Haydn of Mars

Haydn of Mars by Al Sarrantonio Page A

Book: Haydn of Mars by Al Sarrantonio Read Free Book Online
Authors: Al Sarrantonio
Tags: Science-Fiction
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then the girl suddenly ordered, “Get in!” I was shoved ahead of her into a dark opening.
    Like a crab, she scuttled in after me and then reached up and pulled something flat and wide over the opening.   Huffing with the effort, she crouched down beside me and hissed into my ear, “Say nothing!”
    I nodded in the darkness, and we sat and waited.
    It was not a long wait.   Above there was a sound like thunder on wheels, and many barking voices.   The sounds became impossibly loud.
    Suddenly I heard someone shout just over our heads: “Damn these sand rats!   Where in hell did they go?”
    â€œI saw them from above, sir.   They were right here.”
    â€œIf they were right here where did they get to?   Did they melt into thin air?”
    â€œWe’ll keep looking, sir.”
    â€œYou do that.   Did we get anything out of the prisoner?”
    I felt my companion stiffen beside me.
    â€œNothing.   You know the way these creatures are.   She died without speaking.”
    â€œDamn!”
    The sounds, the figures, moved off.
    My companion was shivering, weeping softly beside me.
    In the dark, while we waited, without speaking, I put my arm around her, and pulled her close.
    Â 
    I must have slept.   Three taps on the trap door above us woke me.
    My companion was already awake.   She sprung up, and instantly pulled the door away, revealing bright sun.
    â€œThey are gone,” the Mighty reported.   His face was grim.
    â€œEna!” my companion cried, climbing out of the hole and falling into the Mighty’s arms.
    Idly he held and petted her.   “Yes,” he said.   “She is being prepared for burial.   It is almost Noon.   Come, Myra.”
    Myra collapsed.   “Ena!   Ena!”
    The Mighty supported her, and looked down at me as I climbed from the hole.   “They caught her as she was making her way to her own hiding place,” he said. “Rather than reveal the spot, she let them take her.   They burned her, and then they put her eyes out.   And she said nothing .”   There was a mixture of grief and pride in his voice.  
    â€œOh, Ena!” Myra cried.
    I stood, and took the weight of Myra from the Mighty.   “Let me help her,” I said.
    He nodded, and he looked at me in a new way.   “I am beginning to think that taking you was very bad luck for me,” he said.   “This is nothing against you, you must understand.   But there are bigger things going on on this world of ours than I imagined.”
    â€œYou are right,” I said.
    â€œWe will talk,” he said, and walked away, leaving the care of his harem girl to me.
    Â 
    Ena was buried at precisely noon, within the circle the remaining caravan members made.
    I was not allowed to help form the circle, but stood just behind the Mighty, who explained everything to me.
    â€œThe body is purified by the Sun.   The Sun is a good god to be buried under.   He will protect her in the next world.   The Moons are not so favorable, because they can be tricksters.   It was a good omen for her to die when she did.”
    The body lay sewn into a sack made of tent cloth next to a dug hole.   After prayers Myra left the circle and anointed the sack with oils and aromatic herbs.   Some of the odors wafted to my nostrils: jasmine and oleander, and the heavily rich perfume of cactus oil.
    After Myra’s ministrations, there followed what I at first thought was an extended moment of silence, but I saw that each of the members of the circle were mumbling under their breaths.
    When it was finished, the Mighty, the last to stop speaking in a low voice, explained to me, “The announcing of her sins.”   I saw him give a slight, knowing smile.   “She had many.”
    Then the members of the circle collapsed upon the body, and lowered it into the ground, covering it and smoothing

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