The Hooman Saga: Episode 05 —Trust & Return
Serial Fiction: A human arrives back on Earth — to discover sentient wolves she must help to gain their trust. And so rescue her family…
(This book is available almost everywhere online — if you can’t wait to see how this turns out, see https://calm.li/HoomanSagaBk2Pt1 for more information and links.
Missed the earlier episode? See https://medium.com/@robertcworstell/hooman-saga-episode-04b-ecdda3dab21d)
TIG AND SUE WERE SURROUNDED by wolves all out of Tig’s pack.
Sue still had her arm around Tig.
Both felt exhausted from fighting the wolves from the feral pack.
Although Tig was painted in blood, none of it was his.
Snarl, leader of the hunting party, challenged Tig. “It looks like you have something to explain.”
The wolves were growling to each other. They were both afraid of and hating this hooman.
“What’s this? Why do you let it have an arm around you?”
At that, Tig shrugged. Sue dropped her arm to her own side.
Her hands were both bloodied. Her silvery suit was ripped and torn in many places. They’d gone through hell that day.
“What’s this, a pet?”
And Tig sent, “That would be one name for her. I will bring her to the Teacher. She needs a Probe.”
With that, Sue look up at Tig.
And Snarl realized she’d heard and understood what was being sent. So he narrow-sent to Tig, “She’s not feral?”
“No Snarl, She’s been hearing and understanding everything we send. She’s like no hooman you’ve ever met or ever appeared in stories you’ve heard.”
That moved the whole hunting pack away. Their growling quit, replaced by amazement at the thoughts they received.
“This is why Teacher needs to probe, to find out what she knows. To seek facts from her origins.” finished Tig.
“How did you find her?” asked Snarl
Tig replied, “She came down with a meteor, only it wasn’t a meteor. I don’t know what it was. I went to go check out a fire when I left you. It’s taken me ever since until now. We had to shake off that pack of ferals. “
Snarl narrowed his eyes and asked, “How did you just do that. Just the two of you? There must have been four dozen ferals there.”
Tig replied, “Well you see those two on the ground. And the rest got a little bit afraid of fire.”
Snarl sent, “That doesn’t mean the two trees that are just smoking would have frightened the band of rabid ferals.”
Tig replied, “No, you wouldn’t think so. That’s not what I saw. It’s what they saw.”
And Snarl remembered his sight when he first arrived. Two wolves in the middle of massive flames. He didn’t send this, but Sue was looking into his eyes as he thought. And she knew.
“And so we’re supposed to help you get this hooman back to the valley? Oh no, that’s up you.” Snarl sent.
Tig replied, “I don’t think those ferals will come close for a while, even if they trail us. She’s in no condition to make any great speed.”
Snarl counted up, “She will need a guard all the time. She will need a watch. We don’t know if she will get infected with those cuts. And I be danged if we will work up a travois like some mangy dog. Not just to get her back into the valley. Not just to cure her. All if she doesn’t die on us.”
Tig sent, “I’ll be the one to get her there. You don’t have to worry about feeding her, I’ll take care of that, too.”
Snarl replied, “Well then, maybe we ought to get back on the trail. We’ve got hours to go before we get anywhere near the camp. Daylight’s fading fast. Still, we’ll leave a few of our hunters on your back trail. Just to make sure no ferals creep up on us to get their honor back.”
Tig looked at Sue. “OK. We must go. Are you ready?”
Sue looked at her hands, and her torn shoes and suit. “Well, I won’t be any more ready than now.”
She rose and wiped her bloodied hands on what remained of her suit.
Snarl snorted at the scent, wheeled, and led the hunters out of the canyon. He stopped later by the pillars at its opening and left sign. A warning to other sentients of the trap. That would tell the ferals to not try that again. A reminder of what they saw, what it cost them.
Without the ferals blocking them, it was almost straight downhill, which Sue was relieved to find.
At this pace, Tig could drop back to run by her side.
And while it would have been too much to talk at that pace, sending and receiving thoughts proved proved no challenge.
Provided she watched her step. But they were on an established trail, one used more by sentients.
This close, they could send to each other and discuss many things. Tig knew she wouldn’t stay safe if she remained ignorant of this world.
He also wanted to learn more about that craft she came in. They thought it was a meteor. He knew no meteor had a hatch that opened out. Or held a hooman inside.
They traveled in quiet for a while and Sue had to ask, “Why does Snarl think I need a guard?”
Tig’s first response was “All hoomans need guards.”
And then he added, “Not only from other wolves attacking them. but also to protect them from things they do not know.” Without senses tuned to this world, it was impossible for them to know.
She caught that. “How is it you feel humans cannot learn?”
And he sent, “You must forgive me. I’ve only dealt with feral humans to this point. We have, years ago, tried to bring smarter and less fearful humans to a location where they could be probed. Never bringing them to the valley. That would be too dangerous.”
Sue interrupted, “Then why are you bringing me to your valley? And why would it be dangerous?. Why did you try to probe these other humans?”
Tig sent, “I’ll take one of those questions. Because you aren’t like the other hoomans. I’ve never seen the like, and never heard the like. Nothing of what you’ve just presented us. No hooman we’ve ever met has been able to send. They’ve all been closed-minded.
“As for those other probes, it was because we thought they might have the ability to send. They might be able to receive. But what happened? They either went crazy or got too sick. Either way we had bring them back through the ferals, close to a human community, where they could be found. And then see if they were found.”
Sue sent, “What did the hoomans in their settlement do with with them after that?”
Tig replied, “We don’t know. We couldn’t stay. Ferals surround the communities.
Yeah, I picked that up earlier,” replied Sue. “So have I got this right? You actually herded the ferals to surround the human settlements?”
Tig answered, “Yes, that was an agreement the ancient sentients set. It was long before my time. Hoomans are dangerous things. The ferals were less dangerous. Sentients separated their packs from humans, putting ferals between them.”
Sue asked, “Are there other sentient species besides wolves?”
Tig replied, “Sure. Some in all species are sentient. Not all. That’s one reason we want to probe. We need to learn more about this. The Clan needs to learn this. The Tribe needs to learn this.”
And with that she understood the pack to be his immediate group. The clan to be a wider group within a larger area. The tribe represented all sentient wolves on the continent.
But when she thought that idea, Tig sent to her. “So there’s more than one landmass? How big is this world?”
And she replied by sending him visions seen from space while coming in for their landing. Then images from her school books.
The data was flooding his mind. At last, he sent, “Enough. I don’t need all that right now.” They were silent for many more paces. It was Tig’s turn being awed by a flood of data.
Soon after, they next stopped to rest. Two of their rear guard quickly cleaned their paws from dust and burrs, relieving those on watch to do the same. Two other wolves stood, sniffed the air, then ran off into the brush.
Sue sent, “Where are those two going? I thought they needed rest.”
Tig replied, “They also need to eat. We all need to eat.”
Now she saw images of possible raw rabbit or squirrel or pheasant, prompting her to put her hand or mouth to repress being nauseous. Sue shuddered and turned away.
She sent Tig images of what they ate on ship. They contained green vegetables, and high-protein beans, raised in greenhouses.
They both looked up as the clouds parted to show the rising moon.
Tig sent, “That’s where they are?
Sue replied, “That’s where I came from, where they still live.”
“Vegetables, huh? I seem to remember a legend about your kind. Try not to get in trouble while I’m gone.” And Tig leapt up and jumped out.
Snarl looked over with narrowed eyes, but didn’t move. None of the wolves moved closer, either. They recalled all the stories they learned as cubs. Humans were untrustworthy, dangerous, even vicious. With no respect for other species.
In a few minutes, Tig returned with dirt up to his knees and a root in his mouth. He laid that by her hand, then dropped to clean off his legs.
Sue asked, “And what is this?”
Tig replied, “Try it. Think you might call it a carrot. Maybe a maybe a sweet potato.”
Of course, the words she knew were different. Their verbal tradition has changed the words. They had been told and re-told, over two hundred years, teacher after teacher.
She finally just picked the root up, brushed off the dirt from a part that was cleaner. Then bit down on it.
It was succulent. It was sweet. And it tasted good. Even with the grit she had to swallow.
Soon she was only interested in seeing how she could finish off the root. She didn’t realize she was so hungry.
The other two hunters returned with a pair of rabbits each and they distributed them. Some finished early and took over for those watching, so they could take their own turn eating.
Soon they were all done, completed even in cracking the bones. They rose. Tig led them into the howl.
Sue was surprised.
It was loud, but she could understand the words they were saying. It was a song of gratitude. To the spirit of the rabbits. For offering themselves. The wolves were indebted now. Then they asked forgiveness for their errors. And with that, the song was complete. They were getting ready to travel.
Dirt was brushed over the bones and fur that remained, Snarl took off in front with two wolves behind him. Sue and Tig followed. Then three wolves came behind them.
Sue sent to Tig, “That’s not too unlike songs we have among the religious at the ship.” And she recited a part of the prayer that had that section in it, of asking for forgiveness of sins. Implying a deity who acted as king.
The wolves all looked at her, curious.
With Snarl leading, the hunter-pack was moving back on the main trail again. Refreshed, but just enough to keep going.
“Hunters travel light.” Tig sent, “They feast when the pack feasts. A full wolf makes for a slow hunter.” As he cracked the joke, Sue smiled.
He saw that out of the corner of his eye and grinned back, with tongue lolling out of his mouth. They were on a regular pace now. It wasn’t as fast as the wolves liked to travel, but one that Sue could keep.
She wasn’t out of shape. She’d spent hours daily on the treadmills. They helped clear her mind on the moon-base.
Even though her shoes were cracked, that action allowed them to flex better.
Every once in a while, while they were going downhill, she would spurt ahead to tease Tig. Then he would often send, “Not too far, Hooman. My brothers might like a hooman sandwich.”
The first time he cracked that joke, she almost stopped. Until she realized the punchline. The one he’d said earlier that “hoomans don’t taste good”. And the fact that wolves don’t each meat between bread slices. That made her laugh out loud.
This made the other wolves look over. So she broad-sent her happiness. They all relaxed again. Several smiled back.
She thought again about how valuable a smile was. The old phrase came to her that ‘a smile was seed of laughter that made gardens for a sunny day’. While the wolves didn’t understand what a garden was, they understood the relationship. They shared pictures with each others of the fat and happy cubs waiting them at home.
Soon the trotting song started. The music was unfamiliar to Sue. After the chorus came around the third time she found she could run to it. Just as the wolves did. The beat was one they could keep going for days. Sue found that trotting song rhythm helped her go further and longer and pace herself against the uneven ground.
Tig sent, “Our teachers also describe the universe as the soul of the wolf. Singing the trotting song helped send the soul off to the spirit-skies until it could return again. When babies were young, their mothers sung the trotting song, Also when they birthed, and when they were nursing. All rhythms of life.”
With the food in their stomachs the hunting party continued on that night. Into the darkness, where the tune changed into the night-prowl song. That kept a slower pace and allowed them to look to their footing in the dark. Sue avoided many stumbles by seeing through Tig’s eyes. His night vision showed their own path in front.
At last they reached the camp. It was in a sheltered cave and was large enough for twice as big a hunting party to use.
They stopped before reaching it. Snarl went ahead to make sure there were no ambushes.
He circled around twice, sniffing for who had been there, what had happened in the area. Like reading the news.
This was familiar to Sue, as reading monitors and gauges while being on watch in Engineering.
At last he barked and the wolves came in. And then Tig entered with Sue behind him. He gestured towards the back wall. All she saw with a high dry space. She sat down on it expecting cool, but found it was actually warm.
Tig sent, “On a sunny day, sun warms this. In the evening, this would be my spot as pack leader. Tonight it will be yours. For I have a long fur coat and your coat is not in good shape. Tig chuckled, looking at her ship-suit.
Sue looked down and found that while the suit still covered her modesty in the central areas, it would need replacing. That raised other questions. But now she was too tired after today’s events to answer them.
Seconds after she curled up on the warm stone, she was sound asleep.
(This book is available almost everywhere online — if you can’t wait to see how this turns out, see https://calm.li/HoomanSagaBk2Pt1 for more information and links.
Our newest fiction releases are available at https://calm.li/FictionReleases)