Loria

by Gunnar Hedman

  “Yes, of course!”

  “How happy, then?”

  “I’ve never been happier!” he blurted, and lifted her into the air.

  “Be careful with us now, darling!” she giggled. “He’s fragile, you know.”

  “How do you know it’s a he?”

  “It’s just something that I share with everyone on my mother’s side, that I can just feel it.”

  “Well, we’ll see,” he laughed. “Think if it’s just going to be a swamp frog!”

  “Your meanie!” she growled in irritation and pinched him on the nose so hard that he yelled.

  “Ow! Why did you do that? I was just joking!”

  “Yes, I really hope so, but serious things are not something to joke about. Just think if some of the tiny evil spirits heard you.”

  “Do you really believe such rubbish?”

  “I’m not sure, but since no one really knows whether it’s true or not, it’s best not to tempt fate unnecessarily.”

  They lay talking about the baby who would be entering their lives and the future that awaited it, until they eventually fell asleep, happy and glad, in each other’s arms.

  CHAPTER 12

  When Esai awoke early the next morning, he gazed at Flores sleeping beside him, her long dark hair flowing over the pillowcase. Just a few months ago, she had been as distant from him as the stars in the heavens, but now she was his wife. He felt both happy and sad at the same time; happy to be alive with the woman he loved more than everything else, but still sad about his parents and two brothers, whom he would probably never see again. Then he started thinking about whether the planet shouldn’t get a new name. Otherwise, their love may have resulted in the creation of a child of the abyss.

  That afternoon, he presented his proposal to change the name, which the others immediately agreed to, but then their unanimity ended. They were thus forced to bring it to a vote, which in the end resulted in the new name, Teidah, meaning hope. That evening they held a name ceremony, followed by festivities.

  A few weeks later, Gail and Ixter said that they, too, were expecting a baby, and before long Hug and Lidia, Desia and Rhus, Isla and Gus, and Ofra and Nadine all announced the same news.

  “It’s soon going to lead to overpopulation, if things continue this way,” said Shay, grumpily.

  “Why does it matter?” laughed Hug. “We have a whole planet to populate.”

  “Yeah, a swamp, in any case,” added Nadine.

  When Anderika saw all the couples behaving so affectionately all around them, she felt so happy, and thought that everything that happens as a result of love and free will must be good in the eyes of God, and nothing that people do is wrong as long as nobody wants to be mean. At the same time as she became happy, she realized that little babies were more sensitive than adults, and could easily be affected by various illnesses, which would place greater demands on their future settlement. The swamp environment, which at first they had only thought was positive, had eventually also shown other sides. For example, the humidity was so high that some of them had nasty coughs, and other respiratory problems, while many others had broken out in heavy red rashes on their arms and legs when they had been bitten by insects. At their next group council meeting, she brought up the issue of the future colony, which resulted in their decision to send out long-distance expeditions in all directions, to search for a mainland. When they considered who would be included in the boat crews, and Esai suggested that there should be more men than women, since they would be away for such a long time, the mood became heated.

  “I think you should leave it to each of them to decide for themselves,” said Kark.

  “You think so, do you?” said Esai, harshly. “Well, if you think it should be that way, then maybe you women should also do everything the men do.”

  “Now, I think you’ve misunderstood something,” said Kark, angrily. “You think you can handle people as if they were a bunch of passive wimps. There’s men here who don’t have much desire to leave on these expeditions, at the same time as there’s women who couldn’t wish for anything more. On Loria, men were busy with a thousand different things, and there were only a few that worked with things that here you consider to be typical male tasks. It’s not a question of everybody being the same in all situations and always doing the same things, but only that one shouldn’t being stopped because of one’s sex. Now, let’s find out who actually wants to participate in these expeditions, instead of talking about a pile of crap.”

  Early the next morning, four men and four women in four boats casted off, determined to succeed in their intention to find what there was to discover in various directions. A week later, which they had originally agreed on, three of the boats returned, but without any success. When the fourth eventually revealed itself, though, Gus and Isla excitedly told them that, only three days to the west, they had encountered some kind of black material that stretched, rolling, all the way to the horizon. A fish that they had thrown into it as a test had immediately disappeared, however, with a crackling sound, so they had given up all thought of stepping ashore. After searching further for another half-day, hoping to find some kind of continuous vegetation, they had given up all hope and returned home.

  Already the next day, all four boats were sent off again, in the direction that land had been found. But when they eventually arrived, without having seen anything than the blackness, they desperately began to wonder whether they were completely surrounded by this sea of bacteria, and that their fate was to remain in the swamp forever. Two weeks later, however, Caver and Kark delivered the happy news that they had found a landmass that had a beach that was lined with tall trees. To walk on solid ground had been a fantastic feeling, they related, but after walking only a short distance inland and seeing nothing else by forest, they had considered it too risky to continue, so they cut short the expedition.

  In the evening after their return, the entire group assembled on deck to discuss the discovery, which in one swoop had changed their entire worldview. Some felt they should immediately pack their boats and depart, while most thought it was better to proceed slowly and act carefully. After having discussed everything back and forth, they all finally agreed that an expedition, comprised of two boats and a total of six persons, would first investigate the mainland before they all rushed headlong into something unknown.

  When the expedition landed at the beach a few days later, and the boats had been unloaded and dragged onto solid ground, Kark, Allur, and Caver took on the job of building a hut, as a base station, while Zania, Neiger and Anderika proceeded into the forest to do some reconnaissance. They followed a well-used trail and tied ribbons here and there in tree branches to ensure that they would find the way back. The vegetation was so lush that the sun could only occasionally pierce through the dense treetops and create a weak magical light on the forest floor. They felt a constant sense of uneasiness and danger, and since they didn’t want to risk being in the floor when it became dark, they returned to base camp before evening in good time to help with building the hut.

  “I think it feels eerie here,” said Zania, after they had eaten and were sitting watching the yellow flames of their campfire.

  “Same here,” said Caver.

  “Don’t be worried, just try to get some sleep, and I’ll take the first watch,” said Neiger. “Everything is sure to feel better tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, there doesn’t seem to be anything else to do,” said Anderika, and drew her blanket tightly around her.

  Neiger had just put some branches on the fire and settled down comfortably, when a horrible howling could be heard from within the dark forest.

  “What do you think that might be?” whispered Zania.

  “I don’t know,” answered Anderika. “But it sure doesn’t sound too friendly, so I think it’d be best if we left immediately!”

  As soon as they had hastily gathered up their things, they ran down to the boats and had just managed to row a short distanc
e from the shore, when several hairy creatures came roaring out of the forest and began throwing large stones at them. They barely avoided being hit, then sought shelter in a cluster of swamp bushes where, eventually, they huddled in the boats and managed to get a few hours of uneasy sleep.

  When they returned the next morning, they found the beach empty and deserted, without a trace of the monsters. With the glowing yellow sand between their toes and under the warm rays of the sun playing on the surface of the water and in the forest greenery, yesterday’s events seemed unreal. That night, which they spent out in the boats, the terrifying howling was heard again, leading them to conclude that the creatures must be nocturnal. After staying there for another day of observations, it didn’t seem there was much more they could do.

  When they returned to the others and told them what had happened, many were disappointed, while others, who had been uneasy about having to leave what had now become their familiar home, were instead relieved.

  “I think we’ve got it good here,” said Flores, when they had assembled for a general meeting, to discuss what they should do next. “We should just forget about that idea.”

  “I agree,” added Isla. “Those creatures scare me.”

  Anderika drummed her fingers impatiently on the tables, although her breathing was calm and decisive when she spoke.

  “Listen. The swamp will soon have been our home for half-a-year and has allowed us relative security, but, believe me when I say that there isn’t any future here.”

  “But surely there’s no rush?” asked Ofra.

  “Some things can wait and others not, and, in my opinion, this is something we shouldn’t put off. We now know that there’s an unknown world out there that our curiosity, sooner or later, is going to drive us to wanting to explore. And what kind of life can we offer our children here, among the mosquitoes and the dampness? Several of us have already become sick, and it’s going to get worse. No, there’s only one way to go, and it leads out of the swamp, and the longer we stay, the harder it’s going to be when we finally have to leave.”

  After a bit more argument, weighing the pros and cons of the one or the other alternative, they finally decided to put it to a vote, which resulted in a four-vote majority for leaving the Olina.

  “So, we can consider the matter settled,” said Shay.

  “But what if the beasts attack us?” Lidia asked, anxiously.

  “There’s a real risk of that, which we have to pay attention to before we leave, which is why we have to go through all our equipment that’s at our disposal, and then make a careful plan.”

  The next day they all gathered on deck, where a number of objects of different shapes and sizes had been laid out. Once Shay welcomed them, he handed the floor to Anderika.

  “Before I begin, I just want to inform you about the boxes containing experimental equipment, which we had with us in the cargo bay. The most critical thing with the equipment, which was intended to be tested out in Urduk’s deserts, was a robot that was going to be the prototype in the future struggle against the Olegians. The scientists that developed it didn’t come to Urduk, and since we never managed to test it, and the ship’s power supply was insufficient for charging it, so unfortunately we don’t know anything about its capabilities.”

  “Our chances of being able to bring much baggage are going to be extremely limited,” added Shay. “That’s why a hundred-kilo object is probably part of all the equipment that we’re going to be forced to leave behind.”

  “But it could be one of the most advanced robots that have ever been built!” protested Anderika.

  “That may well be, and on Loria it may have served us well, but guaranteed not here in this environment, where there’s no electricity, and anything that might slow us down when we’re going to travel through the forest could mean the difference between life and death.”

  “Yes, you’re probably right,” she sighed.

  “Well, I’m not so sure, but, in any case, we’re forced to set some tough priorities. Maybe we can return at a later point and retrieve it. What else is in the boxes?”

  “Thirty-something transponders,” she said, and lifted up a small, shining object. “It should be able to manage interpreting an unfamiliar language in just one or two minutes, which makes it possible to communicate with alien lifeforms. Along with the robots, which have the capacity to speak numerous languages, and which were going to be tested in hard conditions, the idea was to evaluate the transponders also. They may now prove to be useful to us when we contact the monsters and other creatures that we might meet.”

  “How do they work?” asked Hug.

  “They are constructed according to a completely new technique, which I’m not completely sure of, but, anyway, they are used in contact with a chip that’s fastened inside one’s ear, and the chip transfers signals to both the larynx and the brain’s speech centre. The transponders are intended to be stored in a pocket or sewn into one’s clothes, to be discrete, and when their nuclear batteries are charged, they are then continually recharged by one’s movements, which is why their lifetime is in principle unlimited.”

  “How long does it take, before it can translate a language?” asked Rhus.

  “If the language is closely related, then it’s memory bank transfers it pretty quickly, but if it’s a completely unfamiliar one, it can take longer.”

  “Do you think those monsters are going to be friendlier towards us now that we have the possibility of communicating?” wondered Shay.

  “No, probably not, since they’ve already demonstrated such aggressive behaviour.”

  “Then how are we going to get by them?”

  “In addition to weapons, we also have a converter, which is a clever apparatus developed in the struggle against the Olegians, and with its help one can change hostile creature’s brain waves so that they’ll be friendlier. If we can manage to win over three of the monsters to our side, which there should be enough power for, then we should then be able, with their help, to get through the forest to some place where it should be possible to begin a new life.”

  “That sounds fantastic! Is there just one converter?”

  “Yes, unfortunately, and there’s even a catch, since it’s range is only about ten metres. The only way out of this that I can see is that you let me hide in a pit, and then some of you can make a bunch of noise from the boats, so that the monsters can be lured out and converted.”

  “That sounds risky,” said Grewerg.

  “Yes, it is, but nothing ventures, nothing wins.”

  After checking through other useful equipment, everything from archery gear to food containers, Shay asked if there was anything else they were wondering about before they split up.

  “Well, there is one thing we should decide on, which is who should be our leader from now on,” said Anderika.

  “Why?” asked Esai, furrowing his brow.

  “Don’t get me wrong now,” said Anderika, a little irritated. “Shay has done an excellent job, and without him we would probably never have gotten to where we are today. But the qualifications that make a good ship’s captain are not necessarily those that will keep us alive through the environment we now have to face. Let’s now see who we now have confidence in, and then it’s as simple as that.”

  “She’s right,” said Grewerg, when Esai seemed about to protest. “We have to keep an open mind in this question.”

  So, it was decided, and after everyone had written a name on a scrap of paper and placed it in a bowl, the counting began. When it was done, it revealed that, to the surprise of some, Allur was the one who had received the most votes.

  “It looks like we’ve gotten ourselves a new leader,” confirmed Anderika. “I suggest that we meet again at the same time tomorrow and agree on the more immediate plans for the trip.”

  Later that night, when Anderika was standing and looking out over the steaming surface of the swamp, Ofra joined her at the railing.

  “So that’s
the way it went,” he said.

  “Yes, it doesn’t seem any better,” she said.

  “I have to say that I was pretty surprised that Allur, and not Shay, was voted leader.”

  “It’s not so strange, really, Ofra. Most of us, even as children, try to be appreciated, which is why someone who reinforces who one thinks one is, as Allur usually does, is liked and loved. A person can be compared to a vehicle, which, in order to gain its devotion, one must study, to find out what makes it function, and then it should be fed that essential fuel to excess.”

  “But Shay doesn’t criticize so often?”

  “No, but he almost never praises anyone, either, which is just as bad. He certainly has a good heart, but his benevolence is not unrestrained, however, and his constant need to stand in the centre and exercise control make him touchy about being criticized. Just look at poor Grewerg who, with his extensive experience, should have much to contribute, but whom he constantly holds back, since Grewerg is unable to submit to his authority. Allur, however, in addition to his leadership qualities, also has the ability to read how people are thinking, and to understand that there’s usually a reason for their behaviour. A child that lies, for example, usually does so because it’s afraid and has poor self-confidence, but it still has just as much right to be loved. Sometimes it is surely justified to criticize and correct, but then it should be an exception, and definitely not until one has tried to put oneself in the other’s place. Everybody knows the art of criticism, and often do it to excess, while appreciation is given, on the other hand, as rarely as if it were an expensive treasure hidden behind seven layers of locks.”

  “Yes, you may be right about that. We probably are not so different from each other, when it comes right down to it.”

  No, I don’t think so, at least not when it comes down to our basic needs.”