People Of The Tiger: USA Edition - Book One of The Rational Future Trilogy

Book One of

The Rational Future Trilogy

With American Imperial (Standard) measurement units

A Smashwords Digital Production

Copyright2015

By

Wayne Edward Clarke

All Rights Reserved

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between the characters in this book and any real person living or dead is strictly coincidental.

The purchaser of this eBook may copy this eBook to any computers, eBook reading devices, or backup digital storage media that the purchaser personally owns. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people by the purchaser. This eBook may not be loaned by the purchaser to other people unless the purchaser is also loaning the eBook reading device that this eBook will be read on. This eBook may not be copied to any device or media that is not personally owned by the purchaser. The purchaser must delete this eBook from any devices or media that the purchaser is selling, giving away, or disposing of. For the purposes of this statement of rights; corporations are not people. Corporations must purchase one copy of each eBook for each human person associated with the company who will read them.

Books By Wayne Edward Clarke:

Science Fiction:

The Rational Future Trilogy:

Book 1; People Of The Tiger

Book 2; Hunters In The Sky

Book 3; Victory Or Extinction

Epic Fantasy:

The Nexus Of Kellaran Trilogy:

Book 1; Blessings Of A Curse

Book 2; The Fire And The Storm

And coming in 2015;

Book 3; Chaos Of A Demon War

These novels are available in popular eBook formats at

Smashwords.com who have provided format conversions

And at leading eBook retailers

And on popular eBook apps for Apple and Android devices.

Foreword

This is the Professional USA Edition, a version of a previously published book that has been re-published and re-edited to be more enjoyable to the general reading public. Measurements are given in American Imperial (Standard) units.

Many of the characters in this book who are closely related and of the same gender have very similar names, (Tika daughter of Tira, Raz son of Naz, etc.), so names must be read carefully. This is done to show relationship in a subculture that does not use family names.

It's been at least thirteen years since I started writing this trilogy, and many things have changed since then. For instance; when I began there were no 'tablet' or 'pad' style computers available in the world, so they were science fiction. Now they are reality, and they're everywhere, much sooner than I expected. This inability to accurately predict the pace of innovation and the course of the future is the biggest problem with writing science fiction, but we do what we can.

This story is about people whose culture and values are very different from our own. Many of the normal behaviors that we take for granted would be considered highly offensive by them, and many of their normal behaviors would be considered highly offensive in our own society. And of course, since this is an action and adventure novel, the characters deal with circumstances that are beyond the norm, even for their own society.

Their attitudes towards violence are significantly different from ours, and there are many graphic descriptions of intimate and deadly violence in this story.

Sexuality is a small but important part of this story, and descriptions of a few sexual events are included. They are not included to be titillating or sexually arousing, but rather to show what life would be like in such a culture.

I believe that all aspects of morality were originally practical responses to physical dangers, but sometimes cultural attitudes persist long after the dangers that spawned them are eliminated. All of our traditional cultural attitudes about sexuality and mating are a result of four problems; venereal diseases, sexual parasites, and unplanned pregnancy led to all our sexual taboos and sexual repression, and these include restrictions against any form of sexuality for young females, which have at their basis the medical dangers of adolescent pregnancy. Unknown paternity led to monogamous marriage, since it was the only way for a man to be reasonably sure that the children he was supporting were biologically his. We now have technological solutions to all four of these problems. We have condoms, tests, treatments, and cures for diseases, and hygiene techniques for parasites. We have many forms of contraception for unplanned pregnancy, and genetic tests for determining paternity. These solutions are historically recent, and their use has not yet been adopted by the majority of humanity, so most of our traditional sexual cultural attitudes and taboos have remained.

The sexual events in this book are there because in the future that I envision, sexual behavior has become much more open and much less restricted, due to the universal use of these solutions to sexual problems.

Some readers see how such a lifestyle would have much less needless guilt and shame than ours, and much healthier fulfillment, and they like reading about it. Others have the emotional reaction of a Saudi Arabian couple who mistakenly visit a nude beach on the south of France; even if they intellectually agree that nude beaches shouldn’t be illegal, their emotional reactions are disgust and repugnance. It’s far easier to change our minds about a behavior than it is to disregard a lifetime of conditioning. Almost every part of this book that offended some readers in earlier versions have been removed in later revisions, but still; if you’re not capable of considering a system of sexual morality wherein everything that isn’t harmful is allowed, then parts of this book may offend you.

The lifestyles of the predator peoples in this book, especially regarding fighting and homes, are completely frivolous plot devices, only designed to contribute to a good story.

The main characters, like all of the predator peoples in this story, speak Formal Standard English, which does not use contractions like doesn’t, or you’ll, or isn’t. It may seem like they speak strangely, but the reasons for this are valid, and are explained in the story.

The other sociological changes that have taken place in this book are practical solutions to global problems. They include policies, infrastructure, and/or laws dealing with the environment, climate change, overpopulation, transportation, human genetic engineering, recreational alcohol and drug use, and sexuality. I can’t say for sure whether they will work until we try them, but I believe they are the best solutions available.

The thinking that led to these solutions is bio-sociological engineering, and I developed it from bio-sociology as introduced and advanced by Professor Edward. O. Wilson, and sociobiology as introduced and advanced by the zoologist Dr. Desmond Morris.

Since languages began, they have constantly changed and evolved. The advents of written language and printing both slowed language evolution, but it still goes on. Sometimes the resulting conventions that make up ‘proper English’ don’t make a lot of sense, and they're slightly different in every English-speaking country. In most of these cases I’ve caved and used the American conventions anyway in order to avoid irritating my readers who are sensitive about these things, like writing ‘seven thousand, three hundred and fifty-five’. It makes no sense that the compound words for numbers up to one hundred are hyphenated, like fifty-five, and the others aren’t, like three thousand. But I go with it anyway.

However, there is one English convention that I absolutely refuse to follow because it distorts the emotional connotations of the writing. I’ll point it out here so that you’ll know that it’s not a mistake; I’m doing it on purpose.

If a quoted sentence is a question or an exclamation, it is conventionally written as a complete sentence within quotations, for example;

Get down! she yelled. Or;

Is that right? he asked.

However if a sentence that would normally end in a period is a quotation, correct English says that it should be ended with a comma. For example;

I live here, he said.

But the comma makes it a sentence fragment rather than a complete sentence, and leaves the reader hanging, giving a different emotional feel to the writing compared to the way I would write it, which is;

I live here. he said.

I only use a comma to end a quotation if it truly is a sentence fragment, because the sentence was interrupted where a comma would normally go. For example;

I live here, he said, And you’re not welcome.

I suppose in that case I shouldn’t capitalize the word ‘And’, since it’s not really the first word in a sentence, but it bugs me if I don’t.

It’s hard to change what is considered Correct English, but I hope that other writers who read my books will agree with me about these points and do the same in their own writing, and that eventually doing it our way will be correct.

I declare and retain my complete ownership of all intellectual property rights in this novel, including the copyright of the story, and the Industrial Design and/or Patent rights of all of the original technological concepts and devices described therein.

Wayne Edward Clarke, May 19, 2003.

Updated January 16, 2015.

People Of The Tiger

Part One: Development

Chapter 1

April 26, 2153

A tall woman and a girl child sat on a fallen tree facing each other in the forest. They were naked except for small packs, and the woman wore a knife belt and two jeweled steel armbands. The woman was twenty-five years old, darkly tanned with brown eyes and dark brown hair. Her six foot tall, one hundred thirty pound form was developed to athletic perfection. The girl had bright white hair, brown eyes, and a medium tan. They leaned towards each other till their foreheads were almost touching, speaking quietly and deliberately. They kept a constant watch on the forest around them and listened closely for any unusual sounds as they spoke, though this awareness was so habitual that it required little attention.

The rays of morning sun trickled through the trees to the ground, and a soft breeze whispered through the leaves. It was early in the monsoon season, but it hadn’t rained for two days.

Tika, today you are six years old, and you have fulfilled your requirements with very high marks. the woman stated, her smile proud and loving. Until today you have been an Infant. Your role as an Infant has been to be happy and enjoy life, to grow naturally without worry or responsibility, and your learning has been play; you have not had to learn at those times when you did not wish to. Today you officially become a Training Child. I think you have been ready for your training for a long time already, but the law recognizes that everyone deserves at least six years of Infancy. Now you will begin your training, and begin to accept responsibilities. You gain the right to ask any questions suitable to a Training Child. Congratulations. I love you, and I am very proud of you.

I love you too, Tira-Mother.

Tika hugged her mother warmly. What a great thing it was to be six! So many times she had been told: `Do not ask that now.’ or `There is an order of learning. You will learn that when your time is right.’ or `Ask me when you are six, and you become a Training Child.’ And now, finally, that day had come. She had many questions she had been saving, and she took a moment to remember them.

Tira-Mother, why are we Tiger People?

Her mother smiled, and said: "That is a very good first training question, Tika. It is well chosen.

"There have been six full generations of Tiger People, and the females of our family have been Tiger People in an unbroken line for all six generations. My great, great, great grandmother was one of the very first Tiger People, and we are proud of that. You are the seventh generation, and if you have a baby girl, she will count herself as the eighth generation of our maternal line to be Tiger People. We are well suited to this life. It is a good life, and the land here is warm and very productive, so our territories can be small.

And that is why we are Tiger-People. Tira finished with a smile.

Tika watched the forest and for a minute, and considered her next words. "That is nice to know, but that is not what I meant. At the trading post, I saw on a man’s screen many, many techs who were celebrating a holiday called Rationalist’s Day. An Elder tech woman spoke to all the people, and said they were thankful for their way of life, as it had proven to be the healthiest and happiest in all of history. They thanked the memory of The Rationalist, who gave them their way of life in the first place.

So, if the way of life of the techs is proven to be the best, why are we Tiger People instead of being techs? And who was The Rationalist?

"Tika! That is an even better question! Tira told her enthusiastically, and gave her a quick hug. It shows very good thinking for a Training Child! Give me a moment." She cleared her mind and remembered the history, and re-phrased it a bit for a child of six.

"Tika, there was a time called When The World Choked, or the Big Choke. The people did not live within nature. Instead, they used their tech to try to conquer nature. They built their tech things right on top of the ground till they had covered much of the world with them. Even more land was used for agriculture, where they would kill every living thing that lived on the land, so that they could grow only one plant that did not belong there. They released poisons everywhere. After a while the world became sick. The air and water became poisoned. The nights got colder, and the days grew hotter. The dry season got drier, and in the wet seasons it rained more and more. In many places the seasons got all mixed up, and they had weather they had never had there before. Many, many people were killed by storms and droughts and floods and fires, and from war and famine and disease. At the end, about a hundred years ago, society almost collapsed completely, the world economy was wrecked, it seemed the whole world environment was going to die, and everyone was poised on the edge of a world war.

"The people did these things then, because they believed in things that were imaginary, and because they wanted many things that were not important, and because they did not understand human nature.

"Then the Rationalist said to the people: `We must learn to live within nature again. We must respect the natural way of things, and use our tech to help nature and to live within it, and not to kill it, or we will all surely die. We must recognize reality, and not believe in things that are imaginary. We must recognize human nature, so we can do those things that will make us healthy and happy. We must be efficient, and never waste our efforts.

"We believe in those things, Tika, so we are rationalists too.

"The man we know as The Rationalist did not invent being rational or realistic. Rationality was around for thousands of years before then, but only as a way of thinking. The Rationalist was the first to make it a way of life. He started with a few people and a little land on the edge of a city in North America, and proved that his way of life was far better; that his people were healthier and happier and safer, they had more fun and did less unpleasant work than anyone else. Now, almost everyone in the world is a rationalist, but only he is spoken of as The Rationalist. He was called that because he used it to sign his writings when he was first spreading his ideas to the people.

"He invented the lifestyle of the techs. Before him, their cities were all made of bare shaped stone and plastic. Now their cities are camouflaged into the forest so well you can hardly tell they are there, except at night when you can see some light coming through the windows. They started growing most of their food in underground fields with artificial light, and let the land go wild. They built the paths-in-the-trees, and let all the wild animals back onto the cities, except for the playgrounds and parks, which have fences that keep out any animal larger than a rabbit. They built the tube transports, and the great desalinators that make clean water from the ocean, and the fusion power plants.

"All the land and waters except for parks was given over to ecoculture, and the people who care for the natural life began finding ways to help the world. They divided themselves into three groups; people responsible for the waters, people responsible for the land, and people responsible for animal populations.

"Those responsible for the waters tend all the life in the oceans, and in the great lakes and rivers of the world.

Those responsible for the land tend all the trees, plants, funguses, very small animals like worms that are very easy to catch and cannot hurt you, and insects. They name themselves after the dominant plant eating animal in their region, and that is why we have Elephant People in our forest.

Tika had often seen the Elephant People as they went about the business of tending the forest, but had never spoken to them.

The Elephant People, her mother continued, "Look after the forest by doing what they call Filling-In-The-Gaps. When the dry season is much drier than usual, they water the driest parts of the forest, by taking water from the lake or underground with tech. When the wet season is much wetter than usual, they put in drainage tubes to prevent landslides and to keep too many swamps from forming. When the great herds pass through and stomp the ground into mud, they fertilize it a little to help it grow back faster, and other things like that. They make sure that the numbers of every kind of life form are balanced, by evenly harvesting the excess they have caused to grow by tending the forest.

"Those responsible for animals took to calling themselves after the mightiest hunting animals in their part of the world, and took to living like that animal, and that is why there are Tiger People here. We hunt the animals that become too many, to keep the animal populations balanced. In the beginning our people spent far less of their time hunting animals who had become too numerous. They spent much time saving the lives of animals whose whole species were endangered, so that they would not be lost forever, and exterminating weed species from places they were not native, to restore the natural balance. Now, almost all the species that were endangered have either bred to healthy numbers again, or they were lost when the last of them died.

"The forest grows well on its own, but by working with the Elephant People in the Councils, by using the science of ecoculture, and by putting just the right little effort in the right place, at the right time, we all make the forest grow much faster than it would if there were no people here. Even after all the animals we kill to eat and trade at the trading post, and after all the plants and trees the Elephant People take from the forest to eat and trade at their trading post, there are still many more plants and animals in this forest than there would be if there were no people here. The more we help the forest grow, the more people can live from what the forest produces.

"That is what ecoculture is; to help all the natural life forms to grow faster, and be more numerous, so that we can harvest the excess and still have a healthy and balanced system of natural life.

"The Rationalist invented ecoculture, and he invented the lifestyles of all of us who practice it as well. We do not tend to celebrate Rationalist’s Day like the techs do, but our respect for him is as great as theirs, because he invented the lifestyles of all of us who are rationalists.

"Some thought that those who did ecoculture should be techs, that they should do it as a job during the day, and use all their technology to do it, and go home to their buildings in the city at night.

"But the Rationalist had many reasons for making our way of life the way it is. The tech lifestyle is best for most people; it is extremely safe and secure, and it can be very easy for those who choose to spend no effort on luxuries. But, he knew that there would always be some people who cannot be happy in that society, and who would make most techs uncomfortable.

"Some people need more privacy, or they have the fear of crowds. Some people have a strong need to fight, against their opponents or their enemies. Some people do not like closed spaces, so they need to be outside almost all the time. Some people love nature too much to live indoors. Some people are not comfortable with complex and superficial mating rituals. Some people need the excitement of living in dangerous situations. Some people cannot help their need to dominate others. All these kinds of people can find a lifestyle they are suited for, with people they feel comfortable with, among the people who live in the outside world.

"There are many different tech lifestyles as well, for different kinds of techs, though most seem very similar to me. The Rationalist thought that these different personalities should not be bred out of the human family by forcing everyone into one tech lifestyle, because the future is long, and who knows what types of peoples we will need to succeed in the future?

"You know that we evolved from simpler species, and so did every other life form. The Rationalist saw that if all danger were taken out of life, the evolution of our species would slow down, because we improve by adapting to difficulties. Our life has an acceptable amount of danger; less than that faced by every person before the world choked, but enough that over millions of years all people will become a little better because a few fools were killed by their own stupidity before they could breed.

"He also thought that it would be a mistake to breed violence out of humans completely, in order to protect the innocent from attack. He proved that there are better ways to protect the innocent. Now all those who face the risk of violence choose to do so.

"We of the Tiger face the risk of violence, and we gain the chance to enjoy victory, but you can always choose to live another way. This is important, Tika; if you ever feel that you would have a better life by living a different lifestyle, say so, and we will find a lifestyle we can both enjoy, at least until you are formally Adult. I love being Tiger People, but I could not enjoy it if I thought I was forcing you to it, and there are many other lifestyles I could love. When you are Adult, you can choose any lifestyle you want.

"Hunting animals is dangerous work, and we make it more dangerous by using the smallest amount of technology possible to do it. That is why we hunt with a knife and other simple weapons. We use the simplest technology so that our hunting will have the smallest possible effect on the forest, and we use it out of respect for the animals. There was a time when hunters killed from a mile away with tech weapons and magnifying viewers that could see in the dark. The weapon made a noise so loud it disturbed the animals for a mile in every direction. The hunters took no risk and were in no danger, and the animals had no chance.

"When we hunt with a knife, we give the animal a chance to get away, or to fight for its life, as it is in nature. Both evolve to be better, the hunters and the hunted. Because we hunt for a living rather than for sport, we tend to make our work easier by hunting the weak and the slow, as other predators do, leaving the swift and the mighty to improve their breed. By living with the least technology, and with the fewest technologically produced products possible, we avoid pollution and litter in the forest, and we also allow the tiny chance that the weak and the slow and the stupid among us will be hunted by predators. As The Rationalist said, this is evolution in its most natural form.

"Also, we hunt with a knife to prove we are the best hunters.

"It takes more skill to kill with a spear than with a bow, so a hunter who uses a spear is more skilled than one who uses a bow and who hunts the same animals. A sword hunter is better than a spear hunter. A knife hunter is better still, and a knife is the smallest practical weapon you can use to hunt most animals. Only elephants and other very large animals are sometimes hunted with larger weapons, usually a lance. For over one hundred years our training and methods have been constantly improving, and now the poorest hunter among us would have been the best hunter in the world at any time before one hundred and fifty years ago.

You will learn everything about our way of life and why we live this way now that you are officially a Training Child. There is too much to tell you everything today. I hope that is enough to answer your question.

Tika paused solemnly to ponder what she had heard for a few minutes, nodded slowly a few times, then asked her next question.

Tira-mother, why is my hair white? The other children call me Cloud-Head, and gave me no friendship on the infants’ ground.

Tira considered her response for a moment, then spoke carefully.

"Tika, our way of life can be hard, so that our people will grow strong, and we allow no decoration of our bodies except status signs. We do not color our hair, as it is considered decoration. When you were born, chance decided that you would not have color, and you were white everywhere. Your eyes were clear pink, and you were the prettiest baby in the world, like a white flower. The Meds used tech to give color to your skin and eyes so the sun would not burn you or make you sick.

"After the Meds made your skin tan and your eyes brown, I thought you looked even more beautiful with the contrast to your white hair. But, I knew having white hair would make your life harder, and since it was caused by a med condition, I asked the council to let the Meds color your hair forest brown like mine, even though hair coloring is banned among Tiger People. They thought about it.

They had been forced to allow the coloring of your skin and eyes, because of an important law that says children must always get any med treatment they need to stay healthy. But your hair color does not directly affect your health. They said that it was a survival-disadvantage to have white children because they are easy to see in the forest, and that if our tech failed us all you probably would not survive, and neither would your children. I did not agree with that. They said that if you were to be a Tiger Person, you would have to be good enough to do it with white hair, to prove that you could survive and thrive with this disadvantage, as white tigers thrive among yellow tigers north of China. I could only color your hair if I moved us to the city and became a tech or did something else. Since you have done very well so far as a child of the Tiger People, I think I made the best choice. Do you understand?

Yes, Tira-Mother. She thought about what she’d heard for a few minutes, sitting silently, both woman and child as patient as their people’s namesake. Finally the girl leaned forward to embrace.

Thank you, Tira-Mother. I do not want to be a tech either. I like being Tiger People.

Tira returned the embrace, and shed a tear or two.

I love you so much, Tika-Child. she told her daughter.

I love you too, Tira-Mother. she returned, and held the hug for a few more minutes.

Also, Tira said, To some extent the other mothers fear me, because I am very dangerous. The other children sense this, and keep their distance from you because of this.

I understand. Tika said quietly into her mother’s hair. She leaned back and began eating dried berries from her food pouch.

Tira-Mother, what will my training be like?

Well Tika, I do not think it would be good for you to learn with other children. Until now, you have been an Infant, and a very good one. Mothers never let their Infants out of their sight, Infants are not allowed to hurt one another, or to play-fight in anger. Training Children are allowed to fight to hurt, up to first level injuries. During formal Challenges they are allowed to fight with blades.

What is `first level injury’? Tika interrupted.

"That is when you have to go to the med. Like when you slipped from the tree and broke your leg. That was a second level injury, worse than first. First is when you can still get yourself to the med, second is when you cannot. Third level injury is when the Med has to call a specialized Med from the city to watch what they do on screen and give advice, and maybe perform remote surgery with robotic tools. Fourth level injury, maybe you could die. Fifth level, if you get to the med and you are still alive, everyone is surprised. If the Med saves your life, everyone is surprised again.

If you get hurt, but it is not bad enough to have to go to the med, it is not considered an injury.

Tira paused, and resumed her original train of thought.

At any rate, it will be hard enough keeping you out of the med every time we go to the trading post. The other children will torment you if we do not do anything about it, because you look different, and the other mothers may send their children against you, if they resent that I have more status than they do. So you will learn with me, and from me alone, because there is no one else within a hundred miles fit to train you. So our lives will continue as they have been, you and me, together.

I am glad, Tira-Mother, I did not want to go to a trainer.

So far, Tira continued, You have learned to stalk and hunt plant eaters as big as a rabbit, when you felt like playing that game, and have killed your own meat for two years. Most Infants cannot catch anything better than a mouse, and do not supply their own meat until long after they become Training Children, so you have done very well. You have learned to read and write most words, and to use the four basic math functions. Now you will spend at least eight hours of every day learning. Learning about the world and all the essential tech knowledge on your screen, learning to hunt every animal, plant and meat eaters both, and learning how to keep from being hunted. You will learn to read the animal populations.

She paused for two heartbeats, her expression intense as she held her daughter’s gaze. "And you will learn to fight. Tiger People, like tigers, contest with each other for status, hunting territory, and mating rights. Many times you may think I am being hard on you, but I will be no harder than the world we live in. An Infant’s role in life is to have fun with no worries, but a Training Child’s role is to learn, and to accept responsibilities as you become ready to fulfill them.

Today we will go to the trading post, and eat ice cream and other treats, and I will get you your first screen, and your first knife. Tonight we leave on a journey, west to Ranthambore, the wild land park where no people live. I have arranged for Midor, Dern, and Baya to hunt my territory while we are gone. We will not be back until you are Serious. It may take a few years.

What is Serious, Tira-Mother?

"It is a level of status as a fighter, judged on how dangerous you are. Serious is about as dangerous as a full-grown swamp-cat or North American lynx. Dangerous enough that average adult Tiger People would have to be very careful fighting or hunting one. Unlike a thirty-pound infant tiger, a thirty-pound adult lynx has enough skill, attitude and meanness to be considered Serious, and I would have to be careful to fight a healthy one without risking a nasty trip to the med.

Only a few Training Children are dangerous enough to be considered Serious. Most Adolescents are Serious, and they have to reach at least that status to become Adults. Most Adults eventually reach the status beyond Serious, called Hazardous. One in one thousand Adults reach the next status beyond Hazardous, called Excellent. And only about one in ten thousand Adult Tiger People reach the highest status as fighters, and are called Magnificent.

Tika asked the question her mother knew would come next. How dangerous are you, Tira-Mother?

My daughter, I am Magnificent.

Tika couldn’t quite grasp how many adults ten thousand were, but her eyes widened as she realized that her mother was very, very dangerous indeed. Then, a thought creased her brow. Tira-Mother, what are you called before you become Serious?

Tira’s eyes got a hard look as she gave the answer.

Prey.

Tira let that sink in for a moment, then continued. "In the same way that we are judged for status as fighters, we are also assigned status as hunters. Right now you are considered an amateur hunter. When you have gained enough skill that the Elders who judge hunting decide that you can hunt a territory by yourself and keep it balanced, you will be considered a Professional Hunter. As with fighting, most adults reach the next status sometime in their lives, and become Honored Hunters. About one in one thousand will become Master Hunters, and one in ten thousand become Grande Master Hunters. The best five hundred Grande Master Hunters are given a numbered rank, and the hunter who is judged to be the very best is named the Grande Master Champion of Hunters.

The ranking of the top five hundred changes whenever a hunt recording is submitted to be judged, and is considered good enough to affect the rankings, so the standings change constantly. Once about seventy years ago over two hundred of the best five hundred hunters all submitted a hunt on the same day, and when all was said and done the man who had been Grande Master Champion of Hunters the day before found that he was suddenly only forty-seventh!

That was a bad day for him I think! Tika laughed.

Yes it was. Tira agreed with a chuckle. "Though he did regain the championship a few months later, and held it for another six weeks.

Now we will go to the trading post. she concluded.

I will race you! Tika laughed, and they ran laughing through the trees and down the path.

Tika’s first screen was a voice- and pressure-activated computer, eight inches by six inches and a quarter-inch thick, with forest green back and edges, hidden narrow-projection speakers, hidden microphone and cameras. Charged by motion, light, and heat differential, it was practically indestructible. It came with a fitted leather pouch that hung on the back of her knife belt or backpack.

Every human older than infancy had a screen, of one type or another. The screens most techs used were only a twenty-fifth of an inch thick and flexible, but such a device was far too fragile for use in the forest.

Till now Tika had shared her mother’s screen, and having her own made her feel very grown up and independent.

She activated it as her mother had told her, by writing the word ‘on’ on the screen with her fingernail.

The first thing her new screen showed her when she turned it on was the Earth hanging in space with a tiny dot in the center blinking red and white. The corners of the screen showed the date and time, an icon marked `Time Back’, two icons marked `Zoom In’ and Zoom Out’, and an arrow-tipped cross marked `Rotate’.

Hello, Tika. I am your new screen. the screen told her in a deep, resonant man’s voice. Do you like my voice? If not, you can choose another.

Tika considered for a moment.

Can you sound like me? she asked.

This is a demonstration of the voice you have chosen. the screen said to her in a little girl’s voice. Tika didn’t think it sounded much like her.

Can you sound like Tira-Mother? she asked.

This is a demonstration of the voice you have chosen. the screen repeated in Tira’s voice. Tika thought that was nice, but her mother’s was the only voice she heard regularly or often, so she thought of another choice.

Can you sound like the gray-haired tech woman from the trading post? Tika asked. The woman Tika asked about served hot meals and soup in the cafeteria, and Tika thought she was the friendliest person in the world.

Checking for permission. Please wait. the screen said in her mother’s voice. About thirty seconds later it said: Receiving message. The gray haired woman’s face appeared in a square window on her screen and spoke to her with a smile.

Hello Tika. she said, My name is Indira, and I’m flattered that you’d consider using my voice for your screen. You have my permission. I hope you’re doing well. Say hello to your mother for me. The square with her face blinked out.

The screen said: This is a demonstration of the voice you have chosen. in Indira’s voice.

I like that. Tika said. I will choose it.

You can ask me questions and give me instructions by speaking them, writing them on the screen, or selecting icons by touch. I am set to understand the speech patterns of a child of your age. the screen continued in Indira’s voice.

The screen then taught her that the blinking dot showed where she was, (or rather where her screen was), that she could rotate her view of the world by pressing on the ends of the cross, and that by zooming in she could see what was happening anywhere in the world, limited only by privacy and how recently that location had been recorded, or access information or web content associated with the address. The first thing she did was zoom in on herself. The picture of the world grew until it filled the screen, then continued to grow until the sub-continent of India filled most of the screen, and was momentarily outlined and labeled. As she continued to zoom in on herself the Great Indian Forest, the Vishnu Region, and the Northern Zone were outlined and labeled in sequence. When the screen showed an area a little larger than her mother’s territory it was outlined and labeled: ‘Territory of Tira, daughter of Tima and Zaman’.

The screen stopped zooming in and said: This Territory was last recorded in detail on October twelfth, 2149. An icon labeled `Time Forward’ appeared, with `10/12/2149’ beside it. The picture resumed zooming in until she could see the fallen log she was sitting on, with the tiny blinking red dot on it. She could see the tiny blinking black dot of her mother, labeled `Tira’, where she prepared the evening meal two hundred yards away.

Can I see now? Tika asked. The screen switched to a vertically split view, the right half showing her own face, and the left showing a dark view of what she soon realized was her knee. She realized she was seeing the views from her own screen’s two hidden cameras. She felt around the top edge of the front and back of her screen until she found where they were by watching when the views were covered.

No, I mean can I see now from the sky, like before. Tika asked.

The screen spoke again, and this time the words were printed out on the screen as they were spoken. This instruction will require the dedicated use of Earth Observation Satellite Landsat 9 113-D. This service is charged at 3,340 credits per second. Checking for Guardian Spending Permission. Please wait.

Tika didn’t understand any of that, but a moment later Tira’s face appeared in a square in the corner of her screen. The words: `Incoming Call’ appeared beside it, blinking.

What are you trying to do, Tika? her mother asked.

I am trying to see now on my screen from up there, Tira-Mother. Tika explained, pointing to the sky.

Oh. Tira absorbed that for a moment. "There are satellite cameras flying around the world so fast and so high that they will not fall down, and you will need to have one look at you so you can see your image from above on your screen. Children are not allowed to use the satellite cameras without asking an adult, and that is why your screen called me. I will let you use it for ten seconds, so zoom in quick. When you want to end a call, just say `End Call’. When you are finished looking at yourself from above, tell your screen `Start Lessons’.

End Call. Tira’s face disappeared.

A moment later her screen’s view switched to a slightly different angle than before, no longer looking perfectly straight down, and the scene matched the monsoon season colors around her. The `time forward’ icon disappeared, and there was a timer in the corner of the screen counting down in hundredths of a second from ten, and she could see the tiny figure of herself sitting on the log. She zoomed in, and when her image was about four inches high it began to get grainy. When it was filling most of the screen it was quite grainy and blurry, but she could still make out her fingers. She zoomed out until her image was about three inches high and held the screen over her head. She looked at her own smiling face looking upward, waved up at the sky, and watched herself waving. She looked past the screen, trying to see the sky camera, but could see nothing in the blue. She jumped off the log and watched herself jumping around until the timer reached zero, at which time the view switched back to her screen’s cameras. She sat back down on the log and said:

Start lessons.

The screen quickly zoomed back out until it showed the entire world again, which then rotated until central Africa was centered in the view. The Time Forward icon re-appeared along with a small hand graphic that pressed the Time Back icon. The date beside it spun backward very quickly, and stopped at 2.5 Million years B.C. The picture began zooming in as the screen spoke.

You will learn knowledge in the same order it was discovered. the screen said. The first true people evolved in central Africa about two and one-half million years ago. They stood upright, lived in groups of five to thirty people, spoke to each other, hunted, and gathered food plants. The small word `simulation’ appeared, blinking at the bottom of the picture. The screen focused in on a group of small, dark skinned people sitting naked around a campfire. They discovered how to make and use fire, how to throw rocks, and how to use very basic tools...

Tika studied till Tira called her to dinner. After dinner they loaded their packs and began the trek to the wild land park.

Chapter 2

November 30th, 2153

Seven months later, in a clearing by a brook, Tira watched her child practicing fighting moves. Tika wore parts of the skin of a wild boar, a four tusker, the most dangerous animal she had hunted so far. Tira had rubbed a tanning compound into it, dried it in the sun, and trimmed and sewn it into basic body armor. A section from the boar’s back and shoulders, still bristling, covered Tika’s back and shoulders, and skin from various parts of the boar’s body served as elbow and forearm pads, and as shin and knee pads. Children were allowed to wear such things when first learning to fight with blades. To wear more would have been sweltering, and Tika was already sweating as much as she should be. Tira called her over.

Enough practice. Come here. When Tika had settled herself into a relaxed squat, Tira told her:

Till now I have taught you fighting moves, and you have practiced them, and we have practiced using them in fight scenarios. Now we will have a training fight. I will not let you injure me, and I will not injure you. I will hurt you, and you will have to try your best to win, any way you can, or it will hurt a lot. If you lose, submit, and we will talk about what we did.

With no more preliminary, Tira let loose an ear-splitting snarl and leapt across the seven feet of clearing between her and her daughter. She began with an overhand knife stroke to the side of the neck, a move they had practiced many times.

Though startled, Tika managed to get her knife up into the proper block position to catch the descending wrist on her own blade, mainly because she had still been holding her knife from practicing.

Tira expected this, and angled her own knife blade down along her wrist to catch her daughter’s blade edge-to-edge.

At the last fraction of a second, before Tira could react, Tika raised her four-inch knife above her mother’s blade, and cut the second knuckle of her mother’s right ring finger to the bone.

The rest of Tira’s attack followed through without resistance, her left knee impacting with Tika’s chest enough to knock her backward to the ground and pin her. The girl’s left hand was pinned to the ground beneath Tira’s right knee, her knife hand pinned under Tira’s left hand. Tira held her knife four inches from her daughter’s throat, her cut finger dripping blood onto Tika’s chest, and barked `You must submit!’

Tika immediately relaxed completely and said, I submit.

Tira let her up and applied pressure to her own cut knuckle to slow the bleeding. Amazement was plain on her face.

Gods! Tira cursed. That was quick!

Are okay, Tira-Mother? Do you have to go to the med? I did not think I would cut you! Though she was Tiger People, Tika was still only six, and the sight of her mother’s blood combined with the feeling she’d done something wrong was enough to break her composure, and she began to cry.

Quickly Tika, while it is still fresh in your mind, tell me your side of the training fight! The sheer intensity of her mother’s gaze distracted Tika completely from what she was feeling, and after a moment to recollect she related what she remembered.

You surprised me when you yelled and jumped, Tira-Mother, but I tried to do the block anyway, and I saw that I was in time, and I saw you do the counter-block, and I thought that maybe I could go for a hand cut, so I waited as long as I could so you would not have time to counter it, and when it worked I was so surprised that I could not think anymore, and then you had me and there was nothing I could do. Tika blurted this out in one long stream of words, and had to breathe hard to catch her breath after.

I waited as long as I could... Tira repeated to herself, shaking her head in amazement. She snapped back to the moment, and asked her daughter:

Did time seem to pass very slowly during the fight, up to the moment you cut me?

No Tira-Mother, it was very fast, I barely had time to think...

Her mother waved her to silence, and considered.

You have a Gift, Tika. she finally said, "To me it looked like a Gift I saw in a tournament once called `Slow-Time’, but yours works differently. I would have to call it `Fast-Think’. I will have to consider this in your training.

Most people cannot think quickly enough to plan what they will do in a fight as they go along. The body generally thinks faster than the mind, so we train our bodies with moves, over and over, and we plan our first move or two. After that, the body reacts to the situation of a fight with the moves it is trained for, and seldom is there another chance to think before one of the fighters submits. Your Gift will make you seem very, very quick to other fighters, as long as you do not lose this Gift as you grow up, which you might.

Tira released her grip on her wound and inspected it, and a huge smile lit her face.

Gods, Tika, I am so proud of you! Your first Training Fight, and you prove yourself to be Serious! I do not know if it has ever happened before!

Really, Tira-Mother? I am Serious already? Tika’s smile matched her mother’s.

Oh, I am sure of it, all right. We will go to the med so I can get this stitched up, and then I will take you to our home trading post and place notice of your achievement. Many will want to congratulate you, and I will get you treats.

It took two and a half days to hike out of the wild land park and to the nearest med. Tira had cleaned and taped her wound with supplies from her pack, and knew the wound wasn’t serious enough to call the park’s med-flyer on her screen. They trained and had Training Fights every minute they could spare between camping and traveling, and for the next two days after reaching the med as well until they reached Tira’s territory, and then their home zone’s trading post.

Tira was forced to push her quickness to the utmost and trust her instincts to deal with Tika’s gift, and found her own reactions speeding up a bit to compensate. She began using a lot of misdirection to lure Tika out of position before she committed herself. She spent time before every Training Fight with her daughter considering what she would do and what Tika might choose to do in reaction, and by doing these things found that she could Training Fight with Tika without too much risk of further injury to either of them. She did gain a few nicks and scratches in the process, and Tika a few bruises, but this was normal for Training Fights.

In the early morning as they were approaching the trading post, Tira said:

Remember, your reputation is what decides who will hunt you, and who will fight you. You will decide who you will choose to hunt or fight in your life by what you know about them, and what others say about them. You will gain reputation for having become Serious so soon, and I will gain reputation from having trained you to it. None will doubt my word, but they have the right to have you tested to make sure, since I am not a fighting judge, so they may doubt my judgment. This is why I have fought with you so many times since we started back. Walk on my right side, be calm, watch and learn. They will pick a child to fight with you who has been Serious for a year or so. You will not have to beat her to pass the test, but you will have to make it very difficult for her, or him if it is a boy. You will fight unarmed, to third level injury. Try to act just a little proud, and ignore what you hear them saying. I will speak to you after they pick your opponent, before the fight starts. I may be stern with you when we are with others, so I want to give you a hug now, and say how much I love you.

I love you too, Tira-mother. I will try hard.

All right, then. We go.

Tika found the trading post familiar, yet different, now that she hadn’t seen it for seven months, and was a Training Child. She’d spent some of her time there as an infant, on the Infant’s ground. The trading post, along with the grounds around it, was the center of what little social life Tiger People chose. From the outside it was nothing more than a little hillock in a clearing with a natural wood door on one side, a large skylight on the other, and a two foot wide stump cut at a forty-five degree angle in the clearing before it, carved with the simple message: `Trading Post’. The clearing with the hillock and the stump was a place for general socializing for those who were in the mood for it, and where the few public gatherings and ceremonies of Tiger People’s lives were held. The forest immediately around the trading post had four clearings used for the care of Infants, the training of Children, the Training of Adolescents, and the meetings of the Council of the Tiger People for this zone. Close to every trading post was a medical center, or simply a ‘med’ in the jargon of the Tiger People.

Mothers were responsible for their infants, and for training their female children till adulthood. Fathers shared responsibility in the training of male children, and were entirely responsible for the training of male adolescents. Except for sleepovers, all children lived in the den of their mother until adolescence, when girls stayed with their mother and boys moved to the den of their father. Most parents contributed far more than their legal responsibility to children of both genders, as Tiger People cherish their children greatly and are highly protective of them. Most parents challenged for adjoining territories, and slept over at each other’s dens much of the time.

Inside the trading post door were stairs leading down, opening into a huge room with a restaurant, an area for selling the culled animals they hunted and the skins and bones of the ones they ate, an area for buying plant foods and prepared dishes, and an area for buying tech goods such as salt, water bottles, water purifiers, body cleanser, small personal electric stoves, knives, packs, and screens. There were lockers for rent where Tiger people stored what few material goods they owned that they didn’t want to keep in their den. There was a large screen eight feet high and twelve feet wide that served as the community bulletin board. And there was a door marked `Transit Platform’ with stairs leading down that Tika had never seen beyond. The inside of the trading post was tech land, the people who worked there were techs, and there was no violence allowed.

Tira and Tika stopped in front of the trading post screen and Tira took her own screen out of her pack. She wrote her activate sign on her screen with her index fingernail and its display lit. She wrote another quick sign, and a notice she had prepared was posted to the big screen. As the newest message it appeared at the top left corner of the trading post’s screen, and read:

Notice of Accomplishment.

Tika of the Northern Zone of the Vishnu Region of the Great Indian Forest, a Training Child of the Tiger People aged six years, seven months, twelve days, trained by her mother Tira alone, was judged to be Serious after her first training fight, 11/30/2153.

We will eat. Tira said. By the time we are done, someone will have flashed that message to every screen in the zone.

Why did you say it was my first fight, Tira-Mother?

The notices always say how many fights you have had. So far, you have had seventeen training fights, but the notice must say how many you had fought when you were judged. The test will be your first real fight.

They got food at the counter of the cafeteria, exchanged greetings with Indira as they paid by screen-transfer, and took a booth facing the room. Soon Tika noticed people at the trading post screen, looking at her and her mother and talking about the notice. Some had their screens out. When she was almost done eating a woman of about twenty-five years walked over to their table.

Well done. she said to both of them. Then to Tira: We will want to see her tested when you have finished eating.

Give her an hour to see the children’s ground and digest. Tira said.

The woman nodded and turned to go.

The children’s ground was subdued as they entered the clearing.

Word has already spread. Tira quietly informed her daughter. Among children and adults. The adolescents will know as well. Those adults talking together would normally be training with their children, those ones there, but they have set their young to practicing among themselves, and they speak of the testing. Watch the ones practicing. Try to decide who is likely to be set against you, and how you would counter them. Those girls there, and those boys there, they are allowed to play right now, but they study you. The ones who are Prey think of how to counter you if you hunt or challenge them, the few who are Serious consider how they would hunt or fight you. They see your hair and think you would be easy to hunt, and they see your size and think you would be easy to fight. If they are wrong, it is good for you, and they will be overconfident. Try to show them nothing about yourself. They sat under a tree at the edge of the clearing, waiting.

Soon a Tiger Man of thirty-two years, of slightly more than average height and of massive build, muscular and dark, came and crouched by them about six feet away. "Greetings, Tira. I thought you would like to know that I have checked the records. Tika is not the youngest Training Child to become Serious. There was a boy of six years, five months who did it. There was a boy aged six years, six months, and a girl, also aged six years, six months. It is thought those three were pushed too hard, to make the record, and