A God Called Bruce Pt. 05

It was still early so we decided to walk rather than port to the pub. She told me how much she loved our world and that she was happy to be here.

"You know it was Panacea who convinced us to move. It was an impersonal, barren metal world when we first came here. What you see now is what we built to make it a more pleasant environment for everyone."

"More evidence of orchestration."

"Why do you say this?"

"Panacea is perhaps the only one on Olympus who has no rivals or enemies. Even Ares and his followers are nice to her. She has always been happy on Olympus. For her to want to move to a barren metal box amongst the stars is quite out of character. It's the kind of thing I might have done. I wouldn't have thought it to come from Panacea."

"Tell me, Meditrina, what is it that makes you so different from your sisters?"

"My sisters are healers. They inherited the healing gifts of my father. I inherited his powers of observation and his analytical talents. My special sphere is diagnosis."

Suddenly I could see what Zeus had in mind when he gave us the four sisters. The others would come into their own later. Right now we needed the special talents of Meditrina to get us to the next level.

"Thank you, Meditrina," I said. "This makes a lot of things clearer to me. I can see the road ahead again."

By that time we had arrived at the Horny Tom. We chose a small table on the terrace. I went to get the drinks. Meditrina had asked for Irish whiskey, neat. This chick was full of surprises. What surprised me even more was that they had a bottle of Tullamore Dew in the bar. She was happy with that.

Marge and Suki arrived together and joined us. Trout Amandine, steamed asparagus, and baby potatoes was on special, we settled for that and a bottle of Chardonnay. It was great. Suki no longer wore her translator. Her English was getting a lot better though she still had trouble with the grammar. She managed well. After the meal I told her I wanted to talk.

"Okay. We go Suki house. Talk there."

Chapter 50: The Forbidden Land

I didn't even know Suki had a house. Must be a recent acquisition. It wasn't far. From the outside it was a two story terrace with neat window boxes full of flowers and a tiny front yard, also full of flowers. The downstairs part was one big room with a kitchen at the back. A staircase led to the upper floor. The front room was sparsely furnished. Big colourful cushions on the floor and a low table, exquisitely carved, in the centre. Native style. The only concession to our civilisation was the mustard coloured carpet. Suki gave me an ashtray and a beer and busied herself in the kitchen.

She emerged from the kitchen carrying an ice bucket with a bottle of Champagne and two glasses. Instead of putting it on the table, as I had expected, she carried it upstairs.

"You come to Suki now, please," she called after a couple of minutes. I went upstairs. This was a day of surprises. Evidently Marge had been busy. The upstairs part was an exact replica of my bedroom in Sydney, complete with satin sheets, gilded mirrors and an adjoining bathroom with a Jacuzzi. Suki was already naked and in the water.

"You talk to Suki here," she said.

I stripped off and joined her. She handed me a glass of champagne and with her free hand went straight for my dick.

"I said I wanted to talk," I said weakly.

"Yes. We fucky first, then talk. Suki miss you."

By that time my dick was as rigid as it gets. I didn't need much convincing.

When we were done Suki poured us some more Champagne and leant back in the water.

"Much better. Now we talk. What you want to talk to Suki about?"

"I want you to tell me the story of the taboo land on your planet."

"Suki cannot tell in English. You have no translating machine."

"I no longer need one," I said in Bluetongue. "I can understand you now."

"You speak our language?" said Suki, also in Bluetongue. "Why did you not tell us before?"

"It only just happened. It came to me in a dream."

I was stretching the truth a bit here, but there was no way I was going to admit to spying on them.

"We are your people. The universe gave you the gift of our language because you love us so much. It is fitting. I will tell you what you want to know."

I felt like a heel.

It was a long rambling yarn, by the look of it embellished over the centuries. There was a clear and discernible core to it however, which seemed to prove what we had suspected all along. Here is in essence what Suki told me.

In the beginning Bluey society was similar to Polynesian society on Earth from the descriptions. They lived in a land free from natural enemies. Apart from insects, lizards and birds the only other life was in the oceans. To me that meant that the Blueys were not indigenous to the planet but had arrived there as settlers. As their society grew, tribes formed who saw themselves different from the others and started to fight each other for domination. They fought over land, fish, women and anything else that was desirable and in the possession of their rivals. Tribal wars were the norm, cannibalism was common.

Then one day the Helpers arrived. They set up a small colony on what is now the taboo land and were immediately attacked. The natives were no match for the new arrivals. The Helpers did not kill. They used some sort of stunner, perhaps similar to today's Taser. There were no casualties on either side.

Blueys are anything but stupid. They quickly realised the futility of their attacks and stopped. An uneasy truce developed. The Helpers simply waited. When the Blueys realised that the Helpers had no intentions to dominate them dialogue started between the races.

The Helpers explained that there was a better way to live and that the strife in their society was caused by violence and greed. That was nothing new to the natives, they had figured that one out a long time ago. What was new to them was that violence and greed were the manifestations of a disease and that the newcomers had a cure. Astonishingly, it was a group of hardened warriors who decided that they had seen too much misery and killing and went to the Helpers to be cured. The Helpers obliged.

These people had been disliked and feared even by their own tribes, who saw them as a necessary evil. When the change that had come over them as a result of the treatment became obvious many decided that they wanted that kind of inner peace for themselves, packed up their families and went for treatment. The new movement snowballed.

The new converts simply ignored those who did not want treatment, but after a while many decided to be cured to gain admittance to their emerging society.

But there were those who did not want to change the old ways. Rebel groups formed. They decided their day had come and it would be an easy matter to dominate those who only wanted peace. The idea was short lived. The rebels quickly found out that a person who is free from greed and violent urges is not defenceless. Though no longer compelled, they were still highly trained warriors who knew how to deal with a belligerent adversary. The rebels who were not killed in the ensuing conflicts were forced to undergo treatment. After two generations greed and violence had been completely eradicated on the planet. The Helpers left.

A new society emerged. They recognised they were all one people. The term tribe began to mean everybody present, regardless where they came from. When they talked about other tribes they simply meant some of their people who lived in a different place. When two tribes met they simply became one for the duration. That was the end of tribal rivalry.

Everything belonged to the tribe and since no one took more than they needed there was plenty for everyone. The natives had always been liberal with their sexual favours and now that there were no more jealousies, sex became a form of tribal get together. It was by no means exclusive. People still had private couplings on occasion, but they kept it private and rarely talked about it. The children belonged to all and were looked after by anyone who was close.

These things had not all happened all at once, they had developed over time as new social conventions emerged which were held to be sacred.

Bluey society had become what it is today.

There was little information as to who or what the Helpers were. There were many descriptive terms for them and their technology that had lost their meaning over time. About all I could gather was that they were bipedal hominids with large eyes.

Halfway through Suki's story we had climbed out of the Jacuzzi and gone to her living room. It had been a long tale, as she told it. By now it was nearly dinner time. We decided to go to the Horny Tom for our meal.

Bruce and Marge were sharing a table with Vulcan. We joined them. Vulcan had not seen Suki for a while. He asked her how she was.

"Suki is very happy," she said. "Johnny can speak Suki language now. Suki tell Johnny the story of our people."

There were some raised eyebrows around the table now. Before anyone could say something Suki spotted Betty.

"Suki talk to Betty now, then come back," she said and went over to her. I had a fair idea what she was going to tell her.

"How did you manage to do that?" said Bruce.

I told them what Zeus and I had done and how Zeus had given me the language because I had no translator. I also told them how I had explained it to Suki and what she had said.

"That won't do your reputation any harm. I love it," said Bruce amongst much laughter.

"Suki told me much that is new to me. I have a plan. Can you, Bruce, get the core group together for breakfast at your place in the morning. I'll bring Suki and Meditrina. This gives me a chance to digest what I've been told. I'll tell you then what I have in mind."

"Not a problem, Mate," said Bruce. "Leave it to me."

Suki came back just as the meals arrived.

"Betty want to talk to Johnny," she said.

"Go and tell Betty I will have lunch with her tomorrow. She can talk to me then."

Suki did as she was told.

We had our meal and a couple of drinks afterwards. When we were done Suki got up and pulled on my sleeve.

"We go Suki house now," she said, "fucky some more."

For a moment I just sat there, stunned by what she had just said in front of everyone.

"Why you wait?" said Vulcan, mimicking Suki's speech. "You go Suki house now. Fucky some more!"

I got up amongst howling laughter and got the fuck out of there. Once more I had provided the entertainment for the day.

***

Next morning I asked Meditrina via Endora to meet us at the Horny Tom. From there we walked up the hill to Bruce's place. The gang was already there.

"Johnny fucky good yesterday?" Vulcan asked mimicking Suki again.

Howling laughter all round except for Meditrina who didn't know what was going on.

"Suki fuck Johnny good. Johnny happy." Suki stated, grabbed me by the balls before I could stop her and decided: "All empty now. Johnny get food. Fill up again."

The laughter continued for a long time. Eventually it died down. Bruce handed out the plates. For once I had no reply. I had beer with my breakfast, I needed a drink.

After the meal I told the story of Suki's people and the forbidden land.

"I take it you want us to go there," said Bruce, "Do you know where it is?"

"Suki knows. Suki been there when young woman. Suki can find way."

"You mean you have actually been there?" That was news to me.

"Yes. Suki travel lots when younger. Seen many tribes. Stayed with tribe next to taboo land. Suki come, show way."

"Good, you show us where it is," I said, "we'll take it from there."

"No. Suki come with Johnny. We go see taboo land."

"I think we should take Kar with us too," said Vulcan.

"He might not want to set his foot on land that is forbidden to him," I said.

"Kar has balls the size of coconuts. He'll go everywhere I go," insisted Vulcan.

"Alright, go and get Kar then."

Vulcan disappeared and came back with Kar ten minutes later.

"I've told him what we are going to do. He is eager to come."

"Good. We'll leave tomorrow after breakfast. All of us here, unless someone doesn't want to come along. As long as everybody understands this might be very dangerous. The Healers, as Suki calls them, must have had a reason to declare the land a forbidden zone. We don't know what we might find there." I just wanted to make clear what they were letting themselves into.

"Healers no make taboo. My people did." Suki was adamant.

"Okay, Suki. Tell me why your people made the land taboo. Speak in your own language if that makes it easier for you."

"Our people believe," she said in Bluetongue, "that our ancestors were possessed by demons who made them fight and eat each other. These demons were driven out by the Healers and imprisoned. They think the demons are still locked up in the place where the Healers lived. To make sure no one would release them by accident they declared the land taboo. No one wants to go back to the old ways. Panacea taught Suki that it is not demons who make people sick or violent. Panacea is a God. She knows. Suki is not afraid to go on taboo land."

I translated what she had said for the others but still held onto the notion that it might be dangerous, that the place might be booby-trapped to keep people out.

"Nonsense," said Darrin. "The race we call Ancients, for want of a better term, were honourable and compassionate creatures. They would not leave booby-traps behind. They had other, non violent, methods to keep people out, if they wanted to."

Of course. Darrin was right. It would have gone against everything these people stood for.

We spent the next hour deciding how we were going to travel and what we would take with us. Vulcan proposed that Kar should pilot the craft and Suki should be co-pilot. Since Suki knew the way she could give Kar directions on the fly in Bluetongue, eliminating translation problems. Everyone agreed that this was a sensible thing to do. Darrin wanted to take some tools, Gadeirus decided to take only his Xonnian tablet and an interface, Bruce and Marge decided they would look after the catering.

Algenon declared that since this was an expedition and Captain Kirk was leading them once more to out there it was fitting to wear our Star Trek uniforms. That struck a chord. I was outvoted. Uniforms it was.

By then it was time for lunch. The others decided to eat at Bruce's place. I had promised to meet Betty at the Horny Tom and made tracks, leaving them to do their own thing.

Over lunch I told Betty Suki's legend and what I thought it meant. She made me promise to give her a translation. I explained how I had acquired the language and what Suki thought about it.

"You are already a legend amongst the Blueys," she commented dryly, "a bit more embellishment isn't going to hurt."

"I wish they wouldn't see me as a God."

"But they don't. They know that some of the others are, but not you."

"How do they see me then?"

"They see you as one of them. They say their love for you and your love for them makes it so. They also say that you get your inspiration directly from the universe and that the Gods follow your lead, not because you are more powerful, but because what you are doing is right."

"If that is so, why do they worship me in their temple?"

"They don't. They are simply celebrating the fact that the universe itself is guiding one of their own without intermediate Gods who may have their own agenda. They feel very privileged."

"Let's just hope I can live up to their expectations."

We left it there.

I had nothing better to do so I left for home to prepare the report I had promised Betty. Knowing that this was needed later on I had instructed Endora to record Suki's story as she told it and render a translation. It made my job easy. All I had to do was to add footnotes with explanations wherever the translators were ambiguous or unintelligible. It took most of the afternoon. I mailed my report to Betty and went for my evening meal.

Afterwards, when I was standing at the bar, slurping a beer and talking to the barmaid, Meditrina turned up. She grabbed my free hand, stuck it down her pants and declared:
"I am Meditrina and tonight you are mine."

Next instant we were standing in my bedroom, naked. I still had my beer in one hand and my other hand on her bush."

I remembered Marge telling me: It is the women who decide whose pussy, and how much of it, a man is allowed to have. I didn't argue.

"You can finish your beer," said Meditrina and lay on the bed.

"On your own?" I asked. "I thought you guys always came in pairs."

"The others do. I'm different. Tonight I want you for myself."

It was sweet and loving. A perfect end for the day.

***

The others were already assembled when we arrived at Bruce's next morning. Bruce was making breakfast. Vulcan had parked the craft we would use on the back lawn. Marge hexed us into uniform. After we had eaten we boarded the vehicle. Kar took the controls. Suki sat in the co-pilots chair. She looked happy and excited.

Kar manoeuvred us to the hangar and through the air lock. We were in open space. Meditrina, who had not travelled on the craft before, was thrilled. I asked Kar to fly an orbit around our home to show Meditrina where we lived. Endora had put all the lights on again. Shortly thereafter he ported into orbit around the Blue Planet.

Instead of landing us on the power spot in the temple, Kar set down manually about ten miles north of Suki's village, next to an isolated clump of trees in the middle of a large meadow. Suki's first marker.

"From here on it's all yours," he said to Suki.

She told him where to head next. There was nothing wrong with her memory. We only had to double back twice to find a marker she had missed. We flew at a height of about ten feet for most of the way, only climbing higher when we needed to cross a forest.

By midday we came to a river. Suki asked Kar to put the craft down. The river was about half a mile wide. On the far horizon we could see the peak of what had to be a huge mountain.

"Why did we stop Suki?" I asked. "Are we there?"

"No, not yet," she said in English. "We go now straight towards mountain. After while we come to big forest. Forest is where taboo land start."

"Then why did we stop?"

"Suki need piss. Then have beer. Then we go."

"I like the beer idea,"said Bruce.

"Not surprise. Bruce always think beer."

"What do you expect? I am a God of booze."

"Yes, God of booze, barbeque and backyard dunny," Suki said dryly. "No backyard dunny. Today we piss on grass."

That made everyone laugh. This chick was a regular stand up comic.

We arrived at the forest half an hour after we resumed our journey.

"Suki not know where to go from here," she said and got up from the co-pilot seat. I took her place and asked Kar to take us about a thousand feet up. I had no real idea what I was looking for.

I asked Kar to take it slow and head for the mountain.

About five minutes later Darrin called out. "What's this on our left?"

Some distance away to our left was what looked like a clearing.

"Let's have a look," I said to Kar who swung the craft around.

As we got closer we could see this was no ordinary clearing. It was about a mile in diameter and perfectly circular. The area was devoid of vegetation and of a beige colour. It was completely flat. In the centre was what could be a small building. It was difficult to see because it seemed to be made from the same material.

I asked Kar to put the craft down next to it. As we came closer we could see that it was a gazebo like structure like we had encountered on Olympus in the tunnels. There were no windows or doors. The ground and building were seemingly constructed of the same material we had seen in the tunnels of Olympus. This had to be the place we were looking for.