Ch 4 - Defamation

Ambungi was covered with dense vegetation of

all levels — from shrubs to trees, which made up the

green mantle of the island. Neither Cycas seemannii nor

Jasminum sambac were missing, which gave me certain

pride since part of my job was to prepare a chart of the

known biodiversity of the exploration sites. Robust

clusters of trees were replaced by occasional clearings,

where the ferns had a chance to receive some sunlight.

Rock ledges and variations in terrain were rare, making

the whole island appear flat, but the undergrowth acted

as a curtain to limit our view to no more than a few

meters ahead. We advanced about 200 meters inland and

the sun was setting when Lane ordered us to rest:

— We won't find anything at night, that's for

sure. This clearing will shelter our camp.

Using my flint and the fibrous trunk of a dead

cycad tree, I lit a fire for us and we spread our sleeping

bags around it. From Murien we had brought some

mumu, a delicious Papua New Guinea dish consisting of

pork and sweet potato or yam, all roasted in an

underground oven, sometimes for hours. We would now

have our first meal on the island, though it was cold.

With the experience of years of travel, we had an easy

time setting up this simple camp, and I believe Lucy had

done it too, at least once, since she did not ask for help

for anything. It may seem silly to ask for help in

unrolling a sleeping bag and getting into it, but I

remember stories Lane used to tell me about the early

years of expeditions when the financier, Frederick Frost,

would accompany him. I remember that the Doctor once

fished at night in South America and threw the fish near

the tents, a few feet away. The smell of the fish

eventually attracted a group of Pampas foxes — small

carnivores — and they were feasting on the fresh meat,

when the Dean woke up inside the hut and, hearing the

sound of these little creatures feeding, thought for some

reason that it was a pack of snakes, and started

screaming for help. Since then, the Dean stayed in New

Heavens, which proved to be of benefit, since not long

afterward the expeditions became more frequent and

Lucy had been left helpless. Being used to the company

of such a cowardly figure for so many years, and then

only to his voice for so many more, Lane was happy to

open his laboratory to Keene in the middle of the night.

The man's firm and, some would say, meticulous manner

made him an interesting partner, to say the least, and this

was apparent from that first early morning when Jacob

Keene admitted that he was a great fan of Lane's work

and especially of science fiction books. But Keene was

now already very experienced and skills with camping

and exploration were expected from him; Lucy, however,

showed a great deal of independence even on this first

day, which pleased me quite a lot. Now, in that clearing,

we were silent for a while, because that is the effect that

the starry sky has even on the greatest of fools — the

wisdom of being silent. Although our position seemed

unsafe, it was well thought out; after all, even if we were

more visible there, so would be any animal that tried to

attack us — as well as keeping the fire away from the

trees, so as not to cause a tragedy. A cloud hovering high

above must have cut off the effect of the stars because its

arrival was followed by the end of the silence.

— So what does a Kaiaimunu look like? —

asked Keene.

— The most literal translation we could find was

"defamation" or something like that, — Lane replied and

went on: — Unfortunately, we don't have much more

information about this entity from the local culture. You

see, there are few articles about some peoples' beliefs,

and those that do exist are hard to find.

— And why is that? — Keene replied, already

resembling a child. — Don't we already have enough

articles about other cultures? — he finished, with a note

of acidity.

— We certainly do, — answered a voice with

irony. The three of us raised our heads and saw that Lucy

had spoken. She continued, without taking her eyes from

the sky:

— Social disparity affects not only cities and

countries but also the world as a whole. The richest

nations talk about their culture as if it were the best,

while the developing ones don't even have the means to

spread their own. And so it has been for thousands of

years. A few hundred years ago, America was

"discovered" by Columbus, as if there were not already

whole societies established on the continent, and we still

teach this to children.

We were forced into silence again with this

concept and lay our heads down once more — there was

much to meditate on before fatigue took over.

⬫⬫⬫

The morning rays came in through the opening of the

clearing and slowly caused me to awaken. All around

me, everyone was still sleeping in their bags, Doctor

Lane even snoring inside his. Since I couldn't bear to

stay in bed after waking up, I got up and decided to

explore as much as possible before the others woke up. I

moved away from the base and headed inland for a few

minutes until a roar attracted my attention. Shifting my

course in that direction, I heard the same sounds getting

louder, and snuck between the trunks to try to hide.

When I remembered, though, that I was wearing a

flannel shirt and that my hair was red, I realized how

ridiculous my effort was and continued walking

normally. On the nearby horizon, shadows described the

shape of branches and bushes, undergrowth, and

spear-shaped leaves that sought the sun's attention.

Among these spears, however, there were some...strange

ones. Their silhouette protruded from behind a closed

grouping of trees and pointed downwards. How was it

possible for a plant to grow downwards instead of

upwards? The law of phototropism required this pattern.

I concluded that I had found an exception to this natural

law and conformed. But then, as if to destroy my faith in

science, the silhouette did something even stranger — it

moved. The shadow then seemed to wrap itself around

the trunk and leave it behind. Along with it, the rest of

the huge creature's body came out from behind the trees

and exposed itself to the sunlight, opening its arms and

revealing more clearly what I thought were vegetable

spears — huge curved claws. I had found our target

animal. I was responsible for discovering a Kaiaimunu.

I watched my find for a long time, contemplating

its beauty; long enough, in fact, for the angle of the light

to change so that I could see the coloration of the

magnificent creature before me. It had a strong, muscular

body, but in the approximate shape of a turkey; with a

long neck topped by a bird-like head. The creature was

covered with a considerable layer of grey feathers, just

as Mr. Muinepe described. I almost expected some

mechanical movement that would indicate a robotic

nature in the creature, but fortunately, it never came. I

was surprised to find tears rolling down my face as I felt

the power of seeing what Lane had once found when he

discovered his Erythrosuchus and so many other

fantastic creatures before Keene came to the University.

It had been a long time since I spotted the

creature and I had to report before the animal

disappeared into the jungle. I forced myself to get out of

there, sometimes looking back, wondering if he had also

seen or sniffed me. As I approached the camp, I heard

the voices of its occupants, warming over the fire what

was left of the mumu and a kettle of coffee. After

greeting everyone with a "Good morning," I wasn't sure

how to introduce the subject, but that soon became easy

when Lane asked:

— Where have you been, my boy?

— I...went exploring the surroundings and...I

think we found our target, Doctor.

— What? — asked Lane suddenly, already

standing up with a broad smile. Keene and Lucy also

stopped upon hearing my statement.

— Where did you find it? — Keene wanted to

know.

— In that direction, near a thick row of trees, — I

answered, pointing to the side of the island from which I

had come. Before I could turn around again, I heard the

clanging of cans and buckle rings, as everyone threw

their packs over their backs and put away the food. The

kettle was abandoned on the fire and we could still hear

it sizzling as we ran toward the site where I had spotted

the Kaiaimunu. Closer to the tree line, we slowed our

pace to avoid being noticed by the animal. The place was

empty now, and Keene questioned me:

— Are you sure you saw it here?

— Yes, Dr. Keene, along that thicket. — Lucy

then concluded:

— He must have gone to another spot. Move! —

Following her, we sped up our pace to cross the clearing

that separated the forest where we had spent the night

and the one where the animal lived. We stopped startled

when the same roar as before was heard, like the roar of

a beast. Motivated by the sound, we headed towards the

trees and when we reached them, we had the most

delightful sight: a whole flock of those huge beings was

moving and feeding on the highest leaves of the

branches. Everyone was laughing around me, amazed at

the majestic creatures in front of us. From the beginning

of the tree line stretched a rock formation that grew

higher above ground level until it was just over 20 feet

high.

We returned to its base and walked across the

small plateau to near its edge to get a closer look at the

animals and sat down to plan.

— It's certainly our target animal, Kevin, —

assured Dr. Lane. — These are the creatures we have

come to see; Kaiaimunus, in their natural habitat and

glory. No pioneering work was expected from you, and

yet you did it. Now we have to get some solid

knowledge about these dinosaurs — their eating habits,

behavior, metabolism, and of course a pile of photos to

rub in the faces of our colleagues! — he closed, laughing

out loud and rubbing his hands together. This was

followed by a public lecture by Anthony Lane, who

fixed his eyes on the flock, losing all expression:

— As you can see, this species has retained its

herbivorous habits, I mean, unlike animals like the Pacu,

for instance, an Amazonian fish that has become

carnivorous in an environment that was not its original

one. Look at these animals — 36 feet from beak to tail,

8-inch-long curved claws, 7 tons; we were right. Now

we also know the color of these animals. There is also a

striking feature of this genus which is the presence of

that structure on their backs. Look, that elevation on

their back, like a hump. I believe that those smaller

individuals with brown feathers are females and those

with grey feathers and blue gular sacs are males,

following the pattern of sexual dimorphism among birds.

Believe it or not, this animal is a theropod, just like the

Tyrannosaurus rex, only with different habits. But the

most striking thing is certainly that pair of forelimbs —

notice that the arm protrudes outward and the fist bends

against the forearm, from which hang these long

feathers. — His voice stopped for a moment to let him

take a breath, a single reminder that he was not a

machine before he started machine-gunning facts again:

— When Muinepe contacted us and described his

find, we doubted the veracity of the account, especially

considering the original location of its discovery, which

took place in Mongolia. Now that it has been confirmed,

however, we are left to theorize about how they came to

be so far south, as well as to conduct some minimal

experiments to test hitherto unprovable ideas. You see, it

is theorized that they were covered by two thick layers of

down, like an emu. We need to be able to probe one of

these animals to test this hypothesis.

— Probe? — argued Jacob Keene.

— Why, yes. How are we to know if this is true

without lifting the first layer and maybe finding a second

one? — returned Lane.

— Of course, the perfect suicide mission, —

Keene insisted.

— It doesn't have to be, — I said, not as

confidently as I wished I could be.

— What do you mean, Kevin? — Lane asked,

suddenly motivated by what I had said.

— Look. — Saying this, I pointed to a log at the

edge of the clearing. Clinging to the log, about 20 feet

above the ground, was a curious, sleepy-looking little

creature.

— Is that... a sloth? — Jacob Keene ventured.

Lucy stepped between her father and Keene, and this

time she pointed:

— No, I think I know what Kevin means. Look at

that female's back. — The elders turned to one of the

brown Kaiaimunus, who was carrying on its back

another of those small creatures. Clinging like a

rucksack to its mother's back, the baby was fast asleep.

— Ah, so that's it! — concluded Lane. — These

are babies and we can study them instead of giant adults.

Great, let's get started right away!

— I think we should go back to camp first, Dad,

— Lucy advised.

— Now, why? — asked the old man, with a

dismayed expression.

— Because you need to rest.

— And we can gather the material while you and

Dr. Keene settle down on that rock.

— But...

— For God's sake, Anthony! — said the

biomedical doctor. — Let them go at once, don't be a

nuisance!

— I'm not a nuisance...

— Of course not, — Lucy confirmed. — Wait

here, will you?

Our brief trip to the base was made by leaps and

bounds so that we could soon return to the elders. The

mission was simply to pack up what had been taken out

of the backpacks and put out the fire to avoid a

large-scale forest tragedy, as well as to collect the kettle

that lay glowing in the flames; the coffee inside had long

since evaporated. When we returned to base with the

equipment, we found the leaders of our expedition in

their usual places, with Lane discoursing at length, while

Jacob spat out occasional monosyllables; his frowning

eyes focused on the herd.

We huddled as best as we could, trying to rest on

the ledges of the rock. The surface was as uncomfortable

as possible, but our options were limited. I took from my

backpack a thin sketchbook and some pencils and

sketched out what we were now seeing.

In our background, Lane's breathing slowed and

we could already hear him snoring softly, and next to

me, Jacob Keene lay on his belly to take pictures of the

flock.

Their movement, by the way, resembled a great

ritual, with the lead-toned males marching around, as if

in worship, sometimes stopping to feed. Within this

formation, the females were also feeding on the

vegetation that was surrounded by the circle, and within

the vast number of huge bodies, a glow that had gone

unnoticed to me, suddenly shone. As the hours passed,

the dense wall of females dissipated as they moved

away, and what I had observed became more apparent.

From their midst rose a male Kaiaimunu, slightly larger

than his fellows. Until now the male had been resting,

lying protected within the group, and then stood up to

show his stature. I reckoned this was the leader,

considering his size, the way he treated the other males

and a series of larger feathers that ran from his head

down to the base of his neck. I followed him with my

eyes as the big Leader walked heavily towards the edge

of his flock and there he found a tree that he felt like

feeding on. Because the tree had already been taken by a

smaller male, he opened his arms sideways, shaking the

feathers that covered his body and the plume that

adorned the back of his head, roaring furiously, with the

sickles in attack position. The small male retreated in

fright and the Leader proudly devoured the leaves of the

tree. Isn't it curious that this species mistreats the only

useful members of the flock? — I thought that only

among my fellows would I find such a phenomenon.

Finally, the Leader went to the center of the

flock, having already filled his big stomach for hours on

end. We, too, had refreshed ourselves with the little

mumu that was left, and now we would have to enjoy

whatever nature offered us, as was the custom from the

third day onwards of many of our excursions. The big

male Kaiaimunu finally reached the center of the group,

almost as if calculating the diameter of the circle around,

and slowly opened his arms sideways once again. Poking

its beak upwards, the iridescent-yellow gular sac

vibrated a little and began to inflate, like that of a frigate.

A soft roar echoed in the clearing, amplified by the

pouch, making the sound so low that it sounded like a

tuba, and it covered the entire front of its body, leaving

only its head and the sickles visible, sticking out on both

sides. I sketched that scene as quickly as I could, giving

details in the stroke, trying to get across the idea of the

majestic sight I was seeing, and smiled, thrilled. I looked

to my left and so did Jacob Keene while taking pictures.

Eventually, he lowered the camera and confessed to me:

— That is stunning! — I never thought I would

agree with Keene on anything, so I took full advantage

to approach him with this situation.

— Isn't it gorgeous? — I asked, looking into his

eyes. — After months of assisting Dr. Lane, you have

achieved what you wanted. Your students will adore you

even more … — I finished with a laugh.

— Now, who cares about those losers? — he

said, frowning slightly and then putting his right eye

back in front of the viewer.

— I thought... you did, — I replied with some

surprise.

— Kevin, being popular allows me to do

whatever I want without the dean raising his voice at me.

People are hard to deal with; why do you think I prefer

to look for animals with an old man and a boy who

usually doesn't talk too much?

I felt a shiver run down my spine and kept my

eyes on him for a few more moments before turning

around again to try to absorb it all. Turning to the right

this time, I looked back, trying to see something that

would remove that shadow from my mind, and saw Lane

and Lucy sitting together on a ledge, discussing what

they saw. I lingered a few more minutes where I was, lest

he understand that I was leaving because of his acid

comment.

Slipping back a few feet, I asked Anthony Lane:

— So, Doctor, are you feeling all right?

— Wonderful, Kevin. — Looking down at the

animals, he continued speaking with a tone of triumph:

— We've done it, my boy. Finally, we will show

that cryptozoology is not a pseudoscience.

— Yes, sir.

— Have you formulated your theory yet? —

asked Lucy.

— About what, dear? — said Lane, without

understanding.

— Why these animals are here and why they

have never been seen before.

— Well, the reality is that the natives had seen

them long ago. This gave rise to the legend about the

spirits called Kaiaimunu. I believe, however, that the

species was until then confined within the jungle because

it is not possible that they could have survived millions

of years on this island; it would not have supported this

population. They must have come from the most closed

woods on the island of New Britain.

— Do you think they swam here? — said, Lucy.

— Considering the size of these creatures, I think

that's the only plausible explanation. There are cases of

iguanas and other animals that ended up on islands far

away carried by logs or some other floating object, but

it's not possible to apply this hypothesis to such heavy

animals. Besides, the distance between the two islands is

relatively short and passable for these dinosaurs that, like

horses and elk, may be able to swim, even though they

were not built to do so.

— And why do you think they only did this now?

— I asked, taking advantage of his pause for breath.

— Well, they must certainly have traveled great

distances feeding, as a kind of seasonal migration, to

allow the vegetation to grow again. If this is indeed a

migration, a kind of circuit, then perhaps it is the case

that these Kaiaimunus have changed their behavioral

patterns. Take migrating birds as an example. These

birds sometimes fly thousands of miles in search of

warmer climates in which to have their young. The goal,

though, is not simply that the chicks are born in a more

pleasant place, but that they have an ample source of

food. You see, insects thrive best in warmer climates, so

climate changes that contribute to their emergence are

also a warning to these birds to fly to where such insects

are. However, the slightest change can affect the cycle

and cause insects to develop too early or too late, and if

the birds miss the time, they also miss the chance to feed

their young, driving an entire population, and sometimes

an entire species, to extinction. Of course, extinction is a

natural thing, and it is estimated that there have been at

least 22 massive extinction events on our planet; but this

kind of extinction is anthropogenic, i.e. man-made

changes, not by natural processes. These events can also

alter the migratory pattern of animals, as already

observed in marine and land mammals, fish, etc. I am

afraid this explains what is occurring here. Look at the

trees — those babies seem to pick out the tenderest

leaves, while the adults don't seem to care to select

which leaves they will eat. I believe that this flock is

constantly migrating in search of areas with new shoots

and buds that in other places have not yet appeared

because of climatic differences, or even habitat

destruction.

Recalling these articles cited by Lane, I

remembered another detail described by them, which

made me a little afraid. The studies showed that these

climate changes had affected the water temperature and

thus the migration of some fish. In the case of salmon,

their favorite environment is cold water, because the

opposite compromises their metabolism and especially

their cardiovascular health. As they need to rest several

times during the journey upstream, they spend a lot of

time exposed to warmer water, reducing the energy

required to complete the migration. Without this extra

strength, many adults simply die on the way, never

reaching their destination. Thus also dies the hope of a

new generation and the entire ecosystem that depends on

the species. As for habitat destruction, the articles said

that monarch butterflies in the United States had had

their migratory patterns altered by deforestation, and

now some populations were not migrating at all. It was

also noted that these sedentary populations were more

prone to protozoan infections, dramatically decreasing

the life expectancy of some individuals. Remembering

these facts, I looked again at the magnificent animals in

front of me and imagined them dead, extinct once more,

and asked Dr. Lane:

— Do you think it is possible then...that we will

find some sick animals? — Sighing deeply and looking

at me with a pitying expression, he replied:

— I'm afraid so, Kevin. I was thinking the same

thing...

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