Chapter 13: The Plead

A moment later we reached the woman at the bottom of the ravine. I kept a nervous eye on our surroundings. There was limited visibility all around us, with especially thick forest along the ravine to our north. I didn't like our position at all. We were very exposed and blind on all our escape routes. In the back of my mind I was second- guessing my decision to leave all our critical gear by the lake. "Abby, one minute, no more," I whispered.

Abigail nodded and knelt by the woman in the burqa. The woman's face was completely covered by her veil and she was lying curled in a fetal position. Her screams had faded to a rhythmic whimper.

Abigail put her hand on the woman's shoulder and spoke in a calm voice. "You have to come with us. We have to leave now."

There didn't seem to be a response. Abigail reached across and detached the head veil from the burqa. Underneath was a large mop of reddish hair held in a loose ponytail. Abigail stroked the woman's cheek, and the woman's eyes finally looked up into Abigail's.

"Come!" said Abigail, "We're friends. We have to leave. We have to leave now." Abigail put her hands under the woman's shoulders, and started nudging her to stand. I waited impatiently, weighing my option of walking back up the ravine by myself so I could see both Abigail and the packs. I hated the thought though of even a sixty meter separation with the alpha bear still on the loose. But then the woman stood up, and under Abigail's persistent but kind encouragement, started to walk with us back up the ravine to the lake.

As we climbed out, the first rays of the morning sunlight began hitting the tops of the trees. Feeling relieved to finally be in true daylight, we took our final steps to the top of the ridge.

Abigail and I both gasped at once. Forty meters west of us were our backpacks and the lake, and forty meters north of the backpacks was the alpha-male. He was hopping on three legs along our old tracks and making good time. He would be at our precious backpacks in seconds.

Abigail and I both drew our pistols and charged. The gigantic bear saw us immediately and roared in frustration, and then pivoted towards the lake and crouched to jump. Fortunately for us he could only propel with one hind leg, and with his slower speed he was a perfect target. Abigail and I both started firing at full-auto just before the bear began to spring from the ground.

For someone with so little firing experience, Abigail's aim was magnificent. She led her target perfectly, scoring a dozen solid hits of the exploding darts along the side of his torso. My aim was just above hers. I was targeting the spinal column.

The bear hit the water with a tremendous splash and rippling wave. Abigail and I ran down to protect our backpacks. The unveiled woman in the burqa slowly followed.

By the time we reached the shoreline, the bear had surfaced. He was floating motionless about six meters from the shore. While I covered him, Abigail grabbed all our gear and dragged it away from the lake.

"Is he dead?" she called out.

"I think so," I replied. "Wouldn't hurt to make sure." I switched to single-shot and fired one explosive dart into the top of his neck, angling the dart to explode deep inside the skull cavity. Gray cranial matter blew out of both eye sockets as the dart went off. "No question now," I called out.

Abigail nodded, scanned the area, then flipped her safety on and re-holstered her pistol. Very professional, I was so proud of her. She looked at me with a very thoughtful expression as I holstered my own weapon. "Ilias, I used to think of wild animals as the Holy's creatures, deserving of compassion and respect. But I have to admit, this particular bear was one nasty piece of work! Did you see how he was intentionally terrorizing the woman?"

Our rescued woman was just joining us, her eyes riveted to the enormous corpse floating in the lake. I nodded to Abigail. "And that's not all. He was one smart bear, crafty. He was heading straight for our packs. We got here just in time, unbelievably lucky. Just another few seconds and we would have lost our gear. And we still have eighty kilometers to go."

I turned to our new acquaintance. "Hello. I am Ilias, this is my wife Abigail. You may speak freely. Ask any questions you want. What's your name?"

The woman struggled to find her voice. "Thank you Sire," she said at last. "My name is Michal. Sire, my husband is dead."

I nodded, trying to be sympathetic, but unsure of the emotions Michal was feeling. Regardless of the actual date, her memory would be that yesterday in a cathedral she got her nuptial injections, and then she woke up this morning with a marriage book telling her the man sleeping with her was her husband.

"Do you know how long you've been out here?" I asked.

Michal shook her head. "No Sire. There was no mention of it in my book." She paused for a moment. "Sire, my book said we lived in Cairo, and that my husband's name is... was Sofian. He was a commander, CL-8, a Priest." She looked very timid. "Sire?"

I nodded. "Yes? It's okay to speak freely. Ask anything you want."

"Yes, sincere gratitude. Sire? Can I walk to Cairo? Is it possible?"

I sighed. "Cairo is about ninety kilometers north from here. My wife and I are on a survival test too. We're heading south to Jericho." I thought for a moment. It hadn't occurred to me yet what an awful position this woman was in. There's a firm policy about no rescues for survival tests, and there was no legal reason why Michal would be accepted if she returned with us to Jericho. The world's attitude was to let her join in the failure of her dead husband.

Michal seemed to realize this too. She cried out and then quickly sat down and took off her boots and socks. I was a bit confused. I dimly noted that at least she had on proper hiking boots. Wearing a burqa out here was a complete joke. Sofian must have been a very devote Priest to make such a choice, and an even bigger fool.

Barefoot, Michal stood up and then quickly shred her burqa, halter bodice and panties. Stripped naked, she knelt before me and cried out, "Sire! I plead my bondage!"

She then stood up and faced me, legs apart in a moderate squat and head thrown back as required by custom and by law. Eyes closed, she awaited my decision.

I stared at her. Of course! It was her one chance for survival. Michal was asking me to take her as my wife. It was the only way for me to have legal cover and bring her back with us to Jericho.

I turned and stared at Abigail. Abby's eyes were full of compassion, and standing at the side, she had also noticed something about Michal's hanging belly when the woman had knelt before me.

"Michal," asked Abigail quietly. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"