Every Man's Fantasy Ch. 09

Afterward, with Kalyndra untied, the three of them lay huddled together, Devon squashed in between. Ezra was exhausted and fell fast asleep but the girls were still buzzing from their sexual highs and couldn't rest.

"Do you want to talk, Kalyndra?"

"Shush! You'll wake him."

"He's probably awake anyway: he's very good at pretending to sleep."

Devon pushed him a bit to check. He groaned and rolled over, releasing his share of the old coarse blanket. She stripped it from him and pulled it over Kalyndra and herself.

"That's not fair, Devon!" Kalyndra whispered.

"Of course it's fair! He's naturally hotter than us. Besides, he won't notice if he's really asleep."

But Kalyndra wouldn't settle until she'd covered Ezra again, even if it meant she was partly outside the blanket herself. Devon solved the problem by lying on her girlfriend. They kept each other warm.

"You're an amazing lover, Kalyndra. I wish I'd made a move ages ago."

"So do I, but what's past is past. We have our whole lives now to make up for missed opportunities."

"True. ... So, tell me: which do you prefer, cock or pussy?"

"That's not a fair question."

"Sure it is. I know the answer myself."

"Go on."

"Well, before I would have said it depends on the pussy but now I know."

"Yes?" Kalyndra waited, amused by her sleepless girlfriend.

"Now I prefer cock. ... Ow! No, stop! Ow! That tickles. Ow! I'm joking, I'm joking."

Kalyndra held Devon close and soothingly rubbed the ribs she had just been pinching. But Devon remembered something else she wanted to tease Kalyndra about.

"He calls you Kali. That's sweet: a pet name."

"What of it?"

"Nothing. Only, it must be nice to have a pet."

Kalyndra rammed two fingers into Devon's snatch.

"Oh God! Sorry, sorry," Devon whimpered. "Ow! Please?"

Kalyndra twisted her fingers around. Devon's eyes rolled up in her head and she tried to pull away. She didn't want her over-sensitised pussy to have another wrenching orgasm forced from her, but she was held firmly and to fight too hard would definitely wake Ezra.

"I'm sorry, Kalyndra, you're not his pet."

"Oh, but I am his pet and happy to be so. Shall I make you my pet?"

"Yes, yes, anything! Please?"

"You'll obey me?"

"Like hell, I will. ... Ow! Ow! Yes, yes, I'll obey!"

"Good."

The girls were laughing hard but also trying to whisper, which made them giggle even more.

"I love you, Devon. I'm glad we found each other, at last."

"I love you, Kalyndra. You've given me the most amazing day of my life!"

So they slept at last - and were still sleeping next day when Thalassa knocked on the doorpost to fetch Ezra for breakfast.

Calliope, Ferne and Leanne had already eaten and were preparing for the meeting at the forest-edge. Dazed and still sleepy, Ezra sat down for a swift meal before they set off. The ambassadors carried water, a packed lunch and a basket of smoked fish as a gift for Mirselene. Thalassa made a fifth member of the party. She was hoping to meet Urulla and her other Woodlander friends.

3 The chiefs meet

The two parties reached the meeting-place at about the same time in the morning. Mirselene was there with Casti, her second-in-command, and half the Woodlander tribe. It didn't take Calliope long to announce what had happened to the Mariners but it took much longer to satisfy all the queries of the shocked Woodlanders.

Mirselene herself listened to the story of the mutiny with a stony face. It was clear she didn't approve of tribal chiefs being deposed. When all the circumstances of Belena's crimes were known, however, she had no complaint but welcomed Calliope as her sister. Then the two chiefs, Ferne and Casti (their lieutenants) got down to business.

Thalassa and Urulla went off together to catch up. Ezra spoke to Sharne, Dipti and the others. Annela had stayed behind in the camp. She was well and the baby was kicking wildly. Dipti was nearly five months pregnant and looked wonderful. So did Sharne, who was four months gone. Their bellies stuck out proud and warm. Ezra didn't get much time with his old bedmates: Parvinder sent Dagma and him to chop more fire-wood for stock.

This was typical on Samothea, especially among the Woodlanders. Stone tools, an unyielding soil, no television and few books meant that spare time was devoted to work. It was rare to see anyone in the forest not performing a chore. Even when they sat around gossiping, most women would be preparing food, spinning thread or weaving.

Dagma and Ezra had replenished the store of logs when he was called over by Mirselene. After some surprisingly firm negotiation by Calliope, the current trade agreement was confirmed and now Mirselene - his chief still - had a private question. She took him to one side.

"How are you being treated, Ezra?"

"Very well, Madam."

"Good. Do you trust Calliope?"

"Yes."

"Completely?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

"Did she tell you my part in the coup?" he asked.

"She did."

"About how your suspicions about Belena were confirmed?"

"Yes."

"Well, we trusted each other completely then and I've seen no reason since to change my mind."

"Excellent. It's worked out better than I hoped. Though I don't as a rule approve of deposing elected chiefs, this was justified. ... Ezra, I think we should start the plan to salvage your space-ship."

Thus resolved, they returned to the group.

"Calliope," Mirselene said, "Ezra has something to tell you that you may find interesting."

Calliope politely turned to him.

"We lied to Belena about my space-ship crashing in the forest," he announced. "In fact, I crash-landed in the ocean, south of the Mariner Settlement."

"You did?" Calliope was astonished. "We heard and saw nothing. How far south?"

"I can't say but it was where the plain is about twenty miles wide. It took me two days to cross from the beach to the forest but I was injured and slow."

"This is amazing. Why did you set out for the forest and how did you know where to find the Woodlanders' Camp?"

"I had help. This was something else we didn't tell Belena. Two Herder girls rescued me from the sea and helped me across the plain to the forest camp."

"Good heavens! The runaways that Solange made such a fuss about some months ago? Ezra, you are full of surprises. Well, why are you telling us this now?"

"Because we plan to salvage his ship," Mirselene said, "and we need the Mariners' help - in exchange for a proportion of the salvage."

"I see. You need us to dive down to the ship and bring up - what?"

"Well, lots of things," Ezra said. "I'd like my clothes, especially underwear. I have tools, books, knives, forks, plates and cups - all useful things. Water bottles. Blankets. A mattress. Some electronic equipment might still work. I dearly wish I could retrieve my heavy machinery, but that may be impossible. The medical kits from the escape-pods would be useful."

"If everyone agrees, I propose to split the salvage equally between the Woodlanders, the Mariners and me. I will get the final word on individual items. There are some things I need for myself and some things I've promised to other people." (Ezra didn't mention his weapons, which he didn't want others to know about, still less ever to use.)

Calliope considered a moment, just for effect.

"Of course, the Mariners will be happy to help. Just guide us to the place. We'll take rafts and dive from those if it's a long way from the beach."

"There's a problem, Calliope," Ezra admitted. "I was too dazed to know exactly where it was. It just looked like an endless beach. I'm sure I'd never recognise the place again."

"Well, just ask those Herder girls. They're good at tracking. They'd probably remember."

"That's another problem," Mirselene added. "The girls aren't with us any more. Also, they fear the Herders and don't want to risk getting captured."

"I see," Calliope spoke deliberately. "So there's a sunken space-ship somewhere in the ocean south of our settlement but you cannot say where. Why did you reveal this secret to us now?"

Mirselene smiled.

"Well," she said, "we were hoping you might know a clever way of finding the ship without the help of Wildchild and Tamar."

Calliope and Ferne looked quizzical at the name 'Wildchild' but didn't probe further.

"Any ideas, Ferne?" Calliope asked.

"Only one: flotsam."

"And what in the world is 'flotsam'?" Mirselene asked.

Ferne explained:

"Anything that floats on the sea and gets washed up onto the beach - seaweed and driftwood, usually - is flotsam. Because we know the tides and the currents, we can make a guess where it originated. If there's anything on Ezra's ship that became detached and can float, like clothing, then it will probably be found on the beach north-east of the wreck, depending on how long the wreckage floated and how far out to sea the ship is."

"I can't tell you exactly," Ezra said, "but I think I swam about one-hundred feet before I reached the beach and passed out."

"We could check the beaches southward for twenty miles or more and, if we find something, search the ocean nearby. But that job would take more manpower than we can spare. As for searching the ocean without having any flotsam as a clue - well, there's not enough manpower on all Samothea to complete that task in a decade."

"Sorry, Ezra," Calliope said, "but I agree with Ferne. I'll ask the tribe if anything has been found and I'll organise a search of the beach south of us but I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"Even so," Mirselene said, "Wildchild and Tamar may return soon and lead us right to the spot, so I think there's a reasonable enough prospect for us to formalise an agreement now." (Ezra and Casti shared a smile, knowing how much Mirselene loved to make formal treaties.) "I, for one, accept Ezra's proposed sharing out of the salvage."

"Yes, I agree we should make a treaty," Calliope replied, "but I do wonder why the Woodlanders are to receive a third of the salvage when they won't be doing any of the work."

Miselene smiled but didn't answer.

"Calliope is right," Ezra said: "the Woodlanders shouldn't get any share at all. So here's my new proposal: the Mariners get one-third, as before, and I get two-thirds. After all, it's my ship."

"I suppose that's fair," Calliope had to agree.

"In which case, I give one-half of my two-thirds to the Woodlanders."

Calliope laughed and the other women laughed with her.

"All right. I'm sorry. I was being greedy. I'm not very good at being a chief."

"Nonsense, Sister," Mirselene said. "You're doing very well indeed. Much better than I did on my first day. I know how tempting it is to exercise your power, but you must use it sparingly. Don't worry, it'll get easier."

"Thank you, Mirselene. ... Ezra, I accept your proposal: a third of the salvage each for us and you to decide who gets what."

"Actually," Ezra added, "the Woodlanders will be doing quite a lot of work. - Mirselene, I want to construct some apparatus to make the task of salvaging easier. I'm going to need bamboo poles, about two inches in diameter and between three and six feet long, dozens of them, strips of cloth, balls of twine, lots of that waterproof glue that Annela makes and some wooden paddles. I'll let you know at the next meeting if there's anything else I need."

"I will arrange it, of course, but what will you need all that stuff for? How will it make it easier to salvage your ship?"

Ezra's answer was enigmatic:

"I'm going to teach the Mariners how to breathe underwater."

4 Sex with Cressi

The Mariner envoys returned in the mid-afternoon, with time enough for chores, bathing in the river and settling down for a dinner animated by all the questions that could possibly be asked after Calliope told the tribe where Ezra's space-ship had really landed. She enquired if anyone had found anything unusual - anything at all man-made and relatively new - on the beach. No one came forward but all the tribe promised to keep their eyes peeled for Earthside flotsam. There were also volunteers for an expedition to scour the beach south of the settlement on the next day off.

Needless to say, everyone was strongly enjoined not to speak a word of this to the Herders. It wasn't from fear that the Herders would salvage the ship themselves, but they might steal the booty, so irresistible was the lure of old-Earth technology.

Another lively conversation concerned the hut arrangements, now that Kalyndra and Devon were bedmates and Cressi was temporarily moving in with Ezra. With some compromise and some bawdy joshing, accommodation was re-arranged and Cressi moved a bag of her belongings into Ezra's hut. When the dinner plates were cleaned and it was time for bed, Cressi came into Ezra's hut smiling and, as always, looking happy. Devon had a naturally sad face, even when she wasn't unhappy, but Cressi had a naturally happy face, with a joyful soul to match.

She was a pretty girl, with frizzy silver-blonde hair, a round face, pale-blue eyes and a cute ski-jump nose. She had a habit of raising her chin, exposing a delicate pale neck. Medium height with a small frame, she had small firm tits and round buttocks. She wiggled delightfully when she walked or ran and was wiggling now, as she pulled her skirt off, undressing for bed, not wanting to talk first or be undressed by him. Taking his cue from her, Ezra also undressed and pretty soon they were lying naked together on the bed.

Like Devon, Cressi had her own ideas of how she wanted sex, as Ezra soon found out. Sex with Cressi was like sex with a wildcat - without the bestiality, of course.

The love-play was gentle, at first, with soft kissing, stroking and fondling. Then Ezra discovered how ticklish Cressi was. He made her laugh so hard she couldn't breathe. She flailed around wildly on the bed until, like a cat who'd had enough of playing, she turned on Ezra and scratched him, hard across the chest. He sat up, looking so comically shocked that she leant forward and bit him on the forearm as well, just for emphasis.

"Ow!" he said, holding his arm. "You vixen!"

She laughed as he pounced on her, pushing her on her front. He pulled her arms behind her back and, with one hand, held her wrists tightly while he walloped her bottom. Cressi was laughing hard. She liked the spanking so much that she spread her knees wide and pushed her bottom up, bucking in time with the assault. When her buttocks were red, the small pink slit between them was dripping moisture and Ezra stopped smacking to taste her nectar.

He pushed his face hard into her bottom and sucked on her pussy-lips. Her juices smothered his moustache and beard. After a little while, Cressi was purring like a contented feline. He let go of her arms, turned her on her back and lay on her. Cressi opened her eyes and her legs.

It was a frenetic fucking, with constant changes of position as Cressi wanted to try every possible stance. She used her claws whenever she climaxed. She even managed to scratch him with her toenails. They finished with her on top, which seemed to be every Samothean woman's preference.

Afterward, Cressi curled up into a ball and rested against him, demanding to be held and stroked, breathing deeply.

Next morning, she was ready to go again, her hand on his erect rod, the hungry feline glint in her eyes. They fucked sweetly and slowly, without scratching or biting.

Ezra tried not to compare his bedmates, but as they lay basking in post-coital contentment, watching motes of dust dance in the shafts of light that beamed through the knot-holes of the hut walls, he reflected that, so far, only Annela and Cressi actually wanted morning sex. Kalyndra enthusiastically responded to anything he desired but she never initiated morning sex; and his other bedmates only ever put up with it. That's as far as his reflections went: Cressi wanted to be up and doing and they were already late for breakfast.

5 Mariner technology and Earth technology

At lunch, after the morning chores, Ezra had a surprise from Juniel: an amazing piece of luck.

It was the hottest part of the day and those members of the tribe who weren't hungry were sheltering from the sun in their huts, while those who were hungry (Ezra was always the first) sat at the table under the awning by the boat, picking at dried fish, sweet potatoes and beans.

Odette, the adolescent, a black girl with a huge smile, sat next to her best friend, ten-year-old Juniel, the sharp-eyed beachcomber. Odette nudged her friend and whispered. Juniel shook her head but Odette insisted and, at last, Juniel went to her hut, returning a few minutes later. She went over to Ezra and spoke to him.

"The flotsam Madam Calliope was talking about: what would it be like?" she asked.

"Anything from clothes to small plastic items, maybe a bag."

"Anything like this?"

Juniel reached into the pocket of her dress and brought out a small copper-coloured metallo-plastic object, like a lipstick or a lighter. As soon as he saw it in her hand he recognised it.

"Juniel, that's my pen-knife. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I scrambled up the beach after my ship sank. I wish you could show me where you found it."

"I think I know where it was," Juniel said. "I went for a walk with my mum, Aunt Althea and Odette. We stopped lots of times and I saw it sticking out of the sand."

"You never told me you found anything like this, Juniel," Leanne, her mother, said. "What is it, Ezra?"

"It's a pen-knife. An electronic knife, with a laser blade. May I have it, Juniel? I'll show you how it works - if it still works."

"Will you give it me back when you're done?" Juniel asked.

"Of course."

"Darling," Leanne said, "if it's Ezra's pen-knife, you should let him keep it."

"Do I have to?" she asked him.

"No. I lost it, you found it: it's yours if you want it."

"It's pretty and I've got nothing like it," she explained.

"I understand. However, it's precious to me and it can be dangerous. Will you let me buy it back from you?"

"Why is it dangerous? What can it do?"

"It can do lots of things. It can cut leather, metal and even stone. It can start a fire. It can also stick together anything that melts, with a joint we call a 'weld'."

She handed the knife to him, saying: "Show me please?"

The pen-knife had a lid with a key-ring at one end and a diamond point at the other. The stem in between had four ring dials and a button. Ezra twisted the dials in an order that unlocked the device. He pressed the button to activate the laser-blade. A small red glow appeared out of the diamond and then died.

"It seems to be working, but it needs power."

He twisted the dials some more to release the lid and expose a small hook, which he pulled with a finger-nail. A small black umbrella appeared, unfurled and turned inside out. He pointed it at the sun for a few minutes. Lights began to appear on the dials and the base of the diamond glowed red, then orange, yellow and through the rainbow until the whole diamond was white.

Ezra pushed the solar panel back in, replaced the lid and twisted the dials again. Now, when he pressed the button, a red laser-blade appeared, about three inches long and half-an-inch wide.

"Ooh!" said the wide-eyed Juniel, speaking for all the women. "What will that do?"

"Let me show you," he said and led her over to Calliope's boat. The hubbub brought the whole tribe out to see what was going on, including Calliope, who had been dozing in her boat.

"Madam," Ezra said, "can I make an adjustment to your boat?"

"What kind of adjustment?"

He pointed to a jagged piece of the hull that stuck out at the top corner of the make-shift entrance, causing the tarpaulin to hang crookedly at that point, risking holes being poked in the water-proof sheet whenever it was jostled by a high wind.