"No," I said, "not tonight."

15 The Fleer

"Here," said Grunt, pointing down from the saddle of the lofty kaiila, "you seethe wagon tracks, the ruts?"

"Yes," I said. We found them where they had emerged from a small stream. Thetracks were several days old.

"It will not be far now," he said.

"You have seen the smoke?" I asked. I referred to the slow liftings of smoke,rising from low buttes, behind us and to our left, and before us, and to theright. The distance between the two fires was probably some ten to fifteenpasangs.

"Yes," said Grunt, "but its intent is not hostile, as I read it. It is, rather,informational. It is doing little more than marking our passage."

Such signals are common on the plains, but perhaps not so common as mirrorsignals. The code in mirror signals, conveyed by the pacing and number offlashes, is very similar to that of the smoke signals. The signals,incidentally, are not a substitution cipher, for the languages of the redsavages, not being written languages, in any conventional sense, do not have astandardized alphabet or syllabary. The signals, of which there are some fiftyor sixty, have conventionalized meanings, such as "We are Kaiila', "Who areyou? ,' Go back', "we have counted coup' and "we are returning to camp'. Thecommon smoke signal is produced by placing greenery, such as branches, leaves orgrass, on a fire. The smoke produced is then regulated in its ascent by theaction of a robe or blanket, the manner of its releasing being a function of theconventions involved. At night such signals can be conveyed by the number andplacement of fires, or by a single fire, alternately revealed and concealed bythe action, again, of a robe or blanket. Other common signaling methods,incidentally, involve such things as the use of dust cast into the air, themovement of robes and the motions imparted to a kaiila.

"I do not care to be under surveillance in this fashion," I said.

"In a way it is heartening," said Grunt. "You see, they are letting you see thatyou are under surveillance. If their intentions were hostile, or immediatelyhostile, they would not be likely to be so open about the matter."

"That is true," I admitted.

"As I read the smoke," he said, "it is saying that a small party of white men ismoving eastward. The smoke on the right is merely acknowledging the receipt ofthis message."

"I hope you are right," I said.

"That would be the customary reading," said Grunt "To be sure, the customarymeanings are sometimes rearranged to conceal the true meaning. For example, amessage which commonly means that kailiauk have been sighted may, byprearrangement, be understood to communicate an intention of attack to acollaborative force."

"Marvelous," I said, bitterly.

Grunt shrugged. "These people," he said, "must survive with one another."

"Hold!" said Grunt, suddenly, tensing.

The rider had appeared very suddenly, over a small rise in front of us, sometwenty yards away. He reined in his kaiila. Dust swept about the paws and legsof the beast.

"Do not reach for your weapons," said Grunt. "He is Fleer," he added.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"The hair," said Grunt, "is won in the high pompadour, combed back."

"Like Corn Stalks," I said. The fellow's hair came down his back, flowing evenover the spine of the kaiila. He was riding bareback. He carried a long,feathered lance, and a small, round shield, a war shield, on which wereinscribed medicine signs.

The fellow moved his kaiila down the slope towards us.

"Be careful," said Grunt. "He has made two killings and has counted severalcoup. The scarlet circles on the feather indicate killings, the red marks on hislegs, and on the nose of the kaiila, show coups."

The Fleer reined in his kaiila a few feet from us. Grunt relaxed in his saddleand smiled, broadly. He raised his right hand to the side of his face, the indexand middle fingers extended upwards and held together, the other fingers closed.

"He has no saddle," said Grunt. "His body, and that of his kaiila, is stillpainted with coup marks. Undoubtedly he took part in the action of a few daysago."

Grunt then, still smiling, clasped his left hand with his right, and shook it.

This, too, is used by some tribes as a sign for friend.

"Kodakiciyapi," said Grunt. "Hou, Koda. Hou, Mitakoda." "Peace, friendship, hadsaid Grunt, "Greetings, friend. Greetings, my friend, in Dust Leg. He thenadded, in Kaiila, for good measure, substantially the same message. "Hou, Kola.

Hou, Mitakoda. Olakota. Wolakota." "Greetings, Friend. Greetings, my friend.

Peace, Peace, Friendship.

The fellow regarded us, not speaking, either verbally or in sign.

I was not certain that Grunt was wise in addressing him in the dialect of theKaiila, for the Fleer and Kaiila are hereditary enemies. On the other hand,interestingly, the many affinities between their languages suggest a commonancestor. The distinction between dialects and languages, as the dialecticaldivergencies increase, can become, at times, almost arbitrary. Most people, forwhat it is worth, regard Fleer and Kaiila as different languages. Certainly theFleer and Kaiila do, and few see much profit in arguing the point with them.

"Wopeton," said Grunt, pointing to me. "Wopeton," he said, pointing to himself.

This is the word in both Dust Leg and Kaiila for a trader, or merchant.

The fellow did not drop his lance into the attack position, grasping it firmly,anchoring it under his right arm.

"Do not move," said Grunt.

The fellow then, kicking back with his heels into the flanks of his kaiila,moved his beast about us, and our party.

"Stand straight," called Grunt to the coffle, which now, in our pause, had putdown its burdens. "Keep your heads up, but do not meet his eyes. It is you whoare the merchandise, the beauties, the slaves, not he. It is not yours toexamine, but to be examined, not yours to consider, but to be considered."

I thought Grunt was wise not to have the girls look into the eyes of the Fleerwarrior. Such an exchange of glances, or looks, can be like an electric shock,an encounter almost fearfully significant. Who knows what each might recognizein the eyes of the other? Does she see in his eyes that he is one such as mightbe her master? Does he see in her eyes that she is one who could not help butacknowledge herself, and soon, despite what she might now take to be herdesires, his helpless and natural slave? Sometimes, at as little as a meeting ofeyes, masters and slaves know one another. "I must have her. She is mine," hetells himself. "I belong to him. I am his slave," her heart whispers to her.

This matter of eye contact is interesting and has many facets. One of the mostinitially frightening and disturbing things to Earth women brought to Gor asslaves is the way Gorean men look at them. They are not used to being looked atas women, truly, with appraisal, desire and ownership. This tends, in thebeginning, when they are still new to their collar, to confuse and frightenthem, but also, of course, as it will continue to do, and even more powerfully,to stimulate them. It is the first time that they have found themselves in theorder of nature, and as what they are, and it is the first time that they havefound themselves being looked at, frankly, and honestly, within the order ofnature, and as what they are, females, appropriate objects of male predation anddesire. This recognition of her femaleness, and this joy in release andself-discovery, often comes as a stunning revelation to the Earth female. Neveragain, once having discovered this, does she retreat to the conditioned idealsof neuterism and pseudomasculinity, nor, indeed, even if she desired to do so,would her masters permit it. Sometimes in training, incidentally, or as adiscipline or punishment, the slave is not permitted to look into the eyes ofthe master. Indeed, sometimes, in training, she is not permitted to raise hereyes above the belt of the trainer. Also, it must be recognized that many slavesoften, and perhaps all slaves sometimes, find it difficult to look into the eyesof the master. He, after all, holds total power over them and they fear todisplease him. What if he should interpret her gaze as suggesting the leastinsubordination or insolence? Are they truly prepared to have the soles of theirfeet lashed or to live on bread crusts for the next five days? But, on the otherhand, there is, on Gor, in circles of the mastery, no discouragement, commonly,of eye contact between masters and slaves.