Chapter 35

This time, the shaman showed up, but did not appear to try to exorcise Doug, but seemed to want to communicate. Doug worked very hard to learn the language the shaman used, and his remarkable memory let him make rapid progress. By the end of five days, Doug was carrying on a reasonable conversation with Shinalnambrun. They had reached the level of familiarity that Doug was allowed to call him Shinal without causing a insulting situation.

While Doug had been learning the language, the rest of the expedition had been busy exploring with the Zeppelins to get some idea of what to expect from a trip inland. They had done a good job of mapping the territory and had some excellent aerial photographs of mixed jungle growth and farm land. The people were not advanced enough to have mechanical devices to help them in their agriculture, but they were doing quite well with the application of people power.

They were planting a primitive form of rice and what looked to Doug like a good quality sugarcane. This was exactly what he had been looking for, so he was anxious to develop a trading relationship with the local people. Two more weeks went by and Doug was becoming comfortable with the local language and had been able to throw in a few of his own words to cover concepts and objects that the local language had not experienced before his arrival. Doug and his people had become accepted, and even welcomed, by the people of the village, especially when they were able to cure some illnesses with their versions of penicillin and sulfa drugs.

Doug's People fell in love with sugarcane and its product, especially when it was mixed with the chocolate that they had brought with them. The local children were captured at first bite of the treat, and this helped to cement relations among the people. The locals were also intrigued by some of the peppers that Doug's People had brought, so there was an exchange of spices.

The locals fell in love with peppers and chocolate, to the point that Doug decided to send a Zeppelin back with a load of sugar and local spices, with an order to return with a load of chocolate and peppers, plus fire starters and tampons. As it turned out, the sugar and spices were so popular that a ship was sent back with a load of chocolate, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, fire starters, and tampons to exchange for as much sugar and spices as they could get. Trans-ocean trade was already established before Doug could complete his visit to India.

Six others of Doug's People had started learning the local language so that there would always be a translator in every Zeppelin. They were relieved to learn that the language that Shinal had taught to Doug was the Indian version of the local trade language. Shinal had turned out to be a valuable ally, and he was doing his best to learn Douglish, the new name coined for the language of Doug's people. Doug and his people spent about two months at the village, exchanging information and language lessons.

The Indians were showing the same kind of skill in commerce that they had a reputation for in the 21^st century, so Doug knew that they could take care of themselves if they did not have to worry about being physically conquered. The danger of this reared its ugly head as Doug's expedition was preparing to strike inland to see what they could find.

Apparently, a ruler of a town about 50 miles to the northwest had decided that he wanted to be what amounted to a warlord. He had conquered a couple of nearby villages and was collecting tribute from them. One of the Zeppelins on a routine mapping flight caught sight of his army moving toward Shinal's village. He was about three days away when Doug decided to pay the army a visit. He flew in on Mars #1 to land in an open field near the army's probable line of march. He sent the plane off to circle overhead out of hearing. Doug was able to keep in touch by means of his portable FM radio, so he knew that he could call in support from all 6 of the Mars planes if he needed them.

He was sitting comfortably in a folding chair under a convenient tree when the point troops showed up. Doug greeted them in the trade language and politely asked to be taken to see the man in charge. Instead, one of the soldiers tried to stab him with the spear he was carrying. He was dumbfounded when the spear broke instead of penetrating. This prompted the other soldiers to try to stab Doug, but they had the same results. This was frightening enough, but Doug tossed a firecracker among the soldiers, and this caused sheer panic. Doug laughed as he watched the soldiers run toward the rest of the column.

About 10 minutes after the soldiers disappeared, another group of soldiers appeared, but these were armed with warclubs and shields. They seemed to be led by a man in a fancy headdress of feathers, so Doug stood up and walked toward him. The officer(?) shouted for Doug to halt, using the trade language. Doug did, and he was surrounded by the soldiers, with the officer standing well out of reach. The officer ordered Doug to follow him, and one of the soldiers poked Doug in the kidneys with his warclub, or, at least, tried to. Much to the man's surprise, the club bounced off.

The soldier let out a shriek of surprise and swung his club to hit Doug in the head with the heavy business end. He hit hard enough for the head of the warclub to shatter as it contacted Doug's head; what's worse, Doug was not even staggered by the blow! The man panicked and jumped back, and the other soldiers backed up with him. The officer looked to see what the disturbance was, and Doug said, "Call off your dogs before one of them gets badly hurt. I will be happy to come with you if you will just lead the way."

The officer waved his men away from Doug and beckoned for Doug to walk with him. "Are you a messenger from the gods? You are too powerful to be a mere man!"

Grasping his opening, Doug said, "Yes, I am a messenger of a new god who is much more powerful than any god you ever heard of. When we get to headquarters, I will demonstrate some of his power."

The officer turned pale at this comment, which was tantamount to a threat, and led Doug along at a brisk pace. Before long, they reached a sedan chair born by eight men. Inside was a richly dressed man of middle years who gazed upon Doug with an angry demeanor. The officer tapped Doug's shoulder and said, "Prostrate yourself before the ruler of the world."

Doug offered the ultimate insult—he laughed! When he did that, Doug was attacked by three guards with flint swords. The swords broke when they struck Doug, and he appeared to treat the whole show with disdain. When the soldiers had quit hacking at him, Doug set off another firecracker, and this caused everybody, including the man in the sedan chair, to recoil in fear.

Doug said, "That's enough of this nonsense! I am the messenger of the most powerful of gods and he has sent me to bring peace to India and stop the persecution of innocents. You are only a minor annoyance, but you have done some harm, so I was sent to stop you. I will show you what powers I have at my disposal." Doug called on his radio, "Mars #2, do you have my location marked?"

"No, Doug, not exactly."

"OK, I'll fire off orange smoke. Put in two rockets 100 yards east of the smoke plume. Got that?"

"Roger. Two rockets 100 yards east of the orange smoke plume. Ready when you are."

Doug dropped a small smoke bomb about 10 feet from the sedan chair. This was impressive enough, but the sound of the airplane, the two rockets, and the explosions put a cap on all arguments. Doug said to the man in the sedan chair, "You have 15 minutes to get your soldiers turned around and headed home. Otherwise, I will call in the destruction upon you and your men. Do it! There is no room for argument or negotiation."