rings—they had not been appointed to those positions by the Master System
because of longevity or family breeding. They had earned their way with the
blood of others, mortgaging their souls in the process. Men like them, perhaps
better than them, had reached the point where mass genocide and mass suicide
were taken for granted. Would humanity be better off in the hands of five evil
people? Would his own people, whose way of life was spiritual and fulfilling, be
among the first to be penned up, perhaps extinguished, while others again
slaughtered the buffalo and deer and elk into near or total extinction just for
sport?
Oddly enough, he decided that the attempt to find and use the rings was worth
the risk. If it could be done or if he could just spread the knowledge of the
rings so that someone, some day, could and would do it, he should try.
Cloud Dancer was not truly correct. Master System, whatever it was, had not
coalesced all evil into itself; its evil had been entirely taught to it by
humankind. It was not an evil creation, just one that had done its job and then
kept on doing it. It was evil now, the ultimate evil, because it had gone on
past its time and threatened to go on forever. By locking the people of Earth
into their own past, it had rendered them powerless to destroy themselves. And
it had done more. It had taken the huge masses of people who could not be
supported by such a system or controlled by it and scattered them among the
stars. He hadn’t mentioned that part to Cloud Dancer, because she thought the
stars were spirits, and the concept of billions of humans was beyond her. Still,
it was exactly so.
Even if Earth again reached a capacity for self-destruction, humanity would not
die. So many worlds out there were populated now that humanity would probably
live—in some form or another—as long as the universe lived. Yet those worlds,
too, were held down, suppressed by the Master System. It treated them all as it
had treated its birthworld, and worse. Humanity could not be destroyed, and that
was the objective of the system as its human creators had envisioned, but
neither could it grow— ever.
Better that men be in command, even if they were far more evil than the machine.
Evil men had come and gone throughout history and caused great suffering, but
they had come—and gone. Others, some better, some worse, all different, had
replaced them, but civilization had grown. He must loose the Lords of the Middle
Dark from their chains, even if they devoured him and all that he held dear. He,
as a historian, understood that better than most.
But first there was that pipsqueak pirate and dictator over there in that lodge,
chuckling to himself and filling his fat belly. If he could not deal with
Roaring Bull, he deserved no better than serving the lowest of the lords of
evil. After Moxxoquan, Emperor of the Council of Nations, what was a Roaring
Bull?
He felt suddenly invigorated, although the smells of fine food denied him
attacked his stomach. He would not be stopped here. He had a thought that was
appropriate to the occasion, although it was out of place here and to one of his
lineage, traditions, and spiritual beliefs; a thought that only a scholar who
had been given the keys to knowledge forbidden to the masses of humanity could
have in such a time and place:
Why, this is merely Limbo; I stand only at the gates of Malebolge and have nine
circles to go before I am permitted to Dis. What warrior could dream of facing
great Satan in his lair when he is trapped in Limbo?
He scouted the village, strutting as if he were its master, yet all eyes averted
from him, all contact forbidden. They watched him in furtive glances and
wondered if he was mad or perhaps would make a bargain.
But he would make no bargains with demons, he knew. He would not be trapped
forever in Limbo, as they all were.
A number of traders were stopping at the landing: perhaps six or more canoes,
some double and lashed together to carry all the more. The summer was ended, and
they were going home. Two large warriors guarded the path and eyed Hawks
nastily, so he went to one side and waited for the traders to come up. They were
of many nations, but he was able to make out their conversations as they came up
from the landing and went into the village to pay their respects—and perhaps
more as well—to Chief Roaring Bull.
I do not like this one bit, so many of Council without respect going about the
land, one remarked to another casually in a tongue Hawks understood.
I do not know what they do here, the other responded. That Crow man and that
black Caribe bitch. I would gladly give my life if I could first be permitted to
cut their arrogant throats. They had better not come into my tribe!
They were looking for someone in particular, the first one noted. I hope that
if they find him, he feels as you!
You will have more two or three days south, another put in. Up on a bluff on
the west shore. They tried to be hidden, but they are amateurs, soft in the ways
of living free. They were there when I came up. A bunch of them digging holes
and sifting dirt. Their ways are inexplicable.
That all interested him, and he remained to hear as much new gossip as he could.
He didn’t know who the southbounders were referring to. A Crow and a Caribe?
Council Security, certainly, at least the Crow.
They were hunting someone. Him, perhaps? Had they found the body up there, or
had the Val just pulled the alarm when it saw that Hawks, the only Council
member around not searching with it, had vanished south? The fact that a Caribe
had ventured this far north was unnerving, even though she would make the
hunters easy to spot. She had to be the one who’d lost the courier, the one told
to go up there and not come back without a dead body and a destroyed briefcase.
With her career and future on the line, she would pull no punches, and for the
knowledge of the rings, Master System would allow a lot of leeway.
The others to the south were more interesting. Archaeologists, certainly, from
the description. This was a region of the mound builders, whose structures
remained miraculously preserved in spite of the prior huge population here and
the massive destruction that had followed.
The archaeologists would try to blend in, but somewhere close they would have
modern equipment, which Hawks might be able to use to advance his cause and
cover his tracks.
All right, he said to himself. You now have a destination, pursuers, and a
potential for escape. If you can just find something to eat and get a little
more rest, you might just save your neck.
Saving humanity would come later.
Neither Hawks nor Cloud Dancer got much rest. In anticipation of action, he just
couldn’t sleep; she quickly discovered that the stables were busy places in the
daytime and managed to catch an hour here and an hour there. He admired her
greatly for her seeming lack of concern. He tried to draw on her courage.
The trouble was that they didn’t have enough to go on to work out a definite
plan. They knew what they had to do, but how it was done would be strictly
improvised, and they were depending a lot on the overconfidence and incompetence
of the men set to watch them.
It wasn’t until late that evening that they had enough privacy to discuss their
plans. Cloud Dancer had effectively scouted and memorized the village layout the
night before, but he had to describe to her in detail the interior of Roaring
Bull’s main lodge as he remembered it. He also told her about the two security
people who were probably looking for them.
I would prefer more time to study this, but I have been fearful all day that
they would arrive here, and they will certainly be here within another day. I
think we must go as soon as we can.
It is better to act than to dwell, she responded.
He had feared a clear night, but the mists rolled in off the rivers and hung
heavy on the village, and through it a light, cold rain fell, turning the whole
area thick with mud. The dampness was uncomfortable; at times like this he
appreciated all those inoculations against colds, flus, and pneumonia, and he
worried a bit about Cloud Dancer.
By early morning the conditions were appalling but very much to the advantage of
the pair. The sleepy guard was back, but he’d retreated inside to keep out of
the rain; when Cloud Dancer slipped silently from the stable and peeked in the
small hut across the way, she found him out again and snoring loudly by a small
fire. The watchdog looked up, yawned, and went back to sleep. She checked for
the guard down the street as well, but he was gone, almost certainly inside by a
fire himself, warming his insides with fire liquids. She saw no trace of other
watchers.
When she returned for Hawks, he was already numb from the cold of the stable and
somewhat wet, since the roof leaked, so actually moving more than made up for
the additional wetness outside. The mud, however, was both deep and slippery,
something which worked against them, but would also be a problem for pursuers.
Cloud Dancer’s silent friend peered out the doorway nervously and was given a
whispered response. She motioned them up and in with a hand gesture. The warmth
of the kitchen felt good.
The woman was indeed tiny, although her proportions showed the results of being
a cook. Not that she was fat, but her behind and breasts were definitely a lot
fatter than they were supposed to be. She had long, stringy black hair with
traces of gray, although she didn’t look all that old. Her eyes were ancient.
She was barefoot and had on a simple skin and cloth dress which looked as worn
as she did.
Time was pressing, but he tried his entire repertoire of American languages and
found each met by a shaking of the head. She had certainly learned some Illinois
just by being there, but he didn’t know that language. Since so many of the
plains languages were related, as were another group from the southwest, he
decided that Cloud Dancer had probably been correct: The mute woman was from
either the south or the east coastal area. How she had wound up in the hands of
this band was probably an epic story but not one she would ever tell.
She had gone to some risk for their sake, that was clear. She had two knives for
them, one a hunting knife and the other well balanced for throwing, and somehow
she’d managed to get a spear. She also had a worn leather shoulder bag that
contained some provisions such as small apples, nuts, and dried fruit. It was
more than he had expected, but both he and Cloud Dancer understood the
obligation their acceptance incurred. In a place this small it was unavoidable
that such help would be traced back to the slave woman, whether they succeeded
in escaping or not. The punishment would be very slow and agonizing torture
until death released her, in public, as an example of what happened to those
slaves who betrayed their masters.
She must come along, you know, he told Cloud Dancer.
I knew you would think so. I could not love a man who would decide otherwise.
It is also not likely we can return her to her people. The Hyiakutt accepted
returned or escaped prisoner-slaves into the tribe, but many tribes considered
becoming a prisoner or slave to be an act of unworthiness and tantamount to
death. Also, she had clearly been here a long time; she would have no future and
few, if any, friends if she did return. I also could never keep a slave.
Come on and let us go, Cloud Dancer said irritably. It was I who involved her
in this and agreed to her help. I understood then that you would have to marry
her, too. Come. If we do not make good this escape, then none of this matters.