16 A New War in the Old World (1/2)
A new flurry of shots nearly made Rani drop her spoon. She was hunched over a small portable cooking stove, the kind used for camping. It ran on gas, and was very economical. A ten-kilo canister of gas lasted for over three weeks. Of course, she always took care to cover the pot or pan, and keep the two small burners spotlessly clean.
Samir and Rani's stay in the New World had been cut short by their abrupt awakening back on Earth. They were woken up by gunshots and explosions.
They jerked upright on the hiber bed they'd shared, eyes wide, mouths slightly open, ears disbelieving what they'd just heard. But they heard it again: a quick rattle of gunshots, followed by a muffled thump.
They both started crying. The pitted gray walls of their room and the gunfire outside made them feel as if they had been yanked out of a paradise, and thrown into hell.
After a few minutes, the gunfire stopped and there were no more explosions. They cautiously looked out of their windows.
The cube was still in the field outside the unfinished house they were living in. But now there was a body lying next to it. It was the body of a young man, dressed in ragged trousers and a short-sleeved shirt. There was a bush machete lying on the ground, next to his outflung hand. His face was turned away from them but they could see there were several dark, wet holes in his back. The biggest one was the size of a fist and it was still oozing thick dark blood.
A couple of the buildings beyond the fields were burning. They could see no fire, just billowing black smoke, now denser, now thinner. They couldn't see any people, but they could see a goat standing not far from one of the burning houses.
They were both very hungry, so Rani got busy with preparing food. Fortunately, they had a jerrycan full of water, so that she didn't need to venture outside. Samir kept watch on what was going outside while she boiled rice on the small Coleman stove.
Every few minutes, a few shots rang out, followed by another period of silence. Samir was increasingly curious. He wanted to find out what was going on.
He also wanted the machete lying on the ground next to the dead man's hand. It looked almost brand new.
”Samir!”
He looked round. Rani was squatting on the floor near the stove and gesturing at him to come and eat. She was right, it wasn't a good idea to eat sitting at the table. It was close to the window: if they sat there, they could be seen from the outside and maybe shot at. It wasn't worth the risk.
She had opened a can of pilchards to go with the rice, and added some greens. They ate silently and hurriedly. Rani was clearing the last of the food from her plate when she said:
”Well, this helped. But I could easily eat twice as much.”
Samir nodded.
”They're very hungry,” he said.
”They? You mean us, the Rani and Samir in the New World?”
”Yes. It's best to mute them for a while. Did you tell her what to do?”
By 'her', he meant Rani's alter ego in the New World. Rani said:
”Yes, she's looking for food. There's plenty of fish in the creek, unlike here. But how to catch any? And then what - are they to eat them raw?”
”My man has already found a stone that looks as it could be a flint,” Samir said. ”I also told him to look for a strong, straight stick that can be used as a spear. We just have to leave them to it. If they can't manage...” He shrugged.
Rani was silent for a while. Then she said:
”They'll die if they don't find food.”
”If they do we can give ourselves fresh implants, and start over.”
”Samir! Don't you understand? You'll go through agony here when the Samir in the New World starts dying of starvation.”
”No I won't. I'll just mute him completely. You know how to do it, correct? You reduce the intensity of the signal by putting your cupped hand over the implant, and holding it there for a while. You can turn it up again by rubbing the skin over the implant.”
”I know all that. But I can't abandon my Rani.”
Samir sighed.
”If they don't find food soon, you may be forced to,” he said.
”But why aren't they feeling better now that we've eaten? They're copies of ourselves!”
”Yes, they are. But they are leading an independent existence. We can communicate with them, we can enter their bodies when we are asleep, but they are still independent, autonomous beings in all other respects.”
”I can't stand the thought of my Rani starving to death. So much suffering.”
”You can always kill her.”
”Remove the implant?”
”Yes.”
Rani shuddered.
”I don't know if I can do that,” she said.
”What I would like to know right now,” said Samir, ”Is what's happening here.”
”It's like the riots three years ago.”
”It's much worse. I didn't see a single person outside. It's as if everyone was gone, or dead.”
”Don't say that!”