The Lexal Affair

by neetha Napew

  “Step quietly,” Bek admonished Nyk. He attempted to modulate his tread.

  Bek gave a signal and the troop stopped. He pointed into a tree.

  One of the men opened his plaited basket and removed an object that looked to Nyk to be as long as his little finger. It was pointed, with a fiber-wool plug at the end. He slipped it into the end of the staff, brought it to his lips and exhaled.

  The dart hit a four-legged bird-like creature. It took wing, flew a short distance and fell to the ground.

  “That was a fire plant thorn,” Bek explained. “Very deadly -- one can kill a man.”

  “Is that our dinner?” Nyk asked.

  “Oh, no. That's the bait. Today we're hunting the hunter.”

  Bek carried the dead bird into a clearing. Other men in the troop produced lines of fiber cord. They tied the dead bird to a log, and tied lines to the wings and head. Some men climbed trees and together they operated the bird carcass like a marionette, causing it to strut and flap.

  One of the men motioned Nyk to take cover behind some brush. They waited as the puppeteers manipulated the dead bird. Another man imitated a call.

  The Lexalese blue sun reached its zenith, casting its harsh light onto the clearing. Bek nudged Nyk and pointed in the distance. A large six-legged creature was making its way into the clearing. Nyk glimpsed the animal's face and assumed it was the carnivore to which Nayva alluded.

  Bek grabbed Nyk's shoulder. “We wait until our prey has seized the bait,” he whispered. “At that point, he is committed and much more vulnerable. Patience is the art of the hunt.”

  The animal slunk low to the ground and approached the flapping bird. The puppeteers made the bird stop and appear to look in the direction of the predator. The animal stopped in its tracks. The bird resumed its mating display. Now within striking distance, the predator reared back, grasped the bait with its forepaws and sank fangs into it.

  The brush around the clearing erupted with the village men, each loading and shooting darts into the carnivore. The creature dropped the bird, rolled to dislodge the darts and yelped in pain. It turned and began to run, but the fire plant toxin was doing its work. Paralysis spread to its limbs and it fell to the ground. Its eyes clouded over and the beast expired with a groan.

  The men stood and whooped. They brought poles, tied up their prey and headed back to the village.

  Once there, the men turned their catch over to the women, who skinned and dressed it. A group of women took the hide, laced it on a stretcher and began scraping it with bone and metal tools. Another group impaled the carcass on a pole, placed it over the fire, and supervised youths who took turns rotating it.

  One of the village men gestured to Nyk. “Help me to construct a screen,” the man said. “My ward is tending the roast.”

  Nyk walked to a spot near a pile of long, thin sticks. The villager picked up a pole and stuck one end in the ground. He grasped a tool made from a hollow log with a rock lashed to one end, slipped it over the end of the pole and hammered it into the ground. He pointed to where he wanted other poles driven and Nyk obliged.

  The villager showed Nyk how to weave the sticks around the poles. Nyk picked up sticks and took turns with the man building up a panel of woven twigs. “My name is Gan,” he said.

  “Where do you gather these sticks?” Nyk asked.

  Gan pointed toward a section of forest near the village. “That's a coppiced wood,” he replied. “We cull out the sticks to keep the growth straight.”

  “What do you use to cut them?” Gan held up a saw. “This looks like bronze.”

  Gan nodded. “Deposits of copper and tin are found in the hills.”

  “Do you have iron for steel?” Nyk asked.

  “I know of iron,” Gan replied. “That blade you gave Kyto is of iron. It's too much trouble, too difficult to work. Long ago we used it, but not now.”

  Nyk continued to weave the sticks onto the poles. He noticed a village girl standing near him. “Hello, Vipsa. Doesn't Kyto need your services this afternoon?”

  “I've washed his crockery. Now, he's busy studying his staffs, so he sent me on my way. He doesn't wish to risk me learning his secrets.”

  “Can you read the staffs?” Nyk asked.

  “Some -- a little.” She picked up a stick and drew in the dirt. “This means leaf ... this is blue ... blossom ... low ... vine. This means leaf from the low, blue-blossomed vine. Kyto doesn't know I know this.” She smiled and rubbed the symbol from the dirt with her foot. “Tell me of your world, Nykkyo.”

  “Which one?”

  “You have more than one?

  “I have two. Floran and Earth -- three if you count Lexal.” He bent a twig around the end pole and tucked it among the others. “Lexal is another world right here on this planet.”

  “Tell me of your homeworld, then.”

  “Floran -- it's where I was born. Andra was born there, too.”

  “Is she the white one?”

  Nyk nodded. “It's very different there. The climate's warm -- so warm people go around half naked.” He picked up another stick and began weaving it onto the poles. “There are no animals on the land -- only in the sea. And, none of them can we eat.”

  Vipsa sat cross-legged on the ground. “What do you do for food, then?”

  “We grow the food.”

  “Grow it?”

  “Yes.” He picked up another stick. “Our food grows under great domes.”

  “Domes? What are they?”

  Nyk pointed to the lodge. “Like that, only much, much larger. You could fit your entire village, many times over in the corner of one of the domes -- and we have thousands of them. The roof is transparent, like ... like ice. It lets in the sunlight.”

  “You can't go out and gather food?”

  Nyk began weaving another stick. “No. We must work very hard to have food for everyone.”

  “What is your village like?”

  “I grew up in a place called Sudal. It's a city.”

  “A city?”

  “A large village, with about a hundred thousand people.”

  Vipsa's eyes widened. “A hundred thousand!”

  Nyk picked up another stick. “Sudal's small. Our biggest is Floran City, with over seven hundred million.”

  A village man approached with some boys and youths. “Bek is taking some boys on a training hunt,” Vipsa whispered. “Borryk is among them.”

  “Which one is he?”

  “The oldest youth. He's Bek's ward -- Bek desires him to be the next chief. The chief wishes Ylak to succeed him.” Vipsa glanced over her shoulder and whispered. “I'm happy Ylak is healing -- I dread the notion of Borryk as our leader.” She turned to conceal her face. “Best to ignore them.”

  “Vipsa!” Borryk shouted. “Come on the hunt with us. Maybe you can earn the hero's portion.”

  “She could kill it and cook it, too,” another boy called.

  “Vipsa doesn't stain her hands with inkroot,” Borryk said, laughing. “She has soot from the old man's crockery under her nails.”

  “Come on, it's getting late,” Bek admonished and herded the boys toward the forest.

  Vipsa looked up. “Borryk doesn't like me. He thinks I'm odd because I'd rather help Kyto than tend the fire or peel tubers. The other boys follow his lead.”

  “I wouldn't worry about what some foolish boys think. Why don't they help Kyto?”

  “They fear him and his magic.”

  “And, you don't.”

  “Kyto is a kind and wise man who's learned to use the things around us. The villagers think it's magic, but it's only wisdom. They think he talks to ancestors -- but it's ancestors talking to him, through the staffs.” She looked down. “Girls aren't supposed to occupy themselves with such. Sometimes I wish there were somewhere else I could go.” Her eyes widened. “A place like your city -- tell me what it's like.”

  Nyk sat on the ground and faced her. “There are many tall buildings -- as tall as those mountai
ns.” He pointed to the distance. “From the top of one of those buildings you can stand and look out at the city and not see the end of it.”

  “It must take a long time to climb to the top.”

  “We have machines to carry you to the top...” He gestured skyward. “...in an instant.”

  “Vipsa!” Nyk heard a voice from the village call out. “Vipsa! Where are you?”

  “That's Kwama,” she said. “She's my sponsor. I had better go.” He watched her head toward a cluster of huts.

  * * *

  Nyk sat beside Andra and Nayva near the communal fire. Village women passed bark trays piled with chunks of meat from the day's kill -- along with pieces of inkroot and a white, starchy paste. Nyk began eating. “This is very good,” he said to Andra.

  She nodded. “This is as good as any Earth meat I recall.”

  Vipsa approached carrying a bark tray. “Nykkyo,” she said, looking at the ground. “I'm sorry for disturbing your work today.”

  “You've no need to apologize,” he replied. “You didn't disturb me.”

  “Kwama scolded me. She said if Gan was dissatisfied with your work, I'd be to blame.”

  “Not in the least,” Nyk said and slid over to make room for her. “Would you like to sit here?”

  She smiled. “May I?” She sat beside him and began eating her meal.

  “You have a new friend.” Andra whispered to him.

  “That's Vipsa,” he whispered in reply. “She's a nice kid. She seems to have taken a liking to me.”

  “I hope for your sake she doesn't have a boyfriend -- at least not one of the jealous type.”

  “She's too young for that.”

  “I don't know, Nyk. She looks past the age of consent to me.”

  “Do we know what consent is to these people?”

  “It seems to me you'd be smart to watch your step.”

  Vipsa stood and faced him. “If you're done, I'll take your trays.” Nyk collected their trays and handed them to the girl.

  Vipsa returned and sat beside Nyk. “Bek will tell more of his story.”

  “Does Bek know many stories?”

  “Many times many,” she replied and leaned against him.

  * * *

  A shaft of dawn's sunlight fell across Nyk's eyes. “Another hangover?” Nayva asked him.

  “Please don't talk to me. Every word makes my head throb.”

  Kyto came to the door and beckoned Nyk. He followed the medicine man into the lodge. Ylak was back on the slab. “He's sick again.”

  “What is it this time?” Nyk asked.

  “This is bad. It's probably infection -- it frequently follows the opening of a person's belly. We try to be as clean as possible, but we often face this. I never go inside a patient unless he's certainly dead otherwise -- I've explained this all to the chief.”

  “What does this mean?”

  “The chief intends to stand by his bargain. As long as Ylak lives, so do you ... I must gather herbs for medicine.”

  “I'll come with you.” Nyk headed after Kyto into the forest.

  “The chief is convinced your presence is what's making his boy sick.”

  “Kyto, we have broad-spectrum bioagent with us. Let's use it on him.”

  “What sort of thing is that?”

  “It's medicine that will kill what's making him sick.”

  Kyto shook his head. “I dare not. The chief is watching my every move.”

  “Doesn't he trust you?”

  “If I permitted this and the boy dies, it'll be very bad for me as well as for you.”

  “But, what if it cures him?”

  Kyto looked at him sideways. “That would be bad for me, also.”

  Nyk followed Kyto into the woods. The old man walked slowly, examining plants. He selected leaves, pieces of vine and roots. He led Nyk into his work room where he ground the material into paste, placed it in an earthen pot and added hot water. “That must steep. These herbs work to help the body fight infection.” He poured the fluid through an earthenware strainer into a wooden bowl. “The root will deaden his pain, and the vine covers the unpleasant flavors. Let's check on our patient.”

  Kyto led Nyk into the lodge. “Take this,” he said to the boy. Nyk helped Ylak sit up to sip the tea. They boy lay back onto the slab and Kyto covered him with a feather-pelt.

  “This is not good,” Kyto said upon returning to his work room. “We'll be lucky if he's alive in the morning. We must prepare for the worst. I can count on some of the men to take you out of the village.”

  “Don't go against the wishes of your chief, Kyto. We can find our own way, if we must.”

  Kyto accompanied Nyk to the hut. He eyed Andra. “There is another hope -- if the boy dies. The chief has shown interest in the white one.”

  “No, Kyto. I won't permit that.”

  “Then it remains to be seen if Ylak is strong enough to throw off this infection.” The old man left.

  Nyk looked toward Nayva. “Kyto was saying, if Ylak perishes, we may be able to buy our safety -- with Andra. I told him to forget it.”

  “No, Nyk,” Andra replied. “I'm prepared to do what is required. Remember Vebinad's motto .. Unu Deva Feti.”

  “I won't permit you to be sold.”

  “I was sold once.”

  Nyk sat on a bench, looking out the doorway toward the lodge. “No celebration tonight. Kyto doesn't expect the boy to last 'til morning.”

  “We should slip quietly into the forest,” Nayva said.

  “They've closed the stockade gate for the night. I saw the chief posting a guard there. I think they've anticipated that move.”

  “What do we do?”

  “I'd hate to,” Andra said. “but we could force our way out. We still have our weapons.”

  “These are peaceful and gentle people,” Nyk replied. “But I wouldn't want to place odds on the three of us with handguns against a hundred of them with poison darts.” Nyk opened the survival kit and removed the vial and injector. “We must get this bioagent into Ylak.”

  He looked out of the door again. “There's a sentry by the lodge entrance. Maybe we could distract him.” Nyk looked around the hut. He removed a length of fiber cord that was part of a lashing holding together two members of the hut's frame.

  “Distract him with that?” Nayva asked.

  “No -- this is for a tourniquet. Andra, why don't you try distracting him?”

  “Me?”

  “You're a very beautiful woman.”

  “And, a very blond one,” Nayva added.

  “I know Vebinad grads are excellent play-actors. You should have no trouble distracting him.”

  “I don't even speak the language.”

  “Use that to your advantage. Distract him and Nayva and I will slip into the lodge and administer the drug.” He fitted the vial to the injector, slipped off the needle guard and pressed the actuator to flush the drug through the needle. He replaced the guard.

  Andra stepped to the door of the hut and slipped her feather-pelt robe from her shoulders. She headed in her tattered gown toward the latrine. Nyk saw the sentry follow her with his eyes. He beckoned Nayva and handed her the piece of cord.

  Andra headed from the direction of the latrine, stumbled and let out a cry. “Mu pieda!” She grabbed her ankle. “Ow .. ow! Mi mu maleola frakture es pens!”

  The sentry sprinted in her direction. Nyk and Nayva headed for the lodge. Ylak was on the slab, semi-conscious and delirious. Another sentry sat inside the lodge on a bench, slumped and snoring.

  Nyk approached the boy, took his arm and felt for an appropriate vein. He wrapped the cord around Ylak's bicep. “Hold this tight,” he whispered to Nayva as he patted Ylak's arm.

  The sentry let out a groan. Nyk grabbed Nayva and ducked down behind the slab. The sentry resumed snoring.

  Nyk pulled the needle guard from the injector. He held the needle parallel to the boy's skin and punctured the vein. “Release the cord.”

  He
pressed the actuator and the injector began emptying the vial.

  “How much are you giving him?” Nayva whispered.

  “All of it.” Nyk watched the vial empty. He removed the needle and pressed his thumb against the spot. “The needle's coated with healing salve,” he said. “The wound should close quickly ... Let's go!”

  Nyk led Nayva back to their hut. Andra limped in, supported by the sentry. He helped her lie on a feather-pelt. “Denke,” she said. The sentry backed from the hut and she gave him a little wave.

  11 -- The Wizard's Apprentice

  Nyk looked toward the lodge in the dawn twilight. The sentry was being relieved by another village man. “I wonder how Ylak's doing.”

  “He must still be alive,” Nayva replied. “Otherwise, there'd be a commotion, don't you think?”

  Kyto approached the hut and faced Nyk. “I understand we have a broken ankle in here.”

  “Last night, Andra tripped. She thought she broke her ankle, but I think it's only twisted.”

  Kyto nodded. “I had better examine it.” Nyk led him to Andra. He felt her ankle. “Not even sprained.” He looked up at Nyk. “Ylak is much better this morning. His fever is broken and the pain is receding. I wondered if you might have anything to do with it.”

  Nyk shook his head. “What would make you think that, Kyto?”

  Kyto held up the piece of cord. “I found this by the boy this morning.” Nyk shrugged. The medicine man held up the needle guard. “And, I found this.”

  “I gave him the bioagent,” Nyk replied.

  “I thought you might.” The old man smiled. “It's why I slipped Ylak's watcher a sleeping draught.”

  “You can take the credit for healing him.”

  “As I intend to do.”

  * * *

  Nyk stood with Kyto as he sponged an herbal preparation over Ylak's body. He covered the boy and patted his hand. “He's recovering rapidly. I shall send him to his hut this afternoon.” He handed a bowl to the boy. “Sit up, Ylak, and drink this.” Kyto turned to Nyk. “I told the chief your presence helped cure his boy. It's not exactly a lie, and not exactly the truth.” Kyto refilled Ylak's bowl. “The chief is grateful and wants to offer you the opportunity to join the village.”