The Ship Who Won ккп-5 Read online

  «I think you missed your chance for a peaceful approach, Keff.»

  «Um,» Keff said. «He who spies and runs away lives to chat another day.»

  While the combatants circled each other, ringed by a watching crowd, Keff backed away on his hands and knees through the bush. Cursing the pins and needles in his legs, Keff managed to get to his feet and started downhill toward the gully where Carialle was concealed.

  ***

  Carialle launched gracefully out of the gully and turned into the face of planetary rotation toward another spot on the day-side which her monitors said showed signs of life.

  «May as well ring the front doorbell this time,» Keff said. «No sense letting them get distracted over something else. If only I'd moved sooner!»

  «No sense having a post mortem over it,» Carialle said firmly. «You can amaze these natives with how much you already know about them.»

  Reversing to a tail-first position just at the top of atmosphere, Carialle lowered herself gently through the thin clouds and cleaved through a clear sly onto a rocky field in plain sight of the workers. Switching on all her exterior cameras, she laughed, and put the results on monitor for Keff.

  «I could paint a gorgeous picture,» she said. «Portrait of blinding astonishment.»

  «Another regional mutation,» Keff said, studying the screen. «They're still beautiful, still the same root stock, but their faces look a little like sheep.»

  «Perfectly suited for open-mouthed goggling,» Carialle said promptly. «I wonder what causes such diversity amidst the groups. Radiation? Evolution based on function and lifestyle?»

  «Why would they need to look like sheep?» Keff said, shrugging out of the crash straps.

  «Maybe they were behind the door when ape faces like yours were handed out,» Carialle said teasingly, then turned to business. «I'm reading signs of more underground heat sources. One habitation, three entrances. Ambient air temperature, fourteen degrees. This place is cold.»

  «I'll wear a sweater, Mom. Here goes!»

  ***

  As Keff waited impatiently in the airlock, checking his equipment carriers and biting on the implanted mouth contact to make sure it was functioning properly, Carialle lowered the ramp. Slowly, she opened the airlock. A hundred yards beyond it, Keff saw a crowd of the sheep-faced Noble Primitives gathered at the edge of the crop field, still gaping at the tall silver cylinder.

  Taking a deep breath, Keff stepped out onto the ramp, hand raised, palm outward, weaponless. The IT was slung on a strap around his neck so he let his other hand hang loosely at his side.

  «Hail, friends!» he called to the aliens huddled on the edge of the dusty field. «I come in peace.»

  He walked toward the crowd. The Primitives stared at him, the adults' faces expressionless underneath the fur masks, the children openly awestruck. Cautiously, Keff raised his other hand away from his body so they could see it, and smiled.

  «They're not afraid of you, Keff,» Carialle said, monitoring the Noble Primitives' vital signs. «In fact, they're not even surprised. Now that's odd!»

  ***

  «Why does one of the mages come to us?» Alteis said, worriedly, as the stranger approached them, showing his teeth. «What have we done wrong? We have kept up with the harvest. All proceeds on schedule. The roots are nearly all harvested. They are of good quality.»

  Brannel snorted, a sharp breath ruffling the fur on his upper lip, and turned an uncaring shoulder toward the oldster. Old Alteis was so afraid of the mages that he would do himself an injury one day if the overlords were really displeased. He stared at the approaching mage. The male was shorter man he, but possessed of a mighty build and an assured, cocky walk. Unusual for a mage, his hands showed that they were not unacquainted with hard work. The out-thrust of the cleft chin showed that he knew his high place, and yet his dark, peaty blue eyes were full of good humor. Brannel searched his memory, but was certain he had never encountered this overlord before.

  «He is one we do not know,» Brannel said quickly in an undertone out of the side of his mouth. «Perhaps he is here to tell us he is our new master.»

  «Klemay is our master,» Alteis said, his ruff and mustache indignantly erect on his leathery face.

  «But Klemay has not been seen for a month,» Brannel said. «I saw the fire in the mountains, I told you. Since then, no power has erupted from Klemay's peak.»

  «Perhaps this one serves Klemay,» Mrana, mate of Alteis, suggested placatingly. Surreptitiously, she brushed the worst of the dust off the face of one of her children. None of them looked their best at harvest time when little effort could be wasted on mere appearance. The overlord must understand that.

  «Servers serve,» Brannel snorted. «No overlord serves another but those of the Five Points. Klemay was not a high mage.»

  «Do not speak of things you do not understand,» Alteis said, as alarmed as that foolish male ever became. «The mages will hear you.»

  «The mages are not listening,» Brannel said.

  Alteis was about to discipline him further, but the overlord was within hearing range now. The stranger came closer and stopped a couple of paces away. All the workers bowed their heads, shooting occasional brief glances at the visitor. Alteis stepped forward to meet him and bowed low.

  «What is your will, lord?» he asked.

  Instead of answering him directly, the mage picked up the box that hung around his neck and pushed it nearly underneath Alteis's chin. He spoke to the leader at some length. Though Brannel listened carefully, the words meant nothing. Alteis waited, then repeated his words clearly in case the overlord had not understood him. The mage smiled, head tilted to one side, uncomprehending.

  «What may I and my fellow workers do to serve you, exalted one?» Brannel asked, coming forward to stand beside Alteis. He, too, bowed low to show respect, although the germ of an idea was beginning to take shape in his mind. He tilted his chin down only the barest respectable fraction so he could study the visitor.

  The male fiddled with the small box on his breast, which emitted sounds. He spoke over it, possibly reciting an incantation. That was not unusual; all the overlords Brannel had ever seen talked to themselves sometimes. Many objects of power were ranged about this ones strongly built form. Yet he did not appear to understand the language of the people, nor did he speak it. He hadn't even acknowledged Brannel's use of mage-talk, which had been cleverly inserted into his query.

  Puzzled, Brannel wrinkled his forehead. His fellow servers stayed at a respectful distance, showing proper fear and respect to one of the great overlords. They were not puzzled: they had no thoughts of their own to puzzle them or so Brannel opined. So he took as close a look at this puzzling overlord as possible.

  The male appeared to be of the pure blood of the Magi, showing all three signs: clear skin, whole hand, and bright eyes. His clothing did not resemble that which overlords wore. Then Brannel arrived at a strange conclusion: this male was not an overlord. He could not speak either language, he did not wear garments like an overlord, he did not act like an overlord, and he had clearly not come from the high places of the East. The worker male's curiosity welled up until he could no longer contain the question.

  «Who are you?» he asked.

  Alteis grabbed him by the ruff and yanked him back into the midst of the crowd of shocked workers.

  «How dare you speak to an overlord like that, you young puppy?» he said, almost growling. «Keep your eyes down and your mouth shut!»

  «He is not an overlord, Alteis,» Brannel said, growing more certain of this every passing moment.

  «Nonsense,» Fralim said, closing his hand painfully on Brannel's upper arm. Alteis's son was bigger and stronger than he was, but Fralim couldn't see the fur on his own skin. He loomed over Brannel, showing his teeth, but Brannel knew half the ferocity was from fear. «He's got all his fingers, hasn't he? The finger of authority has not been amputated. He can use the objects of power. I ask forgiveness, honored lord,» Frali
m said, speaking in an abject tone to the stranger.

  «He does not speak our language, Fralim,» Brannel said clearly. «Nor does he understand the speech of the Magi. All the Magi speak the linga esoterka, which I understand. I will prove it. Master,» he said, addressing Keff in mage-talk, «what is thy will?»

  The stranger smiled in a friendly fashion and spoke again, holding the box out to him.

  The experiment didn't impress Brannel's fellow workers. They continued to glance up at the newcomer with awe and mindless adoration in their eyes, like the herd beasts they so resembled.

  «Keff,» the stranger said, nodding several times and pointing to himself. He shifted his hand toward Brannel. «An dew?»

  The others ducked. When the finger of authority was pointed at one of them, it sometimes meant that divine discipline was forthcoming. Brannel tried to hide that he, too, had flinched, but the gesture seemed merely a request for information.

  «Brannel,» he said, hand over pounding heart. The reply delighted the stranger, who picked up a rock.

  «An dwattis zis?» he asked.

  «Rock,» Brannel said. He approached until he was merely a pace from the overlord. «What is this?» he asked, very daringly, reaching out to touch the mages tunic sleeve.

  «Brannel, no!» Alteis wailed. «You'll die for laying hands on one of them!»

  Anything was better than living out his life among morons, Brannel thought in disgust. No bolt of punishment came. Instead, Keff said, «Sliv.»

  «Sliv,» Brannel repeated, considering. It sounded almost like the real word. Ozran was great! he thought in gratitude. Perhaps Keff was a mage, but from a distant part of the world.

  They began to exchange the words for objects. Keff led Brannel to different parts of the holding, pointing and making his query. Brannel, becoming more interested by the minute, gave him the words and listened carefully to the stranger-words with which Keff identified the same things. Keff was freely offering Brannel a chance to exchange information, to know his words in trade for his own. Language was power, Brannel knew, and power held the key to self-determination.

  Behind them, the villagers followed in a huddled group, never daring to come close, but unable to stay away as Brannel claimed the entire, and apparently friendly, attention of a mage. Fralim was muttering to himself. It might have meant trouble, since Fralim saw himself as the heir to village leadership after Alteis, but he was too much in awe of the seeming-mage and had already forgotten some of what had happened. If Brannel managed to distract him long enough afterward, Fralim would forget forever the details of his grudge. It would disappear into the grayness of memory that troubled nearly every server on Ozran. Brannel decided to take advantage of the situation, and named every single worker to the mage. Fralim whitened under his fur, but he smiled back, teeth gritted, when Keff repeated his name.

  The stranger-mage asked about every type of root, every kind of flower and herb in the sheltered garden by the cavern mouth. Twice, he tried to enter the home-cavern, but stopped when he saw Brannel pause nervously on the threshold. The worker was more convinced than he was of anything else in his life that this mage was not as other mages: he didn't know entry to the home site between dawn and dusk was forbidden under pain of reprisal.

  Toward evening, the prepared food for the villagers appeared in the stone square, as it did several times every day. Brannel would have to pretend to eat and just hope that he could control his rumbling guts until he had a chance to assuage his hunger from his secret cache. He'd worked a long, hard day before he'd had to stimulate his wits to meet the demands of this unexpected event.

  Muttering began among the crowd at their heels. The children were hungry, too, and had neither the manners nor the wit to keep their voices down. Not wishing to incur the wrath of the visiting mage, Alteis and Mrana were discussing whether or not they dared offer such poor fare to the great one. Should they, or shouldn't they, interrupt the great ones visit at all by letting mere workers eat? What to do?

  Brannel took care of the problem. Keeping a respectful distance, he led Keff to the stone square and picked up the lid of one of the huge covered dishes. With one hand, he made as if to eat from the steaming tureen of legume stew.

  Keff's eyes widened in understanding and he smiled. Though he waved away offers of food, he encouraged the villagers with friendly gestures to come forward and eat. Knowing that Alteis was watching, Brannel was forced to join them. He consumed a few tiny mouthfuls as slowly as he dared.

  Fortunately, he had plenty of interruptions which concealed his reluctance to eat. Keff questioned him on the names of the foodstuffs, and what each was made of, pointing to raw vegetables and making an interrogative noise.

  «Stewed orange root,» Brannel said, pointing out the appropriate field to the mage. «Grain bread.» Some of the grain the plough animals ate served to demonstrate what kind. «Legume stew. Sliced tuber fried in bean oil.» Beans were unavailable, having been harvested and gathered in by the mages the month before, so he used small stones approximately the right size, and pretended to squeeze them. Keff understood. Brannel knew he did. He was as excited as the mage when the box began to make some of the right sounds, as if finding them on its tongue: frot, brot, brat, bret, bread.

  «Bread! That's right,» Brannel said, enthusiastically, as Keff repeated what the box said. «That's right, Mage-lord: bread!»

  Keff slapped Brannel hard on the back. The worker jumped and caught his breath, but it was a gesture of friendliness, not disapproval—as if Keff was just another worker, a neighbor . . . a—a friend. He tried to smile. The others fell to their knees and covered their heads with their arms, fearing the thunderbolt about to descend.

  «Bread,» Keff repeated happily. «I think I've got it.»

  «Do you?» Carialle asked in his ear. «And does the rain in Spain fall mainly in the plain?»

  «Ozran, I think,» Keff said, subvocalizing as the villagers picked themselves off the ground and came around cautiously to inspect Brannel who was smiling. Keff himself was wild with glee, but restraining himself for fear of scaring the natives further. «I can hardly believe it. I'm making progress faster than I even dared to hope. There's some Ancient Terran forms in their speech, Carialle, embedded in the alien forms, of course. I believe the Ozran's had contact with humankind, maybe millenia ago, significant contact that altered or added to the functionalism of their language. Are there any records in the archives for first contact in this sector?»

  «I'll put a trace through,» Carialle said, initiating the search sequence and letting it go through an automatic AI program. A couple of circuits «clicked,» and the library program began to hum quietly to itself.

  By means of Keff's contact button, Carialle focused on the antics of the natives. A few of the females were picking up the spilled dishes with a cautious eye on Keff, never venturing too close to him. The large, black-furred male and the elderly salt-and-pepper male examined a protesting Brannel. The slender male tried without success to wave them off.

  «What is wrong with these people?»

  «Mm-mm? I don't know. They're looking Brannel over for damages or marks or something. What did they expect to happen when I patted him on the back?»

  «I don't know. Bodily contact shouldn't be dangerous. I wish you could get close enough to them so I could read their vital signs and do a chemspec analysis of their skin.»

  Keff stood at a distance from the villagers, nodding and smiling at any who would meet his eyes, but the moment he took a step toward one, that one moved a step back. «They won't let me, that's obvious. Why are most of them so downright scared of me, but not surprised to see me?»

  «Maybe they have legends about deities that look like you,» Carialle said with wry humor. «You may be fulfilling some long-awaited prophecy. The bare-faced one will come out of the sky and set us free.»

  «No,» Keff said, thoughtfully. «I think the reaction is more immediate, more present day. Whatever it is, they're most courteous and a
bsolutely cooperative: an ethnologists dream. I'm making real progress in communications. I think I've found the 'to be' verb, but I'm not sure I'm parsing it correctly yet. Brannel keeps grinning at me when I ask what something 'is.'»

  «Keep going,» Carialle said encouragingly. «Faint heart never won fair lady. You're all getting along so well there.»

  With every evidence of annoyance, Brannel fought free of the hands of his comrades. He smoothed his ruffled fur and glared at the others, his aspect one of long suffering. He returned to Keff, his expression saying, «Let's resume the language lesson, and pay no more attention to those people.»

  «I'd love to know what's going on,» Keff said out loud in Standard, with a polite smile, «but I'm going to have to learn a lot more before I can ask the right questions about your social situation here.»

  One of the other Noble Primitives muttered under his breath. Brannel turned on him and hissed out a sharp phrase that needed no translation: even the sound of it was insulting. Keff moved between them to defuse a potential argument, and that made the other Primitive back off sharply. Keff got Brannel's attention and pointed to the raydome water carrier. Listening to prompts from the IT program through his implant, he attempted to put together a whole sentence of pidgin Ozran.

  «What are that?» Keff asked. «Eh? Did I get that right?»

  From Brannel's merry expression, he hadn't. He grinned, giving the local man his most winsome smile. «Well, teach me then, can you?»