The Meeting

Chialla and Abula were eating breakfast.

"Did you hear about Raman and Shimu?" asked Chialla through her
food.

"No, what?"

"They had a boy", said Chialla, a little smugly. She was just getting
to the stage where gossip was consuming much of her time, and she
delighted in being the first with news.

Abula, on the other hand, although only a year younger than her cousin,
was not yet as interested in the day-to-day happenings of the tribe,
though, in this case, she was just as excited as Chialla. "They did?
Really? Have they got a name for him yet?"

"Jamo."

"Nice."

Abula peeled a banana and started eating. Suddenly she stopped. What
was that smell? Unlike anything else she could think of, it was almost
completely alien. Almost, but not quite. There was something,
something&;#8230;

Movement in the undergrowth at the far side of the clearing caught and
held her gaze. Gradually, a figure half-emerged, a being unlike any
they had ever seen. They were seized with panic. This&;#8230;this
thing was taller than the tallest adults in their tribe, was hideously
proportioned, virtually bald, had thick, discoloured skin, and was
obviously the source of the strange yet powerful scent.

As they watched, young enough to be excited, old enough to be wary, two
more figures could be seen. Both of these were even more grotesquely
deformed than the first. One had three arms, the second a third
eye.

Chialla and Abula were spellbound. Nothing in their experience could
prepare them for the sight that met their eyes. All thoughts of eating
forgotten, they started whispering among themselves, never letting the
three aliens leave their view.

"What are they?" asked Abula, slightly more frightened than
curious.

"I don't know."

"Do you think they're from another tribe?"

"I don't think so. I've never heard of any tribes that look like them.
They're so ugly."

"What shall we do?"

Chialla thought for a moment, then declared, "We must go and tell the
adults."

The two raced away back to where the adults were eating, and told them
excitedly about the three strange figures they had seen. Raman, Tulo
and the head of the tribe, Ku, walked back to the clearing. As they
made their way, they could all smell the strong odour that Chialla and
Abula had noticed first.

They reached the edge of the clearing, Ku in the lead. The three
strange figures had fully emerged from the undergrowth, and were now
crouched at the opposite edge. Ku looked at them for a moment, then
shouted.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

The three remained silent.

Ku began to walk slowly towards them, continuing to demand from them
their identities. Whilst the strangers still refused to talk, they also
did not seem to be afraid. Raman and Tulo followed behind Ku. They too
shouted at the aliens, but a little less loudly than Ku. He didn't like
anyone out-shouting him.

When the two groups were about ten yards apart, Ku stopped. He looked
at the three figures, and stood in thought for several minutes. Then he
turned to Tulo.

"What do you think, Tulo?"

"I've never seen anything like them before, Ku."

"Raman?"

"Nor me. I say we chase them off. There's only three of them, there's
three of us, and by the looks of them, I don't think we'd have any
problem. They're deformed, and it doesn't look as though they can even
speak."

Ku considered this for a few moments, then said, "No. I'm not so sure
we should. I think we should see if we can communicate with them. I'm
curious about them. They don't seem to be particularly intelligent, and
they look rather hideous, but perhaps we can find out more about them
if we let them stay for a while. I'd like to study them. This could be
a very important moment."

Raman, though reluctant, agreed, as did Tulo. So when the three strange
beings slowly approached, they stood still, and allowed them to
close.

Eventually, The lead alien was close enough to put out its hand towards
Ku. Ku noticed immediately that it was empty, and took it therefore as
a gesture of peace, or an indication that the thing was unarmed. He
allowed it to touch his arm. The creature was clearly quite primitive,
as it seemed content simply to move its hand over Ku's arms and chest.
He was bemused, but very curious.

After a while, the other adults and some of the braver children joined
Ku and the others at the edge of the clearing. Ku informed them that he
intended to try and keep the unusual beings and study them, as they
were clearly an unknown, if fairly unintelligent, form of life. The
others were fascinated, and before long, the other two aliens were
mingling with the tribe, touching them, their limited senses seemingly
filled by the simple act of touching.

Ku was pleased, and looked forward to finding out more about these
strange and fascinating creatures, although somewhat disappointed that
they were not more intelligent. It would have been nice to have been
able to converse with them, to have shared their knowledge. For a long
time, he had waited for proof otherwise; but it did seem, sadly, as he
had long suspected, that his was the most advanced species on
earth.

~*~

The film won an award for the best nature documentary at the British
Film and Television Awards the following year. Everyone was amazed at
how close Theresa Graham, along with her soundman Peter Matthews and
cameraman Brian Thompson, had managed to get to the group of
Chimpanzees.