As he sat there, staring into the flames, he thought he heard a noise by the entrance. He grabbed up the two eighteen-inch machetes, got to his feet, and prepared to fight. But as he stared at the entrance, the opening filled with a huge head and lots of black and brown fur.
A bear! Quite a large one, too!
The bear entered slowly. He completely filled the cave entrance, dripping water on the floor. Murdock was shocked. The animal, coming toward him, stopped and shook the rain from its fur. It looked intently at Murdock as it proceeded toward him.
5
The animal snorted at him contemptuously.
“To you kind this acceptable for visitor?” flashed through his consciousness. He heard the words in his mind — and the voice was that of his father. “We fear you kind not at all!”
Murdock’s mouth gaped in amazement. The bear was looking at him, and Murdock felt disgust coming to his mind. He put away his machetes and stared at the animal.
“This belongs to us!” Murdock got a mental vision of a planet hanging in space. “You visitor here!” The animal moved closer to him slowly and cautiously. It began sniffing the air around him and then snorted. “We know you. Have watched you long time!” came to his mind.
Murdock glanced around the animal and noticed it stood on all fours on the floor of the main part of the cave. It had to hunch down to look him in the eye.
“I’m sorry. Where I come from, bears don’t communicate,” Murdock said, as if to explain his behavior. The animal snorted again in his direction.
“No need noise. You offensive enough to senses! You are human Murdock!” A small segment of a vision showing him standing beside his campfire outside the transport pod came to his mind. Murdock recognized the scene, but couldn’t remember seeing this animal nearby. In fact, he didn’t recall seeing animals of any kind. “You young and see what we allow!” flashed through his mind.
Murdock tried to envision all the men of the group and associated the group with the word man. He then tried to envision the females, associating them with the word woman. Again he envisioned everyone together and associated all of them with the word human. In turn, he received a vision of himself associated with human, man, Murdock. The emotion associated with all this seemed patronizing to him.
Murdock then tried to envision the bear, and tried to make it a question. What he got back was the same as he sent, but with emphasis. Murdock had always had the ability to guess what an animal would do or where it would go, but he had never thought of it as telepathy.
“Rudimentary!”
Murdock was astounded. He brought up a mental picture of being comfortable and sat cross-legged on the floor of the cave looking at the animal. It, in turn, sat on its hind legs and rested its front leg on the ramp leading up to Murdock. Then it rested its head on its foreleg and looked at him. Murdock stared at the animal, trying to figure out why it had chosen to show up now, as well as what it wanted.
“On my planet, bears don’t usually associate with humans,” Murdock stated.
“Why?” the animal responded.
“Bears eat meat.” Murdock pictured a bear eating some of the animals he had seen here so far: a fish, a snake, a deer, and a man. What he received was a dissertation, of sorts, on the feeding habits of the animal in front of him. Apparently, the animal ate everything except men and the huge snake that Murdock had killed. The vision of the snake was one of fierce rage. He guessed that this animal actively hunted the snakes just to kill them. And he found that Beron, like the bears back on earth, liked sugar, getting it mostly from berries and some unfamiliar roots.
As Murdock looked over the animal in front of him, he tried to estimate its size. Though its coloring was similar to that of a Kodiak, the bear outsized the biggest polar bears and Kodiak bears that he had ever seen in his travels to Alaska and Canada. And he couldn’t begin to estimate its weight.
The animal rubbed its nose with his free paw and sneezed. Murdock noted the twelve-inch-long claws.
Murdock tried to ask the animal its name. He pictured each of the others that he had met and put a name to each. Murdock then pictured this animal and tried to get it across that it was a question. He got a question in response. So he tried to picture the black bear that he had seen on his second day here, then another question. Puzzlement came to his mind.
“Not have names. Identify by smell,” the bear flashed.
“Can I give you a name? It would help me communicate and differentiate you from others of your kind,” Murdock asked. “Beron seems to be a good name to me.”
The animal showed indifference to his name. “Significance?” flashed the bear.
“In one of the ancient tongues of my planet it meant ‘brown one’,” Murdock answered. Beron flashed pleasure at the meaning of the name.
“Why did you come in here tonight?” he asked. Beron flashed back puzzlement. Murdock was stumped. “Were you curious about me?”
Beron flashed an affirmative.
“Wet is fine. Dry is better,” Beron flashed.
“Ah, I see. You’re always welcome at my fire, Beron.”
“Share?” Beron flashed.
“Sure, whatever that is.” Murdock had shifted to a reclining position to stretch his legs and immediately felt as if he were asleep and dreaming.
This time, he saw from someone else’s viewpoint. He saw himself following the mountain base through the trees, and it was as if he passed himself. He saw the other Murdock go to the stream, get water, and relax in the sun. Then he watched himself get up, come toward this strange viewpoint, and take the path up the mountainside. The view changed slightly; he saw two shadows on the side of the mountain, and then the view shifted back. At the cave entrance, the other Murdock passed from his view. The dreaming Murdock seemed to go to the center of the cave and wait. Then he saw himself again.
Murdock immediately grasped the meaning. He had been led here by Beron for the purpose of this meeting. He woke immediately and propped himself up on one arm.
“Did you give me the warning by the falls?” he asked.
“We did,” Beron flashed.
Murdock hadn’t figured out why Beron always referred to himself in the plural. While he was still thinking about it, Beron got down and curled up on the floor of the cave. Murdock, reclining again, fell asleep. This time, he slept without dreaming.
When he awoke, Murdock found that the fire had gone out. He intended to go find more wood, but before he could reach the cave entrance, Beron had stuck out a paw, blocking his path.
“Is something wrong?” Murdock asked.
“Meet others and eat,” Beron flashed.
“I am a little hungry,” Murdock admitted. “What others?”
Beron didn’t answer. Murdock started to gather up his weapons.
“No need those,” Beron flashed.
Murdock was reluctant.
“Trust,” Beron flashed as he got up from the floor of the cave and started toward the entrance.
Murdock complied with Beron’s request. Just outside the entrance, Beron stretched up the side of the mountain. Murdock, seeing how big he really was, felt dwarfed by Beron’s size.
“Follow!” Beron commanded, starting up the mountain path. Murdock complied but found it difficult to keep up. The grade of the path had gotten considerably steeper. Trotting, he could feel his legs were not up to the task.
Finally, he had to stop. Beron had stopped also. Murdock was panting and sweating and had difficulty catching his breath.
“Wrong?” Beron flashed.
“I can’t . . . keep up . . . with you,” Murdock managed to get out between breaths.
Beron cocked one front leg outward. “Climb . . . up/on!” he flashed.
Murdock grabbed a handful of fur as high as he could and, using the offered leg as a step, scrambled up the side of the huge animal as best he could. He settled himself just forward of the animal’s shoulders, at the base of his massive neck.
Beron trotted
on. As they proceeded, Murdock felt the muscles move under the heavy fur. The breeze that the speed of their passage caused chilled him a little. In his estimation, Beron was truly impressive, and Murdock felt a little sheepish having to ride atop him in this way. I should have been able to keep up, he thought.
“Our very young travel this way, when needed,” Beron flashed.
That made Murdock feel even worse. I feel like I’m imposing on another intelligent species and I dislike imposing on anyone, he thought.
He immediately felt calm coming from Beron. “Stronger should care for weaker/smaller.”
Murdock enjoyed the ride atop the huge bear. He didn’t mind being a long way off the ground; he took in all the scenery he could. He had no way to gage how far they had come from the cave.
After moving for an indeterminate amount of time, they had reached a mountain meadow. Murdock could see that the path continued up the side of the mountain, but Beron was not going farther up. Instead, he trotted across the meadow. From his perch atop Beron, Murdock could see a river flowing off in the distance, and Beron seemed to be heading toward it.
“We will meet others here?” Murdock asked as they approached the river. He got an affirmative response from Beron.
“Sacred place!” flashed the bear.
To Murdock, sacred place came across as a place of meeting and safety, a place in which unescorted outsiders were not welcome. He didn’t think the animal had any religious leanings, but he couldn’t be sure.
As they approached the river, Beron stopped. “Get . . . down/off!” flashed Beron and Murdock complied.
Beron continued on into the river while Murdock waited on the bank. As Murdock watched, Beron snagged a large fish in his jaws and carried it over to him. The bear deftly removed the fish’s head and sliced the skin down the length with a claw. Then Beron quickly swallowed the fish-head whole. Seeing no means of cooking the fish, Murdock bent down, took a large chunk of the raw meat, and ate it. The fish looked and tasted much like salmon, but Murdock was never one for raw fish.
Beron speared some of the meat from the side of the fish with his claw and popped it into his mouth. As Murdock was reaching for another piece, Beron stopped him with a negative thought.
“Hunter gets head, hunter’s right. One bite for hunter. One bite for visitor. Rest for others,” Beron flashed. Then Murdock caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
Twenty or thirty other bears of all different colors and sizes were coming toward them. Black ones, white ones, brown ones, but smaller than Beron. Murdock heard not a sound as they approached, and at first, he thought he was just imagining that they were there.
As the first arrivals got closer, Beron backed away from the fish, leaving it on the ground. Murdock backed up to stand beside Beron and watch. Some of the other animals that came toward him were carrying cubs, and some had cubs following them. Each adult in turn approached Beron and Murdock and nodded slightly to Beron, who returned the nod. Then each adult bear took a piece of the fish and backed off to allow the others to approach. The cubs didn’t take any of the fish; Murdock presumed that they were prohibited because of their age. This seems to be heavily ritualized and speaks of a high degree of sophistication and intelligence, he thought as he watched.
When all who were allowed had eaten, Beron swatted the remains of the fish in the direction of the cubs. Next, the adults, in turn and in the order of their arrival, sniffed Murdock much as Beron had in his first encounter with the human. Murdock got quick flashes of disgust from each of them.
After what Murdock interpreted as the introductions, they all sat or lay on the grass. Murdock said nothing. He sensed that his fate lay in the outcome of this meeting. He stood patiently next to Beron, watching the cubs play among themselves.
He suddenly had a vision of one of the large snakes coming after one of the cubs as a question. Murdock envisioned himself defending the cub.
Then he saw himself being violently torn apart by one of the white bears; a feeling of disgust and revulsion was directed toward him. Murdock’s attention quickly turned toward the largest white bear, which snorted in his direction and began walking off. He got similar visions from some of the others as they followed suit. Murdock guessed that the meeting was over and that he was not well-received.
“So, what is the verdict?” Murdock asked when the others had all gone as silently as they had arrived.
“Some want hunt/kill all your kind. Some want leave alone,” Beron flashed.
“How do you feel about it?” Murdock asked. Without further discourse, Beron had started to leave the way they had come, and he followed.
He received a feeling of uncertainty from Beron. “Is that all of your kind there are?” Murdock asked. He got a vision of many thousands of the bears, all led by one of their own kind. “So, that was just a meeting of the leaders?” He received an affirmative response. Both walked in silence until they had reached the path they had come by.
“Is forbidden you, or any you kind, come beyond point/here! Only you allowed come onto mountain!” Beron flashed. Very deep cautions and warnings were embedded in the message, and Murdock got the vision of being torn apart, which he interpreted as a possible repercussion of any violation.
“You are correct not to trust my kind,” Murdock stated. “On our own planet, my kind had eradicated a lot of the species that once inhabited it; cruelly and without mercy, for the most part.”
“Why?” The flash was tinged with distress.
“Most of the time, it was for money or sport.” Murdock could feel the high degree of distress in Beron as they walked back down the mountain path toward the cave. He understood that Beron didn’t understand sport or money, but didn’t know how to explain these concepts. Personally, he had always felt that hunting for sport was akin to murder. He knew many so-called hunters who would kill deer or elk, take the head as a trophy, and leave the rest.
Murdock, however, hunted to survive. The thrill others got from sport hunting was foreign and disgusting to him. He always felt remorse when taking an animal — with the exception of those that attacked him first, such as the snake by the transport pod. A sense of understanding and sadness came from Beron as these thoughts ran through his mind.
“You stay/live here? You guard/protect path to sacred place?” Beron flashed as they reached the cave entrance.
“Am I allowed to? I would like to stay here, live here. I would like to learn more about you and your kind,” Murdock responded, stopping at the cave entrance. Beron responded with feelings of pleasure.
“We observe and share more in coming days,” the bear flashed as he left Murdock, continuing on down the mountain path.
Murdock went inside the cave and gathered up his gear. As he did so, he felt an uncomfortable bulge in his pocket. The salt. I’d forgotten I had it. I wonder if I could barter salt for the use of some of the tools, he thought.
As he left the cave, Murdock turned down the mountain path. While he traveled down the path, he thought Beron’s character was much like his father’s and his uncle’s. Beron seemed to think much the same way as he did about certain subjects. Murdock hoped he’d found a friend in Beron, which was strange for him. He didn’t make friends easily, nor did he desire them. For him, friendship required a lot of trust and understanding. Doing things for one another because you wanted to, not from any sense of repayment for previous good deeds or help rendered.
As far as a friendship with Beron went, that remained to be seen. Beron would be a powerful ally or a formidable enemy. I hope I can learn enough about his kind to not find out how formidable he can be, he thought. I’m not sure he understands my motives, though, and I don’t know what rules or restrictions he is bound by. Hopefully, I can survive long enough to learn. I certainly don’t want to offend him.
After walking for the majority of the day through rolling hills, Murdock heard talking. Even though he saw no one, he proceeded cautiously. He was hidden by the trees and by a small hill.
As he topped the hill, he made out people walking through the trees ahead of him. Murdock crouched down and moved ahead as stealthily as he could.
He saw three of the women coming from the transport pod, each with two water skins. He recognized only one — Rose Griffen.
Murdock crept into position to stop her on her return. He checked the area and detected no one else around.
“Hello, Rose,” Murdock said softly as she came toward him. She hadn’t seen him until he spoke. Her shock was evident in the deep breath she took as she tried to back away from him quickly.
“Goddamn it, Murdock,” she said tersely, breathlessly. “Do you have to sneak up on a girl that way? You scared me out of ten years’ growth!”
“Sorry, didn’t want the others to know I was here.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! You just about made me pee my pants! What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I just wanted to talk. I have a business deal for Whittier, but I’m not the one to propose it to him directly. How are things going?”
“About as well as could be expected. Whittier has set himself up as Lord and Master over the rest of us. Burns and Metzger are his muscle. What did you do to Collier?”
“I just tried to put the fear of God into him. Why?” Murdock asked.
“Well, it worked! He hasn’t slept well since Whittier, Burns, and Metzger rescued him from you.”
“Really? Do tell!”
“According to Whittier, you were about to behead Collier when he, Burns, and Metzger came to the rescue,” Rose said. “Whittier said they scared you off and you ran into the woods.”
“What do you believe?” Murdock asked her.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t there, and no one who was has disputed Whittier’s version. What business deal do you want to talk to Whittier about?” she went on.
Murdock reached into his pocket and handed her some of the salt. Rose looked at it and shrugged. “What’s this?” she asked.
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