by John Norman
"But the translator," said Samos.
"A bewildering complexity of tribal languages is spoken in the Barrens," I said, "most of them unintelligible to native speakers of the others. I find it hard to believe that their translators would be prepared to deal with any one of those languages, let along several of them."
"Zarendargar is then perhaps safe," said Samos.
"Not at all," I said. "Kurii are tenacious. With or without human aid we may be sure that they will not rest until they have found their quarry."
"Zarendargar, then, is doomed," said Samos.
"Perhaps," I said.
I glanced again outside the barge, through the now-opened slats of the small window. On a gently inclined slope of cement leading down to the canal, the water lapping at her knees, there knelt a slave girl doing laundry. She wore her steel collar. Her tunic came high on her thighs. It is thought desirable for a female slave to work long hours at menial tasks. I smiled to myself. It is pleasant to own a woman, absolutely, in the Gorean fashion.
"It is your belief, then," said Samos, "that the skin is genuine."
"Yes," I said, "and from what I know of the red savages, I would conjecture that this skin is from the very beast whose image is portrayed upon it."
"Ai," said Samos. "Perhaps!"
"I think it is more than likely," I said.
"I pity Zarendargar," said Samos.
"He would not appreciate the sentiment," I said. I moved on the low wooden bench, one of several aligned perpendicularly to the interior port wall of the enclosed barge. There was a similar set of benches aligned identically against the starboard wall.
"These benches are uncomfortable," I said to Samos. My legs were cramped.
"They are designed for women," said Samos.
There was room for five women on each bench. With my heel I kicked some light, siriklike slave chains back under the bench. Such chains are too light for a man, but they are fully adequate for a woman. The primary holding arrangements for women on the benches, however, are not chains. Each place on the bench is fitted with ankle and wrist stocks, and for each bench, if the barge was being used for its customary purpose, the transport of female slaves, there would also have been a simple, convenient plank collar. Only the iron framework for that collar was now in evidence. In such a collar, had it been in place, two planks would be involved, both flat and horizontal, each of which would contain five matching semicircular openings. These planks are supported by, and fixed in, the iron framework. One plank is fixed in place, and the other, in its runners, can slide about a foot backward and forward. Thus, when the moving plank is slid back against the fixed plank, the device provides, in virtue of the matching semicircular openings, five sturdy, wooden enclosures for the small, lovely throats of women. To place a woman in the device or remove her from it, the forward plank is freed and slid forward; to fasten her within the device, it is moved backward and secured in place. When tenanted the device is usually locked shut, though simple pins are as effective for holding purposes as the women cannot reach them. The planks are thick and thus the girls' chins are held high. This is thought to be an excellent discipline for them. The planks are further reinforced between each girl with a narrowly curved iron band, the open ends of which are pierced; this is slid tight in its slots, in its metal retainers, about the boards, and secured in place with a four-inch metal pin, which may or may not be locked in place. Each girl is held well in her place, thusly, not only by the ankle and wrist stocks, which hold her ankles back and her wrists beside her, but by the plank collar as well.
We were now using the barge, of course, for purposes of concealment. There are many such barges in Port Kar and, accordingly, little thought would be given to yet another of them in the canals. It might be mentioned in passing that Port Kar's location, with its access to the Vosk Delta, its position in the Tamber Gulf, and its having gleaming Thassa herself lapping at her sea walls, is a not unenviable one for commerce. To be sure, among northern coastal ports, it would not rank with Brundisium in this particular. Also, to be candid, Port Kar is still muchly thought of on Gor, though she now has a Home Stone, as a lair of thieves, a den of pirates, and so on. There is some justification, of course, for this assessment as, usually after dark, it is not unknown for sleek, green ramships, low in the water, masts down, sometimes in their dozens, to emerge through the sea gates, bent on a business known to few but their captains and crews. In any event, in one way or another, many goods pass through Port Kar, mostly honestly one supposes, and many merchants come to Port Kar, even from Cos and Tyros, with which we are at war, to trade, and sometimes, I suspect, to see what bargains might be found, what results might have accrued from various harvestings at sea, whether public or discreet. Indeed, sometimes, it seems that such merchants buy back their own goods. They come to the sea walls flying the merchant flag which, in virtue of Merchant Law, the only law common to civilized Gor other than the rules and dictates of Priest-Kings, normally allows access to a Gorean Port. It is sometimes judicious, as well as profitable, to occasionally overlook a vessel's likely port of origin. Too, it is not unknown for Gorean ships, particularly merchantmen, to carry various flags and pennons, and fly whichever seem appropriate or politic in dangerous or contested waters. There is a joke in the city that Port Kar must have the greatest merchant fleet on Gor, greater than even those of Cos and Tyros combined, given the frequency with which our corsairs encounter the vessels of alleged compatriots. A boarding, of course, if possible, quickly clarifies matters. Adding to the confusion is the practice of many of our ships to fly alien flags. It is always useful to have one's reavings ascribed to others, particularly others with whom one is at war. The safest course for a merchant captain to follow, whether of Port Kar or not, if he is not moving in convoy, with attendant ramships, is to avoid all contact with other vessels between ports. Port Kar used to seek slaves in the delta itself but, some years ago, the men of the delta learned the great bow, the peasant bow, and since that time such raids have almost ceased. One is wise to relate warily to the masters of the great bow. The fellows in the delta, however, will normally pass barges through to Port Kar, and from Port Kar to the western Vosk region, though usually for a toll. Sometimes they will accept a girl or two, if she pleases them. In any event, slave barges in the canals would attract little attention, or comment.
"We are passing a market," said Samos. "You had better close the window slats."
I glanced outside. The smell of fruit and vegetables, and verr milk, was strong. I also heard the chatter of women. Dozens of women were spreading their blankets, and their wares, on the cement. There are many such markets in Port Kar. Men and women come to them in small boats. Also, of course, sometimes the vendors, too, will merely tie up their boats near the side of the canal, particularly when the space on the cement is crowded. The markets, thus, tend to extend into the canal itself. The only fully floating market authorized by the Council of Captains occurs in a lakelike area near the arsenal. It is called the Place of the Twenty-Fifth of Se'Kara, because of the monument there, rising from the water. On the twenty-fifth of Se'Kara in Year One of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains, the year 10,120 C.A., Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar, a sea battle took place in which the fleet of Port Kar defeated the fleets of Cos and Tyros. The monument, of course, commemorates this victory. The market forms itself about the monument. That year, incidentally, is also regarded as significant in the history of Port Kar because it was in that year that, as it is said, a Home Stone consented to reside within the city.
"Please," said Samos.
I looked at the benches. Most of them were smooth, and, on many, the dark varnish was all but worn off. Slave girls are normally transported nude.
"Please," said Samos.
"I'm sorry," I said. I closed the window slats by moving one of the slats. They can be most easily closed, of course, by moving the narrow, vertically mounted, central wooden lever, but this lever, as would be expected, is on the
outside. The window is designed to be opened and shut from the outside. Too, it can be locked shut, and normally is, from the outside, when cargo is within. As I have earlier indicated the slave girl is normally transported in total ignorance of her destination. Keeping a girl in ignorance is commonly thought useful in her control and management. Too, it helps her keep clearly in mind that she is a slave. Curiosity is not becoming in a Kajira is a common Gorean saying. The girl learns quickly that it is not her business to meddle in the affairs of her master but, rather, to be beautiful, and serve him, abjectly and totally.
"I do not wish too many to know of our early morning journey," said Samos.
I nodded. We were well known in Port Kar. There was little point in provoking the populace to idle speculations.
"We are passing another market," I said.
"Verr milk, Masters!" I heard called. "Verr milk, Masters!"
I opened the slats a tiny crack. I wished to see if she were pretty. She was, in her tunic and collar, kneeling on a white blanket, spread on the cement, with the brass container of verr milk, with its strap, near her, and the tiny brass cups. She was extremely lightly complexioned and had very red hair. "Verr milk, Masters," she called. Slaves may buy and sell in the name of their masters, but they cannot, of course, buy and sell for themselves because they are only animals. It is rather for them to be themselves bought and sold, as the masters might please.
"Will you make a report of this morning's business to the Sardar?" I asked.
"A routine report of all such contacts is to be made," said Samos.
"Do you expect the Sardar to take action?" I asked.
"No," said Samos.
"That, too, is my speculation," I said.
"It is their custom in most such matters to let matters take their course."
"True," I said.
"Are you interested?" asked Samos.
"I was curious to hear your view," I said. "It coincides with mine, as I had thought it would."
"Why do you ask?" asked Samos.
"I was curious," I said.
"Oh," said Samos.
We rode together for a time in silence, toward my holding, through the canals.
"I met Zarendargar, in the north," I said.
"That is known to me," said Samos.
"He impressed me as a fine commander, and a good soldier," I said.
"He is a terrifying and dangerous enemy," said Samos. "Men and Priest-Kings would be well rid of him. Let us hope that the beasts we met this morning will be successful in their quest."
I looked again through the tiny crack in the slats. It was near the sixth Ahn. Small boats now moved about on the canal. Most were propelled by the swaying movement of a steering oar. Some, larger boats and light galleys, such as might be used in the Tamber Gulf or, abroad, on Thassa, were being rowed from thwarts. These vessels were singly or doubly ruddered. In negotiating the canals their long, sloping yards were lowered, being then fully or partially inboard, in either case being aligned with the keel. This was in accord with an ordnance of Port Kar.
"The Council of Captains must meet in two days," said Samos. "It is proposed that the Sa-Tarna quay in the south harbor be extended. What division of this will be borne by public expense remains moot. Too, if this license be granted, an exploitable precedent may be set. Already there is talk among the merchants in rep-cloth and the lumber and stone merchants."
We were now passing an open slave market. The merchant was chaining his girls on the broad, tiered, cement display shelves. One girl lay on her stomach, on her elbows, her head down, the heavy iron collar on her neck visible beneath her hair; a short, weighty chain of thick dark links connected this collar, by its collar ring, to a wide, stout ring, anchored deeply in the cement, almost beneath her chin; the chain was no more than six inches long; I gathered that she was being disciplined; another girl, a blonde, sat on her shelf with her knees drawn up, her ankles crossed, her arms about her knees; I saw her chain descend from her collar, disappear behind her right leg, and then re-emerge from behind her right thigh, thence running to the ring to which she was attached; another girl, a long-haired brunette, on all fours, faced me, with glazed eyes, seemingly uncomprehendingly regarding the enclosed barge as it passed by in the canal; she had just been chained; it is common to put a woman on all fours for neck chaining; the slaver stepped away from her; neck chaining, incidentally, is common in a market for female slaves, as it is for she-sleen; several girls, standing, awaited their chaining, in turn, on the tiers; I could see the small, incisive brand marks on their left thighs, high, just below their left hips; they were in ankle coffle, their left ankles chained together; more than one of them shaded her eyes against the morning sun; it would be a long day for most of them, chained in the sun, on the hard, granular surfaces of the hot cement shelves.
"These issues," said Samos, "are subtle and complex."
The women were chained nude, of course, for that is the way that slave girls are commonly displayed for their sale, particularly in low markets, and, indeed, even in a private sale from one of the purple booths in the courtyard of a rich slaver there will come a time when the slave, even an exquisite, high slave, must put aside her silks and be examined raw, as though she were a common girl. The Gorean male is a practiced and wary buyer. He wishes to see, fully and clearly, and preferably at his own pace, and leisure, what it is for which he is considering putting out his hard-earned money.
"I think that I would favor granting the license," said Samos, "but that I would also insist on the restriction of the subsidy to such an amount that an attack by every mercantile subcaste in Port Kar on the public coffers will not be encouraged. That seems to me reasonable. The various subcastes, it seems to me, should be expected, on the whole, to rely on their own resources. Direct council support, for example, has never been petitioned by the Slavers."
I considered the Barrens. They are not, truly, as barren as the name would suggest. They are barren only in contrast, say, with the northern forests or the lush land in river valleys, or the peasant fields or meadows of the southern rain belts. They are, in fact, substantially, vast tracts of rolling grasslands, lying east of the Thentis mountains. I have suspected that they are spoken of as the Barrens not so much in an attempt to appraise them with geographical accuracy as to discourage their penetration, exploration and settlement. The name, then, is perhaps not best regarded as an item of purely scientific nomenclature but rather as something else, perhaps a warning. Also, calling the area the Barrens gives men a good excuse, if they should desire such, for not entering upon them. To be sure, the expression 'Barrens' is not altogether a misnomer. They would be, on the whole, much less arable than much of the other land of known Gor. Their climate is significantly influenced by the Thentis mountains and the absence of large bodies of water. Prevailing winds in the northern hemisphere of Gor are from the north and west. Accordingly a significant percentage of moisture-laden air borne by westerly winds is forced by the Thentis mountains to cooler, less-heated air strata, where it precipitates, substantially on the eastern slopes of the mountains and the fringes of the Barrens. Similarly the absence of large bodies of water in the Barrens reduces rainfall which might be connected with large-scale evaporation and subsequent precipitation of this moisture over land areas, the moisture being carried inland on what are, in effect, sea breezes, flowing into low-pressure areas caused by the warmer land surfaces, a given amount of radiant energy raising the temperature of soil or rock significantly more than it would raise the temperature of an equivalent extent of water.
The absence of large bodies of water adjacent to or within the Barrens also has another significant effect on their climate. It precludes the Barrens from experiencing the moderating effects of such bodies of water on atmospheric temperatures. Areas in the vicinity of large bodies of water, because of the differential heating ratios of land and water, usually have warmer winters and cooler summers than areas which are not so situated. The Barrens, accordingly, t
end to be afflicted with great extremes of temperature, often experiencing bitterly cold winters and long, hot, dry summers.
"Another possibility," Samos was saying, "would be a loan to the Sa-Tarna merchants, at a reduced rate of interest. Thus we might avoid the precedent of a direct subsidy to a subcaste. To be sure, we might then encounter resistance from the Street of Coins. Tax credits would be another possible incentive."
Beyond the Thentis mountains, in the driest areas, the grass is short. As one moves in an easterly direction it becomes taller, ranging generally from ten to eighteen inches in height; as one moves even further east it can attain a height of several feet, reaching as high as the knees of a man riding a kaiila. On foot, it is easier to become lost in such grass than in the northern forests. No white man, incidentally, at least as far as I know, has ever penetrated to the eastern edge of the Barrens. Certainly, as far as I know, none has ever returned from that area. Their extent, accordingly, is not known.
"The issues are complicated," said Samos. "I do not know, truly, how I should cast my vote."
Tornadoes and booming, crashing thunder can characterize the Barrens. In the winter there can be blizzards, probably the worst on Gor, in which snows can drift as high as the mast of the light galley. The summers can be characterized by a searing sun and seemingly interminable droughts. It is common for many of the shallow, meandering rivers of the area to run dry in the summer. Rapid temperature shifts are not unusual. A pond may unexpectedly freeze in En'Kara and, late in Se'Var, a foot or two of snow may be melted in a matter of hours. Sudden storms, too, are not unprecedented. Sometimes as much as twelve inches of rain, borne by a southern wind, can be deposited in less than an hour. To be sure, this rain usually runs off rapidly, cutting crevices and gullies in the land. A dry river bed may, in a matter of minutes, become a raging torrent. Hail storms, too, are not infrequent. Occasionally the chunks of ice are larger than the eggs of vulos. Many times such storms have destroyed flights of migrating birds.