"I know; he came back from Torimas with me."
"As soon as he was gone, the Supreme Choraga sent over a number of young females to make sexual advances to the lumberjacks. I have heard how, as a result of you Terrans' habit of covering yourselves with textiles, the sight of an uncovered female arouses the male to a frenzy of lust, like a male porondu in rut.
"The ensuing spectacle confirmed this rumor. The lumbering area was full of nude females, running, screaming, and laughing, pursued by lumberjacks shouting and fumbling with the fastenings of their nether garments. When a lumberjack caught a female, they copulated forthwith on the nearest patch of open ground. It made our yearly Intromission Day ceremonies seem a model of order." The cervical spines rippled mirthfully.
Salazar knew about Intromission Day. Young betrothed couples of Kooks assembled. At a signal the females fled; at another signal the males pursued them. Each female allowed her chosen male to catch her, whereupon they consummated their union on the spot. He asked:
"Did they get any lumbering done?"
"Nay, sir. After all the lumberjacks had taken their turns at the females, someone broke out the camp's supply of liquors, and the crew ended up dead drunk. Many copulated a second time, whilst others cheered them on, shouting and whooping.
"By midafternoon the lumberjacks were lying about in a drunken stupor, along with some of the females. Little by little the latter regained their senses and stole away toward the Kashanite village."
"Did not Mahasingh leave a deputy or substitute in command?"
"I believe he did, sir. I asked one of my fellow human beings, the cook's assistant, Hanatski, about it. He told me that a lumberjack named—ah—something like 'Bad-ara' had been appointed to that post. But Mr. Badara proved as drunken and lustful as the rest. You Terrans—"
Salazar interpreted "Badara" as Choku's attempt to say "Abdallah," whom Mahasingh had mentioned. He said:
"It takes a strong man to be a lumberjack, and these fellows had long been without the normal—ah—outlets."
"Hanatski told me that some such camps have one or more females whose task it is to provide these outlets, as in some nations the onnifas do amongst us. Mr. Cantemir proposed to do likewise, but Mr. Mahasingh vehemently objected on moral grounds."
Salazar yawned. "It will be interesting to see what Mahasingh does with his wild gang. He seems a man of strict moral standards. Now if you can whip me up something to eat, I must get to bed to recover from a taxing journey."
Next morning, Salazar stole up to where he could see the lumber camp from cover. Mahasingh would obviously not get much work from his crew that day. The few lumberjacks in sight sat around with their heads in their hands.
Salazar waited with the patience that wildlife watching had taught him. By midmorning, a few lumberjacks had begun to stir. At last Mahasingh himself appeared at the door of his personal cabin. There were words between him and the workers, not loud enough for Salazar to hear.
Then he heard a feminine cry of "Yoo hoo!" Along the trail from Kashania came a file of young women, nude but for footgear. The somnolent lumberjacks began to rouse themselves and to call back endearments. Salazar felt his own blood stir.
"Ho!" roared Mahasingh. "What are you doing here?"
"Just come to give your boys some fun," said the woman in the lead. "Poor things haven't had any in sixtnights."
"Yeah!" chorused the lumberjacks. "It's about time."
"Abdallah!" yelled Mahasingh. "Where in Nâraka are you?" A squat, black-bearded man with a wrestler's build detached himself from the crowd and answered. The two talked back and forth, but Salazar could not make out the words.
The discussion became heated. At length Abdallah swung a massive fist. Before it landed, Mahasingh shot out ferocious straight punches, one, two, three, to Abdallah's face and body. Abdallah fell backward, rolled over, and slowly climbed to his feet.
"Does anyone else dispute my orders?" roared Mahasingh. "Shapir! You're my subforeman in place of this scum." He indicated Abdallah. "Now back to work, all of you!"
His words were not heeded as the women moved among the lumberjacks, exchanging endearments and suggestive gestures. Some lumberjacks began to unbuckle and unzip.
"Get out, you women!" bellowed Mahasingh. When none heeded his roars, he dashed to a nanshin trunk whence the branches had been trimmed. He picked up a branch by the thick end, where there were no needles. Then he rushed at the visiting women, waving it.
"This will burn holes in your pretty hides!" he shouted.
Shrieking, the women ran away at last, disappearing down the trail. Some lumberjacks looked resentful at having their fun cut short, while others found the sight a cause for laughter.
"Now," said Mahasingh, "get to work!"
The lumberjacks obeyed in a listless, lethargic way. Not much lumbering would be done that day. Salazar backed out of his blind and plodded back to his own camp.
"Choku," said Salazar, "is there a print shop in Amoen?"
"I believe there is, sir. There is a little newspaper published once a sixtnight, printed in Sungao with summaries in English, Russian, and Chinese. So there must be a press to print it. You Terrans always think yourselves so far ahead of us human beings, but we invented printing long before your Mr. Caxton or Mr. Gutembru. Why, sir?"
Salazar handed Choku a sheet of paper. "If you set out now to run to Amoen, when, think you, could you be back?"
"Depending on how long the printing takes, perhaps by tomorrow night."
Choku departed at his tireless trot. Left alone, Salazar fed and exercised his juten. He spent the rest of his time watching kusis and making notes. He was nearing the point where the quirks of kusi behavior proved new to him only at longer and longer intervals. He was nearing the end of his study and would soon have to prepare to return to the mainland.
Still, he was committed to derailing the Adriana Company's project to destroy the nanshin forest. Alexis Ritter had tried to stop it, first by sending a platoon of club-armed naturists to attack the lumberjacks, next by sending some of the shapelier young women to seduce them. Her efforts so far had succeeded only in delaying the Adriana Company's schedule by two days. So Salazar would have to see what he could do. He would begin by choosing a site for manifesting himself as Khushvant Sen.
"Here you are, sir," said Choku, looming out of the darkness. He handed Salazar a stack of sheets of paper. Salazar held one up to the light of the camp fire and read:
SAVE OUR WORLD! HEAR THE PROPHET OF THE
GREAT METASU! LEARN THE WISHES OF THE
PLANETARY SPIRIT TOWARD US MORTALS!
The Reverend Sri Khushvant Sen will lecture on the evening of the thirteenth at the meeting place half a kilometer west of the Adriana Company's lumber camp and below the border of the nonvenomous vegetation. He will discourse on the disaster threatening our planet and the measures that must be taken to avert this catastrophe. Time, 2000 Terran standard. Come all! No charge!
"Now," said Salazar, "please tack these fliers up on trees around the lumber camp and the Kashanite village without letting yourself be seen. You will find a box of tacks in my tool chest."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Choku.
The next two days Salazar and Choku spent preparing their meeting place in the lower forest, felling a few small trees and clearing a space near a large fallen tree trunk. By the evening of the thirteenth day they had it ready.
People began straggling in before the appointed hour. There were lumberjacks from the Adriana camp and Kashanites from Alexis's village, the latter now more conventionally clad. Some of the audience stood in the rear, while others sat on the ground or on tree trunks.