I awoke from my nap to a great deal of drama going out outside the tent. I could hear horses arriving, and people talking in raised voices, though I still did not know what they were staying as the UT was stuck on 3%. I got quickly to my feet to see what was going on, but before going to look I thought I had better put some clothing on. My fingers moved to the wardrobe collar and paused there on the golden finish for several seconds while I put the final touches on what I should wear in my mind's eye.
A few quick taps on the collar and those little wonderful wardrobe nano balls were rolling quickly across my skin leaving me standing in a thin tanned hide skirt from my waste to the middle of my thigh, topped off with a matching halter top, and matching skin tight moccasins rising up my lower leg to just below the knee. Given the ever loudening commotion outside, I thought it best to put on something that I could run or fight in depending on... well, you know how things can spin out of control.
Quickly I fixed my hair into a long thick fishbone braid, then wound it up tightly into a bun on the back of my head and pinned it there with two 4 inch black steel spikes. Into the inside hem of each moccasin I slipped small star shaped blades in the form of a multi pointed star. The sharp black metal weapons are perfect for throwing or slicing at a sensitive area in close in combat. I was still not sure at what was happening outside, I would have preferred a sword but that was out of the question given that I just met these folks.
Outside I recognized the soft voice of Shilka, which seemed stressed as she was conversing quite loudly with several men. I reached out and brushed back the tent flap and poked my head outside. My actions were quickly met with two wooden poles with wide sharp spear heads crossed in front of my face. I did not need the UT to tell me that the grunts from the two guards meant that I would be staying inside for a while. With that my hand let go of the tent flap and it closed part way, which allowed me to peek through a small slit.
Through the slit I could see Shilka involved in a heated discussion with a uniformed man, and from the gold braid on his uniform, I got the impression that he must be an officer. Two riders dismounted their horses and performed what could be taken as a salute by thumping their clenched fists across their chests. The gesture was returned by the officer and they began to converse. As the four of them talked their facial epressions looked dire, then suddenly the officer turned toward the guards at the entrance to the tent and barked out several orders. The guards saluted and trotted away.
Shilka entered the tent shortly after the guard scampered away. She looked me up and down taking in the little sexy savage outfit I was wearing. I think she tried to explain what was happening as she walked me from the tent. I slung my backpack over my right shoulder as we walked to the center of the beach. Everyone was moving about briskly as they packed up their belongings and began walking briskly to a trail that lead away from the beach. It took us about 20 minutes to walk from the beach to a rather large camp that was in the process of being torn down and packed up in a great hurry. I wanted to ask Shilka what was going on but I still did not have the words in her language to ask... the UT was up to a disappointing 4%.
I noticed that Shilka was a person of some importance around here, and even though she wore a collar of possession, she was not working like the other owned girls were to strike the camp and pack up. As the campers scurried about packing, now and then I would get looked up and down, as people would pass by. Most of the women were clad in white linen dresses that usually came to between the knees and ankles. It seemed that the younger the woman, the shorter the dress, though none were as short as my little savage girl skirt which by the way most of the men had noticed.
One group of women passed by carrying several baskets and as one of the young girls passed she looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and winked, and shortly after winking she stumbled and dropped one of her baskets. I struggled hard to suppress a giggle. I turned to her and starting moving toward her to help, that is when Shilka caught me by the arm and spun me around to face her. As we made eye contact she pointed to my golden colored collar and then to hers, my eyes followed her hand and then I looked her in the eye. She pointed to the girl then to my collar then shook her head in the universal, "no" gesture. Again, communication had occurred and I was slowly learning the rules around here in regard to the golden collar. I just wish I knew what it all meant. However, the UT had just picked up the word for "no" and jumped to 6%.
The camp was packed hurriedly into horse drawn wagons and we were formed up on a dirt road heading. Shilka and I were near the front of the wagon train and unlike some of the other girls in the camp, we got to ride in the wagons, the others had to walk which made me a little uncomfortable being that I was created to serve and to care for others. If they only knew what this collar really was and did I would probably be burned at the stake as a witch or something.
As the column of humans, horses and wagons made its way through the countryside I took time to work with Shilka on understanding her language. She picked up on it quickly and seemed all too happy to assist. As we passed different landmarks and objects I would point them out and say the English word and she would respond with the corresponding word in her language. Shilka surprised me several hours into our journey when she would point to an object and use the proper English name followed by the name of the object in her language. I smiled to her when I realized that she was learning my language as she was teaching me hers. This could come in handy someday in the future I thought to myself. A quick check of the UT progress showed 16% and climbing.
Along the road we were traveling I came to the conclusion that this was mostly an agrarian civilization as the rolling hills were covered in crops of various types. Some of which looked similar to corn, wheat, potatoes, lettuce and beets, and some that looked like nothing I had seen before. We passed pastures with livestock and most of it looked Earth like also. I could make out horses obviously, cows, sheep, goats, and even a few barking dogs. So as far as I could tell, this could be the Middle Ages back on Earth. The most advanced tools that I had seen had been simple devices made of iron and wood. One thing that concerned me as we trekked north were the hastily erected fortifications were being constructed with in a spear's throw of the main road. Every so often I could see an observation tower under construction and the towers were surrounded by a depression in front of an earthen or wooden stockade. I suspected that they were preparing for the arrival of a hostile army, but that was just a guess.
I got a feeling in that something bad was coming this way from the South, and from the reaction of my traveling companions; they were worried about whatever it was also. It was shortly after this realization that I tapped my fingers on the wardrobe collar and interfaced it with my PDD. I ran through the inventory of clothing and weapons that I had loaded into the collar before leaving the safety of my cliff side cave. Unfortunately the device would not hold firearms or focused beam weapons, but I did have a pretty nasty assortment of throwing, stabbing, cutting weapons, and of course my trusty bow and a large supply of arrows. Unfortunately that would not be enough to confront an army but might just be enough to assist me if I had to suddenly dash to safety.
As the sun passed the mid point in the sky and transitioned to afternoon, loaves of bread and water were passed around throughout the wagon train when we came to a large grove of trees. We were able to dismount the wagons, and stretch our legs. I can tell you that this was most welcomed. This was the first time in my considerably short life that I had to ride on a wooden plank on a slow moving wagon. This was a reminder that the good folks at Osaka Eugenics did not give me much padding in that area when they created me. I wondered if Shilka was having the same discomfort, even though she had a perfect hourglass shape, she a bit more padding in the rear than I did.
The military was in charge of this wagon train, but what was puzzling is that most of the people in the convoy were civilians, and the majority of the women wore a collar. A few were copper, bronze, polished metal, and a few were made of simple leather. The though struck me that this was the evacuation of loved ones, or perhaps just an attempt to protect prized possessions. I was leaning toward the latter as the more expensive looking the collar, the more shapely and beautiful the woman was that wore it. I guess I should be thankful that Mister Drax chose to purchase the deluxe wardrobe collar for me.
As we walked around the wooded area, being careful not to stray too far away from the wagons, Shilka introduced me to some of our fellow travelers. Some were glad to make my acquaintance, others played along just because it was Shilka making the introduction. I am not sure if it was a jealousy thing, or if it was because of my black hair, slanted eyes, honey colored skin, or exotic looks. The introduction to the males was a whole different story. They would smile and do their best to make contact with my bare skin. I tried not to giggle when it was so obvious that they were checking me out and while they were, somehow I think Shilka was taking pride in being with me and the fuss that the men were making. I had this thought that maybe she was trying to play matchmaker for me, but then that was a radical assumption that I could not justify, but it was a passing thought anyway. I honestly have to say that even with the language barrier, Shilka and I were bonding as our journey continued.
