Chapter 5

What the hell, I opened a package of hamburger meat and fried a couple of patties to make two big cheeseburgers, then gobbled them down with a cup of coffee. I might be stuck back somewhere in time but damned if I wasn't eating good, so far.

Opening the hamburger meat did make me realize that the food they'd provided wasn't going to last a whole year, unless I spent a big part of that year with nothing but oatmeal. I was going to have to go out and kill something, but that wasn't what gave me pause. Killing game should be easy. The rub would come when it was time to gut and skin it.

I'd hunted off and on pretty much all my life, but I'd never cleaned my first kill. Fish didn't count, I knew how to clean fish, but even though I'd probably killed twenty deer I'd never even field dressed one. I always loaded it up into whatever vehicle I was driving and headed to a butcher I knew. He had a shop that did custom work during hunting season.

There was no help for it and I'd just have to learn. At least my gadget gene had always made me buy things that might be handy, and I had a couple of Wyoming knives, even though I'd never used either one. It would be time to try one out before long.

When I went back into the living room, after my lunch, I saw the medical supplies greenie had provided and damned if the picture didn't make me laugh. Right there on one end of the couch was a big black doctor's bag, just like they used to use. I looked inside it and it seemed to be chock full of crap, most of it didn't ring any bells with me.

Picking up the bag, I headed back to my bedroom and damned if I didn't see another door in the hall. I pushed my way in and found my hospital room. It was more than a room really, though it did have a regulation hospital bed. It also had a normal examination table like you'd see in any family practice clinic. Surrounding the table were cabinets and drawers, and checking a few doors I saw that they looked like they contained the same sort of stuff you'd see if you started opening drawers while you were waiting for the doctor to come in and stick a finger up your ass.

I set the bag on a clear spot on the cabinet and left. If I needed to work on someone I'd look around in there more carefully, if not, so much the better.

Damned if greenie didn't page me again.

"We are about to leave. This will be your last chance for a request," he said.

"Can't think of a thing. Have a good 'en, and call me when you get back," I said, and the pager went dead.

I guess you could say that what happened next was the reality of the situation crashing down on me. That's what it felt like anyway. I was alone on a planet that I hadn't known existed a few days ago. I think I might have lost it if I wasn't in my own house. That helped a lot, and another episode of Star Trek helped even more. If Picard could maintain, so could I.

Since I figured I had a couple of hours of sunlight left, I decided to go outside through the big door in my warehouse and take another look around. I wasted some time putting on my native clothes but drew the line at the moccasins. I laced up my lineman Redwings instead. Hell, surely the footwear wouldn't stick out badly if I ran into someone in the neighborhood.

Changing firearms was on the agenda too. The faux M1 they'd sent with me was fine, but I had my own rifles here now too, and I decided that I'd rather have the Marlin 336C in 35 Remington with me. I was more familiar with it.

With the Marlin in hand and the Glock on my web belt I was off out the back door. I wasn't really expecting to see anything spectacular and even if I slipped up on something edible I wasn't going to shoot it. I still had plenty of meat and today didn't seem like a good day to experience gutting and skinning a kill.

About half an hour of stalking around trying to be quiet was enough for today, and I was about to head back when I heard a female voice shrieking. True to greenie's word, the translation kicked in right away.

"Let me go, Carga, let me go. I am not your woman and don't want to be," came across loud and clear.

The next thing I heard pissed me off to the max, since it was obviously the sound of a blow. It silenced the female for a second, and then I could hear sobbing.

Whoever they were they had to be close for me to hear so clearly. Whoever Carga was, he was about to find himself up shit creek. I'm a live and let live kind of guy, up to a point, but men hitting women had always been beyond that point for me, and even my trip into outer space hadn't changed that.

I headed for the voices, or for where I'd thought they came from; a second blow had pretty much silenced the crying.

Laying my eyes on the two was a real experience. I assumed that Carga was the name of the male and I'll be damned if he wasn't carrying a club and dragging the woman by the hair, just like in the cartoons.

I wasn't sure if the full meaning of Hold it right there asshole would translate, but when I shouted it Carga got the gist of my message. He turned to look my way and when he saw me he headed toward me. When whatever he said came through as I will kill you, I figured that the translating was pretty much right on the money. When he came within thirty feet, swinging that cave man club, I shot him in the pump with my Glock.

From the look he gave me, I was sure Carga had been amazed. Regretfully I didn't get the time to find out if it was from the loud noise or the sledgehammer blow to his chest. The impact knocked him back on his ass and he was as good as dead by the time I got near him. Sure enough, he was even deader a few seconds later, and he was making an awful mess on the forest floor.

Carga wasn't the only one that took note of the thunder from my hand. The female wasn't whimpering and crying anymore but she was every bit as amazed as Carga had been right at the last. She was also very frightened, and who could blame her. At least she didn't look dismayed by Carga's exit.

"Are you all right, ma'am?" I asked, hoping some of it would make sense to her.

"He bruised me and maybe broke my ribs. What did you do to him?" she asked.

"I killed him. I do not like for men to hit women," I said, and I could tell that this statement surprised her.

"But how did you kill him. What was that noise?" she asked.

"I killed him with this," I told her; waving the Glock so she could see it.

"But how? You never touched him."

"I will tell you later. Where was he taking you?" I asked.

"Back to his camp. His father is the leader. Carga followed my Father, Mother, Sister, and I after we escaped. He hit my Father on the head with his club and I'm afraid Father is dead too. He also beat my Mother with his fist, and I know she is hurt badly. My sister ran away when he captured me, but maybe she returned to help mother after Carga took me away," she said.

"Were they holding you prisoner?"

"No, it was our camp too, but we left after Carga killed Dendal, who was to be my mate. We tried to get away from them, but Carga followed us. He said his father, the leader, gave me to him," she said.

"How far away is your mother? Should we go and try to help her?" I asked.

"I'm not sure how far it is, a mile, maybe a little more, but it will be dark before we could get there," she said.

"Can you walk?" I asked, and she stood up and took a few steps.

"It doesn't hurt very badly. I can walk if we go slowly. I don't think I can trot though," she said.

"We will walk then. I think we should go and see if she needs help."

"But it will be dark. We might not be able to find the way. There will be no moon tonight," she said.

"I have something that will help us. Come with me," I said, and she followed as I left for home.

I didn't pay attention to what I was doing when we were back to my warehouse entrance, and the girl let me know that I had fouled up right away. She couldn't pass through the entrance like I did, just as advertised. I had to turn around and take her by the hand for her to make the trip.

Battery flashlights were something that I'd always hated, and when the rechargeable models that could just be plugged into a wall socket started appearing in Wal-Mart I had been quick to buy plenty. It only took me a few minutes to find six and put them in my pockets. We were headed out again in no time.

We traveled silently for a few minutes with the girl leading the way. Finally I thought I might as well ask her name.

"Teechi. My name is Teechi."

"My name is Frank. Are you having any trouble walking?" I asked.

"My ribs are sore, but I don't think they are broken. I will be fine, but it is getting dark now," she said.

"Watch this," I said, and flicked on one of the lights.

Teechi was amazed, and a little frightened. I took the time to show her how to work the switch and after a few tries she seemed to settle down. I gave her the light, since she was leading the way.

During our walk I managed to get a few more details out of her. Apparently Carga's father had always been somewhat of an asshole, but a good enough leader otherwise. As Carga had grown up he had taken more to the asshole ways too. What he'd done by killing Teechi's prospective mate was practically unheard of. His father giving Teechi to him was even worse.

"Do you think they will be out at night, looking for you and your family?" I asked.

"No, we never move about at night unless the moon is very bright and we have much need, but some will probably be looking tomorrow, when Carga doesn't return."

"How many are in the camp?" I asked.