The Days of Peleg (13 page)

They were patient. Honor prevented them from attempting to leave before the
Atua
were appeased. However, they could not assume they would live forever. With no women among them, there would be no offspring, so if it pleased the
Atua
to abandon them in their paradise, so be it. They were still beholden to
Mara’ma
and his fellow Watchers for their lives.

Someday, when the
Atua
arrived, they would surely be rewarded for their devotion, and each man dreamt of the eternal youth that would be theirs when they were allowed to eat of the Tree of Life.

“This does not seem to be the act of wind and erosion,” Phaxâd nodded in reluctant agreement. They had arrived at the outcropping Utebbibassu had seen, out of breath and with the sun glistening on their shiny perspiring skin.

A trick of depth perception had caused them to view it as part of the mountainside, but in reality, this structure was standing in isolation, resting on a platform of closely fitted stones some distance in front of the surrounding countryside.

The platform design reminded him of the cast-bricks of the
Citadel
, but each of these stones had a unique size, shape, and dimension—yet they were still placed as tightly as the uniform building blocks from home. Moreover, some of the larger stones had curved, rounded surfaces and
still
there was not even the tiniest space between them. A cursory inspection detected no masonry filling or mortar.

What had caught her attention, though, and what now dominated the landscape, was the structure that towered above them—two or three times the height of a man. It was nothing more than a sculpture of a man’s head. But it was no ordinary man. It had obvious Mentor characteristics, but with a large nose and protruding eyebrows indicating great age. The cranium was also wide and elongated, but flattened on top, and the eyes were definitely focused on a point far beyond the horizon.

“Since no one has ever been here, we must assume these must grow wild in this land,” she said. His sweet ‘Bassu could often be very sarcastic.

Out of bewilderment, Phaxâd managed, “This has been carved too recently to be from before the Great Calamity.”

“Dear,” his wife offered. “This has been carved within the last few years.”

They circled the huge head in silence, both recognizing the igneous medium of the sculpture, and its inexplicable isolation. Phaxâd expanded his circle, and noticed something brown coiled up nearby.

“Look!” he exclaimed as he bent to retrieve the object. “I found a piece of rope.”

“And over here!” his wife responded. “I see a path with footprints, and impressions of rolling logs.”

“Let’s get back to the ship,” the captain decided. “We’ll let Castor Thaxad take a look at this.”

Kupé returned with sixteen men and Commander Irawaru to the place where he had discovered the tracks. He had been scouting at the base of the mountain for a suitable place to erect his latest
Mara’ma
when he had seen the footprints. Whoever had made them were certainly not animals, and, if human, were not wearing any type of footwear he had ever seen.

The men scouted around the area and deduced that there had been two intruders, who had disturbed some rope and tools.

Handprints were discovered on the platform, and soon it was obvious that their visitors had climbed up and examined their monument to the
Atua
.

“They went this way!” a man by the name of Manu called out. He was the closest thing to a chemist in their community, and the men usually deferred to him unless Irawaru vetoed his suggestions.

The grasses were bent, indicating the recent passage of the strangers, and it was a simple matter to start the descent to follow the direction they had taken.

They reached a pool where human footprints (without footwear) became evident, and it was obvious that someone had been swimming here earlier that morning. Clear, wet steps went up the side of a small cliff, and other hurried markings and disturbed surface rocks indicated the more recent rush of feet around the cove hidden by the outcropping.

With unspoken commitment, the men began stalking their prey, following the two sets of prints through the sand and continuing towards the coast.

“Peleg, I think I can use you right now.” Whenever Captain Phaxâd began a sentence with ‘I think…’ it was known to be an understatement demanding an immediate and unquestioned response.

Peleg had just returned to the ship to get some charts. His excitement at finally being able to do observations on solid ground was exhilarating, and he had wanted some more references for his base camp observations.

Normally, he would have asked Serug to get them, but when his young friend wasn’t spending time studying with Thaxad, he was examining the plants and wildlife. Serug had also developed some good friends closer to his age, and spent a great deal of time with them. Peleg smiled to himself. The average age aboard the
Urbat
was about sixty-five, and it was fun watching the (now) forty-five-year-old fit in.

Stepping out on the deck he saw the reason for the Captain’s urgency. Aligned along the shore was a group of seventeen men who were wearing the most outlandish and colorful clothing he had ever seen.

Aside from the fact that there should be no people here at all, he was more concerned with the weaponry they seemed to be carrying.

Captain Phaxâd was already seated in the dinghy, and motioned for Peleg to join him. He got in, and a deckhand lowered them into the water.

As they rowed to shore, the Captain explained, “My wife and I saw a stone carving that was probably made by these people. It’s time for you to earn your keep as a diplomat and linguist. Just try and make sure they’re not angry and then get permission to use some of these grasslands so we can do some planting and bird hunting.”

“I’ll see what I can do. I don’t suppose we have time to break out our own weapons?” This was rhetorical, since he knew their best hope was to be as non-threatening as possible.

He could see the strangers more clearly, now. They stood in an impassive line along the rocks, yet their body language clearly said, “We are waiting for an explanation for this invasion.” The fact that each man brandished a large, flat blade in front of his face did not help Peleg’s anxiety.

Upon reaching the shore, he and the Captain climbed up the beach towards the men. Peleg extended his arms to show he was carrying no weapons, and smiled. He tried to determine who the leader was and addressed him in a clear voice.

“Good Afternoon!”

The man next to the ‘leader’ responded, “Your ship is not golden, and you do not bear the look of the
Atua
. We demand to know by what authority you have invaded our sanctuary.”

The syllables washed over Peleg’s ears as he realized with horror that he didn’t understand a word that was spoken. This was going to take awhile.

He looked around and in desperation took hold of Captain Phaxâd’s lovely (and valuable) solid-black command cape fashioned from a single swath of spun flax. He unfastened it and lifted it from the startled Captain’s shoulders.

He folded it neatly and walked towards the ‘speaker’. He knelt on the ground in front of him, indicating that this was a gift, then pointed to himself and said, “I am Peleg.”

The man stared at him, then shook his head, apparently coming to the same conclusion as Peleg. He motioned towards another man and said something incomprehensible. The second man came forward, faced Peleg and slowly said, “
Pehe koe?
”

Manu picked up the folded piece of cloth, and wondered why anyone would consider such a drab piece of material something valuable enough to be a worthy gift. It had been fastened around the short man’s neck, and appeared to have no function other than to collect perspiration. Even worse, it was all one color. No sophistication. It was like giving someone a sweaty black rag.

No matter. The gesture was understood. These intruders did not appear threatening, and perhaps they were just as lost as his men had been thirty-six years earlier. Besides, Kupé should be well able to educate these newcomers in his language. He was an excellent writer and had studied some inland dialects during his explorations prior to their banishment.

The initial exchange continued, and soon Kupé was going through the animated motions of teaching words like ‘stand’, ‘sit’, ‘eat’, and of course the obligatory ‘My name is —’. Soon the stranger was unrolling charts of some kind, and Manu felt sure that the mystery of their new guests would soon be solved.

The once
King of Heaven and Earth
had achieved complete military and political control over Uruk and Kish. And he was quickly collecting a large workforce which would soon rebuild his old city.

He had heard from his daughter who claimed to have considerable sway over the Academicians in her city. Her letter made her seem like quite a mystic, but that could be used to his advantage. They had no military to speak off, and perhaps simply by announcing his arrival, he could annex the city with little cost or effort. And a touch of religious manipulation never hurt. He was the original author of mixing religion with politics.

Controlling this key port city would solidify trade, and it wouldn’t hurt to be seen as a great unifying savior.

He had given himself the title of
Sar
, and he gloried in the realization that the
Future
King of Heaven and Earth had arrived.

Chapter 13

Banishment

“It is the nature of religion to violently impose subjective absolutes on others.”

“T
hat cape was a gift from my wife!” Captain Phaxâd was not really angry; he was simply trying to figure out if Peleg could have tried something else first.

“I’m sorry, Captain,” Peleg offered. “I just reached for the finest item I could get at such short notice. I wanted to appear that we had intended a gift for them all along, and I didn’t feel it would look good to go back to the ship and give them something else.”

“I’m sure it was well received. Perhaps next time you could offer something of your own.”

“Yes, Sir.” Peleg deflected the subject. “I think they understand our needs, and soon they will return with their response.”

The strangers did not appear to be concerned about appeasing any gods, unless this ‘Reu-Nathor’ was some kind of incarnate deity. Their only concern was to travel the seas and chart whatever lands they encountered. The most important thing was that they had no intention of staying. They claimed to need a small area to grow some crops, and then they would be on their way.

Manu had expressed concern that the
Atua
might look down and see the unbelievers, and be less likely to descend, but Commander Irawaru disagreed. He stated that they were extending mercy, just as they had received it, and that
Mara’ma
would be pleased and would provide intercession if needed.

Irawaru listed the conditions whereby the strangers would be allowed to remain, and Kupé was sent to relay them.

Peleg had been shocked as he slowly realized that this new language was unlike anything he had ever studied or heard. He was familiar with the agglutinative constructs among the peoples back home in the mountains of the northeast, but it took him some time to realize that the same word in this strange language could have multiple meanings depending on the pitch or tone with which it was said. They sat for several hours under some trees next to the beach, drawing in the sand and exchanging vocabulary. The man, whose name was Kupé, had gradually explained what they expected of the new arrivals. The
Urbat
must move eastward along the northern coastline where there was a decent beach for the ship to anchor and a large grassy plain. There they could plant their crops and hunt freely. When they had finished harvesting, they must then continue their voyage.

Their leader went by the name of Irawaru, but Kupé would not disclose where on the island their village was located. The men of the
Urbat
were free to utilize the areas of the north as they saw fit, but they must stay clear of the areas surrounding the large southwestern mountain, and must make no attempt to discover their village. Some creatures they called ‘
Atua
’ would not be pleased. Peleg didn’t want to run into any wild animals, so he agreed to all of the conditions.

The
Urbat
pulled up anchor, and moved around the northern coastline where it set up a permanent camp. A small patch of grassland was burned away to be tilled for grain and flax, while some trees were harvested to repair and reinforce the ship. Small gathering parties went in search of berries and bark while others went to hunt for birds.

Peleg established a new observatory, and looked forward to making some long-term charting with his gearbox planetarium now that he was on fixed soil. He could now set up a proper sundial stick and accurately determine azimuth. He had an exact latitude and declination, and would soon be able to plug in the rest of his numbers. By comparing his almanac from home, he would be able to mark his position on the globe as accurately as if he were looking down from
Suen
. He had memorized the formula as a boy, but he still liked to look at it: