Stink Bug – Chapter 13

T’r’bl told her tale:

Not so long ago, and yet it seems an eternity, we lived happily as a large tribe of more than one thousand in the foot hills of the T’t’t Mountains. A day’s flight in nearly any direction would put us in contact with out neighboring tribes of N’rr’t, K’arr, and Zz’t. Two day’s flight into the mountains would put us with the K’t’tk. Our lives were peaceable. There were many chicks, abundant food, and rare fighting. We got on well with neighboring tribes. We traded husbands and fostered children. And, on the occasional difficult season, we shared resources. There was little conflict, but for a few hard heads.

There were not so many trees where we lived, but we made do. We dwelt upon the ground, with simple shelters against the sun and rain. We needed little more. Our food stores were kept in deep earthen pits. Our water came from wells and springs. Few animals were threats to us. We had no fear.

One day we awoke to a great shadow over our village. I thought it a cloud – I was much younger then. But it was no cloud. It was a great mechanism. A flying machine. And from it came smaller machines. We could do nothing when the machines swept in over our homes and tossed nets at us. They sprayed something and we all fell into a deep sleep. Most remember nothing of this, but that we woke up and we were here.

But I saw something. I work and we were in great cages. And these creatures. I don’t know what they were, but shiny and dark but similar in shape to you, Nate. They walked around and chattered. They would look in on us and poke at us. They saw I was awake. But I could not move. They did something and I slept like the others.

Then one day we woke up here. There were about 500 of us. I wish I knew what happened to the rest. I lost so many friends. But this place – so sterile and flat. There were these trees. These platforms were already in place.

Food was provided for us. We would find piles on the edge of the woods. Over time, prey animals began to appear on the plains and we found we could hunt. Now, plants and prey are sufficiently abundant that food is no longer left for us. That and that our numbers dwindle.

We explored our new home. We found the great white wall. You entered from there. Many have flown looking for other tribes. They do not return. We have learned that we must be in the shelter of these trees by dark or the Keepers will take us.

A few of us have seen the Keepers. Early on, we watched to see who brought us our food. It was the dark, shiny people I saw before. They provide our food. We have witnessed them take away those who have not made it to the trees by dark, their dark machines sweeping in from above.

Over the many years we have discovered much about this place. We believe that it is little more than an enormous cage. The rivers have the hallmarks of having been constructed by intelligent hands. It rains each day when the sun hits its zenith. The arrangement of the trees in these woods and throughout the area is utterly geometrical.

It is clear that we are prisoner here. But we don’t know why.

The hole in the white wall was found by complete accident. A young one, Te’tr, just learning to fly, flew into it and disappeared. He fluttered out and was stunned by the experience. We discovered we could detect many different caves in the wall, and these caves took us to many different places, including your home, Nate. We have visited many of these places and sought help, but none have been capable. Some have died trying. Others have refused. We hope you will help us, Nate.

We are now less than fifty. We pair and mate, yet our eggs do not hatch. Some have disappeared, most often obviously at the hands of the Keepers. Others, it is not so clear. Our aged have died and we have none to replace them. We are not safe here. We are doomed.

We do not know why we are here or what purpose our captivity serves. We do not know why we have no young. We fear that the death of our people is immanent. We have searched the white tunnels for our own home. It is not there.

We want to go home, Nate. We want to know why. We believe you can help us. Please help us.

We would like to go home.

Read Chapter 14.

Go back to the beginning.