Vagabonds of Gor (56 page)

"What is the 97th Aphorism in the Codes?" inquired Labienus.

"My scrolls may not be those of Ar," I said. To be sure, the scrolls should be, at least among the high cities, in virtue of conventions held at the Sardar Fairs, particularly the Fair of En'Kara, much in agreement.

"Will you speak?" asked Labienus.

"Remove the female," I said.

"He is a Warrior," said one of the men.

One of the men lifted the bound Ina in his arms, one hand behind the back of her knees, and the other behind her back, and carried her from where we were gathered. In a few moments he returned.

"The female is now out of earshot?" inquired Labienus, staring ahead.

"Yes," said the fellow, "and she will stay where I left her, on her back, as I tied her hair about the base of a stout shrub."

"The 97th Aphorism in the Codes I was taught," I said, "is in the form of a riddle: "What is invisible but more beautiful than diamonds?"

"And the answer?" inquired Labienus.

"That which is silent but deafens thunder."

The men regarded one another.

"And what is that?" asked Labienus.

"The same," said I, "as that which depresses no scale but is weightier than gold."

"And what is that?" asked Labienus.

"Honor," I said.

"He is of the Warriors," said a man. Plenius turned away, stricken.

"But I have, in my time," I said, "betrayed such codes." Plenius turned back, to regard me, a strange expression on his face.

"I think it is easy enough to do," I said.

"Yes," smiled Labienus. "I think that we all, here and there, in our time, have managed that."

"You are very kind," I said.

"Do you think you could bring us out of this place?" asked Labienus.

"I think so," I said. I then, despairing of interesting any of the fellows about in the bit of tharlarion I had cut, put it in my mouth and began to chew it.

"What are you doing?" asked Labienus.

"Eating," I said.

"Give me some," asked Labienus.

I cut a piece and placed it in his hand.

His men watched in awe as he performed the simple act of eating.

"It is not unlike vulo," he said.

"True," I said. I supposed there was an evolutionary explanation for this similarity in tastes.

I cut another piece.

I offered it to Plenius, and he took it. Then the other men, too, began to crowd about. Soon there was little left of the tharlarion but the bones and hide.

"It could have used salt," said a fellow.

"You are now less hungry," I observed.

"Yes," he said.

"You have salt, do you not?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, "but we had nothing to put it on. Then we had something to put it on, and we did not think of it."

"Such is hunger," I said.

"In the future," said he, "we shall recollect it, you may be sure."

"You speak of a future," I observed.

"Yes," he said, thoughtfully. "I spoke of a future."

"That is the first step out of the delta," I said. The men looked at one another.

"The delta," I said, "is rich in the resources of life. Were it not for rencers and Cosians, patrols, and such, you might remain here indefinitely. Indeed, in small groups you might manage it anyway. But you wish, I take it, to withdraw from the delta, and, if possible, return to Ar."

"Glorious Ar," said a fellow, longingly.

"Do you think there is a chance?" asked a man.

"Yes," I said.

"Perhaps you are a spy," said a fellow, licking a tharlarion bone, "sent to lead us into ambush."

"Why would I come among you then, if I had already located you," I said. "Would it not be simpler and less dangerous for me to simply report your position to rencers or Cosians? Shouldn't you have been attacked already?"

"But perhaps they are not yet in position to do so, and you are with us to track us, to mark our location and facilitate their attack."

"Would it not be simpler to leave you here to perish in the delta?" I asked.

"But perhaps you intend to lead us into an ambush at the delta's edge, and deliver us for bounty gold?"

"That is an excellent idea," I said. "I shall have to give it some thought."

"If you decide on that," he said, "I trust that you will let us know."

"You may count on it," I said.

"That is fair," he said.

"Certainly," I said.

"There is much you must teach the men," said Labienus. "At least one man, at all times, is to be vigilant to the sky," I said. "Too, with him, and with scouts and points, and whoever may wish to alert the others, there must be natural signals by means of which to communicate with the others."

"Rencers," said a man, "use such signals."

"So, too, do the savages of the Barrens," I said.

"And so, too, will we," said a fellow.

"You shall learn many things," I said. "One important item is to break the outlines of the human body. This may be done with brush, with coverings, and such. Similarly the face can be irregularly darkened, to reduce reflection, to blend with shadows, to distort its outlines. We shall move rather separately and each shall have contact with at least two others, at all times. If this contact is broken this is to be communicated as quickly as possible to the others. Open spaces, when it is necessary to cross them, will be crossed one at a time, at intervals, when signals of safety are uttered or displayed. Often one will not walk upright, but move in a stoop or crouch. Sometimes one will crawl, on all fours, sometimes on the stomach. One will make use of available cover. One will never cross high ground but use it, circling it, well below its ridge, that one is never seen outlined against the sky."

"There is much to keep in mind," said a fellow.

"There are many small things, too," I said. "Consider, for example, the homely fact that the sound of urination carries well at night. It is important then to soften the sound of such relief, by, say, urinating into sand, by crouching, by using slanting surfaces, such things."

"Garbage, feces, the signs of camps, too, should be considered," said a fellow.

"Yes," I said.

"There is much to remember," said a fellow.

"These things will become second nature," I said.

"It will be almost as though we were not here," said a fellow, wonderingly.

"As soft as the wind, as silent as shadows," I said.

"Aii," said a man.

The men looked at one another. Transformed it seemed they were to me then. I marveled that so much could have been done, with no more than a bit of food, and a morsel of hope. How marvelous are men that they can grow so great upon so little! And yet have not kingdoms risen from the mire, and ubarates from the dust, on no more?

"We will leave with the coming of darkness," said Labienus, looking over our heads.

"Yes, Captain!" said more than one man.

"Let your enthusiasm be guarded," I said. "The journey is long and difficult, the dangers profound and numerous. We must be extremely careful. We must be extremely patient."

"I can be very patient," said Labienus, looking out over the marsh. He smiled. It seemed to me that there had been a strange note in his words, one I did not understand. "Can we not all, lads?" asked he then, in the accents of an officer.

"Yes, Captain!" said the men.

"I think it might now be acceptable for the female to be brought back into our presence," I said.

"Bring back the female," said Labienus.

In a few moments Ina was brought back, carried in the soldier's arms, as before. I indicated that she should be placed on her knees before Labienus.

"She is before you," I informed him.

"A mute rence girl?" he said.

"Yes," I said.

Ina looked wildly about. No longer was she tucked away inconspicuously in the background, a largely ignored, largely unnoticed captive. She was now in the center of us. I considered the fiber on her wrists, its close circles making her helpless, and that extension of it running to her ankles, pulling them up, confining them. Ina looked at me, frightened. Not only was she now in the midst of us, but, more importantly, there was now a different ambiance in the camp.

Ina, even though a free woman, could detect the difference in the men now, intuitively, unmistakably. She was now being looked upon quite differently than she had been before. These men had fed, and they now had hope. No longer were they the ragged, defeated stragglers among whom she, even though an attractive female, would have been safe.

I wondered if she had now become much more acutely aware of the fact that she was in slave strips, that she was bound, that she was on her knees. I wondered if she had now, suddenly, become much more aware, and perhaps fearfully so, of her own attractions, of the luscious curves of her body, of the excitements of her figure, of the soft perfections of her breasts, so perfectly formed, of her graspable waist, of the flaring of her hips and the sweetness of her love cradle, with its softly rounded belly, like a stove ready for the stoking of slave fires, of her thighs, calves, or her small feet and hands, of those lovely shoulders, and that lovely neck, and the beautiful head and face, now so sensitive, now so softened by her emergent femaleness, and the hair, that might have been the envy of a paga slave, like a sheen of tawny gold, loose about her back and shoulders.

"Is she tall?" asked Labienus.

"No," I said. "She is perhaps a bit less than medium height for a female."

"You call her 'Ina'?" asked Labienus.

"Yes," I said.

"Is she pretty?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Beautiful?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "I would think so."

"What color is her hair," he asked.

"She is a blonde," I said.

"Is she slave desirable?" he asked.

"She is not a slave," I said.

"But if she were a slave?" he asked.

"If she were actually a slave," I said, "I think then, yes, she would be slave desirable."

"So attractive?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"And you call her 'Ina'?" he asked, again.

"Yes," I said.

He put forth his hand and I held Ina in place, my hand in her hair, as his fingers lightly touched her face.

He then drew back his hand, and sat upright again, on the rock.