The Hunter (18 page)

Braldt and Keri were stunned by Carn’s words and Braldt’s hand crept toward his dagger, wondering if Uba Mintch would attack
him or summon help. But the old man did nothing but sink farther into the depths of his chair and sigh deeply. Noting Braldt’s
reaction, he smiled ruefully and nodded his head. “His words have merit and even though I might not have worded them so baldly,
I do not take offense. Sit you down, Carn the Outspoken. Allow me to tell you the story of the Madrelli, and perhaps when all
is done, you will understand.”

“We have not always been as we are now,” began Uba
Mintch, his eyes taking on a distant look as though he were remembering other times, other vistas. “Once we were no more
than the animals you describe, somewhat intelligent, yet given to fits of violence, we were without words, and we may well
have lived in trees or slept in nests on the ground, I cannot say for no records exist from that time, at least no records
of our keeping.

“Then, others discovered that we could be trained to do clever things, things that were too difficult or too dangerous for
other beings. But our violence and our unwillingness to perform for others made us unsatisfactory for projects of any but
those of a short duration.

“But the others had need of our services and being stronger, more intelligent, and more highly advanced, they enslaved us
and performed many tests upon those of our tribe. After a time, during which many of our people were sacrificed in the name
of their desires and greater knowledge, they devised a way to bring us under control, under their control, a way that would
heighten our intelligence as well as make us subservient to their wishes. We were now the ideal subjects, willing and able
to carry out orders of the greatest complexity for long periods of time under less than beneficent conditions. All of this
was made possible by means of a simple injection given on a regular basis.

“As you might imagine, this was a very difficult time for the Madrelli. On the one hand, we had made huge leaps in intelligence,
come further in a short period of time than we would have in several millennium of a more natural
order. We were now fully thinking, sentient beings, enjoying the same emotions that you yourselves experience.

“But in gaining this intelligence, this gamut of emotion, we had lost our freedom, the right to govern ourselves; we had become
little more than the slaves of others. Should we offend them, refuse to do their bidding, they had but to withhold the miracle
of the serum and we would become as we had been, mere animals with one foot on the lowest rung of the ladder of life.

“We served our masters well for many long generations, dying in their stead in many instances, where the deeds were too dangerous
to support even our poor, expendable lives. We served them faithfully on many planets, on many worlds, some sterile and barren
and hostile to all life, others that were mere machines rotating in the cold darkness of empty space, but nowhere did we find
a world like this one, a world perhaps like that of our own, wherever in the universe that that might have been.

“And then some six generations ago, we were sent here, as always, to do the bidding of our masters, still dependent on them
as we always had been for the serum. And then one day, we made a miraculous discovery, here on this planet, this world of
great beauty, we found a bush that produced a berry, a small red berry that duplicated in nature the properties of the serum,
and in it we found the promise of freedom.”

“Now wait a minute, let me understand you. You’re saying that there are other worlds, other people somewhere else?” Carn was
sitting on the edge of his chair, his face screwed up in an expression of total disbelief. “What kind of story is this? You
expect us to believe that you come from another world? Do you think we’re stupid?”

“Carn, please, let him tell the story,” said Keri, her eyes fixed on Uba Mintch. “Listen at least, until he is done.”

Braldt’s mind was in a turmoil. Other worlds? Who and what were their masters? How could this be, and yet a part of his mind
stood back and wondered how it could be anything other than the truth, for there was too much here
that he could not explain. “These masters,” he asked slowly. “Tell us about them. Who are they? Where are they? Are they here?”

“I am sorry if our story upsets you, it is upsetting to us as well for it is we who have lived and died to make it so. I will
do my best to answer all your questions, but allow me to finish, so that you may know the whole story.”

The three of them exchanged uneasy glances and sat back silent, prepared to hear the old man out.

“We had asked for our freedom many times and had been punished for our efforts. We knew that there was no sense in asking
again so we bided our time, waiting for the proper moment in which to seize control of our lives.

“As with any people there are different factions within our tribe. Many cautioned that we do nothing, that our masters were
not overly harsh and it would be better to leave well enough alone. Others wished to seize their freedom immediately. There
were many thoughts between the one extreme and the other and nobody agreed with anyone else.

“I do not know what we might have done, had we been given the time to decide, but we were not allowed that choice. Recently,
we learned that the reason for our presence on this planet, a substance known as rhodium, precious and rare and impossible
to duplicate outside of nature, had been depleted. We were to be removed from this world that we have come to love and taken
who knows where. The planet was to be destroyed, blown to bits so that our masters might extract whatever amounts of rhodium
that are contained in its heart. This would be done by machines, and our services would no longer be required.”

“Destroy our world? This world!” Carn leaped to his feet, fists clenched. “Are you mad, the gods would not allow such a thing
to happen. We’re crazy to even listen to you! This can’t be true, it’s some kind of a trick, isn’t it, old man. Some kind
of trick you’re playing to get us to do something!”

“It’s no trick, I’m afraid. No, Keri, it’s all right, I quite understand your brother’s anger. We have felt it many
times ourselves. It is not pleasant to find out that you and your world are but another’s plaything.”

“The gods would not let anything happen to us!” shouted Carn, his face a dangerous shade of red. “Mother Moon…”

“There are no gods,” Uba Mintch said quietly, “and your Mother Moon is but a dead, lifeless bit of rock that shines only on
this world, reflecting the image of your own small sun. The moon cannot help you, no one can help you other than you, yourselves.
You would be better served to believe in your own abilities than in some amorphous being that cannot be seen or touched.”

“Father, it is too much, do not take everything from them at once,” Sytha Trubal whispered in the shocked silence that followed.
“You forget how hard it was for us in the beginning when we learned the truth.”

“No, daughter, I do not forget,” replied Uba Mintch, “but there is no kindness in half truths, they must learn the truth sometime
and it is better that they learn it now.”

Braldt’s mind reeled under Uba Mintch’s words even though he himself had had doubts and questions that he had not dared to
ask of the priests, questions that appeared in the darkness of night and disappeared with the coming of the dawn. “What happened
then?” he asked, more to keep the old man talking and to distract Carn from foolish action, than from any desire to learn more
of the story.

“We talked long into the night, trying to decide what to do, but even though all of us knew that we did not wish to leave
this world and wanted to be free to lead our own lives, we could not decide upon the means.

“In the end, it was decided that we would speak to the masters once more and plead with them for our freedom. We would promise
them that we would search the world over, find other deposits of the mineral that they sought, and deliver it to them as payment
for our freedom. My son was part of that delegation, even though he did not believe that there could be a peaceful solution.
He was right.” The old man fell silent then, the brilliant stripes on his muzzle
fading, becoming muddy and drab as he sat, lost in thought and painful memory.

“They went to speak to the masters on a day when they had come to supervise the collection. But the masters laughed at our
offer, laughed at us, told us to be ready to leave within six dawnings or we could stay behind and die along with the planet.

“The delegation returned and told us of our masters’ words, and while the others were wasting their time arguing, talking
as always, Arba Mintch gathered a small band of friends and returned under darkness of night. The masters had gone, leaving
only the hard ones behind, the hard ones who have no thoughts of their own but carry out the masters’ wishes in total obedience.

“Arba Mintch and the others destroyed the hard ones and threw the great switch that allowed the masters to come and go, masking
their presence from you and others who might take exception to their presence on this world. They severed the bond that held
us in their thrall; we were free at last.” The old man fell silent, his muzzle resting on his chest, eyes shut tightly, gripped
in some terrible emotion, unable to continue.

“Arba Mintch was killed in the doing,” said Sytha Trubal, her voice no more than a whisper. “He and two others were killed
when they threw the switch and brought down destruction on the great chamber. Only now has the river brought us their bodies.
Batta Flor was among those who made the journey and he alone survived to tell what happened.”

There was silence then in the great room as each of them in turn thought over the words that had been said and dealt with
their own painful private thoughts.

“The God Lights, the colors in the night sky…” Keri asked softly. “They are not God Lights at all?”

“If you refer to the shimmering borealis in the eastern sky, no, that is no light of the gods,” replied Sytha Trubal. “It
is an electromagnetic masking device that the masters created to hide their comings and goings. Otherwise you
would have seen the crafts landing and taking off. This machine was also destroyed by Arba Mintch.”

“Why must these masters hide their comings and goings?” asked Braldt, his lips feeling numb and strange even as they formed
the words.

“I do not know,” said Sytha Trubal, “but it has always been so and they were most anxious to conceal their presence. We were
forbidden to reveal our true selves to you as well, under pain of death. Some of us thought that we might form an alliance
between our two peoples, but all of our attempts were met with violence and our ambassadors killed and stripped of their pelts.
Some of our people responded with violence of their own; it is wrong, I know, but understandable.”

“We saw many armed Madrelli on our journey,” said Braldt. “Are they going to attack the Duroni?”

“No, it is yet another attempt to establish an alliance, but this time they go in force so that they are not slain before
they are heard.” The old man raised his head and spoke directly to Braldt.

“Once your people are heard to speak, they will come to no harm.”

“Are you so certain that this is true?” asked Uba Mintch.

And considering the ordered nature of his adopted people, knowing their intense dislike for anything that was out of the norm,
Braldt wavered, less than certain of his answer.

“Why did the priests give us the vision then?” Carn cried angrily. “Why did they give us the vision and send us to this place
to fix that which is broken? If there are no gods, then how do you answer that?”

Uba Mintch turned to Braldt in puzzlement. “What is this vision he speaks of? What is your purpose here? Why indeed have you
come?”

Braldt paused, wondering how much he dared to tell the old man. Sytha Trubal had saved their lives. They had been welcomed
into their home and learned the darkest of
their secrets, surely they had earned the right to be told of their mission.

But from the sound of it, Arba Mintch and his companions had been responsible for the destruction of the very thing that they
were charged with repairing! Could it be that these mysterious masters were in communion with the priests? Could it be that
they too were but pawns manipulated in the game larger than the world itself? It was a staggering and deeply disturbing thought.

“Don’t tell him anything, Braldt! They’re nothing but dirty karks! It’s some kind of trick, don’t tell them anything! C’mon,
let’s get out of here! Keri! Now!”

Keri stared at her brother in shock, horror and shame in her eyes. She buried her face in the infant’s soft belly and said
nothing, her silence an answer in itself.

“Sit down, Carn,” Braldt said quietly. “This is no trick, at least I do not think so. What would the motive be, they cannot
know anything of our mission.”

“If you tell them they will know,” argued Carn. “Have you forgotten Auslic? He could be dying while we sit here doing nothing!”