Chapter 69

Transferring everyone to the south took time; in fact, it took longer than I’d originally estimated. That was because we had a new plan.

Kim showed up the next morning to help organize the move. Her arrival took us by surprise, since we hadn’t actually spoken about her coming north. Though, in truth, her presence and more importantly her contribution, was definitely welcomed.

“I thought about this after you left last night,” Kim told me once she’d said her hellos to everyone, and she’d answered questions asked of her about people we’d left behind, “and I realized that you were working ‘off the cuff’ again, concerning sending these people south. I figured that maybe you needed some logistical input.”

I didn’t care for the innuendo that I wasn’t giving the issue of moving everyone south any thought. I had, although probably not as much as Kim had after I’d left her last night. I didn’t growl or protest in response to her words. Instead I handed her a cup of hot tea, and asked her to explain her thoughts.

Kim’s thoughts were actually simplistic in nature, although more in depth than anything I’d considered. I’d been considering simply sending groups south, and then sorting them all out once they got there. Kim thought that was a waste of energy, a waste of time, and a recipe for disaster. She recommended doing the reverse.

“We sort people out today,” Kim told me in a firm, commanding voice. “You’ll visit each camp once we’re done here and you’ll speak to the gathered population, explaining our intentions and about the Gateway. You can call in the men you brought through last night to help explain what transferring through the Gateway is like, and then you can tell them about the two southern settlements, describing what they’re like and who is currently living there. Personally, I’d send those five men through the Gateway again this morning, so they can visit the two sites. Monty has already done the math and he’s estimated that shifting ten people, your five guests plus Burton and Gogra, and maybe yourself with a couple of others should only use up ten percent of the available power. They can then return here and answer any questions that the locals might have. From there you can start sorting who in each tribe you intend to send where.”

I thought about it and found that I had to agree with Kim’s plan. Dunbar, Burton, and Gogra were sitting with us, listening in while Kim and I chatted, and all three agreed that Kim’s plan made sense. Of course, we then started tearing it apart. Burton was the first to question the proposed process. He wondered if it wouldn’t be better to take our five local representatives on the recon south first, prior to talking to the rest of the tribe, so that they’d be there beside me when I did talk, able to support me when questions were asked, rather than doing it the other way around, as Kim had suggest. Dunbar agreed with him. I had mixed feelings about it. To me it was a six of one and a half dozen of the other situation. I knew that we should send Cadar and the others south first, so they could check out both sites, but I also knew that sending them south and allowing them to have a good look around would take time, and during that time, the locals would get restless, which meant that I really needed to speak to them, if only to reassure them that everything would be explained to them soon. In the end we decided on doing both, although my discussion with the tribe would be kept short and sweet until the other men returned from their trip.

I sent Gort running to fetch Cadar and the others. When they had all shown up, I had them sit and join us so that I could explain our plan to them. They listened with interest, but also with some reservation and it became clear that all five men weren’t as enthusiastic about travelling via the Gateway as the rest of my people were. Even so, the thought of seeing the new settlements that would be their homes from now on, eventually won their support and willingness to give the Gateway another try. From that discussion, we went off to chat with the tribe.

I did most of the talking. I explained everything as best I could to the gathered group, first addressing the Horse People and then the Hilltop People. I made it clear that we’d be speaking again, later in the day, once Cadar and the others had returned. To my relief we didn’t end up with a thousand questions that needed to be answered, then and there. It might have been because the locals hadn’t really clued into what I had been talking about, or it might have been simple courtesy and a willingness to wait, but in either case I was grateful that we were able to move ahead with our plan without a huge debate.

To put it plainly, the trip south proved to be a great success. I decided not to go, choosing instead to remain at the enclosure just in case something came up there, while all the other leaders were off seeing the settlements to the south. I did send Gort and Geeta along with Burton and Gogra, to help provide translation services.

The whole trip took roughly four hours from departure to return. Cadar and the others were all in a good mood, having weathered multiple trips through the Gateway without incident. Once they got back we all sat down to lunch, and another lengthy conversation. Then after the conversation, we went and spoke to the tribes.

This chat was where the real work started, regarding Kim’s plan. We’d talked it over and for the most part, the majority of the Hilltop tribe would be settling at Burton’s settlement, while the majority of the Horse People would live at the southern settlement with Gogra. It made sense to do things that way, since it would allow both groups to integrate into our community, and still maintain some links to their old cultures. Those heading to the southern settlement would definitely still be able to hunt from horse back, and to raise their animals as they had always done before. Even so, we did ask if anyone, from either tribe, wanted to move to a different settlement, and to try life out there. A couple chose to do so. Once all that was decided, and once those who were going to come live at the original settlement were picked, we sat down and told people what to expect next.

The next stage started in the morning once breakfast had been eaten. A group of twenty men, women, and children were gathered together and told to pack up their belongings, including their shelters. What they couldn’t carry on their backs was loaded up on travois. Once the group was ready to go, we sent them on their way.

It was here that Kim’s plan really came into effect. We marshalled the people at the enclosure, then sent them into the central cave and through the Gateway. It was felt that doing it that way would limit any panic that might arise if someone actually saw a group of people simply disappear. The thing was that once that group arrived at the base in the south, they were immediately turned about and sent off to their final destination. The way Kim saw it, doing it that way would quickly transition the groups from here to where they were destined to live, quickly and efficiently, without putting undue stress on the individuals, or according to her thoughts, Monty and the base in the south. While I had doubts that putting the people through two transfers back to back wouldn’t result in a few upset individuals, I did agree with the plan. On the first day we sent through four groups of people and their belongings, and we sent the rest through on the next day.

The big problem was moving all the horses. That started after the people and their belongings had moved. Even though the Horse People had suffered greatly during the last winter, their herd of horses still numbered close to two hundred head. Transferring those animals took twice as long to accomplish than it had taken to shift the combined tribes.

In the end, once everyone was transferred, and all the livestock was sent south, the only people left in the big valley were a handful of my people, and those from the other two tribes whom I’d picked to come live at our original settlement. That number included Tikál and his family, Tula and her child, Gada, Nola, Bolo, and Zedak.

I wanted Bolo at the main settlement for two main reasons. As a shaman the man carried weight in whatever community I put him into, and given the fact that Burton’s community was just establishing itself, I definitely didn’t want the man there usurping Burton’s leadership as sub-chief and shaman. I knew that Burton was hesitant on taking up the shaman aspect of our society, and my gut told me that if I left Bolo in the south, Burton would defer to the man on anything spiritual. I didn’t want that happening, or at least I didn’t want it happening until Burton had found his feet. After that, we’d see. The other main reason for keeping Bolo with me in the north was to educate him. While he was a shaman, his view of things were coloured by his culture, and the fact was that our tribe’s culture had embraced aspects of several cultures over the four years of our existence. Our culture was still growing and adapting, and in a manner of speaking, assimilating other beliefs, practices, and customs in an attempt to accommodate everyone living in our tribe. Bolo needed to learn this and the best way for him to learn this was to study at the main settlement, learning from me, and from Wodon. Hopefully, in time the man would come to understand that our tribe embraced a wider world than he’d been exposed to; and that he needed to embrace that world as well, if he was going to serve the tribe. I hoped to be able to send him back south to serve all the settlements in an advisory capacity, with Burton and Monty still filling the role of village shaman, but Bolo helping and advising them. We’d have to see.

As for Zedak, I had great hopes for the hunter. He was smart, resourceful, and adaptable. He was in his early twenties now, and from what I could see he was level headed. I needed someone like that. I knew that eventually our tribe would grow once again, and when it did, I needed leaders to take charge of whatever communities we formed. Zedak would be one of those leaders, if everything worked out.

We spent one last night in the cave before packing everything up and heading back south. We ate well that night. Sygor had taken Zedak and Tikál hunting, and they returned with wild boars for supper. I was pleased to see that as were everyone else with us. It had been a while since I’d had wild boar and I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed company in my furs that night. Nola joined me, as she had ever since I named her into my tribe, and so did Tula and Gada. I had made it clear that they didn’t have to. I’d even had Ruba speak to them, so they understood the dynamics of our tribe and the fact I already had four permanent mates, and hundreds of others who shared my bed occasionally. Her conversation didn’t deter the young women from joining me, and I certainly didn’t turn them away. I’d learned that lesson with Binda, a long, long time ago, and as far as I could tell the next morning, not one of the women had anything to say ... negatively, that is. They had a lot to say about giving me another try, once we all got home. I had to smile at that, as did Ruba, who I could tell was enjoying the thought.

I didn’t head straight back to our settlement once we reached Winslow’s old base. While Monty, Gogra, and Burton were all doing well, managing their individual communities, there were still matters that had to be addressed before I could pack it in and go home. Most of those matters were minor. Rita, my friendly refuelling tech, had been busy working on setting up a distillery in one of the storage shelters. Her ultimate goal was to develop an alcohol based fuel to use in our remaining vehicles. It would take her time to achieve anything, since what raw biomass we had available was needed to feed either our population or our livestock, and whatever waste we accumulated was being turned into compost for our fields. Still the woman had hope, and a desire to work at the job, and she wanted my permission to pursue it. I told her “Yes”.

The biggest issue that still needed my attention was Sygor, and that was an issue that I hadn’t come close to figuring out. I’d spoken to everyone on the matter, including the young man’s mates, much to his chagrin, but none of us knew what to do about Sygor, besides banishing him.

That was really the problem. Everyone was in agreement that Sygor needed to be punished, but a large number of people felt that banishment for life was too severe. Those people wanted me to temper my wrath and reconsider my judgment in the matter. Regrettably, I couldn’t. The man had attacked me, and he’d tried to kill me. Something had to be done. Realizing this, I called a special council.

“We all know that this matter has dragged on long enough,” I opened the discussion, my voice filled with fatigue. “Everyone in our tribe knows that Sygor attacked me, and that he tried to kill me. I defeated him, disarmed him, banished him, and at the same time stripped him of membership in our tribe. While I know most of you think I’ve gone too far, you have to admit that I’ve been more than lenient in implementing my decision. Sygor is still with us, and he has been participating in the tribe in the same manner that he had before my decision. However, that is a situation that can’t be allowed to continue. I’ve allowed him to stay because I’d promised him a role in killing Winslow and his thugs, and I felt he needed the closure that such an act would give him. I then let him stay because I saw the pain he was feeling once Winslow was dead, and he learned how futile revenge really was. Now that we’ve returned from the north and we are wrapping matters up, I feel that we need to resolve this outstanding matter. While I am willing to reconsider other options, banishment is still on the table; and whatever we do decide to do, a punishment must come out of this, today.”

I then shut up and waited to hear what others had to say.

My council included most of the people I usually spoke to when I had a major decision to make. Kim, Dunbar, and Burton were there, as were Rugar, Gogra, Uttar, Vedic, Balto, and Wodon. Both Clara and Gabby were there as well. I’d even included Ruba, Taka, Tonko, and Ohba into the council. Three had witnessed the attack, one was his sister, and all knew Sygor well. I was hoping that they might have something to offer in the form of an alternative solution. To my surprise, they didn’t. In fact, very few of them offered a new perspective that I could latch onto to spare Sygor being sent away. Only Wodon offered anything new, and in truth, what he spoke of, I had already thought about.

“It is clear that Sygor’s spirit has been broken,” Wodon muttered when I glanced over towards him, hoping he had something to say. “Oh, he can function as a hunter of the tribe, and if called upon to fight for the tribe, he will do it, but the truth is, that the pain and hurt that has taken hold of him has crushed whatever connection Sygor once felt with the tribe, and now he is adrift from it, at least spiritually. You must help him reconnect with the Bear Spirit, if you wish to see him rejoin our tribe.”

I already knew that, although I hadn’t said so to many people. It had been one of the reasons I hadn’t just cast the young hunter aside once Winslow was dead. I had an idea of how to help Sygor feel for our tribe once again, but my solution required time and that wasn’t something I currently had a lot of.

“I’ve spoken to Sygor, as you asked me to with no real success,” Taka informed me, and thereby everyone else. “I asked Sygor if he wanted to leave the tribe. He adamantly stated that he wanted to stay in the tribe; however he didn’t want to stay with you Jake, leading the tribe, or with others like Burton and Dunbar leading communities. He said he’d follow Gogra, out of respect for the man, but he thought that Gogra was too much a part of what you’ve created to be truly a good leader. While he wouldn’t admit it, I got the impression that the only person he was truly willing to follow is himself.”

I sighed on hearing that, and then I shook my head, exasperated that the young man couldn’t see past his own nose.

“I know,” Taka declared sympathetically. “I sighed too when Sygor said that to me. I love my brother, but he can be a complete idiot at times.”

“That may be so,” I pointed out, interrupting Taka, “but what you’re telling me isn’t going to solve our problem. As leader I can’t let this matter go on any longer. It has to be resolved, today. I am willing to take banishment for life off the table, but I do think banishment of some form should be part of the final judgment. What do the rest of you think?”

The rest of the council was torn in how to respond to my question. Regrettably, we had very few punishments available to us. What Sygor had done certainly deserved more than a shunning as a punishment. This left banishment or death, and I was loath to kill the young man. In the end, everyone agreed that banishment would be the best solution.

It was early June now. The decision was made that Sygor would be banished for three months. That would allow him to return to the tribe before winter. It was the best deal we could offer the young man. Once it was decided, I sent word that I wanted to speak to him. The answer I got surprised me, and it surprised everyone else who’d attended the council. Sygor had already gone.

“When did he leave?” I asked his mates, who’d come in response to my request to speak to Sygor.

“He left this morning when word started to circulate that you were convening a special council,” Tisa informed me, her eyes cast down and her voice trembling with fear. “He declared that he’d have no part of it. He is sorry he attacked you, but he isn’t sorry that he tried to kill you. I know it makes no sense, but he blames you for much of the evil that has befallen the people of this land. He wishes you gone, and since he is the only one who thinks that way, and knew that the council would side with you, Sygor chose to leave before a decision could be made.”

“And he didn’t take you or Sapha with him, did he?” I enquired rhetorically, speaking the obvious.

“No,” the young woman sobbed in response, hanging her head in shame as she did.

That angered me the most. It was one thing for Sygor to quarrel with me, but it was another for him to abandon his family. I’d be having sharp words with the young man if he ever returned.

Taka and Ruba went to Tisa first, to take her in their arms and to comfort her. Eventually, the other women sitting in council with us did the same. The men just sat back and shook their heads, too angry to do much else.

“So that is that,” Burton growled aloud a few seconds later. “The boy made his own decision, and has cut all ties. What do we do now? I certainly don’t want him back.”

“I don’t either,” Gogra sighed heavily, looking much older and more tired than usual. “I was willing to have him live with us in the south, but this action is too much even for me. To abandon his family now, when so many women and children have lost their mates in this madness is the final straw.”

I had to agree with the man. I just nodded my head and then turned my gaze towards the sobbing young woman.

“You and Sapha needn’t worry, Tisa,” I told the young woman, addressing her solemnly. “You are Bear Tribe and as such we will protect you. You, Sapha, and Sygor’s child will be taken care of. Whatever you need you will have, you have my word on that. You may stay here in the south, living at Burton’s settlement, or you could go and join Gogra if that is your desire, since many of the people there know you, or if you desire, you can travel north and become a woman of my hearth, protected by me. The choice is yours, and you can make it anytime you want. No one will force you to decide.”

Tisa nodded her head in understanding. It was the best I could offer her and she knew it. I excused her, and then the rest of us turned our mind back to Sygor.

“Do you wish me to go after him?” Tonko asked tentatively.

“What for?” I enquired coldly, glancing towards the young hunter. “We’ve made our decision and it will stand, regardless of what Sygor has done. We will announce the punishment, and that Sygor has left, and we will leave it at that. If he returns before the time is up, then the council will meet again to discuss what we should do. If he doesn’t, then we will pray to the spirits that they protect him, and that one day he will return home.”

It was agreed, and with that the matter was resolved, as far as we were concerned. Hopefully, Sygor felt the same way, wherever he was. Unfortunately, I had a gut feeling that he didn’t.

Life after that didn’t get easier. In fact, at times the tension was unbearable. I was angry at Sygor, others were disappointed with him, and none of us knew what to do about his desertion of his family. Tisa and Sapha decided that they wanted to return north to our settlement, and I made it happen. They had family there and those people would support the two young women. Hopefully it would be enough. We’d just have to wait and see. In the meantime I tried to focus on other things.

The only major issue still outstanding that I had to deal with was sending word back to Earth, via the Gateway, in a way that would inspire General Ridgeway to act in the manner he had. Kim and I had put together everything we’d gathered from the ruined headquarters that implicated the man, adding to it what I’d learnt from Winslow when we spoke to him, and my own journal of recollections; hoping that would help the General respond as he had already done. I even included a lengthy video recording that was essentially a plea to the General, to take what we’d sent him seriously once he had the material in his hands. Now all that was left to do, was getting it to him.

Monty had serviced the drone that I’d been storing up north, hidden away since it had mysteriously dropped out of the sky bearing a cryptic message and a load of toiletries. I’d had Dunbar recover the drone while I was off dealing with the Horse People, and I’d given him the job of sending it back to Monty so that it could be serviced and made ready for flight. He’d done that, and in turn, Monty and his people had done their jobs as well.

Amazingly the drone was in relatively good shape. Monty’s people still had to strip it down and clean all the electrical components, to make sure that none had been damaged during the long period that the drone had been simply sitting there collecting dust. The internal battery had to be charged and reconnected, and the whole system had to be tested over and over again. In the end Monty pronounced that the drone could be used. The question was when was I going to use it?

My instinct told me the time wasn’t right yet, and since the cryptic message had implied that I would only use the drone at the right time, I wasn’t in a hurry to send it with all our evidence through the Gateway. A few people thought I should, including Kim, but in the end they all deferred to my decision.

A big question that bothered me was, where was I going to send the drone, when I did send it through the Gateway? It was obvious that we needed the information to reach the past on our old timeline, back on our Earth, but a specific time and place wasn’t jumping to mind, and Kim, who supposedly knew more than she was telling me, couldn’t help me out.

The answer came when Monty started tinkering with the drone. The drone wasn’t a simple remotely controlled device that someone had flown into our old valley when we’d first spotted it, and who’d landed the device once it had spotted us. That had all been done by an onboard computer. The computer had been programmed to sweep the valley looking for us, and to wiggle its wings and to land once the onboard processor had identified us. With a little tinkering and some forensic computer investigation Monty was able to figure out just where the drone had been launched from, and when.

The where was a military training centre that was used to prep Special Forces teams for operations overseas in desert and mountainous terrains. I’d been through the training centre at least three times in my service career, and so had Dunbar and Burton, so it didn’t come as too much of a surprise to find out that the drone had been launched from there. What did surprise us was the date that the drone had been launched. Monty pulled that out of the processors memory with relative ease. It turned out that the drone had been programmed with its basic package of instruction, and launched roughly a year before I’d even started working for Quantum, and almost eighteen months in advance of when I’d first stepped through the Gateway. It just made me pause and shake my head in wonder once I’d heard this, questioning to myself just how much Ridgeway had known in advance, and just why he hadn’t done anything to prevent it all from happening.

Most people believed that the reason was me, and at times I believed the same. Kim had declared that General Ridgeway had insisted that he had to do things in a certain manner, and that he couldn’t reveal the why and wherefore to her, or to anyone else. He’d left her with the impression that he’d been given definitive proof that his actions had to follow a laid out plan, or everything would go askew. Kim believed I had been that definitive proof, as did most of the people that had come to the here and now with her when she’d travelled through the Gateway to the now vacant southern compound. It made for a good story and it definitely justified my actions, up until now, but it still left me with doubts. Was I really the one who’d convinced Ridgeway of doing what he’d done, or had it been someone else? My trip into the future had raised a few suspicions suggesting the latter might be true.

I left the drone question hanging and simply focused on other matters that needed my attention. One of those matters included Rolf Anderson, his team, and Terry. Rolf came to me a few days after our return from the north, wanting to discuss using Terry to establish transfer points throughout the region so that Rolf and his people could access deposits of ore. Rolf knew that several islands in the Mediterranean held easily accessible ore deposits, and Rolf wanted Terry to sail his sloop to those islands to set up a transfer point.

It wasn’t a hard decision to make. In the long term, moving our community from a Stone Age culture to a metal using culture would improve our chances of survival greatly. Rolf’s team had already started smelting iron, along with copper and tin to make bronze, up north at the workshop I’d turned over to them at our main settlement. Carlos had cast crude arrow heads, spear points, and blades in iron and bronze, and he’d fashioned some primitive copper pots and pans. He’d need to put in some extra effort to turn out anything beyond simply functional, but for now he was doing okay, and my people were beginning to see the value of all the effort that had been put into setting up the workshop, gathering the raw material, and transforming it into finished goods. In fact, most of my hunters now had iron tipped arrows in their quivers and from the feedback that I’d received about them, they wanted more.

With this in mind, I decided that sending Terry out on this mission was definitely a good idea. I just needed to make certain that he wouldn’t get lost or in trouble, or if he did get into trouble, he’d be able to get out of it. So, I decided to assign him a security detail. I quickly learned that he didn’t mind, especially since I would send a female security team with him. I could easily image why. My only regret was that I couldn’t go with him.

My return home was an occasion to celebrate. A feast was quickly thrown together, and everyone in the community pitched in to make it a success. We ended up eating, drinking, talking, late into the night; and, of course, having welcome home sex. I was missed, and not just by the women of my hearth.

Rugar was glad to see me. The man had everything under control at the settlement, and all the tasks that I had left him with were either completed or in progress. From what I could see on my return, and from what I heard from everyone else, Rugar had done a great job as leader. Even so, the man was willing to hand the reins of authority back to me, once the feasting was over, and I’d had the opportunity to get my boots back on the ground.

To be honest I was happy to take charge of the settlement once more. It was a well oiled machine in comparison to what I’d left in the south, and I could appreciate that difference. I had people here in the community who knew their jobs and they did them without having to consult me on every little detail. I knew that in time the southern communities would be the same, but for now people were still trying to sort out who was who in the settlements and what was expected of them. For many, my style of leadership, and the customs and culture that my people had evolved over the last few years was totally foreign to them. The fact that so much of our community involvement was communal rather than based on individual gratification baffled the few hunters and fishermen we had there. It would take time for them to recognize the benefits of working together towards a common goal, and how sharing in the success would strengthen not only them, but the entire community. I’d have to keep an eye on things down south, meeting with Burton, Monty, and Gogra regularly, so that I could support them if needed. In the meantime I was happy to be home.