The Brave New World 86 The Love Frui

He found himself lying on his back, on gra.s.s so thick, so soft, so springy it felt as if he was lying on a matress. Overhead, feathery clouds drifted across a pale blue sky, softening the sunlight. The air felt very warm, but not uncomfortably hot. There was a slight breeze; it carried the tang of the ocean. And he could hear an odd noise - he focused his mind: it was a buzz! The buzzing of hundreds of insects!

Susanto sprang to his feet, and looked around. He was in the middle of a gra.s.sy clearing. At first glance, it appeared to be the size of a football field, and it featured clumps of tall, majestic shrubs that reminded Susanto of juniper trees. The nearest was within arm's reach, and Susanto frowned: unlike junipers, the shrubs had ordinary leaves, small and round and thick. They were speckled with fruit: berries whose color ranged from yellow to red. He could also see a few tiny yellow flowers, and he could also smell them: their scent reminded him of orange blossoms.

The buzzing he'd heard was caused by the swarms of insects hovering around the flowers. They were tiny, he could barely make them out - there wasn't a single giant mosquito in sight. There were no flying lizards, either. Watching out for snakes, Susanto carefully edged around the bush and saw the ocean.

He remembered what James had told him - he was on top of a large cliff, he could see where it ended, maybe fifty steps away. James had mentioned seeing something odd on the beach below the cliff: intrigued, Susanto walked towards the cliff's edge, watching where he put his feet. But there were no unpleasant surprises apart from the occasional p.r.i.c.k from a dry twig or a small, sharp stone.

He lay down on his stomach a few steps from the edge - just in case, just in case. Then he cautiously wriggled forward until he had a clear view of the beach below the cliff.

The sand was deep purple, almost black where it was wet. Incongruously, a number of pale yellow rocks were scattered on the beach. They all were almost perfectly round, resembling giant beachb.a.l.l.s - Susanto estimated they had no less than a meter in diameter, maybe even two. They seemed to be covered with spikes - they weren't rocks, they were moving! He was sure he saw at least two move.

He strained his eyes until they watered, and was about to give up when he saw one of them move again. It seemed to jerk, instantly hopping maybe half a meter before freezing still. It took its time: Susnato had counted to forty three before the spiky ball he was watching made another hop.

This reminded him other beasts might be hopping around, too. He got up, and fearfully looked around: was he alone? It seemed he was, not counting the insects. He reminded himself that James had spent over two hours in the same spot, unmolested except by s.e.x-hungry angels. He had to do a bit better than James; he had to have a proper look at this place.

This he proceeded to do, stepping with utmost care. The clifftop was smaller than he'd intially thought, and before long Susanto confirmed that it was completely isolated from the ground below. The cliff fell away almost vertically to meet the ground no less than fifty meters down. That would be no obstacle to the flying ptero-somethings, but thankfully there were none of these around.

Having completed a circuit of the clifftop, Susanto stood on the edge facing inland and tried to locate the hill he'd climbed on his first visit to the New World. He couldn't see it. The land within view was a flat, thickly overgrown plain: he thought he could see a stream sparkle in the sea of green. But there wasn't a single hill, not even a hint of a hill as far as he could see, and his field of vision stretched for at least six or seven kilometers. How was that possible? Candy's beach was less than two kilometers from the camp, the launching pad for their earlier voyages to the New World!

Frowning, Susanto surveyed the land before him. Nothing but treetops, merging into a sea of leaves - and yes, there definitely was a stream or a small river snaking under the canopy, he saw sunlight flashing on the water, he could even roughly trace its course. There wasn't a single dinosaur in sight. Not that it made much difference: no dinosaur would be able to climb onto the cliff.

The clifftop was the perfect, safe observation point. Completely cut off from the ground below, it was also totally useless as the starting point for expeditions to the New World. It offered little beyond a chance to die of thirst and hunger with the comforting knowledge there was no danger from the dinosaurs.

Susanto frowned: he'd just remembered about the berries on the shrubs. The flowers smelled very nice: perhaps the berries were edible? What a foolish notion! There was no sense in staying on that clifftop even if each berry provided complete nutrition for a full day.

With a jerk, Susanto realized that he'd lost the track of time. James might be returning him back to Earth any moment! He walked back to the arrival spot, frowning and shaking his head. He couldn't understand why he hadn't been able to see the hill he knew from his previous visit. As a matter of fact, the entire landscape looked different from the landscape he'd seen from the hill. It was inexplicable.

There was a new arrival among the insects buzzing round the berries: a large dragonfly, at least as big as Susanto's spread hand. But it showed no interest at all in Susanto. It hovered above the insects, occasionally darting into the swarm. Susanto guessed it was feeding on the insects. He shuddered, and felt fresh contempt for all those Nature-lovers back on Earth. This was what Nature was like: you got eaten while making love to a flower. Making love! James and his angels! What the f.u.c.k had happened to James while he was here?

Struck by a new thought, Susanto moved closer to a a bush and plucked a particularly big, red berry. He examined it closely: it was the size and shape of a large grape with perfectly smooth skin and a smell that made his mouth water. It was simply the most beautiful scent he'd ever felt in his entire life. It was the essence of all the best scents in the world. Fruity and flowery notes mixed with a hint of spice, a mixture of cinnamon and vanilla.

It wasn't a strong scent, on the contrary: it was faint and fleeting, disappearing with the slightest breeze. Susanto lifted the berry to his nostrils and inhaled deeply: bliss, absolute bliss! He licked it; it didn't taste of anything. He felt a twinge of anger, and bit it.

It was like biting into a capsule containing a concentrate of all the fruit flavors in existence. It was completely overwhelming. A dozen alarm bells were ringing loudly in Susanto's head, but he greedily pushed the berry into his mouth anyway, and started chewing.

He had never eaten anything that good. He swallowed hurriedly and reached out for another berry. He plucked a yellow one this time: identical smell, identical taste! Well, maybe a little bit fainter, but this could be an illusion - it was his second berry, his sense of taste could be slightly dulled.

He was about to pluck an orange berry to complete his taste experiment when he got proof that James had been telling him the truth.

The bush in front of him seemed to dematerialize. Its place was taken by a nebulous shape that quickly solidified into the most beautiful, most desirable woman Susanto had ever seen both offscreen and onscreen. She was an amalgamate of all the women he'd desired most. She was a dream made perfect. She was floating just above the ground, her feet were almost level with Susanto's knees.

He blinked. James had been telling him nothing but the truth! He said hoa.r.s.ely:

"Come here. Come closer. I want to touch you."

She smiled! He could swear she'd smiled! She was floating towards him, into his arms! Susanto was shaking all over. He just couldn't control himself. He tried hard to stop that f.u.c.king shaking, and couldn't. Some unknown force was shaking him.

He blacked out-

- and woke up with James's hands gripping his shoulders, gripping them so hard he felt pain. James was shouting, shouting the same words over and over again:

"Sir! Wake up! Sir! Wake up! Sir!"

"Shut up, James, and let go," Susanto said dreamily. He finally opened his eyes and looked at James and said:

"You were right. I apologize. You were right all along. I saw an angel. To be precise, I saw an angel after eating a couple of those berries over there. You ate a berry, didn't you? You ate a few. Come on. Confess."

"I did, sir," James said penitently. "Just one. I forgot to tell you."

"Never mind," Susanto said benevolently. He was feeling so good! Suddenly he jerked and sat up so quickly he almost b.u.t.ted James in the face.

f.u.c.k timon. Those berries were going to be a world bestseller! Correction: a two-world bestseller, equally popular in both worlds! Cruz could have all the timon they came across. But in return, he would have to agree to Susanto's monopoly on the berries.

No scientists, no technicians, no tons of people needed to investigate timon and develop technologies for its use! No factories, no pricey machinery, no production lines and lines of government people he'd have to bribe to keep everything moving along! On your table, straight from the wild orchards of the New World - Susanto sprang up from the mat, shocking James who instinctively threw up a protective arm.

"I need to be alone, James," said Susanto. "I need to think."

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