treasure.…
Lerman had a strange feeling, as if that were his last journey. Excitement and tiredness made him dizzy. His legs were trembling. Each time he breathed out he felt how his body got emptier and emptier.
Tarek began to describe Karan to him, the dull life he had led there, waiting for a miracle to happen. Not that he had had any other choice. He had worked for the outpost for a long time. Lately he had been a guide. He was able to make both ends meet. Now he made a favor to the newcomers, now he did an errand for Zen Dyva.… He no longer knew how many years he had wasted there. The obsession of the green stones had almost driven him crazy. He had seen several dozens of them in his life, he had even touched them, there was something about them that stirred him up. It wasn’t just their face value. It was an inner call, he felt he was somehow linked to them, for no apparent reason.
“This hollow ground is the Tanor’s bed,” Tarek said wiping his forehead. “There, next to those high rocks are the former springs. Here, see? Exactly as they appear on the map. We could get there tomorrow if we quicken our pace.”
They walked on, rambling on. At sunset they looked for a hollow in the dry bank of the former river. They took out their sleeping bags, exchanged a few more words and before long exhaustion took hold of them.
In the morning they set off with renewed force and confidence. But they weren’t thinking of the same thing: Tarek’s mind was set on the riches that, he hoped, would finally change his fate, while Lerman could think only of meeting Mud and the old man.…
Three hours later they made the first halt. A few mouthfuls of water and Xerun pills invigorated them. Tarek broke the silence.
“Tell me, young man, what are you gonna do with the treasure? What’s you game plan?”
Lerman was somehow taken aback by his companion’s question. He had expected it but never thought of an answer.…
“Well, I’m considering going to Serenia.”
“I see. Well, you’ve got all the time in the world, it’s natural. Frankly, I thought of doing the same but I’ve kind of lost patience with these journeys. What’s the use? I can find whores here, on Zayon, too. Of all sorts.”
“Yes, Tarek, but…think.… A true, genuine Serenean, who hasn’t changed so many beds.…”
“Not me, young man. I’d rather try to find the elixir of life…then, of course, I could.…”
“Nonsense, Tarek. The only elixir you can find is on Serenia. There’s something special about that planet.”
“You can’t deceive time there either, young man. Only your look maybe, only your look…and mind you, those Sereneans don’t appeal to me as much as the crazy Pteoleans. The way they moan they scare you out of your senses. Ha! Ha! Ha!” Tarek said and mimed the sexual movement with an enviable litheness.
Lerman burst into laughter and said between guffaws.
“Hey, hear this. I was married to a Pteolean and that caused only trouble. Having sex is OK but they squander your money worse than they do in a posh whorehouse. What do you think of androids? They’re cheap and do whatever you want.… As long as you’ve got the right dick for it.…”
“I may be older than you, young man, but how could I give up the smell of a real pussy?! Oh, no, no, no!.… And I’d like to try both the young and the plump ones. But only if they’re Pteoleans. Sereneans, androids, they’re all the same. As if they all came from the assembly lines in Raptor or Eldena!”
“Relax, everything’s gonna change pretty soon. You’re gonna have so much money you’ll be able to have as many Pteoleans as you want.… You’ll see, you’ll see.…”
They went on their way more optimistically than before. Lerman smiled to himself. If Tarek had a harem of Pteoleans and plenty of beer, no one would be happier than him. And, of course, if he were about thirty years younger.…
They drew nearer to the mountains. Nagur was there, between two rocky peaks, reminding them who the king of Nede was. The bed of the Tanor had become narrower, it was only a few steps wide now. Soon they reached the former springs. They were in a place surrounded by high rocks that lay in a circle, like an old sanctuary. The two hunters contemplated the landscape.
“What’s the next move?” Tarek asked.
CHAPTER THREE
UEZEN
They looked at each other, not knowing what to do. At last Tarek decided to take out the pick and his famous precious stone detector.
“Do you really think that bloody gadget’s of any help?” Lerman asked ironically.
“It should. If no one else has been here before, that is.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, young man, it did show me the place once. But when I got there, the soldiers had already surrounded a guy who’d found a stone as big as my fist.…”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Not at all.”
“When was that?”
“Well,” Tarek said scratching his head, “I think about twelve years ago.… Hold on! I’ve got something!”
Tarek was holding in his right hand the vertical axis of the detector and the mobile plate was pointing its tip right to the rocks in front of them.
“Well, at least we know where to start from,” Lerman said with the same dose of irony.
“Do you have a better solution?”
“As night is falling, how about lighting a fire? I’ve seen some thistles somewhere around here.…”
“As you wish, young man, you’re paying for the extra time.…”
“Relax. A hundred darins more or less is the same bloody thing.…”
Lerman started to tell Tarek about his life on Zayon and his work on Eldena. Then he remembered his great love, Suara.…
…When he first saw her getting off the Tzulu merchants’ shuttle, he was stunned. All his dreams and hopes had finally taken shape. Many thought he was crazy to pay 300,000 darins for a sixty-year-old woman. The older the Sereneans grew, the more beautiful and more attractive they became. But, after Sedartha, the first part of their lives, which lasted forty years, most of them could no longer have children. When they approached Seruma, the end of life, they grew old very fast, in just a couple of weeks. The government of Serena eventually understood that love, even for a short time, could be profitable for a resourceless planet. The seas and oceans were more and more polluted and the food was more and more scarce. Therefore, the government decided, according to the ancient religious manuscripts, which were apocryphal in fact, that starting with Hanirom, the stage following Sedartha, the female Sereneans should offer love to the inhabitants of the whole universe, in the name of their god, Seren. And since the Tzulu merchants seized each and every opportunity, they immediately became the most lucrative pimps in the Alpha quadrant, just because they could easily reach any planet in the neighboring systems.…
Eight
