by Brian King
Thoughts of Sheela flirting with me lingered while I looked for an axe handle. I needed something about three feet long that I could easily grip with my hand. It had to be from a live branch or sapling because the dried firewood was way too brittle. Finally, it also had to be thick, so I could cut a narrow slot near one end to insert the rock Trel gave us.
Sheela was picking up firewood close by, but before I realized it, she had set a bundle of sticks near the base of the ramp, and was leaning on her spear next to me.
“I need to forage further out in the grove. I have gathered most firewood from near the cave,” Sheela said while seeming to wait for something.
“Can you use the branches from the trees we’ll cut down?” I asked.
“From the dead tree, yes, when we have the better axe,” she answered. “But not the others. The wood is too green, and it will make too much smoke in the cave.”
“Ahh, that makes sense,” I replied. “Be careful.”
“Thank you,” she replied, and I watched her tight fuzzy ass cheeks bounce as she walked away.
Damn, she was really hot.
But I was also hot. I’d been sweating my ass off in my heat-trapping uniform, so I took off the long-sleeved shirt in an effort to keep cool. Underneath, I wore a white undershirt with short sleeves, but it didn’t help in the humid air of the redwood forest, so I used my hat to fan myself while I continued my search.
Since the hand axe was so painful to use, I had to be sure whatever I cut down was going to be what I needed. I wandered by many saplings and under a lot of almost-right branches. Eventually, I found an ideal branch low enough to the ground I could cut it down. I got busy with the small stone axe and soon had even bigger rivers of sweat pouring from my forehead. It took another half hour of agonized chopping before I cut it off the tree. When it was down and in my hands, I felt satisfied it would be the perfect axe handle.
“Looking good, Victor. I like you without your clothes on.” Galmine walked down the ramp at her usual slow pace and beckoned me over to her.
“Um, I’m still wearing clothes,” I replied as I neared her and set down my axe handle. I wondered if her people ever wore clothes or if they all walked around looking like gray versions of Mystique.
“You still owe me something soft,” she paused speaking as she stepped a little closer to me, “and something hard.” I finally noticed the water pot she’d put down on one of the rocks. Apparently, she’d come down to give me a drink, though I’d suddenly lost interest in quenching my thirst.
I double blinked in disbelief. It was my first private moment Galmine and I had since last night, but I wasn’t used to a beautiful woman being so bold with me. Her green eyes were full of mischief, and her round breasts carried no evidence of the simulated bikini top she usually wore. Her mysterious gray skin still seemed rock-like, but in the sunshine, I was able to see it bend and flex like human skin. Her delightful perfume caught my nose, and it was insane how much I wanted to feel her skin.
“And I want to show you--” she began to say. I re-focused on her eyes, aware that she had come out at this exact moment for more than water. She telegraphed her desire for a first kiss, and I leaned toward her to deliver it. But a screeching sound behind her made us both jump before our lips met.
“What the fuck?” I gasped as I moved to stand in front of the beautiful woman.
I recognized Jinx’s high-pitched shrieking, so I started up the ramp to see what he’d found. I grabbed Galmine’s hand and began to pull her along toward the safety of the cave, but she wouldn’t move with any haste.
“I can’t run, Victor,” she said with unusual insistence in her voice. “You’ve got to help Jinx! Go!” There was no time to argue, so I let go of her hand and raced up the ramp.
“Sheela, help!” I shouted into the forest with the hope that Sheela was close enough to sprint back in the next few seconds.
As I reached the entrance to the cave, I saw two birds tumbling around inside the leafy branches of the small tree Sheela and I had placed by the door. One of them was orange colored, and the other was the familiar blue of my buddy.
“Jinx!” I screamed his name because I feared he’d already been hurt in the melee.
Jinx was at a huge size disadvantage against the larger, turkey-sized bird. He was able to peck at the plump orange and black bird to annoy it, but then he jumped around the inside branches to avoid the razor-sharp counter attacks.
I remembered the rock Sheela gave me last night, and I pulled it from my pocket. I couldn’t climb inside the branches to help Jinx, but I could try to even the odds. I wound up, aimed, and waited a couple of seconds until I had a clear shot.
I threw it and somehow hit the orange bird square on the head, which sent it tumbling to the ground. I was on the verge of ordering Jinx to get the hell out of there, but my blue buddy hopped excitedly in the branches above the larger bird, and I could sense what he wanted.
“Kill it!” I shouted.
I hated using Jinx for the task, but I didn’t have a weapon handy to take care of the orange bird, and I was worried it might recover and then go after my little friend again.
Jinx dropped through the inside branches and landed upon the stunned orange bird. He tore at him with his small but deadly claws and repeatedly pecked at its head with his own sharp beak. The orange bird made a brief effort to fight back, but Jinx had made a mess of its neck and continued to poke at it until it was clear it would never get up again.
A few seconds later, Jinx hopped out of the tree and immediately started to peck the ground for food, as if oblivious he’d survived a fight to the death. He had some rumpled feathers from his ordeal but didn’t seem to be injured.
“Good work, Buddy,” I said as he walked around near my feet. “I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.” My heart still beat with nervousness at how close I’d come to losing the little guy. Like the many times before, Jinx had been right there when new danger found me. I had a pretty good idea what the orange bird was doing here and why Jinx saw it as a threat.
“Victor?” Sheela called from somewhere near the bottom of the ramp. I couldn’t see her through all the bushes lining our path, but I knew she was close.
“We’re good. Come up here, Sheela,” I called down to her.
I dragged the bird free of branches and studied it. The creature had remarkably orange feathers over most of its body, but had black ones covering its wings. The long yellow beak reminded me of a stork’s, but it was crammed with seemingly endless rows of teeth. It was safe to say my blue pal was lucky to be alive.
I ran it through the Eye-Q hoping we could glean a little information about the species threatening us, but no data came out. I wondered how the aliens could not know about a species on a planet they created, but after a few more seconds of concerned thought, I wondered if it failed to return data because the damned thing was dead.
Conceptually, I always knew the deadly birds were coming. Sheela was there when they took over her first cave, and she even mentioned seeing one of the orange scouts a few days ago. But having this one on the literal doorstep to our cave made it inevitable.
They were just as serious a threat as whatever super predator ran down the triceratops. If there were ten or twenty of them flapping those vicious beaks at us, we’d be in a crapload of trouble.
Sheela said she was overwhelmed by hundreds. Whether it was tomorrow or next month, we had no time to dick around. This new camp needed to be built quickly.
“Is everyone alright?” Sheela asked as she trotted up the ramp with a spear in her hand. There was recognition in her eyes when she saw the orange and black body lying on the ground, and she let out a long exhale.
“This is the type of bird that’s coming, isn’t it?” I asked the blonde woman.
“Yes,” Sheela answered with disappointment. “They have found us. Were there others?”
“Just the one Jinx fought,” I said. The blue bird continued to nose the ground as if nothing im
portant was taking place around him.
Galmine finally reached the top of our ramp. As the three of us stared at the dead bird, I thought of what came next. All the talk of leadership and planning made me realize how important each decision was going to be for our survival. These women were my responsibility. Get one thing wrong, and one of them could die. Suddenly, there weren’t enough hours left in the day for all the shit I had to get done.
Chapter 9
After the fight between Jinx and the orange stork-bird, I gathered firewood, scrounged to collect more leaves for cord making, ate fish for dinner, and went together to get more water with Sheela.
It was almost pitch black before I was back at the fireside and I began to make progress on carving the handle. It needed to be completed tonight so we could cut trees a lot faster tomorrow. The fort was the only thing that would keep us safe outside the cave, and the axe was the key to my time crunch problem.
“I hope you realize how futile this is,” Trel said in her lecturer’s voice as the rest of us sat around the fireplace working on our projects. “Victor has got you two running around doing all this nonsense and what has it gotten you? Nothing but a couple of logs toppled, these ugly ropes you’re making, and a bush in our front door.”
Sheela and Galmine sat on either side of me, and I saw the grey-skinned woman force a smile to her full lips. They both ripped leaves and twisted cord while I worked on carving a four-inch slit in the upper portion of my new axe handle with a flint knife. Trel spent the last few minutes going over all the things I’d done wrong today, but she hit one nugget of truth: even though we hardly stopped for rest, we really hadn’t gotten very much done.
“And these mysterious birds,” Trel continued, “aren’t going to get in and eat us. Did you see how small it was? There was hardly any meat.”
I wasn’t even sure Trel saw the bird when it was alive because Jinx killed it just outside the cave. When Sheela got a hold of it, she stripped all the feathers and cut it to shreds with the stone axe. At first, I thought she was doing it because she was mad the birds had found us, but I should have known better: she prepped it so we could have fish and fowl for dinner.
I searched the shadows for my little blue friend. Though I couldn’t read his mind, I figured he was pretty tired after going toe-to-toe with that larger bird. He was probably back at his woodpile or maybe just lying low while Trel was griping.
“So, you have a dubious reason to exert yourselves, an incompetent male giving you orders, and a silly plan based on giving up a perfectly good cave so we can live like hobos in the forest. I understand his problem,” Trel pointed to me, “he’s an idiot. But why are you two women going along with it?”
It was the moment of truth for me and my grandiose plans for building my little empire. Though any reasonable person could argue the danger of building and living in the fort versus staying in the cave, finding an orange bird right at our door was a game changer. I didn’t think Sheela and Galmine could possibly agree with Trel that we were wasting our time, but maybe our lack of progress today gave them second thoughts. They shared looks with each other before the rock woman replied to Trel.
“I’m sure Sheela feels the same as me. Victor has done nothing but help us since he arrived, and even though I don’t understand everything he says, I’m willing to give his plans a chance. Before he showed up, you often talked about how rescue was coming to help us. Trel, you are a wonderful friend and have been right about so many things, but maybe Victor is our rescue?”
Trel stifled a laugh while Galmine kept talking.
“Over the past couple of days, we’ve started building and creating. I’m working on more pots. We’re eating better than we ever did before. As Victor explained, having a fort out there will keep us safe and protected. We’ll be able to focus on other, more pleasant pursuits.” Galmine lived up to her cheerleader personality as she set down her cord, leaned over, and hugged me from the side. I inhaled the intoxicating perfume that never seemed to abandon her.
“No one is perfect,” Sheela added, “but Victor asks for our help, admits when he is wrong and looks to the future as a leader should. He has brought us hope in a difficult time. And the threat from the birds is real, unless you also mistrust your own eyes? It is folly to ignore all the signs, Trel.”
“It cannot be folly to live inside a rock fortress,” Trel said in a respectful tone. Though she was willing to bite my head off just for existing, she seemed unwilling to raise her voice to Sheela or Galmine.
“Building the fort will not be a waste of time,” the beautiful cat-woman replied in a calm voice. “If the birds never come, we can live in the cave as well as the fort. If they do come, we will have the safety of the fort until the cave is ours again.”
“Rescue is coming,” Trel replied. “I promise you that. My sisters would never forsake me. The cave is plenty safe for the short time we’ll need it. Why am I the only one who sees it? He has you running outside the cave to find extra food and water, so you can expend those calories on his dumb project.” She hissed the word “his.”
“You hate the plan because I’m a man, I get it,” I said sarcastically.
“Yes, Victor. Your honesty is appreciated,” Trel replied instantly. “Males can’t be trusted. On my planet, you would never get away with speaking to me as you do. You couldn’t speak to any of us women as equals. I guess I’m just too nice.”
I sighed at what was becoming a tiring argument with Trel. Her animosity toward me was never-ending, even when I used her proper name and brought her food. I doubted I could convince her to work with us, but I hoped I could get her to stop working against us. That she was failing to win over Sheela or Galmine was enough of a victory for me.
I should just tell her to fuck off. I wanted to tell her to fuck off, but I thought about the end game. It didn’t matter that Trel was being difficult. Yeah, it made me mad, and it did hurt my ego, but the goal was building our camp. I really did need the spider-woman’s help. There was a chance I’d never get it, but she definitely wouldn’t help me after I cussed her out.
My dad often handled the customer service part of my parent’s vet business. We had plenty of pets die for reasons that were out of our control, and the customers often blamed us for the death of their loved one. My dad always took their insults, and their rage, smiled, and then apologized. Nine times out of ten the people ended up calling him back to say they were sorry for the outburst.
I was betting Trel would come around.
“The math is easy,” Sheela replied and I turned my thoughts away from my parents and back to the conversation. “Victor has worked tirelessly to provide food, water, and wood since he arrived. You, by contrast, have eaten food, drank water, and benefitted from the fire all without--”
“You can’t shame me,” Trel interrupted Sheela with a chuckle, “Even without wanting to, I have contributed my share by providing free advice when I deemed it necessary. Galmine is probably five times more efficient at making cordage thanks to me. Over the course of his silly little project that could be days of time saved. Victor can’t claim the same efficiencies.”
“Guys,” I said with a sigh. “We can’t argue with each other. It will get us nowhere. Trel, your idea did save us a ton of time, and I’m really thankful you got involved even though you didn’t want to. It proves you are smarter than me in all sorts of ways. You are adding to our efficiency without even trying, but imagine how great we could be if you did try?”
Trel smiled wickedly and clapped her hands a couple of times. The bone-clacking sound from her chitinous claws was eerie.
“Oh, Victor. Simple, sweet, soft-skulled Victor. You use the derogatory male slang ‘guy’ on me and then launch a clumsy attempt to butter me up. Do you really expect your gratuitous flattery to change my mind? Is that how little you think of me?” The dark spider-woman seemed really happy with herself.
I tried to analyze what part of my statement was empty flattery, but she kept spe
aking before I could figure it out.
“I have ten thousand suitors seeking my hand back on my homeworld. Let me assure you, I’ve heard every lame suck up you can imagine. You haven’t even scratched the surface of high-quality ass kissing.” Trel laughed like she saw something funny in her mind’s eye.
“Did it ever work?” I asked. I didn’t mean it to be snarky, but with ten thousand men chasing her I was interested to know what the winner said to gain her favor. She seemed to stare at me with that glowing red fire in her black eyes before softening a tiny bit.
“No. It never worked. I am Trel-Idil-Iria, after all. I do not fall for unintentionally humorous begging by juvenile-minded males. My last two mates I picked with the kind of care that someone of my standing should exhibit.”
“Humorous begging works on a lot of people,” I said while trying to ignore the image of those two mates getting consumed by her brood. “I had a friend back on earth. Man, he could pick up women like no one I ever saw. He wasn’t even what I would call a great looking guy. Not bad, just not a model, if you know what I mean.”
“Uhh, Victor. I don’t really know what you mean,” Galmine said with a shrug and caring smile.
“Oh, well this guy could walk into a bar, look at all the women, and then pick the one he was going to take home that night before he even said his first word. He could make up any story he needed to get the girls to sleep with him. I guess you’d call it fake flattery. But that isn’t how I operate. When I tell a girl--uh, I mean a woman, that she’s been great, it doesn’t mean I’m kissing ass.”
Trel didn’t bite my head off with a reply. I couldn’t predict if she’d use the time to consider what I’d said, or if she was preparing a suitable insult.
“You told us how your friend picks up women, Victor. Do you also lift them as he does?” Galmine asked with no trace of sarcasm.
“Uh, we don’t lift girls. ‘Pick up’ is a way of saying how men try to get girls to go home with them and then have sex,” I replied like it was a textbook answer.