Kam-Te Paradox

“A paradox is a logical puzzle but a tough one,” Alex said, stirring the brew over the fire. “You think there’s an answer, but it’s not right. You can’t approach it directly.”

In the evening forest clearing was peaceful and quiet; only the fire crackled and the wind rustled through the tops of the pines. Somewhere, an owl hooted.

Annie liked Alex. He was tanned, clad in a shabby training suit with a well worn mountain windbreaker thrown over it. She sensed his mutual fondness; it was probably why he was being so talkative. Her grandmother had once said to her, somewhat grumpily, “These girls can go so far away to find a husband! But it would be better if you just go to the library…”

Annie listened to Alex and noticed how he behaved, much like a peacock spreading its tail, and it made her feel good. “No, grandma, the library is no better,” she thought with a smile.

“There are not only logical paradoxes,” Mikha, mighty and hairy in his eternal khaki, noted. “There are some in physics, too. All sorts. The twins paradox, the grandfather paradox, the observer effect…”

“I prefer the very old joke,” Annie interjected, “about how the devil borrowed a pretty penny from a man.”

“Which one is this?” inquired Mikha.

“Well, the man started coming to hell’s gate to collect the debt, and the devil wrote a note on the gates: ‘Come tomorrow.’ The guy comes every day, but the devil never shows; there’s only the note. One day, the man skips, and when he comes the next day, he sees a new note on the gate: ‘Come yesterday.’”

Everyone laughed.

“To me, the paradox in Vysotsky’s song is much stronger,” Mikha pointed out. “That song, which is about a new friend. About taking him to the mountains to test if he’s a real friend. How do you bring an untested person to the mountains? Would he hold you if you fall? And what if he wouldn’t?”

Everyone fell silent, thinking. No one wanted to argue with the famous Vysotsky, but everyone had an uneasy feeling that Mikha was right. And everyone started thinking about the new guy. He didn’t say much, just sat aside alone and ate his soup silently. With a yellowish unnatural tan, dressed from head to toe in a black Nike and wearing dark glasses, even at night, he looked strange. Annie felt awkward; she convinced Mikha to take a new guy on a hike because her friend asked her to.

“Listen,” Alex turned to the new guy, “Nikolas, can you at least tell us why you need the Zone?”

The guy in black glanced at Alex through his sunglasses.

“Call me Nick. And this isn’t the Zone,” he answered, a hint of reluctance in his voice, “The Zone is a mythical place, filled with artifacts, mutants, and all that stuff. That’s not what we have here.”

“This is the Zone,” Alex retorted, a hint of offense in his tone. “There are anomalies here!”

“That’s what I want to see,” Nick responded. “And I haven’t seen anything yet.”

“But we haven’t reached the place yet.”

“Where is it?” Nick perked up.

“I’ll show you on the map in the morning,” answered Alex.

“When will we get there?” asked Annie.

“Tomorrow. Probably by the evening,” Alex responded, “I’ve marked the points where the phenomena were recorded.”

“Show now,” Nick requested.

“Yes, really, show now, please!” Annie chimed in, excited.

“Okay,” Alex, a bit reluctant, took out a map and unfolded it on the grass, shining a flashlight on it. “Look. Here we are, and these are the points where these... anomalies have been recorded. And this,” he pulled out another map and unfolded it, “this is Chad’s route. They took a different path. Do you see the marks?”

“Yes, great. But what are these anomalies?” Annie asked.

“Well... They are said to be strange things. Most often, they are dreams. Very realistic, like lucid dreams.”

“Just dreams?” Annie said, slightly disappointed.

“And some unusual conditions. Like déjà vu. Remember in The Matrix movie?”

“Okay, we’ll see when we get there,” Annie waved off, “Let’s combine the marks onto one map.”

They spread the maps on a flat piece of ground and, using their flashlights, began to transfer the trace marks from one map to another. Mikha, who was watching the work closely, remarked, “Draw the routes too. So that we can see where they went. Otherwise, it’s unclear.”

“Yeah, that’s logical,” Alex noted.

When they finished transferring the marks, Nick produced another map and handed it to Alex:

“Add the marks from this one too.”

Everyone fell silent in surprise, their gaze shifting to the newcomer. He explained:

“This is from Baida. He went hiking there last year.”

“What a jerk,” Mikha muttered angrily, “he could have invited me too. Okay, let’s do it.”

After a few more minutes of transferring routes and marks onto the collective map, they observed that the marks formed a neat arc.

“Wow!” exclaimed Alex, “Look! The path is shown with the marks! It’s pointing right to the Khomsky Gorge.”

“Maybe we can head straight there?” Mikha suggested.

“Or maybe it’s the other way around?” Annie said. “The other end leads to Karakol Mountain. Is there really nothing in the Kam-Te Valley?”

“You mean Rocky Chalice? Not that I can see,” answered Alex. “Look, all three routes pass through this Chalice, but nothing is marked there. However, the Northern Ridge is brimming with stuff!”

“And a bit along the East,” Annie pointed out.

“Maybe we should head to the Chalice after all?” Nick proposed.

“Well, we can, of course, go and explore it,” Alex conceded, “but if it’s empty, then it’s just a waste of time. And we don’t have much to spare.”

* * *

By the evening of the next day, they reached the foot of the Eastern Ridge. The mountains were draped in forest, and the trails were nearly obliterated. Mikha discovered an old campsite in a small clearing, where they settled for the night. They were close to the anomaly point, and Annie found herself involuntarily anticipating something out of the ordinary.

A peculiar rustling sound awakened her in the night. Opening her eyes in the light of the full moon, she saw Nick at a distance, meticulously examining maps he’d taken from Alex’s backpack. He didn’t use a flashlight and had discarded his usual sunglasses. Sensing her gaze, he turned his head towards her. Though his face was shadowed, two yellow eyes gleamed from the darkness like lanterns. Annie gasped, her body going rigid with terror.

Nick raised a finger to his lips, signaling her to remain silent, then folded the maps and placed them in his backpack, his glowing eyes never leaving her. Then, he shouldered his backpack and melted into the forest’s shadows. Annie thought she saw something fall from the side pocket of his backpack. Or had she imagined it?

She remained in a daze for several minutes but eventually roused the others. They directed a barrage of curses at Nick and a few at her, but mostly debated amongst themselves about the course of action. One member of the expedition had vanished — should they search for him, wait, or return? They remained skeptical about the glowing eyes. Eventually, the tension dissipated, and they resigned to sleep. There was little else to be done under the circumstances.

The absence of the maps didn’t particularly dismay the group; Mikha had a navigator, and his knowledge of all the passes and trails was comprehensive, even without the maps. Annie, on the contrary, couldn’t close her eyes. She even put an ice ax nearby — just in case. However, after a couple of hours, she began to question the vision of the glowing eyes. Could it have been an effect of the anomaly? This thought somewhat calmed her nerves, and she even managed to doze off. In her light dream she saw a valley encircled by mountains — vivid, as if it were real.

“He went to the Kam-Te,” she declared during breakfast.

“Why?” Mikha queried, surprised.

“He wanted to, that’s where he was heading,” Annie responded thoughtfully. “This arc of marks... I think it’s not a trajectory, not a path. It’s part of a circle, like waves spreading out from a pebble thrown in a pond. Could there be something important at the center? In the Kam-Te, could it be?”

At first, the guys regarded her as though she was crazy, but eventually, Mikha considered: “If you’d like, we could ascend the eastern ridge on our way. It’s high but has a smooth slope on this side, and its peak is bare. From there, we’d have a clear view of the Kam-Te Valley.”

Having packed her things and shouldered her backpack, Annie glanced at the place where Nick sat at night. There, she noticed a small, gray, flattened cylinder in the grass that looked like a TV remote control with no buttons; a ladybug ambled along it. Annie rotated the object in her hands and shooed away the bug. Abruptly, a wave of dizziness swept over her, and she realized that the object was once again lying in the grass with the ladybug on it.

“Deja vu?” Annie was alarmed. “Like in The Matrix? An anomaly effect?”

With caution, she picked up the object once more and secured it in her backpack, then paused, waiting for any effects. But this time, the world remained indifferent.

* * *

“Well, there’s your Kam-Te, the Stone Chalice,” Mikha said, gazing over the mountain’s ridge.

Behind them lay the steep slope they had just climbed. Ahead stretched a beautiful, almost perfectly round valley, encircled by towering mountains like the rim of a great bowl.

Far across the valley, the peaks clustered together, forming a majestic range. A crystal-clear river flowed from their base, winding through the meadow — a vibrant tapestry of greens, blues, and oranges. The view was breathtaking.

“Like a crown,” Annie said, pointing to the elevated peaks on the far side. “So gorgeous!”

“Yeah,” Mikha replied. “Local call it ‘Shaman’s Crown.’”

“Why aren’t there trees here?” Annie wondered aloud, pointing at the valley.

“Mudslides. They happen a lot, starting right from there.” Alex gestured to a gorge between the peaks of the Crown’s mountains from where the river emerged. “Probably wipes everything away. That’s why there’s no forest.”

“Well, seen enough? There’s nothing here,” Mikha said. He then started walking north along the ridge, with Alex following him.

Annie, still looking around, pulled out her phone to take a panoramic video. But when she turned back, she saw a familiar figure in all black ascending up the path they had come by.

“Nick?” Annie questioned, a mix of relief and confusion in her voice. “Where have you been? Why...”

“Give it to me,” Nick interrupted, moving closer.

“Give what?” Annie responded, taken aback.

“Give it to me,” Nick repeated, seizing her hand with an iron grip.

Alex whirled around. “Hey, you, jerk!” He lunged at Nick.

Everything happened so fast! Annie caught a glimpse of rapid movement and then saw Alex hurtling toward the cliff. He was suspended in the air for a brief moment before he plunged down. His scream terminated abruptly with a sickening thud.

“Alex!” Annie screamed in terror, rushing to the cliff’s edge, but Nick seized her hand again.

“Give it to me,” he demanded loudly. “I don’t want to hurt you, but...”

“You... You...” was all Annie could manage, wrenching herself free.

“What have you done?!” Mikha roared, charging towards them.

“Stop,” said Nick, his face expressionless. “I don’t have time.”

But Mikha, unheeding, launched at him like a furious bear. Nick released Annie, and she crouched in horror, pressing her palms to her cheeks.

“Mikha, no!” she screamed. “Get back!”

And in a blink, she saw Mikha, the giant, on the ground writhing in pain, with Nick above him, strangling him with a deathly grip. Mikha’s face was turning purple.

“Here’s your thing,” Annie yelled, “let him go!”

She snatched the cylinder from her backpack and hurled it into the same abyss Alex had plummeted into.

Nick released Mikha’s throat, darted after the object, and leapt off the cliff.

Annie gasped and crawled to the edge of the abyss. Far below laid Alex’s twisted body, and even lower, a strange figure in black was leaping from rock to rock; in its movements there was nothing remotely human.

The creature picked up something from the ground, and abruptly, the cliff started to tremble, and a dreadful roar filled the air. Annie watched as birds slowed in their flight, the closer they were to the valley’s center, the slower they became. Some seemed to freeze mid-air. And then, unexpectedly, they began moving backwards, as if rewinding on a screen.

Accelerating, images began to flash at the valley’s center, flickering faster and faster. At first, it was a day and night change, consuming the skies like a vast spherical screen. Then, sequences of summer and winter flashed, eventually melting into a grayish blur. The movements slowed down and suddenly stopped. The valley looked different; it was as if someone had painted it all in black and brown. It was a terrible sight compared to the green meadow it was before.

But then, the mud began to gather into the river and flowed up the valley, leaving room for greenery and flowers before completely disappearing into the base of the Shaman’s Crown.

And in the valley, close to the river, Annie saw a shimmering metal cylinder. It looked like a long cigar on short legs.

Everything came to a standstill. Time felt frozen at first, and then started moving normally. Birds chirped; insects buzzed. The creature, formerly Nick, dashed towards the metallic structure. It finally reached it and paused for a moment. Even from this immense distance, Annie felt the creature turn to her and make a circle with its hand before leaping inside. Then, the cylinder began its slow ascent, as a surge of thick, dark mud swept through the valley, obliterating everything in its path...

Annie blacked out.

* * *

“A paradox is a logical puzzle but a tough one,” Alex said, stirring the brew over the fire. “You think there’s an answer, but it’s not right. You can’t approach it directly.”

Annie felt a sense of awakening and turned her gaze to Alex, then to Mikha. Somewhere, an owl hooted.

“There are not only logical paradoxes,” said Mikha. “There are some in physics, too. All sorts. The twins paradox, the grandfather paradox, the observer effect…”

Around them, the evening forest was serene, and the clearing was bathed in tranquility. The fire crackled, and the wind whispered through the pine tops. Annie couldn’t recall how they’d arrived here. A silence lingered, a silence she didn’t feel out with a joke about a devil and a penny. She looked around; Nick was nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe we should check out the Kam-Te Valley?” Mikha suggested.

“You mean the Stone Chalice?” Annie responded, her memories flooding back. “No. There could be mudslides there. Besides, we’ve already been there.”

“When were we there?” Alex asked, surprised.

“Day after tomorrow. But then we came back. And you can’t even imagine how good it is that we did,” Annie answered quietly.

They looked at her as though she was crazy. And she, looking at Alex, didn’t think about anything in particular. She was just glad he was alive.

As she fell asleep next to him, listening to his steady breathing, she gazed at the starry night sky and wondered whether a video of the Stone Chalice and Nick still existed on her phone. What had it been — vision from an anomaly? Or was she witnessing an extraterrestrial operation to rescue a stranded ship? And she felt a hint of regret, realizing she might never know.