by John Norman
"The story is an interesting invention," said Samos.
"Turn the hide," I said to Kog.
"The dark guest has left," said Kog. "The man cuts meat from the kailiauk."
Kog again turned the hide.
"The man returns to his camp," said Kog. "He returns with three kaiila, on oneof which he rides. The other two are burdened with meat from the kailiauk. Nowthere will not be hunger in his camp. He returns, too, with the hide of thekailiauk rolled before him, and three scalps. He will make a shield."
Again Kog turned the hide.
"This is the shield that he will make," said Kog, indicating the last picture onthe hide. This last picture was much larger than the other pictures. It was someseven or eight inches in diameter.
"I see," I said.
Me shield bears, clearly delineated, the visage of the dark guest, the medicinehelper."
"Yes," I said. "Do you recognize the pictures?" asked Kog.
"Yes," I said, "it is Zarendargar, Half-Ear."
"You cannot be sure," said Samos.
"We, too, believe it to be Zarendargar, whom some humans call Half- Ear," saidKog.
"He is, then, alive," I said.
"It would seem so," said Kog.
"Why have you shown us the pictures?" I asked.
"We wish your help, " said Kog.
"To rescue him from the Barrens?" I asked.
"No," said Kog, "to kill him."
"This is preposterous," said Samos. "This entire story is naught but the fantasyof a savage."
"You will note," said Kog, "that the story is unfolded on this hide."
"So?" asked Samos.
It is kailiauk hide," said Kog.
"So?" asked Samos.
"The red savages depend for their very lives on the kailiauk said Kog.
"He is the major source of their food and life. His meat and hide, his bones andsinew, sustain them. From him they derive not only food, but clothing andshelter, tools and weapons."
"I know," said Samos. "I know."
"In their stories they revere, him. His images and relics figure in theirmedicine."
"I know," said Samos.
"Further, they believe that if they are unworthy of the kailiauk, be will goaway. And they believe that this once happened, long ago."
"So?" asked Samos.
"So" said Kog, "they do not lie on the hide of the kailiauk. It would be thelast place in the world that they would choose to lie. On the hide of thekailiauk one may paint only truth."
Samos was silent.
"Beyond this," said Kog, "note that the image of the dark guest appears on theshield."
"I see," said Samos.
"It is a belief of the red savages that if they are unworthy, or do not speakthe truth, that their shield will not protect them, it will move aside or willnot turn the arrows and lances of enemies. Many warriors claim to have seen thishappen. The shields, too, are made of the hide of the kailiauk from the thickhide of the back of the neck, where the skin and musculature are thick, tosupport the weight of the trident and turn the blows of other tridents,especially in the spring buffetings, attendant upon which follows mateselection.
"I shall accept," said Samos, "that the artist is sincere, that he believeshimself to be telling the truth."
"That much is undeniable," said Kog.
"But the whole thing may be only the faithful report of a vision or dream."
"The portion of the skin pertinent to the dream, or vision," said Kog, "isclearly distinguished from the portion of the skin which purports to beconcerned with real events. Further, we find little reason to believe that theartist could have been, or would have been, mistaken about the nature of thoseevents, at least in their broad outlines."
"The dark guest may not be Zarendargar," said Samos. "The resemblance may beonly a coincidence."
"We do not find that a likely possibility," said Kog. "The distances and thetimes, and the dating of this skin, the details of the representation, all thesethings, suggest that it is Zarendargar. Similarly fellows of our species, ortheir descendants, lapsed into barbarism, seldom roam the Barrens. There is toolittle cover and the heat in the summer is too severe."
"The story on the hide takes place in the winter," said Samos.
"That is true," said Kog, "but game, in the Barrens, is scarce in the winter.
Too, the land is too open, and tracks are difficult to conceal. Our peopleprefer wintering in forested or mountainous areas."
"They will normally seek out such areas," I said.
"Yes," said Kog.
"It is your assumption, then," I said, "that Zarendargar is in hiding."
"Yes," said Kog, "in the unlikely and dangerous terrain of the Barrens."
"He knows that he will be sought?" I asked.
"Yes," said Kog. "He knows that he has failed."
I recalled the destruction of the vast supply complex in the Gorean arctic.
"I met Zarendargar," I said. "It does not seem to me likely that he would behiding."
"How then would you explain his presence in the Barrens?" inquired Kog.
"I cannot," I said.
"We have searched for him for two years," said Kog. "This hide is our firstclue."
"How did you come by this hide?" I asked.
"It was received in trade," said Kog. "It came, eventually, to the attention ofone of our agents. Thence it was transported to the steel worlds."
"It does not seem the sort of thing with which the artist would willingly part,"
I said.
"Quite possibly not," said Kog.
I shuddered. The artist, doubtless, had been slain, his body left stripped andmutilated in the customary manner of the red savages. The object, then, throughtrade channels, would have come, I supposed, to one of the high cities, perhapsThentis, the nearest of the large cities to the Barrens.
"We seek Zarendargar," said Kog. "We are his appointed executioners."
Yet there was something puzzling to me in these matters. I could not fullyunderstand what it was. For one thing, I doubted that Zarendargar was in hiding.
Yet, otherwise, I could not explain his presence in the Barrens. Too, I was notfully confident that the artist was dead. He impressed me as a competent andresourceful warrior. The skin, on the other hand, had apparently been traded. Iwas troubled by these things. I did not understand them.
"His crime was failure?" I asked.
"It is not tolerated on the steel worlds," said Kog, "not in one who is abovethe rings."
"Doubtless he received a fair trial," I said.
"Judgment was pronounced in accord with the statutes of the steel worlds," saidKog, "by the high council, composed of seventy-two members elected from amongthe representatives of the thousand cliffs."
"The same council was both judge and jury?" I asked.
"Yes," said Kog, "as is the case in many of your own cities."
"Zarendargar was not present at this trial," I said.
"If the presence of the criminal were required," said Kog, "it would make itimpossible, in many cases, to pass judgment."
"That is true," I said.
"A limitation on judicial proceedings of such a sort would be intolerable," saidKog.
"I see," I said.
"Was evidence submitted in support of Zarendargar?" I asked.
"In a case of this sort, evidence against the court is inadmissible," said Kog.
"I see," I said. "Who, then," I asked, "spoke on behalf of Zarendargar?"
"It is wrong to speak on behalf of a criminal, ' said Kog.
"I understand," I said.
"Due process of law, as you may see," said Kog, "was strictly observed."
"Thank you," I said, "my mind is now satisfactorily relieved on the matter."
Kog's lips drew back over his fangs.
"Even so," I asked, "was the vote unanimous?"
"Unanimity constitutes an impediment to the pursuit of expeditious and efficientjustice," said Kog.
&nbs
p; "Was the vote unanimous?" I asked.
"No," said Kog.
"Was the vote close?" I asked.
"Why do you ask?" asked Kog.
"I am curious," I said.
"Yes," said Kog, "interestingly, it was."
"Thank you," I said. I knew there were factions among these creatures. I hadlearned this, clearly, in the Tahari. Too, I suspected some of the council, evenif they were not of the party of Zarendargar, would have recognized his value tothe steel worlds. He was doubtless one of the finest of their generals.
"There is no division here," I said, "between the political and the judicial."
"All law exists to serve the interests of the dominant powers," said Kog. "Ourinstitutions secure this arrangement, facilitate it and, not unimportantly,acknowledge it. Our institutions are, thus, less dishonest and hypocritical thanthose of groups which pretend to deny the fundamental nature of social order.
Law which is not a weapon and a wall is madness."
"How do we know that you are truly appointed to fulfill the edict of thecouncil?" I asked.
"Do you doubt the word of one who is of the Peoples?" asked Kog.
"Not really," I said. "I was just curious about your credentials."
"You could not read them if we displayed them," said Kog.
"That is true," I said. I was truly amazed at the patience, which the creaturesexhibited. I knew they were short-tempered, even with their own kind. Yet Samosand I had not been attacked. They must need something desperately.
"I swear to you on the rings of Sardak," said Kog, putting his paw on the tworings of reddish alloy on the left wrist Of Sardak.
"That is good enough for me," I said, magnanimously. I had not the least idea,of course, of the significance of this gesture on the part of Kog, but Igathered, under the circumstances, that its import must be rather weighty.
Sardak was, I was sure, Kog's Blood, or leader. If Kog swore falsely I gatheredthat it would then be up to Sardak to kill him. Sardak, however, did not move.
"You are doubtless who you say you are," I admitted.
"Even if we were not," said Kog, "we could still do business."
"Business?" I asked.
"Surely," said Kog. "We are met here in the interest of our mutual profit."
"I do not understand," I said.
"Zarendargar is a dangerous enemy to human beings," said Kog.
"He is a proven foe of Priest-Kings. He is your enemy. How fortunate, then, thatwe may conjoin our efforts in this matter. What a rare, welcome and felicitouscoincidence do we here encounter. It is in your interest to have Zarendargarkilled, and it is our business to kill him. Let us, thus, pool our forces inthis common enterprise."
"Why do you wish our help in this matter?" I asked.
"Zarendargar is in the Barrens," said Kog. "This is a large and perilouscountry. It teems with red savages. To enter such a country and find him itseems to us useful to enlist the help of human beings, creatures of a sort whichthe red savages will understand to be of their own kind, creatures with whomthey might be expected, for a price, to be cooperative. They are superbtrackers, you must understand, and may find the search stimulating. Too, theymay wish to rid their country of something as dangerous as Zarendargar."
"They would hunt him down like an animal, and slay him?" I asked.
"Presumably," said Kog. "And, humans, you see, would be useful in dealing withthem."
"I see," I said.
"What is your answer?" said Kog.
"No," I said.
"Is that your final decision?" asked Kog.
"Yes," I said.
Kog and Sardak suddenly howled. The table between us flung upwards. Samos and I,buffeted, stumbled back. The dark lantern, scattering flaming oil, struck a wallto the side of the room. "Beware, Samos!" I cried. I stood ready with the swordin the guard position. Kog hesitated, tearing at the boards with his clawedfeet.
"Guards!" cried Samos. "Guards!" Burning oil was adhering to the rained wall toour right. I saw the eyes of the two creatures glinting like fiery copperplates. Sardak reached down and seized up the huge spear, which Kog had earlierplaced to the side. "Beware, Samos!" I cried.
Guards, with crossbows, rushed into the room, behind us. With a cry of rageSardak hurled the great spear. It missed Samos and shattered half through thewall some forty feet behind us. Kog hurled the shield towards us and, like agreat, shallow, concave bowl, it skimmed through the air, between us, and brokeboards loose near the roof behind us. "Fire," cried Samos to his men. "Fire!"
With the titanic beating of wings the two tarns, the creatures mounted on them,took flight from the ruins of the tarn cot. I staggered back in the wind fromthe wings. I half shut my eyes against the dust and debris, which struck,against my face. The flames from the burning oil on the wall to my right leapedalmost horizontally backwards, torn and lashed by the wind. Then they burnedagain, as they had a moment before. I saw the creatures mounted on the tarns,silhouetted against one of Gor's three moons, fleeing over the marshes. "Theyhave escaped," said Samos.
"Yes," I said. They had restrained themselves as long as they had been able to.
What a titanic effort of will must have been necessary for them, creatures soferocious and savage, to have control themselves as long as they had. They haddone particularly well considering the numerous provocations to which,deliberately, I had subjected them to test the depth of their commitment totheir mission and the depth of their need of human help.
"Look at this," said one of Samos' men, working loose the great spear from thewall.
"And this," said another, lifting up the huge shield.
Samos' men examined the spear and shield.
"Forget what you have seen here this night," said Samos.
"What were they?" asked one of Samos' men, standing beside me.
"We call them Kurii, Beasts," I said.
2 I Will Go to the Barrens
"It was a trick," said Samos, "to lure you into the Barrens, where they mighthave slain you with impunity."
Samos and I rode inside the squarish, covered barge in which we had earlier cometo the tam complex in the marshes. It was now shortly after dawn. We were makingour way through the canals of Port Kar. Here and there, on the walks at theedges of the canal, men were moving about. Most were loading or readying smallboats, or folding nets. I saw, through the small, slatted window near me, aslave girl drawing water from the canal, with a rope and bucket.
"Surely so elaborate a hoax would not have been necessary if our destruction hadbeen their only end in view," I said.
"Perhaps," said Samos.
"They might have attacked us almost immediately in the tarn complex, andpresumably have made good their escape," I said.
"True," said Samos. It was unlikely that we could have adequately defendedourselves against a sudden onslaught of such foes at that short a distance.
I saw a man outside on the walk, a few yards away, mending a net. Ovoid, paintedfloats lay beside him. On my knees, rolled, was the hide, which had beendisplayed to us by Kog and Sardak in the tarn complex. We had retrieved it fromthe burning complex. Too, at our feet, dented, but still operational, as we haddetermined, was the boxlike translator. We had left the burning complex behindus in the marshes, its smoke ascending in the gray light of the morning. Thehuge shield and spear we had discarded in the marshes. The less evidence of suchthings about the better, we speculated, for men.
"Do you think you should have gone with them?" asked Samos.
"No," I said.
"It could, of course," said Samos, "have been a portion of their plan that ifZarendargar had been successfully destroyed, they might then turn on you."
"Yes," I said, "or I on them."
"That possibility would not be unlikely to occur to such creatures," said Samos.
"No," I said.
"You do not feel you should have gone with them," said Samos.
"No," I said.
"What do you think they will do now?" asked
Samos.
"They will go to the Barrens," I said.
"They will hunt Zarendargar," said Samos.
"Of course," I said.
"Do you think they will attempt to enlist the aid of men?" asked Samos.
"Doubtless," I said.
"It is easy for me to understand why they came first to us," said Samos.
"Of course," I said. "Our aid might prove invaluable. Too, they would expect usto be as eager, as zealous, as they, to bring about the destruction ofZarendargar. The venture, presumably, would be one which would be in our commoninterest, one in which we could find a mutual profit."
"It would also be easier for them, to approach us than many men," said Samos,"for, from our wars, such as they, and their nature and intelligence, are notunknown to us."
"That is true," I said.
"They will have difficulty recruiting efficient aid," said Samos, "for few whitemen are allowed to tread the Barrens, and those who are permitted to, encroachupon their fringes are normally permitted to do so only for purposes of trade."
"I think it is fair to assume," I said, "that they do not have an agent in theBarrens. If they had had such an agent then it is unlikely they would haveapproached us in the first place. Similarly the Barrens would seem to be anunlikely, desolate and profitless place in which to have placed an agent."
"They must obtain new recruits," said Samos.
"That seems likely," I said.
"We have their translator," said Samos.
"That is unimportant," I said. "Doubtless they have another among their stores."
"What of the red savages themselves?" asked Samos.