by Rada, J. R.
What do you see as the Bow Clan’s weak points? Ma´saw asked.
The same as the Sun Clan’s. You both need more men to gain control over the other. Right now, the Bow Clan has the women and so they have enough men for their needs and they stay in control. The Sun Clan is forced to wait and choose from those men the Bow Clan considers slaves. If the Sun Clan had the women, the Bow Clan would not be able to replace their slain warriors.
Ma´saw nodded. I agree with what you have said, but how does the Sun Clan regain the women?
You have many maps showing the interior of the central temple. You must know where the entrances are, and you probably know where the breeding center is.
Polanque jumped into the conversation. But we do not have enough men to attack the mountain.
A well-planned attack when there are few Bow Clansmen in the temple will make the men you do have enough. Send a small group of men far away from the central temple to create a disturbance. They can attack the Bow Clan and run and hide. They can do whatever’s needed to make the Bow Clan call for more men. It will keep many Bow Clansmen away from the temples.
We will consider this, Ma´saw told David.
David knew better than to press this point. He bowed to Ma´saw and left the room.
Now he stood bowed over the red vegetation still surprised that Ma´saw had accepted the plans of a stranger so easily. He waited for the signal from Ma´saw to move into the eastern temple. There were fifteen quatis of men that would enter the eastern mountain. Each quati was composed of ten Sun Clansmen. Another group of one hundred would remain outside the pyramid to defend those inside.
Polanque had still been skeptical of the plan even after it had been finalized and approved by Ma´saw. Not because believed it wouldn’t work, but because by his nature, he was a cautious man. Ma´saw told him, though, I will not live to see the results of our labors here, but you will, Polanque. I do this so that you will have the men you need to defeat the Bow Clan and lead our people to freedom. At first, there will be only four breeders, for I am too old to father children. But in the lifetime of the four, they will breed hundreds of children each, and their children will breed children. By the time you are as old as I, you will have many warriors to command. We cannot kill the Bow Clan by trimming their leaves, Polanque. We must strike at their roots.
Ma´saw dropped his hoe. The nearest Sun Clansmen to the few Bow Clan overseers not chasing the diversion rose up and stabbed sharp spines of stone into the sides of the overseers. Quick kills of the overseers were critical. No telepathic warning could be allowed to be sent to the other Bow Clansmen. When the overseers collapsed, the Sun Clansmen fell upon them and placed the overseers’ uniforms on themselves. The Sun Clansmen disguised as overseers stood up and acted as the guard in case another Bow Clansman might wonder where the overseers had gone.
When this had been completed, Ma´saw picked up his hoe. That was the signal for the first quati to move into the central temple. David hurried toward the temple barely refraining from running.
The temple towered over David and he forced himself not to look up as he scurried toward the entrance. The two Bow Clan guards inside the doorway were dead. They had been killed along with the overseers.
The passages inside the stone pyramid reminded David of the passages within the hidden pueblo. They were twisting and dark, dimly lit by flameless torches. There seemed to be few entrances, but David guessed the dark kachinas might use hidden doorways just as the Sun Clansmen did.
David and the other nine men in his quati ran quickly along the passageway following the attacking quati that had entered the pyramid before them. The silence of the one-hundred-and-fifty men moving through the passages was unnerving. Though each passage was lit, David, in an odd thought, wished he were in the dark again. He would have felt safe from the view of the Bow Clan.
Their final destination was the top three levels of the stone mountain. There they would find the rows of small cells that held the women who bred the men of Kuskurza. They would also attack a fourth level that was used as a maternity center and prepare the newborn children to be either Bow Clansmen or slaves.
The nursery and birthing room were on the first floor the Sun Clan reached. They swarmed onto the floor through two large doors at one end. On one side of the large room was rows upon rows of cribs. Most of them were filled with babies. On the other side were tables. On some of the tables were women in the midst of birth. The women screamed as the first Sun Clansmen burst onto the floor, but if anyone had been listening, they would have thought the screams normal for a woman giving birth.
The Sun Clansmen plucked the children from the cribs and held one baby under each arm. When they had taken two babies they rushed out of the doors to take the children back to the hidden pueblo.
The women in the middle of giving birth were being attended by older women past the child-bearing years. The older women, while they did not resist the Sun Clansmen, insisted that the women giving birth couldn’t be moved. Polanque took control and told the women that those who could not be moved would be killed. If the plan were to work, there could be no women left in the mountain. The older women reluctantly agreed. They helped the women giving birth from the tables to something that resembled a gurney and pushed them toward the doors at the end of the floor.
The remaining quatis of Sun Clansmen pushed into the upper levels of the mountain. They charged through the doorway leading into the women’s chambers and found themselves in a series of hallways opened upon by many doors. The men spread out so that one Sun Clansman was in front of each door.
One Bow Clansmen left his room early and was quickly killed with an arrow through his eye.
Ma´saw dropped his arm and the Sun Clansmen rushed into the rooms. When David threw open the door to the room he stood in front of, he saw a nude Bow Clansman atop an equally nude woman. The Bow Clansman rose off the woman and reached for his langher, which was in the pile of his clothes. David raised his langher first, twisted the bulbous end, and slid the switch forward. A giant spark struck the Bow Clansmen in his head. It set his fine, white hair on fire even as it cracked his skull.
David’s stomach churned at the sight and smell of the dead man’s flesh burning. He had not believed a weapon could be so deadly. The woman screamed and David told her to be quiet.
Help! Help! she yelled in his mind.
She rushed forward and began beating on David’s chest. She tried to scratch his eyes, but David held his arm out and kept her away from him.
Be quiet! We are freeing you from the Bow Clansmen, David told her.
I don’t want to be freed! she screamed telepathically as she tried to scratch his eyes again.
Polanque ran past the door then stopped and came back. Pahana, hurry up and take her out. We have to move fast.
She doesn’t want to come, David thought as he pushed the woman back.
Polanque looked at the woman, then raised his langher and fired. The spark hit the woman in the chest leaving a gaping hole that showed the charred edges of her ribs.
David’s eyes widened as he turned to Polanque. Why did you do that?
She would not have helped us. She has given herself totally to the Bow Clan. She would have betrayed us given the chance. She was an enemy, was Polanque’s answer.
Polanque grabbed David by the arm and pulled him out of the room. He ran blindly along with the others as they retreated from the mountain. A few of the women kissed and hugged the Sun Clansmen as they ran. A pair of Sun Clansmen warned everyone to be as quiet as possible as they passed through the lower levels. They wanted to avoid as much conflict as possible. Their goal was to get the women safely to the hidden pueblo without getting into a large battle that might cost them some of their men.
As the Sun Clansmen passed out of the pyramid, the women were handed green tunics much like those of the slaves. This would hide their features from all except those who came too close.
David was amazed at how smoothly
things ran. He had expected more fighting, but the Bow Clansmen were too confident of their superiority. They were lazy and careless, and they had been caught off guard. The entire attack had lasted no longer than a half an hour. What had disturbed him was he expected to find more women; only sixty-nine had been rescued. Polanque assured him that was the only breeding center, so what happened to the other women?
When all the Sun Clansmen returned to the pueblo, Ma´saw took in the results of the raid. Two men counted all the women and children that came through the entrance of the pueblo. Ma´saw called the Sun Clan together in the meeting room and thought, You have fought bravely today, and the Sun Clan are many now. We will need to build other pueblos where the Sun Clan can live and the women can be hidden from the Bow Clan. The Bow Clan will seek retribution. We must be ready to fight great battles and die, as we were ready this cycle. If we do, we will prevail in the end, as we did this cycle.
David’s vision faded and he saw the fire burning inside the kiva. It had ended. Remembering how much time Peter had said had passed before, David looked at his watch. It was a quarter until eight. He shuffled slowly across the floor and climbed the ladder to leave the kiva.
He remembered everything now, perhaps too much. He could see why he would have wanted to forget some things. His mind had not only blocked out this most-recent incident, but the earlier one as well.
When David climbed out of the kiva, it was dark outside. There was a little bit of activity around the plaza, but most people were in their rooms. David walked to Sarah’s pueblo and knocked at her door.
There was no answer. Then he realized she would be in the canyon watching over her grandfather’s body. This would be the last night of her vigil.
He walked over to Ethan’s rooms and knocked. Ethan’s face beamed when he opened the door and saw David.
“David, come in. I’ll get the pops.”
“Can we drink it on the road? I need a lift to the canyon where you dropped me off the other night.”
Ethan nodded and took a six-pack of Diet Sprite from a tub of water, which kept the soda cool. Once they were on the road, and had started drinking their sodas, Ethan said, “I hear you’ve been in the sacred kiva all day. Peter must truly believe Adam’s visions to allow you into the kiva.”
“I remember everything that happened to me down there, Ethan,” David said. “Perhaps too much.”
“I would think you would be happy, but you don’t sound too happy,” Ethan noted.
“I’m happy I can remember, but now I can no longer avoid the issue. If I don’t do something soon, the dark kachinas will be freed, and they will destroy this world.”
CHAPTER 44
After Ethan dropped him off, David climbed the steep path up the side of the mesa and sat down on the ledge next to Sarah. She said nothing to him. The silence between them seemed comfortable, not awkward. He yawned and leaned back against the side of the mesa.
His stomach growled loudly, and he laid his hand on it to quiet it down. The pop he had drunk in Ethan’s truck was beginning to eat at his stomach; the acid in the soda making him feel hungry. He realized he hadn’t eaten anything since he had stopped in Tuba City for a hamburger last night on his way to Oraibi.
Sarah reached into her bag and handed David a piece of bread that reminded him of pita bread.
“Have you been in the kiva all day?” she asked.
David nodded as he chewed a piece of the bread. It was dry and hard to chew. David wondered if it was supposed to taste like that or if Sarah just wasn’t a good cook. He swallowed the piece he was chewing wishing he had some water to wash it down with.
“I can remember everything now. My mind was purposely blocking out the memories because I didn’t want to face up to them. That’s probably why I got so angry with you and Adam the first time you two came to see me. I was probably reacting to the fact that Adam was challenging the wall I had built to protect me,” David said. He reached over and held Sarah’s hand. “Adam was right about everything, Sarah. He wasn’t crazy.”
“What happened to you in Kuskurza? What is it like?” she asked.
“It’s about the size of a large city, but there is a lot of open space. In the center are five temples. The dark kachinas are imprisoned in the central temple. The Bow Clan lives in the surrounding smaller ones. There are pueblos around the edges of the chamber where the slaves live. Between the center and the edges are fields and rivers.
“When I fell into the cave, the Bow Clan would have killed me if they had found me, but I was rescued by a man named Masani. He was from the Sun Clan. They are former slaves who believe in Taiowa and the Fourth World,” David told Sarah. “I helped them. They called me Pahana.”
Sarah looked surprised. “Pahana? Are you sure?”
“Yes. I think they just couldn’t pronounce my last name right.”
“But David, Pahana is a mythical Hopi god. He’s the lost white brother who will deliver us to freedom.”
David nodded. “That makes sense. They thought I might be able to help them leave Kuskurza.”
David fell silent. He remembered how so much of the Hopi mythology Adam had explained to him in the hospital had parallelled Biblical beliefs, and now it also seemed the mythology closely matched Mormon beliefs. The Hopi had seen a white savior and were waiting for his return on this continent.
“Adam would have been happy that you remember everything.”
David detected a hint of melancholy in her voice, and he wanted to pull her close to him and hold her. He remembered what Ethan had said this morning and hesitated. Things were happening that might take him away from Oraibi. Would it be fair to ask her to go, too? He had only made Terrie sad when he took her away from Blanding. Was it right for him to take Sarah away from her home?
“What will happen now, David? Is this world in danger?” Sarah asked.
“I’ll have to return to Blanding. Somehow I have to convince Sheriff Harding or maybe the cave team that there is another world where those cave passages end. Maybe they can use explosives to seal the passages permanently. If they could get some spotlights down there, they might be able to control the dark kachinas, but eventually they would find a way to be free. The Bow Clan might sabotage the floodlights or they might break down on their own. The only way to stop them is to seal the passages. Besides, if Taiowa couldn’t kill them, neither can we. All we can do is imprison them again,” David thought out loud.
“But the Sun Clan thinks you can save them. What happens if you can’t?”
David shrugged. “I don’t know. Then I guess they wait for the real Pahana.”
“What if it’s you?”
David laughed. He couldn’t help it; it just slipped out. He was far from being Christ or even Christ-like. Sarah looked serious, though so he explained himself. “I’m no savior, Sarah, I’m just a klutzy guy who fell into a cave.”
“You’re psychic. That’s special. And you’ve faced the Bow Clan twice when no one else in this world has ever even seen them.”
“That still doesn’t make me Pahana.”
David looked at Sarah. She was staring up at the moon.
“What will you do now?” he asked changing the subject. He didn’t like comparing himself with Christ because he came up short.
Sarah shrugged. “I don’t know. I have the rooms here in Oraibi. It is something.”
“But is that what you want?”
“No. I have tried to be a part of this world, but I’m not. I think I must have lived too long among the whites. The only reason I’ve stayed this long is because of my grandfather. He was my family, and I loved him. But now all that’s left is his body. His spirit has left Oraibi. He had lived here all his life. If he could leave, so can I.”
David felt his heart beat faster. Maybe there was a chance. Maybe Sarah wasn’t like Terrie.
“You said something the other night about not knowing love, but you just said you loved Adam.”
“I was talking about romant
ic love,” Sarah told him.
“Why haven’t you ever been in love?”
Sarah was silent for a long time, then she said, “I have been, but the feeling wasn’t returned. When I was sixteen, I fell in love with a white boy I went to school with. I thought he loved me, too. He only loved me until the day after we made love, then he turned his attentions to someone else. Then word got around school about me and suddenly, there were a lot of boys who said they were in love with me. They treated me like a squaw. They didn’t love me, and when I got smart, I stopped loving them. Not long after that, my mother left me here.”
David shifted away from Sarah, and he felt her stiffen. She looked at him angrily, and said, “Am I too dirty to touch now?”
David shook his head. “No, but I thought ... It’s just that the way you talked about those boys treating you that you might feel the same about me. I don’t want you to think that I’m using you to help me through this.”
David saw the tears form in the corners of her eyes. They were quickly followed by others until she was sobbing. David watched her unsure of what to do. Then he moved closer to her and put his arm around her.
“Sarah, will you come back to Blanding with me? I’m going to need help convincing Sheriff Harding about Kuskurza and the danger down there.”
Sarah raised her head. “Of course, I’ll come.”
“Afterwards, I’ll need you to go to Provo with me. Can you go?” David asked innocently.
The confused look on Sarah’s face almost made David laugh, but he managed to maintain his control.
“I suppose. But what’s in Provo?”
“My parents live there. There’s a woman who’s very special to me that I want them to meet.”
Sarah smiled and kissed David.
Part III
Kuskurza
“Looking about them, they saw they were on a little piece of land that had been the top of one of their highest mountains. All else, as far as they could see, was water. This was all that remained of the Third World.”