"Broken bones or fever," Peet muttered as he followed Galen into the hut. "Fever, or broken bones. Can't we get somethin' interesting for a change?"
"Fever is the body's natural defense against most illnesses," Galen pointed out as he put his doctor's bag on the table. "And 'something interesting' in our line of work is 'something deadly' in most cases. Deadly and highly contagious, and I, for one, am completely happy with boring fevers and broken bones - and in most cases, it was just sprained joints, anyway."
"Guess it's just not my line of work," Peet murmured. "You need me for something here?"
Galen suppressed an aggravated sigh and shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Go outside and, and take care that the horses don't run off."
"Gotcha." Peet ambled outside, and Galen gestured for the woman huddled in a corner to come closer.
"You don't know me yet," he said softly, and smiled at the little girl in the woman's arms. "But I'm your new doctor. My name is Kova, and I've brought you a medicine against the fever and the coughing. Sit her on the table, I need to auscult... to put this to her chest, so I can hear where the illness is." He held up his stethoscope. The woman nodded and untangled herself from the child that was clinging to her neck.
Contrary to Peet, Galen found the steady repetition of cases reassuring - they allowed him to get familiar with the symptoms and treatments, and to develop a routine of examining and interacting with the patients. In the few days between his appointment and his first day making the rounds as 'Doctor Kova', he hadn't been able to sleep for more than an atseht before a new wave of panic had driven him out of bed and into the streets of Chubla. He hadn't dared to visit a pub - if he started drinking to bolster his nerves now, he'd never stop. So he had gritted his teeth and fumbled through his first visits, secretly glad that animals were long-suffering and silent about his expertise, even if their owners weren't.
These humans here were suffering from a winter fever that affected the chest - what Peet called 'pneumonia'. It killed off the very young and the very old, but everyone else should recover nicely under his treatment with Laisa's herbs, and so far, the humans had been nothing but grateful for his presence. Galen allowed himself some cautious self-congratulation. Maybe he wasn't so bad as a doctor.
The girl's chest rattled with each inhalation, and her hot face and glassy eyes told Galen that she was suffering from the same winter fever as the other three dozen humans he had treated today. This one was dangerously young - maybe she would conquer the illness, or maybe it would conquer her.
"The fever will battle the illness along with my medicine," he told the mother, "but if she starts to convulse, or is confused or hallucinating, you need to bring it down with cold baths and cold poultices. Do you have vinegar? Very good - add some vinegar to that water for the poultices, it will draw out the fever even better."
The mother nodded eagerly, and Galen dug for his medicine - a syrup of ague weed, hopefully sweetened with enough honey to offset its bitter flavor. "See to it that she takes it, and doesn't spit it out," he instructed the woman. "It tastes horrible, but is very effective to drive out the mucus that makes it hard for her to breathe. Don't let her lie on her back, or on any one side for too long when she's sleeping, so that the mucus doesn't congeal inside." It didn't really congeal, but it was always best to plant a vivid image in the humans' minds, to make sure they would follow his instructions faithfully.
The woman made a suitably horrified face, and carefully stowed away the bottle in her apron. "Thank you so much, doctor," she said shyly. "Will you come by here again?"
"I'll be back in a few days to check on her and the other patients here," Galen assured her, and tried not to think about the miles and miles of country roads he'd have to drive out there again. This village belonged to a prefecture to the north of Chubla; while he thankfully wasn't the only veterinarian north of the Iron Mountains, he was responsible for the half a dozen prefectures surrounding the district capital.
I should've forged myself some papers for an administrative position while I still could.
Well, that was all dead leaves under the tree, and didn't serve anything but to fill him with useless regrets. He was a country doctor now and, Mothers willing, would stay one for a long and uneventful - and Urko-free - life. If he didn't commit a major blunder, Galen was pretty sure that Voltis wouldn't even look for an official replacement. He'd have that position for good, and maybe he and Zana would be able to leave the inn come spring... he didn't really want to move into Dr. Ropal's town house, but maybe other houses were for sale, too... maybe in the country...
Something cracked outside, and again, followed by a rapid succession of cracks that sounded like fireworks, and people started to scream.
Galen found himself crouching under the table without remembering how he got there. The woman was still standing in the same spot, stiff as a statue, and stared at him with huge eyes. The child in her arms was just as silent - like rabbits under a hedge.
Galen reached out and snatched the woman's wrist, and pulled her under the table. "Come here," he whispered. "You need to put your heads down, in case something comes through the window..." The space under it was too small for all three of them, so he crawled out again and turned around.
"You're safe under there," he assured them. "And my orderly has a gun. I, I'll go and have a look what's going on outside..."
"Don't," the woman whispered urgently. "Or they kill you, like they killed Dr. Ropal!" She pushed her daughter deeper under the table and crawled after him. "You need to hide, doctor!"
Galen huffed a humorless laugh. "I'm afraid your hut doesn't offer many hiding places."
The woman stumbled back a step and began to scream, and Galen spun around to see what-
A black-clad figure loomed in the doorway. Black boots, black trousers, black tunic with the hood pulled up. It had strapped a mask over its face, the bone-white color a stunning contrast to all the darkness filling the doorframe.
It was a human skull. But the eyes glinting in the back of the empty sockets weren't human.
It raised its gun and fired.
The screaming behind Galen broke off. Only the faint whimpering of the little girl remained.
The Kobavasa worked the lever to reload, and Galen reached for his hand-gun and retreated to the table, positioning himself between the girl and her executioner. "I would reconsider," he said, and pointed the gun at the skull-face staring at him.
"Step aside and put down that toy, and I'll let you go," the ape growled.
"My confidence in the sincerity of your promise aside," Galen said calmly, though he felt a bit wobbly in his knees, "I can't stand by while you murder a child."
"A 'child'," the figure scoffed. "That's not a child. I'm culling a pest."
"Your doing nothing of the kind," Galen said. "Not here, not today. Now leave, before my 'toy' puts a bullet through your skull."
"Well, you're right," the thug said jovially, "I really can't let you walk away just like that, frog-lover. Seems we have to repeat our message a few times before Voltis gets it."
"My gun is pointed at your head," Galen said, and finally thought of cocking it. "Do you really think you're faster to pull the trigger than me?"
The skull exploded in a spray of bone and blood, and the ape slumped to the floor, revealing Peet standing behind him.
"Honestly?" he said, and worked Betsy's lever. "Yeah. You talk too much, buddy. If you know you gotta shoot, shoot, and don't lecture the guy you're gonna kill. Now let's get the hell outta here, there are at least a dozen of them..." His voice trailed away as his gaze fell on the little girl behind Galen. He raised his brow. "You're full of surprises lately."
"I aim to entertain," Galen said weakly. He crouched down again before the table, both to keep the child from crawling after him, like her unlucky mother had done, and to hide from any stray bullets coming through the windows. "Peet, we can't leave these humans to their fate. We're the only ones with weapons here, if we leave, these criminals will kill off the whole village!"
"We're two against more than a dozen," Peet pointed out. He stepped over the fallen body to take up position beside the door. "I've no idea how much ammo they brought to this little party, but I know how much ammo we got. You do the math."
"They didn't think they'd meet with any resistance," Galen insisted. "I don't think they brought a lot of ammunition. And anyway, they can't know how much firepower we have, or that Chief Voltis sent his guard with us... who I'm sure will catch up with us shortly." The guard that Voltis had insisted on foisting on him was a good distance behind them, probably warming themselves up in the tavern they had passed half an atseht ago. They were as enthusiastic about their assignment as he was, so both parties had come to a silent understanding: they would give him some space, and Galen wouldn't rat them out to the chief.
He exhaled heavily. "Are you, a human, really proposing we abandon these humans, while I, an ape, intend to stay and protect them?"
Peet stared at him for a moment. "Fine," he said unenthusiastically. "I'll stay and hold the fort with you until the cavalry arrives... under one condition."
"Condition?" Galen said warily. He knew Peet didn't really feel any fellowship with other humans except Alan; he despised their submission almost as much as he despised the apes for their dominance. It was sad, if understandable, but right now, Galen found his indifference deeply unsettling.
"Yeah." Peet's eyes were black pools in a pale face, hard and piercing. "You tell me the truth about Etissa, and what happened to Al there - or I'll let you fight these goons with your little handgun and six bullets. And don't try to pull any shit, 'cause I'm fucking serious."
Galen found it hard to believe that Peet would really abandon his fellow humans to these murderous thugs, all contempt for their submission to the apes aside; he was most probably just jumping on the chance to finally wrest Alan's dirty secret from him.
But he didn't feel secure enough in that knowledge to challenge the human on it. Maybe Peet would abandon him here - they hadn't been on good terms since Zana had lost their baby. And Galen had no idea when his guard would eventually catch up with him.
I don't really know Peet anymore. He hasn't been the same since Urko had him in his dirty paws…
But the excuse sounded hollow somehow.
He drew a deep breath. "Alan swore me to secrecy - but I shouldn't have agreed to it. It was my fault, even if it became his shame..."
"The short version, Galen," Peet interrupted him. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder. "We're in the middle of an ambush, in case you've forgotten."
"Ah, yes. Of, of course." Maybe it was better this way. Short and... and painful, but at least short. "I hired him out to an ape called Ramor. He, he told me he was a rich businessman giving a big ball for his daughters and, and that he wanted Alan as a sort of, sort of exotic party decoration. Carrying a tray with snacks and looking good, with his blue eyes, and... you know."
"Go on," Peet said, his face like stone.
"He, he paid me in advance, very generously," Galen stammered, his mouth dry, "and that should've alerted me that something wasn't right, but I told myself that to a rich ape, it wasn't really a lot of money, so I accepted his story and his money." He drew a deep breath. "But as it turned out, Ramor wasn't a... well, he was a businessman. That part was true. But he didn't want Alan to serve snacks to his guests. Ramor... Ramor is a breeder." He spread his arms, hoping the implications of that were clear.
"A breeder," Peet murmured. "Like, like... An' he... how long did he have Al?"
"Three days," Galen said quietly, and dropped his gaze to the gun in his hand. Its hilt had become slippery during his confession, and he swapped the weapon to his left hand to rub his palm against his robe.
"I should blow your stupid head off, right here," Peet said. He sounded more stunned than enraged. "Goddammit, Galen..."
"I would never have agreed to it if I'd known, I swear to the Mothers," Galen said miserably.
"Yeah, I'll grant you that, at least." Peet drew a deep breath and raked his hand through his hair. "Jesus Christ, Al is married! He's been trying to go back to his wife an' kids ever since we crashed on this fucking shithole, this monkey freak circus..." He kicked at the door, making it rattle in its hinges, and sending the little girl into another bout of wailing.
A rapid round of gunfire had them all dive for cover, while the walls above them exploded in dust and chalk. Peet cursed, and robbed towards the window to return the fire. Galen shoved the girl deeper under the table and joined him at the window.
For a while, they were busy firing at the hooded figures on horseback that were racing up and down the village square. Their unexpected resistance seemed to draw almost all of the criminals' attention, and gave the humans the opportunity to run or hide, so they were doing at least some good, Galen thought absently, while he crawled across the floor to get to the dead Kobavasa's rifle. His own rifle was out in the wagon - in the future, so he'd have one, he'd carry his weapon with him wherever he'd go, yes, even into human huts, or into a cow barn. It was truly a lawless country up here, no matter if Voltis was doing things by the book, like he had claimed.
Voltis. He would have another word with Voltis about this Kobavasa matter. One more reason to survive this afternoon.
Peet had vanished at some point, and then the Kobavasa scattered and took cover themselves, suddenly under fire from another direction. Galen had no time to wonder how the human had managed to sneak into another position under their very noses while carrying a gun... he was too busy firing out of the window and jerking back to avoid the bullets that were flying copiously in his direction. His heart was hammering hard in his chest, and his shoulder was beginning to ache. He'd be sore tomorrow, but he'd gladly bask in his soreness if it meant there would be a tomorrow for him.
And then they were gone, as suddenly as they had appeared, and the village was swarming with guards. Galen hurried outside before one of them could shoot Peet in their enthusiasm, and squinted at the afternoon sun. How much time had passed? Half an atseht? It had felt like an eternity.
The leader of the squad was talking to Peet, who gave him a much more concise report than Galen himself felt able to give right now, and nodded at Galen with a grim smile when he approached. "Your human told me he was able to shoot a few Kobavasa, but they managed to take their dead with them... except for the one he shot in that human hut." His smile deepened. "Finally we can identify a member - our first lead in months."
Galen thought to himself that identification would prove difficult, with half of that ape's face missing, but found it wise not to spoil the lieutenant's good mood. He excused himself and went to continue his treatment of the humans - this time, for gunshot and knife wounds.
Their horses had been left unharmed, for some miraculous reason, he discovered afterwards; at least they would be able to get back to Chubla tonight. Galen leaned against the wagon, feeling completely drained, and watched the patrol herd the surviving humans out of the village. They were headed for the next ape town; the lieutenant had decided that it would be safest to house them in one of the public stables for the time being. It was only a temporary solution - the guard simply didn't have enough men to protect all human settlements. If things didn't get better soon, they'd have to corral all humans inside the towns, like in Chubla.
A real solution would be to find the leader of the Kobavasa, and to root out the whole organization. But according to Zana, Voltis didn't seem to be really interested in that.
It was all very strange, and worrying. If Alan wasn't insisting on his new persona, they would've already left Chubla...
... but where would they have gone? Their plans had never been much more specific than 'cross the Iron Mountains to escape Urko'.
The wagon shook slightly as Peet climbed up to the passenger seat from the other side. Galen sighed, and forced his aching body to climb up there as well.
They slowly rolled out of the village and into the indigo shadows under the mountains. It would be night before they'd reach Chubla. A silent and chilly night, judging by the icy presence to his right.
"You gotta tell Zana," was all that Peet said, after some miles of utter silence.
"I know," Galen murmured.
"No, I mean you gotta tell her as soon as we get home." In the pale moonlight, Galen saw Peet turning his head to stare at him. "Or I will, and you can bet your ass that you won't look as good as in your own version then."
They drove on in silence, the stars glittering cold and white high above.
The moon was bright and close tonight - after weeks of fog and rain, the sky had finally cleared up. It would've been a perfect night to climb on the roof and have Taris point out the wandering stars, name the constellations and the shadows on the moon... even without a telescope.
Only Taris wasn't here.
Ennis hugged his knees closer to his chest and glumly stared at the bulging white orb hanging outside his window. In a few more nights, the moon would be full - if the nights stayed clear, he and Taris could have spent every single one of them up on the roof, without any of the adults interrupting to drag him away for some boring lecture, or for Scroll study.
But Taris had left a few atseht ago - had left to see the healer inside the human corral in town. His head had been hurting again, Zatis had let him know... through the locked door, because at that time, Ennis had still been too furious to let anyone come into his room.
He hadn't even let Taris enter, although his human had tried for a long, long time. After a while, Ennis had simply tuned out the calm, deep voice on the other side of the door. It had become a soothing background rumble, like the river lapping against the shore.
And then it had been gone.
Well, he'd better get used to the silence. It wouldn't be long before Taris would be gone for good, if that woman had her way.
The memory of Mila's face as she fell backwards into the brambles made him grin; but in the next moment, he felt embarrassed at his meltdown in front of a stranger... and worse, in front of Taris. Maybe he hadn't wanted to let the human into his room because he couldn't look him in the eye after he had lost his self-control like that.
Or maybe he hadn't wanted to see the human because, because... he had played along with them. With Zatis and Mila, had babbled about that other boy - Kris. A boy like Ennis, only closer to Taris' heart, because he was his own child. Ennis chewed on his lip, trying not to feel betrayed.
It's not fair!
That Kris hadn't saved Taris - he had! He was here, and he was taking good care of Taris, so why was everyone trying to get the human away from him? He was doing fine! And now even Taris started believing them... started leaving him...
Everyone always leaves.
It would just go on like that - one day, Zatis would leave, too. Someone would tempt the old man with a rare scroll, or a lifetime residency in some monastery where he could study birds all day, and the Orangutan would pack up and leave.
Or his father. One day, he would die. Everyone died, sooner or later. Everyone left.
He would just have to learn to be strong on his own, Ennis decided. A vision of himself appeared in his mind's eye - strong and stern and forbidding, a lonely warrior staring into the distance... or walking along a mountain path... or maybe he'd wander through the Forbidden Zone in the west, a lonely ape on a lonely road.
Other apes would want to follow him, to be his friend; humans would beg him to be their master, because his justice and mercy would be legendary. But he'd turn them all away. Everyone walks alone, he'd tell them. We live alone, we die alone. Only the strong prevail.
People would whisper stories of his adventures in the wasteland to one another...
What was in the Forbidden Zone, anyway? Why was it forbidden to go there? Were there really monsters in there? Maybe he could sneak away with Taris, go exploring a bit. He'd just have to find a way to shake off Zatis or whatever guard his father sent out with him.
And he should probably tell Taris that he wasn't mad at him anymore. Ennis heaved a deep sigh. Actually, he hadn't been mad at Taris - well, a bit, for trying to not be Taris anymore - but none of the others had tried to reconcile with him, so there hadn't been an opportunity to let them know that he didn't want to see or talk with them.
Poor Taris had caught all the fire. And now he was probably lying awake in that healer's house, too sad to sleep because he thought that his master had cast him out for good. Maybe he was staring at the moon right now, too...
I'll go and get him. He should sleep here, at home.
He hadn't changed his clothes, just thrown off the rain-soaked poncho. Ennis jumped from the bed and felt around on the floor until his fingers touched the heavy fabric. It was still a bit damp - he hadn't bothered to put it on a hanger when he had locked himself into his room.
The corridor was dark and silent; everyone was sleeping, except for the night guard prowling the estate somewhere. Well, Ennis would hear them long before they would hear him. And if they did see him, he could always claim that he had been on his way to the kitchen...
... he threw the poncho back into his room. It would be hard to explain why he wore it on his way to the kitchen.
"Ennis?"
"Whoa!" He jumped back and bumped his head against the wall.
A shadow shot out of the darkness, and a soft hand clamped over his mouth. "Quiet!" the shadow hissed. "You'll wake up the whole house!"
The voice was familiar. Ennis sucked in air with a hiss and nodded, and the hand vanished from his face. He slumped against the wall, gasping, heart thundering, dizzy from the shock. "Mo... Mother?"
"Surprise!" his mother whispered. "Although you surprised me right back! What are you doing out in the corridor at this time of night? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"What are you doing here... at this time of night?" Ennis shot back. Now that the initial shock was abating, the old annoyance was back. Couldn't he do anything without an adult interfering? Even in the middle of the night? It was as if they could smell when he was about to start a, a project...
His mother hesitated for a moment. "I wanted to see you."
"Now?"
"Well, I can't just walk through the front gate," his mother hissed. "Your father made it quite clear that I'm not welcome in his house anymore! I wouldn't have disturbed you - I'd just have watched you sleep for a bit. I missed you... and you haven't come back to our place since I gave you your present. Do you like it?"
"It's alright," Ennis muttered. He couldn't bring himself to touch it - every time his eyes fell on the telescope, he remembered the conversation with his mother that day. What she had said about Taris.
"Did you even use it since you got it?"
"We went bird watching with it." Which was the truth; his mother didn't have to know that Zatis had been the only one to use the telescope. He and that Mila woman. The thing was collecting bad memories like a magnet.
That reminded him - he needed to get Taris. "You've seen me now," Ennis whispered. "You better leave before a guard turns the corner."
"You're awfully eager to get rid of me," his mother whispered back. "Did I interrupt you at something? Where were you going, young man?"
He didn't want to tell her - not after what she had said about Taris. But somehow, he couldn't defy her. She was his mother. And she had that certain mother tone in her voice.
"I was going to get my human back. He's at the healer's house, but he needs to sleep here. In my room." He clenched his fists. She couldn't tell him what to do anymore. She no longer lived here. And Father had allowed it.
He heard his mother suck in her breath with a sharp hiss. "So he's not even here..." Then her whisper became louder, like a wind picking up. "You'd sneak into the human corral in the middle of the night? Are you out of your mind? Does your father know what you're up to? No, of course not - he's neglecting his parental responsibility, but of course he already did that when he allowed you to have a human as a pet!"
"Taris is my friend, " Ennis protested.
His mother grabbed his arm, steered him back into his room and closed the door. "Apes and humans cannot be friends," she said in a normal voice. "Friendship can only exist among equals, not between master and slave. Don't confuse your friendly feelings for the human with real friendship."
"We are friends," Ennis said stubbornly. If there was one thing he was sure about, it was this. Nobody would convince him otherwise, least of all his runaway mother.
"So tell me, when you give Taris an order, does he have a choice whether to obey you, or not?" his mother asked. "No, he has not," she continued, without waiting for his answer. "He has no say in whatever you decide for him. If you decide that he'll get the whip, he'll get that beating; there is no court to appeal to for him, no laws to protect him. If you, or your father, one day decide to sell him, Taris' opinion about that will be irrelevant."
Ennis felt the blood throb in his temples. "I'll never beat or sell him!"
"But that is still your decision," his mother said. Ennis could see her face in the pale moonlight now, tense, agitated. It was as if he was his father, and they were fighting over the humans again.
"You decide to show mercy to your slave," his mother continued, "but it's still your decision, and you could as well decide differently, and in either case, Taris is completely powerless to influence that decision. You have power over him, he has no power over you. You are not equals, darling. You cannot be friends, even if you want to. I even believe you when you say that you want to be friends with Taris - you're such a good child. But it's not possible. You need to seek friendship among your own kind, Ennis."
"You just don't like humans," Ennis spat. "I'm done listening to you. I'm going to get my human now, and you better go back to your stupid prefect, or I'll tell father that you're sneaking around our house at night!"
"Aboro is a really nice man," his mother said gently. "You'd like him."
"I don't like him," Ennis growled. "I'll never like him."
His mother huffed a laugh. "You haven't even met him yet - but we're going to change that. I think living among apes who don't harbor confusing ideas about humans will do you good. There are a lot of children at your age where I live - you'll make some real friends there."
Ennis scowled at that. "What do you mean, I'll make friends there? I'm not coming with you! You left us!"
"Leaving you behind was the biggest mistake of my life." His mother turned away and brushed her hand over the telescope on the windowsill. "One that I've regretted every single day. But your father is a powerful man, Ennis, don't you understand? He'd never have agreed that I take you with me. And I was... resigned to accept that I didn't have the power to stand up to him."
She let her hand drop from the telescope and turned back towards him. "That was my second mistake. I mean, look at you! You're so unhappy... so unhappy that you bond with a human! And your father turns a blind eye to that!"
The moonlight illuminated the tips of her fur as she shook her head. "This has gotten so out of hand... I cannot stand by and watch how my only child turns away from his own kind and seeks love and guidance from humans as if he was one of their cubs. I didn't dare to defy the mighty district chief until now, but there are lines that mustn't be crossed. You're coming with me, Ennis, and I'll make sure to raise you right. I'll make up for that year, I promise!"
Ennis stepped back, panic bubbling hot in his chest. "No... no, I'm not coming with you! I'll stay here, with Father and Zatis..."
But his mother crossed the distance like a ghost, a flitting night shadow, and Ennis wasn't quick enough to get out the door. His hand grabbed the doorknob, but there was something cold and sharp and wet covering his mouth and nose, filling them with a sickly sweet aroma, like rotting fruit and damp scrolls...
His hand slid off the handle.
