Terra

by Robert Turnbull

  Lady and Dash each pulled huge modified logging wagons filled with over twenty people and supplies. Slowly they pondered lazily across the grassy prairie without a care in the world. Now and then Dar would have to calm Dash down as he loved running more than anything, but running would spell disaster for the wagons and riders behind him and he seemed to sense that fact as there were times he’d start to act up, and then calm himself down before Dar could react.

  The saddles sat three each and Dar, his new boyfriend, and Clark rode with Dash. Lady seemed to like her new finery as she slowly strutted along behind Dash and carried Luke, Sky, and another woman that Sky kept frowning at with side glances.

  Lucy was a gorgeous, raven haired woman and wore her dinosaur leather clothes a bit too tight…and rubbed against Luke just a bit too much and Sky wondered why it bothered her at all. She glanced over to the woman that was seated to Luke’s right, and the rather ample bosom jiggling like it was going to bounce right out of her overly tight…and overly low cut leather vest.

  Sky looked down at her smaller bust and snorted as Luke snuck a peek at Lucy’s bouncing bust.

  The people in Wheel 3 had become remarkable hide tanners and created practically anything one could ask for clothes and Sky and Dar both had several new leather outfits. However the pilots had ordered matching uniform-like leathers that were more functional that stylish. Lucy on the other hand had her leathers looking like she was… “was what?” Sky asked herself in her head. Back home they had men and women that served no real function, but managed to keep well supplied without doing any work. “Yeah, she looks like one of those gifted people.” she muttered under her breath. They dressed in sexy revealing clothes and ‘did favors for gifts’, as her father put it, meaning for supplies and other necessaries.

  “My God her nipples are pushing through her top…” she snorted loud enough for Luke to take notice and look over. “Look at that!!!” her mind screamed “She saw him looking my way and leaned over as to make sure that she rubbed them against his arm…oh...and now she’s pressing herself into his arm and…” Sky was steaming mad…and wasn’t sure why.

  “Luke honey, think it’ll be much longer?” she stretched and arched her back so there was no way Luke could help but see how large her nipples were. She was playing him like a fool and Sky hated her for that.

  Sliding her hand way left she motioned for Lady to pick up the pace and she did exactly that. The female rex moved so much more graceful than her sibling and the wagon behind jerked, but on the smooth plains didn’t have any problems. On the other hand, up on Lady’s neck, just above her shoulders, there was a much larger bump as she took her first longer and harder step. Lucy’s right breast popped out of her vest and as she struggled trying to push it back into the tight vest, out popped the other.

  “OH…my gosh.” Sky laughed teasingly “It appears that those clothes aren’t made for riding dinosaurs. Why I have no idea why one would dress in such a way on a dangerous mission.”

  Managing to get them both back in and now kept an arm across her chest Lucy smiled back at Sky “Oh it was soooo embarrassing…” she leaned against Luke’s shoulder “but now it looks like I have nothing to hide from our hero here.” She sneered in Sky’s direction “And the reason I dressed like this…a girl wouldn’t have any idea!” She giggled like a little girl, but shot Sky a glance that was anything but ladylike.” she laid her head on Luke’s shoulder “You know our Lukie here is going to make a real woman…not a mere girl, a fine husband.” her snarl from below Luke’s eye line was definitely meant for only her to see.

  “Bitch!” shot like daggers from Sky’s eyes and she could see the icy reply in Lucy’s glare. Sky wasn’t even sure why she was so mad.

  “Easy Lucy, it’s ok, don’t be embarrassed.” Luke muttered softly as he pushed her off his shoulder while looking quite embarrassed himself “Accidents happen.”

  “Accident?” Lucy snorted loudly “OH I GUESS…” she replied a bit louder and then giggled again “but then again with a child driving…” her words drifted off and Sky gnashed her teeth. Sky was doing a slow burn, her frustration caused her to urge Lady on, which let Luke see both Lucy’s breasts pop out once again and she noticed that he got a good look before averting his eyes…and he took too long to do that to suit Sky’s taste. She glared at the brunette as Lady slowed; Sky did not want those things to pop out again.

  Sky looked ahead to see Dash had reached the tree line and stopped. The armed settlers were jumping out of the wagon and staying behind the rex…he pulled them gently, but they didn’t trust Dash enough to walk behind them. Dar whistled for Dash to lower and his riders climbed off as the others pulled the quick release and Dash moved off to look along the dense tree line. As Lady moved up, the people, still a bit shy of the new creatures, moved into the dense foliage of the fringe.

  After repeating the same things as Dash’s people did, Sky sent the kids into the jungle-like forest and ten minutes later Lady walked back out with Dash on her heels. She lowered her head toward Sky, snorted and squeaked a few times. Sky motioned and whistled as the two rexes headed out into the prairie to find lunch.

  “Ok guys the jungle is clear at least as much as the kids could tell. Caution is preferred and…” Sky never got to finish as Lucy shoved her way past her and snorted loud enough for most to hear.

  “A mere child is not going to tell me how to…” she jumped back as an arm length millipede that skittered by. She ran over to Luke and threw herself into his arms and buried her head into his chest. “Oh my God, that thing is going to…”

  Sky walked over to the rather large insect and crushed its head with the heel of her boot. She walked over to Lucy who was trying to get Luke to wrap his arms around her and snorted “You’re afraid of that? Hell, that’s a dino treat…if something like that’s going to scare you, honey you’d better stay back at the wheel with the kids.” That got a raucous round of laughter and as some of the others passed Luke and Lucy, they snickered and pointed at Lucy.

  Sky had made friends and many were with them this day…she had just won over the rest.

  Lucy pulled away from Luke and walked over to Dar.

  “Well, you’re the strong silent type and lived out there for so long…what do we do next?”

  Dar grinned and shrugged “Don’t ask me, Sky’s the leader.”

  Luke walked past Lucy and winked at Clark “Yeah, ours too.” and with that he began following Sky’s lead as she slipped into the fringe. They knew the general vicinity of the old settlement, now all they had to do was find it…before something found them first.

  Chapter 11.

  In and among the two to three hundred foot high trees, it was much darker and the existing light was only what few beams of sunlight managed to penetrate the canopy high overhead. There was an ominous sense of urgency to find the fort before the sun went down and they had to make a dash back to the wheel; no one stayed out here without solid shelter…even with two giant rexes as guards.

  With light still left the fort loomed in the distance. The walls were high and like the wheel, covered in vines that apparently all ‘sharp -toothed’ dinosaurs didn’t like, but the kids. The fort however was made of trees the wheel people called ironwood and although abandoned for a few decades, still looked like new. The north gate was ajar and after careful probing the large party moved into the inner grounds of the fortress.

  The knee high grass was warm from being in the sun all day and one of the non-shady places in the forest. Surrounded by giant two and three hundred foot high trees, those that built the fort had cleared away a well-defined ‘clear zone’ free of trees. But Sky noticed the shadows from those trees were growing longer and soon the sun would be low in the sky.

  Dar jumped back as something snapped beneath his feet and as he spun in a full circle, he bent to see what he’d stepped upon and quickly stepped back in horror.

  “Oh, shit!”

  “What?” Sky and Luke shouted nearly at t
he same time.

  “Awww Christ, the whole area over here is covered in bones…human ones.”

  That sent the people that were not moving a lot, running to the wall’s catwalks to keep guard as others scurried toward Dar. As they bent and parted the grass around them, there were nearly fifty bones of the settlers that didn’t manage to flee during the scalies attack. Some had jagged teeth marks still visible, while others had appeared to have been killed by spears, it was obviously a massacre as the violence, even decades later, was obvious.

  Sky knelt in the grass and motioned the others to come.

  “This must be one of your scalies Luke.”

  “Jesus…” he muttered as he knelt beside her and the others pulled the grass away from the skeleton “I’d seen pictures of them one scout took nearly one hundred years ago. Back then they were thought to be a different breed of dinosaur; it wasn’t until they built the fort here that they found out just how intelligent the scalies were.”

  Clark nodded “Wiped the settlers out nearly to the man. Oh there were a hand full that got away, but most were badly wounded, in shock, and gave varying accounts of the attack.” he frowned “So no one really knows what happened.”

  Luke nodded and then added “After the attack is when we really got better looks at them. Spear carrying, used tools, scouted like we did…and a lot harder to kill,” he grinned as he nodded to the sidearms Sky and Dar carried, “you’d have to be damned near point blank with those, our rifles are what keeps them at bay. Luckily we have vast amounts of mineral deposits all over this area, dangerous to get to, but keeps us in these old style rifles and ammo.”

  Sky nodded as she patted her .45 caliber pistol “Yeah, we made these from old schematics when our ancestors found out the stunners didn’t work very well against the beasts on this world. Can’t imagine why they’d equip the pilgrims with stunners and small sidearms.” She sighed as she shrugged “Guess someone thought this world wasn’t dangerous.”

  “Could have been the weight.” Luke added “Let’s face it, they had the drawings, all they needed was small weapons to keep things under control while on board and to enforce the law one we got there.”

  “I guess, I…OW!” she pulled back her hand and looked at the tiny drop of blood “My God, after all these years and the scalie tooth is still sharp.” She leaned down to check the bones over “Guess it was about six and a half to seven feet tall and other than the large feet and ankles, it was a lot more humanoid-like than what I pictured it when you told me about them. The skull is about twice the size of ours and…hello?” she pulled the skull free from the grass and held it up to the sun “I’ll be damned…some molars in the rear, I think these creatures are omnivorous.”

  “Could be,” Clark grinned as he rubbed his forehead to keep the sweat from burning his eyes “There were old reports of these things carrying plants, but all anyone ever saw were those front dagger-like teeth.”

  Luke shouted for everyone but the guards on the wall to check out the buildings and to get to work preparing for the approaching darkness as the sun was shimmering through the trees about mid height. Sky walked over to him and smiled, gently turned him and pointed to the closest wall.

  “Luke? When were those vines planted?”

  “As the fort was being built…why?”

  “You said no one knew how the scalies got into the fort to attack…if they can hold a spear and throw it, then it stands to reason they might be able to climb. Let’s face it, those vines were planted to keep out the usual kind of dinosaur, not scalies.”

  “Good Lord!” Luke paled “We always assumed that the vines kept them away…but that’s stupid now that I think about it.” he glanced around one last time before continuing “No holes in the wall because ironwood is as hard as our steel. We didn’t see anywhere they might have dug under the wall either. Christ, how could they dig under? Those poles are set thirty feet in the ground so the big dinosaurs couldn’t push them over…and spiked together with ironwood spikes.” his mind raced “unless the settlers let them in the gate they’d…have to…climb over the walls using the vines!” Luke spun and shouted for everyone to rush to the walls and cut the vines that were more of an extra precaution than a necessity.

  There were sharp eight foot spires that protruded out from the tops of the walls to keep tall dinosaurs away and entangled in those were the vine tops. It took a bit of hacking and the mesh of thick vines dropped to the ground in tall piles and Sky was glad the walls were fifty feet tall. Clark and Dar supervised the locking of the gate and even after the two ironwood bolts that were the size of a human body, where shoved in place, Clark took two large chains and looped them through the slides to make sure they weren’t slid back to open the gate until they were unlocked…and Luke had the only key.

  The fort was thoroughly searched twice from top to bottom.

  As darkness fell, the men on watch slipped into the protected blockhouses and pulled their night vision goggles out to watch the pitch black forest. The four towers covered the four corners of the walls and had goggles, but the two blockhouses in the middle of the four walls had to settle on their skills of seeing in the dark and listening for anything that sounded like attacking scalies in a forest full of roars and screams.

  As they began settling in for the night a bit of exploration was done and they returned to a locked room that was found earlier. After some work the door was unpinned and they entered.

  “My God!” Luke muttered as he looked back out to the rest “This is where the rest of the settlers must have hidden.” He threw the door open and the lights broke the black of the room to reveal twenty-two skeletons. Luke leaned against the wall and solemnly spoke “They apparently chose to starve to death than be eaten…” he looked at his brother with tears in his eyes “or awaited a rescue party from the fort that never came.”

  Clark nodded “They couldn’t know that those that made it home, said they were the only survivors…Luke? Did they lie?”

  “Doubt it Clark, remember the report said they saw a couple dozen being pulled off with their hands tied? They must have…thought…that they all were dead as no one knew for sure where the scalie village was located back then.”

  “One thing’s for sure, we’ll bury them all in the morning, but for now I want double guards on the walls.” Luke looked at his second in command of the fort and then over at Lucy leaning against the wall smiling “When we send that scalie skeleton back with the wagons, take her back with you.” That got Lucy standing straight, fists clamped shut so hard they turned white, and as her mouth curled in a snarl to speak, Luke snorted to the rest “She sat around all afternoon while the rest of us worked, she isn’t capable enough to stand her watch, don’t know why she came along.”

  Lucy unclenched her fists and forced a smile “Why Lukie,” to keep you company “someone needs to take care of…”

  Luke turned to the Captain “If you have to tie her up Captain, and throw her in the back with the bones…I want her gone.”

  “But…but…I love you.” Lucy protested as everyone looked to her, including Sky. Sky’s heart sank, if Luke didn’t know before, he did now. Even if he was ten years older than she was, Sky had become overly fond of Luke in all the months they’d been working together, and now Lucy had let it out in the open.

  Luke slowly walked over to the drop-dead gorgeous woman in her overly snug fitting leather and gently ran the back of his fingers down her cheek and Sky’s heart nearly stopped. Luke’s mouth slowly opened and Lucy closed her eyes.

  “Lucy…you wouldn’t know what love is if it came up and bit you on the ass. You’ve dropped your drawers for just about every single guy in the wheel and now all of a sudden I’m elected as expedition leader, you start rubbing all up against me?” he looked at the Captain “Gone Captain, at sunrise, and her with you.”

  The Captain grinned and gave Luke a little salute “Yes sir, sunrise, gone. Should be back before sunset with two more wagon loads of people.” he
chuckled softly “We are getting a bit crowded with what shelter we still have.” he started to leave, but stopped and looked back over his shoulder “And will make sure that Lucy doesn’t come back with me.”

  Lucy snarled as her face was inches from Luke’s “You’re a son-of-a-bitch and I never loved you at all.”

  Luke turned away and shot over his shoulder “Yeah, I know…that’s just what I said…give my regards to John.”

  Lucy snorted and stormed off to be alone as Sky asked “John?”

  “He used to have my old spot as leader of the hunt. Lucy got her hooks into him, cheated on him constantly, and drove him to drink.”

  Clark snorted “Yeah, like everyone knew including John, and he was such a great guy at one time.”

  Dar grinned “Yeah, that’s what love will do to ya.” and then noticed the dirty looks coming from the direction of Sky “What boss?”

  Sky gave sort of a low growl and frustrated snort and stormed past the men who were all giving each other puzzled looks. As she slipped down the hall past the others that were leaving, Dar turned to Luke and shrugged.

  “What the hell was that all about? Hell, you told Lucy to leave in the morning, not her.”

  “Guess I should know women better but mom was always teaching us how to lead since dad was killed.” he rubbed the back of his neck and watched the petite Sky vanish into the night.

  “Which one of us said something to piss her off?” Dar just shrugged as Luke continued “Maybe she didn’t want Lucy to go back? Maybe I was too hard on Lucy? Maybe…”

  Dar grinned a half grin “With Sky you never know, she’s a great woman to be around. She’s funny when she can afford to be, smart and a great leader when she needs to be, and…” he sighed and gave Luke a wink “at times, puzzling as hell.”

  Chapter 12.

  Most of the darkness had gone as one of the two huge moons slipped over the tree tops and Luke saw Sky headed up the long stairs that led to the wall. The fort was lined by flickering torches that gave the fort a warm, yet eerie glow along the ramparts.