I scanned the faces one by one anxiously. My parents were not there. I was disappointed, but also a bit relieved. Hopefully, it meant they were safe somewhere. As I stood watching, the Siberian tiger took charge and rounded up all the humans. He didn't have to say much. He merely went near them and growled softly.
When they were all hunched up together in a group, Mayuri said, "Follow me, I'll take you to the caves myself." Shantanu looked a little uneasy, but the faces of the others were blank. I noticed that there were around 70 men and 30 women. Most of them seemed to be Indian. The spacecrafts had obviously been categorized according to nationality. The auroch's warm breath filled my ears and I turned around only to gaze into her enormous, bovine* eyes.
"Hi," I mumbled. "Hello," she said, in a surprisingly pleasant voice and stepped aside. I went to speak to Shantanu. His hand was tightly clenched over Nimmie's. She must be his daughter, I thought.
"Shiva," he whispered. "If what these creatures are saying is true, then we're doomed, aren't we?"
"I wouldn't say that," I said in a low voice. "Not all of them hate humans. If we stick around and show them that we mean no harm, we have a very good chance of surviving."
"What a goldmine this place is!" he murmured.
"Of what?" I asked, surprised. "Don't you see? There are so many species here that we thought we'd lost forever. Imagine…if only I could collect their genes and take the gene bank back to earth, we could repopulate the planet with them!"
I looked at his face closely. There was a mad fervour about his eyes that made me suddenly uncomfortable.
"But how is that possible? It's different in Anunirva because the magic of the land allows everyone to co-exist in the same weather, temperature, and habitat. There's no telling what could happen to them if they go back to the earth as it is in the present state!" I said.
"Those are just obstacles! Obstacles that need to be crossed!" he hissed.
I was liking this lesser and lesser by the minute. To my relief, the Siberian tiger came towards Shantanu and said, "I think it's time we move on."
The humans began following Mayuri as she strode across the land easily and with grace. Most of them looked subdued. Nimmie and the boy, whom she called Harsha, were the only children in the group. They looked excited and curious. I walked next to them, looking at their wonderstruck faces with amusement. I hadn't been in Anunirva for long, but compared to them, I was a veteran*! They were full of questions and I tried to answer them as best as I could. Harsha caught my hand timidly and I let him hold it. At last, we reached the raging ocean. Mayuri closed her eyes and began chanting in a low voice.
* bovine-oxlike or cowlike
* veteran-Experienced, having long service or practice
