Chapter 527

The Prison Planet

Jasmine, wanting to limit the number of times she would have to drop her pants in the cold that day, made another trip to the outhouse just before they left. After going over their mental lists of things they were taking with them, they checked their rifles yet again, added another box of ammunition to their packs, just in case, and started out.

“Are you going to be okay walking that far in snowshoes?” Morales asked, worried about her already.

“As you well know, my feet and legs were sore after our trip to get the porkers, but we’ve been out in the snow several times in snowshoes when we cut trees. My legs are strong and I’m a lot more accustomed to the shoes now,” she said with a grin as she looked at him, “so I think I’ll be fine.”

His blush told her that he remembered her legs pulling him into her. “We’ll be tired when we get back, and you might need more time to get over your soreness than we’ve anticipated,” he said with another blush.

“Hah,” she returned with a laugh. “We will make love tonight, sore or not.”

After the first mile or so, Morales insisted they take a break. “I’m not tired,” she complained, but he stopped, anyway. “Those straps around your boots aren’t chafing your feet, are they?”

“Mr. Morales,” she said, emphasizing the word, then with her hands on her hips while pretending to be exasperated, “I’m a big girl – and married,” she finished a bit quieter. “I am not going to break, My Love.”

“I just don’t want...”

Grabbing him, she kissed him hard – in more ways than one. “Let’s go. As they say, ‘daylight’s burning.’”

They started again, but as he had during the first mile, he wouldn’t let her pull the case.

What has happened to him? Granted, he’s always tried to do all the heavy work, but he won’t even let me take my turn pulling an empty case this morning. I would be insulted, but it’s obvious that he loves me almost as much as I do him. Still, we’ve entered into a partnership, but I darn sure don’t want to be put on a pedestal.

“Baby,” he said as they trudged along, “I wish I could have given you a real honeymoon – maybe Hawaii or one of the honeymoon islands...”

“Whap!”

“Ouch,” he said as he rubbed his shoulder, the blow having stung even through all the clothing he was wearing.

As they came to a halt, she said, “I want you to stop apologizing about our honeymoon. I, for one, am enjoying mine – immensely. In case you haven’t noticed, I am fair-skinned, as they refer to it. I blister in the sun if I’m not wearing sunscreen, or even if I’m wearing it and I stay in the sun very long. Lying on a beach, cooking, is not my idea of paradise. This is. I’m with the man I love, and we’re out in nature on a world where the buffalo are enormous. Remember what my profession is? I chose to go to those worlds and rough it while studying the cultures of, sometimes, long-dead societies, instead of sitting in an office doing what many modern cultural anthropologists wind up doing for a living. That is to say that they spend their days developing appropriate ways of doing business with the company’s suppliers, business partners and customers while sitting at a desk in a little alcove that is buried somewhere in some gigantic corporation while working at a dead-end job.

“You need to understand that the woman who loves you is overjoyed to live with you and, in addition, to be able to do it on this planet. It is truly beautiful. Just look at these enormous trees,” she said, sweeping a hand out as she looked upward. “There hasn’t been anything on Earth like these for a couple hundred years – if ever.

“We’re going after our food. Food that is fresh and hasn’t been exposed to chemicals just as we haven’t been when we breathe the air here or drink the water. Man hasn’t polluted this world. It’s fresh and wonderful, and we get to enjoy it together. Your bride is deliriously happy. Like I said, I’ll even give you the first shot at the buffalo, but if you miss, the next shot is mine, and I won’t miss,” she finished with a chuckle.

“Well, Love. In case you haven’t noticed, I couldn’t be any happier, either,” he said with a grin. “I have the most beautiful bride ever, and I too love this place, and I don’t like to be around a lot of people – and certainly not on a full-time basis. Now kiss me, and let’s get back to it.”

They kissed and he told her he loved her. The wolves, having been ranging on ahead, came bounding back in a flurry of snow. The two humans hugged the huge animals. “Is our way safe?” Jasmine asked as she touched Lila for a second.

“All I get is happiness,” she told Morales. “My turn,” she added as she grabbed the pull handle on the case before he could. “Besides, I need to keep in shape so I’ll have the strength I need to satisfy my man,” she teased as they started out again.

When they reached the plains, there was nothing in the area – just a vast expanse of white with a few denuded trees spotted here and there. Morales brought the binoculars to his eyes for a moment before handing them to her. When she had them focused, she could clearly see a group of about fifty buffalo in the distance.

After checking the range finder, she handed the glasses back to him. “A little over two miles.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “And with the distance we’ve already traveled, even if we manage to kill one right away, it’s going to push us to skin, dress, section it and be home by dark. What do you think?”

“I think we have little choice. We need the meat.”

“We have the pork and what’s left of the other meat.”

“And ... as you’ve already said, it won’t be enough to keep us until spring,” she finished for him.

As he hung the binoculars back around his neck, “It’s going to get damn cold out here tonight. It will take shoveling the snow out of the way just to build a fire. Whatever we decide, though, we need to do it well before nightfall so we can either find a place to set up camp and get a shelter built, or head for home.”

“I’ve never had to build a shelter if we were out in the cold. We always had something with us if we were too far from base camp, but you and I have been enhanced, and both of us are young and strong. I’m sure we can build something to keep us out of the wind.”

“I’ve never stayed on the ground in the open on this planet at night, but it’s too damn cold to spend it in a tree, and there’s the problem of pulling the wolves up even if we should decide to go the tree route. And ... I didn’t bring enough heavy rope to make it feasible, either. Babe, if we stay overnight, it’s going to be rough, and that’s if it doesn’t snow.”

“We’re dressed warmly; we have sleeping bags and extra furs. We could use the case for one side of a shelter, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I guess that would help, but first, let’s go see if killing one of the buffalo is even feasible. If they get spooked and run off, I suspect there’s no use in trying to get within firing range again today.”

Jasmine grinned at him. “Remember, your firing range is a whole lot different now that you don’t have to depend on a crossbow. Skittish or not, we should be able to get within three or four hundred yards of them, don’t you think?”

“I don’t really know. When I killed mine, I just hid and let Lobo nudge them in my direction, but with this deep snow, that could get Lobo and Lila killed. I’m afraid that they can’t maneuver well enough in this to avoid those huge beasts, and ... the buffalo fight as a team, as I mentioned when I told you about that hunt.”

“Well, let’s get closer before we make a decision,” she responded logically.

After they had covered approximately half the distance, they moved to the side of the plains, staying just inside the woods to keep out of sight. Finally, they were roughly even with the herd, and made their way nearer the forest edge to stand watching the buffalo graze.

The thick grass could have been cut for hay in the summer – if anyone had the equipment – but the buffalo had their own way of getting to the food. The big animals swung their heads from side to side, swiping the snow out of the way in order for them to reach the dried grass beneath. Snow and ice caked their mouths, faces and necks, but they seemed to manage to get enough food to survive. They had fattened on the thick grass of the plains during the warm weather, but by spring and the melting of the snow, most of the excess weight would be gone.

As the two stood back from the edge of the forest, still under cover while watching the herd, Morales said, “There was a lot more of them when I was here before, but I suppose they must have migrated south. I wonder how far they’ll wind up traveling?”

“If they actually migrate,” Jasmine inserted. “The rest of the herd could be farther down the plains.”

Morales shrugged, not that it showed under the ski outfit the Matthews had given them for part of their wedding presents. “All I know is that there’s a wide and deep trail worn from the south end of the plains on past the salt fields to continue on south.”

Jasmine shrugged. “I don’t know much about migratory patterns of animals on 2214, but they may move to a protected valley or something like that. I suppose there’s no way for us to know other than following them...”

“And that isn’t going to happen,” Morales inserted.

“No, we have other things to do,” Jasmine said with a giggle.

Morales smiled at her before glancing upward, but the heavily-laden sky didn’t show even a hint of where the sun was. “What time does your watch say? It seems midday or a little later to me.”

Jasmine slid her sleeve back, glanced down and said. “With using six as daybreak, it’s roughly midday now.”

“Shit,” he mumbled. “It will take at least a couple of hours just to take the shot, wait for the animals to move on, skin and field dress it, then move the meat back here. By the time we have it cut into small enough sections, the case filled, and have what’s left pulled into a tree, it is going to be almost dark. No way can we make it home with a full case before night. And that’s just with the smaller of those guys,” he said, nodding to the herd.

“So we spend the second night of our marriage in a lean-to way out here. That sounds kinda romantic, don’t you think?”

Morales stared at her while wondering if she were kidding or not. “Well,” he said with a wink, “I suppose you’ll have a night to heal. No way can we do it in sub-zero weather in a lean-to.”

“Hah,” she said with a giggle, “we’ll figure out a way.”

Morales had been standing with his back to the plains as they were talking, the thick evergreen they were standing under having shielded them when the light snow began. As Jasmine again looked toward the plains, she realized what was happening, “Uh, looks like we have another complication,” she said as she motioned behind her husband. “It’s beginning to snow again.”

Deep Space – The Alien Ship

The First Officer entered the Captain’s ready room just as the Steward finished making fresh stim. “Well done,” he told him after taking a sip of the hot brew. “Thank you, Steward.”

The Steward smiled and nodded as he left.

The Chief Engineer and two of his subs entered next, all armed, but it only took a moment for the First to notice that one of them seemed uncomfortable wearing a sidearm.