XVIII
Creating Talo-Vy’s Army
(Day 125 on Tashoo)
Another nightmare, why do I have these nightmares and what do they have to do with me? They are all different, yet, I know they are all related, but I don’t know how they are related to me.
As is the norm for my dreams, I am with Tyarza. In this dream, we are at a cabin, sitting on a porch in a swing. Tyarza is wearing what used to be known as a summer dress, a dress made from relatively thin material that allows the breeze to keep her cool in the summer heat. The dress is lemon yellow with small white flowers all over it. She is also barefoot as would be befitting such a warm summer setting. She is holding my hand in her soft, strong one. She is smiling at me showing her perfectly straight white teeth through her brown lips as she softly caresses my upper arm with her free hand. I am wearing a navy-blue T-shirt that has ITN in gray lettering outlined in white on the front. I am also wearing navy blue mid-thigh cargo-style shorts. Like Tyarza, I am also barefoot. Tyarza presses her thigh against mine and laughs at the whiteness of my legs, but I am not offended. I laugh along with her. I start caressing the soft lion yellow skin of her cheek. As I caress her cheek, she lays her head on my shoulder and sighs softly. I can't remember ever feeling this way about another woman.
A soft breeze is blowing and tousling Tyarza's long blue-blond hair, blowing it into her face causing her to brush it back repeatedly. Despite the aggravation of the breeze, she continues to smile at me, even laughing as she tries to pin her hair behind her ears. She reaches up with her hand and caresses my cheek. Slowly, she stretches up and softly kisses me. As she kisses me, I can feel the breeze against my face. The breeze is cool, too cool in fact.
I feel the air cooling perceptively as it suddenly becomes darker. Gradually, it becomes darker and darker as a fog rolls in. The fog forms at the periphery of my vision and slowly clouds what I am seeing. Finally, Tyarza is enveloped in the fog and starts to fade away. I see her start to speak. I see her saying, “Mvilu, I am your destiny and you are mine. Overlook my seeming anger at times. I am testing your love for me. Come for me. I am waiting for you.”
As Tyarza fades, she is replaced by the Khorcha that haunt my nightmares and prevent me from the happiness that I desire. I see the female Khorcha, Rokshesan, sitting in a seat next to a large machine.
**********
Rokshesan doesn’t hesitate. As strange as it may sound, her unhesitating willingness to be the test subject only causes my fears to become stronger. She walks to the machine and sits in the chair. The machine looks almost exactly like photos of the old form of execution that was used in the United States of America in the Twentieth Century known as the electric chair. This only adds to my fears. The main difference between this chair and the old electric chair is the fact that this chair is heavily padded. The chair has straps for the wrists and ankles causing me even more concern. At the top of the chair is a metallic “dome” about thirty centimeters in diameter. This dome can be raised or lowered as necessary to reach the top of the subject’s cranium. To the top of this dome, three wires are attached in a design that looks like an equilateral triangle, one wire is just above the center of the forehead and the other two are above the ears. The wires are twisted together and go into a machine that looks like something out of a 500-year-old horror movie. The machine is about two hundred fifty centimeters tall by three hundred centimeters wide by one hundred centimeters deep. It looks like a rectangular box. On the front of the machine are all types of dials, switches, and gauges. The dials are numbered from zero to one hundred in increments of five. The dials and switches are between eye and hand level to a Khorcha. The gauges are in rows with large gauges in the top and bottom rows and getting progressively smaller toward the center of the face of the machine. Each row was about five centimeters apart as were the gauges. I almost laugh when I see it. It is that ridiculous looking.
Rokshesan sits in the chair, which is plenty big enough to hold a Terran gorilla AND chimpanzee together. Dreydos straps her wrists and ankles to the chair and adjusts the, for want of a better word, cap to her cranium. He walks over to the machine and presses a button and a low hum can be heard in the room. Dreydos is watching a dial that is near the center of the face of the machine near eye level for a human and when the needle reads seventy-five, he steps over to a switch that looks like three strong humans couldn’t move it and pushes it up as if it is a feather. He then steps over to another dial and, when it reads fifty, he turns a switch that looks like a radio volume control switch. The next thing I know I am hearing Rokshesan’s voice coming out of a speaker just to Dreydos’s left.
Rokshesan’s voice sounds like she is either drunk or drugged due to being somewhat monotone, is telling about how her “chickhood” was formed by her parents almost from the second that she hatched out of her egg. She was the runt of the clutch, and, naturally, her parents showed no compassion for her. It seems that on Khorcha only the strong are allowed to survive, which is why the Khorcha have no respect for humans who care for the sick and weak of our species. Because of this, Rokshesan decided that she was going to be the most important Khorcha that ever lived.
She stole food from her clutch mates at every opportunity. She even tried to steal food from her parents once. She got caught and was commended for her ingenuity. But, she was also severely punished, not for stealing, but for getting caught. As a result of this food stealing, in a short amount of time, she was no longer the runt. As a matter of fact, she became the dominant chick in her clutch.
After this last bit of information, Dreydos shuts the machine down, which is done in reverse order of the powering up of the machine. After the machine is completely shut down, he tenderly releases Rokshesan. I never even remotely thought of the Khorcha as being tender. But, I guess that love can make any creature tender towards the loved one.
**********
This nightmare is as realistic as any of the others I have experienced since I arrived in Talo-Vy. Like all of the others, because of its realness, it is frightful almost beyond words. I cannot understand why I have them. I cannot understand why they come in two parts. Do they hold the secret of my past, as I believe, and my future, as I hope, or are they nothing more than figments of an overworked imagination? If they do hold the secret of my forgotten past, I am not certain I want to know the truth about it. But, if they are a key to my future, I can hardly wait for the future to arrive.
This dream is causing me undue stress, like all the others I’ve experienced. I can feel myself tossing and turning in my bedding. I can feel a cold sweat rolling down my arms, back, and face. I can hear myself moaning and groaning. My moans and groans are loud enough to bring me close to awakening, but not close enough to open my eyes. My groans must have awakened Ara because I can hear her scratching on my door and calling my name. I hear the door opening and Ara’s voice grows louder.
She calls to me, “Mvilu? Please wake up. I can tell you are having another nightmare.”
Slowly, my eyes open and I see Ara standing near my door. I guess she still remembers the time that she got too close to me when I woke up unexpectedly. I also remember, and more importantly regret, almost hurting her. As I open my eyes, I look groggily about before I say to her, “Yes. Yes, I—I was having another nightmare. Thank you for waking me up. Is it time to get up?”
“I was on my way to start the nakyvy when I heard you.”
“Then, I will get up, get dressed and help. I doubt I could sleep anymore tonight anyway.”
*****
Thanks to the meat and food rations that were sent to Ara’s home from Sha'-Naky, Ara was able to prepare a great nakyvy that featured fewer vegetables and more meat. Because of the extra protein from the meat over the last few days, I had noticed that Ara’s body was starting to take on a more noticeably feminine shape and tone and Rora’s muscles had started to become more pronounced. Come to think of it, my muscles had started becoming more toned as a result of this change in diet along with my morning exercise routine and the hard work we had been doing on the mota. I had to ensure that we continued having enough meat to satisfy the needs of all three of us and I was going to do just that at the next opportunity.
For the first time since I arrived in her home, Ara did not immediately get up from our meal and clear the table. She merely stood up, walked into the living room, and sat down. I don’t know who was more surprised, me or Rora, but we were both smart enough to not say anything to her. I turned to Rora, shrugged my shoulders, and smiled. I cleared the table and headed into the kitchen. I had just started washing the dishes when I heard a sound behind me. I turned and saw Rora standing there with a questioning look on his face.
“Norotha is acting strangely this morning, is she not, Mvilu? I wonder what is wrong with her.”
“She probably just wants a day off, Rora. Even among the Uany, anohachy, especially anorotha, want, and need, a day off every now and then just to rest. Odds are good that she will be back to her old self later today or tomorrow at the latest. So, I am going to act as if nothing has changed for me. Today, I will be a proper slave to your norotha and take care of her hand and foot.”
“You are a strange one, Mvilu. You know Norotha does not want to be treated that way.”
“Perhaps not on a normal day.” I paused for a moment, thinking. “By the way, do you know when your norothany birthday is?”
“Birthday?”
“Yes, the day on which she was born. I am sure she remembers when you were born. Of course, she went through an awful lot just so you could be here. Maybe you should think about that every once in a while.”
Rora was silent for several athata. Finally, he said, “I guess I never thought that Norotha had birthdays. I know she has always helped me celebrate my birthday, but I guess I was just too selfish to think about her having a birthday to celebrate.”
“Rora, I know you better than that. Selfish is the last word I would use to describe you. You were just a chorothoo. Most arothoo do not think about their norotha as being anything but being their norotha.”
“You are quite right, Mvilu. I had never thought about it until you brought it to my attention just now. To every Mory, nohachy or chohachy, their norotha is the most important thing in their life. That is why we are willing to kill quicker over an insult to our norotha than to ourselves.”
“It is the same with most Uany, as well, Rora. You can say almost anything about their chorotha but leave their norotha alone. Now, are you going to stand there acting like my master, or are you going to give me a hand with these dishes?” I said, laughing.
Rora rolled his eyes and walked over to the sink and started rinsing and drying the dishes. It didn’t take us long to do the dishes since we only had six utensils apiece.
After we finished the dishes, Rora and I walked back into the living room and found Ara sitting relaxed in her chair with her eyes closed, a book in her lap, and a beatific smile on her furry face. When we walked in, she opened her eyes, turned to us, and said, “Why did you wash the dishes? I would have washed them in a little while.”
I said, “I know, Ara. I just thought that you would like to have a day of rest every now and again. I have also decided to be a proper slave today and wait on you hand and foot. So, tell me, what is your bidding, Mistress?”
“My bidding is that you and Rora go ahead and get back to work on the mota. Oh, and do not call me Mistress.”
I laughed and said, “Yes, Mistress.” Ara just looked at me through half-closed eyes, shook her head, and smiled.
Rora had started toward the door and was waiting for me. I joined him just as someone started scratching on the door. Being the slave, it would not have been proper for me to open the door. In fact, for me to do so would likely have ended my life because any Mory chohachy that saw a slave open a door would have thought he was trying to escape and would have struck the slave down without a second thought; so, it fell to Rora to answer the door.
“Chitekuro. May I help you?” Rora said shortly after opening the door.
An unfamiliar voice from outside the door said, “Chitekuro. Is this the home of My-Rora and his slave Mvilu?”
“Yes, it is. I am My-Rora. Welcome to our humble home. Please enter and grace us with your presence.”
A young Mory chohachy, perhaps 14 or 15 years old, I had never seen before entered the house and looked directly at me. He said, “I wish my home was as luxurious as yours. I am Te’-Maky. Today is Cha-Vamoony day off from working as door guard at the Suala Ka’ynony. You are Mvilu?”
I fought the urge to say, “Is it not obvious that I am?” But, I answered, “Yes, I am. Chitekuro, my Lord, Te'-Maky. How may I be of assistance to you?”
“Chitekuro, Mvilu. You recently requested an audience before the Ishoo'se Aka’ny. I am here to inform you that your request has been approved.”
“I thank you, my Lord. When are we expected to be there?”
“You are to be there as soon as you can.”
“We can leave as soon as I retrieve some important information from my chokodothy’.”
“That will be acceptable.”
I said, “If you will excuse me for a moment.” Then, I headed straight to my room.
I had made ten sets of sheets of paper, one for each of the Aka’, one for Lo-Nachoo, even though I felt certain that Lo-Nachoo would not be interested in what I had written, and one for me so I could explain more fully what I wanted them to see and understand.
After I retrieved the papers, I stopped by the living room to let Ara know that Rora and I would be gone for a while. I knelt down in front of her and said, after indicating the visitor with a nod of my head, “Mistress, may I ask you a question?”
She said, “Yes, you may. What is your question?”
“Is today your birthday?”
This caught her off guard a bit. She asked, “Why do you want to know?”
“Well, Mistress, I have not been here a full year yet. So, I do not know the anniversaries of the births of you and TeRora. Therefore, it would satisfy my curiosity, if I knew.”
“Yes, it is the twenty-eighth anniversary of my birth. But, do not let Rora know.” (1) I looked at her curiously. “I do not want Rora to feel as if he needs to do anything special for me. The fact that I rest on my birthday is all that I need. You and Rora do what you had planned and do not worry about me today. All right?”
“Yes, Mistress. We will not do anything out of the ordinary for you today, despite my desire to do something special for you on your special day.” I rejoined Rora and Te’-Maky and we left.
*****
After about fifteen athalloo, we arrived at the Suala Ka’ynony. Te’-Maky left us to announce our arrival. Thirty athata later, the door to the Ishoo'se Choko Aka'ny opened and Te’-Maky motioned for us to enter. After we entered, he left.
Rora and I walked to the center of the room and turned to face the Ishoo'se Aka’ny. The Ka’yno, Lo-Nachoo, was seated on his throne and all of the Aka’ were seated on theirs; as was the norm, the tenth throne was unoccupied.
Lo-Nachoo stood up and, in his normal arrogant and semi-sarcastic manner, spoke to us. “My-Rora, your slave has requested an audience before the Ishoo'se Aka’ny. It has been reported to us that he has important information for the Ishoo'se Aka’ny to consider. He says that this information could possibly change the way that the village of Talo-Vy protects itself from potential attacks and could assist us in future raids against our neighbors. Is this true?”
Respectfully, Rora answered, “Great One, I know nothing of what you say. But, I know that my slave is truthful, thoughtful, and cares greatly about Talo-Vy. Therefore, I believe that if he has sent you the message you just relayed to me; he has the information that you say he claims to have.”
“You have not heard about this information?”
“No, Great One. Perhaps you should ask my slave anything you may wish to know. I am certain that he will be happy to answer any questions you may have for him.”
This clearly did not sit well with the Lo-Nachoo. But, because it followed law and tradition, the Ka’yno turned to me and said, “Slave, tell the Ishoo'se Aka’ny of your idea.”
“I thank you, Great One. I am sure that the Ka’ Re-Sheshoo remembers when the achohachy from Te’ka-Jy attacked.”
Re-Sheshoo nodded and said, “Yes, I remember. I also remember that you kept your promise to violate our Armed Slave Law to protect Talo-Vy. You fought admirably. So admirably, in fact, that I found myself wishing that you were a Mory and not a slave and regretting my original decision that you should be put to death.”
“Thank you, my Lord. I am honored to know that you wish that I was a Mory.
“However, I must make an observation of the battle. When my master and I arrived, I noticed how the achohachy were fighting. Frankly, I was not impressed.” This statement caused almost all of the Aka’ to sit up straighter than they normally sat, then lean forward slightly. The Mory take pride in their fighting prowess; so, if anyone makes even a somewhat disparaging remark concerning their fighting abilities, that person has their undivided attention.
I continued, “I see that the Aka’ did not like what I just said. I am sorry that they are upset; but, what I said is the truth. I do not know if the achohachy of all of the Aka’na fight the same way. But, if they do, it is a wonder that any enemy can be repelled. I would like to ask each of you to consider a question. As we all know, the Ka' of an attacked Ka'na leads the achohachy in defense of his Ka'na. My question is this. If an enemy was to attack and the Ka’ was killed, who would command the achohachy?”
From the reaction of the Ishoo'se Aka’ny, I could tell that they had never considered that possibility. The Aka’ looked at each other questioningly. Nobody had an answer. Even the Ka'yno was caught off guard by the question.
After about thirty athata, Ka’ Naka said, “Mvilu, I do not believe that any of us has ever considered what would happen if the scenario you just described would occur and I know for certain there is no law that makes that decision for us.”
“So, in other words, if the Ka’ is killed in battle, there is no one to take control of the defensive forces until the Ka’yno names one?” Each of the Aka’ looked around the Ishoo'se before nodding. “Fortunately, I may have a solution.” This statement brought them to complete attention once again. “Have the Mory ever considered creating a hierarchy for their achohachy?”
Ka' Sheshoo said, “What kind of hierarchy?”
“The kind of hierarchy that I am referring to is this, my Lord; Talo-Vy should create a ranking system for the achohachy.”
Ka' Chakoo asked, “What do you mean by a ranking system?”
“My Lord, allow me to explain. Under my idea, there are thirteen levels of rankings, starting with the Ka’yno at the top. I have in my possession paperwork for each of you to look at and follow as I explain.”
Ka' Ludy turned to one of his guards and said, “Step down to the Uany and retrieve the paperwork he mentioned and pass it out to everyone up here.”
The guard did as he was told. After the paperwork was passed out, I continued. “If you will be so kind as to look at the paperwork, I will explain. As I said, there are thirteen levels of rankings, three of which are semi-permanent. At the top, naturally, is the Ka’yno. Just below him are his brothers.”
Lo-Nachoo interrupted and said, rather sarcastically, “I have but one brother.”
This revelation, for some reason, didn't seem to surprise me although I knew next to nothing about Lo-Nachoo's family. “In that case, Great One, your brother. To continue, below the Ka’yno’s brother are the Aka’. These are the three levels of semi-permanent ranks. Below the Aka’, in order, would be Genara, Kachata, Konara, Kamada, Maja, Looten, Ensana, Sajate, Kashara, and, finally, Rayvatu.”
Lo-Nachoo interrupted and said, “These words, Genara, Kachata, Konara, etc., are not words within the language of Tashoo. Where do they come from?”
“Great One, they are words similar to words I remember from the fragmented memories of my past. Because the mouths of the Mory are unable to create certain sounds, I corrupted the words to make them easier for the Mory to say. Please do not be offended by my doing this for you.”
Ka' Hoo-Kavy said, “We are not offended. In fact, we are honored that you concern yourself with assisting the Mory with words that may be impossible for us to pronounce. Please continue.”
“I thank you, my Lord, Ka' Kavy. To continue, each higher rank would be directly in charge of two or three members of the next lower rank. In other words, each of the Aka’ would have two or three Genara below him; each Genara would have two or three Kachata below him and so on.”
Ka' Thaty asked, “What advantage would this ranking system give us?”
“As I said earlier, my Lord, during the battle a few days ago, other than Ka’ Re-Sheshoo, I saw virtually no leadership. Each chohachy fought for himself and himself only. If the Ka’ had been killed, who would have taken over the leadership role in the battle? I would assume it would have been Ka’ Ky-Kikoo because he is a Ka’, but I am not certain if this would be the case.”
Ka' Thaty said, “No, Ka’ Ky-Kikoo would not have taken over because he was not in his Ka’na. Therefore, the achohachy would not have listened to him. However, I understand now what you are saying. Please continue.”
“Thank you, my Lord. Another advantage would be this. With this ranking system, the Ka' of the Ka'na would not have to resolve each and every little dispute or answer each and every question that one of his achohachy has. A Kapara, for example, could go to his Sajate with any problems. If the Kapara is not satisfied with the Sajate's answer, he could go up his chain of command until he is either satisfied or understands why he cannot have his way about a problem.
“Next, the number of achohachy in each level of hierarchy would depend on how many achohachy are living in each Ka’na and how many achohachy the Ka’ wants to put in each respective level of the hierarchy. My suggestion would be to have the greatest number of achohachy at the lowest rank.”
Ka' Chakoo asked, “How do we decide which achohachy receives which ranking?”
“That would depend on the Ka’ in question, my Lord. My personal suggestion would be this, though. The more experienced a chohachy is or the longer the chohachy has lived in Talo-Vy, the higher his rank would be to start. Because Mory achohachy respect experience and abilities in a chohachy, I doubt any achohachy would be upset at the decision of his Ka’. After that, I would suggest a testing system.”
Ka' Kavy said, “In other words, if I were choosing for the ranking of Ensana and I had one chohachy that had been a chohachy for five years and one that had been a chohachy for four years, I should choose the chohachy with five years’ experience. Is that what you are saying?”
“Not exactly, my Lord. However, that would be one way of doing it. But, if the chohachy with four years’ experience is a better chohachy with better leadership qualities than the one with five years’ experience, then the one with less experience as a chohachy probably would be a better selection as Ensana. Also, as I said earlier, you could also choose to test each chohachy for his rank.”
Ka' Kikoo asked, “What do you mean, 'test'?”
“What I mean, my Lord is this. You could ask a potential candidate questions about what he would do in certain battle situations, what he knows about the history of Talo-Vy, what he knows about the history of the Ka’na in which he lives, what he knows about his Ka’, within reason of course, and then promote the candidate who gives the best answers to your questions. Of course, the questions I mentioned are merely suggestions. You could choose better questions or more important ones. You could also put each of the candidates into a simulated battle to judge is abilities. However, I would strongly suggest not promoting anyone more than one rank.” All of the Aka', surprisingly, even the Ka'yno, nodded their heads in agreement with this suggestion.
Ka' Mooky asked, “When would we promote a chohachy to a higher rank?”
“That would depend on you, my Lord. But, I would suggest promoting a chohachy only when an opening is created. Since death occurs on a regular basis here, these openings would probably happen sooner rather than later.”
Ka' Thaty asked, “Why would our achohachy want to be a part of such an idea?”
“My Lord, most achohachy would enjoy the prestige that a higher rank would bring with it. Plus, do not the achohachy receive payment for their services to the Ka’na?”
“Yes, they do.”
“Then I would suggest that the Ka’yno set up a payment allowance for each rank of the hierarchy that got higher with each higher rank. This pay allowance would allow the achohachy of Talo-Vy, or each Ka’na, to be able to purchase more and better items from the market shop owners. The higher rank the chohachy holds, the more different items he could purchase and create a better life for himself. I realize that what I am suggesting is unheard of, but, if you want your achohachy to be more animated in their defense of Talo-Vy, you must be willing to change the way things are done.”
Lo-Nachoo spoke up. “You are right, Uany. What you are suggesting is unheard of in Talo-Vy. But, why should we change the way we have done things for more than twenty-five thousand years? After all, the achohachy are expected to defend their Ka'na and Talo-Vy if they are attacked.”
“Great One, I believe that, if you and the Ishoo'se Aka’ny give the achohachy a reason to do their best in battle, they will fight harder and more willingly to defend Talo-Vy. Wishing for the best for your village is a wonderful motivator, but, receiving a reward of some kind for fighting usually motivates achohachy to fight harder than just the thrill of battle.”
“They have plenty of reasons to fight to defend Talo-Vy. The achohachy have the right to mate with anohachy and anojasa. Is that not a good enough reason?” Lo-Nachoo replied.
“Perhaps for most of the achohachy, it is a good enough reason, Great One. But, what about the achohachy that were born in Talo-Vy? I know of one chohachy such as this. It is Zo-Kyna. Other than protecting his norotha and norothy, he has little or no reason to fight as hard as he could. Achohachy such as Zo-Kyna, by law, are not allowed to mate with anohachy born in Talo-Vy due to the 'Chorotha-Rothoo Law' and the 'Mating Law'.”
Once again the Ishoo'se Aka’ny nodded in agreement. I knew for a fact that some of the Ishoo'se members wanted to overturn these laws, which Lo-Nachoo could do almost any time he wished. But, they knew that he preferred the status quo. Because of my calculations of the number of achohachy in Talo-Vy, I knew that there were well over twenty-one thousand achohachy here and, probably, two to three times as many females and significantly more cubs. Therefore, there was little need for such an archaic law, which was originally created to prevent inbreeding. All that would take would be for the parentage of the cubs born in the village to be on public record to prevent siblings and other relatives from mating with each other.
Lo-Nachoo saw that he was once again losing to my pointing out of the obvious. He responded, “Then, the achohachy not allowed to mate should be willing to fight hard to protect the anohachy of the village.”
“You are quite right, Great One. But, unfortunately, that is not always the case. The achohachy who are born in the village know that they will eventually be forced to leave, most of them against their will. Why would they be willing to fight hard, other than to protect their anorotha and anorothy from being kidnapped? If you would have had a choice, would you have left the village of your birth?”
Caught off guard, Lo-Nachoo had no answer to my question other than to say, “I—can not remember. I left the village of my birth more than twenty-five years ago. But, to be honest, before I was forced to leave, I never really felt an obligation to defend Zachoo-Ne to my utmost ability, despite my situation.”
What Lo-Nachoo had just said did not register with me at the time due to my goal of convincing the Ishoo'se Aka’ny to adopt my idea. However, I looked at each of the Aka’ and each one nodded in agreement with what he said. I had touched on a very sensitive subject. After all, nobody likes to be forced to leave home. But, at the same time, Lo-Nachoo enjoyed the power he held that allowed him to tell over twenty-one thousand Mory achohachy whether or not they could continue to live in Talo-Vy.
After a few athata of contemplation, Ka' Sheshoo said, “Let us assume the Ishoo'se Aka’ny decided to adopt your idea. How would each chohachy know whether or not the chohachy to whom he is speaking is his superior?”
“I am glad you asked that question, my Lord. Every chohachy in Talo-Vy, and Tashoo I assume, wears a vest. If you will once again refer to the paper I gave each of you, you will see my suggestion. On the front and back of each vest, a symbol of rank could be incorporated. The symbol on the front should be slightly smaller, perhaps half the size of the one on the back. I would suggest the front symbol be put on the left side of the vest. In this manner, a chohachy of, say, the rank of Ensana would know if he is approaching or speaking to a chohachy of the rank of Kachata or Kashara. Naturally, a chohachy would give more respect to a chohachy of higher rank than of lower rank.”
All of the Aka’ looked at each other and nodded their heads; respect for a chohachy with superior skills was natural among them. Now, I had given them a way to tell which achohachy had the superior skills without doing battle, either against an enemy or each other. My idea would, hopefully, slow down, if not completely stop, the nearly incessant battling between achohachy on the same side.
Ka' Kikoo said, “What symbols could we use?”
“My Lord, if you will again look at the paperwork I gave to you, you will note that I made some suggestions for each rank. However, you may choose different symbols, but they should be uniform for the achohachy of the whole village.”
Ka' Naka asked, “Why?”
“Because, my Lord, that way all of the achohachy will know who is friend or foe during a battle. Suppose, for the sake of argument, Te’ka-Jy decided to attack again, only this time with far superior numbers of achohachy and the achohachy of several Aka’na had to participate in the battle. Despite the fact that the vests of each chohachy of Talo-Vy have the symbols of Talo-Vy on them, would the achohachy of, say, Ka’ Re-Sheshoo know all the achohachy of Ka’ Mu-Naka?”
A consensus set of nods rippled through the Ishoo'se. I also heard several Aka’ saying, “He is right.” “I do not even know all of my achohachy.” “This a brilliant idea.”
Finally, Lo-Nachoo cleared his throat. “This is a well-thought-out idea, Uany. But, besides the obvious advantages you mentioned already, what other advantages could there be?”
“Well, Great One, there is the advantage of being able to plan defense of Talo-Vy against any potential attack using fewer achohachy, which would allow for some achohachy to always be rested and able to do other important things, such as hunting and guarding the garden. Suppose, for the sake of argument, an attack on the Ka'na of Ka' Chakoo was just a diversion to engage the achohachy that guard the gardens. While these achohachy are busy protecting Ka' Chakoony Ka'na, another group of achohachy attack one of the gardens and kidnapped several anohachy? By having enough achohachy to protect each Ka'na, the garden guards would not have to be required to leave their posts should a battle be heard, although the love of fighting is strong in the Mory achohachy. There is also the advantage of planning and mounting a reprisal attack against a village that attacks us first.”
Lo-Nachoo jumped to his feet and fairly screamed, “That is unheard of in the history of the Mory! No Mory village has ever attacked another village just because it was first attacked by that village! It is against tradition!”
I calmly answered him, “Perhaps, Great One, but is it against Mory Law?”
This caused every head on the dais to turn to Ka' Naka. For several athata, he sat there in contemplation before replying, “There is no law that would be broken by such a reprisal attack. However, I must ask you, Mvilu, what would be the purpose of such an attack?”
“Simple, my Lord. If Talo-Vy attacks a village in retaliation for an attack it first experienced, the village attacked might think twice before attacking Talo-Vy again. However, there are two requirements for such a future attack to be successful.”
Ka' Thaty said, “What would that be?”
“For such an attack to be successful, the attack must be unexpected, which it would be since it would, basically, violate tradition, and it must be overpowering. In other words, my Lords, Talo-Vy must be willing to punish the enemy and make them unwilling to risk another attack against Talo-Vy for fear of the reprisal.”
The entire Ishoo'se was silent for several athalloo, even Lo-Nachoo had nothing to say. I had touched on a raw nerve. From the history lessons I had received from Ara, I knew that suggesting all-out war against an enemy risked bringing back the days of old when each Mory was basically against every other Mory. I believe that every one of the Ishoo'se members had the same question, but nobody wished to voice it.
I gave them several athata to think about what I had suggested. Finally, I said, “I know what must be going through the mind of each and every one of you. My mistress, My-Ara, has taught me about the history of the great Mory race and of your many prophets and prophetesses. I also know how the Mory at one time had no unity and fought against each other for the meager food resources. But, what has changed since those days? Several things. Now, the Mory live in villages, grow their own food, and attack each other in groups instead of as individuals. I also know that your prophets of old never condemned retaliatory attacks to prevent future attacks. Therefore, what I am suggesting might, in actuality, prevent future attacks and may even help to enlarge the population to where archaic laws such as the Chorotha-Rothoo Law can be abandoned.”
The last statement was an attempt to feel out Lo-Nachoo. I wanted to know how much he abused that law. If he got angry or found an excuse to absolutely refuse to inaugurate my idea, then the Ishoo'se Aka’ny would have the excuse they needed to overturn the law without his approval. I knew that it would take at least six of the Ishoo'se members to approve the overturning of any law. I was hoping, for the sake of the Mory-Talo-Vy, that I could convince the necessary six Aka’ my idea was sound.
I believe that Lo-Nachoo knew what I was doing. Because the next thing he said was, “Uany,” Not sarcastically for a change? I wasn’t sure I would like this. “What you have suggested is more than a little radical. I cannot ask, nor will I expect, the Ishoo'se Aka’ny to vote on these suggestions without considerable debate, especially the idea of the retaliatory attacks. However, may I ask you what your hierarchy idea would have to say about a lower-ranking individual attacking and killing a higher ranking individual so he could move up in the hierarchy?”
“The answer to that, Great One, is simple. All that has to be done is to tell all the achohachy that killing another chohachy of Talo-Vy, or more specifically one of their Ka'na, without just provocation, would be little more than murder and the guilty party would be tried for such a crime. I am sure you are wondering what would be considered just provocation. Therefore, I will go ahead and answer. Just provocation would be the same as it is now, with one exception. The provocation would have to be witnessed by a minimum of three witnesses who have nothing to gain by the death of the higher-ranking individual, such as individuals that rank higher than the one killed, or individuals from another Ka’na.”
Lo-Nachoo said, rather calmly, “You seem to have everything thought out pretty well, Uany. One would almost think that you have experienced something of this before.”
“In truth, Great One, I have had dreams that seem to indicate such a situation. Perhaps that is where I got the idea but, as I said when I first started explaining this idea, it was the battle with Te’ka-Jy that made me think of this for Talo-Vy.”
“I see. Then, you and your master may leave. It is almost time for the nakyvo. The Ishoo'se Aka’ny is adjourned until first thing tomorrow morning. We will then consider the slave’s proposal and vote on it.”
I said, “Great One, there is one more thing the Ishoo'se Aka'ny should consider. That would be the matter of how would the achohachy show proper respect for those of higher rank.”
“What would you suggest?”
“There are two ways that I can think of. First, the lower-ranking chohachy would initiate a salute which the higher-ranking chohachy would return. The lower-ranking chohachy would be required to hold his salute slightly longer than his superior. Second, the lower-ranking chohachy could give the higher-ranking chohachy a slight bow. Of course, the Ishoo'se Aka'ny could come up with their own idea.”
Ka' Sheshoo said, “I do not know this word you used, salootu. Please explain what that word means.”
“I am sorry, my Lord. A salute is performed by taking your right hand and touching the fingertips to your head just above the eyes, like this.” I demonstrated an ITN salute, which is the upper arm is at a 45-degree angle from the body and the tip of the middle finger touches just above the center of the right eyebrow, for the Ishoo'se Aka'ny. “This is just one of hundreds of different types of salutes that could be used. The salute is one of the oldest methods of showing higher-ranking individuals respect in my home—village.”
After watching me perform a salute, the Ka'yno said, “This is something else for the Ishoo'se Aka'ny to consider, Uany. The two of you may leave.”
**********
1-As I mentioned before, the counting system of the Mory is extremely cumbersome and difficult. What she actually said was, “This is year hoohachashoova shoovatithe' (twenty-five-three) from my birth.” That is why I have chosen to use the Terran counting system from now on, except in necessary instances for better understanding.
