22

- Sophia -

Jax'zan hesitates, and I can see that the priest's arguments are making an impact on him.

“No one doubts that you want what is best for the tribe,” Jax'zan says. “Indeed we both want that. I as the chief and you as the shaman. This is the most important event in the history of the Rexvi tribe. And in the history of Xren. We must make absolutely sure that everything we do is right. I repeat: The women and the Mother were dropped on Bune by the Plood, against their will. They would not knowingly desecrate the forbidden place. The Mother requests that we help them. I submit that the time of the Prophecy ended when I found the Mother in the holy cave. And we are now in times that have not been prophesied about. The Mother is found. Now we must realize that the Prophecy has done its part, and we must direct our actions from what she wishes.”

I want to applaud. Jax'zan is a pretty good speaker. And I can see the priest grinding his teeth. Even I realize what's going on – this is a power struggle. The priest – or shaman, as the translator insists - can't accept that the time of the Prophecy is over, because that undermines a lot of his authority. He won't want the girls rescued, for the same reason. It would be like sawing over the branch he sits on. He can talk about the Mother for years and years, but he never expects her to actually appear. And now that she's here, he's suddenly not that important anymore. And if his damn prophecy doesn't even mention more than one chick, then its authenticity isn't exactly strengthened. That will erode his authority further.

“Perhaps I was too quick in accepting this as the Mother,” the shaman says. “While she did arrive in the water from Bune, the fact that the Prophecy states nothing about her having friends, other women, even, might be a sign that she is an imposter.”

Jax'zan's face darkens and he places a hand on his sword. “What was that?” His voice is cold and flat and deadly.

“Though I think I was right the first time,” the shaman says quickly after a glance at Jax'zan. “I have no doubts about your description of events. And the unlikelihood of any other woman falling into the holy waters under Bune makes it quite certain that this woman is the Mother of Xren, as prophesied. But what we will do about the other women is not to be decided rashly. I must meditate on it and pray, and I will then give my recommendation.”

The shaman bows once to me and once to Jax'zan, and then he strides off with his head held high, the very image of pomposity. I realize that I don't like that guy.

I take a sip of juice. “What happens now?”

Jax'zan sits down next to me. “The tribe will decide whether or not to help your friends.”

“Uh-huh. Did I hear that guy refer to you as the chief?”

“I am the chief of the Rexvi tribe,” he says. “It doesn't entitle me to make large decisions, except in battle. In the daily life of the tribe, the council makes most decisions. The shaman is also influential.”

“But your decisions will be respected, right? And most will agree with you?”

He thinks about it. “I am respected. The shaman is also respected. The Prophecy and the Ancestors are very important for the tribesmen.”

“So this could go either way?”

He looks at me. “Yes. The daily tribal meeting is at sunset. It will be decided then.”

Well, he's being honest. I've met too many guys who would give me bullshit about much less important stuff than this, just to make themselves look better.

I look around at all the male faces. “All right. Jax'zan. Do you not have any women in the village?”

He frowns. “Sophia is the only woman on Xren. Except for your friends.”

“Yeah, you told me. But I didn't believe it, not literally. Because how do you make babies? I see kids here. How are they born, if not from women?”

“They are born from Lifegivers.”

“And what are they?”

He stands up and smiles down at me. “I'll show you.”

- - -

“That's ...”

I don't even know what to say. Weird? Insane? Creepy? Revolting? Cool? All of those. But I'm supposed to be a university girl, so I go with what we call everything we don't really understand: “... interesting.”

They look most of all like plants. They have green stalks the thickness of my thighs and leaf-like things that move a lot more than the weak breeze should indicate. Each one is the size of a car, about five feet tall and much wider. It's like a snake's nest of green and purple creepers and branches and vines. And in the middle is a large, orange bud. And when you lean over to look into it from above, you can see that there's a fetus in there. A living one, curled up and inside a translucent sack of what pretty much has to be amniotic fluid.

Jax'zan knocks on one of the sacks with his finger. It gives a hollow resonating sound and looks hard to the touch.

Yeah, that's an egg. With a little human baby inside.

The Lifegivers are both clearly plants and clearly animals. A cross between an extremely weird and exotic bush and a bunch of ostrich-like things, if ostriches had no heads or wings or legs and about five bodies each. It's weird, is what I'm saying. And insane and creepy and so on. But mostly interesting.

“So these are your women,” I say when I'm able to talk again.

“Not women,” Jax'zan says. “Lifegivers. There have been no women on Xren for many generations. They were taken from us and all of our kind seemed to be doomed. Without women, no children. In desperation, warriors tried other methods. It had been known that the Lifegivers could nurture and gestate other species, but no one had ever tried with humans. It was taboo. Now, they had to try. And it worked.”

I'm speechless again. “Um... how?”

“One mature warrior who has survived many battles and hunts and who is still in perfect health may deposit his ... hmm ... manly juices inside a small Lifegiver bud. The Lifegiver then allows the fetus to grow inside it until ripeness, sensing its needs and giving it the nutrition it requires. The bud opens and the egg cracks. A new young warrior for the tribe!”

He smiles warmly and with some pride, even.

My mind is reeling. “So ... you were born from one of these?”

He points. “That one over there. They live for a long time, the Lifegivers.”

I'm not sure how to react to it. But it's really not that much worse than the way I was born myself, the more natural way. “Right. I wonder, did anyone ever tell you that you look a lot like your father?”

Jax'zan arches his straight eyebrows. “Yes, of course. All warriors look like the man who donated his juices. It's only natural. A way the Ancestors have created for us to honor that man.”

“Clones.”

“Hmm?”

“Yeah, on Earth we call that clones? You're born from the genetic material of only one person, not two. So of course you look a lot like that person.”

“Ah. This is a known procedure on your world as well? You also have Lifegivers?”

I scratch my head. “Not like this. We know the basics and I do believe some cloned animals have been born. But the old-fashioned method is still preferred. Much preferred.”

“Yes,” Jax'zan agrees and pinches my butt, making me squeal. “Much preferred.”

I slap his shoulder. “Take your hands off me, you sexy brute. But yeah, making babies the normal way is better for everyone, I think. Something about more variety when you mix the genes of two people? The babies are more robust? I don't remember. But you haven't given up your juices for something like this?” The idea of little carbon copies of Jax'zan running around here weirds me out a little.

“I have not. And now I never will.” He leans in to kiss me on the forehead, which is probably fine. I don't know how prudish these people are about public displays of affection, but I guess I better not take any chances.

“Unless your tribe decides not to help my friends,” I remind him as sweetly as I can.

He glances at me. “Perhaps. Would you like to see my home?”

“Yeah. I really would.”

It's a cave with a small opening and a roomy interior. The rock is white and has dark bands shooting through it from the ceiling to the bottom. It's a natural formation, but I'm pretty sure it has been widened with tools after that. At the far back of it is another opening into a huge cavern, at least as tall as a skyscraper. Clean water falls down in little waterfalls and pools, and I notice that young boys are swimming in the bottom pool and that there are many openings from the other caves into this cavern deep inside the rock. I totally understand why the Rexvi tribe has settled here. These caves they live in have natural running water. This village has to be one of the most spectacular wonders of nature on this whole planet.

Jax'zan's cave is decorated with simple rugs and furs and dinosaur skins, and colorful pictures have been drawn onto the rock walls. I think I recognize some of the figures from the cave where he found me. He might be a real artist, this caveman of mine.

He has a big stand with various weapons and blades. Right by the entrance is a place for a fire for cooking, and various pots and pans are stacked there. He has no furniture, just heaps of rugs and furs. It's clean and kind of bare, but it's a cozy place which exudes the warm personality of the person living there.

I ponder the whole situation. There's no electricity, but it's a warm planet and he has some primitive lamps and candles. There's no bathroom, but there's running water in the back. There's no internet, but just surviving would probably take up all your time anyway. There's no coffee shops or convenience stores or cars.

Can I see myself living here?

Maybe. At its best, it would be like camping. At its worst, well ... yeah, it'd be pretty damn miserable. On average, I could be probably be content here. More or less.

From time to time.

For the rest of my life.

With Jax'zan.

My feelings are so mixed I only know of one thing to do, the thing that's always right with this man. I place my arms around his neck and pull him down so I can kiss him. I feel desperation at the edge of my consciousness right now, and I need him to reassure me in a very concrete way.

He senses my need and pulls a thick dinosaur skin curtain over the opening to the cave. Only a thin ray of sunshine lights up the white wall and I let my new skirt and shirt fall to the ground, then untie his kilt and grab his cock.

We make love on the furs, in a cave. It's so primitive it turns me on further, and Jax'zan's spectacular equipment soon has me coming hard.

But the act has a tinge of uncertainty to it. We both suspect and fear that this could be our last time together.

- - -

I lie on his chest and feel his slow heartbeat, letting my finger trace his red tiger stripes. “The sun is about to set. The tribe will decide soon.”

He just grunts. I think he's nervous about it.

I would hate to leave this guy. As in, resent for the rest of my life. But this is all so wild. “Will you let me go if I have to?”

“Jax'zan will not mate with unwilling woman.”

“Uh-huh. Will you help me even if the others won't?”

I can hear his heartrate picking up, just a little. “Defying the tribal council is punished by death. Treading on forbidden Bune is punished by death.”

And not helping my friends when they need it the most is punished by jerking off into plants for the rest of your life, I think to myself. “So much death on this planet,” I say out loud.

“It's a harsh planet,” he agrees. “If the tribe splits apart, all will soon be dead. Only as a tribe can we survive. Obedience is vital. Unity is vital.”

“Yeah, I get that. It's tough here, even if you have caves like this. Why is Bune forbidden?”

“A sacred place, guarded by flying Bigs. The Ancestors live there.”

“They do?”

“Yes. Mostly invisible. Not always. Sometimes have feasts that light up the sky. Warriors stay far away then.”

Right. I have a feeling this religious stuff can get a little old. But I suppose that's part of life for this tribe. Still I want to change the subject. “You mentioned something called 'the plood' earlier. What is that?”

His face darkens. “Dirty little beings that come here from time to time. Messengers from the Darkness.”

“The Darkness?”

“The enemies of the Ancestors. The Ancestors represent light, their enemies represent the Darkness. All that is wrong and evil is Darkness. The Plood are its servants.”

“Uh-huh.” This sounds like a way a primitive people would describe aliens and wrap it up into a religious thing that suits their worldview. I don't think any of it is literally true. But at least our kidnappers aren't unknown here.

“Did the Plood maybe take your women?”

He is silent for a good while and I worry that I've offended him. Then he sighs deeply. “Yes. Well, the Darkness did. And the Plood aided them.” He gets to his feet, and I admire the feline limberness of his powerful, naked form as he pushes the curtain aside and looks out. “Twilight. The tribe will decide the fate of your friends now. I will speak for helping them.”

A bunch of butterflies take off in my stomach. So much depends on this. “I appreciate that.” I watch him put on his kilt and place a thick fur over his shoulders. I suppose that serves as formal wear in this tribe. And it makes him look even more like a caveman.

I get up too and put on my dinosaur-skin clothing. I'm not missing this.

He checks his sword and sticks it into his belt. “It might take some time. This is the most important thing to happen on Xren for many generations. The deliberations must be thorough.”