CHAPTER 6
As Monty headed to the beach to begin the shift, Joe sidled up to him and walked alongside. Thelma and Alicia were already at their stations and Ernie was far ahead.
“To what do I owe the honour of your company?” Monty asked.
“It seems you don’t listen very well. I don’t know whether you’re deaf or just plain stupid.”
“Joe, any second now, the sun will be up. You got something to say, do it quickly.”
“Do you know why there were six of you on the loading detail, and you had all that gold to load? Because Joshua said you and your five helpers could clean out the warehouse. That’s what comes from doing more. Now the mushrooms will expect any other loading detail to do the same. You’re screwing the rest of us up.”
“Joe, I don’t know what you’re talking about. They gave us a job to do, and we did it. We didn’t do it quickly — we lost half our sleep. If we cleaned out the warehouse, you or the others will have less to do when it’s your turn.”
“You still don’t get it, do you? You think you’re a smart ass with your smart ass answers. Just remember, even smart asses can learn.”
“How do you propose to teach me?”
They had reached the beach and the first rays of the sun poked over the horizon, spotlighting the two. A whip cracked menacingly over their heads. They moved quickly to their stations.
A surprise awaited them as they sat around on the hill below Joshua’s house at the end of the day eating their post-shift meal. Joshua announced in his usual gruff voice: “Pay attention, newcomers. This is your first rotation of the moon. You do not work until the next yellow sun dawn. Then until the next rotation, you work the yellow sun dawn cycle. After that, it will be the red sun dawn cycle, and so on.”
“Mr. Joshua,” called out Monty, “what can we do? Can we go anywhere?”
Joshua looked at Monty incredulously. No one had ever asked such a stupid question. This man, he thought, is gonna cause me big trouble some day. He did not understand how Monty was able to get his group to work harder than the other slaves. All they did was sit around and talk and eat together. Monty did not shout at them, he did not seem to threaten them, and when he spoke, he always spoke quietly, and they all listened. “You had all better rest. There’s nowhere to go.” He turned and strode back to the house, slamming the door loudly behind him.
“It looks like I got him angry again,” Monty said.
“You worry him, Monty,” Alicia observed. “Sure, he can order you around like the other slaves, but he can’t intimidate you. I think he’s suspicious of you and maybe of us. We don’t behave like the other slaves. I think we must be doing something right, otherwise he’d probably keep us from meeting like we do. Joe was right when he accused us. Emily admitted to me the other day that our gold production rate was very good and she gave our group full credit. Somehow we have to get Joshua to relax and trust us.”
“Why should he trust us?” demanded Sylvie. “You know damn well that if we had a chance to escape, we would take it even if he stood in the way. His job depends on us behaving. You remember what Joe said about the rebellion. I was there. Joshua showed the mushrooms that he could keep order.”
“Sylvie’s right, Monty,” Jeff added. “Joshua’s always going to be on the lookout for any sign of revolt. He’ll never relax and trust us. If that’s your game plan, forget it.”
“You know my game plan.” Monty said. “ Find out as much as we can to determine whether we can escape the planet or escape within it. Until then, perform as well as we can because this seems to attract recognition on the part of our masters, and improves our ability to get information. That’s my game plan, full stop.”
The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a Warrior escorting Rebecca and a distinguished looking man. The man was of average height, clean shaven except for a precisely trimmed moustache, with a shock of black hair, greying in places, combed back. Blue eyes, surmounting a thin nose and thin lips, enlivened a round, pale face. Like Rebecca, he was wearing a white coat, spotlessly clean. A stethoscope filled one pocket of the coat.
Monty and the group bowed to the Warrior. Rebecca smiled at them, and her eyes sought out Syd’s. The man with her looked at them curiously. He was about to walk past, when Monty called out to him, “You must be the Doctor.”
The man paused, flicked his eyes over the group, and announced with a wide grin: “Dr. Jack McCullough, Chief of Clinic Services. And you are —?”
Monty held out his hand which the Doctor grasped. “Monty Dore, sluice box operator.”
The Doctor laughed, and Monty introduced him to the other members of the group. “We have many questions about our life here. Do you have time to talk with us?” Monty asked
“Later on, perhaps. Right now I’m joining Joshua and family for an evening meal. With two evenings a day on this planet, one can only refer to ‘an’ evening meal, not ‘the’ evening meal.” He followed Rebecca up the path and into the house.
The yellow sun had dawned when the Doctor reappeared and joined them. He sat down at the top of the hillock and narrowed his eyes against the rising sun.
“Ask me anything you want to know and I will be happy to answer — if I know the answer. Joshua says this is your first rotation period, so you’re all newcomers. You probably want to know where we are in relation to Earth. I don’t know exactly, but I do know we are on a planet within the Milky Way. In other words, we haven’t left our galaxy. Now I’m sure that’s a very comforting piece of information.”
The Doctor spoke in a gently ironic tone with a warmth that they did find comforting. “The name of our new home is Planet Dawn. With two sunrises every day, the name fits. That’s not only my idea for a name. That’s the name our masters use, or at least that’s what comes out of their translation program. I guess they could have called it Planet Sunset since there are also two sunsets every day, but that would be pessimistic. Our masters are very sanguine in their outlook.”
“Who and what are our Masters?” Ernie asked.
The Doctor held up a hand to block the sun. “They are two separate species. The yellow creatures with the leafy heads are called the Guardians of the Sacred Clans. The dark ones with the wide heads are Warriors of the Sacred Clans. There is a Sacred Writing that describes the history of the two species, or clans as they call it, and sets out the role and obligations of each. In a general sense, the Guardians are in charge and the Warriors are followers. It sounds like a two class society with one governing the other, but I think it is more like insect societies on Earth where each insect or group of insects has a specific role to play, and the goal is the well being of the nest. Anyway, as far as I can make out, the two species live in harmony.”
“How do you know all this?” Alicia asked.
The Doctor regarded her for a moment, an amused smile on his face. He had not missed the suspicion in her voice.
“I talk with them,” he answered. “The clinic adjoins the building that is the camp HQ. The camp commander — a Guardian — and I often talk, using the computer in his quarters to translate. I have also met the top Guardian on a visit to their city. The Guardians and Warriors are a curious lot. They are ahead of us in some of their technology but quite primitive in other respects. For example, they can flit around space, but look how they mine for gold. They are very interested in artistic things — in fact, it seems like an obsession, or, at least, a significant part of their identity. The gold we collect goes into sculptures, monuments and buildings on their home planet. The gold is mixed into the material that is used to build the dome over each city. It’s also an ingredient in the ink they use to copy the Sacred Writings. Each Guardian and Warrior receives a hand written copy of the Sacred Writings as soon as they are old enough to understand.”
The Doctor cleared his throat. “I have also talked with the Warriors. They may be a lesser species, but they are a strong second. They tell me they not only fly the space ships but build them. I’m sure it’s a simplistic explanation, but it seems the Guardians do the theoretical work and the Warriors develop, test and manage the applications. This is truly an admirable symbiosis of two species working for a common good. It is a particular privilege to know them and to gain some understanding of them.”
They looked at him in astonishment. “But they’re slavers! They’ve robbed us of our lives,” Thelma expostulated, angered by the self-congratulatory tone of the Doctor.
The Doctor paused and looked at Thelma. “You are right, and I am not trying to excuse them or rationalize their penchant for slavery. But I am stuck here like you, and I am making the best of a sad situation. I am a doctor and a scientist, and I cannot help admiring rational beings whose science and technology is still the stuff of science fiction on Earth.”
“Tell me, Doctor,” Monty intervened and changed the subject, “Rebecca says you taught at Harvard. How were you captured?”
The Doctor paused, ran his fingers through his hair, took a pad of gauze out of his smock pocket and wiped the perspiration from his forehead.
“I wasn’t captured at Harvard.” He paused again. “My twin brother, Robert, rejected modern living and adopted a frontier life style. He had a log cabin in northern Wisconsin, quite far from other people or communities. He lived by hunting, trapping, fishing, gathering and gardening. I’d get a postcard from him every now and then when he made it to a town to sell his furs and to buy whatever supplies he needed. I was doing oncological research at Harvard. Whenever I needed a break, I would join him in his cabin. A couple of weeks of no running water or electricity and the sounds of forest and river were all I needed to get my mind off cancer and dying.
“Well, on the last one of those trips, we heard what sounded like a tornado. Robert told me to stay put and left the cabin to investigate the noise. A quarter hour went by, and he didn’t return. So I grabbed my medical bag which I always had with me, and went out to look for him, following the direction of the noise. I hadn’t got very far when something hit me on the back of the head, and dazed, I felt myself dragged into a dark tunnel and into a vehicle. That was my first meeting with Joshua. My brother was already there, held fast by a Warrior. The rest you know.”
Syd, lying back on the grass, now sat up. “How did you become the camp Doctor?” he asked.
“I was a sluice box operator like Monty. One of the slaves slipped, fell into a trench and broke a leg. I treated him, set the leg and fashioned a splint from two shovel handles. The next shift a Warrior led me to the camp commander who asked about the broken leg. I explained how long it would take to heal but that the man would be able to work again. This seemed to satisfy the camp commander. As more people got hurt or became sick, I was called upon to look after them. I explained to Joshua that I needed my medical bag if I were going to look after the sick and hurt which he returned to me. After a number of moon rotations, I was ordered to set up a clinic. Joshua asked me whether I could employ Rebecca. I told the camp commander I would need help and that I could train Joshua’s daughter. The commander agreed. I must say, our masters have been very good. If I identify a need, and if I’m able to describe it to them, they’ll eventually supply it. That way, our clinic has almost everything one needs to apply first aid and some basic medicine.”
“Is it fair to say, Dr McCullough,” Monty asked, “our captors seem interested in keeping us alive and well? In Joshua’s time in the slave trade, I remember reading that the average slave had a 7-year life span.”
“I think you’re quite right,” observed the Doctor. “In Joshua’s time, the supply of slaves across the Atlantic was an enormous trade. For our masters, capturing slaves is a difficult business. The camp commander tells me it takes huge amounts of energy to get to Earth, and they have difficulty controlling the accuracy of their machine, either geographically or in time. In other words, when they set out, they have no idea where they’re going to land. They have landed in deserts or other uninhabited spots on Earth and came away with nothing. They had one disastrous expedition where only one Warrior survived to tell the story. They had landed near an erupting volcano which, by the way, based on the description of the locale, may have been Krakatoa. Therefore, I believe they want us to survive and to be productive as long as possible. Dead slaves are of no use to them.”
Syd leaned towards the Doctor. “How about Joshua? How did he manage to get his job?”
“Good question,” the Doctor said. “Joshua plays a special role in their kidnappings. When our captors began attacking Earth, they often captured the wrong people. They had no idea who was young, and able bodied. They needed guidance. Joshua points out to the Warriors whom to capture. As a reward, he is made our Overseer, and his family lives in a house instead of a cave.”
“And I guess,” added Monty, “he never escapes on these expeditions because he would never see his family again.”
The Doctor nodded. “That’s correct. Not only would he lose his family, but he believes that if he did escape on an Earth expedition, he would go back into slavery there. Unlike the rest of us, for Joshua, life on the Planet Dawn is a blessing.”
There was silence for a moment. Monty wondered whether any of the other slaves thought they were somehow blessed.
“I had a strange experience,” Monty related. “When Sylvie nearly drowned and I pulled her out of the river, a Warrior actually bowed to me and then led me back to my digging. Does that have something to do with keeping slaves alive?”
“Yes, even the camp commander commented on it. They admire courage, particularly if it results in saving a slave. They cannot swim — in fact, water is an abhorrent medium for them — so they could not have rescued Sylvie themselves. In their eyes, you are a hero.”
Alicia patted Monty’s head. “Don’t tell him that, Doctor, he already has a swollen ego.”
“Doctor McCullough,” Thelma asked, “You mentioned your brother. Is he in this camp?”
As she posed her question, both Jeff and Sylvie reached out to stop her. The movement did not escape the Doctor. “It’s ok, Sylvie, Jeff. It’s still painful but I’ll answer the question.” The Doctor’s lips began to tremble, and they could see he was struggling to stay even and calm.
“What happened to my brother is very sad. He was killed in an avalanche.”
“An avalanche?” Thelma persisted, “Are there seasons here?”
“No, it’s always warm and semi-tropical. But in the high mountains, there’s snow and lots of it. My brother was on an expedition to prospect for more gold in the mountains between here and the Guardians’ city. There were some mountain streams that the Warriors wanted explored which were above the snow line. Neither the Warriors nor the Guardians can tolerate snow — it may be the tendrils on their feet freeze easily. My brother was at home in snow and moved up to the area the Warriors were interested in. Joshua went with him but stopped at the edge of tree cover. He watched my brother panning a stream that raced along the contour of the mountain. My brother called out that he had found gold and began to move along the stream, still panning, to determine the range of the find. There was a curve in the stream where it descended rapidly. My brother was following the stream into the trees when there was a huge roar and an avalanche swept into the area he was working. Joshua went as fast as he could to where he’d last seen Robert. The avalanche had swept past the spot and had flowed into a deep cleft in the mountain. Robert is buried at the bottom of that cleft, under all the rocks and dirt that came down with the avalanche.”
There was a long moment of strained silence. Monty finally said solicitously, “I’m sorry. It must have been a terrible blow.”
The Doctor nodded. Recalling the tragic event had dispelled the jocular spirit of the gathering. The Doctor soon left, promising to return another time. The group gradually broke up, and drifted off to the caves.