said the voice. “Love us! Cherish us! Protect us!”
There was then silence amongst the Pons.
“They are waiting for the response of the father,” whispered Rodriguez.
This rather surprising communication made Brenner, for no good reason, decidedly uneasy. There was only a little wind, however, amongst the branches. Some lantern fruit, softly glowing, moved on its stems.
Then, after a time, another Pon, from somewhere in the circle, called out the following:
Oh, I could get me in.
I could lay them waste.
But I will not do so,
for they are my children.
I am the father.
“That makes no sense,” said Rodriguez.
Brenner was forced to agree.
“Apparently the ceremony is over,” said Rodriguez. He turned off the recorder and slipped it into his pocket.
“Tomorrow,” said Brenner, “we reach the village.”
“It would seem so,” said Rodriguez. He then looked about, at the trees, and the clearing.
“You are still concerned that something is out there?” asked Brenner.
“Yes,” said Rodriguez.
“Surely the Pons know the forest,” said Brenner. “And they do not seem frightened.”
“They are stupid,” said Rodriguez.
“We reach the village tomorrow,” said Brenner.
“It will not be too soon for me,” said Rodriguez.
“You are concerned, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” said Rodriguez.
Chapter 13
“Let us take stock,” said Rodriguez.
It was their first night in the village, and they were alone in a small hut, on the periphery of an open, circular area in the center of the village.
“The palisade does not appear very formidable,” said Rodriguez.
“No,” said Brenner.
“The Pons seem friendly,” said Brenner.
“One of them rushed up and struck at you,” said Rodriguez.
“They seem friendly, on the whole,” said Brenner.
“Why did that one strike at you?” asked Rodriguez.
“I have no idea,” said Brenner. “As far as I know I have done nothing to generate his hostility.”
“He did not strike at me,” said Rodriguez.
“No,” said Brenner.
“The area of the village is perhaps two acres,” speculated Rodriguez.
Brenner nodded. That seemed about right. It was certainly not large.
“The Pons here would number in the vicinity of a hundred or so,” said Rodriguez.
“Perhaps,” said Brenner.
“I counted ninety-seven,” said Rodriguez, “but I may have missed some, and counted others twice. They all look the same, even the females, and they move about a lot, trying to keep the distances between them.”
“They do differ one from the other,” said Brenner, “if you pay attention. Too, the females are for the most part distinguishable from the males. They tend to be smaller, and their features seem to be different, finer, or more delicate, or less coarse, or something.”
“They all dress the same,” said Rodriguez.
“One clue as to whether females are present,” said Brenner, “is to observe the spatial relationships.”
“Of course,” said Rodriguez.
“Males will crowd together,” said Brenner. “Females usually keep about a yard between themselves and other females. The intersexual distances are at least ten feet.”
“Yes,” said Rodriguez.
It was sometimes interesting, incidentally, to note the rapid shifting in spatial relationships which might occur in groups, given the entry or exit of various individuals, of one sex or another. This sort of thing, of course, objectively, was no more strange than similar sorts of distance observances in various cultures. Distance arrangements occur also, apparently naturally, amongst the individuals of many species. In some species, literally thousands of individuals could cluster in small spaces, or move about one another, even at high speed, and, almost as if by magic, avoid physical contact. Dominance orders, too, of course, of various sorts, were almost universal. In a flight of birds it is not an accident that the first bird is first, or the second second, and so on.
“You seem to be good at telling them apart,” said Rodriguez. “What do you think the ratio of males to females is?”
“About half and half,” said Brenner.
“You have noted, of course,” said Rodriguez, “that the males and females live separately.”
“That makes little sense to me,” said Brenner, “as there must be females from other clans, from other totems, in the village. It is only within the same totem that the males may not touch the females.”
“You saw no evidence of families?”
“No,” admitted Brenner.
“I made every effort this afternoon,” said Rodriguez, “where I could tell a female, to ascertain her totem.”
“All here are of the gits, so to speak,” said Brenner.
“As nearly as I can tell,” said Rodriguez.
“That makes no sense at all,” said Brenner.
“Where are the other clans, the people of other totems?” asked Rodriguez.
“They must be somewhere,” said Brenner. “In other villages? In the hills in the distance?”
“Yes, there must be others, somewhere,” said Rodriguez.