Dura

Part 6

After this meeting, the purpose of which we couldn't understand, we were taken to a large cave system beneath the tower structure. It soon became apparent to us that it was a mine combined with a subterranean prison camp. The conditions were, to say the least, hellish. There were hundreds of cells carved out in the bedrock, covered with prison bars, some of them filled with four to five people. They were all wearing yellow overalls, just like us, which made my heart sink to my stomach.

"Denisovans," Alex whispered.

He was right. Most of the prisoners weren't Neanderthals. They looked at us, with what looked like confusion in their eyes, as we walked past the cells. It was dark, the only light coming from small lamps hanging from lines in the ceiling, and it smelled of burnt rubber, tobacco and excrements. Prisoners walked in columns while cloaked Neanderthal men whipped them from behind, ordering them to move forward. They were all carrying shovels, pickaxes, hammers, chisels, and pans.

"Do you think they're done with us now?" I said. "Do you think this is where we'll end up?"

"They have seen the proof, they know about our world... Either they might try to reach it themselves and discard of us, or they might need us to help them with their mission. I don't know, Lester."

They unlocked a cell, that had a pretty good view over the mine, and pushed us inside. During the night, all we could do was to listen to the echoes of the pickaxes, the whips, and the Denisovans' screams.

"Poor beings," I said.

"I'm sure there's a similar cave in Asia filled with Neanderthals," Alex said. "There's a certain balance here, you know?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Everyone has their corner of the world," he said, "the animals aren't being systematically brought to extinction and the environment isn't being destroyed. It just took a few Homo sapiens escaping Africa to ruin all of it. We spread like a wildfire..."

"What happened to us here? I mean... to our species?"

"I don't know," Alex said. "Perhaps we never evolved."

We talked about this the entire night until a prison guard came by with some water and food. The food resembled porridge and had no meat in it aside from a few larvae. It was utterly disgusting. We lived like this for about three weeks, unable to leave the cell. We had to do our business in a bucket that was emptied once a week. It was as humiliating as it was repulsive. I feared we would die from dysentery.

Finally, one of the women from the tower – accompanied by a group of armed prison guards – came down to us. She looked at us with dismay in her eyes, although it was difficult to know exactly what emotions the Neanderthals were showing with their expressions.

They led us outside. The daylight hurt our eyes, even though it was filtered through a thick mist. We stepped out on a large square beneath the tower. I looked up and saw the structure – completely black – disappear into the fog above. A group of Neanderthal men – maybe fifty – stood in formation in the middle of the square while a woman stood in front of them, talking and gesturing. These Neanderthals dressed differently from the ones we had seen so far. They had black metal helmets and were armed with rifles with somewhat shorter barrels. Soldiers, I thought.

"My god!" Alex said as he pointed at the sky.

Out of the mist, accompanied by the deep sound of a horn being blown not far from us, a huge airship – resembling a pitch-black zeppelin – descended. Some of the soldiers spread out and grabbed the lines that were thrown down from the airship and helped it land in the middle of the square. The rest of the soldiers formed two lines next to the entrance of the ship and their commander placed herself in the middle, ready to welcome the people who had just arrived. We were led forward until we stood behind the commander. It became clear the ship had arrived because of us. Most likely, it was a group of higher-ups that wanted to investigate us by themselves.