The Temple at Landfall

by Jane Fletcher

  The black sky to the east was showing the first signs of paling when the heretics finished their preparations and began to disperse. They headed off, in ones and twos, until only Gina, Kim, and one other were left at the camp. This third woman took a lookout post atop a nearby knoll, while Gina helped herself to an extra half-bowl of porridge and sat down beside Kim.

  “How do you feel this morning?” Gina asked in her role as healer.

  “A bit stiff and sore.”

  “But lucky to be feeling anything?”

  “Definitely.”

  Gina took a few more mouthfuls of breakfast and said, “Just before going to sleep last night, you asked about prostate glands.”

  “Are they important?”

  “Not to you or me. Women don’t have them.”

  “So what does?” Kim asked, slightly confused. Something she was getting used to feeling around Gina.

  “Who, not what.”

  “But you said...” Kim broke off and frowned.

  “As a Ranger, you learn a lot about the non-domestic animals on this planet, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Kim agreed, though she did not see the relevance.

  “And you know how they reproduce?”

  “Only in general terms. You probably understand the biology of it better than I do. But I know they have males who can transmit their genetic material to the females to produce young.”

  “Right. Well, all the species that have males as well as females are native to this planet. And all the others were brought here by the Elder-Ones. But this is...” Gina stopped, halted by a sudden gesture from Kim. “Yes?”

  “Would that explain why the two groups are poisonous to each other?”

  “Yes. Our chemical makeup is, quite literally, alien.”

  “So that would explain the moggies.” Kim’s face held a thoughtful expression. “The Sisters say Celaeno had to give the wild animals a different method of reproduction, since the Cloners couldn’t get near them. But that doesn’t explain why you get male moggies.”

  Gina nodded. “Moggies are a native species that our ancestors domesticated, hence they have males. We need them to catch the indigenous vermin that would otherwise infest the grain stores. And in order to be able to eat the vermin, they have to be indigenous as well.”

  “But what has this to do with prostate glands?”

  “Ah. Now that was what I was coming to. When the Sisters say that Himoti made the first Cloners and Imprinters, they’re actually telling the truth, albeit that she made them using scientific instruments rather than prayer. Before her, there were no Imprinters.”

  “So how did people reproduce on the original home planet?”

  “Same as the creatures here. There were two sexes. And one of the many distinguishing features was that the males had prostate glands.”

  “Human males!” Kim did not know whether to be amused or shocked. “But that would be...”

  Gina laughed at the open-eyed astonishment on Kim’s face, and almost against her will, Kim joined in until the pair were helpless with a fit of giggles.

  “That can’t be true. I mean, apart from anything else, why would they change if that was what they were used to?” Kim asked once she had her breath back.

  “This planet was just a touch too alien for the males. The grass pollen here mimics certain hormones, which destroyed their ability to function in creating children. It was Himoti who worked out a way around the problem this caused.”

  Kim looked at the elderly woman. “If you make a habit of going around saying things like this, you must give the Chief Consultant nightmares.”

  “Oh, I do hope so.”

  Kim picked up a few dropped twigs with her bound hands and fed them into the fire, still shaking her head slightly. Gina watched her for a while and then said, “We won’t be holding you prisoner after today. You’ll be free to go back to the homelands if you want.”

  Gina’s last three words had a querying edge, which Kim picked up on. “Do I have an option?”

  “Yes.”

  “To stay out here with you and your followers?” Kim suggested.

  “We’d be pleased to have you. You have skills we’d find very useful.”

  The smile on Kim’s face faded as her thoughts turned to the future and to what was planned for that day. She stared bleakly at the ground. When she made no attempt to reply, Gina added, “I would have thought being nearly murdered by your commanding officer was a very strong motive for desertion.”

  “Oh, yes. And there’s nothing else I want to go back for, but...”

  “But?”

  Kim took several deep breaths before speaking, her face somber. “Today you’re going to try and kill some women who are my friends. I know it’s not fair to blame you, but I couldn’t live among you, not with my comrades’ blood between us.”

  “Yes.” Gina nodded slowly. “Yes, I can see that. We must all make our choices and live with the consequences. I am truly sorry...It wasn’t quite what I was intending when I began reading the books in the library.”

  “And would you change things, if you had your time again?” Kim raised her head.

  The elderly woman met the Ranger’s earnest gaze with a rueful, crooked pout. “Some. I’d try to avoid the mistakes so a few more people would be left alive. But I couldn’t ignore my curiosity, or the truth. The choices and options of our lives all come with a price attached.”

  Kim looked away sharply. If the heretic’s plan succeeded, by nightfall, there would be an unbridgeable barrier of grief between her and Gina, which was a cause of regret in itself. Regardless of doubts concerning her sanity, there was something about the heretic leader that Kim could not help liking and respecting. In an odd way, she reminded Kim of Captain LeCoup.

  Gina stood up, patted Kim on the shoulder, and hobbled a few steps away, sensing Kim’s need of space. While they had been talking, the day had grown brighter. The sun was yet to make its appearance above the mountains to the east, but the sky was already pale blue, with a yellowish tinge that promised another long, hot day, despite the wind. For the first time, Kim could study the landscape before them. The camp was on the northern hills above a flat plain, where the ground sloped down gently to the south before it rose again in a long, stony ridge about three kilometers away. The wind chased waves through the dry grass covering the floor of the basin.

  The second heretic left her watch post and wandered back to the fire.

  “Can you see them?” Gina asked anxiously.

  “Not yet, but I’d better get in position before the sun rises.”

  “Okay.”

  “What should we do about the prisoner?” Both heretics looked in Kim’s direction. “You aren’t going to be able to cope with her if she slips free.”

  “I’m going to give her a choice,” Gina answered decisively. She came back to the fireside and lowered herself awkwardly, so her eyes were on a level with Kim’s, then said, “And your choice is this. I can knock you out again, or you can give me your word that you won’t try to escape or warn the Guards or sabotage the plan.”

  “You’d trust her?” The second heretic sounded slightly incredulous.

  “Yes. If she gives her word.” There was no doubt in Gina’s voice. “I’d even untie her hands.”

  Kim bowed her head as she considered her options. Either way she was not going to be able to help Chip, and it would be hard to live with, but the doubts would be less if she at least knew what happened to her friends. Kim raised her eyes to meet with Gina’s and said, “I’ll do what you say. You have my word on it.”

  *

  Time passed slowly. The sun lifted clear of the distant peaks to their left, the heat began to rise, and the wind picked up a haze of dust that shimmered in the oblique morning light over the grasslands, but still there was no sign of the column of soldiers. Gina was getting increasingly nervous. She glanced back to Kim.

  “What time did you normally start moving?”

  “Abou
t an hour before now.”

  “Something’s happened. Damn...damn.” Gina’s voice was tight, fearful.

  Kim could almost feel sorry for the heretic, but her heart was cheered by the thought Chip and the other Rangers might avoid whatever had been planned for them. And then, just as she was beginning to hope some other outcome was possible, she saw at the edge of the plateau, the dark shapes of mounted soldiers riding two by two down from the eastern uplands. The dust rendered them obscure, just little black silhouettes that crawled across the landscape, devoid of detail, as insignificant as children’s toys. Even their numbers seemed reduced, and the red of the Guards’ uniforms was indiscernible.

  Not for the first time, Kim wondered about the nature of the plan. Despite the implausibility of the small band of heretics inflicting serious damage on over a hundred trained warriors, somehow she never doubted that Gina’s plan would be effective. Deadly effective. Kim watched and waited and feared the worst.

  The soldiers were due south of the camp, nearly halfway across the plain when Kim saw a trail of smoke rising at the foot of the hills to the east. Then another plume appeared, and another. In less than a minute, twelve columns of smoke were reaching up to the blue sky, forming an arc to the north of the soldiers. Kim’s eyes darted back to the line of mounted women. Amazingly, they were still riding in formation, as if they had not noticed the spread of the fires. Minutes passed and still the column continued, undeterred.

  Chip, you clown, wake up and use your eyes. Kim almost spoke aloud. And at last, the company halted. Yet instead of an orderly response, avoiding the hazard, they milled around, some continuing to go forward, some standing still, some already heading south, away from the advancing flames. And the flames were advancing more and more quickly, as the wind did the job the heretics had obviously intended. Already, the dozen original fires had nearly joined to make a blazing semi-circle that was whipped through the tinder-dry grass by the strong gusts, its spread assisted by the heretics. Then all the soldiers at once seemed to become aware of their danger. They spun about and raced for the safety of the rocky hills on the far side of the basin.

  “Fools. They’ve let the horses have their heads!” Kim shouted in disgust. “What’s wrong with Chip today?” She came and stood by Gina’s shoulder, watching the scene before her, though the wall of smoke was making it increasingly difficult. Then she looked to the woman beside her. “Okay. You’ll give them a scare. Maybe a few will get caught, but most will outrun the flames.”

  “Actually, the fires aren’t the real threat.” Gina spoke almost sadly.

  “Then what is?” Kim shouted.

  Gina did not answer the question directly. She turned her back on the grassland and looked toward the east, her expression pained. “I don’t doubt they used barbaric means to get Domia to draw them the map, before they executed her. But all they wanted, and all she’d have told them, is the shortest route to where our farm is. What we’re counting on is that they don’t know that the most treacherous marsh in these mountains covers the south side of this basin. It’s just a mat of floating grass on a lake of mud and tar. All we needed was the luck of the wind, and we didn’t need much of that. At this time of year, a strong northerly blows two days out of three.”

  “Chip will spot the change in vegetation. She won’t let the squadron just plow into it.” But Kim spoke mainly to bolster her own hopes. Chip clearly was not on form that day, and the panicked horses would be impossible to stop.

  “I’m sorry, Kim. I really am.” Gina’s voice was raw with regret.

  Kim turned horrified eyes back to the plain, but by now, there was nothing to see, just a solid wall of red flames and smoke, obscuring the soldiers, the marsh, and the hill beyond. Kim stumbled to the campfire and sat with her face buried in her hands, fighting back the tears.

  *

  By midday, the last of the fires was out, halted by the wetlands, and reports began to arrive at the campsite. Kim had been through enough desperate fights to know that you never gave up hope until the final body count was made, but the waiting was hell. And, as always when bad news was expected, the old memories clawed at the edges of her mind. Her parents’ farmhouse and the strange stillness when she had returned on that day, twelve years ago. Even before she pushed open the door to the kitchen, she had known something awful had happened, but she had not been prepared for what lay within. Nothing could ever have prepared her for that sight. Kim’s eyes fixed, unseeing, on the distance, remembering her childish oath never to care for anyone again, so she could never be hurt by their loss. She was old enough now to know that such emotional isolation was not possible and also to know that revenge was a very poor remedy for grief.

  The first news received was that several prisoners had been taken. Dragged, still breathing, from the mud. The numbers were later confirmed at twenty-seven, although there were no details of their identity. Kim tried to take encouragement from the tidings, but even if all the survivors were Rangers, it would still mean that some of the squadron had perished. However, the waiting was nearly over. Everyone who could be rescued had been, and the captives were being brought to the camp to talk to Gina. The line of prisoners and their mounted escort could be seen advancing across the blackened plain.

  Throughout the long morning, the heretics had tactfully given Kim a wide berth, but now Gina came to sit beside her. “You’ll be heading back to the homelands?” It was not really a question, and Gina’s voice held no expectation of disagreement.

  Without looking at the elderly heretic, Kim nodded her head. “Yes.”

  “Then it would be wisest if none of the prisoners saw you here. If the Sisters know I have had the chance to tell you my story, then it could seriously damage the chances of you seeing your next birthday, especially as you don’t seem too popular with them to start off with. You could hide in the tent over there until I’m finished talking to the prisoners.”

  The tent in question was a makeshift affair, designed to shield the food from the worst of the sun. Kim went over and ducked inside then pulled the door flap closed, although still leaving a slight gap so she could see what happened. Soon the sounds of talking and horses’ hooves announced the arrival of the captives. All the heretics were present as the sorry party was brought into the camp. They further obscured Kim’s view, but not enough to stop her from counting all twenty-seven women and seeing not a Ranger among them. Most bitter of all, Rozek stood at the head of the prisoners.

  The anguish hit Kim with an almost physical pain before disbelief swept in. How could the city Guards survive and not a single wilderness-trained Ranger? Some must have eluded both the mud and the heretics. Kim swore she would go to the marsh and not rest until she had searched thoroughly. But in the meantime, there was the interview with Rozek to hear, and even in her mental torment, Kim could not repress a certain satisfaction in seeing the arrogant major, hands tied, with a soot-smeared face and clothes so soaked in mud that the vibrant red had to be imagined rather than seen.

  Gina was also amused, judging by her tone. “Hello, and welcome to our humble camp.”

  “Doubt not that Celaeno is Goddess over all, and Himoti is her favored disciple, for all who turn their back on her law shall be eternally damned.” Whatever else, Rozek’s faith had not been shaken, not that it impressed the heretics.

  “Oh dear. I hope you’re going to say something a bit more sensible than just quoting fiction at us.” Gina spoke as if addressing a small child.

  “The words of the Goddess shall be as a shield to the faithful.”

  “Unless I’m missing something, the words of the Goddess have been remarkably ineffective at preventing her faithful from being defeated.”

  The logic cut enough for Rozek to abandon her quotes. “Only because of treachery.”

  “And who has betrayed you?”

  “As if you didn’t know. Your allies, the gutless Rangers.”

  Kim almost leaped from her place of hiding to demand to know what was mean
t by the remark, but she restrained herself. Gina also seemed taken aback. “If the Rangers did something that helped us, then I’m most grateful to them. But it wasn’t arranged, and to be honest, I don’t even know what it was.”

  “They led us into this ambush, and then last night, they all ran away and deserted us.”

  “I thought you were led here by information you extracted from one of my followers,” Gina pointed out reasonably. However, Kim did not hear the remark, or any of the next few exchanges. She was caught, uncomfortably, between laughter and tears, resulting in hiccups, which she stifled as best she could. By the time she was able to return her attention to the confrontation, it was clear that Rozek had lost her temper and Gina her patience.

  “You’re depraved murderers, and you will pay for it one day!” the Guard major shouted.

  You’d know all about murder, Kim thought.

  Gina also looked at Rozek with contempt. “We only kill in self-defense. We aren’t even going to execute you, though I don’t doubt you wouldn’t show the same mercy to us, were our positions reversed. I estimate it will take you about thirty-five days to walk back to the Sisters’ Homelands on foot, so we’ll give you enough supplies and point you in the right direction.” Gina paused for effect and then stuck her finger out to the east. “It’s that way. Now pick up the saddlebags and start walking.”

  A lengthy period of complaint and muttered comments was accompanied by jeers from the heretics, but eventually the Guards were leaving the campsite, heading east, with a couple of mounted heretics monitoring their departure.

  “I’ll come back for you. I swear it,” Rozek shouted from the distance.

  “I’m sorry, pet, but we aren’t going to hang around waiting for you,” Gina said softly, mainly for the benefit of her followers.

  Kim emerged from the tent and walked over to the heretic leader.