Extreme Difference (19 page)

‘Well, there’s life out there.’ said a nervous sounding Kel, not at all sure he wanted to join it.

Now that the water had gone, they could see a ramp, and next to it a flight of steps cut into the rock leading to the bottom of the pool. Sandy was the first down, warning the others that it was a bit slippery, and then he walked across the floor of the pool, shielding his eyes as he entered the blaze of light which flooded in under the end wall of the cavern.

Soon, all four were outside. The light level, while bright, was considerably less than what they had experienced on the high ledge on the crater rim, and they stood staring in disbelief at what they saw.

The water had drained away through a hole in the base of the vast trough, exposing another flight of steps and a ramp leading up to the level ground beyond.

What Sandy referred to as grass, fringed the now empty pool casement, and continued for some distance before it was supplanted by low bushes, and behind them tall trees gently waved in a light breeze.

‘Bell wouldn’t believe this,’ Kel remarked, turning this way and that, trying to take it all in, ‘it makes her little growing tubs look a bit puny, just look at the quantity of greenery.’

‘I think I know what that pool was all about,’ said Sandy after a while, ‘it’s a water trap, a means of stopping anything out here getting into our world, although I can’t think why they bothered. No creature with any survival instincts would venture very far up those tunnels, not in complete darkness, and with no food.’

Just then, another screech rent the still perfumed air.

‘We must stay together, in a close bunch until we know what is making those noises.’ Sandy said, a slight shake in his voice.

‘I think we should be more aware of the creature which is causing the other one to make those noises.’ Ben corrected, and they nervously giggled at his quick riposte.

‘Careful as you climb these steps, they’re slippery, and we don’t want any broken bones.’

One by one they mounted the steps out of the trough, and stood for the first time on the soft springy grass of a new world. It seemed quiet and peaceful enough, but the ghostly echoing screech of a creature in pain still rang in their ears, prompting caution as they spread out a little, taking in the unbelievable view of paradise.

‘One thing’s for sure,’ Sandy noted, ‘the temperature down here is reasonably stable, otherwise the plants wouldn’t survive, so it’ll be a lot more comfortable for us.’

Kel had moved away from the rest of the group, and was looking down through an avenue of small trees, craning his head this way and that, as though something had attracted his attention, but he did not wish to get any closer to it.

‘What have you seen?’ asked Ben, trotting over to him, his pointed metal rod held at the ready.

‘Looks like something on four legs, eating the grass or small plants at the base of that ... tree, I think Sandy called it.’ The plump grey elongated shape looked up, sniffing the air with its trunk-like nose.

‘It’s seen us!’ Kel said, louder than he intended, and the creature immediately swung its head in their direction, fixing its gaze on the pair with its two large brown eyes.

By now the other two had joined them, pointed rods at the ready, wondering whether to fight, or run to the sanctuary of the water trough, not that it would give much protection now the water had drained away.

Slowly, as if it had all the time in the world, the creature ambled towards them, its long snout waving from side to side, sampling the air, trying to make sense of the strangers in its domain.

‘I don’t think we need to worry,’ Sandy said calmly, ‘it’s a herbivore, something which eats plants, so it’s not likely it’ll try to make a meal of us. If it was going to attack, it would charge at us. I think it’s just curious, so if we hold our ground, it’ll probably have a look, and then walk away.’

As the creature drew nearer, they realized it was a lot bigger than they had first thought, the body standing at their shoulder height, and nearly three times as long.

‘Are you sure it’s harmless?’ quavered Greg’s voice, faintly from behind the group.

‘Yes.’ Sandy replied, but he was beginning to doubt his own judgement as the creature came even closer.

Ready to stab with their pointed rods and then flee, the group stood firm, more from indecision than reason, while the grey beast with the long snout lowered its cropping and sense organ to gently brush against Sandy’s hair, inhaling as it did so.

Taking one more step forwards, the creature gently rubbed its head against Kel’s shoulder a couple of times, and then backed off two paces, its soft brown unblinking eyes watching them all the time.

‘It’s either got an itch, or it’s making overtures to you,' Sandy whispered, trying to lessen the tension, ‘I don’t think it’ll harm us.’

Much to the surprise of the others, Ben stepped forward and ran his hand up across the creature’s face, and down the long nose, using a scratching action when he felt the creature lean in his direction.

‘You’re right,’ he said quietly, ‘it just wants a scratch.’

The docility of the creature had lowered their guard, but not for long. A rustling in the bushes just ahead caused them to tense up again, as a pear shaped nightmare on two sturdy legs crashed through into the clearing. Two short clawed arms reached forward from below an elongated head equipped with an impressive double row of teeth, emitting a deep hiss.

The group would have stood little chance against such a large and ferocious carnivore, and luckily for them, they had no need to, as the grey herbivore swung around and placed itself between the group and the attacker.

As the attacker advanced, the herbivore straightened its long trunk, pointing it straight at the hideous fanged face.

A series of ripples raced up the herbivore's body, culminating in one huge convulsion, and a jet of steaming liquid left the trunk, hitting the attacker square in the face, some of the liquid going down its throat.

The attacker skidded to a stop, convulsed, and brought up a huge quantity of red meat which lay steaming on the bright green grass. The body heaved several more times, but there was nothing else to bring up.

It then staggered a couple of times, trying to regain its balance, turned, and headed back the way it had come, throwing up earth and sods of grass as it accelerated away.

The herbivore had already begun to eat again, the long snout selectively picking out the choicest morsels from the mixture of plants which fringed the grassy glade.

‘God, what a defence mechanism.’ said Greg, still shaking.

‘And bloody effective, too.’ Sandy added.

Ben had left the group, and walked up to the herbivore, lightly stroking it’s smooth grey head. The trunk swung up and around, gently touched Ben’s head, and returned to plucking up its food.

Sandy sensed that Kel was about to make one of his usual quips, and put a restraining hand on his arm, noting the glint of a tear in Ben’s eyes as he left the creature. Ben had been more deeply moved by the incident than any of them had realized.

‘I think it’s time we had a break too,’ Sandy said, to ease the tension which had built up again, ‘I’m hungry enough to try some of those plants myself.’

They moved back to the safety of the water trough, and sat down on the soft grass verge.

After chewing on the dried meat strips and several drinks of water later, they all felt better. Ben suggested that they try to find a supply of water to replenish their much depleted containers for the journey back.

‘I think we should explore a little more before we bring the others down here.’ Sandy said. ‘Although we can bring the rest of the meat strips with us, we’ll need to supplement them with local food, and so far we haven’t found any.’

The grey herbivore was still on the edge of the clearing, chomping away at the vegetation when they set off, and Ben somehow persuaded it to follow them, or perhaps it just wanted to go in their direction anyway.

A well worn path led upwards from the clearing towards a rise in the ground. This was adorned with a stand of tall trees, growing out of a jumble of rocks, and as this would give them a view point to survey the local area, they headed for it, crossing a small stream on their way.

Kel knelt down and sampled the water before anyone could stop him, pronouncing it to be very good and sweet in taste. Sandy resolved to refill their water containers if nothing untoward had happened to Kel in the meantime.

When they reached the top of the rise, Ben climbed one of the trees to get a better view of the surrounding land, and returned to describe what he had seen, a little scratched for his troubles. ‘It would seem we’re in a valley, one end of which is blocked off by the high cliffs of the volcano, and the other by a sudden drop in ground level, and hemmed in by thick forest on either side. There are several rises in the ground like this one, some have rocks on them and they all have a clump of trees. Anyone else want to go up?’ The cuts and scratches he had sustained in his climb, put the others off for a time.

Although several trees sported fruits dangling from their branches, and most bushes had berries of one kind or another, they were unable to tell if any were safe to eat, as they bore no resemblance to anything Bell grew in her boxes.

Kel said he would try to devise a means of testing the fruits and berries, but at the moment could not think of a way other than to try them, albeit in small quantities. Sandy forbade eating anything which they had not brought with them, until some method of safe testing could be devised.

After some examination and discussion, it was agreed that the tracks were made by the local animal life, and not by invisible human inhabitants, as there were no signs of human activity, such as cut trees or signs of cultivation.

Accompanied by their newly found friend, they eventually made their way to the edge of the valley floor where it dropped away sharply to another valley below, clothed in much the same vegetation, but much larger in area.

‘We could get down there if we tried,’ said Ben, ‘there are one or two places where we’ll have to use ropes, but it’s not too bad.’

‘Don’t see the point, at the moment.’ Sandy replied, looking out over the vast expanse of forest below. ‘All we need to do at the moment is to establish that this area can support us for a while, and that we don’t get eaten in the meantime. Anyway, have you noticed it's getting a bit duskish? I think we’d better retire to the area of the water trap for the night, and get some rest.’

They made their way back to the haven of the water trap, followed by their newly acquired friend who stopped every now and again to sample a particularly tasty morsel, and then made the ground shake with its considerable mass as it hurriedly lumbered along to catch them up again.

Greg and Kel found some slate-like stones, and scraped the steps clear of the silt deposit, so making them safe for speedy access, should the need arise, while the other two went inside to recharge the oil lamps, one of which had been left burning.

As night fell, they were surprised to find there was little difference in atmospheric temperature, Sandy putting it down to the protecting layer of cloud. They remained outside with one oil lamp, until it became truly dark, and then had to retire as the lamp attracted so many flying insects, some of which seemed to sting, according to Kel.

Although it was dark, they felt no inclination to sleep, and Ben went over to the stone-like lever which had emptied the water from the trough earlier that day.

‘Wonder what would happen if I pushed it back to its original position?’

‘Give it a try, can’t see what harm it’ll do.’ Sandy replied, thinking it would do nothing.

There was a clunk, and then the sound of water flowing somewhere, accompanied by the grinding of gears, as before.

Slowly the water level rose in the trough, until it was as it had been when they had arrived, and they were safely sealed in the womb of the crater against all threats from outside.

Their eyes soon got used to the darkness and the light one lamp provided, so another meal was taken, this time with plenty of water, as the stream outside had proved to be wholesome.

‘If we leave our cave system, do we tell the other groups of our find?’ Ben wanted to know, concerned that their numbers would dwindle in time, until only one would be left alive.

‘That’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while now,’ replied Sandy, thoughtfully, ‘there are pros and cons.’

‘What do you mean?’ Ben was not used to the term.

‘There are things for and against the idea.’ Sandy said. ‘Have you noticed that we are all adults? There are no children, no little ones. This either means that we have been stopped from reproducing, or the environment of the crater prevents it somehow. If we can produce offspring, there’s no need to bring any others into our little haven, although it seems a bit mean not to do so. But if we can’t reproduce, then it might be a good idea to have a few more people down here, and leave the door open, as it were, to add others in a controlled manner, later on.’

‘We’d have to be very careful how we chose them,’ Ben said, remembering the attack on the complex. ‘Just a few evil minded sods could wreck everything.’

‘I’m well aware of that, it’s going to be a difficult decision to make, but we don’t have to make it just yet.’

The conversation drifted on for a while, then the stresses of the day caught up with them, and Sandy suggested they get some sleep. The idea was a good one, but they were bereft of the comfort of their rag piles, and so sleep came late that night, and when it did, it was through exhaustion.

Next day, the water trap emptied itself as soon as the lever was returned to its upright position, and they all piled out into the bright light of a new day, eyes half shut with sleepy dust, bruised from the hard rock on which they had slept, and a little colder than they would have liked.

A meal, although it was only the meat strips, cheered everyone up a little, and Ben commented that Mop’s morning meal would taste like heaven right now. He received a fusillade of grass sods and small stones for his trouble.