Chapter 536

The Prison Planet

Jasmine and Morales spent the next two days and part of a third transporting the now hard-frozen meat from the plains to the ice cave. They could have completed the task a bit sooner, but they were newlyweds. Fortunately, they had not seen any of the big cats, with the exception of one saber tooth, but he seemed uninterested in them for some reason, or maybe he hadn’t sensed them yet.

They discussed killing him, but the big cat, obviously male, was five hundred and eleven yards away according to the range finder on their binoculars, and there was a gusting cross wind to complicate the shot further.

“I fucking do not want to have to track a wounded saber tooth,” Morales stated, and Jasmine agreed. “If we were closer, I would love to have the hide, let alone getting rid of another of those bastards, but it just isn’t worth it at this distance.”

Lobo and Lila obviously wanted to go investigate, but Jasmine put her hand on their heads, said and sent mentally, “Not now,” and they quickly lost interest in the big beast. Instead, they went to check out the trail ahead.

“They’re getting smarter all the time,” she said as she turned back to her husband.

“Agreed,” he returned as they again set to pulling the case of meat along the plains. “I suppose that I’ve always talked to Lobo, although I knew that he didn’t understand what I said when we were first together. But, more and more, I seem to be talking to both of them as if they’re human, and ... they’re responding appropriately, even to complicated things.”

Jasmine smiled at her husband. “I think that some of it is an increasing mental connection with us. Remember how they acted in the shelter when we were talking about us not making love because the wolves would be within inches of us? As soon as they heard that, they got up to leave. Baby, I was talking to you, but they heard and understood. Whether they responded to my voice or my thoughts – they did respond appropriately to something a lot more subtle than any dog could possibly understand. Have you noticed that when we make love, they often lie snuggled together over by the fire, and facing away from us, giving us as much privacy as possible? In addition, I think they truly love each other.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve noticed them trying to give us privacy, and they certainly appear to want to be close to each other all the time. Crap,” he returned, glancing at her for a second as they continued pulling the case, “what are we going to do with more wolves? What if Lila has a litter of ten or twelve like some dogs do? A few months and we would be asshole deep in wolves.”

She looked at him and grinned. “Don’t forget, Jeff said that Little One had done something to prevent me from getting pregnant, although I had already received a shot. I guess I’m doubly protected now,” she said with a chuckle. “But ... he said that Little One had also stopped the process that would allow Lila to get pregnant. I didn’t think to ask him if that would stop her from going into heat, though.”

“Oh, crap. I forgot about that. That’s one hell of a relief.”

“Yeah,” she said as she grinned at him. “Can you imagine what it would be like in a couple of years if Lila did start having little ones?”

“No shit,” he agreed. “Like I said. Asshole deep in wolves in no time.”

“A little deeper than that; at least for me,” she returned with another chuckle. “Remember, Lobo is waist high on me.”

“Hmmm,” Morales said. I wonder how often the female wolves come in heat on this planet.”

“Another unanswered question, but remember, we just call them wolves because they somewhat resemble the wolves on planet Earth.”

“Yeah. They would give any wolf on Earth an inferiority complex at first glance, but I’m glad they don’t do much of that howling. If one of them did that in the cave while I was asleep...”

“Those howls certainly caused the buffalo concern. I wonder if that’s a learned response or perhaps an instinct bread into them over the centuries.”

“The wolves are big, but I can’t imagine them being that much of a threat to a herd of buffalo. I mean, those guys fight as a team, at least the main bulls do. I told you about the way they went after that panther as soon as they saw him, and the rest of the herd went into, uh, protection mode, I suppose you could call it. I just can’t understand why they respond to the wolves’ howls the way they do.”

“Only one of many things to study on this planet.”

“Jas, to change the subject slightly, I know that the General said the techs frequently checked the cameras, but doesn’t the portal use a lot of power just to do that?”

The two were now in the woods and were sometimes forced to wind their way around trees. Jasmine waited until they were in a less constricted part of the path to answer. “It doesn’t require nearly as much power as it used to. Also, it can now take a much bigger payload and send it anywhere the General wishes. But if I understand correctly, the amount of power needed is still proportional to the weight/mass that is transported, but overall, the power required is much, much less than at the beginning.”

After arriving back at the cave, they transferred the load of meat to the ice cave. Tired, they stopped to rest and drink a cup of coffee. Although there were folding chairs left from the wedding reception, they decided to sit on their favorite log by the fire. Morales turned to his bride. “I thought the General would have sent the scientists to check out the booster station, or whatever it is, before now.”

Jasmine sipped her coffee as she thought. “I think that the General might well have changed his mind – at least for now. I also suspect that he is very, very interested in what is going on here. I’m beginning to think that he has decided to let us research the wolves’ mental abilities, and maybe our own, without the scientists’ interference.”

“‘Our own’?” he asked.

“Baby,” she said as she carefully sat in his lap so they wouldn’t spill their coffee, “I’m almost certain that we’re changing, too.”

Frowning, he looked at her as she grinned back at him. “Well...” he said, trying to be diplomatic to his bride, “You might very well be, but if you mean something to do with telepathic abilities, I missed the boat.”

“Hmmm, I might debate that, and I was mostly referring to our communication with the wolves, but ... there are times when we’re making love – well, when you’re making love to me – that, you do things that have just crossed my mind that I want you to do.”

“Huh?” he said.

Blushing furiously, she continued, “Sometimes, I want a little more pressure from your tongue when you’ve been licking my clit, or a little less, or I want you to ... Oh, darn it, I’m embarrassed to talk about those things that you are sooo good at, but my point is still valid. I want you to do it, and you suddenly do – just the way I want it. It’s happened too many times for it to be coincidence.”

“Oh, come on, Babe. I do the same things over and over. Well, I do try to randomize some things, but there are just so many ways to lick you, and I do, deliberately, vary the pressure. It’s just coincidence that you wanted me to change just as I did.”

But a smiling Jasmine was shaking her head. “I led you through a half dozen things last night. Each time I thought of the next thing I wanted you to do, you immediately did it. Unfortunately, my experiment went awry when the orgasms became too intense,” she said with a giggle that always turned him on.

He was quiet for a moment, before admitting, “Hon, I kinda wish you hadn’t told me that...”

“Why?” she interrupted to ask. “Oh, Baby, you’re wonderful at making love to me. If it was any better, I would die from the orgasms.”

“But now, every time I think I’m randomizing things, I’m going to wonder if it’s you guiding me.”

“So what,” she said with a giggle, “you told me to tell you what I liked and disliked. If you remember, you insisted that I tell you as you were licking me. Now, you don’t want me to?” she asked demurely.

“No, uh, yes. I mean, it’s ... Oh, hell, I don’t know what I mean. Do you think you’re really guiding me?”

“I’m not absolutely positive, of course. I mean, it probably wouldn’t stand up to the scientific method, but I think we’ve been communicating, at least when we make love.”

Morales absently touched his lips to hers, his mind obviously locked on what she had said. Abruptly, he began to chuckle, and that morphed into laughter.

“What?” she asked, giggling because of his laughter.

Managing to sit his almost-empty cup down, Morales wiped his eyes. “Think about it,” he wheezed. “Sir, I have become a telepath, but I am having trouble documenting my research because my orgasms keep interfering.”

That resulted in her trying to tickle him and that resulted in...

A little over an hour later, they had sat to eat when he looked over at his bride. “Well, did you manage to do any research then?” he asked, knowing that she hadn’t.

“Quite a bit,” she answered without hesitation.

“What...” he stammered out. “You did not. I tried to pay attention very carefully when I was kissing your pussy. I felt nothing that would make me think I was being controlled.”

“You weren’t being controlled. I just sent you suggestions. You want to please me, I presume.”

“Well, hell yes. You know I do.”

“And you did. And to use one of your terms, you did it in spades. Before you start thinking that I’m controlling you, there were times when I wanted you to lick me just so, but you teased me, making me wait. Really, Husband, I was only able to carry on my experiment for a little while. I simply can not think while I’m having one of those literally mind-blowing orgasms. After they start, I don’t have enough logical thought left to do anything toward suggesting you to do something else.”

“So, are you going to write this up and send it to the General?”

Jasmine chuckled. “Not in this lifetime. I’m a scientist. If I ever prove we have a mental connection, it will be done in some other manner. But I think that our connection is still too tentative to withstand true scientific scrutiny.”

“But you know damn well that the wolves hear you. I’ve seen you kneel by them with your hands on their heads. They always do what you ask, and Lobo, especially, reacts to me. Not as strongly as he does to you, but still, he acts as if he understands. Of course, that could be that they are picking up more and more of our language, but since they can’t talk, there isn’t...”

“ ... a definitive way to tell whether it’s mental or they’re simply understanding more and more language, but ... I’ve put my hands on their heads and tried to mentally send them messages that they seem to understand,” she said.

“Yeah, I know, but did you always reinforce it verbally?” he asked.

Jasmine thought for a moment. “I know that I did most of the time, but I can think of a couple of times that I purposely didn’t ... Oh, crap. Now I’m not sure.

“It’s time I started acting like a scientist. I’ll begin recording each attempt, but darn it, I’m not going to start giving them nonsense instructions just to see if they will respond properly. But ... if I only give them instructions because of need, the study would be flawed because they might very well figure out what I needed from context. They’re smart far beyond any animal on Earth.”

“Screw it,” Morales said. “Let’s just wait and see what happens.”

“But this can be part of my doctoral dissertation. If I can prove that the wolves and the two of us have a mental connection...”

“Then you will have that doctorate and be a step up the ladder the next time you go with Dr. Greer on one of his ... outings.”