Shame of Man (8 page)

Hue clarified the matter the simplest way: he turned from her and walked on down the path. He had peered closely at her only because of his curiosity about her odd lack of scratching, and had given the meat as much from compassion as interest. He was glad that he had no such defect of fur.

He returned to the camp, his mind still not settled. Now Fae approached him intellectually. “Hue sad,” she said. “Say Fae.”

To this approach he was receptive. “Big ape yes,” he said. “Joe say yes. Ape tall man yes. Ape hunt no. Ape eat bamboo. Ape touch Hue head hand. Ape hurt Hue no. Hue hunt ape no.”

Fae considered that, but did not comment. Instead she changed the subject by spreading her legs and drawing him into her. This time he was sufficiently interested to complete the act. His discussion and clarification of the issue had eased his mind.

The others wanted to hunt and kill the big apes. Hue did not. He felt a kind of camaraderie with the huge creatures, now that he had learned that they were harmless to his kind. How could he hunt them, as if they were mere animals?

Next day the entire band went out in pursuit of the huge apes. Hue went along, of course, but remained doubtful. He almost hoped that they would not find the creatures; that the apes had fled to some distant place and would not be seen again. But that was not to be. They quickly found the
tracks, and followed them to the place where the giants were grazing on bamboo.

The members of the band were duly amazed and impressed. They had never seen creatures like these before.

But there was something else there: two other people. “Bub Sis!” Hue said, recognizing them. “Tell Bub band.”

Bil nodded grimly. The two were clearly spying in local territory, and would bring their band to hunt the apes, stealing what belonged to the local band. Perhaps they had been following the hunting party before, so had learned of the apes through no virtue of their own.

This had been planned as an exploratory excursion, to show off the discovery to the women and children. But now it became serious. “Hunt ape,” Joe said. “Now.” He meant that they could do it before Bub's band got here. Of course Bub's band would come anyway and poach some of the apes, but at least there would be good meat here.

“No,” Hue said. “Ape hunt no.”

Bil looked at him. “Why no?”

“Ape harm band no,” Hue explained. But then he stumbled over a concept that the words were not adequate to address. How could he say that it was wrong to hunt a creature merely because it represented no threat to them? The rabbits were no threat, the pandas weren't, in fact most of what they killed and ate were not threats. It was clear that the other people did not share the affinity he felt for the apes.

Bil looked at Rae, who was with them today.

“Hunt ape,” Rae said.

“Hunt ape yes,” Bil decided. “Now.”

But Hue couldn't do it. “No,” he said.

Bil looked at him, not understanding. “Band yes,” he pointed out reasonably enough. The consensus had been achieved; all but Hue wanted to hunt the apes.

“Hue no,” Hue said, feeling bad. “Hunt animals yes, apes no.” He wished he could get his feeling across to them, but he hardly understood it himself.

“Band hunt,” Bil said. It was clear that the others agreed: once the decision was made, all of them should participate. What was the matter with Hue? For one thing, they normally used a formation of four or five when hunting big game: one ahead to block its escape, two on the sides to close it in, and one or two to pursue it. Otherwise it would break out on the sector not guarded, and they could lose it, or have a long chase. They needed Hue.

But still he could not. “Ape no,” he repeated.

To make it worse, Bub had evidently been listening. Now he came forward, his hands lifted without weapon, the posture of negotiation. The others lifted their spears, not liking this; it was bad form to let an enemy or outsider see dissension in the band. But it was worse form to attack an
outsider who came in peace, though no outsider was to be trusted. It was obvious that the home band was superior to all others, but the others had to be tolerated if they didn't infringe or attack.

Bub approached, and behind him came his disreputable sister, her hands also raised though of course it didn't matter because she was only female. She gave Hue a straight look, recognizing him. The two of them had shared shelter in a storm once, so of course they had mated, because that was the way of any man with any woman. Her look suggested that she would like to do it again, and that the event gave her some kind of claim on him. Hue was disgusted, because he didn't even like her. Yet she had undeniable appeal in her strangeness. Her chest fur was not only flat in the available manner, it seemed never to have swollen for the nursing of a child. That made her seem younger than he knew her to be.

Fae sniffed behind him. She didn't like the approach of the alien female either. He glanced back at her. Fae's chest was beginning to swell, indicating that it anticipated nursing. That meant that she had a baby starting in her. Perhaps that was why his interest in her was slowing; he hadn't been conscious of the swelling before, because it had happened slowly, but now he realized its significance. He would soon have to find another female for sex, because those with babies weren't much good. Breasted women were more interested in their nurslings than in their mates.

Then he saw that Fae was looking past him, at Bub. She was intrigued by the enemy male? Worse yet!

Joe addressed the intruder. “Want?” he demanded.

“Bad hunt,” Bub said, glancing at Hue. “Man no.” He knew their predicament; without one of the members of their hunting party, they could suffer loss of the prey, or even the death of one of more of their members. This was serious business.

Joe hefted his spear angrily. “Foreigner no,” he said. The word foreigner had multiple meanings, among them distance, disapproval, and fecal matter. He was saying that it was none of Bub's business.

But Bub did not take offense. “Bub hunt yes,” he said. “Share meat.” He was offering to participate in the hunt, if they let him have some of what they killed. Such deals had been made before, on occasion; it was better than taking the risk of messing it up. The usual arrangement was for the stranger to be allowed to take whatever he could carry away in one haul, if the kill was big enough. In this case it would be, because of the size of the ape.

Joe was about to decline. But Bil was more calculating. He glanced at Hue. “Hue no?” he asked.

Hue was sickened by the whole business. If he didn't participate in the hunt, Bub would take his place and share the meat. They were forcing the issue. But he still was not willing to hunt the ape. “Hue no.”

Bil looked at Rae. “Bub yes?”

Rae hesitated. He had always been Hue's closest friend, and his sister was Hue's mate. But he wanted to hunt the ape. “Yes.”

Bil asked Joe. “Bub yes?”

Joe had always acceded to Bil's advice. With bad grace he agreed. “Yes.”

Bil looked at Bub. “Yes,” he said, completing the consensus.

Hue had been circumvented. With Bub to take his place in the hunt, they didn't need him.

But the decision was more significant than that. He had been shamed before the band. He had hoped to prevent the hunt, saving the ape; he had succeeded only in isolating himself from his band. There had always been a covert question, because of his wrong hand; now he had a wrong attitude, exacerbating his difference. The band's tolerance went only so far.

As a shamed man, he would have difficulty remaining with the band. The others probably thought it was cowardice: that he was simply afraid to face the huge apes. He was unable to explain the distinction between fear and conscience. He did not want to harm the apes because he was
not
afraid of them; they were harmless, and too much like man himself.

Sis approached him. She remained interested, despite his bad status. That stirred his emotions further. He didn't like her, yet he found her sexually appealing. He was tempted to copulate with her and then never see her again. But instead he turned his back on her.

The others set about the hunt. Soon they were gone, pursuing the moving apes. The remainder of the band did not follow; they would only get in the way.

Hue walked away from the group. He did not know where he was going, but he had to go. Somewhere else.

Fae watched him, but did not move. She knew how he had disgraced himself, and she did not want to be a part of it. Sis watched him, and almost seemed to start after him, but then must have remembered her brother on the hunt, and stayed put. Hue knew that no one would come with him, because no one felt as he did. To them, he had done a crazy thing.

Then there was a cry. “Hue!”

It was Lee, his little sister's friend. She had wanted his favor, and now thought she had found a way to achieve it.

He paused, letting her catch up. She was still too young to mate with, unless the need were great, but he appreciated her support. Should he reject her? But she would be tainted, now, because she had openly followed him; if she returned to the band, others would hold that against her. The damage had already been done.

So he resumed walking, taking no overt notice of her. That meant she could follow if she chose, but had no promise of reward. Perhaps she would give it up.

But she did not. She stayed with him, silently. Finally, far from the camp, he turned to her. “Lee hunt ape no?” He was asking her how she felt about
the issue that had separated him from the band. Of course as a female she would not actually hunt anything, for that was man's prerogative.

“Hue hunt ape no, Lee hunt ape no,” she replied.

So it wasn't that she had sympathy for the apes, but that she was ready to accept Hue's limits as her own. That would do.

They were entering the territory of a mountain. Hue knew that a hostile band governed the river region at the base, all the way up to the high pass to the region beyond, so unless he wanted to try to join that band, he would have to try to go another way. That would mean a difficult climb, and a problem foraging. But it had to be. Because the first thing the hostile band would do was to take Lee and make her the mate of one of their males. She would have no choice, unless Hue fought for her and won, and then he would have to mate with her himself. Since he wanted neither to mate with her nor to see her mated involuntarily to another, he had to avoid that band. She was his sister's friend, and needed to be protected.

The climb was arduous. They got beyond the bamboo trees, where the cold rocky face of the mountain ascended toward the sky. Hue looked at that, and considered the lateness of the day, and elected to spend the night in the forest. So they foraged, finding good bamboo sprouts and a number of fat bugs to eat. Then they made a shelter of bamboo sticks, for it was not good to sleep exposed. Hue made it so that a line of sharp sticks pointed outward, making it difficult for any large creature to attack. Then the two of them crawled inside, and he pulled the door into place, completing their protection.

As he lay down, tired, Lee snuggled close to him. She wanted to mate, as usual. He ignored her and went to sleep.

In the morning they resumed their climb. But the mountain fought them. There seemed to be only one place to crest it, and the route to that was so steep that they had to flatten out and crawl on their furry bellies. Lee, lighter, was better able to do it, so she led the way. She had always liked climbing, he remembered, and was good at it.

But then at a particularly steep place a rock suddenly pulled loose in her hand. Caught by surprise, she cried out and fell back, starting to slide down the steep face. Hue grabbed for her, caught her foot, and hauled her back to safety—but in the process lost his own perch and started rolling helplessly down the slope. He couldn't catch on to anything; all the rocks around him were rolling too. He heard Lee's scream. Then his head struck something, and he faded into a flare of pain.

Such was the fate of those who deserted their band. He had known it, yet foolishly done it anyway.

Some may have demurred, but the evidence suggests that
Homo erectus
did hunt
Gigantopithecus
to extinction. Fossil deposits in southern China and north Vietnam show them together, and though Upright Man continued to be in
the area, the giant ape did not. Mankind, in all his forms, was a devastatingly effective hunter.

The irony, perhaps, was that it would have been in mankind's interest to preserve the huge ape. But those who might have understood this lacked the finesse of speech to handle complex concepts like conscience or conservation. The actual vocabulary may have been considerable, with a word for every animal, object, and thing, but syntax was primitive. The average person was practical on the immediate level: here is walking meat, how can it be killed? Early variants of mankind saw no need to wrestle with more sophisticated concepts that did not promise rapid gratification. That, in due course, was their downfall.

CHAPTER 6

FLOOD

Variation and mutations are constant. Variation within a narrow range is harmless; it doesn't matter too much whether a person's hair is light brown or dark brown, though geography and climate can make one preferable. Mutations are another matter; the great majority
—
perhaps in excess of 99 percent
—
are bad for survival, and those creatures unfortunate enough to have them are doomed. So a rat with a defective gene for fur may not survive; that fur is needed for warmth and protection against the direct radiation of the sun. This was surely true for mankind too, until a combination of unusual circumstances abruptly changed the survival qualities of nakedness.

Actually only one small segment of the species was affected, at first: the one that had remained at, or returned to, the region of the Garden of Eden. But it was no longer a garden. Geographic and climatic shifts had made it a basin that held much of the water flowing into it. It had become Lake Victoria. Most tribes of mankind shunned it, but one seemingly defective branch had no choice, being trapped there by mountains and the hostility of the neighboring tribes. This tribe learned not to escape the flood, but to live with it, being shaped by it. The water folk.

That tribe was squeezed into the shallow water. Its people learned to forage in a medium that others avoided. Their bodies were relatively gracile compared to those of Erect Man, but also became more fleshy, particularly those of the women, and more so in the legs than the arms. The previously deleterious mutation for hairlessness became an asset in the water, buttressed by subcutaneous fat. Unlike the females of most tribes, the grown women also had permanently swollen breasts, that helped warm their chests when they were between nursing babies, and also had become objects of attraction for men. The breasts identified the women clearly, even when their genital regions were concealed by the water.

These weirdly bare people were generally shunned by their normal neighbors. They were at one fringe of a worldwide array of mankind that was penetrating niches of ecosystems previously unknown, their bodies changing to fit. But they survived because of several factors: an uncontested habitat, a richness of available food, physical security from most threats, and a surprising freedom from the occasional terrible scourges of disease that affected other tribes. Wherever there was water, these fringe types endured: some on the Isle of Woman at the mouth of the Great Rift Valley, and some here in the Lake of Eden in the center of the Rift, about 150,000 years ago.

Yet an objective observer would have been unlikely to see in this isolated tribe the seeds for survival and success away from the water. Some of the elements of that success were so subtle that they would not become evident for the better part of another hundred thousand years. But the fact that these qualities were not obvious does not mean they weren't important. For the meek water folk were indeed destined to inherit the world, in due course.

At this time, however, they were anything but dominant. A conventional stranger coming among them would have been surprised by a number of their features, and would have had some trouble adapting to their ways. Yet there would be aspects of familiarity, too, and in time he might grow accustomed to them, and even discover a certain appeal in their way of life.

In this case, the stranger is Hue, led there by a girl of that tribe who befriended him in adversity. There are similar people in every band or tribe, so they are similarly named. But in this case the familiar names identify strangers to Hue; we know them, but he does not, and they do not know him. Yet perhaps some old affinities linger. At any rate, Hue has inadvertently left the robust
Homo erectus
behind, and is about to join the gracile
Homo sapiens sapiens—
or
fully modern man, physically. Thus his seeming loss of identity is actually his salvation.

H
E woke to pain. But someone was tending him, giving him water and food, covering his body from the cold. He faded in and out for what seemed like a long time, but finally recovered enough awareness to focus on his benefactor. “Who?” he asked.

She tapped him on the chest. “Hue.” She tapped herself on her slightly swelling breast. “Lee.” She spoke with a strong alien accent, but he was able to understand her. That meant that his tribe and hers were not too far apart.

Tribe? He struggled to remember. He was Hue—that made sense—but how had he come here? And Lee—she must be a relative. A daughter—no, she seemed too old for that—a sister, maybe. He had always helped and protected his little sister. Now she was helping him.

He lifted a hand to touch his head. He had a bad welt on it, distending the fur there. The skull seemed dented but not broken. “How?”

“Fell,” Lee said immediately. Now he remembered that he had asked her that before, perhaps several times, as he woke and slept and woke again. She had grown facile with her answers. “Mountain. Lee fall. Hue catch Lee. Hue fall. Roll. Head, rock.”

He had gathered as much: only a rock could have done the damage he felt. But what were they doing out here? “Where?”

That wasn't quite the right question, but he must have asked the right one before, because she had a competent answer. “Hue, Lee go mountain. Cross no.”

So they hadn't gotten wherever they had been going; the mountain had been too difficult to cross. Now it did not seem wise to try. He wasn't sure he could walk, let alone scale the horrendous slope he saw.

“Why?”

Now she hesitated. “Trouble. Tribe.”

He had gotten into trouble in his tribe? He couldn't remember what for. Lee evidently didn't know what kind it was, or didn't want to tell. But it seemed it had been enough so that he had to leave.

He slept again, and Lee snuggled close. Next time he woke, he was aware of two things: he now remembered her prior answers, so didn't need to ask again, which must mean he was healing; and her body was pressing against his side. She was definitely a maturing girl, and soon would be seeking a man.

She realized that he was awake. She rubbed against him suggestively. “Mate?” she inquired.

With him? But she was his sister! Men did not do sex with their own family members. Perhaps she didn't realize that. He did not want to hurt
her feelings, so he simply said, “No,” wincing to show that his head still hurt.

She did not pursue the matter. Evidently he had said that too to her before.

Hue took inventory, and found that he had a skin blanket, a pouch belt, and an axe. The axe was a good one, an all purpose tool suitable for stabbing, slicing, or throwing. It was his best friend. With this he could cope, even if he didn't know where he was or where he had come from.

“Hunt,” he said, sitting up, wincing as his head responded to his motion by generating pain.

But Lee knew better. “Forage,” she said.

In the days that followed, Hu realized that they would have to move, because they were exhausting the foraging of this limited high region, and were getting hungry. His strength was returning, but he really needed the support of others of his kind. Yet he had no idea where to go.

“Lee know tribe,” she said. “Water folk.”

A tribe living near water? She was on speaking terms with them? That would help. Some tribes routinely killed strangers, so it was best to have an introduction. Children could make contacts more readily than adults, because they were no threat to adults. Especially girl children, who might later come to join the harem of a male. So he let Lee lead him down the mountain, following a route she seemed to know.

Hue was staggering, but Lee managed to help him reach the region of an established tribe she knew of. Perhaps the region was familiar; he wasn't sure. It was a settlement on the shore of a large lake, where people were cooking fish at an open fire on the beach. It was evening, and the warmth of the day remained. The fish smelled very good.

A large, stout man challenged them as they approached the camp. But Lee interceded. “Joe no hurt Hue,” she said, standing between them. She seemed to know the man, though Hue did not. She was an attractive nascent woman, which surely helped.

Joe looked disgusted, but let them pass. So Joe must know Lee, and be required to allow her to bring in a stranger if she chose to.

Lee brought him a roasted fish, and he chewed on it eagerly despite the bones. He saw that these tribespeople were so lightly furred they seemed ill, but apparently this was normal for them. The men retained fur on their scalps, chins, and crotches; the women's faces were bare but their clefts furred. And they all seemed to be nursing, for their breasts were developed. That was remarkable; most women finished nursing and became flat-chested and therefore sexually available until getting their next babies. Only a few babies were in evidence, but the other nurslings must be close.

There was an alarm. Immediately the naked people fled to the water, taking their roast fish with them. Lee tugged Hue along after them. Hue,
realizing that he was in no condition to fight a vicious animal, realized that there might indeed be safety in the water. So he splashed in after them.

The water was warm, having been heated by the day. They waded out, following the gradually deepening contour of the muck below, until Hue stood chest deep and Lee chin deep. He noticed now that the women of the tribe were almost as tall as the men, so could wade out almost as far. That made sense, because it would not be safe for the women to be left behind during danger. But he also saw that no more were carrying babies than had done so on land. Where were their nurslings?

Now the danger they had fled appeared: the men of a regular tribe. They were large and muscular and hairy, in contrast to the men of the water folk, who seemed effete in comparison. No wonder they had to give way to the raiders.

The raiders charged up to the fire, searching for any food that might have been left, but none was. They stood on the beach and stared out at the folk in the water, but they were beyond spear-throwing range, and in any event their spears or stones would have been lost in the water. The men evidently did not care to enter the water themselves, which Hue found odd; after all, he was of their type, and he hadn't minded entering the water. So the water folk were safe, and after a moment the others moved away, disgruntled. It had been a harmless occasion, thanks to the protection of the lake.

But the water folk did not return to the shore right away. They simply stood, chest to chin deep, watching. The women nursed their babies; only the women's breasts and the babies’ heads showed above the surface.

A man turned his head. “Lee,” he said.

Lee, standing close between Hue and the shore, turned to him. “Hue stay,” she said. “See.” Then she forged to the shore, splashing her hands so as to make noise.

Hue wasn't comfortable with this. Suppose the raiders remained close, waiting in ambush? He should not let her go back alone. It was clear that the others were as wary as he was, but they wanted Lee to be the one to take the risk. Yet she had seemed confident. So, since he knew so little of the ways of these slender furless people, he did as told, and did not move.

Lee waded forward, passing several others. She did not go ashore immediately, but walked a bit to one side and then to another, looking around and pausing several times as if looking for something. But there was nothing there, just the level surface of the water. She paused longest by a thicket of reeds growing in the waist-deep water, splashing with her hands and kicking with her feet. What was she doing, besides stirring up clouds of lake mud? All the others waited impassively, seeming to be not at all impatient about this dallying.

Finally Lee went the rest of the way ashore. Hue saw her buttocks emerge, and her thighs. Her legs were fleshed in the manner of the women
of this tribe, being thick and round. But she was not unattractive, because she had more fur on her body than the others did, though not as much as normal folk had. Hue suddenly realized that this could have been why she had approached him for mating: she wanted a man with some fur, rather than being weirdly bare like most of the others. Had she not been so young, and also his sister, he might have been interested.

Suddenly a man appeared, bursting from the concealment of the brush near the water. He charged at Lee. Hue was horrified and disgusted; the raiders
had
left an ambush, and Lee was the one who had sprung it. Apparently by the choice of the leader.

And not one of the other water folk moved to help her. Hue realized why: there could be a larger ambush waiting to catch those who tried to help the girl. They were vulnerable on land. The single man could be a lure to tempt them out of their safe water.

Lee screamed and dived for the water. The raider grabbed for her, but she spun and dodged, eluding him, and reached the shallow water. The man turned and pursued her. He was considerably larger and stronger, and in a moment he was almost able to catch her with his outstretched hands.