A New Beginning

Elizabeth Dee has become the official nurse of Doc Yves. The day Leonard was attacked by the lone Deinonychus everyone perceived just how much Doc needs a permanent assistant. The next evening after dinner we all voted to allow her to stay in camp permanently along with Yves. Neither of them are any good at hunting anyway and Beth can't even cock her crossbow without help.

Now whenever Doc is busy we can go to Beth and get the same treatment for our small cuts and abrasions. Doc even taught her how to sew up a wound. It's not the professional care a person can get on 22nd century Earth but it's better than no health care at all. Of course, we will still go to Doc for serious injuries but we are all glad that we now have two people who can take care of our minor injuries. Thankfully the major ones are rare.

The two of them have also grown close emotionally. When Doc is not having sex with me, he is having it with her; although he sometimes has sex with Veronica and she with Juan. Me, when I'm not having sex with Yves, I'm having it with Chantelle Dawn, Louis, Joseph or Joshua.

But I haven't had sex with Louis, Joseph or Joshua in over a month. Joshua is too busy hitting on Aleks Michelle or Natalie Amiee, while Louis and Joseph usually hit on the younger women.

Chantelle has sex with either me, Josephine Jasmine or Victoria Rose. Both Josephine and Vickie are also bisexual and sometimes have sex with Joseph or Louis. But sometimes Josephine turns to Thomas for comfort and Vickie comes to me when she has some problem that is plaguing her conscience and then we have sex.

The other day we were cleaning up the upper flight deck. We are all responsible for cleaning our own sleeping areas and any love nest we use. But the area around the spiral stairs and the steps leading down to our camping area can get quite dirty sometimes. Anyway while the two of us were cleaning the spiral stairs, I put my arm around her shoulder. I could tell that something was troubling her.

"What's the matter Vickie? You've been sulking around all morning."

"I'm alright Toni."

"Don't tell me that! I can see that something is bothering you."

"I miss talking with my mother. I can't even send her e-mails. Sometimes when I had the graveyard watch on the James Cook I would sneak a call to her over the long range radio. That is, until the lightening bolt knocked it out."

"Yes, I know you did. Butler . . ."

"How did you know?"

"I was the first officer, remember? Both Butler and I knew what you were doing. It was our duty to know what went on onboard our ship."

"And you let me do it?"

"Why not? We figured that using the radio was one of the perks of being the communication officer. Besides, you didn't misuse the privilege. You only did it, what, once or twice a month or something like that?"

"Only when I had the twenty-four hundred to zero six hundred watch and only after all the reports and e-mails were received from MC3."

"So tell me, is that the only thing that's bothering you?"

"Yeah I guess so. I also miss talking to my younger brother."

"You never got married, did you Vickie?"

"No, I was hoping to use the pay I got from this trip to retire on Nuda Earth."

"You too! I had the same plans." I looked at her from arms length.

"I knew there was something I liked about you Toni." She smiled that great big baby doll, dimpled smile of hers.

"There's something else bothering me Toni. Maybe you could answer it for me."

"I'll do my best Vickie. What's on your mind?"

"When exactly did we go back in time to? I mean, did we go back 65 million years, 70 million years, 80 million years or what? Exactly how far back in time did we go?"

"There's no way to tell, Vickie. From the position of the continents and the stars . . ."

"When did the asteroid hit? That's what's got me worried."

"What asteroid? Vickie, you got me puzzled."

"The asteroid that killed all the dinosaurs, isn't it going to kill us too?"

"Oh that asteroid! Don't worry about that Vickie. No one knows when exactly it hit. The 65 million year date is only a rough estimate. The asteroid could have hit any time around that date, give or take a couple of thousand years or more."

"Yes, but exactly how far back in time did we go?"

"The computer tells us that from the positions of the continents and the stars we were thrown back in time about 70 million years. But again, that too is only an estimate and could be off by a couple of thousand years or more."

"OK. I . . ."

"But regardless, that asteroid isn't going hit for several million years to come."

"I just thought the asteroid might hit while we're alive and then we'd live in darkness and death until we all died too."

"I wouldn't let that worry you Vickie. We're not going to die. We've defeated every dinosaur that we've come up against so far and we'll continue to defeat them. You have my promise on that. Now, do you really think that I'm going to let some little old piece of space rock destroy my crew?"

Vickie blushed and lowered her eyes. "I guess not."

"That's my girl." I gave her a big hug.

"Toni, would you make love to me? We haven't made love since before we separated from the living section."

"I would love to make love with you Vickie." We chose the love nest farthest from the hatch. She ate my pussy and then I ate hers.

After, she told me that she was glad she landed with the James Cook but for a while she contemplated staying with the living section. It was Father Ray who convinced her to return to Earth.

Beth's right big toe has become a standing joke among us. Her ankle healed and she can walk alright but her right big toe sticks out to the side a little bit, causing her foot to look similar to an ape's foot. The most sarcastic joke among us is that the dinosaur meat is causing her to evolve into an Australopithecus. This is usually followed by someone asking her if she's going to grow facial hair too. She will good-naturedly jump up and down and answer with a 'hoo, hoo, hoo,' pretending to be a chimpanzee.

Doc Yves has no idea why her toe is deformed. He says he set her ankle bone correctly. He thinks she might have broken a toe too but with no X-ray he can't be sure. Anyway, the other morning Beth demanded to know the name of his insurance company so she could sue him for malpractice.

"Doctor Funnybones, I need the name of your insurance company. My toe is deformed and I want to sue you."

"My agent's business is card somewhere among my belongings. I'll give it to you the next time we have sex. In the meantime, why don't you contact my lawyer? His name is Mr. Sharkosaur of the law firm of Quackosaur, Incompetentosaur and Thiefosaur."

She smiled sardonically at him. "I'd kick you but it would only deform my other foot."

Yves smacked her on her ass.

"Ouch!" Beth answered him in mock indignation. "What's that for?"

"That's in anticipation of your kicking me." He then gave her a seductive smile.

She then went upstairs, rubbing her cheek where Doc smacked her and giving him a seductive look over her shoulder. A few minutes later he followed her.

But their love making didn't last very long. They had been upstairs for only about fifteen or twenty minutes when Regina Aurora came running into camp completely naked. She, Vickie, Josephine, Juan, Louis and Thomas had gone to Lake Hope for some sensuous skinny dipping. After they finished playing around in the water, they all went to the camp area we have set up there for some fun in the sun.

Thomas and Josephine had gone with them to act as guards. I later found out that Thomas performed cunnilingus on Josephine while the others played in the water and then she performed fellatio on him while the others did their thing on the beach. I looked upon their mutual oral sex as a bending of the rules -- the guard is supposed to watch out for alligators and dinosaurs.

That evening while we were all eating supper I casually mentioned that the beach guard is supposed to do just that -- watch out for carnivores. Thomas and Josephine both gave me an apologetic look. I just shook my head back and forth -- my way of letting them know that they really hadn't done anything wrong, although they should have been more watchful of carnivores. Regina hadn't been hurt by a beast attacking the group. She was bitten by an animal she attacked. But my mentioning it was my way of telling everyone that whoever was on watch needed to be more diligent.

Whenever we go to the beach we always have a "designated driver." That is, we always assign someone to sit with the gun or a crossbow to watch over us. The only exception that I know of is the one time Leonard and Regina went there by themselves.

Anyway, while they were lying on the beach doing their thing Regina spotted a gecko under one of the logs we have there. She immediately began to beat it with her club. But the tenacious beast managed to bite her on her left forearm before she could kill it. It wasn't a bad bite; luckily she only needed a few stitches. But she required Doc's services, interrupting his and Beth's love making.

On second thought maybe fifteen or twenty minutes is long enough -- at least for a quickie.

The crossbows work! Yesterday Thomas killed a Marineosaurus with one. He shot the giant right in its left eye. There's no living with him now. He keeps asking everyone, "Hey, did you hear, I killed a Marineosaurus?" Then he beats on his chest with his fists and in a loud baritone voice says, "I am the hunter! I am the champion!"

But we are all happy for him. Me, I'm especially happy because now I know that there's not a dinosaur in the land that we can't kill.

Thomas and his team were out on a hunting party about ten kilometers west of camp; Anthony was with them. They were tracking a small herd of FatherRayius Ceratoptians, the small sauropod with the cross on its head. Suddenly, a giant Marineosaurus came out of the forest between the herd of dinosaurs and Thomas and his team.

It lunged at Regina but Thomas shot it in its snout, right in front of its left eye. The beast turned and headed for Juan, who was standing next to Thomas. Anthony, standing near Regina to the right of the beast, put a bolt in its neck, right below its jaw and Juan shot it in its mouth, just as it was about to bite him. Josephine shot at it with her crossbow but missed, which was uncharacteristic of her. She seldom misses. She later said that she was nervous and rushed her shot.

According to them, the Marineosaurus then seemed to become confused, never having met another animal -- especially one so small -- that was not afraid of it. The king of the land suddenly had his kingship challenged!

It was bleeding from its nose and its neck. It kept chopping its jaws up and down, trying to dislodge the bolt from inside mouth. The monster's hesitation is all they needed. Thomas signaled to Josephine, Regina and Anthony to go to the beast's right while he and Juan went to its left. Everyone reloaded their crossbows and moved into position in the tall grass.

Thomas and Juan got their crossbows reloaded first. Thomas reminded him to aim for its eye. He then took careful aim and shot a bolt right into its left eye just as Juan put one right behind the left eye into the bone near its ear hole. Just as Thomas figured, his bolt went straight into its brain. The beast fell over with a loud thud, frightening the herd of FatherRayius. The Ceratoptians then ran off.

They cut off several large sections of its skin for tanning. Its camouflage coloring will make excellent clothing for us. It will help us blend in with the flora. Then they cut some steaks out of its neck, its side, its hip and its tail. Finally, they chopped its teeth out to make weapons.

We chop the teeth out of every animal we kill. We use the smaller teeth for arrowheads and the larger ones to make knives, axes and digging trawls. Joshua, Thomas and Louis studied some notes I downloaded onto the laptop and learned how ancient man made weapons from stones and bones.

After they cut what they wanted from the beast, the hunting party left the rest of the Marineosaurus carcass for the Daffyducktus vultures and other scavengers.

Later, during a supper of baked potatoes and Marineosaurus steaks -- they have a distinctive taste, something like the sweet and sour pork of Japanese cuisine -- I asked Thomas why he didn't use the .45 pistol to kill the carnivore. He told me that he knew he could kill it with his crossbow. All he needed was a shot at its eye.

He smiled. He must have known what I was thinking and conceded that it was a team effort. He said that had it not been for the bolts the others shot in its mouth, neck and snout then he would not have had the time for the precision shooting he used to kill it. He confessed that he was ready to use the pistol if their arrows didn't work.

Yes, I was worried over whether or not a crossbow could kill a giant dinosaur. But I am more concerned over the safety and health of my crew. I'm sleeping a lot more comfortable these days with the knowledge that we are the "fastest guns in town."

I haven't written anything in this journal for quite a while. I find myself writing in it less and less lately; I'm too busy doing other chores. But I had to write about the killing of the Marineosaurus. And yes, Josephine gave Thomas his massage -- they spent the night in one of the love nests -- and I gave him a month of no duty.

It's Christmas! We all drew names and made each other presents. Doc Yves dressed up like Santa Clause and handed them out. His used red Hawkosaur and RedBaronibus feathers he and Josephine attached to one of his old torn shirts and he used tree moss for a beard. Josephine acted as his elf and wore green and yellow Antoinetteosaurus feathers.

I drew Regina's name. I made her a pouch out of BuckToothus skin to tie around her waist. When she goes out on hunts and food forages she always carries an excess of weapons and tools, a pocket knife, pepper spray, taser gun, hand axe, her spear and spear thrower, a trowel Thomas made for her out of a carnivore tooth and of course her crossbow and bolts slung over her back. She really loads herself down. She says she doesn't mind carrying the extra weight. She wants to feel safe and prepared.

Beth picked my name. She knew I was close to them so she drew me a picture of Captain Butler and Father Ray. I cried and hung the picture in my cubicle next to the crucifix that Father Ray gave me.

Our Christmas dinner was great! We couldn't decide on whether to have Daffyducktus or pigmy hippopotamus. There were ten votes for each and no one wanted to change his or her mind. After debating it over for about a week, we decided to have both. David baked the "bird" and Josephine baked the "ham." We also had the candid sweet potatoes and the last can of peas we voted on previously. Doc Yves cooked these.

Laci Bianca and Veronica Anne collected some mushrooms the day before and Josephine stewed them using an old receipt that her mother taught her -- she had to substitute some of the seasonings. But they were delicious anyway. The only thing missing was topping them off with real butter.

For dessert David made three delicious apple pies from the candid apples we saved. All in all, it was almost like home.

After dinner Christmas night we all sat around watching the 1946 classic movie It's A Wonderful Life, with James Stewart and Donna Reed. Then before we went to bed we listened to and sang along with some Christmas Carols from the music I downloaded before we separated from the living section. That night Doc and I made love in the infirmary.

We all decided when we first arrived that we would not bring any children into this world until we got settled, until we all felt that it was safe enough for them. Since Thomas and his team killed the Marineosaurus -- a little over three weeks ago -- some of the women have asked me whether or not I think its safe enough for children.

While we were all eating supper the next evening I brought up the subject. Then we gathered around and discussed it. We all agreed that we are about as settled as we'll ever be and that it's safe enough for children.

Doc Yves advised us that he still has plenty of birth control pills, patches and IUDs. He also told us that he has over 2,000 condoms he packed with his medical stuff. He then immediately looked over at me with a questioning look on his face. At the time, I had no idea why he looked at me with such a strange look on his face.

I knew that Laci, Beth, Regina, Natalie and Aleks were all anxious to get pregnant; they've all talked to me about it. I'm not sure about the other women. Nor was I sure about myself, whether or not I wanted to get pregnant or who I wanted the father to be. As for the men, I had no idea which ones wanted to be fathers. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves just screwing us women. Typical male.

Later that night I learned why Doc looked in my direction. Everyone was watching the movie of the night, working on some project or upstairs in the love nest doing their thing. He pulled me aside and walked me to the tail of the James Cook. It was a moonless, cloudless night, the stars were very bright. We stood for several minutes just watching the stars, none of the constellations even remotely resembling the sky we were accustomed to seeing.

"Want me to take out your IUD?"

His question hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew exactly what he was asking me. I felt like he was proposing marriage to me. I put my head on his shoulder and whispered, "I would love to be the mother of your children."

"OK, we'll do it first thing tomorrow." Then he kissed me. I kissed him back, not just with the passion of sex but with deep emotion. It was the first time I had kissed a man that way since Butler died. Then we went to the infirmary and made love.

After, lying together and cuddling each other, I realized that Doc Yves was the man I had been searching for. He was the man of my dreams who wouldn't mind if I had a lesbian affair with Chantelle.

So, I guess that's my Christmas present to myself . . . I'll get pregnant. Doc Yves will be the father. I know that because he's the only man I've had sexual intercourse with in the past two weeks and the only man that I'm going to have sexual intercourse with until I'm pregnant.

I'll have oral sex with Louis, Joseph and Joshua but as for good old fashion heterosexual intercourse with them, I'll insist that they wear a condom. That way Yves will be the father of my first child. I'll make a decision for future children and who their father will be when the time comes.

I'm sure it won't be Louis and Joseph and the younger men -- Thomas, Leonard, David, Juan and Anthony. They all seem to prefer the younger women -- Beth, Regina, Akira Carissa, Laci and Veronica. Josephine and Vickie seem to be happy pairing up with Chantelle and occasionally Louis or Joseph but sometime Josephine and Thomas pair up.

Of course, Chantelle prefers to have sex with me and I must admit I look forward to our sexual encounters. Joshua hits on Natalie and Aleks when he's not hitting on me. True too, Laci has sex with all the men; she finally had sex with Yves. Vickie, Regina and Josephine are also somewhat promiscuous. In fact, except for Chantelle, each of us women has had sex with almost all the men.

We have really become one large extended family.

We originally ran four extension cords down from the lower flight deck into our camping area. One is over the kitchen, two over our dining area and one over the shower.

The four lights provide just enough light keep our camping area lit at night, so that we can see to walk around without stumbling over something in the dark. We leave it up to those who are standing fire watch to decide whether or not they want the lights on. Some prefer them on but most of us keep them off; when they are on they attract huge Cretaceous bugs. But because our solar panel does not provide very much electricity, we have all gotten into the habit of turning off lights when they are not it use.