Chapter 9: The Taint

"Wake up!" cried the familiar, but seemingly agitated voice in my head. It was earlier than usual, as the rooster was yet to call reveille.

"What?" I mumbled, my eyes barely awake.

"I've been a fool!"

"An idiot, maybe, but a fool..." I thought, as I yawned.

"No ... I'm serious. I let myself get distracted..."

Now that I was awake, I was getting really worried. "Just tell me, Malok!"

"I looked into the issue about the experiment in Africa and you were right! The guy from your world's minions made landfall in France last week and they corrupted and took over the Cro-Magnon camp! To make matters worse, while I was getting this information, they took the opportunity to sneak a party out of camp and made there way up the river. They arrived at the Neanderthal camp late last night! The group included a man professing to be a shaman. As there was a shaman already there, he became insulted and proclaimed the new shaman to be a fraud. He said, he would not stay while the imposter was there. He did agree to "marry" Hogat and his new bride and they were wed last night, but the official shaman then promptly left..."

"Malok, just tell me if Hogat and Tola are alright!"

"They're not! They're alive but they've been corrupted! Hogat's corruption is not permanent, but his sanity is in question. Tola is insane."

My heart sank. While I had only known my friends for a short time, I had been hopeful in developing a closer relationship over time; perhaps even trying to merge into their society. Now Malok was telling me that my new friends were in danger and I was angry. "What can I do?" I thought.

"Trench-coat?" I asked.

"Yeah. You'll see why soon."

"OK," I said out loud, getting dressed. "Should I bring anyone with me?"

"There is the danger that any mate you bring might be corrupted. Still, you will need help. I suggest you bring Geeta. She knows the caves well and her size and strength would be an asset."

After I was dressed, I quickly woke Geeta, Lyna and Soya and explained what was happening. Malok warned me that the two unmated men might be sent to my camp to secure it before the false shaman arrived to corrupt my family. Soya told me that Jonta, Sula and her would be ready with bows. Sonya was a good shot at fixed targets. When we were kids, we used to have archery contests out in the woods. When we had hunted the other day, I tried her and (not) surprisingly Soya picked up the skill immediately. Still, as I found, shooting moving targets was far more difficult than shooting fixed ones.

Luckily, the approach from the north was far more difficult. It with required some climbing. If they approached from the south, the long and winding, gradual slope would still take some time to traverse. Either way, my family would get several shots each at the men before they could reach the house. Hopefully their readiness just would be a precaution.

I grabbed a big flashlight, my Bowie knife and then walked over to the remaining pod. At Malok's urging, I opened it. Then I pulled out the few remaining items I had not previously moved to the cave. "It's empty. What now?" I thought

"It has a false bottom and is a lot deeper than it seems. It's built into the ground. Push the red button on the side." explained Malok's voice in my head.

I did as directed and the false bottom folded back, upward. If I had not been so distracted I might have been shocked. Musical instruments! Not just the guitar Malok had promised. Later I would find that it contained a plethora of brass, string, wind, percussion and reed instruments, containing at least two of each kind (some as many as four!). It was almost like a musical Noah's Ark in that way. Again, under normal conditions, I would have been excited by this discovery, but under the circumstance, I was just worried about my friends.

"Grab the green violin case!" yelled Malok's voice in my head.

"Why?" I asked out loud, reaching for the case that was on top of the others.

"Just open it!"

"When I did, I realized that there were only three violins and not four. The case contained a semi-automatic pistol. I believed it was a Glock 17 as I briefly trained on one in my National Guard days. There were several extra loaded clips and boxes of ammo. Still, being a medic had greatly affected my personal views about guns. I made my revulsion known. "Shit! I hate guns!" I thought.

"I know how you feel, but your stint in the National Guard means that you know what you're doing with them. You'll have to kill today and will need to do it in such a way to deter others who will try to kill you. As far as the gun, none of the Neanderthals will be able to see it for what it is, but their Cro-Mag visitors will."

"Must I kill?"

"If you want to try to save your friends and limit 'The Taint', you will."

Malok's comments brought me back to reality. While I was loath to kill, I resolved myself to the fact that I would have to do so today. I knew that this world I was living in would make killing in the name of protecting those I loved a necessity. I grabbed the gun and stuck it in my deep coat pocket, put an extra, preloaded magazine in the other and grabbed my now dressed warrior bride. Geeta and I ran the whole way. We arrived at the clearing just as Jonab was desperately searching the decoy tents for us.

"Oh Mike! You must come!" he cried.

"The spirits told me in a dream that your tribe was in trouble. Let's go!" I exclaimed, as the three of us took off at a run towards the caves.

When we got there, the sun had almost risen. The light was still enough to see that something was wrong. There were about a dozen or so men lined up in front of Hogat's cave. Some were sitting dozing; others were whooping it up making a lot of noise. As I got closer, I heard lots of moaning and cries coming from the cave. As I approached, I saw a figure out of the corner of my eye. It was a Cro-magnon man and I presumed it was the false shaman.

"Greetings, traveler, I am Bogant the new shaman here," he said approaching me.

"Stay where you are!" I barked before adding. "I'm looking for Hogat."

"Hogat no longer rules here. He disgraced himself last night. Fumar now rules here."

"I did not ask to see the ruler. I asked to see Hogat."

"He is not seeing anyone."

"By whose order?" I asked, ready to draw my Glock, concealed in my coat pocket.

"Fumar of course."

"I see who I want to see!" I yelled, drawing the weapon.

"What is the problem here," asked a lovely Cro-magnon woman, who approached from behind Bogant. She like her male companion both blanched when they saw the gun. She turned to him. "My Lord, should I summon Gorab and Dorot?"

"They have already left, Nahla" he said, as I could see fear creep into the little man.

She then turned to me, flashing a lovely smile. "I am Nahla, the healer. You must be tired from your journey. Come eat..."

"I am not here to eat. I will see Hogat and his mate right now!" I insisted, but the healer would not be deterred.

"Weary traveler, let me explain," she cooed, as she started to walk towards me.

"Shoot the shaman!" ordered Malok's voice inside my head.

I quickly sidestepped the approaching girl and fired a couple times at the shaman. He immediately collapsed to the ground with two puncture wounds to his chest.

"No!" screamed the woman, as she dropped a hypodermic needle to the ground and ran toward her fallen "Lord".

The "thunder" and the scream drew everyone's attention. I grabbed the hypo and noticed that it still had the cap over the needle. I put it in my pocket and pulled Geeta toward Hogat's cave. "Watch that woman!" I barked to Jonab.

"Yes, Mike!" he replied, as he grabbed Nahla, who appeared at this point to be devoid of any instinct to do anything.

As I turned, I saw Rogar, who now appeared to be second-in-command, approach me, attempting to bar me from the cave with his girth. "You may not enter!" he growled.

I did not give him a chance to get close to me, pumping a couple of rounds into him. I hated that asshole.

Another leaped forward, more thunder was heard and then he was on the ground dying too. Everyone else ran.

As Geeta and I walked into the cave, we saw some disturbing things in the dim light. An orgy was going on. There were five naked couples rolling around on the floor. One of the women appeared to be a Cro-magnon with dark skin. Then I saw my friend, sitting naked. He was tied up with his hands behind his back with rope! His cheeks had been stained with tears. When I looked closely at the couple close to him, I understood why.

Tola was on the ground, writhing in passion and moaning in desire alternating with a "mate me" chant. Geeta tried to get Hogat's attention, but he appeared to be in a state of shock.

Worse was my reaction. I was angry, but not just because Tola was my best friend's wife. There was a part of me that was insanely jealous. I ripped her lover off her with one hand and kicked him brutally hard to his mating apparatus. Being that he was hard, I was sure I had done some real damage, as he collapsed in apparent agony.

I quickly hauled a lust dazed Tola to her feet and pulled her over to her mate. I then proceeded to cut the ropes around Hogat's arms and the one around his legs and ankles. I helped him to his feet and dragged him out of his cave as Geeta escorted Tola. Tola was desperately trying to entice her mate and me. It was quite clear to me that in her haze, she did not recognize us.

I saw Jonab with the woman he was guarding. She stood there passively with her head bowed.

I turned to Jonab. "Where's Fumar?"

"He was about to leave on the hunt with Nomat and a few other hunters before I left to get you. He had decided he was going to pay Hogat's mating price for Kala and then claim her as his second mate."

I looked at Hogat. It was as if he was a zombie. My rage continued to boil. I returned my gaze to Jonab. "Take them to your cave and get them some furs to cover them," I said, pointing to Hogat and Tola.

"I do not want furs. I want to wear your mating staff in my mating hole," husked Tola to her "former" son.

I almost got sick to my stomach. "Shut up woman!" I barked in a terribly misogynistic way. When I turned to my warrior mate, I could see the alarm in her eyes. As Geeta was used to my gentle manner, it was clear that she had been unnerved by my current attitude. When I returned my gaze to Tola, I saw fear begin to replace lust in her eyes. I fired a couple of rounds in the air to pass off as a loco bandito. Of course, Malok reminded me that Nahla the only one who could see my gun for what it was.

I then saw Fumar and his now second-in-command (though he still thought he was third), Nomat and some other men approaching. Fumar appeared to say something to the others and they stayed where they were and he approached.

"I heard the thunder, but feel no rain," said Fumar to Nahla while ignoring me. "Where is the shaman? We will need to postpone the arrangement with my new mates."

"The shaman is dead," said Nahla evenly.

"Who killed him?"

"My new mate and new god," she said, looking at me.

I heard Malok's voice in my cabeza. "It is customary when a man kills another, his mate and all his belongings go to the victor."

"Well, she's certainly desirable with her light coffee colored skin. I wonder what Fumar's mate looks like," I evilly thought.

"Try not to kill him just yet," said Malok.

"I won't but it is very hard not to," I thought back to Malok, as I tried to hold back my anger.

Fumar turned to me. "You ... you killed the Shaman? I told Rogar to end you."

"I ended him instead and I will end you too if you are not careful," I snarled.

"I rule here. I decide the law. You broke the law so you must die!" shouted Fumar, as he backed toward his group. "Nomat, Jenor kill him!"

"I will not. He is my friend," replied Nomat.

The man next to Fumar (who I assumed was Jenor) approached with his spear to get a better kill shot. As he was about to hurl it, I fired three shots. When Jenor fell to the ground and ceased moving, it seemed that at least one of of my shots found their mark.

I approached Fumar. I was a fairly stronger than him, but I was also at least nine inches taller. "I control the thunder and you have seen the result."

"Yes, Fumar, my new mate is a mighty god. I will be lucky if he does not kill me instead of claiming me. He has a 'thunder stick'," agreed Nahla.

For the first time the little prick's smug look was replaced with real fear. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I want Hogat to rule."

"That is impossible. He has disgraced himself and his first mate is now an 'extra mate'," said Fumar.

I then internally heard Malok's voice. "He is correct. It appears that some of the food was laced with a substance called 'The Taint' that polluted Hogat and Tola's minds. It caused Hogat to rip off his furs in public. It also seems Tola had been injected with a drug that has further polluted her mind. Under the drugs influence, she had been programmed into being the equivalent of the village whore. Like the other women in the cave, she sees her role in life to serve her village flat on her back. She now also has the morals and sex drive to help her feel good about her new role."

"I'm going to kill him!" I cried out loud, as I started to raise my "thunder stick".

"No! You may hate him, but he is likely the only one left qualified to lead that the people will follow!" said Malok.

I gritted my teeth and went back to thinking my responses. "What about Jonab?"

"He is barely sixteen. The people wouldn't follow him."

"And Nomat?"

"He is not much older. Fumar's supporters would also revolt and you would see a huge power vacuum. As it is, the village has been tainted. You may have stopped the spread of 'The Taint' by controlling the healer woman, Nahla, but their culture would be doomed without leadership; even Fumar's."