Outside of the T.A.R.D.I.S. a shadow fell long across the sandy plains approaching. A scraggly man clothed in furs and face marred with mud and grime stared at the box in both confusion and wonder.
A group of people, all dirtied and clothed in furs sat together in a small clearing. Each of them was positioned to watch the figure bent over a stone slab rubbing a bone between his hands above a small pile of sticks. The atmosphere was tense with expectation. They watched, spellbound, by his gestures. His face registered concentration and desperation as he continued rubbing his hands fiercely together around the bone. For a moment he paused the rubbing to pinch up some of the ash beside him and toss before him, and immediately began rubbing again. One of the women leaned in close beside him, watching with more tension than the rest.
The sound of an old voice called out from the crowd. "Where is the fire Za makes?" an old woman asked tiredly, watching from the sides. Her harried face was worn with tired wrinkles and tanned from long exposure to the sun. Few of the group were near her in age. Instead the group was fairly young as a whole with many children amongst them.
"In his hands," the woman beside Za spoke up, glaring at the old woman. Za silently continued rubbing his hands around the bones, but glanced at the old woman nervously as his dark hair covered his eyes. The woman leaned closer to Za's side and fiercely whispered to him, "We're not going to the wood."
"My father made fire," Za spoke with hope.
The old woman's mouth thinned. "They killed him for it," she acceded, nodding. "It is better that we live as we have always done," she said with finality.
"He showed me how to sharpen the stones, and how to trap the bear and the tiger. He should have shown me this, too." He ground out as he kept rubbing.
"So that everyone would bow to you as they did to him?" the old woman asked him shrewdly. The woman crouched beside Za watched the two of them closely, eyes darting between them.
Za's hands quickened and he grunted with effort before standing suddenly. He jumped over the stone slab he sat before and stood before the old woman breathing hard in anger. "Tell me what my father did to make fire," he demanded, brandishing the bone in his hand threateningly at her.
The old woman shook her head, her sun bleached white hair swaying. "I never saw him make it. That is all I know," she scoffed dismissively, completely indifferent towards his angry demeanor.
Za grunted in anger and threw out his fist into the air beside her head. She didn't so much as blink. "Get out of my sight, old woman. You should have died with him," he growled before walking back to where he had been crouched down, away from her, stomping in anger all the way.
The old woman chuckled darkly, "Za will never make fire."
Crouching down before the twigs, Za grunted in frustration before picking up the pile in his hands all together and bringing them up to his face, yelling out into them in frustration before slamming them back down. The group around them started shifting back and forth on their feet. "Put on more of the dead fire," he demanded of the woman beside him.
She quickly tossed some ashes onto the twigs and he picked up the bone again and began furiously rubbing it between his palms over the twigs.
"The old men are talking against you Za," the woman whispered to him. He paused, momentarily thrown, before starting to rub at a slower pace. "They say it better for the stranger Kal to lead us," she continued.
"Kal," he spat the name as if something distasteful.
"They say you sit all day rubbing your hands together while he brings us meat," she continued again, watching intently as he worked.
He faltered again as his anger continued to build. "Without meat we go hungry. Without fire, we die," he argued heatedly.
"The old men see no further than tomorrow's meat," she countered. "They'll make Kal the leader. My father will give me to him." Their eyes met and he took in her tense posture. Her fists clenched where they rested upon the stone slab as she stared up at him, begging. Breaking their gaze he looked back to his bone and his brows furrowed.
"Kal is no leader," he argued, seething through his clenched teeth.
"The leader is the one who makes fire," she ground out, leaning closer to him desperately.
Nervously he picked up the pace of his hands again and he grunted in effort trying to will the flames to sprout from the bone. With no result he threw the bone down and stood. In anger he raised up his fists and screamed out to the sky, waving his arms. Looking down to the woman beside him, he swept his arm across the stone, scattering the twigs and ashes before collapsing against the stone and burying his face into his arms upon it. The woman beside him watched silently, her eyes glistening, and she leaned her head down to rest her chin upon her fists beside to his elbow.
Lifting his head from his arms, he picked up one of the twigs. "Where has the fire gone?" he demanded of it. "Where?" he asked desperately, snapping the twig in half and examining the break as if hoping to find it aflame. "Where?" he asks again, his voice quieter.
In the T.A.R.D.I.S. the engine noises started whirring down. Barbara began to stir from the chair she had collapsed onto. Opening her eyes she glanced about momentarily thrown before leaning down to beside her seat. She looked down to the figure sprawled out on the floor beside her. Ian. Slowly the events of the night before came back to her and she glanced around the room. Susan and her grandfather were standing in the center of the room distracted by the console. Barbara turned her attention back to Ian.
"Ian?" she asked, gently reaching out a hand and shaking his arm. "Ian," she said a little louder.
He lifted up an arm to move her hand away before slowly opening his eyes. Focusing on her, his arm changed direction and he grabbed a hold of the chair's leg. "I'm alright," he groaned. Using the chair as leverage, he rose up to a sitting position, and clutched his other hand to the back of his head. Barbara sat up farther in the chair and looked about again. "Ohh, I must have hit my head," Ian moaned out, rubbing the back of his head before bringing the hand to his face to check for blood. Barbara leaned back down, craning her neck to also see his clean hand. Adjusting his hold on the chair, Ian pulled himself to his knees beside Barbara. "The movement's stopped," he realized suddenly, looking up at her.
She looked past him, watching Susan and her grandfather at the console nervously.
"The base is steady," Susan told her grandfather, her eyes never leaving something on the console. The two of them stood steadily and seemingly unaffected by all that had happened. Together they were looking over various screens and pieces on the machinery.
"Layer of sand… Rock formation… Good." He replied, adjusting a few knobs. His suit still the same and just as clean.
Susan addressed the teachers in a soft voice, "we've left 1963," but her grandfather had been so absorbed with his dials, switches, and meters that he thought she had been addressing him.
"Oh, yes. Undoubtedly." he replied. "I'll be able to tell you where, presently," he told her flitting from part to part of the console.
Ian brought a hand to his forehead and dragged it across his face, a headache growing, as Barbara glanced warily between Susan and her grandfather in the center of the room.
The old man looked down at a small screen on the console and frowned. "Zero? That's not right," he mused to himself. Having heard, Susan joined him on his side of the console and glanced down to the small screen. "I'm afraid this yearometer is not calculating properly," he told her. Shaking her head, she went back to checking the various other dials and screens. He looked up in thought. "Hm. Well, anyway, the journey's finished." He glanced over to Barbara and Ian. "What are you doing down there?" he asked as if just noticing the two of them.
"What have you done?" Barbara asked in a stern voice still sitting primly in the chair.
Ian looked up at her. "Barbara, you don't believe all this nonsense?" he asked in disbelief.
"Look at this scanner screen," Susan called out to them.
"Yes," her grandfather agreed. "Look up there," he pointed up to one of the wall, gesturing with magnificent patronage. He looked back to Susan. "They don't understand, and I suspect they don't want to," he told her.
Barbara stood and held out a hand to help Ian to his feet. Once standing, he threw an arm around her shoulders to keep balance and together they hobbled over to the console.
"Well, there you are," the old man told them slowly, and gestured up to a screen. "A new world for you." He smiled.
On the screen was a display of some sort of a desert landscape. Burnt amber sand scattered the across the field of the screen with a few greens sprouting up in defiance. The wind was blowing patterns across the sea of sand. The blue sky was clear, not a cloud in sight as the visible sun beat down distorting some of the view with its waves of heat. A few mountains could be seen in the distance. They stood quite impressively and jaggedly across the horizon.
"Sand and rock?" Ian asked, incredulously, as he stared at it.
"Yes," the old man answered. "That's the immediate view outside the ship," he said patiently as if speaking to a child.
"But where are we?" Barbara asked him, staring at the screen in wonder.
"You mean that's what we'll see when we go outside?" Ian asked, clearly still not believing a word of any of it.
"Yes, you'll see for yourself." Susan chimed in, glancing between everyone nervously.
"I don't believe it" Ian denied with a laugh.
The old man turned to face him. "You really are a stubborn young man, aren't you?" he asked, staring at Ian with something akin to wonder.
Ian frowned at the old man. "All right, show me some proof. Give me some concrete evidence," he challenged.
Scoffing, the old man moved to stand by Susan. Standing beside her, he leaned heavily on his cane and watched as Ian turned to face Susan directly. He also kept an eye on Barbara who was quietly watching the exchange with furrowed brows. He smiled at her disarmingly as he caught her eye, but she still seemed skittish and dropped his gaze to closely watch the others again. Turning his attention back to focus on the exchange he could hear them arguing heatedly.
"I'm sorry, Susan, I don't want to hurt you, but it's time you were brought back to reality," Ian argued.
"But you're wrong, Mr. Chesterton!" Susan cried out impatiently.
Picking up on the key points of the fight the old man rested a hand on Susan's shoulder comfortingly. "He is saying I'm a charlatan" the old man explained to her quite calmly. "He cannot believe what is happening," he said before once again moving to stand before the console. "What concrete evidence would satisfy you? Hmm?" he asked, addressing Ian.
"Just open the doors, Dr. Foreman," Ian demanded.
The old man seemed thrown for a moment. "Eh? Doctor who?" he asked. "What's he talking about?" he asked Susan.
Barbara took a step towards Ian. "They're so sure, Ian," she argued.
"Yes, I know," he conceded her before turning back to the other two.
Barbara continued, "And remember the difference between outside the police box and inside…"
Ian turned to face her. "Yes, I know, but…" he said, growing impatient. "Are you going to open the doors or aren't you?" he demanded of the old man.
"No"
"You see?" he asked Barbara as if that answer confirmed something important.
"Not until I'm quite sure it's safe to do so" the old man continued. He pressed a couple of buttons which caused the light to blink within the console. "Well, yes, good. Yes, it is, it's good. Excellent. Excellent." He said before looking up at Susan beside him. "You've got the radiation counter there. What's it read?" he asked, gesturing towards one of the screens by her.
She glanced down at it. "It's reading normal, Grandfather," she said.
"Splendid. Splendid." he said to himself. "Well, I think I'll take my Geiger counter with me in any case." He looked to Ian as he moved to another part of the console. "So, you still challenge me, young man?" he asked, resting his hands on his lapels.
"Well just open the doors and prove your point," Ian argued a little smug, very sure this was all some big hoax. As soon as the doors would open everything would become clear.
"You're so narrow-minded, aren't you? Don't be so insular" the old man told him with a smirk.
"Grandfather, do you know where we are?" Susan asked.
"Yes, we've gone back in time," he answered, turning to look to where she and Barbara were standing. "One or two samples and I shall be able to make an estimate. With rock pieces and a few plants…" he waved his hands about as he spoke. "But I do wish this wouldn't keep letting me down," he lamented, looking at the console. "However, we can go out now." he said, smiling up at Ian.
"Just a minute" Ian said, stopping him. "You say we've gone back in time?" he asked as if it were all a joke.
"Yes, quite so," the old man confidently replied without hesitation.
"So that when we go out of that door, we won't be in a junkyard in London in England in the year 1963?" he further asked.
"That is quite correct. But your tone suggests ridicule."
"But it is ridiculous. Time doesn't go round and round in circles. You can't get on and off whenever you like in the past or the future."
"Really? Where does time go, then?" the old man asked, highly amused.
"It doesn't go anywhere. It just happens and then it's finished," Ian said, making the old man scoff.
The old man laughed and turned back to the girls. "You're not as doubtful as your friend, I hope?" he asked Barbara.
"No" she replied calmly.
Ian turned towards her. "Barbara, you can't…" he started.
"I can't help it. I just believe them, that's all," she said, shrugging her shoulders and looking away from him towards the others.
"If you could touch the alien sand and hear the cries of strange birds and watch them wheel in another sky, would that satisfy you?" the old man asked, drawing Ian's attention back to him.
"Yes," Ian replied resolutely.
The old man moved to where he had been standing by the console and pushed a button forcing the doors to open. He took off his hat watching them open, then reached out and gestured out the open doors to Ian. "Now, see for yourself" he challenged. The doors revealed just as the screen had; a sandy landscape, complete with the mountains in the distance and clear blue sky.
"It's not true. It can't be!" Ian harshly whispered, staring in wonder.
"That's not on a screen!" countered Susan, turning to him with a big, smug grin.
"Well I've no more time to argue with you. I must get some samples." the old man gave Susan's arm a gentle squeeze as he passed her by to pick up a small bag from a table along one of the walls.
"Be careful, Grandfather," Susan bid him before slipping her own coat on.
Barbara glanced to Ian across the console to Ian before hesitantly following the old man out the doors, glancing all around her in wonder. "Ian, come out and look," she called to him. Ian slowly walked towards the door, but stopped halfway to grab his forehead in pain.
Seeing his pause, Susan approached Ian and took a hold of his arm. "Here, lean on me," Susan offered after he momentarily lost his balance after a misstep forward.
He shrugged her off and took another step. "No, thank you. I'm alright, thanks," he argued, and together they walked out of the ship to stand beside Barbara. The doors closed behind them quietly. Ian gazed all around them completely baffled by what he was seeing. Stumbling over one of his steps, he grabbed onto Susan's shoulder to steady himself. Walking next to Barbara they continued stepping out into the unknown.
"Well?" Barbara asked, looking up at him and watching his face as the foreign wind gently jostled her hair. She moved to walk on his other side ready to steady him if the need were to arise.
Stepping away from the girls, Ian let go of Susan's shoulder to make a small circle, looking everywhere about them. "But…" He brought up his right hand to thread through his hair. "There must be some explanation," he whispered to Barbara in wonder coming back to stand beside her. Barbara blinked at him in silence before resuming her looking around.
A bit farther off from them, the old man looked at the ship in wonder. "It's still a police box," he marveled quietly, brows furrowed. "Why hasn't it changed? Dear, dear. Very disturbing," he said to himself. Seeing that the others were still looking about them, he stepped off a ways before crouching down to the ground. He dug through the bag of his before glancing over his shoulder.
Behind his other shoulder, unseen to him, the shadowed figure approached and brandished a club. The dirtied man crouched down some, watching the old man in deep thought and wonder.
Back with the others, Barbara noticed some sort of animal's skull half buried in the sand. Kneeling beside it, she worked to dig it loose. "What do you think it could be?" she asked. "Ian, look at this," she said drawing the others' attention to it.
Susan crouched down by Barbara to help dust off some of the sand before Ian crouched down and plucked it up fully closely examining it.
"Well it doesn't have any horns or antlers." he mused, turning in over in his hands. "Could be a horse," he guessed, setting it back down. This time, Barbara picked it up to examine while Ian stood back up, glancing around nervously. "It could be anything." he whispered to himself. "Incredible. A police box in the midst of…" he shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense…"
Susan's attention was caught by the T.A.R.D.I.S. "It should have changed!" she exclaimed, sitting straight up again. "I wonder why it didn't happen this time." she wondered out loud to the others.
"The ship, you mean?" asked Barbara, glancing up at the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"Yes, it's been an Ionic column and a sedan chair," she explained, listing off its various disguises of the past.
"Disguising itself wherever it goes?" marveled Barbara listening with wide eyes.
"Yes, that's right. But it hasn't happened this time." The girls looked at one another. "I wonder why not," Susan began before trailing off. Glancing away from the ship her attention shifted. "I wonder if it's okay to help grandfather," she said as she brushed sand off her legs to stand up. Barbara also stood beside her. "Where is he?" Susan asked as she continued glancing around.
Ian and Barbara glance around. "You're very quiet," she commented coming to stand beside him with a smile.
He let out small laugh. "I was wrong, wasn't I?" he asked, resting his gaze on her.
"Oh, look," she said breaking their gaze. "I don't understand it any more than you do. The inside of the ship's, suddenly finding ourselves here, even some of the things Dr. Foreman says."
Ian thought back to inside the ship. "That's not his name," he told her. "Who is he? Doctor who? Perhaps if we knew his name we might have a clue to all this."
"Look, Ian, the point is it's happened," she continued on.
He nodded. "Yes, it has. But it's impossible to accept. I know I-"
The sentence was left unfinished as Susan rushed back towards them "I can't see him anywhere" Susan exclaimed, pulling Barbara's attention. Her bottom lip trembled and she looked up to the two of them with worry, brows furrowed.
"He can't be far away," Barbara consoled her gently in a soothing voice.
Susan didn't seem much comforted and glanced around them. "I was feeling just now as if we were being watched." she nervously looked around. "Grandfather?" she called out.
Meanwhile old man pulls out a pipe from his back and stood back up, holding it to his lips. He light up a match, shocking the dirtied man watching him with the flames. The dirtied man had prayed to Orb to show him the secret of fire, and here he finds one who can make fire. Surely his prayers were answered. With a start, he leapt towards the old man and in the distance Susan, Barbara, and Ian could hear him cry out.
"Grandfather!" Susan screamed as they took off in the direction of the noise.
Reaching the scene, they glanced around looking everywhere. On the ground some equipment lies smashed to bits.
"Look," Ian called to them.
"What is it?" Susan asked desperately.
Barbara reached down to the pieces of the Geiger counter. "These are some of his things," she said, moving them together.
"Grandfather!" Susan called out in a half cry, looking all about her. "Where are you?" she yelled.
Ian took Susan by the shoulders. "Susan, don't panic," he said, trying to calm her down.
Frantic, she spun around in his grip, "I must find him!" she cried in a shrill voice.
"Susan," Ian tried again.
"I must see!" she yelled out, breaking from his grip and dashing around.
"Well, be careful then," he called out after her.
"Ian, look," Barbara called out from where she was crouched down. She brushed some hair out of her eyes as he knelt down beside her. He took some of the pieces to the broken Geiger counter.
"Well that's not any good anymore," he said.
"Maybe he saw something and went off to investigate," she tried to reason with little hope in her voice.
Ian glanced down and picked up the old man's hat. "Leaving this?" he asked. He turned it over in his hands, looking at the dirt on it.
"Well, what do you think happened," she asked him, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked at the hat in his hands.
"I don't' know," he admitted. Ian looked back at the hat he was worrying with his hands. "Perhaps he was excited… and went off to investigate something as you suggest, but…" Ian trailed off, glancing all about them. Together they stood up. "He may have been taken," he finished, watching the horizon.
Susan ran back to them in a panic. "I can't see him. I can't find him anywhere," she cried. "There's not a sign of him!" Her voice broke and she buried her face in her hands in panic.
"Calm down, Susan," Ian said, clearly uncomfortable.
Barbara reached out to hold the crying girl. "Susan, don't worry," she tried with a soothing voice.
Abruptly the girl spotted something on the ground by the broken equipment. She crouched down to grab a small book before popping back up to lean into Barbara flipping through it, still crying.
"What's the matter?" Barbara asked her, watching.
"It's his notes," Susan cried. "He'd never leave his notebook," she said desperately going through the pages. "It's too important to him. It's got the key codes of all the machines in the ship. It's got notes of everywhere we've been to." She glanced between the two teachers before the panic set in again. "Something terrible has happened to him!" She shouted breaking away from Barbara to look and pace around. "I know it has. We must find him!" She started running only to trip and fall face down into a small dune.
Rushing over to her, Barbara grabbed a hold of the girl. "Susan, Susan," she said, bringing her back to her feet. "We'll find him. I promise you." With a strong grip, she brought Susan back to where Ian was crouching down to flip through the notebook. "He can't be far away," she tried to reason with the struggling girl. She took the crying girl into her arms and Susan began to sob into her coat.
"What's on the other side of those rocks?" Ian asked the girls, picking up the things left on the ground.
"A line of trees," Susan replied, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "There's a gap in them. There might be a path on the other side."
"Alright," Ian said, "We'll try there first. Come on." He fastened the satchel and moved to stand before noticing something on the ground. Reaching out to it, he paused, drawing Barbara's attention as Susan moved on without them. "Strange," he whispered, feeling the ground.
"What?" Barbara asked, watching him.
"This sand," he said, dragging his hand through the sand. "It's cold. It's nearly freezing."
Back in the open clearing a group of children cried out. The all were holding toy spears and were trying to attack someone disguised under the furs of a wild cat. "Kill! Kill!" They chanted out, trying to jab at the figure crawling about the ground. The figure growled out viciously and moved around before rolling onto its back under the 'attack.' Beside them, the old woman sat upon a boulder quietly staring out beyond them.
Just inside the cave the children play outside of Za and the woman from earlier sat together as he ate some food from off a bone. One of the men in background gets up and moves towards them, making the woman get up and move behind to be out of the way. The man stoops to kneel beside Za. He was some years older than Za with lighter hair from much sun and a longer beard.
"Kal, says where he comes from, he's often seen men make fire," he began, drawing Za's attention.
"Kal is a liar, Horg" Za growled, before turning back to his food, tearing off another bite of meat. The woman leaned a little closer to better hear.
"He says Orb will soon show him how it is done," the older man continued.
Za continued eating. "All his tribe died in the last cold," he told the man unconcerned. "If he had not found us, he would have died, too."
"What else did he say," the woman interrupted, leaning even closer.
"He says Orb only shows the secret to the leader," he replied. Za abruptly turned his head towards the man, making him look away in submission. The woman leaned back away from the two of them, watching intently.
Sitting straighter, Za glowered down at the man, "I am the leader," he told him. "Orb will show me." Za turned away from the man. "I am the son of the great fire maker," he continued. "But he does not show me how to put flames into the sticks. Kal comes. I do not kill him. I let him eat with us and sleep in our caves." He glanced around before him before continuing again, "I will have to spill some blood and make the people bow to me."
Murmuring drew his attention behind him. Standing, he watched a crowd of people leave the cave they were sitting in to gather outside.
A crowd gathered to watch as a dirtied man approached them carrying Susan's grandfather slung over his shoulder. They watched in wonder, careful not to get too close to them. Children ran past him in wonder, moving to stand by some of the adults. The hulking figure walked over to the prominent stone slab before the cave opening and lowered the old man to lie upon it.
Za emerged from the cave and watched carefully all that happened. He stepped forward and examined the old man in his modern suit a stark contrast to the furs everyone around were wearing. "This is a strange creature," he said.
The dirtied man spoke up, "Is Za, son of the fire maker, afraid of an old man?" he asked, eyes never leaving Za. "When will Za make fire come from his hands?"
"When Orb decides it," Za argued angrily, his teeth bared.
"Orb is for strong men," the man countered. "Orb has sent me this creature to make fire come from his fingers. I have seen it," he spoke to the crowd, glancing around at all the faces. A murmur broke out amongst the people. "Inside," he continued, "he is full of fire. Smoke came from his mouth."
Za was slightly calmed. "As lies come from yours," he replied. Leaning down to the old man, Za began sniffing at him. "He wears strange skins," he marveled.
"Za is afraid," the other man continued, grabbing a hold of Susan's grandfather. "There was a strange tree. The creature was in it. Za would have run away had he seen it," he taunted.
Lunging across the slab Za grabbed for him. "Silence," he yelled.
Stepping out of Za's reach, the man continued. "When I saw fire come from his fingers… I remembered Za, son of the fire maker," he spoke to the crowd. "When the cold comes, you will all die if you wait for Za to make fire for you. I, Kal, am a true leader. We fought like the tiger and the bear. My strength was too much for him. He lay down to sleep. And I, Kal, carried him here to make fire for you," he told them. The crowed listened, enraptured by his tale. They watched him with admiration.
"Why do you listen to Kal?" Za demanded, stepping forward to speak.
"Za has many good skins," Horg spoke up. "He has forgotten what the cold is like."
Za growled. "Tomorrow," he said. "I kill many bears. You all have warm skins," he told the crowd.
"I say tomorrow," Horg spoke again, "you will rub your hands together and hold them to the dry sticks and ask Orb to send you fire. The bears will stay warm in their own skin."
Raising his club towards the man, Za bit out, "What I say I will do, I will do."
Kal grunted and waved an arm dismissively, stepping away from the two. "The fire maker is dead," he said addressing the crowd again. "You all carry dry sticks with you. But tonight, I make them burn. I am leader."
At the slab, Za's woman called everyone's attention. "The creature has opened its eyes!" she exclaimed.
"Huaa.. Where's my… Where..?" Susan's grandfather moaned out, confused.
"Do you want fire or do you want to die in the cold?" Kal asked the crowd.
Together the crowd began chanting "Fire! Fire!"
"When it's cold, the tiger comes to our caves again at night!" he called to the chanting crowd. "Za will give you to the tiger. Za will give you to the cold. Za rubs his hands and waits for all to remember him." He scoffed and lumbered down towards the slab to Susan's grandfather. "My creature," he begins again quietly, "can make fire come from his fingers. I have seen it. But I, Kal, brought him here. The creature is mine!"
Again Za appealed to the crowd. "He's just an old man in strange skins!" he called out. "Kal has been with us too long. It is time he died," he announced, crouching some and brandishing his club threateningly towards Kal. In return Kal crouched down some and held up his fists before taking a step to lunge forward.
Reaching out a hand, Horg pulled him back. "I say there is truth in both of you," he announced. "Za speaks truth, that fire cannot live in men. And Kal speaks the truth that we die without fire."
Standing quickly, Za's woman spoke up. "Will my father listen to a woman?" she asked. "If this old man can make fire come from his fingers, let us see it now!" she demanded, waving an arm over Susan's grandfather.
Za grabbed a hold of her and shoved her back. "I say what is to be done here, not old men and women," he said.
"Za tries to talk like his father, the fire maker," Kal spoke. "Za does not want to see fire made. But I, Kal, am not afraid of fire. I will make my creature make fire."
Susan's grandfather began to sit up clutching his forehead, but the argument continued without noticing him.
"I will take him to the Cave of Skulls and he will tell me the secret! He will scream unless he tells me the secret!" Za yelled, shaking his club as they leaned towards one another.
Susan's grandfather leaned forward quickly interrupting them, "I can make fire for you. Let me go and I'll make all the fire you want!" he cried out, standing up, his head turning to glance between Kal and Za. "You don't have to be afraid of me," he addressed the crowd. He moved towards the people, but everyone he approached recoiled in fear and horror. "I'm an old man," he continued, gesturing down at himself. "How can an old man like me harm any of you?" he reasoned.
"What does he say?" Za asked aloud, watching it all.
"Fire," Horg said in awe, stepping towards Susan's grandfather. "He says he can make fire for us!"
Kal grunted, interrupting him. "He makes it for me and I give you fire," he exclaimed. "I am fire maker!"
Quietly Susan's grandfather started patting his pockets in consternation as he watched everything around him.
"He will make fire for me," Za argued.
Feeling all of his pockets, Susan's grandfather froze in shock. He started searching his coat's inner pockets in a rush. "My matches. Where are they? I must get back," he thought aloud, as everyone around watched him. "I must get to the ship."
"Kal's creature, he makes fire only for Kal," Kal spoke, patting his fist to his chest, as Susan's grandfather wiped at his face with his handkerchief.
Turning to face the group, Susan's grandfather spoke up louder. "Take me back to my ship and I will make fire for you," he said, spreading out his arms. "All the fire you want," he told them.
"This is more of your lies," Za said to Kal, "the old man cannot make fire!" he exclaimed.
"There was a tree," Kal argued. "The creature came from in it. And the fire, it came out of his fingers."
Za stood straighter. "You want to be strong like Za, son of the great fire maker," he leapt up atop the stone slab. "You all heard him say that there would be fire. There is no fire! Za does not tell you lies. He does not say 'I will do this thing' and then not do it." There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd. "He does not say, 'I will make you warm' and then leave you in the dark! He does not say 'I will fight away the tiger with fire' and then let him come to you in the dark! Do you want a liar for your chief?"
"No!" the crowd exclaimed in a fervor.
Looking around at the crowd, Kal grabbed the front of Susan's grandfather's coat. "Make fire," he pleaded of the old man. "Make fire," he demanded.
"You are trapped in your own lies, Kal!" Za's woman laughed watching as nothing happened.
"Great chief who is afraid of nothing!" Za taunted from atop the slab. "Oh, great Kal, save us from the cold. Save us from the tiger." he jeered, causing laughter amongst the crowds.
"Make fire," Kal begged, grabbing at the old man's hands. "Make fire come from your fingers as I saw you…"
Trying to pull away, Susan's grandfather spoke up, "I have no matches. I cannot make fire." he called out to the crowd.
Za jumped down from the slab and approached the two. "Let the old man die and we'll watch the great Kal as he kills his strong enemy," he jeered. Susan's grandfather listened intently, his eyebrows shot up as they discussed his death.
Kal shoved him to face away from him to face the crowd. "Make fire!" he yelled. "Make fire! Or I kill you now!" Producing a sharp rock, he held it to his captive's neck threateningly.
"Or we'll keep them and make them hunt for us," Za spoke to the crowd again. "It's good to have someone to laugh at!" he yelled prompting everyone to laugh.
"GRANDFATHER!" Susan screamed, shoving her way through the crowd. Jumping onto Kal's back, she continued to scream loudly, pounding on his shoulders with her small fists. He shoved the old man away, but other members of the crowd grabbed him. Quickly Ian and Barbara joined the fray trying to free him. Za, brandishing his club was able to pull Ian off his opponent and raised his arm to strike.
"Hold it!" Susan's grandfather called out. "If he dies, there will be no fire!"
Everyone froze.
The crowd stared over to Ian and Za. With a grunt, Za threw Ian off to the side and slowly lowered his arm. He handed a crowd member his club and grumbled at the old man. Susan could be heard sobbing somewhere behind them, but otherwise unhurt. Za watched as Kal took notice of Barbara who was being held still by two members of the crowd. Watching her carefully Kal approached her and reached up to touch her face. Straining against her captures, Barbara leaned as far away as she could from his hand in fear.
"Kill her!" cried out the voice of the old woman, watching from where she sat atop one of the boulders. Kal turned to look at her, his hand frozen in the air reaching out, confused. "Kill her," the old woman called out again, watching him intently.
Turning back to Barbara, Kal snatched his hand back quickly and grabbed for his sharp stone from his belt. Susan screamed out again. As Kal began lifting his hand, Za grabbed his arm and stopped him. "You cannot kill all our enemies," he spat out. "When Orb gives fire back to the sky, let him look down on them." Struggling with each other, Za was able to push Kal back a few steps. "Then, that is when they die and Orb will give us fire again."
Kal raised his stone threateningly towards Za, but glancing around at the crowd surrounding them he lowered his hand and returned the stone to his belt. The old woman frowned as she watched from her perch.
"Take them to the Cave of Skulls," commanded Za.
The members of the crowds picked up the prisoners upon their shoulders and made for one of the nearby caves.
"No! Grandfather!" Susan screamed out as she was carried off, struggling against her captor.
Za continued standing before Kal, staring him down before Kal scoffed and backed down and walked away. His woman came to stand with him before Horg grabbed her arm to tug her away, but Za reached out and grabbed her other arm stopping him.
"The woman is mine," he told her father.
Letting go of her, Horg came to stand before Za. "My daughter is for the leader of the tribe," he said.
"Yes," Za agreed. "The woman is mine."
"I do not like what has happened," he argued.
"Old men never like new things to happen," Za countered.
Horg raised a fist to his chest. "I was a great leader of many men," he said.
"Many men, yes," agreed Za. "They all died when Orb left the sky and the great cold was on the ground. But Orb will give me fire again. To me. Not to you. Just as you will give me her."
"Za will be a strong leader of many men," the woman chimed in, drawing her father's attention. "If you give me to him, he will remember and always give you meat."
The man paused before nodding silently and walking away, his head down. Taking the woman's arm, Za led the two of them towards the cave.
Back atop the boulder, the old woman's voice called out again. "There were leaders before there was fire," her gravelly voice was dark and grim. "Fire will kill us all in the end. You should have killed the four strangers. Kill them," she solemnly commanded Za.
Walking back to her, Za leaned in close. "I have said we will wait until Orb shines again. Then they die," he told her.
Inside the dark cave old skeletons and skulls littered the ground and walls. All human they were. Their empty eye sockets starting off vacantly and jaws set open as if they were watching all around them. All of the bones were bare of any remains. It could not be determined how old the bones were as the harsh environment was sure to speed up the process of decay. With all the movement in the cave, dust was kicked up from the ground, causing Susan to cough.
One of the men bound Ian's hands together before they left, leaving their bound prisoners in the cave. Ian bent down to his knees to sit beside where Barbara was laying on her back, reaching to touch her shoulder. "Are you all right?" he asked her quietly. "Did they hurt you?"
"No," she replied, working to try and free her hands. "Ian, I'm frightened," she admitted.
"Try and hang on," he told her.
"But how are we going to get out of this?" she asked him, trying to be realistic of their chances. While she couldn't exactly pinpoint their time she had some understanding of the period they had landed in. The people here wouldn't understand their predicament, and weren't exactly known for their mercy amongst captives. Especially those of a female nature.
"We should use our cunning," Susan's grandfather spoke up from where he and Susan sat beside them each bound as well. "I hope you can get yourself free, Chesteron, for I can't," he continued as he struggled with his own bindings. Ian sat up from where he was leaned over Barbara and started trying to work on his bindings. "Phew, the stench in here… That stench…" He glanced around at everyone as they each tried at their bindings. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault," he said, looking down to Barbra laying next to him. "I'm desperately sorry."
Susan immediately spoke up between her coughs, "Don't blame yourself, Grandfather," she said.
"Look at that," he began again, gesturing towards the nearest few skulls by them. One was laying upon its side, revealing a slanted hole in its top most part.
"They're all the same," Ian commented, taking notice that they all had the same kind of hole. "They've been split open."