Chapter 14

It is good to be king. As the head of our household, when I ask questions, the answers are given. I must be doing something right because they respect me, as I respect them. When I ask during breakfast how Algossi and Glaiss are getting along, I get quite an earful from the ladies.

Apparently, they talk as friends late into the night. If they keep this up — well, they won't appear to be tired for about a week, then they will sleep in like it's a Saturday morning.

As for their bodily desires, I suggest that Sarbun pass on "whatever it is that I'm doing right" to Nella so she can pass it on to Algossi. I'm surprised to find — no, maybe I'm not so surprised, as the women are now close friends — these facts are already being passed on in this way. Well, good! I want everyone to get along in our family.

So it is two days later when Sarbun and I head off to Ungur's camp after a quick breakfast of fried eggs and jerky. I have checked the computer, and they are in the next valley over from where we saw them last. Evidently Ungur has listened to my advice about moving around more.

They do need to move more so the land can heal, the people can find more food, and they will have less sickness. I probably need to teach them about building a place to go to the bathroom — before it gets too cold to dig. Much of the disease they have is caused by the fact they will do their necessaries anywhere.

We take plenty of knives of different types, as well as salt and pepper for trading. We each have a fur tied to our back and our bows and knives. I have my trusty big caliber pistol that nobody seems to notice and some jerky for the trip.

As we walk, we talk about what we are looking for in a helper. I tell Sarbun that although there are plenty of "other people" available, I don't want our camp to have too many of their kind. As for us, I don't want to become a minority. They are stronger than us. She understands that and tries to reassure me that Nella and Algossi are not a problem.

"You are probably right. What about when Algossi and Glaiss mate? Many years from now their children will be older. Can we trust them? If we have other people around, will we be able to trust them and their children?" I ask.

"I am sure there will be no problem. We have always gotten along well with the other people," Sarbun explains.

"I know that, but that does not mean that it won't change. Bad weather or a big earthquake can change things and make it hard to survive."

I don't tell her that I know — or at least think I know - the other people will not last. I had my doubts about the "other people's" ability to survive. They didn't survive in my world. Was it genocide or bad weather as some scientists thought?

Neanderthals may have faded away from planet Earth because of climactic changes, population pressure from humans, or maybe the remnants had been absorbed by us. There are many theories and few facts to go on.

If there is some kind of war between the two races, I don't want to be involved in it. Who knows, since this is a planet created from scratch, maybe the Neanderthals will survive this time around with Kemon's people watching over us all. Are they interested in saving the Neanderthals?

That is another thing - Kemon's people are strange. They are an advanced race of beings, and they seem to be unconcerned about competing with humans, as warlike as we are. Is that because they are more advanced sociologically and therefore have no natural fear of us, or is it because they underestimate us? Either interpretation feels like an insult to my race.

On further thought, we modern humans have — or had - just barely pulled ourselves out of the primordial soup, so to speak, and had only recently reached for the stars in a very weak way. We are quite primitive and coarse in many ways. We have a lot of sociological growing up to do. We need to learn how to get along with each other. It seems the people here are pretty friendly for the most part.

Are the easy conditions because there is plenty of food? Maybe it is a localized phenomenon and these people are as warlike and unthinking as modern humans. Lord knows, the term "human history" is more about the history of war than anything else. Am I the only person to have ever noticed that?

I guess it all relates to good news and bad news. If Sally Jones gets a new dress, that is not news. If ten thousand men die in a battle, that is newsworthy. Yes, we humans are puny and pathetic. It is a wonder we hadn't wiped ourselves out before Kemon took me from planet Earth.

Sarbun knows by my expression that I am thinking thoughts that she would not understand. By keeping my mind occupied, this trek doesn't seem so long. Sarbun seems quite happy to just be with me, and doesn't need words when I am so occupied.

We stop for lunch and chat lightly about the weather and how nice a day it is. It rains in this place, mostly during the night, so it rarely interrupts our activities. I wonder if that is another of Kemon's machinations.

After lunch, we continue on. It is difficult to talk with the pace we set for ourselves.

This is supposed to be like the eastern part of France, the western foothills of the Alps. I guess it doesn't matter where it really is and who knows if this place will have a similar history. I can only hope it will be different - very different.

Apparently this place is not being considered some conservation area so much as an experiment. If human history here is different, that's fine with the folks up above.

It is fall now, so we have several weeks before the snows start coming. I think we need to get a couple good hunts in before then so that we don't use up all the dried foods in the big containers.

We eventually come to Ungur's new camp. As before, we are met by Ungur and one of his men. I briefly wonder where the other man is. I have never learned their names and I'm not really interested in the local politics as long as they don't affect us.

Sarbun unslings her fur and other pack items and seems to dissolve into the group of women there. They treat her as one of their own, as if she had never left. I decide we need to come back more often for her sake. I don't have family and friends here, but she does. We all know that women love to socialize. I don't want to take that away from her.

"Hello Ungur. We meet again. We need to trade again. Do you have anything you want me to liberate from you? You have too many things and too many people," I say, smiling.

"Ha! I knew you would be back to take advantage of me again. We have had a rough, hot season this year. Hunting has been good, but there have been many accidents. Kergor, my number two man, was killed during a hunt, and we have had several deaths from sickness," Ungur says. "As you can see, we have moved.