14 The little man folded up on the ground,
moaning, leaving North holding his wapon. The rest of the natives
immediately ran off, abandoning their companion.
15 North turned to his attacker, who had somewhat recovered and pulled
a bone dagger from a rough scabbard in his belt. North drew his own
dagger, pointed it at a nearby rock, and fired. A very large, neat hole
was blown clean through the rock.
16 North put his dagger back in the scabbard, pointed to the native's
dagger, and, to his scabbard. The native seemed to understand. Still
watching North closely, he dressed his weapon, then began to get up and
back off.
17 North pointed to him, then to a flat rock, and made a motion for him
to sit down. The native obeyed. North took out his scanner and made
some readings, then tried his translator. But in order for the machine
to work, he had to get the native to say a few things. So North began
to point at various things, saying his words for them, then pointing to
a similar item the native had. The native quickly caught on, and in a
few minutes the translator was able to match thought patterns with
audio responses.
18 "I am not an enemy," explained North, "I am a friend. I come from a
very distant place. What is this place called ….this valley ....this
river?"
19 "Jordanea," the native announced, "the place of Jordanea, the god of
water, the bringer of life."
20 "Who rules this land," North asked, "not just here, but all about?"
21 "I rule this land," the native answered, "I am Chief of Jordanea's
people. All this land is ours. Any who cross our boundaries we
kill...enemies! They take our meat, our roots, the fruit from the
trees. All these things belong to the people of Jordanea. Sometimes the