Our unexpected lunch tasted so good.


    I expected the meat to taste terrible, but no, it was delicious, juicy, a little crispy on the outside, and so good. Cooking the crows had taught me a little about using a fire for cooking. Also, I wasn’t exhausted, and that helped, and I remembered any number of lessons I’d learned from my uncle.


    My little vegetarian dove in with gusto, and soon her face and fingers were greasy from the meat. We all would wash in the pool after the meal.


    After we ate, the girls went back to weaving our rope while I cleaned up. I was surprised at how much rope they had made when I was done. Billie insisted it was because they’d both grown up braiding hair.


    It was early afternoon when we hung our meat near our redwood perch. I used piece of our new rope to tie two haunches—the big back thighs of the deer—together so they could hang off the top of the tree.


    I would be taking the third haunch with me. I had a plan.


    The flies had already found the meat, and it wouldn’t be good for long. Too bad we didn’t have the resources to smoke it, salt it, or dry it. Not yet. That would change. I was just glad there were so many deer left in that herd we encountered. If I could find them once, I could find them again, when we were more prepared.


    Climbing up and down the mushroom tree was a pain in the fucking ass. There was no way that the redwood was going to be our permanent home. I was dying to know where the huntress was living, and if she was from a big tribe.


    Another part of me wanted to massacre the monsters, and then we could live on the ground, build a shelter, maybe add some fortifications. First, though we needed to rescue our rifle and supplies from the fleas.


    Before long, we were standing at the edge of the forest. Rainforest World’s sun was shining brightly through the various moons above. The sky above the strip of Earth was cloudy. The scarlet-tinged sky of the Red Dune World showed both suns heading toward a western horizon we’d never seen because our Earth sky and the Rainforest World’s sky blocked the view.


    So far, the red sands were still. The starship winked at us from the distance. There wasn’t a giant flea in sight.


    “Okay,” I said. “I’m betting that the fifteen feet of Earth is safe, but the bus is right next to the red sand. If I get close, I think that’s when the fun is going to start.”


    “It’s bigger,” the professor murmured.


    Billie rolled her eyes. “We know, professor. Sid’s dick is bigger. Gosh, can we not stop talking about sex for five minutes?”


    She was such a brat.


    The professor smiled patiently. “No. The mound, in the distance, it’s bigger.”


    Billie laughed and snorted like a middle school boy. “You said ‘mound.’”


    Where was the ultra-cool CrossFit queen? She seemed to be relaxing a little, showing us her dorkier side.


    I’d been so worried about the red dunes that I hadn’t really noticed the termite mound, but she was right. It was rising up into the sky, way in the distance. We could see shapes on the tower, moving about. They didn’t look like fleas to me.


    Okay. Then what were they?


    “It doesn’t matter,” I said, “unless they come looking for trouble. Fuck the desert. We have our very own rainforest, and there’s a reason why Brazil’s population is so much bigger than New Mexico’s. Let the bugs build their mound into the upper atmosphere, I don’t care. I care about getting our rifle and supplies. And dammit, I would love to get those bus seats out. Sleeping on wood isn’t very comfortable.”


    “It was terrible last night,” Billie complained.


    The professor nodded. “You’ll get no argument from me. If this goes quickly, I am hoping for a nap. I hardly slept a wink last night between the flea attack, the roars of the monsters, and the precariousness of our perch.


    “Well,” I said. “I’m considering our options. Let’s get our supplies and the rifle first.”


    I had a definite reason for bringing the haunch of meat, since I was pretty sure that we wouldn’t be able to get to the bus without encountering our flea friends.


    “Billie, you’ll have the rifle,” I said. “We want to ration our charges, since we don’t know if we’ll ever be able to recharge it. I didn’t see anything on the ship before, but Opal and I have come a long way in the past few hours. Just lay down suppression fire. Professor, you have the pistol as backup. Only use it for emergencies. We might all be running like hell back to the mushroom tree if things go south. We’ll see.”


    Carrying the hunk of meat over my shoulder on some of our homemade rope, I started for the bus. In the distance, the red sands rippled but nothing came closer.


    I could leap away, or that was the hope. I was still getting used to optimized body. I did have to wonder what would happen when Opal’s power levels got above 10%. Maybe I’d get further optimizations. Also, she was still analyzing our current situation. Maybe once she finished, she could tell me everything I needed to know about the strange world of K’Shaul.


    I approached the bus, getting closer and closer.


    That was when the first flea emerged from the red sand not five feet from the bus. Others joined it, popping their heads up out of the sand. Their eyes were only black dots on their weird faces.


    I wasn’t going to mess around. I whirled the alien deer meat around on the end of the rope and then flung it out as far as I could way out onto the red sands. All of those fleas leapt for it, hundreds of them, all fighting each other to get to the meat.


    My first thought had been to grab the rifle and bag, but standing there, I noticed that the energy storm had cut the bus in just the right place for me to grab the edge.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Those fleas were fighting over the meat so well that I had a minute.


    But was I strong enough to pull the bus into the forest?


    I grabbed it and heaved it up. Those back wheels were working perfectly. My muscles glowed as I pulled it across the dust of my world. I tore up some sagebrush, ripped through some juniper, but slowly but surely, I pulled it across the ground. Sweat covered every inch of me. It was funny, but the more I needed my strength, the more strength I seemed to have.


    Then, I pulled it into the forest, down the path. Ferns caught it, and I let out a yell and pulled it through the undergrowth.


    Losing my grip, I found myself on the ground.


    Both Billie and the Professor stood on the side, their eyes wide and their mouth hanging open.


    At first, I thought they were impressed with me, but no, they were pointing out at something. They weren’t saying a peep though.


    I grabbed the bus and hauled it another couple dozen feet through the rain forest. A few of the huge centipedes went running. One of those giant colorful spiders scurried away.


    Professor Kroft called to me in a whisper. “Sid. You should come and see this.”


    I left the bus and pushed my way through some broken ferns.


    I knew why the fleas hadn’t come racing to stop me from hauling away the bus.


    They were currently snacking on a giant rattlesnake the size of a dozen semi-truck trailers that had come slithering across the sands. I could see the tracks it had left behind, creating little mini dunes. It must’ve smelled the meat. However, the fleas had overwhelmed it. Unlike with whatever monsters were in the rain forest, that giant snake didn’t have the armor to survive. It was soon covered in the sand fleas, and they were all drinking it dry. It thrashed about, sending up clouds of dust, writing around, and then, it had lost too much blood and laid there as all the insects feasted.


    It was a pretty gruesome sight.


    Billie looked green.


    “Hey,” I said to her. “Don’t throw up. You can’t spare the calories.”


    She swallowed hard. Yeah, she was trying not to throw up. “That…that…that thing…it can’t be possible…”


    The professor was pale as well, with dark circles under her eyes. We needed to find a safe shelter, and we needed rest. The women had been pushed to the very edges of their sanity.


    Professor Kroft licked her lips. “The snake has brown and yellow markings, which isn’t good camouflage, and so, I don’t think it’s from Red Dune World. It must be from somewhere else, but where? I don’t understand. A creature that size couldn’t have come from the Rainforest World. We would have seen evidence of its passing.”


    “It doesn’t matter,” Billie erupted. “Because our guns wouldn’t do jack shit against it. We can’t fight stuff like that. And we can’t sleep in the bus on the ground. Because…because…because…”


    I waited for the explosion.


    Then I got it. she wailed one final word. “Monsters!”


    Then Billie was sobbing into Professor Kroft’s chest. The older woman stroked the cheerleader’s blond hair.


    I didn’t know how to respond. I did know one thing. We had guns we needed to recharge, and I wanted to check the starship, one more time, for anything we could use. Unlike the bus, hauling the starships back to the relative safety of Rainforest World wasn’t an option.


    “I’ll be right back,” I said as I grabbed the empty rifle and two pistols away from Billie.


    I moved past them and then I ran as fast as I could across our little strip of Earth. Then I launched myself into the air. I went flying into the air.


    Up high, I could see the grisly sight better.


    The stink of that snake would be stifling by the end of the day because that was a whole lot of meat to be left out in the blistering sun. I thought about trying to get to the meat, but no, it was covered in fleas, and their bodies were swelling. If I approached, they might see me as dessert.


    With the wind whistling in my ears, I started to float toward the ground, coming up fast. I relaxed and then I struck the ground and went rolling across the sands. I was going to have sand in every crack and crevice.


    Rising to my feet, I went running again, my boots churning in the sand. Sprinting through sand wasn’t so easy, so I launched myself again into the air. This time I tried to land more efficiently, using my speed to fuel my legs. That worked out better, and I hit a patch of hardened ground.


    I was close enough that I could sprint into the starship.


    Inside, I activated the ring’s display with the new name. “Opal, I need help recharging my weapons. Do you have news for me?”


    Static messed up my vision for a second. Then I was given the same old information. Unknown energy was probably magic. The ring needed more power. Opal was still evaluating our current situation. Blah, blah, blah.


    I was simply glad that I could pull up the HUD when I needed it.


    “Opal, yes, I know all that. But I need to recharge you, and I need to recharge our guns. Can you help with that?”


    The message I got was bad.


    <<<>>>


    ERROR: Loss of bridge integrity due to Ravana Storm. AQUIA charging station not detected.


    ERROR: C13 Charging Station detected. Error. Main reactor offline. Power unavailable. Please start Paraxen Explorer J-Class Starship to begin charging.


    WARNING: Primary Misson Incomplete


    <<<>>>


    “Okay, Opal, what is your primary mission.”


    I was then told, in no uncertain terms, that it was still evaluating my current circumstances, and that I should shut the hell up.


    “Well, you told me,” I grumbled. “Opal, how do I start the Paraxen Explorer.”


    Opal seemed to get testy.


    <<<>>>


    This unit is in error state.


    Error: Power source low. 3% of full. Please charge to at least 10% for minimal functionality.


    Paraxen Explorer was critically damaged by a Ravana Storm. Unable to bring the main reactor online.


    This unit cannot comply. HOST queries not prioritized.


    Evaluation taking priority.


    Results of evaluation pending…


    <<<>>>


    It wasn’t all bad news. A Ravana Storm had brought us to K’Shaul, and it had basically damaged the starship beyond repair. Opal’s batter was under four percent. That wasn’t good.


    I did a cursory glance around the starship but didn’t see anything new. I was probably missing something, but if I didn’t get back to the rainforest, I’d be flea bait.


    Leaving the spaceship, I took three giant steps and then I leapt maybe fifty feet in the air. I came down a hundred feet from where I’d jumped. A few fleas pulled away from the giant rattlesnake, clumsily coming after me. They were ridiculously swollen with blood.


    Three more jumps and I was back in the forest, my leg muscles glowing. My bones had to be stronger because landing wasn’t all that painful.


    I spun and saw a few of the giant sand fleas digging around where the bus had been. They might’ve eyed the forest, but they weren’t coming in after us.


    Maybe whatever had eaten a bunch of them the night before had them rethinking about returning to our territory. Well, the mysterious monsters were good for at least one thing.


    “Why did you bring the bus back here?” Professor Kroft asked, still holding Billie.


    “Because we need those seats. I think there might be something in the toolbox I can use to take them out of the bus. Also, that metal might come in handy.”


    Billie blinked at me, mouth hanging open. “You can like fly.”


    “Jumping is not flying, Billie. But I do all right.”


    She kept stealing glances at me. If she only liked football players, well, I had become something far better.


    We talked more about why I’d gone to the starship and how I’d made it back. But for most of that afternoon, I worked on removing the seats. I did find a wrench-like tool that helped me with the bolts, and it was evening when we started back to your redwood, dragging three seats behind us by their seat belts. That bus was as much of a treasure trove as the starship had been.


    After all that running, jumping, and working, I was hungry. My optimized muscles needed fuel. Luckily, we didn’t have to hunt. We still had at least a hundred pounds of meat hanging off the mushroom tree.


    Or we did.


    Only one haunch was there, wedged between another branch and the trunk.


    Professor Kroft frowned. “An animal wouldn’t have only taken one haunch. Nor would they have run off with our rope. No, it seemed your huntress is also a thief.”


    “Not my huntress,” I muttered.


    “That bitch!” Billie screamed. “That fucking bitch stole our meat!”


    She went on and on, but I was too busy looking at the ground. Her sandal prints marked the ground, and there were long marks of her dragging the big hunk of meat. That was why she needed the rope.


    It was the huntress, and she’d left a trail for me to follow.