Chapter 14

The Maker stared at John.

“You can’t imagine changing the world, Chief. That’s impossible: it can’t be done. It is hard enough doing things for one tribe.”

“There is an ancient saying, Brando, that the longest journey starts with a single step. I think this is what I am thinking of: that first step.”

“You are an amazing man, Chief John, even if you have weird ideas. Life will be interesting with you around.”

“I hope so. My next question is, how do I go about joining my two tribes together? Is there a procedure to follow?”

“Chief, I have never heard of tribes joining together, except after warfare, when one takes over the other. Joining peacefully? Never.”

“Oh. We must devise our own procedure, then. I don’t actually want a physical joining into one camp. What I want is for each tribe to develop on its own campsite, with variations in how they act, depending on local circumstances. They can work together, producing trade items jointly, for the betterment of both, and I expect to see marriages between the two tribes. This leads to better genetics. That word means being physically able to adapt easily to new conditions, generation by generation.”

“That is a weird concept, Chief, but I am getting used to you coming up with such odd ideas. Here’s one from me: Why don’t you become High Chief, and have Chiefs for each tribe, that report to you regularly?”

John gaped in surprise, then smiled broadly.

“What a brilliantly simple idea!”

Brando smiled. “I think so, too.”

John put his ‘thinking cap’ on, and mused.

“I think Numa could take over at the cave, but here ... I need someone who can command respect in the vacuum left by Mongo. What do you think of The Wise Woman, Brando? Do you think she would be a good fit for Chief?”

“Now you and I are using the same food bowl, Chief John. She is well known and much respected. If it was known that you had her back, the tribe would be happy with her, as a woman, being in charge. That assumes that she will take it on. She has always wanted to be in the background. I doubt if half the tribe know she is the sister of Mongo.”

“Maranga, yes. Probably most don’t even know her true name; just know her as The Wise Woman they call on for advice. As Chief she can still give advice, but with more authority. I will use that argument to convince her to take it on.

Another matter of concern, Brando. I am of the opinion that the tribe has been too long on the one site. It is time a new site was found. With your local knowledge, is there any place nearby that has a good water supply and sufficient space without many trees in the way?”

“I would need to think about that, Chief John. I may even have to take a walk around to check out questions about slopes, boulders in the way of building huts, and so on. I take it that if you want running water available? This will mean a slightly sloping site.”

“You are right, Brando. You have the kind of practical mind that is needed for the job. I now appoint you as tribal surveyor, empowered to survey land in preparation for a new campsite. Include in your thinking a need for a toilet trench – what I would call a latrine – at the lowest part of the site, running downwards. We will need something constructed over the trench for people to sit on safely, so that their output drops into the trench. We can throw a layer of soil into the trench every so often, and that will cover the smell problem.”

“Leave it with me, Chief, and I’ll get on to it. I have enough assistants to keep work going on various projects for the tribe, including the toilet seating you mentioned before. That should be transferable to the new site, once we settle on the best option.”

John headed back to his Chief’s hut, thinking about delegation of powers.

Arriving there, he found it empty, depressingly empty. This contrasted with the cave site, where he was surrounded by interesting people of all sorts. He preferred being with people, he found. He looked around inside. For such a large family as Mongo’s, it was remarkably compact. He was slowly coming to fully appreciate the late Chief Mongo, despite the dubious tribal practice of a marriage fee imposed on couples; a practice that John was determined to drop. Mongo may have been Chief, but he did not usually flaunt his position. In fact, John was fairly sure that the marriage tax was the notion of his panel of Elders, probably instigated by the Shaman, and that he had gone along with it reluctantly. John would stop it dead in its tracks, but allow negotiation between a suitor and his intended’s family, so that all are happy.

The Chief’s hut was not much larger than any other family hut, and did not offer more facilities than most huts. He had been a formidable ruler, masterful but without pretensions; a Chief who accomplished his control of power without evident trappings of power.

John began to understand the jealousy that must have festered in the Shaman, who it seemed always fumed at being in second place in the tribe. Instead of being proud to support Mongo, the Shaman thought that force would suffice to gain power over the tribe, but all he achieved was fear. Even if he had not been immediately dropped by John, the Shaman would have brought nothing but trouble to the tribe.

John was reassured that he had done the right thing.

Now he had to reinstate the Mongo Chieftainship to the tribe, if he could persuade Maranga that it was necessary. Leaving the Chief’s Hut, he wandered through the village to that of The Wise Woman and announced his presence. Maranga came to the door and pushed past the curtain, looking annoyed at being disturbed, until she saw who it was.

“Chief John! I thought you had gone back to your other tribe.”

“Not yet, Maranga. I need to have a word with you about this tribe.”

“What about this tribe? As Chief, you can decide anything.”

“Ah, but can I decide the RIGHT thing for the tribe? I have been considering my suitability for the post, Maranga. I am an outsider, and it would take some time for me to get to know the workings of this tribe and the factors that influence such decisions.

I am coming to the conclusion that I need to appoint a Chief for each individual tribe, and place myself at a remove from them – as High Chief, working with the local Chiefs on a common set of practices for the benefit of the tribes. Do you agree with that assessment?”

“Why ask me? Do you ask me as the Wise Woman of the tribe, or in another capacity?”

John stopped for a moment and gazed at her face. She was indeed a woman of authority. He found himself asking a personal question.

“How old are you, Maranga?”

“Does it matter, for my opinion to be valid? As it happens, I am thirty-two summers, I think.”

“Excellent. Old enough to be authoritative, but young enough to be flexible.”

“Pardon? What are you talking about, Chief John?”

“I asked the opinion of a man whose work for the tribe I admire. I asked him who could best replace me as Chief, if I moved to become High Chief, and he recommended you.”

“Me? I am a woman, Chief John, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Oh, I had definitely noticed that you are a woman; an extremely comely woman at that, a delight to the eye and the ear; but it was a question of ruling, of wielding power on behalf of the tribe. He saw you as the most respected and knowledgeable person in the tribe, and the best candidate to hold the tribe together. You will notice he made no reference to your gender, only your capabilities.”

“That is nice of him. Still, I have no prominence in tribal affairs. I left all that to Mongo.”

“Maranga, you have built up a reputation for giving good advice to members of the tribe. As Chief, you can continue to give advice, but your advice would have the impact and impetus of power, coming from the Chief. Where in the past, your excellent advice to a family may have been approved by the woman, but rejected by her man when she took it home, for no other reason that the advice came from a woman. In future, if that advice comes from you, it comes from the Chief, and so has a vital pressure of tribal authority behind it.

Most men will find it difficult to ignore your advice in such circumstances. Soon it will be normal to accept the advice of Chief Maranga. Getting advice from the Elders may not be helpful for you. It was not helpful to Mongo, but I leave it for you to judge the wisdom of that advice. You can always listen to their advice, then ignore it. You, as Chief, have that option. The Chief decides, in the end.

That is what I want to happen. Do you want that to happen, as well?”

Maranga looked as if she was about to cry at this imposition, then steadied as she thought about her brother, and saw what the future held. She drew herself up and replied.

“High Chief John, I will be happy to work with you, if you will support me as Chief. It is the best memorial I can think of for Mongo: to carry on his work for the tribe.”

John smiled with relief. Her calling him High Chief indicated her inward and ready acceptance of his proposal.

“Very good. Next, we have to get together and discuss the work of the Chief of the Farfarers, how we announce it, and how we implement it.”

“Oh, all right. I am sure we can sort out the world as well.”

“If only. That comes later. I will be happy to see both tribes working well together, as a first step.

I will be putting effort into working on inter-tribal cooperation, Maranga. Believe me on that.”

On that note, they parted, and John sought out Brando the Maker, to ask how he was progressing with the concept of moving the tribe to a new site. Brando informed John that it was too soon to expect results.

“I have my existing commitments to attend to before I am free to look into this larger plan, unless you wanted me to pursue it as a priority, Chief John.”

“Finish existing jobs first, Maker. You could not remain in business if you get a bad reputation with your customers for not completing work on time. Can you encourage your assistants to work more hours? That assumes that they are competent in their duties.”

“I can probably do that, if I knew there was a prospect of further work for them in the near future, Chief.”

John gave him a grin of conspiracy. “I think I will expect more requirements to appear in the future, Brando. I get ideas for improvements and need a good Maker to implement them. I shall be having similar discussion back at the cave.”

Brando looked pensive, then enquired, “Would it be possible for your Maker and myself to work together on ideas?”

“Of course it is possible; indeed, I would welcome such a cooperative outlook. I shall pass on that suggestion to my tribe when I return there.”

John paused to contemplate Brando, then decided to reveal something to the Maker.

“Brando, I wish to reveal a fact to you, as it may be of interest in how you support the new Chief, who will indeed be Maranga. My honour guard of spear warriors, when I visited formally, was entirely made up of women. Every single spear bearer was a woman.” John thought the point merited repetition.

“Holy Earth Mother! Such a thing is unheard of! Women never hold a weapon, never mind use one. How did this come about?”

“When I laid down the new rule that women and men should be treated equally, several of the women pointed out that logically women should therefore be able to act to defend the tribe. From that assertion of their rights, the women of the tribe were invited to learn the use of the spear and dagger in defending the tribe. This invitation was taken up by many women, so I started a training course in these weapons. From that base, my female spear bearers are probably better trained than almost all male spear bearers in any tribe.

When the band of wanderers went to attack our tribe, I targeted their leaders, and then offered to parley with the others. During that process, their negotiator suddenly went white as he saw something at the cave entrance behind my back. It was my band of spearwomen, dressed up as warriors and masked to appear fierce.

All they did was line up smoothly and smartly and stand ready, silently, ready for the fight. That obvious prowess was enough of a threat that the wanderer spokesman took fright. He got even more frightened when our tribal drum started to beat, slowly and threateningly, so he asked me to stop the drumming.

I told him that was not a good idea from his point of view. I informed him that the drum ceasing to sound was the signal for my army to attack!

From that point on, he basically capitulated, and I was able to demand the release of their captives before they left. My warriors did not need to show their fighting ability, because they had already shown they were disciplined and could follow orders exactly. To an unruly mob of wanderers, that display was enough to convince them that my tribe had a competent army – and it was true, even if our numbers were small.”

“You defeated a large band of wanderers without making an attack?”

“Exactly. My tribe attacked them in their minds, so that they were defeated before they could even think of challenging us. I did all the threatening, not them, and when you are psychologically defeated, you cannot envision making a physical attack: you have been convinced you will lose. That was enough to wrest control from them.

The concept is known elsewhere as psychological warfare. You defeat the enemy by telling him, over and over, by various means. that he will lose, until he is persuaded that it is true. Even if he does attack, it will be a half-hearted attempt because of the pre-ordained expectation of losing. Such warriors are easily defeated by a disciplined and competent small army. A battle is not won by the size of your army, but by the military competence of your army. That is a fact to be learned and applied, Brando.”

Brando was astounded.

“I listen and understand, Chief John. You are a master at the techniques of warfare.”

“I admit to one pertinent fact, Brando. In my previous life, I was a well-trained military man, in a force that was renowned for its effectiveness. Any of our team could spend days hidden near the enemy, undetected, learning all the important facts about the enemy, long before battle is joined. That collected information, known as Intelligence assets, makes the work of your own army much easier, for you know things about the enemy that they are unaware that you know.

Knowledge is power, Brando, that is why I value a good Maker; for such men – such persons – have knowledge that can help win a battle.”

“So the long spears and the barricade, were not an idle thought, but part of an overall plan of defence for the tribe.”

“That is so, Brando. The deep ditches for the other ways into the camp is another aspect of the defence plan. Still to be added is what you might call a militia: Men and women trained in defensive techniques, who can be called in at a moment’s notice and be able to defend the tribe wherever the attack comes from. I will be discussing defence with the new Chief after her appointment is announced.”

Brando had been taking all this in, and he moved the concept a step further.

“Chief John, can I ask another question arising from what you have told me?”

“Go ahead, Brando. You never learn unless you ask.”

“You talked solely of defence, but a trained army of men and women will be a powerful tool for any tribe. You could use that asset to project power further, by taking over other tribes nearby.”

“Yes, but you said ‘take over’ a tribe. What will the members of that tribe think of the invading tribe?”

“Probably not happy at all.”

“Exactly, and an unhappy tribe will not work effectively for the invader, will they?”

“I expect so; not a happy situation.”

“That is the way of things. The tribe taken over will expend all their energies resisting the takeover, rather than working productively. It is much better to persuade them that joining with other tribes is a far better and more equitable solution; so achieving a cooperative arrangement offers better results for both tribes. If I was making such an arrangement, I would, if possible, leave the existing Chief in control of the tribe, so that the tribe feels it is in control of its own destiny.”

Leaving Brando to think further on what his current Chief had said, John went to find what decision, if any, the Wise Woman had made about her own Chieftainship. When he got there and persuaded her to leave Bertha long enough for a chat, he asked about her choice of announcement.

She told him, “John, I cannot leave Bertha on her own just yet. She still needs the reassurance of a relative, so can we leave telling the tribe until your next trip to here?”

John agreed. “That is a wise decision by the Wise Woman; a good decision by a future Chief, showing concern for tribal members. When the time comes, we will inform the tribe that as I had to become High Chief, I elected to appoint the wisest member of the tribe to the vacant post of Chief. That is what we will say. I now have to return to John’s Tribe to make a similar declaration about that tribe.”

Setting off alone this time, John made good time and was back at the cave while it was still daylight. He was informed that more medical boxes had arrived with another dog – or rather a bitch this time. Seeing this, he decided to attempt a request for knives. To go back to the map, he invited Vickie to join him, disappointing the enthusiastic Raka.

He explained to Raka that Vickie had to examine the map, and his own task was simply to draw a symbol, so there was nothing exciting about this trip into the dark.

“But what about these ‘books’, John?”

“They can wait, Raka. Some of the other wives will want to see the map, so this is an opportune time for Vickie. Our previous trip there was simply to prove its existence.”

He and Vickie made their way into the dark of the cave, and when they reached the map, Vickie was enthralled by the detail in the image carved on the wall. John told her to examine it closely while he tried to carve a small knife above the map.

The previous image, of a Red Cross box, was all straight lines, but this symbol involved a curved blade. His attempt went well until the blade slipped and gouged an unwanted line in the surface. He had to scrape it away patiently, then resume the curve. His second try proved easier than expected and he was satisfied with his artistry. He added the same symbols as for the number of medical boxes, and hoped for the best. He then wondered how he could indicate the joining with the Farfarers, and eventually came up with numbering. He carved a ‘1’ beside the indicated cave, and a ‘2’ at the site of the Farfarers camp shown on the map.

He asked Vickie, “What would you read into these numbers, Vickie?”

“One and two? A progression. They might think you have taken over the other camp, or that you have linked with it. I suspect the former will be their priority assumption.”

“Well, they can take what they want from it. I mean it as a peaceful takeover.”

“John, is that a river, or the sea?” Vickie wanted to know.

He looked at where she was pointing, and squinted at the edge of the image. It appeared to be slightly wider than before, for where he thought a small river was draining into a larger river, he could see that it was the shore of a large lake or the sea. Interesting, that they were able to expand the map a little. He wondered how they could do that. Perhaps the rock wall was an artificial construct inside the natural cave, but how could it be transported without a biological body attached in some way?

An idea came to him: what if an animal was placed inside the cave, beside the map wall, and the animal was anaesthetised to remain there until the map had been transported with it. The animal could then recover and make its way outside. As a thought experiment, it seemed feasible. However, for the changing details on the wall, there had to be a constant link between the two time periods.

Based on all the experience the transportees had found, whoever was operating the time travel mechanism had only a slight knowledge of it and its capabilities.

John got bad vibes from this idea, for the first assumption arising from these conclusions must be that there is no way of getting back again. It is a one-way process.

“John? What are you thinking, love?” asked Vickie. “Your glowering expression: It frightens me when you get that way.”

“Sorry, Vickie. I was merely wondering how the whole system works, and the conclusions I am coming to are not good. I think we are stuck here for life.”

“Oh. That doesn’t sound good.”

“Vickie love, we can live in this time fairly successfully. You will have to do without all the TV programs, smart phones, and other electronic gadgets, but people did without them for millennia. We can perhaps make a difference to the future, due to our being stuck here.”

“Change the future, you mean?”

“I suppose I do; if it is possible. We may be in an alternate reality, so all bets are off. Do you think we can change things for the betterment of mankind?”

“Is that possibly why we are here; to change mankind’s future?”

John stared at her in surprise, for he had not thought of that possibility.

“Sending us here to change the world? What for? Why change it?”

Vickie spoke in exasperation.

“John, my love, don’t be stupid! There are always people who want to change the way the world runs: all those who have political or religious manias, and want everyone to behave as they do. The people who sent us here may have a stratagem for such a change, and laid their hands on a mechanism for causing that change. Wild thought it may seem, but they may have given you instructions in how to change the way the world behaves in the future! I presume change it to their way of thinking.”

“Oh, my God! You may be right, and losing our memories blanked out all their plans. As I knew nothing about what they wanted, I am free to do my own thing. I don’t need to change anything at all, Vickie.”

“John, take that thought a bit further. You don’t have to do what they wanted, but equally you don’t have to do nothing either. You can decide to act for the betterment of humanity; I certainly would.”

“Vickie, you have a devious mind. You are suggesting we do the opposite of what they wanted, and aim for a more equitable society? That seems a bit altruistic, but is it practical?”

“Yes. Whatever the senders wanted to achieve, it has to be one of these one-sided ideas; that everyone has to follow their ideas, or else. I don’t care in what way they want to rule the world; it is bound to be one where the majority of the population have no say in the matter. I don’t like such ideas, no matter where their starting point is. The perfect world, to them, is one where they control it. That is never good.”

John was on her wavelength.

“So, we don’t set up any society where there is someone in control? But that is difficult in a tribal situation. Tribes always need a leader to give the tribe direction and encouragement.”

“I have to agree with that, John, but with such a long timespan ahead of mankind, all we need is to instil the basic idea of cooperative decision-making. We can continue with the tribal chiefs for now, as long as we institute in our education of the children the ideal of working cooperatively together.”

“Vickie, taking your idea further, these ideals have to be spread far and wide, not just locally. A local disaster could wipe out our local tribes, then where are we? Gone.

Then again, I don’t want to start a new religion, Vickie, to sweep across the world. It will get twisted to suit the ones in charge; it always does.”

“Can we take this to the tribe, John, and discuss it with them? I know that Sheila will be able to understand what I am getting at, but will the locals be able to see the long-term objective? Most people tend to think in the short-term. I’d like to know how the folk of our tribe think, before we start planning a strategy for the future.”

“That makes sense to me, Vickie. I think we made a major step in that direction by insisting that men and women should be treated equally. My memory claims that for a long, long, time women were treated as second-class citizens, so if we can get that solved this early, women should have much improved lives in the future we have started here.”

“I am getting cold, John, and this oil lamp is doing nothing for my eyesight in the dark. Can we get back to the warmth of the front cave, and our furs?”

“My goodness, you are right. I was forgetting the time of day. It is probably dark outside by now, and time we were in bed. Fancy a bit of fun in the furs, Vickie?”

“I wouldn’t say no, John dear.” She held out her arms to him, and he reciprocated. They kissed gently like a true husband and wife, and started back towards the warmer section of the cave. John thought to himself that this area feeling cold was probably due to the reservoir of cold water further in. He would soon warm up Vickie in the furs with their love-making.

The next morning, John took Numa for a leisurely walk around the grassy slope, to get a bit of private time. She wondered at his unusual wish to gain privacy, but like a good wife should, she left it to him to tell her about it. As they got to the stream at the foot of the slope, he broached his thoughts.

“Numa, my love? You are the one with the most experience in our tribe. You had already been married before I arrived, and you have been prominent in everything the tribe has done since. Everyone looks up to you, seeking your advice and your decisions. That makes you the most important member of our tribe, my dear.”

Numa started to look worried.

“You are not thinking of leaving us to take over the Farfarers, John?”

John was taken aback by this accusation.

“No, my love. I would never leave you, for you are too important to me as well as to the tribe. It is another matter which affects you.

It has been suggested that I become High Chief over the two tribes. I agree with the reasoning behind that, but arising from such an elevation of my status, I would have to relinquish my position of Chief at both tribes.

It follows that I need to have replacement Chiefs at both tribes, and for the Farfarers I have selected Maranga, the Wise Woman of the tribe, to be the new Chief there. I have also selected you to be the new Chief of John’s Tribe.”

Numa’s mouth dropped open when she realised John wanted her to become Chief.

“But John, I am a woman and only around twenty summers! How could I be Chief?”

“Like another person I spoke with recently, let me turn that question around: Why should you NOT be Chief? You have my backing, as your High Chief; you are highly respected and demonstrably a wise person, able to make good decisions for the tribe. Name me a single reason to object to your being Chief.”

Numa, for the first time since she had met John, found herself without words. Her mind whirled at the thought of being responsible for the tribe; having to make all the decisions of importance. It scared her, but she saw the logic behind her husband’s decision; for that was what it was: a decision. She examined his eyes, looking for confirmation of his confidence in her, and saw that he was genuinely assured of her competence to be the Chief. She gave in.

“It shall be as my husband has commanded.”

“No, Numa. This is not a command; it is an invitation. I have considered the tribe and identified you as the best person for the job. I need to have you decide after adequate thought, that this is the correct decision for the tribe. Only when you accept it as logically the best choice for the tribe, will I be happy to hand over to you. As I have said before, it is the good of the tribe that comes first. You need to apply that same reasoning for accepting. Only then will you put heart and soul into the job.”

“You are right, my love. I was avoiding making the decision, trying to get you to insist on it. The Tribe depends on a good Chief, and I will try to be a good Chief for John’s Tribe. I accept the invitation, John; I need no more time, for your judgement is a good one. The tribe needs me.”

“Excellent. I will support you as much as I can, Numa, but you must be the Chief, making your own decisions; not depending on me to second-guess your policy rules. I merely set the guidelines.

I am hoping that you and Maranga will work together, and as far as is practical operate similar policies for both tribes. When a woman from the one tribe marries a man from the other tribe, she should be assured that the main rules are the same in her new tribe.”

“That is sensible, John. It is a policy I will be happy to support. Both tribes have already been given the policy of both men and woman gaining the same opportunities, so it should be simple to extend that to other matters.”

“That is a first step, Numa. I had a long talk with Vickie last night, back at the map. The various leaders of the tribe need to discuss the conclusions we came to about the future of the world. Talk to her yourself and see what you think. Look at the long term, not the short term, please. It is important.”