Retaliation by Bill McCay

since our people were brought to Abydos,” Nakeer said.
    “Always before, our people knew their roles. Now my people desert their fields. They come to Nagada, where they hear the streets are paved with these.”
    He produced a Susan B. Anthony dollar from inside his robes and held it out. “These are ill things. They make my people mad. In the days of Ra, we provided supplies for Nagada because of the fear of the Horus guards. If discrepancies were found between harvest and what was sent, a settlement suffered.
    Even so, we usually managed to hold aside a little of the best for ourselves.” Nakeer scowled, looking like the villain in a Foreign Legion movie. “Then the strangers came through the StarGate, offering these coins. Instead of supplying Nagada, the nearby farmers began selling all their crops and buying from the outlying communities. Then traders from Nagada came traveling, also bear-ing these coins. They bought up more crops. What we would have bartered or been forced to provide, we sold. There are towns where people are starving because they sold all their food-even their private supplies.” Pinning Kasuf with his eyes, Nakeer went on. “Yet with all this abundance of foodstuffs sold, our com-munities have received a flood of wanderers from Na-gada. These folks say they’re starving and have traveled to where food is to be found. Where are our crops going, Kasuf of Nagada?” “Your harvests have not been appearing in the Council granaries, that I know,” Kasuf said. “These traders you speak of-they’re trying to exploit the coinage our Earth friends brought to us. They come to your communes to seek cheap food to sell dearly in Nagada. They store the grain to keep your payments low and our prices high.”
    He shrugged. “I argue with my fellow Elders, but for different reasons we cannot come to an agreement on what to do.”
    Nakeer nodded grimly. “I have the same problems with my fellows. The Elders whose towns are getting fat from this trade won’t vote to regulate it. And I have no desire to impose a settlement by destroying those towns.” “The same holds true in Nagada,” Kasuf admitted. “I believe that our new lives of freedom call for new ways-like doing business with these coins. Yet I fear that the new ways will cause disagreements among the people and result in fighting.”
    “We’ve been able to keep the peace in our places,” Nakeer said. “But not all those leaving the city have joined us in the fields. Some skulk in the dead lands and seize what they want. Caravans have been at-tacked in the desert for the food they carry.”
    He turned to Daniel. “And some of those raiders were using the weapons of your people.”
    “We can’t take the blame for that,” Daniel objected. There’s a battlefield full of lost weapons, which any-one could pick up.”
    “But most of those weapons have gone to Nagada,” Nakeer said. “Skaara son of Kasuf has organized his own little army-“ “To fight for all of us who live on Abydos!” Kasuf flared. “Just as we battled against Ra and Hathor when they oppressed us. You yourself admit that the farmers were able to hold back something for them-selves. But every khar of crystal we dug up was earned with our blood. We were the target of the udajeets- our people died fighting the Horus guards.”
    “A fine speech,” Nakeer retorted. “But there were many farmer folk conscripted to work in the mines.
    They fought and died, too. And I will not have them die so that Nagada will dictate the future with guns and the aid of the Urt-Earthmen. We fought so that we would no longer be slaves of Ra. Nor will we be-come slaves of Nagada.”
    Kasuf frowned. “I have no need of slaves. What is it you want, Nakeer?” “My folk need the new weapons. And we need to be able to speak with the strangers from the gate.” Na-keer’s voice was flat, outlining his bargaining position.
    Kasuf’s face grew intent. “Skaara has talked about how his new