here?"

  "We've had a good fir
st contact. They've seen us, now they need to report home, and we need to find out what sort of government they have. What we don't need is the Gate Authority going rabid on us and turning this into a disaster before it's truly started." Lon didn't meet his eyes.

  "Ray said you'd a letter from them. You could get into trouble, not doing whatever they told you to do."

  "Indeed. What a shame I mislaid their letter, what with the fuss over Twelve-seventeen and being suddenly recalled."

  Chapter Twelve

  19 May 3477

  Dallas Twelve fifty-three

  Roxy was always happy to be going somewhere. Especially away from the haunted camp. She hadn't spotted any shimmers for weeks and Kia's gravity meters had settled down and been reinstalled in the drones. Even after Lon returned, with the shimmers, the gravity meters in the drones worked fine while away from camp. Kia muttered about not being able to calibrate them, but kept using them. Roxy had quietly inspected Lon's gyp. There was no way it could be causing the problem. She could only hope the ghost shimmers stayed at the camp, and didn't follow them to this native city.

  They took two gyps. Roxy pulling a fuel tank, and the DONA gyp pulling a trailer full of everything they thought they would need. They even took a small fabber. Silly fools didn't want to eat native foods. The route across the ridge was practically a road, now. Roxy pushed the pace a bit; Lon had clearly wanted the natives to disappear. Juliet Prescott, the sociologist, and Anne Jenkins, the linguist, joined Dydit and the kids in the back. Lefty and the other linguist and sociologist rode with the DONA agents in their gyp.

  Julianne had more mundane things on her mind. "Dydit, what can you tell me about women's fashions here?"

  "Dress, mid calf usually, longer for formal occasions. Unless you're riding a horse or some such. Then you'd wear trousers. Most ordinary people wear linen shifts and depending on the weather, a long vest, or an over dress, with a sash or belt, for day-to-day stuff. In Karista, the capital city, the high class ladies go in for more fitted top parts."

  Rustle chimed in innocently. "Mommy and Aunt Question left some of their clothes in the wagon, if you'd like to see the fabrics. Dad, isn't Mom's fancy red dress there?"

  Prescott's eyes lit up. "Can we take a look before we leave? I don't want to be unfashionable."

  Dydit paused. "Perhaps we can go all the way to the wagon tonight? Then you'll have plenty of time to study the dresses."

  It was easy enough to drive along the almost track to the first ridge, and then drive right over, despite the lateness and conditions.

  They had quick dinner packs, and Roxy joined the other women in drooling over two fancy dresses, apparently belonging to Dydit's wife. Dydit described the differences between country and city and noble women's fashions. There were glances exchanged over some solid gold hair clips and a garnet necklace. Avarice for the most part, but Roxy was getting a creepy feeling about it. Why did Dydit and Lefty, with limited storage space in the wagon, pack their wives' clothing?

  "This may turn out to be a bad idea." Julianne muttered, as Meyers made a comment about the figure that would fit the dress. Dydit scowled at him but didn't say anything.

  The second evening, one of the natives killed a deer and managed to cook it without anyone noticing them doing it, and didn't even burn the juicy roast. And despite trying, Roxy slept in, and didn't see who made breakfast. Probably the shimmers. They're following me instead of Lon, this time. In fact, they are probably what the Gate Authority troops were searching for. She looked firmly away from the heat distortion over close enough to the fire to be caused by it, and ignored the one hanging on the back of the gyp. Besides, she had to concentrate, as Lefty swapped to her gyp and gave directions to stream crossings. How he could find them again was beyond her. More Magic?

  The DONA pair, who had managed to ignore the bridge over the river paled a bit at the long steep ramp and lack of side rail. Roxy grinned and headed straight up it. Ivan was driving the second gyp and refused to balk where a female drove, and followed. They oo'd and ah'd over the fog bank, the eerie twilight and were ready to stop and go back long before they got to the first geyser. Dydit talked them into going at least that far.

  Roxy snorted. "If you want to talk to their chief, you're just going to have to live with the fog for days." She grimaced as she spotted a distortion in the thin fog.

  The distortion peeled away and left a tall blonde woman standing there rubbing her forehead. "Old Gods, that was getting painful!"

  "Who are you?" Jerrold jumped as another woman appeared from thin air. This one was shorter, with curly brown hair.

  Just the size of the women's clothing in the wagon. Surprise!

  Dydit smirked. "Never Happydaut and Question Justicedaut"

  The blonde smiled. "We know everyone's names. We've been watching you, and we've taken a good hard look at Earth. We are returning home to report. I hope your visit to our home is more pleasant than our was to yours."

  Jerry Hastings frowned. "You two are the One World spies everyone is searching for."

  The other one, Question, snickered. "This is our home. We don't know anything about a 'One World.' Sheesh."

  The blonde nodded. "Couldn't convince anyone. Perhaps you'll do better after you've seen our world." She turned and picked her way down a talus slope and walked out to the geyser.

  "What's she doing?" Ivan kept glancing between the two women. "Where did you come from? How did you . . . was that some sort of spy cloak? Or a hologram?"

  Question snorted. "It's magic. We've been observing you, at the same time you've been observing us. It's certainly been educational. I don't understand how anyone traveling between so many worlds can be so close minded."

  My shimmers. And no doubt Kia is now wondering why the gravity readings have gone all normal again.

  Down at the geyser, a man appeared out of nowhere, towering over Never Happy Whatever. A tall, muscular man with short grey hair and beard, dark eyes. As he walked up the slope she could see they were nearly black, with just a rim of warm brown around the edge of the iris. He must be close to seven foot tall. Sexy as all get out. Or maybe it was just charisma. He certainly drew the eye, and it wasn't just the height.

  "Earth." The tall man looked more at the gyps than the people. "How . . . enlightening. I think I can take your vehicles with us, if we take the trip in small increments."

  Roxy shook herself loose from the attraction, and scrambled back into her gyp, the rest of the Earthers following her lead. "What do you mean, take us? Who are you?" She turned the key, but the engine didn't start.

  "I am the Auld Wulf. A god of sorts, not that you'd believe in such a thing."

  The self proclaimed god strolled up and touched the hoods of both Gyps.

  Roxy switched to the electric motor and hit the pedal. The gyp didn't move, none of the instruments were showing anything.

  Dydit laid one hand on Roxy's gyp and extended a hand to Never, who grabbed Question. The kids climbed onto the back bumper of Roxy's gyp. Lefty dropped a hand on Question's shoulder and reached to touch the DONA gyp. The gyp bounced on its suspension as if . . . it had dropped an inch to a different surface, by a different geyser. Roxy stood up and looked around. Narrower canyon, smaller pool, with a huge iceberg melting at the edge of it. The Earthers scrambled to clutch the sides of the gyps, Ivan was turning his key and pushing his pedals in vain. They wouldn't start. Roxy gave thought to bailing out. Except she'd be in the middle of nowhere without food or gyp. Another drop to the ground, then three in quick succession. Then they were out of the fog, in bright sunshine, and looking up at a huge bridge up the side of the canyon. And then they were in the desert.

  That fast.

  The god rubbed his forehead. Leaned on the gyp.

  I hope to hell that wore him out. Where are we? The other hemisphere? The one we were going to drive to?

  "Why don't we all have dinner, get a good night's sleep and tomorrow we'll take you to Karista, the capital city." The Auld Wu
lf grinned at them. "You are currently about fourteen thousand miles from where we started. There's no point in driving off."

  Jerry looked up at him. "How, where . . . "

  "You are in the Kingdom of the West. I believe the term you are looking for is teleportation." The so-called god flashed a brief smile. "We just sum everything up as magic. It's easier that way."

  Roxy released her death grip on the steering wheel. "Why won't the gyps start?"

  "I was inhibiting the electrical currents in the starter."

  "Why don't you have an accent?"

  "Because I pick up languages very quickly through the collective subconscious."

  Collective what?

  Another man stepped out of nowhere to walk around the two gyps. This one was dark, with African features. Grey hair circling a bald spot, spear in his right hand. For a moment he looked like an ancient monarch from some exotic kingdom, or a pharaoh from Egypt. Then he relaxed, stooped, making himself look old and decrepit. Unremarkable. He switched the spear to his left hand and leaned on it as if he needed the support. "Well. It's been awhile since I've seen anything like that. Why don't you tell us all about it?"

  Roxy shivered and looked around at the rest of the shocked Earthers. The visit to the local Native Chief is not going to go according to schedule. One can only hope these guys keep their heads and act sensibly.

  More people stepped out of nowhere. A brown haired woman that drew every male eye. Hell, every female too. Maybe I should give bisexuality a chance. Actually she looked a lot like Question. Dream girl vs Tomboy sisters or something. The man drew her eyes, too. Brown hair, blue eyes, laugh lines on a handsome young face. Fancy dress, like a costume from a "Three Musketeers" vid, including plumes in the hat. Maybe a threesome. Hell, I'll go for all five.