The Days of Peleg (17 page)

Thaxad had seen Kupé’s look, and had quickly masked his face so that no one would suspect he understood anything.

He must find a way to get one more message to the Captain.

The crops had been harvested and the food and supplies had been prepared for storage. The vital task of creating
kash
-rum from some of the unusual grains had been successful. The
Urbat
would be under sail within two days as last minute preparations were underway.

Kupé had arrived that morning, appearing very agitated, but refusing to explain. He simply informed them that a regiment was on its way concerning Thaxad, and soon they would say their farewells.

Captain Phaxâd joined Peleg and Kupé on the beach, awaiting the return of Thaxad. Peleg had presented the note to the Captain, but there was little that could be done. A few men had traveled around the island one night to try and locate Irawaru’s settlement, and Phaxâd was sure they could approach and surround it if need be.

Eventually, a group of men emerged from the forest, led by Commander Irawaru and Manu.

Thaxad was not among them, and Peleg and Phaxâd were alarmed to see that the men were armed. Kupé turned to Peleg and said regretfully, “I wish it did not have to be this way.” He then walked towards Irawaru who led his men in front of the waiting captain.

Kupé turned to Peleg and said, “Our Commander wishes to speak directly to your Captain. We must simply provide a pure translation.”

Commander Irawaru turned to face Captain Phaxâd and said, “
Mara’ma
, the great god of the moon, has decreed that we retain your female in exchange for the graciousness and hospitality we have shown. You leave our land with your holds full of our grain, wood, and fowl, and you have refreshed yourselves with our resources these many months.”

Peleg’s eyes fastened on Kupé in alarm as they worked out the translation.

Irawaru continued.

“We are certain that you will understand the necessity of our request, as we have no ability for offspring.
Mara’ma
has guided you and now provides for us the means.

“Since you claim to have no plans for colonization, the female cargo is a small price to pay for all we have bequeathed to you.

“We will take her now. Your chief chemist, Tall Thaxad, will be returned immediately. You will then be free to go with our blessing.”

Peleg relayed the translated demand while his eyes bored into Kupé with revulsion and disbelief.

Phaxâd waited patiently for the completion of the translation, then responded.

“That woman, whom you call female cargo, is my wife! She is not available for any price or negotiation.

“Our contract permitted you to confine Thaxad, and we have allowed it. Now you must honor your agreement and return him immediately.”

Irawaru was unmoved. “I understand the value of a female among men on a lengthy voyage such as yours. I am sure that when you return to your homes, you will no doubt be honored with many wives.

“Our demands are unchanged. We will have the female, and she will allow the promises of the
Atua
to be visited upon our children.We shall create a great people in this land, in honor of
Mara’ma
.”

Throughout this exchange, while Peleg and Kupé worked hard to get the translations correct, they tried to communicate their own anguish at being placed in this position.

Using the specialized argot they had developed for themselves, they managed a truncated dialog between themselves at the same time they were constructing the translation for their superiors.

Kupé said, “I regret this situation.
Mara’ma
has spoken.”

“So much for a spiritual basis for right and wrong,” Peleg managed tersely.

“Thaxad has sent a message.”

“Yes?”

“He says you must reverse his earlier message without reservation and not to worry.”

Captain Phaxâd’s response came to a close and they resumed their rendering.

“I and the
Urbat
will negotiate no further. If you are concerned about your progeny, then you should have built boats long ago and returned to civilization—where you would doubtless find many who would assist you.

“We, also, would be happy to assist you in building boats. Your exile is self-imposed.”

Commander Irawaru drew himself up, offended. “We remain until
Mara’ma
, himself, descends! Our reward is forfeit should we leave this place. He saved and provided for us and we will not turn our backs on him now!”

He assumed a posture of finality.

“We shall return for your female tomorrow. When she is safely in our camp, we shall release Tall Thaxad and return him to you.

“If she does not arrive at our camp, those who wait for her will be ordered to execute Tall Thaxad. Any attempt to rescue him or assist his escape will result in his immediate death.

“And finally, we have cordoned off this perimeter and shall allow no passage. Any attempt to harm or dissuade any of my men will result in the death of Tall Thaxad.

“I shall return here tomorrow morning for your answer.”

With that he spun on his heals and signaled his men to follow.

Kupé gave Peleg one last look. It said,
Don’t think badly of me
.

As they positioned the sentries who were to remain, Manu spoke quietly with Irawaru.

“Commander,” he asked carefully. “We have given them no way out. They may feel they have nothing to lose and attack with abandon. Their mission cannot continue without their chemist.”

“Exactly,” Irawaru agreed. “They will no more continue without their chemist than without their navigator. They also will not risk his death.”

He nodded with assurance.

“The female will be handed to us tomorrow. They have no choice, and it is a small price to pay. They will realize it.”

The remaining men continued to their settlement, praising
Mara’ma
for his provision and the opportunity to demonstrate his power to these invaders. Their original sins had provided the hostage, and now
he
who had known these events beforehand had orchestrated them together for their future prominence among all people.

“Nothing can prevent the will of
Mara’ma
.”

“I don’t know,” Peleg confessed. “He said to reverse his message.”

Captain Phaxâd was angry and irritated. Not a pleasant combination.

“This says they might not release him. The reverse is that they will—but that is obviously not true.”

“I’m just saying what Kupé told me under his breath.”

“And you believe him?”

“Well,” said Peleg. “His message carried no information other than its reference to this first note. There is no way he could know what
this
note said, so there is no way he could lie, even if he wanted to.”

A few other men had gathered around the note.

“The message was ‘Reverse the message’, right?” It was Lugalkitun, whose duties as Chief Cook had brought him the undying friendship of Serug. “Perhaps it is more cryptic than meets the eye?”

He began to read the note, reading the words backwards.

Now danger immediate any in not am I
Me release to reluctant become may captors my, however
Without or within from assistance need may I
Go can he where knows he Serug tell

Nothing seemed to present itself, and a few began reversing letters, or attempting some other kind of acrostic.

“Wait!” Serug entered, pushing through the men with his typical youthful lack of decorum. “Reverse the lines, too. Just read the first words. Go – without – me - now.”

Phaxâd turned to Peleg. “What exactly did your student say?”

“He said, ‘Reverse the message’ and ‘not to worry.’”

Phaxâd thought for a moment, then said, “There will be no negotiating. If we give in to these demands, there may be others.”

He paused.

“We shall do exactly as Thaxad requests.”

A low murmur of protest began to well up, but the Captain raised his hand.

“They do not recognize the value we place on our wives. They also seem to think that no one but our Thaxad has any chemical and other scientific training. And finally, they threaten our very mission.”

He turned to Peleg.

“Chief Peleg, collect your equipment from the beach. Anyone else who has supplies or other equipment must retrieve them immediately.”

He looked up at his men. “They believe it impossible that we can leave without Thaxad. Therefore, we shall do the impossible. We shall pull up anchor tonight and be gone before morning. It is taboo for these islanders to leave their island, and they have neither the means or will to pursue us.”

He looked around. “Make your moving discreet. We don’t want our guards to discern our plans.”

It was an order, but the men were stunned. The captain would never leave anyone behind. However, since Thaxad had agreed, that somehow made it acceptable; but it was still very alarming.

Just before sunrise, the
Urbat
lifted anchor and silently pulled away. Captain Phaxâd had ordered a full compliment of rowers to increase the speed, but within a few minutes, a loud cry was heard from the receding beach.

An alert sentry had seen the ship leaving in the moonlight and he alerted others. A small volley of flaming arrows came flying towards the ship, but fell harmlessly into the sea, lacking the range needed to reach the fleeing
Urbat
.

He was now
Sar
of all he surveyed, and there were now hundreds of workers, busy rebuilding his old city. Soon they would also make a fine army.

It was a shame that much of the architecture and engineering had disappeared during the Great Awakening. The confusion and rioting that had occurred at that time destroyed much of the writings and even those that were left were often untranslatable.

The rebuilding of his ziggurat was coming along nicely, but he was afraid it would never reach the heights of his old one. The workers simply lacked the engineering knowledge.

Someday, when his reign was re-established, he would turn his attention to the
Gutians
—the treacherous bands of political insurgents and religious terrorists who had undermined his prior reign. He had imprisoned them, but they had escaped his stockades and work camps during the chaos at that time. These sub-humans had fled to the hills of the far west and were rumored to live there in caves like animals.

It would be fun to flush them out of hiding and exterminate them for good.

Chapter 16

Escape

“One man’s magic is another man’s science. Gravity itself is supernatural—touching nothing yet influencing everything.”

T
he sentries assigned to guard the ship rushed back to the settlement to report its departure.

Halfway there, they ran into another group of men who were searching the jungle in the dark. They were thrashing through the underbrush with long knives and had been looking for the tall one since nightfall.

Their prisoner had escaped. He had been tied and confined to his hut, but it was now burned to the ground with no sign of a body. The guard assigned to him had a badly burned face, claiming that the tall one had magically blinded him with a puff of fiery breath and then disappeared in a cloud of pungent smoke.

The sentries were confident. No one had come near the beach, and they had seen every man that had boarded the vessel. It was an absolute certainty that the tall one had not made it to the ship. He was sure to be hiding somewhere in the jungle and would be found eventually. Besides, his only means of escape had just left.

Later, Kupé was troubled as he reflected on how the light of
Mara’ma
seemed to aid the unbelievers in their flight.

The
Urbat
was finally underway, and sadness at the loss of one of their shipmates was partially relieved by the joy of being on the open sea again.

Also, the revelation that there was a large landmass to the east dispelled one of the major concerns of this mission—the concern of whether they would find land and supplies, or sail on endless waters until their reserves expired.

Peleg finished his sunrise measurements and retired to his quarters, glad to be heading back on course. It was nice to be a Chief and have his own cabin. There were a few small cabins crowded with three or four beds, but most of the crew took turns sleeping in hammocks suspended behind the rowing docks.

He curled up on his mat and prepared to sleep. He had been up all night, and hoped to sleep until noon, but his thoughts were troubled by his last images of Kupé, and, of course, the loss of Thaxad. Ultimately, their differing perspectives had been over the best basis for morality—science or faith. In Peleg’s mind, both were becoming more and more subjective. He wondered if Kupé was also troubled by the paradox.

He was awakened violently by a pounding at the door.

“Peleg! Get up!” It was Serug’s voice. “I have to show you something!”