The Great Escape Chapter 18, Part 7 of 9

The Great Escape
Chapter 18, Part 7 of 9

One of the rituals that Ezra prized during his visits to the Mariners was handing his laser penknife to Juniel for safekeeping. Now twelve and delighted with her little sister, which was her reward for giving Ezra the laser knife, Juniel still loved to play with the tool, making pretty lights on its lowest setting.

Another ritual was admiring Odette's latest sculptures, which improved with each piece. This one showed Juniel as an oceanid or sea nymph lying on the sea floor among oysters and seaweed, her lengthy hair covering her naked body.

During this visit, Odette asked Ezra to pose for her next job. He agreed but disappointed her by refusing to pose naked. Nonetheless, she set to work making charcoal sketches on a flat stone. She had a large piece of driftwood to work on but little time to carve because everyone was busy replenishing the tribe's stores.

Gerta was a good fisherman and happy to do her share of the work; now, she no longer needed to nurse her daughter. Soon, the stores of fish and salt were re-filled. It was sponges that were currently in short supply. Calliope forbade older women, pregnant women, and nursing mothers to dive for sponges. Gerta volunteered for the potentially risky and harmful work. There were now four divers: Kalyndra, Gerta, Odette, who was only sixteen but keen to perform adult work, and Ezra.

They used the underwater breathing apparatus, and even though Calliope allowed only a couple of hours of diving at a time, they harvested a week's supply daily. It was easy work because the animals had grown vigorously while their harvesting had been neglected in the last few months.

While he posed one afternoon for Odette's sculpture, Ezra described his special task for her.

The next day, they found a large flat stone on the seafloor. Odette used the laser knife to make its surface perfectly level and smooth, then carved a shallow circle on its face.

They copied Wildchild's trick of melting clean sand into the mold to make a large, flat, round piece of glass.

Ezra had kept some of the silver-bearing minerals he found in the Southern Mountains. He extracted the silver, heated it until it was malleable, and then bashed it flat between leather-covered wooden mallets. He laid the strips onto one side of the glass, sealed them with fishbone glue, and finally attached a wooden handle to the glass. Now, the Mariners had one of the luxuries that Calliope so fervently desired but had been unable to persuade the Cloners to sell: a hand mirror.

Calliope's joy was indescribable when Odette presented it to her.

"Sponges be damned!" she exclaimed. "Make us fifty more of these!"

Ezra didn't have enough silver but promised that he and Odette would make more after revisiting the mountains.

It wasn't a perfect mirror, but it worked so slowly and piecemeal that Ezra added to Samothea's life comforts.

The monthly trade meeting of the three tribes was an abundant one. Half the Woodlanders carried baskets of roasted pigeons piled high on top with bags of feathers. Mirselene had warned the girls that taking too many pigeons to market would suppress the price, and they'd give them away rather than carry them home again, but so avid had been the hunting that there was little else for them to trade.

It turned out well. The Mariners had an oversupply of sponges, and the Herders had an oversupply of cheese and sacks of corn they had just bought from the Farmers. The tribes swapped their surpluses basket-for-basket.

At the end of a satisfying trade meeting, Ezra kissed all the Mariners goodbye and joined the Herders for a month. Galatea led them to the Midway Camp, where Solange and Ash stayed.

With the cowgirls.

Ezra spent his first night at the Midway Camp with Solange, their daughter, whom she'd named Tahney, and her bedmate, Ash. Like all his daughters, Ezra adored Tahney and wanted to hold her all night; but Solange gave her to Ash, so he could do his first-night duty to her, which was to fuck her as hard as he could.

Afterward, he persuaded Solange and Ash to ride to the salvage site. Early the following day, they rode twenty miles across the plain to check on the status of the emergency escape pod.

Solange took Tahney with her, wrapped in a papoose on her back.

It was a bright, sunny day. The veldt was a sea of green under a clear blue sky. Ezra felt the majesty of the landscape sink in, filling him with a profound serenity.

Solange took a deep breath and scanned the horizon, from the hazy brown mountains to the south to the endless grassy plain to the north, with a shimmering blue haze ahead. She exhaled with satisfaction.

"You feel it too, I know," she said.

"Yes, I do," he said. "All we need now are the eagles."

She smiled. He'd remembered their first meeting, when she'd described a perfect day as riding over the plain, with eagles as her only companion.

"Be patient," she said, nodding toward the southern sky.

Five minutes later, as if summoned by her, an eagle wheeled high above them, screeching to her mate a mile away toward the forest.

"Now nature obeys your commands!" Ezra said.

She laughed again.

"I saw her an hour ago and was wondering when she'd come and investigate us," she said.

At mid-morning, they stopped by a shallow stream to water their horses and let them graze for a while, after which it was a short ride to the Salvage Camp.

The watering hole was still there and clean again. The women hobbled the horses while Ezra made straight for the escape pods. He had seen a flashing amber light.

He approached the pod in wonder. The signal indicated a message had been received. How was that possible? Who was it from? When did it arrive?

He pressed the button to reveal the message and sighed in disbelief. It was a message from his sister, Danielle. It said:

"To the people of Samothea from Doctor Danielle Goldrick of the Celetaris Institute for Science."

"The communications probe transmitting this message is in orbit about Samothea, recharging its fuel cell. It is programmed to wait a month for your reply and then return to us."

"We would like to know the status of your colony and also if you have any news on two missing people: Yumi Takahashi and my brother, Ezra Goldrick."

"If you are in contact with Ezra, please pass on this message:"

"Ezra, I know you're alive. I'm sorry, I can't rescue you."

The miracle of getting a message from Earth stunned him. The even greater miracle of the message coming from Danielle was utterly overwhelming. He leaped up, clapping his hands.

Solange and Ash ran to see what excited him so much.

"Is this message really from your sister?" Solange asked, full of amazement. "From Earth?"

"Yes, though it seems Danielle is no longer on Earth."

"What's a communications probe?"

"A satellite that sends and receives electronic messages."

"I see."

Then Ash said: "... yet."

"What do you mean?" Solange asked.

"Ezra's sister said, 'I'm sorry, I cannot rescue you ... yet.' She didn't finish the message. What else was she going to say?"

"Of course," Ezra said, properly thinking about the message. "She must plan to follow the comms probe with a robot or human-crewed mission. So the question is, why was the message truncated?"

The answer was obvious.

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" he exclaimed. "The meteorite!"

"Do you mean that shooting star last year just before the Cloner Fair?" Solange asked.

"Yes. I think it was the comms probe. It probably bounced out of hyperspace, like I did, too close to Samothea, but it would have been traveling many times faster than me, with no means of stopping, so it burned up in the atmosphere. It had time to transmit only the first part of her message."

"The message says the communications probe will wait for a reply and then return," Solange said, "but we know it won't. So, will your sister assume we're all dead?"

"No, not Danielle. There's no one in the galaxy more persistent. If the probe doesn't return, she'll send another and another until one comes back."

However, Ezra was not sure Danielle could afford to send another mission. His trip to Samothea had used up all his savings, plus loans from parents, friends, and investors.

Although he was a seasoned and successful prospector, he had no idea Danielle had invented a cheap and quick method of long-distance hyperspace travel.

However, he was hopeful and willing to trust his sister's genius and indomitable will to see through anything she started.

They rode back to the Midway Camp and arrived in time for the feast, though they weren't very hungry and anxious to tell everyone what they had found. While Ezra amazed the tribe,
Solange and Galatea had a conference. Then Solange commandeered Ezra again for the night, saying he had a duty to perform for Ash.

Ash had failed to conceive so far despite Ezra's valiant efforts.

It had been convenient for a while because Ash helped look after Tahney, but now she felt encouraged by Broody and Solange. She bought herbs from the Woodlanders that were supposed to promote fertility.

Solange also insisted that Ash do exercises to strengthen her pelvic wall muscles, giving her stronger orgasms and a firm pulsating squeeze on Ezra's cock at his moment of climax. There was a theory that a woman's orgasm helped draw the semen in.

She didn't believe that a woman was more likely to conceive if she had an orgasm at the same time as the man. Still, Solange wasn't going to dismiss an idea that made Ash happy and gratified Ezra, who sincerely believed that the best pleasure a man could have from sex was giving pleasure to a woman.

They counted the days of Ash's period with computer-like precision. Tonight was an excellent time for her.

It was another myth that a woman was more likely to conceive if the man was on top, but Ash didn't want to take any chances. She lay on her back and spread her legs wide.

They took turns to kiss her, stroking and fondling, to get her warm and ready, then Solange went down on her bedmate's pussy with a loving tongue while Ezra knelt by Ash's head and fed his cock into her mouth.

She loved sucking cock and bobbed her head or swiveled it side-to-side, twirling her tongue around or making a firm suction.

Solange sucked on Ash's clit, twiddling it with her tongue, giving it a vibration by humming in her throat. Ash squirmed under the attention.

Solange put a finger into Ash's pussy and pulled down, giving her a stretch. That got the girl going. She put another finger into her pussy, pushing in and out.

Hot and horny, hard nipples aching, pussy lips wide and yearning for something deeper inside, Ash arched her back and twisted her head, letting his cock out of her mouth with a pop. Firmly turned on, she wailed plaintively. Ezra was also ready, his cock nice and hard.

"I'm close, I'm close. Oh God!" Ash cried, writhing from side to side.

Solange felt the walls of Ash's pussy begin closing in a pulsating rhythm.

"Now, Ezra," Solange said, and she swapped places with him, crouching at Ash's head, pulling her legs up almost to her ears, while he lay on the hot eager girl and sank his stiff rod into her soaking pussy.

Ash moaned happily and got as much purchase as possible to buck against Ezra's thrusts.

She was on the plateau and warming nicely to a big climax. She wanted Solange nearer and pulled on her waist. Solange knelt astride Ash's shoulders and lowered her pussy to her bedmate's face. She sat up, and Ezra held her. They met mouth-to-mouth.

Now there was a triangle, with Ash tonguing Solange's pussy, Ezra pounding into Ash, and Solange and Ezra kissing.

He quickly felt the spasm as Ash convulsed with her first orgasm. Her head went back, and she neglected Solange's pussy, making a long whining high-pitched cry of happiness.

Smiling, Solange pulled back and leaned over her girlfriend to suck on one of her small tits.

Ezra did the same, bending over to lick and suck at the other tit, all the while thrusting full-length into Ash's tight twat.

The girl was in heaven. Everything erotic that could happen to her was happening or was soon going to happen. She was in a special place and wallowed in the sensual excitement. She loved the stretch on her legs, held back by Solange, and the stretch in her pussy, hot, wet, and squelching, as Ezra thrust and thrust.

The sucking on her tits increased in pressure, and Ezra sped up his thrusts. Ash moaned loud enough to keep the whole tribe awake. She convulsed, the strong rhythm of her vagina squeezing on his cock. It was almost his time. He groaned, struggling to hold off his ejaculation until Ash was ready again.

It wasn't long before she gave a tell-tale whine. The orgasm slammed through her, shaking her whole body, trapped though she was under the other two. Now Solange released Ash's legs so the girl could writhe around, bucking in her ecstasy, goading herself on through the shuddering climax.

There was a strain in the arch of her back, a strain in the stretch of her pussy, a strain in her tits, hard-sucked by two keen mouths, and a strain in Ezra's cock. None of these would last long. They reached the final peak with a low groan from him and a high-pitched wail from her.

The spasm overwhelmed them. They pulsed together in simultaneous orgasms. He spurted his living juice deep inside her as her contractions drew him in.

Ash gave a long moan of delight as he made his few final thrusts, the tension waning with a drawn-out nervous shudder. Then he lay heavily on her, recovering. Solange held the two of them tightly, keeping Ash in place on her back, giving his semen, according to another myth, the best chance to do its job.

After he rested, Ezra fucked Ash again, and later that night, he woke Solange up to fuck her as well, invigorated by the amazing discovery, celebrating his belief they were sure to be rescued someday.

The following day, Solange and Ezra rode to the Forest Camp. Visitors to the Woodlanders were so rare that everyone came running to see what the occasion was. Ezra left Solange in the meadow with the horses, letting them graze, mobbed by the inquisitive women, while he went to speak to Mirselene.

The Life-Pod

Mirselene was disturbed, even angry, when he told how he and Yumi set up the spare escape pod to broadcast a message into space.

She couldn't understand why he kept the secret but was too insulted to protest until he explained what he had planned for Annela. Her anger vanished as quickly as it had come. She understood and, more importantly, approved.

"I will do anything to save Annela, you know that," she said, "but you should have trusted me."

"I'm sorry, but I thought you disapproved of my wanting us to be rescued."

"I do. I'm unhappy with you, Ezra, but we'll discuss it later. Annela is our priority. Go and fetch her."

Annela hadn't fainted again since the Cloner Fair but endured dizzy spells. Dark rings around her eyes showed that she fought headaches so painful they stopped her from sleeping.

Sometimes, she didn't hear what people said because she was combating the ringing in her ears or the throbbing in her head.

The medicinal herbs prepared by Parvinder had a soporific effect, knocking her out for hours.

As she wanted to spend every waking moment, she could with her daughter, some days
Annela didn't take the medicine but led Freya into the forest to run around and explore. Then, she would sit against a tree, resting her head against the trunk, trying to send the pain somewhere else.

She did this today.

Ezra gently spoke her name, but Annela's brain was fuzzed, and her answer was incoherent.

He knelt by her for a minute while her head cleared, and she could show how pleased she was by his unexpected visit.

He picked up Freya and the pine cones she'd been playing with and took Annela to Mirselene's hut. There, she sat down to listen to her chief.

"Annela," Mirselene said, "you're to attend to Ezra and obey him. Do you understand?"

She nodded, though it was a peculiar order. Like all his bedmates, she always listened to Ezra and enjoyed doing what he wanted, as long as his requests coincided with her desires.

After Mirselene left them alone, Ezra said:

"Annela, your headaches are coming more frequently; they last longer and hurt more. No one here can cure you, but I may have a solution."

He told her about Danielle's message and belief in a rescue plan, the spare emergency pod salvaged from his ship, and how they could use it to keep her alive like Yumi was.

"You'll go to sleep," he said, "and when you wake up, there'll be doctors and a hospital."

There was a lot to take in, and Annela first heard him in a daze, her mind whirring at all the information, but she caught up quickly and understood.

"What do you say, Darling?" he asked.

"I don't want to leave Freya, you, or the tribe."

"I'm sorry, Darling, but you must. It's the only way to save you."

"Don't make me, Ezra," she pleaded. "I don't want to go!"

"I don't want you to go, but I don't want to lose you. You're more precious to me than anything else. I won't let you die."

Then Annela's eyes lost focus, and she cried out in pain. She was having one of the biting headaches. She slumped forward in her chair, holding her head in her hands. He knelt to keep her.

"Don't touch me!" she cried. "It's your fault! You gave me this headache!"

It was so unlike Annela that he hesitated momentarily; he pulled her to him and held her.

"Shush, Darling. It'll be all right. Shush! I won't make you go into the pod."

He stroked her hair as she wept from pain and frustration.

"I'm sorry, Ezra," she said between sobs. "I didn't mean it."

"I know, Darling. I know."

Annela had never snapped at anyone in her life. She rarely told anyone off, and she'd never even argued with him. Angrily, to blame him for her headache was a sign of how hard she must be fighting the pain. He knew he had to persuade her to enter the pod, but he couldn't.

He couldn't add to the pain she already felt. He let her rest and would try again later.

Mirselene thought they'd had long enough. She came back in.

"Well, Ezra," she asked. "When do you leave?"

"I'm sorry, Mirselene. Not yet."

She looked at Annela, crying, and Ezra comforted her.

"Are all men so bloody soft?" she asked exasperatedly. "All right, girl, you can stop blubbing.

As your chief, I command you to go into the pod."

Annela looked up at her, tears streaming down her cheeks. She turned to Ezra.

"Mirselene! Please?" he implored.


To be continued