Carefully stepping so as to avoid alerting the dumb animal, he approached it slowly, like an animal stalking its prey. This must have been how the ancients felt when they had hunted to provide for their families and their tribes. Derek felt energized and more alive than he’d ever felt.
At last, within a couple of feet of his prey, Derek, with all his instincts and senses ablaze, threw himself at the animal. No sooner had his feet left the ground than the animal let out what sounded like a loud moan and darted for the cover of the forest, leaving the hunter to land with a thud hard on his stomach in the middle of the game trail.
Okay, that didn’t go too well.
Getting up off the ground, Derek dusted himself off and watched as his and his mate’s lunch ran down the trail and eventually disappeared.
Perhaps I could try a different approach, I could hide and …
A loud, low, angry moan shattered the silence of the forest. Derek turned and looked at the spot where he had last seen his prey and saw instead a large deer-like creature that stood, he guessed, around ten feet in height with mean-looking antlers running full-throttle down the trail straight for him. Oops, suddenly, he remembered that the Tarzan books were classified under fiction. Derek didn’t bother analyzing the situation or wondering how Tarzan would have handled things. He turned and ran as fast as he could back the way he had come.
* * * *
It took a while, what with not having the comfort of the anti-gravity features of her bed, but Tiana finally managed to fall asleep, only to be awakened by loud banging on the hull of the escape pod and thunder-like growling directly outside. With great effort, she stood up and hobbled over to the window to see what was going on. As she reached the window, she saw a large tiger-like creature with a head at least three feet in diameter and long, sharp-looking canine teeth rise up on its hind legs to peer in the window at her. Tiana froze. Her first thoughts were of Derek. Had this thing eaten Derek and was it now coming after her for its second course? She had her answer within seconds as she saw Derek run out of the forest with … a very large deer-type animal chasing him. Hearing Derek, the large cat turned away from the pod and headed in Derek’s direction.
With threats to his life in front and behind him, Derek thought he was a goner. He veered off to the right, hoping that perhaps he could get to the water before the two creatures converged on him. To his amazement and relief, once the two creatures saw each other they didn’t bother chasing after him. The buck lowered his antlers as he and the tiger squared off.
Tiana watched the surreal scene as it unfolded before her. She moved to the door to open it for Derek, who was now running in her direction.
“Tiana, grab the medical and survival kits and whatever else you can and get out, quickly!”
Err, hello. Get out, as in outside?
“Hurry, Derek. Get in before they come after you,” she yelled, fear paralyzing all but her vocal cords.
“No! Come on, Tiana, we need to get out of here before one of them kills the other.”
Tiana stood in the pod’s doorway staring at Derek as if he had lost his mind.
“Tiana, trust me!” he yelled as he continued running.
She just stared blankly at him, not wanting to leave the perceived protection of the escape pod.
“Okay, move it, sweet cheeks!”
That got her attention. Huffing and grumbling under her breath, she grabbed the medical kit and the survival kit, along with a few other potentially useful items, and hobbled out to meet Derek. He didn’t bother asking, simply grabbed her, laid her across his arms and carried her off without losing much speed. As Derek ran down the beach, Tiana looked back at the battle taking place. It wasn’t long before the saber tooth tiger, for that is what it must have been, emerged as the victor. Tiana watched as the angry cat then turned its attention back on the escape pod. The powerful paws ripped and smashed the already weakened and damaged hull of the escape pod. Finally, with one last shove, the wall gave and the cat entered the pod. Having done so must have thrown off the balance of the pod, for it slid into the lake and sank, taking the powerful carnivore with it.
Panting, Derek stopped, gently put Tiana down on the beach and collapsed next to her with his head on her healthy leg. Tiana lovingly caressed his face and ran her fingers through his jet-black hair. This was the second time in as many hours that he had saved her life. More importantly, though, he hadn’t lost his.
“Derek, it looks like in just a few hours it will be dark. Where are we going to sleep? We have no shelter.”
“We’ll need to sleep up in a tree. If we sleep on the ground we’ll be eaten before morning.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“Leave it to me.”
Before sundown, Derek completed what appeared to Tiana to be some kind of a platform between two level branches. She was amazed at his ingenuity. He had tied a series of thick bamboo stems appearing to each be roughly three inches in diameter together using some kind of a vine and had then, also with the vine, secured the platform to the two branches forming the supports. He had left enough space between the tree trunk and the platform that the only way an animal could get to them would be by walking over one of the support branches while holding on to another branch directly above. It was a feat for which opposable thumbs and the ability to walk upright were definite requirements.
Once he completed his project, he climbed down to her. Smiling encouragement, he asked, “Well, what do you think of our first home as husband and wife?”
Out of her elements of urban civilization and computerized comforts, she said, “It has a nice airy look to it. Do you really think I can climb up?”
“Probably not, but I think I have just enough daylight left to build you an elevator.”
“An elevator?”
“Don’t expect anything fancy.”
Tiana stared in disbelief as he gathered more vines and began twisting and knitting them together. In no time he had made a long rope that, after climbing up to the platform, he draped over a branch directly above it, on a spot he had carved and smoothed out with his knife. The end lying on the ground ended in a harness that went between her legs and around her waist.
“Step into the harness, place the second loop underneath your arms and hold on tight to the rope,” he yelled down to her.
“Okay, I’m in it and I’m holding on tight. Now what do you … AHHHH DDEEEEERRRRREEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!”
Tiana was rapidly raised up to the platform some forty feet in the air as Derek, having jumped off the branch while still holding on to the rope, descended to the ground, allowing his weight to lift her.
“Weehah!” Derek yelled in exhilaration as he dropped to the jungle floor. “Okay, now get on the platform and take off the rope.”
“Don’t you ever do that again, you overgrown child! You nearly gave me a heart attack,” Tiana shrieked at him as she quickly sought the safety of the platform. When she looked down she saw a joyful grin on his face. He seemed quite pleased with himself.
He enjoys making me mad. The big oaf actually enjoys it. If I throw up I’m going to make sure it’s on him.
Looking around the platform with a slightly less agitated demeanor, Tiana noticed that he had also stacked up a large amount of long grass, forming a primitive mattress for her. He had also, despite the rush to get all the work done before sundown, taken the time to leave a beautiful red, yellow and orange petalled flower in the middle of the grass mattress. Okay, he may be a pig, but he’s a sweet pig.
“I’m going to look for food,” Derek called up to her. “You’ll be safe up there.”
“How can I get down if I need to?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t figured out that part yet.”
He’s enjoying this way too much.
Chapter 24
The Wound Becomes Infected
Tiana slowly awoke from another restless night’s sleep. They had been stranded on Arcadia 10 for three days and things weren’t
looking any better. Her wounded leg was redder, the pain had increased and she was feeling rather poorly. The medical kit had been very limited in its contents. While it boasted a skin regenerator, infection-seeking nano-bots and various other medical instruments, they didn’t do her a bit of good on this primitive world without power. Infections had been easily treatable since the early twentieth century, yet here she was hundreds of years later with an infected wound that, left untended, could kill her.
Derek had been able to find various fruit trees nearby and she was very grateful that they had had plenty to eat, but they were both getting real tired of their fruit-only diet.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Derek greeted her. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, fine,” she responded as she tried to sit up. A dizzy spell threw her off balance and she immediately lay back down to avoid the possibility of falling off the side of the platform.
“What was that? Are you feeling light-headed?”
“No. I just got up a little too fast. I’ll be okay.”
Derek came closer and accidentally brushed the wound on her leg through its dressing. She winced and moved away.
“Tiana, I barely touched you. You haven’t let me look at your wound since you regained consciousness after the crash. Please let me see it.”
“There’s no need. It’s fine,” she replied trying to desperately hold on to her independence.
“Tiana, if you don’t show it to me right now I’ll just wait until you’re sleeping, and then I’ll look my fill. And not just at the wound, either. Let’s please do this the easy way. We have to work together to survive.”
She knew there was no way to get him off the subject now. She slowly hiked up what had served as her wedding dress and removed the bandage, exposing the angry red wound. Derek touched it. It was hot.
“It’s infected. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know,” she lied.
“Yes, you did, the pain told you so.”
Wanting to maintain control, Tiana replied, “Don’t get pushy on me. It’s not like we have a real marriage!”
She regretted the words the minute they came out, but she couldn’t take them back now.
Derek maintained his composure. What did that mean? Was he in agreement?
“Tiana, I am very grateful for your sacrifice on my behalf and you’ll have your freedom soon enough. We’re on Arcadia 10 and the Alliance has no extradition treaty with the planet. As long as I remain here there is no need to serve out the two-year requirement. As soon as we are rescued and taken to a more civilized part of the planet we’ll divorce and go our separate ways.”
“Suits me just fine,” she prevaricated, her pride stinging at his use of the word ‘serve’ as if marriage to her was a jail sentence.
Okay, that’s two bold-faced lies in the span of two minutes. Way to go, Tiana. Why can’t I control my stupid tongue?
Using his clever rigging system, Derek descended the giant tree and was gone for the remainder of the day. Tiana didn’t know whether he was upset at her or whether he’d been killed in the forest. Why did she have to be so stubborn and arrogant? Why couldn’t she have apologized when she had the chance?
* * * *
By the time Derek returned, the sun was already setting. He came back loaded down with a not insignificant number of fruits and plants that took him several trips up the tree to deliver. Derek couldn’t tell if she had even noticed. She was hot to the touch and appeared to be too weak to sit up.
“Tiana, you’re burning up with fever. Here, drink some water.”
Derek sat next to her and held her up with one arm, supporting her back with his thigh, and placed a cup of water next to her lips. He allowed her to sip at her own pace. She had probably been too weak to drink on her own for most of the day. He cursed himself for having left her, but he knew that if he had stayed, he would probably be cursing himself now for not having gone looking for what he’d brought back.
After she drank her fill, Derek gently set her back down and stroked her face in despair. Tiana felt Derek hiking her skirt up, allowing it to bunch around her waist.
“Derek, I’m not in the mood,” she groaned.
“Neither am I, sweetheart, neither am I,” he whispered softly.
He pulled back the bandage exposing the angry looking wound, and pulled out some prickly stalks from the pile of plant life he had brought back with him. He broke off bits and pieces of the stalk, milking it for the liquid inside, and applied it first to his fingers and then, generously, to her wound.
Flinching, she whined, “Ouch. What are you doing to me?”
“I’m applying some medicine to your badly infected wound.” He smiled.
“What medicine? Where did you get that? That’s not Galactic Alliance regulation medical salve!”
“Well, I’m not totally sure what it’s called, since we are on a planet whose vegetation I’m not familiar with, but it is a succulent, and I think it is close enough to the aloe family to do the trick.”
After the pain from his initial touch wore off, she felt a slight soothing sensation. Whatever he’d put there was doing its job. She heard him scraping something and then watched as he dropped some blue-green powder over the wound. The powder stuck to the sticky plant juice.
“Now what are you doing?”
“More medicine.”
“Think you can be more specific?”
“Mold. It’s nature’s own antibiotic.”
“Sorry I asked,” she groaned. “Derek, I’m cold. May I put my skirt back down?”
“Sure, let me finish wrapping this up.”
After returning her skirt to its rightful place, Derek took off his shirt and wrapped it around her. He then draped himself over the upper part of her body, making sure not to put too much weight on her, to keep her warm.
Tiana felt his strong muscles encircling her. She felt his warm breath sweep across her face. How she’d missed him today. Little by little the shakes she suffered from being so cold dissipated and, feeling totally secure, protected and cared for, she fell asleep.
The sound of birds chirping woke Tiana up. It was morning. She’d slept through the night. Derek was now next to her, but still trying to keep her warm. She wasn’t feeling that much better, but she wasn’t dead yet. The proverbial glass of water was half full.
“Would you like some breakfast?” she heard him ask.
“You can slice it, dice it, smash it or fix it up any way you want, but if I have to have breakfast at the Banana-rama Café this morning I’ll puke.”
“I found some nuts and some roots you can eat,” he said, handing her part of the treasure he had brought back with him the day before.
“Well, the nuts aren’t bad,” she admitted after tasting them. “They could use a little more flavor, but it’s better than having another banana. Derek, you’re my new best friend.”
“I have another treat for you. You’ll like these roots. They taste a little like a potato.”
She seemed to be getting stronger as she ate. “My hero!” she murmured. “Derek, where did you learn so much about edible and medicinal plants?”
“Don’t forget, I was a Galactic Scout. My dad was the troop leader and made sure we learned all about first aid and survival tactics. He was so proud of us. Twenty-two out of twenty-five of us kids made it all the way through to Interstellar Scout. I must admit, I never thought I would ever put any of it to use until now. Let me show you something else.”
Derek picked up a long stick that blended perfectly with all the others on the platform except for a piece of rock at the end.
“This is my new pride and joy.”
He had taken a relatively straight stick and with his knife had whittled away all the bumps and knots so that it was relatively smooth to the touch. On one end he had split the stick in half and stuck a sharp rock in the middle. String made from vines wrapped around both the stick and rock, holding the two together.
“Wh
at is it?” she asked, wondering what he was up to.
“It’s another of the things I learned to make when I was a scout. It’s a spear for hunting. You need to eat some protein if you’re going to get better.”
“Okay, my little cave man. I suppose if you kill a reasonably clean animal, the least I can do is eat it. Just don’t complain if I retch.”
He smiled. “It’s a deal! Will you be okay if I leave you for a little while? Animals aren’t exactly going to jump up here and impale themselves on my spear, you know.”
“Sure. I’ll be fine.”
“Remember to drink this water at intervals and feed yourself,” he said stroking her cheek, and looking at her beautiful, pain-filled eyes. “Your body, incredible as it is,” he teased, “needs sustenance to heal.”
Derek started climbing down as she, in a voice loud enough to mean it but tentative enough to not guarantee being heard, said, “I’ll miss you.”
* * * *
If he wasn’t motivated to hunt before, he was now. Tiana needed something decent to eat or her body would not be able to repair itself.
Remembering his last attempt at hunting, Derek decided to stalk his prey from the branches of a nice safe tree and hurl his spear from there. He had to succeed. Tiana’s life depended on it.
His heart felt like it had a huge hole in it. His hopes of wooing Tiana had been dashed by the stark reality that she didn’t consider their marriage a real one and clearly didn’t want more than they had agreed to. She obviously wasn’t romantically attracted to him and didn’t see any possibilities along those lines. Carnal lust was one thing, committed love another. Her statement had been very clear. He replayed it in his head.
It’s not like we have a real marriage!
In her defense, what had he expected? She had been kinder than he had a right to expect. She had done him a favor, one that he was starting to feel guilty for. He needed to be an adult about this and stop making her rejection such a big deal. But how could he not? Every breath he took was for Tiana. Every thought he had seemed to revolve around his new bride. He needed to let go of her but he didn’t know how. Obsessions were not healthy! In the meantime he would do his duty and protect and care for her. He owed her that much.
The Virtual Man [The Virtual Reality 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 16