Tri-ethereal Ch. 07

After she lost all her senses she said that she quickly fell asleep and had a terrible nightmare of me getting my head chopped off. She came out of deep transition about the time I was handing out bowls this afternoon. She said that she had a terrible headache when she came out of deep transition; it stayed with her for several hours.

I told her that the last thing I remember was choking on the poison and then a vision or a dream of palace guards coming to rescue us. Then I fell into unconsciousness. Next I woke up here lying in a field of grass and throwing up -- I didn't tell her about the two nightmares I had.

I revealed to her that this was our seventh day here, that Mr. Strydamu or someone probably sold us into slavery to some foreign land where everyone speaks a foreign language. She wondered why neither of us were in pain for not going through union in so long. I told her that the vinegar and crushed hemlock leaves must have done something to us and to our body.

She asked me what the other slaves were doing. I informed her that they were hauling huge stone blocks to build pyramids. I also told that I had been pulling on the ropes too up until a couple of days ago. That's when I was given the job of handing out bowls to everyone.

"Unless you're in pain Johanna, I don't think we should go through union at this time," I cautiously warned her. "Not with all these male slaves here or these guards. Some of them are rather sadistic. I'm sure they would rape you."

"I agree John. I've seen what some of those guards can do, especially that one with the scar on his chest. If I start to experience any pain I'll let you know."

"I'm not in any pain either. For now let's just stay the way we are. At least until we can figure some way out of here."

"OK my love."

"I'm going back to lay down under the wagon. I don't want to stay here by the corral too long someone might get suspicious."

"OK, I'll watch over you my love."

That's the way it stayed for the next nine weeks. I handed out bowls and Johanna watched me from transition. We talked in the evenings after everyone went to sleep. She went into deep transition when I slept. Neither of us were ever in any pain. The only thing that changed was that I grew a full beard and mustache. But then I had to, I didn't have anything with which to shave.

I've seen the kind guard several times. His name is Ore; the other guard's name is Mat. Johanna and I have learned to speak their language somewhat; much of it is one and two syllable words. Now I can talk to the other slaves when there are no guards around.

The pyramids we are building are for King Ta of the kingdom of Japek. They are actually tombs. One of the pyramids is to house the king's personal belongings after his death. Another one is for his wife. The third one is for his body. The stone blocks are cut from a nearby mountain and hauled here by slaves. There are tens of thousands of slaves.

Where the kingdom of Japek is I do not know. Johanna and I discussed it. We could only come to two conclusions. We figured that we are on some island on the other side of the ocean from Tri-ethereal, some small continent that the explorers must have overlooked. We're either there or some nation deep in the interior of either Bi-ethereal or Ethereal.

There are also female slaves. They too only wear sarongs wrapped around their waists or go naked. Most of the Japekian guards own at least one female slave. The female slave's main duties are domestic but they are also used sexually. Other Japekians own from one to a couple of hundred female slaves, depending on their wealth. I'm told that King Ta owns over 1,500 female slaves. He has a different one every night.

The female children of the slaves are trained to do domestic duties and then sold when they reach puberty. The males are put to work hauling the stone blocks as soon as they reach puberty. The slaves call themselves Natenians after their one God Naten. They were conquered by the Japekians about 350 years ago and have been their slaves ever since.

There are two classes of Japekians who are held in high esteem, the priests and the scribes. In fact, the only ones who are held in higher regard are the king and his royal family. The priests are highly respected because they can call down the wrath of their gods upon everyone. At least, that's what everyone believes. The scribes are held in high regard because they are the keepers of the records, just like Lord Kennington.

The scribes write everything down in hieroglyphics on clay tablets. I watch them do their thing when our wagon brings food to them, although I can't decipher what they write. Of course their food, as well as the food the priests eat, is nothing like the slop the guards eat. Compared to what the guards eat, their food is a picnic lunch. I'm not even going to try to compare it to what we have to eat.

The priests and the scribes eat from clean bowls. One of our jobs is to wash the bowls and spoons in the evening. We are given several buckets of water to do this. I also try to wash myself a little bit while I'm washing the bowls.

After nine weeks and two days here Johanna thought of an idea on how we could get out of here. We had been talking to each other and decided to call it a night -- she whispers in my inner ear while I softly whisper to her.

Anyway, I had just crawled under the food wagon and was getting ready to go to sleep -- she goes into deep transition when I sleep.

"John are you asleep yet," she whispered to me.

"No," I said softly to her. I didn't want the other slaves to hear me.

"I was just preparing to go into deep transition when I had a thought."

"What's that?" I answered her.

"Do you know that scribe who always has to rewrite his tablets?"

"You mean Cora, the guy who is all thumbs?"

"Yeah, he's the one," she whispered to me in my inner ear.

"What about him?"

"Well, this morning he threw a rather sharp knife into a bucket of broken clay tablets and trash outside the tent where he works. It's only a matter of time before one of the janitor slaves empties that bucket and throws its contents into the trash heap on the edge of this encampment."

"And that means what to us?" I asked my counterpart.

"The guards all go to sleep at night. I was thinking that you and I could go through union. Then while you're in transition we could escape. When the guards wake up the next morning and noticed you missing they would be looking for you, not me."

"Great idea, but what's the knife for?"

"Once we are far away from here, then we go through union again. When you're in possession of our body you could use the knife to shave. That way you would look different; they would be looking for a bearded you, instead of a clean shaven you."

"OK, I'm all for it. When do you want to do it?"

"As soon as you get the knife."

It was another two days before the food wagon I was assigned to got back to the tent with the discarded knife. Then while the scribes were busy eating, I just picked up the knife and hid it among the bowls. When we got back to the corral area I used a cord to tie the knife to my thigh under my sarong.

That night Johanna and I went through union while everyone was sleeping.

Union was not nearly as ecstatic or rewarding as it normally is for me. I wondered if John felt the same way about it. Also, I had a terrible headache.

"How long do you think I should wait before leaving," I softly asked John after several minutes.

He didn't answer me. I called to him several times but he never answered me. Why he would leave me and go into deep transition at a time like this is beyond me. I'm going to have to tell him something when he comes out of deep transition.

I decided to go now. I figured that the sooner I left the farther away from here I'd be by morning.

I very carefully wrapped the sheet around my waist sarong style and put on the scandals. Next I tied the knife to my thigh. I felt weird wearing only a sarong around my waist. I know John likes to see me naked; he hasn't seen me naked since before we were kidnapped by Strydamu. I wondered what he will say when he wakes up and sees me wearing just this sarong.

I walked right through the gate and past the sleeping guards.

By sunup I was quite a distance away from the pyramids and approaching a small town. I didn't want to enter the town dirty, so I washed the weeks of dirt from myself in a small stream. It felt good to be clean once more.

Walking through the town no one took any notice of me; I was just another stranger doing his or her thing. There were guards herding small groups of slaves all over the place. I had no idea what they were doing. But I could tell that they weren't looking for John. I was glad for that.

By noon, my headache finally went away but now my stomach began to growl. I knew I had to find something to eat. I saw a cart with some fruit and vegetables on it. There was a young male sitting under the cart; he appeared to be the owner's child. I watched the guy selling his produce sneer at the back of a guard after the guard bought some fruit from his cart.

I guessed that the cart owner didn't like slave guards. I approached him and told him that I had no money. I asked him if I could do anything for him for something to eat.

He looked cautiously to his left and right. Then he asked me if I were an escaped slave. I answered him that I was a free foreigner. He asked me if I could cook and do housework. I told him yes. He told the child -- he called the child Mi -- to bring me to his house and tell his wife that I was going to cook and clean house for them.

Mi escorted me to his house. His mother was sitting at a loom, weaving a multi-colored sheet. There was a small baby lying in a crib next to her. She told me her name was Hera; I told her my name was Jo. I didn't think she would comprehend a multi-syllable name like Johanna since their language consisted of mostly one and two syllable words.

She immediately put me to work sweeping out their house. It wasn't all that dirty nor was it very big -- just two rooms and a bathing room. After I swept the dirt floors I washed some dishes.

After I finished she brought me my food. It was a piece of bread, a cup of wine and a bowl of white bean soup with ham. I wondered if the Japekians ate anything other than white bean soup. John told me that it didn't taste all that bad. My senses of taste and smell came back after I went through union with my counterpart; I was finally going to taste it myself.

My first spoonful told me all that I needed to know. Not only does John have a weird imagination, but he also has no sense of taste. It was the blandest thing I have ever eaten. If it weren't for the two small -- very small -- pieces of ham there would have been no taste at all. I'm also going to have to talk to John about his sense of taste when he comes out of deep transition.

I stayed there five days sleeping on the ground behind their house. I swept three times a day. The dirt floors constantly needed sweeping. Porridge in the morning and bean soup in the afternoon, that's about the only foods the poor can afford. Sometimes Hera would give me a piece of fruit or vegetable with my meals. I washed sarongs -- that's the only thing Japekians wear. I also washed dishes twice a day.

While I was doing the housework Hera would weave cloth. Her husband, Sten, would sell the finished product from his cart.

On my second afternoon there I asked Hera to teach me how to work the loom. At first, she didn't want to teach me. I don't know why. But she eventually taught me how to weave cloth. It was easy; I enjoyed doing it. Then after I would finish the housework she would let me weave. She watched me the whole time, always warning me about missing a stitch.

There was a small vegetable garden growing behind their house. There were also some fruit trees growing there, a couple of orange trees, lemon trees, and some strange fruit that I had never seen before.

Each evening Sten would go into the local forest and gather firewood. He sometimes went into his garden and pulled weeds, picked fruit and generally cared for his garden. Mostly he would just go there so his wife wouldn't put him to work. He seemed to be a lazy sort, not the kind of guy I would want to marry.

All this time John hadn't spoken to me. Whenever I found myself alone I softly called to him. But I never got an answer. After three days I began to worry about him. I thought about what happened to me after he drank the hemlock. I didn't come out of deep transition for seven days. I wondered if it would be the same for him.

On my third evening Sten asked me if I had been the slave of a priest or a scribe. He said that my body looked too beautiful to have been a slave of a guard. I told him again that I was a free foreigner. He told me that I should keep telling everyone that, causing me to wonder if he suspects that I'm an escaped slave.

He told me that when escaped slaves are caught -- whether they are male or female -- they are stripped naked and then crucified. Females are raped before they are crucified. They are hung on crosses in the prison camps and along the road leading to Tera in order to discourage other slaves from trying to escape. I didn't tell him that I had seen them from the prison camp John and I were in.

I asked him where Tera was. He looked at me questioningly and answered that it is a large city just east of here. He volunteered that this little town was called Hem.

I next asked him if he had ever heard of Norlen or Tri-ethereal. He said no. I think my questions might have helped convince him that I am a free foreigner.

Next Sten told me that I could only stay two more days. He said that he could not afford to keep me here any longer. Also, some of his neighbors might get suspicious and turn me in as an escaped slave. He cautioned me that it would be best if I left and went to Tera. It was a big city. It would be easy for me to find work there.

On my fifth morning after breakfast Hera gave me some money. She said it was enough to buy me three or four meals if I used it sparingly. She added that she was sorry that she could not give me more. I thanked her and headed east for Tera.

I walked for two days, sleeping under bushes at night.

While on my way to Tera I saw numerous crucified slaves. Some were nailed to crosses; others were nailed to straight poles with their arms above their heads. Of the ones I saw, all but one was male. Not only had she been raped but whoever crucified her shoved a long pole into her vagina after they nailed her to a cross.

While I was looking at her John came out of deep transition.

"What do you think her crime was?" he asked me.

"John, where have you been?" I immediately asked him.

"I just came out of deep transition. How long have I been away?"

"Seven days, the same as me."

"Did you have a headache when you came out of deep transition? I have one now."

"Yes I did," I answered him. "It stayed with me for several hours too. Why did you go into deep transition so soon after we went through union?"

"I'm sorry, Johanna. As soon as we went through union my head started to hurt something bad. Then I rapidly lost all my senses. It felt like I was falling into a deep dark hole. I couldn't help it."

While continuing on toward Tera, I told John where I had been, where I was going and why and who the crucified victims were.

Then we discussed the headaches we both got upon going through union and coming out of deep transition. I told him that union was not nearly as ecstatic or rewarding as it normally is for me. He said that his joy was short lived also because he immediately got a headache after union was complete. He further said that he had no sense of smell or taste and his sense of touch was impaired; the same as me when I was in transition. He later told me that his vision was sometimes blurred or not at all, again, just like me.

The only conclusion we could come to was that the vinegar and crushed hemlock leaves must have done something to our body and to us. Besides giving us headaches, the poison must have extended the amount of time we were in deep transition after union. It must also have allowed us to remain in possession of the body or in transition without causing us any pain, a drawback that was now to our advantage.

Neither of us could conjecture a guess as to where we were. We both assumed we were in the unexplored interior of either Bi-ethereal or Ethereal north of the equator where the stars are different.

John and I decided that I would remain in possession of our body until we got to Tera. I asked him if it was because he liked looking at my naked breasts. He didn't answer me. But I felt him fondle and kiss both of my nipples. I smiled.

It took me another two days to get to Tera. It probably would have taken me longer but I met a kindly family who let me ride in their wagon. The family consisted of a Japekian, his wife, baby daughter and his mother. He told me his name was Era; his wife's name was Ana and his mother's name was Ella. I never did find out the baby's name.

Era was going to Tera in hopes of finding work; he was a scandal maker. I told them that I was a weaver of multi-colored cloths and was also going there to find work. I again thought it best to keep my name simple and introduced myself as Jo.

On my first night with them John asked me why I lied to them and told them I was a weaver -- as we did when he was handing out food bowls, we only talked after everyone went to sleep. I surprised John when I told him that Hera taught me how to weave cloth. I also told him that the reason I introduced myself as Jo was because I didn't think the Japekians could handle a multi-syllable name like Johanna. John agreed with me.

Sten was right. Tera was a large city but not as large as Norlen. It is situated at the bottom of a long, low valley that is surrounded by rolling hills. I could see almost the entire city from atop a hill upon which we stopped to eat some lunch. There is a small river flowing through it; it's a seaport.

While eating lunch I subtly inquired of Ana information about Tera and the surrounding land. Ana revealed to me that Tera is the capital of Japek. King Ta lives there with his many wives and slaves. He frequently goes out into the countryside to view how the construction of his pyramids is coming along.

She said that King Ta also is rebuilding all of Tera with paved streets, new stone houses for everyone, water ducts, public baths, parks and all kinds of improvements. That is one of the reasons Era and she decided to move to Tera.

But the most important -- indeed mindboggling -- thing she revealed to me was that King Ta wanted to make Tera the most beautiful city in all of Corporeal.

"Corporeal," I said. Suddenly a chill ran through me. "Where is that?"

She looked at me as though I was stupid or something. "This is Corporeal my child," she said sweeping her hands into the air. "All this is Corporeal."

I began to tremble. I bowed my head and put my hands to my forehead. I felt John shudder. The only thing I could think of was all those thousands and thousands of unconscious and paralyzed Trimorphs under the altar at Stonebridge. Now our body was among of them.

The legends of Trimorphs forced to drink a concoction of vinegar and crushed hemlock leaves which sent them into unconsciousness and paralysis to Corporeal were not myths.

I suddenly felt very weak. Now John and I were in Corporeal, a parallel world to Tri-ethereal, a world from which no one has ever returned.

"John," I cried out. "I need you. Help me."

"Who is John," Ana asked me.

I waved my hands at her in a gesture for her to ignore my last remark. I got up and walked over to a nearby tree. I leaned against it. I sat down . . . no, I fell down. I wanted to cry but I couldn't. I was too dazed.