CHAPTER XV
Peace Maker
John Running Bear searched the tent one more time, but still couldn't find his cryptographic NSA satellite radio phone. Someone had to have taken it. Who and why? If he didn't contact Sheffield soon, the standard NSA protocol would be to send another agent to his last reported position. Even if they only got as close as the front gate, unusual activity could be detected. As far away as the town of Giants' Rest the ponderous Stone-Coat activities could be clearly heard, and possibly by using high powered binoculars the huge creatures could even be seen moving about on the distant Mountain.
If agents got actually onto the Reservation it would be worse. Here at his last reported position, the site where Hairless Bear woke, dozens of monstrous Stone-Coats were busily clearing away the last of the forests. Hundred foot Stone-Coats were chewing down trees and dragging them away. What would another NSA agent make of such a sight? Would they call up the National Guard or other armed forces? Yes; they surely would! The Reservation would be quarantined and commandeered in the name of national security. It would be the end of the Tribe.
He had to get to an internet connection soon and use his back-up communications approach. The computers in the Great Lodge could be used in privacy. Dodging through foraging Stone-Coats he made his way quickly to the Great Lodge, where he was surprised to find Mouse wandering from room to room, poking around and looking for something under rugs and beds.
"There are Jants here someplace, I can sense them," she told him. "They shelter in our lodges and remain active in the warmth that we provide them. They are even in the lab! They are not with us in great numbers and mostly they stay out of sight and are telepathically quiet to avoid detection while they merely listen to our thoughts, but occasionally they jabber among themselves and to their colonies."
"What will you do if you find them, Old Mother? Are we not already busy enough dealing with the Stone-Coats?"
The little woman shrugged. "I wish to confront them mind-to-mind but you are right; I have better things to do right now. Why are you here?"
"Someone stole my NSA phone. I need the internet."
"Could your phone be operated by anyone? No passwords or anything required? And did it contain the phone number of your NSA boss, Mark Sheffield?"
"You know that what you ask is all true, Old Mother. I hate passwords. I hate computers and technology altogether and use only what I must use."
"I like you more and more, Running Bear. I fear that Singing Moon may have called the NSA and they might be on their way here now. No, I see by your thoughts that they may already be here! But perhaps not?"
"Perhaps. I urgently need access to a computer or smart-phone with internet, Old Mother."
"Certainly." She quickly led him to a nearby room in the lodge that had a desk and computer. The computer was an old desk-top model with an ancient CRT display. "This is the computer of Red Hawk, your friend in the Guard. Fortunately, like you he is mildly telepathic, so I know his password." She turned on the computer and entered the password before inviting John to sit at the desk. "It has been a cloudy day. You have maybe ten to fifteen minutes of battery power, John."
"You might as well stay here and listen in on our conversation, Old Mother," Running Bear told her, when she started to leave the room. "That will be easier for you. You will of course be monitoring my thoughts anyway." He pulled a chair closer to the desk and gestured her into it.
"Of course, John; thank you."
John attached a thumb-drive sized device to the computer and in a few minutes was rewarded by the voice of Mark Sheffield, loud enough for both he and Old Mother to hear. "I was becoming concerned, Running Bear."
"My satellite phone was stolen by someone. I suspect a woman named Singing Moon." He turned off the CRT display to conserve power.
"Yes; she had me meet her late yesterday at a diner located just off the Reservation," confirmed Sheffield. "She said that you sent her to me. Is that true?"
"No. It is unlikely that she told you very much that is true. I apologize for the inconvenience, Sir. She is a disturbed woman."
"She said that you and the Mohawk are being attacked by stone giants. Is that part true?"
"Certainly not. There was a disturbance on the Reservation, but it was largely of her own making."
"That's what I thought. She wanted the Army to be sent in to destroy stone giants."
"A ridiculous notion! I hope that you ignored her, Sir. There is some nasty politics and mental instability going on here at the Reservation, but nothing that can't be handled internally to the Tribe."
"I humored her and left her with the impression that I was sending in the Army, but of course I needed conformation from you or someone else NSA before doing that anyway."
"This is an off-the-grid internal Native American affair, Sir. If the Army is ever truly needed for national security reasons you'll of course hear from me directly."
"Good. Still no sign of Green?"
"None. I am certain now that he is not on the Reservation and feel it highly unlikely that the Rumsfelds know where he is. I'd like to stay a few more days here to confirm that, get my phone back, and help wrap up the Singing Moon mess, if I can."
"Yes, definitely do that, Running Bear, but I'm afraid there is a serious complication. She or someone with her stole a hundred pounds of high explosive devices from the trunk of my car while I was in the diner. I had them because she told me that you requested them when she first contacted me, but her story didn't ring true after talking with her further."
"That's a very big complication, Sir."
"It's in the form of a dozen packages with timers; enough explosives to blow up half of Giants' Rest."
"MX-5 devices?"
"Yes. Do you think she will confine use of the explosives to the Reservation, Running Bear?"
"Definitely. I will see to it that they are retrieved and their origin is guarded."
"Excellent! I look forward to receiving conformation of that from you very soon. Should I send in more men to help?"
"No Sir; I can better handle things here myself under the radar, with Tribe help and without further NSA involvement."
"I was hoping you'd say that," said Sheffield. "Keep in touch."
Mouse turned the computer off. "Tribespeople without any telepathic skills have always been my biggest worry. I can't read their thoughts."
"You can't sense Singing Moon's thoughts?"
"Not telepathically or any other way.
"Many folks get along pretty good without telepathically reading the thoughts of others. I decided to trust in you, Old Mother, and to tolerate your intrusions into my thoughts, honest Indian that I am. I am sure that many others of your Tribe also do so. But maybe it's even harder to be distrusted. Maybe it's harder to not meet the expectations of your tribe and mother."
He was talking about himself and his own guilt, she knew, as well as Singing Moon. "Don't make excuses for her; with strength of character such difficulties can and should be overcome. I fear for her, Running Bear, and I fear for us all. Sky-Holder protect us! She has explosives!"
Running Bear was disturbed to see a tear run down the old woman's cheek. She was the Tribe leader that more than anyone else kept the Tribe together.
"You have very weak telepathic skills, Running Bear, enough for me to read some of your thoughts but not enough for you to even notice me intruding. However you have other great skills that I apparently lack. For example I noticed that everything you told Sheffield was truthful, but you were able to hold back crucial facts and steer things completely your way. You seem to be able to size up people and their thoughts very well, Running Bear, even without telepathy. Help us, Running Bear, if you can. And help save her!"
"I will try to stop her from using the explosives, Old Mother.'
A gigantic explosion shook the air, ground and Lodge. Books and dishes tumbled from shelves to the carpeted floor. As dreadful as the sound was, it was not as disturbing as the mournful cry fro
m Mouse that followed, and the look of horror on her old wrinkled face. A cascade of what sounded like giant hailstones struck the Lodge; several rocks of football size crashed through the thick bark layers and dropped to the rug-covered Lodge floor after opening gaps to a grey clouded sky.
Old Mouse made to rise from her chair but fell back down again quietly sobbing. She suddenly seemed shockingly old, frail, and helpless.
"Stay here and rest, Old Mother," implored Running Bear, as he grasped one of her small hands in his. "Follow my thoughts, and I will be your eyes and ears and strength."
Running Bear put on the coat he carried as he ran towards the Great Dome, which had the nearest outside exit. He fumbled clumsily with the coat buttons though, and his legs seemed strangely heavy and far too slow. What the hells had Singing Moon done? The woman seemed to hate everything and everyone, including even her own mother and daughter! By the Gods, what if she blew up the lab? That's where he had left Talking Owl!
In the big domed room Running Bear encountered a dozen children huddled with two women, all of them confused and frightened. "Are the Stone-Coats coming, Mohican?" one of the women asked him.
"I don't know," he replied. "Old Mother is alone in the lodging place of Red Hawk. She is badly shaken up; please go to her and keep her safe. There may soon be other explosions and war with the Stone-Coats."
Bursting out through the main Dome entranceway, the Mohican was relieved to see that on the opposite side of the amphitheater the lab stood undamaged. Using his binoculars, he was even more relieved to see Talking Owl standing among the team that had come out of the lab to see what was happening.
On the rim of the amphitheater that the Stone-Coats used as their key pathway up the Mountain was a great smoking gap: a twenty-foot across crater had been blasted deep into rock by NSA explosives, blocking the rim-top pathway that the Stone-Coats had been using. As Running Bear dashed towards Talking Owl several nearby Stone-Coats put down the trees that they carried, walked to the smoking crater, and inspected it.
Red Hawk and two of his men reached Talking Owl and the others near the lab at the same moment that Running Bear did. "It was Singing Moon!" he exclaimed, "and her nephew Big Otter was driving the snowmobile they rode in. They dropped a small package on the Stone-Coat path and fled by snowmobile. After only half a minute or so the package blew up before we could get to it, blasting one Stone-Coat to bits. Where did she get such powerful explosives?"
"She stole my NSA radio and went off the Reservation to get explosives from the NSA," said Running Bear. "Nobody else was hurt?"
"Only the one Stone-Coat. It was one of the big ones; Hairless-Bear or one like it. There are chunks of Stone-Coat scattered all around the crater."
"Look! The others gather up pieces of it!" exclaimed one of Red Hawk's men. Sure enough, a dozen Stone-Coats of various sizes ringed the still smoking crater and were busily gathering glimmering rocks that had to be the remains of the ill-fated Stone-Coat. They stacked them together in the amphitheater near the crater, tons of shattered Stone-Coat chunks. Then strangely enough, they laid several big tree branches over the pile of Stone-Coat remains. A Stone-Coat that carried an old pickup truck under one arm placed it atop the pile.
"That's a wreck from our local landfill," noted Red Hawk.
"They've gotten their first taste of scrap and seem to like it," said Running Bear. "They probably have difficulty computing that we blow them up at the same time we feed them."
Meanwhile Stone-Coat movement up and down the path stopped. A dozen of them dragging great trees and carrying landfill scrap stood in line on the path below the amphitheater, and another dozen empty-handed giants stood waiting up-hill of the crater.
"Their path to the Mountain is blocked. They're trying to figure out their next move," Ed conjectured. "I can sense a great deal of chatter between them. I don't like the way they are looking at the Great Lodge. An alternative pathway through the Great Lodge to the Mountain would be convenient for them."
"I don't quite buy that," said Running Bear. "For creatures that can climb the Mountain carrying trees, that crater is a mere bump in the road. They could easily walk around or through the crater. No, they're figuring out what to do about the humans that just blew up a Stone-Coat."
"I don't think I want to be anywhere near here once they figure out how to get back at us!" said Doc. "They're computers so I don't understand why it's taking them so long to decide on a response. Maybe the fact that they're getting our scrap metal now is helping. In any case we can take advantage of their delay. I'll get back to Frank and the Claw in the lab and over the link we'll try to argue for peace. "
As Doc returned to the lab the sound of an approaching snowmobile diverted the attentions of Ed, Talking Owl, and Running Bear. It was Singing Moon, riding in back of her nephew Big Otter on the missing snowmobile. They stopped midway between the gathered Stone-Coats and the gathered on-looking humans and turned off the noisy machine. As Singing Moon stood up on the snowmobile and faced the gathered Stone-Coats, Big Otter grabbed something football-sized from a box that was tied to the back of the snowmobile. It was a pack of NSA explosives, John realized! It was awkwardly heavy, about eight pounds, but Big Otter was strong enough to lob it at either the gathered Stone-Coats or humans.
"Return to the Mountain, monsters! Our Army comes soon to destroy you!" Singing Moon shouted at the Stone-Coats. Most of them ignored her, but one of the big ones swiveled its head to regard her with red glowing eyes.
"No they don't!" shouted Running Bear, as he trudged through the snow towards Singing Moon. "I just spoke with Sheffield! The Army and the NSA are not coming."
"Stupid Mohican!" Singing Moon turned and screamed in rage, as next to her Big Otter cocked his arm to throw the pack of explosives at the gathered Stone-Coats.
There was a whooshing sound as hundreds of pounds of ice-laced water shot from the mouth of the big watching Stone-Coat and struck Big Otter and Singing Moon, knocking them both off of the snowmobile. The pack of explosives fell into the snow beside them.
The watching humans realized that it would likely explode in seconds. "Mother!" Talking Owl screamed, as Ed and Red Hawk grabbed her by the arms and pulled her away towards the lab despite her protests.
Running Bear dashed in the opposite direction towards the snowmobile, dove and grabbed the fallen pack of explosives, and threw it as hard as he could off the rim of the amphitheater and away from it, away from everyone human and Stone-Coat alike. The explosion moments later was as massive as the first one, but this time most of the force of the blast was directed by the rim of the amphitheater away from the Lodge, lab, humans and Stone-Coats. When the smoke began to clear, onlookers human and Stone-Coat alike watched as Running Bear walked to the snowmobile, hoisted the box of remaining explosives onto his shoulder, and carefully carried it to the rim of the new smoking crater. There he made a big show of throwing the ten remaining explosive packets one-by one into the crater. He then threw and kicked snow and rocks into the crater.
"Let's help him make a big show of getting rid of the nasty bombs," said Red Hawk. He and a half dozen other warriors soon joined Running Bear in throwing rocks and snow into the new crater. Their symbolic efforts did little to actually fill the crater and cover the bombs, but they were soon joined by several gigantic Stone-Coats that quickly tossed tons of massive boulders into the hole. That they managed to do so without squashing any Tribe members was greatly appreciated.
Running Bear then again surprised both Tribe members and Stone-Coats by walking to the first crater and throwing rocks into it also. He was quickly joined by Red Hawk and his troop of Tribesmen. "If you find pieces of the blown-up Stone-Coat, make a big show of putting them reverently onto the pile that they already started," said Running Bear. Indeed the area around the first crater was littered with small crystal chunks that had to have been part of the Stone-Coat. The gathered Stone-Coats watched with interest as the humans added hundreds of pounds of crystals to the
pile of broken Stone-Coat chunks. The chunks, the wrecked pickup truck, and the trees were beginning to melt together, the humans noticed. Vague arms, legs, head and torso were soon visible. Though blown to pieces, the Stone-Coat hadn't been killed, and was now reassembling itself!
The Stone-Coats focused on filling the crater that blocked their pathway up the Mountain. In minutes tons of boulders filled most of it, and the pathway up the Mountain was fully restored. The Stone-Coat/human truce was also fully restored, Running Bear hoped. He was encouraged when the Stone-Coats resumed their normal activity: the Earth shook as dozens of them again marched up and down the Mountain.
The crisis was over!
Meanwhile Talking Owl, Ed, and additional braves tended to Singing Moon and Big Otter. Both were shaken up and chilled by ice cold drenching they got from the Stone-Coat but not seriously hurt, and were soon warming up in the lab while under close guard by Red Hawk and his men. Talking Owl wouldn't leave her cold dazed mother, and insisted on holding her tightly.
Doc joined the lab gathering. "The Stone-Coats were apparently very confused by our actions but are now back to being content and cooperative," he told the everyone. "We were lucky."
"Luck didn't have much to do with it," Ed countered. "The efforts of a lot of brave people did it, especially Running Bear."
There were grunted affirmations from around the room.
"Not a big deal for a Mohican," Running Bear said. "We do this hero sort of stuff all the time, especially when beautiful princesses are involved." He was staring at Talking Owl, and she was staring back.
"What the hells is going on here?" Chief Mike Talking Bear asked, when he abruptly burst into lab with Mary, Jack, and White Cloud in tow. "We heard two huge explosions. What got blown up?"
Red Hawk and Ed recounted events as they knew them as the Chief hugged his wife and daughter.
"Moon, why would you do such a thing?" he asked his wife.
"I want an end to the Stone-Coat burden on the Tribe and my family. I want us to live like other people."
"But we are not like other people!" Talking Bear insisted.
"I am!" she countered.
Talking Bear looked at her like he didn't know what she was talking about. "Oh!" he suddenly realized. "No telepathy? Is that what you mean? That never bothered me; you're smart and strong, and gave me a wonderful daughter. And you fight for what you think is right for the Tribe as fiercely as anyone! But you don't have to worry about the Tribe anymore. After selling only a tenth of the Stone-Coat diamonds in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy, we have plenty of cash for food and any white-man things we need. The future of the Tribe here is secured for many generations to come! In the spring when the Stone-Coats again sleep why don't we go on a world-wide vacation together? There are more important things than telepathy."
"I didn't have telepathy until a jant bit me," noted Ed. "Maybe they could bite you too. Then you might be able to exchange thoughts with jants, anyway."
"I would not be opposed to such a thing," said Mouse, who Mouse-like had suddenly appeared among them.
"NOR WOULD WE," agreed the jants, with thoughts echoing from a dozen Reservation colonies. "SHE COULD ACT AS OUR INTERFACE WITH THE TRIBE."
Nor was Singing Moon opposed, when it was further explained to her that her position as Tribe ambassador to the jants would be an important one. She didn't even object when several jants emerged from behind a cabinet and one of them walked to her waiting hand and bit her on the offered fingertip.
A few minutes later she smiled as she began to exchange thoughts with the jants.
"So this is what telepathy is like! Their thoughts are not simple ones, like those you have described of your birds and other creatures," she exclaimed to Talking Owl. "The jants are highly intelligent!"
"That is why talking with them is so important, Daughter," said Mouse. "Ask them what they want of the Tribe."
"The jants want us to feed and keep some of them warm in the winters, and to maintain an interface with the Stone-Coats while keeping jants and the Stone-Coats hidden from other humans," Singing Moon soon explained.
"Sounds like a plan," said Ed.
"But right now we have to still focus on the Stone-Coats," said Chief Mike.
"I for one wonder what is happening up on the Mountain," said Running Bear. "I'd like to see for myself. Anyone here want to do a little winter Mountain climbing?"
"I'm already far higher on this Mountain than I want to be," said Ed.
"I will go with you," said White Cloud. "I know the easiest routes up and can help you with your cameras. Besides, I have some things to discuss with you anyway."
"Yes, and Tribe leadership has several things to discuss with you both when you return," said Mouse. "And with others," she added, as she shot a sharp glance towards Talking Owl.
The two men set off together carrying cameras and climbing gear. Mouse, Singing Moon, Talking Bear, and Talking Owl set off together for the Great Lodge. The Tribe token whites and Frank remained at the lab, where they reaffirmed agreements with the Stone-Coats.
Six hours later after sunset the two climbers returned with hundreds of photos and everyone reconvened in the lab. "There are many thousands of the Stone-Coats emerging from the Mountain and absorbing everything that is brought to them," began White Cloud.
Photos and video clips were displayed for everyone to see. The entire peak of the mountain was a great swarming mass of countless Stone-Coats, ranging from human size to ten-times as massive as Hairless Bear. Most were nearly formless, like worms or blobs. They absorbed granite, trees, and scrap as fast as it was made available to them.
"We should probably mention that they are significantly radioactive," said Running Bear. "Our Geiger counter readings indicate that Tribe members aren't in much danger from the scattered individuals that are foraging for resources off the Mountain, but the concentrated hordes on the Mountain itself are another matter. The surrounding Mountain protects your Village, but anyone making repeated visits to the Mountain should wear protective gear and limit their visit times."
"That is in keeping with our oldest legends of dangerous evil on the Mountain and our efforts to limit Mountain access," noted Mouse.
"The tribe was right to not make the Mountain a ski resort," noted Ed. "What exactly is the source of the radiation?"
"The Stone-Coats may have used their abilities to manipulate materials to detect and concentrate the radioactive isotopes of several types of atoms," said Doc. "Uranium? Thorium? Potassium? We don't know yet. There are dozens of naturally radioactive substances that they could be using which are commonly found in nature. Some life forms concentrate the materials involved. Bananas for example concentrate potassium, and the potassium-40 isotope slowly decays and could be used as a long-term power source."
"The Stone-Coat giants might be powered by radioactive bananas?" Ed had to ask. It was an irresistibly intriguing notion.
"Unlikely," said White Cloud. "The feldspars found in granite are a far more likely potassium source for them. Perhaps they mine radioactive materials by extending root-like nanotubes deep into the Earth's crust."
"Will they invade our lands?" asked Mouse.
"We don't think so," said Running Bear. "The entire center of the Mountain seems to consist of Stone-Coats, but most of them wake, eat their fill, and then immediately rejoin the Mountain. I believe they are feeding to prepare for another long period of hibernation." They watched video-clips of several Stone-Coats waking, feeding, and then returning to sleep as part of Giants' Rest Mountain.
"YES," said the computer screen. "WE WILL REST AND GROW UNTIL IT IS COLD ENOUGH ACROSS THE EARTH FOR US TO MOVE AGAIN. YOUR SCIENCE SAYS THAT WILL HAPPEN IN ONLY TEN OR TWENTY THOUSAND YEARS. FOR US THAT IS A SHORT TIME."
"Humans will never rest," noted Mouse. "Humans will seek to thrive even through the cold periods."
"IF HUMANS STILL SURVIVE WHEN WE AGAIN AWAKEN WE WILL NEED TO AGAIN DECIDE WHAT TO DO. UNTIL THEN IT IS TO OUR B
ENEFIT THAT WE MAINTAIN OUR LINK WITH HUMANS THROUGH YOUR TRIBE, BUT REMAIN HIDDEN FROM OTHER HUMANS."
"You want us to maintain our computer link with you for ten or twenty thousand years?" Doc asked.
"YES. OUR BODY UNITS LACK MOTION IN WARM TIMES, BUT WE DO NOT FULLY SLEEP; OUR THINKING