Eden (25 page)

“That sounds like an order,” he mocked.

Bodie leaned forward with cold eyes. “It was.”

Fly raised the bowl to his lips and sipped noisily.

Bodie had an overwhelming desire to thrust his head into that bowl. He slapped the sides of his chair.

Fly lowered the bowl, and liquid ran down his chin; he brushed it away with the back of his hand.

“Are you afraid for your friend, or just angry he failed?”

Bodie, in his guilt, paled. He glanced at Jenny, and their eyes met; hers were chips of cold emeralds.

“We know your little secret,” she said. She looked away, unable to meet his eyes anymore. “Your plan to murder Fly has didn’t work. “

Bodie swallowed. “Jen...”

“You’ve been begging me to leave Fly the moment I introduced you to him, and I thought at first that it was just plain, old- fashioned fear that made you so opposed to him. But it wasn’t, was it? It was plain, old-fashioned prejudice.”

Bodie felt ill; the alien had won. He looked at Fly, and felt a deep urge to go for the man - but he couldn’t. He was disabled, and had never felt more so since he had arrived here.

“No, no,” he moaned. “You’ve got it wrong. You’ve got it all wrong!”

Her bond with Fly frightened him. Matt didn’t matter. He didn’t matter. Matt could be dead, and she wouldn’t care.

“As soon as Matt gets back, we
’re
leaving for good. Fly was building you a shelter near ours but I don’t think it
’s
wise us all living so closely together, do you?” Her face looked as hard and as cold as stone.

“It
’s
over.
We
’re
over. Between you, you and Matt ruined a perfectly good relationship between all of us.”

Bodie turned away in case she noticed the despair in his eyes, and concentrated on watching the top of the valley in the hope of seeing Matt
’s
figure.

He was all he had in this strange, new world.

TWENTY-SIX

Moving slowly, so not to draw attention to himself, Matt gathered leaves around his body in an effort to keep warm. But the cold was bitter and persistent and it pushed its way in, making him jerk and tremble like a fish on a hook and attracted the attention of several killer-wolves.

Hairy flat faces, sniffing loudly from thin, protruding noses, were pushed into his face, but eventually the creatures lost interest and ambled away. Matt was certain the cold wasn’t the only thing responsible for his shivers. It was the longest night of his life, and certainly the most uncomfortable and frightening.

At last, the darkness lifted, then light and
color
filled the wood. The forest animals, noisy all night, erupted louder than ever.

During the night some wolves had left, but now they returned and brought back a bloodied feast for the pack that had stayed behind. They sat in groups, like great apes, and ate loudly, their massive jaws working as they crunched bone and tore at crimson flesh. They paid no attention to him

There was something strange about them, something familiar. Matt stared. The feet were angular, the toes long and finger-like, but the hands... And then it hit him. No wonder Fly and Jenny called them natives, unlike he and Bodie who both still likened them to apes with a voice of the wolf.

The thumb and forefinger of the hands could touch; they had excellent pincher grip. Out of all the mammals back on Earth only the human could boast the pincher grip; and this small, but vital step in evolution had enabled man to produce
artifacts
ranging from the simple spear to the most powerful computers.

Feeling more confident, he looked around at the clearing for
his lost knife, and an escape route.

His throat, and his entire thorax, went into spasm when he noticed a large wolf a short distance away. It paid no attention to the meat, but sat staring at him from evil yellow eyes. Its upper incisors hung over its jaws, as if it were grinning in malicious delight at his discomfort. But Matt relaxed; behind the animal yawned a large burrow: it was merely guarding it.

Then his jaw sagged open. A pink face appeared over the edge of the burrow. The face was hairless and humanoid, and on its head was flaxen, baby-soft hair. He could see tiny, pink
human
ears on either side of its head, and its eyes, not yellow like its elders, but a light brown. Matt felt almost enchanted.

As he continued to stare in amazement, the wolf turned on the young pup. It opened its wide mouth and roared close to the animal
’s
face, and the cub disappeared underground with a shrill roar of its own.

Slowly, Matt moved into a crouch and, as the creatures raised their large heads one by one, Matt stilled all movement and held his breath, but the animals lost interest just as quickly and continued with their meal.

Seeing the gun, he picked it up. With the strap broken, it was useless. It was needed to hold the lens in place over his eyes. Clutching the weapon, he rose into a standing position. The knife was a few paces away, but beneath a rump of a wolf.

Carefully, Matt moved forward and slowly slid the knife out from beneath the creature. The animal barely glanced his way.

Breathing out in relief, he pocketed the knife and began to step through the hairy bodies gingerly. Gooseflesh erupted on his body when he accidentally kicked one, but the creature, other then snap warningly at his foot, made no move.

When Matt was clear, he ran.

*

“Where is he? Where
’s
the mother -”

“Matt!” Jenny spun round, and snatched up the foil blanket from the mattress to hide her nudity.

She had come to the cabin carrying a small hand-made water butt, intending to wash and dress in fresh clothes. It was a debate whether to use the available hot water at the house and leave Bodie alone, or wash in the cold here. She chose the latter.

“Where
’s
the alien?” Matt demanded through gritted teeth.

Jenny stared at him aghast. Dried mud and blood caked his face and clothes, his hair was tangled with leaves and twigs, and his eyes were as wide as his nostrils were flared.

“He isn’t here.”

“I can see that!” He advanced with his jaw thrust forward. “So,
where
is he?”

“Where have you been? We’ve all been wor -”

“Just tell me where he is, and spare the Mother Theresa speech.”

She tucked the cover firmly around her breasts. “He said if you hadn’t returned by midday he’d look for you - and as it isn’t midday yet maybe he
’s
out hunting.”

“He
’s
probably hiding out in your
cozy
love-nest, the coward!” He stopped, his expression changing, as he became aware of her nakedness. “Is this all the alien wants?” He tugged lightly at the cover. “From what I remember it
’s
barely worth it. Still,” he continued with a cruel smile, “I suppose, stagnated here for years, you
’ll
shag just about anything.”

“What
is
it with you? You’ve got one hell of a chip on your shoulder. “

“
Me?
Don’t you dare slag me off, you little bitch. Look at my face,
look
,” he took her chin and forced her to look at him, “your alien boyfriend did this. Is that a quality you look for in a man? I should’ve slapped you around a bit, shouldn’t I?”

Jenny pulled away from his biting fingers and turned her back on him. His last sentence told her more than he would’ve liked her to know. It told her she hurt him badly when they broke up, and he had never properly got over it.

“Matt,” she began, turning back.

He took a long knife from his belt and ran a finger along the length. When he looked at her she was caught off guard, and the fear on her face was acknowledged in his jeering expression.

“There
’ll
be other times,” he said. “I think he thought he’d killed me, but,” he smirked, “he
’s
in for one hell of a surprise.”

“You
’re
mad.” And at that moment she firmly believed it.

“
I’m
the only sane one amongst us. It
’s
him or us,” he said. “I know you feel indebted to him, but once he
’s
dead all you
’ll
feel is relief - trust me.”

“I
don’t
trust you. You’ve let your resentment escalate until you’ve become blinded by it. You’ve become bitter, and if you think I
’ll
stand by and let you destroy Fly then you
’re
a bigger fool than I thought. “

“You know, you
’re
quite amusing really.” His voice changed, and he lightly touched the tip of the knife against her throat. “You know, if you can’t kill your opponent the next thing to do is go after their kin. “

“If I were a man, I’d still not hit you,” said Jenny, shoving his hand away. “You
’re
a child, Matt Green. A pathetic child who blames everyone for their misfortune instead of themselves.”

Matt was breathing heavily, looking as if he was finding it hard to contain his temper. “Get dressed. You
’re
going to show me where this
cozy
home of yours is,” he said.

Jenny clutched the blanket more firmly. “
I’m
not going anywhere. Get out of my cabin, Matt, and don’t ever burst in here like that again. “

Matt replaced the knife calmly; looking at her as though she’d just crawled out from a dark hole in the wall.

“Don’t act modest; we both know you don’t have such virtues. You
’re
lower than low; you
’re
disgusting. You couldn’t get any lower if you screwed one of the wolf-creatures out there.”

Jenny, pale with anger and offence, backed slightly. “
Get out!

“
Get dressed!
“

“What
’s
going on? Jen, are you all right?”

Bodie!

Swearing, Matt opened the cabin door and stepped out. Bodie sat in his chair with sweat running off him like rain, was using a thick stick to move along the corridor, like he was working an oar in a gondola along an old Venice canal.

“Jen! “ he yelled, cussing at the litter on the floor, and failing to see Matt and Jenny watching his progress. “Jen! Are you all right?”

“Of course she
’s
bloody all ri
ght,” Matt yelled back. “What d’
you take me for?”

“
I’m
fine, Bodie,” she called out, shoving Matt out the cabin. “Matt was just leaving, weren’t you, Matt?”

After a hate-filled stare, Matt reluctantly left her alone and Jenny let out a long-held breath of air, and then proceeded to pull on the rest of her clothes. Her wash was obviously going to have to wait.

Bodie waited several minutes before speaking. Matt sat moodily on his mattress fingering his bruised face. Matt had taken him back to the cockpit in silence, and Bodie sat in his chair glaring down at Matt. The younger man was looking petulant, but at least the hot anger seemed to have dispersed.

He’d hurtled into the spaceship, bypassing Bodie without as much as a glance, looking this way and that for Jenny. Cursing and shouting for her.

Bodie
’s
relief at seeing him had been short-lived. In its place was anxiety for the younger man
’s
sound of mind.

“You carried out your plan, didn’t you?” he said now. “You carried it out without telling me, but worse, you failed. Damn it, Matt, you’ve ruined everything!”

“There
’ll
be other times.”

“Other times? He
’s
not going to give you another chance.” Bodie could feel himself boiling over in frustration and he closed his eyes to mentally stable himself.

“He tried to kill me,” Matt said after a while. “He left me for dead in a colony of primates.”

“A man like Fly wouldn’t
try
to kill you, he’d succeed. He left you with them for a reason. Maybe it was a warning.” Bodie paused, and lowered his head. “They
’re
through with us anyway, they
’re
leaving. But I was right about one thing; Jen
was
about to tell us something important the other night. Her words “he
’s
ven” has been puzzling me since she said it. She meant venomous. That
’s
why the wolves are afraid of him, and that
’s
why he
’s
never needed the gun. He
’s
been able to kill us at any time.”

Matt was silent. He touched his upper arm, as if a deeply embedded memory had resurfaced. “When’d you find this out?”

“A couple of hours ago. I think Jen felt sorry for me, I was a little, er, upset when you failed to show at breakfast. But
I’m
certain that
’s
what she wanted to warn us of before.”

“Poisonous? Jesus! How... Where
’s
the venom stored?”

“He has a tiny duct beneath his tongue, which is connected to a sinew that shoots up venom from a sac somewhere deep in the lower throat. He spits it out like you or I would spit normally. Jen
’s
seen in
him in action, and says the speed is astounding.”

“Jesus,” he said again.

“My sentiments exactly.”

“Venomous - it
’s
too incredible!”

“I’d say scary, not incredible. Imagine the devastation it would create if Fly
’s
people invaded earth.”

“They know we exist.”

The
realiz
ation sent cold shivers down Bodie
’s
back.

“I can’t see why this need change our views. We still want him dead, don’t we?”

“I denied all plans to kill Fly. I want you to
apologize
, and tell him it was a human custom or something - the winner of the fight is the leader. “

Matt looked incredulous. “What are you saying?
I’m
not bowing and scraping to him. I don’t care if he is venomous; all the more reason to have him killed. “

“He
’ll
kill you.”

“Maybe I’d rather be dead,” he snarled. He jumped up and began to pace the floor.

Bodie watched with a worried gaze. “We need him, and under Jen
’s
influence he
’ll
do anything for us. He
’s
besotted with her, any fool can see that! We can use it to our advantage.”

“I’ve thought of that already.”

Bodie looked at him in amazement. “You have? Good. We could learn from Fly, he knows the land better than we do. And it won’t be forever. If we submit, we
’ll
survive. Jenny saw that in the very beginning, and now believes herself to be in love with him.

“The human mind is no more than a machine; a machine that is programmed to keep the body alive. If loving the alien keeps her alive, than her mind will make her believe she
’s
in love. Unconsciously, she knows of her mastery over him, and is using it to her own convenience. We see it as prostitution, and I suppose that
’s
all it is, but she doesn’t see it like that at all.” He stopped,
realiz
ing Matt was laughing at him.