Primal Estate: The Candidate Species

by Samuel Franklin

  Shainan grabbed Yootu by his long hair and wrapped her legs high around his hips, holding him hard. She pressed herself into him, wanting to feel his strength. They loved for themselves and for the life they both instinctively wanted to create, the life they had dreamed of all those years in captivity, the life that would truly make them one and give them, again, the tribe they missed so dearly.

  For years, Shainan had beaten back every Provenger advance that she could, but now she had her man with her, a man of her choosing. She took him quickly, as if in fear that he might be taken away. She had so many hopes over the years, so much sorrow and loneliness that she could not expel, a massive void of cold, and now she felt warm, filled with warmth. She reveled in his flesh, his skin, soft, yet hashed with scars. His smell was distinctly human. Shainan loved everything about this moment. She knew that she would be doing this every chance she had.

  Suddenly, they were no longer inside, the wind blew, and the scent of cedars filled their nostrils and the air whispered through their limbs. The dark fur of the bison hide under them was becoming warm with the direct glare of the sun. They felt its warmth on their skin and saw around them the hills and forests of their ancient land. Yootu raised his head from her hair and laughed, “Look!” He lifted his weight from her body, and Shainan, seeing only sky, flipped herself over on her stomach and looked out.

  She couldn’t believe. Not wanting it to end, she moved to her knees, and she pressed herself back at Yootu who returned to her with equal force.

  Yootu took the back of her ear between his lips and whispered, “Look at our ancient land.”

  It was all there. They were atop a cliff and the valley was spread out before them. They could see their village in the distance, its smoke trailing off to the east, the great river just visible through the trees in the distance. Shainan reached back over her shoulders and supported herself by the back of Yootu’s neck, pressing her cheek to his lips. She closed her eyes, more content to feel his touch than to look again on her ancient homeland. He held her tightly around the waist and across the chest.

  What magic was this? What power was this, she wondered? They both cried and laughed. They were home. Shainan brought her lips to his ear. “You have brought me here, my shaman, my love, my husband.”

  Shainan lay exhausted in his arms when she noticed the sun was rising, a dim yellow light forming outside the bedroom window. Yootu was also awake and looking straight at the ceiling. He noticed the glow and realized he hadn’t seen a sunrise for a very long time. He slipped out of bed and limped to the window. His legs were stiff, but everything seemed to work. He had certainly proven that through the course of the night. Yootu stretched, looking outside at the light coming over the horizon. It seemed like the first sunrise of his life. He felt very much like this was a completely new existence. After their surprise of possibly being back in their homeland during the night, Yootu realized that something very strange had transformed in him. He felt powerful, capable. It was a feeling he knew he didn’t yet understand.

  Shainan watched him from bed. He rivaled the Provenger in size and strength. His body was crisscrossed with the scars from the injuries he’d suffered at their hands. Shainan noticed for the second time since she had cleaned him that night that his back was painted with the form of a circle with pointed petals extending out from the center. “Why the flower on your back?”

  “It’s not a flower,” replied Yootu. “You are so precious. It’s the sun.”

  She’d remembered stories of his birth told by her friend and cousin, Noanan. The tribal shaman had said that he was of the Sun god and that Noanan had been stolen from her bed and the god had assumed the form of the river to avoid burning her and had put a child into her. Shainan remembered Noanan becoming pregnant with Yootu before she was kidnapped by the Provenger and missed his birth. Noanan had told her that Yootu would be their savior.

  Yootu looked out on the Earth from the window of a twenty-first century ranch house in southwestern Colorado. The last he’d seen Earth had been over twelve thousand years before. It is still the same, he thought. Still beautiful, still for me.

  Yootu knew that he needed information. He needed to know where and when he was. He’d seen another man last night in this home and he needed to speak to him. “Shainan, who is this man you are with?”

  “His name is Rick. He is a good man. He has interactions with the Provenger. I’m not sure what his purpose is, but I do know that he is kind and he is fearful of them. I do not think he is with them. I think he would like to be rid of them.”

  “This is important.” Yootu leaned in very close to her and spoke in her ear with the softest whisper he could manage. “I need to learn everything I can from him. I never told you because I didn’t want them to find out, but I can speak all of the languages that the Provenger have spoken in front of me. I have learned them from listening. I have never let on. I know much about them. They could be here watching us now. Does this Rick have a tag, the pain bracelet?”

  “Yes, he does,” she whispered back, “but he does not wear it, he is allowed that by the Provenger. He uses it to signal them,” said Shainan, even more surprised and impressed with her new man.

  Yootu was disturbed by that but knew he should not yet judge the situation. “Good. I need it to be around when we talk. Do you think we can trust him?”

  “I’ve never seen anything to indicate you shouldn’t. He seems anguished about the Provenger being here. I believe he is against them.”

  Yootu thought about this. Everything seemed to him as if he’d truly been released. If he delayed talking to Rick, he would learn little and much time would go by. He’d already experienced what effort and time it took to accumulate information without actively conversing. Yootu decided he would confront Rick directly and let him know he could communicate. He had no idea how much or how little time he had, and he was tired of waiting. He was free now and could take action. He had to trust Shainan on this and trust the human he didn’t even know.

  “Shainan, remember the thing I stole from the Provenger and told you to hide somewhere safe? Remember how I told you it was the most important thing you could do?

  “Yes.”

  “Did you hide it?”

  “Yes.” Shainan paused and looked at the floor. “But I’m afraid I’ve failed you.”

  “Why is this?”

  “I hid it in a clay fat girl statue, the ones we give to girls to warn them not to drink too much ferment.”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, this one hadn’t been hardened by fire yet. I meant to go back and get it later, but I never did. Because they took me. If it was put in the fire it would have been burned.”

  Yootu smiled and comforted her. “No, it was Provenger magic. I think it would survive. I’ve heard this. Do you remember what the figure looked like? I realize it was many years ago.”

  “Yes, I think I’d know it if I saw it. There were many of them being made, all the same, so I quickly printed something on the back. I couldn’t think of what else to do, so I etched the opposite of a fat woman – a skinny man, like a skeleton.”

  Yootu smiled and hugged her. They were taking a huge chance by talking like this, even speaking in whispers. There could be a Provenger in the room. The only assurance he had was that he didn’t smell their scent. Yootu knew how to use the bolt he had given Shainan to hide. It was a power source for the battle gauntlet the Provenger had used to destroy and shape many things on Earth, like great trees and large rocks. It would be a powerful weapon for them.

  “Where is Rick? Take me to him now, please…Wait, I need to know what language he speaks. Tell me something you hear him say.”

  Shainan thought for a moment. “Carson gitofdos vido ganes an git atside, pikup da dogdert, tame togoto bed, yoo miz yor bus an ime not goint…”

  “Okay, okay, I’ve got it. Sounds like English.”

  Shainan got out of bed and they both dressed, Shainan in her robe and Yootu in clothes that
Rick had left in the room when they carried him in. They barely fit, and Shainan giggled at how he looked. The pants were two inches too short at the ankles, and the shirt was tight and pulled at his neck and armpits. She took his hand and together they went out the door. They walked cautiously down the hall into the living room. Rick was there, sipping his coffee, heard them coming, and was rising to his feet as they entered. He’d been careful to wear his baseball cap for this first meeting.

  Yootu, saying nothing, motioned to Rick to come to him. As Rick approached, Yootu spread his arms wide in preparation for a hug. By now Rick was used to the strange gesture and, though very apprehensive, figured this was the appropriate greeting. Yootu and Rick embraced. Yootu put his mouth to Rick’s ear and whispered in reasonably good English, “Do no move. We maybe not alone. Do you have tag, the pain wrist? Take me it.” Rick almost reacted when he heard him speak. Yootu could tell that he’d managed to restrain himself.

  They separated from their hug, both aware now of the other’s concerns and capabilities for pretense, and each held the other’s forearms, smiling for a moment, making it look good. Rick was a full four inches shorter than Yootu and looked up at him, hoping to never have to cross the man. This guy would make a great professional wrestler, Rick thought. Yootu’s forearms felt unusually solid. The parts that should have been muscle felt as hard as bone. He’d only felt this one other time with the same amazement, and it was the forearm of a bear that Rick had hunted in the mountains nearby.

  They both separated and Rick went immediately into the kitchen. At the cabinet, he took out three glasses and put them on the kitchen table. Then, taking one in his hand, he went to the freezer. Instead of using the ice dispenser, he accessed the ice by opening the door to the tray. He filled the glass to the top with ice and returned to the table. He used that glass to fill the other two and put it down with them in the form of a triangle.

  Yootu wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he recognized subtlety when he saw it and certainly understood deception. He played along. Yootu led Shainan to the edge of the kitchen as they spoke of the kinds of foods Rick ate, what the area he lived in was called, and who else lived at the house. By the time Rick was done filling the glasses with orange juice, Yootu had slowly walked over to the table and looked down. The tag was sitting on the table in the center of the three glasses. Rick looked up at Yootu as if to ask, what now?

  Yootu looked at the inside of the band for the distinctive surface that looked of soft black leather. It was there. Then he glanced around the kitchen and the adjacent rooms quickly and breathed a sigh of relief. “Tag and Provenger cloak no work close to other. If cloak here now we see them. We still speak soft. You have noise you make?”

  Almost before he was finished talking, Rick had spun around and flipped on a radio and turned it up. “How’s that?”

  “Good.”

  “Welcome back to Earth.”

  “It excellent I back,” stated Yootu with a huge smile, using the biggest word for something good that he could think of. “I want some clear us.” Yootu grabbed Shainan by the arm and pulled her toward him. She willingly came, smiling. “This my woman. You no touch her for sexy time. She my wife.”

  Rick looked surprised but then realized that what he’d been hearing all night long must have been either a reunion or the honeymoon. He was willing to comply. “She is your wife and I will never touch her for sexy time,” he returned, amused by the expression and hoping to God Shainan hadn’t mentioned the time he had tried. “But know this,” he looked back squarely at Yootu, a man much taller and about sixty pounds of solid muscle heavier. “This is my house, and what I say goes.”

  Yootu wasn’t familiar with the word, “saygoes,” but gathered Rick wanted to be in charge in his home. Yootu put his hands out in front of him, palms up, and exclaimed, as if it was extremely important to him, “I respite you house.” Two men separated in experience by over twelve thousand years had reached almost complete understanding. Now there was the simple matter of allegiances.

  Yootu did not know this man nor how involved he might be with the Provenger, and he was cautious. He’d not tried to take Shainan, and she had good things to say about him, but she didn’t understand anything that he said. He could be collaborating with the Provenger. His hair was cut almost to his scalp, and this made Yootu cautious. Maybe he emulated the Provenger. If that was the case, Yootu would have to progress slowly. On the other hand, this man was vital to his ability to orient himself to his current circumstances. This might be a very foreign world. Yootu decided to take it slow.

  Rick could sense the caution. He knew that Yootu had just been released from ten years of what must have been a living hell. Shainan had already been able to communicate to him what she thought were the number of years they’d been held. He knew that Yootu must also be extremely suspicious of him but also intensely eager to re-associate himself to human society, that is, if he was really human. But then Rick considered the possibility that maybe Yootu was a Provenger that was Shainan’s boyfriend and they’d grown hair on him and sent him down as a test to see if Rick was still onboard. Rick thought he should take it slow.

  “I be Yootu,” he said, raising his right hand, palm toward Rick.

  “My name is Rick,” who did the same, then reached out to shake Yootu’s hand.

  Yootu extended his hand and they shook, as if Yootu had been doing it his entire life.

  “Why are you here?” Rick asked.

  Yootu thought this might be the first question of someone who was not aligned with the Provenger, and he was glad to hear it.

  “Some time,” Yootu pointed with his thumb into the air behind him, “Shainan and I were visit. They took her from me. I go…went crazy. They send me here.”

  Rick decided not to tell him why he lost Shainan. “That seemed to work out well for you. How can you speak English?”

  “They teach me when they learn to come here. Maybe they know they bring me here?” Yootu gestured to the room with both hands. Yootu hoped he could get away with the story that he’d been taught. He didn’t want Rick to know of his language abilities yet.

  “Where do you come from?” Rick asked.

  “I do not know how tell this my land called. For many years, wasili,” Yootu wobbled his hand back and forth, “me with Provenger. Home tribe in land of hills over plains. Many herds of graze move in land, fish swim river, plants live us everywhere. We hunt, we swim, love tribe, we from this. Shainan know my mother. Shainan one five when I born, and still I more old than her now. This Provenger magic. I speak much. Who you tribe?”

  “I must tell you I have some bad news. You’re not many years away from your tribe. You are over twelve thousand years away from your tribe.” Rick realized twelve thousand may not be a number he could relate to. “Do you understand this number?”

  “No, I no think. What is it?”

  Rick got up quickly and grabbed the tag as he did. He went to the desk in his kitchen, put the tag down, and tossed some bills on it. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and went back to his seat across from Yootu. “Do you know the number of how many years a person usually lives?”

  “Yes, I know this numbers, person live… eight tens years sometime,” Yootu estimated, as he looked up into the air and to his right, Rick observed closely.

  “Good.” Up and right. Recollection, Rick noted. “Do you know what I mean when I say a family generation, like how a father has a son and the son has a son and so on?” Rick asked making horizontal lines across the sheet of paper. “Each son is a new generation.”

  Yootu nodded, looking Rick directly in the eyes. “Mmm, generation,” having no idea what he meant, but knowing he’d figure it out.

  Rick believed Yootu’s “eight tens” was eighty and was surprised they’d get that old. But for the calculation, Rick assumed most would have children in their late teens through their twenties. Rick considered the number of generations based off of the number of years Synster said the P
rovenger were on Earth last. “It looks like there have been about seven hundred generations since you have been on Earth. Do you know that number?”

  “That hundred, seven times?” Yootu asked, looking down at the paper, a frown prominent on his face.

  “Yes, good!” Rick replied as Yootu’s eyebrows raised and his brow crinkled. “I’m curious, Yootu. How do you know numbers so well? Did the Provenger teach you?”

  Yootu was immediately cautious. The Provenger had taught him nothing, and they believed he learned nothing, so he had to be careful with his response. He held up his hands in front of Rick’s face and spread his ten fingers wide. “We need count too, use these ten, over and over for big numbers.”