John and Argent by cmsix

Chapter 73

While I was staring at Georgo, as he did his fish out of water imitation, it hit me that my life had become pretty complicated in not much elapsed time. Argent had bolted, then I'd discovered the attack on the camp closest to us and now I had been lucky enough to discover what could only be a planned attack on my person during a major celebration. I wasn't sure that the shit was hitting the fan yet but it seemed to me that a couple of turds had come awfully close to the blades.

I just turned around and went to my chair, behind my desk, and sat down. Georgo regained his composure and followed suit, sitting in one of the chairs across from me.

"Tell me what has happened John, what makes you think that Kartogo would become leader?" he asked.

"I think that he and his mate were planning to kill me tonight," I said and then I explained it to him.

He was silent for a few minutes. I guessed he was playing it back over in his head.

"Something is not completely right about this John," Georgo said, and I considered that the understatement of my time here.

"You're damned right about that Georgo. Something is not right and as I think about it I get madder and madder."

"But if both he and his mate were trying to kill you, why would she tell you that she didn't need your help? Why also would she give you such a look when she saw that you were going to help her anyway? If she were intent on helping him kill you, it seems that she would have been glad that you came over to help her. I would think that she would have been anxious to appear as if she wanted your company," he said.

I thought about what Georgo said and then replayed the scene in my mind, again. What he said made sense. Now that Georgo had brought it up, it seemed almost as if Miekadakta had been trying to send me off without having to say anything aloud. Maybe she didn't want to be involved in Kartogo's plans but was afraid of letting him know it. This was more confusion to add to the confusion I had already.

I wasn't ready to absolve Miekadakta of any blame yet but I would at least move her to the wait and see category. In fact I couldn't even be sure that Kartogo had intended to kill me. I damned sure suspected it though and I think that anyone in my place would.

"I feel like going into the residence cave right now and just killing Kartogo to make sure I sleep good tonight."

"That is your right if you are sure that he was going to kill you and even if you aren't sure I doubt anyone will cause any trouble. It will make all those that came from that camp very uneasy though, since you have no real proof that he intended to do what you think he was going to do. In fact I think that it will make most of the men here uneasy around you for a long while. They will be afraid that they might do something that will get them killed without warning," he said.

"You're right, I can't go over there and kill him with nothing more to go on than what I have. I wish I knew exactly what was going on. I also wish that the spirits were still close to us and could help with this."

What I really wanted was for Argent to be here and tell me what the asshole had in mind. Say what you will, nothing beats being able to have the thoughts of your enemies examined and then explained to you. Wishing and hoping weren't going to help me right here and now though so I was going to have to think through this myself. I would also be counting on many of my mates and my helpers to contribute.

"Georgo, could he be dumb enough to think that everyone would just take him for their leader only because he killed me?"

"It is customary, when a man kills a leader, for him to take over the leadership of a camp. It is also customary for him to be killed himself fairly quickly if others don't think that he is going to be a good leader. Actually a leader's killer is usually killed unless the leader he kills was very disagreeable to everyone in the camp," he said.

"Then what in the hell was he thinking to make him even consider it?"

"I can't tell you because I don't know. I will tell you that if someone kills you they are sure to be killed before the next day is over. You are the most well respected leader I have ever encountered. Most of the people here feel that the things the spirits have given us would have never come if not for you. I am among them. Even if Raalto killed you to take the leadership I'm sure that he would be killed right away out of anger for his doing such a thing and he is the second most respected leader I have come across. Almost all of the people of this camp are very thankful for your leadership," he said.

"That is good to know but apparently there are some here that don't appreciate it so much. I find it hard to believe that Kartogo would try such a thing by himself. Someone has to be telling him that it will work and we need to find out who it is."

"I think that you are probably correct but I'm not sure that there would have to be many involved. He has probably always wanted to be a leader and if he is already convinced that he should be, it might not take much encouragement to get him to try killing you," he said.

"In other words, if he wanted to do it anyway it might be easy to get him moving on the plan."

"Right, it isn't nearly as hard to convince someone to do something if they already want to do it," he said.

"Well it really makes me mad that I will have to go around wondering if a spear or a club is coming my way the next minute."

"I think that you should talk to all of your mates first and see if they have any information about this, they are always moving among the others in camp and they have probably seen or heard things that you or I or even any of your leading men could not have," he said.

"I intend to talk with all of them but I don't think that they will know anything about it. I'm sure that if they had heard about plans for my death they would have mentioned it."

"I'm also sure that they would have but that wasn't what I meant. They might have seen bits and pieces of the planning that didn't mean anything to them at the time. If you tell them what happened, things that might have only seemed odd before might makes sense in the context of what you have learned tonight," he explained.

"I think I understand what you are saying."

"Your mates, especially, see things every day that you or I or the other lead men might never see. They pass more nearly unnoticed among the people than we ever could. They also speak daily with the ones in camp who know everything, the other women. Almost nothing can happen in this camp without some woman knowing about it and most of the men here do not realize that," he said.

I knew that he was right. For ages upon ages men had underestimated the presence of the women around them; be they servants or even their own daughters, wives or lovers, men had often spoken frankly with other men where women could hear and just assumed that the women wouldn't understand or even that they wouldn't pay attention.

I wasn't going to fall into that category of dumbass. I already planned to talk to all my mates when I finished with Georgo.

"Do you think that I should speak to them separately or all together?"

"Only you know them well enough to decide that but if it were me, I would gather them all together in this office and tell them exactly what happened. I would then let them all discuss it with you but later I would make sure to talk to each one of them individually," he said.

"That is about what I'd planned to do since I have perfect faith in their loyalty to me. If we all talk about it together then something one of them says might spur a memory from another. I will be sure to speak with each of them many time after that, until we have found out all we can."

"This is something that can't be left for time to settle, you know that you must satisfy yourself one way or the other. You will have to keep digging until you find that it is either a misunderstanding or that it is an actual plot against you," he said.

"I do know that and even if I didn't my mind would never let me forget what I think almost happened. The thing that presses the point home most firmly is the fact that it could have succeeded easily. Whether she meant for them to or not, Miekadakta's actions saved my life tonight. If I discover that she warned me off intentionally her stock will rise around here."

"What about your other lead men, will you tell them about it?" he asked.

"I intend to work my way down the ladder with them. I will start with Raalto and then talk to Racaato, after those two I will decide, taking into consideration everything that I have learned. I hate to think about it but I must at least consider that one of them could be involved. I do not believe that but I feel I must not ignore the possibility."

"It is regrettable but it is probably the safest way. Do you need to talk to me further or are you ready for the next step?" Georgo asked.

"I'm sure I will need to talk to you often about this but I think now is the time to speak to my mates. I am also ready for some coffee."

We got up and walked out of the office and into my cave. It was apparent that word of my conference with Georgo had been passed to all of my mates by now. They were all in the kitchen, sitting at the table and talking quietly among themselves.

Georgo walked toward his quarters and I went to join my mates. They stopped talking at once and all their eyes were on me. I told them that we needed to have a talk in my office and asked them if someone was looking after Deimeta, Baatiea and Beetiea.

"They are all with Dotallto; Cailayia and Jalieta are there also to take care of them," Xailieta said.

"Good, I want some coffee and if any of you would like some you should get it now. Our talk may take some time."

"Get a mug and go to your office then, we will all get some and we will bring a thermos with more. You can get cranky when you do not have enough coffee," Shelalliea said.

I didn't even have to get a mug myself since Yareela was near the pot. She poured a mug, handing it to me. I went back into my office and sat at the desk again. When they were all with me and the door had closed I stood and told them my tale, including what I had discussed with Georgo about what to do now.

"It is all my fault, I'm the one that told you to help Miekadakta with Kartogo," Ameliea said.

"It is not your fault or the fault of anyone here. It is only their fault and it is possible that Miekadakta wanted nothing to do with it either. If you hadn't pointed them out to me I wouldn't know that something was wrong and I'm very glad to know about it. What you each need to do it try to remember if you have seen anything unusual going on lately, especially anything that involved Kartogo."

"Something unusual happened after you left carrying Kartogo to his quarters. Jarto staggered and fell as you started off. He hadn't seemed that bad until just then and it was odd to me that his mate, who is a small woman, didn't have much trouble getting him to stand and head for his own furs. Their quarters are next to Kartogo's," Kateata said.

"I spend a lot of time in the residence cave, mostly teaching the women about cooking. I have often noticed Kartogo, Jarto and Shabago together talking. I didn't think it was very unusual at the time but they were together often. In fact I saw them all in Shabago's quarters several times today as I was going back and forth carrying things and helping with cooking in the big cave," Waaya said.

They kept talking and discussing and it soon became clear that Kartogo, Jarto and Shabago were often together talking and no one could remember them having other close friends. It seemed that there was no specific pattern for which ones quarters these meetings would occur in. Most of my mates remembered seeing them together at least once but none of them could remember seeing their mates participating.

A few of my mates recalled seeing a woman with them while they talked but it was always the woman who lived in the quarters they were occupying at the time. In other words, if the talks were in Kargoto's quarters, Miekadakta might or might not be there during them. The same seemed to hold true for the mates of Jarto and Shabago.

It was getting late and finally I decided that we would accomplish more by sleeping now and then starting again in the morning. We left my office and went to the bedroom. I was afraid that I would not be able to sleep at all. When I woke a little before sunrise the next morning I was surprised that I'd had no trouble dropping off.

I made it out of bed without waking anyone and went directly to the showers. I spent more time letting the hot water pound over my back than I did washing but when I got out and dried off I felt remarkably good. I'd had enough foresight to bring my clothes into the bathroom with me and I dressed and left for the kitchen without going back through the bedroom.

I didn't mind making the coffee this morning and I would even be glad to cook my own breakfast if my mates wanted to sleep longer. There was no doubt they'd been tired last night since they had worked hard all day yesterday getting things ready for the celebration and then had stayed up very late talking with me about the shocking developments.

After finishing my first mug of coffee I found that I wasn't going to have to do any cooking. Jaada came out of the bedroom and headed for the pots and pans. She took time to refill my coffee mug and I pulled her into my lap for a few kisses before I let her up to cook.

"Jaada why aren't you wearing your shiny shirt?"

"I don't know, I just didn't put it on this morning. I usually don't wear it if I'm going to be inside all day," she said.

"Would you start wearing it all of the time for me, at least until we find out what is going on?"

"I will if you want me to but why, do you think that someone will try to kill us?" she asked.

"No, I don't, but you are often near me and there is no telling when an attack might come. It is very likely that if a spear is aimed at me and it misses it could strike someone near me. I want all of you to humor me and wear your mail until this is over, I even want Deimeta to be sure and wear hers. It would break my heart if something that was intended for me harmed one of you."

"I will go and put mine on as soon as I finish cooking your breakfast and I will tell the others to make sure to wear theirs too," she said.

"I think that I will go and ask them myself while you are cooking. That way they won't have to come back and change like you are going to have to."

I went to the bedroom then, coffee mug in hand, and found that most of them were up and all were awake. Dieta, Geera, Gema and Kateata just hadn't rolled out yet. I made my request and they all promised to honor it. Taaheita said that she would go and get Deimeta soon and would make sure that she understood about wearing the mail at all times without telling her why. Satisfied I went back to the kitchen and found that Jaada had my breakfast ready.

I did my best not to think of my troubles while I was eating and I was doing a pretty good job of it until Racaato came in. He had a good mood written all over him and I knew that I was going to have to destroy it in a few minutes. I'd let him hang on to it until after he'd eaten anyway.

Just as Racaato sat down Raalto came in. Good, this meant that they would finish eating at about the same time and I could break the news to them together, with a conference in my office. Seems that I was getting a lot of office conferences going lately.

I told them that I needed to talk to them after they'd eaten and then left for my office. Once inside I sat at my desk, again lamenting the loss of the video feeds and kicking my own ass for not using them to peruse the activities in my own camp while I'd had them.

Just then an icon started flashing on my desktop. It looked similar to the message icon I'd used to communicate with Argent and the others while they'd been here. I clicked it.

John:

Once again let me apologize for the current situation. It is not of my choosing but that hardly matters to you and it doesn't make your life any easier.

The meetings here are both contentious and ridiculous. I cannot tell you what we are discussing and you probably wouldn't believe it if I could. I can tell you that I will be coming back once the meetings are over but I don't know if or how our situation will change when I return.

I hope that things are still going well for you there and that you were satisfied with the last few things that I was able to provide before we were forced to leave.

If it is absolutely necessary you may communicate with me via the same message interface that you have always used. It will not function as a "chat" at this distance but if you send a message I will receive it in the same manner that you received this one. Time for the transmission to be completed is approximately twenty hours one way.

Argent

Well it was something anyway and I was glad to get it. I definitely thought that it was absolutely necessary and so I began my message to him. I wondered what he would think when he got it.