She was surprised when the Gorgeous One glanced over in her direction and then started walking toward her. She opened her mouth to say something instinctively, hoping that being acknowledged in this way was a good sign.
But her words broke off in a huff when he grabbed her by the shoulder, lifted her to her feet, and then leaned over to pick up the rock she’d been sitting on. She stared in astonishment as he carried the rock near the fire and positioned it for a pretty brunette to sit on.
He’d just taken her rock, moving her out of the way like she was an object.
“Asshole,” she said, not quite quietly enough. Several people turned to look at her, as if they hadn’t realized she was able to speak.
The Hairy One heard her, she noticed. He was stoking the fire, but he glanced over his shoulder at her and gave a few more of those huffs that were evidently his laughter.
Evidently, they were all assholes.
She was glaring around, wondering if this was really a group she wanted to hook up with, when she noticed the eyes of a younger man were resting on her.
She knew he was younger because his shoulders weren’t as broad and his beard and hair weren’t as long as the older men. He was attractive in an understated way, even though he wasn’t groomed.
They shared a look that was almost understanding, and she held her breath as he moved over toward her.
She felt a surge of overwhelming relief when he reached her and asked, “Planet dump?”
She nodded, suddenly grounded in a way she hadn’t since she’d gotten out of the Coalition pod. Just the fact that he spoke the common language, when no one else here did, made her feel like she wasn’t completely alone. “A few days ago.”
“They dumped me here three years ago,” he said, keeping his eyes focused mostly on the bonfire but occasionally darting over toward her face, as if he didn’t want to draw attention to their conversation.
Lenna tried to imagine being on this planet for that long. She couldn’t. She just couldn’t. “I’m Lenna,” she said, keeping her voice low like his had been.
“Desh.”
“Is there anyone else here who has been planet dumped?”
“Not in this tribe. Maybe in some of the others.”
“So how did these people get here?”
“I don’t know, but they’ve been here for generations. They speak their own language and have absolutely no idea about the rest of the universe. They’re human, so they’re not native to this planet, but they must have been here for a really long time.”
She sighed, eyeing the tribe members as they gathered around the fire. “So I guess that means there’s no way off this planet?”
Desh shook his head. “There’s no technology of any kind on this planet beyond wheels and spears and hammers.”
Lenna smothered a groan. “You said there are other tribes on this planet?”
“Yes. This tribe calls themselves the Kroo. It sounds like the man who attacked you—the one that Rone killed—was from the Hosh tribe, who the Kroo absolutely despise. You’re better off with this tribe for sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“Women are treated better with the Kroo.” He met her eyes briefly. “I wouldn’t leave, if I were you.”
She swallowed, able to imagine all too well what might happen to her elsewhere, based solely on that first Neanderthal she’d encountered. “Understood.”
She watched as the stronger, more mature males started to dish out the stew. “I’m starving.”
“You won’t get any stew.”
“What do you mean? There’s plenty of it for everyone.”
“Yes, but those of us on the fringes don’t get it. It’s given out by the alphas, and so only those connected to them will get it.”
“That’s ridiculous. What about the rest of us?”
Desh stood up and walked to the far side of the bonfire, leaning over to grab a loaf of what looked like bread and some of those disgusting turnip-like roots. He brought them over to where she was still sitting on the ground.
“You’re not a weakling,” she said, accepting the food he offered rather begrudgingly. She was willing to eat anything at this point, and at least the bread stuff was better than the turnips. “Why don’t you just go over and take a bowl of stew?”
“I’d have to fight them for it, and I’d have to win.” His eyes were a very dark blue, and his expression almost unreadable. “I spent all my life in studying hard in school. I never even played sports. Do you really think I can take one of these men who’ve learned to hunt and fight from the time they could walk?”
Lenna looked at him in interest. She liked his matter-of-fact tone and his intelligence. She could see him as an academic type, but he was clearly more than that now. “How old are you?”
“Nineteen.”
She gasped. She’d known he was young, but not that young. “You got planet dumped when you were sixteen? What did you do?”
“I said the wrong thing to the wrong person. The Coalition doesn’t like to be talked back to. What did you do?”
“Smuggling.” She was about to ask another question when the Hairy Man walked over toward where they were sitting, a bowl of stew in his hand. She fell silent, staring up at him as he barked out what sounded like a question.
Desh responded, and the two men had a brief conversation. Lenna assumed it was about her, since the Hairy Man kept looking at her.
If she’d hoped he might offer her some of the stew, she was sorely disappointed when he turned his back and walked away.
“What was that about?” she asked, staring at the man’s straight back and broad shoulders in the animal skins he wore.
“He wanted to know how I knew your language.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I said we come from the same place. Then he wanted to know where we come from. I just said far away.” Desh gave an amused snort. “Then he asked if you come from the sky—which I think they consider like heaven.”
“That’s just great. He thinks I’m an angel, but he still won’t give me a bowl of stew.”
“Get used to it.”
“What is his name anyway?”
“Rone.” Desh nodded over toward the Gorgeous One. “That’s Tamen. He’s the lead alpha, but Rone is always nipping at his heels. Rone is a few years younger, but I’ve never seen anyone hunt like him. I’d bet he could be lead alpha soon, if he decides he wants it.”
For some reason, this pleased Lenna. Rone hadn’t been remotely nice to her, but at least he’d acknowledged her existence, something that Tamen hadn’t really done.
“So why are some of the men shaved and clean but most of them not?” she asked after a moment.
“Women groom the men. The men with women get groomed. The others don’t.”
“Why doesn’t Rone have a woman, if he’s an alpha?”
“He hasn’t chosen one yet.” He gestured over toward where Rone was sitting, finishing off his stew. “Watch.”
Lenna watched as a young woman approached him, standing beside him and then stroking his hair. Rone kept eating, saying a few words to the woman and then finally getting up and walking away from her.
“Women make the advances,” Desh explained, “but the men choose their mates. The women have some agency in this tribe, but it’s still a patriarchal culture.” He turned to look at her, eyeing her up and down. “You’re pretty. Your best bet is probably to pick out a man and make a move on him, and he might respond and make you his mate. Pick as high as you think you can go.”
Lenna glanced over at Taman, who was evidently the highest rung in the tribe’s hierarchy. He really was very handsome, but he didn’t even look at her like she was a person. She couldn’t imagine being his “mate.”
“He’s groomed, though. He already has a woman, doesn’t he?”
“Yes. This tribe is monogamous with their mates, but they don’t necessarily mate for life. When men get bored, they move on to new mates. Tame
n is on his fourth woman since I’ve been here.”
Lenna made a face. “That doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.”
“But they’re responsible for taking care of their previous mates, so once you’re the mate of an alpha, you’re set for life—at least as long as the man continues to have authority in the tribe. I’m not saying it’s a great deal for you, but it’s probably the best way to secure your position. Otherwise, you’re stuck on the fringes with the loners and orphans.”
Lenna watched Tamen for several minutes, and she felt nothing but disgust at the idea of being his woman. Maybe that was the smartest thing for her to do, but she wasn’t going to do it.
Not yet, anyway.
She’d made it this far in life without subjecting herself to the whims of another person. Her independence had always been the most important thing to her. She might be in desperate straights here, but she wasn’t quite that desperate yet.
The Kroo stayed around the bonfire, eating and socializing until the moon was high in the sky. Then everyone went back into the cave.
The cave was large and open, scattered with beds made of furs and grasses. It didn’t take Lenna long to figure out that the beds were for the alphas and their women and families. Those on the fringes like her didn’t get a bed.
She didn’t even get an animal skin for a blanket.
It wasn’t a cold night, though, and she was exhausted. So she found a spot that was mostly clean where she could lay with her back to the wall, giving her some sense of safety.
Desh had said that women were treated better in this tribe, but she still felt very vulnerable in a cave full of men who didn’t seem to see her as a real person.
She wasn’t far from Rone’s bed, and he felt safer to her than the others. He might not help her, but he wouldn’t hurt her. There was comfort in that.
She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the overwhelming smell of dirt and body odor, and the sound of couples having sex around the cave.
She was tired enough that she actually went to sleep.
***
Lenna spent most of the next day picking more berries. None of the women had said a word to her—they acted like she wasn’t even present. But Lenna was hanging around aimlessly after the morning meal, wondering what she should do, when Rone came over to her and handed her the sack she’d used to collect the berries on the previous day.
He didn’t say anything, and she wouldn’t have been able to understand him if he did, but the meaning was very clear.
She was supposed to gather more berries. That was evidently her task in this tribe, in return for which they would feed her (at least a little) and keep her safe from predators.
It was a better deal than getting eaten by sabretooth wolves, so she started searching the growth beneath the copses of trees near the cave. They were far from the deep woods now, and the landscape was hilly, with a lot of large rocks and wide stretches of grassland. But there were groupings of trees scattered around, so that was where she went to look for berries.
The tribe had spread out to a variety of tasks—some staying near the cave and working on mending clay pots, stone tools, and clothing. Others going farther out to spear fish in the nearby river or hunt for small animals.
Lenna wasn’t comfortable venturing too far out, since there were evidently hostile tribes and predatory animals around. She made sure to stay in sight of the men at the river and was pleased there were enough berries around to fill her sack.
The tribe evidently didn’t eat a midday meal. When she returned to the cave with her berries, Tamen came over to take them from her hands, peering into the bag suspiciously.
Evidently, he was satisfied with her haul because he nodded and then gestured over to a pile of fresh fish, where a boy who looked around ten years old was working. Lenna watched for a moment, realizing the boy was gutting and deboning the fish.
She looked back at Tamen, who gestured her over.
Evidently, she now got the enviable task of gutting and deboning fish with a boy.
She didn’t try to argue, however. She just went over, sat down, and watched him until she could figure out how to do it.
She was smart and competent. If she had to gut fish to earn her keep, then she would do so without complaining.
By evening, she was exhausted, and her fingers were raw from working on the fish. She’d cut herself numerous times on the fine, sharp bones.
The smell of meat cooking was delicious, but she was so ravenous that she didn’t even complain when Desh brought her over bread and the turnip-things again. Most of the tribe sat in a large circle around the fire—she counted thirty-six of them. But she and Desh sat just behind the circle, as did a few others on the fringes. A very old woman whose mate must have died, since she no longer had a man to vouch for her. Two orphaned children. And another young man around Desh’s age.
“Do the fringes ever move into the circle?” she asked Desh, after taking a bite of her bread.
“Yes. Jono, over there, was back here with me for the first year. But then he killed a boar and took a mate. He’s in the circle now.”
“Why was he on the outskirts before?”
“He was new to the tribe. Had no ties and hadn’t proved himself as a man yet.”
“Why was he new?”
“Most boys leave the tribes they were raised in when they hit puberty.”
Lenna thought about this and then realized the obvious reason for it. “Ah. So that’s how they avoid inbreeding.”
“Yes. The boys leave and join other tribes. The women hold the tribe together, maintaining its history, character, and behavior.”
“How many tribes are there on this planet?”
“I don’t know. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Since I’ve been here, we’ve encountered at least thirty others, and we’ve never ventured very far from this region. There could be a city on the other side of the planet, and I wouldn’t know.”
“You never wanted to find out?”
“I don’t think there’s a city. Rone came from very far away, if I’m understanding the stories about him correctly. And he knows of nothing but other tribes like this one.”
Lenna turned to look at Rone—her Hairy Man—and saw that he was watching her.
He seemed to watch her a lot, but she couldn’t read his expression enough to figure out why.
After a few minutes, she started to get self-conscious and turned back to Desh.
“So women always stay in the tribe they were born into?”
“Usually—unless they’re kidnapped by other tribes.”
“What?”
“Occasionally, another tribe will kidnap a young woman. It seems to be fairly standard practice. If there aren’t enough girls born into a tribe, they need some way of getting more.”
“That’s terrible! Surely tribes would fight each other over that.”
Desh gave a half-shrug. “Not as much as you’d think. They seem to have an understanding among themselves to avoid all-out war. Survival is the chief priority, so war has to be avoided at all costs. The only real act of war would be entering another tribe’s territory. The boundaries are clearly understood, and no one has crossed those lines in the years I’ve been here.”
“Then how are the women kidnapped?”
“In no-man’s land. Tribes have to occasionally leave their territory—to hunt or scavenge food or such things. Last year, two of the Kroo girls were gathering herbs, and they were taken by the Hosh, our nearest neighbors. Tamen and the other hunters caught up with one of the girls before they reached Hosh territory, so they got her back. The other they didn’t catch up to in time, so they had to let her go.”
“They just let her go?” Lenna shouldn’t have been surprised but she was. The families in this tribe didn’express affection the way she was used to, but they seemed to at least have a sense of loyalty.
“What choice did they have? Entering Hosh territory is an act of war, and a woman just isn’t worth
that.”
“Nice,” Lenna muttered.
“Hey, it’s not my worldview. It’s theirs. Anyway, a man wouldn’t be worth it either. If a man is attacked or killed by another tribe, then you can seek revenge in no-man’s land—but you can’t cross into someone else’s territory to do it. It’s a different world. You’re going to have to learn to adjust.”
“I know.” She paused, feeling depressed and so deciding to change the subject. “So you’ve never killed a boar?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Or any other animal. I’m not allowed in the inner circle yet. They won’t even let me join the hunting parties.”
“If I killed a boar, would they let me in?”
He laughed. “No. Women don’t hunt. The only way you get in is if a man chooses you for a mate.”
She scowled and muttered out a complaint about archaic, misogynist cultures.
Desh just laughed again. “Hey, think on the bright side. At least you can pick out a man and let him know you’re interested. You’re not stuck with any creep who wants you.” He nodded toward Ugar, the disgusting man who’d groped her before, who was lurking unpleasantly nearby.
Lenna sneered at the revolting man and looked instinctively back toward Rone, whose dark eyes were glinting in the firelight and still focused on her.
She tried to imagine having Rone as a “mate” and couldn’t even begin to wrap her mind around it. She could barely even see his face in all that hair.
The eating had mostly ended, and a couple of the men had gone to get what looked like pipes made of bone.
The music they played wasn’t like any music Lenna was familiar with. It was just slow, extended noise that had the same effect of a haunting wail. One of the older women started to talk, and Lenna realized after a while that she must be telling some sort of story. The entire tribe was listening, as if spellbound.
“A tale of an ancient warrior,” Desh whispered after a few minutes. “They tell this one a lot.”
“What about the ancient warrior?”
“He climbed the forbidden mountain to claim fire for the tribes.”