Elvene Read online

  Elvene

  The Kiri Myth of Ocean Woman

  Paul Philip Mealing

  Digital Publishing Centre

  Brisbane

  To Blue.

  Because he would have enjoyed it.

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank John Kinsman and Tom Evans for giving me feedback on early drafts, and the late Cleo Pozzo, who fell in love with my characters and gave me a much needed boost in confidence. Also Bee Lee Su, who gave encouragement when I had given up. Mapping the World in the Mind by David Turnbull, subtitled, An Investigation of the Unwritten Knowledge of the Micronesian Navigators, was a valuable resource for parts of this story. Naturally, I take responsibility for all flaws, errors and misinterpretations of factual knowledge. Lastly, I would like to give a special mention to the hotel, Delta Centre-Ville in Montreal, Quebec, where this novel first took flight from imagination to page.

  Part 1

  1. Elvene

  ‘MARAUDERS APPROACHING FROM SECTOR 7. TWELVE MINUTES 25 SECONDS AND CLOSING.’ This was the second iteration of the warning by the ship’s computer and Elvene was beginning to have that awful feeling of impending doom that is perversely sexual, when the brain seems to confuse fear with another primitive survival instinct. She was literally watching death approach and she had no means to impede it. Her mouth was dry and her stomach churned to the point of nausea. She had a feeling of defeat before the fight had even begun. Not that she was in a position to fight with marauders anyway.

  Elvene was familiar with marauders, as was everyone in the Space Corps. They didn’t negotiate, and they didn’t bargain, their whole modus operandi was to seek and destroy, the most effective killing machines yet devised by man. Alone in space, out of contact; it was the perfect environment for them to pick off a lone ship. And space was the marauders’ environment: it was the one they were best adapted for. They were built like modules, no bigger than humans but pyramid shaped. They used a collective mind system and trawled through space in packs, with the same abilities as any space-faring ship. Her ship only had a passive defence system, but even with weapons, it would not have been a match for a pack of marauders who could spread out and surround her with enough weaponry to destroy a war ship, let alone her modest craft. In fact marauders were so feared that her ship was enabled with a suicide command, should she choose to use it.

  ‘How many did you say?’ she asked the computer. But she was stalling, when stalling was not an option she had.

  ‘A pack of six, from what I can detect.’

  From what it can detect, she repeated to herself. They had used stealth to get within striking range, so there could be more, just out of range, but that was unlikely. Neither could she outrun them; if she tried she would buy some time but eventually they would encircle her before delivering the inevitable death blow. With marauders there was no point in running unless you had somewhere to run to, and they were light weeks from any system with a known landfall.

  ‘Eight minutes 15 seconds and closing.’

  That was how long before they would be within missile launching range. A distinct disadvantage of having an onboard computer was that it kept telling you how many minutes and seconds you had before you were about to die. Nothing like a countdown to your own execution to keep your mind focused. If she started thinking like the computer she knew she would die.

  She wondered where they’d come from and how long they had been following her. Her mission was reconnaissance and this was an uncharted sector. She wondered if she had inadvertently stumbled into a nest of marauders without knowing it, or if they’d been following her ever since her warp point. Either way it pointed to a hole in the Corps’ intelligence. But she could ill afford to puzzle over these questions when they were of no assistance to her survival.

  ‘Are we in a position to warp?’

  ‘No, we don’t have enough time to create the nodes.’

  It was a stupid question but she had to ask it. Warping was not a pushbutton affair. Creating a self-replicating wormhole without knowing where it was going to end was a very dangerous enterprise indeed. She’d rather be blown to smithereens than starve to death in an unknown corner of the universe without a return passage.

  Previous experience told Elvene that fear was an ally if you knew how to focus it. While you have fear the mind keeps looking for escape. If she had been calm and serene in this situation she would already be defeated. It amazed her that her brain could analyse her fear even while she was trying to use it, but basically she was just looking for positives in a very negative situation.

  ‘Four minutes 12 seconds and closing.’

  ‘Shut up,’ she said in a burst of frustration. ‘Okay.’ She started talking to herself. ‘I have the emergency escape module, but they will destroy it as soon as it leaves the ship.

  ‘Besides they can detect life on board if they get close enough.’ She imagined the irony of the scenario with them destroying her in the escape capsule and then leaving Alfa, her ship, untouched.

  Then it hit her. ‘But that’s it. I’ll use it as a decoy.’

  But they would still be able to detect me on board, she thought. Not if I’m in hibernation. They won’t be able to detect any life signs unless they come on board, and that’s most unlikely. Elvene was gambling that they would destroy the capsule on impulse without checking its contents. But she was also banking her life on an untried hypothesis: that once they’d achieved their objective, which was to kill her, they would leave the ship intact.

  ‘One minute 10 seconds and closing.’

  ‘Okay, Alfa, you need to do three things in the sequence I command you. You must put me into hibernation. You must break a quantum distress signal. And you must eject the emergency escape module at maximum velocity in a direction away from the approaching marauders.’

  ‘I understand all your commands and they will be done in the sequence you requested.’

  ‘Oh, and one more thing. I won’t be in the emergency escape module.’

  ‘If you were, madam, I wouldn’t send it.’

  ‘That’s very thoughtful of you, Alfa. Now let’s do it. The command is: “Abandon Ship”.’

  Elvene knew that her plan held no guarantees. She knew that the marauders would attempt to interrogate Alfa, irrespective of the outcome with the capsule, and if they failed they would then attempt a tractor beam. But the ship had its own inbuilt defence against tractor beams, and ships were often booby-trapped following abandonment. Alternatively, they could just destroy the ship anyway, but that was the gamble she had to take. Besides if they did destroy the ship, she was never going to know because she would be dead. It seemed like a good choice.

  She lowered herself into the hibernation couch and watched the lid close; against all her resolve, it made her think of a coffin.

  ‘Six seconds and closing’ was the last thing she heard.

  2. Myka

  MYKA STILL LIVED WITH HIS PARENTS. He was at that age where he was looking for his independence, but he knew it was just out of reach. The Elders made all the decisions concerning his life and its future, and there was a feeling of rebelliousness, not only within himself but also amongst his peers.

  Like most people who lived in paradise, Myka was unaware of what he had. His people, the Kiri, lived on an island that was part of an archipelago. The island was mountainous in parts and heavily forested. They lived on the side facing the rising sun with a beach-lined cove. It was effectively a lagoon broken by a narrow strip of reef that led to the open sea. But, because they never saw their home as paradise, they were equally familiar with its deadlier inhabitants, which they never took for granted.

  They made their homes in caves in the cliffs because that was the safest place to take refuge from the larger predators that cohab
ited with them on the island. Myka had heard that over the ocean, in the direction of the rising sun, there was land as big as the ocean itself, where even bigger animals could be found. Myka had ambivalent feelings about this. He would like to cross the ocean himself one day and see this land, but he wasn’t sure he could contend with the thought of predators bigger than igrams. He realised, even at this early stage of his life, it was not a venture that could be done alone.

  He had heard stories of other tribes, but if they existed he had never met them and the Kiri were the only people living in this archipelago. According to the Elders, strangers had come over the seas many generations ago and assimilated with them. Likewise individuals, and even groups, had left the island never to return. Despite his isolation, these stories held some sort of promise for Myka that there was more to his world than what he could see.

  The island was covered in vegetation, ranging from rainforest on its slopes to more open grassland in its valleys, with bountiful supplies of water; his people had all the food they needed along with what they caught at sea. Myka loved nothing more than to explore the island, but he was never allowed to venture beyond the mountain range alone. Predators like igrams rarely attacked humans in groups but a lone individual made easy prey. Myka was efficient with both spear and bow, but bringing down an igram required cunning, teamwork and a carefully planned strategy. There was the story of Seth who had killed an igram with a stone from a sling but no one ever attempted to emulate the achievements of a myth. Myka liked to go fishing, which he often did with his father, but these days he preferred to go alone or with his peers.

  On this day he was going hunting with his friends, and they had been given permission by the Elders provided they stayed within certain bounds. As well as himself, there were three others: Maklyn, Sendra and Rafta. Maklyn was the eldest and Rafta, who was second eldest, was Myka’s elder brother. Myka and Sendra were the youngest. Myka admired his brother who was better with both spear and bow and arrow than he was, but Myka could just beat him in a foot race, if the distance was not too long, and he was also a better swimmer. Myka enjoyed the water in all respects, including canoeing and fishing, more than his brother did. Maklyn led the party because he was the eldest, but they all knew that Rafta was the best hunter. Maklyn had been given responsibility by the Elders as the leader of the group. This made them feel like they were really adults and not just pre-initiates who were pretending. Besides they were going to hunt antrops.

  The previous night they’d had a communal feast to celebrate the start of a new year. The new year was determined by sages who examined the heavens and could read the stars. He also knew that they studied shadows created by the sun, and he was fascinated by the ability to determine the passage of time by seemingly unrelated events. When he asked questions concerning this he was simply told that he was too young to understand.

  The feast was held outdoors, not in their caves, but on a specially prepared ground between the beach and the cliffs, where large open huts were constructed out of tree trunks and broad leaves. It was one of the few occasions when they didn’t retire to their cave-like homes till very late in the night. The planet had no moon; in fact Myka would not have known what a moon was, but one still had a sense of time. Myka could always sense the coming dawn before any change of light was discernible. If asked to explain, he would have described it as a feeling in the air and possibly a change in its smell. He often looked at the heavens and wondered what secrets they held, which was why he was keen to learn the way of the sages. He was yet to appreciate the link between the stars and the ability to traverse the oceans, which was his secret dream. Myka was a growing adolescent, but he held ambitions in a world where the word did not exist.

  Living in an island environment their clothing was rudimentary except on ritual occasions. They made clothing from skins or plant materials. The men wore loin cloths and the women wore skirts, and for the most part left their breasts uncovered. For hunting, Myka and his friends wore loin cloths and carried their weapons by hand. They had quivers made from skins to carry their shafts and also for provisions. How they brought home their kill or catch depended largely on how big it was. If it was really huge they would butcher it in the field, which normally meant returning to the village for help. This tended to restrict how far they could travel.

  They climbed over the cliffs that made their home and into a valley on the other side. As well as their hunting apparatus, they carried water in skins and some pieces of fruit. Everything would be shared, including whatever they caught. There were small mammals that lived in trees, and some lived underground. These could be caught with traps, but they were after bigger game. The island also had flying creatures of various sizes and types. Some were like gliders with folds of skin between their limbs while others had genuine wings; both types ranged in sizes from no bigger than a human hand to proportions that defied comparisons. Myka had seen wing spans that were wider than an eight-man canoe was long.

  The fur-covered creatures living on the island also ranged in size from the small ground and tree dwellers that they trapped, to large four-legged creatures that stood as tall as humans if they stretched their long necks, called antrops. These were not to be mistaken for igrams, who had scaly armoured skins and giant heads with sharp teeth. Antrops had long necks to allow them to eat vegetation in awkward places, and they were hunted by both igrams and humans. They also had tusks for digging up roots, but on the very odd occasion could impale an igram if they got an opportunity. These animals tended to stay in the valleys; they had difficulty climbing the mountainous parts because of their sheer size and they preferred to stay in open spaces where they could see predators. They defended themselves by forming a circle, but if they were attacked by more than one igram, they invariably lost one of their number.

  Hunting antrops was a dangerous enterprise, not only because of their size and their herd mentality, but because they were also hunted by igrams – it was their common domain. Myka and his companions could see a mid-sized herd of about fifteen from their vantage point as they entered the valley. They were moving from right to left across their field of view. What they saw when they crested the ridge was a circular range of craggy hills covered in vegetation. The valley below however was grassland with no trees. Myka was unsure why this was so, but legend had it that what they were seeing was the giant mouth of a sleeping creature. The Kiris believed that the island was alive and only tolerated their presence if they paid it due respect. Otherwise the mouth could open up and eat them all. But seeing the antrops grazing below they knew it was safe to enter. Superstition held that if a creature entered alone it would be devoured. But Myka could never remember not seeing antrops in this valley and wondered if they ever left it. The Elders, however, maintained that if the antrops ever did leave the valley, the Kiri would have to leave the island. No explanation was given for such a drastic measure, aside from the legend that the island would surely come alive.

  The first thing they did was to check wind direction, as antrops had a keen sense of smell. The wind was in their face, so it was in their favour, but Rafta also wanted to check for igram spore on their side of the valley before they broke free of their cover. Both species would enter the forest providing the ground was not too rugged or the vegetation too thick, but antrops did this rarely, whereas igrams, like humans, used the thick vegetation for cover. The best protection for humans was on the higher slopes – once in the valley, they were exposed. Rafta and Maklyn discussed the intended strategy before going down the slope. Once they got closer there would be no talking. The idea was for the two pairs to approach from different directions. The grass was long enough to provide cover provided they stayed on their stomachs. They would use pre-agreed whistles and mimic small animal calls when they separated, but once in the grass they would remain silent. Antrops were not completely stupid; if they heard a human voice they would simply bolt, whereas a whistle, even one that sounded unfamiliar, would merely make them stop and look
up.

  They broke into pairs and stretched out, looking for signs. Myka stayed with his brother, who moved to the right, and Sendra stayed with Maklyn. It was dark under the shadow of the mountain range, and the vegetation blocked out the sky. As soon as they were apart, they immediately felt less safe – now two instead of four. The floor of the forest was covered in fallen logs, vines and ferns. Sometimes they came across snakes in this environment, another hazard, but snakes didn’t normally hunt humans and tended to stay hidden. Even so, Myka thought, he wouldn’t want to arouse one unintentionally. Snakes were huge, so huge you couldn’t get your hands around them, but they usually stayed in the trees where they hunted arboreal prey; even so, that was no guarantee you wouldn’t find one hidden under a fern or behind a log. Also the snakes were masters of camouflage, able to change skin colour according to their surroundings. Conditions were steamy even though they were out of the sun, and the two brothers could smell their own sweat.

  They found no signs of igram, neither tracks nor faeces, which boded well for the hunt. Besides igrams marked their territory, so if you couldn’t smell their urine it was a reasonable assumption that they weren’t in the vicinity. Myka and Rafta were heading to the right to be behind the antrops, while Maklyn and Sendra would approach them from the front. The plan was very simple: when they were in position, Maklyn and Sendra would jump up, like they were rising out of the ground in front of the herd, which would turn and bolt. Then Myka and Rafta would do the same as they came towards them, which would create confusion. The antrops would not have the composure to form their protective ring, and in their panic they would momentarily divide, making it easier to isolate one of them for a kill. That was the plan, but timing was the key. If either party was too far away, it simply wouldn’t work. The other danger was that an isolated antrop would simply charge; under these circumstances it took a lot of presence of mind on the part of the hunter to bring one down. This is why Rafta was on the receiving end. Everyone knew he had the best chance of making a kill.