Between 1975 and 1979, the underground Citadel had developed exponentially. It was now named ‘Let-cum-baan’, the Cambodian word for sanctuary.
Because of the uncertainty of the current events in Cambodia, for the first few years everybody worked night and day to turn it into a home for their futures.The Khmer Rouge had systematically exterminated all educated ‘new people’ and the whereabouts of the cavern, and citadel had been kept secret.
Boran, who knew his archaeology days were over for now, boxed and stored all the remains and artefacts that he and his team had collected, ‘Maybe one day we can continue were we left off’ he thought as he closed the lid on his last box of bones. He and his team now spent their time with Rumble, learning his techniques and assisting with his research. Borans wife Roth gave birth to their son in 1976, followed by the birth of Norman and Theary’s son in 1977.
Rumble and Ngem spent most of their time in the laboratory. Their work had now taken on an extra urgency in order to survive. The ancient lift that led to the temple above had been modernised and, now well lit with electric power it was faster and allowed the lookout’s an easy, quick and invisible getaway, should they spot any Khmer Rouge patrols. Small metal rungs were built into the rock along the side of the elevator to maintain the machinery. This ladder ran up to the surface, via a small ledge and into a compartment approximately 1 metre high. This would come out underneath an ancient burial slab outside the temple wall, which would be another way of escape, in case any lookout became trapped outside the temple. The mouth of the cave had been partly sealed, leaving a small space for access to allow people to leave or enter Let-cum-baan with supplies. Air got pumped into the cavern from outside by natural occurring fissures and pumps, strategically placed and powered by hydro–electric power generators that an engineering team from the cavern dwellers had set under the waterfalls, which replaced the noisy diesel generators both outside and inside the Cavern.
A new lighting system had been developed, so the cave could be lit during the day with the same brightness as sunlight, and dimmed for the evening. It was dangerous to leave the cavern and everybody knew that if they got caught they would surely be killed.
Rumble and Ngem had considered that they, and the other inhabitants could be in the cavern for the remainder of their lives, so they all worked towards being totally self sufficient and to create a new civilisation in this age of uncertainty.Boran and Norm’s research gained momentum and, in 1977 the first banana was picked from a tree grown in a large orchard section of grassland created within the cavern.
Norm and Boran work, now centred on creating genetically modified, flora and fauna, vegetables, grass and fruit, by altering their genetic structure.
With the introduction of RNA enzymes and nucleotides from the moss which thrived around the small freshwater lake inside the citadel and by altering the grass and floras DNA, they’d created a hardy form of plant life that required little or no light as photosynthesis was accelerated within the plant. They germinated the seeds they developed and grew a small patch of grass within a few days. This was followed a few days later by, spinach, beans and then carrots and potatoes. Over the next few weeks they’d brought in soil from outside and, with the addition of chemicals developed by Norm and Ngem to enhance it, a large area at the side of the cavern had now become a sustainable pasture. However they still had to go outside to farm their staple food source, rice, but due to the storage time of dry rice, they rapidly built up stocks. They cultivated rice paddies within the fertile, wet-lands outside Angkor Thom. It took a while longer for the fruit trees to grow and to produce fruit, but the accelerants in the soil knocked off several years from the natural development time and so when the first banana was picked, it was a poignant day for the inhabitants of let-cum-baan.These trees would produce 4 crops a year instead of the usual one. They also grew mango and pineapples, which would be ready to harvest sometime over the next few weeks.This section Norman named as ‘The Garden of Eden’
The people within the citadel had been kept up to date with recent events in Cambodia, from a small radio station that had been built by the engineer and Norm kept up with current news from around the world, especially any groundbreaking news in his field of research. Although, due to his circumstance he had become far advanced on any of his peers.
Ta Prohm had been ignored. It was not a place the Khmer Rouge patrols would trespass as the Angkor grounds and temples were considered taboo, because Khmers held a great fear of ghosts and thought the temple at Ta Prohm to be haunted. The rumours abound of strange noises and lights pulsing out of the ground, so the Khmer Rouge patrols avoided the area, therefore they were relatively safe
.As time went by, the cattle that had been previously slaughtered outside and the meat fetched in, could now be brought in alive and live off the modified roots and grass on the field within the citadel, which also supplied the occupants with fresh milk as well as meat, although there was a problem as the cows never lived for more than a couple of weeks. Norm put down to something in their genes not enabling them to survive on the modified food and he spent the next few months isolating the offending genomes. Towards the end of 1978. One cow produced a calf that had been cloned and artificially inseminated.
Norm and Boran had achieved this by altering and replacing 42000 offending DNA strands. The cow had a lab created embryo implanted and, although the pregnancy was short, and the cow had to be left outside the cave in order to survive, she gave birth to a healthy calf
This became a nerve racking time for the citadel as the cow had to be tethered outside and well hidden, because if a passing Khmer Rouge patrol, had stumbled across her, a search would be on to find out who had tethered the animal.The calf grew rapidly and, although its mother had died several days after its birth, it developed and flourished. Borans son named the cow Jake, the Khmer word for banana, as the young calf seemed to have developed a liking for them
Rumble had successfully cloned an animal 11 years sooner, than his good friend, Professor Ian Wilmut, cloned ‘Dolly’ the sheep.
This ground breaking revelation and birth meant the citadel could now look forward to total self sufficiency for the future. The technicians and engineers came up with a new source of power to work with the hydro and developed ways to use the abundant supply of dung and produced methane fuel.
Although Norm and Boran were overjoyed with Jake, they both realised this process could be improved upon so it wouldn’t require a host, but they knew that this could take a lifetime to develop, because the massive information storage technology was not available to them at that time.
****
“Look Comrade Commander” said a young soldier dressed in Khua Khmoa Arve Khmoa, black pyjamas, and Kror mar Kror harm, red and white checked bandana, the uniform of the Khmer rouge. He carried a rifle that was almost the same size as him. He pointed at something in the undergrowth that had caught his attention.
The commander went over to look and stared at two hectares of empty freshly picked wet rice paddy.
‘There were no comrades working near this temple from my province. This field should not exist.’ He thought, and puzzled by this, decided that it must be ‘new people’ hiding rice from Angka, the organisation, and feeding themselves, which violated every code for being a good citizen.
“It is new people they must be found and re-educated” he ordered and continued.“They are the cause of our downfall,” he told his men.
He ordered his soldiers to look for any trails, while he waited in the bushes. His six man patrol split up and went further into the jungle area to scout. The patrol returned two hours later and two of them reported finding two pregnant cows, tethered near a large cave mouth. The soldiers re-grouped, went to the tethered cow’s position and found the cave entrance.
Suspicious and wary the soldiers entered the cave, they had only one torch between them that the commander held onto and went about 50 yards to the rear of the cave.
“It’s a dead end comrade,” said one soldier.
“Wait,” said the commander, “listen.”
A faint hum emanated from behind what appeared to be a solid wall of stone.
The commander edged around a mound of rocks and out onto the large gulley precipice that overlooked the cavern. They cautiously walked a little further until they stood on the edge of the precipice and became shocked by the sight that greeted them.
Artificial sunlight bathed the citadel as people went about their work, which resembled a busy ant colony.
The soldiers, amazed to see lush green pastures and livestock happily grazing, also noticed orchards, houses, a school, a large laboratory and hospital with children playing and swimming in a cavern lake.
The soldiers couldn’t understand anything about this Garden of Eden.
“Where did it come from?” asked a soldier
“New people,” sneered the commander and shouldered his AK47
The other soldiers followed suit and aimed their weapons into the cavern at some individuals in the distance. One soldier was then suddenly and violently spun around as a bullet smashed into his shoulder, followed by a croaking sound, as another silenced bullet hit another soldier, through the mouth and exited his neck.
The remaining Khmer Rouge panicked as they could not see or hear the direction of the shots and then as another soldier fell down dead, the commander saw a muzzle flash, from an opening on the wall of the cavern.
Another flash from the opening above and a fourth soldier fell, blood exploding from his torso. The commander ran to the edge of the precipice to get a clear shot at the opening, and he aimed. A bullet struck him in the knee and his leg gave way and sent him plummeting into the abyss. The two remaining soldiers ran back towards the rocks to escape, but are soon cut down with bullets to their heads.
****
Darkness gave way to a bright light and the Commander opened his eyes.
“He is awake!” shouted a homely looking woman in a nurses’ uniform
A man in a white coat came over and spoke to the Commander.
“You are a lucky boy you should be dead after that fall”
The commander felt pain in his legs and looked down at them, both now in a plaster cast.
“We took the bullets out, but you broke both your legs in the fall. Lucky for you we have our refuse tip under where you fell, so shit broke your fall” said the man and smiled.
“New people,” the commander said through grated his teeth and tried to move, but the pain in his body kept him still.
“Now sonny,” said the man “what’s your name?”
****
Tighe Nye had been taken from his parents and indoctrinated into the Khmer Rouge prior to the fall of Phnom Penh. His parents were pheasant farmers in Kandal province, which made Tighe one of the base people, country folk /farmers, and therefore eligible to join the Khmer rouge.
He had proven his courage many times in clashes with the government forces and quickly rose through the ranks and the province leader made him his second in command .He was ruthless with the new people and his philosophy was ‘Brother number one (Pol Pot) and Angka doesn’t need them, so why do I, they are only useful as fertilizer for the crops’. He had executed many of the new people within his province sometimes killing and gutting a mother just for fun, he hardly knew, or wanted to know his family, he only needed Angka The organisation,
Tighe, now 15 years old, was the eldest of his now dead scout troop. He enjoyed going out on patrols in case he came upon a straggler, then he and his men could have some fun, especially if it happened to be a girl that they could rape and kill. Now, with the Khmer rouge being forced to retreat into the jungles by the liberation forces, he had decided to investigate the ruins and ambush any soldiers behind them, and to also show his men that he wasn’t afraid of ghosts. To stumble upon some renegade new people was indeed a bonus.
***
Tighe dozed in his hospital bed, he’d been pain free after he had been given morphine and as the narcotic took effect he went off into a blissful sleep.
He awoke to shouting and screaming coming from outside his hospital room, and then he heard laughter as a man came into the room, looking jubilant.
“Are you awake?” He said to the boy.
Tighe just stared at him
“We have just heard the news it’s terrific, you have lost, the liberation forces have overwhelmed the Khmer rouge and like the beasts they are, have fled into the jungle,” snarled the man “and good riddance,” he continued.
7th January 1979 is a date etched into every Cambodian man woman and child. It is the day when the Vietnamese along with many disgruntled Khmer rouge factions in the east and south of the country ousted the Khmer rouge from power and regained Control of Cambodia. Although it would take many more years to stabilise the country it was a start. Cambodia had been liberated.
Tighe lay in his bed unable to move, the shock news plus his broken, shot legs and battered body made movement difficult. He wanted to rip the man’s throat out. ‘This’, he thought, ‘Is the worst day of my life’.
He thought wrong; it was about to become the first day.
The people within the Let-cum-baan had no real idea of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. They were a society closed off, and all the news had come from the BBC World Service on their radios and due to reporters and any outsiders being on the Khmer Rouge shit-list the news had been sketchy.
The townsfolk of Siem Reap had all been moved in a mass exodus by the Khmer Rouge to the countryside work camps, so that was now a city of ghosts.
This tiny amount of knowledge had been important for Tighe’s well being; if they had known the full truth about the Khmer Rouges atrocities, Tighe would have surely been killed. The man left Tighe’s room and rejoined the citadels’ celebrations.
Hours passed and Tighe fell in and out of consciousness. The door opened and a foreign man entered, looked at Tighe’s chart and went to sit on the chair at the side of his bed. Tighe had never seen a foreigner before and turned to face the jovial looking professor.
“My name’s Norman,” said the professor in fluent Cambodian.
Tighe just stared at this strange man.
Now you know my name, how about you tell me yours?” asked Norm.
Tighe just stared in silence.
“Okay then, have it your way.”
Norm went on to explain to Tighe about his injuries and his treatment and prognosis,
“You may have a limp, but at least we have saved your legs.”
Norm went on explaining, until a tap on the door disturbed him and Theary entered the room carrying Norman Junior.
“There you are,” said Theary “I’ve been looking everywhere for you” she said and went over and sat on Tighe’s bed.
“Hello,” said Theary to Tighe “say hello Norman,” and waved the infants arm at Tighe, Norm Jnr smiled and chuckled.
“He’s the quiet type, won’t even tell us his name” said Norman.
“Here, hold the baby Norm, the poor boy’s sweating” Theary handed the baby to Norm and went over to the sink, got a bowl of cold water and a cloth, and wiped the sweat off Tighe’s face.
Tighe stared passed Theary and gazed at the baby and Norm, who threw the infant up into the air and caught him, the child gurgled happily by his father’s entertainment.
“Don’t do that darling,” Theary said “he has just been fed and he will be …”
The warning came too late and on the downward stroke, a large gush of milky vomit splattered the top of Norms head.
Theary grabbed the still chuckling baby and Norm got his handkerchief and wiped his head.
“Serves you right!” said Theary.
“My name is Tighe,” said Tighe, chuckling
“Nice to meet you Tighe,” said Norm still wiping the vomit from his face “This is my wife Theary, and that little monster is Norman Junior”
Tighe smiled at the family, he had never had a childhood, but this felt normal.
Over the next few weeks the citadel became quieter as some of the dwellers started to leave and return to rebuild their homes and start a new Cambodia, even though it would take years to stabilise the country, they could make a start. The citadel inhabitants had a meeting and agreed to keep the existence of Let-cum-baan a closely guarded secret, as they may one day have to return.
Within the space of a few weeks, all but 60 of the inhabitants had left the place they called home and returned to the old lives and homes that had been violently forced away from them.
The Citadel was silent, which suited Rumble and Ngem, as their research became difficult and they realised the enormous task that lay ahead of them would probably not be achievable in their lifetime, or possibly several generations, unless technology improved dramatically.
Tighes rehabilitation had been slow and painful and hobbled around on crutches. He had become close with Norman and Theary and he doted on Norman Junior, and helped Theary with chores, which mainly entailed playing with Norman Junior and Tu Ngem, Borans son.
As Tighe’s mobility improved, he started helping around the citadel. The remaining occupants found him a likeable lad, and he would spend time tending the created cattle, especial Jake. Tighe had become a carefree and happy adolescent, who relished responsibility and he became trusted and respected by everyone in the citadel. He lived well and learned to read and write unlike the majority of his kinsfolk as during Khmer Rouge era education had been banned. Norm taught him English along with his and Borans son.
Tighe didn’t want to return to the outside world, he had come to realise the brainwashing of the Khmer rouge, had been in total violation of humanity and he was ashamed of the part he had played. However, news on TV and radios had informed people about sporadic fighting between liberation forces and small pockets of Khmer Rouge fighters, so with a heavy heart, three years after he’d arrived at the citadel, Tighe told Norm and the others of his intention to return to the outside world and join the fighting, as a government soldier and quash the Khmer Rouge once and for all. Rumble gave Tighe a few thousand dollars in order to help him with his life outside, and the community wished him a safe journey.
Tighe left the citadel on 3rd June 1982 and set off to join an infantry battalion at Siem Reap. He would return many times to the citadel to visit his adopted family, Norman and Theary, his father and mother, but especially his younger brothers Norman Jnr and Tu.