CHAPTER 13
An aircraft landed on the flat ground near the meeting building as Alicia and the others were eating their post-shift meal. She watched curiously as the bay doors opened and several Warriors stepped out. Her face lit up with joy as Monty emerged from the craft. But the joy turned to horror when she saw the sparkle of leg irons around his ankles and those of Ernie and Jeff. Then Rebecca appeared, accompanying a stretcher carried by two Warriors with the unmistakeable form of Joshua on it. The Doctor and the camp commander were the last to leave.
Monty lifted his arm to wave, but a Warrior knocked it down with a swing of its truncheon. The entire group moved off towards the barracks and clinic.
Gloom descended on the group by the hillock. Thelma was weeping quietly, and Sylvie sat with a look of despair. Alicia saw a huge pit opening beneath her feet. The last they had heard was that the four men were to be rewarded. She voiced the question that was in everyone’s thoughts: “What’s happened?”
A distraught Emily ran out of the house and raced off to the clinic.
Long after the moon arose, Alicia and the group waited by the hillock. The horizon was reddening when Emily and Noah returned, supporting Rebecca between them.
Alicia stopped them. “Please tell us what is going on.”
Emily was almost hysterical. “Syd near killed my Joshua. He ran off, and they’re looking for him. The other men are suspect, and they’re in big trouble.”
Rebecca interrupted. “It’s not true. Syd would not hurt my pappy. Someone shot an arrow into my pappy, but I know it wasn’t Syd. But they’re looking for him, and they’ll kill him.” The two women, crying and screaming, went into the house.
“Noah,” Alicia pleaded. “Can you tell us anymore?”
“As near as I can figure it,” Noah replied, “my pappy and Syd had words about Rebecca. Big fight. Syd ran away. Pappy chased him up the mountain, into the snow. Syd headed for a cave. Pappy nearly caught him at the cave. An arrow came out of the cave and hit pappy in the shoulder. Pappy heard a spirit voice telling him to go away. The Guardian says Syd shot the arrow. Pappy says Syd had no time. It was a spirit, pappy says. A nananom. Nananoms protect and tell us what to do.”
“Why are the three men in chains?”
“I don’t know. The Doctor says the camp commander doesn’t trust them. They know more but ain’t talking. Gotta go now.”
For a long moment, the group sat in dumbfounded silence.
“How did Syd get a bow and arrow?” Alicia wondered, shaking her head. “Could they have secretly made one and hidden it?”
“But why would Monty allow such a foolish thing?’ Sylvie asked. “And Jeff — he’s been here long enough to know you can’t beat them with bows and arrows.”
Thelma nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I can’t see Ernie agreeing to it, either.”
“Then maybe Syd did it without the others knowing, and when his chance came, he took it,” Alicia suggested. “I’m going to see whether I can talk with Monty.”
She walked towards the path leading to the kitchen building and the Warrior barracks. She barely got past the meeting building when she was stopped by two Warriors brandishing their truncheons. A third Warrior came up to them, trundling a computer on wheels.
“What do you want?” The monotone voice spat out.
“I wish to speak with the humans who are in chains.”
“It is impossible. No one is allowed to see them.”
“Why are they arrested?”
“They have committed a serious offence. They have helped a slave to escape.”
“This cannot be true.”
“That is for the camp commander to decide.”
“May I see Joshua at the clinic? We are worried about his health.”
“Only the Doctor may see Joshua. Return to your cave.”
Alicia hesitated a moment and then, realizing it was useless to insist, turned to go. The truncheon hit her hard on the back and knocked her sprawling. Dazed, she slowly struggled to her feet. “Next time, bow,” came the dispassionate voice as the three Warriors walked off. Alicia lifted both hands, with the middle fingers raised.
They struggled through the next shift. The events had sapped their motivation and gold recovery fell off dramatically. The Warriors were out in full force, snapping their whips when they caught someone flagging.
Alicia ached where the truncheon had hit her but mostly the ache was inside. Her dream of coupling with Monty was shattered, and she feared that even his life was in danger. Even if he were completely innocent, their captors had been humiliated, and they would scream for blood. Syd would eventually be captured or killed — how could he possibly evade them — but that would not change things for Monty, Ernie or Jeff. They were guilty by association.
The arrow troubled her. According to Noah, Joshua insisted a spirit had shot the arrow. She did not believe in spirits. If Syd had shot the arrow, would he not have aimed at the centre of the huge bulk bearing down on him, or did he just squeeze off a shot and happened to hit the shoulder? Could there have been someone else?
The Doctor had told them of a rumour about two escaped slaves. But the mountains were far away and in the direction of the Guardian city. Surely, escaping slaves would head elsewhere. The only slave she knew of that had disappeared in that area was the Doctor’s brother, and he had been killed in an avalanche. And then in that part of her brain where intuitive insights are reached, there was a sudden glow of neuronal activity.
They struggled through another shift. At the post-shift gathering, Rebecca announced that her father was much better, and a hearing would be held the next day.
Alicia and the group were on the hillock, morosely debating what would happen to the prisoners. The three men appeared, still shackled by their legs and to each other, surrounded by a guard of Warriors. Monty blew a kiss at Alicia. Rebecca and the Doctor followed, escorting Joshua sporting a huge bandage around his shoulder with his arm in a sling. He appeared as strong and as straight as ever. They all entered the meeting building.
Alicia, Thelma and Sylvie ran to the closed door and peeked in through the window. They saw the camp commander enter and address the humans and Warriors. They could hear the sound of the computer voice, but could not make out the words. A Warrior scuttled through the back door of the stage area, and there was an exchange between it and the camp commander, and they both left. The minutes dragged by as the arrested men and the others waited. They must have caught something of the brief conversation that precipitated the interruption, because the Doctor had gasped and bowed his head, while Rebecca sobbed uncontrollably. Finally, the camp commander returned, and from the sounds emitted by the loudspeaker, was barking orders, and despite the monotone voice of the translation, the three women could tell he was very angry. They fled back to the hillock as the hearing broke up. The three men in chains were led quickly away by the Warriors. Joshua emerged, holding up his daughter with his good arm. Rebecca was in a state of near collapse, as Joshua literally dragged her up the hill to their house. The Doctor followed behind them.
“What’s going on?” Alicia demanded as the Doctor started up the path.
“Let me get my patient settled, and then I’ll be back,” was the Doctor’s reply.
He was a long time coming, and they waited anxiously.
“Well, things look pretty bad for Syd,” he began, after he rejoined them, and sat down on the grass beside Alicia. “There were Guardians and Warriors looking for him by aircraft and on foot. They uncovered a network of caves in which they were pretty certain he had taken refuge. One of the search parties was made up of the Guardian head investigator, and six Warriors. They’ve been found dead in a cave, and Syd is accused of murdering them. They’re still looking for Syd.”
“But Doctor, how could Syd kill seven of them? It doesn’t make sense,” Alicia said.
“I agree. It sounds impossible. But that’s what the camp commander told us. There doesn’t seem to be any other explanation. There’s Syd on the loose, and a Guardian and six Warriors are dead.”
The Doctor bade them goodnight and started to walk away. Alicia joined him, and waited until they were out of earshot of the others.
“Doctor,” she said quietly, “we are asked to believe that Syd made a bow and arrow, and not only hid it in a cave but managed to find a network of caves while under guard by Warriors. All this despite six rotations of heavy work, for which Syd and the other three were to be rewarded. Joshua insists Syd did not have time to shoot the arrow. And Joshua claims he heard a voice. And now Syd’s supposed to have single-handedly killed seven of them. All this points to a helper, doesn’t it?”
The Doctor stopped and held Alicia’s hand. “Alicia, speculation is not going to help and will simply start unproductive rumours. The only one they’re looking for is Syd, and he’s the only escaped slave. Like you, I hope Syd will evade capture.”
“You’re quite right, Doctor. I’m happy we understand each other.”
During the next shift, three space ships appeared overhead. Two flew on past the camp towards the distant mountains. The third settled on the broad stretch of flat land near the smelting building. As the shift ended, all the Warriors supervising the slaves dashed off quickly to their barracks. The slaves mounted the slope leading from the beach and stopped to watch the spectacle unfolding before them.
From the barracks, a large troop of Warriors marched out, two abreast, following two flag carrying Warriors. They stopped well short of the space ship, forming into a solid column of six in each row, behind the two flag bearers. A Guardian, the camp commander, appeared and walked to the head of his small army. The huge bay doors of the space ship opened. Two Warriors marched off, one carrying a flag, followed by row after row of six Warriors, and formed in front of the group from the barracks. A Guardian marched out of the space ship and faced the camp commander. The latter removed his crown and threw it to the ground. They bowed to each other. The Guardian from the space ship lifted the crown and replaced it on the camp commander’s head and stepped back. Again they both bowed. The camp commander now took one of the flags and passed it to the other Guardian who immediately handed it over to the Warrior not carrying a flag. Again the two Guardians bowed. The camp commander and his troops now marched around the other group and filed onto the spacecraft. The bay doors closed, the craft lifted gently and quietly into the sky, the rocket motors blasted the silence and the ship was gone. The new camp commander and his troops marched towards the barracks.
“It’s a change of garrisons,” Alicia commented as they returned to their compound.
“The change must have something to do with what has happened. I bet these guys are going home in disgrace,” added Thelma.
“It’s too bad,” Sylvie said. “I was getting to know some of them. Some were quite friendly. It’ll take another five years to break this new group in.”
“It’s amazing,” Alicia said. “You can recognize individual Warriors after awhile. At first, they all look alike. Then you start to notice differences — different heights, lines on their bodies, blotches on their heads. It was always the same Warriors who escorted Rebecca. I guess even slave masters build up relationships with their slaves, like during the American slave period.”
“Yeah,” Thelma said, “mostly to screw them.”
“Well, that can’t be why some of the Warriors were nice to us. I don’t know how they reproduce but, in the five years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen any sign that they have sex.”
Thelma laughed. “Sylvie, we don’t know what they do in their barracks. Perhaps those baseball bats they carry around are actually dicks.”
“You mean,” Alicia said, “when one of them knocked me down the other day with his truncheon, it was expressing love? And I thought it was straightforward assault and battery.”
At the next shift, dozens of Warriors paraded back and forth, generously applying their whips and truncheons. One in particular was taller than the rest and towered over the new Guardian camp commander. His whip snaked out repeatedly and indiscriminately, hitting slaves whether they were working or not.
Joshua, his arm still in a sling but with a smaller bandage, stopped at each station and announced increased production goals. Any groans of protest were quickly stifled by the Warriors.
“That big Warrior,” Thelma called out to Joshua. “Why’s he so mean?”
“He’s the Warrior Commander at this camp. He’s in charge of all the Warriors here.”
Noah came by and tried to look severe, but he lacked Joshua’s massive stature and authoritative air. Instead he reasoned with the slaves. “Just work a little harder until these new boys settle down. This is all Syd Clark’s fault.”
“Bullshit,” said Thelma. “It’s all your father’s fault for promising Rebecca to the Doctor.”
At this, Noah became grim and downcast. He, too, believed his father had made a terrible mistake.
Joshua had told his family that both the previous camp commander and the new one were unhappy that Joshua had failed to catch Syd. However, since Joshua had been wounded in their service, they were prepared to allow him to continue in his supervisory role.
“Man, I got down on my knees and thanked them, I surely did. Now, we gotta get out there and be tough. We want more gold, that’s what we want. We’re gonna show these new boys we can deliver.”
The increased gold quotas were not met that shift. The slaves waited in vain for the food wagon to show up. Joshua, accompanied by the Warrior Commander, announced from the hillock: “You didn’t produce. You don’t get fed.”
A chorus of protests ensued. The Warrior Commander ran down the hillock brandishing its truncheon, and the slaves quickly dispersed. Sylvie was among the last. The Warrior Commander hit Sylvie hard on the back of the skull, and she fell senseless to the ground. Another Warrior dragged her to the cave. Alicia and Thelma picked her up and carried her to her bed.
They splashed water onto her face. Sylvie opened her eyes, saw the two women looking down on her, concern in their faces, and smiled. “Wha’s time?” She tried to sit up but fell back. “Oh, my head hurts awful bad.” She managed to sit up, clutching her lowered head. “Wha’s happen?”
“You were hit by the big Warrior,” Thelma explained, putting an arm around her. “You got a real knock on the head.”
“Do you feel anything else besides headache,” Alicia asked.
“Feel awful. Got to sleep.”
“No, don’t go to sleep for awhile,” cautioned Thelma. “You might have a concussion. That bastard hit you pretty hard.”
“Don’ remember. Why?’
“We were complaining about not being fed. The Warrior assaulted us.”
“Not fed? Don’ remember. Not hungry. Feel like wanna puke.” She leaned away from the bed, retching heavily, her body heaving. All that came out was a little liquid, which quickly disappeared into the dry earthen floor of the cave. She drank some water. They talked with her and watched with growing alarm as her eyes roamed wildly about, and she continued to retch from time to time.
After some hours had passed, Alicia went to get help. She climbed the hillock to Joshua’s house. A sleepy Rebecca answered the loud knocking, and quickly followed Alicia back to the cave, pulling on her nurse’s smock as she went. Rebecca led the way to the clinic, while Thelma and Alicia supported Sylvie between them. They were stopped by a Warrior guard as they passed the barracks, but Rebecca’s nurse’s outfit and her hand motions persuaded the guard to let them through. At the clinic, they woke the Doctor.
They waited as he examined Sylvie’s head, shone a light into her eyes, asked her questions and listened attentively to the replies, watched her as she walked back and forth across the main room.
“Well, my dear,” he said, “it’s definitely a concussion. What’s required is lots of rest. I’ll keep you in the clinic overnight, and we’ll see how you feel in the morning.” They helped Sylvie into one of the cots, and made her comfortable. She smiled and soon fell asleep.
As they left the clinic, the Doctor walked outside with them. “If it’s an ordinary concussion, rest should do it, provided I can convince our new masters to be patient. The symptoms suggest it may be something more serious: an intracranial haematoma. That’s when a blood vessel ruptures between your brain and your skull. The blood collects and puts pressure on the brain. It can be very dangerous. Sorry, I can’t be more informative. Time will tell.”
Depressed, the three women returned to the cave compound. They sat down on the grassy slope of the hillock.
Tears flowed down Rebecca’s cheeks. “I’ve caused all this to happen. I should have kept my distance from Syd. I knew my father disapproved, but I believed I could persuade him. Now he tells me he was wrong to ignore my feelings, wrong to fight with Syd, but it is all too late.”
Alicia found herself defending Joshua. “Don’t be too hard on your father, Rebecca. He was only doing what he thought was best for you. Even on Earth, most parents would be happy to hear their daughter was marrying a doctor.”
“Besides,” Thelma added, “falling in love is a very powerful thing and not easily pushed aside. Syd felt the same way. When you weren’t around, you were all he talked about. According to him, you were the only woman in the world who deserved the name ‘woman.’ The rest of us felt like pale imitations.”
Rebecca smiled through her tears. “You are like sisters to me. I miss Syd terribly and think of him all the time. I can’t bear the thought they will capture and kill him. If I knew where he was, I’d go to him. Perhaps we’d have some time together before we die.”
Rebecca leaned towards them and lowered her voice.
“I’m troubled by the Doctor. Ever since all this happened, he hasn’t mentioned coupling. But I know he hasn’t changed his mind. Sometimes when we are working closely together, he suddenly turns away from me. At first I was mystified. Then on one occasion, I could see he was erect. I wish I could leave the clinic. My presence just causes him pain.”
Alicia nodded sympathetically. The three women embraced and went off to their beds.
For two whole shifts, Sylvie languished in the clinic. She slept much of the time, ate a little, and retched up what she ate. She spent long hours staring up at the wooden planks in the clinic ceiling. I must be in my country cottage, she thought. Her cottage was a great comfort to her. Her head hurt very badly. She knew something had happened. An accident? She would sleep a little longer and then go sit in the orchard and enjoy the sweet smell of the ripening apples. There was a man she would invite to join her. She couldn’t remember how or where they met, but she knew his name was Monty. When she awoke she would call him.
Although the Doctor insisted she was still very ill, the camp commander ordered Sylvie to return to work. “We are behind in our gold recovery,” the monotone computer declared. “We need all slaves to be working. We must make up for the three that are in detention and for the one who has escaped.”
Sylvie stumbled as she walked out of the clinic but seemed to gain strength, and her steps became more forceful and coordinated. She complained of headache to Joshua who was escorting her to the river. Even the muted light of the red sun she found very irritating. She desperately wanted to sleep. The chill of the river as she stepped into the water revived her. She waved to Alicia and Thelma, filled the pan with sediment, and began to sluice out the sand. She had trouble holding the pan at the desired angle and all the sediment washed out. She tried again and again but to no avail. She left the river and collapsed on the beach. She did not hear the warning snap of a whip near her. As she fell, Joshua ran to her.
“Get back to your places,” he shouted to Alicia and Thelma, as they moved towards Sylvie. He pushed through the Warriors who were gathering around Sylvie with their whips and truncheons, picked her up and carried her to the clinic.
For Sylvie, it was a moment of happiness. She was in the arms of Monty who was carrying her to the cottage. They would make love, and then she would sleep, and later on they would enjoy a glorious meal under the apple trees in the orchard. She would serve a tarte tourtiere, along with green beans and tomatoes from her own vegetable garden. And, of course, for dessert, they would pick apples from the tree. No doubt, then, the headache would leave her.
Several hours later, the camp commander entered the clinic, accompanied by two Warriors. The Doctor was standing beside Sylvie lying in a cot. Joshua was holding a sobbing Rebecca.
“We gave orders,” snapped the monotone voice, “that the female slave must return to work, and we are informed that she is back in the clinic. Why have our orders been disobeyed?”
The Doctor kept his voice measured and courteous. “Your highness, we followed your order. The slave attempted to carry on with her work but was unable to do so. She left the river and fell unconscious.”
“We will not brook malingering. The female slave will be punished.”
“Your highness, she is beyond punishment. She is dead.”
There was a long moment of silence, broken only by the sound of Rebecca’s sobbing. The camp commander stepped over to the cot and observed Sylvie.
“We express regret. Our policy is to keep the slaves functioning. Can you tell us why she is no longer alive?”
“Your highness, it was a heavy blow to her head by a Warrior truncheon that has killed her. Respectfully, I would caution the Warriors not to hit the heads of the slaves.”
“It is not up to you to give us advice. We will decide what is required to restore and maintain order. Our predecessor informs us that it was your advice that placed the four slaves in the new camp. One is sought for escape and murder and three are in detention. Your advice is valueless.”
The Doctor offered no protest and bowed. Despite the camp commander’s statement, he was sure the Warriors would be told to hit below the head when disciplining the slaves
Joshua, still holding Rebecca, bowed low. “Master, we ask permission to bury her.”
Again, there was a long moment of silence as the Guardian pondered the request. “Yes, you may bury her. You may take with you two or three of the female slaves to help, but it must be after their shift. We cannot lose more production. You will be accompanied by a guard of Warriors and you will promptly return.”
Rebecca met Alicia and Thelma as they mounted the slope from the beach. The news they feared was written all over Rebecca’s face. The three women fell into each others arms and added their tears to the water dripping off their rubber boots. Other slaves milled about trying to find out what had happened, but were soon herded towards the caves by the Warriors.
Rebecca said between sobbing gasps, “Pappy wants the three of us to help bury her. You will come, won’t you?” The two women nodded.
Joshua insisted they eat first, that they needed their strength. Although neither of the three was hungry, they nevertheless picked away at the porridge and drank the beer.
As the moon rose, six Warriors appeared, one driving a front end loader. Sylvie lay in the bucket in a foetal position. She had been too tall, and the Doctor had helped fold the stiffening limbs and placed her on her side. Joshua led the way, followed by the machine, Rebecca, Alicia and Thelma carrying shovels, and the remaining five Warriors. As they mounted the hillock to pass behind the caves, many of the slaves came out. Some bowed their heads, others, soldier-like, saluted. Somewhere in the crowd, a voice began to chant: “Our Father, which art in Heaven…” The prayer was picked up by others. As the sound grew louder, the Warriors became alarmed and turned towards the gathered slaves. The loudspeaker at the top of the tower blared forth a warning. Other Warriors showed up, brandishing their truncheons, but the prayer continued to the end. …”for thine is the power, the kingdom and the glory, Amen” The flotilla headed by Joshua continued on, and the slaves dispersed to the caves.
They reached the burial ground as the yellow sun dawned. Stu Corrigan greeted them: “This is a surprise. What’s going on?” Then he saw the loader bucket with its burden. At first, he didn’t recognize Sylvie. Her face was completely sallow and the muscles defining her features had slackened. Then suddenly he knew. “Oh no. Why? Why? What a shame.” The three women were too grief stricken to reply. All he could say was: “I’m so sorry. What a wonderful person.”
The cortege moved to a gravesite which Joshua selected. Other villagers came out of their cottages and joined in the proceedings. The three women dug out the grave with assistance from Joshua who spelled them from time to time. Joshua helped the women lift Sylvie out of the bucket and placed her gently into the grave. For awhile they stood and looked down, and then they began to shovel the earth over her. Stu played Amazing Grace on his violin, while some of the villagers helped with the shovelling. They lashed together two sticks in the form of a cross and placed it on the grave.
“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away,” Stu intoned. “He has taken our sister Sylvie Gagnon to a place of peace. May her soul illuminate Paradise as it has lit up our dark existence.” And, he thought, as he looked at the Warriors, may you and your kind drop dead.
Sylvie, Alicia thought, you are my sister. I loved you even though you might have taken my man away. Thelma’s thoughts were more aggressive. Sylvie, I don’t know how but somehow these bastards are going to pay for what they did to you. RIP, my sister.
While Thelma and Alicia culled flowers from the side of the burial ground to decorate the grave, Joshua led Rebecca away. “Come, child, we’re gonna visit your granpappy and granmammy.”
On the way back, the three women walked together, holding hands. They had thrown their shovels in the now empty bucket of the front end loader. Joshua led the group, his head bowed, his chin resting on his chest. There was a war going on inside him. As an Overseer, he had to defend his new masters and their toughened policies. Yet, for the first time, he was torn between his duty and his growing sympathy for the slaves. Rebecca cherished the friendship of the two women with her, and was at home with the group that assembled on the hillock. He particularly grieved the death of Sylvie. As he carried her to the clinic, she had smiled dreamily up to him, a look of love lighting up her face, as she slowly slipped away from life. He regretted his decision to mate Rebecca with the Doctor, which had set off a chain of events that he had not foreseen. He had blundered in his treatment of Syd. Even more telling was the loss of his daughter’s love, until the arrow in his shoulder had brought them together again.
But there was another consideration that dominated his thinking these days. As he lay recovering in the clinic, he tried to imagine which spirit was protecting Syd. The spirit’s voice was familiar. Racked with fever and partly delirious, he thought he heard the spirit’s voice, but when he opened his eyes, he saw it was only the Doctor asking how he was feeling. As he slipped back into unconsciousness, a sudden inspiration flooded over him, which clung to him and was there when he awoke. The spirit’s voice was that of Robert, the Doctor’s twin brother who had died in the avalanche. The spirit of Robert was protecting Syd!
When questioned by the camp commander, he had insisted that a spirit was involved but never mentioned Robert’s name. Later, the thought occurred to Joshua that if the Doctor and the camp commander were right and there was no spirit, then it must have been Robert himself. If Robert were still alive and helping Syd, it would eventually become known, and Joshua who had declared Robert dead would be suspect. Not only for Rebecca’s sake but for his own as well, he fervently hoped that Syd — and an ally if he had one — would continue to evade capture.