01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
Whatever was to happen, she knew. Her eyes were wide with horror and fear. Steve stood
his ground and glared at Jabez. The old man hesitated as if the moment wasn't quite right. He
paused and Steve guessed that he had mis-timed his entrance by a few minutes. He clenched
Hara tightly and forced her to her knees. Steve gestured and smiled.
"Don't be frightened, come over here to me."
He snarled at Jabez.
"Let her go you old bastard, if you know what's good for you!"
Jabez smiled and complied. He was still waiting, Steve wondered for what. There was a
movement you get in a crowd sometimes. Steve had seen it among the Martian miners, a
stirring triggered by some signal. This crowd had tensed and a murmur ran through them like
a wave. The six chariot bearers from the previous day stepped forward and joined Jabez.
"The time has come, my Lord. I am he who is destined to lead you to the Awakening. Now
is the moment when our god will serve us and ensure our fertility for ever. It is fitting that
you have called the woman Hara to your side. She will be honoured among us, for you have
raised her from the level of the lowly Lynxe by impregnating her so that she shall bear a
divine child. One who will rule his people after I am gone. Be happy, Lord, she will be
elevated all her days."
Hara moaned helplessly and clung to Steve's knees, she was incapable of raising herself
and standing by his side, she was also impeding his freedom of movement. The first finger of
light from the rising star, suddenly stabbed over the low range of hills to the east. It bathed
the scene in a rosy glow and the sense of unreality was increased. He realised that the women
were gone, with the exception of Hara and that every male was as naked as a jay bird.
The light dazzled him and in that moment as he flinched, there was a movement from the
throne bearers. They charged, Hara screamed and was pushed aside and Steve went down
spitting and cursing and fighting like a demon. This was no playacting!
Six against one wasn't very good odds. It didn't take long before he was pinned, spreadeagled
upon the ground, with one hefty gentleman at the extremity of each limb and another
with his hand leaning on his throat. With some difficulty Steve glared at Jabez, he was
advancing with a very evil looking curved knife raised high.
"When the flower is blossomed, it is spent. It is necessary to remove the seedcase so that a
new flower will bloom."
The horror sank in, Steve started to fight as he had never fought before. The bastard was
going to castrate him!
"Every drop of the godly blood will fertilise the field. It is fitting that our Lord of the
Harvest will contribute his lifeblood. It was for this reason that he was sent by the High Gods
unto us in a wondrous manner. Henceforth, the place of his coming will be sanctified.
Henceforth, will our Lord Steve-Holt return at the time of sowing to become our Lord of the
Harvest. He will return whole, so that we can repeat the ritual. We will maim him and scatter
his seed and pour out his blood upon the ground. We will dismember his body but he shall
return whole and unknowing of his destiny."
Steve screamed obscenities at him but Jabez was gone beyond the reach of mind-talk. The
crowd was wailing in a frenzy of religious fervour and anticipation. Jabez stood poised with
the knife. Steve felt his strength ebbing, he was sobbing for breath and the sweat was running
out of him. The next few moments seemed to lapse into a kind of slow motion. It was
probable that his brain refused to accept what was happening. The knife began its slow
descent. He tried to press his body back into the ground to avoid it. He waited for the agony
to begin and the screams that would issue from him as the knife would begin to saw.
Back in the twentieth, they used to have escapist stories about primitive areas, where
beleaguered men would be rescued at the last moment by a large military force. They would
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