by Saxon Andrew
Andy reached into his pouch and tossed them two, “Put these on and get out to the southern cave; the two scouts will go with you.” Enapay and Chatan nodded and waited for Mark and Jenna to put on the suits. They ran down the hill and disappeared through the gate. Andy watched the archers come streaming back out of the cave and wondered what had happened. This close proximity of new caves was something entirely new. They had to have just appeared. They had to get there fast before the people inside them started fighting. He prayed there wouldn’t be many Atlantans; if there were, people were going to die.
Two hundred archers were gathered around Andy and Harvey. “Half of you go with Harvey and the other half with me. The others can follow us; let’s go!”
Andy and Harvey ran down the slope and each of them stepped through the narrow gate. As the archers went through, one would go north and the next one south. A few moments later, all the archers were moving through the gate.
• • •
Carrie, Dernzak, and Belenca ran through the clearing at an incredible speed. Their genetics were beyond all other humans and they were faster, stronger, and blessed with incredibly quick reflexes. The three arrived at the new cave’s entrance and Carrie said, “I’ll go in and take a quick look.”
Dernzak said, “YOU WILL NOT!!” Carrie turned and looked at him with her eyebrows lowered. “I’ve already caused the death of Andy’s first wife; I’ll not allow his second to die while I’m present.”
“We aren’t married.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll go in first and the two of you can follow me.”
Carrie looked at Belenca and saw her shrug, “He’s impossible when he gets like this.” Both of them saw Dernzak running toward the entrance and they turned and rushed after him. That slight pause gave him a twenty five yard head start. Carrie and Belenca sprinted after him. They caught him as he slowed at the cave entrance and took a cutter off his belt. He held the handle behind him ready to activate it in an instant if needed.
He looked at Carrie and Belenca and walked slowly into the entrance. He stayed against the corridor’s wall and listened for any kind of noise. The cave was strangely quiet. He arrived at the end of the corridor and looked around the wall into the cave….it was empty. He lowered his hands as Carrie and Belenca stepped forward and looked into the cave. Carrie shook her head and Dernzak said, “All the doors are open.” Carrie saw he was right. She quickly moved into the cave and saw rooms full of cutters, compound bows with titanium arrows, food, seeds for farming, and entire rooms filled with archer and camo uniforms. Belenca said, “Come look at this.”
Carrie and Dernzak ran over and looked in a room and saw large rolls of camo and archer material. Carrie shook her head and then said, “Andy’s coming!” She turned and ran out of the cave’s entrance as Andy arrived with more than a hundred archers behind him. Carrie looked at Andy and yelled, “There’s no one here!”
Andy slowed down and walked toward Carrie trying ti catch his breath, “What?”
“There isn’t anyone here but the rooms are full.”
Andy’s expression showed his shock and he went quickly into the cave and found Dernzak and Belenca in front of the room with rolls of material and he stared at the rolls and shook his head. He walked in and found a box of gold scissors. He took one out of the box and went over to the roll of blue material. He took a corner and used the scissor to try and cut the material. It cut it instantly. Andy realized building gliders just got easier.
Dernzak looked at Andy, “What is this all about?”
Andy tilted his head, “You’re looking at your new home.” Dernzak’s eyes narrowed and Andy said, “It appears the ones that brought us here have decided that we are the best candidates to carry out their plan. They are bringing all of us closer.”
Dernzak shook his head, “I find this frightening.”
“Don’t allow yourself to think about it; you’ll only drive yourself crazy if you do.”
“Is that what you do?”
“Most days, it’s exactly what I do.” Andy looked over his shoulder and saw Maxus, “Place some guards here and we need to go back to our meeting.” Maxus looked around and then nodded. He disappeared out of the cave.
• • •
The leaders were back at the fire and the members of the community surrounded them. There was complete silence as they waited for Andy to speak. Carrie now understood what Linnae meant when she said that his mind constantly amazed her. She looked at him and hoped he could make sense of what had happened.
Andy stood up and said, “I think we all know that some agency has moved us to this time and set us up to build a civilization. I think that Agency has been favoring the Atlantans up until this moment.”
Maxus said, “Why do you say that?”
“They moved Jenak’s group to our cave even after they had failed miserably in their first cave. I suspect they were hoping they would have learned from their mistakes. We also saw Atlantans in every new group that arrived. They had an advanced civilization and I think the Time Takers thought they would rebuild it quickly. They’ve learned that the Atlantans are not a good choice.” Andy paused and then said, “I think they have now decided that we are one of the better choices to support. They have placed the new caves here so we can be close together as we move into the future.”
Jenak said, “What do you mean, ’One of their better choices’?”
“Do you think this is the only place on the planet where they’re putting humans? I suspect there are caves on every continent and at some time in the future we are going to bump up against those other humans.” Andy looked around and smiled, “But for now, we only have to deal with those that are here.”
Carrie looked up at Andy, “Do you think they’re going to continue putting caves here?”
“I’ll be surprised if they do.” Andy heard the gathering take a collective indrawn breath. “They’ve made their choice and they’re not going to continue to put obstacles in our way. We will have to go and deal with the other caves that are here.” Andy paused, “But once that’s done, we will have a very long time to build our community into what we’ll need to survive.”
Arashi said, “Why is it that we’re the only ones with the camouflage material?”
Andy smiled, “That was placed here for the American Indians that were moved here. The Time Takers also saw them as a possible choice for leading the species forward.”
Harvey shook his head, “I don’t see why; we’ve never built any of the machines I’ve heard you describe.”
“That’s true; but you have the skills to survive and grow in numbers over time. Eventually, your descendants would have built them.”
Dernzak looked at Andy, “So what happens now?”
“You will pack up your community and move to the cave just north of here. Mark and Jenna will pack up their community and move to the cave south of here. We will send our people to assist you in making the move.”
Maxus shook his head, “We have to tear down the walls and build new ones.”
“Yes, we will. However, we now have all of us within two miles of each other and more than a thousand people to assist in building them. Once the walls are built down to the river, we will extend them out into the plain beyond the river and start planning crops. Over time, we will expand from here.”
Togawa said, “How much time is that going to take?”
“I suspect most of us will be gone before it’s really begun. But we have fifty six babies in the community now and I think they will see it take place.” Andy looked at Dernzak, “You and the hundred plus warriors from up time will learn how to fly the gliders and we’ll depend on you to provide an early warning if danger is approaching us. You will fight for all of us because you are our best. The rest of us will dedicate our lives to making this place safe for our children and building the things we need to survive.”
Joshua said, “Are you going to try and build machines to assist us?”
Andy
slowly shook his head, “I know how to build machines but knowing how is not enough.”
“Why is that?”
“How will I get the metal to construct them? Where will I get the rubber and plastic? How will I produce electricity to power them? Those things will happen one day but that time is in the distant future. Our task is to simply find a way to live and grow the numbers in our community. Quite frankly, that is a rather daunting task in this dangerous place. You need look no further than the plain across the river; you’ll see just a tiny fraction of the dinosaurs standing in our way. They will learn how to attack us and we’ll have to develop ways to defeat them again. The good news is that we have each other to make it happen. I’ve seen your spirits and I’m humbled by all of you and what you contribute to our assembly. I firmly believe we will eventually win this struggle.”
Dernzak slowly shook his head and said, “We’ll leave and get things started for the move.”
Andy smiled, “If you don’t mind, I want you to stay here and learn to fly a glider. Rison and Belenca can go and get things started.” Andy looked at Maxus, “How do you want to handle the move?”
“We’ll move one at a time; we’ll start with the southern cave.”
Mark said, “Why do you want to move us first?”
“Dernzak’s cave is better equipped to defend themselves at this moment than you are. Once you’re here, I’m sure your archers will improve dramatically. They’ll have more instructors to assist them.” Mark looked at Jenna and then nodded.
Andy smiled, “If that’s the plan, Rison and Belenca can stay and learn how to fly the gliders as well. Jenak, I need you to start building them right away.”
“Those rolls of material will make it much easier. I’ll have four more completed within ten days.”
“Good! Our three friends from the north can fly home.”
Rison said, “Uhhh…I’m somewhat frightened of heights.”
Carrie said, “You’ll get over it.”
“I don’t know?”
Carrie smiled, “You will get over it because we need you. Once you do, you’re going to love flying.”
Rison shook his head, “If you say so.” The gathering laughed at his discomfort. “I think I’d rather face a charging carnivore.”
Carrie smiled, “They look smaller from up there.” The community laughed again.
A Japanese woman appeared at the cave entrance and yelled, “Anna’s eggs are hatching!”
Andy’s smile was instant and he ran up the hill. Carrie looked around the group and smiled, “I guess the meeting is over. Maxus, set up the details of the move with our friends.” Carrie turned and followed Andy up the hill. Maxus watched them go and remembered what Andy had said that first day that upset him so much; ’You will follow the orders of a woman’. He smiled; it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Julia walked up and he took their son into his arms and went over to Mark and Jenna.
Chapter Nineteen
Carrie heard Dernzak’s whistle and put the small dinosaur on the ground. She walked toward the glider park and the baby stayed on her heels. This one really had a bond with Carrie. She walked down to the park and saw Dernzak peeling off his camosuit. He was soaked in sweat. “It must have been hot up there?”
Dernzak looked up and saw her; he smiles and said, “I worked up a sweat keeping a flock of Utah Raptors off the survivors. They were in pretty bad shape.”
“How many?”
“About a hundred and fifty and they had run out of food. They were being forced to leave the cave to scavenge for food. They were attacked and cut off from the entrance. We flew in just in time to save them.”
“Do you think they will fit in?”
“Half of them are American Indians.”
“Oh! Now that is a rare find.”
“Their leader reminds me of Harvey. They didn’t have cutters so they were forced to use the old bows to defend themselves.”
“How far away is their cave?”
“About ninety miles; we’re going to have to ferry them some food to build up their strength so they can make the trip. They could handle the large carnivores but the Raptors just overwhelmed them.”
“How many did you kill?”
“About seventy. We flew in and used the cutters on them. The sword training Togawa gave us made a huge difference.”
“I noticed you had a samurai sword attached to your quiver when you flew out.”
“They are incredible weapons. Sometimes, an arrow and cutter just won’t do it. It’s hard for a sentry to shout a warning when their head is laying on the ground.”
“You make a good point. I’ll have some Romans fly in and lead them back.”
“That would be good. We’re going to check tonight and see if there are any more lights north of there.”
Carrie looked at Dernzak, “We’re getting close to the distance that it would be too far to move anyone here.”
Dernzak stared at Carrie shaking his head, “Every human life is precious, Carrie. You need to get Andy to design a glider that can carry two people.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible?’
Dernzak smiled, “But you don’t know if it isn’t, either.”
Carrie smiled, “That’s true. I’ll ask him when he gets back.”
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know; he said he wanted to go flying.”
“I can understand that. Let me know when the Romans are ready; I’m going to freshen up and put on some dry clothes.”
Carrie nodded and wondered why Andy didn’t tell her where he was going. She thought about it and walked back toward the cave. She could hear Anna’s baby croak behind her and she bent down and picked it up. She rubbed it under its jaw and it started loudly groaning. Oh well; like mother, like son. She decided to name him Gronk.
• • •
Andy flew the glider out over the plain and fervently hoped he survived the flight. The community was prospering and he knew that they would survive without him. He worried that he was making a bad decision but he couldn’t live with not knowing. He caught an updraft and spiraled higher into the sky. There were fifty new babies and more women were expecting in all three caves. The community was going to make it and he was glad the hand beams had been put away. The community was going to need them when it confronted the humans living on other continents. That was a danger the future held for them but they would be ready. He had accomplished what he wanted; the community was going to survive.
He was more than a mile above the plain when he turned the glider and flew toward a forest in the distance. He lined up the edge of the forest below him and flew toward the distant trees. He looked carefully and saw a reflection from the distant trees. He kept the location locked in his mind and moved quickly toward it. He was down to half a mile above the plain when a sudden updraft lifted him abruptly. He looked up and saw the clouds starting to build overhead and he smiled as the hang glider went up to more than a mile above the plain. As the distant trees came closer, he saw something in the middle of them. In a clearing behind the leading edge of the forest, he saw a large grey dome. He started to turn back but forced himself to continue. As he flew over the edge of the forest, he saw the structure was a giant spaceship. He looked closer and saw a being standing next to it staring up at him; it wasn’t human. It had a head but didn’t appear to have any arms or legs; it appeared to be a rust colored lump. The head was tilted back and Andy knew it was seeing him through his camosuit. As he stared at the being, an appendage came out of the rust colored creature and waved at him. He shook his head and made a decision. He leaned forward and brought the nose of the hang glider down and started circling in on the clearing.
He glided in and pulled the nose up and stalled the hang glider just as his feet touched ground. He ran forward a few steps and unbuckled the harness. He folded the wings and saw the being was still standing in the same place. He pulled off his skull cap and opened the front of the camosuit.
He took a breath and started walking. He had covered ten yards when two Raptors came charging out of the trees. He pulled his cutter and activated the blade in an instant. He lifted it over his head when the Raptors suddenly stopped thirty feet away and appeared to go into convulsions. They turned and stumbled away. One of them fell to the ground but managed to crawl slowly away from him. The other stumbled forty yards and collapsed to the ground. After the second Raptor made it to the first, they stood up and shook their heads. They turned and ran away. Andy shut off the cutter and put it back on his quiver. The rust colored being had not moved throughout the attack. Andy could see that its face looked human in shape and it had a small smile. He walked closer and stopped a few feet from it. The being said, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
Andy was shocked at the being’s perfect English, “How did you know I was coming here?”
“Actually, I didn’t. But I was owed by the others on the ship to stay until it was clear you weren’t coming.”
“Owed?”
“I was the one that chose to bring you here. The others felt it was not a good decision.”
“Why did they think that?”
“You were from too far in the future and knew too much about technology.”
“Carrie’s people were from a more distant future than me.”
“Yes, but they didn’t know anything about technology and could only use the tools that already existed. Her civilization had fallen a long way in their knowledge. She was another that I had to insist on bringing. After observing her, we decided to bring others from her time and give up on the ones from Atlantis.”
“Why did you bring us here?”
“I’m not allowed to tell you but I’m proud of what you’ve done.”
“So you don’t know what’s going to happen?”
“No, your future does not exist yet.” Andy stared at the being and it said, “I’ve shaped this face so you wouldn’t be distracted. I just wanted to be able to say one day that I met you.”
“So this meeting was for you and not me.”
