Sister Resister
Page 10
I stared at her, agape. “This isn’t Earth?”
“It is, but it’s not,” she said, unhelpfully.
“How can it be, and not be?”
“It is complicated, and involves quantum and theoretical physics. But the elementary explanation is that certain events branch off and continue in another universe, separated by a membrane, along a line based on differing decisions or events. So this is another version of Earth, but there will likely be some differences.”
“That’s the elementary version?”
“I know of no other way to explain. We’re on an alternate Earth. So there are bound to be differences.”
“Like what?’
“I am not certain. I haven’t noticed any, yet.”
Shrtz and Bador gathered their fish, and set off to investigate the factops books, to see if it what I’d read in The Clan of the Cave Bear was true. We needed to understand the climate of this place called Colorado where we had made our home. Except, apparently, it was a different Colorado, too.
I spent some time thinking, looking at the stream and watching birds, and then made the long walk back to camp.
I joined Cassio by the fire. “Hey, Story.” She greeted me , as usual, with a grasp of my wrist, and me, hers. The fish the cephs had caught were now cleaned and ready to cook, and Cassio gestured proudly at them. “Check out my handiwork there. Shrtz taught me.”
I sat down on a sigh. “We’re not eating enough. We never can catch enough of them to feed everyone. And we’ve already picked the fruit tree bare, along with the few other ones we found. More than that, we have to make sure we have food if the weather changes and we have trouble finding it.”
Cassio looked at me like she’d never considered the notion. Perhaps she’d never had to, outside the context of raiding food depots on Pangea. But I knew what it felt like to run out of food.
I saw Shrtz and Bador come out of the bunker holding books, and waved them over.
They joined us on the big log by the fire.
“We have located some helpful information to share,” Shrtz said. “We are happy to explain it to them.”
Cassio gave a summoning whistle and soon everyone made their way to the campfire, gathered round.
When the clan was settled in, I stood up to address them. “We’ve got some problems to solve, and we’ve all got to work together to do that. I’ll let Shrtz explain it.”
Shrtz stood and waved all eight tentacles. “Hello everyone. First, I have found information on climate. The weather here is about to change. It will get much colder. We must prepare our food supplies. And we must have warmer clothing for the times we are outside.”
Bador said, “But the good news is, we know how we are to create warmer clothing.”
We all gave him our attention.
He pressed two tentacles together in front of him, like a sage. “We must take the fur of the animals we hunt.”
“How are we going to do that?” Darsha asked.
“We must kill them, and peel off their skins.”
Everyone groaned their disgust.
He waved a dismissive tentacle. “This is quite an acceptable thing to do. There is a balance in nature, and we are part of that. It is how our ancestors survived. The books tell me that this was how the first clothings were made. The skins of animals.”
I had read all about this in The Clan of the Cave Bear, and had so much to add, but perhaps my narratives would not be taken as seriously as the factops offered by Shrtz and Bador, so I let them continue.
Shrtz noticed the lack of enthusiasm in the clan. “Bador and I will be happy to begin the process. We can skin the animals quite quickly with 16 arms.” She smiled at her almost-joke.
I spoke up. “We have weapons and supplies in the bunker. A group of us will go on a hunt. Instead of militiamen, we will be hunting bear and deer and rabbit...and anything else that has a fur to keep us warm.”
“Oh and Oh!” Bador said. “We may also use the other parts of the animal. Most notably, the meat. We are in dire need of protein for everyone and the fruit trees are bare.”
“I’ve been reading about foraging,” Kaz said, pulling a forked stick through the ends of her tangled hair. She had been the primary cook for the clan. “I think I can pick out some wild edibles to go with the meat.”
“Very good, Kaz,” Shrtz said.
I continued, “We’ll need some of you to go hunting with us, some of you to fish, and some to forage. Who wants to do which?”
As the chaos erupted, Cassio whistled again, taking over. “I’ll assign you. Everyone should learn everything, anyway.” She started selecting members, placing them in three teams, and sent them on their way with general instructions. Shrtz would teach a group to fish, Kaz would lead the foraging team, and Cassio and I would lead the hunting party.
Bador would stay behind along with Fento and a few others to prepare a dressing table for whatever we brought back, gather firewood, and keep the fire going.
There were fifty mouths to feed, and the clan had to get organized.
18
Since we only had the Merkel and my bow and arrows, the hunting party consisted of myself and Cassio.
She used my Merkel to easily bring down two deer, and I used my bow and arrow to kill five rabbits.
Cassio said, “You’re really good with that weapon.”
“Pointing and shooting is a fairly simple idea.”
“Yeah, too bad we don’t have a whole collection of Merkels.”
“Maybe we ought to start making more weapons.”
She nodded.
The cephs did a fine job of preparing the animals we brought back. That night, fifty young women and men gathered about the fire and feasted on rabbit and deer and fish, all prepared from recipes in the cook books Weller had provided.
After everyone had their fill, they scattered into natural groups to read or talk about their new discoveries that day.
At some point I noticed Fento looking at Jorn, who was on his way to the ship. He got up and followed him. I watched him trail Jorn inside, with another smile on his face. Gentle Fento was making out like a bandit, having two warrior samegenders seeking his soft places. It wasn’t long before they both came back out, as if nothing had happened.
I also knew that Darsha enjoyed the company of both Kaz and Mythic. But this night, they’d gone into the ship together, all three.
No doubt, all needs were being met on the physical side, we only had to make sure we were warm and fed, and that would be an ongoing challenge, but one I was looking forward to.
As the sun descended over the mountain, the fire made shadows on the faces remaining around the pit.
Some had moved closer to us. Hassik had always been the silent, brooding sort, but now he spoke up. “I’ve been studying the uses of other parts of the animals. I’m going to start making us more tools. I want to try making a water bladder from the organs of the deer.”
A groan of disgust traveled through those within earshot.
“No no,” Shrtz preempted the naysayers. “That’s how our ancestors did it. If prepared properly, the organs make fine water flasks.” She nodded at Hassik. “You have picked an honorable skill. You will keep us all from going thirsty.”
His face softened for the first time I’d ever noticed.
I worried about Jorn. Though he shaved his head to appear more manly, he’d seen too much in his young life and it had hardened his heart. Now, I watched him use his fingers to tear a hunk of deer meat from the spit over the fire, and chomp into it. More than once on patrol, during the Pangea days, I’d seen him kill militiamen. He seemed to enjoy it. He had been aggressive on the hunt that day as well, unnecessarily slitting the throat of deer after I shot it dead. There could be value in such aggression, when unsavory things must be done, but it would have to be tempered with discipline. I didn’t want our new clan to fall into the same mind as the militiamen had.
As the small group of us by the fire enjo
yed a tea that Kaz had made from wild herbs, we talked about our new clan and the world we’d been transferred to.
“We should rename our clan,” Darsha suggested.
“Why?” Jorn grunted.
“Well we aren’t resisters anymore, are we?” she pointed out.
“What about our little village here. We could just name that,” Kaz said.
“We should name it after the man who saved us,” I offered. “Weller.”
“So our village can be called Weller.” Cassio nodded. “We will be the Weller Clan.”
Agreeable nods.
“What about the planet? What are we going to name it?” Fento wanted to know.
Hassik gulped down the last of his tea. “It’s already got a name. It’s called Earth.”
“But this is a different Earth.”
Shrtz met my eyes. We had not told anyone else about this parallel Earth information.
After that, the discussion scattered among several in the group.
Shrtz spoke up. “I think you should name it TerraNeo.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked.
“It’s from ancient languages. It means, basically, new land or new earth.”
The group fell silent, staring at her. Then Cassio smiled. “I think that’s a blaster idea. Perfect.”
The conversation moved into more animated areas after that and my attention drifted as I looked up at the night sky sprinkled with stars. We came from there, I thought. But we belong here, even if it’s not the original.
I leaned back, my stomach full of deer and rabbit, and greens and berries Kaz had foraged. She’d also cooked something called and they were delicious. I half-listened to all of them talking in groups and across groups to each other.
I was no longer circling Uranus. No longer circling anything, except a fire. And I wasn’t even going anywhere. I was here. Here, where I could stay. Where I could enjoy the company of my people, and together we could build this new life, learning so many new things every day, and living out our days in freedom and comfort.
I continued to gaze at the darkling sky and wondered how many others dreamed and wished and longed for such fortune in their own lives.
I was lucky. I was a Weller, now, from the planet of TerraNeo, in the Milky Way galaxy.
And this time, we would do it right.
After Words
Regarding the previous title for this book...The story was inspired by the character, India Bell, of my Rain Falls series. As a ruse, she had supposedly written a science fiction book titled Circling Uranus, and it became a bestseller, much to her chagrin. It reportedly included some form of tentacle sex with an alien.
I was so amused by the title that I decided I at least had to write a story with that name.
This is that story.
{cue the Law & Order sound}
But then...things changed.
There are plenty of writers out there who will serve up cheesecake. And while cheesecake is delicious, I prefer to serve you the entire meal. It’s hard for me to write vapid or gratuitous sex, even if it’s at first titillating and funny. And I also have no interest in telling mediocre stories.
So when the idea for this tale was originally to stage a funny scenario in which I could scandalize a few readers, I ran with it. But what I discovered, as I seem to discover with all my writing projects, was that there was more story to tell, and it had to be meaningful in some way or it was rather like sex with no orgasm. At least for me.
As the story unfolded under my typing fingers, I realized there was more to it than a risqué encounter or two with a betentacled hybrid. And as I went through the material and beefed it up, I also found clarity and factual errors that I could not abide. So I set about correcting those, and the story grew a little more.
I hope you enjoyed the direction it took me as much as I did.
Now, it seems there is even more to this story than this episode contain, so I am working on episode two, titled, TerraNeo.
If you enjoyed this little feast, please leave a review on Amazon, and then make a visit to my author website, kellijaebaeli.com. I’m sure you will find other meals to your liking there.
Gramercy
My thanks to India Bell of Rain Falls for providing the inspiration for this book. {smirk}.
Thanks also to Tracy Kelly for her tenacious cheerleading about this story. Tracy, you have always been so supportive of all my writing, and I appreciate you more than I can say.
And as always, thanks to my wife, Melissa Walker-Baeli for always being the first and best betareader and a sounding board for my ideas.
Books by Kelli Jae Baeli
AKA INVESTIGATIONS SERIES
Also Known as Armchair Detective {1}
Also Known as DNA {2}
Also Known as Syzygy {3}
Also Known as Rising & Falling {4}
Also Known as Sleepy Cat Peak {5}
Also Known as Blue, Dark & Bright {6}
RAIN FALLS SERIES
Rain Falls {1}
In Absentia {2}
Pariahs & Prodigals {3}
NEW HARBOR WITCHES SERIES
Keepers {1}
Ravens {2}
NORTHWOODS TRILOGY
Throwing Caution {1}
Building Character {2}
SHAMROCK COVE SERIES
Run the Risk (#1)
NOVELS
Achilles Forjan
Another Justice
As You Were
Baggage
Plethora
Pitfall
Go. Leave. Stay.
(with Melissa Walker-Baeli)
The Girls in the Band
Duct Tape & a Tarp
NOVELLAS
Sister Resister (Samegender Chronicles, #1)
Saturation Point
Somewhere Else
Quintessence
Random Act of Blindness
Curse of Cache La Poudre
Powerful Things
FICTION ANTHOLOGIES
Trustplaces (Erotica for Women Who Love Women)
Speed of Dark (Bold Lesbian Erotic Stories)
Flash Fiction (Vol. 1)
NONFICTION
Cosmology of God& Jesus (God on a Stick,V. 1)
Cosmology of the Bible (God on a Stick, V. 2)
Cosmology of Christianity (God on a Stick,V. 3)
Cosmology of the Dark Side (God on a Stick,V. 4)
Cosmology of Science (God on a Stick,V. 5)
Cosmology of Atheism (God on a Stick, V. 6)
NONFICTION ANTHOLOGIES
Nerve (Selected & Neglected Poetry)
Venetian Blinds (Because I Couldn’t Effing Think of Another Effing Title)
Face Down in the Low Road (Essays, Articles, & Rebuttals)
Bettered by a Dead Crustacean (Humorous Essays)
Diction Déjà vu (Reading Writing & No Arithmetic, v. 1)
The Truth of Fiction (Reading Writing & No Arithmetic, v. 2)
Literary Loitering (Reading Writing & No Arithmetic, v. 3)
Sullied Pajamas (Misadventures in the Dating Pool)
Immortality or Something Like It (Essays)
Too Much World (Essays)
Brainmatter: Tidbits from my Cranium (Essays)
Wear a Helmet (Inflammatory Essays)
Strictly Academic (Essays)
Crossing Paths (Essays)
ON TAP FOR 2018-19
TerraNeo (Samegenders Chronicles, episode 2)
The Grotto (Surviving the Apocalypse, #1)
Frequent Crier Miles (Surviving the Apocalypse, #2)
Snug Haven (Surviving the Apocalypse, #3)
Behind the Left (Authoring the Apocalypse)
{Cross Pollination Series, # 2, }
WITH MELISSA WALKER
Life Everywhere (memoir of our travels)
Cruise Control (Romantic Family Dramedy for the over-50 Crowd)
Save us from Ourselves (Ideas for the betterment of society)
REWRIT
ES
Falling Through the Cracks (memoir)
ISO - In Search Of (Dating, Relationships & Sex for the Discerning Lesbian)
OTHER WORKS IN PROGRESS
Synaptic Circus: In the Marrow (Quips & Quotes from a Bestselling Genre-Hopping Indie Author)
After Words (Thoughts on Each of my Novels)
Northwoods Trilogy, Book 3
Rain Falls series, Book 4
AKA Investigations series, Book 7
New Harbor Witches series, Book 3
Noble Arcanum
(Sequel to Powerful Things)
For details, visit kellijaebaeli.com, and sign up for my Museletter for special announcements, sneak peeks, free autographed print books, discounts, and more.
About the Author
Even after 58 books, Kelli Jae Baeli always tries to write the sort of book she would want to read. She says her favorite thing to do in her novels is take a common trope and turn it on its ear. Where you expect a zig, she gives you a zag.
In her pages, you will find strong female characters, ethical dilemmas, realistic romantic storylines often filled with adventure and intense pacing, tempered by witty dialog, and happy endings. All are hallmarks of her work.
Indie publisher and author of 30 bestsellers, Baeli enjoys a sales position in the top 5% of lesbian authors, penning numerous essays, short stories and silly, serious and vitriolic Facebook posts and Twitter, where she is a proud Sister Resister.
She and her wife, Melissa, a budding author in her own right, are on their way to a memoir-worthy Life Everywhere—traipsing around America in their RV for a year, taking pictures and enjoying all the beautiful things life has to offer.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Sister Resister
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