fanfiction The Ark Adventure 2017, My Bermuda Vacation

[rpicardi1]

Need a Fan Fiction Prefix.

Introduction;

 

The original story is based upon two scenarios of the game Ark Survival Evolved, my single player adventure of 350 hours in the game and a fictional multiplayer game following a similar story line. The single player story is loosely based upon my playing of Ark shortly after it became available through Steam on June 2015. The multiplayer tribe follows a similar storyline. Given the popularity of the newly released movie Jurassic World, the theme of the game, the overwhelming following on Twitch TV and the You Tube posters, nearly a million copies were sold in June alone. As of December 10, 2015, the game is still in pre release with updates and content being added almost daily with nearly three million copies sold. It has been pre released to X-Box One on December 16. By the end of the year, nearly a million copies sold on X-Box pre release.

April of 2017, Ark has grown way beyond its original concept with over 127 distinct creatures in the game. It is now on X-Box One and Play Station 4 and has sold millions of copies worldwide. The imitators are now out there but still can't compare to the open world and availability of numerous mods including several excellent maps. I have over 800 hours into the game. Some players over 3,000 hours.

All characters and locations in this story are fictional. For the purpose of the story, my name will be Halsey. This story will be based upon a tribe of nine that find themselves marooned on Thieve's Island. The adventure is based upon the game playing mechanics as that mod map gets developed.

 

Chapter One, My Bermuda Vacation.

What are the odds? Those robo calls advertising a free Bermuda Vacation. Those ones that high pressure you into buying an expensive time share that you can't get rid of. What if one of those calls was not the usual robo call, but something that had an extraterrestrial source. An invite to an adventure literally out of this world.

On an early fall day, I receive a package from Fed Ex addressed to me from a travel agency I have never heard of. It contains an invitation for a free vacation to Bermuda for the first weekend of October with an 800 phone number and verification code for conformation of the trip. Enclosed is the travel agenda, tickets for the flight out of the local international airport, and an up to date passport with my photo.

Being quite suspicious of this being another one of those time share scam, but curious at why they went to all of this work when I never completed such a call, I make some phone calls to various consumer and government agencies. They all verify that the travel agency is legit and that the trip will be no way connected to any time sharing contracts, or sales pitch of any kind. A check of the passport confirms that it is legal and not a forgery. Satisfy that I an not going to be scammed, I decide to call the 800 number and confirm the trip.

A pleasant sounding lady answers the phone. There is no pressing a bunch of numbers or dealing with a robotic voice to get to a person. I identify myself that I am calling about the free trip. She asks for my conformation number and transfers me to the office of the travel agency manager.

His secretary, who identify herself as Dee, tells me that the owner of the company has started a policy of giving away free trips to a select group of strangers, that he does so to gather information of their vacation experience, that the only requirement from me is to complete a survey, so that he can use it to improve the vacation experience for his paying customers.

For this trip, Dee tells me that I will be traveling by a private charter with six other people to one of the more rustic vacation places in Bermuda. Her boss wants to know how well some of the out of the way vacation spots treat their guest. I agree to take the trip. Dee tells me to make arrangements to be gone for five days and that I will be picked up by the airport limo service at 9:00 AM Thursday morning.

Right on time, the airport limo arrives to pick me up. I say good by as I am wished a happy vacation by my neighbor.

The limo arrives at the airport taking me through a service gate instead of the main terminal. We bypass the annoying TCA security check as the driver hands airport security his paperwork and we are directed to a charter jet parked on the tarmac.

I am greeted by the hostess at the door of the charter. She directs the limo driver where to take my luggage as she introduces me to Joe and Mary, who are taking a honeymoon vacation as guest of the travel agency.

Joe, I find out, runs a local sporting goods store that specializes in survival gear. His new wife Mary, is a instructor at the local university where she does research and teaches archaeology. I tell them both that I went to that university when it was first a local collage, and the classes I took there. She tells me some history of the professors that have since retired. I ask her about archaeology and if she studied some of the local history in this area. She answers yes in addition to her work in early prehistoric history that goes back to the age of the dinosaurs.

I ask Joe about his sporting business as he answers my questions about various merchandise that he stocks. I ask him about crossbows. He gives me a recommendation for a crossbow he stocks that would be most useful if I am interested in one. He tells me that he also carries backpacking and survival gear. They are currently some of his best selling items.

The charter lands in Detroit where we pick up our other four guest for our trip. The first one on board is Michael, who has lost the use of his legs due to a combat injury. He is helped to a seat across and behind from me. His wife Caroline sits across from him. Denny and Julia come on board and sit in front of them. I learn that they often travel as a group of four as they have known each others for ages and often vacation together.

As the jet takes off for Bermuda, we introduce ourselves to each other. I learn about Michael's service in Vietnam in Special Forces. I tell him about my experiences there in Recon. He tells me about his combat injury that left his legs paralyzed. I ask Michael if he has ever met Travis Mills. He says no but that he has heard about him surviving the lost of his four limbs and his rehabilitation and work after. I tell him about the local museum I volunteer for and have met him in person when he walked in unassisted carrying his uniform. He says that he will need to visit the museum and its displays.

Caroline tells me about her career as a Nurse. She became head of the department until she retired a year ago to go traveling with her husband and their good friends Denny and Julia.

I learn that Denny and Julia, are both veterans of the first Gulf War, that they are retired military, and that they teach survival skills at a local collage.

We arrive later that afternoon in Bermuda, then board an airport shuttle which takes us out away from the big resorts to a fishing village with a rustic four guestroom bed and breakfast operated by a local couple. The accommodations are quite spartan, but clean and well maintained. The couple recommends a local nearby restaurant to us for dinner and says that they will fix us breakfast at our convenience. After getting unpacked and dressed, we all get together and head out for dinner.

The meal, complements of the travel agency, is outstanding.

Our agenda the next morning involves a charter cruise at Carlos to go deep sea fishing. Our waiter, who knows the captain, says he is a colorful character with a mate that is a bit of a clown, but they are both reliable, well liked locally, and good at their trade. He gives us directions how to get to his charter boat which is located close by.

Returning to the retreat, our host ask us what time we would like to have breakfast. We ask them if 7:30 is OK. They say yes and offer us a choice of breakfast items. We place our order, visit for a while in the main living room, then retire for the night.

The next morning, after an outstanding breakfast at the retreat, we walk down the street to a small harbor below. It is easy to find Carlos and his fishing boat, a day cruiser that had been outfitted for offshore deep sea fishing.

Carlos, the skipper, is just as colorful as described. His mate Mickey is a bit of a clown as Carlos yells at him for leaving the bait on the dock as he prepare his boat for us. He tones down the language apologizing for not spotting us coming to the dock sooner. We tell him not to worry as most of us are veterans that have heard it all in our past. He says he will try to be more careful in front of the ladies.

As we board his craft, he makes sure that we are all equipped with life vest. He says that it is a government requirement on a vessel for hire of this size. We tell him that is fine as he shows us around, then are seated for the trip to the fishing grounds beyond the reef. Excited, we all chat about our upcoming adventure in preparation to brag to our friends about the catch of the day or the big one that got away.

Our chartered day cruiser sets sail out of the little harbor. We will be heading beyond the reef to an area known for Marlin and other game fish. Mickey gets the fishing poles ready as we help Michael into the Marlin Chair and prepare his line for trolling behind the boat.

No one on the charter has noticed the ever darkening sky to the North as we sail beyond the reef. Michael has just hooked a Marlin as Carlos maneuvers his craft to aid in the battle while Micky helps with the line handling. Everyone on the boat is so excited at our first catch of the day.

Suddenly, the sea becomes glass calm as I notice the approaching darkness of the rapidly closing storm front. Carlos sees it coming to. He steers the boat to head for shore just as the engines mysteriously dies. He attempts to restart the engine, but the starter doesn't work. He attempts to radio for help, then curse at his dead radio. The boat's running lights go out. Before we know it, the storm is upon us with howling wind, dense fog, and blinding rain. A huge wave catches the boat broadside as we are all tossed overboard. Then, in an ear splitting screech with a brilliant flash, I am rendered unconscious.

 

Chapter Two; Thieve's Island.

It is early morning as I wake up naked on the sandy beach looking into a beautiful tropical sky. The sandy beach seems so strange, so clean, not even a foam cup or water bottle. All of my clothes are missing along with my watch and glasses. Strange, my nearsightedness has vanished. I can see the distant islands just as clearly as I can close up. I see what looks like seagulls fishing in the sea. They look so primitive.

I do a quick search for the others, but quickly decide that it may not be a good idea to go running down this unfamiliar beach. I am seeing strange looking creatures in the distance. There are strange looking rock formations. A boulder is actually floating in the air nearby. I see a erupting volcano in the distance. There are some floating islands inland. I also see a strange looking structure floating in the distant sky. It has a shaft of light going through it from the ground to where it vanishes high in the sky.

“Where am I,” I think. “This must be the Bermuda Triangle. There is no other explanation for those floating objects, the strange creatures in the distance, that floating alien structure in the distance.”

“What's this?” I find a strange glowing gem that has been implanted into my arm. “How did it get there? What is its purpose?”

As I examine it more closely, I find myself staring at a holographic display. On the top are a series of icons in which the leftmost one, my character, is on display.

On the left, the Inventory tab is selected. It contains a symbol of the gem in my left wrist that is called my Specimen Implant. There is also a hat skin, a Dino glasses skin, and a Thorny Dragon skin. “Weird?” I think. “Just where the heck am I?”

In the middle is a tab that says “You.” I see my name there along with my level which is one, my location, day one, the time, the temperature, and information about my armor of which I have none. There is also a listing of personal info such as health, stamina, oxygen, weight, food, water, melee damage, movement speed, crafting speed, fortitude, and torpidity.

To the right is a picture of a naked me.

The Crafting tab shows that I can make a primitive pick and torch. As I highlight them, I get information of the items that I need to make each one. “OK, how am I suppose to make those items? Where will I find the needed materials?” I exit the holographic display and start looking around.

There are loose stones on the beach so I pick up one. To my surprise, I get a holographic message that says “Added One Stone.” Looking into the implant, I find that there is one stone now showing and that it weighs 0.5 pounds. The crafting tab shows me that I now have the stone needed for the pick but I still need a wood and ten thatch.

“OK, where will I get those items?”

Looking on the beach, I find some loose driftwood and fiber like material. As I pick them up, I get messages that I have added wood and thatch. Checking the Crafting, I find that I can now make a primitive pick. I select Craft Item. A pick soon appears which I can now use.

A message is displayed that I now have a Level Up. Going back into my display, I find a flashing icon to the right of each of the stats except for Torpidity. I select Health and watch it jump up to 110%.

A second display appears with a selection of items that I can craft. Each one has what are called engram points. It looks like a purchase list of survival items. I find that I have eight engrams that I can spend for now. Thinking about that I will need to get food and shelter, I select a hatchet and spear for now. On the next level up, I will go for a campfire and some clothes.

For the hatchet, torch, and spear, I will need flint but there is none laying on the beach. On a hunch, I take the pick and hit a boulder on the beach. It gives me flint and stone. I pick up some more sticks on the beach and soon have enough material to craft the hatchet and torch. They get placed in what is called my hot bar where I place the pick in slot 1, the hatchet in slot 2 and the torch in slot 6. (Gameplay note. One can pick up loose wood and thatch from the beach on some mod maps. Otherwise, you have to hit a tree or driftwood log with your fist to gather those materials.)

The spear is giving me a challenge. I will need it for fishing. It requires fiber. Looking inland among the palm trees, I find some bushes, (pitcher plants on this mod map,) and pick them. To my surprise, I gather an assortment of berries as well as the required fiber. A spear is soon made.

I find that the berries that I have gathered have an assortment of uses. The red, yellow, and blue ones are listed as tasty. I eat a bunch of them as I am starting to get hungry. The purple ones are listed as special. The white ones will give me energy but are dehydrating. The black ones will make me sleepy. I continue picking at the bushes adding more fiber and berries.

I get a second level up and place it into weight. I now purchase the fire pit, shirt and pants.

While gathering more berries, I now notice there are some other creatures nearby and in the distance. Wow, is this the Land of the Lost. I see Dodo Birds, a Trike nearby, a Brontosaurus in the distance, and some lizard like creatures some distance away. I watch one attack and kill a Dodo on the beach, then eat it.

“Oh, oh, this place may not be the paradise it appears to be.” I look for a place to place the fire pit where my back will be sheltered, then, I craft up some clothes and put them on.

While gathering wood and stone for the fire pit, I am interrupted by a loud chirp. Grabbing my spear, I find myself face to face with one of those human sized lizards. It does not look friendly. I see it flare its hood as I instinctively jump to one side just being missed by its green spit. I charge it with the spear catching it full on into its body.

The spear breaks without warning.

Grabbing my hatchet, I hack at its head. It is soon killed.

Examining this lizard creature, I get a holographic message, “Dilophosaurs, Level 4, Dead. Decomposes in 4.58 minutes.” I use the hatchet to harvest it. It gives me several pieces of raw meat and a bunch of hide.

“Excellent,” I think. I can cook up the raw meat for food. I better get some more spears made before I build the fire.

Another level up appears which I apply to building material for a shelter. It starts raining as I prepare to light the fire. “Interesting,” I think. “I was going to look for fresh water, but, now, the rain has satisfied my need to find any.”

I find that the fire pit has an inventory through the use of the Specimen Implant. It has three slots in which I place wood and the raw meat. Selecting Light Fire, it roars into life. I soon find cooked meat and charcoal being added as the raw meat starts being used up.

I head back to the palm trees to harvest more wood, thatch and fiber. I find that I can craft up the components for the hut as I gather the materials. The finished parts surprisingly weigh far less then the raw materials needed. I take them back to the campsite and build the shelter.

Another level up. I select a storage box. It becomes useful for storing the extra berries that I have been collecting while gathering thatch.

There are wild Dodos nearby. I find some eggs lying on the beach from them and gather them up. They also go into the storage box.

Evening is approaching as I finish construction and prepare to spend the night in the thatch hut by the fire pit.

“Hey, you little thieves,” I yell as two pegomaxes, harry lizard like creatures the size of medium dogs, take a nip out of me and run off. One has snatched my torch and runs off into the palms. The other turns around, walks up to face me, and just stares at me. My specimen implant tells me that it has been tamed.

“How is that possible?” I think. “Oh, you took my mejoberries becoming a passive tame.” I name her Peggy as she follows me around while I make another torch. I find her quite friendly as I can access her inventory, level her up, and use her to carry small items for me. She will even ride on my shoulder. Most important of all, the wild Pegomaxes now stay away. “Good, as long as Peggy is with me, I won't have to worry about the wild ones snatching stuff from me.” (This may not be a game mechanic.)

With another level up, I craft up a slingshot. This will give me a ranged weapon should I have to deal with any more of those spitting creatures. Some standing torches allow me to light up my camp site for the night. They will serve as a beacon for the others as well as allowing me to see any approaching predators.

I get settled in for a restless night as darkness approaches quickly and the night noises get occasionally interrupted by the screams and roars of something being attacked in the distance. Peggy snuggles me closely seeking my assurance that I can protect her from what is out there. “Definitely dangerous out there at night,” I think as I grab my spear tightly. “I'll need to have better weapons to defend us and soon. That will be my goal in the morning.”

[rpicardi1]

Thank you for adding the Fan Fiction prefix.

Chapter 3. Marooned on Thieve's Island.

 

My test game play placed me high up on a hill in the interior using South Zone 3. South Zone 1 placed me on top of a pair of Carnos in the badlands. That was instant death. The adventure continues from there.

Michael is the first one to wake up high up on a forested hill facing the morning sun. He finds himself naked as he struggles to sit up to look around, then finding that he is able to stand up without any assistance.

Through the scattered trees, Michael can see that he is quite high up from the surrounding landscape. To the East, he can see a rocky terrain resembling a rugged landscape of badlands. To the North, giant redwoods can be seen. To the South, there are more forested hills with the distant sea and islands beyond. To the West, a barren mountain peak along with a floating island to the left. A waterfall cascades off of it.

“ A floating island? There is no such thing. I must be dreaming. What is this place? How did I get way up here? What is this thing in my left wrist? Last thing I remember is the storm and being tossed into the sea when Carlo's charter boat was capsized by a huge wave.”

His thoughts are interrupted when he sees a naked Caroline stand up nearby him. “Who are you?” she asked in alarm. “Is that you Michael? It is you! How is it possible that you are walking again?”

“We must be dreaming,” Michael answers. “This strange place. Being able to walk unassisted. That floating island over there. Those strange alien looking towers with the colored light shaft shooting up into the sky. This thing in our left wrist. Is this what the Bermuda Triangle looks like?”

A strange looking horse goes galloping by, then races down the hill. Joe and Mary come running up the hill after it. “Michael and Mary?” ask Joe as he approaches them. “How did Michael regain his ability to walk?”

“I'm as puzzled as your are,” answers Caroline. “That horse, so strange with the roached mane, the heavy beard, it's zebra like color pattern. It's size, about that of a draft horse. I've never seen one like that before.”

“That's because they went extinct over 10,000 years ago,” answers Mary. “We got close to it but something spooked it before we could figure out what it was. That's how we found you.”

“I wonder if the others are here nearby,” ask Joe.

“We should place some kind of a marker here before we go off looking for them,” answers Michael. “Lets gather some of these loose stones and place a message with them on this bare spot of the hilltop.”

“What the?” questions Joe as the stones he picks up vanishes with a holographic message of “Added One Stone.”

“It must have something to do with these implants,” answers Mary.

“You're right,” answers Caroline. “They are acting like some kind of Kindle, backpack, crafting station, and learning center. It says that we can craft tools and other items. But, we need to level up and spend something called Engram Points to get the knowledge to make things.”

“Well, I need some thatch and wood in order to craft a primitive pick,” says Michael. “Good, I got some from picking up these sticks off the ground.” Note, this only works on The Volcano mod map. It currently is not implemented on Thieves Island.

“We all got a level up.” answers Caroline. “With only eight engram points to spend apiece, lets each of us specialize in something so we can grab all those useful skills for now.”

“That sounds like a plan,” answers Joe.

Denny and Julia soon join the group with Carlos and Micky close behind. “You don't want to go down the slope to the South,” announces Denny. “We though that Mickey was crazy when he yelled that he saw a dinosaur down below the cliff. He wasn't. There is a pair of T-Rexes down there feeding on a fresh kill. The badlands to the East are no better. We spotted Terror Birds, tigers, and some reptile like creature that looks like a giant porcupine.”

“Then, we better get some weapons crafted up and fast,” answers Joe. “We can make picks, hatches, and spears for now. We just need a source of flint and fiber.”

“Try hitting those boulders with the pick,” answers Caroline.

“That works,” answers Joe. “I'm getting flint from the boulder.”

“Has anyone seen Halsey?” ask Mary.

“No” answers Carlos. “He was washed overboard before the wave capsized my boat.”

“Hopefully, he was able to make it back to town so he could alert the authorities that we are missing,” answers Mary.

“What are we going to do for food and water?” ask Mickey.

“Pick and eat the berries from the bushes,” answers Mary. “Just don't eat the black ones, they will put you to sleep, and especially, don't eat the white one as they will dehydrate you. The rest are safe to eat.”

“I'm getting fiber from the bushes,” answers Carlos.

“Excellent,” answers Joe. “I need some for the spears.”

“We can use more to make up some clothes,” answers Mary. “Shoes and gloves will have to wait until we can kill something for hide.”

“Lets get some shelter and a fire built before it gets dark,” announces Michael. “We will need its protection for the night. Then, we can figure out what we should do in the morning, maybe move to a better location down by the sea so we can be rescued.”

With the group of eight doing the gathering and Joe and Mary crafting up the parts, a thatch shelter is soon built before dark. It starts to rain as it gets cold.

“Hey everyone,” says Denny. “You can quench your thirst if you just stand in the rain for a minute.”

“That's good news,” answers Joe. “We will still need to find a reliable source for fresh water if we are to survive long enough to be rescued.”

“I have clothes for everyone,” announces Mary. “They should help us stay warm during the night.”

“Interesting that I only had to put wood in the fire pit and just use a command called Light Fire,” answers Michael. “That was certainly a lot easier then trying to light one under these wet conditions.”

“Excellent, we can now craft the bow and arrows,” announces Joe.

“Lets set up a watch schedule and get some sleep,” says Denny. “Then, we can prepare to travel to a better location in the morning when we can see what dangers are waiting for us out there.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 4, Day Two on the Ark.

 

It is a cold morning as the group wakes up to a breakfast of assorted berries. Primitive Bows have been crafted for everyone along with about four dozen stone arrows. There are three spears crafted for everyone as well.

Everyone has been leveling up for speed and endurance. “I wished that we had the hide to craft bolas and slingshots,” says Michael. “They would prove quite useful in case we would run into raptors. We could tangle their legs in them to make them much easier to take down.

“Which way should we head in order to get down to the beach?” ask Joe.

“Well, the west is out,” answers Denny. “That is all uphill into the interior. The North to the Redwoods has an impossible cliff to go down. East is the badlands with all of the predators. Without canteens and water, I wouldn't want to chance getting heat stroke down there.”

“Then South along the ridge line it is until we find a way to the beach,” answers Joe.

“There are those T-Rexes,” warns Michael as the group start down the hill. “We can avoid them if we head West until we are out of their sight, then continue South in the valley ahead.”

As the group take their detour and start into the valley, the ground vegetation starts to get very thick. “I don't like this,” warns Michael. “A lot of smaller creatures could be hiding in this stuff.”

“Aguh, I can't see,” yells out Mickey in shock. “Help! Help!”

“Spears,” orders Michael as the rest of the group run to the aid of Mickey. “Watch out! There is another one,” as the group spear the creature attacking Mickey. The battle is short with the two predators being killed.

“What are those thing?” ask Carlos.

“Those are Dilophosaur,” answers Mary. “Rather strange looking ones at that. They must be unique to this place given that they look like the ones in the movie Jurassic Park and creatures like those in the movie did not exist.”

“This is most interesting,” answers Mary. “Our implants are giving us a readout on these Dilophosaur. This one is a male, level 4, dead.

“That is most interesting,” answers Denny. “It seems that they can have an inventory and can be leveled up like us.”

“Finding these two is a blessing in disguise,” answers Michael. “I now have the hide we need for bolas and slingshots.”

“If there is any of that hide left, lets craft up shoes for all of us,” answers Denny. “This terrain is hard on the bare feet.”

“What is this cute little thing” ask Julia.

“Spears to the ground and start backing up!” warns Mary. “Those are Compys. They rarely travel alone. He will attack as soon as his buddies show up.” With a Shrek, the compys move in to attack. The retreat facing strategy results in them becoming easy targets until the threat is over.

“They were eating their dead!” Julia answers in shock.

“Use the hatchet to harvest the remaining ones for their hide,” answers Denny. “Then, we can make boots for everyone.”

Equipped with bolas, slingshots, and boots, the group continue down through the valley heading South. Suddenly, there is something big up ahead. “That is the strangest looking Trike I've ever seen,” comments Mary. “There is nothing like it in my historical research at the university.”

“Is it going to be a threat?” ask Michael.

“I don't believe so,” answers Mary. “It's a herbivore. So long as we don't threaten it, it shouldn't threaten us.”

“ Most interesting, I am getting a reading from my implant. This is a Trike, Level 12, Female. There is a little heart showing above it.”

“That might be because this other one is nearby,” answers Joe. “It registers as a male.”

“Raptors!” warns Michael as he takes the one charging him down with a bola, then, starts clubbing it with his club.

“The Trikes are attacking the other one” alerts Mary. “That didn't take them long to kill it.”

“Mary, come here,” ask Michael. “What does this mean?”

“It looks like you only knocked this one out,” answers Mary. “According to the display we are getting from our implants, we can tame him by just placing raw meat into his inventory.”

“Lets continue on our way.” answers Michael. “We don't want to have to spend the night in this valley with the predator threat by waiting until he is tamed. Besides, I beat him up so bad that he is barely alive. Lets get their hide and continue down the valley. We can explore the taming ability once we have established a safe camp.”

The valley soon starts turning to the West to continue in that direction into heavy jungle. “Lets head up and over this slope and see where the shoreline is at.” reports Michael. “We have been at this all morning and I don't care to get hung up in dense jungle not knowing what other surprises are waiting in there for us.”

Reaching the top of the slope they find themselves overlooking a high cliff where there is a beach with palm trees below. “I see a settlement down there,” says Michael to the others.

“Bad news,” reports Joe. “Three T-Rexes are patrolling that area by the dock and watch tower. It looks abandoned.”

“I don't see how we can get down there,” reports Michael. “It looks like we can eventually reach the beach if we continue along this ridge.”

It is another ten minutes of hiking when they can see the ridge head down to the water. To the Left, the abandoned camp is in the distance. The ridge they are traveling on terminated right at the water forming a natural barrier from the rex infested campsite. To the Right, a large open palm forest covers an extensive area which is bordered by several high hills, a stone arch bridge heading to the jungle beyond, and other stone formations to the water's edge. Several islands close by with mountainous features are visible beyond the sea. “I hope that pond near the water has fresh water,” comments Joe.

“Doesn't look too bad down there,” reports Mary. “I see mostly prehistoric herbivores grazing down below in the basin.”

“I see a settlement under construction down near the water by the ridge,” reports Denny. “There is a wood hut with the start of a stone enclosure and a big stone gate. I also see a forge like structure that has a fire in it next to a workbench. There is a parasaur with a saddle on it, a creature bigger then an elephant also saddled, a Trike with a saddle, and a strange looking camel like creature next to it with a saddle as well.”

“Mary, what is that thing?”

“I don't know,” she answers. “The big creature with the long neck is a Parcer. There is nothing in any of our research books on the camel like creature. Perhaps the person down there in the leather clothes can tell us what it is. I'm most interested in how he was able to domesticate them.”

“It's Halsey,” reports Michael as the group approach the camp.

“What a surprise!” I say as I am first startled by the appearance of the eight survivors. “I was beginning to think that I was the only one on this strange world.”

“I didn't know that Michael could walk.”

“He can't,” answers Mary. “At least he couldn't before our arrival in this strange world. How did you end up here?”

“I found myself washed up on the beach below,” I answer. “After deciding that it was too dangerous to go exploring down the beach to look for you, I decided to establish a home base first.”

“We don't know how, but we ended up on top of a hill by the floating island way inland,” answers Mary. “While there were berries in the bushes on the hill, there was nothing else other then a strange looking horse that spooked and ran off. With no safe water source anywhere near by, we were forced to head for the beach and a safer place then it was inland.”

“Is the water in the pond fresh?”

“I don't know,” I answer. “There is a prehistoric croc living in it. It is too dangerous to go down there. Just go down to the sea by the base. Strangely enough, the water there is fresh.”

“How did you domesticate those four creatures?” ask Mary.

“The Parcer I found stuck in the palms.” I answer. “I don't understand how one would get itself stuck in trees given how strong they are, but Patrick here found himself in that awkward position. I was able to craft a saddle for him and get him unstuck. He is a great berry harvester and most useful pack animal to help me haul metal ore for the forge. His only problem is that he is big and slow.”

“Morley is just impossible to explain. I've never seen anything like him in any of the textbooks of extinct creatures. The saddle only fits on his neck. He is built like a tank and can hold his own against the spitters or raptors in the area. Most unusual is that he acts like a big canteen. I can obtain water from his hump if I need it. It taste like piss but can prove to be a lifesaver as a last resort. He can also get berries and carry a lot, but he is also slow.”

“Just be careful if you want to tame one. Find one that is alone because all of his buddies will come to his defense.”

“Mike the Trike I got a couple of minutes ago. He is a great thatch gatherer. Those horns are murder on anything that attacks him.”

“I got Perry because I needed something that could travel fast without getting tired so quickly. He is no good at defending himself but he can outrun and outmaneuver most danger in this basin. Best of all, I can use my bow while riding him to one shot tranc those annoying Pegomaxes that steal your stuff. Peggy here just tamed herself when she ran off with my stock of Majoberries. She is a herbivore like the rest of my tames.”

“This looks like a good place as any to set up a base for exploration,” answers Michael. “How can we help in expanding this place?”

“Why don't you and Caroline take these two metal picks and take Patrick South along the beach,” I answer. “Look for the black boulders and harvest the metal ore in them. You can pack 400 pounds of metal ore on Patrick and carry some back with you. Just watch out for the Sarco in the pond nearby. I need the ore to refine into metal for better weapons. We can have crossbows, hatchets, and Pikes for everyone by morning.”

“The rest of us can work on gathering the stone by the beach, cutting trees for wood and thatch, picking those pitcher plants for berries and fiber, and get a stone pen done for the night. Kill the compys, dodos, and spitters for meat and hide. Save all the spoiled meat and narcoberries. I will need them for crafting narc arrows for your crossbows. One of you can ride Mike into the berry patch and use him to gather narcoberries.”

“In the morning, we can go Parasaur hunting and get everyone their own tame for a ride.”

The group head out in teams to work on expanding the base before nightfall. The enlarged stone pen is finished just as darkness falls. Secured in the new stone base, we all trade stories of our adventure of the past couple of days. All of the crafting and building have leveled up the others to my level. With all of the metal ore gathered before dark, there should be enough refined metal to outfit everyone with better weapons.

“Where did you get all of the meat and hide?” I ask Michael.

“That Sarco you saw in the pond made the mistake of attacking a Morley,” Michael answer. “Four of his friends came to his rescue. When they left, we harvested the dead Sarco and the Morley it killed.”

“An excellent windfall.” I answer. “That will give me more then enough hide for the crossbows and pikes I need for everyone. With bolas and tranc arrows on crossbows, we can go tame some Parasaurs. There should be plenty of hide left for saddles for them.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 5. Day Three on the Ark.

 

“Did I just hear a sheep outside the pen?” ask Julia.

"How would something so defenseless survive in a place like this?” ask Denny.

“Lets go find out and get it inside before it becomes Dilo Kibble,” I answer.

On my second day on Thieves Island, I found one roaming the basin. It soon vanished down the beach. Three days later, it showed up so I tamed it and brought it into the pen for safe keeping. They can be sheared for wool which can be used for fur armor.

Stepping outside, we find a wild ram wandering around the base exterior. We herd it into the pen where it can find safety among our other tames.

“Excellent,” says Michael after doing some work in the Forge and Smithy. “We now have crossbows and pikes for everyone.”

“Lets arm them with tranc arrows,” I answer. “Get a stack of Mejoberries off Patrick or Mike, make a couple of Bolas, head inland to where those wild Parasaurs are, and go tame some.”

“How do we tame them?” ask Michael.

“Find the one you want, then tangle up it's legs with the bola so it can't run away.” I answer. “Then, shoot a tranc arrow behind its head. Wait four seconds. If it hasn't dropped, hit it with another tranc arrow and wait another four seconds. Depending on its level, it could take several tranc arrows before it falls down unconscious. Remove the arrows and place Mejoberries into its inventory. As it eats the berries, it will start taming. Watch the torpor level. If it gets too low, you will lose the tame. Force feed it narcs or narcoberries if needed to keep it under. When taming is complete, it will wake up to be your buddy.”

“Peggy, you better stay here.” I tell her. “I don't want anyone to accidentally shoot you if we have problems with your buddies out there when we go looking for Parasaurs.”

We head out to the back where several Parasaurs are grazing. Michel and Joe and Denny get theirs right away. They let their wives tame them up while they go get three more. I help Carlos and Mickey get their two, then keep a watch out for pegomaxes and spitters. Between them and the dodos, we get enough leather to craft up the saddles while waiting for the tame. In short order, 5 of the 8 parasaurs are tamed.

“Why are those three taking so long to tame? Ask Joe.

“They are higher level then the rest,” I answer. “When they do finally tame up, they will start up with higher stats then the others.”

“You're right” says Joe when his Parasaur wakes up. “This one has double the health and endurance of the one my wife tamed.”

“Lets go test out their abilities so we can level them up further,” I answer. “Lets stick together and stay out of the western jungle. We can shoot at any threats while riding them. There are just too many big trees beyond that arch bridge to see any large threats that may be in there.”

“The nine of us, with our eight new tames and I with Perry, take a tour of the area. We head up the ridge near the arch bridge finding metal ore rocks and quite a view of the rugged area and nearby islands to the South. Heading down, we find that there is no beach South, only steep cliffs. Riding back North, we find a narrow steep beach around the boulders. We can see the abandoned dock and watch tower, but also see the three T-Rexes. So, we turn back.

“I guess that limits how far we can travel along the beach with our Parasaurs,” says Michael. “Lets finish up exploring the base of the ridge.”

“There is a cave here,” announces Joe. “I wonder what is inside.”

“Lets take the parasaurs back to the pen, then get torches, craft a compass, and craft extra standing torches to explore the cave,” I answer.

We come back ready to explore the hidden cave. The entrance is small as we have to duck to get in but soon opens up with glowing crystal and florescence mushrooms and other plants.

“Use the metal pick on the white crystal,” I say. “Only get two so you can craft a spotting scope.

“Looks like we have to crawl for a short distance,” reports Michael.

“Those fungus are giving off a vapor,” warns Michael.

“Watch your torpor and health levels,” warns Mary. So long as those are not changing, we should be OK.

“What's this?” questions Michael. “My compass is no longer working. There are lit torches ahead on the cave wall.”

“Have your crossbows ready,” I order. “There may be others living down below. Watch for pits and other dangers. And, remember which is the way out in case we have to make a hasty retreat.”

As we continue deep into the interior of the cave, the narrow passageways splits. “Better place a standing torch here as a marker,” orders Michael. “We could find ourselves going in circles.”

“Which way should we go?” I ask.

“Lets go to the right,” answers Michael.

We continue on as the passageway heads deep into the ground. Then, we find something unusual.

“Looks like an old chest,” says Michael. “Wonder what kind of treasure is inside?”

“Better keep an eye out for the owner,” warns Denny. “Someone has to be keeping these torches lit.”

“There is a scroll, a key ring with several skeleton keys, and an old journal inside,” announces Michael. He takes out the scroll, opens it up, and studies the drawings on it. “It's a map of this place,” he announces. “It is called Thieves Island. Here is the basin where Halsey's camp is. Here's the hill we found ourselves on. Here is that valley we traveled through. All the floating islands are mapped along with those outskirt islands we are seeing to the East. There are more ruins marked along with markers for other caves.”

“So, there is no pirate's treasure in that chest.” ask Micky.

“Actually, something more valuable,” answers Mary. “We now have a map and a journal which may give us clues to why we are here and how we can get back home.”

"What are these keys for?" ask Michael.

"I have no idea," answers Mary. "We should keep them just in case we find something that is locked."

“Most unusual,” comments Caroline after examining one of the wall torches. “These torches are only giving off light. There appears to be no fuel in them. Most interesting is that they are not giving off any heat. Given the amount of dust on them, it looks like they have been lit for hundreds of years.”

“We need to examine one of those three alien structures we can see in the distance,” I answer. “They may hold a clue as to why these lit torches have been burning for so long, these unusual creatures that we can tame for our use, and how we got here in the first place.”

“Then, we better finish exploring the cave before it gets dark outside,” answers Michael.

We continue on following the long narrow passage until suddenly, we find our standing torch marker. “Looks like the passageway formed a circle,” comments Michael.

“Good thing we marked it,” says Denny. “Otherwise, we could have ended up going in circles. Which way now?”

“We go to the right,” answers Michael. “That will be the way back out.”

As we exit the cave, we notice something strange has taken place. “It looks like we were only gone for a couple of minutes, yet, it took us hours to go to where the chest was,” comments Mary.

“I can confirmed that we were only gone five minutes,” I answer. “According to our engram clock, this is Day Three at 1:30PM. It is as if time stood still in there.”

“Very unusual indeed,” answers Mary. “We should consider exploring those other islands. How are we going to get there?”

“My crafting logs says that we can build a raft to sail over to them.” I answer. “It is a lot of wood, hide, and fiber, but easily doable if we place the needed materials in a crate at the water's edge.”

“Then, lets get started so they can be ready for use by morning.” answers Michael.

The rest of the afternoon is spent gathering wood for two rafts. They are built and launched with a dock to secure them to the shore. Storage boxes are added at the bow. A pair of torches adorned the tiller. They will serve both as light and heat.

I take one of the rafts out for a test run before it gets dark. “Interesting,” I tell Michael and the others. “The rafts under sail act like I am driving a power boat. It doesn't matter which direction the wind is blowing. It's speed is constant no matter the direction I am steering it.”

“That is interesting,” answers Michael. “Lets use it to our advantage as we go exploring tomorrow.”

That evening, we all sit together by the campfire as Mary looks through the old Journal. “It's a Survivor's handbook for Thieves Island.” reports Mary. “It contains details about the various creatures here and how to tame them for our use. It also describes the various biomes to be found here and the creatures native to them.”

“There is a history of this place,” Mary continues. “It was home base for the Caribbean pirates. They used to hide out in the island chains to conduct their business, rest and repair their ships, and plan their raids on the shipping lanes. They built their forts and towns on these islands as well. It doesn't say exactly what happened to the pirates, why they all suddenly vanished from Thieves. The author thinks that the British sent an armada of warships to clean them out. A severe hurricane struck the day the armada invaded these island sinking a lot of the ships as the British and pirates were locked in desperate combat. Those that survived were killed when their tames rebelled from being so badly mistreated by them.”

“We'll keep a lookout for the ruins and new creatures tomorrow,” I answer. “They may hold a clue to our being able to escape back to civilization.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter Six. Day 4 on the Ark, The Outer Islands.

 

Michael, Denny, Joe and I set sail across the bay into the rising sun. It is a beautiful morning with temperatures in the 70s as we head across. “I see some unusual rocks on that rocky slope,” reports Denny. “We should check them out.

“Brrr,” says Joe as we land at the rocky slope. “How could it get so damn cold so fast?”

“Put on your leather outfit,” I answer. “It will help some. Light a torch if you need its extra warmth.”

“There is metal ore, crystal, and obsidian,” reports Michael as he starts harvesting the unusual stone.

“Lets get what we can onto the rafts before we freeze to death,” I answer.

We get several hundred pounds of crystal, obsidian, and metal in short order. Interestingly, the extra load doesn't affect the buoyancy of the rafts. We back away into the bay where the temperature quickly returns to normal.

“There are certainly some interesting things going on on top of that mountain,” reports Michael.

“We will need arctic gear in order to explore that area. Maybe a strong flier as well,” I answer. “Like those giant eagles flying up there.”

We continue South along the shoreline as it changes from arctic to tropical. A double step high waterfalls cascades down from high above the cliff into a pond below. We cannot find where it exits into the bay so we must assume that there is an underwater passage somewhere draining the pond.

“Wow, the place is crawling with predators,” warns Michael.

“Carnos, Saber Tooth Cats, the Marsupial Lion is huge, look at the size of those scorpions and snakes. That lion would make a most interesting tame.”

“Since we can craft a saddle for the lion, we can assume that it can be tamed,” I answer. “We just have to make it in the Smithy. It is going to be extremely risky to take one down let alone tame it with all of the other threats around.”

“Then we can try to find one alone and tame it,” answers Michael.

Heading back North, we go past the cold zone where we see another rugged tropical island with a waterfalls coming off the cliff. “What are those huge things up above, some sort of Godzilla,” says Michael in alarm.

“My spotting scope Ids them as Titanasaurs.” I answer. “I read that those are the biggest living thing ever found as fossils.”

“How do they find enough to eat to keep them alive?” ask Joe.

“Maybe Mary can tell us,” I answer.

“We sail further to the South where another island shows up with very unusual terrain features.

“I see a fire in a stone structure up on top of that hill by some ruins,” reports Michael. “Damn, look at all of the T-Rexes and Carnos on the slope.”

“We'll have to wait until we have the weapons to deal with them,” I answer. “There is definitely something unusual going on up there.”

“Are those dragons flying up there?” ask Denny.

“You got to be kidding,” answers Michael.

“Looks like anything is possible in this place,” I answer as I place my spotting scope on one. “Interesting, there is a shackle on that one's leg with a length of chain on it. Someone must have tried to force tame her in the past but she got loose. She has the name of Tammy. Lets head West. I don't want to be set on fire by her.”

As we sail West across the bay, we find Shipwreck Cove. Several broken mast from sunken pirate ships are sticking out of the water as we sail over to the bay they are located in.

“I wonder if there is any sunken treasure in any of those ship?” ask Michael. “We should stop so I can check it out.”

“Be careful” I answer. “The water is quite deep here. There could be sharks in there.”

We stop by one of the mast as Michael jumps overboard to have a quick check. He soon comes back to the raft in a panic shouting for us to get out of here.

A giant tentacle comes out of the water and splashes down nearly hitting the raft we are on. It grabs one of the shipwreck masts pulling it into the bay. We head towards shore as it tears up one of the wreaks.

“What was that thing?” I ask.

“It looked like a giant squid,” answers Michael. “It was as big as the pirate ship down below.”

“Enough surprises for one day,” I answer. “We better head back.”

“There is that abandoned dock and watch tower,” reports Michael, “And, those three T-Rexes. The spotting scope shows them at twice the level of anything else we have seen so far.”

“Just so they stay away from our base until we are able to deal with them,” I answer. “Lets get back, get this stuff unloaded, craft up a Lion saddle, and see if we can find one alone to tame before it gets dark.”

“Back at the base, we find a new addition near the cave where a rock formation has made a natural wall along with the cliff. A stone fence with a dino gate has been placed across the opening forming a natural pen in the large area filled with pitcher plants and palms.

“What's going on?” I ask Mary.

“We tamed a couple of Moschops,” answers Mary. “They are natural berry and fiber gatherers. We placed them in there so the spitters won't get them as they go about harvesting stuff for us.”

“How did you manage that when they are always asking for something we don't have to feed them?” I ask.

“These two asked for rare flowers which you had on Patrick,” answers Mary. “It only took a couple to tame them. They are quite the characters as they go about gathering. When they have gathered enough, they will rest until we unload them, then go back to harvesting more. We have tons of fiber now along with narcoberries for crafting more narcotics from the raw meat.”

“We also have started food plots along the North wall of the base. We put in a stone irrigation system that brings up water from the bay. I don't understand how it works but as soon as we place a tap on the pipe, we get water from it. It seems to be some strange form of osmosis. As you can tell, we are about 100 feet above the water level in the bay, yet it is providing us with water on its own.”

“It could explain how that high waterfall works on that small island across from the bay,” I answer. “There is way too much water cascading down from it for as small as the plateau is on top.”

“We found Marsupial Lions over there. We can craft a saddle for one in the Smithy. What does the Survivor Handbook tell us about them.”

“Tamed, they are a loyal pet,” answers Mary. “Without a specific kibble or cooked mutton, which we do not have, it is an all day tame. They do make good hunters and can easily hold their own with a Carno. They have the ability to climb up trees or scramble up steep slopes. They also have good carry weight and endurance. And, they are super great at getting hide from their kills.”

“Sounds like a worthwhile effort to go tame one,” I answer. “But, we better wait until morning. There are a ton of dangerous creatures living over in their territory. We best be doing the tame in daylight so we can keep the other hungry creatures at bay.”

“We found a ton of easy to obtain crystal and obsidian on the barren mountainous island,” reports Michael. “We need warmer clothes if we plan to do more exploring there. I just can't believe how cold it is on those slopes.”

“We saw wyverns over on another island which had a large fire burning in a structure,” I tell the other. “One appeared to be someone's unclaimed tame, yet there is no tribe or individual name registering through the Spotting Scope. She has the name of Tammy. There is a chain dangling from her leg. As soon as we can craft rifles, so we can deal with the T-Rexes, I'd like to lead an expedition over there to see if we can claim her.”

“Most interesting,” answers Mary. “The Survivor's Handbook states that wild wyverns cannot be tamed. One can steal their eggs and raise them to adulthood, but the process take weeks and they only drink wyvern milk, which can be only obtained from the wild ones. In short, it's an impossible task.”

“She must have been a wild one that was captured and confined with a leg restraint, then later got away.”

“We should see what is going on over there,” I answer. “There are abandoned structures there along with that mystery fire burning like a beacon. I should take the keys we found with me. We could get lucky and catch her on the ground.”

“There are a bunch of shipwrecks in Pirates Cove that warrant exploration,” answers Michael. “We just need a way to slip past the giant squid there.”

“Well, it looks like you two have planned a bold and busy schedule for the next several days,” answers Mary as evening approaches.

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 7. Day 5 on the Ark, The T-Rex Threat.

 

Preparations are made for the four of us to go find and tame a Marsupial Lion over at the island of the high waterfalls. With plenty of tranc arrows for the crossbows and extra narcs, we set sail for the outer island.

Up near the rugged cliff area, we find one engaged in a fight with two giant scorpions. The big cat kills one but has been stung a couple of times as we arrive. It starts to come after us as Joe kills the other scorpion and we hit it with three tranc arrows to the head. The cat turns around to run away scrambling up the cliff before succumbing to the effects of the scorpion stings and our tranc arrows. He slides back down the steep slope ending up in a heap at the base of it.

“That thing is fast,” comments Michael.

“It was probably a good thing the scorpions got to him first,” I answer. “Or one of us could have been in serious trouble.”

“Lets get the taming process started and keep watch for other threats in this area,” Michael answers.

Joe and Denny chop up the two scorpions for the chitin and raw meat, then set up security so we can protect this big lion from the nearby threats.

“Carnos,” warn Denny. We set up to ambush them as they come snooping about looking for trouble. Both are taken down in short order.

“Put the raw prime on the lion,” I tell them. It will speeds up the tame for us.” Still, it is a long process that is not complete until mid afternoon when Kitty, as I call him, is tamed.

“Lets get him on the raft and get out of here,” I tell the others. “There are too many other predators here that are taking an interest in us.” We sail off as another Carno comes chasing after us. We leave it for the sharks after dropping it with tranc arrows.

Back at our base, I give Kitty a good workout. He proves great at gathering hide from the pesky compys and dilos on the basin. With a single bound, he scales the rock outcropping that forms the pen where the moschops are in, frightening them out of their wits. Then, I charge him up the steep cliff by the cave reaching the top in no time.

Back in the camp I show Kitty off to the rest of the tribe. “He is a most interesting predator,” comments Mary. “Yet so gentle among us.”

“A great find,” I answer. “Hard to obtain, but well worth the effort.”

“It's a good thing they don't live on the main island or we would be in serious trouble keeping them away from our tames,” answers Michael. "That climbing ability is awesome."

“We should have long neck rifles soon,” reports Joe. “We're getting enough metal refined for four of them along with the gun powder for 50 rounds each.”

There is suddenly a ruckus outside as the ground shakes from the presence of a major predator nearby. Screams of agony are heard from a wild Parcer as Patrick and the other tames get nervous about what is happening out there. “Get all of out tames on Passive and away from the east gate before they charge the wall and get into trouble,” warns Mary.

Michael quickly scrambles up on the watchtower, then just as quickly comes down as the rest of us move our tames away from the east gate. “We have a T-Rex out there,” reports Michael. “It's one of those high level ones from the pirates dock. It just killed that Parcer that has been hanging around the ridge at the water.”

“Damn, we are not ready to deal with them yet,” curses Joe.

“We better take it down before it kills everything out there, then tries to get into here.” I warn.

“How are we going to do that?” ask Michael.

“Everyone get a crossbow armed with tranc arrows,” I answer. “Mary, Caroline, Julia, up on the watch tower. I'll take Kitty. The rest of you form two teams, head out the back gate and come around either side of the base. I'll keep its attention with Kitty while the rest of you hit it in the head with the tranc arrows. Rexes maneuver poorly so you should be able to easily get out of his way if he tries to get you. If he tries to corner you, run under him to get behind him. Lets keep him close to the east gate so the girls can keep hitting him in the head. We should be able to drop him with trancs long before we are able to kill him.”

“Sounds like it will work,” answers Michael.

I am out the gate first with Kitty. With a challenging growl, Kitty gets the Rex's attention which then turns around to head towards us. We open fire with the tranc arrows to the head as the Rex gets back to the east gate, but then, he tries to get the girls on the watchtower. Three tranc arrows get fired into the roof of its mouth as it roars in anger. The tower shakes as the Rex slams into it then turns around.

“Carlos, Micky, between its legs,” I order, as the Rex lumbers towards them. They manage to get two tranc arrows into a tender spot before exiting from behind.

The Rex is screaming in pain as I leap from behind with Kitty landing square on the Rex's back. He digs in his claws and latches on just behind the Rex's neck with those chisel teeth which momentarily immobilizes it in pain and confusion. Another salvo of tranc arrows to the head and the Rex goes down in a cloud of dust.

“Hatches,” I order. “We've only knocked it out.”

With kitty chewing on the back of its neck and the rest of the ground force hacking at it, the Rex is soon dead.

“Kitty was awesome,” announces Mary.

“With the right tactics, he showed that high level Rex who is superior,” I answer.

“It's got an inventory,” announces Michael as he checks out what is in it. “Rex arms, a sword, a metal shield, a set of metal armor, and a blueprint for a high quality long neck rifle.”

“He must have ate one of the pirate captains when the tames revolted,” I answer.

“Lets get this prime cooked up with the extra in the preserving bin until we can cook it,” orders Mary as we continue chopping up the Rex for its meat and hide.

“We're going to need a lot more metal to craft up four of these high quality rifles,” reports Michael.

“Then, lets get three more refining forge built.” I answer. The boulders down by the ridge are full of metal ore. With the trees nearby and the flint and stone we can obtain from the other boulders, we should be able to get the materials we need to craft up four highly quality rifles and the ammo we need for them by morning.”

We set about on the new task with three more forges built and stocked in short order. Mary is able to cook up half of the prime which goes into the preserving bin. Caroline and Julia go out to the other pen to get narcoberries off of the Moschops to make up tranc arrows to replace the ones we used up taking down the high level Rex.

Michael and I do a quick survey, with our parasaurs, on the ridge to look for the other two high level Rexes. We find that they have traveled way beyond the pirates dock and are heading further away as they chase a Bronto.

“Well, at least we don't have to worry about them for a while,” I tell Michael.

“We should be able to pack two more loads of metal, rock, and flint before it gets dark,” I answer.

By dark, we have all the materials for our four high quality rifles, scopes, and 50 rounds of ammo each.

“A job well done everyone,” announces Michael. “Lets pay a visit to Dragon Island tomorrow and check out that pirate castle up on the hill.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 8. Day Six on the Ark. Dragon Island.

 

“Our high quality Longneck Rifles are ready,” announces Joe.

“Do we have enough ammo to zero them in?” ask Michael.

“Yes,” answers Joe. “Set up a target dummy and see if you can hit it at 100 yards.”

“Should be a piece of cake without the scope,” I answer.

“Excellent,” reports Michael after testing each rifle with three rounds. “You are an excellent gunsmith. They are all right on target.”

“Will they have good hitting power on a Carno or Rex?” I ask.

“Most definitely,” answers Michael. “I'm getting high damage readings on the target dummy.”

“Then, we are set to go visit Dragon Island,” I answer.

Armed with the new Long Neck Rifles, the four of us set sail on our two rafts across the bay sailing Northwest. We sail past Titanasaur Island and beyond.

We can see the burning caldera at the Pirate Castle as we look for a place the beach the rafts. There are some Carnos and Rexes in the distance slope to the right. Otherwise, it looks strangely quiet from the other day. We find a sheltered spot along the beach to land, then start heading up a trail inland to the castle.

“I wish it were a bit more open here,” comments Michael who is in the lead as I follow. “Too easy for some Carno or Rex to be waiting in ambush.”

“Has anyone seen any of the dragons?” ask Joe.

“Not so far,” I answer. “I was hoping that we would be able to find Tammy. Oh drat, I forgot to bring those keys. Where are they anyways?”

“I left them in the Smithy,” answers Joe. “I was going to clone a set of keys as insurance against us losing the originals.”

“I guess we could go back for them if we need them to unlock a doors or chest in the castle ahead,” answers Michael.

We continue on up the valley going past rocks containing sulfur and salt. “Those pirates sure had easy access to materials for their gunpowder,” comments Joe.

As we reach the top of the valley and round the hill by the pirate castle, we suddenly come face to face with a female fire wyvern. The chain from the shackle on her leg has wedged tightly into a crack in the stone floor trapping her there. She panics at our sight struggling to get away as we run for cover. Then, several T-Rexes suddenly appear and move in to attack her.

“That's Tammy,” I yell to the others. “The chain has her trapped. She will be killed if we don't get those Rexes first.”

In total disregard for my own safety, I get between the cowering fire wyvern and a charging Rex and open fire. The others fire at the incoming rexes taking one of them out. I fire a second time at the charging Rex as I move backwards. Another Rex bites the dust as Michael, Joe, and Denny concentrate their fire on the additional incoming Rexes. My third shot hits the Rex in the roof of its mouth killing it instantly. It slides into me pinning me against Tammy as the chain shackle is pulled tight causing her to falls on her side. She is screaming in terror as I find myself pinned against her neck by the dead Rex. Not a good spot to be in I think as I struggle in a panic to get loose by grabbing onto the horns behind Tammy's head.

I feel a hot blast as I see two of the remaining rexes catch on fire. They soon die from a final volley of fire. Then I see Michael, Joe, and Denny scramble for cover behind the boulders.

I am suddenly free as the dead Rex that has trapped me is dragged away. “Its over,” I tell a badly frightened Tammy as I go over and stroke her on the forehead. We look at each other as we both starts calming down.

“Thank you, for saving me from being eaten alive by those terrible creatures,” she says to me.

I stare at her in shock. This was so unexpected. She is actually talking to me. “We'll do everything we can to get you out of this mess,” I tell her.

Feeling a hot breath behind my neck, I turn around and find myself face to face with a male fire wyvern. Like Tammy, he registers as unclaimed with the name of Tarmac. He has a leather collar on his neck.

“Are you all right?” he ask Tammy.

“Yes,” she answers him. “These humans killed those terrible creatures attacking me. The chain is jammed into the stone. I couldn't get away.”

“Are you her mate?” I ask Tarmac.

“How is it that we can communicate with each other?” ask Tarmac in surprise. “We never could do so with those evil pirates that enslaved us.”

“It may have something to do with the specimen implant,” I answer.

“Halsey, are you OK,” ask Michael with concern.

“I'm OK.” I answer. “Just a bit bruised from having that dead Rex slide into me. Help me get this chain loose for Tammy.”

Michael, Joe, and Denny come out of hiding as I introduce them to Tammy and Tarmac.

“You humans are not like those others,” Tarmac tell us.

“Pirates were always so ruthless,” I answer. “From what we have learned so far, this place was a hiding place for them until they were discovered by the British armada sent to destroy them, a sudden storm that sank their ships, and their badly treated tames that turned on the survivors killing them.”

“This chain is really jammed in there,” reports Michael. “We can't cut or hammer it loose with our metal hatchets. Is there some way we can remove the shackle on Tammy's leg?”

I go check out the shackle on Tammy's leg. “It's got a lock on it,” I report to Michael. “Perhaps one of those keys on the key chain we found might unlock it.”

“Except, that I left those keys in the Smithy,” answers Joe.

“It'll be dark before I can get back with them on the raft.” reports Michael. “We don't want to be here should more of those predators come back, especially after dark. We're low on ammo as it is.”

I look at Tarmac. “Can you fly Michael back to our base so he can get those keys?” I ask.

Tarmac hesitates to answer. He is not happy about my request.

“Will you do it for Tammy?” I ask again.

“Yes,” he answers after a short pause.

“Lets see if we can get that collar off of you first.”

Tarmac lowers his head so we can reach the buckle. After a minute of struggling with the stiff leather, we are able to get it unfastened.

“Thank you for removing that awful thing,” answers Tarmac. “Michael, lets go get those keys. Get on me and show me where to go. You can steer me with the fin on my shoulder.” They soon take off.

“You are amazing,” Michael tells Tarmac as they take off and fly towards the base. “You are like flying on an ultralight aircraft.”

“This is so, amazing,” answers Tarmac. “I've always hated having a human flying on me. But you, you are so different. I am actually enjoying this. It feels so, natural.”

“Here is our base ahead,” Michael tells Tarmac. “Lets fly around it before landing inside so we don't scare the wits out of the others there.”

“Where did you find the fire wyvern?” ask Mary as they land in the back of the pen.

“I'll tell everyone later,” answers Michael. “Get me some of your medical brew. We found a wyvern on Dragon Island with a chain shackle on her leg. The chain is jammed into a crack in the rocks. She is trapped over there. I've got to take the keys we found the other day to see if we can get her loose. The place is crawling with wild Rexes. Be careful around Tarmac. He is not a tame.” Michael heads to the Smithy to get the keys and extra ammo.

“What's with all of the chatter among our tames,” ask Mary as she returns with the medical brew.

“I don't know,” answers Michael. “I'll find out soon enough.”

Michael gets back on Tarmac who takes off to head back to Dragon Island.

“I feel so much better about you humans now,” Tarmac tells Michael as they start flying back. “Your tames tell me that they have been treated well by your group, that your tribe has kept them protected from danger even when they have been ridden out in the wild. They all like you and would risk their lives to protect you. I was impressed with Kitty's story and how Halsey guided him into taking down a high level Rex that threatened your base without being injured. This is so unlike those tames of the pirates of the past. They were just treated like trash.”

“Our tames are too valuable to us to place them at risk of being killed or badly injured” answers Michael. “They represent an investment in time and effort. We found many of them in compromising situations that would have resulted in their death had we not come to their rescue.”

“Thank you for your explanation,” answers Tarmac.

“I'm so glad to have you as a good friend instead of an enemy. With all of the threats out there, I really didn't know what to expect from you once we got so close and personal.”

“I really didn't want you to ride me back to your base,” answers Tarmac. “Those pirates were so disgusting. But you, you're so different. I really like you. I'm so glad that I did it. You can go for a ride on me anytime that you like.”

“Thank you for giving us the chance to show you that not all of us humans are evil.”

Back at the pirate castle, we have been able to get Tammy to stand back up. We have harvested the dead Rex that slid into me during the fight. I have given Tammy all of the raw prime. “Thank you for getting me something to eat,” she says. “I've been stuck here for over a day without anything to eat.”

“If we could heat a link of this chain until it is red hot, we might be able to cut it with our metal hatchet.” reports Joe.

“We could build a fire under it to get it red hot,” answers Denny. “But that will take it a while to get hot enough so we can cut it.”

“It would be nice if we had access to a blowtorch,” answers Joe. “It wouldn't take long to heat it red hot.”

“We have Tammy,” I answer. “She is a fire wyvern. Perhaps she could be that blowtorch for you.”

With our guidance, I have Tammy focus her fire attack as a blow torch to heat up a link of the chain. It doesn't take long for it to become red hot. Using our metal hatchets as a cutting tool, Joe and I cut through that link in the chain. She is now free to escape another attack.

Michael comes back on Tarmac and hands me the key chain. I find the key for the lock on the shackle and unlock it. Tammy is in tears as she sees the shackle now lying on the grounds.

“All this time that thing has been on me, it has been so miserable,” she says as Michael and I start applying Mary's Medical Brew on the raw sore the shackle has left on her leg. “Thank you, thank you for removing that horrible thing.”

“We should go back with these humans,” Tarmac tells Tammy. “Unlike those of the pirates, their tames have bonded with them. They have treated them well.”

“Joe, Denny, take the rafts back home. Our new friends want us to fly back on them. We still have time to get a landing platform built for them by nightfall.”

I get on Tammy and sit on her shoulders. “Has anyone flown on you before?” I ask.

“No,” she answers. “Tarmac told me how he hated flying them. They were so crude. They smelled bad from rum and body odor. They tied my mouth shut and chained me to the castle wall when they knocked me out. I managed to pull the ring out of its mounting and escape. Tarmac helped me get the rope off of my mouth when he escaped and found me.”

“How awful,” I answer. “Nothing deserves to be treated like that.”

“I like you.” answers Tammy. “Tarmac is right. You flying on me actually feels good. This feels so natural. It is so wonderful to be flying without that heavy chain on my leg.”

“When I first saw you through my spotting scope, I was wondering how you got the chain on your leg.” I answer. “I knew that somehow, I had to find you again. I just didn't know if it was even possible for me to get close enough to you to remove that thing from your leg.”

“I'm so glad that we had the chance to get together,” Tammy answers. “You have been such a great friend.”

“What a hell of a way to find you.” I answer. “Having to kill those Rexes that had gathered to attack you while you were trapped. Ending up pinned against you by that dead Rex. Pulling on your horns while I was trying to get free. Your screaming in terror while I was pinned against your neck. I don't know how I came out of that ordeal alive.”

“What I don't know is how that dead Rex got pulled away from us. Michael, Joe, and Denny could not have done so.”

“Tarmac pulled it off,” answers Tammy. “Then, he saw you trying to comfort me and just stood there watching us.”

“That is most interesting,” I answer. “Given your past experience with the pirates, he could have seen me as a threat and tried to kill me.”

“Thankfully, he saw your group killing those attacking Rexes that were after me. He saw you get between me and the Rex that was coming after my throat. When he saw it drop dead, he attacked the other ones that were closing in. Then, he dragged the dead Rex off of you.”

“Such an interesting turn of events,” I answer. “I'm so glad that we have become such good friends. You are a most interesting creature to be with. It is so fascinating to be talking to you.”

“Flying on Tarmac is great,” answers Michael. “I feel like Jake flying on the Bantas in Avatar. And the bonus, being able to communicate with him. He is so intelligent. He and Tammy can tell us so much about the history of this place. They might even be able to help us get back home.”

“Here is our base up ahead,” I tell Tammy. “We should be able to get that landing pad build for you by nightfall. I have a feeling that none of us are going to get any sleep tonight. We have so many questions to ask you.”

“We have just as many to ask you as well,” answers Tammy.

“Lets get the pad built to your liking, then we can talk about each other all night if you wish.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 9. Our New Wyvern Friends.

 

Denny and Joe arrive back to base just as the sun is starting to set. All the storage boxes are crammed full of raw meat and hide from the dead rexes. We build a feeding trough on the landing pad and fill it with the raw meat. We build two more preserving bins as we cook up more raw meat in the fire pit for jerky. “There's going to be a lot of spoiled meat to make up narcs for tranc darts,” announces Joe. “There's no way we can process all of it.”

We have made a landing pad up on the watchtower that extends over both sides of the wall at the East Gate. It gives us a shelter below for our tames. We can easily add a hanger for our wyvern friends if they wish to have one. Tammy and Tarmac like it already. It sets up high enough that none of the carnivores of Ark, even those Rexes down by the pirate dock, can reach them at night.

We all gather up on the pad with Tammy and Tarmac. “Are you sure they are safe?” ask Micky as he looks at Tammy.

“Yes, they are safe,” I answer. “You can come over and pet Tammy on the forehead. She really likes that.”

“This is really nice,” Tammy tells me as the sun sets behind us. “That is such a great view of the bay and those islands beyond. I like this new home.”

“You deserve the best after what you have been through,” I tell Tammy. “It is so much safer here then on Dragon Island.”

“It didn't used to be like that,” answers Tarmac. “It was really nice over there until the pirates showed up and built their castle on the hill.”

“They sailed in on their big ships armed with cannons. Their presence upset the balance on the island when they took over our island. They made a beacon of the gas vein on top of the hill.”

“That's must be what keeps the cauldron lit on the hill” I answer.

“More and more of them showed up until they were all over the place. It became their place of hiding where they plan their raids, used the resources of the islands to repair and resupply their ships, celebrated their raids, and fought each other over their women, their slaves, and tames.”

“We were captured by them for their entertainment. They hit us with some kind of dart that caused us to fall asleep.”

“Tranc Darts,” answers Joe. “I just learned the engram for them. They are very potent, but do far less damage then the tranc arrows.”

“When I woke up, they had placed a collar on me with a long rope. I could fly but the rope forced me to go in a circle as they took turns sitting on my back. They placed a muzzle on me so I couldn't bite or fry them.”

“I now understand why you were so reluctant to let me fly on you when we first met.” answers Michael.

“Tammy had a chain restraint placed on her leg. They had placed a muzzle on her so she couldn't bite or fry anyone. I don't know what they had planned for her, but she was so frightened by them that she managed to pull the chain bolt out of the wall and escape.”

“No wonder she was so scared of us when we found her trapped at the old castle,” I answer.

“At that moment, there was a call to arms. Something about a British Armada that was attacking them. All the pirates fled to their ships.”

“During the confusion, one of their slaves approached me, told me to remain calm, and removed the muzzle on my mouth. He then heard someone call out for him. He quickly cut the rope on the collar and told me to go. I never saw him again.”

“I soon found Tammy and pulled the muzzle off of her. There was nothing I could do about the chain shackle.”

“We took shelter on the big floating island when the storm hit destroying the ships doing battle. Then, all the tames revolted against the survivors killing them. You are the first humans we have seen since.”

“We ended up here as a result of a similar storm that suddenly appeared.” I tell Tarmac. “I found myself naked on the beach below the next morning. Michael and the others found themselves on top of a hill by the big floating island. We have no idea how we got here. Do you have any idea how we got here or how we got these implanted engrams?”

“I do not know,” answers Tarmac. “I never saw any of those engrams on any of the pirates or other humans that were here.”

“Do you know anything about those three floating towers on this chain of islands?” I ask Tarmac.

“All I know is that they appeared shortly after the big storm.” answers Tarmac. “I flew up by one the next day. It is huge and makes a humming sound. There is a static discharge much like the one made by a lightning wyvern when he attacks something, but is harmless. A beam of colored light comes down from the sky going through the center and ending up at some kind of an alter at the ground. I can take you to one tomorrow if you wish.”

“Let us do so,” I answer. “It may hold an answer to finding a way to us to get back home.”

Tammy has been so exhausted by her ordeal that she has fallen asleep on the landing pad. “She normally doesn't bed down so early,” Tarmac tells me.

“The past two days have been so stressful for her,” I answer. “In fact, it has been a stressful day for all of us. She has the right idea. Get a good night's sleep in a safe place. I think that I will turn in as well. We'll go visit one of those obelisk in the morning.”

 

Day Seven on Ark.

 

It is a beautiful day on Theves Island as the morning sun burns off the mist in the bay. “Good morning sleepyhead,” I tell Tammy as she wakes up.

“I haven't slept like that in ages,” she tells me.

“I don't blame you,” I answer. “Yesterday was so stressful with the both of us nearly being killed by those horrible thunder lizards.”

“Tarmac has agreed to fly me to one of those floating obelisk. Would you like to come along?”

“Yes indeed,” answers Tammy.

“I'd like to take Mary with us instead of Michael on this trip,” I tell Tarmac. “She is our expert in these matters. She crafted the Medical Brew that so quickly healed up the sore that the shackle left on Tammy's leg.”

“I'd be delighted to have her fly on me,” answers Tarmac. “You fly on Tammy. She has taken quite a liking to you.”

“I know,” I answer. “Don't let that friendship get between you and her. She may not show it but she really does like you.”

“Thank you for your kind words,” answers Tarmac. “Mary, you're with us today.”

“Sounds interesting,” Mary answers. “My colleges will never believe me when I tell them that I have ridden on a real fire drake.

We head Southeast to the obelisk in the distance, flying over the cold stone mountain with its stone finger we can see from our base. “Is that a cave entrance I can see at the base of that stone finger?” I ask Tarmac.

“Yes it is,” He answers. “Should we land there?”

“We can come back later with fur armor.” I answer. It's much too cold up here without it.”

“How far are you able to fly out to sea?” I ask Tammy.

“We can only go half way to where that distance island is before we run into a glowing white mesh barrier.” answers Tammy. “It appeared at the same time when the three obelisks showed up. None of us have been able to go past it.”

“Does it go all around these islands?” I ask.

“Yes, it does,” answers Tammy.

“Then, it looks like we are trapped here unless we can find some other way out.” I answer.

We continue on flying towards the Obelisk which is much further away then it looks.

“What is that?” I ask as I see a shaft of light with a rotating beacon descending to the ground nearby.

“Lets go check it out,” answers Mary.

Landing, we walk over to the landed beacon which is making a humming sound. “Our specimen implant says we can access its content.”

“Is there any danger to opening it?” I ask Tarmac.

“We've never been able to access one,” answers Tarmac.

“Lets go for it,” I answer.

Accessing the beacon, we find that it contains some berries, a stack of raw meat, some hide, and a blueprint for a Equus saddle. I take the items.

Suddenly, the beacon shatters into a thousand pieces that soon vanish.

“What just happened?” Mary ask.

“Apparently, they are just supply beacons. When I took all the contents from it, the beacon just self destruct.”

I give Tarmac and Tammy the raw meat. Then, we continue on finding the alter of the obelisk located on the beach at the southernmost end of the island. The wyverns clear out some raptors nearby before landing at its base.

“Interesting,” Mary says upon examining the alter. “We can store various items in this. We can even place our tames in status and download them later. We just need to place tributes in here if we want to travel somewhere else.”

“Just where is somewhere else?” I ask.

“It doesn't say,” answers Mary. “Any idea where somewhere else is?” Mary ask Tarmac.

“I don't know,” Tarmac answers. “I have never been able to access the alter or any one of those beacons we have seen before.”

“Then, we will have to continue looking for clues to how we can use the alter so we can find a way to get back home,” answers Mary.

As we head back to the base, Mary spots a white Equuis that is being herded into a trap. Three raptors are hot on its tail. “They're going to kill it,” warns Mary. “Is there any way to rescue it.”

“Tammy,” I ask. “Is there any way you can carry it out of danger?”

Without hesitation, Tammy dives down coming in from behind and snatches the Equus out of danger just in time. It screams in panic, then settles down.

“That was close,” Tarmac says. “Those raptors almost had it.”

“This is interesting,” I answer. “We have a blueprint saddle for one and now we have actually rescued one from certain death.”

“Tammy, are you going to be able to carry it all the back to our base?”

“I can make it,” she says.

“Lets put it in the Moschop pen.” I answer. That way, its got room to run and can calm down in safety.”

“We have rockarrots in the garden now,” Mary tells me. “When it settles down, we can go into the pen and see what we have got. My research tells me that the Equuis was always a zebra stripe color. I am most interested to see why this one is pure white.”

Meanwhile, Tammy is getting tired having flown with the extra weight of the Equuis across the bay. “Are you going to be able to make it to the Moschop pen,” I ask her.

“Yes,” she answers.

“If you need them, I have some stimms on me which will give you an extra boost of stamina.”

“I can make it,” she says.

We make it to the pen where she drops off the Equuis, then she lands outside the pen. “Good job,” I tell her as she starts to recover her stamina.

“Let me know more about this Equuis,” she answers. “I've got to go back to the landing pad to rest for a while.”

Mary comes back with some rockarrots. We go into the Moschop pen where we find the white Equuis prancing around. We go find Chop Chop and tell him to rest for a while. It sees us and cautiously walks over.

“What's with the horn on its forehead?” ask Mary in surprise. “A Unicorn? We have a real live Unicorn?”

“Why not?” I answer. “After all my Morley never existed in our world. Neither did Tammy and Tarmac.”

“OK, looks like we have a stallion.” answers Mary “Lets see if he will take the rockarrots from us.

“Doesn't one have to be a virgin to tame a Unicorn?” I ask.

“Lets find out,” answers Mary.

The Unicorn comes up to us and accepts our rockarrot offering. He lets us pet him and muzzles us in return.

“Looks like the fantasy legends have no meaning here,” I answer. I hop onto his back.

“Be careful,” warns Mary as the unicorn rears up, then takes off at a gallop. We race around the pen, then he slows down to a trot as I start to gain control over him. I surprise Mary as I ride back using only my body weight and his mane to control him.

I had a buckskin horse that I could ride exactly as described in the story.

“He now register as tame,” I tell Mary. “What should we call him?”

“How about Charlie?” ask Mary.

“I think he agrees with that name,” I answer. “Open the gate so I can ride him back to the base.”

Mary walks back with me as Charlie carries me back at a walk. She opens the West gate where Kitty is nearby. Charlie is imminently nervous at the presence of the big lion. “It's OK” I tell him. “Kitty won't harm you.” Settling down, Charlie walks into the pen as I dismount to talk to the others.

“A Unicorn!” Michael says in surprise.

“I think that he is a variation of the Equuis we saw on day one.” answers Mary.

“It has to be,” answers Michael. “He is the same size with the roached mane and beard as the one we saw before.”

I leave Charlie with the rest of the tribe and head up to the landing pad to check on Tammy. She is lying down resting with Tarmac nearby. “That took a lot out of you saving that Equuis from the raptors,” I tell her as I sit by her and rub her on the forehead.

“It so reminded me of when you, Michael, Joe, and Denny saved me from those terrible lizards.” she answered. “I had to do it, if nothing more then to return the favor to protect a creature that was now defenseless against a dangerous foe.”

“You did well,” I tell Tammy. “You did more then rescued an Equuis, you saved a Unicorn from becoming raptor food.”

“Then, the legend is true,” Tammy answers. “They really do exist.”

“I'm not so sure it's a legend,” I answer. Charlie looks exactly like the other Equuis Michael and Mary saw near the mountain of the floating island, except that he is all white and has the unicorn horn on his forehead.”

“The legend goes that only a virgin can tame one. None of us are virgins. Yet, I was able to feed him some rockarrots and was riding him bareback in no time. He is down below with the others enjoying all of the attention.”

“You get some rest. We'll have to work on improving your stamina so you won't get so worn out if we ever have to do something like that again. There's a lot of places to explore here that only the two of you are able to take us there.”

 

Game note, I may have seen a Unicorn in my test game when I was flying on Tammy on Dragon Island. Unfortunately, three raptors cornered it before I could attempt a rescue. I was just too far away.

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 10. Day Eight on the Ark.

 

“This Equuis saddle is interesting,” reports Joe after crafting it and placing it on Charlie. “It contains a mobile Smithy, We can use it to craft and repair our tools while we are exploring inland.”

“You should plan a trip back to your hilltop camp.” I answer. “Take Kitty along for your protection. Ride the Parasaurs so you can travel fast if you need to get away in a hurry. Maybe find that Equuis mare running loose up there and bring her back for Charlie.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” answers Joe.

Michael and I head up to the landing pad to plan our day with Tammy and Tarmac. I soon notice a problem as I reach the landing pad.

What's wrong Tammy?” I ask her when I find her crying on the landing pad with Tarmac.

“I want so bad to be intimate with Tarmac,” she answers. “But, it hurts the both of us when we try to get together.”

“That's not normal,” I answer. “Let me get Caroline and see if she can figure out what's the problem.”

Both Caroline and Mary come up to see what's wrong with Tammy. “Will you let us examine you,” ask Caroline.

“Yes,” answers Tammy who is still crying as both Tarmac and I are trying to comfort her.

It isn't long before Caroline finds out what is wrong.

“Those (Raptoring) Pirates!” curses Mary as she and Caroline remove what looks like a signaling cannon from a very sensitive area. “What a sick joke to pull on you for their disgusting entertainment.”

“I wish that they were still here so I could watch them running around in circles while in flames,” answers Tarmac in disgust.

“Better let me check you out,” I ask Tarmac.

“Go ahead,” he says.

“You look OK. No damage done.”

“Thank you,” answers Tarmac.

“How did it get there?” ask Tammy.

“Most likely when you were knocked out by them when they first captured you,” I answer.

“Rest and regain your composure,” orders Caroline. “It is not your fault that happened to you. Go plan for that hot date for tonight. You should be feeling a lot better by then.”

The signal cannon gets tossed over the fence, then carried down to the bay where we give it a proper burial. “Totally disgusting,” says Michael as he helps me drag it down to the bay.”

“We should visit that cave Mary and I saw the other day,” I tell Michael. “We may have to climb there wearing fur armor. I don't want to fly on Tammy until she is feeling better.”

“I'm much better now,” Tammy says as she lands by us. “The pain was more mental then physical.”

“I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better,” I tell her.

“Why don't we just go explore those floating islands today,” answers Michael. “The change of scenery would do us all a lot of good.”

“An excellent idea,” answers Tammy. “The floating mountains are so interesting to visit. Better bring your fur armor along. It can get quite cold up there at times.”

Packing our fur armor, we take off heading to the big floating island that Michael first saw when he arrived on Ark. We fly over the expedition below consisting of Joe riding Charlie the Unicorn, Denny on Kitty and the others who are on Parasaurs. “Happy exploring,” I yell down.

“How's Tammy,” Caroline shouts back up.

“Much better,” I tell her. “We're going floating island hopping.”

“Have a good time,” Caroline shouts back.

It is a long climb to reach the altitude of the center island which has a waterfall cascading off of one side. It evaporates in the tropical air before reaching halfway to the mountain below.

“Look at that,” reports Michael. “That rock formation looks like a wine glass spilling its contents. Like some sort of a fountain placed on this floating island to provide water to the pond on it.” We land to do some exploring of the area.

“Looks like one could live up here,” I answer. “The only resources lacking are small creatures for meat and hide.”

“Some of the pirates tried to escape the Armada by flying up here.” answers Tarmac. “Their flying tames rebelled by tossing them off at high altitude to their death.”

“Lets check out this one to the South,” I tell Tarmac. “Those floating boulders look interesting.”

We fly South to a large floating island which has a basin like shape on its top. We find an abandoned castle inside it. A pond is in one corner, a landing platform is next to the castle. One of the surrounding boulders has a waterfall cascading off of it. It is so strange. Where does this water come from?

Way down below at the real ground level is a larger castle with garden and landing platform. It looks accessible from the south bay. We can see it crawling with predators.

We land by the old castle finding it freezing cold outside even with our fur armor. “How can these plants be alive in this zero weather?” I ask.

“I don't know,” answers Tammy. “It is like this all of the time here.”

“This will be a quick search of this castle, then we better leave before we all freeze to death.”

“There's nothing here,” says Michael after a quick look around. “There is no internal structure. Lets head for that floating island to the North and see what is there.”

“Wow, it is good to be warm again,” I tell Tammy as we leave.

“Even I was getting cold,” she tells me. “It normally doesn't bother us.”

We head North passing over some smaller floating rocks that have no vegetation or other structures on them. “Just dead Islands,” I comment to myself.

We land on an island where there is a dual waterfall cascading off of each side. There are fish in the pond below. It's so interesting with the stone platforms circling on the top. We land there by a yellow supply drop. It contains only a blueprint for a Parasaur saddle. There is nothing else on this barren rock.

A lightning wyvern suddenly shows up, then lands besides us. “Tammy, Tarmac, is that really you?” the lightning wyvern ask. “How did you get rid of the chain and collar? You have humans on you!”

“It's OK Tesla,” Tarmac answers back. “These humans are not like the others. They risked their lives to save Tammy from being eaten alive the other day. They removed those restraints from us. Their tames back at their base are loyal. We have chosen to live with them. They are our good friends.”

“That is so incredible,” answers Tesla. “You swore that you would never let another human ride on you.”

“I almost didn't,” answers Tarmac. “When I agreed to take Micheal back to their base to get the keys to free Tammy from the shackle, I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite enjoyable for him to be riding on me.”

“How did you find us?” ask Michael.

“I saw you two fly up to the stone island,” answers Tesla. “I was curious why you two were going up there.”

“Tammy, how are you getting along with your human friend?”

“Halsey is absolutely great,” Tammy answers. “It was so unbelievable how we first met. The chain had trapped me at the old pirate castle. He got between me and one of those terrible lizards killing it. It trapped him against me when it slid into us. I was screaming in terror as he pulled on my horns trying to get free. Tarmac pulled it off of us. Halsey then came over to calm me down. That's when we found out that we could talk to each other.”

“Halsey, come ride on me.” ask Tesla. “I am most interested to find out why Tammy and Tarmac like you to so much.”

“It's OK Tammy,” I tell her. “You need a break. Tesla can fly me back to the base.”

“Tarmac, your right. This is most enjoyable.”

“Your head features are different. Otherwise, you fly just like Tammy,” I tell Tesla.

“That is quite some home you have here,” Tesla tells Tarmac.

“The humans built the addition to our specifications,” answers Tarmac. “We really like it here. We are free to come and go as we like.”

“Come visit us anytime,” I tell Tesla as I get off of him on our now crowded landing pad.

“I will take you up on that offer,” he says as he leaves back to Dragon Island.

“Don't you two have a hot date planned?” I tell Tarmac.

“Yes, we do,” they both answer.

“Then go,” I tell them. “Be gentle with each other. Go to the Moschop pen where it is safe. Have a good time getting to know each other.”

The land expedition is coming in off the ridge as Tammy and Tarmac are leaving. It looks like they have added another Equuis to the tames. Micky is riding back on a zebra striped brown mare. It is the one Joe and Mary first spotted when they arrived on Ark.

“So you found her,” I say.

“She saw Charlie and came running up to him.” answers Mary. “A couple of Rockarrots and Micky of all people was riding her.

“Did I see a lightning wyvern by our camp a few minutes ago?”

“Yes you did,” I answer. “He found us at the floating island over Dragon Island. He was curious about our friendship with Tammy and Tarmac. He asked me to ride back on him.”

“That is most curious,” answers Mary. “Wyverns are generally considered a threat to humans. Even more so the way those pirates treated them. It would be most advantageous to have them all as our friends.”

“Where's Tarmac and Tammy?” ask Mary.

“They just went out on that hot date,” I answer.

“Good for them,” answers Mary. “They deserve to be together in an intimate setting.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 11, Day Nine on the Ark.

 

It is early morning when I go check to see if Tammy and Tarmac have returned. They had been gone most of the night. I get a most unusual request from Tammy when I see her.

“Can we build a nest on the platform?” she ask me.

“You most certainly can,” I tell her. “We can enlarge the platform so there is room for the nest and the both of you. I take it that your hot date last night was a success.”

“It was, wonderful,” Tammy answers.

“What's going on?” ask Mary.

“I believe that there will be baby wyverns living here soon,” I answer.

“That's wonderful,” Mary answers. “Tammy so deserves to be happy after what she has gone through.”

Mary gets everyone together and passes on the good news. “Baby dragons, how exciting,” says Micky.

“Technically, they are wyverns,” answers Mary. “Actually, I don't think that they care if you call them dragons or not.”

“This changes our exploration schedule,” reports Michael. “We need to let those two concentrate on being parents. We can either walk or sail to those places we need to explore, or we can tame up some Pteragons or Argys to fly us there.”

“Lets help them get started by enlarging the platform so there is room for the nest, then, let them get the nest built.”

“We can go later in the day to the mountain cave that you saw. We should be able to climb up there and back by nightfall.”

We enlarge a corner of the platform to Tammy's liking. “This is great,” she tells me. The railing will keep the little one from falling off. Where should we go for materials for the nest?”

“Take whatever you need from the pond area,” I tell Tammy. “We're looking forward to see what a real wyvern nest looks like. Michael and I are going to look for that cave I saw the other day. You two stay here and get your nest built. We can handle this with the raft and on foot.”

Caroline and Mary help out with the nest construction by locating nearby materials for them, but mostly observes how the two wyverns gather and weave the materials together into their nest. “This is so exciting,” Mary tells Caroline as she takes notes and sketched down the design from start to finish. It takes the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon to get it finished.

“That was so much easier to build my nest on your landing platform rather then placing it on one of those crags nearby.” Tammy tells Mary. “Thank you for letting us build it here. Oh! I've got to rest for a bit.”

“Take it easy,” orders Caroline. “It looks like your egg is coming sooner then you thought.”

Earlier on that day, Michael and I have packed our fur armor and headed for the raft. Joe, with the others, have taken their tames on an expedition exploring West into the jungle.

Armed with tranc darts and regular ammo for our long neck rifles. We board the raft to sail to the cold island. We leave the crossbow and arrows on the raft to save on weight. We keep our pike, pick, and hatchet. A stack apiece of cooked meat along with the new canteen are taken along for food and water supplies.

Finding a place to land where we can climb the ridge away from the carnivores on this island, we start our journey to the top. “Interesting,” says Michael. “To the right is that unusual waterfalls that pours into a pond. To the left a small Redwood Forest.”

“That waterfalls acts like some giant garden fountain,” I tell Michael. “The top of that butte contains a small pond that feeds the waterfall. There is no way that much water can flow continuously from a small pond into a small pond.”

“Sort of like those fountains on the floating island,” answers Michael.

We run into a steep area where there is no other way up. We are forced to climb along the ridge of that steep area. The ridge levels out as we continue heading towards the stone finger that marks the entrance. Other then some Argys flying close by, the ridge is free of any threats.

“Watch out!” warns Michael. “This Argy is upset with us.” A tranc dart to the head and it goes tumbling down the slope. “Too bad. We could have tamed it.”

“That should be a warning for the others to keep their distance,” I answer. “It will likely wake up with a fat head. With five narcs to make a dart, they pack quite a wallop.”

We continue up the ridge finally reaching the entrance to what looks like a temple. Entering, we find a artifact crate and take it's contents.

Game play testing. There is a section of the ridge that is all but unclimbable without the aid of a Marsupial Lion or grappling hooks. The cave inside the temple is so small that crawling doesn't seem possible to explore it. Argys are a constant threat up there in the bitter cold.

“What's happening to the sun?” ask Michael.

“Out of here, Now!” I order.

It had been early afternoon when we entered the temple but now it is nearly sunset. “What just happened? Ask Michael.

“Remember the cave by the Moschop pen,” I tell Michael.

“Yes,” he answers. “When we were in it, time stood still outside.”

“This one appears to be the opposite,” I answer. “It is a good thing you notice the sun setting so fast or we could have been in here for days.”

“I see two lightning wyverns coming,” warns Michael. “Now, what do we do?”

I put my spotting scope on them “The male is Tesla. He must have come looking for us.”

“Tarmac sent us here to look for you,” Tesla tells us as he lands. “He was worried about you two when you hadn't returned as planned.”

“Thank you for coming out for us,” I tell Tesla. “Who is your friend that came with you.”

“It's Electra, my mate,” he answers. “She can take one of you back to your base with me.”

“Then, lets get going before it gets too dark to see,” I answer. “We can come back for the raft in the morning.”

“Tesla was right about flying with a human on your shoulder,” Electra tells Michael. “It is indeed quite pleasurable.”

“I'm glad that you like it,” Michael tells her. “If you wish, you and Tesla can spend the night in the Moschop pen. It is free of predators. Just don't eat our Moschops, they are good harvesters for us.”

“We won't harm them,” Electra answers. “When the moon comes out, we'll go looking for Troodons.”

We fly straight back to the base landing in the pen just long enough for us to depart. “Thanks for the ride,” I tell Tesla.

“It was our pleasure,” he answers back.

“Tammy wants to see you,” Mary tells me.

“What's wrong?” I ask.

“Head up to her new nest and find out,” Mary answers.

I climb up to the platform to see a beautifully constructed nest made of thatch and fiber. It is so nicely woven together. “That looks so comfortable,” I tell Tammy who is sitting on it. She stands up so I can see inside.

“You're egg came early,” I say with surprise.

“We got the nest done just in time,” Tammy answers.

“My specimen implant tells me that it will hatch in seven days.” I tell Tammy.

“That's wonderful,” Tammy answers. “This is so exciting. How was your trip to the Temple?”

“We nearly got trapped in a time bubble,” I answer. “We were only in there just long enough to grab the artifacts, less then a minute, yet, eight hours passed on the outside.”

“No wonder you two were gone so long,” answers Tammy. “Tesla came by to show us his mate this afternoon. Tarmac asked them to go find you when he became worried about you being gone for so long.”

“I'm glad that they were willing to go look for us and bring us back here.” I answer. “We would have been forced to spend the night up there with no camp fire. That ridge is just too dangerous to be walking on it after dark. You two have a good evening. I want to find out how the expedition went today.”

I ask Joe how his trip was to the interior of the West. “It was so thick in there with the huge trees past the stone arch that we could barely move. Once we got past the dense forest, it opened up some as the terrain slope downhill towards the swamp.”

“The giant flies and ants were a pain to deal with down there. Kitty was great at gathering the chitin. Our Parasaurs soon learned that they were capable of defending themselves and were killing them as well. Charlie and Charlene quickly found that they could just step on the ants to get rid of the threat. Charlie was impaling the flying ones with his horn. Thankfully, we didn't have to be in there for long.”

“On the other side of swamp, we went up a slope to where there were ruins up on a plateau. Kitty took out a Carno while the rest took out the raptors and spitters with their crossbows.”
“With the area secured, Denny and I went into the main structure as the others stayed outside to guard our tames. We found a chest with another Explorer's note and an artifact. Micky found a treasure chest outside full of Doubloons and Pieces of Eight. We let him keep one of the coins as a souvenir. We left the rest there as it was just dead weight and has no survival value for us in this world.”

“What was in that Explorer's Note?” I ask.

“It was a dossier on the wyverns living over by Dragon Island.” answers Joe. “It describes the four types of wyvern living there. They are Fire, Lightning, Poison, and Alpha fire. It describes them as dangerous and untamable. It says it is possible to have a tame wyvern only if you steal an egg from their nest and raise it to adulthood. But, one has to have wyvern milk in order to do so which means that you have to knock out a female and steal it from them.

“That's awful,” Tammy tells us.

“I agree,” I answer. “Having you and Tarmac as good friends is so much better then making all of the wyverns angry at us by stealing their eggs, then their milk. Besides, friends don't need to be tamed. Friends are free to come and go as they like.”

'What was in the dossier that you found?” ask Joe.

“It marked the location of a ground entrance to a cave in Pirate's Cove,” I answer. “It also contains a map of the castle on Dragon Island. We should go get the raft, take our keys, and finish checking it out in the morning.”

“If they are willing and still here in the morning, Tesla and Electra could drop us off at the raft before they head back home.”

 

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 12 Day 10 on the Ark. The Red Alpha.

 

It is early morning as Michael and I prepare to go get our raft. Tesla and Electra have agreed to take us to the raft before they head back home. They have cleaned out the Troogon pack that has been getting close to our valley. “They were so tasty.” Electra tells us.

We are just about ready to get on our rides when Joe sounds an alert. “There is a glowing fire wyvern flying this way,” he tells us.

“You're all in a dangerous situation,” warns Tesla. “That is Red Alpha. She absolutely hates humans.”

“What should we do?” ask Michael. “We don't have any quarrel with her.”

“Arm yourselves and get your tames under cover,” answers Tesla. “We'll fly out and see if we can talk some sense in her.”

“Joe, get on Patrick.” orders Michael. “Get the other tames under the platform. “I'll get on Kitty.”

“Tammy, stay on your nest,” I order. “Let Tarmac, Electra and Tesla handle this. I'm coming up there to be with you.”

The three wyverns fly out to intercept Red Alpha. They are out there for several minutes arguing with her. I'm worried that a fight has broken out when I see a lightning bolt, then a blast of flame. Soon, all four wyverns are flying back to our base.

Our tames are promptly upset when Red Alpha flies over looking for a place to land. Patrick is stomping up a storm as Kitty looks at her and snarls in defiance. Tarmac lands next to us on the pad as Red Alpha lands on the other end studying us, trying to decide what she wants to do next. Electra and Tesla land on the behemoth gate close by.

Red Alpha looks around. She sees Patrick staring at her with a frown on his face. She sees Kitty with Michael on him holding him back from leaping up onto the landing platform. She sees the other tames all spoiling for a fight. And, she sees the rest of us armed with rifles and crossbows aimed at her. Then, she looks at Tammy and I. “Your Move,” I tell her.

Red Alpha is standing there in shock. She did not anticipate such a protective response from the wyverns and our tames. “This is so unexpected,” she finally tells me. “Tarmac, Electra, and Tesla are wild, yet they are willing to lay down their lives to protect you humans. That has never happened before. Your tames are willing to do the same. Those of the pirates were never that loyal. You have a wild wyvern with a nest in your base, you're sitting on her, and her mate is standing next to you. How, is this possible?”

“These wyverns became our friends of their own free will,” I answer. “Are you willing to do the same?”

Red Alpha is shocked by my request. She does not know what she should do, so, I make the next move. I get off of Tammy, walk over to her, climb up her arm onto her shoulder and sit on her. Without a word, she takes off flying as Tarmac, Electra, and Tesla join us.

I say nothing as I guide her on a flight path that follows a circle around our valley. She has allowed me to have full control over her. It is only when I land her on the ridge overlooking our camp that I ask her, “How are you feeling?”

“This is so amazing,” she answers in surprise. “Tarmac, Electra, and Tesla are right. It felt so natural to have you riding on me. You are nothing like those pirates that used to be here. I hate to admit it, I really like you.”

“I'm so glad to hear that” I answer. “You had every reason to fear and hate us. Those pirates did awful things to Tammy and Tarmac when they had captured them. That chain they put on Tammy nearly resulted in her being eaten alive by Rexes. The one I killed that was attacking Tammy pinned me against her neck. She was screaming in terror as I was trying to pull myself loose. I'm just glad that Tarmac showed up to flame the other two so Michael and his team could kill them. I was able to convince Tarmac to fly Michael back to the base to get the keys for the shackle that had trapped Tammy. He told us later what had happened to him before he was cut loose by a pirate slave. They chose to be our friends. We made the landing pad for them. They decided on their own to make it their new home.”

“Tesla showed up two days ago out of curiosity. He brought his mate Electra along yesterday to see us. They bailed us out of a sticky situation at the finger rock temple. Tarmac had sent them to look for us when we were late at returning back to our base. We didn't want to take him and Tammy with us yesterday. She had just laid her egg and needed to stay with it.”

“I now understand their loyalty to you humans.” answers Red Alpha. “Your kindness and willingness to protect them from harm are traits I have never seen in humans from the past. Your tames are so loyal that they are willing to lay down their lives for you. I've never seen that before. This is so unexpected.”

“I'm glad to have you as a good friend instead of an enemy,” I answer. “We better head back. I'm sure that the others are wondering what's happening with us.”

We land back on the platform next to Tammy. Our tames have all settled down indicating that Red Alpha is no longer a threat but has become one of our friends. The wyverns talk to each other for several minutes, Then, Red Alpha places her head down so I can rub her on the forehead. “You can come visit us anytime that you like,” I tell her.

“Thank you,” she answers as everyone comes up to see her up close and personal. “Oh, that is so relaxing.” as she lays down enjoying all the attention. “I like that, but it is long past time for me to head back to my home.” She then takes off heading back to Dragon Island.

“That was a ballsy move,” Michael tells me as he comes up onto the platform. “I couldn't believe that you actually walked up to her, climbed up on her shoulder like you did, and took off riding her.”

“No one has ever ridden an Alpha before in all of the written records,” Mary tells me.

“I could see it in her eyes that she was curious about having me ride on her,” I answer. “Yet, I knew that being an Alpha, she would be too proud to ask. So, I just took a chance and did it.”

“She was really impressed with you,” answers Tarmac. “She actually looked like she was enjoying you riding on her.”

“I figured that it was the best way to defuse the situation,” I answer. “Get on her to get off the base so the rest of you could get into a better defensive position in case we ended up in a final showdown.”

“It was an unexpected response. Not only did she give me full control over her, she was actually enjoying me riding on her. It gave us time to talk to each other. Anyhow, had things gone badly, I did have a parachute with me.”

“That ended well,” answers Tesla. “She was so determined to kill all of you when we confronted her, yet, she changed her mine when she saw how determined we and your tames were to defend you. Even I find it hard to believe that she let you ride her after you asked her to be friends. Let us take you to the raft so you can continue on your exploration.”

“Thank you for your support,” I tell Tesla as they fly us back to the raft. “I'm sure that we would have been forced to kill her had she attacked us. I now know that trancs would not have stopped her. She told me how the pirates tried to catch her using trancs. When those failed, they brought her down with a chain bola. She was able to get loose and fried them with her fire attack before they could get close enough to throw a cargo net over her.”

“She never told us about her previous encounter with those humans,” answers Tesla.

“I don't blame her,” I answer. “Tammy and Tarmac's experience with them was most unpleasant as well. They were lucky to survive the encounter until the Armada arrived and one of the pirate slaves cut Tarmac loose. At least, we are now on friendly terms with Red Alpha. It will make exploring Dragon Island a lot safer.”

“We'll come by later to see how you are doing,” Tesla tells me.

“Thank you for your support and the ride back to our raft,” I tell him.

We meet up with Joe and Denny on the other raft as we sail back to Dragon Island.

Arriving at the landing by mid morning, the four of us head up the valley to the castle. The carnivores are elsewhere hunting as we reach the castle. Our keys work to unlock the door so we can go inside. Before we go inside, we see a poison wyverm heading towards us in attack mode.

“Tranc darts” orders Michael.

We duck an exploding a poison pellet by running towards the green wyvern as it comes towards us. It runs head on into four tranc darts and hits the ground unconscious, then it slides into us.

“Anyone hurt?” ask Michael.

“We're OK,” we answer.

“What about this wyvern?” ask Michael.

“She's out cold,” I announce after a quick examination.

Red Alpha Comes flying all out of breath. “Anyone hurt?” she ask.

“We're OK,” I answer.

“I tried to stop her but couldn't reach her in time. Were you forced to kill her?”

“No,” I answer. “We dropped her with tranc darts. She is going to be sleeping for a while. Does she have a name?”

“Her name is Sleeper.”

“Michael, Joe, Denny, go ahead and explore the castle. I'll stay out here with Red Alpha until Sleeper wakes up.”

“OK,” answers Michael.

“What brings you back here?” ask Red Alpha as I sit by Sleeper's head.

“We were going to explore this castle a couple of days ago but we ended up rescuing Tammy from the attacking Rexes.” I tell her.

“You are right about the chain being caught in the stone,” she answers. “How did you cut it before unlocking the shackle on her leg?”

“We had Tammy heat up one of the links red hot using her fire attack as a blowtorch,” I answer. “That made it weak enough to cut it using our metal hatchet.”

“An interesting solution for getting her loose,” Red Alpha answers.

“When did those pirates try to capture you?” I ask her.

“About a year ago,” she answers.

“Just one year?” I question. “The British Armada was sent into Thieves Island in 1812 to clean out that pirates nest. That was over 200 of our years ago, yet you say that it was just one year ago? This place must be in some kind of a time warp. It has to be for us to show up one year later after an event took place here over some 200 years ago.

“Over 200 years into the future,” She answers. “No wonder you are so different from the others.”

“Different? Yes, but you would not like the future where we came from,” I answer. “The evil going on in our world is far worse then what you have seen or experience when the pirates were in control.”

“I'd hate to think what would happen here if secret agencies of our Government ever found out about this place. While researchers, like Joe's wife, find this place most interesting for their scientific study, those agents, being above the law, would tear this place apart looking for technology they could weaponize to use to further their power.”

“A most frightening world you come from,” answers Red Alpha.

“It's all right,” I tell her. “There is no way you would have known.”

“Our Mid Evil history has reference to wyverns existing in Northern Europe, yet, there is no evidence of them ever existing. Your kind may have been exposed to humans without actually having been there. It seems possible that the Mid Evil Knights, the Vikings, and others, may have visited Ark only to later return with tales of dragons and other monsters.”

“Thank you for that valuable information about the pirates. You have answered a bunch of questions about the strange time warp we have ran into already. We are going to continue our search for clues about this place to find a way back. Come visit us any time that you like. You are such an interesting creature. I really like you.”

“I find you most fascinating as well,” Red Alpha answers.

“Ohhhhh, what happened,” says Sleeper as she starts coming to.

“Augh! There is a human next to me!”

“Be still,” orders Red Alpha. “He is my friend.”

“Get some rest so the effects of the tranc darts can wear off,” I order.

“Ohhh, my head.”

“Does this help?” I ask Sleeper as I stroke her forehead.

“That feels better,” she answers. “How is it possible that we can talk to each other?

“I don't know,” I answer. “It may have something to do with our specimen implant.”

“These humans are not like the pirates,” answers Red Alpha. Not only are their tames loyal to them, they have made good friends with Tammy, Tarmac, Electra, and Tesla.”

“But Tarmac has that ugly collar on him and Tammy that chain shackle on her leg.”

“Not any more,” answers Red Alpha. “Look around. What do you see laying on the ground.”

“When did that happen?” ask Sleeper.

“Just a couple of days ago,” answers Red Alpha. “Tammy and Tarmac have made their base their new home. They even built their nest there and have an egg incubating in it.”

“That is so incredible,” answers Sleeper. “Those pirates not only invaded my nest, they stole my egg. Then, they destroyed it when I tried to get it back.”

“No wonder you were so angry when you saw us,” I answer.

“Halsey, his friends, their tames, and the other wyverns with him were very protective of Tammy in her nest when I first saw it,” answers Red Alpha. “I was totally surprised by that loyalty when I found them this morning. We became good friends because of it.”

“I'm feeling so much better now,” answers Sleeper. “Can I take you for a ride?”

I am puzzled by her request, so I ask Red Alpha if it is OK.

“Go ahead,” answers Red Alpha. “I'll wait here for Michael and the others to return.”

“Let me show you our base,” I tell Sleeper as we take off in flight.

It doesn't take long to cross the bay as the base comes in sight. “You really do have a wyvern nest on your base,” she says. “Is it really Tammy's.”

“Yes,” I answer. “We can land on the landing pad so you can talk to her.”

“I haven't seen her in over a week.” Sleeper answers. “How was she able to lay a fertile egg. They had been trying to be intimate for nearly a year with no luck.”

“Those evil pirates had done something to Tammy that made it impossible for her to be intimate.” I answer. “Caroline found what they did and corrected the problem. The next day, she asked if they could build a nest on the platform.”

“That is wonderful,” answer Sleeper. “I find it hard to believe that having you fly on me feels so enjoyable.”

“All of our wyvern friends have been telling us that.” I answer. “It is as if they are being rewarded for becoming friends with us.”

We land on the platform next to Tammy who is excited to see one of her friends again. They talk for several minutes as Mary climbs up to the platform to see what is going on.

“Who is your new friend” Mary ask Me.

“Actually, sleeper found us,” I answer. “She is a poison wyvern that had a bad experience with the pirates. We were forced to tranc dart her when she thought we were the pirates. Red Alpha is at the pirate castle waiting for the others to return. I'm heading back there as soon as these two are done catching up with their visit.”

“She is an interesting creature,” comments Mary. “She is quite unlike the fire or lightning wyverns.”

“You get past her scary look and she is quite charming,” I answer.

With the visit over, we head back to the pirate castle.

“Tammy is very happy living with you humans,” Sleeper tells me. “The nest she built looks to be very safe for the little one that is coming. She won't have to worry about it falling to the ground or some wild creature getting it. And, you have a tame Marsupial Lion.”

“It's a good thing none of the wild ones live on the main island,” I answer. “Kitty is capable of leaping onto the platform that a wild Rex can't get to. He can even climb up those sheer rock faces where I have seen Argy and Pteradon nest in. So, at least Tammy has picked a safe spot for a nest. We can't wait until the little one arrives in 6 days.”

“How do you know that,” ask Sleeper.

“My Specimen Implant gave me that information on her egg when I examined it.” I answer.

“That is most interesting,” she tells me when she lands back at the pirate castle. “Do you know if it will be a male or female?”

“I didn't check,” I answer. “It would spoil the surprise if I told her.”

“That was most enjoyable,” Sleeper tells me as we land.”

“You can come visit us anytime that you like,” I answer. “But, please spread the word that we are not the pirates. We would hate to accidentally have to kill any of you if we are attacked.”

“What did you find?” I ask Michael as he and the other return.

“A most disgusting place,” Michael answers. “Blackbeard was such a tyrant pirate king here. The dungeon was filled with skeletons of tortured prisoners. His throne room was adorned in looted jewels and other valuable items. The armory had some rather advanced weaponry for its time. There were even some bolt action rifles and tranc darts down there. They must have been what they used to capture Tarmac and Tammy so easily.”

“There were no clues here other then a reference to some caves where the shipwrecks are. We can go check them out in the morning.”

“Thank you for that information,” answers Red Alpha. “We'll alert the other wyverns that you tribe are not the pirates, that you are our friends.”

“Thank you,” I tell them.

We sail back to the base reaching it by evening.

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 13 Day 11 on the Ark.

 

We had quite a discussion during the evening about the pirate castle, Blackbeard, and the use of this island as their stronghold during the 18th century before they were destroyed. I ask Tammy and Tarmac about their capture. They both confirmed that it was a year ago. They have been taking turns on the nest keeping the egg warm so the other can have a break from egg sitting.

“Only a year has passed since the pirates were wiped from this place?” questions Mary.

“Well, we saw what happened to time in the cave of the old chest and the scare we had on the temple of Finger Rock,” answers Michael.

“So, time must pass differently here then it does back in Bermuda,” answers Mary. “What happens when we get back?”

“That will be a total unknown,” I answer.

“Then, it is off to Ship Wreak Cove to see what is in the cave there.” Michael tells us.

The four of us set sail on the raft to Ship Wreak Cove making a stop at the dock and watchtower. The two high level rexes are far down the beach which allows us to do a search of the outpost. We find another Explorer's Note giving us more history about this place. It is a written account of the discovery and naming of Thieves Island by the Caribbean Pirates. Marked are the location of several additional caves including three underwater ones. “We'll need access to scuba gear if we are to go down into those,” I comment.

“We may get the ability to craft that,” answers Joe.

“That may give us the ability to check out those wreaks away from that giant squid,” answers Michael.

Sailing around to the cove, we spot a cave entrance at the water's edge. The floor seems to be alive with movement. “Oh,oh,” warns Michael. “There is no way we can go through that.”

“What's there?” ask Denny.

“It is wall to wall giant spiders, scorpions, snakes and giant centipedes.” answers Michael. "There is no way we are going to be able to get beyond that."

“Lets land beyond and see if there is another way in,” I answer.

Going beyond the cave entrance, a place to land is soon found. We secure the rafts and set foot inland following the rocky cliff. The going is steep and quite hot as we are forced to kill several of the snakes we see coming at us given that they are immune to trancs.

On the top, we find that there is a vertical entrance to the cave below. We can see the artifact crate down there. It looks to be free of predators.

“How far down do you think it is?” ask Denny.

“Lets drop a rope ladder down there,” answers Joe. “We can tie a couple of them together if needed.”

A thatch foundation is placed at the edge with two rope ladders needed to reach the artifact crate. We send Joe down as Denny stays on top as a guard while Michael and I use grappling hooks to scan for hazards below.

We all head down when Michael sounds out a warning. “Here they come,” he warns. “Grab what is in the crate and get back up the ladder as fast as you can. We'll pick off the leaders with our rifles.”

Several snakes bite the dust as the mob stops to feed on them, then continues rushing towards us. “I've got it,” shouts Denny as he scrambles back up the ladder. We rush back up with the grappling hooks. Denny cuts the rope ladder loose as it starts to tighten from several spiders climbing up it. They all fall back down into a heap onto the snakes and spit firing centipedes. We all race back to the raft as several Thorny Dragons have spotted us and are heading our way.

“That was exciting,” I say as we sail back out into the cove.

“We do need to explore this area,” answers Michael. “We just need faster mounts for all of us”

“Kitty is good,” I say.” So are Charlie and Cindy. I just don't want to risk them to the dangers out there especially the Parasaurs. They are not the fastest things we have.”

“Lets go tame some Gallys,” answers Joe. “There are quite a few of them near the base. We might find some stuck in the trees or we could just bola them.”

“We could always double up should we end up losing one of them,” answers Michael.

Mary and Caroline are still in the base as we come back early. The others have taken Kitty, Charlie, Cindy and some of the Parasaurs to gather resources back in the hills. I go up to check on Tammy and find Tarmac on the nest. He tells me she has gone out to hunt and stretch her wings. I see her coming back before I leave. They switch places on the nest as I ask her how she is doing.

“I had roasted Titanboas for lunch,” she tells me. “One had quite a stash of stuff in it.”

“A good find,” I tell her as I remove the hide, a Rockwell Recipe note, several tranc arrows, stone arrows, and a metal pike from her inventory. “Eat the prime before it spoils on you. Give some to Tarmac.”

Both wyverns lunch down the prime as I return to ground level and place the extra hide in a storage chest. I give Mary the Rockwell Recipe.

“I'll try some of these out while you go Gally taming,” Mary tells me. “Be careful with them, they are quite fragile. Use Bolas and tranc darts on them. Take the veggies and plenty of narcs. I'll have saddles ready when you get back.”

We head out towards the pond finding several of them grazing in the area and clear out the stray spitters and Compys. Using the Spotting Scope, we select four high level individuals and get into position with the Bolas. This takes some time given how they move around so fast, but, curiosity keeps them in the area. On Michael's signal, four Bolas go flying catching the Gallys in their legs. This gives us just enough time to tranc them with the darts.

Mary brings us out the saddles as we are taming them. “They were heavy on the use of metal and hide,” she tells us. “They can carry three individuals providing you are careful with what you are packing on you and the Gally. According to the Survivor's Handbook, you should be able to outrun anything while riding single and light.”

“That will definitely help us back in Ship Wreak Cove.” Michael answers. “We can explore the badlands terrain and get away from anything dangerous out there.”

“They don't harvest berries like the Trike or Parasaur,” Mary tells them.

“We'll just take Patrick on a berry run and that should give us plenty of food for them.” I answer.

Given that we had selected the higher level ones, it is late afternoon before the four are tamed. We take them along the shore leveling them up and testing their abilities. It is not long before we are racing them along the beach and checking out their maneuverability.

In Ark, one can now use ranged weapons from the driver seat in addition to up to two riders on the three man seat.

Back in the base, as the four Gallys are socializing with the Parasaurs in the pen, I ask Mary about the Rockwell Recipe book we found.

“We can now make colored dyes for paints from the berries and charcoal in the cooking pot,” answers Mary. “We can also make special foods that will allow one to resist heat, cold, have greater endurance, and stay underwater for long periods of time. There is even a recipe that will give one night vision for several minutes and another that will help us heal quickly from an injury similar to the Medical Brew you used on Tammy's leg.”

“Oh good, paint,” answers Julia. “I can use the various colors to decorate this drab place. Lets cook some up.”

In Ark, the primary colors from TintoBerries, Amarberries, and Azulberries are used along with Stimberries and Narcoberries to obtain almost any color desired. They are placed in a cooking pot with thatch, a water skin, and either charcoal, gunpowder, or sparkpowder as the catalysis. Given that thatch also burns, there is no need to use wood as it will just take up a slot space for water. Locate the cooking pot next to a water source such as a tap so it is easy to refill the water skins while making dyes or cooking kibble or other recipes.

It is simple to say that Julia was busy all night trying different combinations of berries and catalysis as she cooked up a variety of colored dyes. We had to send out Patrick on another berry run just to keep her supplied with berries for cooking.

"I think that us men are going to dread Tammy finding that recipe book." answers Denny. "Who knows what a color riot the base is going to be when the wives gets done with decorating this place."

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 14, Day 12 on Ark.

 

We load the rafts with extra berries for the four Gallys we are going to use as fast mounts in Ship Wreak Cove. Even though we have leveled them up for weight, we still want to travel light so they can make a quick getaway if needed. So, we leave the cold weather gear on the raft taking only our weapons, canteens, cooked meat, and spare torch.

We land in the same area as yesterday when we had to find another way into the cave. The Gallys are unloaded and we set off into the badlands.

“That looks like the stone bridge we saw when we first arrived up on the hill,” says Joe as we head inland. “Lets find the path up there.”

As we head to the base of the plateau looking for a path up, our Gallys start to get quite nervous. “Something dangerous is close by,” warns Michael.

“It can't be those Carnos,” I answer. “They haven't taken interest in us. Why is the ground moving towards us?”

“Run! Towards the carnos.” orders Michael.

We race by the carnos as they are startled by our presence. The mount of sand heads to them, suddenly bursting open, as a huge creature emerges from the ground. It sinks back under dragging the carno pair with it.

“What was that thing,” ask Denny as we race to the base of the plateau and the solid rock.

“It looked like something out of that cheesy movie called Tremors, only much bigger, like the sand worms in Dune.” answers Joe.

“I hope they stay in the sand dune area of this badlands,” answers Michael. “I doubt that we have the firepower to deal with one.”

“It's a good thing we didn't head to the sea from the hilltop,” answers Denny. “We would have been all dead for sure had one of them showed up.”

Finding a path up, we climb out of the desert area to cross the bridge. “One thing is for sure,” I say. “Those sand worms can't get up here. Looks like this stone bridge crosses their territory.”

“I see what looks like an abandoned Keep on the hill up ahead,” Joe tells us.

“Lets head over there,” answers Michael. “Stay alert for the unknown. The sky is filled with vultures.”

A porcupine looking lizard is in front of us as we continue across. “Ouch, that thing can pitch quills,” warns Denny as he and his Gally get hit by several. Three tranc darts drop the threat.

“Give your Gally a stimm,” I tell Denny as we pull several quills out of its body. “They seems to have a tranc effect.”

“I seem to be resisting the effect,” answers Denny as he gives his sleepy Gally a stimm.

“Looks like we could tame this,” announces Michael as he examines it up close. “Maybe, on our way back. Lets just let her sleep it off and continue on to that Keep.”

We continue across the stone bridge which ends in a grassy knoll. We drop and kill three thieving pego that are blocking our way and harvest them for the meat and hide. Then we are off up the hill to the Keep.

“Looks clear,” announces Michael after a quick recon of the area.

I stay with the Gallys as Michael and the others go inside to look around. They are only gone for a short time.

“What did you find?” I ask.

“We found another explorer note,” answers Michael. “There was not much else there other then the skeleton of one of the pirates and a tamed raptor. It looked like they killed each other.”

“It must of happened when the tames turned on them after the storm,” answers Denny.

We continue on heading up the hill until we reach the thatch camp where Michael's group first arrived on Thieves Island. We find that the camp has been trashed and burned to the ground.”

“What happened here?” ask Denny.

“I see wyvern tracks here,” I answer. “It is a safe bet that some of the wyverns, that we haven't seen, deliberately trashed this place.”

“Given what the pirates did to them, I don't blame them,” I answer. “It explains the condition of that Keep and other ruins we have seen so far. We better keep watch for them just in case Red Alpha hasn't told them about us.”

As we head back to the rafts, we find the Thorny Dragon we tranced earlier is still out. “Should we tame her? I ask.

“Go for it,” answers Michael.

Not knowing what they eat, I place both berries and raw meat in the inventory. Starving, she eats one complete stack of raw meat, two pieces of the second, and is quickly tamed. “You look rather cute,” I tell her as I check her stats. “What kind of a saddle does one take?”

“It has to be made back at the Smithy,” answers Joe.

“She can follow us back to the raft,” I answer. “Then, we can see what it takes for a saddle and what this skin we have for one does.”

Sticking to the rocks, we get back to the raft without spotting any more sand worms. We drop two Titanboas with our rifles. The Thorny Dragon makes a meal of the one as we harvest the other collecting a metal pike, an armored vest, and a pistol for our effort.

“How do these things collect this stuff?” ask Denny.

“It must be from eating the dead pirates,” answers Michael. “Snakes tend to swallow their food whole. Therefore, it is logical that anything on the body gets swallowed with them.”

We double up a Gally on one of the rafts as I load the larger Thorny on my raft and set sail back to our home base.

“What is that thing?” ask Mary as I walk into the base with the thorny following me.

“A Thorny Dragon,” I answer.

“So, that's what they look like,” answers Mary. “She looks kinda cute.”

“I'm going to make that saddle for it,” announces Joe. “I'm curious to why the metal requirement is so high. Interesting, we can use the saddle as a mobile Smithy. That would be most useful.”

“What did you find out on your expedition,” ask Mary.

“Good news,” answers Michael. “We found another Explorer's Note inside an old Keep on a dead pirate with a tame that killed him.”

“Now, the bad news. Our first camp has been thoroughly trashed by wild wyverns. They are either lightning or poison ones since nothing was burned, only demolished.”

“That means we still have to be careful with the wild ones,” answers Mary. “At least, until we get the word that they all know that we are not the pirates.”

I go check on Tammy and ask her how many wyverns are on Thieves. She ask me why I want to know. “Michael's abandoned camp on the hill was trashed by a pair of them,” I tell her.

“I understand your concern,” Tammy answers. “Nightmare, Firestorm, Watson, and Thunderbolt have been on a rampage to destroy anything the pirates built on Thieves. They must have stumbled upon your camp and decided to destroy it.”

“I hope that Red Alpha can find them all before we end up in an unavoidable confrontation,” I answer. “Sleeper was lucky we had trancs to stop her. I don't want to have the guilt of being forced to kill any of you.”

“I could go look for them,” answers Tammy.

“You and Tarmac stay here with your egg,” I answer. “Our other wyvern friend can handle that task for you.”

“Where did you find a Thorny,” ask Tammy.

“We found her on the stone bridge in the desert biome.” I answer. “We had to tranc her when she pitched her quills at us.”

“Did you see any of the Death Worms there?” ask Tammy.

“Out Gallys alerted us to the danger,” I answered. “We baited one past a pair of Carnos, then used the stone bridge to cross the desert there.”

“A wise move given that Death Worms cannot be tamed.” answers Tammy. “They are even dangerous to us. Zippo got caught by an Alpha while he was hunting over there. It pulled him under the ground and killed him.”

“Are we in any danger here from one,” I ask Tammy.

“No,” she answers. “They can only live in the sand dune area where they can travel under the sand. They have to stay underground to avoid being burned by the sun. It is too rocky here for them to survive. We finally took that Alpha out a month ago by all of us attacking it at once from the air when we caught it hunting on rocky ground during a rain storm.”

“Sounds dangerous,” I answer.

“Indeed,” answers Tammy. “It had to be done before it continued picking us off one by one.”

“Well, we now know where to avoid them,” I answer.

Michael gets everyone together for an evening meeting. “We need to have everyone armed with trancs on rifles when we go exploring or forging,” Michael reports. “Travel in groups of four or more. You can drop an attacking wyvern easily with darts. We did so yesterday with Sleeper. We don't want to kill any of them. Eventually they will all be informed that we are no threat to them.”

“Hopefully, we won't be forced into that situation again,” I answer.

“Lets take the rafts and explore South tomorrow,” answers Michael. “Maybe see if we can find the Castle with the treasure from a different direction.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 15. Day 13 on Ark. The Slaves Camp.

Given the uncertainty of wild wyverns not knowing that we are not the pirates, Joe has researched the ability to craft up several two way radios so we can remain in contact with everyone at all times. I find it most unusual that something as complex as radio communications is even possible for us to craft from the raw resources available. Interesting, they can be crafted in the Smithy with metal ingots, spark powder, and crystal. They must operate under the principle of the early crystal radio that only required a tuning coil, a crystal, an ear piece speaker, and a mike. Those early radios didn't require a battery but could only receive a radio station, they had no ability to transmit. Our Ark radios look like the old handset from WW2, but have close to 10,000 channels available for our use.

Michael takes Tarmac across the bay to get us the crystal needed for four radios. It only takes him a couple of minutes to harvest the 160 pounds of crystal needed for them.

As the last radio is crafted, we are paid a visit by Red Alpha and four other wyverns we haven't seen before. They all land outside the base as it isn't large enough for that many wyverns to be in it. She tells me that all of the wyverns have now been alerted to our presence, that we are not the pirates. Nightmare, Firestorm, Watson, and Thunderbolt apologize for destroying the thatch camp on the hill. “Don't worry about it,” I tell them. “The camp was abandoned shortly after we arrived on Thieves. Besides, you didn't know that we are not the pirates. We, are just glad that you didn't run into us earlier to force us into a confrontation. Sleeper had quite a headache from the trancs we were forced to use to stop her attacking us yesterday.”

Just then, Electra and Tesla fly in to join us. “We have found a human village in a hidden bay to the South. They have a pirate ship tied up there.”

“Weren't all of the surviving pirates killed by their tames after the big storm?” ask Mary.

“We killed all that we could find during the revolt,” answers Red Alpha. “We haven seen any humans since until your group arrived.”

“Someone must still be around to have left his journal in the cave by the cliff,” answers Mary.

“I wonder if it is the slave that set me free?” answers Tarmac as he comes down from the landing platform to join us.

“There is one way to find out,” I answer. “Lets go pay them a visit.”

“We better go armed with the longneck rifles with scopes,” orders Michael. “Best to be prepared for the worst.”

“Lets land above their camp, use the spotting scope to study the layout of their defenses, then decide if we should pay them a visit.”

“Michael, fly on Tarmac,” I tell him. “He will know if the slave that freed him is among them or not. If so, they could be the slaves that survived the British attack and resulting massacre by the tames. I'll fly on Red Alpha. Joe, Denny, take Electra and Tesla. Nightmare, Firestorm, Watson, and Thunderbolt, come with us for a show of force in case they want to start a fight.”

With a flock of wyverns following, Michael and I take the lead heading South. We soon spot the pirate ship tied to a dock by a small village in the hidden bay. “No wonder we haven't seen it before,” says Michael. “It looks like one has to enter through a tunnel from where we have explored.”

“Lets land up on the top of the land bridge so we can observe their village from a safe distance,” I answer.

The villagers are in a panic as we fly over with an Alpha and seven other wyverns in formation, then land on the land bridge high above the camp. “They have tames, I tell Red Alpha and the others as I take a quick overall glance through the spotting scope. They are moving the sheep and parasaurs into shelter. The village walls only appears to be defensive, to keep the rexes and carnos out. I only see four adults with six older children. “Michael, see if Tarmac can find the slave that freed him.”

“Can you see if he is among them?” Michael ask Tarmac.

“I think that's him in the watch tower,” answers Tarmac

“Better if one of us flies down so they don't think that we are attacking them,” orders Michael.

“Then, you and Tarmac go down there,” I answer. “Let him see you flying on Tarmac so they don't attack him. Use the radio to call us when all is secure.”

Michael flies down on Tarmac landing in front of the watch tower. He dismounts and walks in front of Tarmac as he tells him to lay down. “Is that the slave that freed you?”

“Yes,” answers Tarmac. “I believe he is called Friday.”

“Friday,” orders Michael. “Come down here and let us talk.”

“How do I know that you are not going to kill us,” answers Friday.

“These wyverns are all with us including Red Alpha,” answers Michael. “We could easily wiped out your village with them.”

“How is that possible that they are under your control?” ask Friday. “Our masters tried to tame them and failed paying with their lives for trying to do so.”

“Your Red Alpha. How is it possible that someone is riding on her? She killed Blackbeards first mate and crew when he tried to capture her.”

“When we removed the chain shackle and collar from Tammy and Tarmac, they chose to become our friend,” answers Michael.

“Then, you are riding the wyverns I set free during the raid,” answers Friday. “ How is it possible that you can ride him? He absolutely hated the pirates doing so.”

“He didn't want me riding him either,” answers Michael. “He did it for Tammy so I could go fetch the keys to the lock on the shackle that had her trapped. Now, he enjoys taking us for a ride.”

“Come on down to see him. He told me all about you setting him free when the British Armada attacked the pirates.”

Friday comes down from the tower and walks out to us. “I never did get a chance to thank you for letting me go,” Tarmac says to him.

“It's true,” answers Friday. “They really can talk to us. Now, I know that he knew that I was setting him free when he didn't try to bite me after I removed the muzzle before cutting the rope on the collar.”

“Everyone, come out and meet our new friends.”

Michael radios back that everything is secure and that we should fly in one at a time. “I never knew that the pirates made slaves of other humans,” Red Alpha tells me as I tell her about Friday.

“It was a common practice back then and even today,” I answer.

We fly down to meet Friday and the surviving slaves with their families. They are really impressed with the fact that our wyverns friends are not tames, but still wild. Even Red Alpha is enjoying their attention.

“How did you manage to survive the armada invasion, the storm, and the tame uprising?” I ask Friday.

“My family hid in the dungeon of the castle when the British attacked. I removed the nut on the bolt that held Tammy to the wall so she could pull it out and escape. She was just too skittish for me to get close enough to remove her muzzle and unlock the shackle. I then took the muzzle off of Tarmac and was about to remove his collar when one of the pirates saw me. I quickly cut the rope and told him to go. I manage to hide when Tarmac took off in a cloud of dust. Our tames were treated with respect. They didn't join in on the rebellion that soon followed. We used the cover of the storm and our Parasaurs to escape from the castle to a cave the pirates didn't know about. I place the keys and my journal in a chest there. We stay hidden there until the tame revolt ended, then moved to this hidden cove. Our plan was to stay here until we could finish repairing the ship, then set sail to freedom. We were preparing to leave tomorrow after seeing wild wyverns for the first time early this morning. When we saw them come back with Red Alpha, everyone was in a panic. Then, I saw Tarmac come in alone with Michael, then you riding on Red Alpha. I didn't know that was even possible.”

“When she showed up the other day to attack our base, Tarmac, Tesla, and Electra flew out to stop her. When she saw how committed they, our tames, and Tammy were to protect us, she landed on the platform not knowing what she should do. I challenged her to become one of our friends and got on her. She took off with me on her, then decided on her own that we were not evil like the pirates that tried to capture her. She has been a good friend since. She told me this morning that she has alerted all of the wyverns to our presence. Otherwise, the ones you saw this morning might have wiped out your village in revenge for what the pirates did to them.”

“ I have to thank Red Alpha and the wyverns we saw this morning for finding you and not attacking us.” answers Friday. “There is no way we could have stopped an attack by two wyverns at once let along the eight that you came out with.”

“You may want to change your plans to leave Thieves,” I tell Friday. “It is no longer 1813, but 2017 in the rest of the world. Thieves is trapped inside a time warp by a force field controlled by the three floating obelisks. Even the wyverns tell us they are unable to fly past it. You would be outcast in the 21th century. So much has changed since 1812. Until we can find a way out, we are stuck here with the rest of your family group. Even we don't know if we will be able to return to our time period.”

Friday gives us the tour of his village. We see how well they have progress, what they have salvaged, the farming plots, and the pens and spike fences built to keep the predators away from the sheep and dodos.

“Where is your village located?” ask Friday.

“We are over beyond the castle ruins past the swamp on the East shore across from Dragon Island,” I answer. “It's too dangerous to cross that area without fast and powerful mounts. We can either sail along the coastline in the shallows to avoid the giant squid and Leeds, or fly if you would like to visit it.”

“The ship we have repaired draws too much water for coastal sailing,” answers Friday. “There is a Leed in the channel that has prevented us from sailing out to sea so far. If your wyvern friends are willing, we could fly on them to your village for a visit.”

“We'll give them a lift,” answers Nightmare.

Friday, his wife, his son, and daughter are picked by our four new wyvern friends to ride on them. We leave a radio with the other adult couple and their children in their village. Friday ask us how they should get on the wyverns and what to do to fly. “Climb up on the forearm like this and sit on the shoulder,” I tell them. “Just let them take you for the ride until they get adjusted to you flying on them. No one has ever flown on them before. It is going to be a new experience for them as well as for you.”

We take off towards our base with our new friends following us.

“These wyverns are great,” says Friday's son Saturday as we fly over the dangerous swampland. “Thunderbolt feels like he is enjoying this. How come we never did this before?”

“Until a week ago, they hated all humans because of what the pirates did to them,” I answer. “In fact, Thunderbolt and his three friends trashed our abandoned camp a couple of days ago. Today is the first time they have ever let humans approach and ride them. It was only because we risked our lives to save Tammy from being eaten by the rexes that they started to become our friends.”

“They must be very trusting of you to let us ride on them,” answers Saturday.

“It is because of my friendship with Red Alpha, their leader, that they have allowed us to be so close and personal with them.” I answer. “I still haven't figured out their enjoying us riding them. I can only conclude that it must be some kind of reward given to them by the creators of this place for their becoming friends with us.

We land outside the base as Michel lands with Tarmac up on the platform by Tammy. I thank Red Alpha, Nightmare, Firestorm, Watson, and Thunderbolt for their support, then, they are on their way.

“You do not keep them at your base?” ask Friday.

“No,” I answer. “They are free to come and go as they like. We can go back to your village on our rafts or ride our Gallys.”

“Tammy and Tarmac live here on the landing platform. They have built a nest up there and are incubating their egg.”

“That's remarkable,” answers Friday. “They must really like you to choose your base as their home.”

We head inside where Friday and his family are impressed with the tames that we have gathered over our stay on Ark.

“A Unicorn?” ask Friday. “I heard of their existence but have never seen one.”

“Tammy rescued Charlie from certain death by raptors,” I answer. “They were herding him into a trap. She flew down and snatched him before the raptors could get him.”

“So, who is the virgin that tamed him?” ask Friday.

“I don't think that such a requirement applies here,” I answer. “After he calmed down from being carried over here by Tammy, he accepted our offering of Rockarrots and let me ride him. The Equus mare sought out his company on her own when the others went looking for her.”

“How did you manage to tame a Marsupial Lion and a Thorny Dragon?” ask Friday.

“It was mostly luck,” I answer. “We went looking for one and found him in a fight with the giant scorpions. He tried to escape but fell unconscious to their stings. He was a long tame as we protected him from the other carnos where he lived. His ability to climb over the walls of our pen or scramble up steep cliffs is amazing. He helped us take out a triple level Rex that was threatening our base when I had him jump on its back. He is a good friendly kitty but can be a formidable threat to any carnivore out there.”

“The Thorny Dragon we had to knock out when we were heading across the stone bridge to check out the keep on the hill. We were attacked by a Death Worm in the badlands. Our Gallys bailed us out of that danger. We tamed and brought her back on the return trip.”

“Most of our other tames we have bailed out of threatening situations. They have proven to be very loyal to us. It was that loyalty that convinced the wyverns that we were not a threat to them.”

“How much of Thieves have you been able to explore?” ask Friday.

“We found your journal in the nearby cave where time stands still,” I answer. “We were nearly trapped in the temple of Finger Rock. We have been to the floating islands and the nasty vermin filled cave of Ship Wreak Cove. We explored the castle where we found Tammy and Tarmac. We still have a long ways to go according to your map.”

“So far, we have found clues and explorer's note, even hidden treasure in one of the ruins. Just nothing so far that offers a way back to our time.”

“You can spend the night with us if you like and help us plan some further exploration. Then, we can head back to your village in the morning.”

“We'll do so,” answers Friday. “My wife and daughter are most interested talking to Caroline and Mary about their knowledge and crafting skills in Thieves.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 16. Day 14 on Ark.

 

Friday has asked me if he can go up to see Tammy, but she is nervous about his presence. So, I send Tarmac up to talk to her first.

"He frightens me,” Tammy tells Tarmac.

“It's OK,” Tarmac answers. “He is the slave that removed the muzzle and cut me loose during the invasion. He told me that you were just too frightened for him to unlock the shackle, so he removed the nut from the bolt that was holding you to the castle wall. Will you try to be friends with him?”

“I'll try,” Tammy answers.

“I'll have Halsey come up with him,” Tarmac answers. “Let me sit on the egg for a while while you get used to his presence.”

I go up with Friday to see Tammy. She lays down so I can rub her forehead to help her relax. “You must have really frightened her that day she was captured,” I tell him. “Rub her here on the forehead and talk to her. It will help her to accept you.”

After a couple of minutes, I leave those two alone heading over to Tarmac as Tammy has calmed down as they talk to each other. “They look like they are getting used to each other,” Tarmac responds.”

“She is just the skittish type,” I answer. “She was so frightened of me when I first saw her when she was trapped at the pirate castle. Whatever had happened to her as a result of those pirates had to be most upsetting.”

I head back to Tammy to see how they are getting along. “Can I ride her up to the Sufferage Island?” ask Friday. “There is an artifact I have hidden there that you will find most useful.”

“That's up to Tammy,” I answer.

“I feel comfortable enough about Friday to let him ride me,” Tammy answers.

“Take the fur armor with you,” I tell Friday. “It is extremely cold up there.”

They soon take off flying for the floating island over the castle ruins near the cove where Fridays village is.

“I'm sorry that I was so frightened of you,” Tammy tells Friday as they are heading for Sufferage Island.

“That's all right,” Friday answers. “Its not your fault. I'm just glad that Tarmac let me get close enough to him so I could cut him loose.”

“Where exactly are we going?” ask Tammy.

“Over behind the Keep up on the island,” answers Friday.

“Halsey and I were there several days ago,” answers Tammy. “He didn't find anything there at the time.”

“What I am after is buried behind the Keep,” answers Friday as they land by it. “It may hold a clue to allow Halsey and his friends to find a way back to Bermuda.”

Friday dismounts Tammy and heads behind the keep as she watches him go to work digging there. A small alien looking chest is uncovered and loaded for the return flight as the weather returns to normal.

“What's in it?” ask Tammy. “How was it possible for nothing to be frozen here in such cold and now, it is warm again?”

“It must have something to do with the contents of this chest,” answers Friday. “I don't know what it is or what it does. When I hid it here long ago, the weather up here became bitterly cold. I was able to take it up here on a pteradon a day after the Mages, hired by Madame Cheng, created this place. I didn't want them to know of its existence.”

“She was such an evil person,” answers Tammy. “Lets get this back to Halsey. He will know what to do with it.”

How was the trip?” I ask as Tammy and Friday return to the landing platform.

“It was great,” Tammy answers. “We had a good flight.”

“She is so relaxed around me now,” answers Friday. “I got the artifact I hid from Madame Cheng years ago. She said that you would know what to do with it.”

Tammy heads back to the nest as I check over the chest that contains the alien object. “This looks like that it requires a combination key that we haven't found yet. Mary and I will keep it with the other items we have gathered until we can solve this puzzle.”

“We have several Explorer's Notes, your Journal, the key set, and this artifact.” answers Mary. “We still need to find out what it is and how to use it. Somewhere in Thieves, we will be able to find the answer. We just need to keep exploring for now.”

“Have you been in the West Shore Cavern,” ask Friday.

“No,” I answer. “How do we get there?”

“Its on the shore along a cliff where the mountain comes back down to the sea,” answers Friday. “We can reach it by land if we go South of the mountain along the edge of the jungle. There is a gorge with a stream that will take us down to the beach there.”

“We should be able to reach it and get back before evening using our faster mounts,” answers Michael.

“What about the giant ants in the jungle?” ask Friday.

“Our Parasaurs have learned how to deal with them,” answers Michael “Kitty can collect the chitin from them once they are dead.”

We saddle up Kitty and the Parasaurs for the trip to the West Coast. We take along the crossbow, rifles, and our basic survival gear. The fur armor stays at the base. I, Michael, Joe, Mary, Denny, and our four guest will be traveling the expedition. Michael is on lead with Kitty.

Our party of nine heads inland under the stone arch in the west. Hugging the edge of the swamp, we follow along the mountain edge in the valley. “Ants,” warns Michael as a swarm of them come down from the jungle. Our Parasaurs, which we have trained how to deal with those ants, quickly step on most of them while crushing the flying ones in their mouth. We end up piking several of the dragonflies that come up from the swamp to feed on them.

We soon find the stream coming out of the swamp. “Looks like this path was carved out of the side of the gorge,” comments Michael as he rides down into it.

“Madame Cheng had us slaves carve it out to make travel easier down it,” answers Friday.

We round a curve as we head down towards the shore. “Oh oh,” warns Michael. “The path is blocked by boulders here.”

“Lets see if we can clear the way with our picks,” I answer. With a bit of effort, several boulders are removed and the excess stone and flint tossed away. We keep the 20 metal ore for now.

Given that the path has remained unused for over a year, the going is slow as we have to clear fallen trees and boulders from it. There is just no other practical way down to the Western Beach other then flying over it.

Finally, we reach a staircase path cut in the rock next to a waterfalls that takes us down the cliff to the beach below. A couple of Dodos and gulls are on the beach area which seems to be quiet. “We head to the right and look for a door built into the cliff side,” says Friday.

It is mid afternoon when we find the ruins in the cliff with the door into the cavern. “We better radio back to the others that we won't be back until tomorrow,” reports Michael. “We lost too much time clearing the path to get down here.”

“Lets see if we can build a secured camp for us and our tames,” I answer. “Our tames won't fit through that door.” With the nine of us gathering the resources, it doesn't take long to construct a stone pen with shelter.

Outfitted with extra torches, crossbows, and melee weapons, we unlock the door and head inside. “Watch where you step.” warns Friday. “There are traps everywhere in here.

Friday shows us one of the pressure plate traps and how they can be hidden in the cave litter. He uses his pike to uncover it, then pushes down on it to show what it does. A dart goes flying across the plate embedding itself into the stone wall.

“Nasty,” comments Michael. “I've ran across such traps before. The Viet Cong must have taken lessons from Madame Cheng how to make traps like these.”

“The cave is full of them,” warns Friday as he points out a skeleton pinned to the wall by several darts.

“This is going to be slow going,” I answer as we use our pikes to locate the pressure plates and other devices that trigger the traps. Up ahead, we see a lot of cobwebs and what looks like mummified bodies in cocoons.

“Carefully move back to the entrance,” orders Michael as he sees a wall of giant spiders start heading our way. Michael, Joe and I engage the lead ones with crossbows as the others fall back, then we take up a defensive position by the door.

Most of the attacking spiders set off the rest of the traps as we pick off those crawling on the ceiling. Only a couple get close enough to web one of us. The battle is soon over.

“Looks like they triggered all of the traps,” comments Michael as we pick our way around all of the dead spiders. “This was a blessing in disguise.”

Past the traps, impaled spiders, wrapped cocoons, and tangled webs, we continue into the cavern which now contains glowing crystals lighting our way. More spiders are found but are easily dispatched with the crossbow. We are able to recover extra arrows and other good gear from several of them.

Giant mushrooms line part of the cavern as it opens up with a waterfalls cascading from the ceiling. “There is a secret passageway behind it,” informs Friday. “Be careful. It is quite slippery with a long ways down and no way back up if you survive the fall.

Soaking wet from going through the waterfalls, we relight the torches and carefully follow the steep path down into the interior of the cave. It eventually levels off with more glowing crystals and mushrooms, then opens up into a giant cavern containing a lush tropical jungle with a large lake in the center and a glowing light source from the ceiling. There are abandoned structures along one area of the cave near the entrance. Strangely, there is a lack of any dangerous creatures in this alternative ecosystem. We find giant snails feeding on the vegetation. There are birds and small monkeys in the trees. There is edible fruit in the trees and on the ground that is far different from what we have found on the surface or doesn't have to be grown in a food plot. There are some Coe in the lake.

I'm concerned that we could be in another time warp given the experience we have had in some of the caves, so, I radio back to the home base. To my relief, I find that time is progressing normally in both locations. We get together with Friday to start our exploration of the abandoned structures in the cave. “Madame Cheng was using this place to hide her loot,” Friday tells us before we enter the first structure. “There may be more traps inside.”

Michael checks out the doorway to the first structure we need to explore. Using a grapple on the crossbow, he fires it to the far corner of the room where the rope attached to it sets off several traps. “Nasty,” comments Michael as we enter the room to see several skeletons pinned to the wall.

A floorboard squeaks as it is stepped on. “Don't move,” I yell a warning. Fortunately, it is safe as it is just a loose board.

“Pull it up,” Says Joe. “There is something under here.” We find that there is a hidden cellar below. “How awful,” comments Joe as we see several skeletons down there.

“ Madame Cheng was culling her army of the less desirable,” announces Friday. “Rather then risk they would tell someone on the outside about her hiding her treasure, she had them locked up to keep them silent. It will be no surprise that we end up finding more victims in here from her purge.”

“I'm surprised that they were unable to escape after she trapped them in there,” I answer. “Unless, she had them killed first.”

“That appears to be the case,” answers Michael. “Like it or not, lets get a ladder in there and check out what is below.”

Michael and I head down to check out the cellar in spite of the skeletons. With a lit torch, we examine a wall that seems out of place. “Could there be something behind there?” ask Michael.

“Lets find out,” I answer as I take out my metal pick to look for a weak spot.

 

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 17. Day 15 on Ark.

 

“This is not a normal wall,” I say as I start to loosen up the stone that seem out of place. Prying several of them out, I see that there is a void beyond.

“Have we found a hidden room?” Michael ask Friday who has come down for a look.

“I don't know,” he answers. “I helped build this place where this hole in the ground was used as a cellar. The stone walls seem to be normal.”

“There appears to be another passageway heading further below,” I answer as I toss a lit torch through the hole I have made into the wall. We work on the opening until we are able to crawl through it.

Things get really weird as we descend into cavern below. Gravity has gone crazy as we find ourselves floating, then walking on the ceiling. “What's going on?” ask Mary in alarm as we can hear the hum of strange machinery in the distance.

“We shall soon find out,” answers Michael as we find a strange alien structure with what looks like a door with a strange looking lock.

“Lets see if that artifact Friday brought back with him is the key to this lock,” I answer. Placing the key in the matching lock, the door vanishes revealing an alien looking room with one of the Obelisk alters in its center.

As soon as everyone has entered the room, the door reappears, then vanishes becoming part of the wall of the chamber. “Did we just become trapped in here,” Friday ask in alarm.

“Lets see what this alter does before we all panic.” Mary answers. We all gather around as Mary access the terminal.

A mesh seems to come down from the ceiling enclosing us in a bubble as we are lifted upward into a bright light. When it fades, we find ourselves high up in the Blue Obelisk facing towards the Thieves Island chain. We have only our clothes with us. Tammy and Red Alpha are also up here with us. Both are quite frightened having been suddenly teleported up here with us. I go over to Red Alpha as I have Friday go to Tammy to calm her down.

“What just happened?” ask Red Alpha with concern.

“I think that we just made contact with whoever has created Thieves,” I answer.

“I’m scared,” Red Alpha answers. “Please, sit on me. I haven’t been this frightened since the pirates tried to capture me.”

Tammy comes over by us as Friday gets on her. “How are you doing?” I ask her.

“I was out hunting while Tarmac was doing nest duties and something just snatched me out of the sky,” answers Tammy. “This is so frightening.”

“Friday, stroke Red Alpha’s forehead as I stroke Tammy’s. It will help them relax until we know what is happening here.” The two wyverns settle down, then lay down so we can be at their level and switch places.

“Have a seat,” an alien voice comes out of nowhere. “We are the keepers of Thieves Island. We have been observing your Earth for millions of your years. You were selected for our study of human behavior on this Ark after Madame Cheng and her pirates had been driven out of Thieves.”

“We have spent the past 15 time cycles observing your behavior on Thieves and how you responded to the various challenges we created to test you. We were most surprised that there has been no deaths among your group or your tames as we observed how you would deal with the Ark predators before you were strong enough to defend yourselves from them, that you rose up to the challenge of survival in Ark.”

“We are most pleased with how well your group and the wyverns have interacted with each other. It was most unexpected to see Tammy ask you if she could build her nest in your base. It was so amazing to see the other wyverns and your tames come to your defense when Red Alpha found your base.”

“Red Alpha, it was most amazing to see you accept the challenge of friendship with Halsey in spite of the bad experience you have had with humans in the past. It is so pleasing to see the close friendship your group has formed with them.”

“Friday, when we saw how you tried to set Tammy free and was able to let Tarmac get loose in spite of the risk you faced, we made sure that you and your family were kept safe from the purge that followed. You have not disappointed us with the care you have taken with your tames. We’re so glad that your family had taken a liking to the wyverns that came to visit your village and how they have bonded with you in return.”

“Now, you must have hundreds of questions for us.”

“How is it possible for the islands to be floating weightless in the sky?” ask Michael.

“Gravity is a relative thing on Thieves. It is why there are the floating islands that Madame Cheng though the Mages she hired had created them. It is what powers the impossible looking water fountains, your irrigation system, and the strange things that happened back in the cave when you walked through the relative point there.”

“What about the time difference here when 1812 occurred over 200 years ago?,” ask Mary

“Halsey is correct about the time differential. Over 200 years have passed in Bermuda while one has passed here. It is why the barrier now exist around Thieves to prevent anything from suffering serious injury or death should they cross through the interface. It is also why it is now impossible for Friday and his family to return to Bermuda. They would die instantly if they were to do so.”

“What about us,” I ask.

“Your group will be able to return as the time differential is currently in sync. You must do so before day 21 by accessing the alter at the base of this obelisk, or you could find yourself trapped here forever.”

“Will we be able to stay long enough to see Tammy’s egg hatch?” I ask.

“As her egg will hatch the day after tomorrow, you will still have time to interact with her and the newborn.”

“What will happen to our tames when we have to leave?” I ask.

“We can move to your base to care for them,” answers Friday.

“We can help too,” answers Red Alpha.

“That is most kind of you,” I answer.

“Will we remember any of this when we return,” ask Mary.

“Your memory of your stay here will be like a vivid dream when you are returned to your world.”

We find ourselves back in the pen we built for our tames at the cave entrance. They are glad to see us again. Tammy and Red Alpha have teleported with us to the pen.

It is early morning of Day 16 on Ark. There is no longer a cave where the door is at its entrance. It is like that it never existed.

“That was so strange,” comments Michael. “It is as if we never went into the cave in the first place”

“Still, something took place,” answers Red Alpha. “We didn’t fly here with you. I have never been here before.”

“If you can spare me, I’d like to fly back on Red Alpha with Tammy to our base.”

“Go ahead. We should be OK making the return trip,” answers Michael. “It is a traveled path back there that should no longer have any obstacles in the way.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 18. Day 16 on Thieves.

 

As the story continues from the last chapter, we have spent the entire night exploring the cave of Madame Cheng. We have dodged the traps at its entrance and led the numerous deadly spiders back to the entrance where they have been impaled setting off the rest of the traps. It was a long ways in with Friday showing us the secret passage behind a cave waterfall that led further into the cave to a structure where we found the remains of those pirates that were purged and buried for dead.

The exploration would have ended there with finding no additional clues, none of Madame Ching’s treasure, or anything else had I not noticed something not normal with a wall in the cellar.

By chance, we found something far more valuable. We made contact with the creators of this ark, an ancient race only known to us as The Keepers. We now have a complete history of Thieves, the answer to its mysteries, and have been offer a way to return back home.

When we get back to our base, we will prepare our camp for Friday’s family and the wyverns for the care of our tames and make preparations to return to our time period in Bermuda on day 20 of our adventure.

One mystery remains as we prepare to return to our camp, Did that cave actually exist? Did we actually make the trip inside? Did we actually contact The Keepers? How did Tammy and Red Alpha get here? Only the crumbling stone wall and a decaying door to a dead end cave is all that remains.

Red Alpha has asked me to fly on her back to the base. She is still a bit unnerved that something unknown could snatch her from the sky like that. I didn’t think that there was anything that an Alpha could be afraid of. I bid the rest of the group farewell and we are off.

Gaining altitude, I find my bearing using the Obelisk as a marker back to the base. “Are you all right?” I ask Red Alpha. “You still feel like you are badly frightened.”

“I now know what Tammy felt like when you rescued her from the attacking rexes,” answers Red Alpha. “It was so frightening, that feeling of helplessness as I was snatched from the sky.”

“We knew something extraordinary was likely to happen when we activated the teleporter,” I answer. “We just never expected that you two would appear with us as well.”

“I think that it is safe to say that you won’t have to go through that experience again.”

“I’m so glad that I accepted your challenge of becoming friends,” answers Red Alpha. “You have been most understanding, so wonderful to be with for a human. Do you think that it would be possible for me to visit your world?”

“I don’t know if we could bring you back,” I answer. “Most likely, like Friday and his family, you are trapped here by the same time differential as they are.”

“There is a written history of the existence of wyverns during the mid evil time period known as the Dark Ages. The Vikings and Knights of early Europe are filled with tales of battling them, in some cases, even riding on them into battle. It was a very dangerous for wyverns back then. It would be far more dangerous for you in my world, given that our current history considers you a fantasy creature. We would all be captured by some paranoid secret government agency and locked away from the rest of the world to keep secret your very existence.”

“And, I thought that Madame Chang and her pirates were evil,” answers Red Alpha.

“Our world is even worse when it comes to our governments in dealing with things that they don’t understand,” I answer. “I’d would love to bring you back with me if I could. I just fear that I couldn’t protect you if I did. I wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt of seeing something evil happen to you that could have been prevented by just leaving you here in your home in Thieves.”

“Will you and your friends be able to come back for a later visit?” ask Red Alpha.

“I do not know,” I answer. “That would be up to The Keepers.”

“We will be most certain to be at the Blue Obelisk the day you are scheduled to leave,” answers Red Alpha.

“I’m not sure that I want to leave this most unusual place,” I answer. “Still, we need to go back. There are too many complications that our disappearance would result in.”

“I feel so much better now,” answers Red Alpha. “Thank you for riding and talking to me about our latest adventure.”

“You have been such a wonderful friend,” I answer.

“I’ll be back to see you before you have to leave,” answers Red Alpha. “I need to tell the others what happened to us today.”

“Where have you been,” ask Tarmac as we return to the landing platform.

“You would not believe me if I told you,” answers Tammy. “I was inside the Blue Obelisk with Red Alpha and Friday’s expedition to the western cave. It was like some giant hand came down and scooped us up as we were flying.”

“The Keepers of this Ark took us up there and spoke to us. They told Halsey and his friends how they would be able to return to their world. My egg will hatch tomorrow so I most certainly want to be here when it does.”

“It is most important that you are here to watch your egg hatch so the baby can imprint on you,” I answer. “Once it has imprinted, the rest of us can come up to see it.”

“That is most interesting,” answers Tammy. “I didn’t know that.”

“It’s true for most egg laying creatures,” I answer. “Besides, we don’t want to accidentally tame it. You need to have the pleasure of raising one of your own kind.”

I get the rest of our group together to tell them the story of what happened in the cave.

“We really can go back home?” ask Micky.

“It certainly looks like it,” I answer.

“I will certainly miss this place,” answers Micky. “The Parasaur, Charlie and his girl friend, even Tammy. Those unusual fish in the bay.”

“Did you ever find Madame Cheng’s treasure?”

“No,” I answer. “It is said that she spent it hiring the Mages to create the floating islands. Then, it may still be hid elsewhere. Or, it may have been nothing more then speculation, rumors of far more gold and jewels then there actually existed. What we have found so far may be all that actually existed, or, it may be sitting at the bottom of the bay in the ship wreaks under the guard of those giant squids that live down there.”

“I don’t think that we would be able to take it back with us if we did find it.” answers Carlos. “There are too many laws we would have broken if we were to suddenly show up with such treasure without having obtained the proper diving permits and other documents from the Government.”

“I’ll just have to be content with a pieces of eight,” answers Micky.

It is close to noon when Michael and the rest of the expedition reaches the base. “How was your trip?” I ask.

“We had a smooth return,” answers Michael. “What was upsetting Red Alpha when she asked you to fly back on her?”

“She was all shook up from having been grabbed out of the sky to be teleported up to the Blue Obelisk with us,” I answer. “She wanted someone to talk to her to help her regain her composure. She is fine now. She wanted to come back with us, but, I told her it would place us all in danger if she did.”

“That is so amazing that she became so attached to us after wanting to kill us all a couple of days ago,” answers Michael. “You are correct. If she came back with us, we would all be in extreme danger. Anyhow, lets get together with Friday and his family to make arrangements to return them to their village to formulate their plans to take care of our tames once we leave Thieves for good.”

We prep the rafts for the trip so we can give our tames a well deserved rest. The ladies pack up a crate filled with dyes of various colors for Friday’s village to use for painting. Speaking of painting, our base is a riot of colors of every kind and pattern imaginable. They have gone ahead and painted the saddles and other gear. They even painted Tammy’s nest in blue and pink. I ask Tammy what she thinks about that. She tells me she likes the change in the platform and camp. It looks so much more like a home.

Several more crates are packed with spiked fencing, stone walls, and gates so the village perimeter can be expanded to keep the wild carnivores at bay. Carlos and the others remaining behind, had used the past two days to gather the materials to fabricate those items. Our beach area is nearly covered with the needed stone while the area around Friday’s village has been lacking those resources. These items are going to be most useful for them. Expanding the perimeter wall will give the villagers much needed room for farming and for their tames to graze in safety. We have armed each raft with our newly crafted harpoon gun.

With the two rafts packed and our guests on board, Michael and I head for Friday’s village. We hug the coastline so the Leeds can’t target our rafts from below.

“There is that one that has prevented us from sailing out to sea,” warns Friday.

“Damn,” curses Michael. “It has taken an interest in us. The water is too deep along this shore to evade it.”

“Give the rudder to one of our guest so we can deal with it,” I answer.

Armed with the harpoon guns, we open fire as it charges Michael’s rafts. “That only just pissed it off,” I curse. “Aim for its eyes.” One eye is hit by a harpoon dart which causes the Leed to miss hitting Michael’s raft head on. The glancing blow dumps one of the crates into the water as everyone struggles to stay on board.

Just then, Red Alpha comes diving down out of the sun and hits the Leed square on in its face with her talons. It goes down into the bay with her being dragged under with it.

I fear that she may drown as I get ready to dive after her, but she soon surfaces. “Are you all right?” I ask.

“Yes, I’m fine, just totally soaked,” answers Red Alpha. “Can you lead me to shallow water? I can swim but I can’t take off from this deep water.”

“Let us tow you to the shallows,” I answer. “Hold this rope in your mouth. You can let it go when your feet touch bottom.”

“Thank you for your help,” Red Alpha says as she reaches solid footing.

“Thank you for finishing off that Leed for us,” I answer. ‘Even our new harpoon guns were not strong enough to stop it from attacking our rafts.”

Meanwhile, Michael has recovered the crates that were washed overboard. “We’re lucky it was the ones with the dyes in them. Otherwise, they would be heading to the bottom.”

Red Alpha is already at the dock as we come sailing in. The others that stayed behind have cautiously came out to see us. “You can come up to pet her,” Friday tells the others. “She has become a good friend to us.”

“I’ll keep watch for any dangerous predators while you work to expand your village wall,” Red Alpha tells them.

“Thank you,” answers Friday. “Is there anything we can do for you?”

“Just your friendship will be reward enough,” answers Red Alpha.

By late afternoon, we complete the expansion of the perimeter wall. There is now plenty of secured area for the village farms and their tames to roam.

“Should I escort the rafts back to your base?” ask Red Alpha.

“We should be OK if another Leed shows up,” I answer. “With all of the heavy supplies gone and just one of us at the tiller, we should be able to out run any of them that show up. Go be with your wyvern friends for the rest of the evening.”

We find the Leed that had attacked us floating dead in the bay. The sharks are already at work cleaning it up. “At least, we won’t have to worry about that much fish decaying at once,” comments Michael as we sail a wide berth from the feast taking place.

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 19, Day 17 on Thieves.

 

“It’s hatching, its hatching,” an excited Tammy announces to us as we come up to see what all the excitement is about.

“Let us keep our distance so the newborn can imprint on its mother,” Mary cautions us.

In the morning sun, we can see a chunk of egg break off, then another as Tammy watches it closely. The shell soon pops off as a pair of miniaturized wyvern with larger then normal heads look around, then look at Tammy and scramble towards her.

“Twins,” announces Mary.

“Is that really possible?” I ask.

“According to The Survivor’s handbook, there is a rare chance that an egg can hatch twins, even triplets.” answers Mary “Given that we haven’t seen any other wyvern eggs, Tammy’s newborns will at least have each other to play with.”

“Halsey, come with me. We can go ahead and get up close and personal with them now.”

“Hard to believe that they are as big as we are,” I tell Mary. The two are a bit shy as they hug Tammy by her legs, but soon accept us as Tammy lets them know that it is OK. “They are fully imprinted now. We won’t have to worry about accidentally taming them any more.”

“We have a boy and a girl,” I announce. “The colors you painted the nest are now appropriate.

“Lets leave the family alone for now. We can come back later to interact with them.”

I radio Friday to give him the good news.

“I’ll be right there,” he answers back with no explanation how he is going to make the trip.

It is about ten minutes later that I see Red Alpha come flying in from the North. She lands on the far end of the landing pad. To my surprise, I see Friday is riding on her.

“She was visiting us when you called with the good news,” Friday tells me as he dismounts her to so the wyverns can talk to each other. “When she heard you tell me that the egg had hatched, she told me to get on her, that we were going to come here to visit.”

“You must have made a good impression on her the other day when she was so frightened,” I tell Friday. “No one else has ever ridden on her before.”

“She came out to see how we were doing getting our expansion of our village completed,” answers Friday. “Everybody likes her. She has been quite interested in their stories and how we had gone about with our daily lives coping with the pirates as their slaves.”

“That is most remarkable given how she wanted to kill us all a couple of days ago,” I answer. “She has proven to be so caring as she gets to know us better.”

“I need to show you something before you leave Thieves,” Red Alpha tells me as she ends her visit with Tammy and her babies. “Tarmac says he will take Friday back home for me. Tammy’s babies are the first ones that have hatched since the pirates invaded Thieves and started stealing our eggs.”

“Where are we headed?” I ask as I get one her and we take off.

“I want to show you where I live,” Red Alpha answers. “I’m so happy for Tammy and her new family. It makes me miss having a mate of my own.”

“Aren’t there any eligible males available where you live?” I ask.

“There is a bachelor living on my home island,” Red Alpha answers. “It’s just that I frighten him so when I want to become intimate with him that he flies off.”

“It may have something to do with your leadership status as an Alpha,” I answer. “He could be afraid of your superior status over the other wyverns. I’ve seen it happen with other species when a female assumes an alpha status of a pack. The subordinate males can become afraid of being intimate with them.”

We fly past the Dragon Islands past the Redwoods and Tundra to a remote part of Thieves where I haven’t been before. It is a warm area like the islands except there are no signs of the pirates having lived in that rugged terrain.

We land near a black male fire wyvern I haven’t seen before with a dark red crest and wing tips. “There’ a human on you,” he says in alarm.

“It’s OK,” she answers. “He is a good friend of mine. Come over here so Halsey can see you up close.”

“Do you have a name?” I ask as he comes over close enough so I can touch his forehead.

“I’m called Charbroil,” he answers. “I never knew that we could talk to humans.”

“You look extremely handsome with your unusual coloration,” I tell him as I stroke his forehead.

“That feels so relaxing,” he answers back. “How did you and Red Alpha get to become such close friends?”

“Halsey issued a challenge to me to become friends when I saw how his wyvern friends were so willing to protect the humans,” Red Alpha answers. “I so wish that we could become as close as Halsey is with me.”

“Let us talk and see if we resolve what is keeping the two of you from becoming attached to each other,” I tell the both of them.

We have a most interesting conversation that rest of the morning about Tammy and Tarmac, Red Alpha, her being so frightened when we were visited by The Keepers, and a bunch of other subjects which will not be put in writing. Charbroil then ask if he can fly back with us to see Tammy and our base. I am invited to fly on him.

“This is so remarkable,” he tells me as we fly formation with Red Alpha. “It feels so natural with you sitting on me.”

“You two need to plan for your hot date,” I answer. “When you do go out on it, take your time, be gentle with each other. Don’t let her alpha status frighten you. It worked out for Tammy and Tarmac when Mary found out what was causing them to suffer pain. It will work out for you two as well.”

“I’ll give it a try,” answers Charbroil.

“So will I,” answers Red Alpha.

We make it back to the base by noon where the twin wyvern babies are playing in the nest as Mary is observing them.

“That is a most interesting color pattern for a fire wyvern,” Mary comments as we land on the far end of the landing pad. “He’s gorgeous. Where did you find him?”

“He lives on the island that is home for Red Alpha,” I answer. “Hopefully, he will be her new mate,”

“That’s wonderful,” Mary answers. “She deserved to have a companion of her own.” The two wyverns have their visit with Tammy and Tarmac who has just came back from taking Friday back to his village.

“Go plan for your hot date,” I tell Red Alpha and Charbroil as I stroke their foreheads to say good bye for the day. “I want to hear some good news about you two before we have to leave Thieves on the 20th day.” With that bit of advice they take off in formation heading back to the southern tip of Thieves.

“He sure is a pretty looking wyvern,” Mary tells me as they leave.

“You’re making Tarmac jealous,” I kid Mary as they leave.

“Oh, I don’t mind so long as I have Tammy,” Tarmac answers back as he takes on babysitting duties so Tammy can take a break.

“How was your trip with Friday?” I ask.

“He and his family are good humans to be with,” Tarmac answers. “They have done a lot of work to get their village ready for your tames. How will you get them over there?”

“We will plan a convoy tomorrow,” answers Michael. “Patrick is too big for the raft or for any of you to carry, so, we will take the route past the keep beyond the swamp, then down to the village. It will probably take most of the day to get there.”

“I’ll ask Red Alpha and Charcoal if they will fly escort for you tomorrow,” answers Tarmac. “He wants to talk to me when Tammy comes back from her break.”

“Go see them when Tammy gets back,” I answer. “You know what you need to tell him. If they want, they are invited to the Moschop pen for the night where it is safe.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 20, Day 18 on Thieves.

 

Two more days left in this most unusual place for a vacations. This fantasy land called Thieves. A place we were transported to in a freak storm off the shores of Bermuda. A place trapped in a time warp created by an alien race only known to us as The Keepers. Their experiment, to see how we would interact with the creatures that live on these islands.

Everything the past several days has gone well. We have made close friends with the Wyverns and have found the slaves that were spared from the wrath of this world against Madame Cheng and her pirate armada.

Tammy, the wyvern we had rescued from certain death, is now raising a family of twins in our base camp. She had been the key to us making friends with the wild wyverns, an intelligent creature on Thieves that cannot be tamed, but had been badly mistreated by the pirates when they attempted to capture and tame them.

We continue to prepare to make the expedition to the village with our tames so Friday and his family can care for them when we leave this world for our own on Day 20.

One of the strange things that has appeared in our crafting ability is a digital camera. Mary has crafted one and has been taking pictures of us with our tames and that of Tammy and her babies. My, how quickly they are growing. They are almost twice the size they were when they first hatched a day ago. Tammy has had to remind them to take it easy with us as they are getting bigger and stronger then we are.

A digital camera. How are we going to take that back with us? How are we going to take anything back with us? Where will we end up when we return? What day will it be? How long will we have been gone when we do return? After all, time here passes so much slower then it did back in the real world. Will those 20 days end up being 20 months? Or 20 years? Are there search parties out looking for us after been being lost in that freak storm? Or will our disappearance be written off to some freak event of the Bermuda Triangle? Our vacation was suppose to be for seven days. How will that figure in to our schedule given now that it is day 18 here?

I guess that we will know once we access the alter of the Blue Obelisk on day 20 of our stay on Thieves.

We get a surprised visit from Red Alpha and Charbroil. They have planned to be escorts for our scheduled expedition to take our tames to the village. “You came in from the Moschop Pen,” I tell Red Alpha with surprise. “Did you?”

“It was, wonderful,” she answers.

“I don’t know why we didn’t get it together so much sooner,” answers Charbroil.

“Good for the both of you,” I tell them. “That is such good news. I was so afraid that you two would become too afraid to continue.”

“We are getting the tame convoy together. Would you two like to fly escort?”

“We’d love to,” they answer.

I am on Red Alpha with Mary riding Charbroil. He has asked her to ride on him so they can talk about family things. Michael is scouting ahead with Kitty as Joe is riding Patrick to break a trail for the others. Carlos and Micky are on Charlie and Cindy. The rest have picked one of the other tames to ride. Red Alpha assures me that her other wyvern friends have volunteered to come out later to give everyone a ride back to our base.

We head out, the two wyverns flying in close formation. “You are so relaxed,” I tell Red Alpha. “It is so different from the other day when you were shaking from fright.”

“I’m so glad that we had that talk yesterday,” she answers. “It was such a wonderful night.”

“Will you be OK when we have to leave Thieves the day after tomorrow?” I ask.

“I will be fine,” Red Alpha answers. “I have Charbroil as my mate. I can also visit Friday and be with him and his family. When it is time, I would like to build my nest at his village.”

“The stone bridge overlooking the village looked like it would be a safe place for a nest,” I answer. “Or, just ask Friday if you can build one in the village just like Tammy asked us if she could build her nest on the landing platform.”

“That sounds like some good advise,” answers Tammy. “I see a rex up ahead.”

I radio down to Michael that we have spotted trouble. He has not spotted the danger due to the dense cover they are currently traveling in as the Rex continues to head straight towards them.

“There is no room for them to avoid a confrontation,” I tell Red Alpha and Charbroil. “Lets see if we can take it out.”

We dive towards the rex flanking it from the side and hit it with a combined fire attack. It is immobilized as it thrashes about screaming in pain. “Come about so I can get a head shot at it with the Long Neck Rifle,” I tell Red Alpha. I get in a head shot. The flaming rex goes down.

“Thanks for the help,” Michael radios back as he stops to check out the smoldering carcass. “It had some good stuff from the pirates on it.”

We soon reach the old Keep under the floating Sufferage Island and find a path heading down to the cove where Friday’s village is located. Like the path to the Western Shore, it takes the better part of the day to reach our destination.

“Oh, oh,” Michael comments. “We forgot to put in a gate for Patrick.”

“I’ve got you covered,” answers Joe. “I packed a spare on Patrick before we left.”

“We’ll find a place in the village perimeter where we can install it,” answers Michael. “Given how late it is, we should plan on staying in the village for the night.”

“We’re going to fly back to check on Tammy,” I answer. “Give us a call on the radio when you get settled in for the night.”

We fly back as the sun is starting to set, reaching the base by twilight. Tammy has had her hands full with the twins which are now strong enough to fly for a short distance. One is outside the base with Tarmac keeping an eye on him. The other is inside the base making a mess of a garden plot.

“Oh My,” comments Mary. “Your little angels have turned into a bunch of hellions.”

“I’m sorry about your garden plots,” answers Tammy.

“That’s all right,” answers Mary. “After tomorrow, we will no longer have a need for them. Lets see if we can get your daughter back up in the nest for the night.”

I go outside where Tarmac is protecting the other sibling. “Let me show you how to open and close the Behemoth Gate,” I tell him. We get the other guy back into the base as darkness falls.

“It’s too late to build a ramp for them,” Mary tells Tammy. “They are so tired from their busy day. Why don’t you feed them down here. It’s safe for them inside the pen. They can sleep with us in the hut for the night. They should be able to fly back to the nest in the morning. Go spend some time together. We’ll keep an eye on them until you get back.”

Tammy and Tarmac take us up on the babysitting offer. “We’ll be back around midnight,” she says.

“We’ll take out a window and window frame so you can check on the kids when you come back,” I answer.

“They will probably sleep all night,” Tammy answers.

“Are my kids going to be like that when they reach two?” ask Red Alpha.

“All kids seem to go through that stage,” answers Mary. “Don’t worry about it. They will get through the stage we call the Terrible Twos just like Tammy’s kids will.”

“If you need any help, just let me know,” answers Red Alpha.

“We should be OK,” I answer. “These two are already asleep on our spare beds.”

[rpicardi1]

Chapter 21, Our last full day on Thieves.

 

What a crowded night in the bed with two baby wyverns, who are now as big as us, cuddling all together. “Well, at least, they were well behaved all night,” comments Mary.

“How were my kids?” ask Tammy as she sticks her head through the hole we made for her in the window frame.

“They were definitely tired after their busy day yesterday,” answer Mary. “They are already smart enough to use the compost bin instead of the bed or the floor. Come on, you two. Time to see your mama for breakfast.”

“Have you seen Red Alpha and Charbroil this morning?” I ask.

“They said that they were going to visit the village this morning.” Tammy answers. “Those two were gone all night.”

“I wonder if they will start building a nest soon,” I answer.

“I’ll build a ramp up to the landing platform for your kids to use. You can take it down when they are strong enough to fly up there on their own.”

I have the materials gathered in no time and construct the ramp to the landing platform. Meanwhile, Mary has done an inventory on our remaining supplies and is now playing fetch with the babies. “They seemed to have adopted the name of Prince and Princess,” Mary tells me. “They are calling me Aunt Mary, so you must be Uncle Halsey.”

“That is so cute,” I answer. “Too bad we can’t stay to watch them grow up into young adults.”

Heading outside to check on the activity along the beach, I am surprised to see the pirate ship tying up to the dock. With the Leed threat gone, Friday and his son has brought the rest of our party back with him on the ship.

“Friday has offered to take us over to the Blue Obelisk in the morning,” Michael announces as we walk into our base. “He, and Red Alpha, would like to have Tammy and her family move in with us. They have started building a nest in the corner of the expanded village perimeter.”

“What do you think?” I ask Tammy.

“How would I get my kids over there?” ask Tammy.

“There is plenty of room on the deck of the ship for them,” answers Friday. “They would be better able to interact with my family. When Red Alpha hatches her egg, her little one will have Tammy’s kids to play with as well as ours.”

“We’ll move to your village,” answers Tammy. “It’s going to be so lonely here once everyone had left for good.”

“Lets get everything we can aboard the ship and the rafts.” orders Michael. “As of tomorrow, we will no longer have a need for that stuff.”

We spend the rest of the morning packing the crates on the rafts and shop with all our supplies on the base. I fix the hole in the wall of the shelter, then leave a note by the spawn bed that the Go Box has been left stocked with a basic survival supplies. We will leave the door closed but unlocked should some unknown survivor find the abandoned base. Carlos and Mickey go to the Moschop Pen and bring them to one of the rafts. It takes a couple of trips to carry all of the fiber that has been stored in a storage box there. We leave the two gates open so the wild Parasaurs and Trikes living in there can have free access to the outside world.

Setting sail, we head back to the village. The two little wyverns are unsure of riding on the unsteady deck as their parents fly close by in formation. Mary and I go to comfort them. Sailing is frightening to them. Their head are pressed up against our bodies for the duration of the trip.

“What do we do if one of them gets seasick?” I ask Mary.

“They will be OK,” Mary answers. “This is just an unfamiliar experience for them without their parents close by. They are just frightened of so much water and the unsteady footing.”

We continue on sailing through the tunnel into the hidden bay and the dock. The two little wyverns literally fly across the deck to the dock to Tammy as she lands on it. “They didn’t like sailing,” I tell her. “They were laying against us for our assurance that it was safe.”

“This place is nice,” Tammy answers. “There is plenty of room for the kids to run around. And, all of your tames are here for them to play with.”

I walk over to see where Red Alpha is in the village. She has found a place where a stone platform has been built for her. She and Charbroil have already got the nest half built. “I’m so glad to see Tammy move here.” she tells me. “Your base would have been too small for the both of us to have a nest in. With no one else living there, it would have become quite lonely.”

“This is such a good choice for the both of you,” I answer. Not only it is safe inside the perimeter, you will have Friday and his family to keep you company.”

“Agreed,” answers Red Alpha. “They have been most pleasant to be with. They will be good human companions when you and your friends have to leave tomorrow.”

“We will certainly miss you and your wyvern friends,” I answer.

We spend the rest of the day unpacking the spare supplies for the villagers to use when we leave. It will help them get a reserve stock so they don’t have to make so many trips into the dangerous interior for items. The recipes and crafting are being put to good use.

Mary is observing Red Alpha and Charbroil working on their nest. She is taking pictures of the progress. I help Tammy and Tarmac set up their new nest for a place for the kids to sleep in at night. They no longer need to build one up high. Michael and I also enclose it with a fence in case something should get over the perimeter wall. The two wyverns already know how to open and close the Behemoth gate needed for them to fit through.

In the evening, Friday and the villagers throw us a going away party. They have managed to brew up some craft beer for the celebration. It is surprisingly a good brew. As there is only enough for one round, we toast to the success of the village and our friendship with the wyverns of Thieves.

 

Chapter 22, Day 20 on Thieves, Our Return.

 

Time to leave if we don’t want to be trapped here forever. It is tempting as we all talk about what we have gone through and the new friends we have made in this alien world. To stay would create too many problems back home, so, leave we must.

The question remains, how much time will have passed since we arrived here. We know that Thieves does not obey the rules of time in the universe. That time even here in different places passes at different rates. I guess we will find out when we return.

We board the pirate ship for our promised transport to the island of the Blue Obelisk. The wyverns are going to fly escort.

Prince and Princess want to go along. They promise that they are no longer frightened by sailing on the ship. They do ride well and seem to be enjoying the trip this time as we sail to our destination.

Arriving at the isle of the Blue Obelisk, we see a sight to behold. Every wyvern on Thieves, those that we know and those we have never seen before, are waiting for us to bid us farewell. We have to go pet every one of them on the forehead as we tell them good bye. We hug everyone from the village, then the two babies, then Tammy and Red Alpha.

All too soon, it is time to enter the circle of the Blue Obelisk. We warn everyone to stay outside its radius. Tammy and Tarmac have to restrain their kids so they don’t run in after us. Waiving a final farewell, Mary access the alter, enters the code that was given to her by The Keepers, and presses the enter key.

A strange glowing white net descends from above, encircles us, and lifts us up into a blinding white light. In a flash, we are rendered unconscious as we are lifted high into the Obelisk.

“What just happened?” I ask as I regain conscious on the fishing charter boat. “I thought that I was tossed overboard by the storm.”

“Storm?” answers Carlos. “I thought that it had capsized us after it hit, Yet, there are no signs of any damage to my boat, all loose items are in place in the wheelhouse, no water in the bilge. It is as if nothing has happened.”

“What is the date, time, and our location?” Michael ask.

“The GPS is still functioning,” reports Carlos. “Our location hasn’t changed from when I tried to radio for help. In fact, the date and time hasn’t changed at all. We were only out for a couple of minutes. The sun is still in the morning sky. That’s the jet coming in from the mainland that was there just before that freak storm hit.”

“Something must have happened,” I answer. “I don’t seem to need my glasses anymore. What is this scar on the inside of my left wrist?”

“I’ve got one too,” answers Micky. “Where did I get this gold coin in my pocket?”

‘I’ve got that scar too,” answers Denny.

‘So do I,” answers Julia

“Looks like we all have that same scar,” answers Joe. “Mary, what does that mean?”

“Michael, what are you doing?” an astonished Caroline ask in alarm.

“I don’t believe it,” answers Michael. “This is so strange, so hard to imagine. I am walking without any assistance, just like I was doing in that vivid dream I was having.”

“Why do I have this vivid dream that we all spent twenty days together in a fantasy land living among dinosaurs and wyverns?” ask Denny.

“A survivors handbook,” answers Mary. “There are notes that I have written. A digital camera? Where did they come from?”

“Oh My Gosh! Look at these pictures! We were actually there!”

“Tammy, Red Alpha, the baby wyverns, Friday and his family, those floating islands and the tamed dinosaurs. We had to have been there, but how?”

“The Bermuda Triangle is legendary in these parts.” answers Carlos. “There are so many stories of strange things taking place, of ships and aircraft vanishing without a trace, of pirates that ruled the seas from these islands until they suddenly vanished along with a British armada that was sent to wipe them out. Could we have been caught up in that triangle and returned?”

“There is a coastal patrol boat heading straight towards us.” Carlos reports. “Perhaps they know what is going on.” It pulls along side of us with the lady captain asking Carlos and Micky to tie up to their vessel, then she introduces herself to us.

“Everything is in order,” she tells Carlos. I’m just here to meet with you and your charter group over what you have just experienced.”

“I am Dee, the person that you talked to on the phone when you called our travel agency and gave us your conformation code. I am the go between that made your arrangements for your Bermuda trip, your accommodations at the Bed and Breakfast, and Carlos Charters for your fishing trip.”

“We work for a secret agency known as the Men in Black. We serve as ambassadors between an advanced race of interstellar observers known to us as The Keepers and this world. They are the ones that arranged for this experiment to see how you would interact in Thieves with its creatures.”

“Your group made quite an impression on them. Not only did everyone survive, you were able to become friends with the Wyverns, even their Red Alpha. This has given them hope that the human race is worth saving, even if it ends up eventually destroying itself.”

“As a reward, The Keepers have allowed you to remember your experience, to keep the artifacts you have brought back with you and the photos you have taken in Thieves. You are free to live your lives as normal, although I am sure that you will all become close friends as a result of your experience together in Ark.”

“We do caution you on one thing when you get back to your homes, don’t tell too many people about this trip. You could either be certified as nuts, or hauled off to some secret location of the NSA where they can make you disappear from your society.”

“We do have one question,” I ask Dee. “Will we ever return for a visit?”

“That will be up to The Keepers,” Dee answers.

“Lets sail back to the village and meet up at the Bed and Breakfast. Carlos, Micky, you are invited to attend as well. I am most interested to learn all about your adventure. You are the first people that have ever been sent to Ark and returned with your memory of that experience intact. We have a lot to talk about. I’m sure that we both have a ton of questions about your trip.”

It is a most interesting next couple of days as we enjoy the rural setting with Dee as our guide and the conversation about our 20 days on Thieves.

We all agree to keep in contact with each other with Mary as she continues her research at the university.

After all, the day may arrive where we may return to Ark for a new adventure.