Civilization

by Stephen Drake

  “If he’s going to be active, I’d put some mud on it to keep it from reopening. Otherwise, let the air to it. It’ll help to keep it dryer,” Annie explained, “but Irene will know how to treat it.”

  With that, Murdock and Annie headed back to the fire. Once there, Annie socialized a bit with Mei Lee and Emily. Reyes had been socializing while Annie and Murdock talked. It wasn’t long before they bid their good-byes and Reyes and Annie left the camp.

  #

  The next morning, Annie brought Irene Harris to Murdock while they were packing the cart. Declan seemed to be getting better, though he was still weak and pale. After introductions were made, they all bid farewell to Annie and headed further upriver. At the ridge, Murdock made no effort to hide his ability to levitate from his tribe. He just levitated them and then refused to talk about it with Doctor Harris or Emily. Just before sunset, they reached Murdock’s cabin.

  #

  Declan found Murdock sitting on a pile of logs sharpening the axe. It had been several weeks since he had arrived and his arm was healed, even though he had a bright, red scar on it. He knew he would always have the scar. They had been working on a sleeping room with a small fireplace to give Emily and him some privacy. It was freestanding but close to the main cabin entrance.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Declan asked quietly. He had begun to understand that talking quietly was less unnerving for the others.

  “Of course, what’s on your mind?” Murdock asked. He stopped his sharpening to listen to Declan.

  “Did you kill any of those men that attacked me and Emily?” Declan looked grave. That was how Murdock knew a straight answer was what he required.

  “No, I didn’t.” Murdock answered.

  “Why not? I was injured and Emily could have been killed,” Declan said heatedly. “At least one of them should have died!”

  “Really? Is that what you really think or are you saying it because you’re angry?” Murdock asked.

  “Both, I guess. How are they going to learn to not attack people who have done them no harm?”

  “How does a dead man learn anything?” Murdock asked. “How do you teach a dead man anything? Isn’t it a waste of time and effort to teach someone something just to kill them a minute later?” Murdock resumed sharpening for a few seconds then stopped again. “Ever kill anyone?” he asked and Declan shook his head, to indicate the negative. “It’s not that easy to do. Nor should it be.” Murdock tossed Declan the sharpening stone. He caught it deftly and began sharpening his hatchet.

  “Have you ever killed anyone?” Declan asked after they had been working for several hours.

  “You mean today? Not yet, but the day’s young so I remain hopeful,” Murdock quipped and Declan looked at him with the look that said be serious without actually saying the words. “I have, but I didn’t like it. It was just something that needed to be done, like killing a rabid animal.”

  “That seems to be a cold-blooded attitude, to me,” Declan observed.

  “Why? It wasn’t something I undertook without a lot of reflection and consideration and I did try to reason with them. It’s been my experience that those who attacked you and Em will probably be crushed when the karmic wheel gets back to them,” Murdock responded seriously.

  Both men resumed working.

  #

  Emily and Irene were trying to learn how to make rope from the tall grass by watching Mei Lee.

  “How is Declan doing?” Mei Lee asked as she worked.

  “His arm is scarred,” Irene Harris responded without looking up from her work, “but he’ll live. I’m still trying to figure out how the cut healed so quickly.”

  “He hasn’t lost any use or any sensation, either,” Emily added.

  “Adding to my confusion is the fact that I’m still trying to get my head around this tribe thing you mentioned,” Irene stated while she continued working.

  “There’s nothing hard to understand,” Mei Lee said. “It’s just a gathering of people who come together for their own betterment. A member of the tribe may or may not be family, but we’d all share the things that would insure survival. As an example, Kevin and Declan go hunting, but Kevin is the only one to bag the game. We’d all share in that. Another example would be if we were confronted by Ben Palmer, Kevin would do the talking and we would all back him.”

  “And what if Kevin did or said something we didn’t like or didn’t agree with?” Emily asked.

  “It would depend on the situation,” Mei Lee explained. “If there was an immediate danger, everyone would be expected to do as Kevin instructs until the danger passes. If we are all alone, no strangers around, we can discuss it, but Kevin would have the final decision and we’d have to back him.”

  “Why should we do as Murdock says?” Irene questioned.

  “Do you think Kevin has an agenda other than survival and taking care of all of us?” Mei Lee asked with an accusing glare to the other two women. “Is anyone else more qualified for survival here?”

  Irene looked shocked. “I was asking because I don’t know what to expect from him,” she said sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to offend!”

  “What you can expect is Kevin continuing to act like he has since I’ve known him,” Mei Lee snapped. Why do you think he brought you here?”

  “Declan needed a doctor,” Irene Harris said with a shrug.

  “And how much doctoring have you done since you’ve been here? Was there something so critical that we couldn’t have managed without you? Or maybe there was another reason?” Mei Lee asked, apparently still miffed.

  “Will Kevin accept the leadership?” Emily asked trying to divert Mei Lee’s anger from Irene.

  “As long as we don’t expect him to be a shepherd, he should be fine with it, especially if we don’t tell him,” Mei Lee said seriously.

  Emily smiled at her remark. “How do we pull that off?” she asked.

  “Easy. If something comes up, we just defer to his judgment, unless we have something useful to say. That would be something he’d want to hear anyway,” Mei Lee explained.

  “You make it sound so easy,” Emily said with a chuckle and shaking her head a little.

  “I found it works well enough. I’ve been doing it for close to five years, now,” Mei Lee grinned a little. “To be clear,” Mei Lee continued as she shifted her gaze to Irene, “Kevin wouldn’t stop you, if you wanted to leave. I brought it up so you two can feel like you belong here. I know what it’s like to be uncertain about belonging.”

  Irene looked embarrassed. “Since the rape, I have a hard time trusting, especially a man,” she said quietly.

  “Yes, you suffered a major trauma, but you can either live the rest of your life as a victim, or you can do something about it,” Mei Lee said somewhat harshly.

  “You don’t understand,” Irene retorted, trying to elicit sympathy from the other two women.

  “Is that what you think?” Mei Lee scolded. “All the women from the first ship were beaten and raped, some multiple times. So, don’t tell me I don’t understand. Like I said, when you decide to quit being a victim, maybe then you can do something about it, but you have to decide.” The other two women looked at Mei Lee, mouths agape.

  #

  “No! Absolutely not! I refuse,” Murdock yelled. Everyone had finished eating and the children were put down for the night. The adults had gone outside to enjoy the evening while the pile of brush finished burning.

  Declan had sympathy for Murdock’s plight. Mei Lee had sprung her idea of leadership of their little tribe on him.

  “But why?” Mei Lee asked quietly.

  “I don’t want it,” Murdock snapped back.

  “From my point of view, you don’t really have a choice,” Mei Lee responded sedately. “You have been the leader for as long as I’ve known you. All we’re saying is that you continue as you have been. You have served us all quite well and we wish that to continue. Consider it a vote of confidence!”

  “I’v
e only done what I thought best for my family,” Murdock countered.

  “Exactly, you’ve been a wonderful husband and provider and we all wish that to continue.” Mei Lee said emphatically. “All we’re saying is we are here to help you anyway we can and to support your decisions!”

  “But I don’t want the responsibility for everyone else,” Murdock argued.

  “Maybe,” Emily chimed in sweetly, “that is exactly why we want you to be leader. We know what your agenda is and we have no fear of you becoming another Palmer.”

  “No one here is more qualified to insure our survival,” Declan added calmly. “Did you let Emily starve because I was unable to provide for her? Did you do what you could for Irene even though she was unable to care for herself? Did you leave her out in the wild after her rape? Or did you do the best you could for her?”

  Murdock had been looking at the dying flames as they all had their say. When he looked up, he saw them all looking at him respectfully. “I did what I had to do to be able to live with myself, that’s all,” he said defensively.

  “Kevin, are you the head of our family?” Mei Lee asked.

  “I wouldn’t classify myself that way,” Murdock defended. “But I would have to say yes.”

  “And who is included in that family?” Mei Lee asked.

  It seemed, to Mei Lee, that everyone held their breath waiting for Murdock to answer. They all thought they were included, but what if Murdock had decided otherwise?

  “Everyone here,” Murdock relented.

  Everyone sighed in relief.

  “And so you still are,” Mei Lee agreed. “Nothing changes. We’ll continue on as we have been. Taking direction where you feel direction is required and expressing our concerns.” Mei Lee having broached the subject ended the discussion with, “And that’s all there is to it!” She got to her feet and walked over to him, putting out her hand. “Let’s go take a bath and go to bed,” she said sweetly to Murdock.

  Murdock said nothing. He did smile as he took her hand and let himself be led.

  “Is your bath private?” Emily asked as the couple headed toward the spa.

  “It’s as private as the rest of you want to make it,” Mei Lee said over her shoulder as she led Murdock to the back of the cabin.

  “You two go ahead, if you want,” Irene said as she got to her feet. “I’m going to bed.”

  Declan and Emily looked at each other and then got to their feet and followed Murdock and Mei Lee.

  In short order, Murdock, Mei Lee, Declan, and Emily were soaking in their spa, relaxing.

  “I hope you’ve learned something, Declan, from our little discussion,” Murdock said after a few minutes of silence.

  “What would that be, Kevin?” Declan asked, unwilling to blindly enter any verbal traps set by Murdock.

  “From the day I fell for your sister, I have yet to win an argument,” Murdock stated.

  “Maybe not, Kevin, but part of the reason that’s true is we don’t argue,” Mei Lee stated. She moved to sit in Murdock’s lap facing him. “We discuss things until such time as you come around to my way of thinking,” she finished sarcastically with a smirk.

  “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised,” Murdock responded as he kissed her.

  #

  “It’s time I made the rounds to insure the others are getting ready for winter,” Murdock said the next day at breakfast.

  Mei Lee, who was nursing Huo Jin, stepped outside the cabin and sniffed the morning air.

  “Seems a little early in the year for that,” she said as she re-entered the cabin. “Maybe in a few weeks, but not much longer than that.”

  “Mei has a nose for these things,” Murdock explained conspiratorially to the other adults and chuckled.

  Everyone else chuckled as well, even Mei Lee. Emily was looking at Murdock and saw his expression change suddenly.

  “What’s wrong?” Emily asked, concerned at Murdock’s expression.

  “Is time,” came to Murdock and Mei Lee’s minds. They both knew it was from Beron.

  “We need you three to watch the kids,” Mei Lee explained. “There’s something Kevin and I need to do. It’s important!”

  “You kids behave and mind your Aunts and Uncle,” Murdock said seriously as he got to his feet and started putting his traveling gear together. “I’m leaving the cart, in case you need it,” he said to Declan.

  Mei Lee was also getting her traveling gear together, including her sling for the baby. “Huo Jin is coming with us, as we don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”

  Declan, Emily, and Irene were watching the two adults rush around gathering what they needed. All three looked dumbfounded.

  “Where are you going and how long will you be gone?” Emily asked as Murdock gathered a couple hides for sleeping.

  “We need to go somewhere and do things none of you know about, yet,” Mei Lee said as she tied the hides that Murdock had rolled tightly. She had used a very long thong so Murdock could carry the hides behind him with the thong going across the front of his body.

  “We’re sorry for being vague, it is unavoidable. Just do what you can and watch the kids. We’ll explain it later,” Murdock said as he slung his quiver and grabbed his bow.

  When they were ready, Mei Lee and Murdock left the cabin, shutting the door behind them. Declan had gotten up and gone to the door and opened it. He could see no sign of them.

  “Huh! That’s the damnedest thing,” Declan said as he shut the door. “They’re gone already!”

  18

  As soon as Murdock and Mei Lee exited the cabin, Murdock had sent a telepathic message to Beron that they were on their way. Beron levitated the couple from the cabin to the meadow that was used for the “Springtime Rite”, as Murdock called it. It seemed to take no time at all for the couple to arrive. Upon arrival, Mei Lee was led away from the gathering of the males. Murdock, on the other hand, was placed close to the old Oomah that was Beron’s father.

  “Important you observe,” the old Oomah sent to Murdock’s mind. “Important to me.”

  Murdock gave a sad smile as he looked down at the old Oomah and gently stroked his head. He had become quite fond of him over the years. “I’m here,” Murdock said telepathically. “Important for me as well.”

  As Murdock looked around, he saw Beron looking rather large and very stoic. He hadn’t contacted Murdock’s mind since his arrival, but he didn’t recognize anyone else. The rest of the male Oomah, in the immediate vicinity, all looked like younger versions of Beron, so he assumed they were all related. He hadn’t been there long, when his perception changed dramatically. At first, it shocked Murdock. He was apparently seeing the actual world with one eye and the sharing state world, as Murdock called it, with the other eye.

  With one eye, he saw a white smoke come from the old bear. The other eye saw a thin, dark form that he had come to know as the Oomah in the sharing state world, rise up from the body of the old one and float to the first row of younger Oomah. It seemed to select one and Murdock saw the dark form step into the younger and disappear. His hand, which was still on the head of the old bear, could feel the body grow cold. He didn’t know how he knew, but he seemed to know that when he saw the smoke/dark form leave the body of the old one it had died and nothing he would know was left behind.

  “Transference complete,” Beron sent telepathically to all present.

  The body of the old Oomah was levitated, Murdock assumed by Beron, and all the males followed slowly behind. The body slowly drifted toward the falls and, as they all watched, followed the water over the falls. The body had remained inches above the water all the way down the falls. Murdock then saw it float toward trees in the middle of a grassy area. Just as the body disappeared, Murdock remembered that area as the dread feeling area he had found within days of being on this planet.

  All the males dispersed as soon as the body was out of sight.

  “This for males only,” Beron sternly warned Murdock as the body disappeared
. “Take care not share with mate or females.”

  “Understood,” Murdock responded. “Questions?” he asked after a brief pause and received a slight nod from Beron. “Was that the old one’s entity that entered the younger Oomah?” Another slight nod from Beron. “Confusion.”

  “Share . . . later/not now . . . and explain,” came to Murdock’s mind as he followed Beron over to the females, along with all the other males that were present.

  “Is the old one gone?” Mei Lee asked quietly and reverently as Murdock approached.

  “Yes,” was all Murdock could think to say. He knew the entity that had lived in the shell of the old one was still around, but he wasn’t sure what he could tell Mei Lee and what was forbidden. He wasn’t about to jeopardize his standing with the Oomah over saying too much.

  Beron and Bridget led Murdock and Mei Lee down the mountain to the chamber that Murdock and Rose had occupied and left them there. They had been strangely silent the entire trip.

  “What were you doing while I was witnessing?” Murdock asked Mei Lee once they were alone and settling in.

  “Just communed with Bridget about Huo Jin and the rest of our brood,” she replied. “You do know that what you witnessed was meant for family only?”

  “I didn’t know,” Murdock exclaimed.

  “I gather it is a high honor to be requested,” she explained.

  “I’m wondering if I’ll be requested with all the other Oomah that had declared me kin after Rose’s death,” Murdock speculated.

  “Doubtful,” Mei Lee said. “The ones that declared you ‘kin’ are far too young to pass anytime in your lifetime. You might if any of them become mortally wounded or fatally ill, but that doesn’t happen often.”

  After eating and Huo Jin’s needs being met, Murdock and Mei Lee got into the spa pool to relax.