Nation

Then he stood up, grasped his spear, turned to face the sea, and guarded the Nation from the darkness.

He didn’t sleep, of course, but at some point Mau blinked, and when he opened his eyes again the stars were bright and it was not long before dawn. That was not too much of a problem. A snoring old sow would be easy enough to find. She wouldn’t ask any questions if she found a nice big beery mash in front of her, and when the time came to run, he might even be able to see where he was going.

He told himself this to cheer himself up, but you couldn’t get away from it: Milking a pig would be much harder the second time, because you’d have to forget how horrible it had been the first time.

In the dark the surf shone where it broke over the reef, and it was time to go through it all again. He’d rather have been going into battle.

The Grandfathers certainly thought he should. They’d had time to pull some pig thoughts together. IS THIS THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR? they growled. DOES THE WARRIOR ROLL IN THE MUCK WITH HOGS? YOU SHAME US!

Mau thought, as loudly as he could: This warrior is fighting Death.

The baby was already whimpering. The young woman gave Mau a sad little smile when he took the empty calabash and washed it out. She never said anything even now.

Once again, he didn’t bother to take the spear. It’d only slow him down.

The old man was sitting on the slopes above the beach, staring up at the fading night. He nodded at Mau. “Going milking again, demon boy? ” he said, and grinned. He had two teeth.

“Want to try it, sir? You’ve got the mouth for it! ”

“Ha! But not the legs! I did my bit, though. Last night I begged the gods to let you succeed! ”

“Well, have a rest tonight, ” said Mau, “and I’ll go and lie in the muck without a prayer. And tomorrow I’ll get some sleep and you can pray to the gods to make it rain milk. I think you will find lying in the muck is more reliable. ”

“Are you trying to be smart, boy? ”

“Trying not to be dumb, sir. ”

“Games with words, boy, games with words. The gods are in everything we do. Who knows? Perhaps they see a use for your sorrowful blasphemy. You mentioned beer yesterday…, ” he added hopefully.

Mau smiled. “Do you know how to make beer? ” he said.

“No, ” said Ataba. “I have always seen it as my duty to do the drinking part. Making beer is women’s business. The trouserman girl does not know how to make beer, no matter how much I shout at her. ”

“I’ll need all that is left, ” said Mau firmly.

“Oh, dear, are you sure? ” said Ataba, his face falling.

“I’m not going to try to suck milk out of a sober pig, sir. ”

“Ah yes, ” said Ataba sadly. “Well, I shall pray… and for the milk, also. ”

It was time to go. Mau realized that he had just been putting things off. He should have been listening to himself; if you didn’t believe in prayer, then you had to believe in hard work. There was just enough time to make a dash and find a sow before they woke up. But the old man was still staring at the sky.

“What are you looking for? ” asked Mau.

“Omens, portents, messages from the gods, demon boy. ”

Mau looked up. Only the star of Fire was visible this close to dawn. “Have you seen any? ” he asked.

“No, but it would be terrible to miss one, wouldn’t it? ” said Ataba.

“Was there one before the wave? Was there a message in the sky? ”

“Quite possibly, but we were not good enough to know what it meant. ”

“We would have, if they had shouted a warning. We’d have understood that! Why didn’t they just shout? ”

“HELLO! ” It was so loud it seemed to echo off the mountain.

Mau felt the shock down his body, and then his brain cut in with: It came from the sea! There’s a light on the water! And it’s not Raiders, because they wouldn’t shout “Hello! ”

But the old man was on his feet, mouth open in a horrible grin. “Aha, you believed! ” he crowed, waving a skinny finger at Mau. “Oh yes you did, just for a second! And you were fearful, and rightly so! ”

“There’s a canoe with a lobster-claw sail! ” said Mau, trying to ignore him. “They’re coming around the point! Look, they even have a torch burning! ”

But Ataba hadn’t finished gloating. “For just one moment you — ”

“I don’t care! Come on! There’s more people! ”

The canoe was coming through the new gap in the reef. Mau made out two figures, still shadowy against the rising light, lowering the sail. The tide was right and the people knew what they were doing, because the craft slid easily into the lagoon, as if it were steering itself.

It nudged the beach gently, and a young man jumped down and ran toward Mau.

“Are there women here? ” he said. “Please, my brother’s wife is going to have a baby! ”

“We have one woman, but she is sick. ”

“Can she sing the calling song? ”

Mau glanced at the Unknown Woman. He’d never heard a word from her, and he wasn’t at all sure she was right in the head.

“I doubt it, ” he said.

The man sagged. He was young, only a few years older than Mau. “We were taking Cahle to the Women’s Place on the Overshoal Islands when the wave hit, ” he said. “They’re gone. So many places have… gone. And we saw your smoke. Please, where is your chief? ”

“I’m here, ” said Mau firmly. “Take her up to the Women’s Place. Ataba here will show you the way. ” The old priest sniffed and scowled but didn’t argue.