She was so lost in her thoughts that she was unaware of anybody's presence until a hand grabbed her arm and pulled.
Leysen had gotten so accustomed to not using her Prime strength in her day-to-day activities that he was able to pull her off of her feet. She stumbled, crashing against his big body, barely staying on her feet.
He wrapped his other arm around her body, holding her to him as he kept her from falling down to the ground. "You're mine tonight, female," he spoke into her ear.
Even though the voice was slightly slurred, she immediately recognized it as belonging to Bander. She could also smell the kifra on his breath --- she'd seen what it did to the men when they overindulged. And among many of the Talisi warriors, that was not an infrequent event.
Getting her feet planted firmly under her she quickly twisted out of his grasp, being careful not to use too much of her Arion strength as she grasped his wrists and pulled his arms away from her. Releasing his left wrist, she put her right hand on her hip as she turned to face him. "I am not yours tonight. I am nobody's tonight." At the same time she gave his right arm a little twist. He howled in pain as he dropped to his knees. She then released his wrist and took a step back.
"I said you're mine tonight." He lunged and reached out for her again with his right hand.
She ducked under his arm and gave him a little push. He staggered backward until he tripped over a branch, landing in the middle of a wet bush. She couldn't help but smile at his awkward position, sitting on his ass while water dripped onto him from the leaves above him.
Bander was not used to having a female --- any female --- refuse him. He was even less accustomed to having one physically resist him, let alone actually knock him down to the ground.
So she had gotten lucky, causing him to lose his footing on the damp ground. He would teach her a lesson. They might have done things differently wherever she and her two companions were from, but now she was here in Turea. Yes, he would teach her a lesson --- one that she would never forget. He would wipe that silly smile off of her face.
Heady with anticipation, he sprang up and went for her again.
She backed up as he sprang back up to his feet. As he leaped for her she sidestepped him and gave him another little push in the back as he went by her. Not wanting to display too much of her Prime strength --- at least no more than she had already shown, even to somebody like Bander --- she pushed him no harder than a Beta girl might have pushed him. It was still enough to send the Talisi sprawling down to the ground again --- this time on his face. Putting her hands on her hips, she tried to keep from laughing as she looked down at him.
This time he didn't try to get up. She saw his hand flash toward her legs. She was able to brace herself just before his hand closed about her left ankle and pulled.
For a few seconds she just stood there looking down at him with her hands on her hips as he tried to pull her down. Then she bent down and grasped his wrist. A gentle tug pulled his hand away from her ankle. Dropping his wrist she stepped back away from him.
He was persistent. Maybe he was stubborn, or perhaps the kifra had clouded his mind. Whatever the reason, he sprang back up to his feet and lunged for her again, his arms stretched out in front of him, his hands reaching for her.
She sidestepped him again, grasping his wrist and giving it a twist. He dropped to his knees, howling in pain.
She was afraid that the entire village would hear him. Not wanting to draw any further unwanted attention she quickly released his wrist --- but not without giving it a little push, knocking him flat on his back.
He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, cradling his arm to his stomach, looking up at her.
"I told you I'm not your female," she told him again.
Bander couldn't believe what the female had just done to him. She moved with the agility of a slitsa and with the power of a santha.
But no matter how quick or strong she was, she was still just a female. And females did not behave this way toward warriors. She definitely needed to be taught a lesson.
Ignoring the pain in his arm, he sprang up at her. This time he spread his arms out wide and got them around her. However he couldn't force her down to the ground, no matter how hard he drove with his legs.
Then he felt her hands on his upper arms, trying to pry them apart. He grasped his own wrists in order to keep his arms around her. Yet despite that he felt his arms being pulled apart. Unable to withstand the pain his hands opened and released his wrists.
He found himself being held up in the air with her hands on his upper arms. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't free his arms from her grasp.
As she raised him higher he lashed out with a foot, kicking her in the thigh. He may as well have kicked a rock for all the effect it seemed to have on her.
She raised him even higher. He kicked again, this time hitting her in the stomach. It had no more effect on her than the first kick had.
"Keep away from me!" she told him, shaking him to emphasize her words.
Then he felt himself flying through the air as she flung him away from her. He landed about ten feet away and bounced a couple of times before coming to a halt on his ass with his back against a tree.
"Next time I'll kill you!" she hissed through clenched teeth, before turning on her heels and walking away in the direction of the village.
Before the evening meal, Leysen went and met with Tillek in his room. "Tillek, I'd like to use the hypno-teacher tonight."
"What do you want it for, girl?"
"I want to learn the proper way to make steel."
"We don't have any power cells to spare, girl. You know we don't have any way to recharge them. We have to save them for emergencies. Certainly not for your little hobby."
"Hobby? This could make our life here easier."
"We don't have the power cells to waste for that, girl."
"It won't take long. And besides, what are we saving the power cells for?"
He thought about it for a few seconds, but apparently couldn't come up with a good answer for that. "Okay, but be quick about it." He rummaged around in his pack until he found a power cell. He handed it to her. "We don't want any of the Talisi seeing you use it."
She took the offered power cell and dropped it into a pocket. "You'll just have to keep them away from me tonight." She shot him a glare. "That's what you want to do anyway, isn't it?"
She didn't wait for an answer. Picking up the hypno-teacher with her other hand, she lifted it up to her shoulder and carried it into her room. Setting it down beside her bed, she covered it up with a blanket, just in case somebody came by during the evening meal.
Leysen had spent the past several afternoons with Chaddik in the forge, trying to make steel. They'd tried using various amounts of carbon. They'd tried different methods of cooling and annealing.
They'd had various results, none of them completely satisfactory. Sometimes it would come out no harder than ordinary iron. When it did come out harder, it was also came out much too brittle for practical use. Hopefully there would be something in one of the memory crystals that would tell her just what she was doing wrong.
She returned to her room as quickly as she could after the meal and her cleanup duties. Uncovering the hypno-teacher, it was a simple matter to set it up. Sitting down on her bed, she turned it on.
Unfortunately it turned out to be wasted effort. There was some information on smelting bronze, and even a little bit on iron, but not on making steel. Apparently whoever had outfitted the memory crystals aboard the lifeboat had never anticipated the survivors landing on a planet whose inhabitants already knew how to make iron but not steel.
There also were no memory crystals on the basic sciences --- apparently the outfitters had also decided that it was not of immediate concern for survival. Nothing on basic physics or chemistry, not even a periodic table of the elements.
Turning off the hypno-teacher, she packed it up. Getting to her feet, she picked it up and headed for the door.
With her hand on the door, she hesitated. Turning her face toward Tillek's room, she squinted as she used her tachyon vision to peek through the intervening wall.
Tillek was already in bed, but he was not yet asleep. Nor was he alone. He was on top of a Talisi female, his mouth fastened onto her breast as he suckled.
She quickly blinked her eyes back to normal. She would have to return the hypno-teacher to him tomorrow. Without opening her door, she turned around and set the device back down on the floor. Removing her clothes, she climbed into her bed.
Even though she tried, sleep did not come easy for her that night. The brief sight of Tillek with a female was probably the last thing that she needed to see that night.
She really couldn't blame him. After all there were no female Betas on the planet --- she was the only female Arion. She had felt similar urges herself, and there were no male Primes around.
She and Chaddik had stolen away a few times for a little cuddling and kissing. Things hadn't gone too far, though. Even though he was a big muscular man, she knew just how weak and fragile the Talisi really were. She could easily crush his body with just a little hug. Even with her gold chains on, she would still be quite a bit stronger than he was, and she was liable to lose control of herself under the influence of the gold.
Just as she had almost done with Velder, the very first time that she had seen him.
Rolling over on to her back, she banished that thought from her mind. Her right hand went to her breast, stroking and caressing herself much harder than Chaddik ever could. Finding the nipple at its center her fingers began pinching it, gradually increasing the pressure until she was using more than enough force to crush the hardest steel that she and Chaddik had been able to make.
Her left hand stroked her stomach, before going lower. Her fingers circled her mound before entering her damp and waiting slit, rubbing and pinching her clit. Not for the first time, she wondered what it would feel like to have Chaddik doing this to her, instead of having to do it herself.
She fantasized that somehow Chaddik could caress her as hard as she was doing it now. She continued to play with herself, imagining that it was Chaddik, his hands somehow strong enough and hard enough to please a Prime. Not to mention another part of his body, a part that she had only seen with her tachyon vision.
Tillek looked up in surprise at Velder's announcement, his arm jerking up and almost knocking over a plate of food. Only Leysen's iron grip as she was placing it on the table saved it. "You want to build what? An airplane?" As usual when they were alone, they were conversing in Arion. There was no word in Talisi for 'airplane'.
"Sure. I think I have what I need."
"What are you going to use for a powerplant?"
"It's going to have to be a glider. I can't build an engine. Not with the technology available here."
"Or lack of it," Leysen chimed in sarcastically, placing the rest of the food on the table, taking a seat, and reaching across for a fruit.
"But why, old friend?"
"To be able to fly again, Tillek."
"I know how much you like to fly, old friend. It has to be tough for you, being stuck on the ground. But do you really think you can build something that would fly?"
"I want to try. Trying and failing would be better than not trying at all."
Leysen raised an arm as she rejoined the discussion. "If you really want to fly that much, I can send you on a flight." She smiled sweetly as she flexed her arm and made an overhead throwing motion. "The landing might be a problem, though. I don't think I can run fast enough to catch you."
Velder tried to make light of her comments. "The heavier gravity and thinner air provide enough difficulties, Ley, without you adding to them, thank you. It's going to be hard enough just to build a lightweight glider with the available materials."
"What materials? I know Leysen and Chaddik are making good progress with steel, but I don't think she's going to be making any aluminum any time soon. Let alone titanium." He turned to her. "Are you, girl?" There was something in the tone of his voice that let her know that he knew that she and Chaddik hadn't been spending all of their time working on techniques for making steel.
Of course nothing had really happened, she could still remember what she had almost done to Velder, and she had been wearing gold at the time. Without the gold, she could easily kill the fragile Talisi if she got too affectionate. But this was neither the time nor the place to talk about that. "I wouldn't even know where to start," she replied, reaching for another piece of fruit.
"Steel's too heavy. I'd like to use carbon composites and ceramics, but I think I can use wood instead."
"Wood!" she exclaimed around a mouthful of fruit. "A wooden airplane? Who ever heard of a wooden airplane?" She resisted the urge to spit out the fruit, hoping that whatever was in the food here that was obviously poisoning the Beta wouldn't affect a Prime.
"Sure. I'm getting pretty good at working with it, and Forden knows the properties of the different kinds here on Talis." He grabbed a piece of fruit and prepared to bite into it. "And it's been done before. A wooden frame, covered with cloth."
"Do you think you can really make it fly?"
"Other people have. Why shouldn't I?" He launched into a brief history of aviation on various humanoid --- and non-humanoid --- worlds, concentrating on some of the more bizarre construction materials that had been used, waving his hands in the air to illustrate some of the points.
Leysen remained unconvinced. She'd seen holos in her history classes of some primitive flying craft. Some of them even had propellers, for Stars' sake! It was hard for her to believe that any of those contraptions could actually fly under its own power. But Velder wanted to build something that would fly without an engine of any kind at all?
"What about a balloon?" Tillek asked.
Velder looked up. "What about it?" he asked back.
"Wouldn't that be a lot easier than trying to make an airplane?"
"A balloon presents its own set of problems. I don't think we can process helium here, and hydrogen's too dangerous." He turned to look at Leysen. "At least for some of us."
"What about hot air?"
"With the thin atmosphere here, it would be harder to control." He shook his head. "No, I'm going to try for a glider first."
"Too bad you can't build something that could take us home," she said with a sigh.
Tillek seemed stunned that she would even dare to suggest such a thing. "A spacecraft? With what we have here, girl? He'll be doing good if he even gets off the ground."
"That's too bad. I really want to go home."
"So do we all, girl."
"Yes, that would be nice." Velder seemed to be a little more sympathetic, smiling at her. "Just where is home for you, Ley?"
"Tiburon. My father, he's..." She remembered that the two men still didn't know who her father was. She wanted them to accept her for who she was, and not simply because her father was the Deputy Sector Commander. "He's stationed there." That was the safe answer. Being the headquarters for the sector, Tiburon had a very large military presence. Even more than usual for the Empire, which always had a large military presence everywhere.
Everywhere except Talis, that is.
"What about you, Velder?" she asked. Noticing that his hand was creeping toward hers, she jerked her hand away under the pretense of reaching for another piece of fruit.
"Oh, I haven't been home in a long time. Home is wherever I'm stationed at the time. As long as they let me fly..." his voice trailed off.
Velder took a piece of fruit and leaned back. "I don't know about the girl, old friend, but anything I can do to help, let me know."
"Me too. At least it's better than sitting around and doing nothing until we die." She then thought back to their trek over the mountains. "Just don't expect me to do all of your heavy carrying."
Velder smiled at her to tell her that he was thinking of no such thing. And was there something else in that smile? Not for the first time, she found herself thinking that Velder was a handsome man after all, at least for a Beta. She dropped her eyes to the table, remembering how they had first met, on the lifeboat aboard the Empress Jiltan'th. She hadn't been very interested in his face then.
"No carrying," he told her. "But I would appreciate it if you could make some fittings. I can't make everything out of wood."
"You want nuts and bolts? I don't think I can do those yet."
"No, no. Just nails and a few odds and ends."
She nodded. "Nails, I can do. I can also make you and Tillek some nice new hammers. I'll even make them light enough so that even a Beta can wield them." Both men laughed.
Velder then turned to Tillek. "Good. I was hoping I could count on some help from both of you. Now, here's what I'm thinking of doing." Waving both hands in front of his face, he began designing his glider.
Leysen couldn't follow what he was saying, with terms whose meanings she could only guess at. Terms like angle of attack and wing loading and coefficient of drag.
She wasn't the only one who couldn't follow the thread. Tillek raised his hands in surrender. "Whoa, slow down, old friend. I've never built an aircraft before. I just know how to keep them working."
Velder barely slowed down, his hands continuing to describe the shape of the wing. "There's a first time for everything."
"You've designed aircraft before?"
"We designed, built, and flew them in school."
"I'm going with you."
Even though the feminine voice was soft, the two men immediately looked up. Though they recognized the speaker from the voice, their jaws still dropped when they saw her.
Leysen was standing in the doorway wearing a leather outfit patterned after her school uniform, except for the legging partially covering her left leg. She also had leather bracers on her wrists.
"Absolutely not!"
She picked up a spear that had been leaning against the wall, holding it out in front of her and blocking the door. "I'm going with you. I'm not staying here to work in the fields."
"Farming is for females, girl. Hunting is for warriors."
"Hmmpf! I'm a better warrior than you are, Tillek, and you know it." She pulled the spear back with her right hand and put her left hand on her hip.
"That may or may not be, girl. But you are not coming with us. This may get a little dangerous." With that, Tillek tried to push his way past her.
She took her hand off of her hip and pushed him back into the room. "Hmmpf! In that case, maybe you two better stay here, where it's nice and safe. In case you've forgotten, I'm a Prime, and you're not."
"Of course I haven't forgotten. But you seem to have forgotten that you're female."
"That doesn't matter."
"It does here, girl. Now get out of our way."
She remained right where she was. "Not unless you let me come with you."
"Absolutely not, girl." Tillek stepped towards the door again.
"Wait!" Velder spoke up for the first time, taking Tillek's arm and holding him back. "Let her come, if she wants to. Who is to know, especially if we keep her with us? Just the three of us."
Tillek stopped and looked first at Velder and then at Leysen, before turning back to Velder. Finally he nodded. "Very well. Just the three of us. And only if we can get her out of the village without people thinking she's coming with us."
"Chaddik comes with us," Leysen said.
Tillek whirled to her. "Absolutely not!"
Leysen leaned in the doorway. "Then none of us go."
"A female should be beaten for even saying that!"
She set the spear aside and took a step toward him. "Fine. Beat me. Go ahead." She put her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest challengingly. When Tillek took a step back, she took a step forward. "What's the matter? Aren't you man enough to beat a female?" She took another step forward.
"Ley, no!" Velder stepped in between the two of them, facing her. "Don't, Ley."
"Stay out of this, Velder. This is between me and Tillek." A sweep of her slender arm removed him from her path, sending him sprawling onto the floor ten feet away.
Tillek backed up another step, fear written all over his face. "Leysen, no..."
Keeping her hands on her hips, she slowly took another step forward.
"No, Ley!" Velder leaped at her from behind, wrapping his arms around her and pinning her arms to her sides.
A quick pull broke his embrace and freed her arms. Without bothering to look behind herself, she grabbed an arm and pulled him in front of her before flinging him aside. "I told you to stay out of this, Beta!"
All three of them froze at her last word --- and the tone of her voice. She was no longer a young girl addressing two older and more experienced men. She was a Prime, addressing two Betas.
The two Betas were petrified with fear, not wanting to incur the wrath of the Prime. No more than they had already incurred --- Primes had been known to kill Betas for less, much less.
Leysen recovered first. Shooting a glare at Tillek that told him to stay right where he was, she kneeled down at Velder's side. "Are you okay? I... I didn't mean to hurt you."
He shook his head and started to get up, ignoring her offered hand. "I think I'm fine. Surprised more than shaken."
She looked down at her feet. "I... I'm sorry."
Just then Chaddik came in, a spear in one hand, his sword at his waist. "Tillek, Velder, Gharrez is waiting for..." He froze as he saw Leysen. Then his jaw dropped and his eyes all but popped out of his head.
His mouth opened and closed several times before any words came out. "Ley? What are you dressed like that for?"
"I'm going with you."
"On a hunt? Absolutely not! There's a santha out there."
Well, wasn't that exactly why she was going? She was probably the only person in this room who had ever killed a santha. "I'm going," she announced quietly, straightening up and turning to face him.
"No, Ley. You've probably never seen a santha before. Believe me, you don't want to."
She put her hands on her hips as she took a step toward him. "Have you? Have you ever killed one?"
He took a quick look down at his feet before meeting her eyes. "No, but..."
"Well, I have."
"What!"
"What she means, Chaddik," Tillek stepped between them, "is that she has seen a santha before." He made a sign with his hand behind his back, telling her to be quiet.
She hadn't expected to meet with this kind of resistance from Chaddik. Of all the Talisi, he should have been more supportive, more understanding. She looked over at Velder, who had always been more supportive of her than Tillek had been. He simply gave his head a minute shake.
Well, it seemed as if the males were uniting against her, the Betas and the Talisi together. Fine, if that was the way that they wanted to do it, then they could go out there and risk their necks. She --- the only person in this room to have killed a santha --- would just sit here while they tried to hunt one down. She dropped to the floor, sitting crosslegged. "Go ahead, then. I'll just wait for you."
The three men left without a word, only Velder even giving her so much as a backward glance. She continued to sit on the floor, wondering just what she had to do in order to contribute something to the village that had taken in her and her two companions.
The men got to be warriors, going on hunts such as this one. Tillek was working with Gharrez on improving the organization of the warriors. Velder had designed the new waterwheel for Forden. And what was she doing?
Sure, she was working in the kitchen. But anybody could do that. It certainly didn't require her Prime strength to carry pitchers of kifra to the warriors at their tables. And the steel, was she really accomplishing anything? A blacksmith somewhere on Talis would eventually have discovered the method on his own without any help from her. Again, it certainly wasn't something that took advantage of her abilities as a Prime.
What the men were doing today, now that was what a Prime should be doing. Going out to kill a santha that had come down from the mountains to raid the hurja herd. Sure, most of them had the new steel weapons that she and Chaddik had been able to make, but none of them had her Prime muscles with which to wield them. Prime muscles that had once killed a santha, without a need for any other weapons.
She was an Arion Prime! Why did she have to sit at home --- working in a kitchen, of all places --- while the Talisi and the Betas went out to hunt the most dangerous predator on the planet? Wasn't she --- the Arion Prime --- the most dangerous creature on the planet? Hadn't she proven that once by killing a santha with her bare hands?
She was not aware of the tears that were beginning to fill her eyes.
She was still sitting on the floor when somebody came in. "Ley! What are you hiding here for? I've been looking for you everywhere. It's time for the midday meal."
Looking up and blinking away her tears, Leysen saw Mai walking towards her. "I... I..."
"Ley! You're crying." Mai squatted down before her. "What's wrong? Did one of the warriors beat you?"
Leysen forced herself to smile at the thought. As if a mere Beta --- or a Talisi --- could beat her. "No, nobody beat me." She started to stand up, refusing Mai's outstretched hand. "Let's go prepare the midday meal."
Mai's eyes widened as she saw what Leysen was wearing. Or perhaps more appropriately, not wearing. "Ley! What are you wearing?"
Having completely forgotten what she was wearing, Leysen looked down at herself. By Arion Prime standards it was a rather modest outfit, but on Talis it was totally inappropriate for a female. Gently pushing Mai aside, she went to her room to change.
"Ley, what is it?" Mai was persistent, following after Leysen. "Something's wrong."
Without a word Leysen picked up her usual clothes from the floor and quickly put them on without bothering to remove what little she was already wearing. She then turned to leave, only to find Mai blocking the door.
"Ley, what is wrong? Why were you crying?"
Leysen collapsed onto her bed, holding her face in her hands as the tears returned to her eyes. Mai was immediately beside her, an arm wrapped protectively about Leysen's shoulders.
"It... it's the hunt."
"I know, Ley, I know. We're all afraid of the santha."
"It's not that. I'm not afraid of a santha." Well, not much. She looked up at the older woman, who had been like a sister to her. "I... I should be out there with them."
"What are you talking about, Ley? The warriors are going to hunt down a santha. Why should any female go with them? We should be glad we have such brave warriors to protect us."
"I... I'm a better warrior than any of them."
"You? A warrior? What are you talking about? You know females can't be warriors."
"Why not? Where I come from, we let a person be whatever they're best at, without caring about whether she's female."
"But how can a female be a warrior? The males are so much bigger and stronger than we are."
"They're not stronger! Not stronger than me! They may be bigger, but they're not stronger!"
"How can you say that, Ley? No female can be as strong as a warrior."
Lifting her head, Leysen looked around the room. How could she prove to Mai that she truly was far stronger than any of the Talisi warriors were, even stronger than the Betas were.
Should she prove that to Mai?
Mai spared her of the need to make the decision. "Come on, Ley. We have work to do. The warriors are going to be hungry after killing the santha. They're going to want lots of food." She gave Leysen a knowing smile. "And a lot of kifra."
"You're right, Mai." Brushing away the last of her tears, she stood up and followed Mai to the kitchen.
A young girl came running into the kitchen. "They're back!"
"Did they get the santha?"
"I don't know, but I think somebody's hurt."
The girl was spared from having to answer any further questions when a young warrior ran in, panting from the effort. "Water! Hot water!"
All thoughts of food preparation vanished as the women went into action. The need for hot water meant that somebody was indeed injured pretty bad. Leysen did her best to help out, which mostly involved keeping out of everybody's way as the others bustled about the kitchen, heating water, preparing the healing herbs, and preparing bandages.
Feeling useless in the organized chaos of the kitchen, Leysen went outside. A few more warriors came running into the village. Looking up the hill, she could see the rest of them coming down the trail, some of them limping, two other men being carried in crude stretchers.
Holding her hand up to shade her eyes from the sun, she squinted as her vision zoomed in on the hunters. The longer that she looked for them without seeing them, the more worried she got.
As a Prime, she shouldn't have been worried. Normally, there was an almost inexhaustible supply of Betas. But this wasn't a normal situation. Even though they were only Betas, they were the only other Arions on the planet.
She let out a sigh of relief when she finally saw them bringing up the rear. But that didn't put her mind completely at ease. There was something else.
It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't seeing Chaddik anywhere among the returning warriors.
"Panture? Isn't that too far away?"
"It's no farther than Ranture."
"And after we raided Ranture during the winter, the Tureans will be on guard."
"They won't be expecting us to strike that far north again."
"That may be, but..."
"How do we get there without being spotted?"
"Leave that to me. I think I know how we can get there. We go through the mountains."
"The mountains? That'll take us too long."
"No, there's a valley on the other side. We can go through there."
"What about the goddess?"
"What goddess?"
"The Golden Goddess of Simpore. She has forbidden raids across the Blue River."
"She's their goddess, not ours."
"That's right. Simpore has grown soft, if their warriors bow to a female."
"Females don't tell warriors what to do and what not to do. Warriors tell females what to do."
"And when to come to our beds."
"Their warriors spend so much time farming, they may as well be females."
