Chapter 12 One Canoe

Chapter 12 

 One Canoe

            One canoe came from the north. One man rowed it. He, alone, had been untouched by death. He rowed up to the wharf at Rivergrass. He tied the canoe off, and just sat there. He dared not touch the shore.

            Zahn's ship still rode the end of the wharf. Two men stood watch, not because anyone was worried about theft or vandalism. Just because that was the way things were done.

            One of the guards, Chan-Su, walked down the ramp and approached the lone man in his canoe.

            The man waved him away, and pointed at the longhouse.

            "Kiapelaneh, and Zahn." was all he said.

            Chan-Su looked back at the ship, then he ran to the plank and shouted to the other guard, "I must go to the longhouse!"

            His partner waved to him his understanding.

            Chan-Su ran to get his captain. He knew that something was terribly wrong, but didn't know what.

            He went straight to Zahn, and told him what he'd seen, and heard.

Zahn turned to Wei, who was closest, and paying attention.

            "A lone man in a canoe has just arrived. He wears a hood over his face, and he won't get out. He is speaking the language of the Empire. He asked for Kiapelaneh and myself."

            Wei went first to Hawk and Midnight. Fisheagle swiveled around to listen.

            Wei explained the situation. His Halq’uemehlem was quite good now. 

            Half of the hall was watching now, sensing that something was going on. Fisheagle stood and waved at Kiapelaneh. He rose and joined them. Fisheagle told him what was happening, as far as he knew. Kiapelaneh headed out the doors toward the wharf, Wei and the others following.

            A buzz was rising in the hall.

            The Rivergrass chief got there first. He approached the man in the canoe, but the man waved him back. He saw the others coming, and waited until they were closer. Then he told them what happened at the Haida village. He described the illness starting as a sickness like the flu that comes around every year. Then he told how it progressed. He told of the hundreds of bodies, and the scarring and crippling after effects on the survivors. He begged for help, but told them to keep their distance.

            Zahn listened to the story with growing horror. He grabbed Kiapelaneh by the arm, and waved Wei over.

            "I know what this is."

            Wei translated, and all eyes were on Zahn.

            "We call it the small pocks, because it leaves small pocks in the skin of the survivors. Do you not have this here?"

            All of the natives shook their heads.

            Zahn groaned. This whole place had never been exposed to the disease. It could kill untold numbers. He collapsed into a sitting position on the wharf. He didn't know how, but he knew that he had brought it. The timing was too perfect. The disease took about twelve days to show. Within a moon, many were dead, more scarred and crippled.

            Zahn motioned to Wei.

            "We are immune. Get this man food and drink, but do not touch him. He may still have the disease about him.

            Wei ran to the longhouse.

            Zahn waited, as did everyone else for Wei to get back. He placed the supplies on the edge of the wharf, near to the survivor.

            Zahn spoke to the crowd. Wei translated.

            "You need to know that we have this disease where we come from. It is in all the lands that we usually trade with. I have never heard of it killing this many. Somehow, it must have travelled with us. None of my people were sick, so I have no idea how it travelled."

            Suddenly he stopped speaking. He had picked up the bolts of fabric on the main island of the Heian people, just northeast of Shanghai, on the way.

            He explained what he was thinking.

            "The disease shows within twelve days of exposure, so none of my people could have carried it. It had to have been in the cloth, dormant. When they unrolled the cloth..." He couldn't go on.

            Wei explained to the natives that the disease couldn't be on any of the other trade goods, and that the Haida had taken all of the cloth that they had picked up on the island.

            Zahn looked up, finally. "The survivors must be isolated, or the disease will spread like fire in dry grasslands. There is no cure, but… our healers know how to make people immune. It is a simple thing.” 

            That statement created a hum of conversation.

            Fisheagle spoke up. "Can you bring one or more of these medicine men here, to teach us how to protect ourselves from this?"

            Zahn nodded. "With what you have brought here, I can bring several. They can teach you how to make the medicine. If it has never been in this land, then it will be a huge project to stop it. Every person has to be treated, and every child that is born, or it will be loose to kill. You will begin to have more contact with the outside world, when I take this load of goods back to my markets. More ships, more chance that the disease is carried here."

            He stood. He looked around at all the people there. "I am responsible for this. I will do anything that I can think of to help."

            Kiapelaneh spoke up. "It appears that the source of our salvation is also the source of great trouble." He smiled. "It seems somehow fitting, a balance."

            "I think that I must travel with our fearless, and honest trader."

            There was a gasp from the Rivergrass people. Everyone had come out to the wharf to see what was happening.

            Kiapelaneh smiled. "Never fear, my people, I will leave you in good hands. I must see for myself what this other world looks like, and what it has to offer us, and what other dangers may come from there. I will take a few with me, if that is acceptable to our trader captain?

            After hearing the translation, Zahn nodded agreement. 

            His mind spun. He had never felt heartsick before, but that term well described what he was feeling. He and his beloved ship had effectively wiped out a village of gentle people. Artists and craftspeople; mothers, fathers, and children. He thought himself a hard, strong man until this day. He had fought raiders and pirates. He had always negotiated for maximum return, unless it made sense to suck in the client first, then rape his wallet. This was different. This had the potential to wipe out an entire civilization, if it was let run loose in a land where it had never been. They would have no resistance to it. It would kill, and kill, and maim the few that did survive. He had brought it. His spirit was lost in the horror of that knowledge.

            He barely noticed when Chen and Li helped him to his feet and guided him to the ship, and to his cabin. They brought him a bottle of rice wine, and wrapped a blanket around him. His Chief Officer of the Boat, WanLi, came to stay with him after he heard what happened.

            WanLi recognized shock when he saw it. He also knew that his captain was a kind and civilized man, beneath the hard trader persona that he adopted for business. He had never mistreated a crewman that made an honest mistake. WanLi had served on many ships as he learned his trade. He knew that Zahn was an exceptional captain, and man. He hoped this would pass soon.

            

***

            Back at the Lodge, Kiapelaneh announced his intention to travel with Zahn on his return voyage. "Our world is changing because of this other culture across the great water. I now know, with certainty, that Zahn is an honest and good man. I trust him to get me there, and return me to you on his voyage back. I will be doing my job as Chief, representing our People to theirs. I hope to speak to their leaders, and gain a sense of who they are. I also will see what their culture has brought them, for good and evil. We have just learned a lesson on the perils of ignorance: an entire Haida village effectively wiped out. We must know better what we are dealing with. We must understand when to say 'no' to what seem like gifts, or fair trade. This disaster was an accident. There will be those in their society that would do this on purpose. Just think of the Grassland Shaman, that would have enslaved us all, and taken our ancestral lands. There will be men of that type there. We must have a sense of the threat. Zahn has already said that other ships will follow him when they see what he has brought."

            There was a hum of discussion at his words. They understood now.

            Fisheagle came to speak with him, and the two of them went off to a table in the back to talk. They had their heads together for some time, and no one bothered them.

            They gave the man in the canoe blankets, food, and water. They asked him what else they could do for him, or his people.

            "Spread the word to all of the villages and communities to stay away. We will survive, but we do not want this to happen to anyone else. We will run off any traders that come. If you have cure, come to us, not before."

            Someone asked for his name, for the histories.

            He thought for a few moments. "I am not the man I used to be. My name is Darkwater, from this day forward, and this has become my history."

            The lone man, in the one canoe, used his oar to push away from the wharf and headed north.

Chapters 10 and 11 of Evolution: beginning of the birth of the Alliance

Chapter 10 The Best of Worlds

            The future was in motion. It swirled from the east, the west, north and south. A Song ship, a vibrant coastal culture eager for new opportunities, a stagnant inland culture driven by greed, and a southern culture ready for change; all unknowing, waiting for something. As present becomes past, bringing the future closer, just so events unfolded, following the path of the ship from the east. Just as in battle, some die that others can live. In the best of worlds, some deaths save the lives of many others.

            

***

            The Song ship slowed to a crawl. It got as close to the shore as Zahn, the captain, dared, seeking deep water close in. This was their third visit to the Haida, the first since the birth of the west coast alliance created by Fisheagle, himself far to the south. His words were on the minds of the Haida, as they awaited the ship carrying the trader.

            Zahn was able to find the deep hollow next to shore where he had anchored before. It made for easy access to the land. He put the rudders over, and drifted deftly in, parallel to the landing. They had a plank long enough to reach the rocks next to them. They ran out the plank, and two sailors ran across with ropes to secure them close, but not too close, to the rocky shore. The crew cast woven bamboo fenders over the side to take the shock of the rocks, if waves threw the ship against them. Then the sailors on shore snugged the ship up tighter, leaving room for the rise and fall of the tides.

            Zahn strode down the plank and greeted the Chief and Ts'aak. They exchanged pleasantries. The formalities out of the way, Ts'aak opened the negotiations.

            "If you will come with me, we have our goods in the warehouse. I am quite interested in what you have brought." He smiled, quite genuinely.

            Zahn was pleased with the goods furs, well cured and including the coveted Sea Otters; some copper ingots; and some Haida art works that Zahn had taken a chance on, and had proved very popular in the Song capital.

            Ts'aak waited, silent, for the first offer.

            "I have a variety of hard, long lasting tools, some beautiful fabrics..."

            Ts'aak smiled. "I am very interested in your tools, depending on what they do. I am even more interested in an advisor, such as you left with the southern tribes, preferably one who can teach us how to make the hard metal for tools, and the tools themselves."

            Zahn went pale, then a little red, no longer smiling. "Do you plan to ruin my trade then?"

            Ts'aak laughed. "Of course not. As I said, I am interested in the tools you bring, but tools break, and it is many moons before you return. If we become dependent on your tools, which will change the way we work, and then they don't work any more, we will be left in an uncomfortable position. I'm sure that you see that."

            Zahn was off balance. These people were astute traders, but this was a harder bargain than he was used to. He could spare one of his shipwrights, that could teach what they wanted, but he hated to do so. These savages knew exactly what they wanted, and it wouldimpact his trade. He thought about alternatives. His was a trader's mind, honed in the cutthroat Song markets. He would be able to pick up the four shipwrights he had left further south. They would have had enough of these primitives. So what if they learned to make iron, and work it. There were many, many other things that he could offer on future voyages. He would be better prepared next time.

            "Very well. Your copper, as shown, for the use of one of my men for the time between now, and my next voyage."

            Ts'aak bowed his acceptance of the deal. "Now, let's see these tools of yours."

            The sailors had brought ashore samples of iron augers, hatchets, axes, pry bars, saws of various sizes, from one handed to long two man saws for planking. There were hammers and kegs of slivers of metal of various sizes. One of the Song demonstrated their use in joining two pieces of wood.

            Ts'aak considered, then haggled with Zahn for a time. The slivers didn't impress him, but the other tools did. Finally, he offered their furs for a selection of the other tools. They agreed on the quantities of each, and moved on.

            "We do have some artwork that we would trade for your fabrics, if they are acceptable..."

            Zahn was feeling better. This was more what he was used to. "Let's inspect the goods, and reach agreement then."

            Ts'aak smiled, and bowed his own concurrence.

***

            Two weeks later the disease struck. It started with a mild illness, fever, headache, body pain, then spread across the skin as little bubbles that burgeoned and grew. People began to die by the hundreds. Those that survived this far began to have scabs form on the blisters that the bumps had become. Two thirds of the Haida died. Those that lived were scarred for life, some blinded in one or both eyes.

***

            The Haida had taken all of the fabrics that Zahn had to trade. The Haida artwork was extraordinary, and reflected similarities to antique Song designs. That had make them very popular in the empire on the previous voyages, and the Haida had sensed a kindred artistic sense in the Song fabrics. Unknown to anyone, the disease had been hiding in the fabrics. Fortunately, Zahn had no more for trade as he worked his way south, down the coast. The outbreak was confined, for now, to the one village.

***

            Unaware of the disaster unfolding behind him, Zahn took his ship south along the coast. He was eager to get to the village where he had invested four of his shipwrights to create a market for his remaining cargo of tools. Tools were heavy, so he hoped to unload the lot at Rivergrass. He was also eager to see if the southerners had collected a good quantity of sea otter pelts, and, with smelters built by his shipwrights, there should be a lot of copper in the proper ingots for best price in Shanghai. He also wanted to see the quality of the green stone they had spoken of. If it wasa new variety of jade, his fortune was made.

            His anticipation made him pass by a couple of communities that he had traded with before on his way down the coast. He could always stop in on his next voyage. They did have some nice artwork.

Chapter 11 Return on Investment

            The Song ship pulled in to the new wharf that Chen and Li had designed and had built while Zahn was gone. It stretched across the tidal flat to a deeper hole where the ship could tie up. They had also made wheeled carts that would help move the heavy tools down the boardwalk to the shore. Zahn felt like he was pulling in to a civilized port. He reflected that he was, in fact, bringing civilization to these people. It gave him a sense of pride that he had not expected. He was just a trader that had discovered new markets. He found himself looking forward to seeing the changes his shipwrights had wrought among these people, and the trade goods of course. Copper was rising in price at home, and the furs always did well when he brought them back. He knew that other traders had taken note of his last profitable voyage. This might be the last trip where he was the only one in this market. That was one reason why he had left the advisors, to establish good will for the future voyages. So long as he had first rights, he would profit greatly. His trader sense told him that there was great potential here. He could smell advantage!

            He gave orders for the tools to be brought up and loaded into the carts. He could see the natives, and Li and Chen on the shore. He hoped that Wei and Zizhan would bring the second tribe along soon. This being his first Spring voyage, he could possibly make two more voyages before the winter weather confined him to local Empire trade, which was not nearly as profitable.

            He had been able to purchase a compass with part of the proceeds of the last voyage. That would allow him to cut straight across the sea to home, instead of following the route way up North, and then down the coast, bucking that current. Coming here, he traveled with the currents. His first three voyages, he had had to sail back against those same currents. It was a long, slow voyage, but without the compass, he might have ended up anywhere if he just pointed across the sea. Once out of sight of land he had the stars, until there was a storm, or even just overcast. Then he had nothing to guide him, until now. Now, he could navigate straight home to Shanghai, his primary market for the goods he would bring back. Zahn was a happy man. All his plans were coming together.

            Just as he stepped onto the plank He noticed that the coastal village now had a log palisade around it. It also appeared to have a drawbridge over a ditch, and a covered walk with firing ports.

            Then he saw a line of three huge cargo canoes headed from upriver to the wharf. They were all loaded and sitting deep in the water. He maintained his composure, despite a powerful surge of glee. He would return with his holds full, by the look of things. He hurried, casually, down the plank to the wharf. He walked towards where the canoes were pulling in and tying up in a row. 

            Chen and Li were just starting out from shore. He saw Kiapelaneh waiting on shore to greet him. Zizhan and Wei climbed out of the lead cargo canoe, followed by Fisheagle, Hawk, and Midnight. There were dozens of other people in the canoes. He had a twinge of uneasiness. This was unusual. 

            It was still very easy for him to beam delightedly at the three from upriver. Zizhan translated.

            "My good friends! Well met. I have brought the tools we discussed. I hope that my advisors have been worth their keep?"

            Fisheagle, composed as always, spoke for all of them. Hawk and Midnight struggled to keep from laughing out loud. As it was, the corners of their mouths kept twitching up, and they seemed to be almost vibrating with what they were holding in.

            "Indeed, wise Zahn. You are most welcome back, and your people have been of inestimable value to us. We would probably not be here to greet you, if they had not been here to share your ways of thinking, and doing. That said, we have much to compensate you, and to trade for tools." He smiled widely at Zahn, who suddenly had a memory of Ts'aak driving a hard bargain, not so long ago.

            As their word sunk in, he put on his concerned look. "Why, what has happened?"

            "We will tell you the story tonight at the feast. It is too long of a tale to tell before we conclude our business. It would be feasting time before we concluded our trade!"

            Zahn shook his head. "A mighty tale then. Very well, to business."

            He showed them the tools that he had shown to the Haida, plus tongs for handling hot metal, and others for removing the crucibles of molten metal from the ovens. The demonstration of the nails was greeted much more favorably, and he was glad that the Haida hadn't wanted any.
             The natives seemed pleased. He also had about a hundred small kegs of saltpeter.              Kiapelaneh shared that they had found a local source of the rock coal, and plenty of sulfur.             Then they walked down the wharf to the canoes from Highwater.

            Protective tarps had been untied and pulled away to show their goods. The first canoe held furs from land mammals: fox, wolf, marten, fresh water otter, lynx, beaver, a few cougar, and bear. There were also some deer and moose hides, tanned with the hair on.

            The second canoe held more of the same. The third held copper, in Song style ingots. There were also a few ingots of a much richer color, which Zahn knew instantly were gold. His men had told the natives that he would be interested.

            Carts began arriving from the village. They held sea mammals: sea otter, seal, and sea lion. There were also more ingots of copper.

            Zahn was dumbfounded. For a moment he didn't know what to do. These people could supply as much as he could carry. The profit would be beyond his previous imagination. The sea otter pelts alone would have paid for his voyage. He looked at the native leaders, and knew that they knew. His own men, that he had left here, were looking at him with doubt and concern in their eyes.

            Then the River People unveiled a pile of rocks, some large, some small. Green rocks. Jade, and unlike any jade he had ever seen.

            Zahn sat down on the edge of the wharf and put his head in his hands. He had to think. If he brought this load back, every trader on the coast of the Song dynasty would follow him wherever he went, for the rest of his life, to find out where he had gotten this load. The other side of the coin was that, if he didn't trade fairly with these people, they would never trade with him again. He could see it in their eyes. They knew!

            He cast a glance at his advisors Wei, Li, Chen, and Zahn. They were all four looking at him with cold, hard eyes. They were awaiting his response.

            Zahn was not a stupid man, he had the vision, and the willingness to take a chance that led him to explore uncharted waters. Neither was he a coward. 

            He suddenly saw clearly. There was a story here. They had alluded to it. He had to hear that story, before he did anything, or he might lose it all.

             He stood, and faced them. "I think that I musthear this story behind this amazing feat. Clearly, you have surpassed my highest hopes for this voyage. Shall we go to your lodge, and let me hear the tale. We can talk about trade later."

            His own men looked surprised. He couldn't read the natives, except that they looked more at ease, as if relieved. Zahn knew that he was walking a thin edge. He needed to know this story.

            They all headed for the lodge. He ordered all of his men, except for three to stand watch on the ship and the tools, to come to the lodge with him. He still didn't know what this was, he just knew that it was deadly important to both the natives and his own men that had been here while he was gone.

            When they got to the lodge, there were tables loaded with food. They were proper tables, although a bit taller than he was used to, with benches for everyone to sit on.

            The lodge was packed. Zahn was led to a prime seat beside Fisheagle, with Midnight and Hawk on the other side. His shipwrights sat behind him.

            An older woman strode confidently to the front of the crowd: Huckleberry, the Keeper of Stories from Highwater. Silence reigned in the hall. Zizahn, because he was still the most fluent in the People's language, skootched his seat forward, so that he could translate for Zahn.

            Huckleberry began to tell the tale, of Hawk and Midnight, of the evil Shaman and his greed. She recalled the preparations for war, and honored the Song advisors. She spoke of the battles, the rescues, and the dead. Then of the reconstruction of the villages destroyed. She spoke of alliance forged and growing, honoring Fisheagle for his wisdom in that. She spoke of a vision, of people across the vast expanse of land, to the north, south, and east, joining together to build something greater than just tribes in the wilderness: a nation, an Alliance! Guided by a council of chiefs, based on their reverence for the land, the spirits of the land, and their ancestors, for the good of all the peoples that lived on Turtle Island, or whatever name they chose for this vast place they lived in, for every People had their own name for it. Trade would benefit all parties. Governance would benefit all the People. The land, it's spirits, and its People were the central concern of this new Alliance, and those who would help it were a part of it. Those who opposed it were doomed, for all of the forces of nature and the spirit world would be fighting with the People when that day came. The Alliance would be their voice and their mighty arm against their enemies, and none of those would survive the experience, so that the Alliance's Peoples could live in peace.

            When she finished, there was a moment of reverent quiet, then someone started the ululating cry of defiance that had echoed over every victory of the past year. It built to almost deafening force, then faded like a spent wave returning to the sea.

            Zahn sat still as a stone, his mind racing at the implications. This was an empire being born, and he was here to witness. Zizhan leaned forward again, and said, in his native tongue, "Chen, Li, Wei and I will not be returning with you. We have found a place of honor here, where we can be more than we ever believed possible. We thank you for that, but know that our allegiance has changed. Help these people, help us, and your rewards will outstrip your imagination. You will always be first, for the best items, at the best price. There is more to this place than meets the eye, and we don't yet know even how big it is."

            Zahn was dumbfounded. Somehow, his simple trading voyages had changed the world for these people, and they had known what to do with that. Astute traders indeed! He knew that he needed time to process what he had heard, to understand where to go with this, and what to do next. The World had just changed, and he was there. What to do. There was no question in his mind that people who could do what these had done would forge their empire, or Alliance, as they called it.

            His profit from what the People had brought would buy him ships, as well as goods, but he sensed their need for knowledge, above all. He could deliver that. Help them reach the level of technology and science that his own people had achieved. These minds would take that, and go further, perhaps, than even his own culture. One day, he might be taking knowledge in the opposite direction, benefiting his people as much as theirs.

A Monday morning thought:

When civilization began in the areas around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, they rose and fell in a "conquer or die" environment. The further you get from this region, the more we see experimentation with other philosophies by other cultures. Alliance becomes a theme in the East, with the Mongols a significant exception, although they were an alliance of disparate tribes themselves.

Europe revered the classical philosophies, and so continued the tradition, culminating in the various Empires that ultimately collapsed in the 1900s, following two world wars, won by an Alliance.