Extreme Difference

by D. B. Reynolds-Moreton

  It was too much, Sandy was tired, desperately wanted something to eat and drink, and his patience finally snapped.

  ‘For Gods sake, Nan, grow up,’ he shouted back, ‘get into the real world, such as it is. There is no Great Light lording it over us, there are no sacred caves or ground, and nothing is forbidden, there’s just this bloody crater, and us.’

  All heads turned to look at Sandy in the deathly hush which followed his outburst, ‘I agree.’ someone said, but it was impossible to see who the heretic was.

  ‘I shall confine you to your cave, until I can find another group who will take you in, and that will be difficult. Ben has been contaminated with your heretical views, and he must go too. After this meal, we will all wrap ourselves up well, endure the cold, and pray to the Great Light to forgive us for this trespass on their holy grounds.’

  The others around the table looked as shocked as Sandy felt, hardly able to believe their ears.

  ‘For God’s sake, shut up, you stupid old fart.’ Sandy could no longer constrain his feelings, and released the pent up frustration which had been building over the last few days.

  This time the silence was even longer, except for the soft rustle of clothing as heads turned this way and that, wondering who would release the next verbal blast.

  Slowly, a series of quietly muttered comments grew in volume, until there was a loud bang from the other end of the table. Greg had risen to his feet, lifted his feeding bowl, and brought it down hard on the table top. Everyone jumped, releasing the tension which had built up.

  ‘The time has come for us to make a decision which will affect the group into the foreseeable future.' He paused, to make sure he had everyone’s attention, which he had.

  ‘Nan has done a great job of leading us in the past, but unfortunately his wheels have finally dropped off, and is no longer capable of making rational decisions any more. We must have a sane, strong leader, in order to survive, and I propose we elect Sandy to take his place. All those in favour, please raise a hand now.’

  Nearly everyone raised a hand, some raised both.

  Greg did not even bother to count the raised hands, so overwhelming was the result, but being fair to Nan he asked,

  ‘Does anyone disagree?’

  All hands fell as one, and no others were raised. A few had not shown their wishes, abstaining from the vote just in case Nan did manage to hold his position, and seek retribution in the future.

  Nan had sat down, his head buried in his hands, mumbling something about the Great Light, but no one took any notice of him.

  ‘So that’s decided then, Sandy is our new leader,’ Greg made it sound like an order rather than a question, and turning to him asked, ‘do you accept?’

  ‘Yes, if that's what you wish. I don’t want to change anything, just improve some things, so that our life is a little better.’

  ‘I understand,’ said Greg, who was still standing, ‘that you have some views on this place, and us, and why we are all here. I think we would all like to hear them.’ A chorus of ‘yers’ and other affirmations gave Sandy little chance to avoid the issue.

  ‘All right, you may not like what I have to say, and it may not be the whole truth, but it is based on what I have observed and reasoned out.’ He paused to gather his thoughts, and decide just how much to reveal to his attentive audience.

  ‘This business about the Great Lights. There’s nothing mystical or holy about them, they’re just the lights on a vehicle which can travel through the air, and is responsible for dumping us here. Why we are left here, I’m not totally sure, the only reason which makes any sense to me is that we have been a nuisance, to a greater or lesser degree, to someone or something, who wants us out of their way.’

  If he had said anything to shock his audience, it was not apparent, all eyes were on him, giving him their undivided attention, and he felt uneasy at the deference shown.

  ‘Why we have been sent to this desolate place, I can only guess at. Maybe it was all they could find, or perhaps their thinking was that we would be so preoccupied with survival we wouldn’t have the time or inclination to try to do anything about it. One thing is for sure, all our minds have been tampered with, such that we can’t recall anything from the time before our arrival. I, and a few others are fortunate, or unfortunate, depending upon your view point, in that a little of our past is leaking through the barrier they have created, and our memories are returning, bit by bit. The more we try to remember, the better it gets, so don’t be afraid to try to recall the past, it could help in our survival.

  ‘I suspect that Nan’s theory about the Great Lights may be implanted, just to cause confusion, so please don’t blame him totally for his ideas, I’m sure he meant well. Do you have any questions?’

  After a very long silent pause, someone hesitantly asked,

  ‘Where is this place, I mean, what is this place?’

  Sandy took a deep breath, marshalling his racing thoughts,

  ‘It’s the crater of a vast volcano, far bigger than any I have ever heard of, so I assume it must be on another world to the one I came from. Why it is filled with sand, I don’t know, that too is something I’ve never heard of before. I think there is a way out of this hell hole, and that is what Ben and I have been trying to find out. If we can find a means of escape to a better place, you will all be given the chance to join us.

  ‘From the things we have found out so far, I think this place has been modified to accommodate us, like a prison.’

  Comprehension could be seen dawning on several faces as they digested what Sandy had just said, adding it to what some of them had worked out for themselves.

  ‘What I find most astonishing,’ Sandy continued, ‘is the high level of population in the crater. If the whole rim is as densely populated as the area around this part, and we have no reason to suppose otherwise, then it amounts to a very large number of people, and if that is the case, then the probability of this being a prison complex of some sort, is reinforced to the degree of almost being a certainty.

  ‘This raises another point, they, whoever they are, will have made it very difficult for us to get away from here, so don’t expect to escape immediately, it will take time to find an escape route, and probably longer to find somewhere to go to. If you have no further questions, I suggest we finish our meal. You are all welcome to come to me at any time if you have questions, and I will keep you informed of our progress.’ Sandy sat down, to a round of applause, which made him feel even more uncomfortable.

  Mop came to the rescue with a bowl of hot stew, the aroma from which reminded him of how hungry he was.

  ‘Ben, perhaps you could find someone who would be suited to looking after Nan, we can’t just leave him to his own devices. The poor old sod’s cracked up at last, and we owe him at least that.’ Ben agreed to attend to it right after the meal, as Nan was now tucking into his food as if nothing had happened.

  ‘What’s next on the agenda?’ asked a bloated Ben, who had cajoled Mop into giving him a generous second helping.

  ‘I think the tunnel in your storeroom, the one we found today won’t get us anywhere, as interesting as it is.’ Sandy was more concerned with a good night’s sleep after his meal.

  Word about the group’s new found fame must have spread around the crater faster than the proverbial bush fire, for by next morning they had received three requests for flame-throwers, five for new clothes, and Mop had two suitors from a neighbouring group who could not even speak her language.

  This caused a great deal of amusement to those present, as the overtures had to be passed to her by way of an interpreter, who found the whole thing a great embarrassment.

  She declined the offer as gracefully as she could, being quite content with her relationship with Sandy, although it was a little one-sided.

  The rejected suitors were astonished at her rejection, as within their group they were considered to be the most desirable of men, despite their ragged clothing and the accomp
anying aroma of unwashed bodies.

  Nan seemed his old self again, much to everyone's amazement. He went about the complex issuing orders which no one took any real notice of, but what was more surprising, he seemed oblivious to the lack of compliance.

  Once the morning meal was over, Sandy and Ben went down to the storeroom to continue their exploration of the tunnel they had discovered in one corner of the cave.

  Ben had enlarged the entrance a little, so that they were able to enter the passage with ease, and now they had the oil lamps, further penetration of the upward sloping tunnel could be attempted.

  They had left word with Mop of their intentions, just in case anything went wrong, being mindful of the upset caused on the previous day by not doing so.

  With the lamps refuelled, a spare container of oil, one of water, and some strips of dried meat, they were ready.

  On their last exploration of the tunnel, they had only been able to go up the slope for a few metres, as the light from the gas lamp in the cave soon faded out. Now they could clearly see the surface of the walls, and both agreed it was a natural tunnel, caused by the flow of molten lava.

  Some twenty metres in, and the tunnel began to shrink in size, causing them to bow their heads, and then the surface texture changed.

  ‘Look at that,’ Sandy said, pointing to obvious tool marks on the wall, ‘someone has enlarged this section, so there must be something of interest here to go to all that trouble.’

  Their enthusiasm was soon dashed, when they were faced by a blank wall a few metres ahead.

  ‘It can’t be completely blocked off,’ Ben ventured, ‘otherwise there wouldn’t be that faint draft we noticed earlier, so the air’s getting through somewhere.’ They searched for the suspected hole, but found only solid rock.

  ‘This whole thing is artificial,’ Sandy announced confidently, ‘it looks as if a wall has been built across the tunnel, and the surface of the blocks fused to make them look like natural rock. We should be able to break through.’

  They had to return to the storeroom to retrieve a metal bar and something to hit it with, and it was two days later before they managed to break through the barrier completely.

  It took them only a short time to find a weak spot in the wall, the metal bar suddenly going through into free air, and as this indicated the continuance of the passage, it supplied the necessary encouragement to drive them on.

  Sandy later admitted, if they had not made the early break- through, he would probably have given up after the first day, as the wall was so difficult to break into, appearing to be solid rock, and therefore the natural end of the tunnel.

  It took a little time to distribute the rubble evenly along the tunnel, as the blockage had been thicker than they expected and there was little room to spare in this cut section of the tunnel anyway.

  At the evening meal, they casually announced that a new passage had been found, and was in the process of being cleared. No one seemed particularly interested in the discovery at the time, and they hoped they would be left on their own to continue the exploration.

  Having cleared the blockage, the passage continued on in a straight line for some distance, gradually rising, and then gently curving away to the left and levelling out.

  The pair trudged on for some time, and Ben had just announced that it was getting a bit boring when a split appeared up ahead. One branch turned sharply to the left and went downwards, the other continuing straight ahead.

  ‘Let’s go ahead,’ Sandy suggested, ‘and if we find nothing of interest, we’ll come back and try the other one.’ Ben agreed, and they continued, the tunnel now having widened considerably, giving them room to walk side by side.

  As they strode along, looking for any abnormalities in the passage walls, they talked about Nan, and the strange attitude he had adopted once Sandy began showing an interest in the complex, Ben pointing out that it had all happened only when Sandy had appeared on the scene.

  So engrossed were they in their conversation, they failed to notice the patch of light ahead of them.

  ‘Stop,’ Sandy whispered, placing a restraining hand on Ben's arm, ‘there’s something glowing up there.’

  ‘It’s not like our lights, it’s too white.’ Ben said softly, and Sandy could feel the tension grow in Ben’s arm as his imagination ran riot.

  ‘It’s not moving, so perhaps it’s not a lamp like ours,’ Sandy added, trying to remain calm, ‘let’s go on a bit further, carefully.’

  Another twenty metres and it became obvious that it was the wall of the tunnel which was awash with light, a slight bend obscuring the source.

  ‘I think we’ve reached the other side of the rim,’ Sandy announced, relief clearly sounding in his voice, ‘it looks like sunlight, it’s far too bright for a lamp.’

  Slowly the pair rounded the bend, and had to shield their eyes against the brilliant glare which confronted them.

  The tunnel opened out onto a wide ledge, and ahead was the open sky, the harsh glare of the naked sun had warmed the rock, and they could feel the radiated heat washing over them as they squinted their eyes, trying to get used to the sudden increase in light level.

  The ledge protruded from the side of the volcanoes outer wall like a huge lip, giving the pair a good view of the surrounding rock walls, and the towering cliffs above them.

  ‘Why aren’t we being burnt by the sun?’ asked Ben, hesitant to go too far out onto the ledge. ‘By now it would be lethal in the crater.’

  ‘If you look up, you’ll see the rim of the crater shields us from the direct sunlight, otherwise we’d be cooked.’

  As their eyes got used to the unaccustomed glare of pure sunlight, they looked down, and were in for another shock.

  ‘Good God, what’s that?’ exclaimed Ben, looking down over the ledge to a great sea of white mist.

  ‘Those are clouds, which makes me wonder just how high up we are.’ answered Sandy, awe struck at the magnificent sight of the cloud covered world below them, the occasional rocky up-thrust looking like black fingers pointing skywards.

  ‘What do you think is down there,’ asked Ben, ‘beneath all that cloud?’

  ‘Don’t know for sure, but it could be a world like the one I can remember bits of sometimes. You know the plants Bell grows? I get a hazy memory of plants like that, only much, much bigger, and covering the ground for as far as you can see. There are things called trees, which grow up to a height of twenty metres or more, and some of them have fruit on them, like the berry bushes Bell grows.’ Sandy looked wistful, recalling shadowy fragments of a better life from long ago, but unable to hold the pictures long enough for them to become real.

  ‘Do you think it might be worth trying to get down there,’ asked Ben, ‘and if so, how? There’s no track leading off this ledge, and it’s a hell of a long way down just to the clouds, so I doubt we’d be able to climb down.’

  ‘I think the only way down to real ground level is through the tunnels within the volcano. If we can’t make it that way, I doubt we’ll ever get there, we’re just too high up.’ Sandy sounded disappointed that the opening into the world he suspected of being there only gave a frustrating glimpse of what might be, and certainly no easy access. ‘We’d best get back and try the other tunnel, at least it’s going downwards.’

  They refilled their oil lamps, took a drink of water, and when their eyes had got used to the gloom of the tunnel, made their way back to the junction they had passed earlier.

  ‘We’ll go down for a while, just to see what’s there, and if it looks promising, we’ll return again tomorrow for a full exploration.’ Sandy announced.

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ Ben answered cheerfully, ‘we’ll need a lot of supplies if we are going right down to the bottom, that’s if it goes that far.’

  The slope down was quite gentle to begin with, and then it steepened considerably, the tunnel walls glistened in the flickering lamp light, indicating that it was a natural passage formed by lava flow, long ag
o. Every so often, there were cut marks, evidence that the natural tunnel had narrowed, and had then been enlarged to accommodate whatever it was that had needed to travel this way.

  Going downwards was relatively easy, and the pair quickly covered a considerable amount of ground. Realizing that it would be a long haul back up to the junction, Sandy called a halt to their exploration, suggesting they return to base, and perhaps put together a team for the next day.

  As it might take a long time to reach the bottom and return, a considerable amount of provisions would need to be taken, Ben reasoned that once half the supplies had been consumed, they would have to turn back if they didn’t want to die from dehydration or exhaustion.

  It was a very tired couple of travellers who finally stumbled into the main cavern, just before Mop came bouncing in with her latest offering for the evening meal. What surprised them was the amount of time which had passed since they had set out that morning.

  Everyone wanted to know what had happened, until someone said, ‘Let 'em eat first, for God’s sake!’

  Nan, sat at the table staring straight ahead with a bemused look on his face, his eyes completely out of focus. A minder had been appointed to attend to his daily needs, as he seemed incapable of doing anything for himself now, which included feeding him at meal times.

  Once the meal was over, and Mop’s cooking pot had been emptied, everyone looked at Sandy and Ben expectantly, none daring to ask after the initial rebuke.

  Sandy arose to his feet, and total silence fell on the cavern, except for a muted burp, the originator receiving several dirty looks from those near him.

  ‘We have found a way out to the other side of the crater rim, which proves that another world awaits us, if we can get down to it, that is. The tunnel we explored comes out higher up than we are now, and we looked down on clouds, which means the actual land itself must be much lower. Another tunnel leads downwards, and we followed it for quite some way, but not far enough to reach the bottom. We think it might take us to this new land, but we can’t be certain, so we’ll try again tomorrow. This might take several days, so don’t get worried if we don’t return for a while.’