38. Dogon Diner

        Nolan's thoughts drifted toward his learned perception of the destination they were headed as the train trundled deeper and deeper into the bedrock, it wasn't a good one at all. Who chose one's fate? He turned around to reconsider the feeding routine they were about to discover, to consider the expired examples destined for such a dishonorable death, trapped in the tailing cart, barely visible in the dim lights of the smoky tunnel. Had they been born this way? Had they simply fallen so far? Were they dying a dishonorable death because of a crime they had committed or because they just looked that way?

         He wondered about their lives... How long they had been sick, drooling expirees? Were they even conscious of their behavior? Of their fate? Their strange behavior was disturbing to watch, their drooling and moaning was making him mad. Had they simply malfunctioned?

         Disturbed in a deep way, Nolan turned away, the tailing cart was a hideous sight, and it was a horrific task they had been asked to perform, no wonder they dressed the cart up with gold bars. 

        Thoughts returned to the secrecy. Dell didn't have to worry, there was no way he would tell anyone about this anyway, it was already something he didn't want to know about, himself. The more he thought about the arrangement, however, the more he began to see the light. It was brilliant, if it did in fact, work. What a brilliant and economical solution to keeping the dogons at bay!

         The train trundled through the cold tunnel, eventually arriving in a little station with a turn-around loop. The ominous odor of death and animal feces was thick here, it certainly smelled like Hellias...

         Trying to look brave, the class disembarked from the train and huddled around Dell, expecting some sort of security protection but only a pair of seemingly unarmed guards stood by the entrance to a very dark cave.

         Nolan scanned the grounds, a circle was marked on the floor at the cave entrance, there were no walls or bars to stop the dogons or Aquilla from attacking the Underworld, although there clearly had been some sort of attack once upon a time. Heaps of melted iron bars were piled in the corner, evidence of a failed attempt in the past.

         "Aquilla" Dell explained as the students studied the pile of metal. "His breath melts everything, rock, iron, steel. You understand the nature of the beast we have subdued, you will soon see for yourself just how powerful our training methods are. But first you must face your fears! Atalon does not tolerate fearful merchants. They DO NOT EXIST!"

         Dell was only making them feel more afraid, the students were growing terrified of the unfolding reality. No bars? No walls? They came out of that cave? The reality was that Aquilla and the dogons could enter the Underworld at any time...

         "The feeding cart gets placed in the circle on the floor" Dell instructed and scanned the terrified faces, Nolan and Bell had the puffiest chests. "You two can go first."

         Deflating instantly, Nolan and Bell stepped forward.

         "Unlock the cart, roll it into the center of the circle and unbolt the door." Dell instructed, calmly.

         An unwillingness to appear cowardly in front of the class was a great motivator, neither Nolan or Bell had faced this level of terror before, Military camp had been child's play in comparison. They heaved hard, the cart was brutally heavy, but slowly they managed to roll it into the center of the circle, unbolted the door and quickly retreated back to the group.

         "Good! Now watch and learn." 

         The class huddled, petrified, while Dell approached one of the guards who handed him a special golden device, shaped like a star. Dell showed it to the class and explained that the object was a special whistle, that each point of the star was a mouthpiece which whistled at a certain frequency which the dogons responded to. 

         "This one has a food symbol" he pointed to the symbol. "Now watch what happens when I blow on it." He blew into the 'Food' whistle, creating a high pitched sound which the students could barely hear, if at all.

         Almost immediately, barking and yelping noises erupted from within the depths of the cave. Moments later, a thunderous herd of hideous bi-pedal wolf-like creatures bounded forth from the cave and began savagely circling the cart, salivating and growling at the terrified examples trapped inside. As they began pulling and heaving on the golden bars, the Moha Lab examples trapped inside, screamed in terror, stirring up the frenzy of the savage beasts now clambering around the cage, feverishly reaching in and pushing one another away, trying to get closer, competing for the meal.

         Terrified, the class stepped back in shock and horror, when one of the dogons caught Bell's eye. He dropped down on all fours and began to stalk toward the trembling Merchants, chartreuse eyes blazing...

         "This point has a 'Retreat' command" Dell lifted the star whistle up and pointed to another symbol.

         "Please..." Bell stepped back, unable to hide his fear now that the dogon was stalking towards him, eyes locked.

         "Now watch what happens when I blow the Retreat command whistle!" Dell blew into the Retreat whistle and like magic, the dogon suddenly stopped in his tracks, lost interest in Bell and returned to the frenzied savagery surrounding the cage as if nothing had distracted him.

         "Wow..." Bell stood forward again, amazed.

         Eventually the dogons had pried apart the bars and opened the cart door. Within moments they were tearing the examples apart, pulling off limbs and devouring chunks of flesh in ravenous and bloody greed.

         Once the cart was empty, Dell pointed to another symbol on the whistle. "This one sends them Home." As Dell blew the Home whistle, the dogons snatched their morsels and retreated into the cave leaving only fresh odors of blood, carnivore pheremones and a cloud of dust behind.

         The class was left speechless, dusty, horrified and frozen in utter shock.

         "OK" Dell broke their trauma trance with a happy tone, seemingly unfazed, even entertained by the gory scene. "There's a whistle for every command" he pointed to them all. "Eat, Retreat, Go Home, Stay and Attack."

         "Why would we need Attack?"
         "You all saw how obediently they respond, didn't you?"

         The class was speechless, it was all very impressive.

         Nolan studied the great professor with heightened interest, wasn't he afraid of the dogons at all? It seemed like this was just another classroom tour to Dell, he appeared completely immune to the fear.

         "Don't worry about the damage to the cart, you'll be dropping it off at the studios to be fixed once you're done your shift. We're going there now. Any questions?" Still reeling from the graphic scene the class could barely think. Dell pointed to Nolan and Bell again. "Get the cart."

         Working hard to both hide and overcome their fear, Nolan and Bell approached the empty, bloody cart with great trepidation. But it was safe, the dogons didn’t come back and with much greater ease, they rolled the empty cart back onto the track and fastened it to the train.

         As the train trundled back to Atlan, the students sat in silence, numb from the shocking task. Twice a day?

         Nolan was hung up the security of the Underworld more than anything. Did the dogons really just stay in the cave? He was beginning to understand why the Underworld was such a big secret. If everyone knew the truth about the dogons, they would be absolutely terrified!