Chapter 8

It was almost dawn before Mark was led to the hut where Kara and Mayoni were sleeping. The first hint of light pink was on the horizon, and the frost in Mark's breath made him think that the climate here seemed definitely colder than West Virginia. He was led to a circular hut about 14 feet in diameter, and his escort bid him goodnight. Mark quietly sang the friendship goodbye in response.

The inside of the hut was surprisingly warm. A hearth made of clay pottery was burning along the wall. The fire was small but seemed to give off a lot of heat. Kara and Mayoni were lying down as he entered.

Mayoni got up at once and walked to Mark. She put her arms around him and hugged him fiercely, and Mark hugged her back. Mayoni softly sang a very complicated song, one Mark knew he would have to sing slowly with her later for real understanding. But he understood enough to realize the song was woven with complex variations of the theme of obedience. Mark bent down and kissed the top of her head, breathing in a clean fragrance as he did. He gave her a kind smile and pointed her back to bed.

Mark lay down on the mat with Kara, pulling thick woven blankets over them. Her body was still, but her eyes wide open. She gave Mark a small smile. "Hard to believe three days ago we were having breakfast in your family's kitchen."

"Yeah."

"I'm sure you have a lot to tell me, but before you do, I have a pleasant surprise for you. I thought I'd do an inventory of everything we have. I pretty much knew about everything except what was in the third backpack. I got curious after I saw you get the knife from it. I found the three 50-foot ropes, the knee-pads and gloves, another flashlight with extra batteries, a huge pile of high-energy food rations, and at the bottom of the pile, this!" Kara reached and pulled out four loaded magazines for the Glocks.

"That's right! I remember now. It was on one of my first trips to the cave after finding it. My habit is to carry a pistol and two extra magazines. I was transferring some of the food bars into the storage pack, and realized I had double packed the mags, taking four from home rather than two. On a whim, I left all four in the pack. I wasn't really planning on caching ammo in the cave at all."

"It's really great that you did. The extra 60 shots are nice, but this also doubles our ability in a firefight. With 8 clips, we can fire 120 rounds now without reloading the mags."

"Yikes! I just thought of something. We almost ran out of ammo in our last fight. Imagine getting killed because I forgot about the extra mags. Scary."

"Yeah. We're not soldiers Mark. We can't pretend that we are. I know we're about to go into battle, I can feel it. But let's remember we're both teenagers who don't have military experience. Our humility might save our lives if we can hang onto it."

"A very thoughtful point, Kara. I agree... I got a full report of our battle from the council. They discovered the site yesterday. It was the very first time a battlefield wasn't a defeat for the Hopewell. It's given them an optimism they haven't had in months."

"They had a strange way of showing it last night. At least at first."

"I know. The Paleo-Indians stabbed them in the back months ago, and now the Hopewell are very suspicious of strangers. They're not perfect Kara. I think there are some parts to their culture that will offend our morals. I can give you an example about children's rights. There are probably some things we think are okay that will offend these people. Our moralities have both differences and common ground..."

"And on the balance Mark, which way does the scale tip?"

"To the common ground, I think. At their core, I think these are good people."

"I'm glad. This is my hope too. But I'd also like to know the differences."

"Mayoni is a great example. Her father and mother were both killed at our battle site. With both parents gone, Mayoni's dowry reverted to the tribe. If no one else wanted to pay for a new dowry, Mayoni would have been ostracized, given no food or shelter, not allowed to return to the tribe."

"Mark! That's..."

"Barbaric? Yeah, I agree. These people aren't perfect. It would have been better if she were a boy, but as a girl she has no intrinsic right even to exist. We happened to offer Mayoni protection by accident. There were three things we had to do. The first step was to offer her an animal guide."

"The sweater?"

"Yep. The reindeer is now her totem animal. She really loves it, by the way. The second step was to allow her sleep-warmth. I'm not sure I fully grasp the cultural meaning, but in practice it means we offer to share our sleep blankets with her. That's why Mayoni cried when she sang to us, that first night. We were saving her life a second time. By offering her sleep-warmth, we were promising to do the third step, to pay her dowry. And if we were paying in crops, let me tell you, the cost would have been substantial."

"Mark, we'll have to be careful, not to abuse the obedience Mayoni is giving us in return."

"Oh yes, I agree."

"So! Tell me about the war."

"Well, it all started over three months ago. Wait! Let me tell you what a month is here. There are four seasons to a year, and four months to a season. Each month has 18 days. It all adds up to 288 days. They call this world Aina. The actual revolution time of Aina is between 289 and 290 days, so every year there's a one or two-day summer festival that's not part of the seasonal calendar."

"Okay. Makes sense, A nice way to handle it, I suppose. So the trouble started about 60 days ago?"

"Yeah, almost 70 I think. Local days. By my watch, a day here is 22 minutes less than an Earth day. In total, a local year is 78% of an Earth year. To the Hopewell, "

"Mark, wait a minute. I'm trying to think of something. A faster orbit, doesn't that mean this planet is closer to its sun?"

"Yep, it sure does."

"But it's so cold here!"

"Actually, one of the councilors described the seasonal weather to me. This winter is a bit colder than usual, but not by much. But the other three seasons are really nice. The spring and fall days are temperate, and the summer days usually peak in the low 80F and drop into the high 50F at night. It's really very pleasant. I think the star here is less massive, producing less power. The planet seems to get about the same amount of radiational heating as Earth."

"But a less massive star would slow down the orbit, wouldn't it?"

"Yes again. You just have to add all the effects together. I actually worked on this with Kalea during a break from the war council. She's a mathematician and one of the woman councilors. The Hopewell had a woman who was their version of Isaac Newton about two centuries ago. They have a Newtonian knowledge of gravity but not a relativistic one. They know this planet is orbiting the sun. Kalea was ecstatic when I told her that stars produce power proportional to the cubic power of their mass. She didn't know this. We did some calculations. For Earthlike heating, this star is 13% less massive than the sun, and produces about two-thirds of the power. Anyway, to the Hopewell, it's the year 1405 now. They started a new calendar when they walked the Awesome Path. Their history states they came with over a 1000 people, and before the war started the number was 3012."

"Wow! They kept track exactly?"

"Yeah. This culture prizes mathematics. A number of women councilors are quite good mathematicians. They were going wild with me during the break when we started chatting about calculus. Kalea in particular."

"Ha! I bet. And I'm glad there are women counselors."

"Oh yes, over half the counselors are women. They're just not allowed on the war council. This culture is making some attempts at gender equality, but it isn't perfect."

"Yes, I'm sure they've been progressing. This building is very well made. And somewhere in the last thousand years they invented the flue. Look above the hearth. It's made of pottery, and a really excellent design. And did you get a chance to visit the bath huts? I was led to the female one after I left you. Lots of hot water, and they make a good natural soap. I loved it!"

"I thought you and Mayoni smelled nice! No, I was with the council all night. Forgive me for not smelling as sweet as you. Let's see, where was I? Oh, yeah. The war."

"Wait! Could I ask about something you said earlier?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Girls need dowries here, bribes for someone to marry them. Are woman second-class citizens?"

Mark was silent for several moments as he pondered how to respond. "In some ways yes, in others no. Both boys and girls are expected to marry when they're 23 years old, 18 years Earth age. Mayoni will turn 19 in about six months, Aina years. The marriage pact is pretty equal. The new couple split the dowry with the council members and leader. A husband hitting a wife is just as serious a crime as a guy hitting some other guy. Oh, speaking of the law, their government is fascinating. Kikapua and all of the council are elected. A third of the council gets elected every year to 3-year terms. Sort of like the U.S. Senate, only twice as fast. And get this! They do weighted voting! A women's vote counts for 1 or 2 votes, depending on whether she's an adult or older, while a man's vote counts for either 3 or 5 votes. Bottom line, the women make up 59% of the voting population and they have 35% of the vote, voting for a leader who must be male. Are the women second-class? Yes, certainly. But consider this. One of the woman council members remarked to me that if only the male votes were counted in the last election, Kikapua would not be the leader. The women are second class, but they are also part of the franchise, more so than in many countries on Earth... Kikapua's power is fascinating. He's an elected supreme ruler, and judged by the voters every two years by how large a majority of the counselors agree with him. His real job is to build consensus. Let's see, what else? Well, there is some polygamy here, but all members are considered equal partners."

"Polygamy? Yuck!"

"No Kara, it's not yuck. It's just that there are so many more girls than boys."

"Huh?"

"Kara, do you remember the ratio of boy to girl births on Earth?"

"Sure, it's 1.06, 106 boys born for very 100 girls."

"For here, triple that ratio and then reverse it. Among the Hopewell, there are 11 boys born for very 13 girls."

"What?! What could cause such a shift?"

"Stress, I think, maybe from the diet. This environment isn't Earth. These people are eating a combination of local and Earth crops, domesticating local and Earth animals. The day and seasons are faster. It's probably a stress on the body. Stress can reduce sperm motility, and sperm carrying the female chromosome are hardier. And it's not just sperm. The girl children survive better than the boys. At 23 years of age, local time, the original 11 boys and 13 girls are 8 boys and 10 girls. At 69 years of age, the end of being an adult here, the original set is down to 4 men and 6 women."