Chapter 365

The Prison Planet

As always, Morales and Lobo were up with the dawn, but things were a bit different this morning. Instead of a normal breakfast of fresh meat, if there was any, and occasionally eggs with their potatoes, today, their diet was basically the same, except for the amount of each item. They were having an extra-large helping of fried potatoes liberally mixed with chunks of buffalo jerky to go with a moderate amount of Morales’ precious dried eggs.

“We have plenty of potatoes and jerky, Boy, but we have to keep the helping size down on the eggs if they’re going to last a while.”

Lobo stared at the skillet of potatoes and jerky, licked his lips and looked back at a grinning Morales. “Not done yet, but it won’t be long.”

One of the containers in the resupply case included a box of quart size and a box of gallon size Ziploc bags. Morales had been tempted to use a bag on occasion, but had refrained from doing so, hoarding them for a time when he really needed one. Today was the day, and he filled one of the large Ziplocs with buffalo jerky before adding the filled bag to the items in his backpack.

Donning the pack, he put on his weapon belt and compound bow, then, as always, picked up the crossbow before the two left the cave. After returning the bars to their slots, he took one last look around and started down the steep hillside.

At the stream when Lobo realized that they were going to the other side, he bounded across the stones, turning to wait for his human friend.

Morales had moved several rocks into position to add to the stepping stones already there, which made it much easier to negotiate the stream. The stones that had been there originally had caused gravel and dirt to build up behind them to partially create a small dam. I can expand this and fill in the gaps with other rocks from the streambed. With a little work, I could have a deeper pool that would be big enough to swim in. Shit, I need to do it instead of just thinking about it every other day.

Vowing to move that project higher up his mental must-do list, he continued to the other side where Lobo impatiently awaited his master.

As Morales walked by the wolf, he absently reached down and scratched behind Lobo’s ears. “Sure would be nice to just walk down the hill and dive in, huh, Lobo? Even if I don’t swim in it, at least I wouldn’t be tripping over all those rocks that have come over the falls and wound up in the area where I bathe.”

At the top of the smaller hill on the opposite side of the stream from the cave, he took out his compass. “I’m almost positive I remember the way, but it would be stupid to get lost out here and not be able to find my way home.” Pointing in the direction of the drop point, “That way, according to the compass. It feels right to me, and if it is, there should be a blaze on a tree on that other hill over there. If I remember correctly, I put one on that big evergreen.”

Although he had been in a state of near panic when he first got to 2214, he had taken the advice from one of the articles he had been given as a “must read” in his cell back on Earth. The author had pointed out that getting lost in a forest was an easy thing to do, but with reasonable caution, it could be avoided. One of the ways to do that was to put frequent blazes on trees as you went along. But, the article had admonished that the blazes could also guide another prisoner as well. Morales had thought about that after he had already put several obvious blazes on trees when he started out, but after thinking about it, had decided to make the blazes a lot less obvious. He had done this again when he went after the salt. But obvious or not, he knew the height on the tree where he generally put the blazes, and hoped to easily find them. If his luck held, any other prisoners through the area would not notice and follow them to his cave.

If there had been women on the planet, his thoughts on the subject might have been different, but he had always been a loner, anyway, and he certainly didn’t want to share his food with someone like Robinson. Let the bastards find their own food. If things keep going the way they have for me, I’ll be ready for winter when it comes. As he walked along, a grin touched his face. My tanning might result in some stiff and smelly hides, but enough of them over me at night, and I should sleep warm. I’m going to save that sleeping bag that was in the resupply case for when it is really cold.

Although he had tried to be cautious on his first day, in reality, he knew he had been lucky not to have encountered the panther or the saber-tooth. “I hope that luck holds today, but luck or not, I want Robinson’s case and its contents. And, I need to get it before something happens to it,” he told the wolf.

Lobo tilted his head, looked up at the human and whined.

Morales was tempted to break into a jog in the hopes of quickly reaching the area where the portal had dropped them. He supposed he could get there in less than a half day, but he would still have to drag the heavy case back, and that would take more than just the afternoon. In addition, it would be foolish to jog when a quiet walk with his senses alert would be far more prudent. Also, hurrying with the case would distract more of his attention from his environment – an environment that contained many types of death for the unwary or careless.

When he got to the next hill, the evergreen did indeed show a shallow blaze near the ground. Steeling himself to spend the night outside, he motioned ahead of them while telling Lobo to search.

He continued to make his way as quietly as he could as Lobo disappeared into the woods again. Shit, he can smell and hear more accidentally than I can on purpose, and he seems more than willing to be my scout. If we ever manage to really understand each other, we’ll make one hell of a team.

A little later, he stood on a rise looking around. When he had come out after being dropped by the portal, he hadn’t paid much attention to the area to his left that he was now facing. It was a valley roughly a mile long by a half mile wide. With his binoculars, he could make out a small stream on the far side. The valley had a few trees scattered about, but most of the area was covered with tall weeds. He propped his arm over a low limb of the tree he was leaning against in order to steady the binoculars to get a better view. Yep, he thought, Those have to be 2214’s equivalent of elk. The article said they were generally bigger than any of the varieties of elk on Earth, the males frequently weighing as much as two thousand pounds.

As he continued to scan the herd with his optics, his spirits fell. Shit, just as the female buffalo have horns similar to the males, the elk females have antlers too, but at least their racks are much smaller than those of the males. I wonder if they react to danger the way the buffalo do. There is plenty of game on 2214, at least around here, but it’s debatable as to who is at the top of the food chain. Oh, I could certainly kill one of them, but would I live to butcher and skin it? I lucked up with the buffalo and didn’t get trampled or skewered, but I need to come up with some hunting strategies before I bite off more than I can chew. That is one hell of a lot of meat on the hoof, though.

I once heard a guy raving about elk steak. I wonder if these taste as good as he claimed Earth’s elk did. Someday I’m going to find out, if I manage to get one of these guys alone so I have a chance of living through the hunt.

As he continued to scan the valley, he noticed something pass through his vision that was much closer. With the binoculars away from his eyes, he focused his attention nearer, and a second later realized what he had seen. Bees. Lots of bees, or at least some type of insect that looked like bees, were going in and out of a hole in a dead tree a hundred feet or so in front of him. Refocusing the binoculars, he got a better look. Yep, they’re bees, he thought, but they certainly look bigger than the honeybees I saw in that display at the zoo. Figures, he grumped, everything is bigger on this planet. But damn, if they make honey that tastes like it does on Earth, I sure would like to have some. I know that beekeepers have to wear gloves and a rig that has some type of netting over their faces to keep the bees from stinging them, but I don’t have any netting. And I damn sure don’t want to get stung by one of those monsters, let alone a whole group of them. Oh, well, something to think about for the future, I suppose.

He remained where he was for a couple of minutes, memorizing the area and the landmarks that would help him find the tree later. Might as well get on with my trip. Having thought about it while he was memorizing the area, he realized that he was a little South of his original route out here because he had not crossed a stream until he had gotten to the hill where his cave was located. Hmmm, I must have missed a blaze or two.

He swung to the right of the valley, and thirty minutes later, he found a blaze mark on a tree. Several times, he startled smaller animals as they dug in the ground or snoozed in the sun. I’m surely not as quiet as Lobo, but I must have learned to walk a little quieter, because I’m walking up on more small animals than I was when I was first dumped here.

A few minutes after giving a short whistle, Lobo ghosted out of the brambles ahead of him. Squatting a little, Morales held a canteen between his knees and poured water into his cupped hands. “Thirsty, Boy?” he asked.

The wolf lapped three double handfuls, then sat to watch Morales take a few sips. Glancing at the sun, he decided it was a little past midmorning. “We’re more than halfway there, I think, but I haven’t seen anything that looks like a good place to hole up for the night. How about you, Boy? Have you found a safe place to stay? Cave? Do you know where a cave is?”

Lobo whined, then tilted his head to the side a little.

“Guess not, huh? Damn. I hate to think about staying out in the open with those fucking tigers roaming around. Maybe I should have just forgotten about Robinson’s case and let well enough alone.”

Capping the canteen, “Oh, well, let’s get it done. We’ll worry about what to do when the time comes.”

The rest of the way was easier going, and they were standing under the tree with Robinson’s case hanging above them before noon. Morales walked a circle around the tree a hundred yards or so out before dropping his pack and leaning back against the bole of the big pseudo oak.

A grin sneaked onto his face, the city boy proud of finding where he was dropped by the portal, and even better, he knew he would not have any difficulty in finding his way back to the cave. I’m stronger; I’m more aware of my surroundings, and I’m beginning to think that I’ll make it through the coming winter. But his mood faltered a little when he wondered if one of the tigers would find him before he was safely home. How many of those bastards are there? Are they territorial so I’ll only have to worry about a few in a big area, or do they all roam around? That information should be in one of the articles. I need to do more studying.

After opening his backpack, he took out the big bag of jerky, set his canteen on the ground nearby and began his lunch. As usual, he shared it equally with the wolf.

After he had chewed on the tough jerky for a while, he put the bag back into his backpack. Lobo didn’t have any problem with the jerky being tough. He just swallowed it whole.

Jumping as high as he could, Morales grabbed the knot of rope that was part of the block and tackle. With a hard yank, the knot loosened. A couple more pulls and all that was holding the rig was the loop around the tree.

One heck of a lot easier coming down than going up, he thought as he let the rope pay out through his hands. When the case was on the ground, he breathed a sigh of relief. It’s still sealed and shows no damage. Now I have to climb the stupid tree to free the block and tackle from the limb. Shit, if I had known more about knots, I probably could have rigged something that would have allowed me to release it from the ground. They would have to pay me a hell of a lot more than I think a lineman makes for me to do this on a regular basis – if at all. I damn sure wouldn’t do it now if I didn’t have to.

Making sure the case was still latched closed, he then dug his climbing gear out of his backpack. Sitting, he attached the climbers to his boots. After taking a drink of water, he capped the canteen and reattached it to his belt. Come on. Get with it, he told himself. Putting it off won’t do any good. You still have to climb the fucking tree.

After snapping the climbing strap around the tree, he used the carabiners to attach it to the climbing belt. Shaking the rig, he stood thinking. I’ve done this before, but dammit, I’m more uptight about climbing than I was last time.

“Fuck it,” he said aloud as he slammed the spike strapped to his right foot into the tree, tested it, then did the same with his left foot. Snapping the strap up, he made the next step.

He didn’t have to rest before getting to the limb this time, and that raised his spirits. “Hell, I’m not even winded,” he called down to Lobo, who was sitting and staring up at him, but he decided, yet again, that looking down was not a good idea. Funny that the distance seems farther when I look down compared to when I looked up here.

Leaning out to untie the rope from the limb made his pucker factor go up, but he managed. He waved to the wolf. “Move. I need to drop the rig.”

Lobo may not have understood the words, but he realized what Morales was going to do when he waved the top half of the block and tackle around, quickly getting out of the way.

With a thump, the rig landed on the soft ground, shortly followed by the section of rope used to tie the block and tackle to the limb. As Morales moved the climbing strap and took his first step downward, he hesitated, then his head snapped up as he looked higher in the tree. The insane idea that he had tossed around in his head before starting out, came back to tease him again. “Never happen,” he said to himself. Then looking back down, he focused on Lobo obediently sitting back out of the way while patiently looking up at him. Does he trust me enough? Fuck! Is it even possible, and if it is, do I have strength enough to manage it? A chuckle escaped his lips as he unconsciously jammed his right spike into the tree, tested its hold, and took the next step downward. If it works, I’ll bet it will be a first time for anybody. Nobody is crazy enough – or desperate enough – to try it except my dumb ass.