West of Eden

Stallan said. "It is better than wasting it. The boats are so well fed I think they are ready to breed."
    "Then starve them a bit. We need all of them in operating condition now."
    A multitude of trees grew along the riverbanks, rising up in thick profusion. There were gray ones with massive trunks, while close beside them grew high green trees covered with fine needles, as well as even higher red ones with roots arching out in all directions. Between the trees the ground was blanketed with purple and pink flowers, while even more plants grew above them along the branches. Great blooms of many colors. The jungle was bursting with life. Birds cried in its darkness and red-striped snails oozed along the tree trunks.
    "It is a rich land," Vaintè said.
    West of Eden - Harry Harrison
    "Entoban* must have been this way at one time," Stallan said, nostril flaps opened wide as she sniffed the air. "Before the cities spread and covered the land from one ocean to the other."
    "Do you think it was really like that?" Vaintè struggled to understand this new idea. "It is a difficult concept to contain. One always thinks of the cities as having been there since the egg of time."
    "I have talked with Vanalpè about this on more than one occasion. She has explained it to me. What we see here in this new land of Gendasi might very well be what you could have seen in Entoban* at one time very long ago. Before the Yilanè grew the cities."
    "You are right, of course. If we grow our cities there must have been a time when there was but a single city. Which leads to the disconcerting thought that there may have been a time when there were no cities at all. Is such a thing possible?"
    "I do not know. You must talk of this to Vanalpè who has mastered such head-disturbing concepts."
    "You are right. I will ask her." She realized then that the fargi were pressing too close about them, their mouths gaping open as they labored to understand the conversation. Vaintè moved them back with a quick gesture.
    They were approaching the alligator breeding grounds, although by this time most of the great creatures had been cleared from the banks. The survivors were wary, sinking into the water and vanishing from sight when the boats appeared. The females were the last to leave, for surprisingly enough these primitive and unintelligent beasts cared for their eggs and their young. Boats were pulled up on the shore ahead where a working party of fargi labored in the sun. They drew up their own boats beside them and Vaintè turned to the supervisor, Zhekakot, who watched from the shelter of a large tree.
    "Tell me of your work," Vaintè said.
    "Much progress is being made, Eistaa. Two boatloads of eggs have been sent to the city. We are netting all the young we can. They are very stupid and easy to catch."
    She leaned over the pen at her side and made a quick grab, then straightened up, holding out at arm's length the baby alligator suspended by its tail. It twisted and hissed and tried to reach her with its tiny teeth.
    Vaintè nodded approval. "Good, very good. A menace removed and our stomachs full. I wish all of our problems had such an agreeable solution." She turned to Stallan. "Are there other breeding grounds?"
    "None between this place and the city. When we have cleared here we will work upriver and out into the swamps. It will take time, but it must be thorough."
    West of Eden - Harry Harrison
    "Good. Now we will look at the new fields before we return to the city."
    "I must return to the other hunters, Eistaa. Zhekakot will be able to show you the way if that is agreeable."
    "Agreeable," Vaintè said.
    The air had become wonderfully stifling hot as the wind died away completely. The boats pulled out into the river and Vaintè noticed that the sky had an odd yellow color to it that she had never seen before.
    Even the weather was different here in this strange part of the world. As they moved back downstream the wind began to rise again—but it had changed direction and was blowing from behind them. Vaintè twisted about and saw the dark line that had appeared on the horizon. She pointed.
    "Zhekakot, what is the significance of that?"
    "I do not know. Clouds of some kind. I have never seen anything like it before."
    The black clouds rushed towards them at unbelievable speed. One moment they had just been a smear above the trees, then they rose up, came closer, darkening the sky. And with them came the wind. It struck like a sudden fist and