Chapter 366

The Prison Planet

Morales turned to brace his feet in order to pull the case over another root. Damn, I'm tired of roots, holes and uneven ground. The thought reminded him that clearing a trail to the plains where the buffalo and other grazing animals tended to cluster would make pulling his meat-laden case a lot easier. With a mental sigh, he realized that was just another project on his must-do-sometime list that he kept putting off. He usually took a shovel with him to work on some of the easier obstacles as he went along, but he really should dedicate a few days to a major effort toward the project.

If I do that, I could be more easily found by another prisoner, though. Anyone who has been on this world any length of time could probably follow the tracks I've already made with the rolling case. But then again, with all the rain, that might not be so easy. They told us that the prisoners were well spaced out and might never meet each other. Yeah, but "Murphy" is always hanging around to screw things up. Shit. I've become a worrier.

He thought about taking a break, but with a glance at the sun, he decided he could not afford the time. "Search, Lobo. Search ahead."

The wolf, walking in front, turned, tilted his head a little, and looked at Morales as if to say, "There isn't anything out there right now," but he made an odd sound and loped on ahead, anyway.

Sweat was pouring off Morales as he continued to force himself to hold a faster pace. Got to get there in time to set up, otherwise we'll be stuck out in the open all night.

Thirty minutes later, he spotted it on the next hill. I'll rest when we get there, and then the real work will begin ... if Lobo will cooperate. Otherwise, I'll build a ring of fire and hope the cat won't come, or the fire will warn him off if he does.

A few minutes later, he sat with his back to a giant tree sipping from his canteen, the wolf lying beside him. "It's a full moon tonight, Lobo, and it should be up a few hours after dark and last the rest of the night. The sky is clear, at least for now, so hopefully we won't have any clouds or rain. Of course, Pussycat doesn't seem to like the rain, so maybe we should wish for it, huh?" Lobo just looked at him. "Yeah, yeah, I know. We would be getting our asses soaked too. I have a raincoat now, but my backpack was already stuffed, so I didn't bring it, besides, I don't think it's going to rain." Then he added mentally, Or at least, I hope it isn't.

He absently put an arm over the wolf as the animal sat beside him. "If you start raising hell, we're going to be stuck out here in the open all night." As he came to his feet and shaded his eyes against the afternoon sun to look up into the tree, "Guess it's time to find out, but first I need to cut some poles the right size."

There were limbs scattered about that the big tree had dropped over time, and most would do for firewood, but he would need good solid wood for his project. He had hung his smallest handsaw on his backpack and was glad that the saw came with a plastic shield for the teeth, because the shield kept it from snagging on his fatigues and other gear. With the saw in one hand and the ever-present crossbow in the other, he stood looking around. Spying a thicket of tall, skinny trees, he headed that way.

Later, he came back with an armload of hardwood poles two to three inches in diameter and roughly four feet in length. After several trips to gather more poles, he strapped the climbers to his boots, adjusted the climbing strap to the size of the tree, then looked above him again. I wish I could think of another way, but I don't want to face that dammed saber-tooth out here in the open at night. I managed to kill one with Lobo's help, but I'm damn sure not going to push my luck a second time – if I can help it. Of course, if Lobo balks at my hare-brained scheme, this will all be for naught.

After hanging the block and tackle over his shoulder and attaching the end of the rope that was tied to the bundle of wood to his gear, he flipped the climbing strap around the tree and attached the other end to his harness. Taking a breath, he slammed the right spike into the tree and began to climb. Every time he started to talk himself out of climbing higher, he remembered how far up the saber-tooth had shredded the bark of the tree near the cave, and with the first limbs starting at twenty feet or so off the ground, he knew he had to be higher for a defensible position. "Got to get higher than he can reach," he muttered, "Of course, I'm shit out of luck if the son-of-a-bitch can climb well. But even if he can, I'll be shooting right down his throat. With my bow and crossbow, I should be able to fill his ass full of arrows and bolts before he gets to me – to us," he corrected. Then again added mentally, I hope.

"Lobo, you've got to trust me on this," he called down to the wolf as it sat looking up at its master.

After hanging the block and tackle over a limb temporarily, he stood high in the tree on a thick limb. Throwing one end of the climbing strap over another limb just above him, he snapped it back to his harness. Knowing he could not fall, he braced his feet and began pulling the rope attached to the bundle of poles. Trying to focus totally on what he was doing, he forced himself to forget about the height. If I were six feet off the ground instead of thirty, I could do this without even thinking about it.

By the time the bundle of poles was up, he was covered with sweat. Most of the sweat is from exertion, and only a little of it is from the height, he kept telling himself.

While keeping the climbing strap secured to the limb just above him in case he slipped, Morales began to form a nest of the poles by tying them across two of the tree's big limbs that were fairly close together, using some of the parachute cord. Fuck. I need more of these – a lot more. But I have to get it all done before I can even attempt to get Lobo up here. If he raises too much hell, I'll have to stay on the ground, and all this will be wasted effort. If I leave him on the ground by himself, he'll stay near the tree to guard me and have to fight the cat alone. He could leave before the cat gets here and be safe for the night, but he won't. Of that, I am certain.

It took two more trips up the tree to get all the poles he needed to make the nest safe. I'm glad I brought more of the parachute cord than I thought I would need. Not only had he tied the poles of the nest to the tree's limbs, but he had laced the cord through the center of the limbs to keep them firmly knitted together.

Even though it was obvious his rig was strong enough, he sat down hard on the nest, while his climbing strap secured him from falling – just in case he had misjudged. Nothing gave, but he did it again to make sure. Not only was the bottom thoroughly secured to the tree and itself, but he had also put up a makeshift barrier around three sides of the nest. I'm going to keep him secured to the tree, but in case he panics and does something stupid, he still won't fall.

By the time he was satisfied with the nest, and with him concentrating on what he was doing, plus the multiple trips up and down the tree, Morales had lost, or was able to ignore, most of his fear of heights. At least for the present.

On the ground, he sat with his back to the giant tree, sipping from his canteen and watching the fast-setting sun as he worried about the next step in his preparations for the night. If he fights me, I guess I can throw down all the poles to burn during the night, but I'll still need more wood to last until morning. The cat singed its face trying to get to me that time, so maybe that will make him more respectful of fire – if it's the same cat. I still have no idea how many of the things there are.

After sharing a handful of jerky with the wolf, he scratched behind his ears. "Now comes the test," he said with a sigh. Taking the wolf's head in his hands, he stared into his friend's eyes. "Unless I miss my guess, I think you have decided to stay with me because I stitched your side and helped you to survive. Does that loyalty include something as insane as sitting in a tree thirty or forty feet off the ground all night?"

With one hand on Lobo, and pointing up the tree with the other, Morales said, "We're going to stay up there all night so the cat can't get to us, Lobo. Up there, Boy." Then patting the wolf again, Morales motioned upward yet again, "Up there, Lobo. Lobo, up there."

Lobo looked up the tree each time Morales pointed, but the third time the man did it, he felt the wolf tense. "That's right, Lobo. We'll sleep up there tonight."

The wolf had been sitting on his haunches. Standing suddenly, he looked at the man, then back up the tree before taking a step back. Returning his gaze to his master, Lobo tilted his head to the side and whined.

"Me too. Heights scare the shit out of me, but you've seen me go up there and I didn't get hurt. I'll make sure you don't get hurt, either. All you have to do is relax and let me do the work."

While he was talking to the wolf, Morales had taken the fish seine out. Having removed the floats, he planned to use it to lift the wolf to the nest... if Lobo would let him wind the seine around him.

The wolf was interested in the seine and sniffed it before standing with a look of curiosity on his face. Morales came to his knees, putting an arm around the wolf. After pointing to the nest, he pointed to Lobo, then the seine. After doing it three times while telling Lobo what he intended doing, he took one end of the seine and as casually as he could, draped it over the wolf's back.

Lobo bent his neck to look at the seine, then at Morales, who pointed to the seine and back to the nest. It was obvious when the light dawned for the wolf, because he snorted and backed up.

"No, Lobo!" Morales scolded, something he would have been terrified to do to the animal a week ago. "The cat will come and we will die unless we're up there," he said again while pointing to the nest high in the giant tree.

Lobo wined and backed up another step.

"Shit," Morales mumbled. "I really thought there was a chance he would do it." Then to the wolf, "Dammit, Lobo," the human snarled, "we're both going to die if we're on the ground when that bastard comes. He hasn't been around lately, so it's time for him. He'll follow our trail for sure. We might have a chance if I could see to shoot. Hell, we managed to kill one of them, but it is not going to happen out here in the dark, full moon or not. Now it's either get your ass up the tree or we die. Which is it?" he snarled as he grabbed the seine and tried again.

The wolf stiffened and Morales could hear a low growl coming from deep within the animal. "I'm going to put this around you, or you're going to have to bite my ass."

The volume of the growl increased as Morales wound the seine several times around the wolf's middle, before cinching it tight and tying it at the animal's back. The growling never completely ceased, but was now mostly just a low rumble that expressed Lobo's irritation. It wasn't an "I'm going to kill your ass," growl. After he had the seine secured around the wolf, he worked a rope through the seine and around the wolf to make him a harness. It was crude, but there was no doubt the wolf would not be able to get out of the rig.

When Morales attached the hook of the block and tackle to the makeshift harness, the wolf trembled, obviously understanding what was about to happen to him. "Don't worry, Boy. I will not drop you." He had hooked the top block to the limb above the nest, so it was time to climb again. A few minutes later, he stood with his feet braced on the limbs containing the nest, his climbing strap again securing him if he slipped. Calling down to the wolf to warn him, Morales began to pull Lobo up with the block and tackle. Ten feet above the ground, Lobo whined, then growled. Twenty feet up, he howled, but he didn't thrash around or otherwise distract Morales from his efforts.

When he swung Lobo into the nest, Morales realized the wolf had his eyes closed. There was also a little foam around his muzzle and he was trembling, but ... he wasn't making any effort to thwart what the human was doing.

Morales had tried to tie the poles close enough together that the wolf's feet would not go between them, but there were places that weren't perfect due to the poles not being absolutely straight. Of course, Lobo found one of those places immediately, his foot slipping through and his chest hitting the floor of the nest. He yelped, probably in terror of falling, but after pulling his foot out of the crack, he looked at the imperfection in the nest before moving a little to the side and carefully lying down.

"That a boy," Morales said as he hugged his partner. "I knew you could do it. Now just lie still because I have work to do."

After he was certain the wolf was secured and could not reach the edge, Morales went back down the tree, pulling the bottom half of the block and tackle with him. After attaching the hook to the rolling case, he pulled it high into the tree. I don't want that bastard taking out his frustration on the case after I've put all that effort into getting it.