Tymber Dalton - Spider Bight

Whatever was there started screaming even louder than the animals, who were now cowering around the four workers protecting Emi and Baltin.

The worker with the spear dragged their prey out of the bushes. Emi added her own horrified cries to those of the not-goats. Impaled on the end of the spear was something that looked like a ten-pound spider with a lot more legs. It struggled, shrieking.

The other worker produced a rectangular rod and reached down. The unmistakable sound of an electric zap filled the air.

The beast let out one final shriek and fell still, its legs curling up around it.

Immediately, the not-goats stopped their yelling and went back to peaceably grazing as if nothing had happened.

Apparently, the thing was dead, whatever it was. Baltin, who’d never lost her composure during the encounter, smiled at Emi as the four workers went back to their business. “Their venom can kill an adult in seconds.”

“Holy crap!”

“Would you like to see it?”

“Um, no thanks. I’m good.”

“It is safe once they are dead.”

The worker with the spear helpfully stepped forward and held it up for Emi’s inspection.

Emi took a few steps back, waving her hands in front of her. For good measure, she put one of the grazing critters between her and the dead-spider-thing-kabob. “No, seriously, thanks. I’m good.”

Baltin smiled, but Emi didn’t sense any smugness behind it. “I understand. They can be quite frightening if you are not used to them.”

“ Huuuge understatement.”

Baltin said something in Moran and the technician took the corpse away. “You now see why we have to clear sections before we allow our male workers in.”

“Yeah.”

“We do value our males. We do not wish them dead. They are important parts of our society, but they have a different place and role than your males do.”

“What about the beaches and stuff? How do you keep those things away from there?” Emi resisted the urge to constantly look around, including into the canopy above them, for any more of those things.

“We have recreational areas also inside the walls.” She smiled. “Well, we cannot wall in the ocean, can we? We have a system of walls and barriers that protect the beach areas once they are cleared. And the tals’tophk do not go in the water. They will drown.”

“How come they can’t just climb the walls and get in?”

“The walls have…” She frowned, apparently searching for the right word in standard. “They are protected by electricity.”

“Electrified?” Emi asked.

“Yes, that is the word. They are killed trying to get over the top of the walls. When we add new sections of walls, we always remove any vegetation that might possibly grow over the walls. We can then be sure of no intrusion into the protected city. The walls are constantly patrolled and carefully maintained.” She said something to the last technician, who began leading them back to the gate.

Emi wished she could encourage them to pick up the pace to a run.

Baltin continued her chatter. “We have few things to fear here on our world, except for the tals’tophk . From the youngest age, our children, females and males, are taught to fear and despise them.”

“So they’re everywhere in your world?”

“Yes, except for where it’s cold. And on the beaches. They need vegetation and shade to survive. Lots of people used to die from them. That is why we domesticated the dau’phnalin . Five out of every ten children born in the old times were likely to be killed by tals’tophk long before they ever reached adulthood. After the Great Wars, we decided it was senseless to spread out when they outnumbered us so greatly. By combining forces and building walled communities that were eventually merged into the great city, we were able to keep them out.”

They reached the gate. Emi jumped when the dau’phnalin started screaming again from somewhere behind them. Emi fought the urge to trample Baltin to get through the port. The door slid shut behind them, also cutting off the sound of the screaming.

“That sound alone is more than enough to give me nightmares,” Emi said.

Baltin smiled. It didn’t look like the experience had fazed her in the least. “I can see how it might take some getting used to. Many people inside the walls still keep dau’phnalin as pets.”

“Yeah, I guess I would, too.” Emi involuntarily shuddered. “You know, the records the DSMC sent me didn’t include anything about killer spiders.”

She laughed. “Oh, we are very careful about making sure our tourists never have to see one. Can you imagine? Who would want to come to a place where they could die? It is best to maintain their ignorance in the matter.” She led Emi back to the cart.

Who indeed? Emi followed her and prepared to hold on for dear life. Compared to what she’d just seen, another wild cart ride should be a piece of cake.

“So now you see why people must get permission to settle outside the walls,” Baltin said as she started the cart, turned it around, and headed back in the direction of the Imperial Home.

Emi nodded. “Crystal clear.”

“I do not understand?”

“Oh, it’s an idiom. It means I completely understand.”

“Ah.” Baltin smiled and looked at Emi. Emi wished her tour guide would keep her eyes on the road and not on her. “I love being able to speak with people who claim standard as their native tongue. I always learn the most interesting things.”

Their course took them past a large complex. “What is that?” Emi asked.

Baltin immediately veered, changing course to head to it and making Emi hold on tightly to avoid falling out. “It is our defense training complex. Every honor-titled woman serves at least two years in our forces. Some make it their career, while others go on to do other things. But it is mandatory.”

They stopped in a courtyard and Baltin quickly pointed out several buildings to Emi before taking off again toward a large structure that looked like a stadium. Baltin drove up to one of the open gates and stopped. Yes, it was a stadium of some sort. Inside on the field of sandy loam, several pairs of women engaged in what appeared to be hand-to-hand combat.

“This is one of the training classes,” Baltin explained. “We are all taught skills to protect ourselves and others during fighting. And weapons. But also in case we have to settle any claims.”

“Claims?”

She nodded. “When there is a disagreement between honor-titled women, the injured party can request a fight to settle the score instead of punishment or fines. We have monthly sessions to settle disputes.”

Emi watched the women sparring. It didn’t look a whole lot different than what she’d learned during her training, except the Morans were larger and fought hard.

“Does it work?”

“Does what work?” Baltin asked.

“Settling scores like that?”

“Oh, absolutely. We do not have…what do you call…prisons. And since owners are solely responsible for the actions of their males, owners tend to keep their males under control as well.” Baltin backed them away from the gate and got them turned around to head for the Imperial Home. “No honor-titled woman would ever let her males get out of control. It is unheard of.”

Mauri had her cook prepare a delicious meal for them. Aaron, Ford, and Caph were, as Emi wanted to tease but held her tongue, seated at the kiddy table off to the side. Mauri, Emi, Baltin, Rawin, and Commander Yawlkin were seated at the main table.

“We are very eager to expand our tourist trade,” Mauri said. “I hope your visit has been a pleasant one.”