Page 49 of Caveman Alien's Bride

“Since midnight,” the gatekeeper says.

“And now it’s past noon,” Korr'ax points out. “No man should be at the gate for more than a quarter of the day. I shall find two men to take over from you.” He gives the other man a friendly slap on the back and marches further into the village.

Blue-striped cavemen come sauntering towards us, nobody in any kind of hurry.

“This is not a worthy tribe,” Breti’ax seethes beside me. “Korr'ax made a mistake becoming their chief.”

More blue-striped men come walking, all staring at me with great interest as they gather.

The tribe shaman, clearly recognizable because of the hat, strides forward. “Chief Korr'ax.”

“Shaman Vram’az, I swear this tribe is worse now than when last I saw it.”

The shaman shoots his chin out. “It’s the same tribe. But it has lost its chief.”

The men mutter in agreement.

“The chief is standing right here,” Korr'ax says. His voice carries well, and there’s a barely hidden menace in it. “And you are to address me as ‘Chief’ when you reply to me.”

“Yes, Chief,” the shaman says almost reflexively. Korr'ax has a commanding way about him. “But you have been gone for days.”

“A chief has many things to do,” Korr'ax says calmly. “As you may know, the Borok tribe is grieving over its lost shaman.”

“The Tretter tribe is grieving over its lostchief!” someone yells from the crowd.

Korr'ax walks over to the totem pole and gazes up at a sword that’s stuck in it. “Your chief is here now.”

“The chief is here with awoman,” the shaman points out. “We heard about the marriage. And we wondered, where is the chief? Will he not introduce his wife to us? Is it only the Borok tribe that’s good enough for the married chief?”

“I am here now,” Korr'ax repeats and holds his hand out to me so I can take it. “This is my wife! Her name is Bryar. She comes from another planet, one called Earth. I have told her everything about the Tretter tribe, its pride and its magnificent history. From my cave on the Mount, I have pointed out the Tretter village to her! I said, 'we shall go there and I shall present you to my tribesmen there.' She was eager to go! But I saw that she was tired. She needed some days of rest and to eat until she was strong. For I would not allow the Tretter tribe to see her weak. The Tretter tribe values strength!”

There are spread cheers. Korr'ax is a good public speaker, with a voice that he can give a hard undertone to make it travel.

“The chief has a woman,” a new voice calls from the crowd. “When do we get ours?”

“There are only two women on Xren,” Korr'ax says. “One is married to me, and the other is under my protection. When other women are found, the Tretter tribe shall have theirs. For now, only one woman is married. Can you think of a more worthy husband for Bryar than me?”

Nobody can.

Korr'ax sits down and pats the bench beside him. I sit down, feeling everyone’s eyes on me.

“Now. How are the Lifegivers?”

The tribal business takes a while, and after that, Korr'ax walks me around the village. We start at the totem pole, which is the most complicated piece of wood carving I've ever seen. It's fifty feet tall, and every fraction of an inch is covered in features that seem to get more detailed the closer I get.

The Tretter village is smaller than the Borok village, but I can see why it’s been built here. It’s on top of a cluster of small hills, and no trees grow here. As opposed to practically any other spot in the jungle, there’s a constant breeze that has a briny quality to it that reminds me of the beach. And it gets me thinking about something Piper and I sometimes talked about, which was building a windmill. On the beach, we didn’t have the resources to build one or an obvious use for it. This tribe probably has the resources, in the shape of many men and iron tools. And perhaps they would need to grind things.

We inspect the Lifegivers. This village only has three, and they look much the same as the ones in the Borok village.

“That one is almost finished,” Korr'ax says and points over the low fence. “Only days left now.”

The Lifegiver is looking thicker than the others.

“And then the baby will be taken out?”

He reaches over to pick up a dry leaf from inside the enclosure and curl it up in his hand. “When the Lifegiver shows the signal.”

“Can we watch that?”

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