That night, we laughed and talked while we ate those magical bits of processed fried cake. We could hear the rolling surf and then the clouds parted. Not only did we get a break from the rain, we could finally see the sky. A thick stripe of glitter, like rhinestones in the sky, gleamed above us.


    The professor stared upward, smiling. “This world must have a ring, like Saturn. We’re seeing the light glowing off the collection of ice crystals surrounding the planet of Marusia.”


    “That’s kinda cool,” Billie murmured. She was changing. I think having a home was really helping her to relax.


    Along with the ring, the sky above us glowed with the biggest stars I’d ever seen, which meant those stars were close. It gave us plenty of light. The professor thought that Marusia might be a planet in a galaxy closer to star clusters. There wasn’t a moon, but with that river of light above, we didn’t need one. The ocean waters reflected both the starlight and the ring.


    Holly sighed. “While the ocean is nice, it does bring a cold, damp chill to our ridge. The fire is nice, but I agree with Billie. I would love a blanket. Or a pillow. I so miss pillows.”


    Surprise, surprise, Billie came up with a solution. “You know, we could somehow dismantle the bus seats and make cushions for our heads. I know, I know, we’d have to sleep where middle school kids farted, but beggars can’t be choosers.”


    I stirred the fire. “No, it’s brilliant. That will really help.”


    “Where do you think Khanna sleeps?” the professor asked.


    I considered her question. “I don’t know, but remember those drums we heard in the Dinosaur Swamps? I can’t help but think those were her people.”


    “Those seemed like a long way off,” the professor said. “I believe she came from the south. I have no evidence to back my theory, and yet, I wouldn’t want to live in the swamp. And I don’t think she lives in the forest. She must’ve gotten her Happy Loaf bag and dark chocolate donuts from somewhere.”


    “Let’s not forget that she stole our meat that one time,” Billie said, gazing into the fire. “Despite what she’s doing with Sid, we can’t trust her.” Shen then shook her head. “But I don’t get why she gave us dinner. What is she thinking?”


    “Not simply dinner but dessert.” The professor said, gazing into the fire.


    I thought about asking how she was doing without her glasses, but I didn’t want to ruin the vibe. We were feeling good, maybe the best we’d felt since coming to K’Shaul.


    Holly continued. “It must be a peace offering. If the donuts are precious to her, maybe this is her way of apologizing for stealing the meat. Or it could be that the gifts were for Billie and me, to thank us for allowing her to enjoy Sid’s, uh, services.”


    Billie laughed a little. “Uh, I could use some of Sid’s services myself. But I can’t pay you in donuts.”


    I turned to her, and I didn’t hide my surprise.


    Billie lifted a hand. “It was kind of a joke. No, I’m not going to give up a hope that I’ll see Mike again.”


    I was pretty sure she’d gotten the name of her boyfriend wrong, but I didn’t correct her. Again, no one was screaming, and no one was crying. It was a fun, comfortable night sitting on bus seats around the fire. We’d have to lose some of the cushioning for our seats when Billie made our pillows from them, but that was okay.


    Again, I took the middle watch.


    I lay on my bus bench, looking at the stars through the trees. I started making shapes in the constellations, probably like my ancestors had done. I had my hood on, and my survival suit had thickened so I was warm. I missed having a pillow, but I figured we’d get one the next day. Billie’s idea was solid.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    At some point, I knew the professor had gone off to be alone by the bus. I knew exactly what she was doing, but I was so tired, I didn’t want to think about it.


    I thought that maybe Billie was doing the same thing, though she was down the way from me, on her own bus seat.


    A second later, I was unconscious.


    Nothing happened the rest of the night. I took my watch, like always, and I mostly just watched the ocean, though I also checked our front gate to make sure we were safe. The sound of the waves crashing did lull me sleep a little, but then I heard roars over in the Dinosaur Swamps, and I had to wonder if Jack and Reggie were out there hunting.


    It was a reminder that danger was never far away.


    I wanted to protect us from the dangers by building us a real house, with walls, windows, and everything. Maybe we could figure out how to get some glass. It would have to be thick, too, in case something attacked us from the air. Razor wire around the bus would also be nice in case our front door got raided.


    I couldn’t help but feel proud of the home I was creating for us.


    Maybe the huntress gave us the gifts because she wanted a bus seat for herself and was too shy to ask. Not that we could really communicate yet. I had hoped that Opal would eventually be able to translate her words for me.


    Thinking about Opal, I had a very good question for her, something that might change our little home away from home for the better.


    That morning, I sat upright on my bench. Billie and Holly had grabbed more firewood, and we had our little morning fire going. The sky was completely overcast, and it was cold. I’m from Colorado, so I know cold, but this was more of a wet cold that went right to my bones.


    “Rise and shine, Opal,” I said. “I have a question for you!”


    Yes, HOSTNAME: Sid Marshall. I am ready to respond to your query.


    “We have that welding torch. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”


    Affirmative. Paraxen Dual Metallicar Tool. Good for welding and cutting.


    That was music to my ears. “How much fuel do we have for the Metallicar Tool?”


    The approximate charge is a thousand Terran hours of use for both the welding tip and the cutting tip at Level 1. At Level 10, approximate charge is a hundred Terran hours.


    “I love the Paraxens. They are literal lifesavers. So how do I change the tip?”


    This unit is pairing with Paraxen Dual Metallicar Tool. Updated. Ready for use. Level 1-10 with dual operations.


    “Girls!” I said loudly, getting to my feet. I then carefully walked over the rocks and logs to get to the women by the fire. “I have great news.”


    Professor Kroft smiled at me. “Do you have coffee to go along with our donuts.”


    I chuckled. “I said great news not miraculous news. No, seriously, this could change everything. I can use our welding torch as a cutting torch to cut metal off the bus to make nails.”


    Billie squinted one eye closed. “Nails are important how?”


    Professor Kroft shushed. “Now, now, let’s celebrate, Billie. We have fasteners for the floor and walls of our home. This is good news because we have no idea if the sap will be an effective glue.”


    “We can use it to hold things in place,” I said. “And I still want to use joints to connect the pieces of the frame, but then we can hammer in the nails for additional strength. This is going to make this whole project so much easier. And if we find more metal, like razor wire, I can attach it to the bus. I have some experience welding, though I mostly have worked with wood. There’s bound to be a learning curve, sure, but I have hundreds of hours to figure it out.”


    I had to celebrate with a donut.


    And then I wanted to get over to Privacy Rock. I figured I’d have someone waiting there for me, and I could thank her for the donut in person.


    She was there that morning, and while I tried to get her to talk, she only wanted one thing.


    In the end, I had too much to do that day to force her to talk to me.


    We ended up in the overhang, with her against the wall, ass arched. She was looking over her shoulder, with a sweaty length of hair hanging over one eye. She looked and smelled like the heart of sex itself.


    With one hand, I grabbed her by the hair and got busy, ramming myself into her, forcing shrieks of pleasure from her. My other grabbed one of her tiny titties, and I wasn’t gentle. I ended up pulling on her big nipple, which made her scream louder. As I slammed into her, she slammed back into me.


    Of course that made me come.


    While the girls had their fun the night before, at various times, not with each other, but alone, I got to be the huntress, and I was grateful for that fact.


    After the huntress left, I got busy building our house on Lonetree Ridge. Khanna said very little, but she did leave us other presents in the coming days. Nearly a week passed before she and I could have a real conversation.


    In the end, she wasn’t with the drummers. In fact, she was absolutely, positively terrified of them.