Survivors: A Lost World Harem

by Jack Porter

  Chapter 24

  Even though we’d successfully made our way down the cliff face with our supplies intact and fought off the winged creatures as well, the mood in the shelter was a long way from positive.

  The women were battered and bruised. Many of them nursed injuries, ranging from relatively minor through to the cuts on Sydney’s leg.

  I’d thought that they would all use the time to catch up on their sleep, but mostly, the girls just kept to themselves, staring vaguely around them, in some cases, and breathing out sighs that sounded like despondency in others.

  I sat back and watched for a few minutes, just to see if anything would change. But the mood within the makeshift shelter seemed to be set to ‘depressing’.

  So I made my way over to Uma, who was sitting with her back to the wall, staring at a point in space three feet in front of her nose.

  As I approached, she roused herself enough to look at me.

  I tried out my grin. “Everyone seems to be in a cheerful mood,” I said.

  Uma made a noise in the back of her throat, a kind of grunt of agreement.

  “They’ve been through a lot. And every last one of them had something different in mind for the end of their journeys.”

  There was no argument about that. “Understood. But it’s not good for us to wallow like this. Doing so leads to less ideal decisions, and we still have a long way to go.”

  The Commander studied me for a moment.

  “Is that piece of wisdom part of your Canary handbook?” she asked.

  “Well, yes. But that doesn’t make it wrong.”

  Uma gave me another of her rare half-smiles. “So, what did you have in mind to cheer everyone up?” she asked.

  “No idea,” I said. “But that’s why I’m talking to you.”

  I kept my grin firmly in place and waited for it.

  Finally, the Commander looked away, shaking her head.

  “Fine,” she muttered under her breath. “I’d been hoping to save this for when we had something to celebrate.”

  “We do have something to celebrate. We’re still alive, despite this world’s best efforts. And we have all of our supplies still with us.”

  “That we do,” the Commander agreed.

  With that, she heaved herself to her feet and headed toward those aforementioned supplies. She dug through them until she found one of the containers that I thought were filled with rations.

  I wondered what she was thinking, but she moved without hesitation, opening the lid and digging through to the bottom.

  Some of the others were starting to look curiously. So I wasn’t the only one to express my surprise when Uma withdrew a large, clear bottle.

  Grinning broadly, she held it up for everyone to see.

  “Vodka. Courtesy of the Captain, who liked to keep a stash hidden. One hundred proof, guaranteed to blow your socks clean off without you having to take off your shoes.”

  Still grinning, she looked around, catching everyone’s eye in turn.

  “I’m thinking we could all use a bit of a pick me up. We’ve earned it.”

  The mood within the shelter improved as if by magic. All of a sudden, there were smiles all around, along with murmured comments of approval.

  “I was starting to think it was going to be a long time before I tasted alcohol again,” said Jayloo, to general sounds of agreement.

  “Who’s first?” Uma asked.

  We used the bottlecap as a shot glass, and the bottle passed quickly from one set of hands to another. By the time the bottle reached Deeve, having already passed through Kia’s hands, and Uma’s herself, each pour was greeted with anticipation, followed by applause with the swallow.

  It was like suddenly, we were a long way away from being stranded on an uncharted world, and were all back to our respective college days, drinking up a storm in a dive bar off campus somewhere.

  Sydney and Jayloo were next, the latter of whom was unable to suppress a cough after she threw her drink back, and then the bottle found its way to my hands.

  I was still keeping half an eye on the world outside the shelter, but all eyes had turned to me, and I had no intention of missing out.

  I poured and swallowed, enjoying the burn as the alcohol made its way down my throat, enjoying also the applause and laughter from the girls at the same time.

  I handed the bottle back to Uma, who completed the ritual once more, but instead of simply passing the drink along to the next person, she paused for a moment.

  “Sydney,” she said, and all eyes focused on the environmentalist. “Tell me. Did you and Jayloo know each other before getting on the transport?”

  The injured woman’s eyes seemed to dance with good humor. “We did. But not for very long. We met each other at the transport hotel, and found that we were heading in the same direction.”

  Uma just nodded, accepting her answer, and handed the bottle over.

  And just like that, the rules of the game changed.

  Sydney asked Kia if she could read minds as well as sense the future, but Kia said that she couldn’t, although she knew of some who had that gift as well.

  The psychic took the bottle and drank, then directed a question at Deeve.

  “So, is there someone special waiting for you on a distant world somewhere?” Kia asked, and everyone knew that she wasn’t talking about a brother or sister, or even a pet.

  It could have been an awkward question. It could have brought back thoughts of how far away from home we all were, and how slim our chances might be of getting back.

  But Deeve handled it surprisingly well. She gave Kia a grin.

  “Why do you ask? Are you asking me out?”

  Kia grinned at the athletic woman’s bold reply, her cheeks already beginning to flush. But she looked quickly in my direction, and I thought I understood the reason she had asked. She was clearing the path for me.

  Maybe she didn’t realize that path had already been traveled.

  There was a smattering of laughter from the others, and when that had died down, Deeve gave a more honest answer.

  “There’s nobody waiting for me. And hasn’t been for some time.”

  The athletic woman accepted the bottle and drank, then directed her question at the Commander.

  “What about you?” she said. “All these years spent flying between worlds—how does that work with a social life?”

  At first, I wasn’t completely sure Uma would answer. But she knew the value of sessions like this just as I did. And as the instigator of this round of questions, it wouldn’t have been right for her to forfeit.

  “You may have noticed that the crews for these transports usually include a mix of men and women.” The way she said it implied a lot more than the words, and each of the women understood. As one, they asked for more details.

  Uma seemed happy to oblige.

  “There was someone a couple of years ago. He was a communications specialist, and I outranked him. But here’s something you might not know about those who work on interstellar transports.”

  She looked around, making sure we were all listening. “Call it a perk, if you like. But we can request our schedules to line up with those we care about. Or we can request that they don’t. If a relationship goes sour for any reason, we can literally be light years away and the first your ex might know about it is when you’re not there with them on the next trip.”

  “Bastard!” Jayloo said. “Someone did that to you?”

  At this, Uma actually laughed. “No, I did that to him.” She looked around once again. “He got too clingy, and it just wasn’t what I was looking for at the time.”

  Sydney offered the bottle, and Uma moved to go get it. But Deeve wasn’t completely satisfied.

  “It seems a harsh way to go about things,” she said.

  “Maybe it is,” Uma conceded. “But it has become kind of a thing for those in my line of work.”

  She took her drink, then looked around for her next victim.


  The game continued, with the bottle being emptied one capful at a time. I learned a number of interesting things about the women I was stranded with. Sydney liked to grow orchids to relax, and Deeve had been a competitive athlete, specializing in the pole vault, but also proving proficient in several other jumping categories.

  Kia had spent most of her early life being subject to a range of experimentation designed to test her psychic abilities, but had sued for her release as an adult, and had won a respectable amount in compensation.

  But it was Jayloo whose background proved most interesting. She had bounced around from world to world, doing a little of that this, a little of that, not really caring whether her actions were legal or not. She had even done time once or twice, although when pressed, she wasn’t keen on explaining why exactly.

  Nor did the questions stop there. As the bottle grew closer to being empty, it was Deeve who asked a more personal question.

  “Jayloo,” the athlete said, her words slightly slurred and her focus not quite as sharp. “Are you a lesbian?” she asked, her eyes flicking between the purple-haired woman and Sydney, before moving back once again.

  A sober Jayloo might have scowled at being asked such a question. But this slightly tipsy version just grinned like the cat who had got the canary.

  “Maybe when you bring that bottle over here, hang around for a moment. You might get a chance to find out.”

  As one, the women let out a cumulate noise of appreciation, several of them appearing eager to witness such an encounter, whatever it was that Jayloo truly meant.

  Nor were they the only ones. I wouldn’t have minded watching, either. But it seemed that neither of the girls was quite tipsy enough to live up to the dare.

  Jayloo clarified. “Some days I am, some days I’m not. Mostly, I have more time for women than men. But there are exceptions,” she said. At the last, she glanced toward me, but if there was any message intended, I couldn’t have said what that message was.

  Perhaps surprisingly, it was Sydney who brought the focus of all these questions my way.

  She had just answered a question about whether she would prefer a hot shower after a hard day to sex, and had responded that it all depended on who else was a factor in that equation, and hinted that maybe both would have been the best answer.

  Then, with a smile that suited her face but which had been missing recently, she stared across the makeshift shelter to me.

  “Adam,” she said. “You are stranded on an uncharted world with five different women, all of whom are attractive in their own way. Which one do you choose, and why?”

  At this, all the others spoke at once, some saying that she couldn’t ask that, others agreeing with the question. I couldn’t help but flick a quick glance at several of the women in quick succession, Deeve, Kia, and Uma, only to see that the Commander at least was looking straight back at me.

  I broke eye contact fast enough that maybe the others hadn’t seen, and considered the question.

  “Let’s be clear,” I said. “What are you asking?”

  “You know what I’m asking. And surely you’ve considered the question by now. We’re alone on this world, as far as we know, and it looks like that’s going to remain true for some time. You are the only man among us. At some point, you’re going to have to choose. So, what’s wrong with right now?”

  “Yeah, Adam,” said Deeve, a mischievous look on her face.

  The mutters of approval and otherwise died away, with the shelter growing as silent as it had been before Uma broke out her bottle. Yet then, the silence had been accompanied with a sense of despondency. Now, it was full of anticipation.

  Deliberately, I looked at each woman in turn. Deeve was smiling at me as if daring me to say something, and Kia was looking away. Then I turned my attention back to Sydney.

  I held her eye. “What makes you think I would want to choose just one of you?” I asked.

  At this, Deeve and Uma burst out laughing, while Jayloo made a noise that could have meant all sorts of things. Kia remained silent, but allowed a slow grin to steal across her face, and even Sydney seemed to find the humor in my words.

  But she didn’t let go. “Fair enough. So maybe I’ll rephrase the question. Who first?”

  I was actually a little surprised at how readily they all accepted the implications of what I had said. At the same time, I didn’t really want to risk giving an answer.

  So I just smiled back, doing my best not to look at either Deeve or Kia. “Who first? Or do you mean, who next?”

  This generated another round of noises and laughter, and not a little bit of looking around. But before they could begin speculating, I continued. “Either way, did you miss the part where I said loyalty was part of my nature? And respectful as well? A gentleman does not kiss and tell, even if that kissing is just in the planning phase,” I said, deliberately choosing to be ambiguous.

  With that, I went to the injured woman, and held out my hand.

  Sydney seemed to consider my answer, and for a moment, I thought she might want to push it even further. But to my relief, she finally relented and handed the remnants of the vodka to me.

  It wasn’t long after that when we reached the end of the bottle. The last question was directed at Uma herself, and it was a good one.

  It was Kia who asked it. “Do you have any more bottles like this one stashed away?” she asked.

  Uma offered her half smile to the psychic and everyone else. “If I did, then I would be saving it for a true celebration,” she said. “But, sadly, no.”

  With that, she drained the last of the vodka, and screwed the lid back down in place. She surveyed me and the others, and I could almost read her thoughts. The alcohol and the questions had worked wonders.

  Instead of heading off to sleep feeling beaten, Deeve, Sydney, Jayloo, and Kia all looked if not completely happy, then at least more than content.

  Job done.

  Chapter 25

  With the women all relaxed and drifting off to sleep, I saw no real reason to stay in the shelter. Not for the whole night, at any rate. With the alcohol warming my blood but at the same time acting as a sedative, I figured it might be a good idea for me to step outside, and maybe even go for a bit of a walk.

  Not too far, of course, that I couldn’t immediately return to the shelter if I was needed. But just enough to stretch my legs.

  I took my makeshift club with a spike at one end and did that, enjoying the cooler air of the relative shade.

  The other side of this canyon was perhaps half a day’s travel away, and when I toggled my ocular augmentations to bring that far wall as close as I could, I thought that maybe it might prove a little easier to climb than the wall we had just come down.

  It would be difficult to bring the water container back up to the top. But it needed to be done. And when we were there, we would only be a day or so away from the green, and the rain clouds.

  What we might find there, I wasn’t sure. But hopefully, there would be all we needed to put together a life for ourselves.

  There had to be. If there wasn’t, we could be in real trouble.

  We’d only been trying to survive in this world for a couple of days, and already, as a group, we’d picked up more injuries than I was comfortable with. And we’d found very little with which to sustain ourselves.

  If I was being truly honest, it wasn’t a promising start.

  I was still staring off into the distance when I heard movement. Instinctively, I gripped my club tighter and turned toward the sound. But it was just Uma, making her way out from under the canvas.

  Part of me was disappointed that it wasn’t Deeve or Kia in search of round two, but at the same time, I wasn’t displeased. The Commander saw me and gave me a nod. Without hesitation, she came up to my side.

  “See anything interesting out here?” she asked.

  I offered a shrug. “The moons are interesting,” I said to her. “With their irregular shapes. I can’t he
lp but wonder if there’s something going on with that. If at one time, they were just one enormous moon, and that some calamity pulled it apart.”

  Uma nodded as if an agreement. “Or perhaps it’s more than just the moons. Perhaps this world we’re on is part of it as well. You said it didn’t seem to be very big, despite the decent gravity. What if this world and the moons were once just a big, single planet?”

  It was a compelling thought. “I wonder what happened to it?” I asked.

  Uma was silent for a moment. Then, deliberately, she turned toward me, and I found myself mirroring her movement. We studied each other, standing a couple of feet apart.

  “I saw you looking at me,” she said, with a hint of a challenge in her expression.

  I smiled. “The only way you could have was if you were looking at me,” I replied.

  She didn’t hesitate. “That isn’t the point.”

  I knew she was right, but wanted her to say the rest.

  “Then what is the point?”

  Uma didn’t say anything. She just studied me closely, her eyes going to my chest, my waist, down to my feet, then back up to my face. Then she stepped closer, into my personal space.

  Uma wasn’t as tall as Deeve, yet it was a close contest. But I was taller still, by the full span of a hand. I looked down at her even as she looked up at me, and decided that I would have found her attractive in any circumstances.

  That we were effectively marooned together in this world didn’t alter that reality.

  “You are beautiful,” I said.

  She allowed herself a small smile at the compliment, and then, surprisingly, she looked away.

  “I’m dirty,” she said. “I must look a mess.”

  Then she looked back at me, and it was as if her uncharacteristic moment of shyness was gone. She reached up to touch the side of my face with her fingers.

  “You’re not so hard to look at yourself,” she said.

  The touch of her fingers against my skin was electric. I knew for a fact that I couldn’t have looked my best. I’d crawled out of a burning cryo pod, made my way across the sun-bleached face of this world, and fought off several attacks.