“Morning Trudy,” Terrance said.

“Another good one I see.”

“What did you do with that tree bark?”

“Come and see.”

When he entered the cabin, she walked over to the nearside wall and returned with a flat stone.

“I ground it down with this. We can give it as a stodge. Though because it’s much stronger than aspirin, I’ll have to reduce the dosage.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m taking Sammy on a little fishing trip.”

“Try to catch a few eh? I’ll take my team out to find that ruddy diuretic you keep nagging about.”

“You do that. See you later.”

He found the young boy waiting and equipped with a homemade hook and line, they walked out of the compound. They soon met a happy bunch of lads carrying a full bucket across a broad shoulder.

“What have you here?”

As he glanced inside, he saw the small, white crystals.

“Would you believe salt. We found a small hill mate that’s covered in the stuff. We only dug about a foot.”

“The news just keeps getting better. Take it to the storage area.”

The stroll north was quite a pleasant one. As the sun bore down the ground began to gently rise.

“Think you’ll catch anything?”

“Of course Sammy. Why did I get you to carry that bag?”

They soon reached the raging torrent, and as they followed upstream, a glorious waterfall came into view.

“Remember to remind me about that. We want none of our people to go
over in a barrel.”

Sammy laughed.

“I’ll remember.”

As Terrance gazed upon the spray, a memory came back.

“At least we know this world had its own ice age.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see young man, a wall of ice ground the rock away and cut the river off. Hence the fall.”

“Oh I see,” Sammy said half-heartedly.

“Come on, it’s fishing time.”

They reached the rocky bank and the guard uncurled the long line made from the tough long grass. He inspected the small hook and reached into the bag.

A squirming large worm soon appeared and he attached this to the hook before slinging it into the raging river. They sat down and watched, waiting for a hopeful bite.

Elsewhere, Trudy and her team were a little further north examining a field of small button toadstools.

“This looks promising.”

They knelt down and began the laborious job of scanning each one. After an hour of this, a loud growl made them look around.

From the trees, two very large brown bears stood upon their strong hind legs watching.

“Oh crumbs,” Trudy exclaimed.

“We should move,” her friend suggested.

“Come on then.”

As they retreated, the bears fell onto all fours and bounded after them.

“Now we are in trouble,” Trudy hissed.

As the bears roared, a team member tripped and yelled out. Trudy swung around as the bears reached him.

“Damn it!”

She grabbed the sonic blaster and fired but the animals ignored it.

She stood helpless as the victim was lifted from the ground, and savage teeth tore his neck open.

“Run for it.”

The animals dropped him, their claws ripping open his lower abdomen.
As the team fled, their snouts probed as teeth tore out the bloody viscera.

“We seem to be doing quite well,” Sammy commented looking down at their catch.

The fish were roughly a foot long with sharp forward teeth. A bright red tail was in sharp contrast to the lovely golden skin.

“Four so far Sammy. We could well have a feast.”

As the line tugged again, the young boy spotted something upstream.

“What do you think that is?”

Terrance pulled the struggling fish out and glanced in the indicated direction.

“I don’t know.”

A small brown hump appeared to be watching from behind a large boulder.

“Unhook the fish while I check it out.”

The guard removed his blaster and walked over gingerly. As he got closer, a large brown bear reared up and roared.

“Grab the fish and run!”

As Sammy obeyed, a long paw smashed Terrance to the ground. He coughed, half dazed as the animal completely ignored him.

He sat up as it entered the raging river, and was soon rewarded with a catch.

“I must be a damn lucky sod,” he muttered as Sammy reached him.

“Come on,” the boy said. “Time to go. Five is quite enough.”

“Hold it a second eh.”

He sat watching as the bear tore the head and tail off before tucking into the soft belly.

“Now we know what bits to avoid. Let’s go and do some cooking.”

The return trip was pretty uneventful, but when they entered the stockade, bad news arrived.

“We lost a man.”

“What do you mean by lost?” the guard demanded.

“Ask Trudy mate.”

When he arrived, the poor woman was quite upset.

“You made it back then?”

“We caught five...What happened?”

She glanced up.

“We ran into bear trouble.”

“You too?” Sammy said.

“We encountered one by the river. It gave me quite a wallop.”

“We tried to run but they came after us. Michel fell and...”

“He’s dead you mean?”

Trudy nodded.

“The blaster was ineffective.”

“They must have some natural immunity. No joy on the diuretic?”

“We were still checking when the attack came in.”

“Come on Sammy. Food’s up eh?”

The fish were slowly roasted upon a good fire and once cooked; Terrance took the precaution of removing the tail and head. He then sliced up the flesh and passed it around. Upon another fire, the tree potatoes were roasted to make a lovely meal.

When the meal was over, everyone returned to their homes and had a peaceful sleep.
...
Terrance did not feel at all himself as he woke from a pleasant dream. His stomach ached for a start. As for the throbbing head?

“I feel as though a truck has hit me,” he moaned.

“What’s the problem?” Moira asked.

“A little under the weather. I wanted another fishing trip.”

“After the bear? You must be mad.”

“I happen to enjoy fishing. Never got a chance on the ship you know.”

He stepped outside and stared up at the dazzling sun.

“No sign of rain yet.”

A figure was dashing toward him.

“Hey Terrance, you better come quick.”

“What’s up Trudy?”

She led him to a cabin where the five residents lay upon the floor
looking quite ill.

“What’s up with them?”

Trudy glanced at him.

“I checked the logs. This looks like food poisoning.”

“From that fish?”

“Seems like it. Lucky we all didn’t have it.”

“I ate that.”

“I know that you did. How do you feel?”

Terrance sat down.

“Lousy as a matter of fact.”

“They all have temps of over a hundred. I’ve given them the
painkiller. We need a diuretic though.”

“You know we don’t have one,” Terrance said.

“We could try vomiting?”

“Will that work?”

“At least it will clear out the system.”

The guard was suddenly struck with terrible abdominal pains, and he keeled over.

“I’ll get you the stodge mate.”

As she fed some by spoon, Sammy wandered in.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s seriously ill. We need salt now.”

“I’ll get it,” he said dashing to the stores.

When he returned, Trudy placed some in a cup and added water to create a brine. She lifted his head and he drank slowly.

“Now lay upon your side.”

As he did this, he wretched violently. Trudy applied the same treatment to the five others and watched the violent reaction.

“Is that all we can do?” Sammy asked.

“That and clearing up the mess.”

For two days, the patients remained in a poor state, but on the third signs of recovery appeared.

When Terrance sat up Trudy was smiling.

“No more losses my friend. A good hearty potato meal is the order of the day.”

“I still don’t understand it Trudy. I sat and watched the bear feed.
The fish was safe.”

She shook her head.

“Obviously the bears have a natural tolerance to the poison. It damned near killed you lot.”

“Why did the scanner fail to detect it then?”

“I really don’t know the answer to that one. What it does mean is that a taster will have to be employed from now on.”

“Like in the old days?” Sammy asked.

“Just like in the old days,” she replied.

On the fifth day, everyone was back on duty and fish was definitely off the menu.

“I see that Trudy and her bunch are out again,” Terrance commented.

Moira nodded sadly.

“They want to check those fungi again and retrieve Michel. Or perhaps what’s left of him.”

The group returned rather heavyhearted. When Terrance had a word, there was at least some good news.

“We found the diuretic and brought a few back for grinding.”

“What about Michel?”

Trudy shook her head sadly.

“There was nothing but a bloody patch left. Even the clothes had gone.”

“Probably dragged the body off,” Terrance commented.

“From now on we will all have to be careful.”

“I agree. If the blasters won’t work other means will have to be deployed.”

“What about that chap’s bow and arrow?”

“I’ve ordered a dozen. He’s making them now.”

“It looks as if paradise has a sting in the tail.”

The guard smiled.

“Paradise usually has my dear.”