A Slave to the Servants Ch. 34

Night fell and the battle continued to rage. The Paterian men and women were not affected by the dark, although it perhaps made them more vicious. By the middle of the night the aliens had stayed their attack and seemed to be regrouping back above the bounds of our atmosphere.

The men on the battlefield did not trust the aliens to stay gone, so they took turns keeping watch. In the eerie quiet after the battle the gravely injured women could be heard on the ground and the men could not stand it. The rebel men collected the injured women and took them back to the underground caves, just as they did the injured men. The women were infuriated, but in no position to fight.

I began to understand, through my family, that Paterian women believed themselves above simple things, like healing. A strong woman should either live or die on her own. The men did not agree and set to cleaning and patching the women's wounds.

My men patched up many women before they lay down to rest. All of them knew it could have been one our girls laying out there. Damien and his Brothers felt a duty to the injured women. All the men from the camps felt that way.

Live to fight another day.

The saying was from Earth and it was the first thing that I thought of when I understood the women's strange beliefs. My family found the phrase usable and started saying it in Paterian to the stubborn women refusing healing. By way of the communication pads, the saying spread across the planet.

"Do not die now!" Damien commanded one of them that was refusing to get on his transport. "Live to fight another day. There is no strength in dying in the sand right now! Help us defend this world when the sun rises!"

The woman had listened, begrudgingly. She'd not appreciated Damien's help, but she'd taken it. Most of the women were the same way, they'd never been in a situation like this.

I had one tiny spot of relief. Both Hannah and Kennedy had left me messages. The girls were a little beaten up, but none were gravely injured. They had trusted the men's weapons, although it had taken Hannah and Ra longer to realize their effectiveness. My girls had become scavengers, destroying the aliens that were knocked down by the men. It became a good system.

"Tosu was here," Kennedy wrote me, "as were Nu-reeh and Dinah. Tosu took a direct hit from a beam so it would not hit me. I dragged her behind a large boulder myself and sent men to tend her later. She lives, but she was badly damaged."

I felt for my child. Guilt could not claim her. She had to stay strong in this fight.

"Tosu made her choice," I wrote to Kennedy quickly. "Whether you would like it or not she promised long ago to do this for me. Feel grateful and fight, but do not feel guilty. This was her choice."

I didn't hear back from my youngest daughter, but I hoped that she would not be affected by this badly.

In the quiet of the camp Rose and I settled on a warm stone to rest until the next battle began. No one believed it was over. We wanted to be at our post when we were needed. The warm stones were a fine place for us to rest until the next day started.

"You must eat," Rose whispered to me in the pre-dawn of the next day.

She was right and we moved to the food area. Men were there already, eating quickly so they would be ready. No one was really talking, we were all just waiting. Rose and I picked out our meal and finished as fast as we could.

There was still no sound from outside. I saw men, heavily armed men, coming inside. They had obviously been on a night long watch, waiting for the attack that didn't come. All of them wore the same frustrated scowl on their face. It gave them the image of a dangerous gang and not a group of men we might have a pleasant meal with.

"Sirs, can you tell me what is going on?" I asked as they passed.

My voice came out more formal than I intended it to. The men's demeanor was unnerving. Even Rose, who was now usually calm and collected in the face of uncertainty and stress was cringing beside me and gripping my hand. Our fearful reaction to them seemed to startle the men out of their funk.

"Raif, rescued from the Barnas compound," one of the men said attempting to relax and smile, "there isn't much going on out there. We've been sent inside to rest until mid day. There is to be an announcement by the Administrators in a few moments."

I thanked the men for the information as Rose and I headed for the Administrators' area.

The announcement was brief. The Administrators listed names of families that had been killed. They told us that the attack had subsided for the moment and they told us to be ready for more.

"Women on the other side of the world do not just build warships," Hassar announced. "They also know how to operate them. It is not their favored way to fight, but the women have seen the devastation being done to our planet. They will take the fight to the warships above us."

The men and women around me murmured. This certainly was unusual. The women's weapons had always been the first line of defense. If they'd decided to use the ships, that indicated how fierce the battle was.

Everyone was dismissed. Those that had been on patrol or watch were sent to rest some. I was learning Paterian men, if they were healthy, had a great tolerance for sleep deprivation. Their replacements had heard this already and were at their posts. Most of the men left in the camp were assigned to load transports with supplies. When the men on the front lines were sent home, their replacements should be ready to leave.

Rose and I were sent to the tailor's shop to work.

"I think they just want us out of the way," Rose said quietly as we stitched and sewed.

It made sense. I was not allowed out of the safety of our camp and Rose was too weak to do much fighting. This little part of the cave was a safe, out of the way place for both of us.

I felt my men in flashes as I sat and sewed. They were taking a rest, while another part of their division took patrol. Their dreams were full of fighting and the wild prior day. I did feel their comfort in that their group had kept the aliens away from the compound. That success let them sleep peacefully as the sun shone.

It was later in the day when the fighting started again. It was different this time. The women had their ships waiting and went after the aggressors as soon as they breached our atmosphere. From what my men saw, it was like watching stars explode in the sky.

The falling bits of alien craft streaked through the sky and slammed into the ground. Burning metal covered the desert around the compound in places. The smell, at least according to Kein, was horrific. He could barely stand the odor and kept his nose and mouth covered. On and off I felt his disgust at the rancid stench.

The women's counter measures made the alien attack scatter. In their rush to escape the Paterian women's ships, the aliens accidentally found some of the rebel camps, including ours. It brought the fight to our door.

The alien ships were damaged, many of them, and they crash landed in the jungle around us. The strange creatures evacuated their burning ships only to be attacked by the fierce, native creatures. Racks, scars, and the like saw the aliens as a new food source.

The aliens scrambled to find somewhere to hide from the creatures and unfortunately they stumbled onto our camp. The land outside the entrance was marked with trails where the men walked to the crops the men planted. If you were on foot, which the aliens were, the illusions didn't protect us. We heard the war cry as they found our hidden entrance.

The men and women left behind to defend the camp did their job well. The aliens were cut down before they breached our defenses. Rose and I waited in the infirmary again, but this time there was something to do.

Men and women were brought to us injured, I thought, beyond repair. The Healers in the camp politely scoffed at my ignorance. There was much that could be done for them.

The men were hesitant to have anyone around their injured family, but I was considered a Healer. They didn't fight when they saw it was Rose or me approaching them. Humans had a strange knack for healing it was believed. Rose and I knew we were naive about healing, we just cleaned the wounds thoroughly so the real Healers could do their job efficiently.

The men took our cleaning and the Healer's care. The beaded women from the camp that came in injured fought it a little. Most still had the undercurrent of belief that an honorable death was preferable to needing help with one's healing. Strength was measured by personal ability and accepting help meant defeat. All of us acting as Healers sought to dissuade them of such thoughts.

"Live to fight another day," I begged them over and over again as I washed the dirt from their wounds. "There is still much fighting to be done. If you survive today, you can fight more tomorrow."

The argument seemed to settle their upset to quiet grumbling. The beaded women took our help and rested. They would do what the little human said and live to fight another day. It was unprecedented, but so was the volume of this fight and I had made a good point.

The true battle for healing started when the first women without beads was brought in. The large woman and her Sisters had followed a crashing ship and fought the aliens when they disembarked. One woman had lost an entire wing, another was cut deeply down the middle, and the third had severe damage to her face and one eye.

Thom and his Brothers had seen the women fight and destroy the aliens, despite their injuries. Our men could not stand to see such women die from the Racks that lay in wait around the fighting. Thom's transport swooped in and loaded the women to bring them into the camp and safety.

The hall we were in exploded in dissension as the females were brought in and laid on warm slabs. The men and women we were healing could not decide if this was the right thing to do. Despite their injuries they sat up and argued. Thom had endangered the camp some said. He was following The Great Harmonious Spirit, others called. The three women just lay bleeding and looking around.

I watched the women closest to me as her head bled profusely. A large portion of her face appeared disfigured. I saw the metal sticking out from one eye and knew it needed prompt attention. Grabbing a pail and a fresh cloth, I approached her from her good side.

"Ma'm, my name is Ciara and I am from Earth. I only wish to help you heal. If you will let me help, you will live to fight another day. The planet cannot lose good fighters when we can prevent it. Allow me to clean your wound," I requested crawling up onto her slab.

The woman stared at me with her functional eye for a moment before agreeing.

Quickly, but diligently, I cleaned the wound. The rest of the room didn't matter as I did my job. Hopefully, they would have worked it out and a Healer would complete what I started. These women now knew where we were, so we might as well help them.

Everyone must have agreed. Tyle's young family had been left here to assist the Healers and provide protection inside. He and his Brothers came and placed a support under the wings of the unbeaded women. It made it easier for the women to lay on their backs as we worked on them.

The woman I was working on seemed surprised as the boys touched her to position her body. Tyle's family wasn't hesitant or fearful as they pushed the support beneath her wings. They instructed her how to move to help them and then moved on to their next chore. I could see the amazement in the woman's face, but she stayed silent.

A Healer I knew well appeared as I finished cleaning. He addressed the woman and explained what he would do. I knew this man. He was older and I'd found him to be quite particular, so I didn't leave and stayed in case he needed my help. I thought he would be aggravated if he had to ask for it later.

"Hold this, Ciara," he commanded suddenly.

I did as he asked and the woman stayed quiet beneath us.

"Good," he said, "now when I tell you, press here."

I found the activity nauseating as he fixed her face and then her eye. He removed the shrapnel with a variety of tools. Thankfully, my stomach minded itself and I didn't vomit. I just made a point to think of something else as he reattached the muscles of her face back into their rightful places. What was left of her skin, he pulled to cover most of the damage. Once he was done her face looked almost normal. He continued to work on the eye once the face was done.

"Cousin, you may keep sight in this eye," he said suddenly addressing the woman. "It may not have permanently damaged you. I am glad they brought you here. I am Rhane, born in the T'ylene mountains. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The woman was quiet for a moment before she spoke.

"Kana, from the T'yonin Mountains," she said. "My Sisters are from there as well."

I was shocked the woman could converse as we worked on her eye, but I had forgotten how strong these people were. Bowing to pain would be dishonorable for anyone.

"Beautiful mountains I have heard," Rhane, the Healer, said starting to stitch the edge of the eye with nearly invisible thread, "I have never been so far myself. My Brother was born near there, but he was too young to remember the place. We were raised by our male breeders here in this mountain. My Brother's female breeder brings us tanka fruit when she visits. It is our favorite."

The woman seemed confused by the conversation. I'm sure it's the first time a man had addressed her with such informality and lack of fear.

"Ciara," Rhane said to me, "press here...a little harder...good now hold that pressure until I tell you."

Rhane backed away and came to stand on Kana's good side. "I need to help my Brother with your Sister's injuries," he said. "Rest here and let Ciara hold the pressure. I'll be back."

The Healer left quickly to go assist his Brother and I was left with a very confused looking woman. I shifted slightly and my belly caught her gaze.

"Are you continuing the task Nu-reeh set for you? I see you are carrying another child for them, slave," she addressed me.

I didn't have time to answer as a beaded woman on a slab just next to us growled a response.

"There are no slaves in this camp, cousin. We saved you, so respect our ways. That is a free creature that chose to help you," she said harshly.

The new woman, Kana, seemed taken aback for a moment before rephrasing the question.

"You are carrying a child, human. Do they force you to breed as well?"

The woman behind me grunted, but I spoke quickly.

"I love my men, Kana," I said politely. "It is a pleasure me for to carry their offspring. None of us here is forced to breed, we all do so because we choose it."

Kana looked quizzically at me with her good eye as Rhane reappeared. The Healer removed the cloth I was using for pressure and examined his work. He wrapped her head and facial wounds before addressing her.

"Lay still, Kana," he commanded sternly. "If you sit up or walk the stitching will not hold. Stay here until the sun rises, your wounds should be better by then. I judge you will be well enough to go out and fight in two or three day cycles. I am placing a cloth over your eyes. I wish you to keep them closed as much as you can. Not moving your eyes will assist in the healing."

Kana bristled visibly at what was certainly a command, but she didn't speak. The Healer tied a band around her head. I saw two patches set in the fabric, those were fitted over her eyes. She would be blind with this on, but again, she did not complain.

"Your Sisters will also live," Rhane commented. "They will take longer to heal. You all will fight for us again, just let us make you stronger first."

Rhane left abruptly as more women were brought into the hall. I gathered up what had been left around Kana and tided up her slab a bit.

"Would you like a drink of water?" I asked her suddenly.

She paused a moment before answering. "Yes, that would be good."

I got the jug and brought it to her. She opened her mouth and I poured in a good portion. Kana swallowed and we repeated several times. Once she was done, she requested water for her Sisters.

It was a strange and taxing day. I worked as hard as I could, just like my family was doing. Our jobs were markedly different though.

Damien and his Brothers were not fighting like they had the day before. Much of the battle was happening far above them. They seemed to only be doing the cleanup work on the aliens the women shot out of the sky. It gave the men from the camps a chance to check the village and the compound.

My connection to my men faded in and out. Through Evan, I still felt Jonathan, he was alive, but I didn't know anything else. It was frustrating, but I just focused on praying for my son in the few moments I had to myself.

Hannah and Kennedy sent brief messages to me. They were staying near where my men were stationed. Everyone was working hard to keep the men in the Barnas compound safe.

Through the rest of the day and the next night we were very busy. Rose and I were sent to our rooms to sleep at the dawn of the next day. We were both so tired, I barely remembered the strange dreams I had of my men. They were soaring in a tight space with little light, but I felt no fear, only a strong concern. It was a strange dream and I could not place its significance.

Rose and I woke to a big commotion. I had no conception of time, but Rose did. She guessed it about midday and said we should get back to work.

We ran out and toward the healing area. Only half of the torches were lit and the skylight above was long ago closed. The passageway inside the mountain was dark and foreboding, much more so than it had been. I laid a hand on my gun and removed it from it's holster. Something felt wrong.

The yelling started and Rose and I froze. Several gun blasts echoed in the passageway. They seemed to be coming from the main entrance. My senses sharpened and I saw the world as my family did.

Rose turned and faced away from me, so we were back to back. We wanted to move closer to the wall, but before we could a creature rose from it's hiding place behind one of the fire pits.

A tongue flicked out past the wicked teeth in the creature's snout and I met the yellow stare of the strangest thing I'd ever seen. It dwarfed me significantly, but it was not very wide. Long arms with sharp tips on the end slid out of it's skin and rose into the air like weapons. The creature seemed to move even when standing still. Whatever it was almost vibrated with some half contained energy.

Rose and I stood our ground as it suddenly appeared to the right of where it had been. Now I could see all of it. The thick snake like body of it's lower half slithered with amazing speed. It shifted and swayed before rapidly moving left and forward.

It was coming for us and quickly. The thing knew it was no longer hidden, but it seemed to smirk at the knowledge. I couldn't speak its language, but the sounds coming from it sounded as though it knew it had won already.

The weapon in my hands went off and I just missed the creature as it slid right and then forward. My blast hit the wall behind the thing. It moved so fast, I'd never be able to hit it where it stood.

Try to hit where it is going to be, I suddenly realized.

My next blast was a success. The thing moved left, as I thought it would, before coming forward. The gun I carried tore off a huge chunk of its side. The thing screamed and made a desperate attempt to dart into a room off the main hall.

A woman dropped from above quite suddenly. She landed between me and the aggressor. Her talons made short work of the damaged creature.