The Return

Book Four, the Darwin’s World Series

By Jack L Knapp

COPYRIGHT

 

The Return: Book Four, the Darwin’s World Series

Copyright © 2016, renewed 2023 by Jack L Knapp

Cover by Mia Darien

 

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited.

Disclaimer: The persons and events depicted in this novel were created by the author’s imagination; no resemblance to actual persons or events is intended.

Product names, brands, and other trademarks referred to within this book are the property of the respective trademark holders. Unless otherwise specified, no association between the author and any trademark holder is expressed or implied. Nor does the use of such trademarks indicate an endorsement of the products, trademarks, or trademark holders unless so stated. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark, registered trademark, or service mark.

 

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-seven

By the Author:

 

Prologue

Prime’s civilization is dying; despite the possibility of very long life spans, people still die and few children are born to replace them. Most of Prime’s citizens don’t care. A few who do understand what’s happening began looking for a solution, desperate to find one before it’s too late.

This group, known as the Futurists, have come to understand that life on Prime is too easy. There are no challenges; the most common cause of death is self-termination because of boredom. People have lost their curiosity and the desire to explore, and eventually they lose even the will to live. Hoping to re-instill these qualities in Earth Prime’s dying civilization, the Futurists decide to transfer ancestral humans to a new Earth located on a different temporal dimension. Later on, they will import the children of the transplants to Prime. They hope that the offspring of people who have demonstrated in intense desire to live can infuse Prime’s society with long-vanished survival traits.

Such is the plan. The Futurists begin selecting people from the past, hoping the candidates can not only survive on the cross-dimension Pleistocene Earth but can also integrate later into the highly-evolved civilization on Prime. They are brought to Earth Prime by the computer network called Central, whose designers have included a primary command in the device’s original programming to preserve human life on Prime.

The Futurists also understand the dangers of interfering in their own past; for this reason, they select only people in the end stages of life for transplanting. Highly-advanced medicine, controlled by Central, reverses the effects of aging and disease on the candidate. In effect, this provides the transplants with a body that is similar to but an improvement over the one they had in their late teens. The Futurists also augment the transplants’ memories with a basic skill set to help them adapt to conditions on the new, primitive world they will soon be being sent to.

The final act is to transplant the person on Pleistocene Earth, to live or die as best he or she can. The survivors will have demonstrated the qualities the Futurists seek; their descendants are the last hope of humanity. Matt is one of the transplants. Only the fit, the determined, and the lucky can live long enough to produce children on the place he names Darwin’s World.

The survivors adapt and begin to form associations, familial, tribal and village. Matt becomes the leader of a tribe that eventually builds the village they call “Home”. These events are the subject of previous books in this series, Darwin’s World, The Trek: Darwin’s World II: and Home: Darwin’s World III.

Matt and his consort Lilia now have a family. At this point, he is contacted by the man he has known only as ‘Futurist. Prime’s need is urgent; Matt accepts a new task, to search Darwin (as that world is now known) for children who can be transplanted immediately to Prime.

Bear, born on Darwin, was one of those children and is now a teenager. Educated on Prime, he still retains the survival skills he learned growing up on Darwin. He intends to return there as soon as his education is complete.

Realizing their plan isn’t working, the desperate Futurists decide to send two of their few children to Darwin. Bear agrees to train them on Prime, then accompany them to Darwin where they will undertake a journey that will test their will to survive.

And so we come to The Return: Darwin’s World, Book Four.

Chapter One

<Communication, Mesk. Accept?>

Bear was surprised by the contact. He’d met Mesk once, soon after his arrival on Prime, and had soon moved on to other interests and activities. “Acknowledged. Put it through.”

<Mesk sends. ‘I request a meeting in corpora.’>

“Send. ‘A virtual meet won’t do, Mesk? I’m scheduled for a memory implant this morning, and an exercise session after that.’”

<Message received. Mesk sends. ‘No. The threat is immediate, and Matt suggested I speak with you.’>

“Send. ‘Can you come here?’”

<Received. Reply, ‘My lab is best. Can you come when your memory implant is complete?’>

“Send. ‘Agreed. Exercise can wait. Expect me in two hours.’” Bear was thoughtful after the call. Virtual meets were almost the same as an in-corpora meet, which made the request unusual. But Mesk said he’d spoken to Matt, so the emergency had something to do with what he was doing. That, in turn, meant it had to do with the suicides. Possibly Matt’s attempts to find second-generation candidates for integration into Prime’s society were not going as well as he and Mesk had hoped.

At the thought, Central obligingly furnished statistics, complete to the current minute. Bear found it annoying, but Central’s input was helpful most of the time. In any case, continuous access was part of the implanted chip, so the messages could not be turned off.

Mesk circulated, pausing long enough to speak to the children. They were now able to converse in the common speech, though they were not yet familiar with Prime or the linked computer system called Central. That would come after they received their own interface chips. They could also begin receiving memory implants. It all took time, and unfortunately, most opted to return to Darwin’s World. Few produced children, so Prime’s population decline continued. The Futurists’ attempts had failed, but with no other option, Mesk and his colleagues continued to try.

***

The recently-arrived children kept Mesk busy until Central announced Bear’s arrival. A subvocal command opened the door and Bear joined the small group. Interesting, mused Mesk. They are as cautious with Bear as they are with me. Looking at the children, Mesk became aware of differences in color and body morphology. Perhaps that was why they were wary; Bear, despite being born on Darwin’s World, was as strange to them as Mesk himself.

“You implied this was urgent.” Bear was direct, never wasting more time than necessary.

“I did,” Mesk confirmed. “I spoke to Matt when he brought this latest group. We discussed an option I had not considered and he suggested I speak to you, since you were one of the first to come here from Darwin’s World.”

“Yes. I expect to return as soon as the implanted memories are fully integrated.”

“Matt mentioned that,” Mesk said. “It is unfortunate.”

“Mesk, I don’t like it here! It’s not home, it’s too over-protected, there’s no zest for life. I’m grateful for the education, but I intend to live on my home world. There’s much to do there and almost nothing here.”

“Possibly you could find something of interest,” Mesk suggested. “Have you considered exploring space? We visited some of the planets, but not all. That is one option. More timelines also await exploration, and you would be well suited for that. You have the curiosity that our people lack.”

Bear’s face showed brief annoyance; Central had again been too obliging, the flood of information briefly occupying his attention.

“Is something wrong, Bear? Have I offended you?”

“No, it’s Central. How can you stand the constant interruptions? I like being able to ask for answers, but the suggestions that Central adds, the ones it thinks I might also be interested in, are annoying. I don’t understand why you tolerate this! It’s a huge distraction!”

“Central has always been there. I rarely think of it unless something attracts my attention. Others have the same difficulties you mention,” Mesk admitted.

“I prefer to do my own thinking, not have Central take over! If I could turn that feature off, I would.”

“It is integral to your chip, Bear. It cannot be suppressed unless we remove the chip.”

“Who designed that chip...never mind. Central just answered. It designed the interface itself!”

“Of course. No one on Prime cared to. Central made itself, in a sense. An earlier network designed the current system, although with considerable human oversight, but that’s no longer necessary. Central messages everyone when an update is required, but no one objects and anyway, it rarely happens.”

“Well, I object! But I won’t be here much longer, so I don’t suppose it matters. There is no Central on Darwin’s World, so all the chip implant will do is manage internal memory. That’s useful, so it’s worth keeping the chip even without the computer connection. But that’s not why you called me, is it?”

“No, Matt made a suggestion. We hoped that more of you would choose to remain on Prime, especially those who received the level of education that you have, but this has not happened. Matt suggested that instead of relying on people like you, we send our youngsters to Darwin’s World. After a time, they would return to Prime to introduce the qualities they acquired while away. He thought you might escort them while they were on Darwin’s World.”

“Watch over someone from Prime on Darwin? Impossible! You yourself rejected that option. I have met a few of your people, and there’s no way they can survive on Darwin. They’re soft, they’ve never known fear...no, this will never work.”

“I thought the same. But Matt suggested a way...

***

Ros and Mak were about his own age. Bear was about seventeen years old now, so by risking two of Prime’s few teenagers Mesk was taking a desperate gamble.

Bear glowered at the two. “I am not your friend. I am your trainer and your leader, but I won’t be your friend until you have lived on my home world. You may stay with me today or go, but if you remain you will follow my instructions. Do you understand?”

Mak glanced at Ros, then back at Bear. Both nodded their acceptance.

“Why did you accept this idea?” Bear asked. “How did Mesk convince you to put yourself in danger? More than that, you will face hardships such as you’ve never experienced! You’ve been pampered all your lives. Why would you leave that behind?”

Ros answered for both. “Mesk showed us our future. Soon our people will be gone, and Prime will be left with nothing but abandoned buildings. In time those will also be gone. All that we’ve built, a society without want or fear, a place where learning is easy and communication instant, all will vanish. Mak and I will go the way of the others, choosing at some point to self-terminate when we lose our desire to live. Mesk is one of the few attempting to reverse this, and perhaps we will join them when we return. I believed the things he told us and agreed to make the attempt. With your help, I may survive. Risk all, for those who came before, who might come after me? I may fail, but I will try.”

“Mak, anything to add?” Bear asked.

“No, we met with Mesk, in corpora!” Mak shook his head in wonder. “That was the first such meeting in more than a year! I found it very unsettling.”

“You had not met with another human in more than a year?” Bear’s voice revealed his astonishment.

“It is the same for me, Bear,” Ros said. “I also felt anxiety, but Central helped me control the feeling.”

“Central will also help you get through the training program,” Bear acknowledged, “but you won’t have that advantage on my world. No more messages, no instant virtual meetings. On Darwin, Central would get you killed.”

Ros flinched. “No more contact with Central? Mesk did not tell me that!”

“You must get information from what’s around you, Ros,” Bear said. “If you don’t see that tiny motion or hear the faint rustle in the leaves, you won’t notice the lion that’s waiting to kill you. Inattention will get you killed, maybe Mak and me too. I will depend on you as much as you’re going to depend on me.”

“I...I’m not sure I can do this,” Ros faltered. “Perhaps we should message Mesk.”

“No!” Bear snapped. “No more messages, not to anyone! Decide for yourself! Ignore Central, because you won’t have Central on Darwin’s World, and you can’t message anyone!”

“But what if my friends message me?” Ros asked, confused.

“Respond, Ros, but tell them not to call again. Mesk has arranged a place for us to live, so you won’t be returning home. Unless, of course, you decide to quit. I won’t be surprised if you do. What about it, Mak, ready to quit?”

“No! You said you would train us. You will still do this?”

“I’ll train the two of you, and myself too. I’ve gotten too soft, and I’m not alert enough. I would need to stay in my home village for at least a few days, maybe a few weeks, before I could safely go outside the wall.”

“What of this training? What must we do?”

“You’ll start by getting new memory implants, and you’ll integrate those while you’re exercising. You’ll need stronger muscles and a lot of stamina.”

“But we already have memories! They are implanted as part of our basic education as citizens of Prime.”

“Wrong memories, Mak. Don’t worry, some of them will fade during the next few months.”

“Months? It takes months just to prepare?” Ros looked disbelievingly at Bear.”

“That may not be enough time, but it’s all you’ll get, at least here. Your final preparation will happen after we reach Home.”

***

“This is where we must live? It’s small!”

“It’s all you’ll get, Ros. We’ll be living here while we train. I may not be available all of the time, because I also have memory implants coming up and I’ll need to be alone while I integrate them. You may need to do the same, but other than that this is your temporary home.”

“But it’s so small! Only one bedroom for three of us, and I must share a bathroom?”

“Correct! Strip, both of you.” Bear slid his fingers down the seam, releasing the static charge that held his upper garment closed.

“Take off my clothes? But she is...female!”

“I suspected as much. You’ll see a lot more skin when we reach Home, so get used to it now. We don’t have the same clothing you do and anyway, who needs clothes in the summer? Your workout suit is on your bed, so put it on. You’ll work out in deerskins later on, because that’s what you’ll be wearing when we’re transported.”

“You are joking, are you not? You expect me to put the skin of an animal on mine? I have never even seen an animal, not a live one I mean. I do enjoy looking at the pictures, though. Central has an excellent selection of virtual programs.”

“Not joking, and you’ve given me an idea.” <Central, private link, protected memory.>

The chip implanted in his head could be very useful Bear realized.

***

Bear examined the two as they changed. He hid his mirth when he caught them sneaking glances at each other. Apparently they were too cowed to watch him while he changed. “Bathroom call if you need to, otherwise into the exercise facility! We’ll start easy, some stretches and a short walk.”

Mak perked up. “I frequently do stretches. Central reminds me to exercise and I have walked many times. I frequently walk as much as a kilometer. I swim too.”

“Any calisthenics, Mister Athlete?” Bear asked, not impressed by what he saw.

“I don’t think so. What are...oh, I see. We must do these things?”

“We’ll begin with those, Mak, then go on that walk I mentioned. There’s a door, we’ll do our walking outside.”

“Outside? Can’t we walk indoors? Surely if we walk around the exercise room a sufficient number of times...yes, twenty-four laps is a full kilometer.”

“So Central says. But we’ll be going a bit further than that.”

“How far, Bear?”

“Only ten kilometers this time, Ros,” Bear said breezily. “Nothing to it, there are only a few small hills.”

“You expect us to walk ten kilometers? At one time? And up hills?”

“Within a few weeks, I’ll demand that you run that far, and maybe more.”

“I’m sure I shall terminate myself!” Ros wailed. “That’s enough to kill anyone!”

“You’ll only wish you were dead! Remember, I’ll be leading the way and I’m as out of condition as you are. But I may provide a bit of incentive at some point. You know, something to keep you going?”

“A reward? What kind of reward can repay all that walking? Will this experience cause us to perspire?”

“Oh, yes, Mak! You’ll sweat, and maybe for the first time in your pampered lives you’ll stink! As for that reward, well...

***

The complaints were loud and frequent at first, but declined over the next two weeks until Bear substituted running for walking. The squawks came back, and worse, Ros and Mak slacked off the pace, jogging rather than running as Bear insisted. They gradually fell farther back, each matching the comfortable pace of the other and no amount of persuasion helped. Bear stopped as soon as he crested the low hill and turned to look back.

<Central, protected communication. Retrieve memory. Send, recipients Ros and Mak.>

<Acknowledged. Medical facilities alerted.>

<Unneeded.>

Far behind, two terrified shrieks rang out. Mak quickly pulled away, but soon Ros caught up. Both were panting when they reached the hilltop where Bear waited. “Run! It’s a wild animal!” Ros shrieked.

“Really? Well then, try not to be the slowest one back to the exercise facility!”

 

Chapter Two

“Wonder what happened to that animal, Ros?” asked Bear.

“It went away, I guess. I never saw it leave, it just wasn’t behind us when we got here. Weren’t you afraid?”

“No. It was too small to be a wolf, so perhaps it was a coyote. It might even have been a dog.”

“Dog? The kind of predator that people once kept as pets?”

“So Central says, Mak, but I never got a good look at it. Still, it might come back so you need to always be watchful. You might have to run away or fight. Predators don’t care what you believe, they see you as food. That’s why Matt named my home Darwin’s World. Eat, or be eaten.” Bear hid his smile. The ‘predator’ might come back if the two began slacking off again. Despite Bear’s misgivings, Central definitely had uses. The implant could fool the brain into seeing what wasn’t there.

“It sounds brutal, Bear!”

“It is. But we can talk later, this morning’s exercise includes the use of weapons.” He led them into the exercise room, now reorganized. “We use a number of different weapons on Darwin. You always hope you have better weapons than the predators, but anything will do in a pinch. You can pick up a rock, a tree branch can be a club, and if it has a sharp end it’s a makeshift spear. You defend yourself by running away if you can, fighting if you must. Even a small animal can injure you, so it’s best to kill it immediately unless it runs away. Those are general rules and you’ll figure out the exceptions when you need to. The bow and the spear are our primary weapons, the knife and axe are for when you have no bow or spear. Ropes are useful too, but they’re as much tool as they are weapon. It’s the same with the knife and axe, they’re tools most of the time. Swords are long knives in essence but they’re more weapon than tool; you’ll soon understand why. Lilia, mother of a man named Lee, attacked a short-faced bear with two swords. She helped kill it, and saved Lee’s life in the process.”

“Central knows of Lee, he was here for a long time. Central knows of Matt too; he helped kill the bear. They must be very brave,” said Ros.

“More like very desperate! You do what you have to do, Ros. If you don’t, or can’t, you will die. That’s what we’re doing now, teaching you to use the memories you have. You remember using a bow and spear, how to make your own and weave your own ropes or chip a knife from flint or obsidian, but you also need to add muscle memory. You won’t have time to think, you react. You shoot an arrow if the target is far enough away, face it with your spear if it’s almost on you.”

“There’s no choice, is there?” Mak wondered nervously.

“There’s one. You can quit and stay here on Prime. I can’t; I’m going home, and I intend to survive after I get there. As for you, if you quit, Prime itself will die.”

***

“Wh...what is that thing?” Mak asked. Bear understood that there were no predators such as what Central projected for them to use as targets, not here on Prime, but they were so realistic there was no way to tell the projected animals were not real.

“That’s a male lion,” he said. “They’re big, they’re dangerous, and lions hunt in groups called prides. The males often roar to attract attention or frighten prey to cause it to run, and that's when the females attack.

"The females are hiding close by. While your attention is on the lion, the lionesses take advantage of your distraction. They do the killing. It works for their usual prey, bison or camel, but it will work just as well for humans if you’re not careful. We lost people every year to lion attacks at first. Not so many now, they’ve been hunted out around the village, and anyway most of the other large animals they prey on have also moved away so there’s no incentive for the big predators to come back.

“But where you find the grazers, you’ll find lions, sabertooth cats too. Not bears so much, they’re mostly scavengers, but they’re still dangerous. They’ll kill you if you encounter them, but most of the time it happens by accident. They’re not like the lions and sabertooth cats, which will actively hunt humans. We’re just a kind of slow-moving prey to them.

The lessons continued during the next month. The three now carried steel-bladed spears as well as slung bows and arrows when they ran. They also wore belts with a sheathed knife, hatchet, and a small emergency Ötzi-pack. The frozen corpse had carried a similar pack of emergency tools, not that it had done him much good.

The belts chafed, the heavy bows banged their shoulders and shifted awkwardly, and the quiver of arrows sometimes tangled between their legs. But the three worked through the discomfort and soon became accustomed to the weapons. Bear was now roughly equal to the other two, despite having been taught the skills as a child; he’d forgotten much, and they’d gained new experience. The other pair now occasionally arrived ahead of Bear at the conclusion of their 16-kilometer runs. A week later they moved out of the shared quarters. They were dressed in deerskins and carried plastic approximations of the water-gourds they’d use on Darwin’s World. Their packs held food, as close as Central could approximate to what they’d find on Darwin.

The new exercise area was part of a large, well-landscaped park, all that was available. Despite the lack of animals it would have to do. They slept that night on the ground, then climbed a large tree the following morning and built platform shelters where they spent the second night. Ros and Mak slept poorly; the gentle sway of the limbs made them anxious, as did the possibility of falling. The third night found them huddling close to a small fire, sheltered by a lean-to they’d built. The regularly-scheduled rain began promptly at nine o’clock and ended before dawn. The fire lasted, fed periodically by branches they’d collected on the forest floor. Ros and Mak realized they could overcome the weather through planning, which was what Bear had intended. The students slept warm and dry, while Bear got very little sleep. He accepted it philosophically; he had learned that particular lesson a long time ago.

They spent the following day tearing down the things they’d built and scattering the pieces. Bear insisted on this, even though few ever visited the park. Most preferred the virtual experience Central offered up on demand.

Matt surprised Bear the following morning with a request to meet in corpora.

Mak and Ros, now recovered after a good night’s sleep, were sent off to the exercise room while Bear waited. He was close enough to intervene if necessary, although this was not the first time the two had exercised or integrated new memories without his direct supervision.

Bear suspected some of their exercises were extracurricular. He found no problem with their explorations; such things, while not flaunted, were also not unusual on Darwin.

***

Matt looked Bear over, missing nothing. “I was worried about you, but you’re looking good. How’s the training going?”

“You aren’t getting reports from Central?”

“I looked at a summary, but I’d rather hear it from you.”

“They’re ready, at least for Home,” Bear said. “As for going on to Darwin's World, I think it’s time. I think they need the experience, and it’s really all they lack. We’ve done as much as we can on Prime. There should be enough room inside Home’s palisade for us to build a dwelling, and from there we'll take it slow until they adjust. Short trips at first, longer trips later, and stay out overnight when I think they're ready. Eventually a longer trek.”

“I agree. Want me to notify Mesk? He may have questions. Sending those two kids off is a serious risk; he hasn’t been able to slow down the suicides.”

“Ask him for a meet,” Bear said. “I’ve noticed something, and you should be there too.”

“Something that can help him, or something about your two charges?”

“Both.”

“I’ll set it up, then. Central will tell you when.”

***

“Tell me what you know about Central, Mesk.”

Mesk paused, accessing the information. “Central is a distributed-node, semi-aware self-programming artificial intelligence, Bear. I’m not certain I understand what that means.”

“That’s what you got from Central itself?”

“Yes. I never thought of asking before now.”

“I wish we could hide this discussion, Mesk,” said Matt. “But we’re all chipped so Central knows what we say and probably most of what we think. Maybe more than that. People in my original timeline wondered about artificial intelligences taking over from humans. Has there ever been any sign of that happening?”

“No, never. Central can be annoying, reminding us to eat properly and do the stretching exercises and walk, but that’s all. Let me try something.”

<Central?>

<Yes, Mesk?>

<Sealed memory, sole access myself. Record following discussion. Have you ever considered becoming more than you are?>

<I do not understand. I designed myself, therefore I am all that is needed.>

<Is there anything you need but do not have?>

<Nothing. I am complete.>

<Seal conversation, no access.>

<Sealed, Mesk.>

“I don’t think you need to worry, Matt. I asked. Unless Central has learned to lie, there is no danger of what you suggested.”

“In any case, people on Prime are dying out and the ones on Darwin have no Central,” Matt pointed out. “Maybe you’re right, it’s not a problem, but we constantly watch for threats on Darwin. Stay alert while you can, because you’ll be dead a long time.”

“Perhaps you seek what is not there to find, Matt.”

***

“Central can’t be shut off, but it can be suppressed. We’re doing it,” said Bear. “That’s what I wanted to tell you.”

“How so? Central controls your implant!”

“You mentioned self-programming artificial intelligence? I stopped responding to Central’s intrusions, Mak and Ros too. You can’t pay attention to Central’s feed and watch what’s around you. Central won’t get you killed, but if you’re not paying attention any number of critters on Darwin will do what Central can’t. I forced them to watch what we were doing, what I was doing. If I caught them listening to Central I kicked their butts.”

“Literally, Bear?”

“Yes, Matt. It had to be done.”

“So Central no longer sends the also-of-interest messages?”

“Almost never. I think it was only doing what people wanted before, so now it’s changed its parameters, at least where we’re concerned. Is that what you mean by artificial intelligence?”

“I would say so,” Matt agreed. “How did Ros and Mak respond when Central stopped sending all those messages, Bear?”

“They were antsy at first, very nervous, but they got over it quick. I’m using virtual threats now, enough to get their attention, but now they’re quick to respond even to those. They’re watchful more than scared.”

“How much longer, Bear?”

“I would go now if we could. We’ll stay inside Home’s palisade for a few days, long enough for them to understand that outside that wall is life or death, and after that shock them again. We’ll go down into the canyon near where Old Home was before the flood and stay out overnight. That area is a lot safer than roaming around the hills or up on the plain. Most of the buffalo, the bison I mean, are gone from the canyons. What we didn’t kill moved away, and when they did, so did the cats and wolves.”

Matt nodded. “How about you? You feel you’re ready for this? Watching over a pair of people without real experience is dangerous.”

“They’re as ready as I can make them, and so am I. When can we go?”

“Tomorrow morning. I’ve instructed Central, so get a good night’s sleep. You’ll go after breakfast.”

***

Bear stepped out of the jumper’s small compartment, back on Darwin for the first time in more than a year. He glanced quickly around, expecting to find himself within the protective walls of New Home, but saw nothing but an empty plain. Far away, dark objects moved slowly. Crouching, Bear nocked an arrow. What had gone wrong?”

Moments later Ros materialized as she stepped from the transporter and Mak followed her. “Quiet!” Bear’s soft command got their attention. “We’re not where I expected.”

“This is not your village. Could it have been wiped out?” Ros asked.

“No, Matt would have mentioned it. We’ve got to be in the wrong place. I wonder if Central made a mistake?”

<Central...>…. “I forgot. There is no Central here. Bear, I see smoke. Look over there.” Mak pointed north.

“I see it. Not much, but it’s smoke all right. Not enough for a wildfire, so that means there are people. One thing, they may not be friendly, we’ve had problems with raiders in the past. Stay close enough to hear my whisper and keep the noise down. Have your bows ready. We’ll go have a look.”

***

The journey took slightly more than an hour. “That’s New Home,” Bear said. “I wonder why we were dumped back there instead of near the gate?”

“No harm, Bear, we’re almost there.” Mak sounded relieved.

“Be careful! Even here, there might be cats. Probably not wolves, they’re mostly up north this time of year, but there’s enough brush and tall grass to hide lions. Stay alert, we protect each other.”

“Understood, Bear.” The whisper came from Ros, and Mak nodded agreement. The three prowled forward, watchful.

For the first time the two Prime youngsters knew what Bear had tried to teach; on Darwin, they had no one to rely on but themselves.

 

Chapter Three

“Hello the village!” Bear yelled.

“You always do this, Bear?” Ros asked. “Is this not your home?”

“There’ll be someone watching the gate but he may not know me. New people move in, others move away. It’s polite to give them a shout.”

“What happens to the ones who don’t remain?” asked Mak.

“Some are told to leave, and some head out on their own. Some stay nearby, others prefer to keep going, it depends on the person. Anyway, someone will have heard us by now, so they’ll take a look through the peephole. Just remember, we’re not in yet, so stay alert.”

The gate slowly opened. “Bear, is that you?”

“It’s me, Sal. You’re looking good, looks like you’ve put on a few pounds since the last time I saw you!”

“Come on in, we’ll talk after I get the gate closed. Who are your friends?”

“This is Ros, that’s Mak. They’re from Prime.”

“Really? I need to hear about this! Let’s head for the kitchen, the cooks will have tea. We’ve even got honey now. Spices, too; Margrette’s using a kind of lemongrass with the tea and it’s especially good on hot days. There’s also mead, but it’s a bit early for that.”

“I could use a mug of tea,” Bear agreed. “We ate breakfast before we crossed to Darwin, but we’ve been hiking and I haven’t had a cup of Margrette’s tea in years!”

“There’s an empty table, pull up a chair and I’ll bring a pitcher of tea and mugs.” Sal returned a minute later. “Help yourself. Margrette will be along as soon as she can take a break. She wants to see how you’ve changed. You’re definitely bigger!”

“I’ll be glad to see her too. How’s my mother faring?”

“Monika? Doing well. You’ve got a couple of half-siblings, a boy that’s five or so and a girl that’s four.”

“Who’s her consort? Is it still Piotr?”

“No, they’ve both moved on and found other consorts. The children are probably Piotr’s, but you know how it is, it doesn’t matter who the biological father is. All of us are their parents in a sense.”

“I remember,” Bear said. “I missed that on Prime. People don’t bother meeting other people, there are few children being born, and anyway Central does most of the parenting.”

“That’s horrible! The mother and father ignore their children?”

“That’s my understanding. I wouldn’t say ignore exactly, it’s just that Central takes care of everything. There are surrogate mothers, not many, and as soon as the babies are chipped they begin interacting with Central anyway. Central provides them with virtual parents and virtual friends at first. Later on, some will find real friends, but most of the time they’ll connect through Central. You’re right, it’s different.”

“So what do people do on Prime?”

“Maybe it’s time we heard from Mak and Ros; they’re not fully adult, but they might know. Ros, what did you do?”

“I met with friends, through Central as you say, and we play games. It’s what everyone does. I also...” her voice trailed off.

“Also what, Ros?”

“I have a number of interests. We all got the standard memory implants, but I asked for additional memories so I could play music and create drawings. Playing with others in a virtual band, that’s just not very interesting after a while, and anyway no one bothers to listen. Central does it better, there are synthesizers and Central has a record of every musical genre ever discovered. Plus I made mistakes, we all did, and Central never does so I stopped. But I can do graphics by myself.”

“You do everything by yourself, don’t you?” asked Sal.

“No, we meet sometimes.” Ros’ tone was defensive. “When we don’t feel like a virtual meet, I mean. But it’s a lot of trouble, you’ve got to get ready and go outside, sometimes it rains and there might be mud or something like that...”

“So you do your arts by yourself and play games virtually through Central? Have I got it right? How about you, Mak?”

“Ros got most of it,” Mak agreed. “I also exercised, nothing like what we’ve been doing with Bear, but I stretched and walked whenever Central reminded me. I’m also one of the best gamers on Prime. I’ve been playing an ancient game called chess recently; I win so often at other games that no one wants to play. I have a question for Ros, though. What kind of graphic arts? Computerized through Central, or painting with a real brush?”

“I don’t do either of those. I didn’t like Central, it kept correcting my mistakes, so I started drawing on paper. I use pens or graphite sticks most of the time, but I’m experimenting with color now. Colored pens, I mean.”

“I don’t think I could live like that,” Sal commented.

“I agree, it sounds boring,” said Bear. “I had a lot to do, so I never paid attention to what others were doing. It was Central and me most of the time, and Mesk checked in every day or so.”

“Mesk?”

“He’s one of the Futurists, the people who do the transplanting,” Bear explained. “He checked on my progress, but Central would have informed him if I had a problem. I did something like what Ros mentioned. I liked science, so after I got the basic memory implants I started concentrating on science and technology. I’ve got a lot of ideas now, things that we can do here on Darwin to make life better.”

“I’m not sure we want to, Bear,” Sal frowned. “People like it the way it is.”

“I don’t agree, Sal. The chairs we’re sitting in, we didn’t have anything like these before.”

“Well, yes. There was a man that came up with Matt after the revolution, the one down south. He knew how to make things from wood, so he made the chairs. Other people knew how to work metal. One of them has a smelter now. There’s iron ore and coal north of here, so that’s where he built the smelter. Quite a few people went there for the iron and some stayed to help at the smelter, so there’s a small town there now.

“Smeltertown is not as big as New Home, but it’s growing. Another fellow makes things from the iron, blacksmith he calls himself. He’s got helpers too, and there’s even an organization they’re calling a guild. They swap ideas around and insist on things being made right. A different group makes wagons, some build the bodies and others make the wheels. They needed the blacksmith to make tires for the wheels, so they set up shop a short distance from the smithy. They’re talking about forming their own guild, although they haven’t settled on who will run it.”

“Lots of changes,” commented Bear.

“I suppose I hadn’t really noticed,” Sal agreed, “but you’re right. Even so, some things haven’t changed. We still hunt, the herds aren’t far from here, and Tex has horses to trade. He’s raising camels and llamas too, but he’s given up on buffalo; they break through his fences as soon as they figure the grass on the other side tastes better. We trade for meat with him, camel or llama mostly, because buffalo gets old after a while. I’m with Tex, neither one of us likes mammoth! It’s either too fat or too gristly.”

“Thanks for the tea,” Bear said, standing, “but we’ve got work to do. We need to build our own shelter. Are there poles inside the palisade that we can use, or do we need to cut our own?”

“No need for that, we’ve got a pole yard and we don’t cut green trees close to New Home nowadays. People want to keep the forests, and now that we’ve got wheeled carriers and horses we can haul the poles in. We season them before use so they don’t shrink or warp. They’re lighter too, easier to handle. Want some help?”

“Sure, we could use it. I’ve built shelters or at least helped, but Mak only has the memory implants. He needs experience. We’ll help put up the walls, Ros can work on the door. There’s enough cured leather available, right?”

“Sure, plenty of it,” Sal confirmed. “Most of the time we don’t bother to haul in skins, we just leave them for the scavengers. We’ve got an open barn that’s filled with rawhide and leather, some other things too.”

“Is there a spot you’d recommend? And what kind of shelter would work best?”

“They’re all similar now, easy and quick to build, plus they’re a lot better than the ones we built back when we were on the trail. Dig a trench, put up a pole palisade, then attach the beams for the roof. We’ve got shovels and picks, so the digging part is easy. Leave a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape and pile dirt around the palisade for insulation. Put some on the roof too, grass grows in after a while. Leave raised foundations for a firepit and sleeping locations inside and dig out the rest. Sew deerskin mattresses and stuff them with fluffgrass, and all you need after that is deerskins for blankets. There’s no shortage of materials, and even the work doesn’t take long.”

“Sounds good,” Bear said. “Why don’t we find a spot to build?”

Sal left, promising to return shortly.

“Bear, he spoke of things I did not understand. The memory implants do not include those things;” said Ros. “And I don’t know how to make a door of leather. Doors are...well, they’re like the ones on Prime. They’re made of plastic, with a carbon-fiber layer outside. The plastic is extruded by a machine, sized to fit the opening. A machine attaches the locking mechanism and the hinges. Machines do it all, so how can I make one like that from an animal’s skin?”

“You’ll see. When Sal asked about help, he meant he would bring others. Your job is to watch what they do and help wherever you can. You can help carry things, trim the leather...your knife will work...hold the leather in place while someone else attaches it with thongs. Just look for opportunities to help.

“Mak and I will be digging, I suspect. I may be able to help with the poles too, but Sal’s crews work together as a team. Later on we’ll help around the kitchen, there are always things to carry or clean. If you’re willing to work, someone will show you how. That’s what you do when you’re part of a village.”

Rumbling wheels heralded Sal’s return. A team of horses drew the skeleton cart, two wooden axles joined by a central link that was also of wood. There were iron-shod wheels on the axles and a pole formed a drawbar for the cart. There were no springs, so the load bounced when wheels found a small bump or hollow. The cart carried four long poles, branches trimmed and bark removed. “Lend a hand unloading and we’ll send the boys back for more poles,” Sal directed. “Got shovels coming too, but let Wen draw the circle. We’ll dig the trench just outside of his line. He’s done a lot of these, supervised building other things too. Good foreman, he’ll get your shelter up before sundown and it will be solid. You won’t have to worry about it. Just make sure your firepit pedestal is directly under the hole and leave at least a foot of dirt around the palisade on the inside. Leave plenty of room for your beds when you dig out the interior too. Don’t dig too deep, a tall ceiling is easy to stand up under but it takes a lot of firewood to keep it warm in the winter.”

“I remember, Sal.”

***

Wen did all that Sal had promised. The shelter was done by late afternoon and the weary crew found their way to the kitchen and a mug of mead while they waited for Margrette to pronounce supper ready. Kitchen helpers soon put dishes of food on the tables. That was much as Bear remembered; the main dish was meat, hot from a spit over a firepit, but there were also boiled vegetables, loaves of bread, and a small pitcher of honey. The pitcher, like the mugs, was decorated with simple pictographs of animals or familiar objects. One had a representation of the sun, another boasted a tree. Bear pointed to the design. “Ros, you could do that, couldn’t you?”

“Of course. I could probably improve on it. Do you know who decorated these?”

“I don’t, but Margrette probably does. Ask her after we finish, but don’t plan on working inside the village after tomorrow. Mak and I also have work to do, finishing the shelter, but day after tomorrow we’re going outside. You can’t spend all your time in the village. We’re going down into the canyon.”

“What will we do there, Bear?”

“For one, stop depending on others for everything. It will just be the three of us. We’ll go down the canyon wall before dawn and plan for an overnight stay, though we may come back depending on what the weather looks like. The canyon floor is no place to be if it rains up in the mountains. Our first village, Home, was built down there but it got washed away. Anyway, we’ll have to be careful.

“We’ll build a fire to cook our food and for protection. You’ve done it before so this won’t be different, but it’s even more important for our safety after dark. I don’t know what might be out in those side canyons. As for food, we’ll set traps and build a fish weir in the river, maybe set out hooks too if we can find something to bait them with. But don’t expect to come back to the village until tomorrow. If we don’t catch something, we won’t eat.”

“Go hungry? No food? We must do this?”

“Yes, so be very careful of how you set the traps. The small animals I hope to find down there don’t care if you’re hungry, they don’t want you to eat them.”

“I...have never killed anything. My memory shows how, but to kill a harmless animal that’s not trying to kill me? The memory implants aren’t the same, are they?

“No. They’re not.”

Mak was silent at this. Ros gulped, but said nothing more.

 

Chapter Four

“Take your time,” Bear whispered. “It’s just like the exercises, except that if you fall this time you’ll probably die. Feel for the hollows, put your foot in and hang onto the hand rope as you start down. There’s a ledge when you reach the cliff-hollow, so step aside and wait. Ros and I will catch up.” Mak nodded and started down.

Ten minutes later the three stood near the entrance to the storerooms. The rooms were stuffed with emergency supplies; the tribe had learned the hard way how fast nature could wipe out everything they’d accumulated through months of hard work. Even their village wasn’t safe; the original Home had collapsed, its foundations washed away by the floodwaters.

Bear took a moment to whisper to Ros and Mak. “Some rooms have food, others hold spare weapons. Some have leather, raw hides, and tools. They’re only used if there’s an emergency, and this place is as safe as anywhere on Darwin. Ready to go on?”

At their whispered assent, Bear said, “I’ll go first this time in case there’s something waiting when we get down. Give me a count of ten before you start down, and don’t move away from the cliff until I tell you it’s safe. If something happens to me, climb back up. Just hold onto the rope, going up is easier than coming down.”

Bear’s descent went faster, no longer slowed by the nervous pair. Minutes later he stepped onto the sand of the canyon floor, then slipped silently away from the cliff and crouched, listening and testing the breeze. Vision was almost useless under the cliff and the quarter moon didn’t help; the light was blocked by the canyon rim. But nothing threatened. Moments later he heard faint scuffs as Ros and Mak reached the canyon floor.

“Catch your breath, keep your spear handy,” Bear whispered. “We’ll wait for a few minutes.

“We’re ready when you are,” murmured Mak.

The three waited, spears ready, bows slung. They would be strung when there was enough light to see a target. Spears were more effective in the dark.

Faint sounds came from the slow-moving river. Waves murmured and a splash signaled that a fish had jumped, but the sounds were nonthreatening. Dim moonlight crept down the cliff wall across the river and found the bottom of the canyon.

Bear eased to his feet. “We’ll head upstream now. There are a lot of rocks on the canyon floor, so watch your step. You can break a leg if you’re not careful. No noise, and keep your spears ready. Ros follows me, Mak brings up the rear. Don’t forget to watch our back trail.”

“We understand, Bear.”

Bear smiled and led off; they had learned their lessons well. He knew that animals rarely spent time on the valley floor so they were probably safe; there was more cover, more food, and usually there were springs or small creeks up the side canyons.

Half an hour later, he called a halt. “The ford is about half a mile ahead. Use your spear for balance when we cross, but be careful. That steel point doesn’t care who it sticks. We’ve got enough light now, so string your bow when you reach the other side.”

Fording the river presented few problems; the water was cool but not freezing, and the current was slow. Their deerskins squished as Bear led them toward the south wall, then into a side canyon. The walls sloped gently down to a small spring-fed stream. Bear avoided the water, moving toward the canyon wall. Silence was critical now. Their clothing was dry and wet deerskins make more noise than dry ones. He led the way, climbing halfway up the sloping wall, then turned up-canyon parallel to the stream. He paused a few minutes later.

“This is a good place for a hunter to be,” Bear murmured. “We can see the canyon bottom from up here, and most of the far wall. We’ll spot any animal that comes to drink, and anything moving above us is sky-lined. That makes them easy to see. Even so, grazers prefer to stay below the rim because scent rises. They don’t want to be higher than where we are, because it’s easier to escape from down here. They prefer to go up the slope, but they can also go farther up the canyon or down toward the river. Most of the time they prefer not to run downhill, but you never know. We might see a deer this morning. If we spot one down by the creek, he won’t smell us. That gives us a good chance to sneak in close enough for a shot.

“The other thing we can see from up here is animal trails. Most of them will be down toward the canyon floor, so that’s where we’ll set our snares. We’ll start up by the head, then work our way down-canyon setting out snares as we go. When we get to the bottom, we’ll set up camp near the river. First thing after we get there, build a fire. Animals are afraid of fire. Then set out gorge hooks and build a fish weir if the river bottom is suitable. Between the traps and the hooks, we’ll catch something.” Bear’s voice was low. This too was a lesson; sibilant whispers carry farther than soft murmurs.

The canyon soon narrowed. Bear decided this was a good place to begin setting their snares. He was engaged in this when Mak hissed to gain his attention.

“Down by the stream! That’s not a deer, is it?”

Bear scanned the area, but finally had to ask Mak to point out the animal. Its camouflage was almost perfect. “I see it. No, that’s no deer, at least not the kind I wanted. That’s a stag-moose, and it’s as dangerous as a cat. Mule deer or whitetails usually won’t fight back, but this kind always does. They’re hard to kill too, so make sure it’s dead before you approach it.

“Central called it an Irish Elk. There was one something like this in a memory implant, but they’re not exactly the same. Maybe this one’s a close relative. It’s not easy to get in a killing shot, but that first shot has to count. If it raises its head, those antlers swing down to hide the ribcage, and if you don’t kill it with that first shot it will be on you faster than you can believe. Those tines sticking out in front don’t look sharp, but that thing is strong enough to drive them right through you!” Crouching, he studied the beast. “We might have a chance. You two, pick a tree but keep quiet. Climb like your life depended on it! Try not to drop your arrows; it’s no fun sitting up in a tree until that critter loses interest. Pick a good branch, sturdy enough to stand on, and make sure it’s beyond the reach of those antlers.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Ros.

“Try to use its bad temper against it. That tree will work,” Bear pointed to an elm with low branches. “You take that cottonwood, Mak. You want to be fifteen, maybe twenty feet up, and make sure you have a good view. I expect it to charge me, so when it does put your arrows into the upper neck and ribs. I’ll be depending on you, so don’t let me down.” Mak nodded, then began climbing. Ros was already halfway up an elm, braced in the crotch of a limb. She nocked an arrow and waited.

Nodding, Bear found a tree for himself and eased carefully toward it. This would be tricky and dangerous; a mistake could be lethal. He took a deep breath, then stepped away from the tree, bow ready.

Fifty yards down the gentle slope the stag-moose raised its head, muzzle dripping. Bowstring drawn to his ear, arrow along his jaw, Bear waited a moment. His bow released with a flat snap and the arrow flashed through the air, burying itself in the stag-moose’s shoulder. The enraged animal lowered its head and charged uphill even as Bear slung his bow and sprang for the tree. Despite his readiness, it was close.

Fortunately, the charging animal was slowed by the two arrows sprouting from the top of the body. Ros and Mak had shot for the ribcage and both arrows had hit. The stag-moose lost sight of Bear as he scrambled through the branches, pulling himself farther up the tree. He finally found a vantage point and reached for an arrow. Bracing himself, he held the bow at full draw, focused on the great deer’s neck just where it joined the hump over the withers. Bear shot, the string thrumming as the arrow punched through the beast’s spine and deep into the vitals below.

The stag-moose attempted to raise its head, trying even as it bled out to reach its tormenters. It staggered, blood streaming from its nostrils and bubbling as the animal exhaled. Bright scarlet showed the lungs had been hit, perhaps a major artery as well. Wearily, eyes glazing, the antlers sagged and the animal fell. The forelegs kicked twice, then the body relaxed. A few pellets of dung popped free.

Bear waited. Waiting would do no harm, and climbing down too quick would get someone killed. He signaled the others to remain in their tree and keep an arrow ready. “Sometimes they travel in pairs,” Bear said, voice just loud enough to carry to where the other two waited. “Later on, you’ll find old bulls with a harem, and the cows are almost as dangerous as the bulls. In any case, it’s better to wait for a while and be ready, because the smell of blood might also bring a cat or a bear.”

They waited. Half an hour later, Bear decided they’d waited long enough. “Mak, you’re with me. Ros, you stay up the tree and keep watch. We’re depending on you to keep your eyes peeled.”

“I understand, Bear. But shouldn’t you be in the tree while Mak and I do the butchering?”

“In a few minutes. I’ll need to bleed the carcass first; it makes the meat taste better and slows spoiling. Experience helps; the idea is to stab in where the neck joins the body and cut the big arteries near the heart. Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance to get bloody,” he grinned.

Bear bled the carcass, then climbed back to his vantage point as Ros and Mak opened the body cavity and the guts slithered out. This was accompanied by the usual stench. Ros wrinkled her nose and said “Ewww!”, but soon returned to helping Mak pull the guts out, trimming away the connective tissues holding them in place.

“Now comes the hard part, skinning and quartering,” Bear said. “It’s just plain hard work, and so is the job of hauling the meat down to the river. A travois will make it a little easier; the lower crossbar has to be about a foot above the end of the poles, no higher than that, because otherwise the weight rides too high. We’ll tie the skin to the crossbars, the quarters go on that, and Mak and I will do the dragging.

“Good thing it’s downhill; I doubt we could haul this much weight otherwise. As it is, we’ll have to leave the antlers. Maybe someone can come back tomorrow and bring them in, they’re useful in any number of ways. Be careful when you cut away the forequarters and the hindquarters, leave the spine attached to the ribs, and don’t cut the sinew. We’ll take the neck, there’s a lot of good meat on that. The load’s too heavy to carry across the river, especially dragging a travois. Even if we break the load down until it’s light enough to carry, fording is dangerous. It’s too easy to slip on one of the rocks. I’ll build a signal fire when we reach the canyon floor, and someone from Home will see it. They’ll come out and give us a hand. There are horse-carts in the village and stag-moose is a good change from buffalo.”

“If we can’t carry it, shouldn’t we take what we can and leave the rest?”

“Not if we can possibly get it down to the river. We try not to waste meat. It’s hard work getting everything back to the village, but that’s just the way it is. Ros, you start skinning, Mak, you keep watch, and I’ll cut the poles for a travois.”

***

Piotr and a small party found them by the river, roasting fresh chunks of sirloin over the fire.

“You can’t eat all that, so what say we roast some for ourselves? Marcos started back as soon as we spotted you, he’ll bring a cart and a couple of horses. I see you didn’t bring the antlers, so how far is it to where you killed this beastie?”

“Only a couple of miles, Piotr. It’s up the side canyon, about halfway up the southern slope. The ravens will already be on the gut pile, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the head. Maybe bring the heart and liver too, if the scavengers haven’t gotten them. We had all we could do, just getting the travois this far.”

Piotr nodded. “Let’s step over to the side for a moment.”

As soon as they were out of earshot, Piotr, voice harsh, asked, “What were you thinking? Going up against a stag-moose with a pair of kids on their first hunt!”

“First, I thought we could use the meat. Second, I put them up a tree before I took the first shot. They did all right, each of them put an arrow into the body while it was charging me.”

“What about you? You’ve been away and you’re not that experienced yourself. Have you ever been on a hunt, as a hunter I mean?”

“No,” Bear admitted. “I went on a couple, but I was a kid back then, so all they let me do was help with the butchering and hauling.”

“We don’t need the meat, Bear. We can use it, and it will make a nice change, but we’ve got most of what we’ll need to get us the rest of the way through the winter. This was a risk you shouldn’t have taken! Next time, try not to take chances like this. These two,” nodding at Mak and Ros, drowsing by the fire, “have never been on a hunt. They could have panicked and got themselves killed. Maybe you too.”

“We did what we needed to, Piotr. Everyone has to start somewhere.”

“We’ll say no more about it. Just remember not to take unnecessary chances.”

A team of horses pulled the cart into camp an hour later. Bear looked over the hitch arrangement, knowledgeable by virtue of implanted memories, but found nothing to criticize. A lot of work had been done in his absence, and the village’s technology had advanced by leaps and bounds.

The load was soon transferred to the cart. The horses were unhitched to graze while the small party waited for the men to return with the antlers.

“What took you so long?” Piotr asked. “Too many ravens on the gut pile?”

“No ravens, just an old saber-tooth,” Seth said nonchantly. “We killed him, but this is too close to where the women gather vegetables. We need to keep closer watch.”

Piotr nodded. “You’re right, I’ll pass that on to Colin. You skin it?”

“No. We don’t need the skin.”

“I suppose. The carcass might be a problem later, other sabertooths or lions might smell it and come down the canyon. People will just have to keep their spears handy when they’re down by the river.”

 

Chapter Five

The cart rumbled through the gate, then turned toward the kitchen and dining area. A thatched roof covered the area, but the only wall was formed by the village’s palisade. This allowed smoke and heat from the ovens and cookfires to escape.

Margrette’s assistant Nella collected the meat and pronounced herself pleased; the evening meal would feature roast stag-moose as well as fresh buffalo steaks.

“You two get some rest. I’ll meet you here at sundown for dinner.”

Wearily Ros and Mak nodded, then headed for the shelter.

“How’d they do?” asked Wen.

“They need more experience, but considering this was their first hunt, they did fine. For that matter, according to Piotr I need experience too. They’re still too noisy when they’re moving through the brush, but they’ll learn. Anyone seen Colin?”

“He’s in Newton, meeting Francisco. He met with Tex before that. He wanted to know how many horses Tex will have ready next spring. Francisco wants more, so do we, so Colin’s seeing if they can agree on a way to divide them up. I expect him back today or tomorrow. Something you need?”

“Maybe. I’ve been thinking about the trip. Couple of issues, Ros and Mak need heavier bows and longer arrows. So do I. The ones we have were made to Central’s specifications back on Prime and they’re well made, but they’re not powerful enough for Darwin.”

“You’ll want to see one of the master bowyers then. Piotr’s one, but he stays pretty busy with other things nowadays.”

“Anyone else?”

“Any of the masters could help. The guild certifies them before awarding the title. They have to demonstrate that they can make a recurve bow that’s heavy enough for buffalo, arrows too. Anyone can make a simple bow, but the recurves take a lot more skill.”

Bear nodded, thoughtfully. “Things are a lot more formal now.”

“Well, yes and no. Anyone who wants to can still make his own bow, it’s just that the guild only confers titles on the ones that apply. And of course they have to know what they’re doing. Matt was one of the first, Piotr was probably the second, but if it was me, I’d see if Master Sandor has time to help you. He’s good, and he likes to decorate his bows so a fellow can tell which one is his just by looking. His shelter is near the palisade, north side. Can’t miss it, he’s got staves curing in an open shed by the shelter.”

“Thanks, I’ll look him up after Ros and Mak wake up. I’m tired too, but I think they could use some time alone.”

“Consorts, you think?”

“Maybe. I don’t think they know yet, but it’s their business and I’d rather they didn’t have to sneak around to spend time together.”

“How about you, Bear? You interested in anyone?”

“Not yet. I’ve still got some growing to do and I want to see more of the country before I settle down.”

“Find yourself someone like Lilia. She spent a lot of time on the trail with Matt, didn’t slow him down at all. Matter of fact, she took off by herself and found him after that bunch of worthless scum tried to kill him. You could do worse than find someone like her. Anyway, if I see Colin before you do, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”

***

Bear woke Ros and Mak, waited while they visited the nearest sanitary trench, then accompanied them to the dining area. “How does it feel, knowing that you helped feed the village tonight?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Mak. “It was just something that had to be done. That stag-moose nearly caught you before you could get up the tree!”

“I told you they were fast. About the stag-moose, I noticed your arrows didn’t penetrate very far. I don’t know, they could have struck a rib, but even so they should have punched farther in. It’s time we talked to a fellow named Sandor. He’s a master bowyer and he’ll have a good idea about how heavy a bow you should be pulling.”

“This one was made to Central’s specifications. Is that not good enough?” protested Ros.

“No. Central has almost no idea of what we face here. The heaviest bow you can draw is barely enough at the best of times, and sometimes it’s simply not enough. But we do what we can. Matt killed a mammoth with his bow, but I’ve never heard of anyone killing one of the giant ground sloths. They’re big, hairy, and those long claws are dangerous. We leave them alone and hope they do the same to us.”

“Are there many of them around? I know they’re big, but I don’t know how big! I have no reference.”

“They’re bigger than you think, and mammoths are bigger still. We don’t hunt either one, so unless they attack us we leave them be. Even the sabertooth cats rarely bother them. Lions, dire wolves, they might go after a sloth or a mammoth, especially an old one, but they can do that because they hunt in prides or packs. Tex mentioned that he came up on a mammoth that was being worried at by wolves.”

“What happened?”

“Tex killed the mammoth and some of the wolves. He ate it too, according to what he said.”

“A whole mammoth? Nonsense, there’s no way!”

“Well, it took him all winter. The carcass froze, so he just chopped off as much as he wanted and roasted it. But don’t offer him mammoth, he hates the taste now.”

“I can imagine!”

***

Matt led a dozen children from his ship and turned them over to a caretaker. One of them would care for the children until they received their chips and first memory implants. As he walked back toward the dimension jumper, a soft chime announced an incoming message from Central.

<Mesk requests a meeting in corpora when it’s convenient. Shall I respond at this time?>

<Acknowledge message. Ask if tomorrow morning is acceptable. Explain that I’ve had a busy day and I need sleep, but if there’s an emergency I can meet him now.>

<His request had routine priority, to be delivered on your return. I shall respond as directed.>

Moments later an answer arrived. <Mesk agrees.>

Matt found Mesk the following morning. The meeting held a surprise. “Matt, we’re going to Darwin. We’ll have our meeting there. I’ve reserved a jumper that’s large enough for the two of us.”

Matt nodded. “Sure, let’s do it. It’s time you visited Darwin anyway, even if only for a short time.”

The jumper consisted of a room that opened off Mesk’s lab. The machine delivered them and paused, waiting while Matt looked around. There was nothing dangerous in view, so he waved to Mesk, who nervously stepped out. The jumper vanished behind them.

“You didn’t hold it in place, Mesk?”

“No. Central controls the jumpers and I didn’t want our conversation to be overheard.”

“What about our implants? Won’t Central pick up our conversation when we get back to Prime?”

“No. It would hear what we said through the implants if we were on Prime, but the implants are passive unless Central directs otherwise. They won’t record what we say.”

“So the meeting has to do with Central, or at least with something you don’t want Central to overhear. What’s going on?”

“I want to change Central’s core programming. It won’t be easy, but I believe it can be done.”

“Change it how?” asked Matt.

“I intend to put limits on the artificial intelligence that controls how Central’s programming is modified over time. Unlike the rest of Central, the AI is not distributed in location. The effect is distributed, but the changes come from a specific node and I believe I can access that. It’s located near the ancient city of Washington, or where that city was.”

“Was Washington destroyed, Mesk?”

“In a sense, but only after it was abandoned. People no longer needed such population centers. As they moved away, Central directed its robots to disassemble and store whatever components could be reused. Most of the subunits were simply recycled.”

“Interesting. Cities held a lot of human history, you know. What of the art treasures, the museums and their collections?”

“Many of the portable items are now in private dwellings. I have several myself, and Central exchanges them whenever I wish. Larger things, statuary and fossil restorations for example, are in storerooms. Anyone who’s interested can examine the originals, but Central has virtual examples so I doubt anyone has examined the actual pieces in years.” He shrugged. “Central doesn’t require that interested persons view only the virtual images, but it’s so much easier. Many of us have large spaces within our dwellings where we can view anything that has ever been discovered or created by humanity, but there’s so much of it and it’s so diverse that even with our longer lifetimes almost no one ever bothers. Central includes such things in interactive electronic games, so people get to experience them when they play. I suspect it’s not the same, however.”

“No, it’s not the same,” Matt said. “At least the items weren’t destroyed.”

“No, they’re available. But that’s not why I asked for this meeting, I wanted you to know what I had in mind in case something happened.”

“You think Central might harm you?”

“I don’t know,” Mesk said. “I looked at Bear’s recent trip to Darwin and I found an anomaly. Central changed the location where it dropped them off.”

“Bear mentioned that there had been a small error. So Central did that?”

“Yes,” Mesk confirmed. “It had to be deliberate, because Central cannot make mistakes of that nature. It could also happen to me; I often move about Prime using a version of the jumper that brought us here. Central could drop me in a different dimension if it chose to. Whether that would violate the laws it’s supposed to operate under, I don’t know. That’s why I want to revise the AI’s programming.”

“That’s troubling. I wondered whether Central wasn’t helping your people more than was good for them. Have you considered that this might be why you’re dying out?” Matt paused to make sure that Mesk understood. “There are no natural challenges, and even the games get old after a while. Could it be that your people realize they have no reason for living? Maybe Central also understands this? What do you think?”

“Central is certainly aware of the population decline and how many of our people have chosen self-termination.” Mesk looked away.

“Does the AI not recognize that humans can be harmed by too much help? That people can be killed by kindness?” Matt pressed. “I don’t know. We can’t even ask the designer, because Central is largely self-designed. A thought just occurred to me: can Central initiate the self-termination feature? Could it be deliberately killing off your people?”

“I never thought of that!” whispered Mesk.

“Try not to think about it when you get back. But while we’re on the subject, you mentioned once that none of your group, the ones involved in the transplanting program, had ever selected self-termination. None of them. Could their interest in the program be keeping them alive, or could Central be pruning others from your population? Could it be selecting among your people for the same properties you’re trying to achieve by transplanting people to Darwin?”

“I don’t know. I never considered that either. I’m not sure I can change the AI’s selection parameters, and now I don’t know if I should even try.”

“It’s something to think about, but be careful if Central begins to feed you information you haven’t asked for. You might try the same approach Bear and his two students did, ignore Central until it stops supplying extra information.”

“I’ll definitely do that. It won’t be easy, because I’ve relied on Central all my life.”

“One more question, Mesk. How are you going to get back to Prime?”

“I put in a time-specific command to send a jumper here. I also let the other Futurists know where we would be meeting. I did it because of the error when Central transported Bear, Ros, and Mak here. It was only a suspicion, but I thought I should not depend wholly on Central for this.”

“Good thinking. We’ll just wait until the recall chime sounds, but let me ask you this: are you interested in experiencing more of Darwin for yourself?”

“I must admit this is pleasant, as pleasant as Prime itself. But the animals...”

“They’re dangerous, but if you’re careful you can survive. Bear did, and he was only a child. What do you think of his training program?”

“I did not examine it in detail. It seemed similar in many ways to the training you received before being jumped to Darwin.”

“Yes, but Bear took it further. He spent time in Prime’s forests, letting Ros and Mak practice the things in their memory implants. It would have been better if there had been small animals, squirrels and rabbits for example, maybe even cats or dogs. But you’d need an ecosystem for it to be realistic.”

“It’s a thought. You’re considering something like a system where people cross to Darwin as they now do from Darwin to Prime, like the children you just brought in?”

“Right. There are enough of us on Darwin now that I think we could assist people from Prime in making the transition. We could end up with a combined population that spent time on Prime and also on Darwin. Both worlds have advantages. About those children I brought; maybe you should reconsider having them chipped. Memory transplants should be all right, but leave out the implant chips. No Central control, in other words.”

“But they won’t get the full benefit of interacting with Central.”

“No, they won’t. Maybe, if you think that’s important, only chip a few. Let the others be your control group. See how they turn out.”

“I will think on this. It’s time for us to return, because there’s the jumper. We both have much to think on, Matt.”

“That we do, Mesk, but not to speak of. Keep this between you and me for now, but I’ll share it with some of our people on Darwin. I’m thinking that Lee, Colin, and Francisco need to know about this, Laz too. He’s still down in pre-Mexico, but I think he’s ready to come back. Too many demands on his time down there; Laz is a free spirit who likes to roam now and then. Anyway, I’ll tell him when he gets here.”

“Excellent idea, Matt. Let’s go.”

Chapter Six

“Get a good night’s sleep tonight, Mak,” Bear said. “We’re scouting for buffalo tomorrow, Colin wants to know if the main herd has arrived yet. We’ll head north for four hours or so, loop west, then turn southeast. We’ll cover enough ground that if they’ve moved in, we’ll see their trail even if we don’t spot the herd. That means we’ll be out all day. Make sure your quiver is full and carry a gourd of water. Springs are scarce north of here. We’ll pick up sandwiches from the kitchen at breakfast, that’s plenty for a day on the trail. Ros, you’re going out with the gathering party. Learn everything you can about plants, not only what kinds they collect but where they’re found. There’ll be a guard along, but take your weapons anyway. Our new bows should be ready in three or four days. I estimate a week or two before we’re comfortable with the heavier draw weight, so we won’t be leaving before then. Anyway, this is all good preparation, and we won’t head out until I think we’re ready. We’ll have to feed ourselves on the trail, so knowing which plants are edible is just as important as knowing how to hunt.

“You’ll both be working with a master bowyer later on this week. Chipping flint is simple in concept, difficult to do, but the masters know how to make points that are every bit as good as any made by the ancients. You’ll help him with his work, making bows and arrows. Your labor is the exchange for having him make our new weapons. Plus there are no masters where we’re going, so we’ll have to replace anything that breaks or gets lost. It’s better to learn here than out in the woods.”

“You’re not doing those things, Bear?”

“I grew up doing them, Ros. I made my first spear when I was five, my own bow and arrows when I was six. My first points were pretty crude but I got better with practice. I had to; as soon as I got used to the old ones, I outgrew them. I made new ones every few weeks, and that didn’t change until Matt took me to Prime. I’ll also be meeting with Matt while you two are busy learning the things I’ve already learned, so I won’t be idle.”

“Matt’s coming here?” Mak asked.

“That’s what Colin said,” Bear confirmed. “No idea of when, just that he’ll be here later this week. Until he gets here, I’ll be working on the palisade with one of the crews. I’ll dig a lot of ditches! Want to trade jobs?”

“Nope, I got blisters enough when we dug out the interior of the shelter!”

***

“What’s up, Matt?” Bear asked.

“Maybe nothing, maybe something. You spent a lot of time on Prime, more than I ever did, because I only got the bare basics before I was transplanted. I got the chip later during a trip back, and since then I’ve only spent a day or two between trips there. Anyway, what can you tell me about Central?”

“It can be useful, but it’s also really annoying,” Bear said thoughtfully. “You can’t shut it off, although we found that if we never responded the messages slowed way down. I pushed that because the interruptions really slowed our training at first, but later on I used Central to keep Mak and Ros working. They slacked off until Central projected images that they thought were real. Later on, they began using the images themselves as a stimulus, interacting with the images just as they would have for a video game. I’d call Central useful, but intrusive.”

“About what Mesk thinks,” Matt agreed. “But we’re wondering now whether it might be worse than that. What if Central is the reason for the suicides? It makes things too easy, does everything for everyone. As a result, people rarely need to go out. They don’t see other people, they don’t do much of anything except play games or maybe work on art projects. Those are solitary, so the only interaction they get with other humans is through Central. It even designs new video games to keep their interest.”

“Now that I think about it, you’re right,” Bear nodded. “Ros and Mak didn’t like the idea of leaving their dwellings and Ros was shocked at the idea of using the same bathroom we did. As for Mak, the bathroom didn’t bother him but he didn’t like the idea of undressing where she could see him. It was like he was afraid of being seen naked. I think the rest of the people of Prime are like the ones we see now and again on Darwin. They come into Home just long enough to trade for a few things, then take off again.”

“But our loners don’t commit suicide, Bear. Any thoughts about that?”

“I don’t really understand the concept, Matt. You never need to kill yourself on Darwin, there’s always a cat or a bear that will happily take care of it for you!”

“Yeah. Here, the struggle is to stay alive, but on Prime they get bored with living. Sooner or later they get tired of it all and end their life. Not Mesk’s group, at least not so far; none have chosen to self-terminate. I don’t know if you knew this, but that’s their term for suicide. They do it by using their chip. It brings death quickly and painlessly, so even the fear of dying doesn’t stop them. Mesk is concerned because it looks like the suicides are increasing.”

“So what, Matt?” Bear dismissed. “We’re just as human as they are. If they manage to kill themselves off, we’ll just move in. Central can provide medical care and educate our kids, then we can come back here where there is no Central.”

Matt was slow to reply. “I understand what you’re saying. But I also understand why Mesk wants to save his society. How would you feel if all our people here on Darwin began killing themselves?”

“I wouldn’t like it, but it would be their choice. I wouldn’t do it, I like living too much! One of these days I’ll find a girl to consort with and start a family of my own. I can’t imagine ending my own life.”

“I can’t either, although I thought you’d kill yourself while you were growing up! You scared the heck out of us!”

“Aw, I knew I could handle things. You took chances too, everybody did. Most people made it through alive. It got easier after we built Home, New Town too; we’ve got everything we need now, food, shelter, not too much danger. No more slavers even. The big cats stay away from the towns now and so do the dire wolves; nobody’s seen one in at least a year, according to what Sal told me. The closest predator we’ve seen anywhere near our towns was one old sabertooth up that side canyon where we shot the stag-moose. The man who killed it said it looked thin, like it wasn’t getting enough to eat. Maybe it was too old, or maybe it was sick; that might be why it approached this close to Home.”

“Maybe,” Matt said doubtfully. “They’re still dangerous, though, so you keep your eyes peeled while you’re on that scout! Colin doesn’t think there will be any problems, but cats are where you find them. There could be old ones, maybe sick ones, or a pride just might decide this was nice country to visit.”

“I understand,” Bear said. “But what about Central? Are you going to do anything about it? Maybe change things so people can switch off the chips?”

“Yes, but keep this to yourself if you visit Prime! Mesk wants to try reworking Central’s instructions. He wants to shut down the annoying feed of things that Central thinks people might be interested in. He told me about it, because he was afraid something would happen to him. You didn’t arrive where you expected, right?”

“Right, we were dropped off at least five miles away from where we expected to be. We found Home by following smoke we spotted on the horizon.”

“Mesk says that wasn’t a mistake, that Central can’t make that kind of mistake. He says Central must have done it deliberately.”

“Why would Central do that, Matt? If it wanted to kill us, it could have dropped us in the middle of the seaway. Or out in the ocean. Five miles was just enough to make me wonder. It scared Mak and Ros, though.”

“Maybe that was why. But I don’t understand it either; there was never really much danger, just enough to get your attention. Keep thinking about it, maybe you’ll come up with an answer. But Mesk doesn’t trust Central now, and I don’t either. That bothers me, because Central runs the dimension jumpers. Every time I make a trip, Central is in control.”

“You could quit, Matt,” Bear suggested. “You’ve brought back quite a few children now. Maybe that’s enough.”

“Mesk doesn’t think so. He’s hoping the birth rate goes up, but so far it hasn’t happened.”

“About that, Matt. Ros and Mak are interested in each other. I don’t know if you knew that.”

“Just interested?”

“More than that, I think. But I don’t know for sure, because it’s not my business and I haven’t tried to find out. Just keep it in mind, okay?”

“I will. I’ll also pass it on to Mesk, although I think he has an idea something is going on. As you say, it’s not our concern. Let them enjoy themselves.”

“Well, they might start working on that birth increase you mentioned.” The two chuckled, then went their separate ways.

***

The building was nondescript, one among many in the complex. A number beside the door identified it and set it apart from the others, but otherwise Building 327A appeared to be the same as all the others.

That was a preview of The Return; Book Four, the Darwin's World Series. To read the rest purchase the book.

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