by Michael Joy
their opponents.
This Sasquatch shrugged he spoke into the radio again this time at least four words the reply was only two words.
"Did you notice what two of the sharpshooters were wearing back there?"
"Do you mean ghillie suits?"
"Of course."
"Yeah but you guys were not wearing ghillie suits, I mean yes you have woven some cloth rags into your hair and you have a ghillie mesh concealing your vest but you do not look like men."
"Do men wearing a ghillie suit look larger than other men?"
"Yes but it's hard to tell where their body is inside the suit."
"Do you really think that most humans can tell the difference between a man in a ghillie suit and a Sasquatch wearing costume which serves the same purpose?"
I thought about it, to me the Sasquatch had a distinctive gait both ponderous and dainty. While their actual form was largely obscured, I had noticed how expertly their camouflage had been created that they seemed to flow through the landscape. This was their element, but now I considered, he was right a man in a ghillie suit looked both broader and wider than normal, in some manner I understood that in the same manner that a Sasquatch moving through the wilderness on all fours could be mistaken for a bear, in the same manner a Sasquatch moving on only its hind legs could be mistaken for a man in a ghillie suit. It was almost as if men who created the ghillie had copied the Sasquatch technique.
When I mentioned this he said, "Now you understand."
"I am surprised that you were not injured badly by that rifle shot. Even a bullet proof vest is not a good protection from that kind of weapon at three hundred yards.
"Yes but we have a better design, we use a triple layer of steel plate to protect our vital organs."
"That would weight a massive amount."
"Not much more than a hundred pounds."
I thought about this humans often complain about the weight of body armour which will often weigh less than twenty pounds. This was another piece of the puzzle, a respect for extreme personal fitness and a willingness to accept significant discomfort for hours at a time. It sounded familiar. It was like listening to the stories of police officers who had served in elite units of the military where there was no margin for error. I wondered for a moment whether these creatures were in fact a rarity among their kind. Brought in specially to deal with extreme situations like this.
I was surprised that on reaching the road we turned and headed towards the restaurant. The driver had pulled on a broad brimmed hat with netting that obscured his features and I had pulled up the bandana to cover my lower face as we drove past. We could see two stunned looking security guards sitting on the front step of the restaurant. At the SUV there appeared to be one man and two wounded. Driving up to the truck we could see two men dead and one wounded, we continued another half a mile and pulled over beside a second truck in slightly better repair.
As our truck followed the other the driver continued the conversation. "The female who is leading us would not be impressed if we ignored orders and did not wear the proper armour. It is even possible that they would not allow us to go on other hunts where there is real danger."
A couple of hours later I was back with the Sasquatch I think of as Speaker I reminded myself that he had once before told me that he is unusual among his people in that he is willing to lie and that this is why he deals often with humans. This is one of those logical dilemmas, if you know the man you deal with is willing to lie, which things is he telling the truth about? I had noticed that the others of his people usually avoided talking to me was it because they did not want to tell me too much of the truth, or was there another reason. I deserved answers. I looked at my list.
1Why not member? 2)Where live? 3)What jobs? 4) Translators? 5)Contact #? 6 Trade relations? 7) Unofficial Diplomacy? 8) Cultural Exchange?
"So now we can finish the answer to my first question and then two others."
"You have received the answers to a number of questions already."
"From my point of view you have answered why your people did not immediately contact the first people who came to these shores to trade. This might even apply to some of the initial settlers. You have not explained why you did not come to meet with us, there could have been much to share."
"Why would we be interested in people who are at war so often?"
"That is an oversimplification, and you have no way of knowing that there was war fare in some other part of the world."
"You do realize that your people, the English, the French and the Dutch spent considerable energy when they were talking to the tribes trying to learn where the other groups lived how many there were in the different towns and how many guns the other group had."
"They were just being cautious."
"The greatest problem you had was that you do not consider women equal."
"That was generations ago."
"How old were you when women were first allowed to own property and to vote."
"I am a special case, I have lived far longer than most of my kind."
"Consider your first question answered. What are the other questions?
"We would like to know how we can contact someone who can set up an actual meeting to arrange a diplomatic and cultural exchange. When you get to know us I believe you will accept that we are well intentioned and will agree to join with us."
"This is a very broad subject I can promise nothing."
"I guess that that makes two more questions, the political and the cultural, if you can answer these or at least point us in the right direction that would be sufficient. I know that you will do your best to answer this, but can you tell me if the first of us that your people encountered had been women would you have made contact."
"It is more likely, but what are the chances that we would have been greeted by women who were educated decision makers who could bind your people? Now the plane is ready to return you. I am sorry that you were wounded in assisting us."
I blew out a stream of smoke from the water pipe. "It was fired at long range by one of the wounded as we drove away, it is just a crease, it will likely heal without medical attention although I appreciate the antibiotic cream and the dressing." I flexed my arm and then held out my hand to shake his. While his hand smelled of hand sanitizer, this time he did shake my hand before I climbed up into the plane. I noted that while it was the same plane they appeared to have repainted the tail numbers from what they had been on the earlier flight.
"So you could have told me that these groups would break the truce and that would give you an excuse to strike at the group that came to the meeting. I don't understand now the gangs will be warned and they will try to protect their holdings. What did you gain from this bloodshed?"
"They thought that we were old and toothless, that they could ignore us. So they sent many of their best warriors to this meeting especially those who lie up in the grass with weapons that could kill our people. In addition we wanted an excuse to burn these labs where they make poison and leave the chemists bound and terrified for the police to find and imprison. Finally we have now dealt with those who gave the orders."
"But that was only an hour ago."
"Our people are patient, some of them have waited as much as three days within earshot of the people who would be dealt with, when they decided to break the agreement then we could act. Why would we wait any longer, any new agreement will specify they are prevented from cooking meth or any new drug and that not following our directions will be treated very harshly."
The pilot closed the door on the conversation and I sat back in my seat.
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