Not Quite a White Knight Bk. 03 Pt. 05

When my people arrived on these shores, land was held by possession. The Tribe held the land and kept it safe. The Colony did the same. But the Five reminded us, we were not in that world anymore. If the Five had come and the Patron fought them off, Peru would send a military forces, and those forces included people who did not see the difference between civilians and insurgents and criminal drug dealers who weren't keeping up on their bribes. They may be lousy soldiers, but with enough of them, supported by aircraft and heavy weapons, it would not really matter to the innocents. My people.

"There was a time when one could stay hidden. That is not possible any longer."

"So what are my people to do? Well, Marta saw me trained as a lawyer. It was a wise decision. You may know that in the US I go to work each day earning a living as a lawyer, a slimy LA corporate lawyer. America a complex society, and to live in a complex society with unreasonable people, as well as disagreements that are normal within any group of free individuals, we require laws. Some of those laws are ambiguous or in conflict so we also need courts, and the court decisions are, themselves, a type of law. We have created mountains of books to record these laws, and a special type of person, the lawyer, which all must turn to when we are confused about a law. It is a sad state. We hope the lawyer is knowledgeable and honest, but since no human is, that gets us to the 'slimy LA' part of my job. Funny thing is, one of our laws is that lawyers cannot be compelled to tell the truth; that makes it what we call 'a great racket.' Our firms clients pay us enough to be pretty open about it."

"Someday, if we do not prepare, the state will take this mountain and give it to some corporation because we have not bribed the lawyers enough. It will happen. As I see it the only way we can secure the land for ourselves is the modern way. By that I mean to do what a lawyer does... I will steal the land before somebody else does."

That drew a great laugh from the Patron. He saw this problem coming decades ago but saw no way out of it except to build up his forces. He had a deed signed by the Philip II of Spain, but he was pretty sure that Peru and the UN might not look kindly on those document, especially considering what happened to the people who were here first. So he asked the question he had wrestled with for five decades. The question any normal person, a non-lawyer, would ask. How, if nobody owned the land, how one could steal it?

I had the answer, lawyers are not normal people so we can answer such questions. "Why, by filling out a legal paper properly and recording it. That is harder when somebody owns the land and has their lawyer shout 'no' while filling out more legal papers, but for this land we can get there quickly, without an official owner. This is, after all, what lawyers are really for. Well, that and paying the recording fees required."

That handled part of the problem. Some of the groundwork was already being done in Lima. Next there was a thorny issue of who would live in the Tribe and the Colony versus who might live in America. First I sold the good stuff.

I started by going to the pictures of LA. After showing the Pablo, I showed a rendering of the 20-story apartment building I was planning next, I called in the "Escapade" for now. I planned 2 pools, a swimming pool and a diving well. I put up pictures of Cynthia and Kwool diving at the waterfall, twisting as they did so. "These were taken at the waterfall. Cynthia carries my child, she taught Kwool how to dive better, and Kwool taught her where to dive. Still, it is dangerous. These pools are very safe. For now, those cousins like Zar and Brisk who live with me stay at my house, which has an indoor pool."

The sight of all that free, close, beautiful blue water had a powerful effect on the tribe members. Water at this altitude is rare and precious, it must all be carried to the home. I gave Mer a signal to ask,. "Do the people living in these tall buildings have to go to the pools for their water? That looks like many stairs."

I anticipated this, the next slide was a kitchen sink with running water. The Tribe would be amazed. Then I explained express elevators. "In LA, most people with stairs use them only for exercise. They actually wear devices that count their steps each day. They are a strange people."

Next came pictures of my cars. I mentioned, "Nia is heavy with child, but Marta has seen that she knows how to drive. So Nia drives one of my cars to see her doctor every single week. The distance is about the same as the Colony from the Tribe. The drive takes her about 20 minutes because of traffic. 10 minutes at night or days with light traffic."

I knew the tribe would ask if I was going to change the governance of the people. In the tribe there was a lot of interest, the greatest concern was that I was going to be a dictator like the Patron, stripping the Council of power and demanding that they all more to LA. Of course, that was not going to happen.

"On the mountain, we have lived for several times as long as the US has existed. Yet, by the time I was seven, I knew most of my tribes laws. In part, this is because my people's laws are based on reason, and an understanding of what is good for the people. The basics of what was good then still apply today.

"There is some concern that as Chief I might, for instance, change the makeup or the power of the Council. But as I understand our laws, that is not one of the powers I would have as Chief. On the contrary, I feel the Council has done an exemplary job for the colony in many, many ways. Recent events have highlighted the failings of some individuals, but even here the majority of the Council responded for the good of the people once the facts were known. So you may be assured, the Council of elected women will remain with my blessing.

"Some have also expressed concern for the tribe's location, that I might order the movement of the tribe to LA. But as I understand the law, my obligation is to use my powers to protect our home, where I formed so many memories. You may be assured, I will make it my duty to keep our home, the home of our departed ancestors, available to my people. This I have promised my grandfathers.

"However, while my children will visit the Tribal lands, I must also say that they will not live in those lands. My children will have the benefits of modern life. I cannot bring those benefits to the mountain so I cannot allow my children to make their home on the mountain. Instead, I will make it so members of the Tribe can have the benefits of modern life. Let me explain.

"For starters, Nia's is a small woman, too small to marry on the mountain. But I expect her child will be 25% larger than the average child born on the mountain this year. To be honest, the tribe's average child weight, and mortality rates for both mother and child, are far higher than third world levels.

"Right now my grandfather is the only male in the Tribe over 50. Men often die in their 30's, they die at the highest rate in the civilized world, leaving far too many widows and children without fathers to guide them as teenagers. When the Spanish came, the average life in the lands south of the Rio Grande, before the plagues came, was 40 to 41 years. We are below that. Today, the average expected life in the US is over 76 years old. If childhood is 5 years, that means one in the US can enjoy life for TWICE as long as those natives before Columbus.

"Today, 100% of the tribe is at risk for type 2 diabetes, despite the low sugar, low carb diet. In addition to shortening life, diabetes can first take a limb, or eyesight, or cause pain, or make a husband and wife unable to feel the hand of the other. In the US the rate is about 10%.

"We know in the US obesity is an epidemic because tasty food is so plentiful and easy and cheap. Here we have a poor diet, and we work half our waking hours laboring on food and drink. We know that we are in great shape because of a lifetime of physical exercise. So how can those health numbers be so bad?

"There are two reasons: medical care and genetics. Bringing modern medical care to my people will be a priority for me, but no matter what the best I can do is a fraction of what the poor in the US get.

"The problem of genetics is not mine to fix.

"Diabetes is a genetic scourge. The Council requires marriage between people based on visible favorable genetic factors and genetic distance. This was wise when our fear was the Incas. But by it's nature, that means we continued reinforcing the invisible undesirable genetic factors we don't see - like diabetes. So despite our exercise and good diet, our arranged marriages are killing men, women and children early, just like it did for the royal families of Europe. We arrange the marriages with an eye towards genetic diversity, but we cannot see what is invisible but deadly. In the past the Tribe accepted health orphans to strengthen our blood, just as the Bishop built his support in orphanages before he founded the Colony. It is a wonderful and humane solution. But the Tribe had to stop when the world changed. Since then our population is decreasing, we can only go so far. I leave that question to the council to discuss as you elect new members. I will not force a change... but I will point to an easy solution... down the mountain and in LA." At that I put up the picture of the new apartment building.

"That leaves one thorny issue. In the Tribe, men accept that women make the choices of sexual partners, and all accept, like the Amazon natives and the Incas, that sex must wait until the proper age. Peer pressure makes it so. I assure you, the opposite, in every way, is true in LA. Here, sex is to create children. There, sex is for fun, in all perverse varieties, and one must accept all that in great billboards and signs that line streets. Young females are tempted at every turn by the men who would use them. Babies, once conceived, are murdered inside their mothers, because the law says only the mother has a choice to kill her child on demand. The city and life in it corrupts youth, especially young females where sex and desire start before their brain can deal with it. What law there is stands in opposition to the corruption, but the law is like an attack sheep... it cannot do what is asked when the jaguar comes and strikes.

"I hope my grandfather lives many more years, being our Chief. But if the people are to make choices as families, as I think they must, they cannot make those choices without the tools. I will build a home in LA for those who want it. I will fight to hold the mountain, for any who wish to stay or to return. But I suggest that the young start to learn Spanish and English, both reading and speaking. Also, people like Kwool have set the example in learning other valuable skills, which all start with a basic education.

For the colony I had one additional comment. "Right now we sustain ourselves and our life as we did 400 year ago. However, all the modern aspects of life, like plumbing with clean water, and flying to hospitals when sick, and defending ourselves... these all come from the massive illegal demand for cocaine and the other drugs we sell. But while the demand is great, the resistance is also great. Governments will not allow the cocaine trade to continue, they will continue to try to eliminate it. That has already changed, since my father's time. It will be expensive, but they will pay the price. We know this. So we must find another source of income. For that, we will probably have to explore and mine one of these mountains. Another one of my priorities will be to find that income source in the land I will steal. Maybe lithium. Maybe selenium. Maybe rare earths. Maybe something else. But what we will find, where we will find it, and what it will cost us in terms of our homes? These are all uncertain.

That was the end of what I would talk about. I did have one other suggestion for the Patron and the Chief. "For the learning, and transition to the US, we will need a place for Tribal members to live in the Colony." My suggestions were something like motel rooms in a strip of or a circle, perhaps with some added meeting rooms. Some experience with modern plumbing would open a lot of tribal eyes. Electricity and internet connections would open minds. The construction work could be divided between the Tribe and the Colony.

-

We had supper brought to the room, they wanted to talk about my ideas while they were fresh. Both Grandfathers thought I had good ideas for the future. They expected that there would be some immediate movement "down the mountain" to work on language skills. The main concern was too many, too fast.

My suggestion was the the elections of council members was a priority, as well as taking care of the Five. For the election, I wanted the entire Tribe engaged, and that was not going to happen if people were focused on moving. My suggestion for forward movement was to start taking children under 12, alternating one week at the Colony then a week on the Mountain, while they learned the language. Kids could spend the weekends back on the mountain with their families, practicing what they learned.

As for deadlines and priorities, let the Council do it, that was why they were elected.

The Chief mentioned a marriage was arranged and was supposed to occur the last week of August. The Chief and Marta would talk to the couple and might suggest a step back there.

Marta said that some quick Tribe-Colony romances might form, if a couple left the Mountain they came under the control of the local Tribal leader for permission to marry. For example, Samantha and Qwit were going to marry with my permission as the LA Tribal Leader.

I did not object to Tribe-Colony marriages, but I said that to slow any quickie arrangements, we might add a language requirement, so the couple could talk to each other and the neighbors.

-

Chapter 38. Southern Stars

When we were done with the dinner and discussion I grabbed Gracie and a pack from the kitchen and we left the house for a walk along the river. "It is amazing how quiet it is," she said as we walked along. "I have never known such a place."

It was not completely silent, people had their windows open and were talking at supper. But in the cities large and small, especially those like LA and Detroit, there are always highway sounds, multiple interstate highways used 24/7 unless you are off-road someplace in the hills.

In a few minutes we were at the boathouse. I opened a door and there was our ride for the night, and real old-fashioned jeep that looked to be from about 1940. There were two seats in front and a wooden deck mounted above where the back seats usually were. The flat windshield was folded down on the hood, and there was a barebones roll-cage around the seats with lights on the top bar. I pulled off the tarp that kept dust off the seats.

"The summer when I was 12 I wanted a noisy go-cart so I could drive around the town like a spoiled kid. My uncle Will suggested that, instead of being a nuisance and scaring the livestock for something that would only last a year or two, maybe I would like to build something and learn some skills like welding. That was a better idea, so we built this. It was a kit from a mail-order surplus store."

"I thought gas was rare and hard to get around here."

"Oh, it is. So this is not gas-powered. Put this on." I gave her a helmet and grabbed one for myself. They had built-in headsets. The thing was, her helmet had a flip down face-shield or visor, like a motorcycle helmet. When she was strapped in and plugged in I flipped down her visor. It was opaque and I locked it down so she could see nothing. She complained but I started the lights and drove off. "I have to keep both hands on the wheel, so your visor stays down, but there isn't much to see in the dark."

"How can you see?"

"The lights are on... but all I need to see in the road."

Of course she squawked, but she was impressed by the fact we were moving, but there were no motor noises.

"As I said, it was a learning project. We had all these used car batteries and stuffed the frame full of them. That was a lot of amps. There is one small electric motor, only a couple dozen horsepower. The trick was the throttle, Walter let me burn out about a dozen designs I tried until I had one that works. I wound the rheostat myself. No big deal, but I learned a lot."

"When, exactly, did you take your first terrified woman as a victim?"

"The day I finished... after I got going on the work I really designed it with the idea of putting that helmet on her and driving her around. She was game. We had a great time. I took her where I am taking you, only it was during the day."

"I know what you do in bed with your mother - we practice together. At your destination did you keep your clothes on?"

"I was 12! So we just had a picnic. But you? I plan to have you under the stars."

"Aren't there... animals?"

"Yeah... you might consider a night something with a little extra. What did you have in mind? Monkey? Ram? I have read that some ladies like dogs..."

"It seems I have no choice, Batman. Have your way with me. Then... have you ever seen 'Cat People,' with that Kinski girl?"

"Yes. Good movie. Great actress in the part."

"I was thinking of the Cat part."

We slowed down as I navigated for a bit. In total the trip was about 15 minutes. When we got to the spot I started to unstrap her from the jeep. As long as I was at it I also removed her outfit, a little combination of shorts and shirt, like a jumpsuit but all short limbs and light fabric. I left the helmet alone. I could not help kissing her nipples as I revealed each one. Also her ribs, belly button, etc. She did not struggle, but she wiggled and giggled a little.

"Good girl, no underwear," I said as got to that point.

"I figured that if I was going to be eaten by a panther, why mess him or her up with underwear."

I set her down on a blanket from the bag.

"I can assure you, no panther is going to eat you," I said. I admit I sounded smug.

"How can... My, that feels good... how can you be so sure?" she asked as I lightly explored her pussy with my fingers. She was wet, and maybe a little open. Self-service possibly? I could not watch while driving.

I got over her in the missionary position, but did not enter. She still had her helmet and visor on.

"Because there are no panthers. I mean, no great cat panthers, there is the football team, but they hardly count."

"Of course there are panthers... I have seen lots of pictures... and there was the movie, 'Cat People' where they had a panther."

"Interesting fact..." I said, wanting to keep her going and distracted until the perfect moment. So I started to finger her, opening her up as I talked. She helped and like a good girl, did not try to remove the helmet. "...the term 'panthera' is used for the genus of 'great cats' or 'howling cats' which includes the tiger, lion, leopard, jaguar, and snow leopard. It has to do with the throat, a tiger can be heard miles away. Interestingly the snow leopard can't howl, it has the basic equipment but lacks a extra part. Notice, no panther in the group. You can't be eaten by what doesn't exist... stupid football team mascots notwithstanding."

"What about mountain lions? And the other cat... cheetah?"

"A related but distinct species, different throat. Mountain lions are also called pumas, and are not restricted to mountains."

"So, no panthers?"

"In Florida, what is called a panther is a puma. In Africa and Asia a panther is a leopard, but if he his black it is just a variation of spots that you can't see."

"What about here, South America?"