The Preacher Man

Abigail nodded, scanned the area, then flipped her safety on and re-holstered her pistol. Very professional, I was so proud of her. She looked at me with a very thoughtful expression as I holstered my own weapon. "Ilias, I used to think of wild animals as the Holy's creatures, deserving of compassion and respect. But I have to admit, this particular bear was one nasty piece of work! Did you see how he was intentionally terrorizing the woman?"

Our rescued woman was just joining us, her eyes riveted to the enormous corpse floating in the lake. I nodded to Abigail. "And that's not all. He was one smart bear, crafty. He was heading straight for our packs. We got here just in time, unbelievably lucky. Just another few seconds and we would have lost our gear. And we still have eighty kilometers to go."

I turned to our new acquaintance. "Hello. I am Ilias, this is my wife Abigail. You may speak freely. Ask any questions you want. What's your name?"

The woman struggled to find her voice. "Thank you Sire," she said at last. "My name is Michal. Sire, my husband is dead."

I nodded, trying to be sympathetic, but unsure of the emotions Michal was feeling. Regardless of the actual date, her memory would be that yesterday in a cathedral she got her nuptial injections, and then she woke up this morning with a marriage book telling her the man sleeping with her was her husband.

"Do you know how long you've been out here?" I asked.

Michal shook her head. "No Sire. There was no mention of it in my book." She paused for a moment. "Sire, my book said we lived in Cairo, and that my husband's name is... was Sofian. He was a commander, CL-8, a Priest." She looked very timid. "Sire?"

I nodded. "Yes? It's okay to speak freely. Ask anything you want."

"Yes, sincere gratitude. Sire? Can I walk to Cairo? Is it possible?"

I sighed. "Cairo is about ninety kilometers north from here. My wife and I are on a survival test too. We're heading south to Jericho." I thought for a moment. It hadn't occurred to me yet what an awful position this woman was in. There's a firm policy about no rescues for survival tests, and there was no legal reason why Michal would be accepted if she returned with us to Jericho. The world's attitude was to let her join in the failure of her dead husband.

Michal seemed to realize this too. She cried out and then quickly sat down and took off her boots and socks. I was a bit confused. I dimly noted that at least she had on proper hiking boots. Wearing a burqa out here was a complete joke. Sofian must have been a very devote Priest to make such a choice, and an even bigger fool.

Barefoot, Michal stood up and then quickly shred her burqa, halter bodice and panties. Stripped naked, she knelt before me and cried out, "Sire! I plead my bondage!"

She then stood up and faced me, legs apart in a moderate squat and head thrown back as required by custom and by law. Eyes closed, she awaited my decision.

I stared at her. Of course! It was her one chance for survival. Michal was asking me to take her as my wife. It was the only way for me to have legal cover and bring her back with us to Jericho.

I turned and stared at Abigail. Abby's eyes were full of compassion, and standing at the side, she had also noticed something about Michal's hanging belly when the woman had knelt before me.

"Michal," asked Abigail quietly. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

"Yes mistress; my marriage book says fourth month." Michal stood there trembling, and I didn't think it was from the cold. She had just placed the fate of her life in my hands.

I'm not sure how such a cruel tradition ever got started, but the Holy texts mention Bel'dar himself was much sought after as a husband, and hundreds of women in his lifetime pleaded before him for marriage. Bel'dar most often found such pleas insulting, and it is written he was particularly adept with breaking boards with a knife-hand karate strike. That was why Michal was exposing her throat to me now with her thrown-back head. She was providing me the required opportunity to strike if I judged her plea insulting.

I looked at Abigail again, my eyes questioning. Abigail seemed surprised but grateful that I was seeking her counsel and feelings. She gave me a quick nod of her head.

I walked up to Michal and in tradition placed one hand on her neck, cupping her throat in my palm. My other hand was supposed to grab her groin, but I felt somewhat embarrassed about doing that so I modified the ceremony and instead pressed the back of my hand lightly against her pubic fur. "I take your bondage," I said, giving the formal response of accepting Michal's marriage proposal.

Her eyes popped open in absolute amazement. "You do?!" she exclaimed, completely forgetting to add the title Sire.

"Yes," I smiled. "Now please wife, get dressed." I stood there for a moment trying to look supportive. Michal was staring at me with a look of pure gratitude.

After she dressed, I motioned for us to hike back into the ravine. We were standing amid the ruined campsite a couple minutes later.

Abigail looked about at the carnage. "You want to try to salvage anything?"

"Yeah, it probably makes sense. Certainly those extra food bars there, one of these backpacks looks undamaged too... Michal, you don't have to touch the corpse, but see if Sofian was carrying a spare parka for himself, or at least some thermal leggings. We have to get you out of that burqa."

The first thing I went for was Sofian's sensor battery. His charge was almost as full as mine was. I concluded he was most probably dropped off here at 4 PM yesterday, the same test as mine, only different townships. I wired his battery to charge mine. The readout said it would take about thirty minutes.

I looked at my watch and then called out, "Thirty-five more minutes folks! Let's be ready to depart by 8:15."

Abigail was busy finding good food bars and packing them in the undamaged backpack. She looked up and nodded. Michal was standing near the site of the ruined tent. She had found her marriage book and was looking a little bewildered. I went over and gave her a hug. She gave a small gasp and then hugged me fiercely back, burrowing her face in my chest.

"Thank you Sire!" she whispered. "As a girl, I dreamed of having a kind husband!"

"As a girl..." I whispered back. "How old are you?"

There was a pause. "I was born on Judgment 7, 8208 Sire."

It was my turn to pause. I realized Michal was answering my question the best she could. "Sofian didn't tell you, did he, not even something as simple as that? It's November 26, 8235 now. Oh, when we're alone, no other males around, call me Ilias."

"Thank you Ilias... So I'm 27 now."

I nodded. "Abigail and I are both 21."

"Why, thank you Ilias! You are indeed kind!"

I was puzzled for a moment, and then I realized Michal's sad perspective. With no memory, males wouldn't bother to her to tell her things. This entire day and everything in it would completely disappear from her memory. Males wouldn't bother to give her the joy of knowledge just for the moment.

We were still hugging. I felt Michal stiffen in my arms. "Ilias?" She sounded very timid.

"Uh huh?"

"I don't understand. Your class emblem is CL-13. I thought you must be much older. How is this possible?"

"Uh, I'll leave a note about this in your marriage book." I went on to explain my ride on the Lion. Michal looked fascinated.

"My gosh! I'm so fortunate! A powerful husband, and a kind one too! Ilias, I'll be the very best wife I can be for you. If you'll permit me, I'll write down my promise in my marriage book."

"Uh... Sure, write any notes you want. Keep a diary if you want."

"What?! Really?! Thank you husband!" Michal gave me one last fierce hug and then went back to scavenging the camp site, her gait and posture bursting with happiness.

As my new bride got back to work, I pondered the simple gift I had just given, almost without thought. Letting Michal write notes freely from one day to the next would be a tremendous benefit to her, letting her keep a record of the emotions and values she develops during the days. It was perhaps a sad, quiet echo of a human's normal memory, but still infinitely better than nothing.

We were ready to leave on time. Michal did find some spare outer clothing of Sofian's, first-rate stuff too, but it seemed Sofian's height was about 185 cm, 20 cm taller than Michal, but only 10 cm taller than Abigail. Abigail made the offer to take Sofian's parka and outer leggings, and give her outer clothes to Michal, and Michal gratefully accepted.

By 8:15 AM we were ready to go, but I decided on a small change in plans. I lugged several of the heavy rifle clips to the lakeside, with Abigail carrying the rifle. We practiced for over an hour, loading, sighting, and firing the weapon. It was a perfect opportunity to let Abby practice with a rifle, one not soon to come again.

Abigail wasn't a bad shot, not the natural shooter she is with the pistol, but not bad. Michal looked on totally perplexed with our behavior but politely quiet, happy to be given the job as an extra lookout for more bears. I wasn't worried about more "visitors" soon. A pack the size we just destroyed, its territory must have been enormous, perhaps two hundred square kilometers. I was sure we wouldn't be seeing any more bears until we hiked out of their range.

Our last act at the campsite was to hook up a "capitulation" beacon to Sofian's battery. It's not a distress call, but a signal to come pick up the gear and the body. It's a funny thing to carry, but it only weighs fifty grams. All test takers are required to turn it in at the end of their hike, or go back out to find it. No exceptions. I keep mine in an inner pocket and sleep with it.

After I activated the beacon, it was time to go. Michal had the lightest backpack, mostly the extra foodstuffs. With her pregnancy, both Abigail and I were feeling very protective of her. At 9:30 AM, we started to hike south from the campsite in very high spirits.

Chapter 14. Where the Deer and the Antelope Play

We walked single file along the lakeside through the forest, about five-meter separations between us. I took the point, then unarmed Michal in the middle, and finally Abigail in the rear. The weather was very nice, bright sunshine and a temperature several degrees C above freezing. The thin layer of snow beneath our feet softened and began to disappear.

About forty-five minutes into our hike, we had traveled a full three kilometers. Michal turned back and smiled at Abigail. "Growing up, I was 0.1. How about you?"

Michal had just informed us she was in the 67% to 88% range of all the women graded for marriage, a very respectable achievement. It's not a bad ranking system, if you have to rank. Two-thirds of the population is graded as 0.0. There's no disgrace in being in such a large majority.

Abigail grinned and replied, "I was graded 0.9."

Michal gulped. "Really?! Wow! I thought..." She was silent for a moment and then turned to me. "Forgive me Ilias," she whispered. "I meant no disrespect."

I understood Michal's concern and desire to apologize. Girls graded 0.9 are usually snatched up by Royalty, if not Ruling Royalty. It's very rare for someone of mere Upper Commander rank (CL-12 to CL-15) to have the opportunity to marry a 0.9. The offhand comment Michal almost made would be taken by many commanders as a slur demeaning their rank.

I reassured my new wife. "Oh, I know. It's okay." We were coming into a small clearing, a perfect spot for a rest break. Across the field a large elk picked up its head and stared at us.

Michal gasped in pure delight at the sight. "Look!" she cried pointing. "It's so beautiful!"

We rested for five minutes, and then I spent the next ten drilling Abigail on loading, sighting, and dropping into a firing stance in one easy motion. Abby was getting very good at it. I concentrated on teaching the ejection of the pistol and speed loading a fresh clip. I wanted the motion to become automatic for Abigail, something she would do smoothly and correctly in one easy motion, even in an extremely stressful situation. Michal looked on as she did with the rifle training, bewildered but determined to remain politely quiet.

At 10:30 AM we continued our hike. I took the lead again. My plan was to use this single-file mode all the way to Jericho. The day was warming up nicely, the air was sweet and clean, and the last of the snow evaporating. I think all of us were enjoying the exercise, both for the simple pleasure of working our muscles, and also for relieving the stress of the morning's battle. I called out happily to my first wife, "Abby, why don't you tell Michal how I managed to capture you!"

Michal listened in fascination as Abigail described our adventure in Qataban. And then I filled her in a little on the history of what has happening in the world over the last six years. Michal had tears of gratitude in her eyes when I finished. She started telling us a little of her own life. She grew up in the monastery at Al Maqwa, at 34 o 53' S, 14 o 43' E, the ancient site of Montevideo, Uruguay. I've never been there, but it has a reputation of being very beautiful, one of the first townships ever founded, and like Hadramawt one of the major fishing and agricultural centers of the world.

Michal asked for my approval, and then told us what was written about Sofian in her marriage book. He grew up in the capital Bandar Arenas, spent over a century as a laborer and manager Priest there, and had passed his gate to CL-8 just this year. He was then transferred to Cairo. He also took his class promotion as an opportunity to enlist as an officer in the Holy militia.

I shook my head in disgust. "I could almost have guessed as much. He had no previous experience with survival training, outside of what he got as a boy at Bandar Arenas. And I've heard some things about capital monasteries..." I paused for a few seconds. "Well... Michal, what was your morning like? Before the attack I mean."

She was quiet for a moment. "Ilias, do you want full details? I mean, do you want me to be explicit, even if they're disrespectful to Sofian?"

"Sure. I promise Michal, I won't take offense."

"Okay. He woke me at 5 AM. He did give me enough time to read my marriage book, and then we went straight to copulation. Very hard stokes, for about half an hour. He liked to slam into me, hammer my uterus on his downstrokes."

"Michal, are you okay now?"

"Yes. I guess my body is used to it. I still feel it where he gripped my hips though. He locked me very tight. Otherwise... I'm okay."

"Michal, don't try to be brave about this. Really okay?"

"Yes, thank you Ilias, really okay. After that it was 6 AM and we started praying."

"What?!" I was so shocked I shouted without thinking. "Praying?!"

"Yes! Sofian's plan was to hike eight hours between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM. He also wanted to keep the full eight-hour Prayer cycle."

I turned around and stared at Michal in disbelief.

She looked back. "I know, I know! It scared me too! But it wasn't my place to protest! He hurt me as he fucked me, and then it was my job to pray silently with him for four hours!" She paused for a moment, calming herself. "His Prayer of Ascension was okay I guess, a bit complicated. My mind started to wander. And then for the Purification hour he chose Yoga meditation."

That was the last straw. I had to burst out laughing. "His eyes were closed as the bears moved in?!"

"Yes. I was ordered to close mine too. Under the burqa, I couldn't see much away. I just knelt there and froze. Sofian was trusting the proximity detectors. Ilias?"

"Yeah?"

"The bears were on top of him before he realized it. I heard a growl and looked up. Sofian was just grabbing his rifle when a bear bit his shoulder. He fired a few rounds into the ground, and then..." The memory brought a sharp gasp from Michal. "...and then the bear tore his arm off! Ilias? Why didn't the proximity detectors warn us?"

I shook my head. Such stupidity! Unbelievable! I rolled my eyes at Michal. "I can guess! The bottom of a ravine is the worst possible place for a proximity setup. If the bears were moving slowly enough, the sensors might trigger yellow warning displays but not the red confirmations that would trigger the audio alarm. It depends on how sensitive he tuned the system."

Oh... okay..."

I shook my head. "I've heard stories of capital Priests like this before. They lead sheltered lives in the big city, get promoted without knowing... without having much common sense. And then they reach command rank and have the opportunity to transfer and be an officer in the Holy militia. Being in command, being able to order militia units, it has a certain appeal to some people. The military laborers and managers in the Priesthood have a few choice expressions for officers like that. I don't think I'll repeat them here!"

Michal nodded but didn't smile back. "And now I'm carrying Sofian's child. It's all that remains of him. I find myself wondering as we walk, whether I want it to be a girl or a boy. I can't decide..." She paused for a long moment before whispering, "Both seem sad..."

Her last mournful thought silenced us all for a while. I was feeling incredibly protective of Michal, even more than my desire to protect Abigail, and I realized with a start that I also felt very protective of the new life within Michal's womb. I walked in silence, scanning ahead for danger, but my thoughts were pulling me to explore my new emotions.

There are twenty-five million people in the world; infants, boys, girls, men, women, everybody. It's been that way for the last five thousand years. It's not officially part of the Book of Bel'dar, but unofficially it is held that he made a comment, shortly before he died, that he thought twenty-five million would be a good number of people for the Earth to have. Over time, the number became the official government target for the world's population.

I thought back to the latest census numbers I saw at the beginning of the year. At the start of Judgment, the total population was just a few hundred shy of 25,060,000. The next day, after all the culling of the three childhood gates, the number had dropped to just over 25,029,000.

By tradition, the average of those two numbers is what's compared to Bel'dar's desire for twenty-five million people. Within a 100,000 plus or minus, the government is neutral on the population issue, neither encouraging or discouraging reproduction, and it's been that way now since the year 3183, the last time the population was greater than 25,100,000.

There's no particular social reason to have children. Parental relationships don't exist in the world's unified society. Scholars within the Priesthood theorize there's a basic primitive drive within the human brain to reproduce, and that's what is keeping the population going.

And the time passed. We kept up our initial pace for the next three hours, hiking three kilometers in forty-five minutes, and then resting for fifteen. We found no more clearings, but every rest period I still drilled Abigail with the pistol, throwing in four or five practice shots of the non-exploding darts at the end of each drill. Her aim was fantastic! With a little more practice, she could be a pistol sharpshooter in the Holy militia... except for her gender of course.

At about 1:10 PM we came to a small bushy area by the shore. It was our first time out of the deep forest in three hours. I turned around and saw Michal looking at me with a questioning stare. I nodded back, and she unslung her pack and sat down down on a rock and stretched her legs. After a moment she reached into her backpack and started munching on one of our numerous extra food bars.