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  Then each in turn greeted the newest member, who remained standing outside the circle. They uttered the ritual words: "Welcome, Põpae, who. will serve in the place of the missing Dakodo, who served for TSkS, who served for Tatadi, who served ..." The list continued through the full response. Each member of the council gave the acceptance reply.

  Thus were the traditions of the Tetatae kept alive. They had no written language, so their culture and knowledge were passed down orally. This transmission, which started with die young at birth and continued until death claimed them, was a time-consuming process, but it meant the Tetatae did not enjoy the luxury of forgetting. When a society can write down its past, its people have the option of forgetting their own history. Once it is written, it is assumed to be saved. And if it is already saved, what reason is there for each member of the community to remember it?

  With Põpae accepted into the circle of elders, the council was able to begin discussing the situation. Totito announced the question before the meeting, as was his duty. The position of hetman within the tribe was separate from that of council member. The hetman was the administrative leader of the tribe, but he acted more as a moderator than an advisor. It was his duty to ask the question and later to enunciate the answer, but he had no say in the decision itself. His position was filled upon vacancy by the member of the tribe best qualified to perform the mundane, day-to-day functions of administrator. That member must be accepted by all, and the one who would become the new hetman was named as successor long before the event became necessary. In some cases the position was hereditary, but that was not a law. Totito had succeeded to the place of hetman upon the death of his grandfather, stepping past his father who did not even hold a position on the council.

  This question was much more complex than the ones that usually occupied council discussions. A traditional meeting often had to do with matters of sending an envoy to another tribe, or the opening of a new field, or the necessity of moving the tribe to a new location, or, occasionally, the need to break the tribe into two bands.

  The division of the tribe was, of course, a grave decision. The Tetatae made very little use of domesticated plants and none of animals, living mostly by harvesting the area's natural abundance. When the tribe became too large for the surrounding area to support, it was time to divide the group in two. Such an event only took place perhaps once every three hundred years, however, because the tribe's population growth was so slow. It was a momentous event, requiring the most serious discussion. The question now facing the tribe was at least equal, and possibly even more significant, than the division of the tribe. For many of those gathered in the nesting house, the question involved the tribe's very survival.

  What, Totito had asked, should be the response of the tribe to the presence of these newly arrived humans, especially since they came so long after the others who had arrived in the time of legend? Having asked the question, he sat and awaited the council's response. The other Tetatae shifted their positions and waited; it would be a long discussion.

  Põpae, as the youngest and newest of the council of elders, spoke first. She began with a long history of the Tetatae from before the arrival of the other humans, explaining in detail how the plains dwellers had become two different tribes. She dwelt on the growth of the two groups. She told how the plains dwellers had continued to move several times each year, how they were able to survive but that they did not progress. She explained that they were the victims of nature, but how, through them, the religion of the Tetatae was fostered. She then went on to speak of the long traditions of the forest dwellers: how they had been able to develop a different way of life, how the log huts had come into being, how life had become better.

  Then she began the long saga of the humans and their dealings with the Tetatae. Although there was little good to say about the humans, she stressed that their association had been with the plains dwellers. She understood that many Tetatae had been killed by the humans, but that eventually the humans had come to understand that the Tetatae were able to speak. The plains dwellers had learned the language of the humans and communicated that they were not hostile. The attitude of the humans changed. They had stopped trying to destroy the Tetatae once they discovered that the Tetatae could speak and think. Now they exploited them for other purposes. The relationship with the humans had not been a good one for the Tetatae.

  When Põpae finished, she sat down. The next most junior member of the council, Kaeto, stood and began his speech. He covered the same ground as the first speaker, relating the information almost verbatim. That was the tradition of council discussions. But this speaker took the story into greater detail. He said that the humans were a threat to the Tetatae and should be dealt with at once. He advocated, if only gently, that the Tetatae should consider violence. That was a subject and an attitude that was far from the nature of the tribal council, and there were ripples of comment in the darkness beyond the circle. He continued, becoming more and more strident as he spoke. The expression of emotion was quite rare for a Tetatae, and the listeners began to shift uneasily in their places. Põpae ended his dissertation with what amounted to a call to arms: "There is a time to shun the enemy. There is a time to flee the enemy. Now is the time to ..." He sat down.

  There was a long pause before the next speaker. Kaeto was young, at least in comparison to the other members of the council. He represented a new concept among the tribe, and it was a popular one. He stood for an active rather than a passive attitude. And his position was gain; ing ground.

  The other speakers were more cautious. They were not willing to fight the humans, especially with the example of what could happen when they did. They had no weapons, they had no organization. The speakers recalled the response of the tribes to other dangerous situations. In those cases the affected ones had always chosen to either shun the intruder or to move, or both. In all cases the tribe had survived. It was the correct response.

  The sun was high in the sky by the time the last councilor had spoken. The urgency of the situation had shortened many of the speeches. Whereas a discussion to send envoys could occupy a week, this one had taken less than eighteen hours. When the last member of the elders had retaken his seat, Totito rose to his feet. "The elders have spoken," he said. "The tribe will shun the intruders and prepare to move away. We will watch them carefully, but we will not contact them again. We will have nothing more to do with them."

  12

  Dawn came to the humans as well. The DEST members had huddled around the fallen Dakodo through the night, fearing that he would not recover and unwilling to leave him to the tender mercies of the mercs. It had been unnecessary for Takuda to give orders to mount a guard. His men, especially those of Knyte's section, were voluntarily spending their time with the alien. The commander left it alone, but he too kept up surveillance from a distance. By the time the first streaks of dawn were coloring the sky in the east, the soft iridescence had returned to the under hairs that covered the Tetatae's body.

  Swalen Horg sat beside Dakodo's quiet form. Though his head drooped, he was still facing the mercenary camp and fully aware of his surroundings. Like all the DEST members, Horg could be almost completely asleep yet still be conscious of certain sounds. It was as though the elite soldiers had a sensor system trained into them, one that could simply filter out non-hostile noises and activity. Conversation, the activity of the campsite, the casual movements of the others as they went about preparing a meal, had no impact on the watcher. But let someone strange approach him, let there be the sound of a piece of machinery, perhaps the click of a weapon being changed from safe to fire, and Hort would be fully awake. It was that sixth sense that permitted DEST members to continue when they should have been exhausted beyond the ability to function. A soldier, no matter how well-conditioned, could not remain awake for an entire, yearlong tour of duty. The body demanded sleep, but survival in a hostile environment created another kind of demand. And so Horg slept as he stood guard over his friend
.

  The rays of the sun probed beneath his eyelids, and slowly he responded. The eyes came open, but he did not change his pose. The alien lay at his feet in the same position he had assumed the evening after they'd treated the wound with the purple fruit. Now Dakodo also moved. The eyes came open, and he looked at Horg. "My friend," said the alien. "There was no need to wait for me."

  Horg looked at the still recumbent figure. "I know. But it felt right."

  The sounds of the conversation brought many of the other DEST members to join them. They offered bits of their own food, which Dakodo refused. He accepted with relish some of the fruits and vegetables gathered the afternoon before, however. Takuda waited until it seemed that Dakodo was sated, then hunkered down beside the alien.

  "There is much for you to tell us," he said. "We would be glad to listen if you are able." Takuda glanced at his people standing a respectful distance away, and noted that those on watch had not abandoned their posts. He looked back at the Tetatae and waited for a reply.

  Dakodo settled himself into a more comfortable position, looked into the eyes of those around him, and began his story.

  In typical Tetatae fashion, he began the tale at the beginning. Perhaps the species had developed some inherent trait that would not allow them to get to the point. Whatever the reason, he started at a place far back in the memory of his people.

  The Tetatae, he said, had lived here on Kaetetôã since the beginning of time. In the alien language, the word Kaetetôã meant, literally, earth and sky. There was never a time when the Tetatae had not been here. And if there were, it was without a chronicle and so could not be part of the story. The Tetatae had originally lived on the plains that bordered the great river to the west. They were nomadic, living in a kinship society and finding sustenance on the land. Life was good: teo da.

  The tribes had grown more and more numerous, splitting when necessary to survive. After many generations some had traveled so far from the birth tribe that they had come into contact with the deep woods. With much fear and trepidation, these tribes had penetrated the green darkness. To their surprise, however, they found that not only could they live in the woods, but that in many ways the living was easier. No longer must they face the constant necessity to move on because of overgrazing; there was enough natural food in the area to support each tribe. The tribes still occasionally found it necessary to divide on occasion, but not nearly as often. The survival rate of the young increased. Life was good.

  Then, a long time ago in human terms, a blazing shower descended from the sky. Out of the shower came the first humans. After journeying through the dark sky, they had landed here and found the place to their liking. At first the Tetatae thought the visitors from the stars had come as a sign. They thought that these new creatures with their great power would lead the Tetatae to the dream land where food was always abundant and where harmony reigned among all things. But that was not to be.

  No sooner had the humans reached the peaceful surface of the planet than they began to fight. When the visitors were not killing each other, they were killing the Tetatae, with many dead on all sides, much fire, much ruination. The Tetatae thought that soon all of them would go on to meet their ancestors, but then the intruders stopped the killing. And so it had remained except for an occasional spasm of violence.

  The humans were very strange, Dakodo told them. They had divided the land of the grassy valley into what they now called their own. How and why they decided on these boundaries was comprehensible only to the humans, the dragon-carriers, but they seemed to place a great deal of importance on them. They also seemed to want what the others had, and were willing to fight over it. Why this should be was a continual source of bafflement to the Tetatae. There was more than enough for all, so it seemed to make no sense to fight over it. But then, human activity did not make much sense, the alien commented.

  It had been disastrous for the Tetatae who lived in areas where the humans wanted to go. Even after discovering that the Tetatae could communicate with them, they killed the Tetatae wholesale and drove them from their lands. The Tetatae, unwilling to be driven far, hung onto the outskirts of the human settlements. That was when the humans discovered that the Tetatae could be domesticated and trained to do menial tasks. In that capacity many Tetatae continued to live within the settlements of the humans.

  They were treated so poorly by the humans that at times the Tetatae slaves revolted. After brutally suppressing those revolts, the humans would punish all by resuming their general slaughter of the Tetatae. Once the rebels were destroyed, matters would return to normal, and the surviving Tetatae would be brought back to resume their menial positions.

  More recently, the humans had become more antagonistic among themselves, although Dakodo admitted that he spoke from tales rather than from actual experience. There had been outbreaks of violence between the various groups and a greater and greater number of killings as the humans also began to push out toward the forest lands. The humans seemed to have the breeding habits of small rodents, and the only way they could control that problem was to kill each other. They had not yet learned the Tetatae process of having fewer offspring at greater intervals. But that was a human problem of no concern to the Tetatae except when it began to affect the tribes. That was why the members of his tribe were so unwilling to make contact with the humans who fell from the sky again. Better, many of them had said, to let the humans kill each other than to make contact.

  While Dakodo was telling his tale, an event that took most of the daylight hours, the DEST members and some of the mercenaries would join or leave the circle as their duties required. Only Horg and Takuda had remained throughout the entire telling. The commander and the soldier sat side by side in silence, nodding occasionally but never interrupting. Dakodo finished his narrative by saying, "Like you in many ways are they, but also not. Wear they the ringed dragon as you and to it give honor. Like you they are. Of that I certain am."

  "How long ago did they come here?" asked Takuda.

  "Dakodo not know. When Kateo was hetman of the tribe it was, then comes Dfkaka, and then comes Totito, who hetman is now. Not know how long, but think you say five hundred years."

  "Five hundred years?" interrupted Kendall Pesht, one of the mercenaries who had joined the circle as the story was ending. "That's impossible! They would all have died by now!"

  "Get a grip on biology," snorted Andi Holland, who had also heard most of the story. "They'd survive if they had women with them." She looked pointedly at Pesht. "They'd survive if they treated the women well. That's something you need to learn."

  "We treat our women the way they deserve to be treated," said Pesht. " 'Mech pilots get their pick, and the others take what's left. That's the way it's always been, the way it will be, and the way it should be."

  Takuda sat in silence through this exchange. He didn't even hear the words. The story of other humans could be true, he thought. There were many cases of ships lost when something went wrong with the hyperspace field during a jump, and those who fell from the sky could be survivors of such an accident, just as his group was now. All the pieces of evidence pointed to that fact. Dakodo said the people of the other group had worn the dragon symbol of the Draconis Combine. And there had been that hulk of the other JumpShip they'd passed in their fall toward the planet. Both Reston Bannin and Parker Davud had commented on its existence. But Takuda could not understand why those previous survivors had taken to fighting. The Combine way, established by House Kurita, was one of harmony.

  Then again, any group of humans would surely respond with violence if their survival were threatened. He knew the same could happen with his own little band if Garber Vost had his way, which Takuda intended to prevent no matter what it took. His survivors had made contact with friendly inhabitants. There was even the chance that they would be able to meet the other humans.

  The link with the Tetatae could be advantageous, thought Takuda. The fact that other members of the tribe li
ved among the other humans meant he could learn more from them. It was easy to imagine how careless the human masters would in the presence of their servants, perhaps not even remembering their existence at times. He had seen that same attitude at various headquarters. While the military would take elaborate security measures to keep the recognized enemy away from its secrets, they would think nothing of leaving the most sensitive documents on the desks when the cleaning staff was around. It was the old saw about blending into the woodwork. The Tetatae were probably equally invisible when moving among the other humans in their enclaves.

  13

  While Takuda continued to question Dakodo, Kendall Pesht left the circle and made his way over to the mercenaries. He had heard enough to grasp the great possibilities opening to him, to all of them, and he needed to talk to Vost. By the time he got to his commander, however, he found that someone else had stolen his thunder. Except for one little bit of information, Michelle Guardine had already given most of the story to Vost. But the piece she'd missed was probably the most important of all.

  "Think of it, Garber," said Pesht. "Just think of it. All this took place five hundred years ago. They've been trapped here ever since. Just think of the weapons they have. Or don't have."

  "We need to find out more," said Vost, standing up and placing his hands on his hips. The pose made him look imperial, and he knew it. He gazed at the other members of the mercenary team, allowing the full impact of his commanding presence to register. The only one who didn't seem impressed was Holly Goodall; he'd have to be careful with her.

  "Let's go see if we can pry some information out of that furry critter. And maybe even a decision out of Takuda. I know we can get the information, even if it means having to invite the little bugger to our camp for a heart-to-heart, but getting Takuda to do anything will be another matter."