Sunday, September 24, 2006
Chapter 20C-The Council of Elders
"Right now we are monitoring the group and everyone is fine. I do hope someone comes back soon to prove they are not prisoners there. If no one comes back this month I will go there myself even though it is against orders" she declared. "Our current orders are to monitor the five clansmen but to stay away from the village itself. It is a tense situation at the base and we are all under severe reprimand for failing to carry out orders."
"This is causing resentment and revolt among us because we are supposed to be self governing with our Circle of Elders. We don't take orders from anyone else. The Council of Elders is not used to being told what it must do and what it must not do. Whoever was giving those orders gave them directly through our air sled terminals and the Council of Elders didn't know about it until it was too late."
Ellen continued, "The Council of Elders started asking questions and it was then that I, as a member of the circle of Elders came forward. I told the rest of the Elders what I had learned about Tobal's father and mother being responsible for the Sanctuary Program and also about the former military involvement. I told about the deaths of Ron and Rachel Kane and the massacre at the gathering spot with the mass grave."
She paused and cleared her throat. "I also mentioned Crow's parents had been buried there and possibly Sarah's mother. Then I told them Crow's grandfather, Howling Wolf, had built the cairn and knew the story behind it if they had more questions."
"I went on to tell about the increasing raids by rogues and how they were being blamed on the village. I explained how that was not possible because the rogue attacks were centered around the lake and not anywhere near the village itself. Then I told them about my patrols these past three months and how the rogues seem to know if anyone with a med-alert bracelet is around, even on an air sled. They always know far enough in advance that they are able to hide out of sight before I could get there. Even in the winter they left tracks in the snow but there were hardly any sitings by any of us and that was strange given so many tracks. Then I mentioned whenever I tried for a closer look at some of those tracks the dispatcher always radioed me with new orders."
"The entire Council of Elders was really listening to me by then", she said, " I really had their attention. I expressed my conviction that the rogues couldn't be villagers because the villagers didn't have any technology. The I reminded them of the rumors that the city was planning to take military action against the village because of these same rogue attacks. Something was not right. I told how Crow had found out about it and gone back to his village to warn them of a possible attack and massacre like what had happened at the lake. The Elders looked sharply at each other and there was electricity in the chamber. The Council of Elders was silent for a long time after I stopped speaking. Then it seemed everyone was trying to talk at once."
"That was the day after Crow reached the village", she said. "After many questions and long deliberations the Council of Elders decided to send it's own delegation to the village and determine for itself the true nature of the situation. I went along because of what I knew and four others were selected. We left immediately before anyone could stop us."
"We made our way to the village and were surprised that they were expecting us. We were given a royal welcome and had the opportunity to question all five of the group members who were in fine health and planning to stay for at least another month. I tried to talk with Howling Wolf privately but he brushed me aside saying it was not time yet for us to talk. He would contact us later at a better time. We stayed for two days asking questions about the rogues. The villagers told us they also suffered from rogue attacks that were getting more frequent and violent. They told us there was a rumor the Clansmen were responsible. Because of this there was a growing resentment toward the Clansmen. The villagers were relieved when Crow told them we were innocent."
"Still the question remained, who was responsible for the growing rogue attacks? It was that dark thought we took back with us the next day to our base camp. We just got home when we were arrested and interrogated. We were held an entire week before we were released."
A murmur of disbelief went around the room and she continued bitterly. "We don't even know who we were held by except that they held us captives in our own base in the mountain. Who ever runs the mountain complex is really angry at us. The good news", she smiled. "Is that the village is probably going to be safe for the time being. Too many of us know the truth about it and they can't be blamed any more for the rogue attacks."
"When we were finally released we made our report to the Council of Elders. To say that the Council of Elders was pretty shook up was an understatement."
She laughed, "I've never seen them so furious. Masters or medics serve no longer than three years before becoming citizens so the Elders are actually pretty young and none of us had ever heard of such blatant interference into our own affairs. We are going to make a formal complaint to the city itself as soon as we figure out how to get in contact. It appears there are no known channels to contact the city or the city government. Inquiries of the medical staff at the emergency room in the hospital produced no solutions."
"The Council of Elders established a committee to research the issue and report back next month with available options. That was how it was left. It seems a very big can of worms has been opened and there is no ready solution."
Ellen looked around at the group and shrugged. "That's about it for now until next month."
Tobal was thinking heavily about the meeting later that night. Finally shrugging it aside he and Becca made their way to the beer barrel. Dirk and Rafe were no longer there and had been assigned hunting duty providing meat for the gathering. Dirk was hanging out there talking with the two Journeymen that now had the duty. He saw them and came over and gave Becca and kiss and a hug and lifted his tankard toward Tobal.
"Guess what?", he beamed. "I've got my sixth chevron and get my Master initiation in two weeks."
"That's great!", Tobal pounded him on the back and joked. "You've certainly taken enough beatings for it."
"Maybe you can give me a ride on your air sled", Becca teased moving over and hugging him instead of Tobal.
Dirk laughed, "See how to get the girls?" He turned to Becca, "You just wait, I'll give you a ride."
"Promise", she chirped.
"Promise."
"Hey, I forgot to ask Rafe how he did this month." Tobal said.
Dirk shook his head sadly. "Nope, he didn't make it yet. He's bound to one of these days though. He's grown six inches in the last year and gained twenty pounds. It's got to be hard when you start so young like he is. He's smarter than all of us but he's still a kid."
Tobal and Becca excused themselves and did some dancing at the drum circle and chatted with some more friends before heading off to sleep in one of the teepees. As he was falling asleep Tobal reflected how right it felt to lie with his arms around Becca. He turned and kissed her one last time.
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