Human (60 page)

The woman squinted at the stone in Orrin’s hand, trying to make it out in the dim light. Her eyes grew wide. She looked panicked, flicking between the stone and his face.

He lowered his voice. “Please.
The stars.
There are markings on this stone. The Southern Cross, look!” Fumbling in the dark, he found five jagged rocks, each the size of a fist. He shoved them one by one into the lattice of wire, creating a vertical rocky constellation between them.

“
Hiranah
,” she whispered.

“What?”

“
Hiranah
.”

“Hiranah?” Orrin repeated. “Is that was this is called? These stars?”

The woman closed her eyes, deliberating. With slow careful movements, she pointed back to the rocky constellation and then found its counterpart in the sky, barely visible through the clouds. She gestured back to the amulet. “
Hiranah.
”

The woman crouched down. She swept the dirt floor with her fingers collecting a twig and poked it through the wire lattice. Her bony wrist and arm easily followed. She began to draw a shape in the dirt at Orrin’s knees. Five points coming together. Connecting the dots.

An ivy leaf.

“
Hiranah.
” She whispered again. Her arm swept once more from the constellation, to the amulet and down to her dirt symbol. “
Hiranah.
”

She smiled sadly, then turned and limped back to her children.

“She’s some kind of Goddess,” Orrin declared.

“Who is?”

“Ivy.”

“Yeah right man, you wish.”

“No listen Phil, I’m serious. I’ve been looking into this ‘Hiranah’ symbol that the hobbit woman showed me. It was an Ivy leaf, clear as day. I think they’re all interconnected; the symbol, the constellation and the amulet. I think, they are all
Ivy
.”

“Okay, I’m game.” Phil leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms with a derisive look. “Humour me.”

Orrin ignored the sarcasm. “I’ve been doing some research on the
Homo floresiensis
species. There isn’t much to go by, well, there’s actually a lot of anatomy and subsistence research available. But not much culturally.”

“That’s probably because they have no culture, dude.” Phil rolled his eyes.

“Actually they do, you smart article. It’s just not widely recognised. Listen to this,” Orrin adjusted his glasses and read from the computer screen.

“Early behavioural research on the
Homo floresiensis
species was undertaken by Chantelle Miruve, a PhD from Oxford University during the years 1967-1978. Dr Miruve was the fourth and final researcher sent into the field under the umbrella of famous palaeoanthropologist Louis Leakey to study primates in their natural environments. This research stemmed from his attempts to determine the potential similarities between non-human primates and early human behaviour.

‘Leakey’s Angels’, as they became known, consisted of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas and Chantelle Miruve. These women respectively studied the chimpanzees of Tanzania, mountain gorillas in Rwanda, orangutans of Borneo and the Homo floresiensis ‘hobbit’ species in Flores, Indonesia.

Initially, Miruve made minimal headway with the species; however, she was eventually able to gain their trust enough to begin ethnographic research as well as behavioural observation. Her work suggests the hobbits have a complex oral history. The species is primarily a nature-worship society incorporating a deity (taken to be a goddess-like figure) called Hiranah. The name is a reference to the sunset and is symbolised by a crude five pointed shape, believed to be a star. This symbol has since been found represented at numerous limestone caves in Flores by archaeologists.

Dr Miruve’s sympathies for the species against deforestation concerns and hunting of the hominid for the bush-meat trade, led to frequent conflict with local hunters. Dr Miruve was found murdered in her camp in 1987. No charges were ever laid.”

Phil let out a soft whistle. “Murdered?”

“That’s what it says” said Orrin, “It seems the debate over hobbit rights began a long time ago, but apparently Dr Miruve’s voice was silenced pretty swiftly.” Orrin adjusted his glasses as he considered the prisoners, for that is clearly what they were, in the Behavioural Research lab. “At least now there seems to be some backlash to their treatment. It’s a shame it has taken this long.”

“I don’t think life’s going to improve for them in a hurry, poor little buggers,” Phil said.

Orrin raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you gave a shite what happened to them.”

“Maybe I don’t. Dunno.” Phil shuffled uncomfortably. “I heard a black-market haul was uncovered yesterday though. It was bad news. Exotic animals, hundreds of them. Mainly young ones being sent as pets from South East Asia to the Middle East. They’re considered a status symbol you know, there’s big money involved.”

“What happened?”

If Phil looked uncomfortable before, now he looked downright disturbed. He took a deep breath and let his eyes wander around the room as he spoke.

“The shipping containers were pulled off route and confiscated but almost all the animals were already dead. Clouded leopards, heaps of exotic birds, monkeys and hobbits. Lots of them. They didn’t have enough food or water to make the distance. Or enough air. Some suffocated, most starved.”

The blood drained from Orrin’s face. “They did that to the young ones? All those animals? To children?”

Phil finally met Orrin’s eyes. His distaste was clear in the set of his mouth. “It’s pretty standard apparently. Babies make the best pets.”

Orrin screwed his eyes shut at the memory of the injured hobbit mother fighting for her children against the tranquiliser darts. How soon would she lose her last battle? Were her last three children destined to become pets on the black market? Consumer novelties for the rich? The thought was sickening.

“It’s been happening for years O,” Phil sighed. “There’s nothing you can do about it.” He looked thoughtful. “So you’re saying this ‘Hiranah’ deity that Miruve uncovered is actually Ivy?”

“I’m saying it has
got
to be Ivy,” said Orrin. “Look at the ethnographic evidence. The word
Hiranah
actually means sunset – a pretty distinctive shade of red and also the exact colour of Ivy’s hair.”

Phil grinned. “You like gingers, hey?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Shut your gob and focus Phil,” rebuffed Orrin, without malice. “So, the symbol representing this deity is a five pointed shape, I bet it’s not a star - it’s an ivy leaf.” He strode over to the pin board and pulled Jayne’s cave painting down. “What is this, if not a clear indication of Ivy living with these people? Red hair, white skin, even Kyah is documented in prehistory.”

“But why consider her a deity, even if she was there?” said Phil. “She’s human, not a god. She has no special powers.” Although Phil countered Orrin’s argument, his face showed no disrespect.

Orrin considered for a moment. “Well, I’m sure this Dr Miruve recorded it as objectively as she could. But there are language barriers, obviously, and she didn’t have all of the information, did she? How could she have known Ivy wasn’t a deity, but was actually just a normal woman – in the wrong place and the wrong time? There is no precedent for something like this. Her observations were correct, but her interpretation was wrong.”

“Fair enough.” Phil conceded. “As far as the logic goes, I suppose I can accept that. Assuming it all happened of course. And we’ll have confirmation of that little stretch of insanity in just under a week.”

“Yes, we will.” Orrin sighed, sitting back at his desk.

Phil sat forward, pulling a newspaper out from under his half-eaten cafeteria lunch. He folded it back onto itself and expertly ran his fingers down the page.

“Crap,” he said, scowling.

“What now?” Orrin didn’t look up.

“Stock prices have dropped again. MMR, and consequently most of my inheritance, is going down the tubes.”

“MMR? Never heard of it,” said Orrin. Although, in light of the fact he didn’t belong to this version of reality, Orrin wasn’t really surprised.

“A mining conglomerate,” Phil said. “Most of the rare earth metals being pulled out of South East Asia are mined by MMR Holdings. Including Flores, actually. That’s where they started, just a local Chinese operation back then until geologists recognized the link between the hobbits’ brains and what was underground. They moved the operation into Indonesia and it’s been nothing but champaigne and caviar since then.” At Orrin’s bewildered expression, Phil added, “Family connections - my grandparents were ground-floor investors.”

“And here I was thinking you aspired to the noble mediocrity of an academic salary,” Orrin said.

“Hell no, I’m planning to live off my charm and good looks,” Phil shot back. “But I did hope my trust fund would still be around when they wear out.”

“My heart is bleeding for you. So why did the shares drop?” asked Orrin.

Phil looked disgruntled. “Now it’s clear you’ve been AWOL from reality or you wouldn’t be asking. The shares are nearly worthless because we’re running out of deposits to mine. There’s been a shit-fight over the last tracts of land and MMR lost the job to someone else. Basically, what minimal rare earth deposits are left are worth billions and the rest of the land is worthless. It’s been strip mined to buggery and replanted with Palm Oil plantations. Hence, the share prices and my future livelihood, as it were, are going rapidly down the toilet.”

“My condolences, boyo. For what it’s worth, so’s the rest of the damned planet,” said Orrin.

“Touche.” Phil continued his half-eaten lunch while Orrin considered their conversation. If such massive amounts of rare earth metals had been removed from South East Asia, surely there would be serious environmental ramifications. And what of Flores? The evolutionary adaptation of magnetite in the hobbit brain suggested that their homeland was a sinkhole of valuable metals as well. If those deposits were gone now, strip mined away, as Phil had said, how had that affected the magnetic fields surrounding the area? Or the hobbits themselves for that matter?

There were too many unanswered questions and Orrin rubbed his chin, feeling entirely out of his depth. It was intriguing though and he determined to find out more. After a short while, he looked at his watch.

“You’d better leg it,” Orrin said. “My lecture notes are on the desk by the door.”

Phil scowled towards the door and the stack of papers he’d been trying to ignore. “How long are we going to keep this up Orrin? I’m not qualified or experienced enough to be teaching these classes for you. Third year quantum physics? I didn’t even specialise in that area.” He looked genuinely intimidated.

“You’re doing grand, Phil, I trust you implicitly with this.”

“It’s not about trust!” Phil argued. “If the Chancellor found out you’ve been skipping lectures and sending me to teach instead…”

“Well what else can I do?” Orrin thumped his hand flat on the desk in front of him and turned away. “I can’t just turn up to the Chancellor’s office and tell her I sent a woman into the Stone Age! She’d have me committed or fire me on the spot. Either way, I’d be out of the lab and I need to be here to make this right. I can’t say I need sick leave, because I’m here everyday, and every night for that matter.” Orrin scraped his fingers through his scalp. “My only choice is to bunk off so I can keep figuring this out and get Ivy back. I’m running out of time, man.”

Phil scowled. “There are hundreds of students getting an unqualified substitute everyday. Something’s gonna give, you know I can’t keep this up.”

“Please Phil. I
need
you to do this for me,” Orrin begged.

“You’re going to get found out and we’ll both be in major shit,” Phil said. “My future career prospects may not be as important to you as your love life, but they damn well are to me!”

“It’s only another week. It has to be you. You’re the only one I trust to cover me.”

“Well, maybe you’re too damn trusting,” Phil scowled. “Maybe I don’t want to jeopardise my career for you.”

Orrin’s shoulders sagged. “You’re entirely right and I
am
sorry. But I need you to do this for me. I owe you big time.”

“You’re damn right you do.” Phil picked up the stack of papers and data drive waiting on the desk by the door. “Just don’t be surprised when this all comes crashing down on you. Because it will.” He left.

Orrin’s eyes stung. He walked back to his monitor and sat down. For a long time, he stared at the open document without really seeing it.

“I could give those lectures for you.” Dale’s timid voice sounded hopeful. “I aced Quantum Physics last year.”

Orrin looked up, surprised. Once again, he’d been so involved in his discussion that he’d forgotten Dale was in the room.

“I know you aced it, I was your lecturer.” Orrin smiled apologetically. “The truth is though, I need someone to get up there and convince those kids that he’s meant to be there. They’d eat you alive.”

Dale’s face fell but Orrin pushed on, feeling obliged to justify his choice.

“I just can’t risk any questions. Phil’s nothing if not confident, and he knows just enough to get the job done. If any of the students reported this to the Chancellor, well, I’d be looking for a new job and as for Ivy…” It was too horrific to consider.