Having carried out a successful approach through a clump of bushes, Dawn Drummond-Clayton and Bunduki came to a halt while still in concealment. Gazing at the animals which had caused them to break their journey, they decided that the delay and the trouble they had taken to reach their point of vantage was worthwhile. In fact, although there was plenty more for them to see, they had eyes for nothing else.
Rolling away to the distant horizon in every direction, the plains of Zillikian were a nature lover’s paradise. The terrain was typical savannah of the kind which white settlers had jokingly and lovingly referred to as the M.M.B.A.A.; the Miles And Miles Of Bloody Awful Africa. Well watered, lush of vegetation, bespeckled at intervals by clumps of bushes and groves or individual trees, the area offered sustenance for a great variety of creatures. Some of them, such as nilgai or blackbuck from India, would not have been present in Africa; but they, along with whitetail deer and bison from America, mingled with zebra, gazelle and antelope of many kinds from various parts of that continent. They were preyed upon by carnivores other than those with which they would have had to contend in their native lands on Earth, but so carefully and wisely had the ‘Suppliers’ stocked the planet that the balance of nature was maintained.
Being knowledgeable about such matters, the very diversity of animal life had warned Dawn and Bunduki from the beginning that they could not be on Earth. If they had had any doubts on the matter, the animals at which they were now looking with such rapt attention would have been convincing proof that they could not be in any part of Twentieth Century Africa. There was nowhere on that continent, or any other, in which one could find a band of quagga. That particular sub-species of zebra—the name being onomatopoeic and derived from the animal’s snort of alarm—had become extinct in the early 1870s.
Even if, by some miracle, a small breeding nucleus of the species Equus Quagga Quagga had contrived to survive undetected, they would not have had the same appearance as the animals grazing close to the girl’s and the blond giant’s hiding place. The coloration was correct, variations of brown with the black and cream stripes confined to the head, neck and shoulders. However, the group of animals bore the same resemblance in conformation to wild zebras as a well-bred riding horse would to the tarpan and Przewalski’s horse which were the progenitors of the domestic breeds.
Two of the band stood out and it was at them that Dawn and Bunduki devoted the majority of attention. Each was suggestive of careful selective breeding for some other purpose than survival in the wild.
Standing a good seventeen hands, xi the stallion being examined by Bunduki had a chestnut ground color and its physical development showed that it was up to carrying a big rider.
Large in the shoe, with the concave soles open at the heels and provided with a big, flexible frog, the hooves narrowed only slightly to the coronets. Such feet were perfectly adapted to withstand the strains thrown upon them when running while bearing a rider’s added weight. Above the coronets, the pasterns were at neither too straight nor too sloping an angle. Short in proportion to the forearms, the cannon bones had an almost razor-like flatness. Long, not too horizontal forearms joined the sloping and powerful shoulders so as to cause the withers to lie farther to the rear than the elbows.
With the rib cage well sprung and offering plenty of room for the development of the vital organs, the short and sturdy back carried smoothly to long and slightly slipping hips. Being the most important portions of the animal’s propulsive apparatus, the stifles had a muscular excellence indicative of tremendous power. Set high on the body, the long tail arched proudly as the stallion moved.
Of perfect proportions, the neck made a graceful curve, being fine and flexible at the junction with the head. Slightly large, but not donkey-like, the ears were carried upright upon a skull of an almost faultless diamond configuration that gave ample room for plenty of brain. Set well out on the sides of the head, the eyes glinted brightly and commanded a wide range of vision. Despite the face narrowing at the muzzle, the jaws were wide at the junction of the neck, giving ample space for the windpipe. The lips closed firmly over the teeth. Fine at the edges, the nostrils flared open for easy respiration. One major difference between the quagga and a horse showed in the forelock and mane. The latter rose in a crest instead of falling alongside the neck.
Perhaps four inches smaller than the stallion, the animal at which Dawn was looking was an equally fine isabelline colored mare. Just as the pair stood out as magnificent examples of their kind, the watchers were superlative specimens of the genus Homo Sapien.
Kept cut short for convenience, Dawn’s curly tawny hair formed a halo for a classically beautiful face which denoted breeding, strength of will, and intelligence above average in its lines. Tanned to a golden bronze, her five foot eight height was graced by a figure that would have turned many a ‘sex symbol’ movie actress on Earth green with envy. Its thirty-eight inch bust, twenty-inch waist and thirty-six inch hips supplied contours which had no need of artificial aids. Her body was encased in a short, sleeveless, one piece dress made from the soft hide of a cow eland. Connected by leather thongs, the extremely low cut neckline left no doubt that what lay beneath was just as nature had formed it. Enhancing rather than detracting from her femininity, power packed muscles rippled under her smooth skin. Everything about her suggested that she could move with the fluid speed, grace and precision of a highly trained gymnast, or athlete, and she was both.
The simple garment, a pair of leopard skin briefs and a brown leather archer’s armguard around her left wrist comprised the girl’s entire raiment. About her waist was a belt on the left side of which hung a sheathed Randall Model 1 ‘All Purpose’ fighting knife with an eight inches long blade and a ‘finger grip’ hilt made from the horn of a sambur xii stag. Nor did her armament end there. In her left hand, she grasped a recurved xiii Ben Pearson Marauder Take-Down hunting bow. It drew seventy pounds and there were eight fiberglass Micro-Flite arrows armed with Bear 4-Blade Razorhead points in the quiver attached to its right side. She had several more of the arrows in a shoulder quiver, but had left it with the banar-gatahs upon which she and Bunduki had been travelling since their departure from the Mun-Gatahs’ capital city. When taken with their surroundings and the primitive attire she was wearing, none of the weapons seemed out of place and she was highly skilled in their use.
In every detail, Bunduki’s appearance was complimentary to that of the beautiful young woman at his side. However, while she conveyed the impression of a lioness’s lithe and deadly grace, his was the imposing bulk and majesty of a lion.
Six foot three from his bare feet to the top of his head a curly golden blond hair, Bunduki’s only garment-apart from his archer’s armguard—was a leopard skin loincloth which left little to be imagined about his magnificent physical development. Exceptionally handsome, his face denoted similar qualities to those of the girl. He had a tremendous spread to his shoulders, with massive biceps and forearms to augment the strength they could put out when it was needed. Bronzed by long exposure to the elements, his torso slimmed down to a lean waist and a flat stomach ridged by cords of powerful muscles. His hips sat on legs so perfectly proportioned and puissant that they could carry his two hundred and twenty pounds’ weight with effortless speed and agility. For all their bulk and quantity, due to the high tone and quality of his muscles, there was nothing slow, clumsy or awkward about him.
Like Dawn, the blond giant was well—if primitively—armed. Hanging in its sheath down his left thigh he was equipped with a Randall Model 12 ‘Smithsonian’ bowie knife. The concave ivory handle and brassed lugged hilt made Dawn’s efficient weapon seem almost puny. xiv He too could indulge in archery. Custom built to his specifications, the recurved Fred Bear Super Kodiak bow had a draw weight of one hundred pounds and was fitted with an eight-capacity bow quiver. As in the case of his adoptive cousin—although he no longer thought of the girl in that relationship—he had left his back quiver with their off-saddled and hobbled mounts in order to make stalking and observing the quaggas less difficult. Nor had he brought the other piece of equipment with which he had been helped to effect Dawn’s rescue.
Realizing that Bunduki’s duties on Zillikian would call for him to be adequately armed, the ‘Suppliers’ had delivered his m’kuki—Masai throwing spear—and his shield. Although he had decided against encumbering himself with the m’kuki when setting out in search of Dawn, he had carried the shield hanging from the horn of his captured mount’s saddle. The shield was of the same elliptical shape and size as those carried by Masai moran, warriors. However, beneath the convex outer cover—made from the shoulder hide of a Cape buffalo bull, with all the wrinkles smoothed out and decorated by a red and white paint heraldic device—the saucer shaped interior was formed of the kind of light weight, ultra strong fiberglass material used for the manufacture of bullet proof protective garments and it had a rim of the finest quality Swedish high carbon tool steel.
‘Aren’t they magnificent?’ Dawn inquired, holding her voice to little more than a whisper and turning her gaze from the quaggas.
‘They’re the finest mounts I’ve seen on Zillikian,’ Bunduki answered, just as quietly. ‘Neither of the banar-gatahs you and I are riding comes anywhere near to matching them for quality.’
‘You would insist on leaving the People-Taker’s quagga gelding behind as a gesture of good will to whoever becomes High Priest,’ Dawn pointed out, blatantly disregarding the fact that she had expressed complete agreement with the blond giant’s decision. ‘Not that it was as good as either of them, if it comes to that. I wonder how they come to be out here?”
‘They must have escaped from the Mun-Gatahs,’ Bunduki guessed. ‘If not, they’ve been bred from a sire and dam that did.’
‘My, how clever of you to work that out,’ Dawn sniffed. ‘And there was poor simple little me thinking they might be just ordinary, run-of-the-mill wild stock.’ Then, becoming serious, she went on, ‘As they’re domesticated, or at least feral, they’ll be able to survive in captivity and be trainable. If we can catch them, that is.’
‘I’m all for trying,’ Bunduki declared, duplicating the girl’s line of reasoning. ‘They’re just what we need, provided we can catch and train them. Our work on Zillikian is far from finished and, if we’re to do it properly in future, we’ll need to be able to move around faster than we can on foot. That stallion looks as if he can carry my weight far better than the banar-gatah I’m riding.’
‘And elephant would be better for doing that,’ Dawn stated, starting to turn around cautiously. ‘Come on, you oversize lump, let’s go and see what we can do about catching them. It shouldn’t be too difficult—providing that you leave all the brainwork to me.’
‘I’ll give that a try first,’ the blond giant promised, pivoting on his heel with an equal care to avoid making any unnecessary noise. ‘Then, after you’ve made a fool of yourself as usual, I’ll show you how to do it properly.’
While speaking, Bunduki was watching the beautiful young woman he intended to make his wife. She had only the previous day emerged from a very perilous situation that had brought her close to death. So, despite knowing her to be courageous, he had been wondering if the experience might have had an adverse effect upon her nerves. But her behavior gave no sign that she had lost her usual high spirits.
‘You can do that easily enough,’ Dawn conceded, with the air of conferring a favor. ‘Make a proper fool of yourself, I mean. But—’
The words were brought to a halt as the couple heard snorts of alarm from beyond the bushes in which they were hiding. Each of them recognized the sounds as those made by zebras which were being disturbed or frightened.
There were, Dawn and Bunduki knew, no wild zebras in the immediate vicinity!
‘Something’s troubling the banar-gatahs!’ Dawn ejaculated, for they had left their borrowed mounts in the direction from which the snorts were originating.
‘Come on!’ Bunduki snapped, ignoring the possibility of making a noise that might scare away their potential quarry. ‘If anything happens to them, well not be able to catch the quagga mare and stallion.’