13: The Forest

The two explorers stood and gazed in disbelief. Thirst, tired muscles, biting insects, scratches and bruises forgotten. They’d emerged from the trees at the crest of a grassy slope that descended to the most perfect sight any hot and tired man can see... a lake. Pristine. Sparkling in the sun. Reflecting the dense surrounding forest, sky and clouds. Water. The liquid of life.

Strenuous tramping outdoors through the heat of the day was very different from using fitness equipment in an air-conditioned gymnasium. They’d developed a raging thirst and had already drunk their scant supply, so the urge to race down and check if it was potable was strong. However, primeval caution overtook them. Like all creatures that enter a new, possibly hostile environment, they remained still and silent, carefully scanning the scene, hands shielding eyes from the glare of a sun that was already past its zenith and shining into their faces.

‘Can you hear it?’ Uretep whispered.

‘What?’

‘Music. Singing.’

‘Yes. More like chanting. Where?’

‘There!’ Uretep pointed to a small sandy beach.

Several men were standing waist deep in the sparkling liquid holding long slender sticks. One plunged his into the water and retrieved a wriggling object.

A hundred metres below the watchers, Jar frowned in concentration, hurled the spear, smiled and waded in to retrieve it. Back on shore he removed the wriggling trout, dashed its head on a rock to kill it, and tossed it into the woven kit bag with the others. From the corner of his eye he thought he saw a movement among the trees further up the slope. The air shimmered in the heat. A bird trilled a warning. He focussed on a spot just inside the shadows at the edge of the forest. Yes. Something moved. Two things. Standing on their hind legs staring down. Kangaroos? Too lean. He called softly to the others. They joined him, sharing his disquiet. There were few things unknown to them in the area.

‘They’re men,’ Seb stated. ‘Strangers. Come on.’

Dropping their spears they sprinted up the hill.

‘We’ve been seen! They’re coming after us!’

Fear forced Uretep and Peteru back into the forest where they lay flat on their bellies under a densely leafed, ground-hugging shrub. Hoping they were invisible, they remained utterly still while studying their pursuers through slitted eyes with increasing astonishment. The men were like robust editions of themselves—naked, hairless, wiry and lithe with obviously powerful but not excessive musculature. Strong, lean legs and taut firm buttocks. Skins ranging from shiny black to mid brown. Eyes, heads, posture, alert. Nostrils quivered slightly. One tilted his head as if to listen. The fugitives scarcely dared breathe, although for some inexplicable reason their stalkers didn’t seem dangerous.

One of the hunters sniffed. ‘I smell fear.’

The man who’d been listening, pointed, and seconds later the bush concealing their quarry was surrounded by a dozen bare, brown, tough-looking feet that had obviously never worn shoes.

‘It’s OK. We’re friends. Come out.’ The words clipped and oddly accented as if the speaker wasn’t in the habit of wasting his breath. The voice was deep, setting up a vibration in Uretep’s chest.

Shamefacedly, Uretep and Peteru scrambled to their feet, unaware of blood from new scratches, some of which were quite deep. They dusted themselves off and approached, self-consciously aware of the difference in their bodies. They’d thought they were fit, but beside these broad-shouldered, powerful gods they felt like runts.

The deep voiced man stepped forward and stood facing them, gazing into their eyes alternately as if in search of something. So close they could feel his body heat. Suddenly he reached out both arms and firmly cupped each young man’s scrotum in large callused palms. A reflex attempt to retreat was painfully arrested when the other fellow remained still. Continuing to gaze into their eyes he slid coarse fingers along the smooth skin between scrotum and anus.

‘Sapiens,’ he announced with a dismissive shake of his head, releasing his grip and turning back to his friends who muttered among themselves.

‘Where are you from and what are you doing here?’ asked one of the men whose skin was as black as the deepest shadow. ‘Speak honestly.’ He said this calmly, but two hearts hammered in alarm nonetheless.

Attempting to keep encroaching panic from his voice, Uretep said as clearly as he could manage, ‘We are from the underground city in the large clearing about three hours walk from here.’

‘Three hours? You’re either lying or you’ve been walking in circles. It’s no more than a ten-minute jog. Tell the truth!’

‘We are! It took us three hours, but we didn’t know where we were going. It’s hard to go in a straight line. Honestly, this is the first time we have ever left Oasis so we didn’t know we weren’t allowed here. We’re not enemies!’

‘So you say,’ said a tall man with amused eyes. ‘You’d hardly tell us if you intended to slash our throats.’

‘We wouldn’t…’

The man who’d been first up the hill stepped forward and stared into their anxious eyes for several long seconds. ‘I’m Jar,’ he said coolly, before stepping back and indicating the other five men with a broad sweep of his powerful arm. ‘Now show your self to the others.’

The two visitors gazed for several seconds into the eyes of each of the fishermen, feeling each time as if their deepest secrets were being extracted. In that environment filled with the sense of untamed, natural life, it seemed an instinctive yet oddly rational way to greet a stranger.

Inspection over, Jar studied the captives. ‘You’re both bleeding—scratches—nothing serious, but you’d better get cleaned up before infection finds them.’

‘Hungry?’ the questioner was the man with the deep voice who’d spoken first; an attractive, friendly face with a permanent smile

‘Yes! And thirsty.’

‘Come on then. I’m Seb.’

‘I’m Uretep and he’s Peteru.’

‘Clones?’

Overtaken by a nervous desire to please, Uretep began a detailed response. ‘Different eggs and sperm, but the same donors we think. We've had identical genetic modification so that’s probably why we look similar and...’ His voice trailed away in embarrassment.

Seb frowned and shook his head slightly as if distracted, then led them down to the lake where the proximity of so much clear water sparkling in the sunlight had them transfixed in astonishment.

‘Not going in?’ someone asked with a grin. ‘I’m Leo.’

‘It seems too perfect to pollute. My body’s so scratched and dirty.’

‘It’s self cleaning so you can also drink it, come on!’ Leo raced past them and dived cleanly into the water, not surfacing until he was about fifty metres out. Both Peteru and Uretep had used the pool in their gymnasium, so could swim, but they’d never been out of their depth. With a shout of delight they hurled themselves into the limpid liquid, leaping up immediately.

‘It’s cold! It’s refreshing! It’s perfect!’

Only the irresistible odour of fish roasting on the fire was able to extricate them from a bliss they’d never dreamed of. Weightlessness in water so clean and fresh it was drinkable. Never before had they tasted anything like it.

‘To drown in this lake would be a pleasure, not a punishment,’ Uretep laughed as he shook off the water and joined everyone around a small fire where the smell of roast trout introduced the ecstatic visitors to a sensation they hadn’t realised humans possessed—the joy of eating unadulterated fresh food in a totally natural environment—not an artificial object in sight.

Hunger and thirst quenched with succulent fish, wild herbs and clear spring water, cuts and scratches rubbed with the glutinous sap from long leathery leaves that grew at the edge of the lake, they sat in a circle while the fishermen plied them with questions.

Imagining, because of their apparently simple life, that these wild and powerful men would be mentally simple like Vassals, the two visitors spoke slowly and used uncomplicated words to explain everything; failing to notice the sly smiles.

‘So, You live in a big hole in the ground. Who with?’

‘A large number of people—very, very large.’

‘Are they all like you, or are some of them educated enough to explain where you come from?

‘What do you mean?’

‘Do they understand technology and can they use big words?’

The six men burst out laughing at the perplexed expressions on their visitors’ faces.

‘We’re educated. We’re probably the best educated people in Oasis.’ Uretep and Peteru were becoming nervous. There was an edge to their hosts’ laughter that warned them not to take their situation too lightly.

‘What are you hiding?’ A command, not a question.

‘Nothing! We’re…’

‘Then why are you prevaricating? We may have asked a simple question, but that doesn’t mean we want a simple answer. Why are you spying on us!’

‘We’re not spying. We didn’t know you existed until we saw you from up there. We thought we were the only humans on earth.’

‘What’s in that bag?’ Seb put out his hand.

Reluctantly Peteru handed it over. ‘Please be careful.’

Seb upended it. The black enseemat, tiny computer, gold disc and empty water flask fell out.

‘What’s this?’ Seb held up the mat.

‘You wouldn’t understand.’

Jar’s face was unrecognisable. He grasped Uretep by the throat and snarled, ‘Sidestep a question once more and you’re dead, along with your mate. Answer the question!’

While Uretep massaged his aching throat, Peteru explained the exact nature and purpose of the mat. Instead of faces blank with incomprehension and disbelief, the six listeners nodded and allowed Seb to place it carefully on the ground.

‘Show us your wrists.’

They did so. Everyone fingered the tiny sliver of metal that protruded.

‘Demonstrate.’ Seb snapped. ‘You return to wherever you came from, and then come back here. Uretep stays with us.’

‘But…’

‘Go, Peteru. These men aren’t the enemy, and even if they were there’s nothing we could do about it. Just go!’

‘Peteru looked around, took a deep breath, stood on the pad, whispered into the terminal, touched his wrist, and disappeared.

The silence lasted twenty seconds.

‘Impressive,’ someone remarked when Peteru reappeared on the mat sporting a proud erection. ‘What’s the reason for your arousal?’

Uretep explained.

‘Do you guys enjoy sex together?’

‘Yes.’

‘And that’s OK back in your underground city?’

‘Yes.’

‘Because you’re randy or because you love each other?’ The questioner was unsmiling and Uretep wondered if it was safe to tell the truth.

Bravely he thrust out his chest and said clearly, ‘Both.’

Smiles all round.

‘Love is good,’ Jar said softly. ‘Perhaps you aren’t planning on exterminating us after all.’

‘No! No. We think you’re wonderful! Honestly. Sorry about the misunderstanding, it’s just that…’

‘Yes, thanks. That’s enough. We get the message. You’re both good guys.’

Deflated, Uretep turned to Peteru. ‘Were the Mages there?’

‘No, everything was undisturbed. I reckon they won’t visit today.’

‘Good, because we need you to remain with us for a while—we have a few more questions,’ Jar announced firmly, his face disturbingly inquisitorial.