Chapter 31

Doug made no effort to help the old priest; he knew that the old man was responsible for all of the religious excesses perpetrated by the locals, so that everybody would gain by the old man's death. Even if he had not originated the excesses, he was responsible for perpetuating them.

The younger priest was frozen in his tracks out of fear and awe; he didn't know what to do. The old man was not dead, yet, so Doug said, "Call up two priests to take the old man to a bed. He is about to die, and I am sure that you do not want him to die out here where everybody can see it happen."

The younger priest, still about 40 years old, came back to himself at this command and called something down to the waiting group below. Two young men dressed as priests hurried up the hill and carried the old man away. When they were gone, Doug asked, "What is your name, and are you now the chief priest?"

"Oh Mighty One, my name is Huyachatikopaloka, and yes, I am now the chief priest."

"OK, my name is Doug, and you can call me that. I am going to call you Huya, since your full name is too hard for me to say. It is my understanding that your culture is built upon slavery, and your religion depends heavily on human sacrifice. That is going to change RIGHT NOW! As you can see, we are powerful enough to enforce that ruling."

"Very well, Lord Doug, but what will we use in the place of slaves and what will we do for a religion?"

"I have an answer for both, and I will tell you about them, shortly. Now, send all of these people home, and take us somewhere that we can talk comfortably." Doug left a soldier on top of the hill to call in the airship and tell them what he was doing after the rest left with Huya. Huya led Doug and his bodyguards to a room in the large hut separated from the rest of the building by heavy draperies. Doug and Huya sat and talked while the bodyguards stood watch just outside the room.

Once they were comfortably seated on cushions that resembled the bean-bag chairs of the 20^th century, the conversation began. Since he knew that he was protected from any sort of poison or parasite, Doug accepted a cup of chocolate which he nursed during the whole conference. He didn't like the taste of the chocolate, since it was not sweetened, but he knew that could be fixed. His wives were going to be ecstatic about this discovery.

Doug and Huya talked for about 90 minutes, and Doug laid down the law about them returning the slaves to their homes. Any work done by slaves would now be done by free workers who were paid a living wage for their labor. Slaves who had no place to go would be accepted as new citizens of the town. Doug left it to Huya to work out the details.

Doug spent most of the time talking about something Huya was much more interested in: the new religion. Doug presented Huya with a list of the Five Commandments and how he wanted them interpreted. Since, like many of the larger communities, Tichuatal functioned as a theocracy. This meant that Huya was not only the head priest but also the boss of the town.

With this in mind, Doug demonstrated the fire starter and explained that the people of Tichuatal would have access to this and many other marvels if they reformed and started trading with Doug's People. Doug pointed out that the chocolate would be an excellent item for trade.

After the meeting, Doug and his guards were escorted back to the hill so that they could rejoin the other people on the airship. Huya was invited to come along with two of his advisors for a short ride so that he could see that Doug and his people were not charlatans. Huya accepted the offer, he was afraid not to, and was thrilled by the ride. Huya was OK, but his two advisors literally had the shit scared out of them when they looked over the side of the gondola. This shortened the excursion, but it did impress the three men who had taken part.

Huya invited Doug and his wives to a banquet that night to cement the relationship, so they returned to the hill and Doug, his wives, and an honorary bodyguard left the airship with Huya and his two advisors. At the banquet that night, Doug was introduced to the unmarried youngest daughter of Huya. Her name was Solaquitichicatal, which translated to Joy of the Morning. She made a big hit with Doug and his wives. Uh oh, Doug could see the gears grinding in the heads of his wives. They had been after him to take a new wife, and Joy of the Morning looked like the perfect candidate. She had never been pregnant, but that custom had been waived for Mist of the Mountains, so it could easily be waived for Joy of the Morning. Doug could see that he was "in trouble."

Each of the wives spent some time interviewing Joy, and then they put their heads together. Within five minutes, they had come to an agreement, and Evening Star approached Doug with one of the few commands that any of his wives had ever issued: Doug would ask Huya for his daughter in marriage. DO IT NOW! NO ARGUMENTS! They were tired of his procrastination; furthermore, it would be a magnificent political move! The fact that Doug had developed a deep liking for Joy helped a lot, so he agreed to talk to Huya.

Huya was overjoyed, his plot had succeeded! Normally, such state weddings took weeks or months to organize, but Doug was in a hurry to resume their trip, so the wedding was scheduled to take place in one week. The excited women began planning before the banquet was even over, and Joy was entranced by the whole idea. Even Doug finally admitted to his wives that he was looking forward to having Joy join them. Secretly, or so he thought, he was also looking forward to the sex with Joy, since his wives' interest had slowed down, but he was still as ready for sex as he had ever been. Joy was a living doll, so she looked like she would be a welcome addition to his bed.

Meanwhile, as the women spent the week arranging the wedding, Doug remained closeted with Huya working out with him the details of the changes away from slavery and the complete restructuring of the religion. As a special treat, and to show how much power the new religion had given Doug, some of the gunpowder in the bombs was sacrificed to make fireworks to show off on the wedding night. The fireworks were simple, confined to firecrackers and rockets, but these were sufficiently novel to impress everybody.

As a kind of grand exit, the expedition of airships would leave on the wedding night just after the fireworks display. Doug and Joy would consummate the marriage aboard Enterprise in flight. So, on top of everything else, Joy would be initiated into the mile high club on her wedding night.

The wedding took place under all of the pomp and circumstance that Tichuatal could manage. Though the wedding was handled under the auspices of the new religion, Huya still officiated. Joy was dressed in a gown of pure white with gold trim, and she wore a headdress of feathers which framed her beautiful face. She was the very picture of beauty and stateliness. Doug had to admit that he was glad his wives had railroaded him into this marriage.

There was a grand banquet following the wedding, and that was followed by the fireworks, which were a big hit with the whole populace. A procession followed shortly after the fireworks display as Doug and Joy were led to the hill to board the airship. They took off amid a great shouting and applause from the crowd.

Doug and Joy retired to a small cabin which had been prepared for them from a large storage compartment. About 15 minutes after they closed the door, there was heard by everyone on the airship, the moans and groans of a woman enjoying sex. This was quickly accented by repeated feminine squeals of pleasure, followed by a bellow of male release. This sort of thing continued for several hours until all concerned lost count. The wives all smiled in appreciation, knowing what pleasure Doug was dispensing.

The next morning, Doug appeared for breakfast, but Joy had to be attended to in her bed—she was too sore to move. It seems that she had been a virgin and was not used to the vigorous exercise that sex can require. However, she finally made an appearance for lunch, embarrassed, but happy.

This was Joy's first flight, so she was not prepared for the vista available from the side of the gondola. Either her stomach was plenty strong or her muscles were too tired to react violently, because she had no obvious physical reaction from the first time she looked over the side of the gondola and saw how far they were above the ground. She was thrilled by the sight and practically danced up and down from excitement. In any case, she proved herself to be a natural flier.