Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth (16 page)

“Thumumba does as Thumumba does,” Kala said mimicking the speech patterns of the natives; it made me laugh.

When we departed for the surface I expected to see Regata join us, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“I’d have thought that Regata would have been here this morning to either accompany us or see us off.”  I said.

“Last I saw him, he was engaged in a conversation with A’Lappe.   I don’t think the two of ever went to bed and they have been up talking all night.  Last I saw them they were both in the dining room discussing some esoteric mumbo-jumbo about Thumumba.”  Marranalis said as he stuck his head out of the shuttle door.  “Are you two going to the surface, or are we waiting for someone else?”

I looked at Kala and then turned to Marranalis and said, “I guess we’re it.”

Trying to identify one place from another in the jungle was like trying to pick out and identify a single leaf on a tree of thousands.  Even though I knew we were near the spot where we had landed over a year earlier, there was nothing identifiable; everything looked both the same and different.  When we landed and opened the hatch this time, all the natives were gathered about, all of them nude as is their custom, however, a few wore flowers in their hair and some had woven head bands.  Jenira was standing there next to Jnanara; obviously she had decided to join the natives as she too, was undressed, her body painted with dark splotches of grays and greens in a camouflaged pattern similar to the natural pigments on the natives' bodies.  The only things that she wore were her two short swords strapped to her back.  We had barely disembarked before she ran up to us with a huge grin on her face and hugged both Kala and I tightly.  “Now we are brothers and sisters,” she signed.  I smiled and said, “I guess we are.”  Inside I was feeling some level of disappointment, as I had hoped Thumumba might work some sort of magic, and that when Jenira returned to us she might be speaking again.

“When your babies are born,” Jenira was signing to both Kala and me.  “I will be their aunt, and I will care for them.”

Kala laughed and said, “You will be a great aunt, I am sure, the best ever.”  This made Jenira smile even more, and she grabbed both of us by the hands and led us toward a small area the natives had cleared for everyone to sit and dine.  Huge leaves and woven grass mats were spread out over a substantial area, and some large nut shells with burning oil for cooking food items surrounded the clearing.  Both Jenira and Jnanara kept looking at each other like they shared some secret but neither Kala, nor I said anything.  As the meal began, several of the natives began singing, clapping and playing music on tiny flutes.  Unlike the day before when we were presented with fruits, nuts and berries, on this day we were presented with thin slivers of meat that had been cooked over the small fires and wrapped in some aromatic leaves that further seasoned and flavored the meats.  We were also served larger fruits, which when opened, contained a hollow reservoir of sweet fruit juice.  Once the juice was drunk, the fruits were eaten like a dessert.  We were nearly finished with the meal when a piercing scream silenced the music.  Everyone seated jumped to their feet, looking in the direction of the sound; there we saw a woman frantically screaming and jumping up and down.  We looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a huge drodoceal approaching a small child who had wandered away from the circle.  Drodoceals were large carnivorous amphibians on Alle Bamma that in many ways were similar to the reptile alligators and crocodiles on Earth, only larger and with smooth skin instead of the rough skin like their Earthly counterparts.  They were tough creatures to kill, and when I had been to Alle Bamma before we had seen a drodoceal kill several members of the Brotherhood before they could kill it.  My first reaction was to look for a weapon, but I realized I had none. They were all aboard the shuttle and there was no time to get one.  The natives were only armed with blow guns and small arrows used to hunt little creatures and were useless against a drodoceal.  Before I could react in any decisive manner, I saw a form fly past me with a trail of extended dark hair flowing behind it.  I saw two long thin arms reaching back over the shoulders and retrieve the short swords that were sheathed there.  Before I could call out Jenira’s name, she had passed me, her bare feet making splatting sounds on the large flat leaves spread on the ground as she bound toward the drodoceal.  I was stunned by her actions and paused a second before chasing after her, but she was too fast and too far ahead of me for me to catch up.  She was approaching the drodoceal from the side and rear; she never slowed for a second, and with one strong leap high into the air she came down, landing on its back just behind its shoulders so she was straddling it. ..  I saw her raise both swords above her head and drive them down with a force I would not have believed her capable of and drove the blades deep in the flesh to the hilt.  She had turned the blades in such a way that the sharp edges were turned out.  In a quick move ripped both blades to the side so they made sweeping cuts away from the spine and out of the animal’s body, nearly severing the head completely from the torso.  The drodoceal dropped to the ground in a twitching mass as blood gushed from its body.  Without a pause, Jenira swung her leg over the side of the beast and dropped to the ground, and grabbed a hand full of leaves, wiped the blades clean, and returned then to their scabbards.  Before I had reached the scene, she had picked up the small and crying child, calming it as she carried it back toward its frantic mother.  Behind me, I could hear a rumbling of voices saying
Kenan Natoo, Kenan Natoo,
and I knew that once again Thumumba’s words and predictions were coming true.  Jenira looked at me with a huge smile as she passed me, still holding the child as the mother ran up and dropped to her knees, kissing Jenira’s feet.  Soon it seemed most of the women in the tribe were gathered around her, some kissing her feet and others hugging her and kissing her cheek; all about the name
Kenan Natoo
echoed in the trees.

“What does Kenan Natoo, mean?” Kala asked as she came up at my side.

“Protector of Children,” I said, “Thumumba said when he was on the ship that Jenira would become Kenan Natoo, the protector of his children and of mine.”

While the women of the village crowded around Jenira, the men had gone on and surrounded the body of the dead drodoceal, and with stone knives had begun to skin it and cut up the meat.  One returned with a cupped leaf containing some of the blood of the creature which he handed to Jnanara.  With a solemn look on her face, Jnanara moved toward Jenira, and at her approach those between them moved back.  When she was in front of Jenira, the old woman stopped; she was nearly a head shorter than Jenira, and I realized for the first time that in the short time I had known Jenira she had grown several inches.  It was like her growth had been retarded on Goo’Waddle and now she was free to grow.  I saw the old woman dip her fingers into the blood and make long streaks on Jenira’s cheeks as she said, “Today, woman, you are a warrior. You are Kenan Natoo, the protector of children, and you have earned the right to stand tall among Thumumba’s children; may Thumumba's smile be on you always.

If we had thought it was going to be a quick and simple trip to pick up Jenira and return to the
NEW ORLEANS
, we were wrong, as the celebrating went on until dusk, with much of the drodoceal having been roasted and consumed before we finally boarded the shuttle.  Jnanara came with us right up to the shuttle door and kissed each of us on the cheeks before we boarded.  The last to board the ship was Jenira.  Before she did, she and the old woman embraced for a long time before releasing each other.  I had expected that Jenira would put on her clothing before boarding the shuttle, but instead she carried them wrapped in a bundle under her arm.  I was quite amused looking at her sitting quietly engrossed in her thoughts as we returned to the
NEW ORLEANS,
looking every bit of a wild native, with painted makings and blood on her body and face, and her two swords strapped on her back.   I noted Kala looking at her as well with a strange smile on her face; for a moment I saw them like they really were sisters.  I recalled Kala once with two daggers in her hands back on the
DUSTEN
, when she broke free of her captors and in quick and fluid movements, killed four guards and beheaded Lexmal while my own life slipped out of my body.  I saw a kinship in these two, and I knew that Kala was bonding with Jenira in a way few people would ever understand.  Kala was a warrior just as Jenira now had become a warrior.  I had no doubt that in the future they would fight side by side and that no one would be able to stand against them and live.  I felt to a sort of sadness, as I realized I no longer possessed the speed and skill that I once had before my crash on Goo’Waddle, and that in close combat, I may at some time find myself relying on the skills of these two women.

By the time we docked on the
NEW ORLEANS,
Jenira had not dressed and I could not bring myself to suggest that she should.  There were a few crew members in the hangar bay when we departed the shuttle; Jenira boldly walked off the shuttle as she was with the paint patterns and blood on her skin and her ever-present swords on her back.  She disembarked not like a young girl or a typical woman in the crew, but like a proud warrior. I could see the awe in the faces of my crew, both male and female, as they watched her walk through the door that led to the ships' interior and her quarters.  Before the door closed, I saw Regata approach her and bow his head.  All this time Kala, Marranalis and I stood just outside the shuttle door watching.  “I don’t think I will ever see her as a little girl again,” Marranalis said.

“I certainly don’t think it would be smart," Kala replied.

Once we were aboard, I gave orders for Commodore Stonbersa to get us underway to Earth and Kala and I retired to our suite.  After bathing away the sweat and smells that coated our bodies from the jungle heat and humidity, we lay in the bed holding each other and talking to each other in low voices about the events of the day.  We both were slowly starting to drift off to sleep when my com unit signaled a message coming in from A’Lappe.

“Tibby here,” I said into the com.

“Tibby, I hope I am not contacting you at a bad time, but I thought you would want to know that your new eye will be ready for implanting tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?  Has that much time gone by already?”

I could hear A’Lappe chuckle.  “Indeed it has Tibby, stop by the med unit anytime tomorrow and call me and I will bring the eye from the growth tank and see to implanting it.”

“I’ll be there first thing in the morning,” I said.  Suddenly I wasn’t so tired after all and I could tell Kala was happy and excited, too.  It was several hours later after we had turned some of our pent-up energy into passion that we both drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I was up and on my way to the med unit with Kala and Jenira by my side. I was not sure if Kala contacted Jenira, or if she just happened to show up at our suite exactly as we were leaving for the med unit; nevertheless, she was at the door when we opened it, and she was sporting a huge grin.

“You’re going to get your new eye!”  She signed excitedly.  I was not sure which of us was the happiest or most eager.

“ Indeed he is,” Kala said, and I noted that she too was grinning ear to ear.

Even though it was quite early when we arrived at the med unit, A’Lappe was already there and had various pieces of equipment all set out and ready for the procedure.

“Ahh, First Citizen Tibby, I see you are anxious to get this procedure over and done.  First Citizen Kalana and Jenira, I’m afraid you cannot be in the room while the operation is taking place, but you can watch on the monitors in the room next door if you wish.”

Jenira pinched her lips out in a determined expression, but Kala calmed her down with a hand on her shoulder.  “I think that would be best,” she said.  “We wouldn’t want any contamination we might have on our clothing getting into Tibby’s eye during the operation.”  This seemed to cause Jenira to pause and think, and I saw her relax and move with Kala into the adjacent observation room.

“Now Tibby,” A’Lappe began, “If you would be so kind as to lie down on this table, we will begin.”

“Ahh… don’t I need to undress or something?”  I inquired.

A’Lappe smiled, “No that will be quite unnecessary. We will simply drape this apron about your neck, put you to sleep, place a cap on your head to keep your hair out of the way, wash your face with a disinfectant, and let the mechanized med unit install your new eye.  The entire operation will last about an hour, after that you will be taken back to your room, still asleep, and when you wake up in about seven hours, your eye should be functioning.”  All the while he was talking he was helping me put on the apron that fastened behind my neck.  “You may have some temporary side effects when you first start to use your new eye.  Things may seem extra bright or dark with that one eye for a few days, and you may have double vision at first, but gradually it will adjust, and you should see normally with both eyes.”

“How soon are you going to put me to sleep?” I asked.

“Now!”  It seemed to me like I blinked and then suddenly I was in bed in my suite.  I had barely opened my eyes than a blurry figure appeared moving in front of my face.  Slowly, one eye came into focus and I found myself gazing into Jenira eyes.  I could see her eyes moving back and forth, looking at my eyes, one of which was still trying to focus through blinding light.  I could see Jenira motioning rapidly and glance across the room, and suddenly she was joined by Kala.