Chapter 7
Fay Harkniss looked up when Rose ran into the hall. “Ah, there you are. I was hoping you would come back here.”
Rose stared at her and panted to catch her breath. “You were?”
Fay got to her feet and came toward her. She actually smiled. “You said you wanted to interview me about childbearing on this planet. I am ready to answer your questions.”
Rose blinked. What changed Fay’s mind about cooperating with the research team after her frigid response at that ill-fated meal? Rose jumped at the chance. “I should go get my notebook to write this down.”
“Nonsense. You don’t need a notebook to talk to another woman about babies and children. You have your own son, so you’ve been through it yourself. Sit down, and let’s talk, two women together.”
Rose let Fay draw her over to the chairs she had set up. Fay resumed her seat and waved to the chair next to her.
“Somehow, I don’t think we had very nearly the same experience giving birth. Childbirth among the Allies is a very complicated affair.”
“What could be complicated about giving birth? It’s the most natural thing in the world.”
“For you, maybe. With the Allies, the mother is surrounded by technology and professionals guiding the process. Most women have something go wrong with the birth and require intervention. You have none of that, so you must give birth as close to naturally as it is possible. Almost no one gives birth that way among the Allies.”
Fay stared at her. “But if you don’t give birth naturally, how do you do it? The farther away from the natural way you get, the worse it must be.”
“I admit it’s a pretty terrible ordeal. We have so many women who require intervention that birth has become a very dangerous event.”
“How terrible!”
“We all seem to get through it somehow. We do have a certain number of fatalities every year, either mothers or babies. That’s the sad fact.”
“Fatalities! My God!”
“What about you? How many fatalities do you get related to childbirth? Giving birth naturally must be very bloody. I would imagine not many women and babies survive.”
Fay sat up very straight in her chair. “You’re wrong. We don’t have any fatalities related to childbirth.”
“You must have some. You couldn’t give birth without some women and babies dying. That’s just the way it is.”
Fay shook her head. “In my lifetime, I have never seen a woman die giving birth, and I have only seen one baby born dead after the mother fell from the top of her Keep and suffered terrible injuries. Other than that, I know of no fatalities.”
“Well, you live here alone with no one but your daughter. You must not have seen very many births.”
“I haven’t lived here all my life. I lived with my own Clan before I married Rowan. My home Clan is Clan Prowiss, and we had close to two thousand people living in three interconnected Keeps. From the time I was a little girl, I went with my mother to help out whenever a woman gave birth. I must have visited hundreds of births, and not one of them resulted in the woman or baby dying. Most women give birth with no problem.”
Rose shook her head. She couldn’t believe this, but she made a strategic decision not to argue the matter. If Fay really believed what she was saying, arguing with her wouldn’t help. Rose made a mental note to crosscheck Fay’s answers with Ron Simons, the doctor on the other team. “How do you handle the pain? Giving birth without some pharmacological support must be torturous.”
“Not really. I gave birth to four children without anything, and I didn’t experience any pain. Most women I know actually enjoy it.”
“Enjoy it! How could they? It’s the most excruciating experience any human being can endure.”
“I wouldn’t call it excruciating. Intense, yes, but the intensity puts you into a sort of spiritual frame of mind.” Fay gazed across the room. “Sometimes I wish I could get back to that state. I miss it, and I have no other way to get there, now that I’ve passed childbearing.”
Rose lowered her eyes. “I wonder if the other women feel that way. Maybe I should interview Haya about her experience.”
“I can tell you about Haya’s experience. I was there.”
“What happened?”
“She had a wonderful smile on her face through the whole process, and when she actually delivered Asya and held her in her arms, she wept tears of joy.”
Rose changed the subject. “Do you have midwives that help the women? Who guides the women through the process?”
“We don’t have midwives. We don’t have anyone specifically trained to guide them. The woman’s mother and sisters and female relatives keep her company and sing to her. Sometimes other women come to help out, but in general, it’s just the woman’s closest relatives.”
“What about the men? Do they attend?”
“No, they don’t attend. Childbirth is a female event. The men go hunting to get food for the mother and the relatives.”
Rose couldn’t help smiling. “How prosaic.”
“Birth is really a very straightforward event on Kratak. Maybe while you’re here, you can attend a birth in one of the other Keeps and see it for yourself.”
“I’d like that.”
“If I hear anything, I will let you know. Now that we’ve dispensed with that subject, let’s talk about something else.”
“What would you like to talk about?”
“Let’s talk more about how things are with the Allies. I’m curious to know as much about your life as you can tell me.”
“That’s interesting. You seem to be the only person here who is. After that meal we shared earlier, I was beginning to lose hope.”
“Why?”
“No one would tell us anything. Hardly anyone would even look at us. No one would answer any of our questions.”
“We all want to answer your questions. You can ask anything you like.”
“Then why won’t you tell me where your oldest son is? Every time I mention him, you ignore the question or change the subject.”
Fay looked down at her hands in her lap. “What do you want to know about my oldest son?”
“For a start, what’s his name?”
“His name is Rahni.”
“Where is he? What happened to him? Why isn’t he living here with you?”
“He chooses to live somewhere else. I would have him here, but he follows his own predilections. I can’t change that.”
“Where does he live?”
“Out in the forest.”
“What does he live on?”
“He hunts for his food.”
“How can he hunt his food alone? Rohn said it takes seven or eight men working together to bring down one pig. He would be killed.”
“He manages it somehow. He was always a proficient hunter.”
“How does he stay warm in cold weather? Does he have another house somewhere?”
Fay still wouldn’t look up. “He uses natural forces to stay warm.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, but that’s the way it is. He’s different from every other Kratak I know. He’s....he’s strange, even to me. I had to let him go and live his own life on his own terms.”
“Do you see him much?”
“All the time. Why do you ask?”
“Does he visit the Keep? Will he come to visit while we’re here?”
“I’m sure he will. I’m sure you will see plenty of him.”
Rose brightened up. “That’s good. I’m curious about him. We couldn’t make a complete study of your Clan without him. I’m glad he’s not dead.”
“No, he’s very much alive.
At that moment, Fay’s youngest son Damen rushed into the room. He ran up to Rose with his long hair flying. “Come quickly, Madam Commander. Your friend Moira is hurt out in the forest. She needs you.”
Rose jumped out of her seat. “Moira! What’s she doing out there?”
Damen didn’t answer. He took off, back the way he came, up the passage to the front entrance. Rose had no choice but to follow. The sun blinded her after the dark hall, and she blinked to get her bearings. Damen rushed down the hillside. “Come quickly!”
“I’m coming.” Rose hesitated. “I should go back and get my kit.”
“There’s no time. She was gored by the wild pig. She could be dead already. You must come now!”
Rose couldn’t wait a second longer. She set off running after Damen, down the mountain, into the black heart of the forest. In seconds, the trees swallowed them up and blocked out the light. Damen darted away, faster and faster. Rose had to run at top speed just to keep him in sight. If he disappeared in these woods, she would never find her way out.
Damen ran downhill to where a rocky stream tinkled across the forest floor. It tumbled over rocks and sang its way down the steep slope. Damen stopped and peered over a ledge where the water cascaded into a clear pool below.
Rose came to his side. “Where is she?”
He swept the bank with his hand. “She was here, but I don’t see her now.”
“She can’t have just disappeared. She’s injured, so she can’t have just walked away.”
“No, she should be here. I can’t explain it.”
“How did you find out she was injured?”
“Rohn found her.”
Rose stiffened. “Rohn? What was he doing out here with Moira?”
“We were out hunting together in the forest. He was here and I was over there when he heard screaming. He followed the sound and found her struggling with a huge pig. He stabbed it with his lance and injured it, but it ran away. He let it go to check on your friend, and he found her bleeding from multiple punctures from the creature’s tusks. He called to me and sent me back to the Keep to get you. He said she needed a doctor, and we didn’t know enough about your physiology to help her. So, I ran off.”
Rose nodded. “You did the right thing, but that doesn’t help us find her. Did she crawl away? Where is Rohn? Maybe he can tell us where she is.”
He looked around. “I have no idea where he is.”
“Why didn’t he stay with her? If she was that injured, he should have stayed by her side until help arrived.”
“Truly, Madam Commander, I cannot explain it.”
Rose softened. “You don’t have to call me that. You can call me Rose.”
He showed no sign of having heard. He started to walk away. “I will go back to the Keep. Maybe Rohn returned there, and he can tell us what happened to your friend.”
She started to call after him, “Wait!” but he’d already set off at a smart pace the way they came. Rose did her best to keep up with him, but she fell farther and farther behind. She called out again and again, “Wait for me!” but he didn’t hear her. In an instant, he ducked behind the trees and didn’t reappear.
Rose stopped in her tracks. She propped her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Now what was she going to do? Moira was out in these woods somewhere, mortally injured, and Rose had no way to find her. Her only hope of finding Moira lay with Rohn.
She shuddered when she thought of him. She suffered a twinge of excitement at the thought of seeing him again. She hated herself for wanting him, and now she had to put herself at his mercy all over again. What price would he exact for helping her find Moira?
She started walking in the direction Damen disappeared, but with half a heart. Moira was gone, probably dead. Rose’s team had lost their Allies representative. That made their team incomplete. She had to contact the Command. By rights, their mission should be aborted, but without technology, she had no way to contact them. The team planned to stay on the planet without contact with the Allies for the whole year. After that, the Allies would send a rocket shuttle to pick them up.
She made up her mind then and there to contact Rex Masters, the representative on the other team at Assan Keep. She would ask Haya and Callan Assan to put her in touch with Callan’s family.
Even that could take a while. Without any technological communication tools, she would have to travel to Assan Keep to talk to Rex, or have him come here. Assan Keep was a couple hundred miles away to the south. Even sending a message there would take days, if not weeks. Going there would take even more time.
While she thought over the options, she walked slower and slower. She looked around for a place to sit down and rest. These woods weren’t so dark and foreboding, once you got a good look at them. They were really quite stunning, with the mountains rising above the trees in the distance.
The dragon perched on a distant peak. At this distance, he looked tiny and harmless. Maybe the Krataks understood he was just part of the landscape. He occasionally flew overhead and roared, but then he returned to his perch. They got used to him, and they had their hands full with these enormous pigs and whatever else roamed the woods.
She found a nice big tree with a patch of soft moss at the base and got ready to sit down when a thunderous bellow startled her out of her skin. She spun around to see a huge black shape moving between the trees. Was the wounded pig coming back to wreak its vengeance on her? All thought of sitting down to rest flew out of her head, and she set off headed as fast as she could in the direction she thought Damen went.
She couldn’t be certain which way he went. All the trees looked the same. They stretched their branches over her and extended their clawed hands to grab her. Bursting into a run, she had to get out of here. She stumbled this way and that, bumped into things, and ran on.
All at once, an enormous creature thundered out of the woods on a collision course with her. It was as big as an elephant, but with shaggy hair and horns on its head like a cow. Its great humped back loomed high above its swaying head, and blasts of steam blew from its nostrils.
Its beady black eyes fixed on Rose, and it swung around to face her. It tossed its head and rolled its eyes, and it pawed the ground with its massive hooves. Rose backpedaled as fast as she could, but she kept her head enough not to run. She walked backwards away from it, but that only antagonized it even more. It roared in her face.
She looked right and left, but could find nothing to defend herself. Not even the high-powered plasma rifles the Allied Command used in all-out battle zones would frighten a creature as big as this. If she wounded it in any way, it would turn vicious and brutal.
Her only hope was to get away from it. Maybe, if she got back to the waterfall, she could lose it among the cliffs where it couldn’t follow her. She could hide until it lost interest and then make her way back to the Keep.
She turned to back that way when the beast charged her. She raised her hands, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. It barreled toward her with all its incredible bulk. Its hooves shook the ground under her feet. She opened her mouth to scream, but she never got a chance.
It struck her in the chest with its hard, flat forehead. Knocking the air out of her lungs, it hurtled her backwards faster than she could imagine. The creature charged forward with all its strength and slammed her against the nearest tree trunk. Its horns stuck in the wood and made a tiny space in front of its face. If its horns hadn’t stuck, it would have crushed her chest killing her.
The animal thrashed and tore the sod underfoot in its desperate effort to free itself, but its horns stuck fast. It wrenched its head from side to side. Rose screamed until she was hoarse. She flailed in terror and tried to push the monster away, but she couldn’t budge it.
The thing roared, and the acrid breath from its nostrils burned Rose’s throat. She choked and screeched in terror. She struggled to slip out of the space between those terrible horns and the powerful head, but they locked her in a prison too strong to break.
At last, the animal succeeded in shattering the bark of the tree and twisting its horns free. Rose slipped to the ground, but she couldn’t rejoice in her freedom. The animal shivered the whole forest with its bellowing and lifted its head to make another stab with its horns. It would tear her limb from limb and leave her dead body lying on the moss. Would her friends and family ever find out what happened to her?
She crouched on the ground and waited for death. The animal arched its head sideways to sweep its horns at her when a whistle sang through the air. The animal bellowed one more time and spun sideways. It reared on its hind feet and came down within inches of Rohn.
Rose stared at him. She couldn’t get her stunned brain to comprehend what he was doing there. Then she saw him pull back his arm and send a long spear hurtling through the air. It stuck in the animal’s neck, right next to the other spear he threw to stop the creature from goring Rose.
The spear impaled the animal right behind the head. It severed a major blood vessel, and black blood spurted from the wound. The creature reared one more time, but the two spears also penetrated its spine. The animal stood on its hind legs for a long moment and pawed the sky with its hooves. It let out a blood-curdling bellow and collapsed on its side in front of Rohn.
The ground shook, and the sod bounced from the concussion. Then all lay silent and still.