Captain Pierce indicated that Lee was hopeful the “survival mode” of both races would subside as we grew comfortable with each other and our colonies took proper hold. “Let’s hope she’s right,” he said wearily, and then gave me a wan smile. “Go exploring, Eric, it’ll do you some good.”
My expedition team was ready for departure by the time my communications were concluded; it was time to start doing my job and worry about my personal life later. We lifted off about twenty minutes later, bound for the little coastal village to find out what we could of that culture. Olga was following in the Virgil as an extra precaution.
Our flight only took five minutes but it took a little hunting to find the village from the air trying to see though the pinkish purple tree tops. I had grown more used to the green trees the people from Reesh had brought with them when they came to colonize. We finally spotted a few of their huts, much like the huts of Oz’s people. There could be no doubt that there had been at some point in time, contact between the races of the two continents. Possibly there still was, even though the ocean was almost seven thousand miles across. Though dotted with islands it still seemed nearly impossible with their limited technology.
As we set the ships down on a strip of beach within sight of the village we could see the Lapapeg scrambling into the woods and the safety of the treetops. There was a small harbor, apparently hand dug, with flimsy docks held together with ropes and perhaps wooden pegs. Moored there were half a dozen of their small sailing ships; the largest being about thirty feet long. These craft were also held together with ropes and pegs; they hardly looked sea worthy but we’d seen them out in the middle of the ocean, which was fortunately, as I said, dotted with islands. Each boat had a single mast with a cross bar, around which there was a single sail; but the most remarkable thing was that each boat, even the smallest, had a paddle wheel in the middle and a rudder at the rear. It was a technology that I hadn’t expected; paddles, yes—but not a paddle wheel!
As we disembarked we saw that a ship considerably bigger than the ones at dock was sailing in from the sea. It was about forty feet long and seemed to be of the same construction, but it had a paddle wheel on either side instead of in the middle. The wheel was operated by a crank in the middle, and it only had a couple of the Fenninz or Lapapeg to propel it. It was likely that the only time they used the wheel was when there was no wind or when coming in to dock. The ship was close enough to observe the sea people scrambling around on deck, casting gestures in our direction. I suspect they were trying to decide if it was safe to land.
Blurg walked out to the edge of the water and onto one of the docks so as to be seen. He was sure that they would at least see one familiar creature and not sail away in fear; the plan seemed to work, as the craft continued toward the docks.
I got together a small group comprised of myself, Ian, Blurg and four others, with just hand weapons strapped on for safety. I gave strict orders not to draw weapons unless it was absolutely necessary because we wanted to make them feel relaxed. We didn’t need another massacre, especially with the people whose technology was such a surprise and a wonder.
As the ship was approaching the dock, I could see some of the timid villagers starting to peek out of the woods; likely to see what was going to happen without risking their own skins. One of the first things I noticed was that the skin color of the Lapapeg, instead of Hero’s pinkish purple or Oz’s deeper purple; was almost pure deep blue. It was another adaptation caused by thousands of years separation. We stayed back from the dock until the ship captain (or their equivalent) walked onto the dock and acknowledged us. The Lapapeg, perhaps because of the nature of their existence, weren’t as timid as the forest dwellers. Blurg exchanged courtesies with the leader, Vooden, who was returning from a journey of some three months which was only about one third of the way across the ocean. He’d been island hoping and transporting passengers as well as trading for goods, especially a type of stone only available on a few of the islands. The stone was a type of obsidian that made the best cutlery on the planet, and drew a good price anywhere they landed. It was the primary base for their economy; and the first time we’d seen that concept among any of the Fenninz race. It was a real eye opener!
There were two of the Vortlepeg aboard the craft and they seemed to be more of a security guard. They stood at the ready with their standard axes but they also had those beautiful obsidian long knives or short swords— take your choice which they were—hanging at their sides, no scabbards! If they had soft skin like humans, they’d have cut themselves to ribbons wearing them. They constantly eyeballed Blurg, whom they seemed to consider the only real threat. They’d obviously never seen a gun of any kind and only saw us as soft people; hence, not a threat. Blurg’s people were quite a bit smaller than the Dragon people from where Oz and his people lived on the large continent, but still formidable when standing there armed and alert.
After a few minutes of exchange between Blurg and their captain, we were more or less introduced as friends. They were very curious about our craft and wanted to know if our gods gave it to us or was it some really advanced magic that made it fly. Blurg explained that it was only a mechanical device and that we were just from a very advanced culture where such things were common.
I told Blurg to tell him that we were very impressed by their obsidian blades and that we had nothing like them. I wanted to trade him some steel tools and technology for a few of them to show to our people for their beauty. I think that made him very happy and a lot more relaxed. These people lived to trade and he saw great advantages in doing business with us.
Their language was very close to that spoken by Blurg’s people, so communication wasn’t too big a problem. I only had twenty thousand questions I wanted to ask them and Vooden seemed to mirror my curiosity. He asked first how to get to our home from here?
I answered with some help from Blurg. “We came from one of the lights in the night sky which we call stars and that we had just arrived from one not too far away, that shared the same sun.” This didn’t quite explain it as well as I’d have liked, but it was enough for the moment.
Although I didn’t learn about it until later, they had tales about little pink people coming in space ships and abducting people. Sounded an awful lot like Earth people’s tales of little green men; abductions and all, you know . . . probing and such. We were invited to join them for their trading dinner, which they provided every time they came to port in a village on the mainland or on an island. It was their customary obligation and a chance to have people sample the exotic foods and wares from the other far off ports.
We accepted and we went off to gather supplies from the ship both for the feast and for trading. Ian was very excited about the feast with these people of whom he’d heard but never met.
“Do you suppose they’ll know anything about the fish people, like the one we saw at the island while we were making our repairs?” He asked me as we were assembling packs full of items to trade.
“I hope so.” I answered. “If anyone knows of them it should be Vooden’s people; they spend most of their time at sea.” I couldn’t help but be constantly amazed at how such a variety of creatures had developed sentience at the level we were finding on this planet as opposed to Earth where what we called sentience was limited pretty much to humans. It’s a thought that keeps me in wonder to this day.
I asked for volunteers to stay and patrol the ship’s surroundings and protect the ship from curiosity seekers at the very least. Doc Lee was the first to volunteer, saying; “I think I should stay and be prepared to treat anyone who tries new food items and has a reaction. It happens sometimes as you know, and I think you should keep your monitor open, just in case anything unpleasant should occur.”
You’re right, as usual.” I replied. “Ian and Blurg will probably be aware of most things that don’t sit well with humans but no sense taking chances.”
In the end almost half of the crew felt that they should stay and
protect the ship after the battles we’d had in the past. A good portion of the crew had been with me on previous missions and were aware of how wrong thing could go.
We brought quite a few tools; shovels, hammers, pliers, long bladed steel knives (ten-twelve inches) with imitation bone handles and leather scabbards, and some eating utensils; also a few large cooking pots. Most of these things were going to be gifts but a few would be traded for a couple of the obsidian blades. A separate group of our crew made up some food dishes to contribute to the feast. We had a fair idea of what the peoples could digest from Hero and Blurg so as to not take anything that they’d be likely to have a serious reaction to. It looked to be a good start with these people, whom had started to return to the village after we’d met with the ship’s captain.
Olga had put together a small group to accompany us for the affair. She would leave Ted Kaneely in charge during her absence from her ship with strict instructions to lift off in case of any problems, to return only if and when called by us.
Brad would as usual be left in command of the Homer while I was gone with the same instructions, though I doubted he would leave without us; just wasn’t in his nature.
We left the ship as we could see the affair beginning to assemble near the pier. There were almost as many Vortlepeg as there were Lapapeg at the gathering. All had brought ample goods for trading. There were low tables set up for items and even produce to be displayed. The big surprise to me was the fact that they had tables already assigned to us. I suppose we would have known even if Blurg hadn’t told us by the placards with a primitive drawing of our ships marking them. A number of the Vortlepeg seemed to be friends of Blurg, and he introduced several of them to us though the names didn’t stick with me at the time. Blurg proudly stood to bargain in our behalf and it was fun to watch him; this definitely was not the first of this type of trading affair he’d been to. He haggled like a professional trader and got us six of those obsidian blades in one deal with the Captain of the vessel that had arrived when we did. In return he traded several steel knives, two hammers, two large pots and a coil of synthetic rope rated at five thousand pounds. It was a good deal since there was in reality a lot more work in making those blades by hand than they could imagine it took for us to crank out our machine-made items. I almost felt guilty but I really wanted one of those blades. I was going to have to have a sheath made for it though or I’d cut myself to ribbons with it.
After about two hours of steady trading in which we gave really good deals, since we didn’t really need most of the items we were trading for, we were actually almost giving stuff to people who Blurg said didn’t have a lot in the first place. It gave some of the poorer people something to trade, which Blurg thought would make most of the people like our presence more; that was important to us.
Suddenly I saw one of the necklaces like the Dolphin creature had been wearing. I got Blurg’s attention and pointed it out to him to see if he could find out where it came from. It had to be from someone who knew something of them; perhaps we’d have some info on them yet?
It was a little Lapapeg, which surprisingly called himself a Fenninz, confirming the fact that they really did sail all the way across the six thousand some odd miles of their ocean to Oz’s land. I was amazed, even though the sea was dotted with islands; it was still an incredible distance for their little ships. His name was Aziz, and he was familiar with the fish people. They were very timid, but would trade a kind of pearl for any type of jewelry, they also traded good fish, especially shellfish that were a delicacy. They also helped sailors when they were in trouble during storms, or if one of the many pirate ships that made their living by helping themselves to whatever they could, were attacking. The pirates rarely hurt anyone seriously or left sailors with nothing to eat, but they were a nuisance nonetheless, costing traders their profits. Pirates were to be avoided if possible.
Usually, if a ship the size of Vooden’s had a couple of Vortlepeg on board, they were spared the harassment. Vortlepeg were noted as warriors for hire, and if you didn’t have at least as many of them in your own employ, you were best off leaving them alone. Piracy didn’t pay well enough for most Vortlepeg to want any part of it; besides, it was a degrading and cowardly profession in their culture. As for the fish people, or Dovpeg, were concerned, they had no actual language that a Human or any of the other races could speak but always succeeded in communicating sufficiently through gesture and other means.
All of the peoples we came in contact with that day were in the very early stages of metallurgy and worked almost strictly with the softest metals, being gold, silver and copper. Their skills in using them were almost exclusively jewelry, and a few utensils and cups, etc. They were all interested in learning how to make things like we brought, and we did promise that we would, as time permitted, teach them the basics required for most of what they desired. The blades which I referred to as obsidian were in fact a type of rock/metal composite that formed naturally only on a couple of islands out in the middle of the ocean, called the Lurgess. This material was less brittle than obsidian due to the silver content and yet took on the sharpness and shine of a black glass blade.
All things considered we felt we were having things as good as could be expected. It was getting on time wise and as the trading wound down the food started to take the center stage. There were a lot of seafood items and a few different types of breads and vegetables. The breads were very different from what the Zorpeg made; they were made from a root of one of the low shrubs with tubers, rather than Sappa. It had a sort of bitter taste at first bite but dissolved into an almost sweet taste after a moment. The texture was slightly grainy but fully palatable; especially one kind that had a hard crust and yet a very soft center that seemed to be made of yet another type of flour. I was told that it was rolled in two layers of the same stuff but processed differently. It was good, anyway, and they had a sort of fruit jelly spread that was the best thing I’d ever tasted. It was a totally memorable meal. Some of the shellfish were as good as lobster, though even uglier, and it was dipped in butter from Mulz milk. Fortunately flavor and looks don’t go hand in hand, the butter being greenish and a little lumpy; still tasted remarkably like butter. Surprisingly not one person got sick from any of the new foods. There were several alcoholic beverages, but my people were warned to go very light on them because they were stronger than most earthly drinks and I remembered how it affected Nettie when she was bitten; so we avoided potential disaster.
We returned to our ship at the end of the day, with many promises to return in the near future. We lifted off and returned to the Reeshian village for the night. In the morning we would reorganize for the trip to Oz.
Upon our arrival back at the village I spent the next hour on the comm with Capt. Pierce. He was fascinated by the ordeal we’d been through, and how well things had gone. He was, however, not pleased that I had promised as much technology as I had promised. I convinced him that it was going to be done over a long enough time as to not be a real problem. He was also as amazed as I was at the news about the Dolphins being a sentient species; they were the first sentient non-land creatures we had come in contact with; although we’d only seen one of them just one time on the island.
The news from home was another story; there was much ado about the reactions between the Reeshians and us. One of the people who was taking advantage of the propaganda newly provided was Patrick Marshal. He was busy spreading tales that made it sound as if what had happened was a deliberate attempt by the Reeshians to set us up for some sinister purpose of their own. What that purpose could be, would be anybody’s guess. I didn’t see how he could convince anyone of such a stupid thing, but the captain said it was surprising how many people were opting for any excuse to object to the mingling of our races.
Eventually the conversation came around to my affair with Meeza. I didn’t really want to talk about it, but Capt. Pierce said it was essential that it be discussed and understood that it was a biolog
ical dilemma and not a case of disloyalty. I asked, point blank, if he thought I should step down as mission commander, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He told me that Nettie had understood completely how it could happen. “Bright girl,” he said. “She really does know what the score is, and said that if that would help to bring the races together, then so be it.” He was so full of admiration that even I was surprised.
“I’m having a very hard time accepting what’s happened myself.” I told him.
“Just keep going with the mission and let the rest fall as it must,” he ordered, somewhat philosophically. “Everything will be as it will be, in the long run.
With that he signed off and I proceeded to get cleaned up, then found a machete case that fit one of the obsidian long knives, long enough for a short sword for a human. I then found a belt to strap it on and looked at myself in the mirror with my new, alien blade hanging at my side. I thought it was a nice addition to my uniform, since our dress uniforms had an optional sword anyway. I felt that the blade was something new for our new world, and I was sure it would become standard; our new traditional Starborn Militia uniform.
Meeza was sitting outside when I came out. I showed her the blade; she laughed and said she’d of course seen them before, but only worn by Vortlepeg. She said that she would make a new sheath for it; one that fit it right. She wanted to make me some dinner, but I told her of the trading feast and she said she’d make me something another time, sounding a little disappointed. I told her I would look forward to it and she seemed pacified. We both knew we were traveling an uncertain road; how things would fall out was a tough call. We both wanted to do what was right and yet, what felt to be the right thing to us was surely, we knew logically, the wrong thing. Turmoil was definitely the rule of the day.
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