‘YOU ARE CLOSE-MINDED, MORTAL! JUST LIKE ALL OF YOUR WRETCHED KIND!’
The vociferous volume of the General’s eruptive roar shut Margaret down immediately. Once again, she felt an almost paralysing terror washing over her as a sense of the vastness of this being’s true might overpowered her senses.
‘I’m … I’m sorry,’ she heard herself whimper, the shameful sound dribbling out of her quivering lips, and then echoing with the faintness of a blurred memory.
The General glowered at her for a few moments, his eyes aflame with righteous indignation. Then, as abruptly as it had flared up his temper subsided, and he continued with the example he had been trying to illustrate.
‘I apologise for that uncalled-for outburst,’ he said calmly, his voice assuming a gentler tone. ‘Please, allow me to continue explaining my theory.’
‘I, uh … it’s okay, go on,’ she murmured, her words fraught with unease. She hoped that the General wouldn’t notice how much her hands were shaking.
‘Now, I’d like you to think carefully about everything we’ve just agreed upon, regarding the similarities of the biological and anatomical makeup of your kind to the thousands upon thousands of other mammals, birds, fish and reptiles who occupy this planet. Is there anything really significant that sets you apart?’
‘Not really I guess, but the fact that we use tools and—’
‘I said, is there anything in terms of your biological and anatomical makeup that sets you apart?’
Margaret was finding it quite difficult to concentrate with the leopard sitting mere inches from her, its baleful amber eyes locked in an uncomfortable stare with her own. She looked away before answering the General’s question, fearful of the latent threat of violence emanating constantly from the majestic feline.
‘Okay, no. No there isn’t. Biologically and anatomically, we are not unique. We’re just the same as any other mammal really. But our intelligence—’
The General sighed softly and narrowed his eyes.
‘Your supposed “intelligence”, short-sighted in scope as it is, is unique to your kind, in a sense. Inventiveness and tool use, yes, your kind has perfected these aspects of evolutionary behaviour. But it is not tool use, which itself is widespread throughout the animal kingdom, that brought your species to dominate this planet. No. Language, writing and storytelling form the triumvirate of power, the solid foundation that allowed you humans to become self-proclaimed emperors of the earth. But hand in hand with the acquisition of those things came other, uglier things.’
‘Uglier? How can you say that? Look at the works of wonder and beauty the inventiveness of the human spirit has created over the years, General. Look at this place you’re in! This city came about as a result of your people’s hard work and ingenuity! Surely you can’t disparage the glorious achievements of your own culture?’
The General gazed around him at the great and ancient city and castle, nestled here in the magnificence of this primeval jungle valley.
‘You are right,’ he conceded. ‘There is great beauty in many things wrought by the hands of the human primate. Despite this, I must maintain my stance; I believe that there is more ugliness than beauty in the “intelligence” of your kind, if one was to weigh those two concepts on a set of scales.’
The leopard rumbled an approving bark at this, causing Margaret to squeak embarrassingly with fright.
‘I’m s-, sorry,’ she stammered, staring apprehensively at the huge cat. ‘Look, I’m not used to being so c-, close to a wild animal. Could you … could you change back please, back into a, er, person?’
She couldn’t believe she had just said those words to an animal. The surreality of this situation, of this place and these beings who inhabited it came crashing again to the fore, and, as she had many times since being abducted, Margaret felt as if she was somehow ensnared in the layers of a bizarre nightmare within a nightmare. Would she someday wake up from this dream to find herself strapped to a bed in a padded cell? Or perhaps, the reality of the situation was darker; maybe she had been killed in that initial attack on the village, and now her soul was stuck in some sort of strange purgatory, and was cursed to dwell in this place before being allowed to proceed to a reincarnation, or heaven … or hell.
Perhaps she was already in hell. Perhaps all those religions she despised with such vehemence were right; perhaps that place of eternal damnation they whispered of actually did exist. Perhaps this was it. This last thought rippled an ice-dripping chill down her spine, and she shivered involuntarily.
The leopard had turned to look at the General, waiting for his consent before obliging Margaret’s request. He returned the creature’s gaze with stern eyes and shook his head.
‘I’m sorry for your discomfort Doctor, but there is nothing to fear from my friend here. Even in this body, his mind is the same as it is when he is in his human form, and therefore he is no danger to you, I assure you. I need him to remain in this form to continue to illustrate my thesis, if you would call it that.’
‘Um, okay…’
As uncomfortable as she felt, there was nothing that Margaret could do but agree to this.
‘So,’ the General continued, ‘we’ve established that biologically and anatomically there are but minor differences that separate you from the other beings inhabiting this planet, those beings that you refer to as “animals”. However, these differences are but a trifle; there is a greater gap of biological distance between this leopard and a housecat than there is between your kind and chimpanzees, for example. So, you brought up intelligence, tool use … and then there’s what I mentioned in addition: language.’
‘Language is a huge part of what makes my kind unique, yes.’
‘Now there you go using that word again, yet I am not entirely sure that you understand the implications of the use of such a term.’
‘What do you mean? I understand perfectly well what “unique” means! Gosh darn
