The Trial of Extinction

by Stan C. Smith

  “Not a chance,” Infinity said. “A species that can’t solve problems like extreme poverty and piles of trash couldn’t be smart enough to develop bridging technology without help.”

  “Maybe the wealthy just don't care about the quality of life in poor areas.” Desmond suggested.

  Abruptly, the lemurs all whipped their heads around and looked toward the fence. Infinity felt her muscles tighten. She didn’t see or hear anything unusual, but these creatures obviously did.

  The center lemur turned back to the humans and rattled off some trills and whistles. Desmond’s translator said, “City dwellers are near. City dwellers have vehicles. Probably they are looking for you. Do you wish them to find you, or do you wish to hide?”

  “What will happen if the city dwellers find us?” Infinity asked.

  The lemur listened to the translation and then responded. “City dwellers attack and kill. City dwellers always attack and kill. For honor. For fun.”

  “Then we wish to hide,” she said.

  The lemur listened to the translation and then spoke again. “They are coming nearer. Probably they are following evidence that you left behind when you came here. You must hide now or they will attack and kill you. We want to know more about what you are, and so we will help you hide.”

  Infinity could now hear a chittering sound coming from beyond the fence. “Yes, please help us.”

  The creature stepped closer and slowly reached out a hand. It took one of Desmond’s hands in its own and gazed at it. The lemur’s slender fingers were at least twice the length of Desmond’s. It spoke, and Desmond’s translator said, “Are you not able to climb and move in the trees?”

  Desmond shook his head. “No, we are ground-dwelling creatures.”

  The lemur released his hand. “I see that this is true.”

  The chittering was getting louder, and Infinity’s legs were beginning to twitch as she fought the urge to run. She was about to say something when the lemurs all turned in unison and began briskly walking. They kept going without looking back.

  “I guess we’re supposed to follow them,” Vic said.

  The group took off walking after the lemurs. Before long they had to start jogging to keep up, dodging trees and shoving aside low vegetation.

  The lemurs remained silent as the group made steady progress. The humans followed their lead and remained quiet as well.

  After following the lemurs for about a half mile, Infinity saw an open area ahead where sunlight was breaking through the forest canopy. As the group approached the open area, Infinity noticed that the air in the clearing appeared to be moving. At first she thought she might be seeing smoke, but soon she realized the movement was from thousands upon thousands of winged insects, rising and falling in mesmerizing waves.

  The lemurs led the humans directly into the clearing. Before Infinity had even stepped out of the forest’s shadows into the light, she could hear the buzzing of countless wings. The clearing was about two hundred yards across and was filled with shoulder-high plants bursting with red and yellow flowers, arranged in cultivated rows.

  Infinity paused, looking out over the vast field of flowers. She could hardly see the far side through the cloud of insects. It was like looking through a blizzard. Something moved in one of the gaps between rows—an object had popped up briefly and then disappeared. There was another to the right, and then another to the left. She moved forward and looked down the long gap between two of the rows, where she saw a ring-tail lemur darting about, swinging what appeared to be an insect net. After several more swipes of the net, the creature paused and emptied the net’s contents into a satchel hanging from its neck by a strap. It then went back to swooping up insects, apparently oblivious to the humans passing by.

  In the next gap over, Infinity found two more of the insect-catching lemurs. One of them noticed her and stopped what it was doing and stared. It then emitted a loud, chittering whistle, and both the lemurs in the row came running.

  Infinity instinctively took a defensive stance as the two lemurs came charging at her. Before long, dozens of others were pouring out of the rows and gathering around. The humans were surrounded by creatures wielding insect nets and satchels full of buzzing bugs. Barks, chirps, and whistles filled the air as the gathering crowd chattered with the lemurs that had been leading the humans. Infinity wished she could understand what they were saying, but the translators only seemed to work when someone was directly addressing a being who spoke a different language.

  The group moved on, leaving the insect gatherers chattering amongst themselves. Infinity took one last look at the rows of flowers before the lemurs led the humans into the murky forest again. They hadn’t walked more than a hundred yards when they came upon another odd sight. On the forest floor, hundreds of logs were arranged side by side in rows. The logs were in various stages of decomposition, and a few dozen lemurs were busy pulling apart the older, softer logs and plucking insects from the debris. Like the other insect gatherers, these lemurs were also depositing their harvest into satchels.

  “Impressive,” Desmond said. “The insects must be a food source.”

  “I’m hungry,” Infinity said. “I wouldn’t turn down a bug meal if they offered it.” She had gotten used to eating giant arthropods during the last nineteen months. It was just a difference in scale.

  This new group of insect gatherers spotted the newcomers, prompting another round of excited chattering between the workers and the humans’ guides.

  Once the caravan was moving again, the lemurs led the way through another field of flowering plants and two more rotting log stations, all of which were being worked by satchel-bearing gatherers. Then the group passed through an area where lemurs were busy hacking tree limbs down to various lengths, creating poles that were probably useful for construction. The creatures were using sharpened rocks to do this, and Infinity noted the distinct contrast between these crude tools and the gleaming towers and high-tech materials Infinity had seen in the city beyond the fence. Apparently these lemurs were much more primitive than the city dwellers.

  After passing the log-cutting station, the lemur guides finally stopped and turned to the humans. One of the creatures began speaking. Vic was closest to the creature, and his translator was the one that responded. “We soon will be at our home. The city dwellers do not come to our home. We will let you hide at our home. We will have talking and questions. We want to know more. We want to know what you are and where you have come from.”

  As Infinity listened to Vic’s translator, she gazed at the lemur who had spoken. An old, healed scar ran from its chin to its ear. Other than that, there were few differences between this individual and all the others. Perhaps to each other these creatures were as distinctive as humans were to other humans, but Infinity was finding it difficult to tell the lemurs apart. She did notice four nipples—two high and two low—on Scarface’s abdomen, as well as on several of the others, apparently females. The nipples were each about the size and shape of a human pinky toe. But otherwise, Infinity could see no differences between the males and females.

  Infinity looked directly at Scarface. “Why are you allowing us to hide at your home?”

  The female lemur listened to the translation and then replied, “I have told you. We want to know what you are.” She paused as the translation finished. Even then she seemed to hesitate before going on. “Maybe we can help you. If the city dwellers have brought you here so that they can attack you and kill you for honor and for fun, maybe we can teach you. Maybe we can teach you, and you can go to the enclosure where the city dwellers have put the others of your species. You can teach the others of your species what we have taught you, so you and the others like you will not die. Maybe you will live happy, as we live happy.”

  Infinity glanced at Desmond and then at Gideon. Both were frowning.

  Desmond spoke to Scarface. “It’s just us. There aren’t any others like us.”

  After the translation, the lemu
rs chattered to each other for at least a full minute. Scarface then turned to Desmond and spoke. This time it was Desmond’s translator that responded. “The words you speak are troubling. We are surprised. We don’t understand. We see only seven of you. If there aren’t any others like you, the city dwellers will not be able to attack you and kill you for honor and for fun. We think they intend to make more of you. They will force you to make more of your species. They will force you to make babies. If you are the only ones like you, they will want to find you. They will work very much to find you.”

  Another of the female lemurs pointed directly at Infinity and spoke. When she was finished, Infinity’s translator said, “I believe you are female and the others are male. I am surprised. I don’t understand. If the city dwellers want you to make babies, why did they take only one female?”

  Infinity let out a frustrated growl. “The city dwellers didn’t take us! And they didn’t bring us here. We came to this world on our own. We’re from a different world, and we’re just trying to stay alive long enough to do whatever we’re supposed to do, so we can go home.”

  The creatures listened and then talked amongst themselves again. After a few moments, they fell silent, and Scarface spoke. “What are you supposed to do, so you can go home?”

  Infinity was getting tired of this conversation—it wasn’t going anywhere. “That’s the problem. We don’t know what we’re supposed to do. But look—we appreciate you letting us hide from the city dwellers. Thank you. We’d be happy to answer any questions you have about us.”

  The lemurs listened to the translation and then chatted again. The individual that had annoyingly pointed out that Infinity was female addressed the humans again. “We will take you to our home. We will have water and food for you. We will have shelter and comfort for you. We will learn more about you. Then you must go. If the city dwellers know you are in our enclosure, they will find you. They will come to our home. We do not want them to come to our home. They will find you, and they will force you to make babies, and they will put you in your own enclosure. Once there are more of you, they will attack you and kill you for honor and for fun. We will teach you before you go. We will teach you how to live happy. You can live happy even when the city dwellers attack and kill one of you every day.”

  The lemurs all turned simultaneously and began walking again.

  “Every day?” Gideon said as the group resumed following. “You really think those bastards come in here and kill one of these guys every day?”

  “Maybe this is our trial,” Desmond said. “Maybe Kitty wants to see if we have enough compassion to try to help these beings.”

  Infinity doubted this was the case. She was about to respond when Deon said, “I didn’t get the impression Kitty and her pals were big on compassion.”

  Infinity glanced at the weapons Gideon and Terry were still gripping at their sides. “You guys hold on to those guns. If those goddamn city lemurs really do come in here after us, let’s at least make sure we kill as many as we can.”

  The two men nodded silently.

  10

  Performance

  April 11 - 8:19 AM

  The ring-tail lemurs’ home was not at all what Desmond had imagined it would be. He had envisioned a collection of filthy hovels with a few dozen lemurs eking out a primitive existence, surviving despite being relentlessly hunted and killed by the city dwellers. Instead, before him was a thriving village large enough to house hundreds of ring-tails. The dwellings and other structures were certainly rustic, made mostly of sticks and woven plant fibers, but unlike the shacks Desmond had seen at the edge of the city, these dwellings were well kept. They were also cleverly decorated with colorful items that likely had been pilfered from the piles of trash in the shantytown. Which could explain the hole in the fence.

  About half the dwellings had been built on the ground, arranged in clusters around the bases of large trees. The other half were built at various heights in the trees, using branches for support, the lowest no more than ten feet up, and the highest, astoundingly, at least a hundred feet above the ground. Just staring up at the higher dwellings made Desmond dizzy.

  As the humans entered the village, a sizable crowd of chattering ring-tails gathered around. Desmond nearly had to cover his ears from the noise. He felt like he was surrounded simultaneously by barking dogs and squawking parrots. The lemurs were either excited or distressed—Desmond couldn’t tell the difference. Their eyes were always perfectly round, making it nearly impossible to read their facial expressions. While their barks, whistles, and clicks were more rapid than usual, Desmond’s translator was silent, giving no clues about what they were saying.

  This chaotic discussion went on for several minutes before the crowd began pulling back to give the humans room. But even then Desmond was uncomfortably aware of the hundreds of eyes watching him and his companions. So far, these beings seemed friendly, but what if the humans inadvertently insulted them or violated some social norm? To complicate matters, the humans were speaking through translators, which were no doubt delivering imperfect translations.

  As they were led through throngs of onlooking ring-tails, Desmond was surprised that the entire village smelled pleasant. It took him a moment to realize it, but the most prominent smell was that of honey, or at least something similar.

  As the group passed by one of the dwellings, Desmond was again struck by the structure’s simple but aesthetically appealing design. These creatures were clearly more intelligent than the apparent lack of technology in their village would suggest. The only explanation Desmond could think of was that the ring-tails were being forced to live this way. Which was consistent with what they had told the humans so far.

  The group finally stopped in a clearing, which seemed to be the center of the village. Desmond estimated the crowd to now be over six hundred, and more were still coming. The lemurs’ excited chattering was becoming unbearably noisy.

  Frustrated that his translator was doing nothing, Desmond held the device to his face and said, “What are they talking about?”

  To his surprise, the device actually responded. “Confusion. Excitement. Occasionally fear.”

  Infinity looked over at him. “Did your translator just talk back to you?”

  He nodded and spoke up so she could hear. “Who knew?”

  A shrill whistle sounded, and the crowd became hushed. Desmond spotted the creature that made the noise, a male ring-tail with gray hairs amidst the fur on his head, neck, and face. The creature had several patches of bare, pink skin on his shoulders and chest, which appeared to be the result of old scars. He was standing beside the female lemur Infinity had been referring to as Scarface. Desmond decided to call this one Grayface.

  Grayface pointed at the humans. He then emitted a long series of sounds. Terry was nearest to the creature, and his translator responded. “I have been told that you have devices that translate your language to ours and our language to yours. Your devices interest us. We want to know more about your devices. But first we want to know more about you. We do not know what you are. You have said you are from another world. You are not one of the nine intelligent species of this world, and therefore you must indeed be from another world. We want to know more. Tell us more. We will listen and learn.”

  Desmond glanced at his companions. They were all looking at him as if they assumed speaking to the lemurs was his job. “Me?” He sighed. “Alright, well, feel free to jump in if I leave anything out. Also, unless you can think of a reason I shouldn’t, I’m going to tell them the truth—why we’re here and how we got here.”

  Most of the group responded with nods or shrugs. Infinity said, “We have no way of knowing whether telling the truth will help us or hurt us, assuming Kitty’s even still watching.”

  Desmond turned to Grayface and began telling his story. Every few sentences, he stopped to allow for translation, holding his wrist device up so the lemurs could hear. He first described how the humans of his own ve
rsion of Earth had discovered the Outlanders’ instructions for building bridging devices. He explained that those devices had completely destroyed his version of Earth. As he neared the part of the story where the mongrels had given him the key needed to unlock the true powers of bridging technology, he considered leaving out any mention of the key, for fear that Kitty would see this as a violation of the rules. But at the last moment he decided to include it. After all, Kitty and her people only seemed concerned about giving the key away, not about mentioning its existence. At least Desmond hoped this was the case.

  He skipped over the nineteen months his colony had been living on the arthropod world and went straight to telling about the unexpected arrival of Kitty, Tigger, and Teddy, and the trial they had forced upon the humans. He finished the story by explaining that he and his companions were now being watched, and that if they didn't pass Kitty’s mysterious test, they would be killed along with billions of other humans.

  The ring-tails had been surprisingly quiet and attentive throughout his story, but as soon as he stated that he was done, the crowd erupted with chattering. Grayface whistled again to quiet them down. He then spoke directly to Desmond, and Desmond’s translator said, “We are interested in your bridging device. We understand that you cannot give us the key. The key would not help us anyway. We would not be able to build a bridging device. The city dwellers allow us to build, but only the simplest of structures, and with simple tools. We are interested in using your bridging device.”

  This took Desmond by surprise, and he turned to the others for help.

  Infinity shook her head. “Not a chance in hell.”

  “Ask them why they want to use it,” Vic said.

  Desmond turned to ask the question, but his translator went ahead and spoke in the ring-tail language, apparently understanding the nature of Vic’s request.

  Grayface listened and then replied without hesitation. “We are interested in using your bridging device because we want to go away. We will go to another world. We will go to a world without the city dwellers. We will then live happy. We will not be attacked and killed every day. We will build our own cities, as we did long ago.”