Ed stood and stretched “Agreed! Gentlemen, we stay away from the topic. It appeared as if Jan might have said something, but remember she isn’t in charge here, and she’s only following what she’s been told.”
“I agree with Edward.” Doc stated vehemently “If we press her, she could get in trouble.”
Jack smiled “Easy guys, when we dropped the subject around Jan, even some of the Mayans that have married into this society were mute on this topic…so no pressing for info, roger?” he yawned “Jan is going to show us the mesa where our people have settled the day after tomorrow. We’ll make that as our base and from there we can figure out what and where we want to venture into.” he chuckled “Even if there isn’t anyone living there, we can start anew.”
Doc opened the door to his and Ed’s room “It’s a shame not many of our people have come through the portal, or maybe we’d have something like Jan’s people have here. Some of those old natives that came through have apparently all died out, or been killed by the creatures that lived below.”
Pete shrugged “…or got snatched by diver things.”
“Don’t forget about those Spanish explorers…and some people from the time that the books were written.” Larry reminded them as he headed into his room.
Edward nodded “And do not forget my good men, that Jan said not one of them are alive now. Let us not follow the same course.” he nodded goodnight and closed the door to his and Doc’s room.
Jack stuck his head in his and Larry’s room and stepped back out.
“Ok…look guys, they have a well-run and functional society. So even though everyone seems happy, there seems to be something hanging over their heads, something they are afraid of bringing up…let’s not muddy the waters, we most likely will need their assistance with getting our mesa set up. Just because they said there are some huts there, doesn’t mean that we’ll soon be self-sufficient…NOW GET SOME SLEEP!” he gave them a little three fingered salute and vanished into his room.
**************************
A horrible storm raged for the next three days and the guys were glad that the adobe seemed to be well built and leak proof. At times Jan would pop in and chat, other times someone would bring them food, but they were asked not to roam around because they were not known by so many of the people in the town of several hundred. That and the fact that the town was scattered all over the mesa and getting lost was not an option to Jack, and as far as anyone was concerned, he was still their leader.
On the fourth day the lovely Jan showed up, backpack and all. The best thing was that she had found a small group of men and their wives that were willing to escort the newcomers to the fourth reality mesa.
This was also a bit unsettling to Jack. Perhaps it was his training, but these people from all the realities existed together, yet few seemed to be willing to move with the exception of the Mayans that had intermingled with all of the peoples.
It appeared that the Mayans had come or had easiest access to the portal as Jan had explained that they had numbered in the thousands and not only covered over six large mesas to the south, but also had two valleys to the west with high stone walls to keep out the dinosaurs. The Mayans had been there for centuries by the time of this world, perhaps over a thousand years by Jack’s time…so why did the Mayans leave to settle in and among the other civilizations?
Jack knew they had a lot to learn…and wondered what secrets were kept hidden among these peoples, assuming he wasn’t making something out of nothing.
Nearly a mile from Mesa 1, the mesa set aside for Jan’s world, and still a good six miles from Mesa 4, which had been set aside for anyone from Jack’s world, Jan’s lead scout raised his hand and everyone froze.
The ground rumbled and off to their right was a lumbering herd of Stegosaurus that numbered nearly fifty. As they wandered toward the river the small party remained hidden within the roots of the giant tree roots similar to the ones they had sheltered in the night before entering the portal. As the last Stegosaurus passed Ed held up his hand.
“Doc, look!” in his hand he held a large frond that had to be a foot wide and four and a half feet long. In between the green leafy folds were fuzzy seeds that looked like giant milkweed seeds.
“These are seed…here between the fronds…this is how they got onto the plateau. Don’t you see, a storm like the one the other day, could blow these things into the portal and once rooted with no plant eaters…”
Doc chuckled “Of course! They’d grow and produce seeds of their own…” he looked puzzled “but why weren’t there more? I mean there were fifty or so on the plateau, but if…”
Jan smiled “It could be that many blew there during one of our hurricanes a century or more ago Doc. It takes nearly that long to mature.” She smiled and pointed to the areas just under the canopy “See those gnarls just before the foliage begins? About twenty years after they mature, the gnarls start growing, five to six more years and they rupture and the seed pod fronds grow out and dry to the fluffy waterproof, feather like foliage.” she thought for a second “Do you have things that we call dandetigers in your reality?”
The guys nodded after Edward added “dandelions” with a grin.
“Well, these will get like that and blow away when the winds are strong enough.” She dropped the one that she had taken from Ed.
“On a side note, collect the fallen ones and they make great mattress stuffing; you all slept on them the last few days. They are extremely resilient and do not disintegrate for several years. ”
She nodded and the scouts took point as the rest fell in behind.
Doc dropped the one that he had picked up and muttered aloud “Interesting.”
Near the base of Mesa 4, they crossed a small stream the seemed to run off toward another direction than the river to their east.
Jan explained that this stream fell from their mesa’s lofty plateau and would be their water source. Within a minute of that, the lofty canopy began to part and the men could see their new home…at least once they managed to get up there.
Their mesa appeared to be about one hundred and fifty feet high with steep cliffs all the way around, and upon climbing the rocky debris that usually surrounds every mesa, Jan led them to a deep crevasse in the cliff face.
It wasn’t large enough for large dinosaurs and once their eyes adjusted to the shadows, saw an incredible series of stairs and landings all the way to the top.
“At one time some of the natives from your world came here. My people and the Mayans taught them English, as we had taught the Mayans…” she chuckled softly at the looks from the men.
“Oh gracious no, I didn’t, I mean those that came before me taught them. We age more slowly, but, Lordy, not that much…I am not that old.” She frowned as she tossed her long gray bangs out of her eyes, she smiled “Not that old.”
The trip up made Jack realize that while in great shape, they would indeed have to come up with some sort of basket system as Jan’s people had. The stairs were amply wide and not overly high to step, there were many and they had to rest once before climbing onward, it was an arduous journey that he cared not to make again.
At the top it was better than expected. Four moderately sized adobe houses had been built near the small stream that ran off to the west to fall to the jungle below. Just after passing the small village, the stream formed a pleasant pond that had huge water lilies floating upon it.
“Quite picturesque.” Ed exclaimed.
“We and the Mayan’s take turns at keeping this area cleared and free of the jungle up here or it would quickly become overgrown.”
Jan pointed to a series of mesas to the south and southwest that Jack guessed to be six miles to the closest and ten to fifteen miles the most distant. In the distance just at the limit of vision were a few more behind that were mostly hidden in the mirages that streamed up from the steaming jungles. Even from this height, it was obvious that visibility was always going to be limited by the humidity
and heat.
He wiped his brow with the green scarf he always had around his neck to keep the sweat from running down his back.
“Ok gang…let’s get started at making this place home.” he smiled at Jan and her group “I’ll bet you all are chomping on the bit to get back to your mesa.”
Jan gave them a funny look and then looked at her people as they all nodded. She stepped forward and with a questioning look…
“We…all of us…if you have no objection…would like to stay with you…here.”
Jack smiled “Sure no problem, you’re all more than welcome to spend the night, I’m sure that we can fit us all into…”
“No,” she smiled weakly “we’d like to live here…if you’d let us. You see I told the rest of my friends about what you told me of your world, your ways, and what you believe in.” she smiled weakly “You see there are many of us that don’t hold to the old rules that were made by the first ones. They like to keep people in the dark about how they run things…” her expression changed “Oh! …No! Don’t get me wrong, our people are fine, it’s just the air of not speaking of things to others, when we all know what goes on…some of our people are hypocrites and we’re tired of it.”
One of Jan’s group snorted “It’s ludicrous! We know that some of the leaders take more than they are allotted, and it’s fine with everyone, but yet no one is allowed to talk about it.”
Another of the group nodded “And when one of the block elders wanted to make it official and just give them more, he was ostracized for three months.” she sighed “My husband and I do not like to live this way.”
Jan nodded “All twenty-nine of us feel this way. We love our friends and community, but we’ve felt this way for years. With us here, it will be easier for you to trade with both us and the Mayans, as you can see many are of Mayan lineage.”
Ed sincerely asked “Well if this feeling was so strong why didn’t you all just move here?”
“Rules, good rules to be sure” one sputtered “after all this is your world’s mesa. Like on our world different countries have their rights, so do our mesas.”
Jan nodded “So if you’ll have us…”
Edward looked at Jack who had become their leader and the man they all looked to guide them in this new world. Jack needn’t have looked at his men, but did before facing Jan and her people.
“Welcome to Mesa…uh...”
Jan smiled warmly “Four”
Jack nodded “Welcome to Mesa 4 my friends.” he chuckled and looked at the old abandoned huts and then at all of the people that would not fit into them.
“Guess we draw straws to see who gets the huts.”
Chapter 10.
The two nearby civilizations had maintained Mesa 4 well and it took less than a few days to get settled in. A couple of Jan’s people set out for the closest Mayan mesa to ask for help as Jan explained that the Mayans were excellent builders and had taught them how to build using local materials; they were centuries ahead of Jan’s people in that respect .
It turned out that it was the Mayans that helped everyone, including the pirates that had arrived, built, and started their communities. Many Mayan’s had settled in among the various arrivals for much of the reasons of Jan’s people…freedom of choice.
None of the civilizations were hostile toward the others, but each did have certain practices or traits that some did not like. Thus mixed settlements arose from the high mesas of Earth Zero…or as Jan put it, the world on the outside of the box of cards.
One of the fears that some had harbored was the worry that they might change the future, but Jan eased those fears by pointing out that the outside of the box was the template for all other realities and they were transported to the prehistoric time of the template. What they did, what had happened now and in the future, was merely a new card, outside of the box; they were creating their own future.
After nearly two weeks a stream of Mayans appeared from the jungle to help the newcomers build, and as it turned out, it also included some rather attractive Mayan women that hoped to find new lives with new husbands, some came as families, all were welcome.
They built housing using a form of adobe made from gypsum, lime, and ground rocky material that turned out to be as strong or stronger than concrete. Blocks were built and dried in the baking sun. These blocks were plastered together with more of the substance they were made from and a stucco like coat covered the entire series of structures.
The Mayans stayed true to the pact with the other societies that none would lay claim to Mesa four unless people from the forth reality invited them…until now, the few that arrived, and those had died off. Jack’s people warmly welcomed all that wished to stay after the buildings were finished. Some did, some went home to the various Mayan mesas.
Nearly a month into the build, the temporary shelters of the workers were becoming strong buildings. Some Mayans decided to stay and nearly a dozen more of Jan’s people requested to join their new society.
Crops were planted, small dinosaurs were raised like chickens, and the two small artesian well fed brooks were dammed and irrigation was begun.
Every one of the cultures had worked together and taught one another over the decades and centuries; they knew how to survive very well…but only on the mesas, below was another world, a world of death.
One of the Mayan sub-chiefs that had come to supervise told Jack and the rest in perfect English of his people. How they had decided to use and practice English. How two of the eleven mesas that composed their civilization, refused to speak English on a daily basis. The farthest mesa did speak Spanish and a form of guttural English to communicate with the pirates that lived in a huge cove to the southwest, but most had adopted the language as their own.
Little was known about the pirate and buccaneer cultures other than some trading once or twice a year. Shells, prehistoric seafood and plants, much wanted salt, and some minerals that couldn’t be found in their areas were traded for similar products and gold that the Mayans mined along with metals that Jan’s people manufactured.
It turned out that the Mayan’s mesas that were farther to the west and south were closer to one another and over the centuries had rope bridges built to span the distances. Then one day one of their medicine men decided to vine wrap one of the bridges using young vines from both mesas, a century later seven of the eleven Mayan mesas had huge vine bridges that could support the weight of dozens of people at a time.
Each bridge had been wrapped around the tops of a few of the giant trees in between the more distant mesas and now they stood as living bridge supports. Vines had even been trained around reed arches and now formed partial covered arches to hide the Indians from the flying reptiles they all called ‘divers’. This was truly an amazing civilization.
By the second month things were looking great on their mesa, Jack felt that driving urge to find out more about the portal. Jan understood the basics, but Jack wanted to know more, more about the first ones that came there, how they survived, and hopefully a way to go home.
He was discouraged when the people from Mesa 3 came to visit; the ones that had come by bathyscaphe. They told him pretty much the same as Jan.
It seems that they had come from a time that was slightly ahead of Jack’s people. Nearly a decade before Jack they had arrived after being pulled through the portal while rescuing a nuclear sub that had been severely damaged.
After a while they had come to the conclusion that the sub must have hit the portal, and perhaps the nuclear material could not pass through the portal and was thrown back out. They were sent down after a ROV went missing. However their submersible landed smack dab on the small river in front of the portal.
By then people had been watching the portal for new arrivals and helped those from reality three. This Paul, the Captain of the mini sub insisted upon saving it in case they found a way to recharge the batteries. Jan’s people had told them of the ocean.
They used huge winche
s, the river, and moved under their own power, but not to risk danger from the lumbering beasts that walked the jungles, the small sub was beached on a small sandy beach surrounded by giant boulders and a cliff. The nearby mesa was given to the submariners; hence Mesa 3. Over the decades they had kept the sub in good order, but useless without power as their batteries eventually began to disintegrate.
By the third month, mesa 4 was fairly well self-sufficient and most of the Mayans had left, at least the ones that didn’t intend on staying. But Jack’s yearning to know more couldn’t remain still and it gnawed away at him day and night. It ate at him to a point where he was about to form a party and go talk to the Mayans at their capital city and hopefully their king. They had been invited him to see the old temples that held their history in this new world.
Jack headed back to his dwelling that consisted of a main room, a bedroom, a cooking area just off the main room, and surprisingly a bathroom. It seemed the Mayan’s learned well from the English that arrived before those of Jan’s time had. They had shown the Mayans how to make piping from their form of adobe that he learned was called futz. He never got exactly how it became to be called futz, but apparently it was humorous.
So with large futz pipes running under houses and dumping in the southern most stream as it fell from the mesa, they had a working sewer system. Windmills pumped leather bladders and water was raised up to huge futz cisterns to provide running water that was neither hot, nor cold…which seemed to depend upon how hot the sun, or night was…warm was the norm.
On his way home he grinned at Sam with his two girlfriends as the giant of a man lifted both women off their feet and swung them around in front of his home.
Hank seemed to be settling to one rather rotund lady with rosy cheeks and a terrific laugh. Pete, well Pete was Pete; he sat at a large table with men and women laughing and listening at his tales and exploits with his longtime friend and boss, Jack.
Larry spent a lot of time over at Mesa 1 with Jan’s people as Larry did have some British blood in him, and Jan’s people were mostly British.
Jurassic Portal Page 6
