Island Girls 2 Page 18

  The roof and wall construction were nearly identical to our home, but the overall design was not. This place had several windows, all sealed up, and a narrow door in the center. The same blue goo was gathering on the building, growing into a fuzzy moss in a few areas near the ground. An abandoned residence, I concluded. But for who?

  I sent Jayla to circle the building as Nancy and I stayed in front. I didn't want any surprises. When the black hottie rejoined us with nothing to say, I motioned for her to open the door. The handle was covered with the slimy growth causing her to pull her hand back with distaste at first. On her second attempt, she swung the door open quickly.

  It was dark inside, and we had no flashlights. I let my eyes gradually adjust as I approached, keeping alert for any movement. By the time I stood in the doorway, I could make out most of the details of the home. It appeared to be empty but organized. No dead bodies. No food left out to rot. Even the bed was made properly.

  I released a latch on a window cover on each side of the door from the inside and instructed my girls to pull them open. Light flooded the room to reveal nothing additional, except the styling of the furniture. At first, I registered that it was simply a different design than what we were accustomed. It wasn't until Nancy pulled a chair out from the table that the most important feature became apparent.

  It was too small for my ass. The girls would be able to slide into one with their sexy narrow hips, but it would be tight. The house was designed for Thesphilians, not humans.

  We checked the place over for supplies and found nothing of value. It was nice to be back on dry land briefly. Other than that, the visit didn't yield much for the time that it took. Except a vital piece of information. Thesphilians also lived on this planet. We were expecting to only come across human civilizations. Since the aliens built the towns where Jayla's people and the other humans lived, we would not be able to know the difference from a distance.

  As I strolled down the hill with my adventurous duo, I noticed Lin on high alert. Though still seated in our boat, her pistol was pointed down the shoreline to my right. A few more steps revealed what she was aiming at. Aguiti. There were two of them standing upright in shallow water about a hundred feet away.

  From my vantage point I could clearly see more of the hostile creatures swimming below the surface near the boat. They were darting back and forth like panicked fish making it difficult to count them. There were at least five. All the women in the boat were focused on the two native creatures down the shoreline instead of the closer threat.

  "Shira, Nevenah," I yelled to them. "Grab your spears and point them toward the water. Shira immediately did as I instructed. Nevenah, though, pulled her body away from the edge in a panic when she realized why I gave the order. She made no attempt to grab her spear. That told me how much I would be able to count on her in a crisis. Not much.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement to my right. Glancing that way, I could see both fish men there dive back into the water. Our numbers, or our firepower, scared them off.

  Those swimming on Shira's side of the boat were keeping their distance. Nevenah's section, however, was about to be boarded by one of those scaly things. Lin was still facing the other direction. I dropped my alien pulse rifle and swung the familiar assault rifle to the front on its sling harness. It was adjusted perfectly for me to quickly grab the handle and fire off a shot using the red dot scope.

  The bullet went straight through the upper body of the fish man, where the shoulders would be on a human. Without a cry it dove back into the water. Those crowding around the boat below then scattered.

  I stood cautiously on the slimy dock watching for more aggression that never came. Once everyone else was boarded and situated, I untied the moorings and pushed off.

  "What did you find on the island?" Lin asked once we were sure that we were out of danger.

  "A house, empty," I replied. "It appeared to be abandoned for some time." I looked over at Delilah for any telltale sign that she knew what we would find. Between her ability to deceive, and her alien expressions, I simply couldn’t tell. Addressing her I asked, "Have your people ever lived on this planet?"

  "Not to my knowledge," she answered calmly. "Was their evidence of our kind there?"

  "Just skinny ass chairs," Nancy answered. Delilah looked her way and appeared to be in thought. I waited to see if she would reveal something. She didn't.

  "Any reason why you didn't tell us to expect Thesphilians living here?" I asked.

  Delilah turned to face me again, as calm as ever. "Purely a lack of knowledge. I am not aware of any habitation program for this planet. Perhaps it was an isolated attempt. I seriously doubt that it was part of a large program since I've come across no record of it. It must have happened before I became involved here. Did it appear to be recently occupied?”

  "No," I answered her, disappointed that once again her explanation held merit. It seemed like a logical conclusion, but reasoning things out was much harder when I knew so little about the world around me.

  We continued on our way as the sun began to set behind us. The house we discovered on the island would have provided security enough for a night's stay. However, those aggressive sea creatures made me uncomfortable with leaving our boat unguarded. It would suck big time to get stranded there.

  I instructed everyone to sleep as I kept watch, continuing to paddle from the back corners. Only Delilah and Nevenah followed my orders immediately. The others said that they would be more comfortable staying awake on the open sea. That was understandable. I felt the same way. But we couldn't all be tired when we came across something dangerous.

  I told Lin and Jayla to get some rest, even if they couldn't fall asleep. They were the two strongest after me, and the most skilled with the weapons. Should I begin to get sleepy, it would be best that they were in good shape to take over.

  Moonlight shined upon the surface of the sea, but we were no longer able to see below it. Our previous experience with the Aguiti suggested that they preferred to be active during the day. That might not be true of those living in the open sea, though. Additionally, whatever those huge shadows were would be totally undetectable until they were right under us, should they choose to attack. Spending the night at sea was even more nerve-racking than I had expected.

  A couple uneventful hours later, I suggested that Nancy and Shira get some rest. Lin and Jayla happily grabbed their oars. Like me, they preferred to see what was going on. They had remained quiet with their eyes closed while resting, but I doubted that they actually slept. I was certain that I would not be able to do so. Anytime I began to feel sleepy, I imagined something terrible happening to the women that I loved. Adrenaline rushed through my veins to immediately return me to an alert state, even if it was short lived.

  Less than an hour after the ladies’ shift change, I spotted another island just off to the left. It was so tiny, only two trees stood there, and no grass. It was simply a sandy bump in the ocean, not more than thirty feet across.

  We steered over that direction and floated for a couple minutes, waiting to see if anything would be taking offense to our presence. The Aguiti were very territorial from our experience. Unfortunately, without the ability to see into the water, we were unsure. After a short while I decided to pull our boat ashore. It took up much of the island. With no natural shelter, we stayed inside the boat for what limited cover it provided.

  Somehow, being beached provided a better sense of security. Both Shira and Nancy were able to sleep right away, the latter alerting us to her condition by snoring. I encouraged Lin to get some rest while I stood guard with Jayla. I wanted to get a couple hours shuteye myself before we continued. Our book end waifs, one pitch black the other pale white, consistently had no difficulty sleeping under any circumstances. If only we could count on them to contribute to our defenses. An extra set of eyes was all that either could offer so far.

  The early morning sunlight backlit my eyelids to stir me awake.
I had slept more than I expected. If all was well with the world, that was a good thing. Get your rest when you can. You never know what lies ahead.

  There were no attacks while I slept. Not even a stir in the ocean the rest of the night, Lin informed me. The waves were as gentle here as they were at our place. Perhaps the entire world was like that. I didn't know much about science but assumed that there was an explanation for it. Maybe there were no deep trenches anywhere, or the two moons worked together to stabilize their gravitational effects on the world. Whatever the reason, it made our expedition easier.

  It was late afternoon before we spotted more land. With no rain, or dense cloud cover, we were burning through our water supply faster than I expected. Even half of our fruit was devoured already. We could still last a few more days without rain to drink, but hopefully we wouldn't have to go that long.

  The land mass was directly in front of us, and considerably larger than any of the islands that we had visited so far. There were no steep cliffs there like those we found on the northern island which was previously the largest piece of land in our limited history of sea voyages. Extensive vegetation lined the shoreline making it difficult to see much beyond.

  Trees similar to the ones that we had experienced before had their fruit on display. Some thicker, shorter growth was new to us. We veered right, to the south, to get a better view and possibly identify a suitable location to pull ashore. It wasn't long before we saw another dock jutting out into the blue liquid. This one had two boats moored up already. They were rectangular like ours but made from metal in a much more uniform fashion. Human fishing boats is what came to mind immediately. A bulky net draped over the side of one of them supported that assessment.

  We floated once more, waiting for a welcome party, whether friendly or hostile. We'd like to know before we dock what we are up against.

  "Jayla," I asked the toned beauty as she gazed hopefully at the land before us. "Is this your home?"

  "I don't think so," she replied. "I kept mostly to one side of the island. But the far side was thick with growth like this. I don't remember there being a dock like that, though."

  Jayla had informed us that her people did not have any advanced weapons. Spears, bows, arrows, were all that they were allowed. Delilah said the same of the other three islands that she knew of. I asked again, just to be sure, and she stuck to her story. Again, her safety was at stake so there was no reason to doubt her.

  Our motion finally drifted us until we were straight out from the small pier, less than a hundred feet of sea between us. The view lined us up with a path that led into the dense woods. It was several feet wide, and mostly straight. In the distance I spotted a structure. It was too hidden to identify but was definitely something that had been constructed.

  "Does that look familiar, Jayla?"

  "Yes, it does," she replied. "It is the same height as our town perimeter walls. This might be my home," she said with excitement. Glancing around at my crew I saw them all grinning at the prospect. Could it be? After all this time? Something that resembled freedom? A life worth living? A community?

  I felt my spirits lifting as well. Despite my dedication to skepticism, for the sake of the safety of my women, I couldn't help it. That was until I noticed a wide grin on Delilah's face, too. Was she happy at the possibility of ending the sea voyage? Maybe. She complained much of her time awake, claiming to have never been on such a pathetic vessel in all her life until she met us.

  Or, maybe she knew where we were. But that in itself didn't say much. I had to ask, even knowing that there was a good chance that I’d be receiving an untruthful response.

  "Delilah?"

  "Yes, Joah," she responded, smiling directly at me.

  "Where are we?"

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:

  "I'm not sure," Delilah replied, still unable to suppress her mild elation. Perhaps she wasn't trying. "But it appears to be one of the four islands occupied by humans. It might even be Jayla's home. Did you see any other land masses close by?"

  I shook my head. I had looked in all directions as we approached the island. According to our alien prisoner, the three colonies that did not include the island where Jayla grew up were grouped close enough together to be visible.

  "You seem too happy," Jayla said to her. "My people won't receive you very well, you know."

  "Joah will protect me," she replied confidently.

  "Why would I do that?"

  "Because you like me," she said. "Whether you admit it or not, you all do. You and your friends here are my new family."

  "Fuck that," Jayla replied, getting a chuckle out of a few of us. "I'm going to turn you over to the next visiting shuttle."

  "I told you," Delilah said without showing any concern. "They don't want me back. I'm here to stay, whether you like it or not."

  I stared at her in disbelief for a moment, then returned to searching the land for activity or clues before approaching the dock. Any way I looked at it, we had to go ashore and see who lived there.

  The dock was short and already occupied on both sides. Instead of tying up our raft on the end, I opted for pulling it completely ashore like we did at our place. With all the gear, it was a bit of a struggle. Dirt and grass were noticeably harder to slide it over than sand. I left only the last few feet of the boat touching the water.

  Hopefully, we wouldn't need to leave here in a hurry. It seemed unlikely since we were armed to the teeth in comparison to our expected greeting party. I had Jayla in the front with me, in case she would be recognized by any guards that we come across. That could make a huge difference in how well we were received.

  Lin guarded our rear with Delilah directly in front of her. We didn't bother to bind her in any way. I felt confident in our ability to protect ourselves from her should she decide to do anything, which wasn’t the least bit likely. So far, she had not made the slightest movement against our will. Additionally, approaching an unknown colony with someone bound could be a negative. Even an alien. It was hard to tell how that would be viewed without first knowing who lived here.

  We approached cautiously as we walked bare foot along the seemingly well-traveled path. Only Delilah had shoes. Never had I witnessed her removing them. I had no idea what her feet looked like. I didn't have a foot fetish, but I was curious. I also wondered if they would have an odor from being trapped for so long. Mine sure would, at least inside leather. Maybe the advanced material of her boots eliminated that possibility. Come to think of it, she never had a noticeable scent like the rest of us after working on a project for hours, not that she really exerted herself.

  Small critters made noise in the brush, but none ever jumped out into view. A few birds like we had seen before flew above the structure. That was not an indication of anything. The path bent slightly to the left, then again to the right before leading directly to the structure that we had glimpsed from a distance. We then had an unobstructed view of it.

  Roughly fifteen feet high, a wooden gate blocked our view of the town beyond. To each side was a matching wall. There were no guard towers visible, which seemed weird to me. How would they know when to open the gate or turn visitors away? But, then again, Jayla said that they never received any guests except from the sky.

  "Do you recognize this gate?" I asked Jayla.

  "Yes and no," she replied slowly, obviously confused by what she was seeing.

  "I don't like that answer," Nancy muttered. Lin and Shira grumbled agreement.

  "We have gates like this," Jayla explained. "But they are never closed. At least not on the front side of the island. Of course, if this had always been closed, I might have thought it just a wall from the inside."

  "Joah," Shira said. "Do you think that we should get back on the boat and approach from the other side?"

  "That might actually be a good idea," Jayla replied.

  "Really?" Delilah said with a rare display of emotion. "You want to walk all the way back there and get back on that nauseating
raft?" It earned her no kind looks from the ladies, though Nevenah appeared to have been in agreement.

  "We're already here," I told them. "Let's check it out. We can always go back if we can't get in this way."

  I guided them the remaining steps to approach the tall set of double doors. Jayla may have been correct. The gate did look like part of the wall, even from the outside. However, if it never got opened why was the path up to it so well-traveled?

  I took another look at the ground below and saw signs of trampled growth. It was possible that the walkway had not been used for some time, then recently received a heavy dose of foot traffic to accomplish the same look. I was embarrassed that I had not deduced that before, but we were dealing with an alien planet. I couldn't always figure these things out.

  The grove of trees on each side of the path were thick, but we could use them for cover in a pinch. Mobility would be very limited. I saw no evidence that anyone else had stepped into the woods. Whoever trampled down the path didn't touch the vegetation off the walkway.