Minx Episode 4: The Sphere, Mesozoic Zone
My thanks to searchingforperfection for his editing and suggestions for this story. Any remaining mistakes are my responsibility.
Trapped in the hollow world that hurtles between the stars, Dragon continues with his search for the woman who he now realizes has captured his heart. After doggedly chasing the killer of her hominid friend Butler, Minx awakens to find the storm has cleared and she is now alone with her enemies!
1
"Come on, Miguel! Hold her down!"
Minx awoke, and was immediately surprised at the fact that she had remained sleeping for as long as she had. Paul was holding her wrists painfully tight, while pushing his way between her legs with his lower body. She was on her back with her arms flat against the ground over her head and her knees bent.
"Get the Hell off me!" she screamed.
Paul put more of his weight against her legs, forcing himself between her knees.
"Maybe we shouldn't do this..." said Miguel, from somewhere out of sight.
"Put a gag in her mouth! Do something useful!" shouted Paul.
Minx felt adrenaline rush through her system. She rolled her bottom off the ground, lifted her arms despite Paul's weight, tucked her legs between her and her attacker, and then kicked out as hard as she could.
Her would-be rapist lifted off the ground, sailed through the air for about four metres while waving his arms wildly, then splashed into water.
Minx rolled over and shot one hard look at Miguel, who blanched and looked away.
"We have to help him!" he exclaimed.
"Bullshit!" Minx stood and then brushed herself off. She was surprised to see that the two men hadn't bothered to strip off what was left of her white guild uniform, and it still covered as much of her as a two-piece swimsuit. Or perhaps they just hadn't had the opportunity before she awoke. She glanced off to her right to see Paul splashing around in the water, panic-stricken.
"Something could eat him! Oh, God! There's a fin!" Miguel pointed out into the water beyond Paul.
Minx put her fists on her hips. "So there is," she noted icily. "Although, whatever it is looks to be swimming parallel to shore and not after Paul."
Miguel ran to the water's edge and stood atop the intertwined mangrove roots, one hand around a thick branch to maintain his balance. The ground seemed to sway gently underfoot. "Swim Paul! You'll make it!"
"Help me!" the man in the water called out.
Minx walked over and stood beside Miguel, keeping her balance on the roots easily despite the slight undulation of the ground beneath her feet. She couldn't see the shore! She remembered this grove of trees had appeared to jut out from the land not too far from the hominids camp, but the whole mass of vegetation and soil appeared to now be floating somewhere in a broad sea.
"We have to help him!" Miguel repeated desperately.
Minx turned to face him. "You killed Butler," she stated, as the memory of the killing jumped into her mind.
Miguel's eyes went round as he caught the look on her face. He turned to run, but she simply grabbed his arm, then swung him around and out over the water. He splashed in atop Paul. The fin in the water turned toward the pair. The shark's fin accelerated toward the men, and then rose as the beast below the waves swam closer to the surface. That's one big fish, thought Minx.
"Dinner! Come and get it!" she called out to it.
The bounty hunter then turned and walked deeper into the forest. It took her less than a minute to make her way through the tightly interwoven roots and trunks. There was no sign of shore from the other side of the vegetation island either.
"Ship?"
There was no response from her intelligent vessel through the telepathic link they shared. Minx chewed her lip. It was possible that Ship was resting, but she had a bad feeling about the whole situation. Miguel had talked about a hyperman named Mahar being present in this hollow world. Had this person discovered her means of communication with her vessel and put a stop to it?
She recalled the terrible lightning storm, and chasing two figures through the torrential rains. She'd been exhausted and had fallen asleep in this grove. Paul and Miguel had left her clothing unmolested, two tattered fragments of her former white bounty hunter's uniform - one across her breasts and the other around her hips - but she didn't seem to have any useful tools at hand. Her hair was dishevelled, but she'd become accustomed to that while making her way through this hollow world. Her stomach rumbled. She spotted some fruit, picked it and began eating.
Why hadn't she awoken when Paul first laid hands on her? She put the fruit down, and then began feeling around for dried blood in her dark brown hair. Not finding any, she began feeling over her skull for any bumps. When her fingers touched the area where the subcutaneous communicator was hidden she flinched. The whole area was very sensitive, but she could feel no cuts or bumps.
"Ship?"
There was still no answer from the faithful, yet quirky, A. I.
Minx picked up the fruit and resumed her meal. She'd lost communication with her friend once before, after a bear-man had struck her a lucky blow right over the communicator while she was on the planet Anima. It seemed as if something similar had happened.
Through the trees, she could hear Paul and Miguel screaming obscenities and threats at her. Minx knew she could handle those two, and Miguel would be too timid to be a real danger to her anyway.
She was more concerned about Ship. Her vessel had been in contact with Dragon, so he should be taking care of her. At least, Minx hoped he would. How much could she actually trust that hyperman?
Well, she realized, once they hit land she'd build a boat and find her way back to Butler's people. From there she could follow through on her original plan of trying to find an escape route near the enormous airlock through which she and her vessel had entered this artificial world. She hoped Arachne was okay.
2
A struggling Dragon dragged the massive tree trunk across the beach, right to the water's edge. Several of the hominids watched him, but offered no help. He'd thought about engaging them in building a dugout boat, but doubted they had any skills for the task and didn't want to take the extra time to train them.
The hyperman pulled out his steel knife from the sheath on his belt and began chipping away at one side of the log. He had rolled his sleeves up and opened the seam on his top so he would not get too warm while working.
"What are you doing, Captain?" asked a woman.
"Building a boat." He'd long ago given up believing humans were capable of thinking through questions before opening their mouths, no matter how obvious the answer was.
"I mean why are you building a boat, Captain?"
"To go across the sea."
The only sounds heard for a few minutes was a repetitive 'chok' of his knife striking the wood and the splash of the waves upon the shore. He did not even consider it worth his while to look at his speaker and see which pirate was asking him these questions. It sounded like Alice, the First Mate aboard the pirate vessel he had commandeered, but the speaker was far enough away relative to the background noise that he couldn't be sure.
"Captain?"
"Hmm?" He considered his progress, meagre as it was. Dragon wondered if it would be more effective to burn the wood with his laser first and then chip the charred material away with the blade. Would these hominids, or the humans that had enslaved them and tried to kill Minx, have axes?
"More of us would fit in a raft, Captain." The suggestion was quiet, and very tentative.
He turned to find Alice standing several metres away, the waves rolling across her pale bare feet and her long red hair blowing in the breeze. Her black pants were tight, and her top was loose fitting and open to almost her navel. So she thought she was invited? Ship believed that the natural raft that was carrying Minx across the sea, and away from him, was taking her to a land filled with dinosaurs and other creatures from the Mesozoic era. Extra hands would speed his work, and offer more protection should he encounter some of the nastier predators that had existed throughout Earth's history.
"You're correct, Alice. Good thinking."
She smiled. It reminded him of the response of a loyal dog being patted on its head. He knew it would be easy enough to bring some of the greedier pirates with him, as all he had to do was suggest he was leaving to recover alien treasures for himself. The pirates had only followed him to this hollow world in the hopes of recovering valuable alien artefacts. The remaining humans could simply be told they were coming. They feared him enough to do what he said without too much hesitation.
"Alice, alert the crew that we're going on an expedition. We'll be travelling across this sea and then into the land beyond. There's only one treasure I want, and the rest of you can keep whatever else you find. Fair enough?"
"Aye, Captain!" He was surprised to see her actually salute him; she'd never done that before. "And what if some of the crew want to stay behind?"
"They're welcome to. We've had a dangerous time in this place, and I suspect that we'll see some even more deadly creatures across this water."
"We've got our laser pistols, Captain. We'll kill whatever gets in our way!"
"That's a good girl!" He said it without thinking, being distracted while mentally drawing up plans for a larger boat.
Alice gave him a big smile in response. Evidently, he reasoned, she had not taken the comment as an insult. Once again his pheromones were keeping the First Mate completely under his control. He felt the light breeze shift in direction so that it was now blowing from him to her. The response in Alice as more of his pheromones washed over her was dramatic. She swallowed, and one of her hands began working its way up her hips very slowly.
"I've never been on a real boat before, Captain. It will be very romantic, won't it?"
"I suppose. No nightfall and no stars inside this hollow world, but I guess the roll of the deck and the threats from sea monsters should be enough to..."
"Sea monsters?"
"Ancient creatures from Earth's past. I would expect plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, giant crocodiles, megalodon and the like. Who knows what's out there? How many species in Earth's past left no trace of their existence?"
Alice looked a little troubled, and Dragon recalled her fear of being devoured. He gave her a calming smile.
"We still have our laser pistols, my dear. And I'll be sure to keep you near so you'll be safe."
"So, it will be pretty safe then?"
"As safe as being a space pirate, Alice." He gave her another smile and she licked her lips and took a step toward him. "Now, I need you to go alert the crew," he reminded her.
"The crew?"
