The Next World

by Gerry Griffiths

“Don’t worry, Lucy, I’ll take good care of you,” Ally promised, putting her arm around Lucy’s thick neck and giving the baby rhino an affectionate squeeze.

  “Believe me, you will have your hands full,” Dayo said.

  10

  While his stepfather and mother went back to their cottage to freshen up and change, Ryan took Dillon over to the dining room for something to eat. When they walked inside, Ryan was expecting a formal setting with linen tablecloths, not picnic tables with attached benches. It looked more like a military mess hall.

  The kitchen was just on the other side of a serving counter. He could see skillets and pans hanging from hooks and heavy cast-iron pots on a low shelf. A large surface for frying food was next to a six-burner stovetop, along with two ovens. The room smelled of spices and fried grease.

  A young woman with red hair pulled back in a braid stood behind the counter. Her back was turned, and she hadn’t heard Ryan and Dillon come in.

  “Excuse me,” Ryan said.

  The woman turned and smiled. “Oh, hello there.”

  “Could we get a couple sandwiches?”

  “I’m sure you can,” she replied and turned back to what she was doing.

  “Let’s go have a seat,” Ryan said to Dillon. They sat down at the closest table and slid their legs over the bench. “What do you want?”

  “A corndog.”

  “I doubt if they have those. How about a meat and cheese sandwich? I’m sure they’ve got that.”

  “No meat. Cheese,” Dillon said.

  “All right.” Ryan looked up to place their order but the woman was no longer behind the counter.

  She had come around and was sitting at one of the tables. She had prepared herself a steaming bowl of stew, along with a plate of bread. She dipped in her spoon and took a sip of broth.

  “Ah, excuse me?” Ryan called over.

  The woman looked up from her bowl. “Yes?”

  “We’re ready to order.”

  “That’s nice,” she replied and went back to eating her meal.

  Dillon looked up at Ryan. “She’s rude.”

  “I’ll say.”

  The woman must have overheard their exchange because she glanced over. “Just so you know, I don’t work here. I’m a guest. Just like yourselves.”

  “So what are you doing in the kitchen?”

  “Dr. Tomie lets everyone pretty much help themselves. I guess she never told you.”

  “No, she didn’t,” Ryan said.

  The woman slid off her bench and came over to Ryan and Dillon’s table. “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I’m Celeste Starr.” She held out her hand. Ryan shook her hand and introduced himself and Dillon.

  “That’s a cool name,” Dillon said. “Are you an astronomer?”

  “Dillon’s just trying to be funny,” Ryan apologized for his little brother.

  “Actually, I am.”

  “Seriously?”

  “I don’t know what my parents were thinking. Strange how things happen.”

  “So, you’re on vacation?” Ryan asked.

  “No, I’m here for the meteor shower.”

  “What, from outer space?” Dillon asked.

  “That’s right. It’s a project I’ve been working on. I don’t know if you heard about it on the news, but each year for the past three years, Earth’s been passing through an asteroid belt. Many scientists believe that the debris originated from Mercury. Right now, we’re orbiting through it again. And if my calculations are correct, a meteorite should land near here. Then I can hopefully get a sample and prove their theory.”

  “Can we eat now?” Dillon asked impatiently.

  “Dillon has a short attention span when he’s hungry.”

  “Here, let me show you around the kitchen,” Celeste said. “There’s actually some more stew if you’re interested. It’s a little spicy but it’s good.”

  “Is there any cheese? Dillon wanted a cheese sandwich.”

  “Hope he likes goat cheese.”

  11

  Dr. Tomie pulled the truck into the yard and Gatura closed the gate. He went around to the back of the truck.

  “What do we have here?” he said, once he saw Ally and Dayo sitting with the baby rhino.

  “Poachers killed her mother,” Dayo said.

  The baby rhino made a loud mmwonk sound.

  “Is she okay?” Ally asked.

  “Even though she’s lost her mother, she’s happy you are her new one,” Dayo said.

  “Let me help you get her down,” Gatura said. They were able to lift the heavy animal to the ground without startling her. Sensing her freedom, the baby rhino immediately ran around in circles then fell over in her excitement.

  Ally rushed over. “I don’t think she’s too sure on her feet.”

  Lucy pushed herself off the ground with her thick legs.

  Dr. Tomie walked over to the rear door of the clinic. She opened the door and stepped aside as Ryan and Dillon came out, and then she went inside.

  As soon as Dillon saw Lucy, he yelled excitedly and ran over. “Is that a rhinoceros?”

  “Sure is,” Ally said.

  “But it’s so small.”

  “That’s because it’s a baby. Her name is Lucy.”

  “Can I play with her?”

  “Well, first, I think she might be hungry.”

  “I had a crummy cheese sandwich. It was yuck.”

  Dayo had ducked into the building and returned with a large baby bottle from a stock of formula that Dr. Tomie used to wean other orphans.

  She walked over to Ally. “Try her with this.”

  Ally took the bottle and offered the nipple to Lucy. The baby rhino took to the formula right away and began suckling. In a few minutes, the bottle was empty. “How much milk will she need?” Ally asked Dayo.

  “About a gallon.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “That’s a gallon, five times a day,” Dayo said.

  “Oh my.”

  “Not to mention baths.”

  “You mean I’m going to have to get her into a bathtub?” Ally asked.

  “No. Gatura will show you.”

  Gatura opened the gate on a stall and motioned for Ally to guide Lucy into the enclosure while Ryan and Dillon stood outside and watched. Once the animal was inside, Gatura closed the gate. He picked up a short length of hose that was attached to a faucet and turned on the water.

  But instead of spraying Lucy, he just let the water puddle on the dirt into mud. After a moment, he turned off the water.

  “Now she is ready for her bath.”

  “You mean... mud bath?”

  “It will protect her from the sun and keep away the bugs.”

  Lucy didn’t need any coaxing. She stepped into the middle of the puddle, lay down, and wallowed in the mud.

  “And it will cool her down,” Dayo said. “Be sure to get it all over her body.”

  “I’m doing it?”

  “That’s right.”

  Ally looked over at Dillon. “Want to give me a hand?”

  “Sure,” her little brother replied.

  Ally reached down, picked up a handful of mud, and began slathering it onto Lucy’s thick hide. Gatura opened the gate and let Dillon in. The boy grabbed a bunch of mud and spread it on the baby rhino.

  Soon, Ryan couldn’t help but start laughing. Then Gatura and Dayo joined in.

  They couldn’t tell who was covered in mud more: Lucy, or Ally and Dillon.

  12

  Isoba stopped the truck and climbed out of the cab. He walked ahead for a few paces and studied the tire tracks on the ground. In between the tread markings was a large rock that was chipped and covered with a black fluid. Isoba smiled when he saw the steady trail of oil leading away.

  He looked over his shoulder and yelled, “We are in luck. They hit the oil pan.”

  Adanna got out of the truck and opened the rear passenger door so Samson could jump out. She went over to her father and stare
d at the rutted ground.

  “They are following a small elephant herd,” Isoba said.

  She saw the line of oil. “Nice, they should show us the way.”

  Isoba looked at the horizon to the west and saw the sweltering sun dissolving behind a distant mountain ridge. “It will be dark soon.”

  “They will be easy to track.”

  “True, but there is a greater chance of an ambush. We will have to be careful,” Isoba said then stood and looked around when he heard Samson barking.

  “He’s over by those trees,” Adanna said.

  Isoba and Adanna walked past the truck and over to a stand of acacia trees at the base of a hillock.

  Samson was standing in front of a round boulder that stood over ten feet high. His head was down and his hackles were up and he was growling.

  “There must be something behind that...” Isoba stopped when he saw the giant boulder move in their direction.

  Samson kept snarling.

  “That’s not a rock. It’s a giant dung ball,” Adanna said, once the smell hit her.

  Isoba reached down and grabbed Samson’s collar to pull him back.

  They moved out of the path of the revolving sphere of excrement and went behind a tree trunk to watch. Isoba knelt and held Samson tight against his body to quiet the agitated dog.

  “That cannot be real,” Adanna said as the behemoth globe rolled slowly by.

  A giant dung beetle—the size of a Volkswagen—was pushing it along. The scarab was walking upside down on its front legs, shoving and spinning the dung ball with its four other legs.

  Dung beetles, normally only an inch long, played a critical role burying and consuming animal waste, which improved the soil and reduced flies. A one-inch long dung beetle was capable of rolling a dung ball ten times its own weight.

  This gigantic dung ball had to easily weigh a ton.

  Isoba waited until the enormous dung beetle was far enough away before easing up on Samson’s collar but still holding tight so the dog would not bolt after the giant insect.

  “How is that possible?” Adanna asked her father.

  “I don’t know.” He looked at the ground and spotted another dung beetle, but it was tiny, pushing a dung ball the size of a grape into a burrow. “Look, there’s another one, but it is normal.”

  “I don’t understand,” Adanna said. “How did the other one get so big?”

  “I have no idea,” Isoba told his daughter. “We should go.”

  By the time they returned to the truck, the sun was already behind the mountains.

  Isoba let Samson jump up front, and Adanna got behind the wheel. She started the engine, turned on the headlights, and the spotlights mounted on the roof of the cab.

  Isoba climbed up onto the truck bed and aimed his rifle over the roof. Soon they would catch up to the poachers and pay them back for what they had done.

  13

  Frank and Wanda sat out on the deck chairs and watched the sunset. The view of the savanna was breathtaking as the landscape turned burnt orange and the bruising sky darkened the surface on the small lake just down the hill. As darkness approached, they could hear the distant roaring of lions, which seemed to carry for miles.

  Ryan had recommended they try a spicy stew from the kitchen that was already made up. It proved to be a hearty meal with generous strips of guinea hen, tomatoes, and bell peppers floating in a thick, savory broth.

  Frank had opened the complimentary bottle of wine that Dr. Tomie had left in their room. He took a sip and placed his glass on the little table between him and Wanda.

  “So, how was your first day?” Frank asked.

  “Didn’t do much,” Wanda replied and drank some of her wine.

  “It’s called relaxing.”

  “Oh, is that what it’s called. I think poor Ally could use some of that. Did you see her and Dillon?”

  “They were quite the pair,” Frank smiled. “Taking care of Lucy is going to turn out to be quite the chore.”

  “I’ll say. It’s not even nine o’clock and I think she already turned in.”

  “Hey, Mom, can we join you?”

  Wanda turned around in her chair and saw Ryan walking across the deck with a young woman.

  “Well, hello.”

  “This is Celeste Starr,” Ryan said, making the introduction. “She’s also a guest here.”

  “Would you care for some wine?”

  “No, thanks,” Celeste said. She stood and looked up into the night sky.

  “Please, sit down,” Wanda said, waving her hand at two vacant lounge chairs.

  “So are you a friend of Dr. Tomie?” Frank asked.

  “No, not exactly,” Celeste said. “I sent her an email asking if she didn’t mind if I came out and stayed at her reserve so I could conduct my research.”

  “And what kind of research is that?”

  “Celeste came here to watch a meteor shower,” Ryan said.

  “That’s right,” Celeste confirmed. “Tonight should be quite a show.”

  “So you’re an astronomer?” Frank asked.

  “That’s correct.”

  “So why come to Africa? Couldn’t you have seen this better from an observatory?”

  “Actually, I’m here because I have it on good authority that some of the meteorites might have landed here on the reserve.”

  “That’s a lot of area to cover,” Wanda said.

  “I know, but it beats traipsing through the jungle.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There have been similar meteor showers over the Amazon region”

  “Hey, look, there’s one now,” Ryan said, pointing up at the green flash streaking across the night sky.

  “There’s another one,” Wanda said.

  “Jesus, will you look at that,” Frank said.

  A multitude of meteors trail across the black canvas like emerald tracer bullets. The show lasted for a good two minutes before it stopped.

  “So how many was that?” Wanda asked. “Was anyone keeping count?”

  “I was,” Celeste said. “Twenty-seven.”

  14

  Isoba was worried if they traveled throughout the night they would become too exhausted and decided Adanna and he should sleep in the truck. They awoke two hours before sunrise to continue their search. Adanna was driving when Isoba pounded on the roof. Adanna stopped the truck. She stuck her head out the window. “What is it?”

  “Shut off the engine and turn out the lights.”

  Adanna turned off the ignition, the headlamps, and auxiliary lights. A green striate of light reflected off the windshield. “What was that?” she called out to her father.

  “A shooting star, I think.” He looked up and saw more flashes, glinting through the night sky. He heard a loud whoosh and ducked as a green fiery ball flew over the truck and sped off into the darkness. A few seconds later, he heard an impact, and saw a brief burst of emerald light in the distance.

  Samson started barking and Adanna told him to be quiet.

  Isoba looked up expecting to see more of the strange fireballs but instead he saw only the white pinpricks of the glimmering stars.

  He pounded the roof and Adanna started up the truck. The headlamps came on and illuminated the stretch up ahead. Adanna put the transmission into gear and the vehicle moved forward.

  They hadn’t gone far when they came upon the poachers’ abandoned truck. The doors had been left wide open. A tarpaulin covered a portion of the wood-railed flatbed.

  Stopping, Adanna reached out and snapped on the searchlight mounted on the driver’s door. She swiveled the lamp, casting a broad beam over the truck, then the nearby terrain.

  Isoba saw something big and black dart out from behind a tall bush and skitter behind a dirt mound. It was the size of a Cape buffalo but moved too fast to be a bovine.

  “Careful,” Isoba called down to his daughter. “This may be a trap.”

  That’s when the tarp flung back and three men began f
iring their rifles. Bullets pocked the windshield and Adanna slid down on the bench seat, pushing Samson down onto the floorboard.

  Keeping her head down, Adanna reached out and swung the spotlight back at the attackers’ truck, blinding the poachers.

  Isoba took quick aim and picked each man off with his high-power rifle until they were lying in a lifeless heap.

  Four more men stepped out from behind the bushes and began shooting. They wasted no time and rushed the truck.

  Isoba had only one cartridge left in the chamber. With Adanna pinned down in the cab, he knew their chances of getting out alive were slim to none. He readied himself and took aim on the closest man.

  Suddenly, the man stopped and screamed, dropping his gun and clutching his face. The other men screamed as well and dropped to their knees. They rolled on the ground into the beam of the spotlight.

  Isoba could see the skin bubbling off of their faces and hands as they continued to wail in pain.

  And then the creatures came into the light. There were three of them. They had red heads and legs, and their black bodies were massive.

  Isoba couldn’t believe his eyes.

  They were giant bombardier beetles, the size of cows.

  Steady streams of scalding liquid jetted from their anuses, dousing the four men withering on the ground. Steam rose off their bodies.

  Isoba was relieved when the monstrous insects scampered away.

  Another man who had been hiding in the front of the poachers’ truck jumped out of the passenger side. He took one good look at the other unfortunate men and started running toward Isoba’s vehicle.

  Isoba vaulted down and clobbered the man, knocking him to the ground. Kneeling over the felled man, Isoba recognized him immediately with a thrill of triumph.

  It was Duna.

  Finally, they had the vile boss man that had been leading the slaughter of animals on the reserve. Before the man could speak, Isoba knocked him out with the butt of his rifle. He hoisted the man on his shoulder and tossed him onto the back of the truck. He climbed up and thumped the roof of the cab.

  “Get us out of here.”

  Adanna backed up the truck, turned around, and they headed off into the darkness.