Volume 6: Gamma-11, Chapter 6.20

Our time held captive in the Galgarian camp was a little different from when we were with the Dennosh Clan and Calmengar refused to let us leave until we could strike a deal with the statue. The first day in the elder camp we did have a feast, but it was a surprisingly public affair with several visitors filtering in and out freely. It was funny how we needed permission to deal with the Galgarian elders directly, but they had their camp much more open to visitors compared to the normal gojen tradition.

I was pretty sure things were different thanks to the stone buildings the public could freely access; two were regular shops for simple trades of regular daily goods, while the third seemed to be a primitive bank where the Galgarians would back promises and deals between clans when they couldn’t trade directly with goods yet, like for those waiting on a new crop yield or livestock to be born, or even allowing time for craftsmen to finish making their wares. They also held various bags of extra currency they would lend out so they’d be part of trades all over the settlement—piles of money sitting around basically. Kelgorm showed us all inside, bragging about how wealthy they were with no concerns over security.

It was a good thing the idea of a gojen thief was simply outrageous.

There was more variety to the food the Galgarian’s offered compared to the Dennosh Clan—not like the Dennosh Clan wasn’t wealthy too, but the elder clan was on a different level with what seemed like more exotic meats and fruits, and different kinds of fruit wine that wasn’t all sour, some even seemed like spiced brandy or something.

Same as our time dealing with Calmenger, our first day was all just feasting and fellowship, no talk of trades or what we owed for the blessing the elder clan was offering us. I hung around Eve’s cart same as always, and Calmengar’s daughters hung around me for a while—probably at the orders of their father, still trying to work me to better their position in the trade I imagined. But after a few Galgarian males came around to talk with the girls, they left me and never returned. I could see then Calmengar’s daughters were intermingling with Kelgorm’s sons, and if I had to guess Calmengar wanted them to move away from me to start working on an even better deal with the elder clan—using his daughters for bartering, I was sure.

From there I had a few hours of peace on my own with the cart, and the Galgarians were good about bringing food and drink to me frequently. We never said anything about it—nothing official at least, but the gojens from the other clans all came to the same conclusion that I was not only responsible for the statue’s wellbeing, but also must’ve had some important connection to it—maybe even spiritual or religious in nature. They always treated me with respect when they came with their gifts, as though they believed I was our clan’s holy man or something.

At first the Galgarians only brought me offerings and bowed to the statue, but as the hours passed they were clearly getting curious from the story Kelgorm kept sharing throughout the feast about what he felt when he touched the statue—how he could feel the blessing within the statue. As Kelgorm continued to feast, he started embellishing on the story, and after several hours he was full-on talking about a vision the statue had given him.

Hilarious I was witnessing the birth of some outrageous religious story built off nothing more than enthusiasm, embellishments, and no small amount of wine all in real time.

Naturally, other members of the Galgarian Clan wanted to touch the statue as well, and at first I did my best to protect it, but Dryden eventually came over and said we should queue up a line and allow them to touch it under strict supervision, rather than keep denying them to the point they might grow frustrated or even suspicious.

So that was my role from that point on, managing a queue of curious gojens who wanted to touch the statue and feel the blessing themselves. I had to maintain order and give instructions, tell them how the statue was super old and needed to be respected, even showed them how to touch it so they wouldn’t disrupt its divinity (realistically, I was just making sure they wouldn’t disrupt the disguise).

I watched as dozens, maybe even hundreds of gojens flinch away or cry out with wide-eyed expressions when they touched the statue, some even fell over and I was sure they were just playing it up—probably trying to show off how

powerful

their blessing was. The more gojens who touched the statue, the more I thought it was just them reacting to the weird, staticky barrier—feeling the hum of electricity and space-age power that was so far beyond them they’d never be able to explain it.

Seeing how enamored all the gojens were over the statue, I couldn’t help but wonder if Calmengar was enamored himself, or if he just saw the value in the rare good that could be sold to the ignorant masses; was he being authentic, or was he a masterful grifter?

I doubted I’d ever get an answer, and it wasn’t like it really mattered since we’d be leaving the primitive planet soon, but it was still interesting to see how the people responded to us and our hidden technology, and once I again I couldn’t help but wonder how humans would react to the Imperial technology if we ever made a sudden reappearance back on Earth.

The feast died down in the middle of the light fade, so the Galgarians finally showed us where we could stay and sleep while we were visiting; they had a large, communal tent for guests with space for almost a hundred plush bedrolls, fancier than what we had back at our camp. There was also a section blocked off by some privacy screens with tubs of water and even blocks of rock-soap, the first time we’d actually be able to properly wash ourselves since we came to Congoren.

They let us sleep in, but once our people were all getting up and shuffling around, Kelgorm came to collect us so they could discuss more terms on sharing the blessing.

They grabbed Dryden, Crisson, Endynna, Yendern and then me always with the statue, and of course Calmengar and his wives and a few of his sons and daughters tagged along as well.

They brought us to a smaller tent compared to the big open one from yesterday, and this one was actually private, but still spacious, with a large round stone table in the center and dozens of stone chairs around it covered in animal skins for comfort. Inside the tent was the ancient clan leader, Gorgrenn, but same as usual Kelgorm was running things. On their side were a few more elders and then Kelgorm’s family—three wives, six adult sons and two daughters.

It was all pleasantries at first as Calmengar started things off with endless ass-kissing same as yesterday, raving about the Galgarian hospitality and the wonderful feast and fellowship yesterday. Kelgorm and his people ate it up, while Dryden and Crisson echoed Calmengar’s compliments at every opportunity so we wouldn’t be forgotten.

After that lovely introduction, some young women came in with trays of meat and eggs and some hearty kummo milk and we all ate breakfast together—still no talk of business or trades. Another hour of lip-service as people complimented the food, and I wondered if Kelgorm really wouldn’t get sick of all the ass-kissing eventually, but from what I could see they all just loved it.

Finally our trays were clear, and it seemed like we could get down to business.

Kelgorm stood at the head of the table, beside his decrepit father, “First, I want to once again thank the Dennosh and Golvenara clans for bringing the divine statue to visit us; for all our people who were able to be blessed by the statue yesterday, there’s already talks of visions, inspiration, and miraculous healing. Truly, you have blessed us by sharing your blessing with us.” He said grandly, then bowed towards us slightly.

Our side all returned the bow, and Kelgorm continued on without delay.

“Now, with talking to Calmengar during the festivities yesterday, he told me the Dennosh Clan is acting as your benefactor since the Golvenara Clan is young and without many resources or connections still, as such, the Dennosh Clan will be conducting the trade for service on your behalf, all with the understanding they will be allowed into the temple as well to present the offering to the New Light once the praetor agrees to the arrangement. Is this all correct?” Kelgorm inquired.

Dryden inclined his head, “Yes, Calmengar has been very kind to our clan, so we believe this is a fair exchange.”

Kelgorm turned to Calmengar, “And you agree to this arrangement?”

Calmengar smiled wildly, “Of course! Our clans are tied by the blessing now, so we shall do whatever we can to see it gets delivered to the New Light personally.”

Kelgorm nodded once, “Very good, then I will entreat with you and your clan about our side of the exchange.” He said, then finally sat down in his chair, “What would you offer for our blessing to arrange a meeting with our praetor?”

Calmengar’s smile looked like it was a permanent fixture on his face now, he gestured out to his daughters beside him, “My daughters, Tregga and Nundra are of marriable age, and it seems your sons have taken a liking to them.”

Kelgorm smiled too, then he looked over at his sons—the younger looking ones, “Is this true, would you like to marry Calmengar’s daughters?”

The two boys at the end of Kelgorm’s line on the table both nodded along.

“Yes father.” The first one said.

“It is my wish to marry Nundra.” The second one added.

Kelgorm turned back to Calmengar, “Excellent timing, my two youngest sons just reached marriable age themselves.” He bowed to Calmengar’s daughters, “We would gladly welcome you into our clan.”

The girls stood from Calmengar’s side, then walked over to Kelgorm’s side, then sat behind his sons on some smaller stone stools.

Holy shit, was that it? Did I just witness a marriage? Did they really just trade away their women like that?

Well, Earth certainly had a sordid history with that too, but was it really

that

bad in the past?

Probably.

Calmengar clapped his hands together and barked out a loud laugh, “Wonderful! And we shall follow the standard dowery practice.” He held up a hand, “Two years of our first-born for all our livestock, two years the first yield to all our harvests.”

Kelgorm’s smile was bright and warm, and it seemed like that was the exact deal he was hoping for—scoring two daughters for his sons and some two-year dowery deal, “Wonderful, and for that we gladly give you our blessing to meet with the praetor.”

Calmengar laughed again, “And so we feast today as well, to celebrate the new union and our combined futures together! May the blessings of the Golvenara ancestral statue honor us all.”

***

If a wedding feast was supposed to be different from all the other feasts, I didn’t notice it.

After all the wheeling and dealing was done (a rather simple matter of trading away a couple daughters), we resumed the same kind of festivities as yesterday.

I had to wonder if Calmengar was some galaxy-brain genius orchestrating all these deals to set his clan up with what seemed like some massive gains on their end; they’d get to talk to the praetor directly and even be allowed into the temple with us to see the New Light, and then this new connection with an elder clan his daughters married into, was Calmengar always so lucky, or were we the source of all his luck?

Then again, I knew from the planetary intelligence trading away his daughters didn’t guarantee the Dennosh Clan a permanent connection with the Galgarians. For nomadic people who would sometimes marry into random passing clans, they might never see their old families again after the dowery requirements were satisfied—no normal concept of in-laws for the gojens.

Still, for a full two years Calmengar would have a lock on an elder clan, with regular dealings with the dowery trades that could probably turn into more regular trades; seemed like a huge win for Calmengar and his people.

During the feasting I resumed my role of overseeing Eve’s statue and managing its visitors. There was still a steady line of people who wanted to touch it, some repeats too, and at one point during the festivities, the newly ‘

married’

couples wanted to touch the statue together, as though it would bless their union or something.

For as primitive and transactional as the marriage seemed, I was surprised how happy they all looked, feasting and dancing together well into the light fade.

Well, they were a peaceful people, not like the clans warred with each other, and it wasn’t like the men hit the women over the head with a club and then dragged them into a cave. They obviously didn’t know any better, but this simple life seemed to be a happy one, and even though they were treated as trade goods, the women were very obviously treated well with all their needs taken care of above all else.

Same as the first day, when the feast started winding down we were escorted back to our guest tent. Dryden pulled me aside then, told me I was handling my role well, gave me a few micromanaging orders that were wildly unnecessary, but for the most part it seemed like I was in the lieutenant’s good graces.

I absolutely hated it and certainly didn’t trust it would last at all either.

The next day things settled down, and finally they didn’t have another feast, so we got to see the normal day-to-day for the elder clan.

They tended to frequent visitors from all over, as well as scheduled visits that were handled in the large open tent. Trades were constant and endless, and it was all so chaotic I had no idea how they could actually keep track of all the transactions—good thing they relied heavily on the honor system.

For the most part our team didn’t have anything to do, so we mostly sat around a few of the firepits and lounged and ate whatever they brought us—always acting as good hosts so we never had to ask for anything, it was offered before we could even think of it.

Naturally I continued my role managing the statue, felt like some circus worker running a booth for a fortune teller or something. Traffic on my end died down significantly since we weren’t feasting, but there were still plenty of gojens who wanted to see and touch the statue, a few who wanted me to relay the story and history behind it as well.

Calmengar wasn’t about to just relax with us though, trying to work as many deals as he could with the elder clan. The man was relentless, and it looked like he was working on a deal to broker a promise between his young son and a Galgarian girl—another elder’s daughter, both of whom were too young to marry, but not so young they couldn’t be promised to each other.

The man seriously didn’t stop, and his work ethic was to be admired; I couldn’t help but laugh over the idea he would make an amazing car salesman or something back on Earth.

As expected, Eve was silent the entire time, causing me to feel lonely and isolated all over again, with my frustrations heating up same as usual. I tried to hold onto the memory of the last time I heard her speak, but it could only sustain me for so long, and as the days continued I found myself talking to her statue more and more—careful to not look too crazy in front of all the gojens.

Once at night though, when I was feeling particularly low, rather than vent at Eve how upset I was, I decided to just tell her how much I missed her and loved her. For my sweet words, I was rewarded with a cute little trill, and even though I knew it was crazy, that musical tone of Eve’s renewed my spirit all over again and allowed me to keep up my façade for now.

After the two days of feasting, three more days passed just hanging around the Galgarian Clan, no expectations of us, no requirements, no work, just honored guests of the elder clan waiting on the praetor to visit. And finally, after five long, long days under those brutal Congoren suns, the day of the meeting was upon us, and we’d finally see if we’d be able to get into the temple, to see their new Predazoan god and continue with our mission.