---Mammoths---
---Treg’s perspective---
---2704 Terran Calendar/9 years BF---
I watch a pair of broad shoulders sway from side to side, a little above my eyelevel both from his excess 20cm and the slope we’re walking up.
“Remind me of the plan, Vicky?” I ask, more for something to talk about than because I’ve forgotten.
“This is the third day of our five day hike up the West Highland Way…” he answers without turning to face me “…when we get to Fort William, we’re havin’ a pop up Ben Nevis, then we’re renting kayaks and crossin’ the Great Glen Coe Trail, up Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness, to Inverness. After that, if we’ve got time, we’re gonna go down to take a look at the Cairngorm Glacier before we head to Edinburgh for a citybreak.”
“And… err… remind me why(?)” I tease.
“Because… come September, I’m shippin’ offworld and we might never see eachother again! We’re gettin’ some quality time in before then!” he answers, trying not to let his irritation into his voice.
“And this is your idea of ‘quality time’, is it(?)” I smirk.
“As someone who is ¾ Scottish by heritage, sharing this part of myself with you seems like a fittin’ last hurrah for us, yes…” he sighs.
“I’m teasin’, Vicky! Don’t strop!” I laugh, reassuringly.
“Ain’t stroppy… just want this to be fun for us…” he says, stroppily.
“What time’s our check-in with Maia?” I ask, changing the subject.
“3 o’clock… 5 hours 23 minutes from now.” he answers immediately.
“Oh… Victor(!) You disappoint me(!) You ain’t gonna give me a countdown accurate to the second(?)” I tease.
“Yeah… I’m sure you could keep track of seconds across the span of hours, Tea(!)” he retorts.
“Not if you don’t give me the seconds to keep track of, Vicky(!)” I answer “.…I’m tired… could we stop and sit down for a bit when we find a rock or a log or something?”
He sighs “We’re never gonna make it to Bridge of Orchy before night if we keep stoppin’, Tea!”
“All of us ain’t blessed with Sapiens’ superstamina, Vicky!”
“I know that, Tea… that’s why I doubled the total journey time over what I would’ve set myself if I were doin’ this alone.”
“Well… don’t you know how to make a girl feel good about herself(!)” I tease.
He stops and turns to face me.
I’m taken aback by his wounded expression.
“Treg… If you ain’t havin’ fun… you don’t need to keep goin’… Just thought it’d be like old times before I went to uni and you went off to that commune, but… if you’re miserable… we can stop… call a capsule and figure out somethin’ else to do for the next two weeks!… D’you wanna just skip all the hikin’ and kayakin’ and go straight to Edinburgh?”
I frown and immediately drop the teasing tone “Vicky! No! I am havin’ fun… this place is gorgeous and I defo wanna keep goin’!!!… I was only teasin’!”
I open my arms and step forward to give the large man a big squeeze.
My slight belly chub squashes against his rock hard abdominals as I dig my hands beneath his backpack and rest my forehead on his shoulder.
He returns the hug, giving me one of his (world famous) Victor Taylor cuddles!
Speaking of which “Can’t believe you let your dormmates christen you ‘Cuddles’, Vicky!” I giggle.
His chest vibrates against my head as he answers “What was I s’posed to do? Bitch and moan until they agreed to give me a cooler epithet like ‘Guardian’ or ‘Defender’(?)” mirthfully.
“You could’ve refused it! Asked for a reconsideration?”
“Nah… I’m cool with bein’ ‘Cuddles’ Taylor…”
We break from the cuddle and continue walking, side by side, now, instead of single file.
“So… how’re things in the South of France?… Have you found yourself yet?”
I smile “I think I have… I’m… gonna be comin’ backta London about the same time you’re leavin’…”
He frowns and turns his head right and down to look at me “You are? This’s the first I’m hearin’ ’bout this?”
I smile, mischievously and dig for my holopad “Yeah… only found out this mornin’ when I checked my messages…”
I bring up the message and turn the screen to him.
He takes my holopad and squints down at it.
“Dear Ms Leaf… On behalf of the Admissions and Standards Committee, it is my great pleasure to notify you of your acceptance to GKT, King’s College London for the Autumn term of 2704…!” his eyes are steadily widening as he reads and, at this point, he looks up at me, mouth hanging open, his face wearing a shocked expression “Oh my god, Tea!… Congratulations! I’m so happy for you! You’re gonna be a doctor! Just like you always wanted to!!!”
I smile “Yeah… I’m glad of the two years in Couze… but I think I’ve got everything out of it that I can… Time to move on.”
He hands me back my holo and looks away, a broad, genuine grin still plastered over his face.
We walk on through the Scottish heath.
It’s interesting how different nature smells in Southern England vs Central Scotland.
The soil’s different, the climate’s different, the vegetation’s different… the result is that my nose is filled with the smell of Scotland right now(!)
“Uhm… we gonna get soaked walkin’ through that?” I ask, gesturing ahead to the ceiling of cloud that intersects with the hill we’re walking up.
“Nah… bit damp but we won’t get drenched… Gonna be stormy tonight so we’ll wanna lodge in Orchy, though.” he shakes his head, causing his copper ponytail to flap over the top of his backpack.
“Fair enough… Hey! Can we check that out?!” I ask, pointing to the lonely skeleton of an old stone building about 300m ahead of us, 200m away from the wall of cloud and 50m off the path.
He shrugs “Sure… briefly…” clearly still thinking about the schedule.
We make it to the husk of a building, its mortar weathered from the cracks and the once sharp edges and corners of the stones rounded off by age.
“Look for a datestone…” suggests Vicky.
Before I’ve even processed what a ‘datestone’ is, he’s found it.
“There! Look! 2051…”
“Wow…!” I admire “…So… this has been here 653 years?… Since 41 years preUnification?”
He turns his head to me, unimpressed “Treg… Unification did not happen in 2092…”
“Come on Victor, yes it did!… You gonna tell me some obscure technicality about how technically we never united ’causa North Sentinel or the Knights of Malta or some shit(?)” I frown, mirthfully.
He shakes his head “2092 was Kwadwo Chowdhurry’s address to the UN… Weren’t until 2097 that Russia and the States stopped draggin’ their heals ’bout it… North Korea was the last to join the Coalition… that was 2101…”
“OK… to most folk, Vicky, 2092 is when Unification happened… Most people don’t care ’bout that kinda nuance!… Kwadwo’s speech is what people remember… nobody remembers the 9 years of admin that apparently followed!”
He throws up his hands in a gesture of ‘just saying’.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“A.ny.way… just think about the history that these stones’ve seen! The Moonlanding will still have existed in livin’ memory when this was built… just about… The person who laid these stones lived when we’d barely even landed on Mars! The person who built this probably thought of ’emself as ‘Scottish’ a long way before they thought of ’emself as ‘Terran’… Their great grandchildren might’ve been some of the first interstellar colonists…”
He doesn’t answer… just looks up at the old building, ponderously.
I start walking away and he follows.
“How do you feel about it bein’ a Londoner who United Earth? You got any pride for that?”
He screws up his face, contemplating, before answering “Don’t know if we can really claim Kwadwo… He was born in Dhaka and his mum was from Ghana, right…?”
“Yeah… but he grew up in London, he spoke English with a London accent, he died in London… I’d say that makes him a Londoner… I’ll proudly claim him as one of us!”
Vicky laughs “Alright then(!)… Hey, you know he’s the reason we wear white to funerals?”
“No shit?” I ask.
“Yeah…” he nods “Till the 22nd Century, most folk thought black was the mournin’ colour… he asked everyone attending his funeral to wear nothin’ but white clothes…”
“What? And people just started copyin’ it after?”
“I guess it…” he starts but stops himself.
He stands stock still, about 30m from the edge of the cloud bank. Dismay is written large across his face.
He turns to me and urgently says “Run!”
He grabs my wrist and takes off towards the old building.
I know better than to ask what’s up.
If Victor says we need to run, we need to run!
I may be a Neanderthal, better adapted for sprinting than Sapiens, but there’s simply no competing with his long legs and well honed fitness!
He doesn’t let me fall behind, dragging me forward by my wrist, right on the edge of my ability not to overbalance and fall on my face.
“Jump!” he instructs, pointing to the frame of a window that’s been without glass for (probably) centuries.
I don’t question it, jumping and clearing the sill in a way I would not be able to if I wasn’t hopped up on adrenaline right now!
He jumps in after me, making it look effortless!
He peaks over the sill, only up to his eyes.
I mimic him.
For a few seconds, I see nothing… then a titanic shadow looms through the cloud.
Near on 4m tall and more than half as wide. On both sides sweep long, thin, curving shapes, coming to points.
The creature announces itself with a great rumbling moan that I can feel in my bones!
Its tusks breach the cloud layer ahead of the rest of it.
A long trunk, covered in shaggy brown fur is the next to appear.
As the woolly mammoth steps from the fog, more silhouettes appear behind it.
“Jesus! He’s big!” I whisper to Vicky, pointing at the enormous mammoth with the scarred face leading his herd out of the cloud and down the path we were walking up.
Vicky puffs and whispers back “She… Mammoth herds don’t have any adult males… but I can see why you’re confused… she’s definitely the size of a male!… Oh, fuck!… Look!… They’ve got calves!” he says, indicating the two babies that have just emerged.
Next to their mums, they look adorably titchy but they probably already outmass either of the two Humans watching them by quite a large amount!
“Wow! That could have been really bad! We almost blundered our way into a herd of mammoths in a fog bank! Who knows how they would have reacted if we’d startled them!”
Mammoths, like all resurrected fauna, have an aversion to Humans.
It’s the only tampering that has been done to them… just bringing their sense of how wide a berth to cut us and our settlements in line with the rest of the animal kingdom.
Mammoths don’t seek out conflict with us… but still, several times a year there are fatal run-ins between mammoths and Humans, mostly taking place when Humans accidentally startle mammoth herds.
I turn to look at my brother.
How the hell did he know about the mammoths?!
---Tal’s perspective---
The sound of a raucous ceilidh thunders from the back room as I look across the empty bar.
I idly wind a lock of my curly, black hair around a long finger.
I hear the bell ring from the entrance.
Turning my head to look who’s coming in, I see a man so tall he has to stoop to not hit his head.
He’s well built and his damp, copper hair is pulled into a ponytail.
He carries a wooden walking stick that it looks like he might have carved himself.
His face is boyish in a way that doesn’t quite fit his manly body.
He’s got to be a genuine late teen/early twenty something… since he looks too young to be the result of regen!
I… definitely wouldn’t object if he wanted to ask me for a dance(!)
Being a 201cm Tshwane, it’s extremely rare that I get to dance with someone without having to contort myself awkwardly for them!
Looks like that wouldn’t be an issue with him though…
My heart sinks a little as I see a woman walk in behind him.
The girl is about the same age as the boy, slightly chubby in a way that I have no problem calling ‘thicc’, her skin is tan and freckled, her hair is a rich colour somewhere between scarlet and crimson and her eyes are an impossible shade of lime green, even brighter than her boyfriend’s emeralds!
Despite what you might think, the chances of the two very attractive redheads with green eyes who just walked in being related biologically stand at around 0%...
This is obvious from their Lineage…
He could be the holotype of Homo sapiens(!)
She’s a Neanderthal. Taller and more Sapiensoid looking than most, even for a Levantine but (unless I’m mistaken and she’s actually a half (allowing the possibility of the two sharing one parent)) pretty sure they’re a couple.
Oh well… Easy come, easy go!
“Evening, yous two.” I smile in English, ready to switch to Scots or Gaelic if they answer in either “If yous’re here for the ceilidh, I’ve got to warn yous, it’s traditional highland dress only… I cannae let yous in dressed like that.”
“Actually…” says the handsome man, surprising me by speaking English with an English accent “…we was wonderin’ if we could rent a lodge for tonight… This is where we do that, right?”
I grimace “It would be… Only thing is… we gave away the last chalet about an hour and a half ago… We’ve got no lodges to rent, I’m afraid!… Really sorry!”
The man looks resigned.
The woman looks gutted as she says “We hadn’t been pinned down by that mammoth herd, we’d’ve made it, Vicky!”
“You got pinned down by a mammoth herd?” I ask, alarmed.
“Yeah… they surprised us comin’ off a shrouded hill… had to spend more than 2 hours huddled in a 21st Century ruin while they grazed around us. They had calves so we might’ve spooked ’em if we’d come out!” answers the man.
I appraise the pair and ask “The matriarch… was she big?… Did she have a scar on the left side of her trunk, near the base?”
The man nods.
“That’s Siobhan… she looks like a tough customer but she keeps her herd well in line… you didnae need to hide from them… So long as you didnae charge at Angus or Finlay screaming aggressively, the worst you’d’ve got was a bit o’ stink-eye from them!”
The girl looks like I’ve just pissed in her tea as she asks “So we didn’t need to hide for two hours at all!?”
Her boyfriend shakes his head “We didn’t know that. Hidin’ were still the most sensible option.”
“Oh… yeah! For sure! If a herd I didnae know came into the valley with bairns in tow, I’d cut them a mile wide berth! Yous definitely did the right thing!”
“And now we’re payin’ for it(!)” sulks the girl.
“Yeah… Sorry, Tea.” confirms the boy, wearily. Turning his attention back to me he says “Thanks anyway. Guess we’ll go an’ find somewhere to pitch a tent for the night.”
With that the pair turn to go.
“Wait…” I say, on impulse.
They stop and turn back to me.
“It’s gonna absolutely torrent down tonight… Yous two seem like decent folk… My shift ends at 8 o’clock and I’m working from 4 tomorrow… If yous’re happy to wait here for an hour and you can agree to leave before 3:30 tomorrow… and you can agree to keep words like ‘quaint’, ‘rustic’, ‘homely’ and ‘cozy’ out o’ your mouths when describing my home… you and your girlfriend can stay with me…”
The reactions I get are… not quite the boundless gratitude I was expecting!
The boy gives a mirthful chuckle.
The girl looks somewhere between exasperated and disgusted.
She quickly sets me right “We ain’t a couple!… Downside of havin’ a brother from another mother is, everywhere you go, you’re gettin’ accused of incest(!)”
Mirthfully, the handsome boy answers before I can “I think what you mean, Tea, is:…” he turns to face me and continues “…Thank you so much for your generosity! If you’re sure it ain’t gonna be any trouble for you, we’d be delighted to take you up on your amazin’ offer of hospitality… but, yeah… we ain’t a couple…”
“Noted…” I smile.
Even better(!)
Managing to keep from biting my lip as I look up and down the mouthwatering man and consider his newly confirmed availability, I continue “Well… couple or nae… yous two are welcome at Taigh a’ Ghràidh… Can I get you anything to drink while we wait?”
---Treg’s perspective---
---2714 Terran Calendar/1 year AF---
“Vicky!” I beam as my brother and his girlfriend answer the call from most of a galaxy away “…And Tuun! Nice to see you, cutie!” I add, winking.
The girl blushes, adorably!
Vicky chuckles and shakes his head.
I squeeze my skinny husband into my side as my eyes flick briefly up to Sigrid, making us dinner in the kitchen.
She hasn’t actually gone as far as moving in with us yet but… as of a few months ago… we are official… She’s me and Lloyd’s girlfriend now… I’m very pleased!
Definitely helps that she gets on great with Chelsea!
“Hey Tea! Hey Lloyd! Where’s that lovely daughter of yours?” grins Vicky.
Wordlessly, I point the camera to a conked out Chelsea, lying on the sofa next to me.
I’m careful not to point the camera at my stomach… Don’t want to give the game away!
“Where’s that lovely pet of yours, Vicky?” I grin back, returning the picture to my face.
Right on cue, a metre wide head appears between the two of them and yowls at the screen.
Vicky gives her some hearty scritches as I coo at her.
I take a deep breath.
“We’ve got some news!” say Vicky and I in unison.
Both of us raise our eyebrows in surprise at the other.
Then I react “Jinx!… Now you gotta let me go first!”
Playing along, he gestures, wordlessly, for me to go ahead.
I stand up and turn to the side.
I’m definitely not a skinny woman but the bulge in my stomach is clearly not just my normal paunch.
“Oh my god, Treg!” says Vicky, forgetting his jinx “You’re pregnant again!? I’m so happy for you both!… Do you know the sex?! Have you thought of names?! When’s it due?!”
“Male, haven’t decided, 4 months out.” I answer his questions in order.
“Oh… well… if it’s a boy… what choice do you have except to name him after his amazing uncle Victor(!) Victor Leaf(!)” he quips, his tone suggesting the issue has already been resolved.
I laugh “Yeah… you wish, Vicky!… So… what was you guys’ news?”
Vicky grins at his girlfriend and says “Show her.”
The adorable xeno girl holds out her upper left hand to the camera.
On the middle digit is a gorgeous ring in silvery metal with what looks like a large sapphire mounted between two smaller diamonds on it.
I’m stunned for a few moments before I manage “Whuh… uh… yuh… You’re gettin’ married?! When!?”
Jesus! They didn’t waste any time!
Guess they’ve been dating more than a year now but it doesn’t feel like it!
“Soon as we’re done with our current mission… should be about a year-a year and a half… gonna do it on her homeworld, Fennoscandia… her mum’s gonna marry us in her meadhall.”
“Wow…” I say, trying not to let my disappointment through in my voice.
For a second there, I thought he might come back to Earth to get married.
“So… Treg… I’ve got a big ask, so feel free to refuse…” poses Vicky.
“Go on an’ ask?” I frown, confused.
“If you can get the time off work to come out… would you like to be my best woman?”