Page 23 of Planet Zero
Melmie wilted and faded behind Illied’s back. Illied looked uncertain. Oh’na was picking flowers in the distance.
“We are picking Elm fruit today. You will need a basket,” Chele said and abruptly turned to lead their party away.
Without another word, Addie dashed to her teepee, snatched her little sack - the only thing she had that served as a container - and followed the women into the thicket.
They walked for some time in silence interrupted only by Melmie and Oh’na’s occasional short conversations intermixed with giggles.
Addie was determined to make friends.
“What is Elm fruit?” She very much doubted they had any relation to Elm trees from Earth. Nothing here had any relation to anything on Earth. At all.
Illied glanced at Addie with apparent surprise, like she asked something painfully obvious. “We pick them and dry them to store and eat later. They are in season now. That city where you lived, did they not gather Elm fruit?”
Not that Addie knew. She would have remembered the name. “No,” she said simply.
More at ease now, Illied continued, “What did you use for your Tek meat?”
In halting For, Addie enumerated the ingredients that went into the marinade. The women listened attentively, especially Chele.
“Some of the herbs you name, we use, too,” Chele affirmed. “Others are strange choices. Nipi bark?”
How to explain that Addie was pretty confident Nipi bark contained vinegary acid that could break down proteins in the meat and tenderize it, as well as add to the flavor to the resulting jerky?
“Nipi bark releases… juice. That juice makes the meat soft. We used it in the city, and it worked really well, on Tek and Truneds, and other game.”
Chele nodded in understanding, but the look she gave Addie was hard to decipher.
“You speak little of our language. Were there not a lot of For in the city?” Illied asked the question that she had itched to ask for some time. Addie had noticed her throwing furtive glances her way, curiosity clear as day in her eyes.
Addie smiled. “There were For. And there were women like me. One of them was, like, our queen, and she made For people learn our language. Because she wasn’t good at For, either.”
“What was it like, in that city?”
Ah, Illied was getting to the good part. They had probably heard rumors.
Well, she would have to disappoint. She could recite the names of local herbs, berries, and fungi in For all day long, but spinning stories about life in the city went way above her linguistic abilities, underdeveloped as they were at the moment.
“I don’t know how to tell my story,” she confessed frankly. “I can’t speak your language very well. But one of your men, Zoark, lived in the city, too. Maybe he can better describe it.”
The women visibly stiffened.
“We don't ask Zoark any questions,” Chele said rigidly.
“You don’t? Why?”
They all gave Addie a Duh look.
“Zoark is under the Rule of the Fallen,” Melmie explained quietly.
From her tone, the Rule of the Fallen sounded like a very bad deal to be under.
“What does it mean?”
Illied quickly said. “Just that he was gravely injured, a long time ago. He should have died. He didn’t, but now he is not whole. Why keep living if you’re not whole?” Illied paused meaningfully and repeated, “He should have died.”
“I am sorry, I still don’t understand.”
She felt Melmie’s touch on her arm. “What my pawi means is that his injuries left him broken and weakened. He is of no value to the tribe, and no one will help him. Do you understand?”
