Time's Last Gift - txt

by Farmer, Phillip Jose

  Drummond, his rifle still suspended on a strap over his shoulder, walked up and circled the beast, his camera taking in all the details.

  Von Billmann, looked distressed, ran up to the Englishman.

  'I'm sorry I didn't shoot sooner,' he said. 'But I caught my heel on a rock and fell on my head. I was stunned for a minute or so.'

  He brushed the back of his head and showed Gribardsun the blood still welling from the cut.

  Silverstein did not comment. The Englishman said, 'I realize the necessity of taking films. But didn't you understand that I was in bad trouble?'

  Silverstein flushed and said, 'No, I didn't. By the time I realized that von Billmann should be shooting, it was too late. And then things happened so fast that I froze. But Robert did shoot then, and everything seemed all right.'

  'In the future, the cameraman will have to be a backup for the rifleman,' Gribardsun said. 'An alert backup.' He turned away. There was nothing more to say. Silverstein was an intelligent man and would realize what Gribardsun could have said. Gribardsun was not sure that Silverstein had frozen because of panic. He might have been hoping, consciously or unconsciously, that the mammoth would trample Gribardsun.

  The Englishman waved away the tribesmen who wanted to smear his forehead with the mammoth's blood. He sterilized the cut on the German's head and sprayed it with pseudoskin. Then he accepted the mammoth's tail and permitted the daubing.

  The rest of the day was heavy work. The beasts were cut up into pieces small enough to haul. The entire tribe, except for the sick and the very old, of whom there were few, helped to carry the meat in.

  While the work was going on, the vultures, ravens, wolves, and hyenas gathered around. Presently two cave lions appeared, scattered a pack of hyenas, and occupied their spot. They sat watching, occasionally roaring but not offering to approach closer. And then the hyenas suddenly attacked the lions.

  Gribardsun shouted at Drummond to take pictures. This was too good to miss. There was nothing cowardly about these great beasts, and their teamwork was worthy of wolves. One would dash in and snap at a lion, and when the lion whirled and leaped, another would run in behind him and bite. Every time a lion bounded after a fleeing hyena, he had to quit chasing it because of painful bites on his tail or rear legs.

  But a hyena was caught and killed by one of the lions as it tormented the other. Before it died, the hyena bit down once and the immensely powerful jaws broke the lioness's right front leg. The lioness closed her jaws on the hyena's hindquarters and scooped out its entrails with a huge paw. But she was crippled thereafter, and her mate, a giant possibly a third larger than the African lions of Gribardsun's time, was hard put to it to defend her. He was of a beautiful golden color that reminded Gribardsun of a pet he had once had in Kenya. He lacked the mane of the African lion, however.

  The people had stopped working on the mammoths when the uproar of the battle broke out. Thammash spoke to Gribardsun.

  'Those lions may be the ones that killed Skrinq last year. It would be good if we made sure that the male is dead, too, and so revenge Skrinq. And also make life a bit safer for us.'

  'I think the hyenas will do your work for you,' Gribardsun

  The lion had just wheeled on a tormentor, and as he did so, the two who had been dancing just a few feet from him, ran in and seized a leg. They gave one bite and spun and raced away. The lion turned again, but he fell on his side. Though he got up immediately, it was evident that he was hamstrung in one leg. 'After the lion is dead, kill the hyenas,' Thammash said. 'We have lost more people, especially children, to the hyenas than to the lions.'

  'When I was a young man, I hated hyenas,' Gribardsun said. 'They seemed to me to be only cowardly stinking carrion eaters. But I came to know them better and to end up by admiring them. They are not cowardly, just intelligently cautious. They hunt quite often and bring down game. And they have affection for their cubs and can, if caught young and raised properly, be very intelligent and affectionate pets.'

  The idea of raising any animal as a pet - except for the bear cubs - boggled Thammash. But that anybody could admire hyenas almost staggered him.

  The tormenting attacks lasted for about five minutes more. Then the lion was bowled over and he and about six hyenas became a rolling, roaring, cachinnating, yelping mess. Two hyenas were killed and one was severely wounded. But the lion was dead, his windpipe crushed between a male's jaws.

  The lioness was next, and she ripped the side off a hyena before she died. The survivors began eating at once, and the wolves and birds moved in closer, waiting for their chance. Thammash ordered some of his men to follow him in an effort to drive off the hyenas. He wanted the two heads and the tails. The rest the hyenas could have, since there was already so much meat harvested. The hyenas retreated reluctantly but did not attack. The heads and tails were hacked off and brought back triumphantly.

  'This has been a great day!' Thammash cried. 'You have brought us much good fortune, Koorik!'

  Thammash did not think the fortune was so good when the people moved on to the site of the dead rhinoceros. He and the three strangers and half of his tribe were moving across the plain to the rhinoceroses when they saw three men racing toward them. Thammash ran out to meet them. Gribardsun followed. He was in time to hear Shimkoobt, a man of about forty, gasp out the end of his story.

  While the six Wota'shaimg were cutting up one of the rhinos, they were attacked by fourteen Wotagrub. These sprang out from the heavy growth, yelling and throwing spears and boomerangs. Treekram had fallen with a spear sticking out of his thigh. The remaining five had thrown their spears without effect. The invaders had then thrown a second volley, and Lramg'bud had been hit in the neck with a heavy boomerang. The Wotagrub had been charged, and the four had turned and fled. But another boomerang struck Kwakamg on a leg and he fell down. Before he could get up, he was speared.

  The news was a great shock. The loss of the meat was not so much, since they had two mammoths at the other site. But the loss of four men in one day was a terrible blow to the Wota'shaimg.

  The women, on hearing the news, started to wail. Thammash told them to keep quiet and get back to their work. He detailed Angrogrim and Shivkaet to follow him and set off. Gribardsun and von Billmann went with him; Silverstein stayed behind to guard.

  Gribardsun had wondered for only a few seconds why the chief took only two men with him against the invaders. But then he saw that Thammash expected Gribardsun and von Billmann to use their magical weapons against the Wotagrub. The Englishman was now carrying the express rifle.

  On seeing them at a distance of half a mile, however, the Wotagrub ran off; but not without taking those parts of the rhinoceros which the Wota'shaimg had already cut off.

  All of the bodies, including Thrimk's, had been mutilated and the heads removed. Von Billmann took some films of these and then vomited.

  Thammash stood silent for a long time. Then he spoke to Gribardsun.

  'Shouldn't we go after them and kill them?'

  Gribardsun did not reply at once. The deaths of the men had affected him, since he was coming to know them as individuals and even becoming fond of several. Moreover, if the killings were unpunished, the Wotagrub would try again. And if the tribe lost many more men, it would be in a critical situation. '

  However, he did not like to take on the powers of a god. He would have liked to stand to one side and study the relationships of the two tribes. Let them work out their own histories; if one perished, then that was too bad. But that was also the way things were. And he also hoped to be able to make friends with the Wotagrub and study them. He could not do so if he killed their men.

  'Once you're involved, you have to take a stand,' he told von Billmann in English. 'If we take the lives of their enemies, we'll become one of the Wota'shaimg. Literally, because I'm sure they'll adopt us. That is, if they have the custom of adoption.'

  He asked Thammash if the tribe ever made aliens members of their people.

>   Thammash said, 'I have never heard of such a thing.'

  Evidently these people were not as advanced as, say, the North American Indian of pre-Columbian times.

  'If you capture a baby,' Gribardsun said, 'what do you do with him? Kill him?'

  Thammash's face brightened. He said, 'No, of course not, if he is healthy. We raise him to be a warrior and a hunter. But that is different. A baby is not an enemy. Nor even a Wota'shaimg.'

  A Wota'shaimg was a human being. A non-Wota'shaimg was not fully human.

  'He becomes a Wota'shaimg when he goes through the initiation of manhood,' Thammash said.

  Gribardsun knew that he could not turn down the request for help. The relationship between the explorers and the tribe would never be the same again. And there was the strong urging of his own feelings to consider. He was outraged, and even touched by grief, at the death and the mutilation of his tribesmen.

  His tribesmen! he thought.

  He said, 'Very well. We'll trail them.'

  And we'll see what happens then, he thought.

  The four - Gribardsun, Thammash, von Billmann, and Shivkaet - set out. They avoided ambush in the heavy growth by climbing above it on the hillside. Gribardsun thought it unlikely that the Wotagrub would dare to try an ambush, but there was no sense taking chances. They trotted along swiftly but looked for tracks or other signs of the pursued. They found a few that led toward the overhang under which the Wotagrub lived. Rather, it was the overhang under which they had lived. When they cautiously approached the site, they found the tents gone and cold ashes in the hearths.

  'They must have moved some time ago,' Gribardsun said.

  They cast about on all sides, including the hill above the overhang. But the frequent spring rains tended to wash out footprints and to carry off bits of fur caught on plants or dropped objects.

  'Give me the 32 and its ammo,' Gribardsun said to von Billmann. 'I'm going after those fellows, and I don't want to be held back by slow runners.'

  Von Billmann did as he was requested without protest. Gribardsun told the two tribesmen what he planned to do. They protested that they wanted to be in on the death. The Englishman refused to allow them to go with him.

  'Your people need you,' he said. 'Now. Every hand available should be carrying the meat and the tusks of the beasts.'

  'You are a very strong man,' Thammash said. 'You could carry much meat.'

  Gribardsun smiled and said, 'True. But it is more important that I convince the Wotagrub that they should leave us alone.'

  Von Billmann said, 'I can see the necessity of ensuring that our subjects are protected so we can study them. But you shouldn't go alone.'

  'But I am,' Gribardsun said. He ran off down the hillside and was soon lost to sight as he made his way back up the hill to the top.

  The two tribesmen poked around the camp for anything of value the enemy might have left behind. And then the three departed.

  Three

  Rachel Silverstein was very disturbed by the account of the hunt, Gribardsun's narrow escape, and the killings and mutilations. But she was most upset by the report of his lone expedition.

  'Why did you let him go?'

  Von Billmann shrugged and said, 'I'm not strong enough to force him to return. Besides, he is the leader.'

  'But he's out alone in that savage wilderness! Anything could happen to him! We might never see him again, not even know what happened!'

  'That's true,' von Billmann said. 'And he knows it. But I'm not worried. Not much, anyway. He can take care of himself. If anybody can, he can. Would you like to see the films of the hunt? You'll see what I mean then.'

  Drummond Silverstein said, 'Rachel, if I had gone, would you be as concerned?'

  Von Billmann, embarrassed, walked away. He looked back a moment later and saw them face to face, their skins flushed and their mouths writhing.

  The last of the carcasses was brought in after dusk. Everybody except the babies went to bed very late that night. They cooked a great quantity of the meat and ate with good appetite, despite the wails and tears of the mourning women and children. Some of these ate greedily between fits of grief. And racks of wood were prepared and meat placed over them to be smoked. The meat was scraped off the rhino skulls, which were then broken open so that the brains could be cut out. The skulls were later placed in holes in the ground and filled with water. Heated stones were dropped in, and the pieces of meat left on the skulls were boiled free to make soup. Rachel talked to some of the widows. Their lot was not to be a happy one, not that it had been enviable when their mates were still alive. They would become the secondary wives of the most important men in the community, if they were still of childbearing age. They would be under the authority of the first wives. They and their children would always get what was left over in the way of food or attention. This would be more than enough when times were good. The tribe did not want widows and orphans to suffer needlessly. But when meat was scarce, the first wives and their children would get first choice.

  On the other hand, the high death rate among females of childbearing age gave the secondary wives a chance to become first. Life was hard and insecure for everybody.

  Four days went by. The three fretted. Rachel and Drummond hardly spoke to each other until the morning of the fourth. Then they became civil and kissed each other good morning. Apparently they had had some form of reconciliation that night, though probably not until after some verbal violence.

  Von Billmann said, 'Too much time has gone by. I'm going out to look for him tomorrow. Would you two want to come along?'

  'Of course we will,' Rachel said.

  'He should have taken along a radio,' Drummond said. 'His idea of going native was stupid. He could at least have taken a radio and we'd know where he was and if he was all right.'

  'It was stupid of us not to think of it,' von Billmann said. 'But I was too excited, and he just doesn't think about such things as keeping people informed of his whereabouts. He's a strange man, no doubt of that. There's something very peculiar about his being picked to go on this expedition, you know. Almost sinister, though I hate to say that about Gribardsun.'

  'I would think so!' Rachel said. She made no attempt to hide her anger. 'How can you say anything bad about him? What's he done? Let's hear it!'

  'Your emotions are showing,' Drummond said in a dull voice.

  'Why shouldn't they?' she said. 'Isn't it natural for me to get upset if any one of us should be missing? Isn't it right?'

  'I'm sorry I said anything,' he replied.

  'What did you mean, almost sinister?' Rachel said to von Billmann. 'And why is there anything strange about his being chosen? He's certainly qualified, isn't he?'

  'I don't think there's any doubt about that now,' von Billmann said. 'But when the expedition was first proposed, de Longnors was the outstanding candidate as the leader. He was a brilliant medical doctor, both as diagnostician and researcher. He also had written many outstanding - some of them classic - works on physical anthropology, and he had done brilliant work as an archeologist and botanist. He was just the type of man needed, one who could carry out superb research in a number of fields.'

  'I had heard that he was considered,' Drummond said. 'But I thought that he was finally rejected because he was too hard to get along with.'

  'That did go against him, but nobody else had his brilliance. John Gribardsun was one of the other candidates considered. He had the same versatile background as de Longnors but he had not been famous in any of them. He had published very little, and his medical practice was limited to taking care of the natives on the Inner Kenyan Sanctuary, where he lived so many years. But then the name of Gribardsun was heard more and more often in the news media and the guests shows. And he appeared on various guest panels, you know, and charmed his audience.'

  'Hypnotized them, you mean,' Drummond said.

  'In a way perhaps; he does have some curiously magnetic quality,' von Billmann said. 'Anyway,' he went on, 'w
e people interested in the project, in the know about the scene behind the curtains, you might say, soon found out that he was being considered as de Longnors' backup. There were other men even more qualified who had been bypassed.'

  'How do you know they were more qualified?' Rachel said.

  'The project executives thought so,' von Billmann said. 'At first, anyway. I was told that the test ratings indicated Gribardsun was about sixth on the list. But, suddenly, he was second. There was a good deal of talk about that. Some people thought Gribardsun must have found out something about some of the top executives, or some of the politicians connected with the project, and was blackmailing them.'

  'That's a terrible thing to say!' Rachel said. 'How could anybody believe it?'

  'You know how people are,' von Billmann said. 'You'll have to admit that it was mysterious. It's still mysterious. Though there's no doubt in my mind that the right man was chosen. The question is, were the right methods used to pick him? Or, rather, did he use the proper channels and procedures to get chosen?'