The Vera Chronicles Page 16

Pesha Vahwamma Scappa ob Adak – he was known as 'Adak' observed the goings-on at the encampment from a safe distance – across the river and high in the hills – he preferred not to be detected. A distance monitor allowed him to hear the activities as well see them. The device fit his reptilian species quite well but his monkey-man scout, Moprello, used a pair of binoculars. Moprello, fascinated by the 'up close' tool was providing some information as well as a whispering commentary.

"The warrior of the blood fucking Lady Estella with such energy is none other than Lord Dravo Asta, former headman of the High Valley Lake Clan and uniter of all Valley and Lake Clans!" Adak's hand on his shoulder told him that he needed to quiet down and recite facts. He continued: "Lord Dravo was dying months ago when the High Valley Clan came into possession of the Vera woman – the human with the light gold hair being gang-fucked by those four, no, five warriors. The story, Lord Adak; is that she fell from the sky in a fiery boat that landed near the High Valley Clan's village. Her wounds healed without poultice or salve, her burned skin scabbed over and fell off to reveal smooth skin beneath! She could not remember her life before the flaming boat fell into the jungle. She was like nothing or no one they'd ever seen! Tragon's woman nursed her back to health and made her a home-slave. Dravo was nearly on his deathbed when he bedded that one! It is said that the coupling had a magical effect on the old one, he began to act and look younger! He fucked her ten times a day! He taught the young warriors their skills as he did when he was headman! Drilled them in sword, spear and staff. He was reborn! This is the tale that a number of them have related. You have, no doubt, heard similar stories about this human slave of the High Valley Clan. She is truly the fuck-hungry cunt as described. I have no idea what they are doing here besides having some hot, nasty, fun this night!"

Adak reached down and took the binoculars from his scout whose enthusiasm was as predictable as it was tiresome. Adak sighed, these residents of Burroughs's World, (who referred to themselves as Chelebrans and the planet as Chelebra); never seemed to tire of sex – doing it, talking about it, alluding to it or watching it! That would probably explain their low level of technology. They couldn't get past their visual and scent glands! Humans were similar in many respects – an overactive libido being just one of their unattractive traits. Humans, despite their primate fascination for the mating ritual, had managed to achieve a significant technological niche in the galactic hierarchy. Those monkeys had brains as well as pricks!

Not that Adak was averse to indulging in sex – he quite enjoyed his interspecies liaisons with Meela – his human body-slave; but the preoccupation with the activity that these primate species displayed was quite annoying and vulgar. Annoying, vulgar or just remarkable, this preoccupation with sex by the primate species earned him a fairly comfortable existence. Good enough to afford a secure crèche in the tidal flats near Estella's village, a human female body-servant, some off-world toys, and a growing account that would someday get him off this thrice-damned planet forever!

He spoke quietly to Moprello: "We need to get to Davama's redoubt as soon as possible! Davama will want to know that Dravo and Estella are in his domain with a number of warriors – I counted fifteen or so, but I'm sure that there are scouts and sentries that we couldn't account for. Is there a route nearby that heads north?"

"We can follow the ridgeline trail to his redoubt. We should get there in a day and a half, maybe two. Will that do, Lord Adak?"

"It will suffice for now. We need to avoid that party and make all due haste to rendezvous with Davama. He has commodities that I need to take possession of and deliver to my clientele."

"It will be as you wish."

The pair rejoined the rest of Adaks' group, five in all, at the trail. They followed the ridgeline into the next valley. It was a necessary detour. He didn't know Dravo and there probably wouldn't have been any trouble, but Estella had pronounced a death sentence on him – likely she'd want to try to kill him herself, the bloodthirsty little monkeybitch! She'd been behind Proko banishing him in the first place, he was sure! She'd sent her assassins to sniff out his crèche but none of them had made it out alive. He was a considerable fighter in his own right and had a technological advantage over these Iron Age primates. Proko had seized and freed his assets: the slaves and Gamaran-adapted compound he'd built. He'd also banished him from his domain on pain of death. Adak was lucky to get out of the domain with the bare necessities: weapons, computers, enough precious specie for start-up costs and his servant, Meela.

They made good time following the ridgeline to the adjoining river valley trail. Adak did wonder what and why those two: Dravo and Estella were in Davama's domain with a small force of warriors. The bigger mystery and the one that preoccupied his thoughts was the identity of the human woman. She came 'from the sky in a fiery boat', indeed? Adak had no doubt that she was the survivor of a crash landing. But was she an extraterrestrial? Plenty of humans lived on Pellucidar, an island base for intergalactic trade and commerce. An Imperial Naval Base of Operations compound was located there. The actual base was in orbit about Chelebra. The Imperial Coalition (IC) was attempting to limit contact with the Chelebra from interstellar influences. His operations hadn't been affected by this misguided nonsense but he maintained a low profile and zero contact with anyone in Pellucidar. The humans and their allies, the InterSpecies Mercantile Exchange (ISME), had rightly concluded that a great deal of contraband originated from Chelebra. Those contraband commodities were part of the smugglers operations augmented by pirate raiders. In addition to preying on ISME shipping, the illegal commodities: slaves, pharmaceuticals, raw materials and artifacts represented a source of funding for criminals, anarchists, and revolutionaries.

Adaks' presence on Chelebra was quite illegal. Some might argue unethical but Gamarans in general found the concept of ethics to be extremely specious and of dubious merit. Those with advantage took advantage, this was one of the guiding principles of the universe and fairly evident. The fact that the IC was imposing its' 'ethics' on any other group was proof of the Advantage Principle. The humans had fought a brief, vicious war with Gamara nearly twenty cycles ago – one hundred Galactic Standard years – and won. They had the advantage and used it. It was the way things were – nothing more or less. Adak didn't like it but he did accept it.

This human, Vera, was intriguing. Who was she? Was there a reward or ransom to be earned by her return? Was anyone looking for her? She was quite a physical specimen for a human woman and reminded him of the Imperial Assault Clones that he'd encountered many years ago. They were ruthless and thorough as they invaded the smuggler's redoubt that he'd help found. He'd escaped from those unstoppable, relentless bitches but only after he'd blown the base of operations and the asteroid housing it. The memory of those heavily armed warriors easily breaching the defensive perimeter and penetrating the redoubt still caused his flesh to crawl.

Yes, he'd escaped but his partners weren't so fortunate. Of course, if he'd known that his escape route would bring him to this technological backwater with inhabitants who were barely out of the stone age; perhaps he wasn't so fortunate after all! The Great Scaled Beast alone knew that he'd suffered here looking for opportunity! The Great Scaled Beast also had a sense of humor and probably appreciated the ironies as well as the opportunities that he faced here on Chelebra.

There were questions about this 'Vera'; he would seek those answers when he returned to his crèche. He had business to attend to, commodities to collect, and deals to be made.