©2025 SammyC

She cautiously approached the fence, which barely concealed half of her towering height, when I called her name, Emma. Lowering her massive head, she sniffed at me. After being convinced it was me, Emma licked my face with her leathery tongue and cooed. I like to think she was smiling at me, but Merlyn tells me that Rumperdons don’t have the facial muscles to smile properly. Not like people.

“How are you, girl? Are they feeding you well?” I rubbed her snout, which resulted in more cooing. “I was afraid they were planning to slaughter you for—”

“We’d never do that, Rani,” Alvin, who was standing behind me, objected. “The Rumperdons we had for dinner last night are ones we raise for our own consumption. Just a small fraction of the herds we keep on the ranch in the valley below. Did you really think we would eat…uh…Emma?”

“Well, I suppose not. After all, you and your people have been very nice to us.”

He raised his hand to pledge. “I promise, Princess Rani, not to eat you, your friends, or any of your animals. You have my word.”

I laughed. “You’re silly, Alvin.”

“And you’re beautiful, Rani.” I turned away because I’m sure I was blushing something awful. What is it with these guys?

Yesterday, after Eric, Luna’s father, came up on the elevator, accompanied by two men carrying weapons of some sort, and took Malcolm to what he called a “holding pen,” Alvin advised us that it was too late in the day for us to resume our journey.

“We’re used to traveling at night,” I reminded Alvin. “Haven’t you ever heard the song, ‘By the Light of the Moons’?”

“I don’t think Amos is ready to travel just yet. Our medical staff can do miraculous things, but it takes at least 12 hours for broken bones to be fused correctly. You can check on him first thing tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, you and your troop can get a badly needed night of undisturbed rest.”

“What about Malcolm? What do you plan to do with him?”

“That’ll be up to the Mayor, my mother. There are a good number of people here who were abducted by his tribe and were led to believe they were being fed to cannibals. They can never forget or forgive, I’d wager.”

“But he rescued us from his sister’s evil intent. He risked his life to help us!”

“As I understand it, from what Amos and Luna told me, he was planning to trade them to us, only saving you for himself. I doubt you would have enjoyed being his love slave.”

I was about to reply when Alvin put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes.

“You’ve only known Malcolm for a few days. I remember him being part of the gang that would show up several times a year to trade people they’d abducted on the trail. He must have been only 12 or 13 when I first saw him. And who knows how many victims they killed trying to evade capture? Don’t feel sorry for him, whatever his fate turns out to be.”

We visited Amos in the medical unit, where he assured me that he was champing at the bit to resume our mission to The Western Kingdom, only to be told by the doctors that his arms needed to remain encased in those strange sleeves for at least another day. Alvin ushered me out of Amos’ room, and we waited to board one of their tube conveyors.

“It’ll give us the opportunity to give you and your friends the grand tour of our city, both under and above ground. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished here—”

“Speaking of my friends, where are they? Still asleep? I know Merlyn was still snoring loudly when you came by over an hour ago.”

We sat down in the sparsely occupied tube. A number of passengers smiled at me. I smiled back.

“Do they know who I am?” I asked Alvin.

“Oh, yes, you and your crew were prominently featured in our nightly news program last night. Which reminds me. They’d like to interview you. And your friends as well, of course.”

“Are we speaking the same language, Alvin? I don’t understand a word you just said—”

“To answer your first question, your compatriots are attending the hearing that the Mayor is presiding over to determine Malcolm’s fate. In fact, the hearing is probably halfway finished by now—”

“You’re intentionally distracting me while the hearing is being held! I must get off this thing! Is it being held far from here? Can I walk there?” I started to stand up but felt unsteady on my feet due to the movement of the tube. Alvin caught me before I could fall over.

“Rani, I didn’t think you’d be so concerned about Malcolm’s hearing. Sit down. If you must, I’ll take you there. It’s only two stops farther.”

“I hope we get there in time!”

When I ran, almost breathless, into the hearing room, everyone except Amos, resting comfortably in the medical unit, was seated in the gallery. Alvin caught up to me just as I seated myself next to Merlyn.

Mayor Georgia was seated at the head of a long, rectangular table. At the other end sat Malcolm, his hands encased in a metallic device rather than tied together with Senshi’s rope. Two men and a woman had their weapons aimed at him. Eric, Luna’s father, was in the middle of his argument before the magistrate, Georgia.

“Although I am well aware of The City’s abhorrence of capital punishment, I argue that the defendant’s long history of participation in the abduction and murder of innocent travelers, many of whom owe their very lives to the kindness and mercy displayed by your excellency—”

“Eric, dispense with the honorifics. I’m just an elected official, not royalty.”

“Of course, Madam Mayor, forgive me, but old habits do die hard. As I was saying. I believe the defendant must be punished to the fullest extent for his heinous crimes. I humbly request that Malcolm of the Two Moons Tribe be summarily executed as soon as possible—”

“No! You can’t execute him!” I jumped to my feet and tried to open the gate to the gallery. “He can’t be punished for things his sister and father did!”

Luna tried to push me back onto my seat. “He was part of it all. Every step of the way! Rani, he almost killed my father. He DID kill Reynaldo, father’s assistant!”

I batted her hands away and remained standing. “He was only a child then. How can you hold him responsible? He tried to save us from Senshi!”

Georgia spoke rather curtly. “Sit down, Princess Rani! You have no standing in this hearing. Your defense of Malcolm is colored by your evident infatuation with him—”

I banged my hand on the banister of the gallery. “I’m not infatuated with him! I’m just trying to make you see that he’s not the criminal you’re painting him as. Should he be blamed for being Senshi’s brother? Or his father’s son?”

“Silence!” The din of voices in the hearing room faded away. “I am ready to pronounce judgment,” declared Georgia in a steely tone.

Defeated, I sat back down. Luna glared at me. I looked at poor Malcolm, his face etched in fear and terror.

“Malcolm of the Two Moons Tribe, stand up and receive your sentence.” Two of the guards grabbed him by the arms and lifted him out of his chair. “The City has found you guilty of multiple crimes committed over many years. In view of that, I have no choice but to punish you to the furthest extent of the law.”

Many in the gallery exulted as screams of joy and relief filled the hearing room. My eyes started to tear, and I felt helpless against the tide of their sentiment. So many victims of The Two Moon Tribe had come to see Malcolm brought to heel, and justice finally served. But they were wrong about his culpability.

“However, we in The City do not believe in capital punishment, regardless of the severity of the crime. Fortunately, the incidence of crime in the long history of our community is almost negligible. During my tenure as Mayor, there has only been one homicide. That person is serving a life sentence under house arrest.”

My heart leapt at the thought that they might show Malcolm some mercy and give him a similar sentence. He was so young. Perhaps there is a process here where Malcolm could plead for clemency and have his sentence reduced. If he were released in 20 years, he would still only be less than 40 years old.

“Since you are not a member of our community, I cannot in good conscience ask our citizens to feed, clothe, and otherwise care for you for the rest of your natural life. With that in consideration, I hereby exile you from The City, with the proviso that you never approach within 25 kilometers of these environs. We will provide you with a Hobnob but will not allow you to take away any weapons of any sort. May you never darken our premises again. Guards, please escort Malcolm to the entrance aboveground. This hearing is concluded.”

As they marched Malcolm out of the hearing room, I turned to Alvin, sitting behind me.

“Am I allowed to say goodbye to him?”

“I don’t see why not,” Alvin said in a measured tone. “I’ll go up with you.”

“All in all, it didn’t work out too badly. I was sure they were going to string me up.” Malcolm softly laughed as he stood, an armed guard on either side of him, a few meters away from the entrance. They were waiting for their Hobnobs to be brought around.

“Malcolm, how can you be so nonchalant? You won’t even have a knife on you. How will you survive out in the wilderness?”

“What’s the phrase? Oh, yes. Roughing it? I know my way around the outlands, as you would call them. As long as I have a Hobnob and my mind—”

“Here’s your Hobnobs,” Alvin pointed out as three Hobnobs were led into the dome, saddled and reined. One of them, meant for Malcolm, had an additional saddle bag slung over its hind parts.

“What’s the extra saddle bag for?” asked Alvin of the two guards. They shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders.

“I can answer that,” I said. “Before we came up here, I asked Georgia for a favor. I had them fill a saddlebag with dried meat and some of that wine from last night’s dinner. Your mother is a nice lady.”

“Well, I guess he won’t die from hunger and thirst for at least a couple of days,” Alvin said wryly.

“Thank you, Princess Rani,” Malcolm sincerely interjected as they placed him on his Hobnob. Grabbing the reins, one of the guards led Malcolm’s steed out of the dome.

“Good luck, Malcolm! May the Gods be with you!” I shouted after him.

“We’ll meet again, my Lady! You can count on it!”

I turned to Alvin as we made our way back to the elevator. “I fear that was the last time I will ever see him again, poor boy.”

“I fear it won’t be the last time,” Alvin replied.

Since we wouldn’t be leaving for at least another day, as Amos’ arms completely healed, Alvin eagerly took me on a guided tour of The City. Merlyn spent most of the day learning about the advanced technology that sustains the community from its scientists and engineers. Luna spent the day with her father. I had the feeling she might wish to remain in The City after we leave. I don’t begrudge her one bit. Daisy and Edward, our servants, rested in their rooms.

The best part of the day for me was in the late afternoon when we left the stifling, enclosed spaces underground and emerged into the sunlight and fresh air aboveground. I was surprised to see farmland not far from the dome. Alvin had “driven” us to the fields in a vehicle that he controlled wearing a shiny cap on his head.

There were other similar vehicles dotting the fields and dozens of people wearing coveralls moving about, tending to the crops planted in rows that stretched to the horizon.

“So these are your farmer caste? Are they born to the occupation like the various estates we have in our kingdoms?”

“No, it’s something they enjoy doing. And they don’t work in the fields all the time. They do other things that interest them as well.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, puzzled at the thought of such a disorderly society. Why, in my world, you are born to a certain station of life and work. What else could I be but what I was trained from infancy to become?

“My father used to quote from the writings of an old philosopher from our home planet. Nobody remembers what his name was. The gist of his philosophy was that no one should have one exclusive sphere of activity, one job, as it were. Each person should be able to do one thing today and another tomorrow. ‘To hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner…without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic.’ Do you understand?”

“Not really. But your father sounds like a man of deep thought. How did he die? Illness?”

“He was killed on one of his archaeological expeditions. We believe he met his end at the hands of one of the outlander tribes. We’ll never know for sure. I guess that’s why Mother fell in love with Eric. He and my father had the same inquisitive sort of mind.”

“And you? Do you have a sweetheart?”

“Rani, you should stay with us. Your life would be so much better here. Your kingdom is just a mean, hard struggle with the natural elements of this planet. It will defeat you in the end. Your society has been in a doom loop for centuries—”

“A what?”

“Things will never change. And for you specifically. They’re forcing you to marry a 9-year-old boy in the name of some superstitious nonsense—”

“It is not nonsense! We must do this in order to save the world from The Dagger of Heaven!”

“It is utter nonsense. Come, I’ll take you to see our Head Astronomer. He knows what The Dagger of Heaven really is.”