It was a tough life, Rebecca thought. What didn't kill them would only make them stronger. It was the fire which had hardened her, and it would harden them, or their weakness would kill them.
They had a long and brutal life ahead of them on Bali. She could not let herself feel remorse for them. She had not made the rules and in fact, she wouldn't change them if she could! Strange as it was, she completely advocated the System. It had created her!
"You haven't asked my opinion in the matter." Rebecca said, staring disdainfully upon Nago. "I might not care to be a slave."
Nago laughed. A laugh filled with true mirth. "You no longer have an opinion, woman. In fact, I will prefer it if you do resist. You'll make great sport."
"I doubt I'll even notice a boy of your proportions!" Rebecca sneered. Nago's smile faltered a moment, but quickly returned.
"You'll notice." He said, walking closer. When he reached her side, he dug his hand into her hair and yanked her head back. "You'll be begging for my attentions before we are through, and we've got all the time in the world to get to know one another." His smile said he really believed it, but he did not know her very well. She'd been kept by worse and far crueler men than this babe in the woods.
Hell, she might even enjoy his little attentions!
He would not enjoy the attentions she would lavish on him however, when he let his guard down. The smartest thing Nago could have done, once he had acquired the weapon he wanted, was to have immediately killed her, or used her, if he really needed that, and then killed her. Anything less was sheer stupidity on a colossal scale.
A fool and his life were soon parted. She smiled.
With her head back under the pull of his hand in her hair, and her back arched backward until she was nearly falling, Nago bent over and kissed her viciously on the mouth.
His breath was horrid and tasted of rot even though he had the best teeth of any of them, but Rebecca returned the kiss eagerly, just as if she were in love with him. Later, when her bindings had been removed, she would bite off his lips, chew them up, and swallow them.
"That's more like it." Nago said when he had finished. "The sooner you learn your place the easier your life will become." He untangled his hand from her hair and she slowly straightened.
As Nago stepped away, a group of women detached themselves from the dispersing crowd to stand at Nago's side. One was young and sultry, and very beautiful. It was her whose eyes now bored most acutely into Rebecca's own.
These were the wives of course. Her presence was already resented. Especially so by the girl. She was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Rebecca. She would not appreciate having her status as favorite usurped.
"Take her home." Nago told them now. "Do not remove her bindings!"
The girl stepped up and grabbed Rebecca by the hair, yanking her violently forward, while the rest watched. Nago wore an amused expression, the rest also with smiles of . . . amusement, Rebecca realized. The favorite was usurped, as she had usurped them, and they were amused. Rebecca nearly lost her footing as she was dragged forcibly forward.
"Keep your feet, whore!" The girl hissed. "Nago did not say I could not beat you. Maybe I'll mark your face!"
Rebecca did not meet her angry eyes. The girl would probably do as she had threatened, but Rebecca was ready. Her bound wrists would not stop her from stomping this girl into the ground, and the life from her body, if she wanted, long before the remaining wives, who were now trailing behind, would be able to lift a hand to stop her.
The crowd reluctantly parted to allow them to pass. Many of the women, from among those who had not lost spouses, were gazing on Rebecca with awe and some fear. Women in this society were not warriors. Not only was this Outsider woman a warrior, but she was a fearful one at that!
Nago moved directly for the village storage structure, which was surrounded by a large group of his men. One eyed Denarl strolled along at his side, as if he thought he belonged there. His aspirations were as clear as the blue sky above. If Naram did not return, he thought that he might be the one to fill those shoes.
The chance that Naram might lead the Outsiders to the Dunaj village, or that they would find their own way, wanting the return of their weapons, suddenly struck Nago as a very real possibility.
Or that they might want their people back. To how much trouble would they go for a couple castaways? Yet it might be a matter of honor with them. That they would not leave any of their people behind.
Nago pushed that thought aside as they approached the village storage structure. That which was within its walls held his interest now.
The group was strangely quiet as they approached the building, as if a sense of dread had settled over them. As if the contents of the building possessed some malignant personality all of its own, of Whom to which they were consigning themselves by planning to enter it's sacred environs.
Nago did not feel that way at all. All he felt was exultant exhilaration. He could not have been in a better mood in fact, despite the problems he may have brought down on the Dunaj.
"Fools!" Nago snapped, as some of them actually held back as they neared. They bolstered their courage and followed along however, under Nago's withering gaze. Not that he cared if they came or not, it was simply the principle of the thing.
Their superstitions must be put aside. That era had passed and was gone. Nago would usher in the new.
Denarl showed no such inhibitions. The contempt on his face mirrored Nago's own. Whatever fears he may have had, he hid them well.
The storage structure was the largest building in the Dunaj village. Used for hanging the cured meats they hunted, the grains, tubers and fruits they collected, and whatever else they acquired that was extra. They had stockpiled much in their years of warring.
The only thing Nago was interested in here were the artifacts from the ship. The weapons. His mind was exploding with the possibilities as he approached the guarded door.
"We thought it prudent to post a guard." The man by the door said. The young man's name was Hamet, as Nago recalled.
"At least someone is thinking." Nago said, resolving to keep his eye on this one, who had never previously struck him as so cool headed. Hamet was a quiet, childish looking young man, but obviously had a head on his shoulders and a maturity beyond his appearance.
"Were guarding it in shifts. Six of us." Hamet said. He was obviously proud of the praise he had been given.
The Outsiders would bring many changes, Nago thought. Where would it end?
"Set up a scheduled guard detail. With the six of you supervising. Bring me a list of all of your names later." Nago said.
"Thank you." Hamet said, as if it were Nago who had done something for him, and not the other way around.
"I should've thought of it myself." Nago admitted, and Hamet beamed under the praise. The Dunaj had never owned anything that needed, particularly, to be guarded. As the workload itself was shared, so was everything else.
The Rawhide hinges creaked as Nago pulled open the door. The windowless storage building was dim inside, but the light spilling in through the open doorway illuminated enough to see the huge mound of Outsider artifacts heaped against the far wall.
He saw several of the weapons immediately. One was much larger, but Nago recognized its similarity immediately. The hand-grip was unmistakable.
He rushed to the larger weapon and yanked it from the pile. On closer inspection, the pile seemed comprised of, primarily, a lot more of these weapons. The operation of the larger weapon was based on the same principle as the smaller one on his hip. One off/on switch, and the metal stud that fired it.
What could be more simple?
Denarl was at his side, staring with rapt fascination at the weapon in Nago's hands, and then at the pile against the wall. Very fascinated, Nago noted.
Denarl showed no superstitious fear or awe at all. Only a raw look of undisguised lust. Ambition. Nago's face must've held much the same look there for a moment, before he had
begun to contemplate Denarl.
"Who do you think should get these weapons?" Nago asked casually, as if Denarl's opinion were important. None of what Nago was thinking showed on his face. His look said that he really wanted Denarl's opinion. That it held true value.
"Only the most trusted." Denarl said. Nago could see that Denarl was struggling with himself, that he wanted to name himself as one of those most trusted, but was afraid to hear the answer.
He and Denarl had never been what Nago would call particularly close. The man had a streak in him, and that streak was ambition.
'A little late for that.' Nago told Denarl silently.
"Yes I think you're right. They're too powerful just to entrust to anybody. Only the most trusted. We must pick and choose them carefully, Denarl." Nago said, releasing one hand from the weapon to clap Denarl good-naturedly on the back.
"Yes exactly." Denarl agreed, seeing himself suddenly elevated beyond his wildest dreams.
When Nago's hand fell from Denarl's shoulder, it did not return to the Outsider weapon, but fell to his side, and the handle of his knife. In one quick deft motion, Nago pulled the knife and buried it to the hilt in Denarl's side, just under the last rib. It parted Denarl's clothing, his skin, and the organs beneath effortlessly, with casual ease.
Denarl stared at him wide-eyed as Nago twisted the blade and savaged Denarl's innards. Denarl stiffened in shock, the upward thrust of the blade having pierced his heart. He was a dead man standing.
“Only the most trusted.” Nago said as he freed his blade and Denarl sagged to the ground, dead long before he fell.
"He was not one I trusted." Nago told the men filling the storehouse, and who had shrunk back to allow Denarl the room to fall. "And I am Chieftain here. Who wishes to challenge?"
No one did. It was very probable they thought him completely insane, maybe infected by the Spirits of the Outsider artifacts. In a way he was, he thought with more than just a little amusement.
"So who else wants to be entrusted with the Outsider weapons?" Nago asked jovially.
Chapter 39
"She's been plundered, all right." Lan said.
"Picked clean." Mario agreed.
They were surveying the wreckage of what had been Benefactor's Bridge, after their level by level search of the entire ship. Now they were going back over the whole thing all over again looking for any clues they might find as to the whereabouts of Rebecca or of the Senator, but the search had so far turned up nothing.
"Even most of the blast scrap." Mario mused. "Never did like this carbon nano-composite shit. It must have been a hell in here."
"What killed all these people?" Becla asked. It was just the three of them there then.
Lan explained. Carbon was so strong that so little of it was needed for structural integrity, but under intense pressure, it shattered like glass. Very thin, very sharp glass. The walls here were only a few atoms thick. A shard of carbon only a few atoms thick, propelled at high speeds, would cut through a human with almost no resistance at all.
"Why do they use it if it's so dangerous?" Becla asked.
Both laughed.
"It's cheap. That's why they use it." Lan said.
"That's not entirely true." Mario said. "It is the strongest substance known to man. There's nothing that can withstand modern weapons though. This ship had thick shielding. In most cases, that shielding should've been enough for them to take a hit and still be able to run."
"But they walked right into it here." Lan added.
"I just wish they wouldn't use it inside these ships. Any other material would be far better." Mario said.
"It was a flying death trap, is what it was." Lan said.
"You'd of thought, that on a Senator's ship, they would've cut no corners." Becla said. "Now look what they've gotten themselves into."
"You mean look what they've gotten us into! " Mario said.
"Duty, honor or death, we stick, but we are expendable." Lan said.
"So we're just the cogs that make the machine go." Becla said, smiling.
"And cogs wear out, break, and are replaced." Mario agreed.
"What do we do now?" Becla asked.
"When we finish here, we let Gylastak lead us to them." Lan said. "Molog are the best trackers in the known Universe."
"Nothing can elude a Molog." Mario agreed. "If you got one on your trail, better get into the open somewhere and fight it out immediately. Cause there is no escaping them."
Lan looked at Mario queerly. "What would you know about that?"
"This is my eighth year in the Corps, Carter, that's what I know about it!"
"You were in the Human/Molog war?" Becla asked.
"Strange you never mentioned it before." Lan said.
"The memories aren't pleasant ones." Mario said.
"I thought they capitulated right away?" Lan said.
"Not quite right away."
"I don't want to hear anymore." Becla said.
"I do." Lan said.
"That time is gone. I don't talk about it." Mario said sharply. He sounded quite final about it. He was also glaring.
"I wonder what Gylastak will think when he finds out you're a Molog killer!" Lan goaded. Mario was entirely too dangerous to play with in this manner, Lan admitted silently, but that was what made it enjoyable.
Becla was staring at Lan in open mouthed astonishment, as if she had just seen Lan for the very first time in her entire life and did not know quite what to think about him anymore. He grinned under her scrutiny.
"I've heard that a lot of Officers are killed by friendly fire!" Mario drawled.
"I'm not an Officer." Lan replied.
"You're CO. That's short for Commanding Officer, isn't it?"
"Never heard of the guy." Lan said.
"Knock it off!" Becla said. "You guys are not amusing." They were a bunch of overgrown boys with deadly toys, Becla thought. They call each other best friends one minute and slice each other’s throats the next. And she was in love with Lan Carter? What she needed was to have her head examined. Because there must be something wrong with it!
At least they had shut up and were back to doing their jobs. They had been about to drive her into a murderous rage. How had she come to be here? What idiotic fantasy had she entertained that had sent her to the Corps Recruitment Office in the first place? It seemed so far away and long ago now, like another life.
And yet, she had seen firsthand what happened to those who were not like Lan. Like any of these men. When they had all regrouped, all but Gylastak, they shared with they had learned.
"They were a large group of indigenes."
"Weapons unknown."
"Picked Benefactor clean."
"They'll be easy enough to track."
"Gylastak will do the tracking." Lan said. "If you aren't all familiar with Molog, you can rest assured we're in good hands."
"Pincers!" Briar said. "And I'd just as soon not be in them."
"So we haven't found anything constructive?" Becla demanded, seeing the conversation devolving back into chaos. She saw now why the Corps did not want these men promoted. Even Mekel, with his rank, was no better. They'd win some wars, but they'd put the Corps into a shambles.
The conversation halted as they all turned to stare at her. All had heard the carbon in her voice. Lan was the only one who did not seem particularly surprised, as if he had merely been waiting for it to show itself.
She understood a lot more than she ever had about Lan, at that moment.
"Well?" Lan demanded. "Does anyone have anything useful to report, before we move on?"
No one did, apparently.
"Then let's get moving." Lan said, moving.
"What about the Molog?" Tiny asked as Lan reached the rent in the wall through which they had entered. Lan paused to answer;
"The Molog will find us. We've communicators if we need him sooner." Lan explained, then stepped through the wall, his cuff light leading the way into the darker corrid
or beyond. The rest followed, but Becla was immediately at Lan's side. She had slipped their unobtrusively.
"You should be careful who you sneak up on." Lan said.
"You should be more observant." Becla replied.
They followed the normal course down through the levels of the ship, and in one case were able to drop down right through a gap in the deck under their feet, and a deadly trap if you weren't paying attention in the dark, and were soon back outside the ship, standing on the soggy ground, waiting for the Molog's return.
"How long we gonna wait?" Nat asked.
"He's on his way." Lan said. The men looked to one another queerly, but only a moment later, the Molog dropped silently from the trees above. No one had heard his approach.
"Two hundred twenty men. Natives. Twenty follow sister and unknown other. Two hundred ransack ship, go in different direction. We go." Gylastak said.
"You didn't ask if we are to go." Lan said.
"Unknown man not Corps' man. Eat different food. Make different smell. Many differences. Make no doubt is Senator man. We follow?" Gylastak affirmed.
"And there is your sister." Becla said.
"Wouldn't be enough reason to authorize a search." Mekel said. "We'd be turning around and leaving without her."
"Some might." Lan said. "I wouldn't be."
"No one's leaving without Reb." Kelly said.
"It doesn't matter now." Lan said. "Somehow they both survived. The only survivors. Wherever the Senator's at, she'll be close by."
"More of Rebel's luck." Mike said.
"Luck-skill." Gylastak said. "Inherent skill. Molog understand."
"Who cares." Nat said. "Is this a fucking Carter family fan convention or a rescue mission?"
"You sure it was only twenty that followed them?" Lan asked Gylastak, ignoring Nat.
"Sure." Gylastak said.
"Then there's every possibility they'll have failed." Lan said. "We'll find their corpses along the way. Or run into them as they flee."
"Cautious." Gylastak warned. "Large predators. Several variety. Might attack."
Duty, Honor or Death the Corps Sticks Page 22