The Inosculation Syndrome Read online

There had also been great oceans of water, and he now recalled that the vegetation covered portions of the planet were not very large in comparison to the desert and water covered areas.

  There was no point in going into the desert, and the only item of interest he could see was a range of high hills or mountains, over to his left.

  They seemed quite a fair distance away, and he wondered if it was worth the bother of paying them a visit. But then if he didn’t, he would never know what was there.

  With that bit of philosophizing out of the way, he set out to satisfy his curiosity once and for all. As long as he kept to the fringe of the desert area, he could always obtain his provisions, although he knew that he must keep an eye out for changes in the vegetation, in case his food trees did not extend into this region.

  The going was smooth and easy here on the fringe, and he only had to watch out on one side for unwelcome attention, as he felt sure that the desert didn’t support much life.

  It took several days of constant walking to get anywhere near the black mountains he had seen earlier, and as the land was beginning to undulate, the goal kept disappearing from view. He pressed on, and was rewarded for so doing by coming to the first running water he had yet seen. It was a small stream, a mere two metres wide and not very deep.

  ‘The source of this water would be a good place to visit’ was his first thought, and as he didn’t come up with anything better to do, he set off to follow the bank of the stream, first placing a marker pole in case he returned this way.

  The water was as clear as crystal, tasted good and as well as having no fish in it, was completely devoid of all life as far as he could tell, which seemed strange.

  Running in an almost straight line with a bed of gravel and the banks covered in gross, it made travelling a pleasure.

  The land here had flattened out, and the black stone of the mountain range was beginning to get closer.

  It was not long before Kal came to great blocks of black stone. They were scattered about in random fashion to begin with, but soon there was little space between the blocks, and to continue he had to walk in the bed of the stream.

  Ahead, he could see that the stream had disappeared into the mountain proper through a cave-like entrance.

  Approaching the opening he was surprised to see there was a ledge of cut stone blocks, about two metres wide running along beside the water, right into the tunnel.

  This was too perfect to have been the random work of nature, and certainly not the efforts of the little people. So who had done this? He left the stream bed, and continued walking along the stone block path beside it as he entered the black mountain.

  In time, the light would not be sufficient to enable him to go forward safely, so he was surprised to find that the light level didn’t alter very much, even when he was a few hundred metres into the tunnel.

  The walls seemed to give out their own light, just a gentle glow, but enough for him to see to travel safely along the ledge. A gentle breeze blew towards him, cool and soft and with a fresh smell to it, not the sort of thing one would associate with a damp cave.

  It was nearly half a kilometre later when Kal came to the cave. It was colossal, the sides curving away on either side, and the roof nowhere in sight. Hanging down from a ceiling he could not see, were huge crystals, water dripping off them onto the floor of the cave and then running in grooves cut in the floor to join the stream.

  Kal continued to walk across the grooved floor of the cavern for a while, and was about to give up and return to the entrance, when up ahead he could see several huge black pillars reaching up into the domed vault above.

  As they were not the same as the crystals in shape or colour, he assumed their function would be different, and that awakened his interest.

  They were six or so metres wide, triangular in section, and the tops of them disappeared into the gloom above.

  There seemed to be a pattern in their layout, and then he realized what they were, as the breeze he had felt earlier grew stronger. These were giant baffles to direct the breeze, or was it wind? For it got stronger as he approached.

  Passing through the pillar baffles, ahead he could see the black opening of another huge tunnel, and a gale of wind was issuing from it.

  Kal was intrigued, and would have liked to go down the new tunnel, but apart from being pitch black, the wind was too strong and nearly blew him over, and as yet he was nowhere near the actual entrance.

  It took a while, but he had it figured out in the end. Somehow a moisture laden wind was forced into the tunnel ahead and came out into the cave, hit the triangular pillar baffles and was deflected around the cave.

  Something must have drawn it upwards, because it was only a very gentle breeze in the stream tunnel. The moisture, for some reason, condensed on the huge crystals and dripped onto the floor, where it was directed to the stream and flowed on to the world outside.

  It was one hell of a construction just to make a little stream of water, which didn’t seem to go anywhere, or did it? That he would have to find out.

  There was little else to do now, except marvel at the size of the structure, admire the beauty of the crystals hanging from the roof and have another drink of water. Having done that, Kal followed the stone ledge beside the stream back to the outside world.

  He would like to have known where the stream led, as this might give him a clue as to its purpose, if any remained.

  And so, with this in mind, he started his journey back down the stream bed and out onto the plains.

  As he passed the point where he had first come across the stream, he moved the marker stake to the bank on the other side to remind him which way to go should he wish to return.

  He was soon back into familiar country, with the odd rock clump here and there, and the ground gently undulating. The stream carried on, and sometimes the banks were very steep, as the ground rose and fell around the flowing water.

  It was several days later when he came to the disappointing part of the trek, the stream disappeared down a large hole in the ground, and was no more.

  Kal thought the only sensible thing to do was to follow the stream back to his marker, track along the edge of the desert and then make his way back to the cliffs and the tribe of little people.

  He then realized he was not sure where to turn right from the desert’s edge to find the cliffs, as he hadn’t had the foresight to leave a marker at that point.

  It was while he was pondering what to do next that he had another surprise. Up ahead there were three of the diminutive little people. He took cover behind some rocks at once, but needn’t have done so, as they promptly turned, and were heading away from him.

  ‘So there are more groups of the little people about on this world’ Kal said to himself, and decided to follow them at a safe distance to see if their settlement was any different to the one he had seen by the pool rocks.

  They had been out gathering by the look of it, as one had a big stick and the other two had their tiny arms full of something, but Kal couldn’t see what.

  They must have been the brave ones in the group, as it was some time later that they joined up with another small party, and they all headed off at high speed together.

  He followed them at a safe distance for some time, and as he came around the edge of a large rocky outcrop, there were the pool rocks just ahead. He must have gone around in a huge circle, and spent days at it into the bargain. After the first fleeting feeling of anger for not realizing what he had done, he gave a little chuckle, and headed for home.

  It was very pleasant to be back in familiar territory, and having regained the security of his rock cave above the pool, he settled down to get the evening meal ready. Looking back on the last few days, they hadn’t been a waste of time after all, as he had found out a little more about this world, albeit not all of it was understood, but it was a little more data to fit into the overall picture.

  First thing next morning, Kal set off to replenish his stores
of food, and collect a few more items to make into gifts for the tribe. He wondered if they had any idea where the gifts were coming from, or how they explained it to one another.

  It would have been interesting to overhear, if he could have understood their language.

  Towards evening events took a turn to change the relationship of Kal and the little people for good. He had been out on one last trip to the bamboo clumps to obtain material for spear making, when he heard a commotion just ahead of him. Frantic squeals and whistles indicated trouble for someone.

  Kal sprinted towards the sounds of panic, and rounding a corner was confronted by three of the little people and a cat-like beast which he had caught a glimpse of some time ago.

  They were in a small dead end gully, with one of the little ones lying on the ground and badly mauled, the other two were frantically trying to beat the cat thing with a stick and one of Kal’s spears.

  The creature was nearly two metres long and must have seemed a giant to them, with its massive head and body supported by six legs and a long tail for balance.

  Later, Kal found that only four of the legs actually worked as such, the two front ones were more like arms with two retractable claws for holding its prey, and slash attacking.

  Fortunately he had his blade spear with him, and he rushed forward to drive it straight into the cat’s mouth as it reared up at him.

  As quickly as he lunged forward with the spear, he retracted it and dealt a blow to its snout. The cat creature screamed in pain and reared higher this time, and as it went up Kal drove the spear into where he thought the cat’s heart would be.

  The blade was very sharp and sank in deeply. Just as quickly Kal pulled it out again, and as the cat lowered its head to look down at whatever had caused so much pain, he put all his weight behind the thrust that sent the quivering spear into the cat’s eye, and as it later turned out, it’s brain.

  That final blow must have been a mortal one, for the cat’s screech faded as its huge body fell to the ground and lay there quivering and twitching in its post death throes.

  The two little people stood transfixed in shock, as much at the death of the cat creature as at the giant person who had come to their rescue, while their companion lay in a jumbled heap just behind the still quivering cat.

  Kal was shaking too, and stood still so as not to add more fear of the unpredictable to the state of the other two.

  The wounded one was in a very bad way indeed, and needed medical attention at once, so Kal gently picked him up in his arms and looked towards the compound. The other two caught on at once and shakily tried to run on ahead to tell the others.

  As they approached the wall, a small group of the little people came out and crowded around the party, leaving a respectable three metres or so of space between them.

  He continued to walk on and into their compound, stopping just in front of the cave entrance. Eager little hands reached out for their battered companion, and Kal gently lowered him to the ground.

  One of Kal’s cups filled with water was brought to the wounded one, and Kal took it, trying to get a little of the fluid between the thin lips. The little one coughed and then swallowed a little of the water, opening his eyes wide in fright at the sight of the giant before him, and passed out.

  Kal took a piece of cloth from his pocket, and dipping it into the remaining water, tried to wash away some of the brown fluid that covered the casualty.

  The wounds were not as bad as they had at first looked, and had stopped bleeding. It just remained for Kal to clean him up, and then he didn’t look too bad.

  Kal stood back as the little one sat up, which brought a gasp from the others. Maybe they would have given him up for dead and the giant had brought him back to life.

  ‘This is how legends start’ Kal thought.

  Soon the wounded one was back on his feet, although a little shaky, and joined his two companions in a chorus of whistles and squeaks, telling the tale, no doubt, of the brave giant who fearlessly came to their rescue.

  Kal was not too sure just what to do now, so he slowly backed away, and the little crowd opened up to allow him to reach the opening in the wall and go down the slope towards the pool rocks. He looked back several times, but the little people didn’t make any attempt to follow him, so he considered it best to retire to his cave.

  On the way, he thought he might drag the cat creature up into the rocks so that it would not be scavenged over night, and with a bit of a struggle did manage to get it into a gap between two large rocks, and then covered it up with some flat pieces of stone that were to hand.

  A well earned supper went down well, but he still felt a bit shaky, as his over tired body begged for sleep, and he then decided he had done enough for one day.

  Contact of a sort had now been made, although it was not quite what Kal had in mind. He wondered how they would react to him when they next met, and tried to work out a scenario that would benefit all and dispel any possible magic element that the event might have brought about.

  The morning was bright and clear, as were all mornings so far, and last evening’s drama seemed long ago and somehow in a different place.

  Kal went down the rock path to see if the cat had survived the ravages of the night scroungers, when at the bottom he discovered a little pile of gifts.

  Several coloured fruits, a small collection of coloured stones which may have been precious or semiprecious, but in their uncut state he couldn’t tell which, and what looked like a little bundle of dried meat strips, or they could have been leather.

  No way was he going to touch the fruit, the colours were too bright and that meant he would react to their toxins. The coloured stones were very pretty, but that was all.

  Kal felt cross with himself for his ungracious thoughts, and for not accepting the gifts in the manner in which they had been given. No doubt, to the little people, they were highly prized, and he didn’t think that they had very much else to give anyway.

  He collected up the offerings and took them up to his stone house. He didn’t want to appear ungrateful, and who knows, he may need their help one day.

  He was a little undecided as to whether he should go and visit his new friends or wait for them to come to him. Either way, contact had been established and they both knew about the existence of the other now.

  Kal made his way down to the dead cat again and found that covering it up had saved it from the worst ravages of the night cleaners, as he thought of them. He then had one of his better ideas. Skin the cat, stuff it with gross and use it to show the little people how to defend themselves from it or anything of similar ilk.

  The tooth blade made short work of cutting the skin of the cat, and it was not too difficult to remove it more or less in one piece. How he would sew it up was another matter, but no doubt he would find a way when the time came.

  He laid the skin out in the sun to dry a little while he collected up some of the longer gross from around the edge of the rocks.

  A small group of the little people had joined him and watched in silence for a few moments, and then, with squeaks and whistles, they set about collecting gross as well.

  With their help he soon had a pile of the stuffing material and showed them how to push it into the empty skin. No volunteers came forward for that job, so he was left to finish it off by himself, watched by a fascinated audience.

  Now he needed to sew up the belly slit he had made when he first skinned the carcass, so he cut a strip of skin from the side of the belly opening, and making holes with the tip of one of the smaller teeth of his Jar Saw, was able to stitch up the stuffed skin to make a very lifelike cat creature.

  The party of watchers backed away a little, as he pushed it into a more realistic sitting position. Now the fun could begin.

  Kal took hold of the cat creature by the tail to show his lack of fear and total disdain for it, and began dragging it towards the compound, followed by the party of onlookers who were twittering their heads off.r />
  As he entered, the rest of the little people gathered around at a respectable distance to see what he would do next. Kal propped up the stuffed cat with stones from the top of the wall to make it take up the most realistic pose possible.

  By now there was total silence from his audience, and a look of apprehension on most of their faces, or so he thought.

  The next trick was to get one of them to attack the cat with a spear to see how they would go about it.

  Kal held out one of the spears he had brought with him, but there were no takers. Either they didn’t understand, or instinct made them too wary.

  ‘Nothing for it’ he thought, ‘A little persuasion was needed’ and he slowly walked up to one of the biggest members of the group and placed the spear in his hands.

  As nothing much happened, he took him by the elbow and gently led him towards the cat. Kal could feel him stiffen up, and had to be quite firm for the last metre or so. He then backed away for a short distance, waiting to see if the spear carrier would do anything.

  At long last the idea got through, and the spear carrier began beating the stuffed cat with the spear, egged on by the squeaks and whistles from the crowd. The encouragement really got him going, and he rained blows on the cat with the spear until he was exhausted, and then stopped to look at Kal for the next instruction.

  As there was no way Kal could learn their language, let alone speak it, they would have to do their conservation bit by signs, and this was a good time to begin.

  He gently took the spear away from the ‘cat beater’ and walked up to the cat. The first thing to establish was positive and negative, yes and no.

  ‘Here goes’ he thought, and began beating the cat. A few strokes later he stopped and made great play of shaking his head from side to side.

  He then fingered the sharp edge of the spear blade, making great play about its sharpness, and then took up a position of aggression in front of the cat and gave it a good stab in the side of the neck, withdrew the spear, took a step back and nodded his head firmly.

  Kal then repeated the action, this time positioning himself so that when he beat the target a fore limb flopped towards him, and he fell to the ground clutching his ‘wounded’ leg. Jumping to his feet, he looked around and shook his head with an exaggerated motion.