The Alien Orb (31 page)

He left the end of his stick in the fire,
and once he had reasonably burnt it, he took it out; and he removed
the ash, making it pointed and a reasonable spear, to accompany
their other spears

He searched through the tunnel for other
tunnels and holes, to divert the water to, but nothing was there.
If he could only produce the right tools, he might be able to chip
away the lower rock, at the bottom of the cave, and make a trench.
Even though the rock might be difficult to break. It would be a
slow and tiresome job. The trench might have to go down as much as
a meter.

He eventually ploughed the blunt end of his
spear through the sand and stones, to form a line through the cave,
from the hole to the entrance. Yet, it soon became apparent, as he
dug down, that he could dig deep into it, to make it into a trench,
which could take a large flow of water through the cave.

None of them had any proper clothes,
for surviving in the wilderness. If it had been a cold climate,
they probably would have frozen to death
–
the water at the least would have
given them hypothermia. He was sure that the island was actually
somewhere in the South Pacific. Did the end of black hole drift, or
had the continents shifted? In that case, they could be
anywhere!

Nothing on the island was normal. Had
they genetically adjusted everything? However, why had they changed
everything so much? He had not seen any proper fruit or vegetables!
Yet could they have made them to produce products
–
such as
rubber
–
for industry? If so, they might be able to use them, perhaps
to make clothing, and footwear.

What would he do if they encountered
mankind? Could they adapt to its new ways and civilization? Had
they changed like the vegetation? Would they be deadly? Yet why had
they not seen any trace of them? Surely, there had to be types of
planes and ships. However, it was possible that they were at a
barren region of the world.

“
We must find more
food!
”
Basinger suddenly remarked, over to Selina.
“
We cannot survive
on
these
sea
creatures!
”

“
There is plenty of the fruit, over at
the jungle! I think we should fix this place up. If we are going
stay here, we should live properly! We could put some type of cover
over the front, to shelter, at night.
”

“
Do you think that this place has a
cold winter?
”
Burrell enquired.
“
I think we will have to find warm things to
wear, and to sleep in. This place is strange
–
I haven
’
t seen one normal animal, or
anything in fact, anywhere!
”

“
I want to get more
wood!
”
Basinger announced.
“
There is not enough of it for tonight, and,
perhaps, we can use it to seal all of the ways in here! There might
be dangerous animals about that can climb into the cave. This place
could be dangerous! There are tigers that can climb up trees
...!
”

Once they had brought down all the vegetation
needed, Basinger began to look satisfied; and he took long pieces
of it, and he used them to seal the entrance.

He secured the vegetation with various
things, including fitting rocks against it, and fixing vines around
it. He then fitted a large hollow stem above the fire, to release
the smoke through it.

It was night again, when they finally
finished, and they sealed the way into the tunnel.

The possibility of wild beasts existing
there was now a main issue. Darwin definitely seemed to sense the
presence of something! Had an animal gone into the tunnel?

As far as he was concerned the spear was a
good enough weapon; and they had blocked the hole, with a large
chunk of rock, which was heavy enough to prevent animals getting
in.

Selina seemed to feel safe with the
barricade being there, but she remained alert, at her
dog
’
s
vicious barks towards it.

He engaged himself in thinking of ways of
getting food, and in thinking of ways of properly securing their
hideaway against wild beasts. Winter might some day edge into their
lives, and he was determined to survive. Their hunting and survival
techniques would have to be greatly improved. They could use bows
and arrows, and hunt the furred animals that roamed the jungle.
They would greatly cherish their furs, as things to keep them
warm.

He gladly viewed the morning sunshine,
against the pale red shadows of the above cliff; and he squeezed
through the door in the entrance. Burrell threw a large arm full of
vegetation onto the smoldering ashes of the fire, and the cave soon
lit up from its flames.

They would be exploring the above island, so
Dexter practiced using his spear, to get the feel of it, as their
survival might depend on it.

Once they had climbed up the tunnel, Darwin
opened his jaws, and gave out a short growl, at the pool, and
Dexter thought of making a rope ladder to get easy access to the
top of the cliff.

At the top, they chose a route, along
the cliff, going around the dense undergrowth. And, as they
followed it, it soon became clear that it would have taken them
hours to make it through it
–
if they could in fact have hacked their way
through it.

They tracked the contours of the coastline,
in the opposite direction from where they had been, when they had
landed on the island. Selina wished to view the wondrous coastline,
and they wished to visit a number of places. Their main intention
was to find things for them to use.

A short distance from the cave, at the
bottom of a gorge, Basinger discovered bits of coal, scattered
about the ground. Then, on the side of a slope, further along, he
discovered a coal seam. The coal was valuable, but it was not an
immense amount. Yet it proved that it might be common, and that
they might find a lot more.

Dexter was not sure if he was wasting
his time searching for metals, but they continued to look for it
along the bank of a stream, below a slope, which ran along the side
of the cliff. However, when they went to cross it, they saw traces
of iron ore
–
and he was sure that he could reduce the ore to iron, by
subjecting it to a high temperature, with the coal.

The amount materials that were available
vastly increased. At the cliff, he saw an abundance of limestone,
at the bottom of the cliff.

They could easily remove it, in chunks, and
take it to the cave. Once they had a pile of it, they could heat it
on the fire and smash it into cement. They then could mix it with
sand and water into mortar.

They could build a wall at the front of the
cave, with a door, window, and chimney. They could easily
camouflage it, by cementing thin rocks to its outside, to match the
cliff.

He could build a stone stove with a chimney,
which he had once seen in an old shack. However, if they were going
to remain at the cliff, they had better remain hidden. If there
were any humans, they might be dangerous. Even though he could not
truly imagine what they would actually be like. Had civilization in
fact fallen?

He started to realize that they could make
some proper tools.

They could make a pair of workable bellows,
to raise the temperature of the coal. If he made an adhesive, like
from melting an animal carcass, and took thread from the fiber
contained in the plants, they could glue and sew a big piece of
animal skin into an airtight bag. They would only need to attach
two flat sticks and a pipe to it. It would soon reduce the ore to a
lump of iron.

They could pour it into simple moulds, made
from cement, and he could make blacksmith tools, knives,
arrowheads, and axes. They would be invaluable to them. Some day
they might be able to build a building.

The height and thickness of the trees about
them began to go beyond anything that he had heard of before. They
loomed over them like immense columns, and their tops stretched out
like clouds. There were many variations of their species, with
their colors and shapes varying tremendously.

Darwin stayed ahead of them, smelling the
scents of strange plants, eating occasional worm-like insects.

An immense creature, resembling a
dinosaur-sized anteater, scuttled clumsily, amidst the shadows of
the trees, letting out loud snorts.

Chapter 6

The Island at the End of
Time

On the beach, at the jungle, they relaxed in
the hot sun, after they had gathered a large supply of the
fruit-like food. Even though it was a tropical paradise, similar to
a hot Hawaiian shore, they would not stay anywhere near the jungle
at night, unless they had to. The monster shrieks that came from
its depths made them cringe. Yet the deadly beasts, which they had
encountered so far, were slow, and they had been able to avoid
them.

There was not anything familiar left. They
did not have any idea how far they had traveled through time. How
long could the sun and world survive? Dexter had heard scientists
estimate how long the sun would last. How could they have been sure
though? Had they in fact traveled many billions of years into the
future? Could they be on the remains of the United States or
Britain?

He constantly observed rocks at different
locations, looking for traces of mankind in the layers of stone, as
he had once looked for dinosaur fossils. He regularly thought of
himself as one of the last men on the world. They had not observed
any ships, planes, or remains of mankind anywhere.

Was there actually a winter? The sun
seemed to stay in the same place in the sky, with the weather
cycles repeating themselves. He constantly thought of different
ways to prepare for winter. It was strange, thinking of there not
being a winter. It was almost comical
–
the way the others reacted to there
being changing seasons, especially when it began to be cloudy, and
then they seemed to return automatically to thinking of it as being
a permanent summer.

He had noticed that the moon had disappeared
somewhere. They had not seen it over the entire time that they had
been on the island. Had a celestial object collided with it,
knocking it out of its orbit?

He was sure that if the inhabitants of
the old world were all gone, that an ice age might have destroyed
them. Could the island still have one of these winters? The moon
had moved
–
could the world have also moved? Why were there not any
normal fish, animals, and vegetation? Had an immense ice age
destroyed everything out of existence? What was growing on the
island could be what grew afterwards?

The world might have spiraled into an outer
orbit, and it somehow moved back towards the sun. The island might
be an example of the original planet. He had already seen
dinosaur-like beasts.

He suddenly noticed that Darwin looking
agitated.

He barked loudly, and went backwards and
forwards, then stopped, and looked into a bush. Then he barked at
something.

The bush shook, and it went still. Dirt
sprayed outwards, until a dust cloud hovered over it, and a burrow
was visible.

Dexter attempted to view the island
differently, searching for information, and he realized that he did
not have enough information about it. If it was an island: they
still had not checked behind some hills!

The world beyond the island was a place of
great mystery to them. It was as though they believed that the
descendants of mankind lived there. They would eventually have to
check the other side of the island.

Dexter realized that there were no longer
any sounds from Burrell. He had gone somewhere inland. He followed
his footprints, with his eyes, going along the sand, between some
trees and plants, and they disappeared into the dense vegetation,
which still eerily shifted, in a way that they were unable to
explain.

The immensely colorful landscape surreally
illuminated Selina, splashing through waves, skimming over the
sand, while she moved out of the water. She finally rested at his
side, with water pouring in streams over her tanned skin.

Dexter could not imagine where the
island was, but it looked like somewhere near Hawaii now. Were the
remains of civilization beneath the sea
–
out there ...?

“
Where is he?
”
Basinger grumbled.

“
Shall we follow
him?
”
Selina asked enthusiastically.

“
Okay!
”
Basinger answered.

Basinger buried the food that they had
collected under the sand. Then he handed Dexter his spear.

The beach vanished behind them, but
the sounds of rushing waves remained, and they continued to follow
Burrell
’
s
footprints. They did not seem to know where he was going. The
angles and separations of his prints showed that he had been in a
hurry, and that he might have been desperate. Had he seen something
on the island
–
when they had left the cave that morning, up at the
cliff
–
as
he had climbed up a tree?

The tropical-type vegetation about them
started spreading out. It was a different place from the other part
of the jungle.