CHAPTER 2
Writhing and twisting, Monty tried to break free but was held fast against the body of his captor. The arm that held him had splayed out at the tip into dozens of finger like tendrils that wrapped securely around his arms and legs. In the gloom of the tunnel, he could just make out other creatures, all running, each carrying one or two captives. He caught a glimpse of the person in his captor’s other arm and knew it was Alicia.
“What the hell’s going on?” he screamed, his cry banished by the roar in the tunnel. For a long moment, terror pushed aside his anger and indignation. For Christ sake, what was happening to him? Why him? Where did these monsters come from? Somehow he managed to get an arm free and began banging away at the stalk body, but it didn’t seem to have any impact on the creature.
Soon he saw lights up ahead and could make out a large cylindrical vehicle. As he came closer, he could see there were two of them in line with huge rocket engines. A door lifted off the side of the first vehicle and the creatures flung their captives in. As Alicia fell into the vehicle, she grabbed a tendril of the creature and angrily bit into it. The creature reacted sharply, pulled its arm away, and flayed her with its tendrils, forcing her well back. As the creature attacked Alicia, it dropped Monty who lunged hard at the stalk body, caught the creature by surprise, and knocked it down. The black man came up behind him, lifted him bodily, and threw him deep inside the vehicle. The remaining captives were thrown in, the black man entered along with half a dozen of the creatures, and the door swung down and closed. The roar of the tunnel diminished, replaced by the sobs and cries of the captives.
Monty had hit the floor of the vehicle hard. He lay there gasping, dimly aware of the screaming around him. He felt himself lifted and forced into a seat. Dazed and angry, he threw himself at the strange beings, shouting, “Fight them. There aren’t that many of them.” Some of the captives joined him, but they were quickly beaten back by the whip-like tendrils and the large truncheons that the creatures swung. A vicious blow caught Monty in the shins and knocked him down. He was grabbed by the throat and flung back into a seat, where he lay trying to regain his breathing.
“Shut up all of you!” the black man shouted, “Find your seats and be quick about it, or there’ll be more broken heads. Tie yourself in. The ship is about to leave.”
Monty looked around. Whatever they were in had a large cabin with dozens of seats and no windows. The creatures were slightly taller than the human who accompanied them. Their bodies resembled trunks of trees with large, bulbous heads. Their colouring was splotchy and lined but overall dark. They carried truncheons the size of baseball bats. A door opened at the front of the cabin, and one of the yellow coloured creatures came in. It was the same size as the others, but its head was narrow and leaf-like and was surmounted by a gold-coloured crown. Beyond the yellow creature, Monty could just make out what appeared to be dials and instruments. The yellow creature turned and closed the door.
Alicia took a seat beside Monty. The creatures pushed others towards the seats. The black man checked that their seat belts were fastened.
His lips bleeding and cracked, his throat hoarse from the near throttling, pain setting in all over his body, Monty shouted at the black man: “What the hell is this all about? We demand to be released.”
The black man stood over Monty, “I told you to shut up. What are you — their boss man? You ain’t no boss man where you’re going. And let me tell you something. Don’t get uppity with these folks. You’re lucky I came along when I did. I saved your life. They’d’ve killed you for attacking.” He pointed to Alicia. “And that goes for the woman, too. We’re going now. ”
The creatures had strapped themselves in position against the forward bulkhead and stood facing the captives, truncheons ready. The black man sat down in a special seat near the rear of the craft and pushed a button. Seconds later, they could feel the vehicle come to life and begin to move. The movement quickly accelerated, and they were thrust back into their seats, struggling to breathe as the “G’ pressure mounted. Finally, they appeared to reach a cruising speed, and the pressure became normal.
Alicia’s face was streaked with blood from the creature’s whipping. Monty handed her his handkerchief, and she carefully wiped away the blood.
“What’s happening to us?” she asked
“How the hell do I know?” he replied sharply.
Damn it, he thought, I’m giving way to fear and pain from the beating. But I’m an executive, the Chairman said so, and executives always stay calm and cool, don’t they? Calm and cool no matter what the crisis. Of course, he thought wryly, how many executives get captured on their way to lunch by monsters through a hole in their office building?
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning to her. “That wasn’t called for. I guess we’ve been kidnapped, but by whom and for what, I don’t know.”
He looked around at the captives and was shocked at the number of familiar faces. A quick estimate told him there were about two dozen. Sitting next to him was his recruiting section head, Ernie Mathews, a solid, stalwart colleague, eminently loyal, trustworthy and competent. He was the kind of person often described in corporate circles as the “Steady Eddie.” The kind that gets things done in a quiet unassuming manner, never shows excitement, happy if he gets promoted, doesn’t seem to mind if he doesn’t. Monty had to admit, somewhat guiltily, that he felt some comfort that he was there. Ernie also showed signs of the capture, and scuffle on the craft. A bruise was growing on the right side of his face.
“You look pretty bad.” Ernie said, “How do you feel?”
“Pretty damn awful, but you don’t look too good yourself.”
“I think they’re from another planet.”
Monty shrugged his shoulders. How was he supposed to know? All he knew was that his family, his career, everything he cared for had been torn away. Alicia, sobbing on his left, Ernie, on his right, were looking to him for — what? guidance?
He looked at the others. Thelma Radko was next to Ernie. A tough, brassy woman in Ernie’s recruiting section, she was of medium height, buxom, with a pleasant, plain face and long brown hair, slightly greying, tied in a ponytail. She was trying to calm a woman who was screaming hysterically. Other women were weeping, and the men were anxiously talking among themselves or slouched in their seats, fearful and trembling. A couple of rows over, a hand waved and he realized Syd had also been captured.
Well, what was he supposed to do? He was in the same box, the same calamity. Yet he felt he had to do something.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he called out over the muffled roar of the tunnel and the engines, “please try to stay calm and do what they tell you. When we find out what this is all about, we’ll know what we can do about it.”
The black man came up to him. “Who gave you the right to talk to them? I told you, you ain’t no boss man here. You will soon find out what’s in store for you. You are slaves.”
Monty stifled his anger. “Sir, can you tell us more? We’re all very frightened and anxious. What are we slaves for and how long will we be slaves?”
“How long? How long?” the black man said incredulously. “When you’re slaves, you’re slaves forever, until you die. Just like us. You white folks put us Ashanti in slavery until we die. Now, you’ll see how you like it. And I will be your boss man — these folks call me ‘Overseer Joshua.’”
“But, sir, Overseer Joshua,” Ernie said, “slavery ended a long time ago. White folks have not put Africans in slavery for well over a hundred years.”
Joshua snorted in disdain, “Don’t tell me lies. I was taken by these folks right out of the plantation fields. I ain’t that old.”
“How long have you been wherever we’re going?” Monty asked.
“A long time. I was just a young boy when these folks came for me. My pappy was a warrior. He was caught by white folks and taken across the sea to be a slave and I was born there —Virginia, it was called.”
“Can you remember what year you were captured by these creatures?”
Joshua shrugged, “I don’t know. It was the year my master went off to fight the redcoats. Now, enough talk!”
Monty looked at him in amazement. Certainly, he seemed authentic. His reference to the redcoats sounded like the War of Independence in the US against the British. That meant he had been snatched from the late 18th century. Could these creatures not only wander space but travel through time as well?
They all lapsed into silence, each with his or her fearful thoughts, dreading the destination, struggling with the sudden turn of fortune, thinking about family and home.
Monty’s head ached terribly, his throat was sore, his body badly bruised and hurting. Over and over he thought, I’ll never see my kids again? Never see my wife again? I’m gone from their lives. How will my kids grow up? What about our parents? My brother? My friends? Everything we loved and lived for is gone.
The muffled roar of the tunnel and the vibration of the craft’s engines lulled some of them into a restless sleep. The journey went on for hours, and then they felt the craft decelerating, thrusting them against the seat belts. A few more moments and all sound ceased. The craft’s engines had stopped and there was no noise from the tunnel.
“Everybody up!” Joshua shouted. “When you leave the ship, you will march out two by two straight to the light and be quick about it. And no nonsense.”
The door swung up, but nobody moved. Joshua shouted at them. Monty took Alicia by the arm, stretched himself stiffly, wincing in pain, and moved out of the vehicle, the others following. They were in a large cave. Ahead he could see a patch of grey sky and guessed this was the light they were to head for. On either side of them, dark coloured creatures, their stalk bodies and umbrella heads towering over the humans, stood holding truncheons, ready to quell any resistance. But there was no resistance. Cowed and fearful, the captives walked quickly and quietly behind Monty and Alicia. As Monty passed one of the creatures, its truncheon swung hard against his back, flattening him to the ground. Dazed, he was helped up by Alicia, and when he turned angrily towards his attacker, she dragged him away.
“We’ll kill him later,” she said, affecting a sprightliness that masked her fear and dread. “Right now, let’s find out where we’re going.”
At the mouth of the cave, they passed a glassed in structure. A yellow creature stood in front of a bank of dials and levers. Before them was a large, flat space like a plaza. They paused and looked out at the vista before them. A wide, open valley reached to the horizon, surrounded by rolling hills while further off a chain of mountains lifted into a brightening sky. A large brilliant moon was slowly fading. On the horizon, a band of red cloudy haze heralded what soon became clear was a sunrise as a huge red orb began to fill the lower sky. They gazed in awe at the strange but beautiful sight. Even more surprising was the behaviour of their captors. The dark coloured creatures gathered in a group, spread their arms, and faced the rising sun. A shrill, high-pitched hum emanated from them, curiously harmonizing, as in a choir.
“Well, we can breathe,” Ernie said. “And I don’t feel any lighter or heavier. We must still be on Earth or on a planet very similar to Earth.”
“We can’t be on Earth,” Monty pointed out. “Not with a sun like that.”
Joshua ordered them to follow him. A roadway led down from the plaza towards the valley bottom. After a short distance, the roadway turned to the right between a break in the forested hillsides. To Monty, the trees looked very similar to pines. The air was balmy, the edges of the roadway were covered in lush grass and, apart from the trudging sounds of their passage, there was silence. The giant red sun filled a large portion of the sky.
They soon came to the upper end of another valley and saw in the far distance a river, curving across a treeless plain. They could just make out specks along the river, and, closer in, what looked like buildings. As they approached, it was apparent that the specks were people doing something at the water’s edge. There were several buildings, one of which was larger and dominated the others.
Two smaller buildings turned out to be latrines. The men and women in the group were separated and sent to their respective latrines. Inside, the latrine was essentially an open pipe with a stream of water coursing through the pipe, taking the human waste underground somewhere. There was another room which held granite tubs surmounted by metal faucets for washing. There was even an open shower area. Chunks of soap filled a small basin.
After they had relieved themselves, they were led into the larger building and told to find a seat on the benches that faced a small raised area.
Joshua admonished them, “When the top boss man comes in, you don’t move. Just bow your head. Then listen to what he says. And remember, show respect. The yellow fellows can kill you just by looking at you. They have lightning bolts.”
“What do you mean by lightning bolts?” Monty asked.
Joshua turned angrily on him. “You ask too many questions. All you have to do is shut up and listen. I…”
His tirade was interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind the stage. Joshua immediately fell to the ground, prostrating himself. Most of the captives obediently bowed their heads, Monty and some of the others did not. Monty watched as a yellow creature marched onto the stage followed by two of the dark coloured creatures. They stopped near a loudspeaker mounted on a large metal box.
A monotone computer voice boomed out. “Welcome.”
The yellow creature appeared graceful with its stalk body broadening out into a vertical thin willowy head. Topping its head was a crown-shaped device. A strand of wire led from the crown to a rectangular box strapped midway down its body. The two dark coloured creatures stood behind him with raised truncheons. All were unclothed.
Monty studied both the yellow and dark-coloured creatures closely. They had no discernible faces — no eyes, mouth, nose, ears. Yet they seemed to have vision and language and, no doubt, hearing. They had long arms and legs which ended in a splay of tendrils which they stretched out for holding and walking. Monty guessed the yellow creature was a little over six feet tall while the umbrella heads of the dark-coloured ones made them look even taller.
The yellow creature held close to its head what looked like a microphone.
“Welcome!” the flat computer voice repeated. “You are now subjects of our control. You will never return to your planet, and there is no escape. You must be obedient. Provided you behave in accordance with our rules and requirements, you will be treated well. You will be fed and sheltered and clothed as needed. The work you are to do will be shown to you by Overseer Joshua. It is important work and necessary for our home planet and the other planets we have colonized. This planet has two suns and therefore, there are two dawn cycles each day. You will work one dawn cycle each day. Once each rotation of the moon, you will have a day of leisure. You have two genders, and the genders will be housed separately. You may couple, and any offspring are also subjects of our control. If you follow all our instructions, you will not be harmed or killed. We will now demonstrate what will happen if you disobey.”
Joshua jumped up and motioned them all to move back against a far wall. Near the opposite wall stood a man-sized chunk of rock. The yellow creature flicked its head and a visor, linked to the crown on either side, fell forward. Its arm reached to the rectangular pack at its side and pushed something. A stream of intense, bright light flew out of the crown, briefly illuminating the rock which shattered into bits of rubble. There were cries of alarm from the group, but Joshua quickly quietened them.
The yellow creature flicked its head backwards and the visor snapped back into the crown. The two dark-coloured creatures picked up the loudspeaker and the metal box on which it stood, and all three left by the door behind the stage. The meeting was over.
From a niche recessed in the wall, Joshua produced two push brooms and passed one to Syd who was standing close by and the other to Ernie. To Alicia he handed a square shovel. He ordered them to clean up the rubble and to discard it outside.
Syd had decided enough was enough. He threw the broom back at Joshua. “You clean it up or tell your boss man to do it.”
Joshua swung an open hand against Syd’s face and knocked him reeling into the chairs where he collapsed senseless.
“Mr. Joshua, please,” Alicia cried out, “we don’t need his help. Ernie and I will clean up the rock.”
Joshua was still angry, but he nodded. Monty was surprised. Given Syd’s defiance, Joshua should have killed him, but seemed relieved when Syd struggled to his feet and stepped back with the others. Could it be that it’s important that we stay alive? Monty wondered.
Ernie broomed the rubble onto Alicia’s shovel who then flung the debris out through an opening in the wall. We must look ridiculous, Monty thought. He and most of the men were wearing business suits with shirt and tie. Alicia was in a white blouse and tight-fitting grey skirt and high heels. Her face showed scratches where the creature had flayed her and was tear-stained.
“I think they have us beat,” Ernie whispered. “They seem to be technologically advanced. In addition to the space ship that brought us here, the yellow one seemed to be talking into a computer that translated into English. That lightning bolt must be a laser weapon of some sort.”
“Move along,” shouted Joshua, “and hurry up. We got lots to do yet.”
Joshua led them out of the building and towards the rock face of a nearby hill. The rock face had a number of openings. Several small children playing in the area in front of them ran into one of the openings. Joshua pointed to one on the far left. “That’s the men’s quarters. The women’s quarters are over there.” He pointed to an opening on the far right. “The middle one is for couples.”
He separated the seventeen men from the ten women. “I’ll show the men their quarters. Emily will show the women.”
On a hill overlooking the area was a small house. The door opened and a woman came down the path to where they were standing. Emily was black, plump, with a roundly pleasant face and kinky black hair. She wore grey overalls that left her shoulders and arms bare. She smiled at them. Joshua looked at her affectionately, and they briefly embraced. Her head reached to his chest muscles.
Joshua nodded to the men, and they followed him into the cave.
“Now, ladies,” said Emily, “follow me and I will show you where you’re going to live. It ain’t the lap of luxury you may be accustomed to, but it’s comfortable enough.”
“Are you also from Virginia?” Alicia asked, encouraged by the woman’s friendlier demeanour.
“We were taken together, now a long time ago. But shush, white girl, my Josh gets angry when I talk too much.”
The cave for the men’s quarters was quite brightly lit, rectangular in shape and very large. It appeared to have been cut out of the rock rather than forming naturally. Rows of double tiered bunks ran down either side of the cave with a row of tables and chairs down the centre. The end wall was lined with shelving and open closets. In one corner, water burbled out of a hole in the rock wall and splashed into a granite basin.
Several dozen men occupied the cave. Most were asleep in their bunks. Some were sitting at the tables eating. In hushed tones, Joshua explained: “This world has two suns — a large red sun and a smaller yellow sun. The sleeping group works the yellow sun dawn cycle while you — the newcomers — will work the red sun dawn cycle. A dawn cycle lasts from when the sun rises to when it sets. Now find a bunk.”
The bunks had a straw palette as a mattress, a blanket and a towel. In addition, they each received a pair of rubber boots and two sets of the sleeveless overalls plus two jackets. They were to use the shelves and closets at the back to store excess clothing, to put on the boots and coveralls, and to join Joshua outside.
Monty stored his office clothing in an empty closet, put on a set of the overalls and the boots. As he did so, he looked curiously at the other men. The few sitting at the tables had not even looked up when the newcomers had come in. They were bearded and unkempt and wore the grey overalls.
“Do you speak English?” Monty asked one of them quietly.
The man looked up and gave him a fatigued and despairing look. “Just do what the bastard tells you,” came the reply. “He’s a suck ass to these mushrooms.”
“Mushrooms?”
But the man turned away, left the table and clambered onto one of the bunks.
Monty joined the others, and they formed a small group in front of Joshua. A short distance away, the women were congregating around Emily.
“Mr. Joshua,” Monty said, “I know you don’t like questions, but what are we here for?”
“Gold!” began Joshua emphatically. “This area is rich in gold. These folks want the gold. What for I don’t know. They want it very badly. The men, you’ll dig for it. The women, they’ll pan for it. Every nugget and speck you find and the concentrate, you put in a sack. Now n’ then, someone will come by and empty your sack. Don’t keep any gold. Gold is of no use to slaves.”
He motioned them to follow him, and they walked towards the river. Looking back, Monty could see the women following Emily. Strange, Monty thought, their gold mining technology hasn’t advanced even to placer mining, or maybe they don’t have the chemicals needed.
“What the hell is concentrate?” asked Syd Clark.
Monty explained, “I did some panning one vacation in the Yukon, and if you do it properly, you get rid of all the gravel, and you end up with heavy metals and black sand in the bottom of your pan. That’s the concentrate. If you’re lucky, there’s gold in the concentrate.”
Joshua heard the buzz of conversation and turned angrily on them. He pointed at Monty. “Can you not keep quiet? You’re causing me nothing but trouble. All you have to do to get along with me is listen and obey.”
Monty was about to respond angrily, but decided to do so would not be helpful and controlled himself. “I’m sorry to upset you,” Monty said deferentially. “I was merely trying to explain to my friends how gold panning works and what a concentrate is.”
“If they need explaining, they better come to me. “
They reached an embankment overlooking a fast flowing, narrow river and stared in awe at the panorama displayed before them. The river formed a huge bow as far as the eye could see in either direction. Along the river’s edge, women crouched or bent over their task, up to their knees in the water. Spaced at regular intervals, they focussed on their task, barely looking up. The ones closest to them showed a momentary curiosity, then quickly looked away and bent to their work. Along the beach, wooden poles and ropes denoted staked areas. Scores of men could be seen working the staked areas with shovels and pickaxes. In some cases, the holes were so deep, the workers were not visible except for a shovel that erupted periodically with a load of dirt. A narrow rail line ran behind the staked areas. Workers pushed open rail carts along the line, stopping to shovel in the outcroppings and tailings. Other workers, both men and women, moved among the women at the water’s edge and the staked areas, emptying the sacks at each location into a large basket which they carried on their backs. In the far distance, a plume of smoke rose, lit pink by the huge red sun that filled the sky.
Here and there, the dark coloured creatures could be seen, walking among the workers, their truncheons raised. Some carried whips which they snapped with force over the head of the occasional worker who stopped to rest. A yellow creature came along, guarded by a phalanx of six dark coloured creatures. As they passed, Joshua ordered them all to bow their heads while he fell on his knees, his forehead pressed to the ground.
Monty looked closely at the creatures. The man in the cave had called them mushrooms. Certainly, the dark coloured ones with their large umbrella-like heads looked like toadstools or mushrooms. The yellow creatures also had the stalk body. Just their heads were different as well as their colouring. They seemed to be in charge and carried the lightning bolt weapon. The dark coloured creatures were armed only with truncheons and whips.
Along the beach came a tall, slim black boy, dressed in the usual grey overall strapped at the shoulder. He was barefoot. Monty guessed he was 14 or 15 years old. He saw them and mounted the embankment. He and Joshua clasped arms for a moment.
“Glad to see you back, pappy,” the boy said.
“Glad to be back. How are you doing today?” Joshua replied gruffly.
“We’re doing well, pappy. We’ll have 500 ounces this dawn cycle.”
Joshua nodded his approval, then turning to the group, said: “This is my son Noah. He’s a supervisor, just like me. If he gives you an order, you better obey it.”
Noah looked at them sternly, then left them, returning to the beach where he seemed to be inspecting and supervising the diggings.
“Now watch what I do.”
Joshua led them to a staked area and set a six-foot long sluice box just inside the river. He shovelled sand and gravel into a bucket and slowly poured the material into the upstream end of the box. The river current flowed over it, washed out some of the material and left the rest caught in the low ribs or barriers along the bottom of the box. He lifted the sluice box out of the river, let the water drain off, and pointed to the glitter along the bottom. He picked out the grains and some nuggets and placed them in a sack hanging from one of the stakes. Using a small hand shovel, he removed the concentrate caught in the barriers and deposited it in the sack as well..
“Gold is heavy,” he explained. “It sinks down and is caught by the barriers in the box.” He pointed down the beach to the building topped by a thin plume of smoke. “That’s the smelter and storehouse. The gold and the concentrate go there. They find more gold in the concentrate and turn the gold into bricks.
“For now, you will work two-by-two until you get the hang of it. Then you’ll get your own digging. You have seven dawn cycles to learn. If you don’t learn or you don’t work, then that yellow fellow over there will turn you into a piece of charcoal.”
Watching them was one of the yellow creatures with the special weapon. Close by him were two dark-coloured creatures with raised truncheons.
Since there were seventeen men, Syd Clark was the odd-man out and was placed further down the beach.
Monty and Ernie paired together. They took turns digging and shovelling, and carrying the material to the sluice box; both had to lift the sluice box out to examine its contents. They were surprised at the obvious richness of the area. Nuggets as well as grains of gold appeared with each operation. The experience was so novel, they forgot, for awhile, they were slaves of some alien enterprise.
Still in pain from the beatings he had received, Monty stopped for a moment to stretch and ease the strain on muscles and back unaccustomed to digging. There was the sharp snap of a whip lash over his head. A dark coloured creature, a few yards away, retracted the whip and flipped it once more at him. He held up his shovel as a shield, and the whip coiled around the wooden stock and yanked it forcefully from his grasp. The shovel fell to the ground at the creatures feet with the whip still wrapped around it.
The creature gestured to the shovel. Monty realized he was supposed to unravel the whip, but he did not move. Anger and stubbornness pushed aside fear and discretion. The creature could easily have unravelled the whip just by pulling on it, but it obviously wanted to make a point.
Joshua had been further along the beach when the incident occurred and now came running up. Other stake workers stopped to observe what would happen.
“What are you doing?” Joshua roared. “Give him back his whip or you’re dead!”
“You give it back to him,” Monty shouted back.
Joshua slammed him hard in the stomach. Monty doubled up and fell to the ground. Joshua picked him up by his overalls and flung him on the shovel.
“Damn you, give him back his whip!”
Over the pain and nausea from the punch, Monty heard Alicia screaming at him. “For God’s sake, Monty, do what he says!”
He managed to get onto his knees and to unravel the whip. He then slowly stood up, grasping and leaning on the shovel for a long moment until the pain began to subside, and returned to digging.
Joshua ordered everyone back to work. The creature stood there a moment and then strode off.
“You’re a real troublemaker,” Joshua said. “That’s the second time I saved your life.”
“Thank you very much,” Monty replied dryly, still wincing with pain. “But don’t expect to get on my Christmas card list.”
“You better just watch out,” Joshua warned. “You’re not high and mighty anymore. You’re just a slave.”
The rest of the shift was uneventful. Monty and Ernie took turns digging and sluicing, recovered much gold, and had a small pile of concentrate to be further refined. From time-to–time, Monty thought of Vivian and his children and their happy life together. His world had seemed such a pleasant place, and now this… Perhaps, this was all a dream and when it became really dreadful, he would awaken. But it was already pretty d