It was considerably warmer than it had been. These days, Alpha Centauri was sitting high on the horizon at local noon. Also, the nights were darker. Proxima could not be seen in the sky this time of year. It was pitch black like Julia had never seen this place. Actually, Julia had never seen it so dark anywhere. The numbers of stars in the night sky looked to be a billion times greater than the ones she remembered seeing over Texas. She came to understand why they called it the Milky Way. She had never realized that the darkness was actually just a thin veil for so many lights.

The stars had been her only salvation for longer than she cared to admit. It was her bridge to normalcy. Julia had no idea how long she had been separated from her friends. She was not even really sure how she wound up traveling with these Assur. One day, Julia had just awaken. She had been in a giant blanket that was continuously bouncing. There was a light at both ends. That was one memory.

The next was of her lying on the ground in the open desert. It was a short and fragmented dream almost. Several other women were there. Julia could not really remember them but they were there! Some of them were sapiens, normal, like she was. Most were the Assui. That was what they called themselves at any rate.

Those feint passing memories were just the beginning. This was an ordeal that Julia wanted, tried, to forget. She even pretended that she was not living it in the present. She kept thinking, expected, even knew, that this was not real. It was a passing thing that if she overlooked would just vanish.

The helplessness would descend on her at random moments. Julia remembered those feelings from her past. These horrible nightmares from some deep and dark corner of her mind that had driven her to think of suicide more than once. She had fought them for as long as she could remember. Now they were gaining the upper hand.

Julia's wits finally began to clear. How long it had taken was beyond her. The emotions from the well of hopelessness began to run dry. It should have made things better. It had in the past. It was a shock to have her logical and rational mind, her intellect, confirm what her feelings had known all along. It only drove home what she had been ignoring. The trap was real and she had to escape it. She had to run. She had to get away and find her friends. That thought began to slowly push everything else out of her mind.

Her first try was not long after the haze in her head permanently went away. She simply jumped up and ran. Her desperate attempt was met with nothing more than laughs. Two Assur, on their ugly looking beasts, simply got in front of her. It seemed an effortless task on their part that was as much entertainment as anything else. The two that circled her did not even bother to dismount. The Assui ran after her and drug her back to camp for them.

The next time Julia planned it. She even realized that she had no idea where she was but, figured that trying was better than not. She waited till night when the guard finally fell asleep at his post. She ran off into the darkness. By the next morning she realized that her trek had led her in a circle. The riders had no trouble catching up since she had practically walked right back to them.

It was the last time that she tried to run. When they grabbed Julia it was obvious, this time, that the fun was over for them. She hoped the expected retribution would be quick and final. The Assur beat their own women with whips. Julia had seen them do it. She was hoping for something more lethal and was thankful to see none of those awful whip things. Her heart shrank as their plans for her became increasingly apparent.

The loose pile of sand, the stakes, they were all exactly what Jack had described to her. The Assur laughed as they bound her to the stakes. The crowd of aliens took on an almost evil looking glow from the flickering torch light. She could not see their faces under those hoods. All she saw were shadows. They looked like death. They sounded like demons. When the she felt the sand beneath her start to shift Julia screamed.

A Tunnel Rat rolled itself out of the dirt and began to shake and hop. It was mostly fir and sand but then it bared its short and gleaming teeth. It lunged in a single quick hop. It looked intent on ripping into her flesh and Julia closed her eyes. She clenched her teeth and pulled against the ropes. She flinched when she heard the loud crack.

She opened her eyes when she realized the rodent had not found its mark. Julia searched out in the shadows for the nasty little creature. It was gone but soon replaced by three more. They gurgled and hissed and then made a direct strike for her legs. It looked as if the first had simply blown up in the air. The second was struck almost as quickly and practically vanished in the blink of an eye. The third one almost made it to Julia. It’s little head, now a bloody stump, landed on her belly.

Her screams only brought more laughter from the Assur. Each time one of the creatures struck out at her they would crack their whips. As more of the creatures appeared, the cracks grew more frequent, louder, and drew ever closer. Julia passed out before it was over.

The fact that none of the rats had ever reached Julia was of no comfort. When she woke up again she found herself dumped back in with the other women. The fear of watching those things leaping at her, ready to draw blood, was haunting every waking moment. The Assur had succeeded. They had planted the seeds of fear.

If it had not been for the tall, blond headed, thick looking girl then Julia might have done what the Assur had declined to do. The girl was actually trying to talk to her. They both passed the long nights, and endless treks of the day, trying to understand the other. As time passed it started to pay off. Julia was thankful because now she had a friend of sorts. It was the only thing that had kept Julia sane, and alive. The thoughts of killing herself began to fade.

Neither was very good at actually pronouncing the others native tongue. Their communications had developed into something unique. It was a mish mash of two languages that were both so poorly pronounced that they had practically invented their own vocabulary. Their speech had become a language in it’s own right.

This alien girl called Julia, "Merry Can." It took some getting used to. Julia had tried telling the girl she was an American and that was what came out. Finally Julia just got the girl to say Mary and left it at that. Julia had no room to complain. After a few mistakes Julia realized the girl was from a place, or people, called "Dote Tish," or something to that effect. Julia had been calling her "Tish" thinking it was her name. Anyway it went, Julia was glad to just be saying something besides, "hey you."

It was a joy for Julia to be able to make herself understood. There were, of course, things that Tish would never understand and Julia stayed off those subjects. It was not that Tish was stupid. She showed herself to be amazingly intelligent and soaked up new information like a sponge. Her only handicap was a circumstance of birth. Her gender had made her ignorant. Julia tried to fix that where she thought she could. In return Tish tried to educate Julia on the subject that was most on the Earth woman’s mind. That subject was, of course, what was happening to her, and more important, what would happen next?

Tish explained many questions. It was amazing how the girl thought that her position in life was just fine. She did not like the Assur, mind you, and she made it plain that they could not sell her, it was forbidden. What they were doing here was illegal but what could Tish do about it? Her feelings about the current situation did not change her outlook on being a slave though.

According to Tish, all women were slaves. Even getting that much out of her drove Julia nuts. The enslavement of women was just so natural to all of them that there was not even a name for it! Tish did not even seem to understand that things could be any different. The girl had simple dreams for her life. All she wanted was to be sold into a good home where she could grow old in comfort. To her that was the most she wanted out of life. It depressed Julia to no end but, at least, the girl had some kind of dreams. It was a start.

If Julia found the native girls ambitions odd then Tish found Julia's even stranger. It was not really the part about Julia wanting to return to her companions though. Tish seemed to understand that much even if she thought Julia was too obsessed about it. Tish had related that all women feel that way until they get adjusted to their new surroundings. Julia could not make the girl understand that she was with her friends of her own free will. Then again? That was not exactly true either, was it?

"Das Ekwaty, whats" said Tish.

Julia laughed at her when she tried new words in English, "Equality."

From what Julia had seen, so far, there was little equality amongst men on this world. Women were in for a long hard road to even hope for something better. That made it kind of strange that Tish was convinced that there were better places to be. She constantly reminded Julia that she had been stolen, a point of pride with her, and that Dote Tish was a nice place. There were other places that Tish seemed to like as well but mostly, she wished she could go back to Dote Tish.

Julia had asked her why she did not try to go home? Not only did Tish not know how to get back but, the idea of trying had never really occurred to her. Julia was even more shocked to learn that Tish had no idea that this was the exact thing Julia had tried earlier. Tish had known that Julia had left, and even that she had been punished but, had no idea why. The girl did not seem to care either. The whole episode sounded like a bad joke to the alien girl.

Tish had said that they were going to the Raed lands in the East. As a child she had heard stories of how these Raed, in the old days, had swept down on the cities of the west and ate people. The Dowsha had ended that however. Julia was still not sure who exactly the Dowsha were but, they were apparently the good guys to Tish's way of thinking.

"Daydarna," was Tish's badly pronounced way of saying, “they there now.” Nothing in their little language could be taken to literally. Often they had to go a round of twenty questions to get an idea across. It was of no great concern to Julia since she had the time.

In this case Julia got the idea quick enough. Tish hated the Assur and wished to part company as fast as possible. Since they were taking her East to sell her in lands with no Assur, they were giving her pretty much what she wanted the most. In essence, Tish had no reason to run away. That seemed to be her final word on the whole silly escape business.

That day had finally come. They had left the desert behind them and camped near an oasis. They were surrounded by a sea of tall grass here. There was the occasional bushy looking tree and those made for good shade. The water became less rationed. Julia and the four other regular human looking girls were given a chance to bathe. They were also given a change of clothing.

Julia welcomed the sudden change in routine. The clothing was particularly welcomed. Some time ago she had discarded her jump suit for some old rags that the Assui no longer wanted. The simple pull over dress was now in shreds as well. Julia did keep the sandals she had been wearing. The clothing here left a lot to be desired but the soles of her sandals were as tough as steel belted radials. With no real personal belongings, Julia fiercely guarded what little she did have. There was nothing greedy about it either. Those shoes were a matter of life or death now.

Tish was excited by her new clothing. It made Julia laugh for the first time in so long. The five women bathed in a tent that was given them for that purpose. The Assur were leaving them alone for a change. They had food, and drink, and it was a lot better than the gruel substance that Julia had endured since being stuck with these things.

The drink smelled of alcohol and, for a brief moment, Julia felt a little like her old self. The sudden appearance of so many plants had helped too. It was her specialty, after all, and had been her own little hiding spot for most of her life. It was good to have it back.

The women sat in a circle on the floor and for a change they had pillows. They went through an assortment of clothing articles that had been left behind. It reminded Julia of a slumber party. It was actually fun! As cruel as the Assur had been, Julia had to wonder why the sudden change?

Naturally she asked Tish. "You… May..." There was a smile on the alien girls face. "We leave Assur. Gat wit Bothi."

Julia racked her brain. She had not heard that word before, "Bothi?" Julia switched to Tish's language as best she could. She tried to find out what that was.

"Bothi, you... may... setgat und gumani."

Gumani was a very important word to these people. Julia had learned it quickly. It was seemingly used to mean more than just one thing but in Merry/Tish talk it meant trade or give. Julia pieced it together, "they're going to sell us?"

Suddenly Julia felt all of the old feelings that she had managed to bury some time ago. The thought of being sold like an animal was bad enough. She had discussed that with Tish many times before but, it had not sunk in. The idea of being pedaled away like a used car was just too alien. It had never seemed real until now. Suddenly Julia realized she had an entirely new worry. That was almost as unreal as being sold in the first place. What really bothered her now was being separated from Tish.

"Wit Merry Tish gat," Julia did not know how to finish it. She took Tish by the arm and made a walking motion. "You know, together. You... Me… Together?"

It took a few seconds for Tish to understand. She shrugged it off like it was just one of those things. That left Julia feeling the depression returning more than ever.

_____________________

The loud hiss brought Pete out of his sleep. Joey helped by slapping him on the shoulder. Pete sat up in the seat and tried to ring the crick out of his neck. He noted the commotion in the train car. People were getting up out of their seats and leaving. Others were boarding. Pete looked out the window. He saw buildings, hills in the background, and a lot of activity on the streets around the station.

Joey pointed to their map. Pete preferred it to the alien map that Vitosk had given them, when parting company. Pete simply transferred the rail data with a wax pencil. Joey pointed to the scribbling beside the big red X on the paper. "See that sign up there Pete. They look the same."

There was a net above their heads that held all of the luggage. Pete stood up and began handing down their gear. It held the few belongings that they had, just fine, with the exception of their weapons naturally. Bringing them along had bothered Pete. It had been his big reason for wanting to continue south by horse instead of public transportation. His fears seemed unfounded though.

While the civilian types on board looked unarmed there was also a multitude of military looking uniforms. There were so many different types that Pete couldn't imagine who they all were. He was apparently not alone either. He and Joey's clothing, while very different in style from those worn by the Moemen, did look military. They both had American flags on their left sleeves and the jumps suits and jackets were identical. Since all of the military people, that were riding the train, carried weapons it seemed that Joey and Pete just blended right in. No one said anything to them about it. Not even when they stopped at a station such as this.

With weapons slung they stepped down from the train onto the wooden station platform. Pete set his baggage down and looked around. On each side of the station were buildings, mostly wooden, and painted in many colors. "Wonder what town this is?"

Joey had no idea as well. "I guess whatever it says on this paper."

Pete stretched his arms. The train ride was not an easy one. He had not remembered being this sore since the day they crashed landed. He had always felt rather rejuvenated while on the surface of this world. Pam had told everybody it had to do with the light gravity, the high oxygen content, and low atmospheric pressure. The train certainly had to be the exception to that.

Before he could finish stretching, a woman came running up to Pete. She tossed her arms around his neck and kissed him. When she finished with that she handed him a blue and brownish colored ribbon. She grabbed Joey next and did the same. They were both a little too stunned to react. That even lasted after she moved on to the next set of uniforms getting off the train. All Joey could say was, "I like this town."

Looking down the platform, Pete noted that there were more than a few girls doing the same thing to every uniform that got off the train. He almost laughed when a face in the crowd caught his attention. Pete had to look twice and rub his eyes. He left his bags and walked towards the man in the black suit and wide brimmed had. The man turned and saw Pete just as he made his way past the last few people.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" Pete said with all smiles. "What's with the get up?"

Jack looked over Pete from head to toe. Pete's face had missed one or two shaves. His hair was no longer the nice and neat, shaved, buzz cut that it had always been. It had grown considerably in length. Pete almost had enough to pull into a ponytail now! Jack laughed, "You are one sorry looking sight for a Marine."

Hearing those words, something that Pete could understand, brought even more joy. The two men embraced. They parted and then grasped the others hand letting out a, "Semper Fi, do or die, oorah oorah!"

Joey came up dragging all of their luggage by himself. He dropped it when he realized that the man in the local attire was Jack. Joey ran to Jack and through his arms around him, "Colonel Kelly! Jack!"

"How did you know to be here Jack?" asked Pete.

"Well I didn't know for sure which train," he said as he pointed off the platform. "I been staying in that boarding house over there for the last few days, waiting. I got your E Mail, started to worry when I didn't get anymore."

Pete was very glad to see him, "those home made batteries of Vitosk’s. They didn't last as long he thought they would."

That brought up the one bit of unpleasantness that Jack had on his mind, "yeah, and what in gods name were you thinking when you left him up there?"

Pete took the reprimand in stride. The truth was he didn't care anymore. He just reached down and picked up his bag, "What was I suppose to do Jack, shoot him? Anyhow, where the hell are we going anyway? Is everybody else all right?"

There had been some big changes in Pete. He never took reprimands so lightly. Jack had never known him not to fight one. "Yeah, everybody's fine. I got us a carriage over at the stables across the street. I think you're going to like we're you're going. It's not Earth but, I can't find that much wrong with it beyond that."

They got underway as soon as the stable people had hitched up Jack's team. Jack gave the stable boys some coinage and then thanked them in their own language. He took the reigns and began their little journey. Joey and Pete had seen little of the actual towns they passed on the way down so they took careful note of everything. Pete saw no large buildings like the ones back up in Ninvey. Two stories were about it for this region. The town was also a good deal smaller yet the people here looked happier, and more prosperous.

Pete related the tale of his journey, the university, the slave houses, the uniforms, everything he thought important. He ended it on a note, "I noticed you seem to habla with these folks pretty good now."

"I get by. When we got to where we were going, Lang hired a tutor. He's been teaching me and Gary the basics. It's actually a lot easier than English. Not a lot of rules and crap to learn. Gary called it a phonic language, I think. Their script is the same way. A few more characters than ours but, they always sound the same no matter what. Now that you're here you'll get to sit in with us too."

"Joyous," Pete rolled his eyes. He traveled all the way to another star just to go back to grammar school. Of course nothing he had done on this world was what he thought it would be like. If someone had told him this true tale, back on Earth, Pete would have figured it was a story from one of Saiid's TV shows. Then again, it was a bit too strange to be fiction as well. "I guess, all in all, we could have been a lot worse off. The inhabitants of this rock could have all looked like the blob. We probably wouldn't have made too good of progress then."

They left the city limits and the forests returned quickly. Jack had discovered early on that there was not much in the way of farming in this area. They did grow that strange two stemmed fruit here, and you saw groves of them along the roads occasionally but, the land itself was too hard to clear for these people. The trees were too large and the rocks too plentiful. Even the naturally occurring bare spots were too small to make a descent sized farm.

"Well now that's more like the Pete I remember," replied Jack. Even his sudden burst of optimism sounded a bit glum in the way he said it. Jack could see the emptiness in his eyes now. "Pete, Joey, I'm sorry you didn't find her. Maybe we can..."

Pete held his hand up, "forget it. So what all happened while we were gone?"

Jack rambled for a while. He covered the highlights and then he started to chuckle. "Well there was this one incident back when we had just come down out of the mountains." Jack went over the part about Dee seeing the little man. Why not? Everybody knew about that now. He did manage to leave out the circumstances surrounding the sighting.

It was Joey who asked, "Where was everybody else Mister Jack? I know you two weren't alone. I mean you never let anybody else do that."

Jack ignored the question and went on, "Anyway, I told Lang about it. Tried to ask him about it I guess you‘d say. At the time, you know, we couldn't communicate all that good. I was trying to get across the idea of Dee and this short guy."

"So what happened next?" at least Pete was smiling right along with Jack now.

"He thought I meant she was pregnant. A few days later, a bunch of his ladies grab her when she was on the way to the wood line. She was screaming bloody murder. Everybody grabbed their guns and I mean it was a ruckus. You see she thought that Finny was trying something, using these old ladies, right."

"Who?" Pete's ears perked up.

"Uh," Jack just remembered that Pete really didn't know who she was. He reminded Pete of the night in Lang’s tent and the dance that came with the enslavement papers. Jack naturally thought of himself as the slave of course.

Pete got a sly grin on his face that Jack felt like slapping it off.

"Anyway,” Jack cleared his throat, “they were trying to do some kind of fertility ceremony, combo medical exam thing. I thought Dee was going to kill half of them in the process. Well Gary got there and we kind of got the idea of what was going on from Lang. Dee was just a screaming, 'tell that stupid son of a bitch I'm going kill the next one that lays a hand on me! You know I can't have children and blah.. blah!"

Jack trailed off with the last sentence. He had not meant to say it.

The solemn face, that replaced Jacks grin, told Pete all he wanted to know. Don't go there. Pete changed the subject, "what about this place where heading too?"

"About twenty miles from here. Should get in before the sun goes down. It's a kind of plantation I guess you would say. Belongs to Joe and I know you remember him don't you? He's a big wig in these parts apparently. Lang works for him. We're camped out in a pasture on the back side of his property."

"Is Joe there?" asked Pete.

"No," replied Jack. "With that teacher fellow, ZeGall, he has us learn by reading their papers when he gets them from town. Come to find out that Ulami is a rank, some kind of general to these people. Joe's out East fighting injuns so to speak. They got themselves a war going on. A big one from the looks of it. I almost wonder... well I've kind of gathered from the tone that it's the first real one that these people have had in a long time."

Pete nodded. It fit with everything that he had seen since he departed the groups company, several months ago. Once again, the marvelous Vitosk had been right. Pete wondered how right he was about the other prediction. "Common denominator."

"What's that mean?" asked Jack.

"Something Vitosk said before we left. His, quote un quote, reason for staying up there. Something about, out of all the differences that we have with these people, there seems to be one thing that we have very much in common."

"You mean war right," replied Jack. "Vitosk is a smart man but he's damned fool idealist in the first degree."

"No," said Pete, "that's not exactly what he said. He said that we both treat our fellow humans like dirt. That it will probably be how we interact with each other in the future. The common denominator."

Jack had to make some kind of excuse for Vitosk. They had known each other for a long time. Jack had met him while working with NASA. Back then there was a lot of cooperation between the two nations. Jack had known his wife, although, they had parted company before the Russian couples child was born. He was saddened when he heard the news of how a great lady had died. "Well, he's had a lot happen to him you know."

Pete looked off into the countryside. "You know, Jack, even after the war I still looked on my country as if it was the greatest thing there ever was. The crowning achievement of human civilization. Now you know what? I'm afraid of one or two things. About us, about them, and just everything in general."

"What's that Pete?"

"I'm afraid that Vitosk is right."

_____________________

It had been a wonder to Vitosk. He and Kenday had boarded a train at the same station that he had said farewell to Pete but, only a few months later. They took the line north instead of south. Since that time, Vitosk had rolled over the empty plains, back into a stretch of desert, and then finally into another city. It was roughly the same size as the one he had left. This sat in the desert proper but had a special setting that Ninvey did not. This city was sitting on the sea.

There had been no plans for the two doctors to stay here for any length of time but, Vitosk quickly insisted on doing just that. The blue mass off in the distance was simply too tempting. They exchanged their tickets for a later arriving train and strolled down the cobble stone streets. Many buildings here had much of the same architecture as in Ninvey, with one major exception. Most of these were built from stone instead of mud brick which was the substance so common in the city on the plains. The population here seemed to be the same mix of Neanderthal, Sapiens, and others that were of a breed of human that Vitosk had never seen before.

The Assur were really the only ones that looked so different that they could be of another species. The others were similar enough to anyone from back on Earth, except for the exotic mixture of inherited ethnic traits. Vitosk saw people with dark black skin and strait blond hair. There were some with oriental facial features but, had pale white skin and kinky hair. One man could have easily passed himself off as an Arab back on Earth, if it were not for the bright red hair and light blue eyes. The variation was staggering!

The biggest difference in the populace was the number of uniforms running around. There were even more here than in Ninvey. It did not surprise Vitosk because he knew that the northbound rails stopped here. Another major line ran east into the dessert and west out onto the plains. It was a natural stopping and transfer point for soldiers, of whom Vitosk noted, were mostly heading east.

The sea had been a real shock to Vitosk. The air around town did not hold the same flavor as seaside communities back home. Vitosk thought nothing of it at first since the stench of the Moe cities were enough to cover any pleasant fragrances. Vitosk learned why they lacked that sea air when he reached down to sample the water. He actually tasted it and it was not the kind of seawater that he was accustomed too. There was a peculiar taste to it but it was far from bitter as the seas and oceans of his home world. Their oceans were fresh water! It was amazing! Vitosk took time to note, before they left town, that indeed people did fetch and drink it.

The train ride from that city, that Vitosk learned was simply referred to as Assur, was growing far more interesting. The brownish grass of the open steppes began turning into green fields and pastures. Groves of trees dotted the landscape. Towns began to appear at regular intervals. Farmhouses became a common fixture in the landscape. The area was alive and a sight that captivated Vitosk. How many Earthly painters were going to come here and have a field day with new scenes? That was, of course, if painters were ever allowed.

The tracks made another turn and this time Vitosk saw the obvious reason for it. A river that was every bit as wide as the Volga was just out the window. While riding along side it, Vitosk checked his maps. He constantly looked out the train car window and back to his map. If his general navigation skills were correct then he was now along the short river that flowed into the western most gulf of the continent. There were very few major river systems in the western land and surely there were not many as wide as this one.

The land around it was lush and more swamps and bogs began to appear. Also, the number of homes and buildings began increasing almost exponentially. Each side of the river was completely settled by man with all the tell tale signs such as, buildings, docks, irrigation ditches, and farm land stretching for miles in every direction. It was all fascinating in its own right. The real wonder though, was some of the structures that he had seen in the distance. There were Pyramids here! These were not of the Egyptian variety but more like the Ziggurats or South American kind. Vitosk pointed and inquired. He was rapidly becoming fluent in Dottish, Kenday’s native language, "What are those buildings for?"

Kenday was sitting in an aisle seat. He had spent most of the trip reading. He looked out the window and called the pyramids by a name. He then tried explaining their function. It took quite a bit of doing before Vitosk understood the meaning of the word that Kenday used. When Vitosk finally grasped the meaning he broke out in roaring laughter. "What are they for? Tourists!"

Finally they began entering Daltop. Vitosk was really in awe now. This was, as Vitosk understood, the capital city. It was not just of one nation but of an empire that had ruled this entire world for two thousand years or more. The city looked every bit as grand as it's function. Even with the low gravity here Vitosk had not seen very many tall buildings anywhere on the planet. While the skyline of Daltop was far from tall when compared to a similar sized city back home, it had a majesty that most modern monsters of steel and glass lacked.

The very buildings of the city were an art in their own right. They were all engraved with a host of images that could keep Vitosk busy in study for years to come. Some of them here went as many as ten stories high but the standard seemed to be four. Their outer walls were covered with frescos, statues, and engravings. It was not tacky or even heavy to the eye. It all flowed together quite smoothly and excited the eye rather than overpowering it. Vitosk wet his lips as the train came into a giant station. Unlike all of the other stations, the train actually pulled up inside the building here. Vitosk was almost ready to jump out of his seat.

Kenday was happy to see his new colleague impressed. "You like?"

"Very much."