Martin said something to the ebu gogo and they poked and prodded the naked cryptozoologists out of the cavern, through the network of caves, and into a larger cavern that was crowded with ebu gogo, both female and male. Martin said to the female cryptozoologists, “Don’t worry. I have taught the females how to be patient with the males. They will help the males enter you, just as I helped the male enter Stephanie. That way we won’t have to kill you, and I will have brothers and sisters.”
The ebu gogo that had prodded them into the cavern were all pregnant. But the females crowding the cavern waiting impatiently for them had slim bellies. The pregnant ebu gogo with spears prodded the cryptozoologists into the frothing sea of ebu gogo, and the ebu gogo touched them all over with their little hands. The faces of the cryptozoologists were twisted with humiliation and fear as ebu gogo climbed all over them and pulled them to the rock floor of the cavern.
Martin’s eyes and the eyes of the pregnant ebu gogo with spears were on the scene that was happening on the floor, so nobody noticed when Doug stepped into the doorway until he said in a loud voice, “Hey ebu gogo!!!”
Some heads turned and saw Doug as he lit a string of firecrackers and tossed it into the cavern. The firecrackers went off! “popopopopopopopopopop!!!!”
The hundreds of ebu gogo all fell onto their backs, waved their arms and legs in the air and screamed, “Eeeeeee, Eeeeeee, Eeeeeee!”
Martin jumped around and yelled, “I told you all not to get scared! It’s only a noise! Get up! Get up!”
But the ebu gogo continued to roll around on their backs and scream as the firecracker continued to pop.
The cryptozoologists all got to their feet. Linda said, “The pregnant ones. We have to get them while they are all on their backs.
Linda rushed to where the pregnant guards were rolling back and forth on the floor, grabbed a spear out of one of their hands, and stabbed it in its round, pregnant stomach, running the stone tip of her spear through the developing fetus within its womb. The rest of the cryptozoologists followed Linda’s lead, grabbed spears, and stabbed the pregnant ebu gogo in their bulging bellies, killing the fetuses within.
The popping firecracker slowly died and stopped popping. The ebu gogo on the ground shook weary heads as they began to recover. Quickly, Doug lit another string of firecrackers and it went off, “popopopopopopopopopop!!!!”
The few ebu gogo that had gotten onto their feet all fell onto their backs again, and all the ebu gogo waved their arms and legs in the air again and screamed, “Eeeeeee, Eeeeeee, Eeeeeee!”
The cryptozoologists continued to stab pregnant ebu gogo in their bellies, killing them and the human-ebu gogo hybrids growing inside their wombs, as Doug continued to light firecrackers. Martin, who was still trying to get the ebu gogo to their feet, suddenly saw what the cryptozoologists were doing. He ran over to them waving his arms in the air and screamed, “Hey!”
Lewis, Clare, and Linda rushed Martin at once while Stephanie and Dr. Stern continued the exhausting work of stabbing pregnant ebu gogo in their bellies.
Lewis, Clare and Linda threw Martin to the ground and kicked him over and over again all at once with their heavy boots as they screamed, “You fucking furry! Fucking furfag! Fuck! Fuck!”
The firecracker began to die down. Doug said, “Uh, guys…”
But the cryptozoologists all ignored him as they continued to surround Martin and kick him and to stab the pregnant females. The firecracker stopped completely and the ebu gogo began to recover. Again Doug said, “Guys.”
Linda turned to Doug and said, “Hey, how about lighting another one?”
Doug said, “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I can’t get my lighter to work. See?”
Doug demonstrated by flicking his lighter a few times. There was a little spark, but no flame.
The ebu gogo were beginning to get to their feet. Lewis cried, “We have to get out of here!”
Linda looked Martin right in the eye, said, “Fucking furry,” and stabbed him through the heart with her spear. This time, nobody objected.
The cryptozoologists all rushed out of the cavern gripping their spears. They were not pursued by the ebu gogo as they made their way through the network of caves and spilled out into the rainforest jungle above.
Perhaps the reason the ebu gogo didn’t go after the cryptozoologists was because Doug still held the firecrackers in his hands, and they had learned to fear them. Or maybe the ebu gogo were too upset by the loss of the pregnant ebu gogo and their unborn children to go after them. Or maybe they were too upset by the death of Martin. Or maybe they all just figured they had suffered enough losses and that it wasn’t worth it to go after the humans and suffer more.
Once they had made their way through the jungle for awhile without having been given chase Linda said to Dr. Stern, “Do you think you and Stephanie got the last of the pregnant ones?”
Dr. Stern said, “As far as I could see, but there’s no way to know for sure.”
Doug said, “I’m pretty sure you did.”
Chapter 24
The cryptozoologists reached the Keo village. After the week had passed, the boat returned to take them to the island of Java, where Lewis’s jet, the Dare to Discover, was sitting in the Jakarta International Airport waiting to take them home.
Doug and Stephanie were off by themselves on the bow of the ship, having what must have been an awfully awkward conversation. After all, both of them had had sex with ebu gogo, and Stephanie had accused Doug of loving it. But it looked as if they had ironed out their differences, as they were smiling as they talked to one another, and even laughed occasionally.
Meanwhile, Dr. Stern, Lewis, Linda, and Clare all sat together. Dr. Stern said, “I have been such an idiot.”
Clare said, “What do you mean?”
Dr. Stern said, “In my paper that I disowned, ‘The Descendants of Pongo Abelii,’ I argued that human beings had evolved from orangutans, and then an isolated population of human beings devolved into chimpanzee. People told me that I was crazy, and that devolution of that sort was impossible. They said the very idea smacked of racism. So I listened to them, and I recanted all my ideas and from then on only espoused accepted mainstream opinions. But in the remarkable story that Martin told, he said that orangutans devolved from an isolated population of Homo erectus. Don’t you see? If that is possible, then devolution is possible, and therefore my idea about chimpanzees devolving from human beings is also possible. What if all of the great apes are the product of devolution? If I had only continued my research along the intellectual path I set out on instead of allowing myself to be forced in another direction, I could have discovered great things. I have wasted my life, and it is all the fault of the arrogance of the scientific community. Lewis Dare, I owe you an apology. You were right about science, and I was wrong. Science has become just another religion. Thank you for getting me fired from the Museum of Natural History. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
Clare had been sitting in between her two parents, but now she switched seats so that she was sitting next to Dr. Stern and said, “Hey, I like what you just said. You know, I get the impression that you don’t have much of a life to go back to in London, and I just love showing people around LA. What if you come back to Los Angeles with me, and I can give you a tour?”
Dr. Stern smiled and said, “I would love a tour of Los Angeles.”
Lewis said, “And I can’t wait to go to New York, where I will announce to the entire world that I have discovered the ebu gogo.”
Linda said, “How many times do I have to remind you that I discovered them first?”