Story part nine

9

Dave had come to the conclusion that what was missing from the marvellous machine was something that would fit in the spherical empty space on the side by the - to him - undecipherable controls. What, he did not know, along with who he REALLY was. He reckoned he must have known the thing in the past; he was making far too much progress to be called lucky guesses.
This was also noted by the two and they kept close watch over him. Dave did not mind, as long as they let him work. He had continued his now almost nightly sojourns, only staying indoors when the wet would have given his absence and travels away.
Bear Camp was an enigma to him. The people of the time were so primitive, and yet not. The replicated articles showed great workmanship and sophistication. To have lived and thrived when all your tools were necessarily made from crude rock! He looked closely at a rock carving with strange symbols that had been faithfully copied through the eons. Did he recognise this one? That one? He had returned to the small office and looked up the thing on the glowing screen. Something told him this was important, the thing had never been translated over the time - this he would try to do.
Worryingly, the two and he now had doubts over who he was. He had enjoyed much the same food as they, not realising how different it was from that of the other people with labs in the huge place. The two times he had been out of the ‘restricted’ area he had discovered a completely unknown menu in the general cafeteria and self service replicator areas. He found he liked an item labelled ‘fish’, which came in a large variety of kinds. There were no kinds of fish available on the lab replicators. He programmed his two new favourites in.
The two had been horrified to find him appreciating the very thing one day.
“Do you know what that is that you are consuming, Dave?”
“It is called fish, cod I believe. There are lots of kinds on the replicators in the outer areas. I tried it and liked it, Prof Slongur. Why, anyway? There a particular reason it wasn’t available in the restricted area?”
Lagarto coughed none too gently. “We do not eat our own ancestors, Dave.”
Dave gave a blank stare at the two. “Ancestors?”
Slongur sighed, sadly. “We have forgotten you came to us with no memory, Dave. It is perfectly obvious you still have not regained much, especially basics.”
“Ah, yes, I had forgotten, thank you, Slongur, for reminding me. Dave, our ancient ancestors that we evolved from were a form of giant predator that did indeed eat many of their own kinds. We have not eaten these for millennia, it is not, seemly. On our, your home world, you would be considered a cannibal.”
“OUR HOME WORLD?”
Lagarto went a shade of purple, and Slongur stiffened. The long pretence and cover were torn apart.
“Of course, Dave, you know us well enough to realise we have not told all. The fact that we are visitors to this world would have confused you even more. You speak our language as your own - it is undecipherable to those native to this world. That we are from the future, be it here or there, is without doubt in any case. Our technology, what we work on here, is far, far beyond what those of this time can envisage.” Lagarto sighed himself. “There is not much more for you to know, Dave.”
“Indeed there is not.” Slongur spoke. “The machine is a hybrid between the future technologies of this world and ours. We wish only to return.”
“Thank you, gentlemen. What knowledge there must be, tied up and stored in this sorry brain of mine. I think I have suddenly ‘gone off’ fish.”
It was days later, as he worked on his own translation project, that he felt an itch in his ear. Clearing a build up of wax, he felt a miniscule object further in and curiously brought it before his eyes. Wondering suddenly, he rose to fetch something, anything, from the small lab with the broken communications light. Low babble was heard coming from the main secure lab - totally unintelligible to him. He placed the tiny thing back in his ear and he suddenly understood the technical talk going on. His curiosity was infectious now.
Rushing, but not running, running would raise the two’s curiosity or suspicion, he took a tool from the lab and returned to his own. He quickly proceeded to disable a vital part of his communications system.
Entering the main lab in a hurry, the two looked at him in surprise.
“Sorry to butt in, Professors’, but my lights just went out. The whole thing has shut down. Any chance of looking at it?”
The two looked and quickly found the offending component. No, they did not have a replacement in the restricted area; he would have to see someone in the general area. He grinned as he ran down the long sterile looking corridor to the greater spaces.

Of course they didn’t have a replacement - the only replacement miniature circuit chip was already in his pocket!
He headed for the smallest communal sitting area where he knew people gathered just to talk and have a drink or snack. Reproducing a cup of coffee he scratched his ear calmly taking the thing out. Talk went on around him quietly, and he understood!