Chapter 6

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake my nervousness about what was coming. Though it had been inevitable from the start, it had come to the point where I had to take a huge risk. It didn't help my confidence that the risk had doubled when Ikina came into the picture. I had a good grasp of Enyi and felt that I could control her reaction, but Ikina was a complete unknown to me. I couldn't even decide how much of a risk I was taking.

We had started out late, which was my intention. The girls seemed puzzled by this, but didn't question it. It was another safety net for me, because no matter their reaction, they would be forced to stay overnight since going back to camp in the dark was unthinkable for them. That gave them a night to calm down, and to think rationally. If they were disturbed by what they learned, I would have a chance to get them over it.

The girls had chatted excitedly as we left, but my curt answers and emotional distance had quickly left them dutifully following quietly behind me. I felt guilty about that. They had to be as nervous as I was, if not more so: they were walking into a strange camp with all but a stranger, one whom they had met mere days ago.

I thought several times about breaking the silence, but couldn't find anything worthwhile to say. The idea that I was bad at interacting with women, no matter the planet, gave me a humorless chuckle. It was ironic that I felt more anxiety over this than I did about killing people.

Despite my dread, we were quickly approaching the cave. I still wasn't certain exactly how I was going to break to them that I was one of their 'gods', but wanted them to keep it secret. It should be an entertaining conversation, if nothing else. The ancient phrase 'interesting times' came into my thoughts, but I brushed it aside.

As we walked into the clearing next to the cave, I forced myself to dismiss my anxieties and move on. I had timed reaching our destination well. The dual moons of the planet were starting their path across the star-filled sky. The brighter nights caused by the dual moons had taken some getting used to, when I had first landed.

The wildlife seemed to be sensitive to it, as a lot of the predators came out at night, here. That, instead of the total darkness, was what caused the natives to be wary of leaving the camp after dark. I suspected that I didn't get any argument about leaving so late, only because Hegen and Enyi had faith in my ability to protect the two women from any animals that came across us.

"Here's the cave," I told them as we walked up to the wooden door.

When I opened the wooden door, they were fascinated. The concept of the door was something that they had never encountered before, but it was similar enough to the flaps of their tents for them to grasp the idea without them getting too excitable.

The doorknob (allowing the door to be securely shut), however, was something totally foreign to them. I showed them how to open and close it. They grasped it quickly, but were astounded enough by the idea, that it took several minutes for me to usher them inside. We left the door open so we would have light, at least until I was able to install the lights that should have been ready days ago.

If the door was enough to astound them, the inside of the cave was a wonder for them. The sheer unfamiliarity of the objects in the cave made them more nervous than they had been with the door. There wasn't anything running with electricity, at the moment, so at least there weren't any unfamiliar noises to explain away.

"We sleep in here," I told them as I showed them the bedding area.

I left my bag next to the bed, where I could deal with it tomorrow. The girls followed my lead, leaving their belongings next to mine.

"Stay here for a moment, and I will get some light in here."

I stopped by the replicator, and picked up one of the cases of lights that it had finished producing. I started in the bedroom, where the girls were. I plugged a light into the handy power receptacle I had installed the last time I had been in the cave. The light immediately came on without a problem, which lit up the cave in a much better manner.

When the light came on, I heard gasps from the girls. When I looked, they were as pale as the proverbial sheets. They were staring at the light I was screwing into the receptacle. I had heard the expression before about seeing the blood drain from someone's face, but I had thought it was a myth. Watching the color visibly drain from both of their suddenly pale faces was so shocking that it surprised me for a moment.

When I realized how unsteady they were, I rushed quickly to them. I gently guided each of them to sit on the bed. Neither of them had spoken a word or looked away from the light until I touched them. They still didn't say anything, but their fearful expression turned on me at that point. Not something I felt good about, but there wasn't much I could do, for now. It was obvious that the cat was out of the bag.

Ikina was visibly trembling as she looked at me. She was obviously overwhelmed by the connections that she was making. Enyi wasn't in much better shape, but she was maintaining at least the pretence of calm. She probably understood that I wouldn't want them coming apart at the seams or falling to their knees in my presence. Even so, she couldn't hide the emotions passing through her eyes, so I knew she was nearly as shocked as Ikina.

I went over to the sink, pulled down a pair of cups from the holder, and filled them with water from the tap. They accepted the cups as if they were full of poison. I filled one cup for myself and began drinking from it, which finally convinced them to reluctantly drink themselves. Ikina's hands were shaking, and she spilled a good portion of the water on herself as she tried to drink from the rapidly moving cup. Neither of them took more than bare sips.

I noticed that they kept looking between me and the light, warily. I saw more than a few emotions flashing across their faces, but their fear was the one that got to me. They still seemed incapable of speech, so I decided to give them a few moments to themselves.

"I'm going to go check on a few things," he told them. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Enyi managed to nod her understanding. Ikina just continued to stare at me as I left the room.

I went through a quick tour of the cave, checking on various things and plugging in and securing lights at each of the receptacles that I had installed. I intentionally took my time, and did a few things that could have waited, such as checking the log screens on the replicator and the cooling units.

It was cold enough in the cave to warrant lighting the stove.

I used a fire-starter from an emergency kit to light the fire. It was a simple, effective, and low-maintenance device. It was little more than a flint and a steel, which were bound together in such a way as to consistently produce sparks. The kindling caught the spark nicely, and I built up a sustainable fire fairly quickly. I left a few thick pieces of wood on top that would take a couple of hours to burn through.

The girls were still warily watching the light for any sign of threat, but they had finished their water and seemed a lot calmer than they had a few minutes ago. When I got back into the room, the fear in their eyes was still there, but they had managed to graduate to awe as their primary emotion. I'd brought a chair from the kitchen table, so that I could sit across from them.

"You probably have a few questions," I told them lightly, smiling encouragingly. I don't think any of us were fooled by the smile, but sometimes the effort has to be made.

They shared a look between them, before looking back at me. They were obviously terrified of doing anything that could upset me in any way. Their culture embraced the idea of a woman as submissive, obedient, and unquestioning. Hegen's tribe was somewhat progressive, but even there, women had to walk a fine line around the men.

"Enyi, you know you won't offend me," I encouraged them. "I know you haven't been around me much, Ikina, but I have a much different view of women than your people. I promise that I won't get upset, no matter what you ask."

"You're an Ancient, aren't you?" Enyi finally asked, nervously.

"As you understand it, yes," I told them matter-of-factly. "Ancients aren't what you think they are. But yes, I am one."

They blanched at the confirmation of what they must have suspected. They immediately averted their eyes, and looked down submissively.

"Are you here to judge us?" Ikina's fearful voice asked in a whisper.

"No," I said. I sighed, and decided that I needed to get past this, immediately.

"Look at me," I said in my command voice, which was surprisingly strong despite its recent disuse.

Their eyes snapped forward reluctantly, unsure of how to compromise between ironclad traditions, and an order from someone they couldn't disobey.

"The Ancients are human, just like you. The only difference between us is that my people know things that yours don't."

They reluctantly shook her head, but still refused to speak. I realized that this wasn't a fight that I could win, tonight. Their religion was too deeply ingrained in them.

"I know this is a lot to absorb," I reluctantly said, with a sigh. "For now, just remember that I don't want to be treated any differently than someone of your tribe. I don't want to be kneeled to, I don't want to be bowed to, and I damned well don't want to be worshipped. I'm not here to judge you or your people. I'm here because I wanted to get away from... problems... so I left to find a place for myself."

They didn't have anything to say to that. I knew that pursuing the conversation any further, tonight, was a waste of time. They needed an opportunity to think through everything. More to the point, they needed to be around me enough to see that I was as human as they were. I really didn't want to be treated any differently than any other man.

Enyi wasn't afraid of me, but the 'miracles' she saw around her (like the running water and the lights), were going to be things that she would have to come to terms with. Her eyes flickered to them constantly, as if reassuring herself that they weren't coming after her. Becoming comfortable would take a lot more effort.

Ikina, on the other hand, seemed deathly afraid of me. I saw the unmitigated fear in hers, when our eyes met. This made me cringe. The look of curiosity and wonder as she saw my toys in action, made me decide that she would be the one to warm to technology the fastest. I hoped that the tech would help her bridge the gap to me, once she understood that the tools and knowledge were the only source of divinity her Ancients had possessed.

"We're all tired," I suggested. "Let's get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning."

I reached to one of the switches I had installed, which cut off the lights. Both of the girls gasped at the unintentional trick, which made me chuckle silently. I'd need to watch my actions carefully to make sure I didn't unnecessarily startle them, until they got a lot more settled in here.

Since she was somewhat used to me, I gently pulled Enyi close while we slipped into bed, so that I could comfort her. Ikina, as I had expected, ended up sleeping on the far side of Enyi. Unfortunately, she wasn't ready to be comforted by me.

Very shortly, all three of us were restlessly sleeping.

Ikina was apparently the first one to wake. I say apparently, because she didn't get up or wake either of us. Instead, she took the time to think. I wouldn't say that she had come to terms with everything, but at least she wasn't as near to panic as she had been, the night before. It was a much more relaxed Ikina that got out of bed with us, a little later that morning. Even so, she was still somewhat reserved.

Neither of them were willing to start the conversation that was coming, so I took the opportunity to declare that we would fix breakfast first, and we could talk while eating. Both seemed agreeable to that, not that either would have had the first thought to disagree with me even if they hadn't liked the idea. Sometimes, it's good to be the king.

I started going through the routine of getting things ready to cook. My mates followed me around, nervously. Both of them had been raised with the custom of being responsible for cooking. Cooking always rested squarely within the domain of the females of the tribe. Neither was happy with the idea of a man cooking, but they didn't have the knowledge to do the cooking, for now. They were both watching me like hawks, however. I knew it was only a matter of time before I got kicked out of the kitchen.

It was funny how people could have different reactions according to the situation. Just being in my presence was leaving them fearful and in awe, yet as soon as we got into the kitchen, the intimidation was gone. Well, maybe not gone, but reversed. I sure wasn't stupid enough to stand between them and cooking. I don't like food poisoning that much and I never pretended to be that good of a cook.

The fire in the stove had burned down to embers, so I cleaned it out and started a new fire. Though neither had seen a method of lighting a fire like the one I demonstrated, both were used to tending already-lit fires, so I left them to build the fire up while I went and got the food. I flicked the switch to turn on the lights on my way out of the room.

The cool room was still being kept adequately cold by the cooling unit, and the remains of the doe were still well-preserved. I went through a quick diagnostic of the cooling unit, to make sure there hadn't been any glitches, while I was in the room. After that, a few minutes of work with the knife left me with breakfast in my hands. I took it up to the main room.

Enyi was pointedly, and unsuccessfully, trying to ignore the lights that I had turned on. While they were working at the stove, building the fire, she kept glancing at the nearest light. Every time she looked at it, she would force herself to look away after a few moments. I couldn't deny it was amusing, though I was mentally admonishing myself for that.

Ikina was having a similar problem. She was trying to pretend that she wasn't curious. Every time she looked away, her gaze would eventually be drawn back to the light, which she was trying to make sense of. I saw her eyes tracing the outline of the wires where they had been caulked against the walls, trying to figure out what they went to.

I couldn't help but watch them for a few minutes as their separate obsessions with the same focus drove them to distraction. It was probably unfair of me, but I found the scene humorous. Nevertheless, the fire was growing at a slow rate as a result of their inattention, so I shook away my own distraction.

I put the meat to the side and helped them with the fire. They seemed much more comfortable, or at least focused, with me beside them, and we quickly made progress with the fire.

They watched intently as I closed the stove, pulled out a pan, and started cooking our breakfast. Even though they never said a word, I explained, step-by-step, what I was doing. I emphasized what actions to avoid while cooking on a stove like this. Their rapt attention assured me that they wouldn't do anything stupid, which made me feel better.

When I finished my cooking exhibition, we plated the food and sat down at the table. The crude chairs and table had been one of the first things I had built with my hands when I got here. I won't say that they were a huge success, but they were workable, while it was just myself using them.

Now that I had company, I was going to have to take the time to do a better job. I'm not exactly a master craftsman, but I had learned a lot on my first attempt. The next attempt should produce a much better result.

The girls were unnaturally focused on their food as we ate. That wasn't any surprise. They were clearly uncomfortable with the technology that they were seeing, saying nothing of what/whom they had decided I was.

They seemed happy enough to ignore everything, until it was waved in their faces. Not that I could blame them. I wouldn't exactly be comfortable if I was eating dinner with Jesus and the Archangels, or Mohammed, or the central figures of whatever religion was dominant this week... and I was a lot less religious than these people were!

I should probably be happy with the fact that they weren't on their knees, worshiping me, which would have added greatly to my consternation.

Nevertheless, it was time to deal with things. Ignoring things was a recipe for disaster, and I was the only one in a position to deal with it.

"So," I started, getting the immediate attention of the two women, "I suppose we have a few things to talk about."

The understatement was left alone as both girls nodded, while avoiding looking in my eyes. I almost made a comment about my gaze not turning people into stone, but both the humor and the reference would have been lost on them, so I dropped it.

"I know that this is a shock to you, but we have to come to terms with this," I continued, in a slightly more serious voice. "The Ancients weren't what you think they are, and I don't want the two of you scared of me. I want you to be yourselves."

"But you're an Ancient!" Enyi protested softly.

I sighed, as I confirmed that this was going to take a while. Enyi was obviously the one closest to accepting me, as Ikina had side issues, because of the way she became my mate. I decided that I would focus all my efforts on my first mate, and once I had won her over she could help me with Ikina.

I reached over and cupped Enyi's chin, and gently raised it so that she was looking at me. Even though she didn't dare resist me, she still averted her eyes.

"Look at me," I told her.

Her eyes immediately complied, though the look of fear disturbed me. That was the first thing to deal with.

"The first thing you need to understand is that I am a human, the same as you are a human."

She was obviously not convinced, but she refused to open her mouth. It was obvious that she had to force herself to obey my order to meet my eyes.

"When I was hurt, I bled. Didn't I?" I asked, challenging her to deny it.

"Yes," she mumbled, reluctantly.

"You have seen me eat, drink, and sleep. I do these things, just like everyone else does."

"Yes," she said, a little less reluctantly and in a lot more confusion.

"When we mate, am I any different from the other men of your tribe?"

"You overwhelm me with pleasure."

She said it with a blush, but her voice admitted that it was a hollow contradiction. I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, that Ikina was paying rapt attention. Maybe she wasn't as far behind Enyi as I had thought.

"The only difference between me and one of the men of your tribe is that I was raised differently. I have learned some secrets about how things work," I told them. Enyi no longer had to force herself to look at me, though I don't think she realized it. "You're going to learn as many of those secrets as I can show you. However, I need you to understand that you don't need to fear or worship me. I expect to be treated as your mate. No more, nor less than that."

Enyi nodded reluctantly, in an abrupt manner. She didn't look completely convinced, and I knew I would have to work on her some. At least I had made enough headway that she could safely walk around the cave, without forever bumping into things. I glanced at Ikina, whose eyes immediately averted down. I sighed, but decided to take what victory I had now and reinforce it later.