Chapter 3

Once again I was in the white room, only this time I was dreaming.

At least it felt like I was dreaming.

"Greetings John Milton." I heard Center's familiar voice come from nowhere.

"Center?"

"I am presently communicating directly with your subconscious mind. I have a few questions for you John. How are you finding your new surroundings? What are your future plans?"

I don't know why that Center having the ability to broadcast directly into my head surprised me after everything that I had been through, but it did.

He was an alien artificial intelligence, working for a group of pan-dimensional beings who had somehow transported me to another world, designed specifically to mimic prehistoric Earth, and physically rejuvenated me to my early twenties. A little thing like speaking to me in my dreams should be easy in comparison.

It also seemed a bit odd that he would have questions, but what the hell. It wouldn't cost anything to answer and Center had always been nothing but helpful in all our dealings.

"I'm pleased with my new home so far. There seems to be a lot of potential. The scenery is certainly first rate." I paused in thought for a moment. "But I really think it's too soon to tell ... I've only been here a day so far. I'll need some time to figure out if I'm staying here, or going to search for a better piece of land to settle on." I shrugged.

"Now, as far as future plans go, I don't have much. The next few days, maybe even weeks are going to be spent settling in, as well as scouting and familiarizing myself with the area. Only after will I be able to make some bigger and more important choices on what to do next."

"I understand and agree with your assessment. Knowledge about one's surroundings is paramount to survival." There was definite approval in the AI's voice.

"How do you feel about your situation?" There was a noticeable emphasis put on the "feel".

"Umm..." that was a biggie. How did I feel? "First off, I'm grateful for this opportunity for a brand new life. Looking back, I don't really see any way I could have gotten out of the hole that was my old life without some major help, or at least some top shelf inspiration. I can't even tell you how good it feels to be young and healthy again. I never even realized how old and worn out I really was. I'm excited and looking forward to what this new life can offer."

I paused in thought once again. "On the other hand, I'm also scared shitless. I'm under no delusions ... this is a primal and dangerous world, and no matter how many supplies I could have brought, I am inherently ill-prepared to deal with it. I can be killed by the elements or natural disasters, wild animals, hostile natives, poisonous plant life or some random disease or injury that I'm not equipped to deal with."

"I believe that it would ease your mind to know that your regeneration and rejuvenation treatment also reinforced your immune system and healing processes. It is unlikely that any bacteria or virus, in this world or your own, would be able to do much more than inconvenience you and, given enough time, you should be able to heal any injury more rapidly and efficiently than the average human."

"That's actually a load off my mind Center." I said, bursting out in relieved laughter. It was one really big advantage!

I had been seriously worried about contracting pneumonia or some sort or prehistoric version of plague, and not being able to do much to help myself. Maybe worse still, what if I somehow broke an arm or a leg ... not only would it be painful as hell, surviving while incapacitated would be hundreds of times more difficult. There's also no guarantee that the bone would even heal right, leaving me a cripple.

No! Enough of these depressing thoughts!

"If I may ask, why the questions?"

"It is merely a status check, meant to insure your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing." Center said gently. "I am determined to ensure, not only your survival, but your long term comfort and accomplishments."

I was actually surprised and quite touched. "Thank you Center."

"It is my purpose John." He responded, but I could tell he appreciated it.

I could have been anthropomorphizing the AI, but I had honestly come to believe that Center was a living feeling life form.

In his own way, of course.

"Some time during the day you will find a surprise gift amongst your supplies. It should be of immeasurable use to you. Good luck and goodbye, until next time John."

I didn't have a chance to ask what the gift was or when we would speak again, because the room was suddenly gone and I was once again sleeping and dreaming normally.

I woke up rested and relaxed, but a bit sore. Whether it was from not sleeping on a proper bed or from yesterday's unaccustomed hard work, I didn't know. It didn't really matter – either way, I'd eventually get used to it.

I wondered briefly about last night's dream. Had it been real?

After a moment reexamining my memories, I was sure that it was. I looked around the container for my mysterious surprise, but I couldn't spot anything different or out of place.

"I'll find it eventually," I said to myself shrugging.

As I stood up, I immediately noticed something new. An apparent "side effect", you could call it, from the rejuvenation treatment. I had an erection that could sculpt marble statues. Hell, it even looked like it had grown an extra inch or two.

You have to understand ... just a short time ago I was out of shape and over the hill. Though I wasn't impotent, a good morning hardon like this was a pretty rare event. This definitely changed things in ways I had never even considered. I haven't had a regular sexual partner since Susie died, and I hadn't actually been looking either since then. I guess, with the passing years, I'd simply gotten used to not getting or wanting sex. Now, with a new and improved body, I felt pretty damn horny.

What a time to be stuck on a primitive alien planet, without an internet connection!

I wasn't really in the mood to take matters into my own hands, so I simply ignored it, got dressed and exited the container to get on with my morning.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment, simply enjoying the clean, crisp morning air and the warmth from the still rising sun. I was feeling a bit grubby from yesterday's exertions, so I decided that a bath was in order. I grabbed a toiletries bag, a large towel and a shotgun, and then made my way toward the stream, a little under a mile away.

Closing in on the stream, I found an out of the way tree to water. Just as I buttoned up my fly and turned around, I saw it. There, with its head down and drinking from the stream, was the biggest goddamned deer I had ever seen. I had frozen in place upon seeing it and was now merely enjoying its imposing presence.

'A megaloceros, ' my mind told me, after eventually kicking back into gear.

It was some 6 feet tall at the shoulders, with antlers almost twice as wide. It hadn't sensed me, even though I had managed to get surprisingly close, under 200 feet or so. Luckily, I had just happened to approach it from downwind and with its back to me.

I had conflicting thoughts at the moment. The old, modern me was awed by the sight of this extinct animal, and wanted nothing more than to see the noble beast live out its life in the wild. The new, primitive me, on the other hand, simply looked at it and thought "great, free food". Plus, I had to get used to killing my own food if I was going to survive on this world.

The "me" in the here and now won out.

I backed away quickly, but carefully, toward my camp. The stream's clearing and the megalo was completely obscured by trees from my camp and its immediate surroundings. I gathered up the cart, a scoped rifle and some other gear, and returned as fast as I could, leaving the cart some paces behind. Surprisingly, I made the trip in mere minutes, a fraction of the time I had initially spent walking there. I approached the place where I had seen the megalo slowly, keeping low and watching where I placed my feet. Soon, I could see that it was done drinking by the time I came back in sight, and was calmly returning into the dense forest.

I took a knee and brought the scope up to my eye. I had a perfect view of it in profile, so I centered the crosshairs on its chest, where I believed its heart and lungs were located. I'm pretty surprised at how steady my hands were, seeing as my heart was pounding loudly and rapidly in my ears. I exhaled, held my breath for a moment and pulled the trigger.

Amongst the morning silence and calm, the gunshot seemed deafening. It was much more surprising than the recoil, which I wasn't used to. Rubbing at the pain in my shoulder, I determined that it wouldn't leave a bruise.

The megalo had started to bolt with the noise of the shot. Its reaction time was really surprising considering its size. It only took a few steps, stumbled, fell to its knees, and then abruptly fell to the ground with a large thud.

I worked the bolt on the rifle and reloaded it, making sure to police the brass as I stood up. As I walked slowly toward the downed animal, I hung the rifle over my shoulder and drew my Glock to a ready position.

The last thing I wanted was to be injured, or even killed by an animal in its death throws.

When I eventually made it to the downed megalo I could clearly see that it was dead. Its chest wasn't rising and falling, and there was a large amount of blood coming from its mouth and nose. Apparently, I had hit it in one of its lungs – not a bad shot at all. I couldn't keep a smile of satisfaction from appearing on my face.

It somehow seemed even more massive now that I was next to it. Even using the handcart, it would most likely take two trips to get it all back to camp. I hurriedly brought back the cart, with a skinning and butchering kit I had thought to take along, as well as a length of rope and a large tarp.

Most of the morning was spent field dressing and skinning the large animal, and let me tell you, it was a bitch. I actually let the rope slip through my fingers twice, dropping the megalos to the floor. It wasn't just the size and weight that made it hard and time consuming, it was also my first practical experience doing it – until then I had only seen others do it. So, I worked slowly, being careful not to ruin the hide.

Thankfully, one of the ways I had relaxed and entertained myself during my busy time in the white room with Center was by reading books, learning things that I should know to better my chances of survival. There were several on different types of construction, from primitive designs and material, to the great works of the Romans. Several more were on farming and homesteading, and how to live and prosper without modern conveniences. And then a couple of them were on hunting, dressing and skinning your kills, and tanning the pelts. Back at camp, there were two boxes filled with copies of those books and more, including a nice selection of novels I liked. But, these weren't standard paperbacks ... they were made of a type of synthetic fiber that should last for decades, if not centuries, withstanding wear and tear and the elements.

Hanging the megalo's body by a high up branch was so damn hard that there was no way to lift the antlers off the ground. Pulling the hide off damn near killed me too when the branch I had hung it from snapped, either from the weight or from my forceful pulling. The whole pile of dead meat almost crushed me but I dodged just in time.

I took a slight breather, cursing the dead animal the entire time, and then strung it up once again and continued the job.

I knew that pulling the hide off would be much better than cutting it off – it would leave a cleaner hide with no knife marks or holes and more meat to use. The secret was knowing where to cut and where and how to pull on the skin. It was a damn tiring and messy job, but in the end I was satisfied with my work. I had a large, clean and nicely shaped hide ready for tanning and a large deer cut into manageable pieces and wrapped in a large tarp, piled on my cart, with a second load waiting by the stream. On my second trip back to camp, on top of the second load of meat, I balanced the massive antlers, still attached to the skull.

But, before I made my way back to camp, I jumped into the stream for my now very necessary bath. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to strip off my clothes before dressing and skinning the megalo, so they were all clean and ready to wear.

Seeing as there wasn't going to be any supermarkets or grocery stores in the neighborhood, preserving food was going to be a pretty important task.

Refrigeration would be difficult, but not impossible. I could dig out a cellar and cool it down with winter snow and ice, but that was definitely an option reserved for the future. For immediate use, I had designed two boxes, the size of large chest freezers, lined inside with aerogel insulation and with a few refrigerant couplers built in. With just a small trickle of electricity, I could maintain a cold or below freezing temperature for very long periods of time.

At first salting had seemed like a viable alternative, and I had brought a lot of it, but I knew enough history to know that salt and other spices were very valuable trade goods.

Besides, it could be quite hard to replenish my supply, until I found an ocean or salt flats.

Drying or smoking food seemed to be the most convenient way to preserve food at this point in time. For that reason, I had made sure to bring some easy and quick to assemble drying racks and a large Texas style smoker and BBQ grill.

The first thing I did on arriving back at my camp with the full cart was start a nice big fire. As soon as it was blazing away, I wheeled out the smoker and started another smaller fire inside its firebox. I would have liked some hickory added to the fire, so the smoke would add some special flavor to the meat, but I had no idea if, or where I could find it. I then removed a pyramid shaped drying rack from the container and set it up over the camp fire.

Next was the rest of the grunt work. I set up a large folding table and started the chore of butchering the megalo meat into smaller parts. I cut bigger portions for the smoker and thin strips for the drying rack, making sure to lightly coat the meat with some barbeque sauce. I hadn't brought a lot with me, so I would have to use it sparingly, while searching for some sort of seasoning alternative. I filled the rack and smoker with a little under half the animal. Needless to say, I still had a whole pile of meat to take care of. I decided to refrigerate the rest for later use.