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!"
"Sooner or later, I'll have to go and find out what's going on."
"You can't!"
"I must. We don't have a lot of food left. I'll also need to bring in some water soon. And matches - the spare box is ruined. They're all wet."
"I've still got that lighter I found last week."
"That little green thing? Has it got any fuel left?"
"Yes, it works well. Someone must have lost it. It should be good for at least a couple of days."
Samir didn't say anything to that, and Rani glanced at him. He was sitting bolt upright and his eyes were shining. She knew him well enough to recognize he'd just had a new idea.
"What is it? Tell me," she said.
"There' s a goat outside," Samir said. "I'm going to get it. There hasn't been any shooting for a while."
"Samir! You can't steal someone's goat!"
"I'm not going to steal it."
"You just said you were going to get it."
"Yes. I'll bring it here. Just for a few moments."
"What for?"
Samir grinned at Rani.
"We'll reproduce that goat in the New World," he said. "And Rani and Samir will have something to eat. And a goat hide to make clothes."
Rani looked at him with admiration.
"You're a genius," she said. "But first, we should tell them what we are up to. Time for a little talk."
They rubbed their implants a few times, and Samir laughed.
"He's found a mango tree!" he cried.
"Not so loud! A mango tree? Does it have any fruit?"
"Plenty. He's on his third mango right now. They're delicious. There is a lot of them, as well. There are many lying on the ground, under the tree."
"Where's Rani?"
"She's not with him."
"Tell him to go and find her. And take a few mangoes along."
"Yes... Just a moment... Rani, he has found tiger rocks. There's a whole lot of them near where he is."
"The stone needed to build a transport launch pad?"
"Yes. There should be more than enough. For a small one, of course. And he's got a stick he says he can use to spear fish. And a couple of rocks that strike sparks when hit against one another. What about your girl? What is she up to?"
Rani waved a hand at him to keep quiet. After a moment, she said:
"She is lying down by the creek and crying."
Samir put his hand on Rani's shoulder and squeezed it.
"Tell her food is coming," he said. "Tell her Samir is already on his way with some mangoes. And ask her what she would prefer for dinner: roast fish or roast goat?"
He squeezed her shoulder again and got up and walked up to the door. When he reached it, he stopped and turned and said:
"Rani, tell her to look for reeds and other plants that can be used to weave things."
Rani looked at him and nodded and looked away. She put her hands over her eyes. Samir had noticed she did that when she wanted to communicate with her second self in the New World. She'd told him it helped her concentrate.
He'd been counting on her doing just that when he asked her to talk to her alter ego, the other Rani. He didn't want her to see him pick up the machete that had belonged to the dead man.
He opened the door just a little bit. It was all quiet outside, and night was approaching fast. The goat was still standing where he had seen it last. It was eating leaves off a bush growing under the wall of the smoldering house.
He took one last look around him, and stepped out.
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