Jera: The J Mutator: A Genetic Eve Story

By MD MPH Dunn Deborah and C. L. Kagmi

Before History…

 

Jera lives high in the Zagros Mountains with her family. Her family is a little stranger than most: it includes a snow leopard named Fahd, who was born alongside Jera one snowy winter night.

 

This year, Jera is finally old enough to join the hunters of her clan as they leave to travel t

• Language: English
• Publisher: Genetic Eve
• Release date: Sep 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781733636339

Book preview

Prologue

The medicine woman had little hope as the hunter brought the baby into her small, dark cave. This had been a dangerous birth.

The mother had wandered far from the clan’s home in search of a favorite root and had become stranded when an early snowstorm hit. She had gone into labor and given birth alone, in a cave, in the cold. The clan could not find her to bring her home until the season’s first snow melted to reveal her tracks, two days later.

It was a miracle that the mother and baby were still alive.

The mother was warming now, wrapped in furs beside her mate’s cooking fire. The babe was likely very sick. In the medicine woman’s experience, children exposed to such cold without a fire or furs rarely survived.

But the baby that was brought before her now looked healthy, with a warm pink blush under her brown skin. She squirmed and fussed in the arms of the hunter who had found her, reaching out blindly with tiny, perfect hands.

Her eyes were still the milky blue of a newborn’s, soon to darken into a rich brown or black like her mother’s and father’s. The wisps of black hair on her head would soon blossom into full, thick waves. If she survived that long.

The medicine woman took her and unwrapped the furs that had been keeping the child warm.

The baby squirmed and stretched her limbs wide, as though glad to be free from the furs. The medicine woman pondered this. Most infants would be comforted by the protection of a soft wrap, eager to return to their warmth in winter. Not this baby. This baby wanted to move freely, even if it meant being exposed to the cold.

She looked at the baby for a very long time while the others waited for her prediction. Could a child born under such circumstances possibly live?

This child will survive, the old woman said, finally, herself amazed at what she had discovered. "She has a blessing I have never seen before. The power of the Sun shines out of her and keeps her warm. The Sun has protected her from the cold, and will do so for the rest of her life.

"She will travel far, and do great things. But we will have to watch this one. She will be like her mother - a wanderer. It may be that she and her children will travel far across the world.

"But first, she will have to learn to wield her own strong spirit. If she can master herself and learn the ways of wisdom, her strength will be an incredible tool. If she cannot - her spirit may outgrow her body.

Yes, the medicine woman said thoughtfully as the baby squirmed, reaching out its tiny hands as though to impatient to seize life. We will have to watch this one.

Amma, one of the hunters said, his head bowed as he used the term of respect. There’s something else.

The medicine woman looked up sharply.

The hunter brought forth another bundle. At first, the medicine woman thought it was a soft, folded snow leopard fur. But then she realized it was moving.

The snow leopard kitten squirmed much like the baby, looking confused, but not frightened at being held by a stranger. As it stretched, sharp, tiny claws showed through the fur covering its paws.

The child’s mother killed the snow leopard, the hunter explained, solemnly. Then she found that it had a child of its own. She feels it is good luck, that the two should be born together. She has asked… he hesitated. To be allowed to keep it.

The medicine woman considered this. She held the squirming baby close to her as she watched the squirming ball of fur. Its eyes were so wide, and milky-blue with infancy - just like the child’s.

She had heard tales of humans and animals being raised side-by-side. Sometimes, these ended well. The animals could provide milk, or protection, or be killed for meat in hard times. But this animal was a predator. And sometimes…

The medicine woman looked from the squirming baby to the squirming cub. She sensed they had been placed together for a reason.

The mother may keep both.

Chapter 1

The Sun was warm and bright, pouring in through the cave entrance when Jera woke. She blinked at the brightness and rolled over in her furs.

She knew that she was lucky to have the softest companion in the cave: Fahd, her best friend, had been born around the same time she was. Fahd also happened to be a snow leopard, and was currently cuddled up beside her.

Jera cuddled into her warm, soft friend. Then she rolled over and stretched. The cold mountain air beckoned to her, promising the adventure of a new day.

Her mother’s cooking fire crackled softly nearby, the comforting scent of its smoke rolling over Jera as she stretched. Outside the cave entrance, birds were singing bright and cheery tunes.

And suddenly, Jera remembered. Today was the first day of her twelfth year - the year she was finally old enough to go with the adults on the Great Hunt!

She scrambled to her feet, more eager than ever. This wasn’t just a new day! It was a new year, and the first year of Jera’s adulthood.

Beside her, Fahd stretched out one lazy paw and opened one blue eye. She rolled over, showing off the soft, white fur of her belly and the black spots along her back. As she stretched, her long tail curled out behind her.

Jera bent to scratch the soft fur of Fahd's belly the way she liked it, but her mind was elsewhere.

This year, she would finally be given a spear. And the mysterious authority that came with being an adult. She would also be given grown-up furs to wear - which she had mixed feelings about.

Normally, Jera wore no clothes at this time of year. Children of the clan were not required to, and in summer they could enjoy the warm Sun and cool breezes on their bodies. She did not look forward to wearing clothes all year round as an adult.

But today, she would not mind having new furs to wear. She huddled close to the fire, willing her body to get warm. Annoyed at being abandoned, Fahd finally wandered to her side.

These were the last warm weeks, at least by Jera’s standards. The last weeks to stretch and play without being all muffled up by bulky furs.

The other children had already begun wearing their warm winter furs to protect themselves from the cool mountain breezes, but Jera couldn’t understand how they could stand to do that. If she put her furs on now, she would get unbearably hot as the days went on. The winds of autumn were so refreshing!

And this year, she had something else to look forward to.

Each year before winter came, her mother and sister left for the Great Hunt. They journeyed far for several weeks, and they returned with a treasure. The rich, delicious red meat of the large animals they hunted would keep their clan happy and fed through the long, cold winter.

Each year of her life, Jera had watched jealously as the hunters left on their adventure, and spent the weeks of their absence wondering what they were doing out there in the wide world where the mystical great beasts lived.

Surely they were having wondrous adventures. Surely this was where they exercised the magical abilities that came with being an adult, like the heroes from the old stories.

Each year, the children, old people, and new mothers with babies stayed behind.

Jera hated staying behind.

But this was her year! In a few short weeks, the hunters would leave on their journey. And she would leave with them - a hunter who would see the great, wide world and have real adventures at last.

Leaving Fahd to lick her paws by the fire, Jera crept over to where her mother was sleeping.

Her mother slept wrapped in coarse, brown aurochs furs. The aurochs were huge beasts - bigger than any Jera had ever seen. She only saw their thick, dark fur and the unbelievable amounts of meat that the hunters brought back each year.

Jera watched