“They are totally trusting,” Charlie said, rejoining the group. “No inhibitions, no fear.”
“I’m afraid we equate this gentle world to our own and are very sad to realize our world comes up lacking, Doc,” Everett said as he handed a piece to a mother who had come to see what the children were laughing over. All the children had their mouths and cheeks stuffed full of candy.
“I suppose,” Ellenshaw said as the children started to move away.
“All right, what is it, Doc?” Jack asked. “I know that look. You’re worried about something.”
“I’m concerned about that,” he said as he pointed to a hut in the far corner of the village. “They must have an enemy. It’s not us, but there’s something in this world these kind and gentle people fear.”
Jack and the others followed Charlie’s gaze, and then they saw what it was he saw. The large hut was surrounded by war shields and axes. Spears and bows. Slingshots hung from small poles, ready to be snatched up at a moment’s notice.
“I see what you mean,” Jack said.
Before they could move to the hut and examine the villagers’ weaponry, they were approached by the same small man who had confronted them on the trail. He went to Jenks and then took his hand and started pulling him away. Other men joined in and started escorting the visitors toward the far end of the village.
“Now, did you geniuses ever consider that fish may not be the only meat product these folks eat?” Jenks said as he looked behind him as the man pulled on his hand and arm.
“As much as I hate to admit this, I think that antisocial bastard may have a point,” Ryan whispered to Jack as they were led away. “I mean, we could be on the menu tonight.”
Before Jack could tell Ryan to stay cool, they all smelled it. Jenks heard his stomach rumble, and even the two Russian Navy men perked up at the smell of roasting meat. They were led to a small clearing near the far side of the large village, and that was when they saw several of the blond natives of this new world bring out a large roasted boar on a long pole. The visitors were escorted to small blocks of tree trunk, and the women gestured that they should sit. They were all amazed to see that these simple people had a social gathering place for their main meal of the day.
As the men sat down and exchanged looks of wonder, a deep bass sound echoed throughout the island. Salkukoff was the only one of them to tickle his gun with his fingers. As he stopped and looked up, he saw Jack and Farbeaux looking at him.
Henri had been the only man outside of Salkukoff who hadn’t been more appreciative of their new surroundings. Jack leaned over and spoke in low tones to the Frenchman.
“What is it?” Jack asked over the sounds of the horn being blasted.
“Our Russian colonel was the only man here not to be surprised by that hut over there and the weapons it contains. He wasn’t even curious. Dishlakov and Kreshenko were, but not him.” Henri faced Jack. “We also have to get a look-see inside those baskets, because if you have been watching Salkukoff as I have, you would have noticed a disconcerting way that our Russian friend has of eyeing them. Why is that, Colonel?”
Jack looked over, and the Russian was staring right at the two men. Collins said nothing but knew Henri was right, having noticed the same thing.
As the seashell horn was blasted by one of the larger fishermen, other horns started their refrain. Soon adults were arriving from all parts of the island to join the group meal. Men, women, and children greeted the others who had joined them.
“Now this is a barbecue,” Jenks enthusiastically said as his mouth started to water. “This has got to beat shit on a shingle, huh, Doc?” he said, nudging Charlie on the arm and almost knocking him from his small tree stump, joking and mentioning the military’s main meal of the past 150 years of chipped beef on toast.
“I am quite famished myself,” Ellenshaw said as he rubbed his arm from the master chief’s gentle pop.
Women started singing a song in their native language, when the village’s men joined in. It was rough but harmonious. They sang as everyone sat down for their evening meal. Their bodies swayed to the sounds of the song that even the young children had joined in for.
“We are truly barbarians in a gentle land,” Henri said, sparking strange looks, as the Frenchman had never once shown sentimentality about life back home. Jack and Everett figured the man was just waiting for the villagers to bring out something that the antiquities thief could steal. But as Jack looked on, he could see a change in Farbeaux. He was genuinely impressed by what he was seeing.
The horns calmed, and the singing slowed as food was passed around. Jack was handed a large wooden bowl with fish and pork. There were greens that looked close to seaweed. He sniffed the food and found the fragrance of the seaweed was something he would never have expected. The fish was done to perfection, and the roasted boar was succulent.
“I may never want to leave this place,” Ryan said as he popped a long strand of seaweed into his mouth, slurping it up like a strand of spaghetti. The young women around the great campfire giggled and exchanged words about the handsome young naval aviator. Again, Ryan made them practically swoon when he popped a large piece of pork into his mouth and then rubbed his belly in overexaggerated pleasure over the taste of the meal. All around them, the villagers ate and laughed as if the visitors were a normal part of life. Jack chewed on the delicious roasted boar and then leaned over to talk to Ellenshaw, who was busy studying the wooden bowl and its craftsmanship.
“Doc, what does our traveling link with Europa make out about their language?”
An astonished look came to Ellenshaw’s face as he snapped his fingers. “Damn, I almost forgot!” He reached into the pack at his feet and brought up the closed-looped system that was their very limited remote brain of Europa. He flipped open the aluminum top. He whispered, “Europa, can you identify the language being spoken by these indigenous people?” Charlie held the computer outward without drawing attention to what it was he was doing.
It only took a moment, and it was straight up. “No, Doctor.”
“No syntax, no morphology, is there nothing close to one of the languages you are familiar with?” Again, Charlie held the laptop up so Europa could hear. He also used the camera system to scan the people as they spoke. He just hoped that the portable laptop housing Europa Jr.’s limited memory would allow him to gain the information he needed. Not being in direct contact with the supercomputer was limiting, to say the least.
“Doctor, from their hand gestures and spoken language, it is calculated that the indigenous peoples involved are utilizing both spoken and sign languages. There is a total of two million six hundred thousand combinations on record. Limited memory on the portable system has curtailed a more detailed study.”
Ellenshaw closed the top and then placed the laptop back into his pack. He shrugged at Collins. “I wish Pete or Dr. Morales could expand this new memory system for the portable Europa more.”
“I’m sure they didn’t expect us to run into language problems,” Everett said as he placed his bowl aside.
“Look at that,” Kreshenko said as he was looking at the sky overhead.
The sun was setting, and what came up next was still a frightening and amazing sight: the moon with her trail of debris spread out across the sky like an incomplete ring of Saturn. The sparkling white material that used to be the same moon they used to stare up at was almost fluorescent in color and made every man at the campfire that night feel small and unknowing.