Chapter 61

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." R. Frost

Daylight was dawning on our settlement when I woke again. Dina was still asleep on top of me. I felt her cunt contracting around my cock in her sleep. My morning wood was filling her little cunt and the sensations she was giving me was extraordinary. I had stuff I needed to do, so I gently rolled her off me, my slimy cock dragged from its repository as we rolled. I continued her roll to put her on her side. Manala's arm and breast were right there and Dina latched on as Manala's arm surrounded her, pulling her close. I managed to get out of bed without much more ado. I pissed and washed and dressed and then went out in the false dawn to meet the sunrise.

I surveyed and inspected the various projects around the compound. The sawmill was near the woods, and the lumberyard was near the caves. It was complete. As was the brick kiln and the smokehouse. The blacksmith shop under Billy's direction was complete and in operation. The community kitchen was built and busy. I stopped in for breakfast. Eating quickly, I continued my inspection survey.

The house was framed in and the sheetrock was on. I'd done the wiring last week and Billy had completed the plumbing Friday. We then were ready for the sheetrock and insulation. That chore took a little planning. I didn't want to get too eager and in the process, screw up something. So we took our time.

It took us almost a week with just Billy and me using the hammer and nails. We didn't trust any of the new workers to do the job. We did let a few watch so we could train them later to do the work on the other houses planned. I'm ok at tape and bed so after we got the rock in place, I did the honors with the tape and bed process.

Today I decided was a good day for Hamlin's crew to start work on the water sluice. We could use a wheel bucket lift mechanism to raise the water up and then let gravity run it downhill toward the stockade. It had worked in the Netherlands for hundreds of years, so why not try it here. We had plenty of wood to build from. We could coat the channel with pitch from the tree sap we were taking. A simple trough could carry plenty of water for use by the stock, etc. I was thinking of a stock pond. We could locate that over by the barn. That would be easier than carrying the feed. The wheel would be tricky but I think it would work. I laid out the plans and Hamlin assured me he could handle it. I gave him the OK and let him do it. I'd check in a couple of days on his progress, more to see if I placed my trust in the right place. I didn't really have any doubt. He was a real smart young man.

After talking to Hamlin, I was walking toward the ladies quarters, where the unmarried women stayed. I looked over their accommodations and noted they were getting crowded. Several groups of people had joined us over the last few weeks. They were all comprised of mostly females. They readily accepted our system of operations. When the counting was done I figured we had 47 more females than males. This was not good, we needed more males to balance the female population or start allowing more plural marriages. It became necessary for us to go look for more males and make sure there was equity in the wife sharing department. Besides we could always use more laborers. Give a man a fish and he eats today, teach him to fish and he eats every day, to paraphrase the old saying.

That needed to be put off for a few days. Billy and I already had a date. We needed to go south and scout out the people by the sea. The rest of the morning was spent in preparation of the trip. We readied the Sidewinder and the MaxxPro Cat for the trip. When we checked out the Maxx we discovered a very welcome surprise. I suspect it was Mark's doing although I had no proof. In a hidden compartment in the floor were 2 brand new .50 caliber chain guns. We found they matched the external mounts perfectly and hookup to the controls was a breeze. The reason we looked for it was every storage compartment inside was crammed with sealed metal ammo boxes. When we opened one up we found .50 cal chain gun ammo!

We'd already southern engineered a mount for the Gatling gun on the Sidewinder. It would do, but the chain guns were so much better. They would be used sparingly though, because when the ammo was gone, it was gone. We took about three hours loading up. Then came time to decide who to take with us. The final roster would be three in the sidewinder and five in the MaxxPro Cat. Abo was the best driver of the crew, outside Billy and me. He would take Wison and Gerrunt, a smart strong boy from the last bunch rescued in the Sidewinder. I would drive the Maxx and take Shamona, Hamlin, Miya and Lamar, another of the boys gained in the rescue. He was smaller than Gerrunt, but faster and quick witted. Another reason for taking both is they were excellent hunters and had taken readily to the bows.

Billy and Brant were designated as subchiefs while I was gone and they would be looked to for any advise or decision making. Construction plans were to be continued. Hopefully the house would be ready by the time we returned. Shanana was NOT pleased that she was staying home. I had to take a half hour to explain the reasons for her to stay outweighed the reasons for her to go. Her leadership would be needed at home and she finally agreed to stay. She didn't like it though, and she let me know it.

We packed up enough staples for the group to last two or three weeks and loaded it into the Maxx. Jerry cans were loaded into the external armored storage compartments. I checked the radios in both vehicles. We were 5 by 5 with the base unit mounted on one of the windmill towers. We'd have communication with home for maybe 100 miles. Our trip was considerably longer. I expected us to be gone two to three weeks.

I went over the route plan with Billy. I'd had a conference last night with the ship and looked at the terrain maps they had. The hard part would be getting to the Gulf overland, but once there we'd have an easy time traveling along the coast. A few miles south southeast of the camp was a traveling group to investigate. I hope they would help with the male/female ratio problem. It was one of the many reasons to have Shanana there. I'm planning on sending them to see her when we meet up with them.

Finally everything was set and we said our goodbyes. Shanana let me know in no uncertain terms that she would miss me and she knew what I'd be missing. The bump and grind went of for more than a few minutes. I needed to shift the equipment after that, if you catch my drift.

We were off. The two vehicles were perfect for transport across the less than smooth ground. After about an hour, our lookout Lamar spotted the group the ship had pointed out last night. They were about 800 yards out and were in fighting posture. I stopped the Maxx and had Abo pull along side. We all got out. I shouldered one of the AK's and checked the sights. The Laser was pinpoint on the big leader of the group. Lamar and Gerrunt had their bows at the ready. Miya, the big darling was using her oversized spear. We'd tied it to the outside of the Maxx. The other women fell in behind us as we advanced.

When we were close enough to be heard but outside their spear range we stopped and I called out.

"Hello. We are friends. May we come forward and talk?"

The big guy thought for a minute, then called out "You come talk, put weapons down. You see us. We are strong. You not able to fight us."

Keen sighted Abo ran up to me. "There are many of the people behind those three. They are frightened. I couldn't get close enough but it looked like some of them were tied up together. I think the leader is one of the wanderers. I do not trust him."

"I don't trust him either. His attitude bothers me. This is what we will do. Make a show of putting your bows and Miya, your spear on the Maxx and we will start forward. I will keep the AK slung on my shoulder and since he hasn't seen anything like it before, he won't know to be suspicious. We will then be able to find out what his intentions are."

We made a show of leaving our weapons on the Maxx and started forward with our hands out. We got a little closer than before when we stopped. It was then that the guy made his move.

"Hah! You stupid like these fools. Now we make you slave and you belong for us. You cannot out run us. We have you now." He roared with a wicked laugh. His laugh was cut short. I brought the AK up and placed the laser in the middle of his forehead and let go a short burst. The three 7.62X39 slugs blew his head apart. His two buddies saw this, dropped their weapons and started to run as fast as their legs could carry them. It was not fast enough. I emptied the 30 round clip into them, just for effect. We strode up to the rest of the group and they were groveling on the ground, pleading for their lives.

It took a little bit of doing, but we convinced them that we were not going to hurt them. Malquat was the leader of the band before the big guy came along. I restored him to his place and he was extremely grateful and gracious to us all. We took the time to tell him about our small village and invited them to join us. They said they would go and take a look. I told them to talk to the Headwoman Shanana when they got there and she'd take care of everything. They agreed and started off in the direction of our home.

"There are 31 males and 14 females in the group" Shamona reported. "Most of them are healthy and would make good additions to our family. Only five of these women are mated because they are actually two loosely joined groups. My sister-wife will get them sorted out"

We returned to the vehicles where we mounted up and were on our way in no time. We passed several herds of Auroch on that day, but didn't bother taking down any of the beasts. We had plenty of food for now, and we were making excellent headway. Despite the rough terrain we were making between ten and fifteen miles an hour. As the miles rolled on we talked about plans for the city and what we wanted to do for the future. All too soon night approached. We found a copse of trees in a horseshoe shape to use as a camp. We parked the Sidewinder and the Maxx across the gap, one facing each way so there would be no waiting to move, just in case. The boys gathered up some scrub wood for a fire and Shamona heated up some of the food we brought. Dinner was good and soon over. After cleaning up, I told them stories of the Old West. They listened politely, but after awhile I could tell they were tired and ready for sleep.

I don't know whether it was the excitement of the trip or just the long day, but we settled right down and went to sleep without the usual hanky-panky. Shamona was lying in front of me and pulled my hand to her breast. Miya cuddled up behind and stretched her arm across both of us. It turned out to be a very restful night.

Morning came without incident and Miya fixed us breakfast. I went over our plans again for the day's travel. At the rate we were going, we would make the coast in less than a week. This was good because our trip would be that much shorter. The aerial view of the route could only show us miles and general topographical date. We'd have to find out the hard way if there were obstacles we had to conquer.

In fact, the trip to the coast was a breeze. As I predicted it took only six days. We came out south of South Padre Island as we called it in up time. We built a rock cairn to mark the spot and then took a right and were able to zip along the shore at 30 to 50 miles an hour, depending. Of course, we did have to make quite a few detours whenever a river dumped into the gulf. Still, the travel was a lot easier than the first part of our trip. Eleven days into the trip and the map had us where the settlement was.

Cautiously we approached. We found some kind of paving on the ground. It wasn't concrete and it wasn't ashphalt. It was clear and unbroken, despite the potholes in the surrounding ground. We followed it up the hill. We were in for a surprise at the top.

Scattered around the level areas were rusting hulks of iron. Long forgotten pieces of equipment sat in disarray. There were steel shades over some of the stuff, which is probably why it was still there. No living person had been here in a very long time.

We followed the drive up to a set of doors. One was partially off it's hinges and was canted at an impossible angle. It was blackened at the hinge as if some one had done significant damage to the physics of the mechanism. We stopped the vehicles and armed ourselves. I called out.

"Hello inside. Is anyone there?" We waited. I called again. We waited again.

"I guess we will just have to go look and see."

Heads were nodding in agreement. We climbed up the rest of the way to the doors. I'd brought some flashlights, so I turned mine on. The others in the party followed suit. We cautiously entered the home for the first time.

What the home in the hillside contained was interesting. Household conveniences such as what I'd brought back littered the rooms. It was like walking into a time capsule. Everything was so old and yet, it was from my original time. Toaster oven, microwave, can opener, plates, dishwasher, refrigerator and such in the kitchen area. Big screen TV, DVD's CD's, Plasma TV, game consoles and the like in the living area. The bedrooms were huge, like they accommodated a large family.

Miya was exploring when she stumbled on a marina. It looked as if there were berths for 2 ships. Neither of them were there. In a garage like structure we found the remains of trucks and cars and boat trailers. We were in awe.

HAL, what happened here? Where are all the people? I though this was a living, viable homestead.

Mike, I am sorry we miscalculated. When we did our survey of the location, it was when we were new here. Several centuries have passed since anyone has lived here. If you will look outside, over in the south-east corner of the yard, you will find what we believe to be the burial site for the inhabitants. You should check them out.

I left the others to look at the rest of the living space while I walked over to the graveyard. The graves there indicated that people had lived and died here for over 100 years. There were headstones carved of granite and the protection of the natural alcove allowed most of them to survive. I began reading them. Most of the names would equate to local names. Dates were based on some zero point which I was at a loss for until I came to the last two stones.

It was easy to read. Dates were January 1, 0000 to August 14, 0114 on both stones. One stone said Walter Brakes and the other Mike Stone, USAF ret.

I was just about to talk to HAL again when he spoke up.

These are the two uptimers that settled here. They were brought by another alien race to establish a civilization. As you can see, it didn't work. When they died, the people reverted to the old ways. That will not happen with you. You have already advanced the members of your community far beyond what those two were capable of. Your work will not be in vain and you will see the fruits of your labor. I will leave you now. Before I do, be aware that there are two girls down by the ocean. One is chained to the dock and the other is chained out at the small island. The tide is rising and if you wish to save them you better get it in gear.