Minx Ep. 04: The Sphere, Mesozoic Zone

Minx sighed, then handed him one of her spears. He took it, adjusted his grip upon it, and then readied to throw it at something in the water. Minx shook here head in exasperation. His aim indicated he was going to cast the weapon to the middle of the pool, some six metres away.

"Don't throw it," she whispered.

He rolled his eyes, then stood up very slowly. "It's as long as my arm and it's right at the surface. We're eating fish, and you're going to have to ask me politely to get a share."

Despite Minx's repeated order to not throw, he cast the spear. It shot over the surface and plunged in. The spear vibrated, swung around twice, and then began to sink.

"You'd better retrieve it, Paul. We don't have a big supply of spears. Nor did any of us bring a hunting dog."

Paul opened his mouth to respond to her, and then closed it. "Stupid idea to fish with a spear anyway. Miguel and I are going to make some lines and hooks."

Minx took her time getting to her feet, and made sure that Paul was no longer beside her by the time she was standing. "No, you're going to retrieve my spear." She tightened her grip on her last spear. Paul noticed that movement.

"If you didn't want me to throw it then you shouldn't have given it to me, you bitch."

"Do I have to push you in there?"

"Well, you'd better help," he sulked. "It's your spear, after all."

Once again, Minx wondered why she was letting them come with her. Was it really to give a large predator a choice of three prey?

Paul stepped into the pool and waded out. Minx did the same, wondering exactly how deep the water was. She could feel sunken branches and stones beneath her bare feet. The bottom of the pool seemed steep, and two metres from the bank she was already up to her waist.

Paul, just a little ahead of her submerged completely. He was under water for a handful of seconds and then he burst from the surface immediately in front of her.

"Does that remind you of that pool by the caves? When we were alone and you took everything off just for me? Miguel isn't here, so we could have a little fun..." He hooked one of his fingers over her top.

Minx pushed her spear tip against his belly. "Do I have to put two spears into you for you to get the point?" She gave him an evil smile.

Paul backed off, walking around her and heading back to shore. "I was just being friendly, and if you weren't such a stuck-up bitch you would know that."

She watched him leave the pool and push his way through the undergrowth. Then she lowered her spear. "Why do I let him come with me?" she said to no-one.

She eyed the centre of the pool. There was only one way to get her spear back now, she thought. "And since nothing has attacked either of us..." she tossed her remaining spear into the ferns on the bank, watching it for a second to make sure she knew exactly where it was. Then she stepped forward.

The bottom was even steeper closer to the middle of the pool. After another step, Minx just let herself sink under the surface. The water was murky. She felt around for the spear and the fish Paul had somehow, hopefully, managed to catch. There were a lot of water-logged branches, and a number of smooth stones, but it was almost as if the spear had disappeared.

Minx rose to the surface, pushed her hair from her face and tread water. Miguel and Paul were nowhere to be seen and Paul had said that Miguel was keeping watch for large predators. It was likely Paul had joined him. Did she, Minx wondered, have the time and opportunity for a bath? She could strip off her clothes, hide them in the ferns with her spear, and then relax and play a little in this pool. The thought was enticing, but she had doubts about the wisdom of it. Paul was not to be trusted. Miguel was also unreliable, even though he was trying to be useful. And, she admitted, even though the pool was safe now something could swim into it at any time and then where would she be?

She took a deep breath and submerged again. Feeling around, she felt something odd, almost like a spike. Then the spike moved. A couple of thin, hard things brushed against her chest. Minx suddenly realized that she wasn't alone in this pool, that she never had been, and that whatever it was now knew that she was in the water, too.

She flipped around in the water, intending to head for the surface, when something gummy grabbed her foot. She was pulled down. More silt filled the water, completely obscuring her eyesight. There was a sudden sucking around her foot. It was free for a second, then both her legs were held in place by something clammy. Her legs were pinned!

There was a jet of water that ran across her shins and calves, then the gummy clamps were released. She tried to kick her way to freedom, but to her horror she found her feet within the confines that she suspected was some water creature's mouth. There was a sucking sensation and she was drawn down further. The mouth closed around her thighs.

Minx bent over and slapped at the creature with her hands. When that produced no effect, she balled her hands and punched with all of her strength. However, her fists seemed to slip and bounce off the rubbery, slime-covered hide of whatever was devouring her. More frighteningly she could feel no resistance beyond her feet, meaning whatever was eating her had a very big gullet.

There was a jet of water that ran over her thighs. The pressure upon her thighs lessened, but did not release. She had been counting on a greater amount of freedom to allow her to grab the creature's jaws and push herself out. The amphibious mouth sucked a great volume of water in, and Minx slid deeper until cold lips clamped around her abdomen.

Involuntarily, she opened her mouth to call for help. She fought down the panic that was growing within her, closed her mouth and placed her hands on either side of the great maw. Minx was determined that she would be drawn in no further. A jet of water flowed along the sides of her chest and across her arms. She tensed her arms and dug her fingers into the flesh of the beast. The terrifying suction came, but she managed to keep herself from getting pulled in any further. The mouth clamped around her abdomen again, but her shaking arms made it clear to her that she would be swallowed whole on the creature's next attempt.

Desperately, Minx clawed around the bottom of the pool, grabbing and discarding small rocks and softened sticks and branches. She felt the jet of water flow across her again just as her fingers wrapped around a piece of wood that seemed straight and strong. She had no idea how long it was, but it was all that she had to fight with. The mouth's grip upon her loosened. Minx hurriedly felt around the beast's head until she felt something soft and jelly-like, and then she pushed the stick in. She ran her hands up the shaft and pushed in more deeply.

The creature sucked in water. Minx slipped in deeper, until the beast's mouth clamped across her breasts and back, and then felt the stick by her right foot. Using the stick to prevent herself from being swallowed whole, Minx reached around at the bottom of the black pool for another weapon. Her lungs burned painfully. She knew she had little time left, so she wrapped her hand around a rock and struck at the creature with it. She hit it again and again.

Somehow, she was suddenly at the surface of the pool. Minx took in as big a breath of air as she could before she was taken under again. Then she hit the creature repeatedly with the rock. The stone slipped from her grasp. She grabbed the long stick in both hands and began to churn it about, trying to do as much internal damage to her attacker as she could manage.

Then, again, she was at the surface. In fact, she was above it, and she saw for the first time that what had been trying to devour her was something like a huge catfish. This time as the beast withdrew back into the waters Minx grabbed on to some thick branches below the water.

She held on, panting, her arms burning with the effort. Her battle with the fish had carried them to a shallower portion of the pool. She could see its body swinging back and forth behind its head, throwing waves of water into the trees. She looked at what she had managed to grab and realized that the sturdy, partially submerged roots of a tree were keeping her from being taken back down to the bottom of the pool. The fish was refusing to release her from its mouth, evidently intent on finishing the morsel it had begun.

Suddenly the fish relaxed, perhaps from exhaustion. Minx kept one hand on a root and reached around for a weapon with her other. Finding one, she swung it at the head of the beast as quickly and with as much of her fading strength as she could. The catfish appeared to be losing the battle. Its mouth loosened around her and she slid out, covered in dark green slime. More accurately, she realized, it slipped back into deeper water and left her behind.

Minx scrambled out of the water, her hand on her chest and tried to calm herself. The enormous fish splashed in the water nearby, spraying her on occasion as its tail thrashed back and forth. She found it hard to believe that she'd actually survived, and yet she had never given up hope that she would live through the attack. Although she was tired, slimy, and she still shook in fear, she felt powerful. She'd defeated this - she looked over at the catfish and approximated its length - she'd defeated this five metre long fish that had tried to eat her, and no-one had helped her. Momentarily, she wondered how this predator survived in such a relatively small pool of water.

Then she recalled the other obstacles she'd overcome, and the other dangers she'd faced and survived. Minx stood up straight. It was no surprise that Dragon wanted her eggs for his children; Mahar would, as well. Every guy she'd met in the last year seemed to want her. She was beautiful, smart, and damn tough, and she felt it was about time that she started accepting that. She was too good for Dragon. She didn't need anyone's help!

The catfish splashed again, sending a shower of droplets across Minx. She glared at the beast, and then she noticed that it was trapped by the spear. Her spear, which Paul had so uselessly tossed into the pool, remained lodged in the fish's eye while the other end was caught in some roots.

Minx rounded the pool and found her other spear. She splashed through the shallows until she reached her target. The catfish paused in its struggle. Minx grabbed her spear in both hands and plunged it point-first into the creature's head. It began squirming again, so she stabbed again and again.

Once it was dead, she spent a good fifteen minutes trying to lever it up onto the bank. After she gave up she simply used a sharp stone to carve into the beast and cut off what she thought might be edible. Minx retreated to the bank, sat heavily in the vegetation and starting eating. It wasn't the best-tasting meal she'd had, but it wasn't the worst thing she'd eaten since crashing inside this hollow world. She ate her fill, then sat back against a tree trunk and rested.

It was a good hour later that she heard Paul and Miguel coming to look for her. The two appeared on the far side of the pool and stared in surprise at the scene. As they made their way around to Minx, she slipped into the water and rinsed herself off.

"Why didn't you tell us that you'd caught something?" asked Paul.

Minx ignored him. She stepped out of the pool, glistening with dark water droplets. She casually reached down, retrieved her spears and then started walking to the west again.

"You should have told us that you caught dinner!" accused Paul.

"Look at the size of that thing!" exclaimed Miguel. "I told you she was a robot!"

Paul rushed over to Minx and stood in front of her. "You've already eaten, haven't you?"

"Get it through your thick skull that I eat first!" she growled at him. She shouldered him out of her way and continued on.

"Wait for us, Minx!" Miguel called out; although from his tone it was more of a plea than a command.

She ignored him and continued making her way through the thickly treed forest. By the time she reached the river both men had caught up to her, and they were busy stuffing their faces with uncooked catfish.

"There's no way to cross this river."

"I'll make a way if I have to, Miguel. I'm going west." She examined the river again as insects swarmed around them. It was wide here, but there had been other places were it narrowed. She needed a fallen tree and a place narrow enough to use it as a bridge, then she would be across.

12

Dragon stared at Arachne as she slept. She was clearly some type of arachnid, but none that he'd ever heard of. Some of her characteristics were primitive, and seemed indicative of some relationship with numerous modern arachnid species. And, Minx had found Arachne in this hollow world containing species from Earth's past, mused Dragon.

"Ship?"

"I am here, as always. Bored out of my circuits."

"There's nothing I can do about that right now. What were you and Minx able to deduce about Arachne?"

"Well, it's most likely that her people built this hollow world. I hypothesize that her species was very advanced at some point during the Paleozoic Era on Earth, over two hundred and fifty million years ago. There was a massive extinction event between the Paleozoic and the Mesozoic Eras, and it's likely her people realized what was coming, built this world-ship, and fled. They've been returning to Earth periodically to collect more specimens, and their last visit was probably within the last few million years or so."

Dragon rubbed his chin in thought. "So, they built this world. They had the technology to do this a quarter of a billion years ago. Then they lost their knowledge?"

"That's a long time for any single species. Perhaps they just grew tired. Perhaps it was a virus. Perhaps there is something in the genetic make-up of biologicals that limits the duration of their species. Whatever happened, Arachne doesn't have the knowledge or technology that her ancestors did."

"And if her people still did, then Mahar would not have been able to take over nor would it have been likely that she had been wandering around alone inside this deadly world. Do you think it's possible that Mahar might have come upon her people in their twilight and encouraged their fall from grace?"

"Taking your capabilities, personality, and description of your own people I would say that was very likely. Although, there is no evidence that her people were in control of this world until the moment of his arrival."

There was a knock on the door to Dragon's cabin that interrupted his next thought. He briefly wondered how many new ideas had been lost over the centuries due to unimportant interruptions.

"Come in."

Alice stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She seemed flushed, and her chest was rising and falling more quickly than normal. She'd taken to wearing her regular black slacks, torn as they were, and a leather hide top that revealed a good amount of her cleavage and left her sides and much of her back bare. Dragon assumed she'd changed tops for two reasons: the first being that her old top had been too badly ripped; the second being the change showed far more skin and she was trying to keep him interested.

"You wanted me, Captain?"

"Yes."

"On my knees, on my back, or on all fours?"

"Oh, we can figure that out later Alice. I didn't interrupt your sleep just for sex." Her frown appeared quickly, and disappeared from her face just as quickly. "Do you think Rod would make a good second mate?"

She stared at the hyperman, trying to determine if this were some sort of test. "If you think so, Captain."

"Answer the question."

Her head fell. "Yes, he would make a good second mate."

"And, yet, you don't like the idea. Please explain."

"A second mate is usually there to keep the first mate on their toes. If the first mate slips up, or allows an opening, then the second mate slips a dagger through her ribs. You're not happy with my performance?" She briefly eyed the bed.

"Things have changed." He kept from smiling at her involuntary intake of breath. "I don't want a second mate who is simply waiting for an opportunity to kill the first mate, Alice. I'm a different type of captain."

"You may need to explain that to Rod, Captain."

"I will. Also, you may want to point out to Rod that Vanessa isn't nearly as dangerous as you are." Alice raised a questioning eyebrow. "He likes her."

She nodded, then she yawned.

"Go to bed, First Mate. You'll be on duty in an hour or two."

"Aye, Captain."

Alice reached up behind her neck and undid the leather strap holding her top up. She lifted it over her head and set it on a chair nearby. She sat in the chair and pulled off one of her boots.

"Why are you doing that here, Alice?"

"Going to bed, Captain. You didn't say which one."

She slid off her other boot, then stood and began slipping her pants down her legs.

"I think I was very clear that your bed was implied."

"It was, Captain. I've disobeyed you. I guess you'll have to punish me. Would you like me to place my hands on the table and my bottom near you, or would you prefer I wait in bed getting hornier and wetter as I imagine all the different ways you might discipline me?"

"Wait in bed. I have to go on deck and make sure everything is ship shape, my dear."

"Aye, Captain." She curtseyed, and then skipped off to his bed.

Dragon shook his head, finished his cartography and then filed his papers away. He stood and stretched.

"Naughty, naughty, Dragon," whispered Ship. "What will you do when Minx finds out?"

He ignored the voice in his head from the sentient vessel. "I'll be back soon, Alice. I'll discipline you then."

"If not and I'm sleeping, then please don't wake me up. Just surprise me, Captain."

As Dragon closed the door behind him, he paused to get a glimpse of Alice lying naked upon his bed. If Minx was determined to have nothing to do with him then this red-headed human could probably entertain him for another few weeks, beyond that he knew she would simply begin to annoy him. He slammed the door shut, knowing Alice would tremble at the thought that she had overstepped her bounds and might be in for a punishment that she did not want.

The lower deck was quiet. Some of the crew were squeezing their last few minutes of rest before going above deck to start their shifts. He briefly examined his uniform, noted that it appeared to be clean and undamaged, and then went up on deck.

The cowards were still standing their watches at the rails. Each gave him a frightened glance. Other crew were cleaning, or performing repairs, but in a slow and nonchalant manner. Dragon didn't mind; he didn't believe that you could consistently get much useful work out of humans.

"What's the course?" he called to the man at the wheel.

"West, Captain!"

Dragon strolled about, nodding at each crewmember as he passed. The men seemed relieved to see him on deck and that surprised him. The women's eyes were fixed upon him. Dragon shook his head, then consciously diminished his pheromone output. He knew he should have been more careful, and he briefly pondered arranging a bath to wash away the chemicals that made him almost irresistible to women.

"Hello, Rod," the hyperman said as he approached the man. "Walk with me for a few minutes."

Rod fell in beside him. "I have an idea, Captain."

"Oh?"

"I was thinking that if we found a safe shore, that we could make some weapons more dangerous than spears."

"Such as...?"

"Well, I thought maybe we could make bows and arrows, or crossbows, or catapults."

"You do remember the reason for building this ship, don't you Rod?" Dragon asked in a tone that was far too calm.