Escape from the Drowned Planet

by Helena Puumala

  The sun was just coming up as Jad led the three animals and the humans to a small open field at the western limit of the Oasis City. Although the residents of the city talked about the place as if it bordered on the desert, this was not actually so. The field that they came to was grassed and surrounded by trees, and by the farms which provided the city with much of the food that the inhabitants ate. In fact, as Gerrard had explained to Kati and Mikal during one of his descriptions of life in and around the Oasis City, this land was very fertile, a remnant of the agricultural country which had extended throughout the southern part of the Northern Continent in the days before The Disaster. Now, even with the weather much changed from those earlier days, this rump of a once-magnificent bread-basket was still very productive; the farmers took in two crops every year. One was sown just after the rains ended and the second one, watered from the springs that made Oasis City what it was, was harvested just before the rains came again.

  The second crop of the year was growing quite nicely in the fields that surrounded the meeting area on three sides. The sky was clear and the rising sun brilliant, Kati noted, as she looked about her, curious about the other travellers who had also begun to arrive. The group was going to be a small one, Makkaro had told them, barely deserving of the term “caravan”. What was it that the equipper had told them about their fellow travellers?

  The family group of four, standing with their animals closest to the spot where Jad had directed Kati, Mikal and Jocan, had to be the Narra-herders making the return journey to the grazing country, after an unspecified emergency had brought them to Oasis City. There were the parents, a quiet, serious-seeming couple who looked very comfortable with their mounts, and their teenage son and daughter who seemed to be much more spirited, even rambunctious, than their begetters. The adults introduced themselves as Rober and Kaina, and their children as Seb and Sany. The teens giggled during the introductions and the parents shushed them; then all four returned to the task of encouraging their animals to greet the day.

  Jad pointed out that the manner in which the herders were massaging their beasts’ necks was an excellent practice which Mikal, Kati and Jocan ought to emulate.

  “It helps to get the blood running to the creature’s brain,” he told them. “You should do it every morning before starting off—assuming of course that you’ll have early morning starts. If the caravan group is made up of folk who can’t get their eyes open before near noon, then, of course, that won’t be necessary.”

  “Oh, we’ll be moving on shortly after sunrise every day,” said a middle-aged man who was also massaging his Narra’s neck. There was something very no-nonsense about his mannerisms. “I don’t intend to lollygag. Anybody who wants to do so will get left behind.”

  He introduced himself as Yarm, and said that he had ‘a fair bit’ of experience travelling the route they would be on. He was willing to take on the role of the Caravan Leader if the others would agree to that.

  “Not that it’s a job I particularly enjoy,” he added with a slight, crooked grin, “but I have learned that I’ll end up doing it anyway, after a few days, whether I want to or not. I know the distances between the water holes, and therefore can judge when we’ll reach them. I know the settlements that can supply some of the needs we might have, as well as those whose inhabitants will try charge us even for the water we must have. I know where there is grass for the Narra to graze on, and during what stretches of the road we’ll have to feed them the grain we’ve brought, or have to buy from the locals.”

  When Rober and Kaina expressed their willingness to follow Yarm’s lead, Mikal indicated to him that the three of them would be happy to do likewise. Jad nodded approvingly.

  “You’re in luck,” he said to them before leaving to return to Makkaro’s. “Yarm is good. He has travelled this road a number of times, probably more times than he claims to have. I don’t know how far he’s travelling this time but if he is going into the mountains you would do well to make common cause with him. I know that he has travelled a lot in the past, so even if he is not going beyond the herding grounds this time, pick his brain for whatever he can tell you about the places farther on.”

  A group of three youths arrived just then, already in the saddles of their sluggish beasts. Yarm went over to them, introducing himself as the Caravan Leader, and suggested that they dismount and massage their animals’ necks, the way the other travellers were doing, in order to encourage Narra alertness.

  “Caravan Leader?” asked the tallest of the young men, dismounting, but making no effort with his animal. “No-one said anything about there being a Caravan Leader.”

  “There’s always a Caravan Leader,” Yarm stated firmly. “It’s usually someone who knows the road, assuming that someone does. I’ve had the dubious honour of leading more than one caravan along this route, most of them much bigger than this one. You can accept my lead or you can be left behind; I don’t really care one way or the other.”

  “Matto, don’t be an idiot,” said one of the other young men. He had not only dismounted but was massaging his animal’s neck, almost too vigorously.

  He turned to Yarm. “Of course, all three of us will accept your lead. I’m Cay, my friends are Matto and Jess. We’ve never crossed a desert before so we don’t yet know how things work.”

  Matto glared at him, but turned to pay attention to his beast when Cay ignored him. Jess was already busy following Cay’s example.

  “Well, then,” said Yarm to them,” you’re in the same situation as Mikal, Kati and Jocan, here. They’ve never travelled the desert either, but you’ll note that they are quite willing to pick up new tricks as necessary. That is a very useful trait to have.”

  He then turned his attention to the last arrivals, a man and a woman, who had arrived while Yarm was talking with the young men. They brought the number of the travellers up to thirteen, not that the people of this world seemed to find thirteen an inauspicious number. Now, however, watching the couple, Kati wondered if that was not about to change.

  The man was a portly, middle-aged character, who, in spite of the extra weight he carried, appeared to be capable of long distance travel. He seemed to understand enough about the Narra to have begun massaging his mount’s neck as soon as he had led it to the meeting place. The woman with him, however, was easily young enough to be his daughter, but obviously was not. He was olive-skinned and dark-haired like so many inhabitants of this world, whereas she was pale and fair-haired. She looked like she had no idea as to what desert travel amounted to; from the way she was holding on to the reins of her Narra it was clear that she had never dealt with the animals before this. But it was her dress that was the most disturbing. She was wearing a skimpy top and shorts, clothes designed to show off her fine figure but totally unsuitable for a trip through the sand dunes.

  “Hell,” Kati heard Yarm mutter. “A whoremaster hauling a new recruit to his House in GrassWater.”

  The herder family had stopped to stare at the newcomers as well. Kaina glared at the young woman in the inappropriate outfit, and then pursed her lips as she averted her eyes. She spat on the ground and returned to getting her Narra ready for the trip. The teenagers eyed the blonde with open curiosity, while their father shifted his eyes from her to his wife and then to his children, looking exceedingly uncomfortable.

  The blonde saw the curiosity and the scorn, and for a fleeting moment Kati saw hurt in her pale blue eyes, but it quickly shifted to defiance, and perhaps anger. She bit her lip and seemed about to toss a rude comment at the herders, but her companion grabbed a hold of her elbow and spoke to her harshly:

  “Mind your manners Chrys,” he said, “even if others won’t mind theirs.”

  Yarm went over to where the two were standing a little apart from the others. He glared at the three young men who were openly staring at Chrys, as he walked by them.

  “So, Merchant Taxom,” he said to the man. “This is your wife?”

  The blonde giggled.
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  “Yes, this is my wife, Chrys,” the portly fellow replied evenly.

  “Does she have an outfit a little more appropriate for riding across the desert than the thing she’s wearing?” Yarm asked. He turned to the woman. “You’re going to get a very bad sunburn unless you cover yourself up for the ride.”

  “Yeah, sure. Of course.”

  She dug in her saddlebags for a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, which she pulled on, on top of the skimpy top and shorts. Taxom tossed her a sun hat which looked exactly like the ones that Kati and her companions had been handed by Makkaro before they had left his office. The Narra-cloth hats were, apparently, a part of every traveller’s equipment.

  Yarm nodded curtly and returned to stand beside his own animal which was between Rober and Mikal.

  “I guess I was in too much of a hurry to take on the Leader role,” he muttered to Mikal as he checked one last time the lacing that held on his saddlebags. “If I’d known what our ‘Merchant’ was buying and selling I think I’d have given the leadership role a pass.”

  “And would have had to take it on anyway in two days’ time,” answered Mikal with a wide grin. “By which time the caravan would have become a circus, don’t you think?”

  Yarm let out a short chuckle, and shook his head.

  “Quite likely you’re right,” he said. “Well, we’ll have to cope, that’s all.”

  “If we three can do anything at all,” Mikal added with another smile, this one more grave. “I mean anything: help keep young men from fighting, keep the noise down at night, keep the hapless young woman safe if necessary, whatever; just ask. We’re actually fairly capable, believe it or not: I’m a Star Federation Peace Officer, Kati has extensive experience with rowdies of all ages, and Jocan can always be relied on in a pinch. Consider our services available.”

  “That goes for us, too,” spoke up Rober from Yarm’s other side. “Kaina and I can do a bit of keeping the peace any day; after all we’re the parents of two teenagers.”

  To Kati’s surprise, Kaina let out a happy guffaw at that. Laughing, she seemed much more likeable and approachable than she had before.

  “Thank you, friends,” Yarm said, obviously touched by the offers. “I may have to call on your good will before we’re all that far into the journey. I have enough experience of travelling with ‘Merchants’ and their supposed wives, that I know how much trouble they can cause, merely by their presence, in some of these ingrown villages.

  “But, we must head out. The sun’s high enough; the beasts can run. Rober, you and yours, please follow me, then Mikal and company.” He raised his voice to be heard by the others. “Cay, Jess and Matto, follow Mikal, Kati and Jocan; Taxom and Chrys, you’re to bring up the rear for now.”

  They were off.

  *****

  By the time Yarm called a break, just before noon, Kati was feeling very uncomfortable. The saddles that Makkaro had sold them were sleek objects, almost as sleek as a Narra loping across the desert at top speed. But it did not prevent a body unused to riding from developing leg cramps, thigh cramps, butt cramps and even cramps of the back, waist and shoulders. She nearly collapsed on the sand when she dismounted; then realized that the worst thing that had happened to her during the ride were not the various cramps but the chafing on the insides of her thighs caused by the animal’s motion and her body’s resistance to it.

  “Oh dear Lord, how am I going to get back on Ceta after the break?” she wailed before stopping to think.

  Kaina, looking fresh as a daisy, walked back to her from where she had dismounted from her Narra, smiling.

  “You were outfitted by Makkaro’s right?” she asked.

  When Kati managed a nod (even the nod made her grimace), she attacked Kati’s saddlebags.

  “There will be a jar of salve in here—I’m sure it’ll be right on top—oh yes, I have it.” She displayed a sizeable pottery container with a cork lid. Expertly she pried the lid off and Kati got a whiff of medicinal odour.

  “Now, if you can manage to stumble over to the other side of your beast, we’ll let her shield you from male eyes while you undress your lower body and I’ll slather this stuff on your thighs. It works like a charm; you’ll be feeling human in no time and the healing will leave no scars.”

  It truly was magical, Kati agreed, after Kaina had treated her legs. There was something in the salve that numbed the pain, and something else that sped up healing. By the time Kati had her pants back on she was feeling much better. She thanked Kaina profusely.

  The male riders who were new to Narra-riding were busy treating themselves and their buddies with the same salve while Yarm and Rober were giving them instructions. Kati chuckled to see Wayfarer and Runner curled about Mikal and Jocan who were treating each other with relief evident from the “oohs” and “wows” emanating from their mouths. Matto had lost his swagger and could be heard whimpering behind his beast while Jess was helping him with the salve. Meanwhile Cay waited his turn for the treatment beside his beast. Taxom must have been an old rider since he was showing no discomfort, but Chrys was sobbing on the sand, her legs splayed out while the merchant was going through her saddlebags.

  “There’s no salve here,” he was saying in an urgent and angry voice. “I don’t know what that idiot Yakob thought he was doing, not packing numbgel in an inexperienced rider’s gear. Wonder what else we’ll find missing?”

  “Good Lord!” Kaina exclaimed in voice low enough that only Kati could hear. “Do you mind, Kati, you have lots of salve, way more than you’ll need, if we use some on that foolish girl? She won’t be riding anywhere from here if she doesn’t get treated.”

  Kati retrieved her jar of numbgel from the saddlebag into which she had restored it.

  “Let’s go,” she said, walking awkwardly—the numbgel did nothing for the cramps—beside Kaina across the sand to where Chrys was sprawling.

  Taxom turned towards them as they approached, his face brightening with relief.

  “Thank heavens for the kindness of travelling women!” he cried. “I’ll get the beasts into position to shield my wife from prying eyes if you two will salve her!”

  “I like to travel in caravans in which at least some of the folk have been outfitted by Makkaro,” Kaina said to Kati as they helped Chrys painfully peel out of her long pants as well as the short shorts that she had worn in the morning. “He charges more than the other outfitters but there are never any missing items, and novice riders always have big jars of numbgel. It seems that every time I’ve travelled this route, the newcomers have had to share the salve provided by Makkaro.”

  “He was recommended to us by the Weaver Gerrard,” Kati said. “Gerrard told us that he could be trusted, and since we had no idea what we were getting into or might need, reliability seemed like a quality worth paying a little extra for.”

  Chrys was wearing thong underwear under the shorts. Kaina shook her head at that but Kati just winked at the herder woman. At least the blonde had underwear on; Kati had half-expected to be faced with a bare bottom. They got busy slathering the salve on the young woman’s legs. At these close quarters Kati realized that Chrys was younger than she had guessed earlier; Kati had assumed that she was about her own age, but now she revised her estimate to being closer to Jocan’s age than hers. The girl might have been eighteen, she thought, but more likely less than that.

  “Oh man, I just might live,” Chrys whispered as the numbgel started to take effect. “I am most grateful to you—you know, I’m hopeless with names, we’re we introduced?”

  “I’m Kati and she is Kaina,” Kati said quickly, seeing a frown on Kaina’s face. “You are welcome. We’re always ready to help another woman.”

  “Better leave the shorts off,” was all Kaina said, as Chrys reached for her clothes.

  The blonde complied meekly.

  “There are women who would have left it up to the menfolk to help that one—if they would,” Kaina said in a low voice to Kati as they walked
back towards their places in the caravan. “Her kind can make things difficult on a journey; bet every one of the young men in the group behind yours will know the colour of her pubic hair before this trip is over. And that Taxom—she’s obviously not his wife. Why he’s transporting just one whore, I don’t know. Usually there’s a group; I’ve seen this sort of thing before. But I don’t want to be cruel to the poor fool, especially since Rober and I have our kids along. I want to try to show decent example to them, even if I do have to grit my teeth.”

  “I wonder what the girl’s story is,” Kati said thoughtfully. “There’s usually a reason why young women end up following that profession.”

  Kaina’s crack about Chrys’ pubic hair reminded her that she had been wondering about it while they had administered the salve to the girl’s thighs. The thong she had been wearing had revealed a jet-black bush—this on a young woman who had fair skin, and blond hair and eyebrows! Kati had not a clue what to make of that!

  However, there were other matters to deal with; on this journey Chrys was, at most, a sideshow. Mikal and Jocan were assembling a meal of dried foodstuffs from their saddlebags and she was glad enough to join them for a bite. Yarm came by to warn them that there would be no water, other than what they were carrying until the evening stop the next day, and to ration their resources accordingly.

  “So water’s for drinking only,” Mikal agreed, and asked: “How much do we give the Narra, and how often? It seems to me that their need is more important than ours; they’re the ones doing the running, after all.”

  “They’re pretty good on water,” Yarm answered. “It’s one of their advantages in the desert. It’s got to do with being cold-blooded creatures, that’s what I understand. One bowlful per stop will keep them going through the day, and tomorrow, a bowlful in the morning, one during each stop, and when we get to NearWater tomorrow evening they can drink their fill, just as we will.”