The Search · Part 2 (2/2)
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but the harness was plain brown leather. Madam T'sang indicated Erig and one of the girls that had been in the coffle with her and the men tethered them to the back of their chariot. Madam T'sang snapped her whip against the bare bottoms of the women pulling her chariot and they trotted away. The men followed in their chariot, but at a walking pace.
Madam T'sang's stables were located on the edge of town. When the chariot towing Erig arrived Madam
T'sang was there to meet it. She indicated the young woman and said to one of the men, "Take this one to the racing stable and put her in a stall."
She looked closely at Erig, who did her best to imitate an animal. She told the other man, "Take this one to the working stable and feed and water her. I'll be there later, and we can process her then."
The man acknowledged the command and released Erig's tether from the back of the chariot. He gave the tether a jerk and walked away, and Erig obediently followed. She thought, 'I've used a lot of disguises during field surveys, but this is the first time I've pretended to be a draft animal.' She pondered a moment and then thought, 'Am I pretending?'
The working stable was nothing more than a pitched roof over a dirt floor. Three women were attached to separate support posts. The man attached Erig's tether to an empty post.
He picked up a wooden rod and hit the back of her knees. Erig knelt and sat back on her heels. The man filled a clay pot with water from a barrel and held it to Erig's lips. When she hesitated he pinched her nose shut and poured the water into her open mouth. She sputtered and coughed and swallowed as much water as she could. Next the man filled a wooden bowl from a grain sack and put it down on the ground in front of her. She couldn't use her hands, so she put her face in the bowl and sucked up the grain.
It tasted like roasted sesame seeds, and Erig licked up every kernel.
Madam T'sang, Fou, and two men entered the working stable. Madam T'sang ordered, "Get the new giant and follow me." One of the men picked up the wooden rod and turned to Erig.
She knew what was coming, and had to force herself to remain seated until the man hit her breasts with the rod.
The procession made its way to a mud brick building that was Erig's size. There was a solid wooden post in the middle of the building and a charcoal brazier smoldered in one corner. Erig had a really bad feeling about this setup, but she decided there was nothing she could do. She was hobbled, her elbows were still tied, and the men carried bows and arrows. She kept up her animal act and let the men push her back up against the post and fasten straps around her waist and knees. One of the men got a stepladder and fastened another strap around her neck.
A man got a red hot branding iron from the brazier and approached Erig. She pretended to ignore it until it was pressed against her left buttock. She decided that screaming was expected, so she screamed. She screamed again when her right nipple was pierced and a thin bronze ring was inserted and soldered closed.
Madam T'sang said, "Well, Fou, it seems that I was mistaken. She didn't show any sign that she knew she was going to be hurt, so she must be stupefied."
The men were told to take
Erig back to the working stable and Madam T'sang and Fou went on to the racing stable. They didn't enter the part of the building that contained the stalls holding the racers, but instead entered a small room on the other side of the building. Madam T'sang signaled to Fou to be quiet and opened a cupboard. When they were inside and the cupboard door was shut she opened a small peephole and indicated that Fou should look through
Fou looked into a windowless room that was brightly illuminated by a parchment-covered skylight. Two giants sat against the far wall. Both of them were fastened to a ring in the floor by bronze chains locked to bronze collars, and bronze bracelets connected by a bronze ring held their hands behind their backs. Fou knew that much bronze was very expensive, but she decided it was worth it, because both of the giants had yellow hair and pale skin.
As Fou continued to watch the giants she realized that they were talking! She couldn't understand the language they were speaking, but it was clear that a conversation was going on. One of the giants started to cry and the other tried to comfort her.
Madam T'sang tapped Fou on the shoulder and signaled that they should leave the cupboard. When they were back in the room she asked, "So what do you think of my beauties?"
"They're amazing, Madam T.
Where did you get them?"
"Four of my men were on the road near the lake one night not long ago when they heard a tremendous splash. They searched the lake shore found those two lying on the beach.
My men tied them and kept them hidden until they got a wagon and brought them here."
"Do you plan to race them?"
"No, they're much too valuable for that, and besides, they're not very fast. I plan to use them as show beasts. People will pay a lot of money to have exotic beasts like those pulling their chariot on ceremonial occasions. The only problem is that the sun might damage their skin. So far I've only had them out around dawn and sunset."
"Madam T, it looked to me like they were talking. They may not be stupefied. It's very rare, but it does happen."
"I know they're not stupefied.
They tried to talk to me, and they learn as fast as a normal person. You know how it can take weeks to train a giant so she can be guided by a bit?
They learned in a few minutes."
"But it's against the law to use them as beasts if they're not stupefied! Just being a giant is not enough!"
"Who will know? They won't talk in public, because they will always be wearing curb bits. They certainly don't have any relatives who will complain. Will you report me?"
"Of course not. I owe you everything. I'm just concerned about you."
"Don't worry. I've found that they are very sensitive to pain, especially if the pain is applied to the other one. I'm sure we can train them to mimic stupefied behavior on command."
At first light the next morning
Erig and the other three working beasts were fed, watered, and harnessed.
Erig's harness was just a wide belt around her hips, held in place by a crotch strap. The belt was fastened over the vine connecting her wrists, so her hands were held next to her belly. She was hitched to a pump and spent the morning hours walking around a 10 meter diameter circle, pulling on the horizontal pole that drove the pump and lifted water from the well.
She quickly found out how tiring it was to walk and pull the pump pole; she stared at the ground and tried to think of nothing but the next step.
What turned misery into hell was the youth who sat on the pole behind her and continually hit her with a whip. Each blow only stung, but the number of blows was large and by the midday break her back was covered with welts.
During the heat of midday nothing moved around the stables. Erig was tethered to the same post again, and she sat motionless while she tried to ignore all the pain. She had a moment of emotional satisfaction when a man saw the welts on her back and beat up the youth who had whipped her, but her morale was low. She realized that she was not going to be able to search for the survivors if she had to pretend to be an animal at the same time. She decided to escape as soon as it was dark.
Erig had an easier time of it in the afternoon. She and two other giants were formed into a team and harnessed to a wooden sled. They dragged this sled around the race track to smooth and level the surface. The team was guided by a man holding a pole that was hooked into the nipple ring of the right-hand giant of the team. Erig was glad that she was in the middle. Her breast was so sore that she would have killed anybody who touched it.
Dragging the sled was hard work, but there were frequent breaks when they had to clear the track so racing teams could practice on it. Each racing team consisted of two giants pulling a light chariot, guided by reins held by a single driver. Erig was impressed by the speed and endurance of the best teams. She knew that the women pulling the chariots had the mentality of animals, but it bothered her emotionally to see them treated that way. Her recent experience was making her more sympathetic to the idea of animal rights.
The sun was almost down when one more racing team appeared on the track. Erig was close by when the chariot pulled by two blonde women left the stables.
Madam T'sang herself was driving. She had decided to discipline her prize animals by driving them to the limit of their endurance, so she had them strapped into training harnesses that prevented nearly all movement above the waist. She drove them around the track until they were stumbling, and then for one more lap. Instead of the usual light whip she carried a heavy braided whip, and she used it continuously to keep the blondes moving. When the chariot finally stopped in front of the stables both women had swollen red welts all over their bodies.
One of the women dropped to her knees and started to retch. Madam T'sang quickly jumped out of the chariot and removed the woman's bit. She didn't want one of her prize team to choke on her own vomit. The woman recovered enough to say in Galactic, "Please, no more. You'll kill us."
Madam T'sang looked around to see if anybody had heard the giant talk. The sled team was close by, but its driver wasn't in sight. She relaxed, but forced the bit back into the blonde's mouth. Madam T'sang shouted until two men emerged from the stable. She ordered, "Take this team back to their special room. Chain them up and unharness them. Put some salve on the welts. Leave the bits in their mouths."
Erig had been close enough to hear every word. She carefully concealed her feelings, but inside she was smiling. She really hated it when she had to quit a mission before it was completed.
Erig waited until it was fully dark before she made her move. Her tether was fastened to a ring in the post by one of the bronze locks with the three rings and she quickly opened it. She had noticed that the grounds were patrolled by a guard, and she briefly considered the best way to elude him before she thought of a better plan.
On his next round the guard was annoyed to see that one of the giants had gotten out of the working stable and was standing in the yard. He picked up her dangling tether and turned to lead her back into the stable. He took two steps to oblivion.
Erig rubbed her hands. She had meant to hit the guard's neck, but hit his head instead. She confirmed that the guard was dead and carried his body to the working stables. The guard had been carrying a bow and arrows, and he had a bronze knife in a sheath attached to his belt pouch. Erig used this to cut off the vines tied to her body.
Once she was free Erig collected the equipment she would need. She tied a piece of vine around her waist and used it as belt to carry the knife and the quiver of arrows. She put a clay pot and a wooden bowl into a half-filled grain sack and used more vine to make a sling so she could carry the sack and the bow over her shoulder.
It was slow work, because it had to be done by the dim light of a distant torch, but finally she was ready. She took a long drink of water from the barrel and left the stable.
Erig entered the racing stable through the main door. The only light was from an oil lamp near the front door and another near the back of the room. She found a candle stub near the lamp and lit it. This gave her enough light to search the stalls, but the blondes were not there. She looked into two other rooms but found only a grain storeroom and a tack room. She found a ball of twine in the tack room and added it to her supplies.
Erig was back in the stall area and wondering where to look next when she heard someone enter the stable. She blew out the candle and peeked over the top of a stall until she located the new arrival. It was a woman, and she was coming towards her. Erig crouched down, and when the woman passed the stall Erig grabbed her neck. The woman started to struggle but Erig gave her neck a warning squeeze and she stopped. Erig recognized her. It was the woman who had whipped the blondes and branded her.
Erig snarled, "I know you don't know my language, but I hope you can get my meaning. Where are those women?" Erig picked up some straw and held it to her head and raised two fingers. Madam T'sang didn't react until Erig gave her neck a warning squeeze, and then she pointed in the direction she had been walking.
Erig tied a slip knot in the end of the twine, tightened it around Madam T'sang 's neck, and gave her a push. Madam T'sang walked towards the lamp at the end of the room and stopped in front of a tall cupboard. She pressed a hidden latch on the side and the cupboard swung out and revealed a hidden room. Madam T'sang pointed at the lamp and Erig picked it up and followed her into the room.
A blonde looked up when the door opened. She recognized Madam T'sang, and begged, "Please don't hurt us any more."
Erig said, "She won't."
The blonde gasped when she realized it was the giant who had spoken. "Who are you?"
"Lieutenant Pami Erig, Star
Fleet Survey Service. Were you two the only passengers on the escape pod that landed here?"
"Yes. I'm Glori Panandumrujin and this is my sister Gladi."
Madam T'sang took advantage of Erig's distraction and tried to pull an arrow from the quiver, but this was a serious error. She was used to dealing with slow-witted giants and didn't plan on Erig's trained reflexes. Erig's fist hit Madam T'sang's head and cracked her skull like an eggshell.
Erig asked herself if she had violated the First Directive. Then she realized she didn't care. She examined the lock that connected Glori's collar to the chain. It looked easy to pick, but first she searched Madam T'sang's body, and used the key she found to open the padlocks.
Glori asked, "Can you free our hands? We've been chained like this for more than a week."
Erig examined the bracelets.
"No, they're riveted on. I won't be able to free you until we get to the shuttle." She pushed the sisters towards the door and commanded, "Move out. We've got to get away from here before the bodies are found." Erig closed the door and replaced the lamp.
She hustled the sisters out of the stable and paused for a moment to orient herself. She ordered, "Stay here until I return." She went to the building where she had been branded and checked the brazier. It still contained glowing coals, so she used the knife to put some in the clay pot and then carefully banked them with dirt. She embedded the pot in the grain and hoped it wouldn't spill.
She returned to the sisters and guided them away from the stable. When they were clear of the farm buildings Erig found a track that led away from the city and they followed it until it was crossed by a small stream. They walked upstream in the water until they found some brush and scrub trees that Erig decided would furnish adequate cover for the next day. It had been slow going in the dark, and it was only a few hours before dawn when they stopped.
Glori asked, "When are you going to contact the shuttle? This must be far enough from the city."
"I don't have a communicator.
I have to use an emergency procedure, and I can't do it until tomorrow night."
"You mean I'm going to have to spend another day like this?"
"Yes. Now shut up and try to sleep."
Erig was up at first light and scouted the area around her campsite. She didn't find any sign of human activity and decided that it would be safe to spend the day there. She got the clay pot from where she had put it the night before and was relieved to see that the some of the coals were still glowing. She gathered some tinder and small sticks and carefully coaxed a flame into life.
Erig woke up Gladi and told her, "Make sure this fire doesn't go out. We won't get off this planet if it does. Don't make any smoke, either."
The emergency recall signal required four fires in an exact pattern, and she found a grassy area that was usable. She used the twine as a measuring tool and located the fire positions, and then collected wood and laid the fires.
When she returned to the campsite Glori exclaimed, "Where have you been? I'm hungry."
"You'll be eating back at the stable if you don't keep quiet and stay out of sight. I've been preparing the recall signal. We can't use it until dark, so find some place in the shade and shut up. I'll bring you some food when I can."
"You can't talk to me like that! Don't you know who I am?"
"You're a naked girl stranded on a hostile planet with her hands chained behind her back. If you want to change that, do as I tell you."
Erig inspected the fire that
Gladi was tending. It was burning steadily with no smoke. She praised, "Good job. I'll bring you some food."
"Oh, thank you, Ma'am. I did my best to follow your orders."
Erig got some water in the clay pot and took it and a bowl of grain to Gladi and fed her, and then did the same for Glori. She collected some more wood for the fire and made another patrol of the area.
The day seem to last forever, but finally it was sunset. Erig shared out the last of the grain and soaked the empty sack in the stream. She lit a stick in the fire that Gladi had tended all day and carried it to where she had prepared the signal fires.
As soon as the sun went down she lit the fires and watched the place in the sky where the shuttle was in orbit. When she saw a flash of light she used the wet sack to extinguish one particular fire. When she saw two flashes she extinguished another fire. When she saw three flashes she let out a cry of joy. The AI had recognized her signal and would land the shuttle.
Erig put out the other two fires and went back to camp to collect the sisters and bring them to the landing area. The last minutes were very tense, but no little men interrupted them, and soon they were in the shuttle and climbing back to orbit.
As soon as they were in orbit
Erig got tools out of the maintenance locker. Glori said, "Can you get these chains off me now?"
Erig replied, "It'll be the second thing I do, right after I do this…" and she cut the bronze ring and removed it from her nipple.
Erig removed the bracelets and collars from Glori and Gladi. Glori gave a sigh of relief and went to the bathroom to wash.
Gladi said, "Excuse me, Ma'am.
How long will it be before the ship arrives?"
"At least three weeks, but probably longer."
"Please, Ma'am. Would you put the collar back on me until the ship arrives?"
"Why do you want that?"
"It just feel right, Ma'am.
If you do it."
Epilogue
When Erig published her technical paper it was considered an important advance in both xenobiology and xenoanthropology.
People who knew her only as a brave and resourceful field surveyor now considered her to be an able scientist as well.
Her concise elucidation of the way that puberty caused some pygmy girls to change into normal-sized but stupefied adults was admired, but she received universal praise for the sensitivity and insight she displayed when she described how these women were used by a society that had no other source of animal power.
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The Search · Part 2 (2/2)
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