Chapter 7: Time Travel Story II

I woke the next morning before the sun was up amid a bevy of arms legs and breasts covering my body. The women had migrated around the bed at night looking for any part of my body not covered in flesh and covered it.

The feel of their bodies on mine energized me, but I needed to pee. I slowly worked my way loose of them, got dressed and went out to the latrine. One of the men was doing latrine duty. I ran back to the hut, grabbed my camp shovel and brought it to him. I did not need to explain the use to him. He took one look at it, and with a smile went back to his work with more vigor than before. I, on the other hand, had to find a different hole to feed in the meantime.

I was walking towards the campfire when I felt a tug for me to go to Callie's cage. There I saw Gleebo standing in a shimmering bubble. He motioned me to enter it, as soon as I did all the sounds of the forest and camp disappeared.

"What's up, Gleebo, you look like you lost five of your best wives?"

"Even worse, one of my good friends, you" he answered.

"What do you mean, Gleebo? Did I do something wrong that your people are not happy about?"

"No, Jason on the contrary, they are extremely satisfied with your progress to date. My team has been recalled to our home world. It seems several renegade scientists, in conjunction with some of our military, have settled one or two teams of people like yourself somewhere on this planet. We think they are trying to destroy the project by using teams that are composed of very violent people from your past. We need to go back and trace everything each team has been given. We then need to trace through records to see what modifications they received, if any. All this needs doing without the renegade military and scientists knowing. As there are three subjects on the planet right now, it will be quite the chore." He stopped for a minute, contemplating his next words.

"Because we have to leave you with such short notice, the council has decided to allow you access to up to five more containers twenty percent larger than the size as before. To accomplish this we will send you and your family back to earth."

"Well, thank you for the containers. Will you be able to change any of the things we buy, as you did before?"

"Yes, Jason, everything will be as before, you will have two weeks to prepare for your journey. Once you have returned, we will not depart until everything that you have now and what you bring back, is unloaded and carefully stacked. In fact, the original material you brought with you has been unloaded, stacked and marked. The containers have been stacked in another section of the cave for when and if you need them. So when the new containers come, they will fit in the original site until unloaded."

"Also, when we leave we will leave behind an AI that will automatically wake up if you call it with an emergency."

"What do I tell my people where I will be when we go, and how long will we be gone." I was worried to leave them for any period of time among the many things in the cave.

"You will be gone for one week (above you said they will be gone for two weeks), but to them it will be overnight. We will make sure that all is well with them, and that they do not get into trouble. Moreover, you will not leave until you settle in your new home. I also wanted to tell you there is a Clan not far from here to the northeast that did not show up on your map, as they just moved here several months ago. They are very handy and clever with their hands. They, too, have felt the wrath of the Roamers, but not to the extreme these people did. When you come back, you might want to look in on them. I have to go now"

I reached down to shake his hand and he was gone in the shimmering glow of the ball. I was left there contemplating what he said about the violent teams, and if I would need to arm my clan with modern weapons in preparation of the probable attacks.

"Jason/husband, why were you conferring with the spirits? Is there something the Clan or we your wives should know?"

I turned and saw Galaita there with a fearful look on her face. "No, sweet Galaita, there is nothing wrong. I speak with the spirits when I need to learn something, or when they need to tell me something. Now, come, I feel very hungry this morning, as certain women last night tried to drain all the energy from my body." She giggled and took my hand as we walked back to the campfire.

Everybody was bustling about. Breakfast was simple, tea and dried meat. The men were loading all the travois with everything they could fit on them, while the women were taking down the huts and laying them in piles with the furs that went with them. Then they covered everything with branches and leaves, from close up you could tell they covered up something. From the top of the grotto nothing showed. With the trail to the bottom covered also, we were on our way. All the women, the older boys, and half the men pulled travois. Marno had elected himself to pull Callie, so I was covered.

We walked slowly, as we were heavily loaded down. One of the men had point to make sure there were no predators around, the rest were around the Clan as we moved, and I was taking the rear so we would not get surprised from that sector.

Five hours later we arrived at the cave. Everyone was surprised with the wall and door. I unlocked the heavy half-inch chain and opened the door to fresh air. As the Clan made its way inside I turned on the lights. All movement stopped, the murmuring started, and people started to move out of the cave, this would not do.

"My friends, do not be afraid of the light in the ceiling of the cave. It is but a form of light energy we use in my world. It will not harm you or fall down upon you. Here, look at my hand, here is the way I turn them on and off." With that, I flipped the switch several times, so they could see that it was I turning them on and off and not the spirits.

Movement into the cave resumed, Thank God, Allison was there to help me move them into their private quarters and show them the pools, commodes and urinals. Then we both had to explain the uses of each. The men were not too happy about the pool being for washing, I think they thought the dirtier they were the better hunters they were. I explained that animals could smell them from far away the dirtier they were. That stopped the grumbling. Next came shampoo and soap.

This was easier to explain. I grabbed one of my wives and put her into a pool, I first shampooed her hair, I think I did it four times to get all the dirt and grease out, then I washed her body twice, getting all the dirt off it. When I finished, Allison took a brush and brushed her hair. The change was remarkable, I almost did not recognize her, and then I realized it was Alaina, wow, she looked good.

We left them to their own devices. I told Allison to take all my wives to the pool and have them shampoo, wash, and use the depilatory that Gleebo gave us.

I then went to find Marno and Callie, I found him with her near the front of the gate. She was on her side watching Marno play with the youngsters. I approach her slowly, moving my hand close to her head, I was glad to see she did not try to snap at me, but she did shy away. I got some dried meat and brought it to her, I put a piece down and she grabbed it and ate it, I repeated this several times before I put a piece in my hand and held it out to her. She reached out with her snout on my hand and took the piece of meat. For the next fifteen minutes, I fed her small pieces of meat until her hunger was satisfied and the pups started suckling again. I noted that she did not look as haggard as the day before.

I decided we needed fresh meat for dinner, rather than defrosting what we had. I grabbed two of the men and had them lift Callie's cage off the wheeled travois. Then grabbing my rifle and one of the men, we trekked off to the plateau to see what was hanging out close by. I spotted two Megaloceros not two hundred yards from us. I took a kneeling position; I sighted on the one in the rear. I carefully took my shot, not waiting to see if the first went down, I was already spotting and shooting at the second. Both my shots were true and the beasts went down. The men were in awe as to how I was able to take both of them so quickly. I spent a little time explaining how the rifle worked, even to taking apart a bullet to show them how it was put together.

We then walked to them both. I slit their throats to let them bleed out before we got back to the cave, and loaded them onto the travois ass first. As we were leaving we heard growling.

Out of some thickets a saber-tooth cat, attracted by the smell of fresh blood, came out ready to relieve us of our dinner. Before it could pounce on us, I brought up my rifle and gave her an almost point plank burst in the snout. She came half way up on her haunches and died.

I sent one of the men back to get another travois and one more person for pulling duty. The two men came back within fifteen minutes. I had already sliced the cats' neck to bleed it out as much as possible. We loaded the cat and we were off.

Three hours after leaving we were back with dinner and the cat. The fire was already going, with all kinds of pots on it boiling different things. My companion, who's name I learned was Bortat, and I became instant hero's, the women swooped down on the animals, and in no time had them gutted, skinned and on the fire roasting. My wives had claimed the cat. They skinned it and pulled all the teeth and claws, leaving only the carcass. All the older boys scampered to get saplings for the pelts, while the older girls started braining the animals for use in tanning the pelts.

I called two of the younger children and told then to take the liver and kidneys to Marno for the wolf.

I went into our bedroom and noticed the difference. Whereas before I walked into the bedroom itself, I now walked into a living/family room type affair. There were even real doors off this room going into bedrooms for the children. In addition, there was a very ornate door leading to an office for me, with all my computer stuff set up in it.

I came out of the office and went into the bedroom proper. There before me stood six beauties of different age, size and shape, standing in front of the largest bed I have ever seen. The best part was that they were completely naked. I opened my arms and they came to me, engulfing me in their femininity. I kissed them all telling, them how beautiful they looked and I could not wait until we slept on the bed this evening.

Alaina squealed with delight at my statement. "Jason, sister/wife Allison showed us the bed and explained what it is for. I was afraid, because it looks so strange. Allison told me to jump on it, when I jumped on it I kept going up and down; Allison said that is bouncing. It was so much fun, will you bounce me on the bed tonight?" then she stopped and turned red in her enthusiasm, she forgot the others for a minute. She looked peevishly around, and finally started laughing when she saw the others smiling at her. We all joined her, and I told I would love to bounce her.

I begged them to let me go so I could take a bath and other items I needed to do.

My final surprise came when I entered a private pool area not as large as the origina, but big enough for up to twenty people. There were eight commodes and only one urinal. I knew this was meant for my family only. I took a relaxing bath, and made plans to run pipe to make a nice shower at the end by the waterfall. Then realized I could use that instead, as there was a shelf below the waterline just for that purpose. Once washed, I dressed in clean clothes and stepped out into the family room.

All my wives and children were there, talking and playing with the children. I noticed a cute thing about four or five years old, I walked over to her, got down on the floor and started playing with her. She squealed and rolled around with me as we played for around ten minutes. Then she said, "Are you my daddy now?" Everybody stopped for a minute, I said, "yes, baby, I am your daddy" and she hugged me until I started to cry. Nitta's two girls came to me then, and asked if I would be their father also. I told them I would be proud to be their father, they also hugged me. I then looked at the older boys and told them I would try to make as good a father to them as their real ones had been. I also pledged to them that I would help them when it came time for them to become men and make their first kill, by showing them the ways of my people. They also came to me, thanked me, and then hugged me. I was overwhelmed by the love I felt for all these women and children in such a short time.

After playing with little Meela, I realized we were short several children and one wife. It was the blonde-haired woman with the fifteen-year-old boy and eighteen-month-old twin girls. "Why do I only have six wives," I asked "I thought that I would be taking the blond woman from the north as a wife also."

"She declined Jason; she said she would wait for her son to become a man"

This did not sit well with me; a woman with two babies that are still suckling should not have to wait until her son can make a kill to feed her children. "Allison, please go ask her to come see me, with her children, of course, I would like a chance to speak to her."

Once Allison left, I asked all my wives why this woman refused my advances. I did not want to force her to become my wife if she truly did not want to, but as I said, why would she refuse such an opportunity. They fidgeted, but did not give me any type of answer. Something did not mesh with the situation this woman was in, and why she did not take advantage of how the culture of the clan helped provide a solution for it. Looking at the family as they stood in front of me, I think I knew what, or rather who, was behind this decision.

Allison returned at that point with Rialia, the women had told me her name, along with her beautiful twins and a sullen looking dirty young man carrying his spear. Looking at the family as they stood in front of me, I think I knew what or rather who was behind her decision not to join me. Rialia looked fresh and clean, as did her babes, but I could see where she had been crying, also I could see some old bruising on her arms. I indicated some furs for her to sit on as I stood to welcome her to my home

"Please sit, Rialia, you and your family are welcome in my home" I tried to help her, but the youth put his spear forward to stop me. All my wives gasped at the breech of protocol. One never enters a hut with a spear, let alone uses it in the manner he did.

I put it off to his youth, though I could not see why he had not washed himself yet.

"Tell me, Boy" I wanted to remind him that he was still a boy and not a man yet. "Do you always insult people in their homes when you come to visit? Please put away your weapon and sit with us, we mean you and your family no harm."

He looked at me with vehemence in his eyes, and some jealousy, I believe. "We do not need your hospitality or charity, nor do we want to stay in this cave. We will be leaving with the first light. I have spoken for my family."

"I see," I said "and since when is it permissible for a child to speak for his parents?" I was beginning not to like this young man, his posture indicated to me that he was ready to attack or fight. I started to put myself into a defensive position. Ali saw this and started to do the same, moving carefully to his rear. My other wives were nervous and worried with the way the conversation was going, so they slowly moved away from where the boy was standing, coming behind and closer to me.

"I speak for my mother and my family, since my father died eight moons ago. I will decide what is good for her and what is not, just because the men of this Clan think I am not a man because I have not made a kill by myself, that is their problem. I am taking my mother and leaving, that is final."

"OK, but tell, me how will you feed your mother if you cannot hunt. Moreover, what about your sisters, what of them, if your mother does not eat she will not produce the milk in her breasts and they will starve and die. What if you get hurt, are you willing to do all this just because you think you are a man?"

"Yes, plus she is not my mother any longer anyway, she is my woman, I have taken her as a man will, and will continue to do so whether she wants me or not, if these children die I do not care, they are not mine. I will have more children with her and any other wives I get when we are settled."

With that, he started to make what He thought was a slight feint with his spear, but Ali was behind him with a knife at his back. "Drop the spear, little one, or I will cut your spine out for you," she hissed.

I was disgusted; his mother was in a heap on the floor, crying wretchedly in heaving sobs, his sisters crying with her on the floor, not knowing what was going on. I looked at him, and as disgusted as I was for what he had done to his mother, I felt sorrow for him for what was to follow. I felt even more sorrow for his mother, who had suffered under his abuse for who knows how long, but still had protected the knowledge of what he did from the Clan as a loving mother.

"Tie his hands behind his back, Allison," I said, "I need to go talk to Mearto and see if there is any type of Clan justice for this."

I went looking for Mearto and found him in the pool with all his men, talking and laughing. He saw the determined look on my face and stopped laughing. "What is wrong, Jason, is there a problem with one of my people" he looked at his men, questioning them with his eyes.

"No, Mearto, it is with one of the boys, Rialia's boy to be exact. First, he confessed to me and my wives he has been abusing his mother by forcing her to have sex with him. Then he tried to kill me in my home. I do not know if there is some type of precedence to this. I would have killed him right where he stood, but felt the Clan needed to make that decision, not me by myself"

Mearto spit, "Bah, I knew that boy was no good, his father was a pig. I do not know how he got Rialia to mate with him. However, from the first, he used to beat her and then the boy, until I and several others beat him to an inch of his life. He was a terrible hunter and he never taught the boy how to hunt, that is why he still is not a man, even though he is close to sixteen summers." As Mearto was talking, he had stood up and was drying off as were the rest of the men. They dressed and followed me to my quarters.

Allison had the boy on his knees; I realized I did not even know his name. Mearto solved that problem when he spoke "Rise, Nevarro, you scum, you soil our leaders furs just by looking at them, rise and walk out of here before I kill you where you kneel"

Nevarro looked at him and spat, "You are nothing to me and I do not fear you."

Mearto grabbed him and dragged him by the hair, while he screamed in pain, to the fire pit. Among all this drama, I could not help but smell all the delicious food being prepared. Mearto threw Nevarro close to the flames and pointed. "Here is one that must be judged by the Clan for his crimes. We will eat, then judge him."

With that he pulled Nevarro close to the wolf, Callie must have picked up all the animosity in the air and growled at him, then snapped. Nevarro yelped and moved away.

Dinner was ready, so we sat down to eat, what should have been a celebration turned out to be a very solemn affair. Once we finished eating and we had cleaned up, the Clan all sat on one side of the fire. Mearto brought Nevarro to the fire. He explained all the circumstances of his trial, ending with his attempted murder of me.

"What to you say to what I have said about you, Nevarro?" said Mearto.

"I don't care what you say about me, I am still a child, and by Clan laws you cannot kill or charge a child with a crime. You can do nothing to me by our own laws. I will still leave with my wife tomorrow, no matter what you say" I had to hand it to him, he was an ass but he stuck to his guns.

Mearto looked flabbergasted, this boy's crimes would be death to an adult, but by Clan law they could not kill him. I tried to think of what we could do. Then thought of what I suggested to the Clan for two of the Roamers, I whispered to Galaita what she should recommend.

Galaita stood up and spoke "I am Galaita, wife to Jason the Mighty One and member of the Clan. I remember when the Forest Spirit came to the Clan to remove Roamers. Two were sent far away and tied to trees and left as food for animals. Why not do the same to this child? We will not kill him, but he will no longer be with the Clan. If you choose not to tie him to a tree, blindfold him when you leave here so he knows not where you take him. Walk for three suns and leave him with no weapons, he can then live or die on his own knowledge. I am Galaita, I have spoken"

I was proud of her as to how she presented herself and how she spoke. Mearto looked to her then to the rest of the Clan. "Does anyone else have anything to say?" He asked, one of the men stood and said, "I agree with Galaita, the mighty one's wife, let the spirits judge his right to live, not us." All the others started agreeing at once. Mearto raised his hands and everybody quieted down. "Tie him up," said Mearto "Nando will take him out tomorrow to face his fate." They hogtied Nevarro so that he could not get away.