Chapter 16: Calm Before the Storm

The next morning I had a serious talk with Malok and he explained how Jeremy was able to have the earth women transferred to this world. "You mean that he was able to use his 'animal allowance' to bring people here?" I asked.

"Yes."

"But people have freewill..." I started.

"Not to Jeremy's overseer. You have to understand why his overseer chose Jeremy as the subject of his experiment. Jeremy is what you or I would have referred to on old Earth as a 'prick'. He is close to the textbook definition of a sociopath without actually being one. His overseer used Jeremy to help define the human race. The overseer felt such disdain for humanity that he gave Jeremy every tool he could get away with giving him, so that Jeremy would show how unworthy humanity was to live on Earth."

"But I am the fly in their ointment?"

"Yes, you and your two northern neighboring experiments. The three of you are good people. I'm sure if you encountered each other, you would interact in a civilized manner. From what I understand, the one in Belgium is getting a great deal of assistance. The one in Northern France, not so much."

"So I'm in the middle?"

"Roughly. Your Belgium neighbor would trounce Jeremy with his firepower. His overseer got a little out of hand with his gifts of weapons, so between him and Jeremy, the project leads cut back on the amounts of firearms available. You and your northeastern neighbor have received less. He might have some problems with Jeremy, but based upon your circumstances, you should be able to hold your own."

"Should I try to interact with the neighboring experiments?" I asked.

"It is up to you, but I would not recommend it. Why stir up the waters. You have a nice life here. You even now have some mates from your old world ... and of course there is Sonya."

"Well, Soya, at least," I corrected.

"Probably not for much longer. I'm certain that by now, she is already beginning to remember who she is. She may already know. Just in case, you probably should talk to her soon to help steer her towards understanding who she is."

"Thanks, I will!" as I exchanged goodbyes with Malok.

I began to worry about Soya. She had not shown any signs of consciously remembering who she was, but I still needed to make sure that she was all right.

"So you've remembered who you are?" I asked.

"Yes. I've known for some time," she said with a smile.

"And you are okay with it all?"

Sonya laughed. "What choice do I have?" she paused, "Seriously, I'm glad I came here and appreciate Malok's plan. I think I'd engaged in about a score of lesbian acts before I started to remember," she said before a pause before continuing, "Mike?"

"Yes, Dearest?"

"I think I was somewhat of a lesbian on Earth."

I sighed and said, "I thought that might be true."

"I never wanted to admit it to myself, because I loved you so dearly. You were my best friend, but I never felt the same kind of desire for you that I should have. When you changed due to your illness, I guess I allowed Cletus to pull us apart. Some of that must have been my subconscious lashing out at being married to a man. Of course, I went out and married him and I was even more miserable."

"So you're saying you don't love me?"

"I've always loved you, my silly boy, but I've never loved you with the passion you deserved to be loved with ... until now."

She grabbed my head and kissed my with ardor to prove her comment. I kissed her back with a mixture of relief and growing desire.

"But how?" I asked after we broke the prolonged kiss.

"I'm not completely sure. Maybe I was really bisexual on Earth and because I was not getting my fill of 'girl on girl' action, my resentment at my repressed nature was blocking my hetero desires. Maybe some of Oya's desire for her mate rubbed off on me. It's probably a combination of both. Either way, I loved you so much that I would have jumped your bones the first time I saw you when I got here ... even if I had remembered who I was."

"Because you love me?"

"Yes. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible. When you forgave me, my heart yearned to be with you. I desired to hold you in my arms and never let go."

"It was mostly my fault. I was just so damn stubborn. We could have been together if..." I started before she put her finger to my lips and kissed me sweetly. Then it slowly became heated. We lay down in the high grass near the edge of the woods and made passionate love.

From then on, she was Sonya, though I would still call her "Soya" in public, She admitted that there was still a part of Oya in her mind. Oya still believed that I had always been her mate and when Sonya lost control during sex, Oya's passion would drive hers. Most times, she would cry out "Mi-Kuhl!" as she came. I loved the fact that "Soya" was now two women in one who both loved and desired me greatly.

Over the next few days, people got to know the eight newcomers and they got to know everyone else. Most importantly they got to know our customs. The biggest problem I faced was Yorok.

While he was not a bad sort, Yorak had a serious temper on him. This was a bad thing because he was clearly the strongest Cro-Magnon man I had seen to this point. His strength easily rivaled my own, Hogat's, Nomat's and Jonab (who I was convinced would be physically strongest of the males in my camp up to this point). Yorak occasionally beat Gila, but from her description, it was more an immediate lashing out which resulted in immediate regret on Yorak's part. I told him that I had a zero tolerance policy for spouse beating and he immediately agreed, but spoke of his problem with anger. When I talked to him, I found the source of that frustration.

While incredibly strong, Yorak had been dismissed as being just brawn and no brains. He was given all hunting and grunt work and his opinion had never been taken seriously, let alone considered. I immediately offered him my fifth leadership position under the condition that he kept his anger in check. I told him that I always value the opinions of my lieutenants and would explain if and why I disagreed with a suggestion he would make. I spent some time with him and Hogat as we explained our ways over the next few days. Over that time, I found something else about Yorak. He was fiercely loyal to his friends and for saving his mate, he now considered me one of his best.

Another thing that happened was that when I awoke that next morning, I saw another double king-sized bed next to the other one. Last night had involved a slew of bodies lying all over the two existing beds. Now, with the two beds pushed together (they also latched together to to keep them stable), there would be plenty of room. I was even shocked to notice new fitted sheets that fit both beds together. There was even a soft foam ridge in the middle of the fitted sheet to fill in the small crack between the two beds! I had to hand it to Malok and his friends!

Likewise, the new freezer and fridge arrived and they were both huge. When Jontar and Sula had returned from feeding the chickens, they had reported the mysterious arrival of two dozen egg layers (all having left at least one egg each, but some had laid two). Their daily harvest had yielded almost four dozen eggs!

"Eggs for breakfast!" I screamed.

We now had more than sixty eggs counting what we had harvested yesterday. We managed to save eleven eggs for future meals.

When I got down to the bathhouse, I noticed the extra towels and the robes I had requested. When I looked in the big animal barn, the three new fillies were bigger than Colt. Vodor was beside himself with glee when he realized that the new additions would hasten his chances at learning to ride. The three fillies were probably close to two years old. All three seemed to be very friendly, if not tame (Malok's charm gift?). I hoped they would all be easy to train.

Other than the various saplings, seeds (which were all clearly labeled) and food supplies, I noticed several new shovels, picks, knives and hoes that I had not requested. There were six new bows with added arrow shafts and heads, six fishing rods with kits, several large nets (which I assumed were for fishing) a few deep sea rods with kits and then there were the guns. A hunting rifle and another semi-automatic pistol were provided. I also saw a pallet with ammo.

"I know you didn't ask for all of this, but I figured you could use it. There are also various protective clothes in the closets in each room in the house for your recent arrivals. I think I figured their sizes correctly," Malok said with a laugh.

"I'm touched," I said through a tear.

Malok was really making it easy on me to survive in this world. I was grateful for his friendship and everything he had been responsible for doing for me.

After explaining to my mates that my old village members had dropped off the supplies as part of finishing paying their debt to me, I proceeded to organize work parties, while I had Nomat, Jonab, Geeta, Soya, Ganor and myself carry some of the seeds, saplings and a couple shovels to the Neanderthal camp.

When I greeted Danar and the new leader, Kolgar, they were puzzled about my gifts.

"We already find fruits and plants in the woods and fields near here," stated Kolgar.

"Yes, but these plants and fruits are very good and easier to get to. The trees will bear fruit called apples, pears, cherries and peaches. The plants will require special care, but my people will be happy to help."

"What do you wish to trade?" asked Kolgar.

"Kolgar, Mike says this is a gift," stated Danar.

"Many of us who left the village still care about it. Mike does too," replied Jonab.

"This is our way of helping," I stated.

"We do not need help," stated Kolgar.

I was afraid of this Kolgar might be too proud to accept needed help, but I had an idea. "I know you do not need help. Still, this is a gift that WILL help even if you do not NEED it. It will make your gathering easier and more plentiful. More importantly, it is a gift of friendship. I hope to trade with you in the future. I like the idea that you will prove to be a willing and happy trading partner."

Kolgar rubbed his bearded chin.

Danar spoke instead, "Gifts are nice and are greatly welcomed, so long as they are given and received freely."

I understood. "Yes, these gifts are given freely as a sign that I have no bad feelings and that I want to be friends."

Kolgar then surprised me, saying, "There are too many men and animals who wish to kill us. Your friendship means that we will have one less thing to worry us."

I clasped his shoulder and he clasped mine.

I found a good section of the nearby empty field. I then dug eight holes (showing the Neanderthals how to use the shovels). We then planted the eight saplings we brought.

In the meantime, Soya and Geeta tilled another area and planted carrots, pole beans, peas, cucumbers and squash. I told them we would return in a week's time to check on the new plants and explain more about how to take care of them. By early afternoon, we had finished and were on our way back to our camp.

The rest of the day involved teaching the newcomers about my ways.

The following day was a good one. I decided to take a small fishing party out to the Med. To Sonya's delight, we came back with shrimp, other shell fish and plenty of saltwater fish. Sonya and I used to fish for flounder, cod and "stripers" (saltwater striped bass) in the Atlantic (when I was working in New Jersey). These fish seemed similar. Now that she remembered who she was, I would make a point of including Sonya in future fishing parties. After all, she was equal to me with a rod and I'm also sure she would love to avail herself of the bar on the yacht.

That night we had a huge seafood feast. As several of my group did not care for seafood, we also cooked some bison steaks. I enjoyed the first "surf N' turf" meal I had in ages. The shrimp and scallops we had were amazing in combination with the lean steak. The only thing missing was a good bottle of wine.

"Note to self, bring a few good bottles of Cab and a corkscrew the next time I go to the yacht," I laughed to myself.

After putting the kids to bed, I made passionate love to Lyna in the hopes of knocking her up. I did the same with Tola, Geeta and Longa. In the morning, Malok told me that I had gotten them all except Geeta. "Well, three out of four is pretty damn good," I laughed.

"Unfortunately, my physiology will make it fairly unlikely for me to have kids," said Malok.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I stated.

"There is a way you could help."

"Sorry, I'm sleeping with thirteen women already," I laughed.

"No, I would be too jealous to let that happen anyway. I was thinking if you could loan me some of your semen, I could modify it with my DNA. Then I could truly have children with my wives."

"How would you collect it?"

"Just use a sterile collection cup. There are a number of them in your medical supplies."

"Why would you give me those?"

"In case you got ill and could not treat yourself with the medical supplies you have. We would then collect it and run tests to see what the illness was and then we would send you the treatment."

"That makes sense," I admitted. "Okay, should I put the cup in the fridge when I'm done?"