Travel the next day was easy and fast. The expedition moved through the ruins of Shreveport on the old interstate highway, which was in surprisingly good condition. Weeds and brush had not been able to gain much of a foothold on the long stretches where it was elevated above the overgrown homes and factories, and the footing was good. Nevertheless, it was late evening before they came abreast of the still intact towers of mid city. Conan led the column down an off-ramp into the center of town, where the square shaped buildings of a previous era rusted in beds of fallen rubble, then further on to what must have once been the newest section of the city. Here, the buildings were lower but in far better condition, still sporting gay colors and undamaged facades. Only the ever present weeds, clustered in pockets of drifted soil, marred the streets. There were a few abandoned ground cars but little rubbish.
A bark came from the front of the column and was echoed by others. Conan broke free from the bunch and raced ahead, woofing joyfully. He skidded around the corner of a large, warehouse-like building and disappeared from view, still barking. The lead dogs followed, hurrying to catch up. From his position in the column Jamie could not see much of what was happening, but he felt his pulse stirring as he turned the same corner. What he saw surprised him. Expecting more buildings, he was greeted by a long slope of low bushes shot with narrow trails. The slope ended in an expanse of water, bordered by massive piers and backed with a long stretch of low, one and two story buildings leading off to the left, then disappearing behind clumps of small trees. In the distance, he could see another shore where an encroaching forest all but obscured more old buildings. From flotsam moving on the water, he deduced that he was looking at a narrow stretch of river rather than a lake as he had first thought.
The head of the column had stopped after turning left, and he could see Masters' slight form striding purposefully forward. A contingent of strange dogs was clustered around Conan and others were sniffing noses and crotches with their own dogs.
"I think this might be it," Jamie said to Judy, standing by his side, hand near her sidearm, wary as ever.
"It must be. Look, there's a human." Jamie's glance followed her pointing finger. Emerging from between the pier and the adjoining building was a solitary man, unarmed. As he came nearer, Jamie noticed the contrast between him and the other feral humans they had fought. He was dressed in tanned leather rather than hides, and his hair and skin were clean looking. Apparently, whatever group of humans he represented fared better with their animal cohorts than the ones who ran with the bears.
The man stopped where Conan was still greeting old friends and spoke briefly with him. He knelt and fondled the alien disk hanging from the dog's neck, appeared satisfied, then came on.
Masters stepped forward to meet him. They conversed a short time, then Masters cupped his hands to his mouth and called, "Da Cruz, front and center!"
Jamie trotted forward, wondering at first why he was being honored, then remembered that Conan had designated him as the prime recipient of the disk message.
"Welcome," the man said courteously as Jamie approached, holding out his hand. He was short and stocky, with shoulder length black hair held back from his forehead by a band of leather. A full beard, neatly trimmed, covered his face. His eyes were a deep, commanding black, set wide apart above a straight nose.
"Hello," Jamie said, taking the proffered hand. He thought that seemed inadequate, but could think of nothing else to add. He wished suddenly for the presence of John Whitmire, or anyone else versed in diplomatic technique.
"I am named Cortman, companion to Whitetooth," the man said.
"I'm Jamie Da Cruz."
Courtman seemed puzzled. "Your companion is Da Cruz?"
"No, that's my last name."
The puzzled look grew. "You changed your name? What happened to the first one. Was it not suitable?" The man's accent sounded strange but was easily understandable.
Jamie felt completely out of his depth, but gamely, he tried again. "I have two names, Jamie and Da Cruz. Please call me Jamie."
"Ah. Two names. Then you have no companion?" The puzzlement was replaced by a faintly disapproving expression.
Jamie finally got the drift of the conversation. He whistled and his pets broke free of the still milling pack of dogs and cats. Fuzzy Britches appeared somewhat mussed, the etiquette of greeting strange dogs a little rougher than what he was used to.
"These are my companions. Woggly and Fuzzy Britches." He pointed to each as he named them.
"Welcome, companions of Jamie Da Cruz," Courtman said. He pronounced each name as a separate entity. "The mouse catcher is most unusual. We have none like him here."
"There's none like him anywhere else, either," Jamie said, tongue in cheek.
"We are happy to see Conan return. Of all the bearers of summons from the Great Being, he is as yet the only one to return. We fear for the others, bereft of companions though they be, as is Conan."
Jamie started to ask what the man meant by that remark, then remembered Conan's anticipation of returning to the Enclave with him. He suspected that the breeding rate of the dogs was such that only a limited number of them could have "companions". He started to ask if that were so, then was distracted by a disk similar to Conan's dangling from a cord about Cortman's neck. He wondered what images it produced, if any, and more importantly, where was the producer? With the simplicity of the non-diplomat, he asked, "Can we see this 'Great Being'? We've come a long way."
"He sleeps now. We must wait until he awakens. Until then, I ask you to bring your followers. You and they will be cared for while we wait."
That remark suited Jamie. He was already getting tired of the stilted formalities. "Lead on, we'll follow," he said.
Masters, who had been standing within hearing distance, closed up to walk with Jamie as they followed Cortman. "It looks as if I've been replaced as leader of this little party," he said, an amused expression brightening his weathered face.
"Don't blame me. Conan is your culprit," Jamie said, somewhat shortly.
"I'm not. Hey, looks like we're about here." They passed behind the huge pier, where Jamie could see crude canoes anchored below, and around to the entrance of the adjoining building. The dogs all trotted ahead while the rest of the group trailed behind, the rangers nervous and scanning the area continuously. The rows of rectangular buildings lined the river for several hundred yards, well up from the banks, but it was apparent that only a few of them were occupied.
Cortman led the way inside one of them. There was a long narrow open space lined with glass fronted shops, some still displaying useless dusty goods; others apparently being used as rodent proof food storage areas. They trailed him along the gloomy walkway to a gazebo area where light shone through an opening from above and an exit led back outside. The shops were interrupted on either side, creating a large area dividing the building roughly into half. Cortman stopped there, waving his hand at weather-streaked chairs and benches. A small fire burned in the center of the arbor, smoke trailing upward in a thin plume.
Masters directed several rangers to the exit to stand guard, then spoke to Jamie. "I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to call the Enclave. They'll never find us here otherwise. Tell the bossman there that some floaters will be arriving tomorrow."
Jamie turned to Cortman, who was standing patiently by, wondering how he was to put over the concept of floaters to this primitive. It was surprisingly easy. The man seemed to have more knowledge of the Enclave technology than his leather clad image would indicate.
"The Great Being will be pleased when it awakes. It desires to disk-talk with men from the great cities. Tell them to come," Cortman said. He seemed unable to speak other than in polite, formal tones.
"When will the Great Being wake up?" Jamie asked.
Cortman looked up at the waning light falling into the arbor. "Soon after the light goes, I should think. We will eat and have a ceremony before then. I will go now, and bring my people. Your followers and their companions may stay here."
"I'll go and get the antenna set up," Masters said. I really hate to call, but I suppose if the space folks intend to bother us, they've probably been following the floaters back and forth by satellite anyway." He left, taking two men with him outside.
Jamie sat down on one of the low benches with Kristi. "I wonder what sort of ceremony that guy is talking about?" He asked.
"Why wonder? We'll know soon enough. Did you spot the landing site?"
"No. You mean you did? Is it really a spaceship?"
"Troy thinks it must be. He pointed to where he thinks it must have landed as we came in. The third building down. It looks as if something rather large plowed into it recently and is buried inside. The tears show fresh metal and there is a gouged out furrow upslope from the river leading to it. Actually, it looks as if it were more of a crash than a planned landing."
Jamie decided that he must not be very observant if he had missed seeing such an obvious phenomena, then that thought was lost as another struck him. "That might explain a lot of things."
"Uh huh. Like why the thing didn't come down directly at an Enclave in the first place. If it crashed, that would explain why it needed to use feral humans and dogs to get a message out."
"Well, I'm ready to see what sort of creature it is and get this thing over with. When I get back, I don't want to leave the Enclave again for the rest of my life."
"Not even for a short patrol with me?"
"How about just killing the proverbial fatted calf and have it ready when you come in?"
"What would Jeannie think of that?"
"Ask Fuzz and Wog. They're my social directors. Look, here comes Masters."
The ranger captain came over and sat down beside them. "John will be sending some floaters out to locate us in the morning, along with some more scientists." He smiled at Jamie. "You may be having company."
"So I've heard, but maybe I won't be here that long. As soon as my part is finished, I want a ride back on the first floater out."
The conversation broke off as Cortman returned, leading a small contingent of humans, dressed in leather as he was. There were two other men, three women, and several children, ranging in age from adolescence to a babe in arms. They were trailed by a larger number of dogs of well mixed breeds and several cats. He proceeded to introduce the humans one at a time, not excluding even the infant, as 'companion of', then naming a dog. The cats were not mentioned, and Jamie never did learn what role they played in the strange society.
Masters introduced the rangers and scientists, not failing to mention each ranger's dog. The lack of a named companion for the scientists seemed to puzzle the feral humans' leader, but he accepted with the grace of a chieftain deferring to the ways of strangers.
"Is this all of your people?" Jamie asked. It didn't seem to him that so few humans could maintain a viable society, although he admitted to himself that he was no expert in the matter.
"When the pack splits, we also must divide. It is the way."
"Makes sense," Masters commented in an aside. "It's typical of dog or wolf packs to split up when the population gets too high to support them in one area. The humans must maintain contact, though. These we see are too few to maintain a viable gene pool otherwise."
"It is so," Cortman said, looking at Masters but still deferring to Jamie. Masters was surprised. The man's hearing must be acute. While he didn't think Cortman's tribe could possibly have maintained the theoretical knowledge of such terms as 'gene pool', apparently their leader had discerned the gist of his comment.
"Food has been brought," Cortman continued. "We will eat, then perform the ceremony of bonding with our companions. Perhaps the Great Being will awaken by then." He motioned to the three women, who began depositing and opening small bundles each had been carrying. They contained dried meat and unidentified dried vegetables. Masters whispered to the ranger next to him and word was passed among them to share out their food bars.
Jamie found the dried meat to be palatable, but he considered the vegetables inedible, although he noticed that some of the rangers managed to consume most of theirs, albeit with no great appetite. He noted with amusement that the feral humans seemed to be having the same trouble with the ranger field rations. Fuzzy Britches, hanging close to his side in the presence of so many strange dogs, accepted a little of the hard jerky, but made his main meal from his own rations. Woggly and Conan gnawed at the hard meat and seemed to enjoy it, while the feral dogs sampled the food bars and apparently were glad of the exchange. There was little talk during the meal, and Jamie had yet to hear any of the three adult females speak. He supposed that in the wilds, the physical inequality of the sexes had again placed women in a subordinant role.
Cortman rose to make an announcement, speaking to his own people, but including the expedition members as well. "Our ceremony of bonding will begin. With it, we reaffirm the companionship of dog and man, each dependent on the other. Where dog is, there is man. Where man is, there is dog. He clapped his hands lightly. One of the females stood up and began to remove her garments, as did one of the men. Naked, they walked from the shadows into the flickering light cast by the small central fire. Two dogs, also of opposite sex, appeared from the other side of the flame and joined them. Jamie began to get an inkling of what was happening, but even so, he was taken aback as the two humans dropped to hands and knees. The dogs moved to them, one mounting the woman, the other backing up to the man.
A muttering of shocked disapproval came from the circle of rangers and scientists, but was stopped quickly by Masters low, commanding voice. "Easy," he said. "Don't make a scene. These people don't think the same as we do."
The muttering died, though not the disapproval. Sex between animal and human was not unheard of in the Enclave; many permitted and even encouraged their pets to participate, but only as an adjunct to the couplings of humans, where the pets could show their approval and affection while humans consummated the act. Direct coupling with an animal was considered a perversion, although for the act to be considered so, it must by definition take place occasionally, as Jamie knew it did. It was seldom admitted, though. He was embarrassed, as if he were watching his parents have sex, and felt certain that the other expedition members were as well. He noticed that their own animals were looking on curiously, as if they were watching an interesting Holo, but one beyond their understanding. Fortunately, the ceremony did not take up much time or it might have led to altercations despite Masters' admonition.
When it was over, the two humans casually donned their garments again, as if they had only taken them off for a quick swim or some other innocuous activity. Masters was still trying to think of some unobtrusive comment to break the tension he felt all around him when he was saved the trouble. A young man came running in from the outside, breathing heavily. "The Great Being awakes!" He shouted loudly, obviously pleased to be the bearer of such good news.
Cortman stood up and beckoned to Jamie. "Come. The Great Being will see you now."