Chapter 3 - The Fire Sermon
The escapees acquired more weapons in short order from guards along the way that they had taken by surprise. Their Fashod captors didn't appear to believe escape was a realistic possibility, allowing the small jailbreak to proceed for the most part unhindered.
However, once they made their way outside, Jack quickly understood why the Fashod weren't worried about escapes.
"We have to go into the jungle," Thunupa said. "The Fashod are terrified of it and will not follow."
"There's probably a good reason for that," Falco replied as an inhuman cry slithered out of the dense foliage ahead.
"Their scanners will not be able to pick us out from amongst the variety of lifeforms in there."
Jack turned to Mei-Wan for confirmation.
She gave a quick nod. "They might eventually be able to attune their sensors to locate us, but it won't be easy. The more large animal life there is, the harder and more time consuming it would be."
Jack glanced back to Thunupa about to say something, but Falco didn't give him the chance.
"Now wait a damn minute."
Jack answered with a sigh.
"If we skirt the jungle, but stay close to the road, we'll still be able to get to the landing field." Falco glared at Thunupa. "There's no reason to go into the heart of that mess."
After several moments of silence, Melissa finally answered. "But based on their own fears, the Fashod will be looking for us near the road."
"I agree," Jack nodded. "We go into the jungle."
"We're going to get ourselves killed in there!" Falco said.
"And if we're captured by the Fashod, we'll be executed," Jack told him, becoming tired of Falco's outbursts. "At least this way we have a chance."
"But..."
"Last I knew, I was in command. And I've made my decision."
Falco stewed a moment on that. "I can't make the time the rest of you can. My leg..."
Thunupa looked at Paul Falco's injury. "I believe I can be of some help with that, once we've entered the deepest part of the jungle." He turned to Jack. "Choose your path."
Falco shook his head as everyone began to move forward. "What path?" he grumbled.
Thunupa only smiled in response.
***
An hour later, Chalush stood at the door his prisoners had made their escape through, looking out at the wild greenery they had descended into.
Seren approached him. "So far our scans have been unable to penetrate the jungle, Sire."
Chalush continued staring ahead. "They must be found before they are killed in there."
"We can search by air, but..."
"They are our responsibility, Seren. We have a duty to them."
"Yes, my Lord."
"I may be the last of my line, but I will not abandon our ways." He finally looked at his subordinate. "What of Afel?"
"He will require extensive medical care, but he should survive. The female was brutal in her attack, she..."
"She performed justice on a degenerate," Chalush said. "The governor may encourage such behavior, but I do not. Lock Afel away in the room where he committed his crimes. Perhaps being without eyes in that place will give him vision to understand the evil he has done."
Seren gave a nod and walked back inside the prison, leaving Chalush to ponder the fate of his prisoners.
"I would have made your end swift and painless. Why have you invited such suffering upon yourselves?"
***
They fought their way through the tangled web of life that thickened with each step into the jungle. Perhaps it was the shock of finding so much life after having been on a barren world for two weeks, but Mei-Wan felt intoxicated by the earthy aromas and continual animal chattering of the place. Yet, it was hard for her to shake the feeling of being drawn into something that would refuse to ever let them go.
Hanging vines and thick underbrush had made their passage through the jungle slow the last six hours, but so far they'd seen no sign of pursuit from the Fashod. However, they'd had plenty of other lifeforms to be worried about. The place seemed populated with thousands of kinds of flying creatures both large and small. There were slithering vermin they'd step on almost constantly, some merely died under the force of their boots, while others made their last moments a cacophony of protest that was nevertheless lost in the din provided by the rest of the jungle's inhabitants. They avoided the largest of the beasts as best they could.
At least this jungle trek gave Mei-Wan time to think. This had always been the way she'd occupied her time when confronted with physically demanding tasks. In the oppressive humidity of this place, descending into her thoughts was like swimming in a cool lake on a summer day.
She watched Jack at the head of their column. He'd taken his shirt off an hour into their journey for what she assumed was some relief from the sweltering heat.
"The Fashod aren't likely to make any attempts at following us," Thunupa reassured Jack. "Their focus will be on discovering where we will emerge."
"I agree," Jack said. "Our problem will be emerging close enough to the landing field to minimize the time we can be detected, while making it a place they're not likely to suspect."
"I would suggest we circle around the landing field and emerge on the far side. It's the last thing they would expect because they'd never do it themselves."
"That's assuming they don't consider we'd take that into account."
"The Fashod have spent centuries in service to the G'voda, Captain. Their potential for creative thinking has been dulled. How else could we have succeeded in our escape from the prison?"
"Good point." Jack took a moment to regard their new friend. "I don't believe I've encountered someone of your species before. What world do you hail from?"
"Beraan and I are subjects of the Halorian Empire."
"I haven't heard of it."
Thunupa offered a slight grin. "We were on a long distance scouting mission, exploring territory beyond the current scope of the Empire. We had just begun our trip home when a Fashod patrol intercepted us."
Jack nodded. "Hopefully, we'll both get to see our homes soon."
As the day wore on, Jack and Thunupa appeared to be developing, if not a friendship, then at least a strong respect for one another. However, Mei-Wan didn't pay much more attention to their conversations.
Perhaps it was this place, or being in a survival situation, but the more Mei-Wan watched Thunupa, the more she was attracted to him. Surrounded by all this life--- some growing, some decaying, some preying, some being preyed upon--- affected what her mind dwelled on. What else could explain the desires welling up from within the most secret parts of her soul?
Why do I always have to explain away my interest in men? I'm allowed to have sexual thoughts.
While she let herself indulge in what she often considered the more base side of her humanity, she realized how long it had been since she had acted on those desires.
Perhaps...
That thought was cut short by the feeling of her foot sinking.
Distressed by the lack of firm footing, Mei-Wan looked down, afraid she'd ended another living thing's existence in a particularly disgusting way. But much to her surprise and pleasure, her foot had only landed in a patch of mud. Or at least she hoped that's what it was.
Spending the next ten minutes trying to scrape the offensive goo from her boot, Mei-Wan found herself at the rear of their party, behind the limping Falco. His injuries were healing with the concoction of tree saps and leaves Thunupa had applied to the commander's wounds.
She glanced at Thunupa again.
He carried himself with a pride, a sureness that spoke of a man who knew himself and his place in the universe. She had to admit he was physically quite attractive too. He had the muscular build of an athlete, but not to the point of excess. There was a power to him, yet it wasn't something he flaunted. It was just as much a part of him as having dark hair was for Mei-Wan.
But his eyes were what took her breath away. The only words she could put to how they made her feel was an eagerness to understand.
As if somehow sensing her interest in him, Thunupa dropped back and began walking at her side.
Mei-Wan couldn't help smiling.
"Your commanding officer is quite good at assessing a situation and coming up with options, then weighing those options. I am impressed."
"Jack's had to fight his way out of impossible situations before."
Thunupa frowned. "Not to criticize you, but I find it strange you address him with such familiarity."
"He and I have a long history of familiarity," Mei-Wan said with a chuckle. "We were married."
He appeared more than a little confused. "I had the impression that Commander Vargas and he..."
"They are."
"But..."
"Our marriage is very much past tense."
"And you still serve with him?"
"Well, that was supposed to be temporary. Life has a way of surprising you from time to time."
"It does indeed," he said, smiling wide at her.
Suddenly, Mei-Wan noticed a smell that pushed aside all the others. It was sweet, something akin to fresh honey on a spring day, yet with more weight to it. It took her a while to place that weight, then it hit her. It was so much like the richness freshly dug earth had, just like that of her mother's flowerbeds when she was preparing to deposit seeds into the womb where they'd grow into something wondrous.
Why it took her so long to discover the source of this inviting scent, she couldn't say, but finally she understood. It came from Thunupa. Mei-Wan decided it must be some pheromone peculiar to Halorians. Then she remembered Orions had pheromones that had strong effects upon members of the opposite sex. Perhaps the similarity between the Halorians and the Orions ran far deeper than their skin pigment.
Mei-Wan laughed at herself. She had spent much of the afternoon thinking about her attraction to a man, an attraction that might very well be nothing more than a physiological reaction to pheromones. Add to that how he had come to her rescue at the prison and it went a long way to explain why she felt the way she did.
Still, it was hard for her to deny that attraction.
"May I say something," he asked her.
"Certainly."
He hesitated.
"Based on your reluctance it must not be very flattering for me," Mei-Wan said, breaking the silence. "But please go on. I'm curious to hear your impression of me."
"My people pride ourselves in being spiritually aware."
Mei-Wan did her best not to let her general disdain for religion show. "I'm always interested in learning about other cultures, so please continue."
He took a long breath. "Since meeting you in the prison, I've sensed a strength in you, one which I doubt you are aware of."
So far, she liked this, but...
"Yet, I see a deep wound in your spirit, one which keeps you from living with the happiness you so desperately wish for."
Mei-Wan frowned. There was no use in trying to hide her feelings about this any longer. "I appreciate your concern for me, but I'm afraid my beliefs and yours are far more different than you probably suspect."
"The Goddess goes by many names in many places." He smiled. "I suspect our beliefs are far closer than you might think."
His smile was infectious and she returned it. "I'd certainly like the chance to learn more about your beliefs to see if that's the case."
"Since we have little else to occupy ourselves with, I would be willing to share them with you."
Mei-Wan was about to ask him a question about the Goddess he mentioned when a deep thunder-like growl sounded from somewhere nearby. They all froze in place.
It took Mei-Wan several seconds to realize she had instinctively jumped to Thunupa's side close enough to feel the warmth of his body.
The animal bellowed again. To their right, a dark figure half as tall as the sky-reaching trees passed by, crushing the surrounding underbrush.
Instead of the deep howls from before, the creature let out a high pitched siren cry.
A minute later it, and its bellowing, had left them behind.
Mei-Wan realized her breathing had been deep and rapid during the whole encounter, not from fear, but exhilaration.
***
Melissa Vargas had been so intent on listening for the return of the creature which had startled them an hour earlier that she'd not noticed the sour look on Jack's face before now.
"What's wrong?" she asked, walking beside him.
He grumbled something.
"Come on," she insisted. "You can tell me."
Jack let out a long sigh. "It's Mei."
Melissa cast a quick glance behind them and saw Mei-Wan talking to Thunupa. "She looks okay to me. In fact, she looks happy for a change."
"Just forget it."
One of Melissa's Vulcan brow raised. "Please tell me you aren't jealous."
"Of course not."
"Oh, no. I'm not going to let you dismiss it that easily," she told him in a stern tone. "You were married to you her, remember?"
Jack shook his head. "That's over... remember?"
Melissa did her best to control the temper she felt building.
Then a thought crossed her mind and she laughed. "You're competing with him, aren't you?"
"What?!" Jack said a little less convincingly than he probably intended.
"Two alpha males in a survival setting, competing for who's going to rule the tribe."
"In case you haven't noticed, I like Thunupa, and he and I are getting along just fine."
"Right," Melissa said with a chuckle.
"Or is this a way for you to get us to compete," Jack said, walking past a set of hanging vines. "Like Lady Macbeth pushing her husband..."
"That's right, make it about me."
"You were the one to bring this up!"
"No, you started this by telling me something was wrong with Mei." Melissa looked back to make sure no one was close enough to overhear their conversation. "And you still haven't answered my question about that."
Jack grumbled again.
"Well?"
"There are days you really drive me insane, do you know that?" Jack told her.
"Sorry, but you've got that reversed. It's men who drive women insane."
Jack rolled his eyes, but remained silent.
"I'm kidding!" she said with a laugh. "You need to lighten up."
"We're in a dangerous jungle, running away from people who want to execute us, and you're telling me to lighten up?"
"Yes."
Finally a grin broke out across his face. "If we do make it out of here, I can tell my life with you is going to become very... interesting."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Melissa said. She held up her left hand. "You shouldn't talk about a life with me until there's a piece of jewelry on this hand."
"What? A bracelet?" He laughed.
"That's better."
"What?" he asked, becoming serious again.
"I was worried you'd forgotten how to laugh."
He put his arm around her as they continued walking. "No, just a lot on my mind."
"So are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" she asked with a grin.
***
Three hours later, night descended into the jungle, filling every corner with a darkness the shade of pitch. Fortunately, Thunupa had found an animal which secreted a yellow-green paste from its hindquarters that emitted a bright light when exposed to the air. He painted the substance on several trees surrounding the clearing they had decided to make camp in the for the night and left the remainder in a shallow hole he had dug at the center of the clearing.
He explained to them he'd noticed the creature the last time he and Beraan had escaped and seen it use the substance to blind other creatures in the night which sought the poor creature as food.
When asked about this failed previous escape attempt, neither Beraan or Thunupa were willing to discuss it, giving the impression it had gone badly.
Jack split them up into three shifts to stand watch: Jack and Thunupa, Beraan and Falco, and Mei-Wan and Melissa. After a few minutes of an at times heated discussion, he finally acquiesced to Mei-Wan's request that she and Melissa take the first watch. Neither of the women felt tired just yet and Mei-Wan wanted a chance to clear her mind before sleeping.
After giving the males a chance to fall asleep, Mei-Wan and Melissa sat near the center pool of light. While its intensity suggested a substantial amount of heat, it produced none. Having lost the heat of the sun, the humid air of the jungle had acquired a substantial chill.
Melissa chuckled.
"What?" Mei-Wan asked.
"Listen."
The sounds of the jungle, while different from those of the daylight hours, had lost none of their variety or volume. She strained to listen for something else, but nothing caught her ear. "What?"
Melissa pointed back to the area some twenty feet away where the two sets of men slept.
Then Mei-Wan got it. She laughed. "Loud snoring must be standard among humanoid males."
"I wonder if your Ancient Progenitors suffered from that as well."
"Probably so."
Melissa nodded and stared into the cool light. "You spent a lot of time talking to Thunupa this afternoon."
"I guess so."
"He have anything interesting to say?"
"He thinks I have some sort of spiritual wound."
Melissa started to say something, but stopped. Mei-Wan suspected she was going to agree with him.
Instead Melissa gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Since we've all got one of those, saying that doesn't make him all that insightful."
"Maybe his people don't suffer from such things."
"Or they're just good at denying it." Melissa reached behind her and pulled out two cups. She poured water into each and handed one to Mei-Wan. "I never thought I'd miss the replicator on the Abdiel."
"You never know how good something is until you've lost it," Mei-Wan said, taking a sip from her cup.
Melissa cast a worried glance at Mei-Wan. "Are you talking about Jack?"
Mei-Wan shook her head. "Our friendship."
"Yeah." Melissa picked up a stick and started drawing random shapes on the ground. "I wish..."
"Me too." But from the sadness in Melissa's eyes, Mei-Wan could tell neither of them had any expectations that wish would ever come to be. She figured Jack and Melissa would marry within the next year. New wives and ex-wives rarely got along very well, and rarer still were friends.
Melissa broke the long silence between them. "What do you think of those two?" She pointed to the sleeping Halorians.
"They've been extremely helpful so far."
Melissa nodded. "So tell me more about their beliefs."
"Since when have you been interested in that sort of thing?"
Melissa frowned. "I'm just trying to make conversation, Mei."
"Sorry." She took another drink from her cup. "If this deity of theirs is similar to the goddesses I've seen in other cultures it would be unusual for such a society to reach the level of technology they appear to have achieved."
"You don't think female deities are as good as their male counterparts?" Melissa asked with a smirk.
"I'll leave that determination to theologians," Mei-Wan said with a chuckle. "However, history doesn't record many monotheistic goddess religions to begin with, and those that have existed don't tend to develop much in the way of technology."
"So you're saying men are better at technology."
"In a lot of cultures the plow is the first significant piece of technology developed. I can't think of a more metaphorical male activity," Mei-Wan said with a grin.
Melissa chuckled. "Don't forget spears, the bow and arrow, missiles..."
"But those are directed at animals or other people. The plow goes into the primary symbol of the mother goddess: the ground, the world."
Melissa raised an eyebrow. "So by that line of reasoning, every technological society is just a bunch of mother f..."
"Exactly."
The two women descended into laughter.
"You certainly have a strange way of looking at the Universe, Mei."
"With all we've been through the last couple of years, I'm surprised my view of things is as positive as it is."
"And Jack and I didn't help much, did we?"
Mei-Wan stared at the pool of light. "Melissa, I..." She was afraid if she said more it would cause an argument. "It's probably best we talk about something else."
"Okay," Melissa said, lying on her side upon the ground and resting her head on her arm. "How about we talk about what happened back at the prison."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, it's just us. We used to be friends. I know you, Mei. You do your best to avoid..."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mei-Wan was becoming angry.
"That guard, did he..."
"I'd rather not get into it."
"Oh my god," Melissa murmured. She got up and walked over to Mei-Wan, sitting next to her. "I'm sorry."
Mei-Wan shook her head. "No, he didn't rape me, but..." She fought off the feelings starting to resurface, the fear she'd felt when he took her into that room. She turned to look into Melissa's eyes. "I think I killed him."
"Seems to me he deserved it."
"Maybe," she said. "But it's me being the one who did it that's bothering me."
"Oh." Melissa looked away a moment. "But you've had to kill before, haven't you?"
"Yes, but that was different." Mei-Wan stared down at her hands. "It's one thing to use a phaser, another to use your own..." She looked back at Melissa. "I've never done that before."
"You sound almost surprised you could do it."
"I was surprised more by how much I liked it when I attacked him. The power I felt."
"He attacked you," Melissa corrected. "You were defending yourself."
"It sure didn't feel that way at the time."
A distant howl startled them both. They turned and watched a small slimy skinned animal creep across the clearing, only to disappear back into the jungle a minute later.
***
Heavy clouds hung low in a blood red sky. Beneath that firmament, a dusty barren landscape sat, littered with grave markers for as far as the eye could see.
"Is this how you want our destiny to play out, Mei-Wan?"
She spun about, coming face to face with the old woman with black eyes. "What do you mean, 'our destiny'?"
"Our kind." The wrinkled face turned to look out at the valley beneath them. "If he succeeds, we won't have even this much."
Mei-Wan walked up and joined the old woman. She could see the valley more clearly now. Among the markers were naked bodies, unmoving, lifeless. Small animals pulled at their flesh with sharp teeth, tearing free a morsel here and there. Twisted, dusty trees, their branches bare, stood over this damnable visage, the only observers to the final resting place of some unknown people.
"Who were they?" Mei-Wan asked.
"Look and understand," the old woman pointed.
Among the tangle of bodies, she saw a face she recognized. She couldn't help crying out. "No!" It was Melissa. A few feet away from her, Jack's half-eaten body lay exposed to the harsh winds tearing across the sea of death below.
Then, Mei-Wan saw herself, or what was left of her. Her legs were gone, her skin rotting.
She turned away, unable to look any longer. "I don't want to see any more of this!"
"You and your child will be responsible for this!" the old woman shouted. "You must stop it before it comes to pass!"
Mei-Wan, her breathing so fast she was certain she'd faint soon, turned back to the woman. "This isn't my fault!"
"You can help me prevent this. We can make a better future."
The old woman changed. She was much younger, but there was still an ancient sense to her appearance, a woman now only ten to fifteen years older than Mei-Wan.
"Instead of death, we can bring perfection to everyone." She took a step toward Mei-Wan. "That is the destiny that all seek."
"My destiny will be the result of my own choices, not your desire or some mystical plan for the universe."
"The only choice that matters has already been made."
"Every living being has the right to make its own choices."
"I offer perfection. The choice is obvious for all life." The woman, her black in black eyes catching the glint from what little light came from the sky, smiled. "I will transform consciousness, giving you an existence you can scarcely comprehend."
"I want my own life on my own terms."
"A narrow vision from a narrow mind."
Mei-Wan shook her head. "I don't accept any of this."
"One day, you will. It is inevitable." The woman turned away, as if listening to some distant sound Mei-Wan could not hear. "You must awaken now."
"What?"
"Wake up!"
