To deaden the confusion, I decided to indicate where the action takes
place. This is to show the contrast between what went on with the
descendants of the survivors of the Cassandra and the Grand Illusion in
Blue Cove, Delaware, and what went on with those who reached Oaxaca,
Mexico. Oh and don't forget about the copyright warnings.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Somewhere in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.
The girl patted her belly, now filled with her unborn children and smiled. She dared not tell her father or her mother, not because of shame but because she regarded not her parents as above her in intelligence. As if she were the queen of the Universe, she lifted her head and the boy besides her sneered.
"What will we name them?" he asked. He had a boyish face free of fuzz, eyes seemingly innocent, height under five feet, and the look that would charm the unwary. That look he used to charm his parents to let him take the girl to the outside and he was not the only one of the young males with his female to climb up the ladder to mate in the forest.
At the age of eight, they were ready to produce children. They had already started to pair off, and because they were a young species, were careful in their choosing. It was not love at first sight, the feelings of passion, but of a strong attraction. The passion came only when mating, only when there was one hundred percent chance of conception and the girl's readiness had given it off months earlier.
In the New Species, there was no need for dalliance, no need for affairs in the night. Only reproduction mattered. If they had relations after conception, it was just because of their affection for each other, not for lust.
"The Council will decide," she said.
"I will decide when their name day commences."
She opened the door to the outside, feeling the hot sweltering heat, and seeing the adults attempting to fix the generator. "Perhaps you can assist them. I already worked on the garden." Her hands were slightly soiled and her light blue blouse and dark skirt stained with grass stains and mud.
"Perhaps." He pushed past her, and walked over, ignoring the rebuffs to "go and do your studies." He deigned their idea of studies for his knowledge was more superior to them as was his brain. He learned at a faster pace, he could see when they approached, he knew when they were angry, and felt their emotions. He was a giant in intellect and they were pygmies.
The long narrow fields were filled tomatoes, peppers, Romaine lettuce, beans, and yellow flowers on raised rows. Near the end were corn stalks with the cobs already full. Seedlings grew protected by a net. A tray stood tie between two poles. On it were beans drying in the sun. A steady stream of water irrigated the whole area introducing moisture in the correct amounts. All one needed to do was to turn the tray and check the vegetables to see if they were ready.
Laundry hung up to dry on several poles. They had invented a sort of washing machine and dryer, but it could not produce the freshness of outside air so once a month, they had to do things the old-fashioned way, not the washing, but the drying.
Right now he was bored. He wished to take one of the guns used for hunting and climb up the ladder, not to hunt animals but to join the Mexican army that often came from the capital to get recruits, but his father and all the adults in the village said, "no violence." This forced peace was getting on his nerves. He was of the New Species, he needed to fight, but until the time was right, he had to be careful.
"Father may I help?" he asked as he picked up a wrench, clutching it in his hands and eying the back of one of the adults. How easy it would be to spring on him, the weakling, and break his spine!
"Roderick be careful," said his father putting his hand out.
"I will." He smiled as he turned the correct screw, opened up the insides, adjusted a few wires, and then had it working. "Done"
"I told you my son could do it," the father beamed with pride.
And the other adults agreed.
Suddenly Morgan Lynch came running. "It's Mary. Something's wrong with her!"
They rushed towards the Lynch house, leaving Roderick alone, but not unaware. The boy rushed back to the Valdez house and towards his mate for that is what she was.
"Mary's been discovered. You have to hide the conception."
She took out a knife.
"No not that," he said, grabbing her hand. "Make your belly seem flatter." He rifled through the piles of clothes in a box, clothes that Carmichael had brought from the city. "Put this on. It is full and will hide your predestined issue from them. I will see if there's enough for all."
"And when the young ones come, what do we do?"
"We have to hide them, Elaine. Feed them when the adults are unaware. I will call a Council. Make a place to keep them safe. Meanwhile wrap the garments in paper and take them to all the females." He left the girl, and then crept over to the Lynch house.
Mary Lynch was moaning in pain. Her babies had just dropped and in four more months would be ready to be born, but she did not know it yet. Her father assumed she had a tumor, but her mother knew better.
"Who could do this to our little girl?" she asked, imagining the shame of an illegitimate offspring. Here in this isolation, the baby could be safe, but what if they went into the city? She turned to see Roderick at the door. "Hello Roderick. You didn't see any stranger near, have you?"
Stranger? His brilliant mind invented a plausible explanation. "Yes I saw some. An old man about twenty. Well what was left of him. Didn't think a dead man was anyone's business."
"You're a strange one, Roderick. You could have told Mr. Carmichael and he'd tell the rurales."
"For what animals did?"
"No for what they did to my daughter."
He looked at her with misunderstanding. "There is a stranger who might have told about us. The wolves or dogs devoured his body or perhaps it was the cats. I see no sign of a scratch on Mary's body."
"She's expecting a baby, Roderick."
"Oh?" He hid his glee and gave the appropriate reaction of puzzlement. "Isn't that too young?"
"Yes Roderick. Girls don't have children until they are at least fourteen, but I guess in this climate, they mature earlier." She put her hands on the boy. "Roderick, I want the truth, did that stranger talk to anyone, anyone from the outside?"
He shook his head. "I saw his footprints heading towards the other village, but the animals got them. We should get the men together and find this one, hunt him down."
His father looked at him with shock. "Roderick, I told you, we will not resort to violence."
"Violence? A stranger comes near our village, a stranger who hurt Mary. Can we not defend ourselves?"
"We decided that we must not use weapons except for kill animals for food." He wrinkled his face as if thinking. "But I do remember that the paw prints looked like cats."
"Panthers?" Her face paled and with that, Roderick almost sneered.
These humans were so afraid of jaguars, a common wild cat. Were they to stay in the village and wait until boredom and death remained? He had told them, "We can defend you. I am a good shot as is Gregory and the others. Why can't we take the guns and protect you?"
However, not one of the adults agreed with Roderick's suggestion. All they were able to do was to work the garden, fix the machinery, and wait until they received a message from outside. It is our time, the boy thought, We will reproduce. They are a weak species, our ancestors.
And from then on, his contempt for the adults grew.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Somewhere in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.
The girl patted her belly, now filled with her unborn children and smiled. She dared not tell her father or her mother, not because of shame but because she regarded not her parents as above her in intelligence. As if she were the queen of the Universe, she lifted her head and the boy besides her sneered.
"What will we name them?" he asked. He had a boyish face free of fuzz, eyes seemingly innocent, height under five feet, and the look that would charm the unwary. That look he used to charm his parents to let him take the girl to the outside and he was not the only one of the young males with his female to climb up the ladder to mate in the forest.
At the age of eight, they were ready to produce children. They had already started to pair off, and because they were a young species, were careful in their choosing. It was not love at first sight, the feelings of passion, but of a strong attraction. The passion came only when mating, only when there was one hundred percent chance of conception and the girl's readiness had given it off months earlier.
In the New Species, there was no need for dalliance, no need for affairs in the night. Only reproduction mattered. If they had relations after conception, it was just because of their affection for each other, not for lust.
"The Council will decide," she said.
"I will decide when their name day commences."
She opened the door to the outside, feeling the hot sweltering heat, and seeing the adults attempting to fix the generator. "Perhaps you can assist them. I already worked on the garden." Her hands were slightly soiled and her light blue blouse and dark skirt stained with grass stains and mud.
"Perhaps." He pushed past her, and walked over, ignoring the rebuffs to "go and do your studies." He deigned their idea of studies for his knowledge was more superior to them as was his brain. He learned at a faster pace, he could see when they approached, he knew when they were angry, and felt their emotions. He was a giant in intellect and they were pygmies.
The long narrow fields were filled tomatoes, peppers, Romaine lettuce, beans, and yellow flowers on raised rows. Near the end were corn stalks with the cobs already full. Seedlings grew protected by a net. A tray stood tie between two poles. On it were beans drying in the sun. A steady stream of water irrigated the whole area introducing moisture in the correct amounts. All one needed to do was to turn the tray and check the vegetables to see if they were ready.
Laundry hung up to dry on several poles. They had invented a sort of washing machine and dryer, but it could not produce the freshness of outside air so once a month, they had to do things the old-fashioned way, not the washing, but the drying.
Right now he was bored. He wished to take one of the guns used for hunting and climb up the ladder, not to hunt animals but to join the Mexican army that often came from the capital to get recruits, but his father and all the adults in the village said, "no violence." This forced peace was getting on his nerves. He was of the New Species, he needed to fight, but until the time was right, he had to be careful.
"Father may I help?" he asked as he picked up a wrench, clutching it in his hands and eying the back of one of the adults. How easy it would be to spring on him, the weakling, and break his spine!
"Roderick be careful," said his father putting his hand out.
"I will." He smiled as he turned the correct screw, opened up the insides, adjusted a few wires, and then had it working. "Done"
"I told you my son could do it," the father beamed with pride.
And the other adults agreed.
Suddenly Morgan Lynch came running. "It's Mary. Something's wrong with her!"
They rushed towards the Lynch house, leaving Roderick alone, but not unaware. The boy rushed back to the Valdez house and towards his mate for that is what she was.
"Mary's been discovered. You have to hide the conception."
She took out a knife.
"No not that," he said, grabbing her hand. "Make your belly seem flatter." He rifled through the piles of clothes in a box, clothes that Carmichael had brought from the city. "Put this on. It is full and will hide your predestined issue from them. I will see if there's enough for all."
"And when the young ones come, what do we do?"
"We have to hide them, Elaine. Feed them when the adults are unaware. I will call a Council. Make a place to keep them safe. Meanwhile wrap the garments in paper and take them to all the females." He left the girl, and then crept over to the Lynch house.
Mary Lynch was moaning in pain. Her babies had just dropped and in four more months would be ready to be born, but she did not know it yet. Her father assumed she had a tumor, but her mother knew better.
"Who could do this to our little girl?" she asked, imagining the shame of an illegitimate offspring. Here in this isolation, the baby could be safe, but what if they went into the city? She turned to see Roderick at the door. "Hello Roderick. You didn't see any stranger near, have you?"
Stranger? His brilliant mind invented a plausible explanation. "Yes I saw some. An old man about twenty. Well what was left of him. Didn't think a dead man was anyone's business."
"You're a strange one, Roderick. You could have told Mr. Carmichael and he'd tell the rurales."
"For what animals did?"
"No for what they did to my daughter."
He looked at her with misunderstanding. "There is a stranger who might have told about us. The wolves or dogs devoured his body or perhaps it was the cats. I see no sign of a scratch on Mary's body."
"She's expecting a baby, Roderick."
"Oh?" He hid his glee and gave the appropriate reaction of puzzlement. "Isn't that too young?"
"Yes Roderick. Girls don't have children until they are at least fourteen, but I guess in this climate, they mature earlier." She put her hands on the boy. "Roderick, I want the truth, did that stranger talk to anyone, anyone from the outside?"
He shook his head. "I saw his footprints heading towards the other village, but the animals got them. We should get the men together and find this one, hunt him down."
His father looked at him with shock. "Roderick, I told you, we will not resort to violence."
"Violence? A stranger comes near our village, a stranger who hurt Mary. Can we not defend ourselves?"
"We decided that we must not use weapons except for kill animals for food." He wrinkled his face as if thinking. "But I do remember that the paw prints looked like cats."
"Panthers?" Her face paled and with that, Roderick almost sneered.
These humans were so afraid of jaguars, a common wild cat. Were they to stay in the village and wait until boredom and death remained? He had told them, "We can defend you. I am a good shot as is Gregory and the others. Why can't we take the guns and protect you?"
However, not one of the adults agreed with Roderick's suggestion. All they were able to do was to work the garden, fix the machinery, and wait until they received a message from outside. It is our time, the boy thought, We will reproduce. They are a weak species, our ancestors.
And from then on, his contempt for the adults grew.