D.A.B, day 19
Two days later. Raiders.
I can't help that I get a 'Joker' association every time I see Bokyli, as she currently have a big green smile from eating leaves that stained her mouth and cheeks. I've tried some on my skin, and it really stains the skin and seems to be a good green pigment, unfortunately I can't see much use for that pigment, but now we know. I will admit it is damn practical to have someone that think it is 'fun' to do runs up and down the same steep rocky trail to fetch sandy dirt for mortar or slate for roofs. As I'm not accompanying her, I bet Bokyli is saying 'jump' a lot. If she had a watch, she would absolutely time the downhill and race against herself. She is like some adrenaline junkie going recklessly fast downhill on a mountain bike, but for most of her life, she have run on 'boring plains'. I don't like her running around like this, but it feels better to respect Bokyli's need to feel free and run about as long as she do good work, and without doubt she do good work, and save me a lot of time and ache. She even takes care of the creek slime collection.
I wonder if Bokyli will 'change' to be more 'mountain goat', but then again she can do a vertical 2-2.5 meter jump from stand still right now, and jumping down 6-7 meters isn't an issue. Seeing her just casually leap down instead of using the ladder is just annoying, and her way of getting back up makes it clear that preparing defence for enemies species will be damn hard. To reach the hut, Bokyli can just jump up and grab the ledge while pushing up against the cliff with her hoof toes and is up on the huts porch in no time without using the ladder, and even the steep rock face up to the cliff work area have rocky parts she just jump between to get up there - since it is faster and easier than using the boring ladder. It's more of a matter about not damaging or spilling whatever she is carrying, but there is a hoist to lift things up for that stretch. Eventually there will also be battlements that force her to use the boring ladder. If Bokyli can't get up without using a ladder, most other species should find it utterly impossible. Seeing some kind of athletic competition amongst Bokyli's people would be very impressive, and weird considering they will have 'changed' to their role.
With how good my companions are in their different areas, I kind of feel like the tired old guy way in the back of whatever damn alien bastard test or competition this is. I'm not physically better than any of them in anything, and they are just three other species. Knowledge is basically the only thing I have going for me, and that is just education, and most of it is of no use here. Skills in using advance technology as being able to program in two different computor languages, or being able to drive a car is just useless here, and that include more practical stuff like welding. Even pure higher knowledge as advanced maths is also practically useless. Being from an 'advanced culture' really isn't helpful in this situation. I honestly feel like I'm giving humanity a bad reputation, and couldn't the damn alien bastards at least have picked some iron man outdoorsy survival expert instead of me?
And now I worry that there are other and far more competent humans here, and when we eventually meet another group, the other species people will just get that well meaning smile and share that look meaning: 'Wow, your human really suck! That must be hard for you.'
I guess it is just something to get used to, and Xuela and Bokyli have seriously upped the mobility of our group, but I'm not looking forward to go exploring with Bokyli. I will absolutely be the tired old man she have to wait for, and the slow one getting eaten by dinosaurs if we're chased. She doesn't even need to bring food along, and she loves all the lush greenery with so much variation. So much nicer than boring grass. It's no wonder Bokyli just had that big knife, large water canteen and small things like a flint-steel fire starting kit, a folded cloth shoulder bag to carry stuff she finds, and woven cord wrapped around the bandoliers back. She don't need much else. Although she do like the bow Reiley made for her, and that tarp would be nice when it really rains. Still:
"Damn Alien Bastards. I shouldn't be here."
Oh well, I can't do shit about any of that, and I just have to finish work here. At least the wood ash based cement seems to work well enough and the work on the huts roof access, the balcony location and stone stairs up to the path over the cliff is done. This now has to dry before continuing as I pretty much just cleaned away edges and mortared in rocks to make the area smooth and secure to start building the balcony brick walls and pillars when the bricks have been fired, but that will be another couple of days so the bricks are really dry. Time to check Reiley's progress on making the path and mortar stairs up to the lookout and Xuela's future hut. Then move over to the cliff work area and continue working on the stairs up from it. Another 4 hours on that today and the same tomorrow and it might be finished, and same with the lookout path. Then work on the building in the cliff work area. Bokyli have found some hanging vines, so we will make planter boxes and try to have the vines improve our camouflage over the path and roofs, and there will also be made a small terraced garden on the cliff top.
Xuela don't mind us building the paths, stairs, lookout and balcony before starting on her hut, as beside being needed to reach it and for experience, it also gives us experience to make her hut prettier, but she will probably live on the balcony once that is finished. Both for the extra height, the airy feel, the view and that it is private accommodations she can easier access.
Bokyli is another issue, as she will sleep downstairs for probably another two weeks. At least she don't expect to have a hut of her own, and prefer to live with others instead of separated. Her kind use tents and usually sleep in a group. The 'large' structure we're building in the work area will be some kind of community building reminding of the hut in construction, but with the loft divided into three bedrooms, with beds or bunk beds. There will be a fireplace and kitchen with water collection and water tap like in our hut, and we're planning to make a separate toilet-washing-shower facility, since it will be useful when we work outside too, and it will keep that water, pee and poop from contaminating the water reservoir.
We have no real options in how to build the community hut and we're using the same technique as the hut over the part of the area that it can be done for, as that is faster and anything else would just take far too many bricks we need for Xuela's hut and the balcony. Still, we will need some bricks for the other projects there, so it's good that Bokyli will be making more bricks today and tomorrow, and she is probably happy that we won't be down there nagging her about what she do or eat as long as she make bricks and ash cement. And it is not like it takes her all day as we have space issues for drying and storing bricks. We know Bokyli is enjoying herself and take two dips a day in the sea and waves, before washing of the salt water in the river as she 'checks the fish traps', and she also 'have to wash off the sanctuary flower smell' a couple of times a day. It's no surprise that Bokyli instantly volunteered to remove branches on those fallen trees in the river.
The new huts will eventually have glass windows, since that have worked better than expected. We're going to need so much sand for all the windows for the hut, Xuela's hut and the community building, but Xuela will fetch that. Even Xuela got worried during our canoe rescue of Bokyli, so risking our lives and the canoe for sand for glass when she can fetch a pot and get back much faster, is just stupid. She could do several trips before we do one, although we could obviously carry more in that one trip and on our next trip we will bring back more sand. The new glass crucibles will produce far thinner glass plates, but still be made in crucibles as it just makes the tempering easier. Trying to blow glass and tempering it is a future project, but if that work, then replacing the windows will be easy.
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We've finally gotten the community huts long front beam with all its front wall supports in place and stable when Xuela returns far earlier than expected, and as she lands she shout:
"Arne! Reiley! I never made it far inland as I saw two dugout canoes heading down Raider river towards the sea, with two people in each canoe!"
"How close?"
"Maybe an hour or three to reach the sea as they have another rapid to pass? You know land or water travel is not my thing. They have weapons, packs and pots in each dugout."
"How do they look?"
"Strange like everyone here, but I think they're part of the raiders that Reiley described. We did after all name it Raider river since above the rapids and waterfall, that river flow past the likely Raider camp in the high valley. One of the big muscular persons have four arms, a big tail and is red and scaley, which match Reiley's description of one of the Raiders. Another is a big muscular violet woman."
Reiley and I say a synchronized, "Shit," before Reiley ask: "Think they are exploring or looking for the Salt Boon?"
"No idea. Probably both if they captured some off your former camp mates and were told about it. Or they could have already visited the Boon before I got here, or during my time here as I wouldn't have noticed. Xuela, please keep track of them and report if they're heading here."
"I'm just gonna drink some water first and rest a bit. Have you decided what we're going to do?"
"Xuela, we are a team, so we decide together. We have water and food, and can make sure to check there is no obvious traces of us being here on the beach and river down below. We haven't really prepared to fight together, and you haven't had enough practice with your crossbow, but at least you have it and we have our weapons. Not much we can do except see what they do, camouflage this area better, and keep working. Xuela, what is that?"
I point to the black cloth package she dumps on the ground that have something long in it.
"I found this beside what was left of a person. Inside is an axe, a coin pouch, a book and some scraps of clothes and a small cylinder metal thing and a long metal-wood thing. I left the two broken clay bottles." How much stuff is just scattered in nature as the only proof of some persons grisly fate? How many die each week? At least Xuela now understand to prioritise any metal that she see. Xuela hands the package to Reiley: "Add this to the community shelf."
"Thank you, will do. Good find. Bokyli and I will make more arrows, bolts and prepare spears, and we need to try that molotov idea and those Number 3 weapons."
I look into that package as I'm curious about those metal things. Metal is nice to have and might be made into a blade or spear tip. What the?! Okay, this is some kind of two barrelled muzzle loading gun. Strange design alright, but it is literally an alien device, and looks to be chemically ignited. It also seem empty. I wonder if the person wearing it tried to use it on the dinosaurs or himself or herself? It might have been a form of shotgun as the barrels are smooth bore. No spare bullets or powder, so that might have been eaten or something. This proves we might have to expect enemies with firearms. Shit. And sooner or later there might be someone who knows how to make stuff like black powder from scratch, and finds the stuff to do it. They should be limited to the guns brought here as making a good enough guns should be hard, but that also means that something like a brought hunting rifle will be a danger we might face.
Shit.
The small metal thing is lightly decorated cylinder with a metal rod inside. Tight fit with some kind of seal and charred material in a hollow on the inside end, and pretty much like a sealed piston, but what for? Oh. This could be one of those fire piston things. I test it by slamming it down on a flat rock, and as I quickly pull the rod out of the cylinder, there is embers. They're all looking at me, so I inform them about what it probably is, and more tinder is used and they all have a go. Hardly a perfect firestarter, but it's quick, durable and very portable. Xuela is very pleased with her good find, and that I could figure out and explain what it does. She wouldn't have had a clue.
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Xuela returns with another update that the dugouts have turned south after reaching the sea and is heading towards us. At least three of the people seems strong, and were the ones carrying the dugouts and most of their equipment down the last rapid. She have to be careful and stay north of them, plus make an inland detour before returning here as they head south, but as we cannot see the Salt Boon from the lookout here, she will keep her eyes on them. If they stop at the Salt Boon and seem to have been there before, she will just keep overwatch until they leave. If they return north she will tell us when it is safe. If they head inland or south toward us she will return and tell that. Until then we will just wait, although it is time to climb up in the lookout to see if we can see them from there.
It's hard to find them against the sea, but eventually I make them out. It is just very hard to see their small crafts from this distance, in this light, and it's not like they're wearing high visibility clothes. I really want that spyglass telescope, and it would also help Reiley and Bokyli. We watch until they disappear behind the ridge, and we just go down and continue to work.
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Eventually Xuela returns and informs us: "I think they're making an ambush."
"An ambush?"
"Yes. They have made camp beneath and in a big tree in the forest, but well hidden from the sea, and they have carried the dugout canoes ashore and hidden them and erased their tracks. The smallest one is also strong and can climb really well and have taken a position on the central break water cliff with a big bow. One of the big muscular men also have a big bow and a large quiver and have taken another position at the opposite side of the narrow inlet. The other two have big weapons and stay hidden in the forest overlooking the Salt Boon. One is the red scaley lizard looking person with four arms, and the other is that big violet woman. They haven't taken much salt, and they seem to be waiting."
"Yeah, that sounds like an ambush."
Reiley asks the next obvious question: "But why? What do they know that we don't?"
"Probably a lot. I was thinking along those same ambush ideas when we visited, but the chance of someone actually coming there while waiting should be low. They might know or suspect someone will come. The question is what do we do?"
We look at each other, and Reiley replies: "We should try to keep watch on them, but Xuela shouldn't expose herself as they will be attentive in an ambush, and movement it noticed. I could find a lookout from the ridge on this side and see what happens. I will be too far away to do anything, but they shouldn't see or hear me far away up on the side of the ridge with the sun in my back. I know you don't want me to go by myself, but it is better that way, and I'm the best for this. You and Bokyli should stay here and keep working, and Xuela should keep hidden watch from the top of the cliff. I can signal her from afar, and she might see anyone else approaching. This might take a few days."
I hate when the plan I don't like makes sense, but we all agree it is a good plan. We have been teaching Xuela and Bokyli signs, but Reiley makes sure Xuela know a quick simple signal plan, kits up with food and water for three days before we have a goodbye quickie, and she leaves. It feels absolutely horrible to see Reiley leave and heading for danger when I'm just going to stay here and work. Her camouflage coverall makes me wonder: is this how soldier spouses feel?
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Working on glyphs did not helped to take my mind of Reiley, and it feels kind of silly to trying to make something like a written language while my girlfriend is out watching enemy raiders just a short distance away. Higher intellectual pursuits vs violence and basic need. Now that is a tale told all throughout history; 'noli ... istum disturbare'. At least Bokyli doesn't seem worried or distracted, but it kind of fit her personality. Going to sleep in the big bed isn't easy. This is the first time I sleep alone in this bed. And the first time Reiley is this far from me since we meet. It's only been 12 days?