by Jack Porter
The Commander looked at me in surprise, but there was no apparent jealousy in her at all. “You move fast,” was all she said.
I kept smiling, deliberately keeping the tone light. “When there’s a risk we might all die at any moment, I figure it makes sense. And anyway, there’s more than enough of me to go around,” I said.
At first, Uma didn’t seem to quite know what to say. Then she let out a laugh, accepting my words, and reached down between us to grip my erection in her hand.
“So there is,” she quipped.
We laughed together, and Uma began rubbing the tip of me against her folds, teasing us both with the feel of willing flesh combined with the unusual sensation of the water all around us.
She was smiling as she did it, her eyes still heavy with lust.
“As much as I would like to linger,” she said, her voice huskier than normal, “I’m not convinced we should stay away from the others for very much longer. So what say we move this along?”
As she spoke, she lined me up with her entrance, teasing me again with the possibilities even as she held herself back.
In answer, I just smiled and used my grip on her hips to my best advantage, drawing her closer, burying myself with slow deliberation into her warmth, enjoying every sensation, feeling Uma’s leg muscles clench around my waist even as she made a small noise of surprise mixed with pleasure.
“Sounds good to me,” I murmured, crushing her gently against me, enjoying the feel of her muscles as she added her strength to my efforts, both of us content for the moment to see just how close we could get.
I kissed her again, and she responded with hunger even as we clenched our bodies together. Ignoring the sting of my wounds, aware that the water around us was impacting the friction between us, I reveled for long moments in the feel of her, as she did with me. Then she moved a little apart, in the start of that age old rhythm that defined the best of what life had to give.
Slowly but surely, Uma increased the tempo, grinding herself against me with every stroke, her breath starting to come in quick, urgent gasps.
But something about the position didn’t satisfy her. All without disengaging, she unwrapped her legs from my waist and pushed me back toward the edge of the pool. I kept my feet on the floor, and brought my hands away from Uma’s hips, draping my arms over the edge of the pool to give me better support.
Uma nodded as if in approval, straddling me still, her hands gripping my shoulders. At first, I wasn’t sure what prompted the change of position, but it all became clear.
It was to better enable her to unleash.
Uma rode me as if I was a bucking bronco, smashing her flesh against mine again and again. Our movements set up a rippling effect in the water, which quickly grew to a small tidal wave, splashing water about in every direction.
Uma paid it no heed, focusing all her attention on me and what she was doing. She gripped my shoulders as tight as she could, slamming herself down on me again and again, at the same time producing grunts that mixed effort and pleasure.
It was all I could do to hold on, to meet each of her thrusts with my own, to try not to let the wash of the water shift me about.
I wanted to wrap my hands back around her, to crush her close to me once again, to match her effort with my own, but I knew that if I tried to do that, then I would be dislodged and it would all fall apart.
Instead, I hung on as best as I could, and lay back and enjoyed the ride, concentrating on my own pleasure as well as hers.
It turned out that Uma wasn’t shy with anything that she did. She’d found the position she wanted, and showed no hesitation in her intent. She smashed herself against me in an increasing tempo, building to a crescendo, her grunts and cries growing louder with each thrust.
I could feel the strength within her thighs and hips, and knew that if I’d been a more delicate build, she might have done real damage.
As it was, I was enjoying every moment. Seldom had I had a partner as willing to go all out as Uma was doing, and her very strength meant I could relax without fear of doing her damage in return.
As the Commander’s noise and efforts increased, I found myself quietly laughing, wondering what the wildlife thought of all this ruckus.
At the same time, the muscles of her thighs were far from the only sensation. She was squeezing me with everything she had, both inside and out, and the feel of her was enough to bring me close to the edge.
Still, she didn’t slow down. She continued, increasing her tempo even more, splashing water over my face, shouting at the heavens in desperate need.
Finally, way past the point where I had thought she would climax, she clutched at me with everything she had, held her breath and paused for a moment, stock still, bearing down on me.
She stayed like that for one heartbeat, two, and maybe a third, then let out an animal roar that shook the trees all around us even as she clenched and unclenched around me, finally gaining her release.
It was too much. She had ridden me too hard, too long, and I had been on the edge for some time. Normally, I would have done my best to hold on, to give her a second go, or maybe a third, but her release triggered my own.
I bucked in the water, gasping out loud as I came, adding my own waves of ecstasy to her own. For long moments, we rode each other’s waves of passion, with me bucking beneath her, Uma holding on as best as she could.
Finally, both Uma and I were spent.
She’d stopped riding me like a bronco, but instead was more relaxed, her breasts resting against my chest. We were still connected, and I had no intention of changing that fact, at least not for the immediate future. But I did take my arms off the edge of the pool and held on to the Commander’s hips once again.
We were both breathing heavily, regaining our breath. And once again, I found myself grinning.
“Well, if that didn’t draw every predator in the jungle toward us, then you’d have to say that the that those flowers do a good job. We should be safe in this village.”
Uma made a snorting noise that sounded like an agreement, and chuckled quietly to herself.
Chapter 32
It wasn’t exactly comfortable climbing back into our dirty clothes having just so recently gotten clean, but it wasn’t like we had much of a choice. Yet, even as I heard Uma grumble about the lack of a towel, I was feeling happier about the future than I had for some time.
Part of that may have been the endorphins still buzzing about in my brain. Part of it was that with the pungent, predator-protection plant, we might just have a valid place to call home.
Survival in the jungle had suddenly gone from tenuous to doable. All we needed to do was pluck a few of those pungent flowers and rub them over our skin, and maybe carry a large handful or two of them back to the others so they could enjoy the protections offered as well.
We did exactly that, and to our satisfaction, it seemed to work as expected.
As Uma and I made our way through the trees, I couldn’t help but watch the woman beside me. Despite her penchant for less rustic conditions, she seemed to be built for this type of life. Strong and capable, her eyes quick and observant, her knife at the ready, just in case the protection the plants offered failed us.
Together, we made our way back through the jungle, heading back into the sun where we knew our companions to be. Even without my inbuilt compass, it wouldn’t be too hard to find them. All we needed to do was get to the edge of the jungle, and head North until we found them.
More than one predator approached but seemed to lose interest in us before it got near enough to become a real issue.
As such, the journey back to the others was anticlimactic. We walked out of the trees smiling broadly, and found the others just as we’d left them.
They had rebuilt the shelter. Deeve was on watch. She saw us approach from some distance, and turned to get everyone else’s attention.
Both Jayloo and Kia emerged from the makeshift shelter, and even the difficu
lt, pink-haired woman seemed happy to see us. But then Deeve noticed my bandages and hurried closer, her eyes wide with alarm.
“Adam! Are you okay? What happened?” She glanced at the plants Uma and I were both carrying, but said nothing.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Just had a bit of a disagreement with some of the local wildlife,” I said.
Instinctively, Deeve turned to Uma for confirmation.
“He’s remarkably tough,” the Commander said. “But I guess that’s not surprising. That said, we should probably check him out properly, apply some antiseptic cream and redo his bandages.”
I didn’t object, and the women bustled me into the shelter, where Sydney was sitting in the corner with her leg stretched out in front of her. Her expression matched that of the others.
“What happened?” the environmentalist said, echoing Deeve’s question.
“He decided to pull a black, nightmare panther-thing by the tail,” Uma said, putting the flowering plant she was carrying to one side and reaching for mine. “Got himself a little bit banged up in the process.”
They made me sit on one of the containers in which we kept the rations. Sydney seemed to be trying to judge how serious it all was, so I gave her a grin.
“It’s nothing,” I said. “I just couldn’t stand that you were getting all this free attention, and wanted my share.”
Sydney looked briefly uncertain, then broke out into her grin.
By then, Jayloo had discarded her sling. I could see the bruises on her hand and wrist, and knew that her injury would still be painful. But she didn’t seem to mind as she took control, carefully peeling the makeshift bandages away.
“See?” I said, keeping the tone light. “It’s nothing.”
At this, Uma swore under her breath. “Men,” she muttered. But it was at least enough to make Jayloo smile.
Then she peered at me closely. “You have a subdermal mesh implant?” she asked.
I nodded.
She gave a low whistle. “Good thing too, by the looks of it. Well, let’s see what we can do.” She looked at me seriously. “I don’t think we’ll need the stapler, but we might use some of the medical glue for the worst of it. And the anti-septic cream has an analgesic in it as well.”
With Kia’s help, Jayloo did her best to patch me up. By the time they were done, I had to admit that I was feeling fairly comfortable, with one shoulder and most of my torso wrapped in bandages. But that could have been the analgesic at work.
As Jayloo finished working, Uma and I spoke about what we had seen. We talked about the dangers we’d faced, the apparent accessibility of both food and water, and the plants that kept the predators at bay.
“That one?” Kia asked, indicating the plants Uma and I had brought.
“Yes,” the Commander replied. She shrugged. “I don’t know how, but what matters for now is that it works, and that gives us options we otherwise wouldn’t have.”
It was Jayloo who asked the obvious question.
“So, is that it? Is that where we are going? If so, when do we leave?”
I shared a look with Uma. The Commander seemed unwilling to say the rest, so I spoke up.
“There’s something else you should know. We were looking for somewhere we could set up as a base. You all know this. Somewhere practical, that would provide shelter and protection, as well as easy access to food and water. Well, we found somewhere.”
Several of the women spoke up at once, but I held up a hand, gesturing for silence. “It’s an abandoned village, complete with shelters made of some ceramic material.”
It didn’t take long for the implications to sink in.
“Are there others here?” Sydney asked.
“Human? Or alien?” said Kia.
“Abandoned?” Deeve.
I shook my head, not really answering any of their questions. “I don’t know any more than that, other than it looks like the village has been unused for a long time. Maybe whoever built it moved on. I just don’t know. But what I do know is that the village is covered in those plants.” I shrugged, and flinched as something caught painfully under my bandage. “This world isn’t exactly the friendliest of places, and it seems that it’s worse in the jungle than out here. But I think the abandoned village might well be the best place for us.”
Deeve actually managed a grin. “Is that your professional opinion? As an Assessor for the Company?”
I nodded, returning her smile. “Yes,” I said.
Jayloo repeated her question. “So, when do we leave? How do we get everything there?”
I was thinking that perhaps Jayloo had finally decided to drop her enmity for me. I looked around, noting the expectant expressions on all of the faces around me.
“With the plants,” I said. “But before that happens, it’s been a long day. I’m tired and sore, and I’d like to get some rest.”
When I woke up, I found that my companions had been industrious. Not only had they packed up much of the campsite around me, leaving little work to do, but they had also been hard at work, turning more of the salvaged shards of metal into additional weapons.
There were spears made of lightweight metal—the steel tubes with jagged points wired firmly in place. There were knives like Deeve’s, and larger versions as well. The one that Jayloo held onto looked like a curved, jagged sword, and the diminutive woman was waving it about in the air with relish.
It had taken just a few days for a group of modern, sophisticated, intersystem travelers to devolve into a pre-industrial tribe.
Yet I couldn’t fault them. Without any modern weaponry to rely on, this was an essential reality. Human beings were soft and squishy, without any sort of natural armor, and our teeth and claws were no match for the least of the predators we had so far encountered.
We needed these weapons if we were to hope to survive.
At the same time, the weapons the girls had wrought seemed too regular to be the same bits of metal salvaged from the transport.
I couldn’t help but ask. “How did you make them?” I said, aiming my question that anyone who chose to answer.
It was Kia who did. “It was Deeve, mostly. She and Jayloo. While you and Uma were sleeping, she used the power cutter to cut out the shapes that we needed. Then the rest of us used the files from the toolkit. And the drill. We sharpened enough of the edges to be useful, and used some of the salvaged cord to join the blades to the handles and the spear poles.”
I nodded approvingly even as I reached for the spear Kia was holding.
She handed it over, and I examined what they had done, even wiggling the blade with my fingers to see how firmly it was connected.
It moved, but only very slightly.
I figured that this spear would have been quite useful in the fight against the nightmare panther. That dangerous creature had felt no compunction about launching itself against me and Uma. But maybe, if it’d had to risk impaling itself, then it might have made a different decision.
I handed the spear back, and Kia accepted it with something akin to pride.
“So, where are we up to?
It was Uma who answered. She had rested as well, but had apparently woken a bit earlier than I had done.
“We can’t take all of the supplies at one time. Not without the sled. But we can’t leave them behind, either. Except for maybe the water container, if what you say is true about the water supply in the jungle. Whatever we take, we’ll have to carry.”
I nodded in agreement. “Most essential first. The food rations. Medical supplies and tools. We’ll have to make more than one trip if we want to salvage the rest.” I looked at the Commander. “And I agree. We can’t really afford to leave anything behind.”
Then I had another thought. I looked around, my eyes resting on Sydney. “Are you good to go?” I asked her.
In answer, the environmentalist, with Jayloo’s help, pulled herself to her feet. She grimaced in discomfort, and didn’t let go of the smaller woman. But she
stayed on her feet.
“I can manage,” she said. “With a bit of help.”
I studied her for a moment and figured that if push came to shove, I could pick her up and carry her over the more difficult terrain.
“Good,” I said. “So, what are we waiting for?” I asked.
I hadn’t really intended anyone to provide an answer, but Deeve did anyway. She gave an audible snort. “We were waiting for you and the Commander here to wake your lazy asses up. Because, much as we’ve all grown used to your pretty face over the last few days, that doesn’t mean we want to carry you.”
She said it with a smile, and some of the others smothered a snicker or two.
As for me, I chose not to respond. Instead, I bent down and hoisted the tool kit, the heaviest of the items we had onto my shoulder.
“Well then. Let’s do this,” I said.
Chapter 33
As expected, it took more than one trip, with the girls carrying what they could, with me, Deeve, and Uma ready at a moment’s notice to discard our load and respond to any threat with our spears and club.
But in the end, there was no need for such actions. The pungent flower did its job better than we could have expected, and at the end of a long, tiring day, we had dragged or carried everything of value into the village.
We even brought the water container, although for the sake of practical transport, we emptied it of its contents to make it light enough to manage.
It had served us well during our journey across the wastes, and if the water it contained was no longer required, there was no telling what use we could put the thing to in the future.
Kia, Sydney, and Jayloo’s response to the village was variable. Kia seemed to accept it all with an equanimity that the other two couldn’t match. Jayloo looked around with a faint sneer on her face, as if she couldn’t believe that her life had come to this, and Sydney seemed to accept it because she had no real choice.
Nor could I blame them. To go from the sort of life where interstellar travel wasn’t that big a deal to living in a predator-infested jungle was quite a change.