Shame of Man (6 page)

Then the mountain rumbled again, louder and harder. The ground shook. This was more serious. They needed to find Sue's tribe soon, and get away from here. Hue had three good stones, and those would keep Vik busy for some time, because chipping them correctly was no easy job.

But this time the mountain did not relent. It rumbled again, and smoke came from it—not from the top, but from the side. It was acting as if it were angry enough to do something. It was best to get away from it.

The way ahead was unclear. Hu did not want to risk getting lost in unfamiliar terrain. It was better to go back the way they had come, with the route clear.

Sue and Blaze came with them, knowing the problem and not wanting to be left alone. They could find their band after getting safely away from the nasty mountain.

But the mountain did not want to let them go. It rumbled almost continuously. Then it roared. There were undertones in that sound that perhaps only Hue could hear, but the menace was clear to them all.

They paused in their flight to look back at it. But all they could see was a boiling pile of smoke. Within that smoke the mountain was roaring with deafening volume, not yet satisfied.

They needed no further warning. They fled from it as fast as they could run.

The sky darkened as the smoke spread out. A terrible smell came. The ground shuddered so violently it was hard for them to keep their footing. Gravel slid down a nearby slope.

Hue realized that they weren't going to get away from the mountain. It was reaching out too fast. Already things were falling around them, glowing rocks and choking dust. If any of those rocks hit them—

“Cave!” Fae cried. “Hide!”

Good idea. “Cave,” Hue agreed. It was on their way and not far distant.

They ran for it. More glowing things rained down. The leaves of trees began to smoke and burn as the rocks struck them. So did patches of grass in the glades.

They saw the cave. It faced away from the mountain, and Hue was glad of that. They ran into it, taking shelter from the falling fires. There was room for all of them.

Then two more figures ran in. Bub and Sis!

Hue grabbed his axe, ready to defend their place of safety. He would not have the advantage in such close quarters, but he couldn't let Bub and his savage sister just take over. Bub, seeing that as he reached the cave, put his hand on his own axe. So did Sis, who had a small but sharp stone, the kind used to cut meat from bone.

Blaze, recognizing him, cried and shrank toward his mother. Bee and Lee crowded back toward the tunnel with Lil, who held her baby tightly. But Fae stepped close beside Hue, snarling, holding another flesh-cutting stone. She hated Bub, who had once tried to abduct her, and meant to help Hue fight. This was unusual behavior in a woman, but not unknown. Considering that Sis often helped her brother fight, this was just as well. Hue would surely lose if both Bub and Sis attacked him.

“No!” Sis cried, surprisingly. “Fight no.”

Both men looked at her, startled. So did Fae.

“Cave Hue,” she said. “Bub Sis no.”

She was correct. Hue and his party had taken this cave first. But since when had Bub and Sis ever honored such conventions? They had never cared much about anything except power and opportunity.

Bub looked out onto the landscape. Fire stones were falling more thickly, denting the ground and making the grass burn. There was no retreat that way. He would rather fight.

Then Hue saw that Bee and Lee had found sticks and come to stand behind Fae. They were small, but not as small as they once had been, and they knew how to club small animals. They could indeed help enough to
enable Hue to prevail. Sis, more devious than her brother, had seen that the outcome of this fight was in doubt.

“Truce,” Sis said, saying a word she seldom did.

But Hue knew better than to trust either of them. “No.”

She considered just a moment. Then she tried another ploy. “Sex.”

Both Hue and Bub looked at her, dismayed. Enemies did not engage in sex, unless it was rape, and there would be a fight to the death here before there could be any rape.

Sis put down her stone. “Hue Sis sex,” she said. “Truce.” She took a step toward Hue, her arms spread, hands open. She smiled, suggesting that she would enjoy it. Was it possible that her seeming grudge had masked desire? So that her brother wouldn't suspect her of disloyalty? No, more likely she was simply trying to deceive Hue about her feeling, to make him agree to it.

Bub looked at her, appalled. “No.”

Fae echoed the sentiment. “Sex no.” The last thing she wanted was such a connection between her mate and her enemy.

“Fight,” Bub said, though without force.

Sis gazed back at him without flinching. “Bub Fae sex.”

Now Hue was appalled. “Fight,” he said, agreeing with Bub.

But Fae was coming to understand what Sis was proposing. Those who had sex together did not fight. Even enemies could make a truce by sharing sex. They would not fight until another day. Not even an untrustworthy person would violate that, because it went deeper than agreements. It was the way it was. Sis was offering a way for them to share this cave without fighting.

Still Hue and Bub demurred, not wishing such a truce. They had been enemies too long. They did not want to be even temporary, tacit friends.

Sis took another step toward Hue. She was very close, and the woman smell of her was strong. He found himself tempted. He had always hated her for her bad ways, yet always also been intrigued by her healthy body. He couldn't help reacting.

She took one more step, now almost touching him. She reached up to take his hand, the one with the axe. She brought it down and set the stone against her throat. She let go. He could cut her and kill her with one stroke. She had offered her life.

And of course he couldn't take it. Slowly he moved his hand, taking the knife away, dropping it to the ground.

Bub, seeing him disarmed, started to come forward. But Fae moved faster, dropping her own stone, intercepting him. Bub had always been interested in her, but she had never wanted him. Now she was offering. He hesitated, then dropped his axe. He knew this was the only likely way he would ever have her, and her acquiescence was better than rape.

“Sis want,” she said, drawing Hue down to the ground with her. He realized with a shock that she was doing this not merely as a way to establish
a useful truce, but because she desired him personally. He had not known she felt that way, but the smell of her suggested it was true. She had the heat of unfeigned passion.

Then it was sex, the two couples side by side, banging into each other, not caring. Hue's long-suppressed passion for Sis burst forth, and was met by her similar passion. He had never had sex like this! Their prior animosity actually enhanced it. If the grudge had been real at all; now it seemed more likely that Sis really had appreciated the favor he had done her long ago.

It was soon done. Hue looked up as they lay embraced, and saw the children looking down, interested in the details. Even little Blaze.

Embarrassed, Hue disengaged and got to his feet. Sis followed, not concealing her satisfaction.

Bub and Fae were also getting up. Fae showed no sign of satisfaction. She had done what she had to do. But it was clear that Bub was pleased. He didn't care whether she liked it, only that she cooperate. That much she had done.

Bub had desired Fae, and Sis had desired Hue. Both had gotten what they wanted, in this unlikely situation. Yet Hue could not hold it against them, because Sis had given him an experience like none other. It was surely better than combat would have been, though he still didn't like Fae's participation.

Now they were in truce. They picked up their weapons and put them away. Then they gazed out into the fire storm.

The rocks and ashes were piling on the ground. All the grass had burned away, and the nearby trees were still smoldering. The air was choked with smoke. They needed to get away from it.

They made their way into the dark recess. The women were afraid, so the men did it, with Sis and Fae close behind. Neither Hue nor Bub wanted close association with the other, but they were bound to the truce, as occasional words from the women reminded them. They picked up their stone axes and stepped cautiously into the darkness.

It was a disappointment. Not far beyond the wan light the walls closed up, leaving only small apertures they couldn't use. There was no good air here. Only a pool of water they could feel with their feet. It wasn't flowing, so surely wasn't good to drink.

But they had to have good air. All of them were coughing now, as the fumes increased. There was a strange, threatening sound outside. This was surprising, because the rain of fire was abating. What was making that sound?

Hue knew he should go outside and check. But there was still some ash falling, and he didn't want to leave the others alone in the cave with Bub. The truce existed, but was uneasy.

Sis solved that. “Hue Bub,” she said, pointing out. Fae saw the logic and agreed.

That made sense. If both of them went out, neither could bother the women.

So they took their bags and spread out the hides as protection, covering their heads and shoulders. Holding their axes, they went out together.

They had to step carefully, because the fallen stones and ashes were still hot. Smoke was everywhere, especially above, making dusk of midday. But it was somewhat easier to breathe out here.

They went toward the sound, which was getting louder. It was coming from the other side of the hill, in the direction of the fire mountain. Hue was frightened, but would not show it in the presence of his enemy.

They crested a small ridge. Bub made a cry. “Fire!”

Hue looked. There in the valley between slopes was a river of fire. The trees and shrubs by its banks burst into flame when touched and soon were swept under. Hue had never seen anything like it, and was sure Bub hadn't either.

It was coursing toward them. Soon it would flow over this low ridge and on around and into the cave.

They turned as one and ran back the way they had come. They had to get the others out immediately.

“Run!” Hue called as they came into sight of the cave.

Fae and Sis peered out into the gloom, not understanding. The stones had stopped falling from the sky, but the women did not trust that. They thought the cave was the safest place.

“Run!” Bub cried, reaching the cave and hauling on Fae's arm so that she stumbled out. She made an exclamation of displeasure and fear, thinking he was trying to abduct her again.

Hue arrived opposite Sis and did the same to her. She was similarly confused, but she moved as he hauled, trying to step into him. He pushed her on out, though aware of her wicked appeal despite their recent mating. Then he moved on in. “Run! Run! Fire!” He hustled Lil and the children forward and out.

Meanwhile Bub reached Sue and Blaze. They shrank away from him, terrified. Then they ran after Hue.

The woman and children were milling around before the cave, confused. They did not know where they should run, or where. They thought the fire was still in the sky.

Hue got a notion. “Bee Lee!” he cried, making a come here gesture. But he was already moving back toward the low ridge, so they had to run to catch up.

He led them to the ridge, and pointed. The flowing fire was much closer now; he could feel its heat. They looked, saw it, and gasped together. Now they knew what they had to run from.

Meanwhile Bub was herding the remaining group as if it were so many grazing animals. They were moving up the slope to the side.

Bee and Lee hastened to join them. “Fire!” they cried. “Run!” The others reacted to the children's words better than to the male's words.

Then the fireflow reached the ridge. It paused, blocked for a moment, forming a pool. Then it surged on over in a thin bright stream. The very ground seemed to catch fire as the liquid flame crossed it. Acrid smoke puffed up.

Higher on the slope, they paused to look back. The fire water was swirling into the cave, scintillating ferociously. The inner wall turned bright from the light of the fire. There was a loud sizzle as the fire found the water, and a cloud of vapor puffed out. They watched, fascinated. Now they knew it would not have been good to stay in the cave.

They moved on, staying on the elevated slope. The air got better as they left the flowing fire behind. But they could hear the fire hissing along below, destroying any trees that hadn't already been burned by the flying hot stones.

Then they spied other people climbing the slope. None of the valleys were safe. Would this mean more trouble? There were several big males, who did not look friendly.

Sue cried out, happily. These were folk from her band. She ran toward them, then paused, ran back to Hue, touched his hand, and ran off again with Blaze. She had thanked him for helping her find them.

This meant that there would be no trouble, because Sue had identified Hue as a friend. The surly males paused, not attacking, letting Hue and those with him go on up the slope. Bub and Sis got the benefit of this, though Sue would not have let them go if they had been alone.

Now Bub and Sis decided to go their own way. Bub lifted a hand in parting, and Sis came over to rub against Hue one more time. She was trying to excite him sexually, so that he would be sorry for her absence. She succeeded. Fae glared. Satisfied, Sis ran to join her brother, and they were gone.

It took time for Hue and the others to find their own band, but they knew where it had been and were able to follow the high slopes to that region. Joe and Bil and the others were there, and glad to see those they had feared lost. There were many embraces of relief and camaraderie. It had ended well, and Hue still had the good new stones.

But somehow his mind lingered on what it shouldn't: his brief association with the enemy woman, Sis. He had two mates already, who were attentive and obliging; why should he desire one who was not available? It was a question he could neither answer nor forget.

The sexuality of mankind was shifting from the practices of the chimps, and constrictions were growing up around it, but it still had a way to go before becoming fully “manlike.” It was used to defuse tensions and generate harmony, so that larger groups could assemble amicably. But the heyday of this sort of
interaction was perhaps to come with the not deliberately punned Erect man, in the course of the next million years.

The volcano was Mt. Ngorongoro, in present-day Tanzania, in the East Rift southeast of Lake Victoria. It poured out its ash and lava about two million years ago and left a crater a staggering twelve miles wide. Today a complete community of animals lives within that crater, including a pride of lions and a herd of Cape buffalo; the vegetation has grown thickly in that rich volcanic soil. Perhaps this eruption helped form the fertile Serengeti Plain, so hospitable to mankind in the past. This type of event is typical of the Rift, which was formed by the constant upwelling of lava from the deeps.

The hand axe has been a mystery. It survived for two million years, hardly changing, while mankind progressed all the way from chimplike to modern, his already large brain doubling in size. What was the magic in this seemingly clumsy tool? It has been conjectured that the term axe is a misnomer; it was actually a throwing weapon, capable of doing significant damage to any animal it struck. But accurate throwing requires calculation
—
in fact, calculus, whose rules can be mind-stretchingly complicated to perform on paper. Yet we do it without conscious mental effort, every time we throw and catch a ball. Indeed, we like to try our accuracy in this manner, and many of our most popular physical games are ball games. Today we throw for money or fun, but then we threw for survival. More brain meant greater accuracy, therefore greater success in hunting or combat, so this weapon may have been responsible for boosting brain size. At first. More likely, the axe was simply a remarkably versatile tool, effective for throwing, stabbing, and carving, so its design was a compromise between its various functions. Actually, there were variations, with the point elongated in some, and the axe might be sharpened part way around or all the way around, suggesting specializations we no longer understand.

The brain is perhaps the most versatile organ of the body, and when it grew, it found additional uses for its power. Foremost among these was language. Today communication is vital to civilization itself, and superior ability in this respect brings considerable rewards to both individuals and cultures. But nature cares nothing for potential, and everything for the advantage of the moment. Better communication helped, but perhaps not as much as physical strength and accuracy. So mankind added words to his vocabulary, and his brain grew to accommodate them. This hardly showed in a single generation. Yet in the course of a million years this seemingly slow accretion developed considerable impact. As we shall see.