The travelers crept closer, crouching. The birds quieted as the day drew steadily to a close. Professor Ranjith set his language analyzer program to suppress all audio output. Instead, it converted all interpreted sounds into a visual form on the screen remote.
Quietly they moved to the inside edge of the forest, close enough to peer at the two distinct figures standing by a fountain under the shadow of a small tree.
The two naked forms, one male, the other female, suggested a somewhat primitive culture. Engrossed in conversation, they were unperturbed by the onlookers and, despite the professor�s best efforts; the computer failed to match their dialect. The watched couple remained oblivious to the four observers until Rosita gasped, discharging a muffled scream. A bird of the forest had, unnoticed, flown down from above, landing on her outstretched hand. Fearing the worst, she was unable to contain her reactionary outburst, which was enough to expose their cover.
The woman looked towards the forest. Her frantic motioning to the man alongside her indicated that the observers had been spotted.
'Damn - they�ve seen us! What do we do now Prof?'
The professor looked toward Ho Ling and shrugged his shoulders. There was no escape. If they should try to flee and hide they would leave the Reversal Chamber, which the professor was unprepared to put at risk, behind.
'Let�s try not to scare them' he pleaded. 'My instruments could trace only two voice patterns so it's unlikely that there are many others with them, even if they�ve remained silent. We must walk out together in a non-threatening manner.'
The couple were already making their way towards the party of four, the woman slightly ahead of her companion. Clearly, they were not in fear of the intruders and, on the contrary, walked boldly as they approached.
'They don�t seem surprised or afraid of us professor' commented the nervous Ho Ling. 'Are you sure they are alone?'
Ho Ling refused to take situations at face value. Being from a different period to this, he felt that they should appear strange to the people of a former time. Yet, in spite of this, the couple didn�t flinch, and this afforded him serious cause for concern.
'Don�t be so paranoid' advised Rosita. 'You sound like you�re going to wind up on their dinner table.'
'Better safe than sorry' he smirked...