Civilization

Chapter 1-4

Murdock awoke at sunup. He managed to get the fire going again to take the chill off as he ate and drank. Beron was still there and was having his own breakfast. As he sat and ate, Murdock was looking at the large pod more closely. The length of the landing struts seems to be the same as the pod that brought me, he thought. It’s roughly the same shape. I see the larger storage compartments on the underside. I wonder what surprises they hold. This pod is just bigger, bigger in circumference, thicker. He was still marveling that he had managed to levitate something this massive and himself, at the same time.

“No sign inside, yet,” Beron flashed, interrupting his thoughts.

Murdock got to his feet and decided to explore the area. Since he had never been here before, he needed to know what was around. It was well past dusk when they had arrived, and he was otherwise occupied.

Deer scat. Tuft of hair that looks like deer. Hoofprints everywhere, he thought as he wandered around. He checked the creek. Lots of fish, but how many occupants were in this pod? There was something nagging at his memory. Something he should remember. Each successive pod will increase your population by a factor of ten, the thought finally came to him. It was what the short briefing had said aboard the pod when he first woke up. Two Hundred people, he thought. I’m not sure the stream can support that many. There might be enough fish for a change of diet, but not as a major food source, not for two hundred, anyway. As he looked around, he could see the top of the terrace. With his back to the stream, looking toward the river, he could see the slightly rolling hills. Some of the hills might be able to hide an approach, but without going there, he wasn’t sure.

Murdock crossed the stream and found that there were few trees past the stream. There was, however, a steep cliff-face. It appeared to be lower than the terrace edge, but not by much. The little bit of exploration he’d done had disclosed no immediate or easy access to the top of the cliff.

“Restrictions?” Murdock flashed Beron telepathically, trying to ascertain any restrictions Beron wanted for the new humans.

“None, this place,” Beron responded. He did, however, send an image to Murdock that some distance up the cliff-face and away from the steam, the “dread area”, as Murdock referred to it, did extend this far downstream and further.

“Easy way up?” Murdock asked. Even though he had failed to locate an easy path up the cliff-face, that didn’t mean there wasn’t one. He still had the stinging memory of his failure to locate the cleverly concealed entrance to the residential area of the cave many years ago.

“Walk? no,” Beron responded.

That eased Murdock’s mind. He did want a way to keep an eye on the newcomers without them knowing they were being observed. He was periodically trying, but failing, to get any sign that anyone was moving inside the pod yet. Beron hadn’t gotten any, either, Murdock found after checking with him. As he looked up the cliff face, he decided to levitate up to see what was up there. As he did so, with Beron close behind, he noticed how high the cliff face was and that the tops of the trees failed to reach the top of the cliff and the top of the cliff overhung the treetops of the closer trees.

As he settled lightly on the ground, he looked over the edge and could plainly see the top of the pod as well as the tops of the trees. He could not, however, see the ground by the pod’s edge closest to the stream; the angle was wrong. Murdock turned from the edge and surveyed the plain. It, too, had gently rolling hills and a good number of trees in the distance. He didn’t, however, see any source of water.

“Sign inside,” Beron told him as he continued to look around.

“Share?” he asked Beron as he sat on the ground. He immediately started to feel the effects of entering the semi-dream state that facilitated the meshing of individual minds; Murdock referred to it as the “sharing state” and had shared with Beron, and others, many times in the past five years.

While in the sharing state, Murdock freely discussed with Beron a course of action. He needed to know what tools were at his disposal and how a ban, on being above the pod, could be enforced. Murdock had the idea of something to act as an alarm for trespassers breaching the ban. He was then introduced to the smaller black Oomah.

They looked similar to ursus americanus, but with some nuanced differences. Murdock did remember seeing a couple of them at the annual ceremonies, but they were less sociable, preferring to keep to themselves. They had agreed to act as an alarm system, since most of their kind wandered the entire area and were aware of all the comings and goings. They had seen Murdock levitating the pod and were quite impressed, even though he had not seen them. All Murdock needed to do was to inform them as to the extent of the boundaries and they would inform him if someone violated it. They also understood that none of their kind was to endanger themselves.

A few seconds later, as the sharing state ended, Beron informed Murdock that there was an increase in activity at the pod. Murdock could sense it as well and he set off toward the first pod landing to find a concealed place to levitate down to the level of the newly landed pod.

Upon landing, he set off toward the larger pod. As agreed, Beron would watch from the cliff above. I’m not expecting any trouble, he thought, but I know it will happen eventually. Especially, as these newcomers get more comfortable with their surroundings. He could see the first few newcomers exit the pod as he approached.