Chapter 5

Languages Professor Samuel McGovern – age 57

No matter the language I was teaching, music and poetry were great ways for students to gain a better understanding. For the more advanced classes, I always make one of their assignments the composition of a song or poem.

Translated to English, some high points of the dreadful atrocity I was grading were, “They lustfully enjoyed stacking his barber’s cow eggs”, and “He longed to stir his stinky ear and frolic in her charcoal again”.

Less than a quarter of the verses rhymed, and there were more typos than lines. Unfortunately, it was six times the minimum length I had specified. I thought if he was going to serve his audience something toxic, at least he should be decent enough to make it a small portion.

It was an easy decision and I entered it for the record. Ben Jones: D plus

My granddaughter Robin asked, “Grampy Sam, can we get lunch soon? I’m hungry.”

“Just two to go sweetie, it won’t take long.” I’m glad the little twelve-year-old is easy to entertain, all it takes is a few videogames on a tablet.

I put the tragic travesty down on the stack of other disappointments, and started reading another epic offence to the spirit of Homer.

Suddenly we were FALLING FROM THE SKY, then SWIMMING!

I saw water all around and tall cliffs ahead of us. Robin was keeping her head above water. The last time our family went to the pool, she swam faster than I did. I was glad she was okay.

Cliffs meant land! Land!

“Robin! Swim this way! Toward the cliff! Follow me!” My shoes were slowing me down, so I kicked them off. After what seemed like a long time, we made it to a beach made of small stones at the foot of the cliff. I knew I was in no condition to try mountain climbing, and Robin was only twelve.

I looked around and saw the meter-wide beach ran along the bottom of the cliff just above water level for several hundred meters each way. There were no islands or other land I could see. Thankfully, the water was only a little chilly, instead of dangerously cold. The air was nice and warm. Our situation reminded me a little of some poems about the white cliffs of Dover, only these cliffs were a light beige, sandstone, probably.

Robin yelled, “Hey! Can anybody hear me! Help!”

A young man’s voice called back. “I’m Pedro, and my friend is Anna is with me. Who are you?”

“I’m Sam, and Robin is my granddaughter. Is there a way we can get to you? We’re stuck on a small beach here.”

“I making a rope, but it’s not long enough yet. Can you hang on a few hours?”

The ground shook a little, and we saw a large section of the cliff tumble into the water a few hundred meters away. It must have been forty meters high, but only a meter or so thick. It made a large wave and formed a new small island as it collapsed.

“Hold on tight, Robin!” I grabbed her as the wave hit us. Luckily, it was waist-high and only knocked us down as it passed.

“Hey, Pedro, I think we can get to you where the cliff fell. Go meet us there, okay?”

“Sure!”

Pedro and Anna were nearly nude, except for their ‘purses’ and hats that Pedro had weaved. Robin still wore her t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. My suit felt a little too warm, so I gave my jacket to Anna.

“Thank you, Sam. That’s really nice of you.”

When Robin mentioned she was hungry, Anna gave each of us some coconut and a few strawberries to eat.

They showed us around their little camp, their goats, and their few tools and food items. It was a far cry from the modernity of Chicago, but at least we weren’t drowning at sea and we weren’t alone.

I was astounded that Robin had held onto her tablet and it still worked. There were no wireless connections to use but it might come in handy later. I had her turn it off to save the battery.

Report of Caretaker 9042
Species WDT
Multiple specimens – cycle 6
Health 14/24 to 24/24.

Major intra-species empathy observed.
Intra-species food exchange observed.

Written language available to subjects.
Electronic computer available to subjects.

No buoyant or powered flight observed.
No use of fission or fusion power.
No dimensional rift usage.

Results to date:
Early technology, worth further observation.

Technology level: 7/24
Resilience: 12/24
Progenation: 1/24

Supervisor 3614 notes
Allow verbal communication with new subject 096.
Do not open new habitat, encourage 096 to escape to new area.