People of Babel (Ark Chronicles 3) by Vaughn Heppner

stigmas concerning moving here.”
    “ If you mean Noah’s curse, then know that I never have nor ever will enslave Canaan or any of his children. That is my word and my writ. I hope by my latest judgment to have convinced you that my word is both honest and good.”
    Beor nodded gravely, saying, “I’ll do what I can.”
     

22.
     
    In that roundabout way of trade, traders and gossip, Kush and Deborah learned about Japheth’s plan concerning Canaan.
    “ He seeks to rob of us of laborers,” Kush growled to his wife. They were in the inner sanctum, rolling special bones under flickering lamplight. “Japheth wants to keep the sons of Ham divided.”
    “ So it seems,” Deborah said.
    “ We must compel Canaan to move to Babel,” Kush said. “We must end this breach.”
    “ We’ve tried several times,” Deborah said. “Canaan still smarts from Nimrod and feels for his son, Beor. Clearly, his feelings in this matter run deeper than we suspected.”
    “ I don’t want excuses,” Kush said. “I need plans. Give me plans.”
    Deborah stood motionless as Kush rattled t hree shiny bones in his palm.
    “ How can I win the people over to the idea of building a tower if they’re exhausted from back-breaking labor on the canals and from working in the fields?” Kush asked. “As it is, I don’t dare mention building a tower. Yet if I wait, Bel might use another to reveal his wish.”
    “ Do you mean Nimrod?”
    Kush set the marked bones on a special shelf. “We need more hands, more laborers. As a bare minimum before we proceed, we must have Canaan.”
    “ Perhaps we should send Ham back to the Zagros Settlement,” Deborah said. “He had good luck with Ashkenaz. Let him convince Canaan to visit Babel. Then you must take Canaan into your deepest confidence. You must unveil our plan.”
    “ He might not be ready for that.”
    “ Of all your brothers, I think Canaan the likeliest to be ready. And as you say, the angel grows restless.”
    Kush scowled . “We must also expand the Hunters.”
    “ Perhaps,” Deborah said. “But I urge caution in that regard.”
    “ Caution?”
    “ Our son is crafty as well as fearless. If he leads too mighty a band, the day might come when he challenges your rule.”
    Kush laughed grimly . “The Hunters must be expanded. For soon…” He wrapped thick fingers around a stone and smashed his fist against his palm. “Japheth and Gomer must learn what it is to be our slaves.”
     

23.
     
    After the worst of the Euphrates’s flooding was over, Ham journeyed to the Zagros Mountains. He learned that Beor had told glowing reports of Japheth Land, that Japheth rejected the hated curse and welcomed Canaan and his clan, urging them to join him in the north. Ham pointed out no one had ever nullified a curse of Jehovah’s.
    “ If that’s true,” Canaan said, “isn’t it wiser to live with Japheth under his goodwill than to wait until the curse unfolds against me?”
    “ That’s a coward’s answer,” Ham said.
    Canaan laughed, as did several of his sons . They spoke in the old two-story house. It was packed with men as Canaan sat in a throne-like wooden chair.
    “ First you caution me about the curse,” Canaan said, “that I don’t take it seriously enough. Then, when I tell you that I’ll adjust myself to it, you call me a coward, intimating that I should fight against it. You cannot have it both ways, Father.”
    “ Let’s for the moment forget the curse,” Ham said. “Think of the explosion of predators. Babel has sturdy brick walls and more fantastically rich land than the rest of us can cultivate. The walls mean safety from the animals. The rich soil means we won’t starve—if enough of us can keep the canals in order. And unity, unity means there won’t be wars. Canaan, Zidon: come and investigate Babel. See if I speak the truth. Don’t let bitter memories destroy an opportunity to build a civilization that will take us out of this scratch and hunt