Desmond considered this. “Huh, you’re right, that is a possibility. It hadn’t even occured to me.”
She reached over and tapped his scalp. “Maybe you should quit smacking yourself in the head.”
“What is that?” one of the Marines said, pointing straight ahead.
Desmond followed his gaze and saw it immediately—a tall, looming darkness. It appeared to be a forest. The group fell silent as they drew nearer. The closer they got to the forest, the taller the shadowy trees became. At about fifty yards out, Desmond had to crane his neck to see the canopy. These trees were taller than any he’d ever seen. He could now hear a variety of monotonous calls coming from within the forest, possibly from frogs or insects, or from creatures unlike any he’d ever known.
Gideon spoke, his voice coming from about thirty yards ahead. “There’s a barrier here, a fence of some kind. I almost ran into it.”
The group converged beside Gideon. Before them was a mesh fence, with square openings about five inches wide. Desmond reached out and touched the mesh. It felt softer than wire—perhaps some kind of plastic. The barrier was too tall for him to be able to see the top in the dark. It could be twenty feet high, or it could be taller than the trees themselves, which he estimated were at least 150 feet.
“The best place for us to hide is in the forest,” Infinity said. “Which means we need to get over this fence.”
Desmond frowned. He couldn’t help but remember another fence, one that he and Infinity had encountered on a different version of Earth. That fence, it turned out, had been constructed for a very good reason—to protect the diminutive villagers, thirdlings, from a much larger hominid species, the orcs. To say that the orcs were aggressive would be a monumental understatement.
“We have no idea what’s in that forest,” he said, hoping Infinity would understand his concern.
“Yeah, well, we do know what’s on this side of the fence,” Vic Shepherd said. “What could be worse than killer lemurs riding killer robots?”
“There are plenty of things that could be worse,” Desmond replied.
Vic ignored him and rubbed his hands together. “Okay, I’m gonna try climbing over.” He started making his way up the fence, and seconds later his receding shape disappeared into the darkness above.
The remaining six stood in silence, listening to the orchestra of animal calls as they waited for Vic to give them a report.
“Ow, shit!” he cried out from far above.
Vic’s body didn’t come falling down, so Desmond—and apparently the others—assumed he wasn’t seriously hurt. They continued waiting until they saw the Marine climbing back down the mesh.
Vic dropped the last few feet to the ground and turned around. “There ain’t no climbing over. The top of the fence curves out toward this side and then down. As if that ain’t enough, the mesh on that top part is charged with something. Didn’t feel like no electric shock, but it started getting hot wherever I touched it. I had to let go after a few seconds.”
“This fence isn’t very well maintained,” said Gideon, who was now about twenty yards or so to the right. “Over here—there’s a hole.”
They all moved to where he was kneeling. The hole was at ground level. It was perhaps large enough for a medium-sized dog, but not an adult human. Gideon grabbed the mesh and lifted, grunting with the effort. This doubled the opening’s size.
“What do you think?” asked Deon, “Should we go through?”.
“Based on the design up top,” said Vic, “the fence was made to keep these lemur people on this side. So its purpose ain’t for keeping dangerous animals out of the city. Suppose I could be wrong, though.”
Infinity nodded toward the forest. “The trees will provide good cover. It’s been a hell of a day. Maybe you guys are rested enough, but I’m reaching the point where my judgement is screwed up. We need to try to get some sleep, and we can’t do it out here in the open.”
“Fair enough,” Vic said. “How many votes for going under the fence and holing up in the trees?”
Everyone but Desmond grunted in agreement. Desmond stared through the mesh. If he’d had any hairs left on the back of his neck, the thought of entering the inky-black woods would have made them stand on end. But what other choice did they have? He sighed. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Desmond pictured Kitty sitting in her pod beneath the ground, watching their every move. What would she think of them taking a democratic vote on whether to crawl under the fence? Would she consider such behavior a strength or a weakness? What if she had already decided, based on their recent actions, that the human species didn't deserve to exist? Maybe she had already bridged back and had activated the green cones of destruction, leaving Desmond and the others here to die.
Gideon raised the mesh again, and the other members of the team crawled through, one at a time. Desmond got on his belly and wormed his way under the fence. Once he was through, he got up and held the mesh for Gideon. Seconds later they were all standing in a cluster, staring into the darkness.
“You bridgers have more experience with this wilderness stuff,” Vic said. “Any advice?”
Infinity pointed to the hole they’d just come through. “We might need to use that opening as an escape route. I suggest we stay near it. We should move into the forest just far enough to be hidden from view if the lemurs come searching for us.”
“We’ll just have to hope they don’t use heat signature detectors or tracking animals,” Gideon added. “For all we know, they might actually be tracking animals, with sensitive noses.”
“Anything else?” Vic asked.
Infinity said, “Don’t get killed.”
They pushed their way through the thick vegetation at the forest’s edge, which quickly gave way to a more open interior.
“I don’t think we need to go any farther than this,” Desmond whispered when they were about ten yards into the forest. It was impossible to know how good the lemurs’ eyesight was, but it seemed like, with the humans concealed by both the darkness and the thick vegetation, the creatures would be unable to spot them from the other side of the fence. Just as important, it seemed reasonable to assume large predators would stay a good distance away from the fence.
“Agreed,” Infinity said. She turned to the Marines. “Have any of you slept in a tree before?”
The Marines looked at each other. “Can't say I've ever had cause to do so,” Terry said.
“Then let’s take our chances on the ground,” she said. “We can stand watch in shifts, about an hour each.”
“I’ll take first shift, then,” Vic said. “I’ll stay on my feet so I don’t crash out.”
The seven survivors quickly decided the order in which they’d stand watch. Then everyone but Vic settled in, evenly spaced around the base of a massive tree, with their backs against the trunk.
As the group quieted down, Desmond focused on the ground around his legs, listening for skittering bugs and waiting for small creatures to start crawling on his skin. Surprisingly, he hadn’t yet been bitten by any mosquitoes or other insects. It was possible they didn’t even exist on this world, but that was probably wishful thinking.
Infinity was sitting to his right, and she placed a hand on his thigh. He put his hand on her hand. He then formed words in his mind and projected them outward, visualizing them speeding down his arm, passing from his hand to hers, and then moving up her arm to her brain. “You hanging in there?”
She jerked with surprise, as she usually did when he used his thought-projection ability without warning her first. But then she squeezed his hand, letting him know she wasn’t giving up.
He continued projecting his thoughts. “I know we’ve lost our home again. But I swear, if we live through this trial, we’re going to find a new home. Some place where we can live the rest of our lives together without fear of the entire planet imploding. When we get there, I promise we will never bridge again.”
She squeezed his hand again. Then
she leaned toward him and whispered in his ear. “You know what? We may soon go down with the rest of our species. That sucks. But at least I’ll die fighting beside you.” She inched closer and bit down on his earlobe, just hard enough to send a wave of tingles through his entire body. She pulled back and settled in again, shifting her shoulders to find a comfortable position.
Desmond considered his promise to her. At this point, it seemed unlikely he’d ever have a chance to keep it. But he had learned not to underestimate Infinity’s resourcefulness—and his own, for that matter. Perhaps they’d live long enough to stumble upon an opportunity to show Kitty and her species that humans deserved to exist. He tried imagining what that opportunity might look like, but then he felt his mind shutting down and he gave in to sleep.
Someone shook Desmond’s shoulder. He forced his eyes open, trying to remember where he was. It was no longer dark. Inches from his face were the fearful eyes of one of the Marines, Bishop Artliff. Bishop’s finger was pressed to his own lips, signaling Desmond to be silent.
“We have company,” the Marine whispered, barely loud enough to be heard. He pointed upward.
Desmond wiped his eyes, looked up, and squinted. At first he saw only green vegetation and a few pinpoints of sunlight shining through. But then he spotted it—a figure crouched on a limb. Was it a person? No, it had a bushy tail hanging below its body. The tail was striking, with alternating rings of black and tan fur, like the tail of a raccoon or a ring-tailed lemur. In fact, the creature looked very similar to the lemurs that inhabited the city, but this one was clearly a completely different species. Desmond estimated it weighed about a hundred pounds, smaller than the city-dwelling lemurs. But its eyes were even larger, at least three inches across. The creature was resting on a branch about fifteen yards above the ground, staring down at the humans.
Bishop crept to the side, gently shook Infinity awake, and pointed to the lemur. She spotted the creature and nodded.
Bishop moved on to rouse Gideon, and Desmond began scanning the other trees above. He quickly spotted a second lemur, and then a third. All of them were of the same species, and they were all staring intently at the humans. Unlike the lemurs in the city, these creatures wore no clothing. Were they merely wild animals that hadn’t developed sentient intelligence? It certainly seemed like their huge eyeballs wouldn’t leave much room in the skull for a well-developed cerebrum.
Desmond slowly got to his feet, keeping his eyes on the creatures. In his peripheral vision he saw Gideon start to raise his weapon but then lower it as Infinity pushed it back down with her hand. Desmond smiled up at the nearest lemur without showing his teeth, hoping this wouldn’t be interpreted as a challenge or an insult.
The creatures watched him without moving.
He took a deep breath, let it out, and spoke. “Hello. We hope you don’t mind us being here.”
The creatures all raised their heads at once, becoming more alert. One of them let out a bark, followed by a series of rapid trills and whistles. This was answered by another lemur, and then by another that Desmond hadn’t even noticed. This call-and-response pattern continued, eliciting calls from one lemur after another. Desmond spun around as the answers multiplied, gradually realizing that he and the other humans were surrounded by at least ten of the creatures.
The vocalizations abruptly stopped, and the lemur that had spoken first descended its tree, landed lightly on the ground, and rose to its full height, nearly five feet tall. It then approached Desmond, walking on its hind legs, its splendid tail bobbing up and down conspicuously. When it was standing about five feet away, it spoke again, rattling off a complex series of nonhuman sounds.
The humans’ translators remained silent. These creatures must have been speaking a different language than that used by the city lemurs.
As Desmond tried to decide on his next move, the other creatures descended from their trees and gathered around the humans in a semicircle.
The other humans got to their feet. Desmond glanced at Gideon and Terry, the only two who still had weapons. “Please don’t start shooting unless they actually attack, okay?”
Desmond’s words prompted another round of chattering from the lemurs. He raised his brows at Gideon and Terry. Both men nodded, keeping their weapons pointed at the ground.
Desmond’s translator spoke abruptly. “Confusion. Fear.”
The creatures paused and stared at Desmond’s wrist.
“I guess that’s better than violence and anger,” Infinity said.
The creatures started chattering again, and Desmond raised his arm to make sure his translator picked up as much speech as possible.
“Confusion, fear, curiosity,” the device said.
Again the creatures fell silent. One of them stepped forward, staring at the translator but glancing up frequently at Desmond’s face as if watching for signs that he might attack.
“This device is a translator,” Desmond said, pointing to his wrist. “When you talk, it learns your language. Using this translator, we can talk to you, and you can talk to us.”
The translator emitted a sequence of sounds, already attempting to translate his words into the lemurs’ language.
The creatures froze, staring at the device. When the translator fell silent again, every pair of three-inch eyes flicked from the translator to Desmond’s face.
Everyone was silent for several long seconds. Finally, the lemur directly in front of Desmond spoke. After the creature was finished, the translator spoke. “You new here. This our place. Why you here?”
Desmond turned and met Infinity’s gaze.
“Don't look at me,” she said. “You know I'm terrible with negotiations. Say whatever you think needs to be said.”
“Yeah, you go for it, Desmond,” Vic said.
The translators remained silent, apparently somehow aware that these words were not directed at the lemurs.
Desmond turned back to the creatures. “We didn’t want to be here. We know we don’t belong here.” He pointed toward the fence. “The city dwellers attacked us. We had to come here.”
His device translated his words for the lemurs.
Another one of the creatures spoke up—a long, complex series of precise sounds.
Desmond’s device took a few seconds to process the lemur’s speech and then said, “Yes, city dwellers attack. City dwellers always attack. That is why city dwellers put us here. They put us here. Each day they come here and attack. They kill. They attack for fun. They kill for fun. Now you here. They attack you. They kill you. They attack and kill you for fun.”
Desmond stared at the creatures, not wanting to believe what he had just heard.
“Shit,” Vic muttered.
9
Happy
April 11 - 6:51 AM
Infinity considered the words Desmond’s translator had just spoken. Something didn’t make sense. She scanned the foliage until she found the fence. In the daylight, she could now see enough of the fence to confirm that Vic had been correct—the fence was designed to keep the city dwellers out of the forest, not to keep things from the forest out of the city.
Desmond spoke to the creatures again. “Why do the city dwellers attack and kill you?”
After the translation, the creature that had first spoken responded, its round eyes blinking frequently as it spoke. Desmond’s translator said, “City dwellers attack and kill for fun. Attack and kill is honor for city dwellers. Wealthy city dwellers attack and kill. Honor for wealthy city dwellers only.”
So maybe the forest was a hunting preserve set aside for the rich, and the fence was just to keep out the riffraff.
“You are different,” Desmond’s translator continued. “We want to know what you are.”
“Yes, we are different,” he replied. “We are from a very different place. We come from far away.”
“But you are intelligent. You talk. Nine different types of beings are intelligent. Not ten. Only nine. You are not one of the nine specie
s of intelligent beings.”
“Wait, there are nine species of intelligent beings on this world?” Desmond asked.
“Yes, nine. Not ten. You are not one of the nine. We want to know what you are.”
Desmond glanced at Infinity as if unsure of how much he should say.
She just shrugged.
He sighed. “We are not one of the nine on this world because we came here from another world. We came from a world that only has one type of intelligent being.”
The lemurs listened to the translation and then chattered back and forth without taking their eyes off the humans. The translators remained silent. Finally, the crowd quieted down and the center lemur spoke. This time Desmond’s device responded. “Yes, the city dwellers talk of going to other worlds. The city dwellers talk of going to other worlds to find other intelligent beings. They talk of bringing other intelligent beings to this world. They talk of putting intelligent beings into enclosures like our enclosure and attacking and killing the intelligent beings. For honor. For fun.”
Infinity had already disliked the city dwellers. Now she despised them. She spoke to the other humans. “It sounds like this lemur is suggesting the city dwellers have access to bridging technology.”
“Maybe they found the Outlanders’ signal,” Terry said.
Desmond shook his head. “Not likely. The Outlanders transmitted their signal tens of thousands of years ago. I’m pretty sure this universe diverged from ours long before that, perhaps tens of millions of years ago. There’s almost no chance the Outlanders exist at all in this universe.”
Terry furrowed his hairless brow. “Well, maybe the city lemurs developed bridging technology themselves. Maybe they didn’t need the Outlanders’ signal.”
The Trial of Extinction Page 9