Instantly we turned about in the neck rope, with its three knotted double loops, and went to our stomachs, our heads to the left, our wrists crossed behind us, and our ankles, as well. It is not advisable to hesitate in responding to a command. The bara position was, I suppose, the first slave position in which I had been placed. Of course I did not at that time understand it, or know its name. I had been in that position when I had regained consciousness in what appeared to be a warehouse, long ago, on my former world. I had been in that position, tied helplessly, when a foot had turned me over, to my back, and I had seen him, the man by whom I had known myself, for the first time, looked upon as what I had always suspected myself to be, a slave. I knew nothing of Gor, save uneasy rumors I had heard whispered about in the employee’s cafeteria, when men were not present, and in the female employees’ locker room at the store. How I had dismissed their whisperings as absurd, and yet, at the same time, wondered if I might appeal to the slavers of such a world. What would it be, I had wondered, to stand naked on a block, and be sold? I would learn. Then I had found myself turned to my back, and, bound hand and foot, looking up at him, he from whom I had fled in consternation in the store. I knew little, if anything, of Gor, but I knew I was looking up into the eyes of a man who was a natural master of women, one to whom a woman could be but a slave.
“They are prepared,” said Tuza.
One is quite helpless in the bara position. One is on one’s stomach and one’s hands are behind one, so one cannot use them to rise, and one’s body is extended, with one’s ankles crossed. One cannot easily rise from that position. Too, psychologically, one feels oneself submitted, and at the mercy of others. One knows one is at the feet of free persons, prostrate, perhaps even as a mere slave might be. Too, obviously, so positioned, one may be conveniently and easily tied.
“Hiza,” said Darla, “secure our little beasts for the night.”
In a few moments, with light cords, we had been bound for the night.
We lay very still, helpless, waiting, frightened.
We knew Tuza was behind us.
Then we cried out with pain as Tuza gave each of us, with her long switch, two strokes across the back of our thighs.
“Sleep well, sluts,” she said. “We have a long trek ahead of us, in the morning. By the next Passage Hand you will be bound naked to selling poles on the beach, awaiting passing galleys.”
She then returned to the fire.
“Have more ka-la-na,” she said to Darla.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Ho!” said Axel, pointing to the ground.
Tiomines was snuffling about, scratching at the ground.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Our little friend has been here,” he said, “but so, too, has another. See, the stirred leaves, the sandal print. Excellent, excellent!”
“I do not understand,” I said.
“I had hoped for such fortune,” he said, “but was muchly uncertain that it might be obtained.”
“I would appreciate it,” I said, “if you would speak more clearly.”
“It is thought the camp was under surveillance,” he said. “Shadows, glimpses, the uneasiness of larls in their cages. But there was no clear trail, one of relevance, one to which to put a sleen. There are many trails, those of larl masters, of deserters, those of scouts, trails of recruits, being conducted here, such things. But if you were to find a coin in the sand, even one of modest value, you might stoop to pick it up, might you not?”
“Of course,” I said.
“That was our hope,” he said. “Your stupid little barbarian friend is such a coin. Our visitors, or spies, if they exist, would have the vicinity under surveillance, and thus it is not impossible that they might note the unauthorized departure of an unwise slave. She has some value, even if it is negligible. Why should they not drop their net on her, and haul her in?”
“They are greedy,” I smiled.
“It is a common fault,” he said. “Her trail will now lead us to them.”
“There may be several,” I said, “and we are only two.”
“We will be wary,” he said. “Our business is to locate the enemy, not engage him, or her.”