“That’s a valid point,” said Alice. “But how about consulting the navigational features of the LANav? Is it giving us any other indication of where we might be?”
“I checked it while Sal and Tom were off looking for the parking lot and it indicated that we are in the same spot along the stone wall that we were when we arrived,” Adam said. “The beacon indicator is now showing a new anomaly location about twenty miles to the southwest. That’s the direction John is going anyway, so we may as well walk along with him toward the second beacon.”
“Awesome plan, dude!” said Sal, suddenly coming to life. “Let’s follow that freakin’ thing to another beacon!” He jumped up and started pacing along the wall.
“For heaven’s sake, Sal, calm down. Do you have another suggestion?” said Alice.
“No. I don’t know. I guess it makes sense to follow Squanto for a while. Let’s just get the hell out of here. Then I’ll calm down. Dude, this is seriously creeping me out.”
“For once we agree on something,” answered Alice. “I don’t know what’s going on either, but I’m all for getting out of this wilderness area.”
“New Echota, where I am going, is in the direction that your device is telling you to go, so it seems your choice is clear,” said John Carter. “In any case, I must be on my way to reach the town before nightfall. You are welcome to come with me if you wish.” With that, John began leading his horse along the trail.
“Tom?” Adam asked.
“If the rest of you want to follow him, I’ll play along. At least until we reach the highway, or to get somewhere with satellite coverage,” Tom answered grumpily. “Either way, it will put an end to this foolishness.”
The team followed John Carter, plodding along the faintly defined trail, lost in their thoughts as they tried to make sense of what was happening. John moved rapidly, although he had slowed his usual pace to make it easier for them to keep up. He tried not to be annoyed by the tension the group was feeling, reminding himself that he was not the true target of their exasperation, even if they considered him to be. While he did not understand much of their talk about the strange device, or the disorienting effect it seemed to have had on them, he hoped he could find some way to ease their discomfort. He motioned to Adam to walk along side of him so they could talk.
“If you were able to tell me more about your mission and device, maybe I could offer you some thoughts about what is happening. You said you were under an obligation not to reveal its secrets, but I believe anyone would agree that the circumstances are extenuating.”
“I suppose that could be helpful,” Adam replied hesitantly. “I’m still limited in how much I can say. I gave my word in a signed agreement.”
“Of course, I understand you must honor your word, signed agreement or not. “But consider this; if I am correct and the year truly is 1838, then in theory you have not yet entered into an agreement. If, however, your friend is correct and I am just a ‘delusional Indian’ anything you told me would be safe, since no one would listen to someone who is delusional.”
“A logical argument, I guess, but I certainly wouldn’t want to try to justify breaking a confidentiality agreement by claiming I was time-traveling. On the other hand, you don’t strike me as a corporate spy, so I guess under the circumstances it would be okay to discuss some of the project with you, as long as we don’t get into the technical details of the device. What is it you would like to know?”
“You have said that you were testing a new navigation device. Where was it intending to lead you?”
“We weren’t sure exactly,” said Adam. “It was indicating a place down in the small valley where we first met you. We were investigating to see what might be there. We did a thorough search, but found nothing of interest.”
“Perhaps it was leading you to me, since you found me there,” John offered.
“I hardly think it was leading us to you.”
“You are probably right,” said John. “I am not very interesting. I bet it was leading you to my horse. He is much more interesting than I am.”
“Now you’re pulling my leg, aren’t you? No, it doesn’t really work that way, John. The device doesn’t lead you to people or animals, only to fixed positions on the earth.”
“But Adam, you said that it was indicating something new, a thing that you didn’t know would be there. In that case, how do you know it wasn’t taking you to my horse?”
“For one thing, it has been indicating the place in the valley for several weeks, and you and your horse were only there for one night.”
“I see. I have been planning my journey for many weeks, but the stop in the valley was a last minute necessity when my horse became injured.” He paused a moment to consider. “Are you able to tell me how your device is able to lead you to these places?”
“Well, simply stated, it uses information from the stars and planets to determine location, and can calculate how to reach a destination by using that information,” Adam explained.
“Wonderful!” That is exactly the way the Cherokee have navigated for many years. It is good to hear that the whites are beginning to catch up. We also use the landmarks to find our way. You should recommend that to the makers of the device.”
“Uh, okay, sure. But I don’t think you get the idea of this device. You see, it can read the information from the heavens and guide you without your having to know anything about navigation. And all you need is this small device,” he said, showing John the LANav.
John eyed the LANav with guarded curiosity. He considered what Adam told him and reached his own conclusion. “I think I still prefer our way, though,” he said. “I carry all the information inside my head, so I don’t have to worry about misplacing a device and losing my way. Of course I could lose my head, but then it won’t matter if I am lost. Still, I can see how it would be convenient for the white men who get lost easily. Much easier than taking an Indian with you everywhere,” he said with a wry smile.
Adam looked at him curiously until he realized the Indian was mocking him. “I guess I deserve that for talking down to you. I wasn’t sure how much technology someone from 1838 would understand.”
“We’ve been finding our way around for quite a while. I have never seen a device such as the one you have. I can understand how it may be useful, though I have never needed to find something that I did not know what it was until I got there.”
“That’s not really the purpose of the device. Its true function is to guide us to where we want to go. Our current technology uses man-made satellites— platforms in the sky—positioned around the globe to broadcast location information to a receiver that can be carried easily by a traveler. The difference with this device is that it doesn’t have to rely on the satellites for information, it receives transmissions directly from the stars,” Adam explained.
John rubbed his fingers over his chin as he thought it over. “It seems a reasonable explanation, then, that since the stars have been here for a great number of years, and will be here for a great many more, that they could send you information about other times and places as well.”
“Are you suggesting that the stars and planets have a memory? Surely they could only provide location information for the present time.
“Not necessarily. Consider our own planet. We can excavate below its surface to retrieve information about what things were like many years ago. Archeologists and geologists have done this to determine the lifestyles of early civilizations and the formation of the earth. Does it not stand to reason that the other planets would also contain similar historical information? Not only information about their own formation, but especially of our history. They have been watching over us for such a long time!”
“It’s an interesting theory, but it doesn’t explain how we were moved through time, if that is really what happened.”
“I don’t understand how you can have ‘platforms in the sky’ either, but I do not doubt your word that you have them.”
>
“But why bring us here and now, of all the possible times in history?” Adam asked.
“Don’t know,” he shrugged. “But it seems as though you are going to find out.”
Alice, Tom, and Sal had been listening intently to the conversation. Tom was showing outward signs of irritation that Adam could possibly be taking any of John’s suggestions seriously. He was an engineer, and was not going to be easily convinced that they had somehow managed to circumvent the laws of time and physics just by walking into a secluded valley. He was anxious to get to the highway, looking forward to seeing a passing semi put an end to this time travel nonsense. He thought they should have reached it by now, but the up and down hiking through the mountains made it hard to judge exactly how far they had walked. He glanced over Adam’s shoulder at the LANav. The topology on the screen looked familiar, yet different somehow, and it appeared that they still had a ways to go to reach the highway. He also noticed the SAT phone icon with a line through it, indicating there was still no coverage. He scowled, his mood made even worse.
Sal did not know what to think. He was completely out of his element, trudging along, lost in the Georgia wilderness. It wasn’t the wilderness that was the problem; he’d spent plenty of time hiking in remote places. It was the “lost” part that was new to him. He couldn’t recall ever having been lost in his life. Yes, there were times when he had been unsure of his exact location, but he had never been truly lost. Disappearing landmarks were just not possible, and the crazy Indian dude talking about being in the 1800’s was making things exponentially worse. When he got out of this mess, he was going to demand some extra hazardous duty pay.
Alice was shaken, although not so much panicked as intrigued. Her natural curiosity kept her mind focused on figuring out a solution to this puzzle. She could not comprehend how they came to be lost. She certainly wasn’t about to accept the idea that they had traveled to the past. She was fascinated by John’s hypothesis, as impossible as it was. John was definitely an interesting character. If they were going to be hiking together for a while, she wanted to find out more about him. Maybe she could catch him off-guard and prod him to say something to prove he wasn’t from the nineteenth century. “John, I hope this doesn’t sound offensive, but you seem to be pretty well educated for a Cherokee Indian from the 1800’s,” she said.
“I am not offended, Alice. I was fortunate enough that my family could afford to send me to one of the white people’s schools in Tennessee after I attended the Cherokee school in New Echota. Many of my friends were not so lucky. They did not receive much formal education at all, at least in the ways of the whites, and only know our Tsalagi traditions and language. It was in school where I met and became good friends with Allen Ross, the son of our Principal Chief John Ross. I am in fact returning from a visit with Allen and his father in Red Clay, Tennessee.”
Alice continued her questioning. “You said you were returning with bad news, didn’t you John? What sort of bad news?”
“Part of the reason of my trip was to learn the outcome of Chief Ross’s most recent efforts to preserve the right to remain on our lands. The Cherokee elected John Ross—the Cherokee call him Guwisguwi—ten years ago, even though he is only part Cherokee. He was raised with an understanding of Cherokee culture and also has much knowledge of Washington politics. In spite of all his knowledge and efforts, he was not able to persuade a reversal of the previous rulings.”
“How will that affect the Cherokee living here in Georgia?” she asked.
“Georgia is planning to remove all Indians from its lands and relocate them west of the Mississippi river. In 1802, the U.S. government promised the state of Georgia that it would extinguish all claims to Indian lands within its borders in exchange for Georgia relinquishing its territorial claims west of the Mississippi. A provision of that agreement was that the Indian claims were to be settled peacefully and reasonably. As more settlers came to Georgia, they became more anxious to acquire Cherokee land. Once gold was discovered within the Cherokee nation, the pressure to take the land by force became overwhelming. The ‘reasonable and peaceful’ provision is now being ignored. When Chief Ross returned from his previous trip to Washington, he found that his house and lands had been taken from him and given away in a land lottery, leaving him homeless.”
“My gosh!” said Alice. “Is there no way for him to contest that? He must have something in writing showing that he is the legal owner.”
“His own property is not his immediate concern. Having been unable to persuade the government to prevent Georgia from seizing our land, we will all soon be facing the same situation. This is the news that I must bring to New Echota.”
“How is it possible that they can just kick all the Indians out of Georgia? They want to take away land you have owned for generations?” said Alice.
John nodded solemnly. “For many years there have been disagreements between Indian and white settlers, as I am sure you know. There have been many treaties between the Cherokee and the whites. The Hopewell treaty in 1785 detailed specific terms for preventing the encroachment of our lands, but those terms were ignored. All of the subsequent treaties have been broken as more white settlers encroach upon the Cherokee Nation lands, so it comes as no surprise to most of my people that another agreement has been broken.
“The Cherokee Nation has been strongly encouraged to change our way of life, to adopt much of the white culture, in order to live amicably. We have altered many of our traditions. Most now run farms as the whites do, instead of hunters and food growers as we had been for generations. The newly formed Cherokee government is modeled after the United States government. Many have accepted the Christian religion, and a large percentage of Cherokee can read and write our language. Chief Ross hoped that these efforts would lead to harmony between our people, even proposed a Cherokee state to become part of the United States, but has been rejected at every attempt.
“There is also disagreement about our course of action from within. Some feel that we have no choice except to give up our homelands and move to the west. They believe that is the only way we can continue to exist as a nation. Some have already migrated west, and a small group claiming to represent the entire nation has entered into a treaty with the whites, agreeing to give up our lands in exchange for a token payment and the promise of land in the western Indian Territory. Called the Treaty of New Echota, our Principle Chief John Ross, in his most recent appeal to Washington City, carried a petition signed by nearly sixteen thousand Cherokee people to dispute the legality of the New Echota treaty. Chief Ross was joined by one of your great speakers, Ralph W. Emerson, to present the petition to the new president, Mr. Van Buren. I have already told you of the disappointing outcome of his appeal.”
“That’s so horrible! How could another group,” asked Alice, “agree to a treaty without the consent of the Principle Chief?”
“Our chiefs are not like your president,” John explained. “He is not the ‘boss’ of his tribe; he is more like a counselor who offers his wisdom when decisions have to be made. The people are free to discuss, modify, or even ignore his advice. The chief does not have to approve the decision. Each village has its own chiefs; some who counsel in times of war, and others who counsel in times of peace. Not having a central governing body led to confusion between our cultures. We restructured our government to model the white man’s government, in an attempt to become more compatible. We still retain a very democratic system, however.”
“But our government is a democracy,” said Alice.
“Actually, it is not,” said John. “The United States government is a constitutional republic. While it has democratic elements, it is a nation of laws. The Constitution and Bill of Rights guide the democratic process, and a system of checks and balances within each branch of your government help to prevent the majority from overruling the rights of the minority, and preserve the rights of the individual states.”
“Of course, you are right,” admitted
Alice. “I guess my error is the result of living in a large country and being pretty much isolated from the rest of the world. Many of us tend to take our country’s principles of government for granted.”
Tom moved up alongside Alice and John. He was clearly agitated. “Speaking of being isolated, we should have come to a town, or at least crossed several roads by now. I don’t know what this game is, but I’d like some answers. John, I’ve heard enough about Indians; what exactly is going on?” Tom demanded.
Before John could answer, they emerged from the forest onto a well-rutted dirt road about forty feet wide that stretched into the distance, around a bend to the north and into the horizon to the south.
John pointed to the road. “Tom, this is the Cherokee Federal Road. Along this part of the road there are no farms, but in many places the road has attracted a number of settlements, by both Cherokee and illegally by whites. There are no other roads to cross for many more miles, until we get much closer to New Echota.”
“This is nothing more than an old fire road,” Tom snapped back. “I don’t know how, but somehow you are deceiving us about the direction we’re heading in.”
“I have no reason to deceive you, Tom. Does not your device show you are heading in the correct direction? I gather that you are an experienced woodsman. Does not the position of the mountains and the sun in the sky indicate your position to you?”
“Well, yes, it does,” Tom answered hesitantly, “but it’s certainly not believable to me that we have time-traveled to 1838. Why do you accept that so easily?”
“Is it more believable to you that I am somehow controlling the movement of the sun in the sky?” John answered patiently. “It is strange for me as well, since I have never met anyone from a future time before. But if you tell me it is so, I will accept it, as I have no reason to disbelieve you. It is well known that the Tsalagi have a different notion of time than the whites. A typical view of time is along a linear scale, one thing happening after another. An Indian, though, considers time to be more random, sort of like a bouncing ball. Our mythology illustrates this better than I can explain it, but things happen when they happen, not in any particular order.”
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