Button in the Fabric of Time (16 page)

Games had never been important to me, but I
could understand that the people who wanted to be athletes liked
the exhilaration of the sport and the approval of others. I
proposed my idea to Jan-3 and Ulto read my thoughts, so he
understood when I said, “I have an idea for a game that will
accomplish everything we’re trying to do.”

“Many in our society enjoy games,” Jan-3
said, “so I understand how games can be both helpful and
entertaining. What do you have in mind?”

“The game will be that only those who do well
in their work will be allowed to go into the jungle to get the
plants they like, while not being harmed by the flesh-eating
animals.”

“
They won’t do it!”
Ulto voiced.
“
They are terrified of those animals. That is why they don’t
have a plentiful supply of their favorite food.”

“That’s exactly why I think they’ll do it.
The excitement of getting the food right from under the noses of
the beasts they fear, and the praise they’ll receive from their
admiring audience will make them want to do it. What could be more
exciting than garnering something valuable, while outmaneuvering
the animals that are trying to eat you?”

“
Without a doubt it will be exciting,”
Ulto agreed,
“but the animals are bound to win some of the time,
and you promised no harm would come to the Ergons.”

“A team of Ergons will go into the jungle.
Each Ergon will be armed with a stun gun that will render the
animal unconscious the moment the animal touches an Ergon. If an
Ergon is touched by an animal, the Ergon is eliminated from the
game. Each Ergon will be allowed to keep or share only the food he
or she gathers. The Ergon who endures longest or gathers the most
food will be declared the winner.”

“How will the audience participate?” Jan-3
asked.

“Cameramen will photograph the game from a
keri suspended over the jungle, and the audience will see it, by
watching on a device like a television. They have that capability,
don’t they?”

“
Yes, of course, but they won’t trust you,
or have faith in your intentions. They still won’t do it.”

“I’ll gain their trust by being the first to
get the food out of the jungle while avoiding the animals. The
audience will admire my courage, and that, plus my bringing back
the food they like, will make the Ergons want to participate.”

“Gus, I fear for you,” Jan-3 said. “You
haven’t even seen these beasts. The Ergons alone are frightful
enough. Why are you willing to risk your life to save people who
are trying to kill you?”

“In my time, Earth had many man-eating
animals in its jungles. Men, sometimes armed only with spears, went
into the jungles and competed with those animals for food. While on
earth, in the thirty-first century, I saw a stun gun in the
laboratory. I’ll go back to Earth and get such a device to wear—it
will make me virtually safe.”

The engineer we rescued from the Ergons was
listening to our conversation and spoke up. “I know the device Gus
is referring to. It can quickly be adapted to render anything
unconscious that touches the wearer. With your permission, I’ll go
back to Earth and return with a supply of stun devices.”

“
I think the idea might work. One of my
assistants will take your engineer to Earth and have him back in an
instant,”
Ulto’s voice resonated in our heads.

Jan-3 agreed, “If this works, it will be a
good start in solving our problems.”

“Do you think a keri will work in this
atmosphere?” I asked.

The engineer replied, “Of course. A keri
operates in its own magnetic field. You wouldn’t be able to land in
a jungle, though, because the dense vegetation would interrupt that
magnetic field. But you could hover over the jungle, giving the
cameramen a platform from which to record the struggle. The keri
would also be transportation to and from the jungle for the
contestants.”

I said to the engineer, “If Domer will
approve, go with the Antons and bring back what we need.”

“I’ll check with the boss,” the engineer
said, as he disappeared through the plasma curtain.

We heard Ulto’s voice talking to the Ergons:
“Tell Mordo to have his people watch their view screens
tomorrow. They will see an earthling defy the Lōōgs to bring back
the tubers that they like. He will share the tubers with them. He
challenges any Ergon to duplicate that feat.”
Then Ulto
addressed his thoughts to us:
“You had better get a good night’s
rest. Tomorrow will be a big day; perhaps it will be your last day.
If you fail, our mission will be lost and Earth will be
destroyed.”

“Ulto,” I replied, “you have much to learn.
Threats will gain you nothing. We will rest tonight and be ready as
soon as the engineer and your assistant return from Earth with the
things we need. Don’t worry, I won’t fail.” I put my arms around
Jan-3’s trembling shoulders, and we walked through the plasma
curtain. The engineer who had volunteered to return to Earth with
the Anton was talking excitedly with Domer.

Domer said, “Gus, this is dangerous. If you
fail, we’ll all be killed—or worse, we’ll be marooned here on
planet Ergo with the Ergons.”

“Will the stun device stop the Lōōgs and the
reptiles?” I asked.

“We can set the devices with a pulse strong
enough to kill the largest creature that ever lived, but there is
always the possibility of something going wrong.”

“I don’t want to kill the beasts—I simply
want to render them temporarily incapable of moving,” I said.

“We can do that, but may the Creating Force
be with us if we fail,” Domer replied.

“Then we must not fail,” I chuckled, not
really feeling the mirth. “Let’s all get some sleep. Tomorrow is a
day unlike any other I am aware of.”

Dormer and his engineers had eaten while
Jan-3 and I had been negotiating with Ulto. The food we had brought
was sufficient. After eating, we headed to our separate beds.

“Gus,” Jan-3 requested, “may I sleep with
you? I need to feel your arms around me. I’ve never felt fear
before. . . . I was born into a peaceful world, and fear is new to
me. Is there another way?”

“There’s always another way. But the question
is: will it work? If we try another way, and fail, we’ll still be
lost. If I succeed, we’ll gain the Ergons’ trust. If they trust us,
they’ll help us. If they help us, we’ll all win. Everyone has too
much to lose. We
will
succeed,” I said with assurance. Jan-3
snuggled closely. I was thinking,
If I never have another
moment, this moment alone is enough to make life
worthwhile.

* * *

I slept fitfully, and was awakened by the
roaring of strange animals, and the grunting of the Ergons. I was
hearing an Ergon morning. I took Jan-3’s hand and we stepped
through the plasma curtain. The early morning dwarf sun was
blood-red—its light reflecting off the vegetation gave the plants a
strange beauty.

Since they did not have bodies, the Antons
needed no rest. Ulto greeted us with the thought foremost in
everyone’s minds:
“Well, Gus and Jan-3, today is the day that
decides our fate. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready, and I hope the Creating Force is
watching, and He, She, or It, is smiling. Let the day begin,” I
said with a confidence that I didn’t really feel.

Domer and his crew joined us.

“Have the keri and the supplies arrived?” I
asked.

“Everything is here, and we’re ready to
prepare you for your ordeal,” Domer replied.

Jan-3 and I were the only earthlings who
understood when Mordo said, in his rattling, grunting voice: “Every
Ergon on the planet is watching. They’ll be delighted when they see
Gus eaten by a Lōōg.”

Jan-3 translated to Domer and his crew.

Domer asked, “What on earth is a Lōōg?”

“There’s nothing like it on Earth,” she
replied, “and if it is as bad as they say, I hope there never will
be. All we know is that it is a terrible flesh-eating beast, feared
by the Ergons.”

Bart, Domer’s assistant, said, “I brought a
large keri. There’s room for all of us, including the cameramen.
The Antons need no transport, and the Ergons will be watching from
the safety of their homes.”

“Then let’s get on with it,” I said, a little
more impatiently than I should have.

Jan-3 understood, and patted my arm
reassuringly. Mordo rode with us to show me the plants I was to
gather. With a twisted grin, Mordo showed me the type of plant that
produced the tubers. It was a vine that reminded me of the sweet
potatoes we grew on the farm.

Domer and Bart fitted the stun device around
my waist while I checked the things in my backpack. I had a knife
for digging tubers, and a machete for cutting the vines away. The
cutting edges of these tools were keen and resilient. I didn’t want
the restriction of the radiation suit, so I decided to risk the
radiation long enough to do what had to be done.

I spoke loudly so everyone could hear: “I’m
ready.”

On the ride to the jungle, Jan-3 held my
hand, but no one spoke. A strange haze surrounded her, but I
thought nothing of it, until I saw a machete concealed in her robe.
I wanted to ask her about it, but I didn’t dare. Everything was
strange on planet Ergo.

“There,” Mordo said gutturally as he pointed
to a grove of extra-large trees.

The keri hovered over the trees, and I
prepared to descend on a rope ladder. Domer pointed to a clear,
flexible tube that had been extended down among the trees and said,
“Descend through that tube; it’s pneumatic.”

“What will they think of next?” I said,
shaking my head as I put on the packet that would contain the
tubers, and prepared to slide down the tube into the jungle.

Jan-3 and I had spent a night hovering over
the African jungle, listening to the animal sounds rising from it,
but the sounds coming from this Ergon jungle, even in the daytime,
caused shivers to run up my spine. What am I letting myself in
for?

With a weak smile, Jan-3 kissed me on the
cheek and said, “I’ll be waiting.” The best I could do was to
return her smile and nod.

* * * * *

Chapter 21

The tube of compressed air lowered me
quickly. I stepped out onto ground that had no vegetation. The
shade under the trees was so intense that nothing could grow. A
short distance away in the weak sunlight, vegetation grew
profusely. The vines Mordo had shown me covered the ground. I saw
nothing threatening, so I pulled up the vines and the tubers came
out easily. With the machete, I separated the tubers from the vines
and, in no time, I had a sack full of tubers. I placed the sack in
the vacuum tube, and it disappeared up into the keri. Working
quickly, I sent up several sacks. I depleted the vines nearby and
looked around for more. A log lay partially hidden in the
vegetation. I sat on it thinking about what I should do next.

The log moved! It didn’t roll sidewise, it
slid along the ground, it moved lengthwise. I jumped to my feet,
realizing I had sat on a living thing! What I had thought was a log
continued moving. Suddenly, 30 paces away, the head of a reptile
rose out of the grass. Then the head disappeared and the log
slithered away.

Something was wrong! That shouldn’t be! Any
living thing that touched me was supposed to be stunned into
unconsciousness. I yelled into the tube to find out why the stun
gun didn’t work. I heard the word “switch,” but that was all I had
time for, because another snake—not quite so large, but large
enough—was trying to coil around my legs. Ugh! Using my machete, I
chopped it to pieces. It uncoiled from my legs, but continued to
wiggle, as snakes do. The writhing of the dead snake attracted
other reptiles that were coming at me from every direction.
Chopping with my machete and slashing with my knife, I was holding
my own, but I wasn’t sure how long I could hold out. Humanity hung
in the balance, and I couldn’t find the switch to turn on my stun
gun!

Just as I was about to go under, I heard a
roar reverberating through the jungle and felt the ground tremble.
The reptiles that were attacking me ran or slithered away. They
were afraid of whatever it was that had roared. To my right, as far
as the dense trees would allow me to see, I saw small trees covered
with vines being pushed aside by something huge. I was frantically
searching for a button, a switch, a lever—anything, but found
nothing.

Too late, the “thing” was practically upon
me. It was a tiger-like beast, large as an elephant. Perhaps
because of its size, it was not as agile as a tiger, but what it
lacked in agility, it made up for in size. It had three-toed front
paws, with one toe used as an opposing thumb. I knew it could
grasp, and the size of its grasp could easily encompass me. I was
in trouble!

Frantically, I looked for a way to escape. It
would do no good to run—this creature could run faster than I
could. I couldn’t climb a small tree, because the beast could push
a small tree over, and I would be on the ground, ready to become a
tasty meal. Trees were nearby, but anything large enough to support
the creature’s weight would allow it to climb the tree after
me.

I had to do something, and quickly. “It”
stopped less than a hundred feet away, its red, glaring eyes
examined me closely. Its slavering mouth was at least three feet
wide, and its foul-smelling breath was revolting.

My only hope was to take advantage of its
unwieldy size. To my left, not twenty paces away, was a huge
banyan-like tree, with hairy fibers hanging from its extending
branches. Where the fibers reached the ground, they grew into it,
forming new trunks. The new trunks had grown so closely together
that they had formed a labyrinth that I could crawl into. The Lōōg,
because of its size, would be unable to squeeze through the
labyrinth. I dove into the cluster of trunks only a second before
the Lōōg could captured me. As I had hoped, the trunks formed a
cage-like enclosure. The noise from the Lōōg was deafening.