The Negator, page 7
Behind them, shielded by the soldiers—
My mouth opened with surprise and then I grinned with amazement. I couldn’t believe it, but I spied twenty or so nubile women in the scantiest of attire, although some wore the shortest of robes. Most had long wet hair and were stunning in the best tradition of swimsuit editions of sports magazines.
Had the supermodels been swimming or bathing when they’d seen my fiery sled? Had they raced out and down the beach to see this? That would mean this was a huge event, right? Or did they strut around like that all the time?
Looking back, I realized that the babes were like a stupid pill in my brain. I studied them far too much when I would have been better served staying focused on the greater situation.
As I said, the entire party stopped upon sight of the submarine and bubble-helmeted fish creatures.
There were ten astronaut-suited fish aliens outside the sub. Several pointed at the people.
I heard feminine shouts, commands, maybe. The women were all dark-haired but seemed fair-skinned. None seemed embarrassed by their scanty attire.
The soldiers or legionnaires, forty strong, at least, began to march toward the submarine. They held their—I wouldn’t call them muskets or pistols. Were they carbines? The flintlock weapons did not have wide muzzles, so I didn’t think they were blunderbusses.
They approached the sea creatures, with the company of women following at a discreet distance behind.
The sea-astronauts, or whatever the correct term for them was, raised small boxes, pressing buttons that made shrill sounds.
I clapped my hands over my ears, worried I’d collapse under a sonic weapon. But nothing happened to the soldiers. I lowered my hands. The boxes didn’t seem to be weapons. What did the sounds signify then?
It was a mystery until I spotted three of the crocodile-shark creatures that had followed my sled earlier. They were the sea-beasts with the three-meter fins, and they were coming fast for shore.
The soldiers broke into a sprint, rushing at the fish aliens as they pressed the boxes again, making even shriller noises than before.
The sea creatures swam faster, and I realized they were about to battle each other.
-16-
The soldiers had too far to run, too far to fire their flintlocks at the astronauts. The soldiers reached about one-third of the way to the gravity sled when the sea creatures surfaced and charged onto the shore.
The shark-crocodiles were huge, not as big as whales, maybe half the size, but slithering like salamanders, using ridiculously small legs to propel themselves. They had wet skin and great maws full of teeth. The dorsal fins folded over, the tips dragging in the sand as they launched themselves at the soldiers.
The women screamed. They hadn’t run with the soldiers, but had hung back. Now, however, they broke and ran for the tree line.
The armored men didn’t flinch. They had guts all right. One group knelt, raised their flintlocks, and fired. The flintlocks made cracking noises and sent up black puffs of smoke.
Shot hissed and smacked into the sea creatures. But the volley did nothing. No, I take that back. The sea creatures made harsh croaking noises like giant frogs and slithered even faster. One had a bloody eye.
Had that been the tactic—trying to blind them? It was a good idea if true. Otherwise, the volley made no sense to me.
A second team discharged another volley. Then the sea creatures threw themselves upon the armored men.
Instead of breaking and running, the soldiers drew cutlasses and hatchets and charged the monsters. The men were brave, and I admired that, but it proved to be sick carnage. The beasts gulped down soldiers and threw other mangled remains of bitten men to the side until the last twelve fled in the opposite direction down the beach.
One of the monsters gave chase as the other two gulped down groaning and twisting soldiers littered on the sand around them.
The alien fish-astronauts, with their boxes, produced more strange whistles.
All three sea-monsters jerked and swiveled to regard the near-naked women racing for the tree line. The creatures gave a ferocious hiss and launched themselves after the women.
I blinked hard, coming out of a daze. I couldn’t just stand by and watch these things devour the babes. I drew the blaster, switched it to its highest setting, stepped out of the tree line, held the blaster with both hands and started to blast each of the sea beasts.
They had thick, rubbery hides and seemed impervious to pain. I had to literally slag off most of the head before one fell to the sand and began to thrash and roll, spewing thick red blood everywhere.
I noticed an odd hum to the blaster and it getting far too hot. The vibration felt unsteady and wrong in my hands.
I quit firing, staring at the blaster. Then I banged it against my other hand. I did that several times and then began shooting again. The hum wasn’t as strange, but the weapon was definitely getting too hot.
If this thing quit on me, the women would die. I might die. Even though the blaster was hot against my hand, I continued to burn off sea creature heads.
I could see that every eye on the beach had zeroed in on me, the women in shock and surprise, the aquatic astronauts in seeming annoyance.
When the last sea creature flopped onto the sand minus its head, I hit the blaster again, hoping to shake loose whatever was wrong with it. Sometimes, when a tech item went bad, you had to use it as much as you could before it quit on you. I had a bad feeling about it, but I knew this wasn’t over.
Thus, I switched hands, using my left, using my burning right to guide my aim.
The fish aliens had directed the sea creatures to kill humans. Surely, they could summon more. So, before they could, I aimed the too-hot blaster and began to blast them down one by one.
The blaster changed its note, making a high whining pitch I really hated.
The women gave a cry of dismay and fell onto their knees, weeping and sobbing. I imagine they were grateful for what I’d done saving their buxom hides. Even as I used the partly malfunctioning blaster, I began to envision the reception they’d give me.
The last three fish-astronauts activated force fields, shielding them from my shots. They staggered back into their sub.
I quit firing and waved my blaster back and forth to cool it. A glance showed that I’d drained half the charge. That seemed dead wrong and possibly explained the whining pitch and heat. That was bad this early in my mission.
I set it on a rock to cool.
That must have taken longer than I realized. As I looked across the beach, the sub’s open hatch closed. The fish astronauts must have made it back inside. Now, the submarine began to back into the sea as metal groaned and rocks crunched.
The women set up an even greater wailing and swaying, which seemed odd to me.
One rose to her feet, regarding me. Was she the leader? She walked toward me in a stately manner, suggesting she had authority and certainly a ton of poise. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
I drank in the sight. I could get into this adventure. I used to love watching them old black-and-white sci-fi movies when scantily clad babes captured the exploring men. It always turned out awesome for the American astronauts. Well, maybe not always, and usually with a ton of glitches.
But I’d saved them. Surely, they wanted to reward me for that.
I grabbed the blaster and jumped down from the crude seawall. In moments, I stood before her. Her head maybe reached my shoulders. I was a giant here, and felt like it.
She spoke alien gibberish but in an imperious tone. Could she be a priestess of the temple? Didn’t she realize how beautiful she was?
I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
She cocked her head, listening carefully. Then she pointed at the blaster holstered in my belt.
I held it up and nodded. “Yup, this is the fish killer, all right.”
She spoke again, looking at me in an appraising manner.
Once more, I shook my head, shrugging at the end.
By this time, the rest of the women had gained courage, climbed to their feet, and surrounded their leader. She spoke to them. Afterward, as one, they beckoned me to follow them.
I glanced at the dead soldiers on the beach, the few left. The twelve soldiers who had fled hadn’t returned. They must be long gone. I looked at the dead sea-creatures. They were still twitching and rolling across the sand, only leaking blood now instead of spewing it.
Okay. I was on the planet. This wasn’t the reception I’d imagined, but I should go with it, right? I might as well find out what was going on, and this seemed like the best way to do it.
Maybe the smiling and beckoning babes caused me to accept this too readily. But, hey, I’d saved their lives.
Whatever the case, I followed them. They headed for a break in the fern forest, and occasionally, one would look back over her shoulder at me to make sure I was following.
You bet I was.
We reached a forest path, and I was grinning wider than ever. This was awesome. I might have reached an alien nirvana.
I was beginning to think they’d try to make me king, or at least have a dozen or so vying for my attention. If I couldn’t get back to the Theron, I might have to stay down here and make do the best I could.
-17-
I followed the women down a forest track that turned into a road underneath the giant ferns.
The pathway wound through a primordial landscape: towering trunks with high fronds of deep purple. They cast shifting shadows across smooth, worn stones. The air seemed thick with alien mystery as I envisioned myself as the king of this amazing realm. The rulers were babes, and I’d just saved their lives. Yes, I was going to track down Axion, but maybe I’d indulge in a little pomp and circumstance before I left, if you catch my drift.
At this point, the twelve soldiers reappeared, and quickly formed ranks, standing between the women and me. That was rude.
One of them dared to speak to me harshly.
I ignored him as I smiled at one of the ladies who smiled back at me.
Then I noticed the soldier had stepped up to me. Before I realized it, he reached up with a rough hand and pushed my head away from the women.
That got my attention. I shoved him hard.
He staggered, and I got a good look at him. He was stocky and wore bloodstained articulated armor like the Roman legionaries used to wear. He had a bright helmet and a broad face. Like the rest, he only came to my shoulders. No, he might have been a bit taller than the others. He had a purple sash across his armor, maybe signifying that he was the captain or centurion, or whatever rank they had.
I noticed something else: his eyes. They were narrow, squinty, and with the same greedy shine as the fat-boy bully who had stolen my wooden knife long ago.
Immediate and irrational hatred filled me. It flooded in with heat in my chest.
He didn’t like that and drew his cutlass, snarling gibberish at me.
I think I grinned, drawing the blaster. I’d burn him down, the creep.
The fact that I wasn’t acting rational hadn’t quite hit me yet. The nearly bare ladies had their effect, maybe the air, the strangeness of this place, the sea-astronauts, something, was making it harder to think straight.
The supermodel I took to be the head priestess strode up and spoke alien gibberish at him.
The captain or centurion turned to her.
She spoke again in a commanding way.
He lowered his head, maybe so he wouldn’t look at her.
She spoke yet again, harsher than before.
Like a whipped cur, he sheathed his cutlass.
She turned at me, immediately speaking more softly and pointing at my blaster.
I holstered it.
She smiled, nodding.
Seeing her was like having a thousand-watt bulb turned on my brain. I grinned like an idiot. I couldn’t help it, and I stepped toward her.
The centurion stiffened, and his hand darted to the hilt of his cutlass.
The other soldiers grew tense.
The woman spoke in an even more commanding manner.
The soldiers backed away from me, including the centurion.
That was interesting. I might have to watch my step around the soldiers. The women, though, they must love me. The soldiers had failed to protect them, so I had to do their job. No wonder they wanted to look tough now before me.
Several soldiers brought parcels of clothing to the women. I wondered if they’d gone back to the bathing place to get them.
The women clothed themselves in rich robes, while the head priestess put on a golden mask and an exotic headdress with feathers. She seemed more imperious than ever.
Once they were clothed—and I the poorer for it—we started along the fern-lined avenue again. I imagined we were heading for one of the temples Alina had spoken about.
I followed, with the guard detail taking up positions behind me. The head priestess had ordered that, and the purple-sash centurion had only reluctantly obeyed.
I had a feeling it wasn’t over for him and me, and that suited me just fine. Those eyes… I think I’d waited a lifetime to meet the fat-boy bully again.
No, no, the soldier wasn’t the bully. I shouldn’t take out my early humiliation on him. Still, maybe the squinty, greedy eyes were a sign that Mr. Purple Sash was a bastard.
In time, we reached the temple, a kilometer long and maybe half a kilometer wide. It was an archaic and imposing building, maybe five stories tall. It had been constructed of massive stones like the pyramids, then finished with bricks and a great stone roof. Surprisingly, I saw gun ports up high, but there were not many people at ground level.
While there was a cleared area around the temple, I didn’t see any villagers or mundane buildings, at least not on this side. I had no idea what was on the other side of the temple.
We headed toward massive steps. There were several such stairways along this side as well.
Clearly, the temple was old and must have taken years or even decades to build. I would have liked to stop and put the memory stick into the computer. But I lacked time as the entourage moved faster until the women began to walk up the wide temple steps.
The soldiers had stopped before them.
As I followed the women up the steps, the soldiers gave a shout. The women turned and glared at me with unbelievable fury.
That caught me off guard. Maybe men weren’t allowed in the temple. That was a hell of a thing if true.
The golden-masked priestess came down the stairs until she stood before me. She spoke softly in the alien gibberish.
I shook my head, asking, “Is there a problem here?”
She pointed at me.
The other priestesses pointed at me and spoke in unison.
I wasn’t sure, but it sounded like a warning. Instead of heeding that, I became pissed.
“Hey,” I said, slapping my chest, “I saved your lives, remember? How about some gratitude here?”
The women recoiled, and several of the soldiers rushed to the bottom edge of the first step.
A harsh command by the chief priestess stopped the soldiers. The squinty-eyed centurion opened and closed his sword hand as if debating whether to obey her.
Before anything with him happened, she stared at me, then stared longer. Finally, she turned and spoke to the other women.
They listened and seemed to become worried… if I was reading their facial expressions correctly. They regarded me anew and finally beckoned me to follow them.
I looked back at the soldiers. They had already turned away, even the purple-sashed commander.
This was more like it. They must have realized they owed me a hero’s welcome. I remembered the movie, The Man Who Would Be King. I’d be careful and do this right, not breaking any critical taboos. But come on, I’d risked my life for these ladies, using a faulty blaster no less.
For those of you wondering if I was being stupid or reckless, I think the earlier episode with their mass state of undress had unhinged my thinking, at least to a degree. I suppose I was still in a lustful fog, imagining to my heart’s delight what was going to happen very soon.
I hurried up the steps, with the priestesses going even faster.
That should have been a clue, but as I said, I was lost in my erotic imaginations.
They hurried into the temple proper.
As I followed, the chief priestess whirled around and shouted.
That seemed ominous. I halted and realized—
Nine-foot-tall, brown-skinned creatures in hardened plate armor stepped out. They had lizard-like faces and dry, three-fingered hands. Each one grabbed one of my arms. Then they began to drag me deeper into the temple as if I’d been a bad boy and they were going to do something about it.
-18-
I struggled in the grasp of the nine-foot creatures and nearly gagged from their reptilian musk. They didn’t glower at me, but lifted me off the floor, making my struggles less useful.
I finally woke up to my danger, berating myself for being an idiot. Yes, the fog of my erotic fantasies dissolved in this harsh reality. I’d seen the signs, of course. I’d just been foolish in not deciphering them. A little skin and in such profusion had switched off my survival instincts.
This was a School of Hard Knocks lesson all right. I’d saved their lives. Normal people showed gratitude. But normal people didn’t parade around like these girls had. I should have recognized that something was off. The women had ordered the men and dealt with them as if they were dogs, obedient creatures instead of equals.
I squeezed my eyes closed, telling myself to get in the game. Beating myself up for being a fool wasn’t going to help. I was down on an alien planet. No one was coming to help me. I had to think hard and fast, and get it right this time.
I opened my eyes.
They hadn’t killed me—yet—so that was good. Maybe this was for breaking the taboo of no men in the temple. I should have heeded that. I still had most of my stuff, and that included the faulty blaster.
Struggling against these giants wasn’t going to help me. I decided to wait and see what happened, as I couldn’t think of anything else.
My mouth opened with surprise and then I grinned with amazement. I couldn’t believe it, but I spied twenty or so nubile women in the scantiest of attire, although some wore the shortest of robes. Most had long wet hair and were stunning in the best tradition of swimsuit editions of sports magazines.
Had the supermodels been swimming or bathing when they’d seen my fiery sled? Had they raced out and down the beach to see this? That would mean this was a huge event, right? Or did they strut around like that all the time?
Looking back, I realized that the babes were like a stupid pill in my brain. I studied them far too much when I would have been better served staying focused on the greater situation.
As I said, the entire party stopped upon sight of the submarine and bubble-helmeted fish creatures.
There were ten astronaut-suited fish aliens outside the sub. Several pointed at the people.
I heard feminine shouts, commands, maybe. The women were all dark-haired but seemed fair-skinned. None seemed embarrassed by their scanty attire.
The soldiers or legionnaires, forty strong, at least, began to march toward the submarine. They held their—I wouldn’t call them muskets or pistols. Were they carbines? The flintlock weapons did not have wide muzzles, so I didn’t think they were blunderbusses.
They approached the sea creatures, with the company of women following at a discreet distance behind.
The sea-astronauts, or whatever the correct term for them was, raised small boxes, pressing buttons that made shrill sounds.
I clapped my hands over my ears, worried I’d collapse under a sonic weapon. But nothing happened to the soldiers. I lowered my hands. The boxes didn’t seem to be weapons. What did the sounds signify then?
It was a mystery until I spotted three of the crocodile-shark creatures that had followed my sled earlier. They were the sea-beasts with the three-meter fins, and they were coming fast for shore.
The soldiers broke into a sprint, rushing at the fish aliens as they pressed the boxes again, making even shriller noises than before.
The sea creatures swam faster, and I realized they were about to battle each other.
-16-
The soldiers had too far to run, too far to fire their flintlocks at the astronauts. The soldiers reached about one-third of the way to the gravity sled when the sea creatures surfaced and charged onto the shore.
The shark-crocodiles were huge, not as big as whales, maybe half the size, but slithering like salamanders, using ridiculously small legs to propel themselves. They had wet skin and great maws full of teeth. The dorsal fins folded over, the tips dragging in the sand as they launched themselves at the soldiers.
The women screamed. They hadn’t run with the soldiers, but had hung back. Now, however, they broke and ran for the tree line.
The armored men didn’t flinch. They had guts all right. One group knelt, raised their flintlocks, and fired. The flintlocks made cracking noises and sent up black puffs of smoke.
Shot hissed and smacked into the sea creatures. But the volley did nothing. No, I take that back. The sea creatures made harsh croaking noises like giant frogs and slithered even faster. One had a bloody eye.
Had that been the tactic—trying to blind them? It was a good idea if true. Otherwise, the volley made no sense to me.
A second team discharged another volley. Then the sea creatures threw themselves upon the armored men.
Instead of breaking and running, the soldiers drew cutlasses and hatchets and charged the monsters. The men were brave, and I admired that, but it proved to be sick carnage. The beasts gulped down soldiers and threw other mangled remains of bitten men to the side until the last twelve fled in the opposite direction down the beach.
One of the monsters gave chase as the other two gulped down groaning and twisting soldiers littered on the sand around them.
The alien fish-astronauts, with their boxes, produced more strange whistles.
All three sea-monsters jerked and swiveled to regard the near-naked women racing for the tree line. The creatures gave a ferocious hiss and launched themselves after the women.
I blinked hard, coming out of a daze. I couldn’t just stand by and watch these things devour the babes. I drew the blaster, switched it to its highest setting, stepped out of the tree line, held the blaster with both hands and started to blast each of the sea beasts.
They had thick, rubbery hides and seemed impervious to pain. I had to literally slag off most of the head before one fell to the sand and began to thrash and roll, spewing thick red blood everywhere.
I noticed an odd hum to the blaster and it getting far too hot. The vibration felt unsteady and wrong in my hands.
I quit firing, staring at the blaster. Then I banged it against my other hand. I did that several times and then began shooting again. The hum wasn’t as strange, but the weapon was definitely getting too hot.
If this thing quit on me, the women would die. I might die. Even though the blaster was hot against my hand, I continued to burn off sea creature heads.
I could see that every eye on the beach had zeroed in on me, the women in shock and surprise, the aquatic astronauts in seeming annoyance.
When the last sea creature flopped onto the sand minus its head, I hit the blaster again, hoping to shake loose whatever was wrong with it. Sometimes, when a tech item went bad, you had to use it as much as you could before it quit on you. I had a bad feeling about it, but I knew this wasn’t over.
Thus, I switched hands, using my left, using my burning right to guide my aim.
The fish aliens had directed the sea creatures to kill humans. Surely, they could summon more. So, before they could, I aimed the too-hot blaster and began to blast them down one by one.
The blaster changed its note, making a high whining pitch I really hated.
The women gave a cry of dismay and fell onto their knees, weeping and sobbing. I imagine they were grateful for what I’d done saving their buxom hides. Even as I used the partly malfunctioning blaster, I began to envision the reception they’d give me.
The last three fish-astronauts activated force fields, shielding them from my shots. They staggered back into their sub.
I quit firing and waved my blaster back and forth to cool it. A glance showed that I’d drained half the charge. That seemed dead wrong and possibly explained the whining pitch and heat. That was bad this early in my mission.
I set it on a rock to cool.
That must have taken longer than I realized. As I looked across the beach, the sub’s open hatch closed. The fish astronauts must have made it back inside. Now, the submarine began to back into the sea as metal groaned and rocks crunched.
The women set up an even greater wailing and swaying, which seemed odd to me.
One rose to her feet, regarding me. Was she the leader? She walked toward me in a stately manner, suggesting she had authority and certainly a ton of poise. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
I drank in the sight. I could get into this adventure. I used to love watching them old black-and-white sci-fi movies when scantily clad babes captured the exploring men. It always turned out awesome for the American astronauts. Well, maybe not always, and usually with a ton of glitches.
But I’d saved them. Surely, they wanted to reward me for that.
I grabbed the blaster and jumped down from the crude seawall. In moments, I stood before her. Her head maybe reached my shoulders. I was a giant here, and felt like it.
She spoke alien gibberish but in an imperious tone. Could she be a priestess of the temple? Didn’t she realize how beautiful she was?
I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
She cocked her head, listening carefully. Then she pointed at the blaster holstered in my belt.
I held it up and nodded. “Yup, this is the fish killer, all right.”
She spoke again, looking at me in an appraising manner.
Once more, I shook my head, shrugging at the end.
By this time, the rest of the women had gained courage, climbed to their feet, and surrounded their leader. She spoke to them. Afterward, as one, they beckoned me to follow them.
I glanced at the dead soldiers on the beach, the few left. The twelve soldiers who had fled hadn’t returned. They must be long gone. I looked at the dead sea-creatures. They were still twitching and rolling across the sand, only leaking blood now instead of spewing it.
Okay. I was on the planet. This wasn’t the reception I’d imagined, but I should go with it, right? I might as well find out what was going on, and this seemed like the best way to do it.
Maybe the smiling and beckoning babes caused me to accept this too readily. But, hey, I’d saved their lives.
Whatever the case, I followed them. They headed for a break in the fern forest, and occasionally, one would look back over her shoulder at me to make sure I was following.
You bet I was.
We reached a forest path, and I was grinning wider than ever. This was awesome. I might have reached an alien nirvana.
I was beginning to think they’d try to make me king, or at least have a dozen or so vying for my attention. If I couldn’t get back to the Theron, I might have to stay down here and make do the best I could.
-17-
I followed the women down a forest track that turned into a road underneath the giant ferns.
The pathway wound through a primordial landscape: towering trunks with high fronds of deep purple. They cast shifting shadows across smooth, worn stones. The air seemed thick with alien mystery as I envisioned myself as the king of this amazing realm. The rulers were babes, and I’d just saved their lives. Yes, I was going to track down Axion, but maybe I’d indulge in a little pomp and circumstance before I left, if you catch my drift.
At this point, the twelve soldiers reappeared, and quickly formed ranks, standing between the women and me. That was rude.
One of them dared to speak to me harshly.
I ignored him as I smiled at one of the ladies who smiled back at me.
Then I noticed the soldier had stepped up to me. Before I realized it, he reached up with a rough hand and pushed my head away from the women.
That got my attention. I shoved him hard.
He staggered, and I got a good look at him. He was stocky and wore bloodstained articulated armor like the Roman legionaries used to wear. He had a bright helmet and a broad face. Like the rest, he only came to my shoulders. No, he might have been a bit taller than the others. He had a purple sash across his armor, maybe signifying that he was the captain or centurion, or whatever rank they had.
I noticed something else: his eyes. They were narrow, squinty, and with the same greedy shine as the fat-boy bully who had stolen my wooden knife long ago.
Immediate and irrational hatred filled me. It flooded in with heat in my chest.
He didn’t like that and drew his cutlass, snarling gibberish at me.
I think I grinned, drawing the blaster. I’d burn him down, the creep.
The fact that I wasn’t acting rational hadn’t quite hit me yet. The nearly bare ladies had their effect, maybe the air, the strangeness of this place, the sea-astronauts, something, was making it harder to think straight.
The supermodel I took to be the head priestess strode up and spoke alien gibberish at him.
The captain or centurion turned to her.
She spoke again in a commanding way.
He lowered his head, maybe so he wouldn’t look at her.
She spoke yet again, harsher than before.
Like a whipped cur, he sheathed his cutlass.
She turned at me, immediately speaking more softly and pointing at my blaster.
I holstered it.
She smiled, nodding.
Seeing her was like having a thousand-watt bulb turned on my brain. I grinned like an idiot. I couldn’t help it, and I stepped toward her.
The centurion stiffened, and his hand darted to the hilt of his cutlass.
The other soldiers grew tense.
The woman spoke in an even more commanding manner.
The soldiers backed away from me, including the centurion.
That was interesting. I might have to watch my step around the soldiers. The women, though, they must love me. The soldiers had failed to protect them, so I had to do their job. No wonder they wanted to look tough now before me.
Several soldiers brought parcels of clothing to the women. I wondered if they’d gone back to the bathing place to get them.
The women clothed themselves in rich robes, while the head priestess put on a golden mask and an exotic headdress with feathers. She seemed more imperious than ever.
Once they were clothed—and I the poorer for it—we started along the fern-lined avenue again. I imagined we were heading for one of the temples Alina had spoken about.
I followed, with the guard detail taking up positions behind me. The head priestess had ordered that, and the purple-sash centurion had only reluctantly obeyed.
I had a feeling it wasn’t over for him and me, and that suited me just fine. Those eyes… I think I’d waited a lifetime to meet the fat-boy bully again.
No, no, the soldier wasn’t the bully. I shouldn’t take out my early humiliation on him. Still, maybe the squinty, greedy eyes were a sign that Mr. Purple Sash was a bastard.
In time, we reached the temple, a kilometer long and maybe half a kilometer wide. It was an archaic and imposing building, maybe five stories tall. It had been constructed of massive stones like the pyramids, then finished with bricks and a great stone roof. Surprisingly, I saw gun ports up high, but there were not many people at ground level.
While there was a cleared area around the temple, I didn’t see any villagers or mundane buildings, at least not on this side. I had no idea what was on the other side of the temple.
We headed toward massive steps. There were several such stairways along this side as well.
Clearly, the temple was old and must have taken years or even decades to build. I would have liked to stop and put the memory stick into the computer. But I lacked time as the entourage moved faster until the women began to walk up the wide temple steps.
The soldiers had stopped before them.
As I followed the women up the steps, the soldiers gave a shout. The women turned and glared at me with unbelievable fury.
That caught me off guard. Maybe men weren’t allowed in the temple. That was a hell of a thing if true.
The golden-masked priestess came down the stairs until she stood before me. She spoke softly in the alien gibberish.
I shook my head, asking, “Is there a problem here?”
She pointed at me.
The other priestesses pointed at me and spoke in unison.
I wasn’t sure, but it sounded like a warning. Instead of heeding that, I became pissed.
“Hey,” I said, slapping my chest, “I saved your lives, remember? How about some gratitude here?”
The women recoiled, and several of the soldiers rushed to the bottom edge of the first step.
A harsh command by the chief priestess stopped the soldiers. The squinty-eyed centurion opened and closed his sword hand as if debating whether to obey her.
Before anything with him happened, she stared at me, then stared longer. Finally, she turned and spoke to the other women.
They listened and seemed to become worried… if I was reading their facial expressions correctly. They regarded me anew and finally beckoned me to follow them.
I looked back at the soldiers. They had already turned away, even the purple-sashed commander.
This was more like it. They must have realized they owed me a hero’s welcome. I remembered the movie, The Man Who Would Be King. I’d be careful and do this right, not breaking any critical taboos. But come on, I’d risked my life for these ladies, using a faulty blaster no less.
For those of you wondering if I was being stupid or reckless, I think the earlier episode with their mass state of undress had unhinged my thinking, at least to a degree. I suppose I was still in a lustful fog, imagining to my heart’s delight what was going to happen very soon.
I hurried up the steps, with the priestesses going even faster.
That should have been a clue, but as I said, I was lost in my erotic imaginations.
They hurried into the temple proper.
As I followed, the chief priestess whirled around and shouted.
That seemed ominous. I halted and realized—
Nine-foot-tall, brown-skinned creatures in hardened plate armor stepped out. They had lizard-like faces and dry, three-fingered hands. Each one grabbed one of my arms. Then they began to drag me deeper into the temple as if I’d been a bad boy and they were going to do something about it.
-18-
I struggled in the grasp of the nine-foot creatures and nearly gagged from their reptilian musk. They didn’t glower at me, but lifted me off the floor, making my struggles less useful.
I finally woke up to my danger, berating myself for being an idiot. Yes, the fog of my erotic fantasies dissolved in this harsh reality. I’d seen the signs, of course. I’d just been foolish in not deciphering them. A little skin and in such profusion had switched off my survival instincts.
This was a School of Hard Knocks lesson all right. I’d saved their lives. Normal people showed gratitude. But normal people didn’t parade around like these girls had. I should have recognized that something was off. The women had ordered the men and dealt with them as if they were dogs, obedient creatures instead of equals.
I squeezed my eyes closed, telling myself to get in the game. Beating myself up for being a fool wasn’t going to help. I was down on an alien planet. No one was coming to help me. I had to think hard and fast, and get it right this time.
I opened my eyes.
They hadn’t killed me—yet—so that was good. Maybe this was for breaking the taboo of no men in the temple. I should have heeded that. I still had most of my stuff, and that included the faulty blaster.
Struggling against these giants wasn’t going to help me. I decided to wait and see what happened, as I couldn’t think of anything else.
