by Brian King
“That was insane,” I whispered. “Those are what attacked the others I came here with.”
“They are fearsome,” Sheela whispered. “I would hate to encounter even one of them.”
I considered the implications of why they had come.
“Are they looking for me?” I asked with disappointment.
“There is nothing to be done about it. This confirms that we need a wall around our camp. Your plan is good. We will follow it and adjust when there are new threats.” Sheela touched my shoulder, and I instantly felt a little better.
“Do you still want to take first shift?” she added with a wry smile.
“More than ever.” I was totally serious. If I wanted to stay alive and help protect my new friends, I had to be willing to volunteer for it all. I needed to learn from Sheela and Galmine so I could improve upon their methods. They, in turn, would improve upon mine. No one could pass the buck. Living in a world of dinosaurs was going to take every ounce of self-discipline and intelligence.
We had a big day tomorrow, and if I wanted us to have the best chance of surviving, I was going to have to make sure our best warrior got a restful night of sleep.
Especially since the voice in the back of my mind told me that those green dinosaurs would be back.
Chapter 7
Before she went back inside the cave, Sheela gave me a few pointers for staying awake at night. Standing was the most useful advice, but she also had me shift on my feet and look at things near and far to keep the eyes busy. It reminded me of a million roleplaying encounters with inept castle guards. There was always that one guy who fell asleep or was away from his post playing dice or taking a dump. The last thing I wanted to do was doze off and never wake up because of a sneaky dinosaur, so I shifted on my feet while I leaned on a spear.
Twilight became night, but the forest never turned to complete darkness. I’d seen a red and a white moon when I landed, but the white one rose first tonight. The dull white light sliced through the high canopy, draping the forest floor with a glow very similar to the moon on earth.
What if it was my moon? The aliens seemed capable of anything. They brought me and a bunch of dinosaurs across the stars. Why not bring the moon, too? Maybe the red moon was imported as well?
I tried to get a better look at the large disc and maybe see the familiar craters of Earth’s satellite, but I could only glimpse slivers of white through the crowded pines, and it wasn’t enough of a view to tell for certain.
I tried to put myself in the aliens’ shoes and figure out why I would want an extra moon. What was the physics involved? That got me nowhere because my science background started and stopped with animals. In the end, I decided it really didn’t matter. I was here on this alien world. There were dinosaurs. And I had beautiful women to protect.
As the mystery orb traveled through the sky, numerous flying bugs began glowing and dancing in the grove below me. Some were pinpoints of white light, like tiny candles drifting on the wind. Many yellows twinkled on and off, reminding me of fireflies from back home. But I was truly surprised when a nearby bush started glowing with bright neon green.
A crow-sized firefly crawled up through the branches, and the baseball-sized green bulb on its underside illuminated my guard area like a street lamp. I worried that the glowing insect might be hostile, so I stopped my shifting feet and froze in place.
The bug seemed to consider me for a moment before taking flight and buzzing out into the forest of sequoias. More of its kind showed up, and little green suns quickly created a multicolored light show. When two of the insects came together, their lights flashed as if saying hello to each other. As their numbers grew, the flares became even more dazzling. Over the next hour or so I saw several “parties” of green revelers strobing their lights on and off in complex patterns. A group of forty or fifty bugs hung out nearby, and I imagined I was at a prehistoric rave.
The pterodactyl flapped its wings from time to time as if annoyed by the light show. I pictured her as an angry old woman complaining about “those damned kids” and their bothersome nighttime activities. I, however, was glad the lights kept me awake and helped me keep an eye on that mean old lady in the tree.
Jinx saw her, too. The little blue dinosaur slept curled up just behind my feet. I looked down to make sure he was okay every so often, to distract my tired brain and heavy eyes.
When the giant lightning bugs finally ended their light show, I figured it was close to midnight. The white moon had moved higher in the sky, which was my only clue to the passage of time. The second moon also began its ascent, and it added a red tint to everything. The already strange world became even more alien as the red glow overpowered the softer white of the first moon. For a short time, I was distracted as I watched the colors change.
To help stay awake, I repeatedly checked my dead wristwatch out of habit. How was I going to know when it was time to wake up Galmine? I dwelled on that problem mostly to keep my mind busy, but my droopy eyes soon became a critical issue. Even shifting my feet and admiring nature didn’t help.
I flicked on my Eye-Q to combat the drowsiness. Maybe I could stay awake by exploring the machine jammed inside my head. I turned again to those roleplaying games. If the aliens gave me a user interface, there was probably a scenario explanation, or quest, or something to explain what I was supposed to be doing. I just had to find it.
The interface was a model of efficiency. My name was on the top, and there were a few tabs in a row underneath. One advantage to the simplicity, however, was that it was easy to see when something new appeared. There was one extra tab since the last time I’d checked. The name on it said “Assets.”
Structures: 0
Creatures: 1
Women: 0
What the hell?
Structures was kind of obvious, but I hadn’t seen anything close to a structure since I’d arrived on this planet. I figured that would change once we got down to construction, but why would it even matter? Did I win a prize for building the most structures? Who was I playing against? How big did I have to make one before it would count? I could think of a dozen questions, but no answers.
The word “creatures” was a bit more interesting. The number one was highlighted so I could click it. The next screen appeared as a simple spreadsheet list, but only the first row was filled in. The computer displayed Jinx’s species identification, his sex, as well as a field for his nickname. When I hovered over his name, it gave an option to change it. I was surprised the aliens would bother with such customization.
But the strangest term was “Women.” My man brain made me click on every letter of the word, hoping there was more explanation behind it. Would I be getting women for being on the planet? Did I have to find them? Were they handed out like spoils for killing dinosaurs? Were they the prizes for building structures or upping my creature count?
I mentally rubbed my hands together as I dreamed of the possibilities but soon realized it was my imagination getting away from me. Sure, it would be cool to have that ticker say “Women: 10,” or whatever, but I had never managed to maintain a consistent rating of “Women: 1,” back on earth, and I was pretty stoked when Suzanne was my “1” for those few months, too.
But I lived in a cave with three women already, and they didn’t show up in my stats. Shouldn’t I have a 3 next to “Women,” if that’s how it worked?
I tapped around the Eye-Q using my eye movements. The long night gave me time to practice, so I didn’t have to use my hands. To my relief, even that basic level of mental occupation seemed to keep me from falling asleep. When Galmine came out and tapped me in the middle of the night, I realized it was much like computer games back on earth. I’d completely lost track of time while dicking around with it.
“Hey. My turn,” Galmine whispered as she nudged me.
“Alright,” I whispered as I reviewed my night. I made it through my shift without falling asleep, and other than the occasional cricket, the forest had fallen silent while
I passed the time inside the Eye-Q. Even old lady pterodactyl seemed to be zonked. She hadn’t made a peep since the bugs stopped blinking. For my first night, I was satisfied I’d kept a good watch.
I tried to hand her my spear, but she didn’t take it. Instead, she held my arm with both of hers, got on her tiptoes, and stretched toward my face.
“I couldn’t throw it anyway,” she whispered in my ear. “I can shout, though.”
Galmine’s breath was hot against my ear, and I experienced a shiver of pleasure cascade down my spine. She pulled away, but our faces were now inches apart. Even though she was backlit from the fire inside the cave, her emerald eyes seemed to glow green in the darkness. She looked down at my lips, and I felt myself begin to lean toward her.
My heart was hammering in my chest like a marching band’s bass drum.
“Ohhh,” she moaned softly as her hands came up to touch my mouth gently. “You are so handsome, and warm, and hard, and soft. If we kiss, we will continue onto other things. You won’t get much sleeping done, and I won’t get much guarding done.”
“Uhhh, yeah,” I said. It was like Galmine had cast a spell on me, and I shook my head to clear the lust out of my brain. What was I thinking? There was a lot of work to do tomorrow, and the other two women were sleeping only a dozen feet away. I couldn’t have a make-out session with Galmine right now.
Even though I really wanted to.
“But later? I would like that.” She smiled.
“You would?” I whispered with a bit of surprise. The gray-skinned woman looked like a busty supermodel, and I couldn’t quite believe her words.
“Of course,” she whispered. “I like you and want to feel you inside of me.”
“Uhhh. Wait, like sex?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to pull them back and beat myself over the head with them. It was quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever said, and I already knew what her answer would be. I was being such a creeper, and I hadn’t meant it.
“No,” she said with a slight smile, and I felt my stomach drop. “Love making. Much better than sex.”
“Ummm. Yeah. I guess it--” My tongue tried to knot itself up in my mouth. This couldn’t possibly be happening, and I almost expected Beatrice to call me on my radio or for my alarm clock to wake me up from this dream.
“But we have so much work to do now!” she whispered urgently. “You need your rest. Please go to sleep. I’ll watch over the camp.” Galmine let go of my arms and stood normally. Then she gestured toward the inside of the cave. “Go. I’ll be fine. I’ve done this a bunch.”
“Thanks, Galmine,” I said as I fought against the flurry of different emotions. Part of me wondered if I’d imagined our conversation, but I kept repeating her words over in my head as I stumbled my way to the fire.
Galmine had just thrown a couple big sticks into the dying flames, and they came crackling alive as I sprawled out on the floor. The smoke billowed over me like a familiar blanket, and I coughed in the acrid haze as quietly as I could.
The extra flames cast their light on the sleeping shape across the fire from me. Sheela breathed evenly in what I hoped was a very deep sleep. She was curled up next to the fire in a cat-like pose. Or maybe she was chilly, though it was still a million degrees outside. A part of me wanted to wrap my arms around her to see if she was cold, but that was my exhaustion talking, or possibly it was the arousal from the conversation I’d had with Galmine.
My final thoughts were about crafting a simple bed to avoid being on the ground, but the hard ground didn’t really bother me. I fell asleep about two seconds after my head touched the cave floor, and it felt like only four seconds had passed before I heard someone calling my name.
“Victor. Wake up. It is morning.” Sheela’s Aussie accent was still sexy as hell, but the early hour muted some of the charm.
I was on my stomach with my arms folded under my head. I had used my leather hat as a pillow, and I turned over to see Jinx pecking at the ground near my elbow.
“I’m up,” I replied with a tired voice. “I just had the shortest night of sleep in my life. But I’m ready to go.”
I rolled over to grab my hat, and my position on the ground gave me the perfect view of the undersides of Sheela’s bikini-covered breasts. It was entirely accidental that my eyes went right to them, and since I didn’t want to stare at her, I distracted myself by being deeply interested in sweeping the dirt off each of my pant legs. My tan uniform pants also had a second problem: seeing a sexy woman next to my bed first thing in the morning meant that it was two-by-four hammering time again.
“I have already gotten our water for the morning,” Sheela began. “I also have some leaves for making our cordage--”
“Wait, you went without me?” I was really awake now. I then noticed my socks and boots were drying next to the fire, but I couldn’t recall taking them off. I used it as another distraction while I laced them up.
“Do not worry, Victor. I am rarely bothered in the morning. I think the forest is asleep when the sun first rises.”
The thought of danger worked wonders to wake me up, and I looked around the cave. Galmine slept peacefully a few feet to my right. Trel wasn’t visible, but I had to assume she was in her nook and not outside the cave being helpful. In other words, everything looked as normal as it could be in this abnormal situation.
“Asleep, you say?” I asked as I wondered why we’d go out at any other time. I got to my feet and brushed the sleeves of my shirt. “Can we go out again to get more water, now? Shouldn’t we make our runs only in the morning?”
“I have thought about it many times, but there are not enough safe hours in the day to get anything done,” Sheela replied. “I could not do multiple morning water runs until you joined us. When we have more clay pots, we can each carry one and get water for the whole day. But you are correct, it would be better that way.”
“Thanks,” I said, finally looking at her. I tried to fix my untucked shirt but chuckled at the futility of it. After two days in dino hell, my uniform looked like I’d gotten it wet, rolled it into a ball, then put it back on without ironing it. Wearing this mess to the animal shelter would have been an automatic write-up.
“The plan was for both of us to get water and find materials to make rope,” I said as I kneaded some of the worst creases in my shirt. “Thanks for grabbing that stuff already. Let's take a drink while you show us how to make the cordage, then we can go out and get clay, collect firewood, and catch some fish for breakfast.”
“How will we bring the fish, clay, and firewood back at the same time?” Sheela asked.
She had a point. I knew firsthand how hard it was to carry something over a long distance. Having a pot full of clay would be even heavier. So how the hell would we carry fish? Back home we’d carry them in a cooler, or a net if we didn’t have to go far. I’d also seen people at the beach with multiple fish hooked on stringers.
“You’re going to show us how to make cord, right?” I asked. “That would be perfect to carry the fish.”
“Yes, between the two of us and a loop of cord we can get it all back,” Sheela agreed, and her yellow cat eyes studied me with a strange intensity.
Out of habit, I checked my watch again. Then, seeing it was dead for the hundredth time, I yanked it off and put it in my pocket. I was tempted to throw it in the fire, but I wasn’t ready to let it go forever.
“Shit. We should just go now if the morning is safer. We have so much to do.” If there was a safer time to be outside, I didn’t want to waste a drop of it.
“Victor,” Sheela replied with a sympathetic glance. “We have time. You have to eat before going back out, we both do.”
“We have a lot to do,” I said as I mentally went down the list of all that had to happen today: Make cordage. Get clay. Fish for breakfast. Find firewood. Make an axe. Cut down trees. Make the turnstile. Start the fort. Study Jinx. Guard the cave. Then get more water and food. The list for survival here was endl
ess.
“Will it help if we eat some berries while I demonstrate how to make cordage?” Sheela asked.
She was being practical, and the mere mention of berries was a reminder that I was starving. As long as we ate while doing something useful, it wouldn’t delay us too bad.
“Yeah, we could do that,” I allowed. “But you also have to promise me from now on you’ll wake me when you get up. I want to be ready anytime you go out of the cave. You know, in case you need help to get back in.”
“I will, Victor,” Sheela replied. “But do not worry. Trel was watching the cave today while I was gone.”
“No, Sheela, you offered me an extra drink of water,” Trel groaned from behind her curtain. “Since I was already awake, I decided I wanted to sun myself on the ramp. Now that the male is done sleeping in, I'll stay back here in my room. Thank you very much.”
I had hoped Trel would wake up on the right side of the bed and be in a better mood around me, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen today.
“I’m sure Galmine’s tired, but we need her for the cordage lesson,” I said to Sheela. I wasn't going to bother replying to Trel anymore. It was obvious she wasn't going to like me so she could go fuck herself. Sheela and Galmine were plenty nice and seemed to appreciate me helping them.
“I will wake her,” Sheela volunteered. “She scares easily while asleep.”
She walked to Galmine, bent to one knee next to her, and rubbed the sleeping woman along the top half of her arm.
“Galmine, we need you,” Sheela whispered with surprising tenderness.
The gray-skinned woman smiled at Sheela’s voice without opening her eyes. Galmine stretched her arms and legs as fully as she could, looking like a ballerina on her side. Despite her stony gray skin, Galmine’s body seemed soft and pliable. The gorgeous woman continued her stretch for half a minute and gradually added some innocent moaning with her movements. As soon as she was done, the green-eyed woman sat up and looked at us.
“Good morning,” I said to Galmine.