Toth Page 7

Nimri looked away from Michael. “It is not my place to tell you. You must ask this question for Counselor Segur to answer.”

  “He’s your leader?”

  “No, he’s a teacher and mentor. I’ve served with him since I was a boy. He is father to my spirit. You ask many questions, Leader Queal.”

  “That’s my purpose in being here. You’ve been on this planet for over two hundred years, and we’ve had no contact with you. We want to see how you’re doing, and offer any assistance you desire.”

  “We?” said Nimri, eyes narrowing.

  “The Rubion Federation. Your world is a part of it, settled by people from Riga, all searching for a new life. Surely you have records of this? They were also simple people, Counselor, people devoted to the land and the sea, but they did bring technology with them, and so far I’ve seen none of it. I find that curious.”

  Nimri looked genuinely confused, made a teepee with his hands and touched his chin. “Toth has told us about our beginnings, about His bringing us here from a distant star as His chosen people. In the early days His creative work provided for our needs. There are no written records, Leader Queal. The transfigured presence of Our Lord reminds us of our past and our purpose in life. He has created all you will see here, and we are His caretakers. We are the chosen of Toth. There are no other allegiances here.”

  Michael sighed. “I can understand your loss of touch with the Federation after no contact from us in over two hundred years. We’ve experienced similar problems with other planets, and you’re at the edge of colonized space. That symbol on your robe, it’s the symbol of The New Christians, the major religion of the people who colonized all the planets of the Federation. It was the first religion on this planet, but it seems to have become something else. Who or what is Toth, Counselor? Your God? A supreme being with special powers?”

  “His powers are indeed beyond understanding,” said Nimri reverently.

  “Is it possible for me to talk to him? He should have the answers to all my questions.”

  “Only the baptized may stand in the presence of Toth. He will speak to no others, though he is aware of your presence and watches over you during your stay here. It is His will that you be gone when your business with us is finished. As His servant, I will do all I can to satisfy your requirements, and enable you to leave quickly.”

  Wait until Mootry hears this, thought Michael, and the idea of retiring to the dusty deserts of Brown’s Planet was suddenly real to him.

  * * * * * * *

  The women each carried two baskets, and followed the men north out of the village. They climbed a winding trail through the trees on a steep slope leveling out into a broad valley heading east.

  Wooden shacks on tree trunk pillars were scattered among the trees up the slopes and along the valley. People watched them sullenly from doorways before disappearing inside. The air was moist, and beneath each shack were lines sagging with the weight of drying clothes.

  “These people are planters and caretakers of the fields,” explained Nimri. “They live separate from us by choice, and do not enter the House of Toth. We provide them with fish for their labors, and all families do their own harvesting of fresh food. These are private people, Leader Queal. They will not talk to you. They are not The Chosen of Toth.”

  They came to a stream, and followed it in silence. The air smelled of pine and sweet flowers. Mushrooms with flat, red crowns were thick along the stream, and the women stopped to pick a few, hurrying to catch up with the men.

  Far up in the valley was a roaring sound, and the stream was growing swifter. It tumbled over polished stones, and an occasional drowned log appeared. The trees began to thin, and suddenly were gone, and they were walking into a vast meadow filled with regularly spaced lines of small bushes with yellow flowers. The women rushed by Michael and walked out among the bushes to kneel and begin working with wooden trowels they had carried with them. Michael stepped up behind Gini, watched her carefully dig a circular trench around a bush. Buried Trunkyams appeared there, attached to large roots of the bush. She twisted them free, left one, covered the trench, put the yams in her basket and went to the next bush.

  It’s a farm, thought Michael. The rows of plants were so regular in spacing, and there was a criss-cross of shallow trenches leading to the stream for irrigation during the early season. “Each plant yields four or five fruits,” said Nimri. “You may count the plants if you wish.”

  Michael did that, and estimated at least a thousand plants providing the vegetable staple for the village.

  In minutes the women had half-filled baskets and were moving left to a row of short, broad-leafed trees lining the meadow. All hung heavily with the fruit called Arcot. Michael picked a few himself, and ate them on the spot, relishing the sweet, pulpy flesh. Juice ran down his chin. The women watched him, and giggled when he spat the large seeds of the fruit in high arcs to land meters from where he stood. Their baskets were soon filled, and still they moved eastward up the valley. Michael counted, made more estimates, and Nimri stayed right at his side.

  The valley steepened to a crest, beyond which was the roar of falling water. The stream was now a trickle down the slope. All over the slope were vines laden with the small squashes called Garbas. Berries grew in profusion along the trickling waters, from plants flat against the ground and feelers creeping out in all directions. Michael picked and ate, growing exuberant with each new taste. His delight was an infectious thing, and now the women were also eating as they picked, until their faces were painted comically with the dark juices of the berries.

  They were filling the last of their baskets when Michael climbed the final few meters to the crest and beheld the magnificent view there, the valley ending in a ten meter cliff of shear rock covered with tenacious brush and great beards of yellow moss. A waterfall crashed down into a circular, emerald-green pool surrounded by a beach of small pebbles. Mist blew in his face as Nimri came up beside him. “The waters come from underground just beyond our view, and the valley beyond seems to be a collecting place for the mountain rains we experience in the cool season. It is the source of our drinking water, but no harvesting is done there. The pool is deep, and our people come here often to bathe in it.”

  “It’s beautiful,” said Michael. From where he stood he could see all the way down to the ocean, and the obelisk thrusting up from the trees. To his left a sharp ridge led from the waterfall to the summit east of the village. To reach it one would have to climb the cliff by the pool, a formidable, slippery-looking ascent. The village church went into the hill. He wondered now if there was another entrance on the other side of what appeared to be a narrow ridge instead of a thick hill.

  The women were finished, baskets heaped. They climbed to the crest, their faces glistening with sweat. “Our work is done, and we wish to bathe,” said Leah, putting down her baskets heavily.

  “We should return now,” said Nimri. “There is more to show our guest.”

  Michael smiled. “There’s time for that. I’d like to swim in the pool myself, but I brought no clothing for it.”

  “You wear clothing when you bathe?” said Leah, and stepped out of her wooden sandals. “Our custom is simpler. Please wait for us below while we wash ourselves. You can bathe another time with the men.”

  Gini and Deena had walked past them to the pebble beach, and Gini looked right at him as she began unbuttoning her blouse. Nimri’s face was suddenly flushed red. “I must insist,” he said firmly. “We do not have the time for this.”

  “Please allow it, Counselor,” said Michael. “They’ve worked hard, and I still have to make some estimates for the plants on these slopes.”

  Nimri hesitated, obviously angry at the challenge to his authority, but thinking fast. “If you insist, Leader Queal, but only for a short while. We have just three days with you.” He glared at Leah, who returned it with a defiant glare of her own. Michael turned away, but took one quick look back in time to see Gini’s blouse dropping down across
a long, lovely back before Nimri blocked his view.

  They went slowly down the slope. Michael went through the motions of making yield estimates, totally distracted by the laughter and splashing sounds beyond the crest. His mind conjured up visions of what he might see there. Nimri watched him sullenly without a word, but in minutes the women appeared at the crest again, wet hair tangled about their smiling faces, blouses sticking to wet bodies so that every curve was visible there. Their arms hung straight with the weight of the baskets, and Michael stepped up to Leah, held out a hand. “Let me carry that down for you.”

  Her eyes sparkled, but Nimri said, “Our women are strong, Leader Queal. They are used to such labor.”

  Michael took both baskets from Leah. “I’m also strong, Counselor. It’s a small thing to repay the courtesy of this family.”

  The women walked behind them, talked in whispers among themselves, and all the way down the hillsides Michael wondered if he had made a new enemy that day or had simply offended an existing one.

  * * * * * * *

  The team was waiting for him in the amphitheatre when he returned to the village.

  Kari rushed up to him. “We have to talk, Mike. Things aren’t going right at all.”

  “I’ll be out in a few minutes,” he said, then went to the Grigaytes’ house and deposited his baskets in the kitchen. Nimri was right behind him as he reached the doorway and stopped. “This is private, Counselor. I’m reviewing the day’s events with my people.”

  Nimri nodded silently, but watched them from the doorway as they gathered in the center of the amphitheatre. In three other doorways Michael could see, white-robed figures also stood there.

  “So, how was your day?” he said.

  “Nothing,” said Kari. “I’ve spent the whole time in the kitchen, learning how to cook Garbas twelve different ways. My so-called guide won’t even talk to me, says I’m to learn about the work-life of the women, and he told me rudely I have no right to wear this pendant.”

  “Keep it out of sight, then,” said Michael.

  “Mike, I’m not even supposed to leave the house!” said Kari. “My guide won’t take me anywhere.”

  “My hosts haven’t said more than ten words to me all day,” said Vilas. “My guide does all the talking, and he spent the entire morning listing the magnificent virtues of Toth. I did get out of the house, but only to watch the men work on their nets.”

  “Same here,” said Utaka. “Same routine, but a little more action. Open resentment against my guide, a guy called Jezrul: tough looking guy, beady eyes, and sullen. Halfway through our meal the head of the house, Zeb Jiskra, suddenly glares at me and says, “Why did you come back here? You’re making danger for all of us.” Jezrul grabs the guy, hustles him out of the house while the rest of the family sits there looking terrified.”

  “Could be we’ve found the person who put that sign in the trail,” said Michael.

  “I thought of that too,” said Utaka. “Anyway, Jezrul returns alone after twenty minutes or so, and the family has refused to speak to me the whole time he’s gone, won’t even look at me. When Jezrul returns he has this wooden staff with him, two meters of polished wood with a black cap on the end. The sight of that staff scared the hell out of people; they started to get up, and Jezrul ordered them to sit again. The rest of the meal he seemed calm and polite enough, talked about the different plants I’d want to take samples of and promised me a boat trip when the weather clears. After that I got the beach tour like the others, watched net mending, but everywhere we went the men seemed watchful and nervous at the sight of Jezrul and that staff. At one point we passed Osen, and—well, you tell it, Osen.”

  “I was plugged into the radio, sir, the open channel at one megahertz, and it was quiet. Then Utaka and this guy walk by and I get a sudden burst of static that made me jump. Real strong, sir, picking up a big power source, but just for an instant. Thought I’d picked up a scan. The static became faint, but every time I happened to get close to Utaka and his guide, it picked up again.”

  “It’s the staff, Major,” said Utaka. “There’s a high frequency power source in it, and I think it’s a weapon. Why else would the people be so scared at the sight of it?”

  “Are you getting all this, Osen?”

  “Recording, sir, the whole conversation.”

  “Send it as soon as we’re finished here. See any other guides with those staffs?”

  No others had been seen.

  “I haven’t seen any of our ‘guides’ before. For all I know Diego has an army of them buried in that hillside. When you hear this recording, Krisha, get everyone on full alert. There are weapons here, but we don’t know what kind yet. I’ll get an audience with Diego to ask for more freedom in looking around, and see if he’ll put a leash on his watchdogs. I won’t ask about Jezrul’s staff. Not yet. Anything else for now?”

  Everyone shook his or her head no.

  “Send it, Osen.”

  Osen punched out a code on his hand-sized radio, and waited for the return beep only he could hear. “Prepare for level four transmission,” he said softly, and then waited again. He punched a button, and the digitized recording of their entire conversation was sent to the receiver on the ridge above them. “Received, sir.”

  “Okay, let’s get back to our hosts. Watch yourselves. The weather is clearing, and at least some of us will be out on boats tomorrow. I want to see everyone here at this time tomorrow. Everyone.”

  Cainen Nimri was waiting for him in the doorway when he returned to the house. “There are problems?” he asked.

  “Complaints, Counselor. The team feels we’re not being given the freedom to look around. Our activities are being restricted too much, and I need to talk to Counselor Segur about this. Can you arrange a meeting for me? This evening? I’ll wait for you in the amphitheatre, alone, so no one will think you’re neglecting your duties.”

  “I will inquire right away, Leader Queal. Please follow me.”

  Michael was aware of other faces at doorways as they walked away from the house.

  Nimri went to the obelisk, and the doors opened as he reached them. In minutes he reappeared, and looked solemn. “Counselor Segur will meet you here after the evening meal,” he said.

  And that evening, after a meal eaten in silence and again without the presence of the little boy Uhli, Michael met the tall man in the amphitheatre to explain his problems.

  “Your guides have been assigned to facilitate your work, and see to your personal safety, Leader Queal. Nothing more, yet I sense a suspicion about their presence on your part.”

  “The people say little in their presence, Counselor, and seem frightened. I’m the only one who has seen anything of value today. It makes us think you’re hiding things from us, and I don’t think either of us wants that. Give us the freedom to look around on our own, have our meals without your guides present, and our suspicions should go away. We meant to trust each other, Counselor, remember?”

  “Lord Toth has assigned the guides. I will speak with him, but the guides must be present on the boats tomorrow. They are necessary to the success of our fishing.”

  “Fair enough,” said Michael, “but on land we need the freedom to explore and talk naturally to people. We don’t have that now, and if you want us out of here in three days you’ll have to give it to us.”

  “I will consult with Our Lord,” said Diego, “and give you his answer in the morning.”

  * * * * * * *

  As night fell, the sky cleared, and Michael sat with Davos on the front stoop. They talked about the fishing fleet and the trip out to sea on the coming day. Michael, of course, would be on Davos’ boat, as would Nimri. Davos explained the necessity of having the Counselor on-board, the way he evoked the powers of Toth to bring the Yellowfin to their nets when they seemed to have disappeared in the sea. Leah brought them a lantern, an open, wooden framework stuffed with the glowing moss that hung from the trees. The light would continue as long as th
e moss was kept moist, she explained. Another wonder provided by Toth. A God? No, thought Michael, not a God, but a man. A man with access to technology. Where was he? In the obelisk? That was where Segur had gone to consult with him. The people had seen him, heard his words, acknowledged his powers, his control, and yet there was no worship here, no worship of a spiritual being with infinite powers. They had brought that religion to Emerson. How had the religion changed so much in only two hundred years?

  There was a quiet dignity and pride in Davos, a man who worked the sea and provided for his family. Michael liked the man, and sensed he was liked in return. He shared with Davos the loneliness of space life, the long sleeps, and the family that had aged beyond him, far, far away. Without thinking, he talked about the beauty he’s seen that day, the quiet peacefulness he felt as they talked. Belsus moved across the sky, and Michael pointed to it. “That will be my home for only a little while, and then my life’s work is done.”

  “You are still a young man, Leader Queal.”

  Michael laughed. “Older than you think, Davos, but there’s a lot of energy left in me. I’ve thought of farming, raising crops like yours up by the waterfall.”

  Davos stood up and put a warm hand on his shoulder. “I think you will like the sea also. We rise early. I will show you my life’s work. Good sleep to you.” He went back into the house, which was already dark and quiet.

  Michael sat in the green glow of the lamp for several minutes, then walked down to the beach, sat down on an overturned boat and stared out at the sea. There was a cool, salty breeze, soft lapping sounds of the gentle surf, and the smell of fish. He sat there, feeling old, lonely, and miserable, a feeling that had come suddenly, out of nowhere.

  There was a snapping sound behind him. He turned, and saw Gini striding towards him across the sand. She wore a long, white sleeping gown, and her dark hair spilled down around her shoulders. She sat down close to him, so close he could feel her warmth, smell the herbs she’d used to wash her hair. “I heard you talking to father,” she said, “but his place is not as you think it is. There are bad things here for you, for all of us if you don’t leave soon. They will not tolerate interference from outsiders.”