Chapter 12

We knew that the brontosaurs were not dangerous as long as we did nothing stupid, so we took seats and waited for the big brutes to pass. While we were waiting, which took about 20 minutes, we introduced ourselves to Bill and Alice Zafir. We had found a gold mine: Bill was an industrial chemist specializing in explosives, and Alice was a surgeon. Both skills were sure to be of inestimable value!

The chest that had fallen on Bill's foot was full of Alice's surgical instruments. They had been sailing around among the very small islands in the Caribbean doing free surgery for the natives who just could not afford to go to other islands for surgery. Hare lips and cleft pallets were Alice's specialty, but she was qualified to do any sort of surgery required. Furthermore, they had stopped off at Freeport to restock supplies before taking this leg of their trip. They had been headed for Bermuda for a short vacation before returning home when they were caught in the freak storm.

I explained who we were, and that we wanted them to join us. They readily agreed, understanding that they had no chance to survive on their own. We loaded a few items, most notably the chest of surgical instruments, into the cart so that we could return to the cave tomorrow morning.

Adel had lost patience with Martha. Martha still refused to take part in the breeding program, and Adel was determined to set that right, immediately. She found Martha sitting outside of the cave, sunning herself, while the rest of the members of the group were working at various tasks.

This really rubbed Adel raw, and she marched up to Martha with fire in her eye. "Martha, what is the matter with you? You are sitting there like the queen of the universe while your servants and slaves do all of the work. This attitude has to stop right now, or you will regret your foolishness." Adel was really getting wound up. "You do just the minimum you can get away with, yet you consume just as much food and other resources as anybody else. On top of that, you have refused to contribute to the gene pool. Your arrogance has pushed me to the boiling point!"

In all her life, nobody had ever talked to Martha like that. She was completely taken aback. "Adel, I have no idea what you are talking about. Except for that filthy sex game you play, I have always done anything anyone has asked me to do. I can't understand why you are so upset. Furthermore, I don't plan to sit here and listen to you berate me so undeservedly."

Martha started to stand up, but Adel pushed her back down before she could fully gain her feet. It was another thing that had never happened to Martha before. "Martha Jones, I know that you are not stupid, so I cannot understand why you are acting that way! If you don't start taking a more proactive part in the operation of our community, you are going to find yourself exiled to your own devices. And you know, or should know, that you would survive only a few days, at most, by yourself. I am not the only one who is pissed off at you, several people are all for pitching you out on your ear right now."

Martha started to cry. "I do what I am asked to do, what more could I do?"

"I know that you led the 'princess' lifestyle in high school and college. Your family had so much money that you never needed to work. The only reason that I hired you was that you were the only one willing to work for so little pay. I had hoped to get you to be more outgoing, but I was about ready to give up on you after this year. You were never the assistant that I needed because you waited for me to tell you everything that needed to be done. At first, I chalked that up to inexperience, but about half way through the school year, I figured out that you just didn't care! Well, you are now in the position of put up or shut up.

"We'll start with the gene pool thing. None of us believe in rape, but you are going to contribute your womb to the cause or you are going to get out. You will reach your peak of fertility in 17 days; prepare yourself for sex on that night!"

"But I'm not married to any of these men! It would be sinful to be intimate with any of them! You can't make me do it!"

"Oh, Martha, maybe you ARE as stupid as you act. That is the most ridiculous attitude I ever heard. I don't care how uptight your upbringing has been, you have to face the facts of the current situation. We need children, and we need them now. I'll be blunt with you—either you fuck with one of the men or I, personally, will push you out the door, and I can do it! So, what will it be?"

"It looks like I have no choice! OK, I will let one of the men rape me, but that is the limit of my cooperation."

"You are so foolish, I am tempted to give you to Amos, just to teach you a lesson. He is a good man, but I know how you secretly feel about his black skin. I will make it easy on you by assigning you to Jimmy. All of his partners have said how gentle and considerate he has been with them, so he will break you in slow and easy. But, I'll tell you now, you will fuck all of the men until you have a baby by each of them. So, you better get used to the idea!"

Adel stomped off, leaving Martha in a pool of tears, feeling sorry for herself.

It took us almost six days to get home—Alice was not used to walking very far, and she insisted that she had to wear her high heels as we tromped through the woods. After she fell down the third time, she agreed to swap for some sneakers that Bill had tossed into the cart for her to change into. Bill was a good sport about helping us pull the cart, but Alice just didn't have the strength for that sort of activity. She even wanted to ride in the cart, but we all vetoed that!

Bill asked me to cut Alice some slack; he said that she would come around once she got her mind fully wrapped around the fact that she was no longer living in the 21^st century. Alice and Bill were both shocked at our sexual antics each night when we camped. The women explained that they were all trying to get pregnant as soon as possible, since we needed to build up our population, the faster the better. I suspect that they were less shocked at the sex than the fact that we were so public with it.

By the fourth day, Bill had shucked his clothes, all but his shoes and socks, but Alice still wore her bra and panties. We were in the midst of the hottest part of the summer and the monsoon should be along any day, now. I hoped that we could make at least one trip to Bill's boat before the heavy rain started.

We got back close enough to schedule that nobody had worried about us. Bill and Alice were introduced to the rest of the community. After supper, Adel gave Alice the hard sell about the breeding program and how she was expected to participate. Adel did promise Alice that she would have her first shot with her husband, but she would be expected to have a child by the other four men, also. Fortunately, Alice could see the point of what Adel was saying and came around to active cooperation after only a little persuasion.

Adel told me of her conversation with Martha, and that I was selected to be the one to introduce her to sex. I still had a few days before the "ordeal," but I was not happy about the whole thing. Adel told me that Martha considered this to be rape, but would not fight me as the condition for her being allowed to stay in the community. I had to admit that I was glad that Adel had put the pressure on Martha, because I, too, was tired of her "holier than thou" attitude.

John left the next day to return to Bill's boat. He took all of our carts with two people to pull each one and ballista crew #1. Bill, Ezra, and Amos went with him, and the appropriate women were assigned to be sex partners on the most suitable nights. Alice was not real happy about it, but Bill was assigned partners, just like the other men.

I stayed home this time because Angie was very near delivery. Alice thought that she could function as a midwife after John gave her a quick refresher course. With Jean and Adel to assist, we were all sure that Angie was protected.