Users
by Thomas R.
part 1 of 2
1: Cam
Lemel found blending into this austere world difficult. During the course of her work for the Bureau of Lost Colony Studies she had encountered deeply disturbing societies and handled them. Yet that did not prepare her for how stifling and dull the planet Cam struck her.
Because the people of Cam lived under a strict austerity. Their only drink was water; their only food, tasteless “nutrient bars”; implants made them incapable of pre-marital or extra-marital sex; they needed only three hours of sleep; they worked thireen hours every day; never danced; and condemned musical instruments. Most of all they felt extreme horror at genetic engineering or other things they linked to “pride.”
She occasionally had a sense these things came from some kind of fear. However this fear did not come from any vengeful God — theism seemed almost unknown — but from some odd sense of history. Indeed, the way they spoke of it implied a capital “H” as if history acted as a replacement for a god. They often stated “History humbles the proud,” “History punishes the slothful,” and “History bring wrath upon the wicked.” This last refers to an event called “The Death of Decadence” when something happened to destroy the civilization of their more technologically progressive and hedonistic ancestors.
Still she had done her job dutifully and felt relief that she could soon leave. They apparently felt the same way. Despite her best efforts to fit the image of “Dame from a Northern Province” they deemed her to be strange and potentially harmful. So she felt surprised when one of them told her she had been invited to the History singing.
The one who told her had been Oba. By the standards of their society Oba was an eccentric woman who had been one of the few to try to befriend her. In their society women had to wear unadorned brown suits and lived with their parents until they permitted her to marry. Yet they did not make rules on hats so Oba tended to wear comparatively outlandish ones. She had also tricked her parents into permitting her to marrying a man who secretly grew berries to eat. Lemel came soon after this man had been exiled so Oba had needed companionship. At the History singing, Oba beckoned her to a seat near her.
Oba nodded and grinned slightly, “It’s no secret the Southern Provinces seem dull for one from the North. So this one hopes the History singers will in least give you something interesting to remember the time spent here.”
Lemel nodded. Despite Oba’s comparative eccentricity she still said things like “this one” as “I” would be prideful. In response Lemel told her, “The Northern one is intrigued to hear the performance. It sounds like one of the first things here to intrigue meagre tastes.” She had almost ended that sentence with “me” before giving it that lame, face-saving end. Still she really did wonder about the History Singing. It combined their two entertainments, vocal music and history.
When a man with a long beard arrived on the podium Oba whispered, “In the Northern Province is the Plateau Disputes much known?” but before Lemel could answer the man began to sing, and his performance shocked her. This man could not muster much emotion when his brother died, but in singing about ancient land reform debates he showed a mournful passion like nothing she’d seen on this world.
And he proved to be not that unusual. In the first hour a mousy woman sang about the arguments over the Plateau’s use in an angry, rocking number. After her, a 30-year old married man sang lustily about mining companies, while the women whistled and chuckled. She had never seen their women chuckle before about anything. It was invigorating and a little confusing. For the first hour.
After that the singers proved to be of lesser quality, and by the third hour the Plateau Disputes part of the performance ended. Then began the five-hour “Epic of Regret and Repentance.” A long series of funereal dirges discussing why History had judged The People and showing why Pride must always be exterminated. She almost fell asleep during it, but at one point she heard a young girl laughing. She looked around to find the voice and saw a sixteen-year old girl with a noticeable scar on her eyebrow. She had never seen this girl before, but sensed something interesting would soon come. She proved correct.
2: Witches burning?
As the performance neared its end the girl laughed again, but this time loudly. To her surprise, the choir — she guessed the Epic was sung by a choir as it’s “holier” — stopped before finishing. One of them stepped toward the girl and mumbled something. Then he went back to the Choir and the world became surreal. Instead of finishing the Epic they sang in unison
“Kill the Uma!”
“They must die.”
“Kill the Uma!”
“The threat is nigh!”
Suddenly a great excitement and commotion came as they grabbed the girl.
Lemel asked Oba, “What’s going on?”
Oba looked confused herself, “I guess they found an Uma.” then she looked sheepish, “This one means to say an Uma may have been discovered. This one assumed the Uma craze to be over.”
“What’s an Uma?”
Oba looked annoyed, “An ancient being of the Decadence. An Uma appears human, but wherever they go they bring evil and death.”
The chorus went on singing about killing the Uma as the audience left the Hall.
She finally caught up with them in the square of the village.
The girl was struggling with the bearded man and screamed, “Let me go, I didn’t do anything wrong.”
He responded, “You laughed at History.”
She cried, “I’m only a child.”
He shook his head, “Even children know.”
“I’m from another town.”
At this several said, “Quiet her!” or “She has the scar!”
Suddenly the girl looked at Lemel, but seemingly said to the group “What are you going to do to me?”
They all cried “Kill her! Kill her!”
To Lemel’s surprise Oba shouted as vehemently as the rest. She whispered, “Why does this one I’m speaking to want that girl to die?”
Oba looked at Lemel with horror, “Nowhere do they let an Uma live. To let one live brings horror.” Then Oba asked, “What is wrong with the Northern one?”
She felt confusion and horror so blurted to her, “I don’t see how this kid did anything to deserve death.”
In response Oba moved away from Lemel and shouted, “Lemel defends her. She defends an Uma!”
The crowd gasped with many adding “She must also be Uma,” but Oba shouted against that saying, “No she is only a defender. Cut her tongue out, but please let her live.”
Thankfully something of a confused shouting match proceeded over whether they should kill Lemel or just mutilate her. So in a way she owed the traitorous Oba for the chance she got to reach the girl. For some reason she asked the girl, “Are you an Uma?”
The girl cried, “If I were, should I die for that?”
Lemel nodded sadly, “I don’t think so.” Then she ordered her pod to arrive and it terrified the villagers, as she hoped. After that they rocketed to her ship and escaped Cam.
3: Ana
The girl seemed more precocious and happy then most people she met on Cam. In fact she didn’t act like anyone from Cam she’d ever seen. She also looked around Lemel’s ship with approval instead of discomfort or confusion.
Lemel kindly explained the ship and the world she came from. She asked the girl about her parents and she told Lemel that she had none. Finally she asked her name.
“It’s Ana.”
“Ana, what is an Uma?”
Copyright © 2005 by Thomas R.
