Obsolete Theorem

by Stan C. Smith

  “Where’s Maddy?” Lincoln asked. “Did she follow you away from the fire?”

  Ripple’s red lights pulsed twice. “Your drone is unable to navigate due to a damaged vision lens. There was nothing I could do to help. I’m sorry.”

  Lincoln stood and took several steps toward the fire. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Maddy? Can you hear me?”

  Nothing.

  He felt a hand on his shoulder. “We’re okay here,” Jazzlyn said, “and we can always retreat again if the fire comes near. Go look for her if you think there’s a chance.”

  He thought for a moment. Maddy was only a drone, and Lincoln had jumped fourteen other drones back in time, leaving all of them trapped at their destination to eventually lose power and die. After all, that’s what his drones were for.

  “Maddy!” he shouted again.

  Still nothing but the fire’s distant roar.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said to the others. He pulled his fleece shirt over his mouth and nose and ran into the smoke.

  Retracing his steps wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped. His vision was already blurred by tears flowing from his smoke-fatigued eyes, and he couldn’t see more than a few meters in front of him. He advanced until he could feel the heat on his face and hands.

  “Maddy! Shout if you can hear me.”

  A sound came from Lincoln’s left, starting as a few faint scuffles then growing in volume, like an approaching rock slide. He stopped walking and stared. A creature appeared from the gray smoke, running straight at him. Lincoln had no time to get out of the way. The animal tried darting to the side to avoid him but failed. At the last millisecond, it lowered its head and rammed into Lincoln’s gut, striking him with two broad horns that curled back from the creature’s skull.

  Lincoln grunted and fell on his butt. Two more creatures appeared from the smoke, and one of them had no choice but to leap over Lincoln’s legs. He scrambled behind one of the trees to avoid getting hit again as dozens of goat-sized creatures stampeded past him. Almost as quickly as it had started, the scuffling of their hooves on the gravel faded in the distance.

  He got to his feet and raised his shirt to examine his abdomen. The creature had left a red, tender welt across the right side of his belly, but it was no worse than some of the bruises and lacerations he’d gotten fighting the human tribesmen. He would live.

  “Is anyone there?”

  Lincoln froze. Whose voice was that?

  “I’m afraid my vision and locomotion are both compromised.”

  “Maddy!” Lincoln cried. He started jogging toward the sound. “Maddy, speak up so I can locate you.”

  “Lincoln, I am approximately forty meters southeast of your position. Be cautious as you approach, as there are numerous creatures fleeing the flames. I was knocked to the ground by what appeared to be a herd of ibex, of the genus Capra. I may well be mistaken about that, however. As I have said, my vision is compromised. There were a number of bovine species inhabiting—”

  Lincoln skidded to a stop beside the drone. “Maddy, I can’t believe I found you. We have to get out of this smoke now—I can hardly breathe. Can you walk?”

  “As I have said, my locomotion is compromised.”

  “Can you walk at all? You’re too damn heavy to carry.”

  “I will manage if you lead the way with frequent auditory stimuli.”

  “Then let’s go. Just follow my voice.” Lincoln listened for a moment to the crackling flames then once again headed away from the sound.

  9

  Escape

  47,659 years ago - Day 1

  Veenah stumbled and fell to her knees in the water as Skyra guided her across the stream. Skyra started to lift her to her feet then noticed that a rock had been jammed into her birthmate’s mouth. She dug it out with her fingers, grinding the stone against teeth in the process. Skyra glared at the rock for a breath then let it slide from her fingers into the water.

  She spoke to Veenah using their birth language. “We killed the stinking bolup men, sister. They will not take you again.”

  Veenah didn’t reply. She just remained on her knees in the middle of the stream.

  Skyra cupped water in her hands and washed her sister’s face. She then scooped up more water and held it to Veenah’s mouth. Veenah drank, so Skyra gave her more, then more after that.

  Veenah’s eyes met Skyra’s. “Skyra-Una-Loto,” she said. Her voice cracked as if she had sand in her throat.

  Skyra spoke again in her tribe’s language. “I will take you to the top of this hill. The fire will not burn there. The bolup men are dead, and they will not come there to hurt you. You will rest, and I will find food. After you eat, I will take you back to Una-Loto camp.”

  Veenah moved her shoulders up and down. “My hands.”

  Skyra lifted her birthmate to her feet and stepped behind her. She pulled her remaining blade from her sheath and cut the strap on Veenah’s wrists. The strap dropped into the water and floated away. She put Veenah’s arm over her shoulder and guided her out of the stream and up the hillside. Skyra paused at the hill’s summit and scanned the surrounding area. The bolup women and children would still be close, and they could still be dangerous. She saw no sign of Ripple, Maddy, or the strange humans. The fire was still spreading in every direction among the trees below, but the nearly barren hill would be safe.

  The largest boulders here were as tall as Skyra’s head. She guided her sister to the shaded side of one of them and helped her sit down with her back to the stone. Skyra crouched and lifted Veenah’s waist-skin. Although the bolup women had washed Veenah’s body that very morning, the area between her legs was again filthy and blood-stained. Skyra smoothed the waist-skin back into place and looked into Veenah’s eyes. “We killed the bolup men,” she said again. “I would go back to their camp and cut their stinking bodies into little pieces if I could get through the fire.”

  Veenah lifted a hand and grasped Skyra’s arm. “I cannot go back to Una-Loto camp.”

  Skyra understood Veenah’s meaning. “Do not fear, sister. They will not punish you. I will speak to Settin and Amlun. I will tell them that together we killed many bolup men.”

  Veenah dug her nails into Skyra’s arm. “If a bolup child is within me….”

  “Maybe you have no child within you. If you find that you do have a child, I will take you away from Una-Loto camp. We will go to another nandup camp, or we will travel and hunt together, just Veenah and Skyra.”

  Veenah relaxed her grip and closed her eyes. Skyra meant what she had said, but she and her sister both understood the dangers of traveling and hunting without a tribe. They probably would not survive until the next cold season. This was why they hadn’t already left Una-Loto tribe, even though they had been vilified and abused all their lives, especially since their birthmother’s death.

  “Did the bolups feed you?” Skyra asked. “Do you need food?”

  Veenah opened her eyes. “They dug roots from the dirt and gave them to me. I ate them, but the roots would not stay in my belly.”

  “I will find meat. You will eat, and your strength will return. Rest here, Veenah.” Skyra rose to her feet and looked out at the sun’s position. Then she made her way to the side of the hill that was most warmed by the sun throughout the day and began looking for surface boulders that were small enough to be moved. She found one and lifted it, peering at the bare soil beneath. Nothing there but a few black beetles. She dropped the stone back into place and moved on.

  Beneath the next stone she found an earthworm and a black scorpion. With her hand blade she pinned down the scorpion while plucking off its tail stinger. She picked up the now-harmless scorpion and the earthworm. Under the next rock she found two more worms, one of them longer than her hand. She continued searching, collecting any edible creatures she could find. Finally, beneath a broad, flat rock, she found a viper longer than her arm. Since one hand was occupied holding the creatures she’d already collected, she stomped
on the viper, held it to the ground with one foot, and removed its head with her blade.

  Skyra returned to Veenah and dropped the snake next to her sister’s feet. Crouching, she offered the smaller creatures one at a time until Veenah had consumed them all. She gutted and skinned the viper then arranged its body on a flat rock. After finding a suitable stone with which to pound the carcass into paste, she stood and looked out over the still-burning forest. The stream running by at the base of the hill was now barely visible through the smoke.

  “Skyra!” The voice had come from below, near the stream.

  She spotted the strange humans. They were on Skyra’s side of the stream, moving toward the hill’s slope, with Ripple and Maddy following behind. The gray-bearded man, Derek, was carrying one of the other nandup women taken by the bolups. Lincoln spotted Skyra and changed course, leading the others straight for her and Veenah.

  Skyra kneeled in front of her birthmate. “Sister, you are going to see people and creatures unlike any you have seen before. They are my friends, so do not be frightened by what you see. I have not told you this, but many days ago I found a strange creature. The creature was not like others—it could talk, and it became my companion. The creature even taught me how to speak its own language. I did not tell our tribemates these things because they would not understand, and they would kill me. I did not tell you because I did not want them to kill you too.”

  Veenah stared back at her with a blank expression. “I saw strange people with you. What kind of people?”

  Skyra hesitated. She closed her eyes and asked the woolly rhino and cave lion to give strength to Veenah. She opened her eyes. “The strange people are bolups.”

  Veenah’s facial expression didn’t change, but she blinked, and her chest began heaving with every breath.

  “They are not like the other bolups, sister. These bolups helped me take you back. They will not hurt you.” Skyra stood and looked down the hillside. Lincoln and the others would soon reach the summit. She kneeled again. “The strange bolups and creatures are here now. Do not be frightened.”

  “Thank goodness you’re okay, Skyra,” Lincoln said as he came over the hill’s edge. He approached and came to a stop. He gazed down at Veenah with a strange frown. “Is she badly hurt?”

  Virgil and Jazzlyn stopped beside Lincoln. Derek came up beside them and lowered the nandup woman to the ground. The woman’s face was swollen, but her eyes were open. She began crawling away.

  Derek moved in front of her to stop her. “Whoa, hold on. We’re not going to hurt you.”

  “Bolups!” Veenah spat, which caused her to start coughing.

  “Let the nandup woman go,” Skyra said in English.

  Derek wrinkled his brows. “But she needs our help. She can’t even walk.”

  Skyra pulled her hand blade out of its sheath and took a step toward Derek. “The woman wants to go back to her tribe. Let her go.”

  “If we let her go, she’ll probably die!”

  Skyra raised her blade, ready to kill. “Bolups did this to her. She does not want to be taken by bolups again. Let her go.”

  Derek raised both his hands as if they would protect him from her blade. “Okay, okay. I just wanted to help her. She can go.” He stepped out of the woman’s way and let her crawl past.

  The woman moaned and struggled to her feet. She turned and stared at Skyra for a few breaths, fresh blood flowing from her mouth. Then she stumbled off across the hilltop. One of her leather footwraps was missing, causing her to limp each time she set foot on the jagged rocks.

  “They’re both going to die,” Lincoln said. “The other woman we released took off before I could even cut her hands free. She still had a rock jammed in her mouth.”

  “They will try to go back to their camps,” Skyra said, still watching the nandup woman limping away. “If they make it, their tribemates will probably kill them. It is their choice to make.” She finally turned back to the strange humans.

  Ripple, who was now standing among them, said, “Skyra, you might find the phrase ‘thank you’ to be useful at this moment. These people have—”

  “El-de-né!” Veenah cried, which caused her to start coughing again. Apparently she hadn’t noticed Ripple until the creature had spoken.

  At the same moment, Maddy came into view over the hill’s ridge.

  “What are those creatures?” Veenah sputtered.

  “I do not know, sister, but this one is my companion. It will not hurt you.”

  Ripple stepped forward and stopped at Veenah’s feet. The creature then spoke in the language of Una-Loto. “Aibul-Ripple. Aibul-afu-fekho-nokho.” I am Ripple. I am your sister’s friend.

  Veenah stared at Ripple for a few breaths then looked over at Maddy. “That creature is hurt.”

  Skyra saw that Veenah was right. A small spear protruded from Maddy’s orb. It was the same kind of tiny spear the bolups had used to kill men of Skyra’s Una-Loto tribe when they had raided the camp and taken Veenah.

  “Maddy got shot with a bow,” Lincoln said. “I’m hoping she isn’t damaged too badly. I’m afraid pulling the arrow out will make it worse.” He then inserted his hand into a pouch on the blue garment covering his waist and legs. “Here, this is yours.” He pulled out Skyra’s hand blade and gave it to her.

  Skyra shoved the blade into her sheath beside the other one.

  Virgil spoke. “Um, I know this is off topic, but there’s a headless snake with no skin on it over here.”

  Skyra decided all this talking was a waste of time—Veenah needed food in her belly. She stepped over to the viper, picked up the rock she’d dropped, and started mashing the snake’s flesh and bones. The others stood silently watching. She scooped the pink paste into her hand and took it to Veenah. She dipped a finger in the paste and pushed it toward her sister’s mouth.

  Veenah turned her head, refusing the food. Then she scooped the pile of paste from Skyra’s hand into her own and began feeding herself.

  Skyra wiped her hands in the dirt then faced Lincoln. “I will take Veenah back to our tribe’s camp. I do not understand what thank you means, but Ripple tells me I should say it to you.”

  “Why don’t you come with us?” Lincoln said. “Jazzlyn is hurt, so we need to get her back to our gear by the river where we have first aid supplies. Your sister appears to be hurt too. We have some things that will help her if you come with us. We left our packs back in the fire, so we can’t help her here.”

  Ripple spoke up. “Yes, you and Veenah must remain with Lincoln. Veenah will have a better chance to survive with Lincoln’s help.”

  “We also have tents—shelters to sleep in,” Lincoln said. “It’ll get dark soon. You and your sister can sleep in one of our tents. We’ll treat Veenah’s wounds, then she can rest on a clean sleeping bag. It will help her heal.”

  Skyra chewed her lip and looked out toward the distant hills, beyond which was Una-Loto camp. She hadn’t understood all of Lincoln’s words, but his meaning was clear enough. Her instincts were telling her to take her birthmate away from these strange people. They had helped her today, but now they wanted to take her and Veenah to their camp. This was what she had been taught all her life to fear. Bolups killed nandup men and took nandup women.

  “You must remain with Lincoln,” Ripple said again.

  She turned to the creature. “Why? Why do you tell me that?”

  Ripple’s ring glowed for a breath. “You must trust me. I have always tried to help you, and I am trying to help you now.”

  Skyra again stared out at the distant hills. Finally, she crouched before Veenah and spoke in the language of Una-Loto. “I am going to help you walk. We will walk to the camp of these people. We will stay there until the sun appears. Then I will help you walk to Una-Loto camp.”

  Veenah swallowed the last mouthful of viper paste. “I cannot go back.”

  Skyra let out a frustrated growl. “We will talk about that in the morning.”

  “I see peop
le down there,” Derek said, his voice hushed. He was staring back toward the fire and the stream.

  Skyra moved with Lincoln, Virgil, and Jazzlyn to Derek’s side to look. Several bolups were at the stream.

  “It is the women and children of the bolup camp,” Skyra whispered. “They are filling their bellies with water.”

  “What will they do now that their men are dead?” Derek asked.

  “They will go back to their camp. If the fire burned their shelters, they will soon die.”

  Jazzlyn said, “You’re serious? They’ll all die?”

  Skyra moved back from the hill’s edge and motioned for the others to follow—nothing good would come from the bolup women and children seeing them. When the bolups below were out of sight, she said, “Bolup women are not hunters. They cannot kill deer, or aurochs, or rhinos, so they cannot get skins to make new shelters. They cannot kill for food. They will have to eat only roots and leaves and small animals they find under rocks. They may live to the cold season, but they will die soon after the cold comes.”

  Lincoln blew out a long breath from his chest. “Okay, we’ve obviously done enough damage here to have a significant impact on the future—something we weren’t supposed to do unless absolutely necessary.” He turned to face Ripple. “I think it’s time you told us exactly why you left your message.”

  “I needed you to come here to save Skyra and her twin sister,” Ripple replied.

  “Why?”

  “Because they are important.”

  “How can they be that important? Neanderthals will be extinct.”

  Ripple’s red light glowed once. “Will they?”

  Lincoln stared at the creature for several long breaths.

  “What is extinct?” Skyra asked.

  Lincoln glanced at her but then looked at the ground. He didn’t have an answer.

  Skyra was growing weary of all this useless talking. These strange bolups liked to hear themselves speak even more than Ripple did. She moved to Veenah’s side and helped her get up. When she started putting Veenah’s arm over her shoulder, Veenah pulled back. “I will walk myself.”