Plateau Dwellers

By Steven Govorchin

Plateau Dwellers is the story of a boy who comes of age in a primitive, unchanging culture that might have existed during the Neolithic Period of a hypothetical, alternate universe. His knowledge comes from the lore he has inherited and what his senses have told him about his surroundings. As he progresses through his teen years, he begins to question the validity of everything his society accepts as true, so he sets out on a long expedition to learn about the human condition and his world. He recruits two traveling companions and steps off from the edge of his homeland, a place known as The Plateau. He first encounters a human society that has invented civilization. Later, he encounters a race of hominids that diverged from an earlier common ancestor of humans. These experiences expand his understanding of existence and purpose. He even builds the foundation for the most unexpected discovery of all: his own true nature. He eventually returns to The Plateau and is faced with having to reconcile his acquired knowledge with the paradigms that have prevailed for countless millennia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543980400

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© 2019 Steven Govorchin All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN 978-1-54398-039-4 eBook 978-1-54398-040-0

Contents

Part I

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Part II

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

Part III

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

Part IV

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

1.

A lone human stood at the top of a tall mountain just to the west of the foothills beyond the plateau. His feet were encased in primitive boots made of animal hide that extended up to the bottom of the calf. His scrawny whitish legs were exposed to the elements. His short, ragged, loin cloth pants were suspended from his shoulders by leather strands. A stone-flake hatchet hung from a leather loop that was attached to his pants. A crude furry vest was buttoned around his slim torso. A pair of small animal-skin bags for food and water was positioned at his sides, their carrying straps being crisscrossed around opposite sides of his neck. His straight, blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail that reached to the middle of his back. His smooth, young face that would never grow whiskers was highlighted by pale, green eyes. For the most part, he looked like any other 13 year-old boy of the plateau. He was known as Cheltaw Kyfe.

He had always felt some compelling urge to ascend to high ground throughout his childhood. It seemed to him that he would be able to ponder ideas better from a higher vantage point. This was the first time he had ever climbed all the way to the summit of a great mountain and he looked forward to spending some time in deep thought there.

It was midday and his view of the mountain range to the north, south and west was spectacular, as was his view of the plateau to the east. He began to survey his world. It seemed to him that he could see to infinity. He looked around to see all the terrain features out to the horizon. From above the timberline as he was, he could see jagged peaks that never completely lost their snow cover. Lower on the mountain slopes, the trees blended together to form a continuous green mat. The plateau was relatively flat and barren by comparison. It was a savannah with a few small wooded areas wherever there was enough water to sustain them. He could see the small mountain lake that was the source of the Big River that flowed eastward across the plateau. The view made the climb more than worthwhile.

A cool wind gently took some of the moisture from his eyes and his tear ducts gradually compensated. He scanned upward and all around him, his vision registering every component of the sky. The Moon was not visible and the Sun was becoming obscured by storm clouds billowing up over the mountains from the northwest. The last few warm rays of the sun were penetrating the clouds to warm his skin. Soon a thunderstorm would erupt over the mountain range.

These summer storms never lasted very long but Cheltaw decided to seek shelter just the same. He had seen a rock overhang during his ascent to the summit that would serve as a refuge from the rain and lightning. In a short time he was there.

As the torrent began, he crouched under the overhang in a position to observe all that his senses could perceive. Lightning exploded in a multiple burst only twenty strides or so in front of him. The brilliant flashes persisted in his eyes for several seconds after the burst ceased. The thunder filled him with awe. It was the loudest noise he had ever heard. The concussion was so powerful he could feel it against his skin. Rainwater poured from the overhang forming a short-lived waterfall. The gale forced the dark clouds over the mountain peaks and ridges. At times he was looking down at some of them.

As he mentally logged the events his thoughts were diverging in many directions. He was reeling in the magnitude of the power and mass that surrounded him. He wanted to merge his being with it all. At a subconscious level, he felt that if he could identify with the great powers of his world he would share in their power and thus be free of any influences they had over him. Accordingly, part of the reason for his excursion was to sort out the nature of the mountains, the plateau and the sky. He desired to know why the mountains were arranged as they were, why the plateau had become the homeland to the humans and what the purpose of the sky, with its storm was.

The questions he had asked about these things were not addressed to his satisfaction by his fellow humans on the plateau. The people there maintained a transgenerational dogma that the order of the world was established and perpetuated by deities who existed in a lofty realm. The dogma said that the leader of the deities was named Raf and that there were others named Tez, Voka, Naj and Toja who were prominent among the deities.

Cheltaw thought about the dogma. It was supposed to make the world easy to understand. You did not have to wonder about the nature of the world or the order of society because the dogma provided explanation enough. But he was feeling uncomfortable about the dogma because it left him with many more questions than answers. If there were a logically consistent theory that explained the world and his purpose in it, he would want to know it.

Another reason for Cheltaw’s excursion, associated with the first, was to meet and talk with Raf and perhaps some of the other deities. The dogma was not clear about exactly where the deities dwelled but Cheltaw never saw them on the plateau and he inferred from the dogma that their lofty realm might be in the mountains. But there was no sign of life except the alpine flora. Cheltaw wondered if he had simply chosen the wrong mountain. He was willing to give the dogma a fair evaluation; he had proven that to himself by climbing this high.

Eventually the storm subsided and a brilliant rainbow appeared. Cheltaw had been told that Raf was directly responsible for rainbows and every other aspect of the storm. However, there did not seem to him to be any obvious purpose to all that had transpired. If anyone had deliberately caused the sky to storm this way it must have occurred to them that such a fierce display was more than was necessary; he had observed many showers before that delivered rain without such frightful violence. Not only that, there were no beneficiaries at this high elevation- as there would be on the plateau- who might make use of the rainwater. The people never came up this high. Also, much of the rainwater ran down the slopes and drained off into streams that did not appear to flow eastward to the plateau, where everyone lived.

He could see no indication that anyone had ever been to the top of this mountain except for himself. He began to formulate the idea that the mountains were there for their own sake and that the storm caused itself or that both things were so without any conscious intent on the part of any being.

Cheltaw wondered why the deities had the names they had. One name was not enough for a person who dwelled on the plateau. A plateau person always had a surname to indicate who the father was. Cheltaw’s father was Hunter Kyfe Deekweb. He obtained his hunter status at the age of 15 and possessed the title Hunter ever since. Cheltaw was still a bit too young to attempt to qualify for the title and so he had only two names.

His half-sister, Neeja Kyfe, was two years older than he. She would have two names as long as she remained single. If and when she married her surname would be replaced by her husband’s full name excluding the title. The notion that this would happen dismayed him. He did not like the idea that a person’s name should change from what it was at birth, especially since it meant that the implication that he and his sister were related would no longer exist.

He felt that it was proper for family lineage to be manifested in people’s names. This provided structure, definition and organization which he sought in everything. His paternal grandfather was named Hunter Deekweb Sarkab. From this it was natural for Cheltaw to infer that his own children would have the surname Cheltaw. Although he was not completely comfortable with this progression of first names becoming last names in the next generation, there was at least, consistency.

The manifestation of lineage in names was permanent only for males. Cheltaw was told by his mother, Deezba Kyfe Deekweb, that she was born Deezba Mojor. In fact, because he had met them all, he knew the names of all four of his grandparents. He used the handle of his hatchet to draw a diagram in the dirt showing his close relatives. He had invented geometrical shapes and assigned them to the various members of his family. This was the best he could do since the people of the plateau did not have writing. In his mind he recited the names as he scanned his diagram: Hunter Kyfe Deekweb was the son of Hunter Deekweb Sarkab and Juvka Deekweb Sarkab; Deezba Kyfe Deekweb was the daughter of Hunter Mojor Sakvin and Toswa Mojor Sakvin.

Neeja Kyfe was the daughter of Hunter Kyfe Deekweb and a woman whose name Cheltaw did not know. Deezba had always been evasive about this when asked. She resisted acknowledging, sometimes even to herself, that she was not Neeja’s mother. If she was disturbed that her husband had bred himself to another woman in a prior marriage, she managed to repress it. Her maternal drive was even stronger than any jealousy she might have had.

Cheltaw identified something else about the nomenclature system of his people that bothered him. Individuals had no input in the process of choosing their own names; parents made the choices. Unfortunately a dilemma arose in his mind which he could not resolve. If a person gets to decide what one of their names should be then that person’s name must necessarily change from what it was at birth. For the time being, he let his concern over this dilemma fade and the issue moved into a section of his brain which was used to store topics for future consideration.

He again contemplated about the deities. As far as he could figure, it was now within his capabilities to reach the summit of any peak he should choose. If that were the case, then there was no habitat the deities could have that he could not reach. He began to suspect that they probably had no powers that were qualitatively different from those of an ordinary person, if the deities even existed at all. Of course, his failure to locate the deities did not absolutely prove to him that they did not exist.

He decided that he did not need to commit himself to, or against, a belief in the deities just yet. There might still be a possibility that the deities did exist and thus he might incur the wrath of some deity for being a disbeliever. Besides, he could still discuss his observations and theories with his friends upon his return to the plateau. Tavor Jevon and Sennef Dreb could always be counted upon to provide some answers that would moderate him when his ideas ventured off in unconventional directions. Better yet, he could approach Garm Kratzabak, and find out what contribution the rational analysis of this intellectual young friend of his might have.

He began his descent.

2.

Our world has developed into its present form as a result of all the influences exerted on it throughout the past. The positions and momenta of all cosmic particles at the beginning of time have specified the direction that the future takes. The result has placed the Earth with its sole moon in a nearly circular orbit around an average star in an undistinguished arm of a common galaxy. Continents separated by life-spawning oceans have provided a suitable environment for the evolution of a species of intelligent, self-aware beings. The shapes and features of these continents are now familiar to us as are the many forms of life which inhabit them.

The laws of physics which govern our universe do not depend on position or time. Events have transpired and will continue to transpire according to these laws.

Yet there is an element of random chaos which contributes to the direction that events will take. That is to say, humans have not and never will advance science to the degree necessary to make precise enough measurements on the cosmos to predict the future with perfect accuracy and therefor eliminate the concept of randomness. This is the result of the reality imposed by quantum mechanics, specifically the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Perhaps a slight variation on a seemingly insignificant event in a moment from some previous eon could result in a world dramatically different from the one we know.

So it is possible to imagine an alternate world fulfilling an alternate destiny much different than ours. In this alternate world some things would still be certain: force would still be equal to mass times acceleration, energy would still be equal to mass times the square of the speed of light and an atom’s elemental identity would still be determined by the number of protons in its nucleus. Physics and chemistry would not be different from what they are in our world.

This need not be true for the developmental aspects of some of the other sciences, however. Consider biology and geology. Of course, the same physical and chemical principles which control biological and geological processes would still apply, but entirely different manifestations of these processes might have resulted. For example, some living species we know might not ever have evolved or some additional species we do not know might have. Also, the shapes of continents might be different from those we have in our world.

Science postulates that generalizations may be formed based on observations of examples. This principle of induction applies to all branches of science including biology and geology. The inductive conclusions we have reached in our world are based on observations of systems which are also, necessarily, in our world. In particular, we have observed human behavior and drawn conclusions about it.

We can conjecture about whether these conclusions are as universal and true as we believe our laws of physics and chemistry are. To evaluate this concept we can consider an alternate world which has not developed with exactly the same biological or geological histories as ours, but one that does have a population of humans who are essentially the same as we are... a world such as that of Cheltaw Kyfe.

3.

The view from the summit of the mountain imparted a feeling of exhilaration to Cheltaw. He was reluctant to leave but he knew what could be the consequences if he did not return to the camp by dusk. He could very likely be a meal for a bear or pantherine.

Pantherines are wild cats that can be up to 80 kg in mass. They are black with grey spots and have bushy tails. Although they hunt alone, they nest in groups. They don’t exist in our world, only in Cheltaw’s.

In fact, he was not necessarily safe even in the daylight, since he was alone. For purposes such as defense and aggression humans are most formidable and effective when they operate in groups, provided that they are able to coordinate their actions.

Cheltaw’s tendency to do things on his own and not automatically think of himself as a member of a group distinguished him from most other humans. Most humans seek others of their kind for help in almost every task, large or small. Even when there is no task to be carried out they still seek each other, just for companionship. For social animals like humans, the isolation from others is intolerable. Only one other young person besides Cheltaw would go off exploring completely on his own as he did. That was Garm Kratzabak.

The hatchet Cheltaw carried was made by Garm. Although a year younger that Cheltaw, Garm had far superior technical abilities, foremost of which was his skill at chipping stone to make tools. Garm always focussed on technical things until he mastered them, which did not take long. He wanted to know every last bit of knowledge that his species had compiled and considered useful. He also sought to digest ideas about less tangible topics but he was unaware of the fact that his limited capacity for creativity prevented him from making original contributions to the realms of the abstract. Nevertheless, he was usually willing to discuss the kinds of topics Cheltaw wanted to talk about.

Cheltaw made his way down the mountain with haste. Even though the descent required less effort than the ascent, he felt more exhausted during the return. There was no anticipation of new territory to be discovered; he had already explored the terrain he was seeing. The spectacular view he enjoyed all but disappeared as he reached the timberline.

His mind wandered back to the dogma. Since the dogma was so old, he could never speak directly with the first people who had known of it. They had been dead for so many generations there was no memory of how long ago it was that they were alive. Cheltaw thought about that and questions followed naturally. He wondered how the early humans got the dogma in the first place. If they composed it themselves there was an implication that fundamental knowledge could originate from humans. If that were true then perhaps successive generations of humans could add to or modify the dogma, since their humanity was just as valid as that of the original composers of the dogma. But he saw a contradiction here because that property of being modifiable would mean that the dogma was not entirely divine and therefor, not divine at all.

However, if the deities gave the dogma directly to the humans then there was also a problem. Cheltaw could not understand what there was to guide the humans who happened to live in the times before the dogma was given. At the very least, the interpretation of the dogma that had reached Cheltaw was not complete enough to satisfy all of his questions and it was not his nature to accept such things merely on faith.

He made his way down the mountainside with a gradually quickening pace as the sun was approaching the horizon. He would need another quarter-quarter day to reach the base of the mountain and perhaps yet another quarter-quarter day to hike through the foothills and reach the camp. He felt a bit relieved to get down from the summit and into the trees because he knew that conditions below were generally milder and much less likely to change suddenly as they were above. Also, there was no possibility of finding food to supplement what he brought along until he got down lower.

Then as he reached the dense foliage near the base of the mountain he began to look for a patch of wild berries he passed on his way up. He found them. Hurriedly, he picked several handfuls and ate them without taking the time to savor.

Some distance away he sensed a presence. He stopped eating his berries but the sound of berry-eating had not stopped. This was because he was not the only entity indulging in the berry patch. He strained his eyes in the twilight to see many strides ahead where the sound was coming from. It was a small dark object about the same size as he, a bear cub.

A rapid succession of thoughts raced through Cheltaw’s mind. Does he know I’m here? It is very bad to startle a bear. Would he prefer my scrawny bones over those ripe, juicy berries? Is he alone or might his mother be nearby? Can I attack and kill him, or at least drive him off? Can I escape unnoticed? If I back down from a potential confrontation like this what implications will there be for me and my future?

It was not his intellect which guided his course of action, however. It was his instinct. He backed away slowly and quietly. He felt himself become a silent invisible creature of the night. His measured steps conformed perfectly to the terrain as he put more and more distance between him and the bear. Only after many minutes of retreat was he consciously aware of the adrenaline-induced state he was in. He could hear his pulse in ears that seemed to flare out and radiate heat. His breath became a rapid involuntary pant. The palms of his shaky hands were sweating.

When he believed he was at a safe distance from the bear, he began to try to deal with his thoughts and feelings. He never knew for sure if the bear was aware of him or not. For a moment he conjectured that if the bear had seen him and not attacked then he had won a victory simply by having intimidated the bear. But he knew that was not true; if anyone had been watching the whole scene that would not be their interpretation. Fortunately, he thought, no one had seen this.

Then he asked himself what would have been his chances of prevailing should it have come to a fight. He was alone and armed only with his hatchet. This was not enough to give him the advantage. And what was there to be gained by battle? His life was not at stake in that he was not so hungry that he needed the bear’s meat to survive. Although still disturbed by his performance, he had come to rationalize that he had probably taken the right course of action.

Cheltaw proceeded through the darkness. It was not at all certain whether he would be able to find the camp at night. If he did not find familiar ground soon he would have to stop for the night. That could be a disaster, for there was really no good way for one person to maintain security against predators if he planned to get any sleep. He scanned the area ahead of him for the sign that would guide him in: the campfires.

Several long minutes later he caught sight of them. There would be many fires because there were many families in his organization. He would look for Garm Kratzabak’s fire first. He had an idea where it was. As a further benefit, in recent months and years people were changing camp locations less and less frequently. He had understood that there were some people his age that had never moved camp at all in their entire lives. His own family used to seek a new place every month or so in his younger years but had not moved for about two years now, as far as he could remember.

The people who moved least often did so for a reason. It had to do with obtaining food, of course. That was the main reason for people living where they were in general. Some of the plateau people took care of certain plants which happened to be growing near selected campsites. Rather than to totally harvest all the edible plant matter from a site until it was exhausted, they would harvest a portion and try to enhance the survival prospects of the rest. This was done through weeding out undesirable plants and driving away herbivorous animals when possible. Neither irrigation nor direct seed planting had been considered yet. Although the practice of managed harvesting had been begun only as recently as a hundred generations previously, it had produced very favorable results. Berry patches had been maintained and the harvesting of wild wheat had evolved from a rare event to a firm tradition during the preceding millennia.

Even though tending plants was more work than foraging, the consistency that it yielded was worth it. The trouble with hunting was that it was so inconsistent in terms of the food supply it would yield. Managed harvesting helped to make plants a much more important source of food than hunted animals could ever be.

Cheltaw headed straight for Garm’s camp and made a little noise so as not to surprise anyone. There was a large tent made from animal hides stretched around a wood-pole frame which was where the family slept and a smaller tent of similar construction which was used to house most of the family’s possessions. Each family also kept a pantry, which was a wood-pole rack, suspended high enough that nonhuman carnivores could not reach it.

The lone night traveler greeted Garm’s family and sat down by the fire. He gave the objective details of where he had been and a general timetable of his trip. With adults present, however, he did not feel that he could express the concepts he had pondered in terms that would be meaningful. Adults usually seemed disdainful of Cheltaw when he spoke in abstract terms. It would be better to wait until tomorrow to exchange ideas with Garm, a boy whose age was close to his own.

Garm had his classic expression on his face. It beamed with intensity as he felt that he had found something interesting and important. He wanted to show it to Cheltaw so they could discuss it in an analytical manner. If Cheltaw had not dropped in on them that night Garm would have soon sought him out for this purpose. Garm said his discovery was the most amazing thing that he had ever seen. He said that he didn’t know if his view of the world would ever be the same after having seen this.

One must always take into account the source of any given statement. Cheltaw respected Garm’s superior technical skills and also his ability to find holes in an argument. In fact, that latter characteristic was why Cheltaw thought it might be helpful to talk to him now. However, Garm would sometimes focus on some detail and attach an inappropriately great emphasis to its importance. Cheltaw figured that this was some sort of devise which Garm had incorporated into his personality to compensate for a social deficiency; Garm was far from being universally accepted by the youth.

Sleep was very important to Cheltaw. He knew he could not function without it. He would stay the night with Garm’s family. When it became time to turn in, they stretched out on the thick bearskin rugs which everybody used as sleeping mats. Before Cheltaw closed his eyes he thought to himself how glad he was that the bear he had seen earlier did not know what humans did with bearskins.

The next day Cheltaw and Garm set out to find the object of Garm’s interest. Cheltaw had the impression that everyone who existed lived on the plateau and nowhere else. He had certainly seen no one in the foothills or in the mountains. But then, the traditional food supplies were on the plateau so it seemed reasonable that everyone should be there. Yet now Garm was taking him into the foothills for some mysterious purpose. Cheltaw did not prioritize the foothills and especially the valleys for exploration, thinking instead that there was more to be gained by going straight for higher ground. This way of thinking also applied to his approach to explorations of abstract topics.

Garm’s interests were different. He was drawn to observe and explore more finite concerns but in greater detail. In this case, that meant caves.

Cheltaw heard Garm mention the caves of the northwestern foothills before but was not fundamentally interested in them based on their descriptions. They were just holes in the ground to him. Lately though, Garm had brought along an oil lamp (that he had invented especially for this purpose) when he went spelunking and this enabled him to penetrate deeper into the caves than he was safely able to do on his earlier missions with only a torch. So now Garm was going beyond his descriptions of geological shapes and sizes. He was reporting an entirely new discovery. It was the discovery of an earlier human presence. Garm tried to verbalize his experience in the cave as they proceeded along but this was just not his strong point. Cheltaw was not getting a clear picture about what would lie ahead so he decided to see what Garm might have to say about the things he had thought about on the mountain top.

Cheltaw said I’ve started to seriously ponder the nature of the world, Garm. Yesterday, when I was at the summit of the mountain I saw the world from a new perspective. I used to think that the mountains to the west of the plateau were as far west as it was possible to go. But beyond these mountains there are many more, stretching on as far as I could see. There wasn’t any obvious superior mountain that appeared to be the dwelling place of Raf and the other deities. Also, when I looked to the East I was surprised to find that even from my high elevation I could not see the end of the plateau. The elders say that our land is bounded by lowlands and thus our terrain is called the plateau. I couldn’t see any land that was substantially lower than ours.

Garm answered, The lowlands are supposed to be a long way from here, Chel. Maybe they’re just too far off to see. But I don’t doubt their existence.

Cheltaw asked, Why not?

Because the river water has to flow somewhere... and it flows constantly. If it did not have a lower land to go to eventually the water would spill over the river banks and the whole plateau would be a lake.

You’re right. Your deduction also implies that the lowlands could be reached simply by following the river eastward. I wonder how long the journey would take.

Garm said, The fundamental question is ‘how far can you walk between spring and fall?’ because you really wouldn’t be able to travel very easily during the winter. That would be the factor that would determine whether you could actually travel there.

Right again, Cheltaw agreed. Now why do you suppose it is that everybody lives here and not there? Do you know anyone who has even been there?

Garm offered, I suppose the habitat isn’t suitable for us there; either the food supply is not abundant or the climate is too severe or both. That is certainly the case in the mountains. I can’t think of any time I heard mention of anybody going there.

Cheltaw countered, Then how do we know it is unsuitable for us? Perhaps there are people living there. I want to explore the lowlands.

Maybe someday you will. I would be interested to hear about them.

When I do, I might be able to draw some conclusions about our own people, too. I mean, we all live our lives in a certain way and I’m beginning to think that this way is not so much imposed on us by our environment as it is by generations of tradition built up over the years. There might be an entirely different way of life for us to live beyond the plateau, even though the dogma says our life is here.

Garm said, Could be. The elders pass down to us what they have heard from their elders. If there is found to be any falsehood in the model of the world that they have provided for us, then we might conclude that the entire model can be false. That would be so if their original source of information were invalid. There might indeed be an alternate lifestyle in the lowlands. I think there was one in the foothills long ago.

Cheltaw’s interest piqued. He said Raf and the other deities are supposed to have ordered our world for us according to their grand design. The grand design is not supposed to change down through the ages. You seem to be on to something which would challenge the validity of this paradigm. I’m hopeful that you have.

The pair approached the mouth of a cave in a valley beyond the first of the foothills. Garm had brought a flint stone and an oil lamp with him. He used his flint to ignite a fire and then prepared and lit the lamp. The mouth of the cave was concealed by some heavy foliage. Most human passersby would not have noticed it. They entered the cave stoically as if to perform a solemn duty. On a conscious level they knew they were doing something very dangerous. This cave might have had a grizzly bear inside it and if it did there was less than an even chance that both boys would escape without serious injury or worse. Even a hunting party would be reluctant to engage a grizzly bear in a confined space.

The pair immediately felt relief as they reached the first cavern. It was a large room with steep walls, a fairly flat floor and no bears. They could see a connecting cavern that extended back further into the hillside but it was not likely that it would contain a bear since bears cannot artificially light remote dark spaces as humans can. It was cool and quiet in the large cave. The slightest utterance that one of them made was clearly audible to the other.

Garm pointed out what he had seen on his earlier adventure. He showed Cheltaw the bones of animals stacked up or partially buried next to the cave walls. There was nothing strange about that. Cheltaw had seen animal bones before. Just about all humans routinely stacked bones of various kinds here and there for future use as tools. Next, Garm held his lamp close to a cave wall to reveal a sequence of elaborate paintings. There were images of deer, boars and giant bison.

Giant bison (also existing only in Cheltaw’s world) stand up to 2.5 meters at the shoulder and are as massive as 3000 kg. The span across their horns is about 1.5 meters.

Cheltaw delighted at this. He had never seen such art on a stone surface. The humans had artwork of various kinds but not like this. He studied the images carefully. These animals were of prime interest to all men; they were the most prized meat animals.

Deer were most abundant in the foothills and lightly forested parts of the plateau. They yielded a good quantity of meat and so when one was taken it meant food for many. Since meat could not be preserved for very long except during winter, the venison was usually consumed right away. In addition to being rather large and meaty animals, deer have another desirable quality in that they prefer to escape rather than fight you.

This was not always true about the boars and giant bison which mostly inhabited the light forests and grasslands respectively. Boars had sharp tusks and would certainly use them if they felt like it. These tusks were considered valuable as they could be carved to form tools and ornaments. Therefore, hunters pursued boars despite the danger.

Giant bison were even worse. They could gore you with their horns or just trample you. Unlike boars, once a giant bison (bull) was attacked he always counterattacked. Not only would he seldom tolerate a human in his path, he would not cease a provoked aggression until the human was dead. Even then he would continue to trample and gore until satisfied. Still, the giant bison were hunted. The kill would certainly provide more meat than any hundred people could eat, but the humans hunted a bison every so often just to prove they could do it. This made them feel mighty. The thought of hunting a giant bison filled Cheltaw with awe. He knew he would be expected to do it someday.

Garm had more to reveal. They stepped through a narrow passageway into the second cavern. It was a bit smaller than the first but otherwise similar. It had another passageway which led to a third cavern still farther back. Garm lifted his lamp to cast light on a wall that was covered with more art. There were deer, boars, giant bison and even humans with spears and bows aimed at the animals. Farther on down the wall there was one strange and unfamiliar animal which Cheltaw had not seen nor heard of. It had big floppy ears, stout legs, a long curved appendage where a nose should have been and huge tusks. It was much larger than a giant bison. Incredible, thought Cheltaw, if the paintings are to scale a man could walk right under the belly of this creature. Then Garm walked over to the other side of the cavern and began to dig away some dirt from yet more bones. As the dirt was removed the skull and tusks of an immense beast were revealed.

In our world, this is known as a wooly mammoth, an extinct animal.

The boys sat back and looked at each other. Their expressions gave their thoughts away. Here was an animal which was once alive but existed no longer in their world; not a single individual of the species remained. The bones had been intentionally brought here by someone. There was no other way it could have reached this cavern because the intact animal would have been too large to fit through the narrow passageway. As the paintings showed, it was deliberately hunted and apparently even hunted to extinction. If any such creatures still existed Cheltaw would have surely heard of them if not seen one. Yet there was not even a memory of them in his society. Of the people alive at that moment, only Garm and Cheltaw had any knowledge of it whatsoever.

That was not the end of it. Garm had one more cavern to exhibit. They moved toward the entranceway to the third and last cavern but by now, Cheltaw’s mind was reeling. He didn’t think anything remaining could be this spectacular. He was wrong to think that.

As we now know, every discovery is just a prelude to the one beyond it.

They squeezed into the third cave and Garm once again illuminated a wall. There were no more animals in the paintings. All the figures were humanoid. Unlike the random arrangement of drawings in the previous cavern rooms, this wall was an organized scene. There were figures on the top, both sides and the middle. It was obvious that each had a role relevant to the others. On both sides there were hunters aiming and firing off arrows and spears at the figures in the center. The paintings showed these figures to be surrounded with no possible escape. They were being killed. Yet, it was different from a hunting kill where one animal is singled out by the group. All of the central figures were being attacked.

Cheltaw had a vague recollection of stories which had been passed down about the event known as a battle. No battle had taken place in his lifetime as far as he knew, but he felt that he had a reasonably accurate picture of what one might look like. What he saw in front of him did not fit his image of a battle any more than it fit his image of a hunt.

The figures at the top were standing by passively. They appeared to be observing the scene from an elevated vantage point. Their arms were outstretched in such a way as to indicate that they approved of or even directed the action being taken below. Cheltaw and Garm tried to sort out the meaning of the scene before them.

Cheltaw asked What can be going on here? It doesn’t seem to be a battle. Those people in the middle have no weapons to fight back with.

Garm said Look closer. They look different from the others and from us. They’re bigger, hairier, more muscular and their heads are strange.

I see. It looks like their foreheads are missing. And their chins, too. I’ve never seen people who looked like this.

I don’t think these are people, Chel. At least they’re not human people...

Cheltaw asked Do you mean that there is another kind of people besides us?

Not any more, answered Garm.

Those people at the top seem to be somehow more than human. It’s as though they are above it all... giving an authorization for the killing. Do you suppose...?

The deities... Raf and the others.

Cheltaw exclaimed Fascinating! But how can it be? They are condoning or perhaps even ordering the killing. No, it’s more than that. It’s an execution… an extermination. According to the mythological dogma the deities provide animals to be hunted, vegetation to be gathered and proper weather and terrain conditions for them and us to flourish. They aren’t supposed to take sides in battles between humans. Are they?

Garm suggested Whoever drew this scene apparently believed that their killing action had divine authorization. You can see that the figures at the top look like us and the hunters at the sides of the scene. The artist or artists must have seen the beings above and thus carried out the attack according to their will.

Cheltaw countered There is no proof that any of this happened. You showed me the skull of the large animal in the second cave and so I accept that it once existed. Where is the physical evidence for this killing scene having actually happened?

Garm turned away from the wall with the painting and stepped to the other side of the cavern. He lowered his lamp near to the floor to cast light on a well-ordered array of objects. Half covered by dust and dirt were three distinct rows of skulls. Arranged as though they were being tallied, the skulls were neatly deposited all facing the same direction. It was a deliberate arrangement.

Although not completely human in structure, the skulls were also not from any familiar animal. Slightly smaller than a human skull in cranial capacity, the sloping foreheads terminated before a thick-ridged brow. These skulls matched the heads of the figures in the center of the painting. The dialogue continued.

Garm said The hunters must have stacked these strange skulls on the cavern floor this way so they could figure out how many of the strange people they had killed.

Cheltaw agreed I think you’re right. But I still don’t see what proof there is or reason there could be for the deities having presided over this. That’s what is missing here. We don’t know the reason for all this.

Garm said In the first two caverns the subjects of the paintings were accompanied by the corresponding bones. In this cavern the bones present also correspond. The artists must have depicted the events with fidelity, even if the reason is not provided.

That is only one interpretation, said Cheltaw. We should consider other possible explanations. It seems to be true that the large animals with tusks and the strange people are completely wiped out. But I still don’t see any tangible proof that the deities took part. I’ve never seen any proof of involvement by deities in any way. Come to think of it, I can’t say that there is anyone who has reported having directly seen Raf or any of the others.

Garm said Yes, only in our legends are there reports of direct encounters.

Cheltaw said Even if it were true that the deities existed and that they ordered the extermination of these people, I would have stood in opposition to this action. I just don’t see why this needed to happen. What could the strange people have done to deserve this?

The dogma says we shouldn’t question the will of the deities or how they have ordered the world for us. I’m not ready to take a stand against the dogma.

Even so, I’m glad you showed me this, Cheltaw replied. It provides a basis for several important questions relevant to the origin of the world and our existence. Let’s continue to ponder all this in the future. For now, I’d like to get out of this cave.

4.

The boys headed back out of the foothills toward the plateau. They had just expanded their universe beyond the boundaries of most other people’s universes as a result of their discussion and experience in the cave. They had also bonded together intellectually and emotionally. Each would treasure their commonality and rely upon it for support in the future. But Cheltaw felt that he alone had taken the courageous step of questioning the existence of the deities and wished that Garm had taken this step with him. The issue was not dead, though.

As they strode along Cheltaw thought about his relationship to Garm. Cheltaw was superior to Garm socially and in analysis of abstract concepts. Garm was the superior technician. When the forum was technical, Garm was the master and Cheltaw was the novice. Otherwise, Cheltaw took the lead and Garm became subordinate. It was also obvious to Garm that each had their strengths and that when they were together they were stronger than if there were just two Garms or two Cheltaws.

Cheltaw suggested that it might be interesting to discuss their ideas with Tavor Jevvon and Sennef Dreb. These boys were each one year older than Cheltaw. That one year was enough for Cheltaw to automatically regard them as more knowledgeable than he in many areas. They seemed more confident about almost everything than Cheltaw were and certainly more confident than Garm. Both Tavor and Sennef were avid hunters. At least half of the time they were out on a hunt of one kind or another. Cheltaw was becoming more interested in hunting but would never be obsessed about it.

Hunting is a competition between you and your prey. The competition requires each to be at his complete and total best. If you function at anything less than your best it is extremely unlikely that you will succeed. Expect no compromise of the highly developed survival behavior of the hunted animals. They are totally motivated to survive.

Cheltaw was not always motivated enough to overcome this characteristic of the animals. Sometimes he was and other times not. Often he would drift off on some train of thought which preoccupied him and his prey became alerted to his presence because he was not concentrating on stealth. He might be thinking about how to increase the effectiveness of his hunting strategy or he might be thinking about something entirely irrelevant to hunting. The result was the same: The animal escaped.

This was not vitally important, however. Since he was not formally an adult he was not directly responsible for supplying meat to his family and the organization. Still, even among the youth there was a serious rivalry associated with hunting prowess. For Cheltaw the important thing about hunting was that he was clever in his tactics. He knew that humans are, in most aspects, physically inferior to animals but are much smarter. Whenever he successfully wielded his most effective weapon - his brain - he was satisfied with his hunt.

The amount of time and energy spent on a hunt was an important consideration for him as well. He did not like to hunt rabbits, for example, because they did not yield very much meat. He did not like to hunt deer because they were too elusive; if he were fortunate enough to catch sight of one it would still require a lot of time and effort to sneak to within striking range. Also, deer had a tendency to run for a considerable distance even after being fatally wounded by some human-launched projectile.

Bighorn sheep would have been worthy prey for Cheltaw, but they seldom came down as low as the foothills and so to derive any benefit from a slain beast of this type would involve a lot of vertical transport. Only the most intrepid hunters would invest that kind of effort if they were even so inclined as to go up into the mountains.

Two categories of creatures in which Cheltaw was fairly interested were fish and birds. The plateau had a plentiful supply of trout and vulturks.

Vulturks are similar to the wild turkeys of our world but their heads are feathered and their legs are longer. They feed mainly on fish.

Twice a year, brown geese traversed the plateau. He felt that these animals, especially, should become important staples in the food supply of the humans but they never had. He figured that the main reason for this was that they were being pursued by means of archery.

Fish are not easy to hit with an arrow every time because water refracts light differently than air does. So if you shoot directly at the image of the fish you see you will usually miss; that’s not where the fish is. Brown geese and Vulturks don’t have any refraction problem associated with them. They just don’t let you get close enough to get an accurate shot.

Garm had not yet developed an active interest in hunting. He had little in common with Tavor or Sennef so he decided to remain at his camp when he and Cheltaw reached it.

Before linking up with Tavor and/or Sennef, Cheltaw thought he would check in at his own camp. After a short hike, he was there. He approached the hearth and tent to find his parents waiting for him, as though they might be concerned for his safety since he did not return the night before.

They said nothing. Cheltaw went through the motions, at least, of greeting his parents and then began to tell them about the last day and a half, beginning with his observations on the summit of the mountain. He started to offer some of his thoughts about the possible fallacious nature of the dogma. His father glared at him as his mother interrupted with a forehanded swipe across his face.

Cheltaw was completely taken by surprise. He could not have predicted that either of his parents would react this way to what he thought would be new information to them. Deezba then proceeded to pummel Cheltaw with her words. In a loud voice, she instructed him not to think he knew better than the elders, not to question the dogma and not to go out seeking information he did not need. She also told him that he should not act independently, as his sister did. She continued on with fury for several minutes.

Cheltaw was thoroughly confused by all of this. Some of the content of the scolding he received from his mother seemed to relate to what he had tried to tell her about his journey. However, he did not understand her perspective at all, nor did he understand the comment about his sister. His mother seemed to have produced that remark from nowhere.

Hunter Kyfe Deekweb stood mute during all of this, but his stance and glare lent passive support to his wife’s assault. Only when Deezba at last stormed off did Hunter Kyfe begin speaking. He barely acknowledged that the reprimand had taken place. Instead, as was common for him to do, he used a closed fist to jolt Cheltaw’s head back and instructed him to gather some of the usual vegetable matter such as nuts, roots and wild wheat for the family’s pantry.

Cheltaw paused for a moment to reel in his bewilderment and then fetched a woven basket so he could carry out his father’s directive. He went off feeling deflated. It was late afternoon. It was quiet in the fields where he searched for foodstuff. His thoughts were consumed by the unpleasant interaction with his parents. He had gone out to gather food many times before in his life but this time it was worse than it had ever been because of the circumstances. He had failed to relate to his parents on his terms. He came back full of high-minded ideas and got sent out to do menial work as though it was all he was capable of doing. He was so full of resentment that he considered abandoning his task and letting them gather their own food. But he did not.

By early evening he had returned, having easily filled the basket. He and his parents ate their dinner silently that night. His sister was not present.

Neeja Kyfe had a personality vastly different from Cheltaw’s. She had no interest in abstract ideas, exploration of the world or anything else (as far as Cheltaw could see) except for getting into trouble. To him she seemed to be marginally willing to coexist with him as long as no one else was around. But in the company of her preferred companions, older boys, she became incorrigible.

Cheltaw did not think of himself as incorrigible. He could not make the connection between her behavior and his although his mother seemed to be able to make it. Given the tension in the air, he did not feel he could get a rational response if he asked.

Neeja was not present. Slowly, he began to conjecture about what the common behavioral characteristic might be. She was off on her own and Cheltaw had also been away the previous night. Perhaps this was what his mother did not like. At 13 years of age he felt fairly confident of his ability to be out on his own for a while but his mother must not have been, or so he thought.

Cheltaw had not quite grasped the real issue. Deezba was primarily angry because her son and her stepdaughter were seeking freedom. Neither Cheltaw nor Neeja were directly aware that they were seeking this intangible quality. Deezba was not aware of it at the conscious level either.

Hunter Kyfe Deekweb was the only one who really saw this matter for what it was. He figured that Cheltaw would have enough sense to spend the night with some family, if not his own. He didn’t care very much that his son had questioned the dogma of his people; he barely believed the literal interpretation himself. He knew that his children were growing up and seeking freedom, each in their own way. He was not bothered by the thought of his children seeking freedom. He knew that was inevitable and he looked forward to it because that would eventually result in an empty nest for him and his wife. However, until the nest became empty, he would be determined to fight off any testosterone challenge to his authority in his household. This included perceived challenges from Cheltaw, any male associate of Neeja’s and even a hypothetical rogue suitor of Deezba’s.

Concerning his daughter’s behavior patterns when she was away from home, he was philosophical. He knew that it was a direct result of her mother’s promiscuity that Neeja even came into being in the first place, so he was not surprised or outraged that Neeja turned out to be promiscuous. He saw this as the nature of that mother and that daughter.

But he was reluctant to bring up that subject. Doing so would have focussed Deezba’s wrath on him instead of his children. He did not want his life to take on any more misery than was necessary. He understood that his wife was outraged by the threat that the children seemed to be posing to her ordered world by seeking independence. Hunter Kyfe Deekweb had, in fact, experienced the same response from his own elders when he was an adolescent. He regarded this as an eternal effect, fully expecting that when Cheltaw and Neeja had adolescent offspring history would repeat. He figured there was no use in trying to fight it.

Cheltaw stretched out to go to sleep for the night. He closed his eyes and thought about his gathering of food earlier in the day. He had gathered vegetation almost every day for years but today was different. For once he would have preferred to go out on a hunt even if it were unsuccessful. It was not completely reasonable. Much more of the food eaten by the people of the plateau came from plants than from animals. The hunting prowess of the people was fair-to-good,