by J. T. Edson
The ape-like creature was larger than a chimpanzee, but not as bulky as a gorilla. What was more, despite the massive arms and shoulders being suggestive of travelling by brachiation, xxv the legs and feet were more suitable for bipedal locomotion on the ground. Brown in color, it stood fairly erect and clutched at the bamboo bars. It was, Dawn concluded, a fully-grown, if young, bull-Mangani.
The human prisoner was a buxom girl in her late teens. Curly red hair in a ‘bubble-cut’ fashion surrounded a pretty, tanned face which would probably be merry under different circumstances. She wore a brief skirt and headband of leopard skin, with a brassiere comprised of two golden cones. A wide gold bracelet graced each wrist and bicep and she had on a necklace of gold discs. As the ‘Suppliers’ did not usually present jewelry of this kind, Dawn guessed that the adornments must be signs of rank or social status.
On Dawn’s party joining the column, some of the Mun-Gatahs called questions about her which Dolvia and the men answered. They stuck to the story about her previous escort having been slaughtered by Gru-ziaks and it was met with more levity than regret.
Dawn was conscious of the other female prisoner studying her with considerable interest. However, there was no opportunity for her to attempt to speak with the girl. Nor was Dawn placed into the cage with her. Instead, she continued to ride in the wake of Dolvia’s banar-gatah. Fabia dropped back to question her about the ‘Apes’, showing particular interest in whether the rest had weapons of a similar quality. Adopting the same line as she had with Dryaka during her first captivity, the girl stated—truthfully —that they did and sought to impress the woman with the powerful, vengeful nature of her people. As she was mentioning their fighting prowess, she heard Dolvia give a mocking laugh. The younger woman looked back, but did not speak. For all that, Dawn was sure that Dolvia meant mischief.
After the column had covered about a mile, Gromart called a halt on the shore of a small lake. Looking around, Dawn recognized the area. Although they were on the opposite side, she could see the site of the hunting camp from which she had escaped.
‘You won’t find it so easy to get away from us,’ Dolvia warned, noticing how the girl was studying their surroundings.
Having formed an accurate assessment of the young woman’s nature and drawn certain conclusions from her behavior, Dawn made no reply. She had an idea that, wanting to succeed where Elidor had failed, Dolvia was looking for an excuse to attack her. Instead of speaking, or doing anything which might supply the necessary provocation, the girl sat quietly and waited to see what happened. Reaching over and untying the rope which bound her manacles to the saddle horn, Fabia told her to dismount. Knowing there was no chance of escaping and to refuse would be futile, Dawn took her right foot from the stirrup iron and swung it upwards over the grar-gatah’s head to jump down.
‘Put her in the cage with the other girl, Dolvia,’ Fabia commanded. ‘If they want to fight with each other, let them.’
‘Hold out your hands!’ the younger woman commanded, after winging to the ground.
‘Have a care!’ Fabia warned, watching her niece unbuckling the hobbles. ‘You know who she is.’
‘She’s just another prisoner to me,’ Dolvia declared, tossing the hobbles aside. Putting the flat of her right hand on Dawn’s chest and starting to push, she went on, ‘Get going, you for—!’
The young woman was not allowed to complete either the order or the action. While. Dawn realized that the way she intended to respond was dangerous, she also accepted there was no other choice. To yield was almost certain to encourage Dolvia’s bullying nature and would probably produce further abuses.
What Dawn did first was basically simple, yet very effective. She was helped by her assailant’s arrogance and over-confidence.
Flashing up, the girl’s hands closed around Dolvia’s right wrist. With her fingers underneath, both thumbs were extended along the back of the brunette’s hand. Before Dolvia could fully appreciate what was happening, Dawn had stepped back and to the right a pace, rotating the trapped limb inwards.
With her right elbow twisted painfully and locked into a straightened position by a strength that was far in excess of any which she had met from a member of her own sex, Dolvia felt herself being bent forward at the waist. She guessed what was going to happen next. However, the speed and force of Dawn’s actions had taken her completely by surprise and she was unable to move swiftly enough to avoid it.
Balancing gracefully on her left foot, the girl whipped up her right leg. Savate training had taught her to avoid using the toes when she was not wearing shoes. So it was the top of her foot and front of the lower shin which drove hard against the firm mounds of Dolvia’s bosom. Pain knifed through the brunette, numbing her senses. An involuntary shriek burst from her as her wrist was released and the force of the kick lifted her erect. Nor was that the end of her misfortunes.
Having no wish to become embroiled in a long fight, which would produce injuries and reduce her chances of taking advantage to any opportunity of escape that might present itself, Dawn did not hesitate to continue the attack. She heard shouts from various members of the escort and saw the nearest of the low ranking women jumping to the ground. Much closer, Fabia was also starting to swing from her mount’s saddle.
Ignoring the other female Mun-Gatahs as Dolvia was straightened out, Dawn delivered a vertical stamping kick. Propelled by puissant thigh and calf muscles, the ball of her right foot took the all but helpless brunette in the pit of her stomach. With all the breath expelled from her lungs in a croaking squeal, Dolvia folded over for a second time. Changing legs with deft speed, the Earth Girl followed up with a vertical kick. Again she used the top of her foot. Caught in the face, Dolvia was uncurled with blood flowing from her nostrils.
A glance taken while bringing the foot down warned Dawn that Fabia and the other women had dismounted and were reaching for the hilts of their swords. The latter was moving forward. So the girl realized that she must render Dolvia hors de combat before she found herself under attack by one or more of them.
Knotting her left hand into a fist, Dawn thrust it forward. Her knuckles collided against the side of the brunette’s jaw in a punch that was carrying all her weight and power behind it. There was an explosive crack and Dolvia’s head snapped sideways. Twirling around, she sprawled face down. From the flaccid manner in which she bounced on landing, it was obvious that she would be taking no further part in the proceedings for some time to come.
More excited shouts rose from the escort. Shaking her right hand, the knuckles of which were throbbing painfully after the impact against Dolvia’s jaw, Dawn looked across quickly so as to estimate the full extent of her peril. None of the male warriors within her range of vision were showing signs of offering to intervene. Although Gromart had dismounted, he remained by his quagga instead of moving forward. So did his wife, despite holding a naked sword.
However, grasping her weapon ready for use, the female grar-gatak rider was rushing forward and clearly intended to attack the unarmed Earth girl!
Chapter Seven – Your Father Didn’t Train You Very Well
‘Quickly!’ yelled a feminine voice, seemingly from far away. ‘Get it off of him!’
Half blinded by perspiration and almost spent by his efforts, Bunduki heard but could hardly understand the words. He had a vague impression of figures gathering around. There were excited shouts, also feminine in timbre, but he could not make out what was being said.
Something metallic flashed downwards near the bushes and the blond giant felt the encircling bands of the python’s body tighten spasmodically. It gave an extra savage wrench and plucked its throat from his weakened grasp. However, it made no attempt to bite. Instead, its coils loosened and it thrashed with such force that he was sent rolling away from it. Coming to a halt face down, he was almost incapable of thought or movement. While grateful to whoever had saved him, he was too exhausted to do anything other than replenish his lungs with air. Women conti
nued to shout nearby, to the accompaniment of swishes and the thuds of blows and sounds of the python’s struggles as his rescuers continued to attack it. Then silence descended for a few seconds. After which, footsteps approached until he was surrounded by those who had come to his aid.
Knuckling his eyes clear of the perspiration, Bunduki raised his head. The first thing to meet his gaze was a pair of sandals, with leather straps ascending shapely feminine calves to knee level. He stiffened, remembering that such footwear was the attire of the Protectress of the Quagga God’s female attendants.
A sword, somewhat longer and more slender than those of the Mun-Gatahs with whom the blond giant had come into contact, dangled naked and blood-stained alongside the wearer of the sandals’ right leg. Looking upwards, he found that the woman was wearing a short skirt made from the skin of a black panther. xxvi A leather belt, supporting the sword’s sheath at the left and a knife on the right, encircled her bare midriff. Above it, her breasts were encased in a brassiere apparently made from two cones of silver and held in place with thin chains of the same material. A necklace of silver discs and a wide, matching, bracelet on her left wrist were her only adornment. She had bronzed skin, a beautiful face and brown hair held back by a strip of the same hide as formed her skirt. There was a short bow in her left hand a quiver of arrows hung across her back.
‘Hello, Bunduki,’ said a voice, from beyond the blond giant’s feet.
Bunduki felt as if he had been touched by a cold hand. Unless he was mistaken, the words had been spoken in English!
What was more, although Dawn should have been the only other person on Zillikian to employ that language, the blond giant felt sure he knew the speaker.
Rolling hurriedly on to his back, Bunduki sat up. He found he was surrounded by twelve well armed women dressed in the same manner as the one he had seen on raising his head. Each had a sword and a knife, but only those who were equipped for archery held the former. The rest had crescent shaped shields, with either light double headed axes or spears which would serve for throwing or thrusting by hand. Shapely, beautiful, showing good muscular development, with hair of various colors and styles, with one exception, their ages would range from the mid ‘teens to early twenties.
The blond giant’s main attention was directed at the exception, who he knew must have spoken. Despite Dawn’s and his own rescue by the “Suppliers’, he could hardly believe the evidence if his eyes. The oldest of the group, appearing to be in her late forties, she had a figure as good as any of her companions. Five foot six inches in height, with platinum blonde hair in a ‘page boy’ cut, her beautiful face showed strength of will and an indefinable air of command. Her necklace was made from gold and silver discs, while each bicep and wrist sported a bracelet of the former metal. Her brassiere was also of gold. The axe dangling in her right hand was bloody. Her sword and knife had ivory hilts. As the blonde, the girl at her left side -whose necklace was all gold and who also wore four bracelets and a brassiere of the same material—and the woman he had first seen alone wore jewelry, it was clearly indicative of rank.
‘B-Beryl Snowhill!’ Bunduki gasped, after staring at the blonde for several seconds. Try as he might, he could not think of anything else to say, but, ‘I didn’t expect to see you here!’
‘That must be about the most classic understatement since Stanley xxvii said, “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?”,’ the woman answered, her accent upper-class English. She seemed surprised, concerned, but not puzzled by the meeting as she went on, ‘Are you hurt?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Bunduki answered and stood up. After testing his arms and legs gingerly, tie declared, ‘Everything works.’
While speaking, the blond giant looked at the body of the python. Its tail had been severed, probably by a blow from the blonde’s axe, causing the final crushing spasm before he was released. Its other wounds suggested that it had taken a lot of killing.
‘My thanks, ladies,’ Bunduki continued, reverting to the lingua franca of Zillikian as he turned his attention to the other rescuers.
‘Captain Beryl told us to save you,’ replied the woman with the single bracelet, her attitude implying that had been the only reason for the intervention.
‘ You still have my thanks,’ the blond giant replied.
Glancing around as he was speaking, Bunduki was surprised by the almost complete disinterest with which his rescuers were regarding him. Such behavior on behalf of the opposite sex was unusual. Without being egotistical, he knew that his looks and physique were such that many women found him attractive and wanted to become better acquainted. That had been the case on Zillikian, as well as on Earth. However, as he could foresee complications if it had been otherwise, he was grateful for his rescuers’ indifference.
‘Post lookouts, Thalia,’ the blonde ordered. ‘We’ll have a meal while I talk with this man. Send somebody to fetch the gazelle he killed. It won’t feed us all, but there’s plenty of meat on the python.’
‘Yes, my lady,’ the brunette answered, having cleaned the sword on the grass during the conversation. ‘Shall I have his weapons collected?’
‘I’d be obliged if you would, Beryl,’ Bunduki requested.
‘See to it, Thalia,’ the blonde confirmed.
‘You don’t look, or dress like a Mun-Gatah,’ the girl who had the gold bracelets, brassiere and necklace, remarked.
‘I’m not one,’ the blonde giant answered, turning his gaze to the speaker.
Four inches shorter than the platinum blonde, the girl was the youngest of the group. Her build was buxom, but firm fleshed and not flabby. Pretty and merry looking, her red hair copied Beryl’s style as did her armament, even to the ivory hilts of her sword and knife.
‘This is Princess Athena, youngest daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons,’ the blonde introduced. ‘Athena, may I present Bunduki. He is the son of a great leader among my former people.’
‘Huh!’ Athena commented, eyeing the big blond somewhat derisively. ‘From the way we found you, your father didn’t train you very well.’
‘He would have been ashamed if he’d seen it happen,’ Bunduki admitted wryly, for he was far from pleased over the lack of caution which had caused his predicament.
However, Athena was not listening. She had glanced at the girl who was returning with the blond giant’s weapons, did a double-take and stared at the bow.
‘Let me see that, Rana!’ the princess demanded, dropping her shield and axe.
Taking the bow, Athena examined it. Without asking for permission, or even acknowledging Bunduki’s presence, she slid one of the arrows from the back-quiver and nocked it to the string. Exchanging a glance and smile with Beryl, he raised no objections. As the little princess’s action showed, she was well trained at archery. However, although she was far from a weakling, she could only draw the bow about twelve inches. Her expressive face showed surprise and the look she threw at its owner was somewhat more respectful than the way she had regarded him earlier.
‘May I?’ Bunduki requested politely.
Giving a shrug, Athena passed the bow and arrow to the blond giant. Noticing that Thalia and the nearest Amazons were watching, he sought for a suitable target. His gaze came to rest on a piece of broken branch some fifty feet away. About twenty-four inches in length and with a diameter of just over three inches, it would be ideal for his purpose.
Raising the bow, Bunduki made the full twenty-eight inch draw in a single and effortless-seeming motion. He heard the princess let out a startled, if muted, exclamation and, holding the arrow at its anchor point, took careful aim. While merely demonstrating that he could draw the bow with such apparent ease was impressing his audience, to score a hit would produce an even greater effect. Satisfied with his alignment, he loosed the string. Driven forward, the arrow flew true. Reaching the branch, the four blades of the point slashed through with a force which split it and sent the two segments flying.
‘Hera, Queen of the Gods!’ Athen
a croaked, while the other Amazons made similar comments as they stared to where the arrow was buried almost to its fletching in the ground. Swinging her amazed gaze to Beryl, she went on, ‘Did you see that?’
‘My people learn how to draw such bows as children,’ Bunduki remarked, before the blonde could reply. ‘It’s only a matter of training.’
‘I’ve had training, but I couldn’t draw it!’ Athena stated. ‘It’s a pity, Beryl, that you, Cha and Jill couldn’t have saved your bows when your boat sank.’
‘I wish we had,’ the blonde answered. ‘Now, Bunduki, we’ve a few things %o tell each other, I’d say.’
‘And I’d be inclined to agree,’ the blond giant admitted. ‘Shall we sit down?’
Leaving the rest of the women to attend to their duties, Beryl and Athena accompanied Bunduki to a fallen tree trunk. They raised no objections when he collected his shield and quiver from the girl. It was clear to him that the princess had the highest regard for the British woman and was willing to accept him as she was treating him so cordially.
Sitting down, Beryl told Bunduki of her story. It was as he had suspected. She, her cousin, Charlotte Topper and their maid, Jill Jervis, had been on the point of drowning when the yacht they were sailing in a race was sunk during a storm. They had recovered on Zillikian and, having been adopted by the Amazons, had risen—aided by their personalities and a knowledge of how to use various weapons at least partially instilled during their transportation—until all held high offices among their new nation. Beryl was Captain of the Black Panthers, the senior regiment, ranking above all except for Queen Hippolyta and her three daughters.
The blond giant explained his presence on Zillikian just as briefly, but decided against mentioning his meeting with the ‘Supplier’ until a more opportune moment. He sensed that Beryl had had a similar experience, but did not wish Athena -who was listening with interest—to know. So, after telling the blonde about the other members of his adoptive family, all of whom she knew very well—having served with Dawn’s parents in World War II— xxviii he spoke of his fears for his wife-to-be’s safety.