2001: A Space Odyssey Page #2

Startled and frightened, the tribe retreats before the first

advance, throwing nothing more substantial than imprecations

at the invaders. Moonwatcher moves with them, his mind a

mist of rage and confusion. To be driven from their own

territory is a great badness, but to lose the river is death.

He does not know what to do; it is a situation beyond his

experience.

Then he becomes dimly aware that the Others are slowing

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down, and advancing with obvious reluctance. The further they

move from their own side, the more uncertain and unhappy

they become. Only Big-Tooth still retains any of his original

drive, and he is rapidly being seperated from his followers.

As he sees this, Moonwatcher's own morale immediately

revives. He slows down his retreat, and begins to make

reassuring noises to his companions. Novel sensations fill

his dim mind - the first faint precursors of bravery and

leadership.

Before he realizes it, he is face to face with Big-Tooth, and

the two tribes come to a halt many paces away.

The disorganized and unscientific conflict could have ended

quickly if either had used his fist as a club, but this

innovation still lay hundreds of thousands of years in the

future. Instead, the slowly weakening fighters claw and

scratch and try to bite each other.

Rolling over and over, they come to a patch of stony ground,

and when they reach it Moonwatcher is on top. By chance,

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he chooses this moment to grab the hair on Big-Tooth's scalp,

and bang his head on the ground. The resulting CRACK is

so satisfactory, and produces such an immediate weakening

In Big - Tooth's resistance, that he quickly repeats it.

Even when Big-Tooth ceases to move for some time, Moon-

watcher keeps up the exhilirating game.

With shrieks of panic, the Others retreat back, across the

stream. The defenders cautiously pursue them as far as

The water's edge.

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EXT CAVE - NEW SOUND

Dozing fitfully and weakened by his stuggle, Moonwatcher is

startled by a sound.

He sits up in the fetid darkness of the cave, straining his

senses out into the night, and fear creeps slowly into his soul.

Never in his life - already twice as long as most members of

his species could expect - has he heard a sound like this. The

great cats approached in silence, and the only thing that

betrayed them was a rare slide of earth, or the occasional

cracking of a twig. Yet this is a continuing crunching noise

that grows steadily louder. It seemed that some enormous

beast was moving through the night, making no attempt at

concealment, and ignoring all obstacles.

And then there came a sound which Moonwatcher could not

possibly have identified, for it had never been heard before

in the history of this planet.

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EXT CAVE - NEW ROCK

Moonwatcher comes face to face with the New Rock when he

leads the tribe down to the river in the first light of morning.

He had almost forgotten the terror of the night, because nothing

had happened after that initial noise, so he does not even

associate this strange thing with danger or with fear. There

is nothing in the least alarming about it.

It is a cube about fifteen feet on a side, and it is made of

some completely transparent material; indeed, it is not easy

to see except when the light of the sun glints on its edges.

There are no natural objects to which Moonwatcher can

compare this apparition. Though he is wisely cautious

of most new things, he does not hesitate to walk up to it.

As nothing happens, he puts out his hand, and feels a warm,

hard surface.

After several minutes of intense thought, he arrives at a

brilliant explanation. It is a rock, of course, and it

must have grown during the night. There are many plants

that do this - white, pulpy things shaped like pebbles, that

seem to shoot up in the hours of darkness. It is true that

they are small and round, whereas this is large and square;

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but greater and later philosophers than Moonwatcher would be

prepared to overlook equally striking exceptions to their laws.

This really superb piece of abstract thinking leads Moonwatcher

to a deduction which he immediately puts to the test. The white,

round pebble-plants are very tasty (though there were a few

that made one violently sick); perhaps this square one...?

A few licks and attempted nibbles quickly disillusion him.

There is no nourishment here; so like a sensible hominid, he

continues on his way to the river and forgets all about the Cube.

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EXT CUBE - FIRST LESSON

They are still a hundred yards from the New Rock when the

sound begins.

It is quite soft, and it stops them in their tracks, so that they

stand paralyzed on the trail with their jaws hanging. A simple,

maddeningly repetitious rhythm pulses out of the crystal cube

and hypnotises all who come within its spell. For the first

time - and the last, for two million year - the sound of

drumming is heard in Africa.

The throbbing grows louder, more insistent. Presently the

hominids begin to move forward like sleep-walkers, towards

the source of that magnetic sound. Sometimes they take little

dancing steps, as their blood responds to the rhythms that

their descendants will not create for ages yet.

Totally entranced, they gather around the Cube, forgetting

the hardships of the day, the perils of the approaching dusk,

and the hunger in their bellies.

Now, spinning wheels of light begin to merge, and the spokes

fuse into luminous bars that slowly recede into the distance,

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rotating on their axes as they do; and the hominids watch, wide-

eyed, mesmerized captives of the Crystal Cube.

Then by some magic - though it was no more magical than all

that had gone on before - a perfectly normal scene appears. It

is as if a cubical block had been carved out of the day and

shifted into the night. Inside that block is a group of four

hominids, who might have been members of Moonwatcher's

own tribe, eating chunks of meat. The carcass of a wart-hog

lies near them.

This little family of male and female and two children is gorged

and replete, with sleek and glossy pelts - and this was a

condition of life that Moonwatcher had never imagined. From

time to time they stir lazily, as they loll at ease near the

entrance of their cave, apparently at peace with the world.

The spectacle of domestic bliss merges into a totally

different scene.

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