I would’ve liked to say that the next day was easy, but I was dealing with three head-strong women, one of which couldn’t speak English.


    We were all up early, making our way to the Twankie strip mall, where we had some of the waxy dark chocolate donuts and some dried meat. The huntress knew a thing or two about preserving meat, which would definitely come in handy. Then we spent the rest of the day making trips back and forth, clearing out the convenience store and bringing it back to your place. It was quite the find—soaps, shampoos, even some medical supplies. We had cooking oil now, a variety of snacks, and even some adult beverages.


    The Twankie sodas had so much sugar that they weren’t going to go bad anytime soon.


    Khanna hadn’t known about the soap and shampoo, and her eyes widened when she smelled the different bottles. I could see a little glimmer in her eye. She wanted to smell good for me, and I found that so sweet.


    Scavenging was fun, though the variety of items were strange. Opal helped with translating the strange writing. There was some kind of fish paste in a can, called Funtime Popfish Fish Paste, and according to the advertising, it was the funnest and the fishiest!


    The glasses I’d seen before weren’t going to work for Holly, since they were reading glasses, and she was nearsighted. I didn’t know how to solve that problem. She did grab a pair, which would help her with her basket weaving.


    Between trips, I used the Paraxen chainsaw to cut up some lumber for our roof. The sooner we had a roof and some logs for walls, the better. It could be our citadel in case our bus gate failed.


    Opal’s battery was over 50%, so I could go far longer with the chainsaw than I had before. She still complained that she was in an error state, and that she hadn’t completed her primary mission, but I could ignore most of that.


    One thing that was weird. All the bodies of the Sleezenaks below on the beach were gone. They had provided a tasty little snack for something.


    I thought about what horrors there might be in the seas as we gathered rocks for the chimney. I was going to finish the roof first and then make the chimney. Cutting around the rock would be easier than measuring everything beforehand.


    Throughout the day, Billie kept throwing me smiles, and I smiled back. The night before meant something to her.


    I wished Holly could be as happy as the cheerleader, but Professor Kroft seemed infinitely uncomfortable around Khanna, given the strange threesome we’d had.


    As for the huntress, she didn’t stop frowning. It was clear that she wasn’t exactly thrilled to be around other women. Something from her past made it hard for her, and she wasn’t about to start chattering away.


    I couldn’t help but think it might be a mistake for us all to live together.


    At the same time, I hated the idea of Khanna being on her own.


    During the day, we heard the distant drums. I didn’t think we’d killed all the Sleezenaks, but I sure was glad that Enak was gone.


    That night, around our fire, Khanna didn’t say a word.


    She mostly looked at me and tried to ignore both Holly and Billie.


    That wasn’t going to work. Holly finally broke the silence. “Khanna.”


    The huntress didn’t meet her gaze. Instead, she looked at me.


    “You have to talk to her,” I said as gently as I could to the huntress.


    Khanna then managed to turn toward Holly. “Yes, woman. What do you want from Khanna? Khanna will never trust you.”


    “What did she say?” the professor asked. “It doesn’t sound very, uh friendly.”


    There was no way I was going to translate every word. “She is wondering why you said her name.”


    Holly cleared her throat. “Khanna, I want us to be friends. I know the language barrier is difficult, but I think we can get past it. We might be here a while.”


    “Ugh!” Billie said loudly. “Let’s not think that way! We need to think positive!”


    Khanna glanced at Billie and then focused on Holly, and then nudged me.


    I translated.


    Khanna nodded. “Tell her that Khanna will learn your strange tongue. Tell her that Khanna has only had one friend in her life, a sister, and she is dead. Tell her that if she wants to watch us again, Khanna would not be against it. Both these women are pretty, but Khanna likes the older one better than the yellow-haired bitch.”


    Again, I chose my words carefully, leaving out the whole voyeur thing and her preference for the professor. Billie still didn’t know about our little encounter in the strip mall, and Holly didn’t know that Billie and I had crossed a line the night before. Neither did Khanna. We were going to have to talk about the setup at some point, but not yet. I wanted to get our house done before we had more drama.


    “I would’ve liked to have a sister,” Billie said. “But is it me, or does she sound lonely?”


    Khanna had been hurt, clearly, but we didn’t know how or when.


    Holly looked a little relieved. “I’m glad to have her. I really am. She knows how to dry meat, and if we could get some salt, and a smokehouse, we could really solve our food problem. I wonder if she knows how to fish.”


    “I hate fish!” Billie said loudly. “But oh well. Another thing we need to add to our to-do list is recharge our guns.”


    “At the Foiros Waystation,” I said. “We need to find it, sure, but not until we have a secure and stable homebase.”This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    The Sleezenaks might come back. We had to be prepared.


    Khanna had mentioned something about the Chieftain’s Pavillion, and that there were wonders there but also a doorway into the Inferness. As far as I could tell, the Inferness was like hell, and Sakata was one of its denizens.


    The huntress passed me a bottle of Twankie Firedrink, which tasted like cinnamon schnapps, but with kind of a fruitier kick, like a cinnamon apple liqueur. Billie loved how sweet it was.


    For me, it was better than the sodas we’d sampled.


    I took a swig. “But what I’d really like is to find enough power crystals to get Opal to 100%. We don’t need to wait for Sector X to get her fully recharged.”


    Holly took the bottle. “And perhaps with more power, she’ll be able to give you more optimizations. She also might tell us more about her primary mission.”


    I’d thought long and hard about that.


    For the next couple of nights, we slept in the bus, taking our normal watches, and I thought Billie and I would hook up together, but in the end, we were too tired.


    But every morning, Khanna and I would have sex at Privacy Rock. Holly didn’t join us, but I was okay with that.


    My times with Khanna were special.


    I was memorizing her body, her smells, her tastes, the little noises she made. And at first, I thought it was just about our animal needs, but no, things were changing between us. Khanna would touch me during the day, a little caress on my arm, and I would catch her staring at me…and smiling at me when I caught her.


    It was sweet.


    Billie was still a brat, all fiery and difficult, but she never aimed her anger at the huntress. Holly, on the other hand, was more distant.


    It took us a week to finish the house. We strengthened the foundation by anchoring our support struts with concrete. I nailed on a sloped roof, so the rain would run off. We treated the lumber with pine sap, the same stuff that we used on baskets. For additional waterproofing, I laid down ferns, so our house looked like it had a thatched roof. Again, I thought of Gilligan’s Island.


    I was especially proud of the chimney, cemented together, with a central opening. We added a little oven space in the back, where we could bake bread or warm things up.


    We had the bus seats, but Khanna insisted on using her mattress. She set up her own little room by the tree. I think she really liked having her own space. In time, I wanted to bring the strip-mall windows over, but for now, I left the sides and back open, though I did build low walls to keep flying predators from bursting in.


    Our home was both convenient and defensible.


    Finishing that house was one of the proudest moments of my life. Under the sparkling line of light overhead, I stood on the cliff, watching the women organize our things, talking, and for the first time, Khanna even smiled at Holly.


    Billie shouted something, and rolled her eyes, but then laughed. She was enjoying herself for a minute, and I was glad.


    We had a house on the strange world of K’Shaul, and yes, it looked rather primitive, but it was safe. We had extra food from the Twankie store, and it would only be a matter of time before we preserved enough meat that we wouldn’t have to worry about starvation.


    Nothing had attacked us, though I had seen giant footprints, probably Jack and Reggie, probably wondering where I’d run off to.


    Standing there, watching the surf roll in, seeing the last light of the sun glimmering off the half-submerged skyscrapers of San Submerged, I couldn’t help but be grateful.


    We had survived. We were going to thrive. And my future with the three women? I didn’t know, but the strange lust floating in the air wasn’t going away, and both Holly and Billie had needs.


    How long would we be able to keep our desires under control?


    I had Khanna, so I was okay, but what about the other two women in my life.


    And would we find a way home? It didn’t see how because even if we could throw ourselves into the Ravana Storm, the universe was a big place, and we might end up anywhere.


    No. The Fodoron Obelisks were a better bet, though not even Opal knew what kind of secrets they kept hidden.


    That night we celebrated finishing our home. We laughed and drank more of the Firedrink, telling stories, and slowly, Khanna was picking up on some words. For the rest, I translated.


    When I woke up for my watch, Holly hugged me unexpectedly. She smelled so nice. Holly preferred the muskier scents while Billie chose the sweetest and fruitiest soaps. Khanna liked the spicey stuff, and I took whatever was left.


    I pulled Holly close, liking how she felt against me. Billie was sleeping on her bus seat near the fire. Khanna was in her little space near the trunk of the tree.


    Holly gripped me back hard. “Thank you, Sid. Thank you for not running away screaming. I know both Billie and I can be a lot.”


    I eased the professor back and looked into her eyes. “You don’t need to thank me. We’re in this together. We’ll find a way back.”


    “Maybe,” Holly whispered. “But maybe not. I’m trying to focus on the here and now. And right here, right now…things are good.” Then her smile widened. “And they’re bound to get better. We still have those skyscrapers to explore out there.”


    “And more power crystals to find,” I said.


    Holly went to her bed, while I stayed up, keeping the fire going.


    It started to rain as a chill wind came blowing in from the ocean. My partial wall was doing a good job blocking it, but I’d have to add some support there.


    I woke up Billie, for her shift, and I was surprised when she kissed me, on the lips. She lingered as both of us gasped.


    It was intense after so many days without us kissing.


    “What was that for?” I asked.


    “I’ve been wanting to do that for days,” she whispered. “But I definitely think that Khanna is the jealous type.”


    “I think you’d be surprised.”


    “I don’t know,” Billie said with a sigh. “This is all so confusing. Did I cheat on my boyfriend? Yes. Will I probably do it again? Yes. But he’s a zillion miles away, and I’m on a weird mixed-up world with both dinosaurs and spaceships. So yeah…”


    I had to chuckle a little. “So, yeah…”


    Billie kissed me again. “Now you go to sleep.”


    But then we were kissing once more, our tongues touching, and both of gasping. She pulled me away toward the front door.


    It felt like I was fourteen again, sneaking out to be with my friends.


    We made it to the bus, which only had a single seat left, for the person on watch. Without the fire, it was freezing, but soon, I didn’t care about that.


    I was sitting, with my suit unzipped and pushed down to my knees.


    Billie knelt in front of me, taking me into her mouth, and it wasn’t long before I was coming. She swallowed every drop.


    Then it was her turn, but she didn’t want me to go down on her. She wanted me to kiss her, pull on her puffy nipples, while she rubbed herself into two delicious orgasms.


    Billie hugged me and stayed in the bus to keep watch. She was wrapped in a blanket of deer skin, a gift from Khanna while we took watch.


    I sneaked back into our house, and I was on my seat, when Khanna woke up and pulled me away. She was half-asleep, her hair uncombed, but that didn’t matter. She was still beautiful to me.


    We settled into her bed, the two of us, the fire burning low. Our little nest was so comfy.


    I wound up on my back, with the huntress on my chest. I thought she was asleep, but then, she raised herself up to look into my eyes.


    “Khanna loves you,” she said abruptly. “In the darkness, Khanna lose hope. But then, Sid Marshall comes to get Khanna. Sid Marshall makes home for Khanna. Khanna not alone anymore.”


    Tears filled her eyes, and I felt the emotion choke me.


    Her voice broke as she whispered, “Khanna never alone again.”


    “That’s right,” I said, caressing her hair. “You never have to be alone again, Khanna. I’ll be there for you. Always.”


    “Always,” she whispered.


    Right then, I knew, if we found a way home, I would bring Khanna with me. No. Khanna wouldn’t fit in there. She was a huntress, a wild woman of the forest.


    It was then that I knew the truth. I wouldn’t leave K’Shaul, not as long as Khanna was there.


    I told her my truth. “I love you too, Khanna.”


    Then she broke down and wept on my chest.


    I held her while she sobbed.


    Back on Earth, I hadn’t really fit in, and maybe that was why my dad was so distant. I hadn’t wanted his life. I was far more comfortable with my aunt and uncle, in the mountains, hunting and fishing.


    I thought about the conversation I’d had with Billie, when we’d first been taken by the Ravana Storm. Did I have some destiny?


    I didn’t know, but I did know one thing for sure…


    K’Shaul was a savage, unpredictable place, but it had also become my home.