CHAPTER 8 (Northern Continent)
When Jim, until recently World Coalition Petty Officer Cranston of the colony ship Argyll, followed the Lind known as Larya across pack Zanatei’s domta and into her daga he was of the jaundiced opinion that he had stumbled into some sort of surreal dream.
First the children’s disappearance, then the long, wet and exhausting hunt for them. To cap it all, the creatures that had spirited the youngsters away had then merrily proceeded to lead him and his companions a long and arduous dance among the foothills below. They had laid one false trail after another in order to prolong his search for some nefarious purpose of their own. He had not yet forgiven them for that. He was footsore and weary and in no mood to play games.
“It was necessary,” said Larya, surprising him with her insight, he not being aware as yet just how the Lind could pick up thoughts and emotions from their human partners.
He frowned at her.
“Maybe, but I want to hear some answers pretty sharpish.”
Larya cocked her head to one side. She didn’t understand the words or perhaps chose to ignore them. “You learn our language first,” she answered and padded away. Jim made haste to follow her. He most definitely did not want to be left floundering in the dark in the midst of the domta. The Lind had far better night vision than humans.
Of the six who remained behind in Tara and Kolyei’s daga it was Laura who broke the silence.
“What did she mean when she said that she would be white soon?” she asked. “I don’t understand. In fact, I don’t understand a lot of what’s been happening, but this question will do to be getting on with.”
Tara marshalled her thoughts and got the answer clear in her mind before she spoke.
“The Lind age in a different way from us,” she began, feeling her way. “If a Lind survives for a certain number of seasons, he or she turns white within a year or so. Then they can become an Elda of the pack. Not all do.”
She looked at Kolyei for confirmation.
“Did I get it right?”
“Yes,” he answered her. “We become white in perhaps fifty cold seasons, some more, some less.”
“I didn’t see many white ones,” Laura said.
“No,” agreed Kolyei, “Rtath Zanatei is a warrior rtath.”
“Do many die young?” persisted Laura, not fully understanding what Kolyei was trying to say. He was still talking in a mixture of Standard and Lindish. Tara and the other eleven children could understand him perfectly well but it would be some time before Laura and Francis could, as they did not have the advantage of the telepathic link of being vadeln-paired.
“Larg come. Many will die,” stated Kolyei.
“Do they come every year?” asked Francis.
Kolyei considered the question carefully. He was unsure of what the term year meant, guessed and nodded (the Lind had taken to this human expression of agreement with alacrity).
“Most. Satalrdn, many, this warm season. They will attack us within four moons.”
You mean in the summer?
“Summer?”
The explanation followed. At the end of it Kolyei and Radya concluded that it was easier to use the word ‘summer’ than ‘warm season’. Tara wondered how long it would be before all the pack members were using the term. Not long she was thinking, knowing how fast information could permeate throughout the pack. The conversation moved away from the subject of the impending war. Tara, for one, was very glad that it had and hoped that they could talk of lighter things until bedtime. She went over to the shelves fixed to the sturdy and comparatively draught-free wall and took down some ripe pinkfruit and a cup. Kolyei’s daga was one of the few this side of the domta that sat beside a little stream.
“Help yourself to water everyone,” she said placing the cup down beside the fruit. “I’m hoping to get some more cups soon but at the moment we’ll have to share.”
Laura took one of the fruit and bit into it rather doubtfully, it didn’t look very appetising from the outside, resembling as it did dusky pink boot leather; but as she chewed her face broke into a delighted smile.
“This is delicious. Tastes of ripe cherries.” she said. “Try one, Francis.”
But Francis had other things on his mind. He turned to Kolyei. “Can we get back to the subject now?” he asked.
Kolyei stopped chewing his fruit. The Lind were well aware of a balanced diet and ate copious amounts of vegetables and fruit as well as meat.
“What subject is that?” asked Kolyei humorously. He did so enjoy teasing the humans.
Francis frowned. Although he had become far more open-minded and relaxed of late, he was still getting used to the feeling of being a part of, rather than apart from, his fellows. He accepted the gentle teasing of Jim, James and Laura (especially the latter) and could give them as good as he got. Now it appeared that these alien beings also delighted in the play of words and the tease. He was not to know that Kolyei had quite a reputation as a practical joker amongst the pack. He was a master of wit in his own language. Now he was developing this skill in Standard as well.
“The war of course,” he said, half-annoyed, half-amused.
Tara sighed. She just couldn’t help it. They were going to start talking about the Larg again. She looked over at Radya and Peter. The boy was fast asleep.
Laura stopped the conversation right there and then. “It is late,” she said in a no-nonsense tone. “We can discuss the war in the morning.”
Francis demurred, but seeing the determined look on her face agreed, albeit with a great deal of reluctance.
As Laura prepared her bedding she became aware of two mature Lind standing not far from the entrance to the daga. One was slightly larger than the other and its gaze was focused on her, with a look in its eyes that was rather unsettling.
The six spent a restless night, the humans at least beset by dreams or ravaging Larg and battles. Radya and Peter did not return to their daga. No one had liked to wake him. The boy had looked so tired before he dropped off. Radya made no objections, merely wrapping herself round his small body to give him warmth and comfort. Tara cuddled in against Kolyei, sighed with contentment as he likewise pressed against her. She was lulled to sleep by his gentle and loving thoughts.
In the cool of the morning and over breakfast, Francis saw fit to bring up the previous evening’s topic once more. He was nothing if not persistent.
Radya and Peter went back to the daga he shared with Alan and Kiltya. The boy was experimenting with making a coat from a kura pelt and wanted to get on with it. He was, after all, only ten years old. He wished to hear no more of war and death. Tara busied herself tidying up the daga and did her utmost not to listen.
“Do many die in battle?” Francis asked.
“Yes and more later,” Kolyei answered, looking at the man.
Francis persisted in his questioning. “From injuries sustained?”
“I do not understand. Sustained? You mean hurts? Larg are big and strong.”
“Bigger than you?”
“Yes, and many more Larg than Lind.”
“Bigger?” Laura squeaked. Why they must be enormous!
“Yes. Each time ltsctas, perhaps breed ten, twelve, maybe more.”
“How many in your families?” asked Laura.
Kolyei considered. “Four is usual. Not all survive.”
Deciding that the humans were doing too much of the asking, Kolyei decided to ask a question himself.
“How many ltsctas do you Lind have?” he asked.
“One, perhaps two but that’s unusual,” answered Laura, correctly interpreting the question.
Kolyei looked surprised at that.
“One? That is not efficient,” he observed. “How many total?”
“We have two or three in a lifetime perhaps. Probably more now that we are dirtside and there are no restrictions.”
“Strange,” was his only reaction.
Laura did not try to explain. It would have been far too complic
ated to make the Lind understand the reasons why it had been necessary to restrict human family sizes on Earth. She would leave it until both species had a deeper understanding of each other.
Francis again brought them back to the subject of the war. He was intensely worried about what they had been told the pervious afternoon and wanted to know more.
“How many Larg will come?” he asked.
“Many. Chief Eldas from the Gtratha will send message soon and we will know more,” answered Kolyei.
“Where are these Chief Elders? They are a sort of grand Council taken from all the packs, aren’t they?” asked Laura.
“Many suns run and yes.”
But Francis was not interested in a discussion about the Gtratha.
“Afanasei said something about you sending spies to the south?”
“Yes. Dangerous it is to be a spy. Many return not.”
Tara looked up from her self-imposed task of sweeping the floor, a serious expression on her face. She knew that Kolyei had spied in the south once in the past.
“Know you will when Larg cross over the small lands.”
“Small lands?” questioned Francis.
“With water circle outside.”
Francis frowned; trying to understand what Kolyei was trying to say. Water circles? He racked his brain, trying to think and ran his hands through his short hair. He had a flash of inspiration. “You mean the islands? That chain of small islands that runs from the northern continent to the southern where the narrow channel is?”
“When summer come then low waters. Larg swim to us over the waters between them.”
Francis turned to Laura.
“These islands are not far from the settlement. These Larg will hit there first.” Turning to Kolyei, he added, “Is that the only place the Larg can cross?”
Kolyei nodded. “You must warn your rtath.”
Tara finished her housekeeping, (the daga was small, after all and it never took very long) and sat down beside Kolyei.
“Back at the settlement the teachers did say that the planetary year consisted of ten months, five summer and five winter,” she interposed.
“That is meant to be reassuring?” flushed Francis angrily.
Tara went red with embarrassment and Laura put a hand on the man’s arm, effectively stopping him from saying anything he might regret later.
“Francis did not mean to be unkind Tara,” she reassured the girl. “He’s just a bit uptight about all that is happening.”
Tara nodded. She blinked back the tears that threatened to flow.
Francis looked at her. “I’m sorry Tara,” he said, “I did not mean to flare up at you.”
Laura’s eyebrows rose. It was the first time she had ever heard Francis apologise to anybody.
“Is the only place,” Kolyei confirmed, repeating, “you must warn your rtath.”
“How do the Larg fight?” pressed Francis.
Kolyei was thinking detachedly that the man would make a good Susa of a Lindar as he formulated his answer. This human asked the right questions.
“They will attack.”
“Explain yourself.”
“Lindars practise to defeat the Larg. We will defend, retreat, regroup. We will defend rtathen. We will defend rtathlians.”
Laura wondered how Kolyei knew these Standard military terms. She assumed, correctly, that Tara had been coaching him.
“Why do the Larg come?” she asked.
“Herds. Meat,” answered Kolyei succinctly. “Kura, zarova, jezdic. A Larg will eat much. Females and younglings are left in south and Larg enjoy killing.”
Laura struggled valiantly to follow all this.
“What are zarova?” she asked, “and jezdic?”
“Zarova have a long neck and jezdic run fast,” was the explanation.
“Now we have the real names for them,” she said, satisfaction in her voice. “I was never very happy calling them goats, giraffes and zebras.”
“Do the Larg eat the herds?” asked Francis.
Kolyei’s reply was chilling. “Ceja. They will eat Lind too.”
“Would they eat humans?”
“Yes.”
The three humans looked at each other in consternation. “We must speak to Jim,” Laura decided, “and the sooner the better.”
Jim was getting much the same information from Larya. He was dismayed and appalled at what he heard. With Afanasei acting as interpreter where necessary he quizzed the two Lind unmercifully, eventually getting round to questions about tactics and numbers. He was surprised but relieved when told of the number of Lindars that would be available to fend off the invaders.
“Elda have informed all packs of danger,” said Afanasei. “I am Susa of Lindar Zanatei. I lead Lindar to war.”
“I with Afanasei go,” added Larya.
“And I with you,” said Jim instantly. Larya rubbed her snout into Jim’s hand in appreciation.
At Jim’s request, Afanasei and Larya told him a little about the geography of the Lind lands. “Tell me about the other packs,” he asked. “Are there many of them? Do they live far away?”
“Yes,” said Afanasei. “Where there lian, woods you call them, the Lind are. Many packs. We of Lind live in high lands north and beside big water far west. Many days it will take you to run there.”
“What about the other northern continent?”
“No Lind there. No Larg there.”
“Most of your land is forested?”
“Yes. Is forest, woods, lian, flat lands, you call plains, many rivers, hills, mountains where snow big in cold season.”
“We must all work together,” Jim said at last. “Fight together as well. The humans at the settlement are mostly farmers, not soldiers, but they can learn, they must learn how to fight. The Larg have to be stopped before they are able to gain a foothold. We can set up traps, slow them down. Hit and run tactics. Retreat behind the perimeter fences and hold out.”
“This is not the Lind way,” observed Afanasei.
Jim ignored that and pressed on regardless. “Have the Larg ever reached here?”
“One time in my memory.” The words came out reluctantly, as if Afanasei did not want to remember.
Larya spoke up, “Many died that warm season.”
“We shall plan our joint defences and drive the Larg back into the sea,” stated Jim, slamming his hand on his thigh in emphasis. He stood up. “However, before we go any further, I am going to do something about the cracks in the walls and roof of this daga. I don’t want to spend another night freezing my pants off when I can do something about it.”
Some hours later Jim emerged from the daga and Larya led him to the lesson grove. Lessons were in progress. In one corner, youngsters of both species were sitting facing a venerable white Lind listening to a story. Jim couldn’t understand more than a few words here and there although the story was being narrated extremely slowly in Lindish. When he looked at the faces of the children he realised that they did understand and were enjoying the tale.
“Hero story,” said Larya. “It is about the sire of me, Larya.”
“They’re telling a tale about your father?” asked Jim in amazement. “Is that white Lind talking about his battles with the Larg?”
Larya nodded proudly.
“Is the white Lind sending pictures into their minds?”
“Yes. Practice is good. He sends pictures to ltsctas.”
“Are the human younglings receiving these pictures as well?”
“No. Only from their vadeln.”
Clever, thought Jim. Making a lesson entertaining was a well-proven method of good teaching and they got language and thought practice as well. He smiled his approval as another thought struck him.
Larya looked at him encouragingly.
Jim looked at her. “We can send pictures and emotions to and from each other. You can do the same with other Lind. You cannot send pictures or sense emotions with unpaired humans or humans paired with other L
ind. Is that correct?”
“I can sense little there.”
Jim thought for a moment. Really, it was difficult to follow Lind thought patterns. Then with Larya ‘sending’ clarification, he nodded as he realised that the Lind could sense a limited amount of human emotion and thought from the unpaired and from those paired with others. It was limited by degrees and Jim realised with a start, Larya had chosen him because she could sense strong emotive thoughts from him. Other Lind who had looked him over had sensed little or nothing at all. He filed this piece of information to think about later. All in all he thought, it was amazing how much of Larya’s thoughts he was picking up without even trying. Like the children before him, he was finding that their bonding was growing stronger. They were beginning to share words. It certainly made talking easier.
: Listen : she ordered : Good tale :
Larya wagged her tail, grinned at him and winked. Jim solemnly winked back. He settled himself to listen to the tale with Larya translating and managed to make quite a bit of sense of it. Towards its end, Jim noticed that James and Kath were sitting amongst the pupils. The young man had not lost the half-bemused look of the previous afternoon. Jim wondered if his own face looked the same. James seemed more that content with what this new life was offering. Rozya looked radiant.
Neither the Lind nor their human compatriots knew it as yet, but Rozya’s action the previous evening of choosing James Rybak as her paired human thus making a foursome of herself, Matvei, Kath and James, was to become the norm.
Laura and Francis sat to one side, a part of, yet distanced from the others. Another Lind sat with them. They were concentrating hard on what was being told to them because they had to learn Lindish the hard way without the help of telepathic transference. For once, the two Lind who usually followed them were not to be seen.
: Where are the two watchers? : asked Jim of Larya.
: Faddei and Asya wait :
: For what? :
Perversely she chose not to answer. Her arch look did however speak volumes and Jim began to get an inkling of what was afoot. He smiled. If he was correct and he rather thought he was, Laura and Francis were in for a very interesting time.
Larya pointed to the Lind sitting with Laura and Francis with her forepaw. “Talya is a healer, a Holad,” she informed him. “She teaches Laura and Francis our language but also something of how we care for our sick and wounded.”
Over their midday meal, which the human inhabitants of the domta spent by themselves, they talked together about various subjects. By common consent, the impending war was not mentioned. Thomas and Emily presided over the cook-fire, frying zarova steaks atop a steelwood frying pan that Thomas had made out of a fallen tree. He was extremely good with his hands.
Hunger satisfied, Jim coughed to get everybody’s attention and demanded an impromptu meeting.
“Right everyone,” he stated. “We have to decide what is to be done. We adults haven’t been here as long as you youngsters – we are still experiencing language difficulties with the Lind. It will take time before we are fluent in Lindish and able to understand all that they are trying to tell us, although their grasp of our language is quite astonishing. James and myself have Rozya and Larya. We can understand a fair bit aided by that useful telepathic thought process of theirs but Laura and Francis aren’t paired yet so don’t have that advantage.” He couldn’t resist shooting a teasing glance at the two.
Both Laura and Francis looked mystified.
“I don’t want to talk about the Larg,” said Peter in a very small voice.
Jim looked at him with real sympathy. “But we must Peter, I am sorry.”
Peter sighed. There was no getting away from it. He decided that he would try and shut out the conversation and, if all else failed, escape to Radya. He was becoming more and more homesick as the weeks passed and missed his mother desperately. Radya tried to fill the void and she had spoken to Afanasei privately a few days previously about her worries about him. Afanasei sympathised with her predicament but could offer no help; he was after all not paired with a human and found it hard to relate to specific inter-species problems.
Jim looked around. There was no Lind present, excepting that is, Francis and Laura’s two shadows who had reappeared just as they finished their meal.
Kath started the ball rolling.
“Some of us must go to warn the settlement. Others must stay here and learn how these Lindars fight and also introduce the Lind to fighting with two-footed allies who can and will wield weapons to defend their loved ones. We also need to understand how these Lindar regiments are trained.”
There were murmurs of agreement.
“Yes,” agreed Thomas, the blond fourteen year old. “I have already experimented with making knives and spears. It would be easier back at the settlement. Arthur Knott has a working smithy and could turn them out much faster.”
Francis sat up straighter. “A spear is efficient but not I think efficient enough in the close combat fighting that we will encounter. Swords would be better. We must speak to the Lindar Commanders and ask them to give us a demonstration of how they have fought in the past and decide how those with a Lind partner can fight with them.”
“Bows and arrows,” suggested Yvonne from the back.
Emily raised her hand. “May I say something?” she asked in her soft voice.
At Jim’s nod, she continued, “Could the Lind and humans not form a sort of cavalry unit?” she asked tentatively, “like in the Napoleonic Wars on Europe in the nineteenth century?” Emily had a deep interest in historical subjects.
“Not enough time,” interposed James, entering the conversation for the first time. “Cavalry need a lot of training.” Smiling encouragingly at her he added, “Good idea for the future though. Any more ideas young lady?”
“Agincourt,” was her prompt reply. “In 1415 a few English bowmen defeated a huge French force many times their number with arrow storms.”
“But the French were crammed into a small space,” argued Tara, who had learnt about the battle in history lessons.
“But if we chose the right battlefield, why not? Drive the Larg into a confined space and then annihilate them?”
“Yes,” exclaimed Francis. “That might work. I’m sure Arthur Knott could invent something that could do the job.”
“We would kill many Larg,” said Laura.
“Isn’t that the idea?” asked James. “It would certainly please the Lind.”
“No,” interposed Tara. She looked at Kath. She knew what she wanted to say but didn’t have the right words to say it.
Kath responded. “I don’t think that is the case. They have emphasised time and time again that they do not kill for fun but only to defend their land and their pack-mates. They deplore wanton killing. What do they call it? Volat or something I think. It’s their most heinous crime. They understand the necessity and I don’t think they like it, but it’s the only way we can drive the Larg off if the numbers they are reporting are correct. Matvei is very worried and says that many Lindars are being brought in from the west to help. This has not happened for many generations.”
“Will they definitely attack the settlement?”
“I think they will,” Jim admitted. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “Remember there are only about five thousand adults at the settlement. They would have to remain there to defend the perimeter.”
“How long do we have?” asked James.
“About four months Larya says.”
“Better set about it then.”
“I can stay here and learn how the Lind fight and then work out how we can integrate with them. Kath, James and Laura must remain too, also Bill and Geoff,” Francis announced. He turned to Jim. “You must go back, warn the settlement and introduce the Lind.”
Jim demurred. He felt that he should stay where he was. He still had much to learn about their four-pawed allies.
Kath agreed with Francis. “Only you have the autho
rity and the standing, Jim. The Council will listen to you where they would disregard anything we might say.”
Jim nodded reluctant acceptance realising that what they were advising made sense. “I will speak to Larya and the Eldas. I think four of us should return and Afanasei should accompany us as well.”
“Who?” demanded Francis.
“Myself and Larya of course, then Tara and Kolyei because of their interpretation skills. Thomas and Stasya must go back too so that he can speak to Arthur Knott about weaponry. I’m not sure about the fourth pair.”
He looked around the circle of youngsters. His gaze passed over Emily and Mark then rested on Peter who was sitting with a disconsolate face beside Moira and Yvonne.
“I think Peter as well,” he announced, smiling at the boy. “He has been very brave but I think he has been away from his mother long enough. He deserves at least to visit her.” Peter perked up at once. “It will be no sinecure,” he added for the youngster’s benefit, “you will need to help us all you can.”
Peter nodded, his face one big beam.
Thinking that the conversation had been too serious for too long, Jim changed the subject. “Now, is there any more of that wonderful baked fruit? I could certainly go another plateful.”
Talk moved on to other, more light-hearted topics. Tara was even persuaded to recite one of the jolly rhymes for which she was becoming noted. She was given the word ‘where’ and the topic ‘planet’ by Yvonne. As Kath had realised early on, the girl certainly had a gift with words.
“Into the vastness of space we humans didst dare,
But it was pure bad luck that we were there,
When the storm didst chuck us who knows where,
Bad luck, good luck, I’m not being fair,
The planet we landed on is more that just bare.”
Jim laughed; this was the first chance he had got to hear Tara in full flight.
“But I did get a scare,
When Kolyei came to me, unaware,
And we became the first vadeln-pair,
What a wonderful, and rare,
Life this is, I swear.”
“This is good,” Jim said in an aside to Laura, “funny too.”
But Tara had not finished.
“But alas, there are Larg about who want to tear,
Apart what we have and it’s not FAIR.”
She stopped.
“I don’t want to go on,” she confessed to the suddenly silent audience. “The Larg are too close.”
They all clapped but nobody laughed, not this time. Tara was right. War with the Larg was too close.
“Well done though,” Jim cried. “Kath is right, you do have the gift,” and then he made haste to change the mood of the gathering.
The young chatter was pleasant, Jim reflected as he sat back, spooning the delicious fruity mixture into his mouth. He was glad to see young Peter devouring a second helping as well. The lad certainly seemed to have got his appetite back. They began to discuss this morning’s lessons and the adults were more than pleased to put their war-worries on the back burner for a while.
The youngsters were exceedingly well organised, Jim realised, with only a little surprise, watching a small group begin to clear up dishes and cutlery. Chore sections had been set up and all seemed to do their part willingly if not very expertly in some cases.
Emily and Thomas excused themselves. They were due for a lesson with the Lind medics to find out more about the diseases that affected their newfound allies and more importantly what natural medicinal resources the planet could provide. Laura and Francis elected to go with them although Jim was surprised at Francis’s choice of occupation. He had never appeared to be the caring sort. He surmised that Laura’s interest in the subject had something to do with it. When these two left, their ubiquitous shadows rose from their haunches and padded sedately after them.
* * * * *