Storm World Ch. 10

I am not going to burden you with the details, but this chapter took much longer to post than I had hoped because I got sent out of town twice on the same project. The second time was because some asshat did not know how to drive a forklift. The good thing is that I am back home and do not have to go into work until Monday.

Anyway, chapter 11 is in bits and pieces, but mostly done. Chapter 12 is well underway. I don't think anything happening here will need to be changed so I feel comfortable posting before 12 is completely roughed out.

Keep in mind that I am still not reading anonymous emails. If you want me to read your messages you will need to be logged into your Literotica account before sending a PM.

Note: When you see an asterisk (*) after a word you will find a definition or note at the end of the chapter.

Characters:

Commander M`peth qHo – Thahn `Den – Intelligence Branch. Leader of the survivors.

Pilot Officer (Pilot) Liat `del Qha – Pah`Tht – First officer of the Char`Noth. Second in command.

Chief Weapons Officer (Gunner) Chep `Urt vEss – dTel`Qohar – Second officer of the Char`Noth.

Ima` Nef`Tn – dTel`Qohar – Weapons technician.

TaH `Kiy mTh – Thahn`Den – Engineer.

Tem l`eth tong – dTel`Qohar – Veteran weapons specialist.

Ty`em P`tral – Thahn `Den – Engineer

For additional notes please go to Literotica Discussion Board > Main Literotica Forums > Authors' Hangout > The Savage Shore Universe.

Chapter 10

Day one of the expedition: The Jungle

"You are tired today, Ben `Jamin," Ima` Nef`Tn said mildly as if she were just making an observation. At least, that was what it sounded like. The two of them were sitting side by side, taking the mid-day meal, enjoying an exceptionally rare patch of sunshine that had somehow broken through the cloud cover.

"I am," he replied with a smirk. There was a twinkle in his eye when he gave her a sideways glance. Her whiskers vibrated in response, betraying her true intent. He smirked ironically and said, "That was not something I expected."

The pretty dTel`Qohar snickered, covering her mouth in the manner of one who does not wish to offend. The look on Benjamin's face threatened to tip her giggle into a full on belly laugh, but she looked away and took a deep breath to stave it off. The memory of meeting Tem l`eth tong coming out of the passage leading to the 'secret' chamber first thing in the morning almost made her laugh again. She forced the mirth down to a manageable level and took a large bite of cold fish to give herself time to recover.

After their encounter in the shower Benjamin and Tem l`eth tong had gone quietly and unobtrusively to the trysting place and spent the night making love. For her part, Ima` Nef`Tn had spent a comfortable and restful night on Benjamin's cot, enjoying his scent which was very strong on his pillow. When she had awoken alone her curiosity was roused. Venturing to the back of the cave to investigate she met Tem l`eth tong clad only in her undershirt walking rather wobbly up the narrow passage with a slack, bemused expression and a sagging tail. Briefly, the two had commiserated on the after effects of a night with Benjamin. Ima` Nef`Tn had recommended a light muscle relaxant and plenty of water to help the older dTel`Qohar recover.

When Benjamin had finally joined the group of jZav`Etch around the fire for breakfast shortly before dawn, he looked haggard and not his usual energetic self in spite of his change of clothes; a fresh pair of shorts with large pockets on the sides and back, a long sleeved tunic with several small pockets on the front and a pair of tough looking sandals he said he had made from the hide of some sea creature because they were more practical than his boots in the sort of conditions they were going to face out on the island. The females, including the commander, had all smiled knowingly at his appearance, ears and tails flicking. The males had more or less ignored him. Benjamin had said little until after he'd had three cups of his tea which seemed to revive him, though it did not take away the dark bags under his eyes.

"I get the impression you slept well enough," Benjamin said while Ima` Nef`Tn was still chewing her mouthful of fish. She nodded fervently, blinking innocently as if wondering why he would ask. "You might have warned me ahead of time."

Ima` Nef`Tn swallowed hard and chuckled, "What fun would that have been?"

Benjamin snorted and slowly shook his head, smiling ironically.

"I do feel sorry for Tem l`eth tong, though," she went on.

"For her?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, she is ten summers older than I am," the young jZav`Etch said mildly, though the tip of her tail flicked. "It is more difficult for older females to recover from strenuous activities than one of my age."

"She said you were hurting," Benjamin said, sounding more serious.

Ima` Nef`Tn glanced bashfully at him and looked down, embarrassed.

"You could have said something," he said. "I mean, it's not like we have to have sex every night."

She shot him a hard look as if she were about to snap at him. They were not mated to each other, bound with a pledge of Chaq` Ka` shisk* and she owed him nothing. Seeing his genuinely curious expression, though, she recovered before saying something regrettable. Benjamin waited patiently, inviting her to speak her mind.

"I wanted to," she finally said, flicking her ears and slapping her tail on the ground. "We are in danger all of the time. I liked it. Sex with you made me forget. It felt... comforting. The other females were curious. Tem l`eth tong had not been with a male for a long time and we were about to leave her alone with Ty`em P`tral to look after."

"And you wanted her to forget her troubles?" Benjamin asked, puzzled by this alien way of thinking, but understanding the intent. At least, he thought he understood.

"For one night," Ima` Nef`Tn said soberly. "Maybe the last night."

Benjamin frowned at that and tried to understand her meaning. He did not get the impression that Ima` Nef`Tn meant Tem l`eth tong would never be allowed to join him privately again. It was almost...

"You think one of us might die," he said.

"Perhaps," Ima` Nef`Tn said, nodding. "And she does not like either of the other males. She was curious about you. She has never mated with any but jZav`Etch. It is not common among our people. I had not either. Only two males of my own kind. They are different from you Humans."

"Of course they are," he said, glancing at Chep `Urt vEss and TaH `Kiy mTh who sat on a large stone several meters away.

"They do not stay afterward," she said glumly. "They go. They finish and go. It has always been that way."

"Do not your people have families?" Benjamin asked.

"Yes," she said, puzzled. "My mother and father and my younger sister live together."

"Oh," he said. "The way you said the males go away I thought you meant they do not make families. I thought the males might not help rear the children."

"Rear?" she asked. "What does that mean?"

"Care for the children and teach them as they grow," he said.

"Oh yes!" she said with a blossoming smile. "My father taught me many things! I learned hunting and fishing and how to ride animals. He showed me how to prepare meat and how to cook it. And my mother taught me how to... What is the word? Oversee? I think that is right. How to oversee a household. To help with maintaining the home and cooking and attending to paying debts. Many things they taught me!"

"Good," he said, pleased to see her smile again. "Good. We should talk more about your people. I would like to know."

"What else would you like to know?" she asked happily, taking his arm in both her hands and leaning close, smiling into his face.

"All about you," he said, smiling back and giving her a kiss on the nose. "But we have sat here long enough. Everyone is rested and we need to get going. The commander is looking at her map again, I think."

"Benjamin, one more thing I want to know," she said, restraining him with a hand.

"What?" he asked.

"Why did you take Chep `Urt vEss fishing with you? You could have asked me or one of the others, even TaH `Kiy mTh."

Benjamin settled next to her again and looked pensive. He glanced over at the big dTel`Qohar gunner and then back to Ima` Nef`Tn.

"I needed to figure him out a little better," he finally said. "He went for me once and if the issue was not settled, I wanted to know before we came out here in the middle of nowhere."

"I do not understand," she said, shooting a glance at the gunner.

"I needed to know if I could turn my back on him without him attacking me," Benjamin explained. "I gave him plenty of chances while we were out there. It was the perfect opportunity for him. He could have killed me and told the rest of you an animal had done it."

"He would have been lost in the wilderness had he done so," she argued.

"He could have found his way back easily," said Benjamin. "There are only two channels between the cave and the place I took him fishing. He might have had some trouble with the canoe, but he could have gotten back just fine."

"What if he had tried killing you?" she asked. "Would you have killed him?"

"No," Benjamin said, shaking his head. "That would have put me in bad with the commander and the rest of you. If it had played out like that, I would have taken him alive and let your people decide what to do with him."

"Do you trust him now?" she asked.

"More or less," he said. "I do not know if he likes me, but now I know he is not going to kill me outright. He might let something else kill me. I do not believe he will stab me in the back, though."

Ima` Nef`Tn considered his reasoning and slowly nodded. It had been a gamble for Benjamin to have done that, but the risk had not been high. She nodded again and with a warm smile she kissed him.

"Come on, Babe," he said, patting her leg. "Time to get going."

*****

M`peth qHo made one more check of their position on the navigational display of her HUD. It was not as bad as she had feared. Benjamin had advised leaving the cave through the grotto rather than out of the rear passage and going down the side of the ridge as they had done to recover the parts from the spinner. He had explained that while it looked as if the distance to the beacon from the grotto was greater than the back exit of the cavern, they would be able to travel in a straighter line and on more level terrain, thus saving time. Thanks to the heavy jungle growth around them she could not see more than half a dozen Jiq'a * in any direction. According to her positioning system, they were already a tTriel Da* from the cave. Not far enough, but still good progress through such jungle as this.

It was due to the storm knocking down one of the forest giants that they had seen the patch of clear sky and Benjamin had insisted on stopping to rest while they could enjoy the sun. In spite of the urgency she felt, the sunlight had instantly improved the morale of her people and a brief stop for a meal was no bad thing.

"Commander," said Liat `del Qha. "It is time to call Tem l`eth tong."

"Do so," M`peth qHo told her. "I hope she has good news."

The commander glanced around at the group. Benjamin was sitting with Ima` Nef`Tn seemingly enjoying conversation. They looked amused about something and she could easily guess what. In fact, she was looking forward to hearing the story of the previous night as soon as it was passed to Liat `del Qha.

As relaxed as the Human appeared, though, his habitual glances at the surrounding forest told her he remained on guard. That was very good. So far, her sensors had picked up nothing except when on active search. This was a very strange planet with all manner of creatures. Her own experience of the previous day told her standard jZav`Etch fleet or general purpose equipment was not as useful here as she would like. Marine or army equipment would have been much better, but her suit was the best they had.

That thought made her look at the males who were sitting on a rock across the small clearing from her. The contrast between them was more marked than usual. Chep `Urt vEss had chosen to wear only the torso of his environment suit. The rest, including his helmet and boots, was strapped to his survival pack. He had taken the precaution of detaching his communication headset and wearing it, but otherwise was relying on his natural senses to warn him of danger. He had also armed himself with one of Benjamin's spears, thinking it would be useful if they came across some prey they might eat, rather than depleting their rations. TaH `Kiy mTh, on the other hand, wore his full suit with the visor down. This in spite of his youth spent in jungles not unlike this island's. Something odd about that male, but it took all types to serve the Hegemony. She held little hope that TaH `Kiy mTh would ever rise in his station, no matter how many females he might please. Merit, not mating, had always determined a soldier's rank.

"Tem l`eth tong reports satisfactory progress, Commander," Liat `del Qha said cheerily, breaking into M`peth qHo's thoughts. "She says they have been able to clear all foreign matter from the motor and fans and they are about to test them. She expresses continued confidence in her design and thinks it likely she will have the whole machine ready to mount when we return."

"Excellent!" M`peth qHo said, glad for the good news. "We need to get moving. Please tell the others of the engineer's progress."

*****

Time dragged on. Forest for as far as the eye could see with no hope of an end. Climbing over dead trees and avoiding small, venomous creatures became routine. Benjamin insisted they not kill anything outright, warning that doing so would only draw in other creatures that might be worse. The only blessing, it seemed, was the total absence of flying things. There were no insects or anything like them in the air because there was no advantage to flying on Storm World. The opposite was actually the case. A strong wind could come up at any time and splatter such a thing on tree or stone. Evolution favored those animals that could cling to a surface for days on end. Therefore, powerful legs with sharp claws were the norm with the addition of tentacles in many cases. Benjamin had told them it was not a universal aspect, though. He said when they cleared the jungle they would likely see a group of creatures he had named George, Gracie, Ward and June. When M`peth qHo had asked what they looked like he had told her he did not want to spoil the surprise. Well, it would be at least another full day before they would experience that particular surprise so there was little sense in speculating.

"Benjamin," M`peth qHo said tiredly as she climbed onto another fallen tree with a diameter greater than her height. "Would it not be easier to simply go around these trunks?"

"It might be," he said, nodding. "When was your last active scan?"

M`peth qHo had set her sensors to automatically scan their surroundings every twelve Taq`a*. That interval would not run the power cell down dramatically before they returned to the cave in a few days. She frowned at Benjamin and did an active scan. Far behind them, following their trail as recorded in the positioning software's memory, were two shapes roughly as large as Pah`Tht.

"What are they?" she asked him.

"What are what?" replied Benjamin with raised brows.

"The creatures following us," she said tiredly, in no mood for games. "How did you know they were there?"

"I don't know what they are," he said. "And I didn't actually know they were there. This is Storm World, Commander. I knew something would find our scent and would follow it."

"You have no idea what these creatures are?" she demanded, worried. "Are they likely to be predators?"

"Very likely," he said and helped Liat `del Qha onto the top of the giant log. "The thing is, they could also be herbivores. Lots of creatures here follow other creatures in hopes of an easy meal."

"And how does climbing over the trees help us?" she asked.

"They have to find their way over," he explained. "Or they have to go around. If they go around, they're likely to get distracted by some other scent that's easier to follow. Even the ones that are better than the rest at climbing aren't as good as you or me. They aren't really built to climb over this sort of obstacle."

"You say they follow scents," she said.

Benjamin nodded. By now all of the jZav`Etch other than M`peth qHo were on the far side of the tree waiting for them. M`peth qHo glanced down at the group and then checked her HUD again for the position of the stalking creatures. There were no major obstructions between her and them. Drawing her weapon she turned and aimed.

"What the fuck?" barked Benjamin, lunging in to smack her hand down before she could fire.

Rounding on him, she snapped, "Ben `Jamin!"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he growled back.

"I was planning to kill one as you did when three were stalking you," she snarled and jerked her hand away.

"That's how you got the skipper killed!" he growled as if he had not heard her. His breath was ragged and his eyes wild. Violence lurked just below the surface, ready to explode at the slightest provocation.

"Benjamin," she said, forcing calm into her voice. "I did not get your captain killed."

He glowered at her. Confusion mingled with his anger and slowly he returned to the present.

"Commander, what is going on?" Chep `Urt vEss said from below. All of the cats had drawn their weapons and were staring at the pair still on the log.

"Creatures are following," she replied, not taking her eyes off Benjamin. "Remain alert."

"It was Troi," Benjamin said thickly. He eased back half a step, but remained tense and ready to act. "She tried that. Just like you. You can't kill one without drawing in more."

"You did," M`peth qHo said, frowning.

"You really don't understand, do you?" Benjamin asked, squinting down their back trail. He licked his lips and grimaced bitterly.

"I understand we are being hunted just as you were," she replied coldly. "And if I shoot one of those creatures the other will stop hunting us. You did it."

"No I didn't!" he said hotly. "I crippled one. Crippled it! Understand? Broke a couple of its legs so the other two would finish it!"

"Why can we not do that now?" she demanded, her voice rising in pitch as her temper began to smolder.

"These things evolved under the sea!" Benjamin all but shouted. "They hunt by scent. Their sense of smell is highly developed. Better than yours by a long shot. The smell of a dead one would attract predators for a kilometer around. And I only crippled one of those poly-pods! I had time to get out of there before the scent of blood got in the air. Remember all those little things in the grotto yesterday after Tem l`eth tong shot that poly-pod? Those were just the ones that were close. If I hadn't dragged it away there would have been more and bigger ones. Kill one of those two back there and we'll be marching right into the jaws of something else up the trail."