The Power of Gnaris by Les Bill Gates

Hikon. I’m sure they will be
satisfied with gold.”
    “You are
right,” said Forster. “But do you have any gold with you, apart
from the odd trinket worn by some of the Karavec soldiers?”
    “I have this,”
said the Great Savant, pulling aside a curtain near the rear of the
craft, and revealing several bars of solid gold.
    Forster
gasped.
    Barrow smiled
and shut the curtain. “I always carry some gold with me for this
very reason. I think one bar should suffice. But we will carry some
others with us in case we need to negotiate again. Now, we must
decide who will go with these people. Obviously you must go
Forster, since your eyes need no protection and you can communicate
with them, but who else should go with you?”
    “The
protective goggles will make it difficult to disguise any of
you  but wait  apart from me, there is one other exception. Lolena is blind, so
she does not need to protect her eyes. If Lolena disguises herself
so that her features and green complexion are hidden, then we
should be able to enter the city undetected. I’ll ask Jesse if he
has any ideas for a suitable disguise.”
    Lolena nodded.
“Besides, I do have some knowledge of the English language; though
not much, it will be enough for me to understand Captain
Forster.”
    “You are
right, Forster. That settles it. Lolena will accompany you. She can
also communicate with me using her gnaris, and keep me informed.
Now that you know she is one of the Council, you will realise that
she has the power.”
    Before Forster
and Lolena departed, Barrow drew her to one side.
    “I trust
Forster’s honesty,” he said, “but I do not necessarily trust his
judgement. You must watch him closely. As a member of the Council,
you have authority to do what is best. If  when you make contact with the leaders of Ziemia, you must
negotiate a safe passage for me and the others to join you. We will
come as soon as possible. May the gods be with you, and protect you
on your journey.”
    “And with
you,” she replied.
    * * * * *
    Jesse and his
gang accepted the offer.
    “Have you any
ideas for a disguise for my companion?” Forster asked.
    Jesse thought
for a moment before answering. “You could dress as Franciscan
Friars,” he said.
    “What are
Franciscan Friars?”
    “They are
members of a religious order that pray a lot, eat little, and help
folks. They wear brown cloaks, tied at the waist with a rope, and
often cover their heads with a hood called a cowl. There’s a
Franciscan Monastery in the eastern part of the city. The friars
often walk the streets of Washington in pairs. They even leave the
city sometimes to visit some of the more civilised towns. They sell
items they make from etched wood. If you dress as Franciscan
Friars, no one will take any notice, especially if one is leading
the other who is blind. It’s an excellent cover.”
    The following
morning they set off for the city. Forster had never ridden before,
and Lolena did not trust the beast that would carry her, so Jesse
said they would have to walk to the nearest town where they could
purchase a wagon.
    “How far is it
to the city?” Forster asked.
    “It will take
us five days to ride there as long as we don’t meet any
Prehistorics or Ancients on the way,” said Jesse. “The city is
named Washington. I don’t know much about what goes on there, but I
do know that they don’t use animals like these for their transport
any more. They have machines with wheels that they sit inside and
control themselves. The machines are powered by some kind of fuel
that causes an explosion. How they do it is beyond me.”
    “What do you
call your animals?”
    “We call them
horses.”
    Forster
thought they resembled horses back on Earth, but were somewhat
taller, and their gait was ungainly.
    Jesse patted
his horse’s flank. The animal nickered, and a jet of steam rose
from it nostrils.
    They had
walked for about two hours when they reached a small town. The town
had just one