Free Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble (Noah Zarc, #1) by D. Robert Pease

one someday.”
    She smiled. “I’d like that.”
    We sat for a while enjoying our meal. For the most part, the cave was quiet except for the occasional belch, or other unexpected noises.
    “Where is your home?” Adina asked when we’d eaten our fill.
    “That’s not an easy thing to answer.” I looked up toward the stars beginning to twinkle in the night sky. “I was born on a planet a long way from here.”
    “Planet?”
    “Um... A great big land in the sky.” I gestured around us. “This land, this planet, we call Earth. I was born on another planet, called Mars.”
    “So, Mars is your home?” She looked up at the sky as if she might suddenly see another world.
    “Well, not really. I’ve lived most of my life on a great ship in the sky.”
    “A ship? Like the silver thing you killed the mastodon with?”
    The firelight danced on her face. I’d never seen eyes that big.
    I glanced back at the sky. “Yes, but much, much bigger.” How to describe something so alien to her? “It’s like a giant cave, with a whole lot of rooms. But it’s not a part of the land, it moves.”
    Adina looked at me like I was a little off my rocker. Then someone shouted from across the fire.
    “A tale!”
    Several people took up the chant. “A tale! A tale!”
    Adina nudged me in the arm.
    “It’s tradition for the hunter who brought down the beast to tell a tale—you know, his adventures and daring.”
    I panicked. “My daring?”
    She giggled. “The story doesn’t have to be true.”
    I looked at Dad, who nodded. My stomach twisted in knots. Then I saw the expectant smile on Adina’s face and the faces of dozens of people sitting around me, and raised my chair higher. I was the hero of the day, after all.
    “I’ll tell you the story of Elimu and Fathiya.”
    Dad smiled big. I could do this.
    “The elephant is a mighty creature, as you all know.”
    But they all looked puzzled.
    “Sorry, elephants are just like mastodons without the fur—tough gray skin, huge ears and tusks. They’re not easy for a man to catch, and it’s especially hard for a boy on his first hunt.” So many nodded that my confidence grew.
    “About two years ago, I was helping my dad track two of these elephants in the African…in a land far from here, where the sun always shines and you don’t need to wear furs to keep warm.” Some of the women looked at each other, then back at me.
    “Dad and I were watching a herd of elephants grazing near a watering hole. I spotted a pair off by themselves, a male and a female, perfect for us. We had one of our ships ready with fences on each side of an entrance so we could herd the elephants in.”
    An old man to my right laughed. “Wouldn’t it be easier to spear these elephants and take their meat into your ship ?”
    “Yeah, I guess it would be, but we didn’t want their meat. We wanted them alive.”
    A kind of collective gasp rose from the crowd.
    “Dad put me in charge of closing the doors to the ship once the elephants were inside. He went off to circle around the far side to scare them in my direction. I sat for what seemed like a long time until suddenly the elephants spooked and started moving towards me. I saw my father walking behind them, herding them toward the ship.”
    I looked at all the faces, shining in the firelight. I wasn’t sure they understood the story completely, but they hung on every word.
    “The two elephants were within three meters when I heard a loud popping sound!” I clapped my hands, and a few of the younger kids gasped. “The animals turned and started running off to the side, away from me. Dad yelled, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. A loud noise came from the far side of the watering hole, and I looked up to see a Range Rover barreling towards us.” More puzzled faces.
    “A Range Rover is kind of like our ship, but it moves along on the ground instead of in the sky.”
    “Another tribe had come to steal your elephants ?” the same old man