Tamer_King of Dinosaurs 2

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “The solution is simple,” Trel said, and we all turned to her. “Victor needs to tame a bigger dinosaur. Galmine can ride on its back and tell us what vegetables to eat, then we can pick them.”

  “Then we can put them in the baskets and bring them back,” Galmine said. “It is a good idea.”

  “If I can tame a larger dino,” I said. “Even if I do tame one, where would we keep it? We might be able to fit another two or three parasaurs in there with Hope, but then it’s going to get really cramped. Especially with them pooping all the time.”

  “Speaking of poop,” Galmine said with a giggle. “It is a good fertilizer. I am very skilled at growing a garden, but I don’t have enough space inside the fort. If we go out and grab some berries or other edible plants, I’ll be able to start a garden outside the fort.”

  “I like the idea, but I also don’t,” I said. “I really want us to have a farm, but I don’t want you outside of the walls where it is dangerous.”

  “I agree,” Sheela said.

  “I don’t,” Trel said, and we all gave her a confused look. “The answer is simple, again. This isn’t our permanent home.”

  “But I like this place,” Galmine said. “We all built it together and--”

  “I’m not saying we need to leave this spot,” Trel interrupted. “But we built this fort this size because we didn’t have a lot of time. But Victor wants to pick berries, or leaves, or whatever with you, so having a larger dinosaur to ride will be safer, and we need more space. Now he wants a farm, we need more space. I bet that once he starts talking about defending the fort, we are going to come up with the same answer: more space.” Trel folded her arms over her magnificent breasts and gave us all a smirk. “Trust me, I’m smart. We need more space. Especially if we want to rescue more people. I will need some privacy with Victor tonight so that we can breed, and we only have room for this small hut inside of the fort. You all will have to sit outside while he inseminates me.”

  “Uhh Trel, I’m not so--” I started to say, but the spider-woman kept talking.

  “What happens when there are ten of us? Or twenty? Or fifty? We will need more space and private huts.”

  “I agree with more huts,” Kacerie said as she shot Galmine and me an exasperated look. “If I must be here, I want my privacy.”

  “Okay,” I said as I held up my hands so their attention came back to me. “I think this is a good segway into our next topic: Defense.”

  “Yes,” Sheela said. “These walls are tall, but we will still have a problem with one of the larger carnotaurus type dinosaurs that we have seen. A tall one might be able to lean over the top.”

  “Sounds like you are voting for larger walls and a bigger fort,” I said.

  “Maybe.” Sheela shrugged. “How large do we make it? The whole clearing? It will take many months of work and be hard to guard without more help. A larger dinosaur might help us haul some of the more massive trees over, but we would have a problem lifting them into the support holes.”

  “That will not be a problem,” Trel said. “I have devised a weight and fulcrum strategy that will easily tip larger logs into holes with little effort on our part. We can implement it with Hope, or we can use a larger dinosaur if you tame one.”

  “Really?” I asked. “How does it work?”

  “I can get into it now,” she said with a shrug, “but it isn’t immediately important. Just know that I can do it.”

  “We can build around this fort,” Sheela said as she gestured out of the hut. “If we go another fifty feet out, we can make a new outer circle using the same design that Trel thought of. Then we will be able to fit in a garden and a larger pen for more dinosaurs.”

  “But then we’ll have to rebuild another wall when we get more people,” Trel said. “We should go a hundred feet out. Our current fort is about seventy-five feet in diameter, so if we go a hundred more feet out, we’ll have a bit under sixty thousand square feet.”

  “That seems big,” I said as I remembered that an acre was around forty-three thousand square feet and a bit smaller than a football field.

  “It will be too hard to defend,” Sheela said. “It will also take too long to build.”

  “If this one cooperates, it will take us another six weeks. I have already done the math.” Trel pointed to Kacerie.

  “I don’t know how to build anything,” Kacerie said. “It sounds like a lot of work.”

  “Welcome to our life,” Trel scoffed. “Believe me, I’d rather be at home sorting through my line of male suitors from atop my throne of silk pillows, but we are here now.”

  “It will still be too hard to guard,” Sheela argued.

  “We will find more people to help us,” Trel said. “There is one of those sky beams every few days, and I will give birth to my brood in three months. If we only go fifty feet out, it will leave us with twenty-four thousand feet. That sounds like a lot until we factor in a garden for Galmine, a pen for more of Victor’s dinosaurs, and huts for the other people who might join us. If we do a larger fort, we won’t need to upgrade again when we have another four people. We’ll probably be able to fit twenty, and once we have those twenty, it will be easy enough to expand the wall out so that we take over the whole clearing.” Trel’s voice came out in an excited flurry of words, and it seemed like she was fighting the smile on her face.

  “Six weeks?” I asked.

  “Six weeks,” Trel replied with a nod. “If nothing goes wrong, of course. It might even go faster if you can get some extra dinosaurs to drag trees and dig holes faster. Yes, I’m liking this idea even more. We’ll have enough space to let your pet dinosaurs graze inside the walls. We can even make moveable pens so we can cycle them through different pasture.”

  “Alright,” I said as I tried to forget about her mentioning her brood. “I’ll think about it.” Six weeks didn’t seem like a long investment to rebuild the fort walls, but then I realized that I’d already spent a month here, and I had no idea if I’d ever get back home.

  “We will need to create platforms on the interior walls, of this fort, and any future fort we build.” Sheela gestured outside again.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “If I wish to shoot an arrow or use my spear, I must climb on top of the wall. We need a platform where we can stand elevated and shoot arrows down on creatures trying to gain entry.”

  “Ahh yeah, that makes sense,” I said as I turned to Trel.

  “I can build one tomorrow,” the spider woman said with a nod. “Will take me about half the day, but only a few hours if someone else helps.”

  “We will need more than one,” Sheela said. “So that we can shoot from multiple angles.”

  “How about three?” Trel asked. “Two flanking the door, and then one at the rear should work. If you both help me, I can get them done tomorrow. Then I can build larger ones when we have our new and improved walls built.”

  “You are really into this,” I said as I smiled at the beautiful spider-woman.

  “Hmmm.” Her lips curled a bit. “I guess I have a knack for building stuff. It’s strange since I never cared about it before coming here.”

  “You are smart,” I said with a shrug, “it just sounded like you didn’t have to work much before you came here.”

  “Oh, my dear Victor,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “You had no idea how hard it was picking out suitors. I don’t need to worry about that anymore.”

  “You don’t?” Galmine asked with confusion.

  “No,” Trel said as she wrapped her long stiff fingers around my bicep. “Tonight Victor will impregnate me. I’ll use my venom on one of the raptor corpses outside. It won’t be perfect, but the muscles, bones, and fat of the thing should be ready by the time I give birth. Then they will feed upon it and grow stronger. Life will be easy then since they will do my bidding.”

  “Uhhh, Trel,” I said as I looked down at the hand she had wrapped around my bicep. “I’m not really sure I can imp
regnate you.”

  “Don’t be silly. I am ovulating. You will impregnate me.”

  “It doesn’t quite work that way,” I said as carefully as I could.

  “What do you mean?” she asked. “Does your penis not work?” Trel turned to Galmine.

  “Oh, it works wonderfully,” Galmine said as she smiled at me.

  “That’s not the point--” I started to say, but Trel asked Galmine another question.

  “Does he not make sperm then?”

  “Oh, plenty of sperm,” Galmine moaned and licked her lips. “Plenty of delicious sp--”

  “Ewwww!” Kacerie shouted. “If you are going to talk about his dick all day, I’ll just leave.”

  “We are having an important discussion,” Trel said to the pink-haired woman. “Just as on my homeworld, my pregnancy here should be considered with the correct amount of awe and reverence. Victor and I are the most important people in our little tribe, and our offspring will ensure that we all survive. Really, you should be honored that I’m allowing you to take part in this conversation.”

  “Is she always like this?” Kacerie asked Sheela, but the cat-woman just shrugged.

  “Trel, we are different species,” I said. “We can’t have children.”

  “I don’t see why being different species has anything to do with it,” Trel said, but then her eyes narrowed. “Unless you do not find me attractive.”

  “Uhhh, no. I mean, ahh, you are--”

  “Ha! I know you find me attractive,” she interrupted me. “You are male, and I am beautiful. I watch your pants bulge whenever I talk to you. I already told you I would not kill you afterward, so what is your problem?”

  “We just won’t have children. It’s impossible.” I tried to calm my pounding heart as her black eyes stared into mine.

  “Fine,” Trel sighed. “I see how this is going to be. I’ll take care of everything.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked as my stomach dropped. Having a night of sex with Galmine had really given me a boost in my self-confidence, but that was quickly withering under Trel’s dark piercing gaze.

  “I’ll do all the work. You can just lie there, and I’ll ensure you fill my womb with every last ounce of your--”

  “How did we get here?” Kacerie interrupted. “I thought you all were going to talk about survival, not having sex.”

  “Good point, Kacerie,” I said. “Let’s get back on topic.”

  “Whatever,” Trel hissed as her fingers tightened on my arm. “I’m not done with you.”

  “So we need to build a new wall, and it will probably help to get another parasaur.” I thought about my Tame ability and wondered how big of a dinosaur I could control. Hope worked great, and she fit inside of our fort, but if I could get a big triceratops, it might be able to knock over a tree without us even cutting it. “I also want to get another parasaur so we can test out someone else riding it while I’m not around.”

  “What do you mean?” Sheela asked.

  “We’ve both ridden on Hope,” I explained. “I’ve also been by myself. I’m wondering if you can ride her to the lake or stream without me.”

  “Hmmm,” Sheela said, and she suddenly looked a bit nervous.

  “You could test that now,” Trel said.

  “Yeah, but if Hope throws Sheela and then bolts, we might be out our only parasaur. It will be better for us to test it with a second one, so we don’t risk it.

  “It is a good plan,” Sheela said quickly, and I guessed that the powerful cat-woman might have been a bit scared of riding one of the dinos by herself.

  “Yeah, okay. I think we’ve got a short list of shit we have to do,” I said as I ran through them in my head. “Sheela and I have to go get water at the stream and then make a few runs for clay. Then we need to look for another parasaur or other rideable dino that can help us build the camp. While we are out, we’ll look for some sort of salt lick and more leaves to make cordage and baskets. Then our main focus will be on cutting down bigger trees and building the new wall. Sheela, did I miss anything?”

  “No, Victor,” she replied.

  “You forgot about your job with me tonight and helping me make the platforms tomorrow,” Trel said.

  “Ahh yeah. Okay.” I felt my cheeks flush, and I tried to move my hips casually so that my hard-on wouldn’t be noticed by the spider-woman. Trel was all sorts of scary, but who was I kidding? She was also dangerously beautiful, and I knew I’d get over the legs coming out of her back as soon as we were having sex.

  As long as she didn’t kill me afterward.

  “Trel should also help us with the saddle for Hope so that we can carry more water,” Sheela offered.

  “I know,” Trel said with a sigh. “I’m also going to fix the door and then think about the rainwater collection idea. I didn’t pay much attention when Galmine made all the pots, but I’ll look at her process this time and see if I can find some inspiration.”

  “Great,” I said. “So Galmine and Kacerie will work on pots, spears, arrows, and baskets-- hey I have an idea.” The thought jumped in my head and I got excited. “They make traps to catch fish, I don’t really know how they are made, but I’m sure we can figure them out.”

  “Traps to catch fish?” Galmine asked as she turned the meat over the fire. The smell of turkey was filling the hut, and my stomach let out a low rumble.

  “Ahh, I know this one,” Kacerie said as she raised her hand. “One of my boyfriends was a commercial fisher, and he used traps.” The pink-haired woman made a motion with her hands so they were in a “V” shape. “There is a funnel basket that goes into a larger basket. The fish swim down the funnel toward a bit of food or something, and then they come out inside of the larger basket, they aren’t smart enough to swim back out of the smaller hole.”

  “Okay, that’s your job when Galmine shows you how to put together the baskets.”

  “I also need shoes,” Kacerie said as she pointed down her tight jeans toward her bare feet.

  “Hmmm,” I said. “We could probably weave something with the stuff we used for the baskets.”

  “Ugh,” Kacerie groaned. “They are going to look terrible, I can already imagine them.”

  “You could just go barefoot,” I said with a shrug.

  “Those heels I took off? They are ten thousand credit shoes.” Kacerie moaned and put her face in her hands. “I can’t believe I’m here. This is a nightmare.”

  “Yeah, but you could be dead,” I sighed, and the woman turned her light blue eyes to me.

  “Yeah… Uhhh. Look, Victor, I haven’t thanked you yet. Sorry I’ve been kind of a bitch. I’d be monster shit right now if it weren’t for your bravery. I want to go home, but until we find out how to do that, I’ll help however I can.”

  “Thanks, good to hear,” I said as I nodded along with Galmine, Sheela, and Trel. Her attitude seemed to have taken a 180 degree turn, but I wasn’t going to worry about it right now. I had too much shit to do and not enough time to do it in.

  “The food is done!” Galmine exclaimed as she finished turning the spit. We had some clay plates stacked in a corner, and she ripped pieces of the steaming bird off to give to us.

  “Doesn’t that hurt your hand?” Kacerie asked with what sounded like a mixture of amazement and disgust.

  “No,” Galmine answered. “I have thick skin. Here, this is yours. Welcome to our family.” She passed the plate to Kacerie and the pink-haired woman glanced down at it.

  “Something wrong?” Sheela asked her after she took her plate from Galmine.

  “Uhhh, nothing,” Kacerie answered.

  “Then why aren’t you eating?” Trel asked after she finished chewing on her first bite of food.

  “It’s uhhh. Nothing.” Kacerie still hadn’t looked up from the food.

  The rest of us ate in silence for a few moments. The meat really did need some salt, but I was starving, and I only gave each piece a few cooling puffs of my breath before I shoved them in my mout
h.

  “You still aren’t eating,” Galmine said with a pouty face. “Do you not like it?”

  “I ahhh. It’s just dirty.” Kacerie sighed.

  “Dirty?” Galmine’s face formed an “O” shape.

  “Yeah, you picked it up with your fingers. Sorry. I’m kind of a germaphobe. I didn’t see you wash your hands or anything.”

  “Ohhh!” Galmine said with a delighted sigh. “You don’t have to worry, my hands are clean.”

  “Oh, okay. Thanks.” Kacerie carefully took a small piece of the cooked bird meat and then pushed it into her mouth. She chewed a few times, smiled, and then swallowed before grabbing the next piece. Soon she was tearing into the food and letting out soft moans of pleasure.

  “Glad you like it!” Galmine said after Kacerie was almost done with her piece.

  “Yeah, sorry I thought your hands weren’t clean. I’m embarrassed that I accused you of--.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Galmine said. “I washed them last night before Victor and I made love. They are very clean.”

  “Excuse me?” Kacerie’s mouth froze mid-chew.

  “Yes,” Galmine said proudly. “I didn’t want to get any dirt on Victor’s body, so I washed them last night.”

  “But… you didn’t… uhhh.” Kacerie’s face had paled, and she looked over to me. “Wash them after?”

  “We only have half a jug of water left. I didn’t want to waste it on my hands. Besides, Victor’s body was yummy.”

  “Galmine,” I groaned. “You have to wash your hands before you start cooking.”

  “Oh? I do? I’ve never done it before.”

  “I have to go,” Kacerie said as she set down her plate, turned to the curtain of the hut, and then dashed out.

  “Ohh, she didn’t like it,” Galmine sighed as we heard gagging in the distance.

  “I would like a second helping,” Sheela said as she held out her plate toward Galmine for more.

  “Meeeh,” Trel said with a shrug of her shoulders. “She’ll be fine. Besides, I’m looking forward to tasting more of Victor.”

  Chapter 3

  After we finished eating, Sheela, Trel, and I exited the hut and worked to clean up the bodies of the raptors. The spider woman asked us to leave the one I had impaled against the wall so that she could use her digestive poison to prepare it for her children. I didn’t really want to know the details of how her process worked, so I busied myself with hauling the other three bodies outside of the gate with Sheela.