Eden's Children (Earth Exiles Book 2) (28 page)

That was very good news.  Mike turned to Everett, “What do you think about this?”

“I’m finding it hard to think about anything right now, but it sounds good to me,” Everett replied.

Matki stood up, “Well, it is time for food.  Balia is making breakfast for us.”

Mike smiled, remembering the breakfast he ate yesterday, “Great, I’m pretty hungry.”

Everett groaned.

Mike turned to him, “You aren’t hungry?”

“Yes, and no,” Everett replied.

Matki started walking, “Balia will be very upset with you if you don’t come to breakfast, Everett.”

Mike stood and walked over to Everett, “Sounds like you don’t have a choice to me.”

Everett nodded and stood up, “Yeah, I’m coming.”

They followed Matki out of the round house.

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Mike was sitting on a rock, drinking water, eating pemmican.  Matki looked over at him.  Mike held the pouch out so that Matki could grab a handful.  Matki looked at the pouch, then reached in and grabbed some.  He funneled it into his mouth.

After breakfast, Matki and Mike settled down outside the team’s quarters, staking out a place on a group of stones so they could talk to the hunters of the village.  Everett, still hung over, had gone back to their quarters to sleep.  Several hunters and visitors had come by, but none of them had any news about the area north.

“I’m going to have to get some more pemmican before we leave here,” Mike said.

Matki grinned, “Offer one of your knives, and you will have more pemmican than you can carry.  The women want knives too”

Mike looked at him, “Remind me about that later, okay.”

“Why?”

“I have a gift for your wife.”

Matki looked at his friend, “What is it?”

“I have a set of knives and forks for her.”

A smile spread slowly across Matki’s face, “You are making my family very rich.”

Mike waved off the statement, “We would’ve been dead a long time ago if it wasn’t for you.  You and your family deserve it.”

“Still, with this present to my wife, I think I will be a happy man for a good long time.”

Mike nodded, “A happy wife is a happy life.”

Matki was about to reply, but his attention was diverted by a man walking up the path toward them.

Matki yelled at him, “Caul, well met!”

Caul smiled at the greeting, “May the sun shine on you, Matki Awrani.”

Matki smiled and held his hands out, palms up, “Today, it does.”

Caul pointed at Mike, “Your friend?”

Matki nodded, “My friend, Mike.”

Caul looked at Mike, “Well met, Mike.”

Mike nodded at him, “Bedi dom nat, Caul.”

“Ah, you speak our language?” Caul asked.

“A little.  I understand okay, but don’t speak well,” Mike explained, “That is why Matki helps me.”

Mike motioned for Caul to have a seat on the rocks near them.

“How is your day, Caul?” Matki asked.

“It is good.  I came in this morning, and heard that your friends wanted to know about the lands north of here.”

“Yes, they look for a place to call home.”

“Well, Matki Awrani, I don’t know if there is such a place, but I know a route they can take north.”

“A route?” Matki asked.

“Yes, a pass to the north.  I tracked the huachi north, and they took a path up the mountainside.  I followed.”

“You followed to hunt the huachi, or to see what was on the other side?” Matki asked.

A wry smile painted Caul’s face, “A little of both, I think.  You know me well, Matki Awrani.”

Matki turned to Mike, “Caul is our best hunter.  He knows the animals of this valley better than any other.”

Caul’s smile turned into a grin, “Don’t tell that to Salun.  He will never talk to you again.”

Matki told Mike about the pass.

“There is a pass to the valley north of here?” Mike asked.

“Yes, the pass is hard to find, but it is there,” Caul replied.  “And then it is a steep climb to the top of the pass.”

“You have seen this yourself?” Mike asked.

“Yes, it is there.  I saw it myself,” Caul explained.

This was the first good news they’d had since the council meeting.

“Would you show us where it is?” Mike asked.

Caul nodded, “I can do so.”

“And?” Matki asked.

“I hear that your friends have iron knives to trade,” Caul answered.

Matki confirmed this, “They do.”

“Can I see one?” Caul asked.

Matki relayed the request to Mike.  Mike stood up and walked back to the room.  He came back with a knife and a dragon hide sheath.  This one wasn’t as grand as the one they’d gave to Joacar.  It was a hunter’s knife, made for use, not decoration.  It had a heavy seven inch blade and a carbon fiber hilt.  The sheath was made from dragon skin also, something they had at the compound in great amounts.

Caul’s eyes lit up.  Mike walked over and handed the knife to Caul, “This is my gift to you, Caul.”

Caul was dismayed that Mike had given him the knife, “I haven’t shown you the pass yet.”

Mike nodded, “That is true.  I have faith that I can trust you, though.  Besides, when you show us the pass, I’m going to give you these for the service.”

Mike opened up the pouch and poured ten steel arrowheads out onto the ground.  Caul’s eyes grew round at the sight of the wealth that Mike had just promised him.  He looked over at Matki for confirmation.

Matki nodded, “Mike has promised these to you.  If you show him the pass, they will be yours.”

Caul nodded, “I can show you whenever you want to go.”

“How far away is the pass?” Mike asked.

“It is three days up the valley,” Caul answered.

Mike thought about it, “We need to take the entire team then.  I don’t want to come back here if we’re three days out.  Can you take us there day after tomorrow?”

Caul nodded, “That is longer than I usually stay with the tribe, but I can do it.”

Mike smiled, “You’re being well paid to stay around a few more days.”

Caul nodded, “Yes, I think it will be worth my while if I stay a few more days.”

“It’s decided then, morning after tomorrow, you will be here, and we will leave with you,” Mike held out his hand.

Caul stared at it, not knowing what to do.  Mike grinned, “Sorry, one of our customs.”

Matki explained the custom to Caul.  Mike offered his hand again.  Caul reached out and shook Mike’s hand.  He had a firm grip.

Caul left after that, heading back down to visit his relatives and show them his new knife.

Mike picked up the steel arrowheads.

“You are a soft touch, Mike.  You are not a trader.”

Mike looked over at Matki and nodded, “I never said I was.”

Matki shook his head, “A knife
and
ten arrowheads.  My tribe will grow rich if you continue to trade this way.”

Mike pulled the strings of the pouch tight, “I’d think you’d be happy about that, Matki.”

“Oh, I am very happy about that.  You might want to save a few things so that you can have food for your travels north, though,” Matki pointed out.

“Don’t worry, Matki.  The techs sent me up here with a few trade items.  Besides, this is just the opening trade.  I want your people to think of us as an asset,” Mike explained.

“If you keep passing out iron like it fell off of a tree, then I don’t think there will be a problem with that.”

Mike stood up, grabbed the pouch, and walked to the room, “Well, once we get situated, and do a little survey, there may be a lot more than iron and steel we can teach you about.”

Matki looked at Mike with interest, “What do you mean?”

Mike pulled out his pouch of pemmican and grabbed a handful, then put the pouch back, “I mean, we can teach you how to find it, how to mine it, how to smelt it, and how to forge it.  We can teach you everything you need to know about how to make these,” he shook the bag with the arrowheads, “for yourself.”

Mike put the pemmican in his mouth and walked into the room.  Matki stood there for a moment, then he turned to walk home, wondering about the implications of what Mike had just revealed.

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“Mike, we have a problem.”

Mike looked up to see Tom and Rob standing in the doorway.

“What?”

Mike was back in the corner. Tom had to let his eyes adjust to the lower light.  He stepped into the room and walked over to Mike.  Everett was still sleeping it off on the bed.  Mickey was cleaning his rifle.

“We ran into Geonti and his team coming back,” Tom told Mike.

“Why is that a problem?”

“They killed an animal,” Tom replied.

Mike was confused, “Once again, why’s that a problem?”

“It was wearing a harness.”

Mike had a sinking feeling, “Have you seen the harness?”

Tom nodded.  Rob spoke, “The harness had electronics on it.”

Mike spit out the words like a curse, “Grey men?”

“Unless you can think of somebody else that would have electronics.”

Mike stood up, walked over and shook Everett.  Everett looked around, groggy, and sat up.

“I swear to God, I am never drinking again.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Mickey said.

“Not from me,” Everett said.

Mickey conceded the point, “True.  You never went drinking with us back in Colorado Springs.”

“I had this thing.  Called a family.”

Rob looked at Everett, “Man, you look like crap.”

Everett didn’t reply.  He sat up, poured water in his hand, and ran it over his face.

Tom watched him, “I don’t think I want to drink arakar, ever.”

Everett nodded, “Good idea.”

Mike stood up, and started pacing, “What did Geonti say about it?”

“He didn’t recognize the animal.  None of the hunters with him have ever seen anything like it,” Tom explained.

Mike looked over at Rob, “You’re the man with the communications background.  What do you think?”

“Well, communications yes.  Electronics, no.  Honestly, I don’t know what it could be.  It was a box on the back of the harness.  I slipped my knife in to take a look.  I couldn’t tell you what it might be.”

“Radio, GPS, camera?” Mike asked.

“Not a camera, no lenses that I could see.  Might be a GPS or a radio.”

“You think the grey men could track it?” Mike asked.

Rob nodded, “It’s possible.

“How the hell did this thing find us?” Mickey asked.

“It had to be back at the necropolis.  That’s the only place they knew we were.  They had to set it on us there,” Tom answered.

Mike spit, “this couldn’t happen at a worst time.”

Everett agreed, “Yeah, this won’t help our cause with Joacar.”

The other three looked at them.

Rob asked the question, “Why is this a bad time?”

“We just got a concession from Joacar to trade.  They were going to help us find a home, also.”

There was a commotion behind Rob, and he stepped to the side to allow Matki into the room.  Geonti was with him.

“You heard?” Matki asked.

Mike nodded, “Yeah, bad news.”

“Very bad news. I thought we lost them.”

“Me too.”  Mike sat back down, and slapped his hands on his knees, “Crap.”

Everett’s head was down in his palms, “What do you want to do, Mike?”

Mike shook his head, “We don’t have a choice.  Matki’s family’s here.  They’re vulnerable, his tribe is vulnerable.  We remove the threat.”  He looked up at Matki, “That only stops the immediate threat.  You understand that your tribe is still in danger, right?”

“They know where my tribe is,” Matki replied.

Mike nodded, “It’s possible.  We have to tell Joacar.  We need to tell your tribe.”

“This is not good, Mike.”

“That’s an understatement, Matki.”

Mike stood up and walked out with Matki and Geonti to go face the music.

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Jarni Mig looked at the world through night illumination goggles.  The blue world he saw through the goggles was quiet, deceptively so.  He knew that in a few hours it would fill with the sounds of carnage and rape.  His orders from the Lord Caen were very clear.  There would be no slaves taken in this raid.  Instead, he was going to leave a smoking ruin populated by corpses.