Chapter 2
As Rose entered her room, light flooded the chamber through a diagonal shaft cut into the black rock wall. The moment she looked up into the shaft, the perfect silhouette of the dragon soared past and vanished. She was determined to ask someone about it the first chance she got. Where did it come from? Was it the only one on the planet? How could it be? There must be a population of them here. They must breed in the mountains around the Keeps.
She turned her attention to the chamber. Everything around her fascinated and aroused her curiosity so much that she forgot about the dragon. Rich colored tapestries like those she saw at the entrance lined the walls. The light reflected their colors so the whole room gleamed with a sparkling shimmer. Gossamer curtains surrounded a giant canopy bed near the window, and piles of embroidered cushions and quilts invited the sleeper to make herself comfortable.
Rose sat down in a stuffed armchair by the bed. A magnificent embroidered gown like the ones Haya and her mother wore lay draped across the foot of the bed. Rose fingered its ruffled skirt, but she didn’t pick it up. These people better not expect her to start dressing like them. She had no intention of giving up any of the privileges and freedoms of an Allies Commander, just because she signed up for a year to study this backward, feudal race.
What kind of woman would wear a dress like that? It served no function but to restrict her movements and confine her indoors. Those men must have come up with this absurd costume. No self-respecting female would wear it voluntarily.
Still, it was a very beautiful dress, much nicer than the crisp uniform and practical attire of the Allies. Perhaps Fay or Haya made it by hand specially for their alien visitors. Rose's heart warmed to the dress when she considered that. She saw no sign anywhere in Harkniss Keep of servants or any other subclass. The Krataks did all the work themselves, so someone in the family she just met went to a lot of work to make this dress. Perhaps Rose might wear it once or twice, just to fit in with her surroundings. She certainly didn't want to disrupt anything.
The same heat radiated up through the floor and filled the whole structure with pleasant warmth. Rose peeled off her parka and put it on the chair. Then she rolled her shirt sleeves up to her elbows. Her scientist's mind analyzing everything. Submerged lava flows rising under the mountain must heat the building, she thought to herself.
She paced around the room and examined every detail. This Keep had to be centuries old, with expert construction and design. She would have to talk to Tanner about it. Nothing else like it existed in the galaxy. The Allies didn’t build buildings that lasted that long. Everything in Rose’s world was designed to function for a few years and then to be replaced by the newest, greatest invention.
Enough time must have passed for the others to return from their rooms to main hall, so she let herself out and walked back the way she came. She saw no one until she came to the great hall, where Rohn and Callan stood with their heads together in whispered conversation.
Callan excused himself when Rose appeared, and Rohn faced her. “I trust you found everything to your satisfaction.”
His deep rumbling voice vibrated her very bones. She’d never heard anything like it among any of the men she knew. That deep rumbling male voice had died out long ago. Only a few expert singers could still produce those bass notes. Her heart skipped a beat. “Very satisfactory. Thank you very much for your hospitality.”
He shifted his eyes to stare off somewhere over her shoulder. Did he intend to stand there silent, as though she wasn’t there? She couldn’t let that happen. “I’m supposed to meet my friends here. We want to go back up to the surface to fetch our equipment.”
“I can take you up there now, if you wish.”
Rose brightened up. “Thank you, Rohn. That’s very kind of you.”
“We want to extend every courtesy to you and your colleagues.”
She fell in at his side on the way back up the long passage. Already she sensed the ice melting between them. “Do you mind if I ask you a question, Rohn?”
“What is it?”
“These medallions you men wear. Do they have any special meaning?”
“They represent the person’s identity. They announce to everyone around you who you are, which Clan you belong to, and anything else anybody cares to know.”
She studied his medallion, but she couldn’t get very close to it without blocking his path. “Interesting, but doesn’t your family already know who you are and which Clan you belong to?”
“The medallion identifies us when we gather with other Clans.”
“How often does that happen? I thought the Clans kept to themselves in their family Keeps.”
“We gather once or twice a year with the Clans nearest us. That’s how we choose mates from Clans other than our own.”
“That’s fascinating. Who decides where the new couple will live? Do they automatically go to the woman’s family, the way Callan did?”
“They always go to the man’s family. The new wife joins her husband’s Clan. Callan came here because Clan Harkniss had so few people we were in danger of dying out altogether.”
“Really? Why so few?”
“In most cases, the patriarch’s sons inherit the Keep. They bring their wives to live there and raise their children, so a Clan gets stronger and stronger with every passing generation. Clan Harkniss is one of the smallest Clans on the planet. Most other Clans have several hundred members living within a single Keep.”
“So, what happened? Why do you have only the one family?”
“My father’s two brothers were killed in a war with another Clan, so only he was left to inherit the Keep. The previous generations had a majority of daughters who moved away and left Harkniss Keep almost empty. That is the reason Clan Assan chose to make an exception and send Callan to live here with Haya.”
“I see. That’s very interesting. My friends and I are anxious to learn everything about your way of life.”
“It’s really not that interesting. We’re people like any other. I’m sure we have all the same foibles and eccentricities everyone has among the Allies.”
“Everyone has their own eccentricities, but that’s what makes them unique and fascinating. Take Tanner, for example. He’s spent his career studying alien races. I’m sure he will find your people no less interesting than the others.”
Rohn puffed out his barrel chest. “I don’t think I wish to discuss our way of life with your friend Tanner.”
“Why not? He’s a professional archaeologist.”
Rohn pursed his lips. “I don’t understand the men of your world. I understand the women much better.”
“Is that because the women are dominant?”
“If the women are dominant, that must mean the men are subservient.”
“They aren’t exactly subservient. Men among the Allies enjoy the same rights and self-determination as the women. Everyone does. Our laws guarantee them that.”
“Then what do you mean when you say the women are dominant?”
“We aren’t exactly dominant. I suppose I made a mistake when I said that, but women usually occupy the command positions in the military and political life. Women hold the top jobs, and we make most of the decisions in family life, too. That’s just the way it worked out, but the men wouldn’t argue with it. If a man wants to become a general or a leader or a doctor, there’s nothing to stop him but his own determination.”
“Do they lack the will to take those positions?”
“Most don’t bother. They would rather study or work in menial jobs like laboring or building. Those jobs seem to suit their temperaments better.”
He looked her square in the eye. “It seems to me you didn’t make any mistake when you said women are dominant. What happens when a woman gets pregnant and wants to raise her children?”
“Then she gets pregnant and raises her children.”
“Is the father expected to support her and the children by working as a laborer?”
“Of course not. That would be inhuman. We have social structures in place so mothers don’t have to worry about support while their children are young. The society pays for their support, and the women return to work when the children get old enough to spend time away from her.”
“That sounds very interesting.”
“It must be very different here.”
“Of course, it is. Women do not leave their family Keeps, and they have their whole family to help them raise their children.”
“They’re very lucky.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it. Clan is everything on Kratak. I am as much responsible for raising Haya’s daughter Asya as Haya and Callan are. Asya has a home here for the rest of her life. I hunt food for her as much for my parents and any woman I marry and children I have with her. Asya receives food, clothing, shelter and anything else she needs. Then when she grows up and marries into another Clan, they will take care of her as one of their own, which she will then indeed be.”
“That really is fascinating. It sounds like a very civilized way of handling things.”
“We have to handle things that way. If a man dies in a war, he has to know his wife and children will be taken care of by the rest of the Clan.”
“How do the wars start? Don’t all the Clans have their own territories?”
Instead of answering, Rohn pointed in front of him. “Look there. Here we are.”
They came to the top of the passage where daylight flooded the Keep’s entrance. The sweeping expanse of mountains spread out to the farthest horizon. The sun slanted through the purple clouds and played across the treetops down in the forested valleys below. Rose caught her breath at the view.
At that moment, the dragon cut across Rose’s line of sight. It banked right in front of the Keep and swept up to the same mountaintop where she first noticed it. It folded its leathery wings against its body and crouched to perch among the rocks.
“What is that dragon doing there? Is that the only one on the planet? The Command never said anything about dragons on this planet.”
Rohn didn’t appear to hear her. “There’s your gear. I’ll help you carry it inside so your friends don’t have to come up to get it.”
He strode down the hill to the spot where the rocket shuttle had dropped off Rose and her team. Their duffel bags and backpacks all lay in a heap on the ground. Rohn picked up two duffel bags in each hand and slung them over his shoulders.
Rose trotted after him with no further thought for the dragon. She heaved her backpack onto her back and grabbed a duffel bag in each hand. She struggled under the weight up the hill after Rohn when the dragon let out a deafening roar from the peak behind them.
Rohn whipped around and frowned at it. Rose followed his gaze. The dragon stared right at them. It opened its mouth and let out a spurt of flame. Rose jumped three feet into the air. She would have run away if the bags hadn’t weighed her down.
Rohn narrowed his eyes at the dragon, but it only chuckled under its breath. Rose could barely hear the low sound, but the vibrations hit her in the chest. Rohn gave the creature one last scowl and walked away.